What a World, What a World!

It's been an action-packed few days here in MBLF land. I've been hither and yon and hither again. The result is that I find myself having perhaps overdone things a teensy-tiny bit, and so am laid up tonight with a grossly swollen left foot that is strapped up and on ice.

To recap: Work has been more than the usual insane asylum, and I've been pushing it so hard that I've been feeling a tad beat up. Wednesday night I skipped PT and instead went to bed at 6:45 pm or so. It was lovely. The yesterday my mother JA arrived in town for the weekend. Of course, by the time I had made it home from work she had cooked, cleaned and basically "mommed" my whole house. We had a drink on the porch, had dinner and then went to the Christmas Tree Shoppe where I spent more than I care to acknowledge on mass produced junk. Colleen Brennan-Barry: supporting the economy since 1974.

After we shopped we decided dessert was in order so we headed to Read's Homemade Ice Cream. This place is beyond yum and is a little family business in Henrietta. They make all of their ice cream on-site, so it's fresh and natural. They also have fruit ice and ice cream cakes and custard, in addition to regular scoop. I had cherry vanilla; JA had vanilla custard and J had coffee with espresso malt balls and Heath crunch. Nice.

Today JA went to stay with my uncle, and J and I toddled off to work. I had lunch with one of my fave peeps and then went back to work where I hosted a wedding shower for two of my colleagues -- one of whom is the Web team's own Fran! He's getting married next week, and our colleague Mimi is getting married in mid-June, so it was great to have a gathering for the two of them.

And then I was supposed to have drinks and whatnot with some friends (hi, Steve!) but realized I had overdone it mightily these last few days and my leg was hugely swollen and in pain and perhaps the drinks and the whatnot? The drinks, and the whatnot, would have to wait.

Adding a Chimp Don't Make it Oscar-Worthy

Out and about with the geek posse last night during the (usually) weekly movie night. Last night was Speed Racer -- on Imax, no less. So it was me and the seven geeks (hee, sounds like a fractured fairy tale: "Web Girl and the Seven Geeks") filing in to the theater to be entertained. J and I played a little arcade action "Area 51" before the seating started; J ranked overall 6th on the game, and I ranked 8th (of course, J had played through an entire level before I jumped in so ... you know ... I'm just saying).

We hit the Imax and watched Speed Racer. It was a stunningly visual movie -- sort of like spending time inside a blender with a box of melted Crayola crayons. Everything was movement and deep primary-based colors, a constant sea of neon, frenetic action. By the end of the night, my eyes literally ached from all to which they had been subjected. One has to wonder, really, what that kind of intense, intense visual experience would be like while under some kind of chemical influence, because it was retina-melting while under the influence of just some standard Coca-cola product.
But I digress.

Plot-wise, Speed Racer was ... well, to be generous: lacking. It veered between total manga/animation and comedy and taking itself way too seriously. There was an interesting sensibility to the whole thing -- very "retro 50s-meets-the-future," as if the Dick Van Dyke Show was suddenly time-warped into the Jetsons' time frame -- but there were multiple sub-plots, some of which were just unnecessary.The movie clocked in at about 2 hr 15 min, about 30-45 minutes more than were needed. The cast was solid but really kind of wasted: I mean, you've got folks like Matthew Fox (Racer X) , Christina Ricci (Trixie) and Susan Sarandon (Mom), but the real stars of the movie were the effects. Sadly, the solid cast was rather wasted in that they were more one-note accessories used to get the cars and adventure scenes just where the directors wanted them. Add to this all some annoying characters (Speed's little brother Spitle and pet Chim-Chim come to mind immediately) and, well ...

I know this movie is getting bad reviews, and in inevitable comparison to Iron Man, I can absolutely see why. Iron Man is the far superior film; it's much less visual but the plot, writing and acting are top-notch. However, Speed Racer isn't as bad as all you might read. I wouldn't say it's a GOOD movie but it's visually strong and stupidly amusing ... as long as you have a big screen TV on which to eventually watch it someday, it's worth the DVD rental, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it again.

Footsie

Today was an exciting day indeed, and since it's been a while since a MBLF-centric post, I think I'll let you in on my morning.

• 5 am: Alarm goes off. J gets up and staggers to kitchen to prep for first day of big new job at Kodak. Col resigns herself to never being able to buy the SLR she so desires, on account of wanting to keep J gainfully employed, and so rolls over and goes back to sleep.
• 5:01 am: Cat jumps on Col. Col swats cat.
• 5:15 am: Meow. {swat}
• 5:25 am: Meow. {swat}
• 5:45 am: Meow. {swat}
• 6 am: J rushes in and out of shower. Col stretches.
• 6:30 am: J off to work. Col grooms.
• 7:45 am: Col departs home and arrives at lab, greeted by the oddly disturbing statues of 6-foot tall male and female penguins dressed as doctors. Friendly neighborhood phlebotomist Karen begins the leeching process for regular PT/INR blood tests.
• 8:04 am: Col, lighter a few vials of blood, starts off.
• 8:24 am: Col arrives at Building D, also known as the home of the inimitable Dr. G. No handicapped parking spots are available. Col ponders the fact that Building D is ALL orthopedics: sports rehab, PT, hand and foot orthos, prosthetics, imaging ... and yet there are only eight total handicapped parking spaces for all us walking wounded. Odd.
• 8:30 am: Col checks into the Dr. G suite. Appointments secretary is first to say it: "You're walking! You look so good!" Extra bonus points: "Great cane!"
• 8:45 am: Glow-in-the-dark time. Nurse Gina: "You're walking! Look at you!" Col stumps into x-ray and has the customary three-shot. X-ray tech is taken aback at not having to give instructions on how to turn and position.
• 9:00 am: Photo op over; Col installed in spacious corner room with my cell phone and the latest New Yorker from home. Waiting for Dr. G.
• 9:10 am: Waiting for Dr. G.
• 9:20 am: Waiting for Dr. G.
• 9:30 am: The door opens and ... Dr. G. Col waits for the orthogroupies to enter but ... what is this?! Dr. G is ... ALONE!
• 9:31 am: Dr. G shakes hands and then goes *right* for the cane. "This is great," he says as he lifts, twirls, weighs and inspects. "WHERE did you get this?"
• 9:45 am: Col shows off new walking tricks, and then movesthe x-ray which shows some foot bones have fused -- nothing too serious but does mean some reduced mobility. All looks good otherwise. PT is perscribed @ 2x/week for one more month, then 1ce/wk for one month, then done. Footwear is discussed, and Dr. G extends handicapped parking permit, signs a waver to get Col back to the gym (WOOT!) and perscribes compression socks. With the wearing of said-socks, Col isnow officially 98 years old.
• 9:50 am: Dr. G and Col talk about the value of patience, and he begins the customary twirl out the door -- but with a joke (!) about next time Col seeshim, putting the cane up for sale on E-bay ... or not, because it IS a cool cane. And then he's gone, on to the next. A note: explore gifts for Dr. G involving a flame motif.
• 10:10 am: Col finally at work. Blood test results: 2.3 PT/INR. Ladies and gentlemen, we have FINALLY reached therapeutic levels! And a double WOOT!
• 10:11 am - 5 pm: Slavery.
• 5:00 pm: Off to PT.

Iron Man

First of all, in the spirit of full disclosure: I love Robert Downey Jr. He was astounding in Less Than Zero , Chaplin,Natural Born Killers and hell, even Ally McBeal; when he's on the screen he's just riveting and tragic and amazing and funny and moving. And also, if I'm being honest, hot as all get-out. Whatever else you want to say about the man and his many trials, he's always been just a top-notch actor, and that hasn't changed.

All that said, my love of the man notwithstanding, I went to see Iron Man last night and here's the truth: it was seriously a kick-ass movie. The explosions were nice and all -- lots, and bright with booms and bangs and fire and whatnot -- but what really made the movie was the intelligence, humor and characters. Downey's Stark is a total charming bastard -- not mean, but completely into his own head and life, to the exclusion of connections with anyone else. However, you just can't help but like him. At first he's glib and fast-talking, but then (as you know if you know ANYthing about the genesis of Iron Man) he's captured and suddenly ...


It's an interesting story about redemption, about life-changing moments and finding connection and clarity in a world that doesn't offer it easily. Downey has great chemistry with his supporting cast (I even liked Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, and I NEVER expected that), the dialogue is fresh and funny (apparently director Jon Favreau let his cast ad lib quite a bit in-character -- a choice that pays off nicely), and well, Downey is in a tight, sweaty tank top a lot. In summary: this is a movie worth spending your $8.50 (US) on. I highly recommend.

Oh, and a hint if you DO go: the credits are really quite long but if you're a geek like me I strongly, strongly, STRONGLY recommend you stick it out to the end. That is all.