That's Entertainment!

Film

Mr. Fixit and I watched “Avatar” yesterday. I was a bit surprised. We both liked it. Mr. Fixit usually hates fantasy, but he enjoyed this one. I thought I would have the same reaction to this one as I had to “E.T.” when it was in theaters years ago. Everyone thought it was W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L. I thought of it as a nice little Disney type film. I’m afraid that I have a new phobia besides my fear of heights. Every time someone lay in the pods, I became a little nauseated when they closed the top. I probably only actually watch 60% of the movie because of the flying and the running in the trees at great heights.

I also watched “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” using the Netflix “Watch Now” feature on the computer. I don’t usually watch movies streamed on the computer because the film always stops several times for buffering which is so aggravating. This was the first time I had been able to sit through a foreign language film with subtitles. It was very interesting, but there were several graphic, disturbing scenes. There was an unexpected ending; at least for me, it was unexpected. I still haven’t decided to read the book. Sometimes it seems to me that books that have been translated from their original language could have been changed from what the author was trying to say. I know, it’s goofy of me, but I always wonder if the translation carries the same emotion as the original. Is Shakespeare in Japanese the same as it is in English?

Books
I read 9 Dragons by Michael Connelly. I wasn’t sure I would like this one, but as usual, Mr. Connelly nailed it. I do think that his main character Harry Bosch is getting to be a little long in the tooth. The character talks about being in Hong Kong 40 years ago on R & R when he was serving in Viet Nam. He's still able to shoot, fight, run, jump, climb and raise a 13-year-old daughter. Is that an agist thing to say?

Radio
Today I visited several old time radio sites to download a few old radio shows. I included several episodes of “Phillip Marlowe,” “Nero Wolfe,”, “Nick Carter,” “Barry Craig,” and “The Falcon.” I then put them on the MP3 player to listen to in the car or at night. There is an unexpected benefit from listening to these old shows at night, in bed, in the dark. Perhaps because even though I am hearing about murder, crime, and mayhem, it takes me back to a more innocent time, and I sleep the sleep of the innocents. That is to say, sometimes I fall asleep five minutes after  the beginning of the show and remain asleep for as long as the shows are on. I always wake up when the list is exhausted and music starts to play. It a nice cure for my insomnia. I have been sleeping as long as two hours at the time. I have been feeling so much better.

I was a little busy today getting Mr. Fixit ready to go on vacation. He’s leaving tomorrow. He’s going to meet some of his family in Connecticut. I didn’t realize flying had become so complicated and expensive. There are extra fees for luggage (he’s only taking a backpack), he had to get his boarding pass himself online, and, of course, there are rules about what you may carry. I liked it better when you could go to your travel agent and let them handle everything, and no cared if you checked bags or if you carried a bottle of shampoo.

After I take him to the airport tomorrow, I'm going to stop at the library so I'll have something to do while he's gone. I'm also going to watch movies, do a little needlework, and continue working on my yard sale stuff. And that's my vacation.