The photos with this post are from my mother’s funeral service. They were all taken by Chris. They cover both before and after mom’s funeral service at San Carlos, the subsequent internment ceremony and the luncheon afterwards, at Tarpy’s. They somehow seem to be from much longer ago, then just last week.
Other than traveling a lot in the intervening days, I have also been spending a fair amount of my time watching movies. I have just subscribed to Netflix’s online movie service, for $7.99/month. In Netflix’s online service there is neither the breath nor depth of quality in the movie selections that are available through Netflix’s traditional mail order system, and many of the available titles are way too schlocky for even my B-movie tastes. Even so, there is more than enough fare online that I have been willing to watch. So much so, that I fear that I have found my newest time waster. Anne has watched a couple of the movies with me, but prefers the TV and the couch, over watching video on the computer.
It is after Memorial Day and Anne is out of school for the summer. So, it is officially summertime. In addition to vacation there is also the seasonal activity of summer movies. With Hollywood’s current love affair with franchise movie making, in particular comic book based franchises; the lure of the summer block buster has begun to wane for me. There is one movie debuting this summer that does look intriguing, Cowboys and Aliens. Staring Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig, this movie looks to be a rip-roaring western. After viewing the new trailer, it appears that this western film has eschewed the politically correct and sometimes problematic dilemma posed with the portrayal of Indians, ah Native Americans, by replacing them with space aliens, but still keeping the cowboys.
Before my mother got too sick to enjoy watching movies, I would sometimes bring along a DVD to share. It was either that or watching endless reruns of The Rockford Files. Usually, my offerings struggled as much as Jim Rockford ever did. One notable exception and one of the last DVDs that I shared was, Little Miss Sunshine. This offbeat comedy about a dysfunctional family really struck a chord. Mom thought that it was a hilarious movie and was laughing uproariously until its end. In line with the selction for Netflix’s online, Little Miss Sunshine is not available, but season one of The Rockford Files is available.
Happy Vacation!
I am positively jealous.
Although part of me would just like to have the hours available to get the work done that I want to get done, instead of getting the work done that others request.
Jay,
Since I am out of school, I’ve been working on the summer spreadsheet. I probably will send it out this weekend, once Mark answers some questions I have. I don’t feel like I’m really on vacation until I see the Arch in the rear-view mirror, but that’s a quibble.
I just ordered the entire series of “Firefly” and its subsequent movie “Serenity”. Frankly, “Cowboys and Aliens” is probably a rip-off of “Firefly”‘s concept (without my knowing anything about “C&A” at all :-p) because “Firefly” is done as a sort-of space travel Western… it’s beautifully written and produced and it is very sad that it got canned before it should have, while other, truly awful (can we say “2-1/2 Men”???) sitcoms are allowed to linger on life support for too many years after the pilot.
I love Firefly too, and we had the DVD series around here, but it has since disappeared. Round up the usual suspects! The year Serenity came out, Dan had a Serenity themed Christmas. OBTW, Firefly is available on Netflix. Firefly is a western themed Sci-Fi series, but it doesn’t hold the patent on this sub-genre. Firefly is like the old TV series Wagon Train, where the supposed movement of the show facilitated the steady renewal of visiting characters. I hope that Cowboys and Aliens have chosen a slightly different sub-genre.