ski beech mtn pond skimming 3/15/09

Sonny boy at :35 and 2:05

Slumdog Millionaire

I finally got around to seeing Slumdog Millionaire yesterday. I have been reading reviews since last fall, but was afraid it would just be too depressing. And then the commercials kept saying, "Feel good movie of the year." It's not a feel good movie. It deals with the reality of how countless children around the world are living each day - in slums, on their own, trying to find some way to survive, hanging on to any amount of hope available.

This is one of the best movies I have seen in years. It truly deserved every Oscar it won last week. It is a movie that was perfectly made to reflect the global world in which we live today - one where poverty and violence is pervasive, but yet there is still this need for hope no matter how outlandish it may seem (like winning a game show). The movie does an excellent job of telling its story - it slides between the improbable game show, the disbelief and torture, and the story of this young man who never gives up (as represented beautifully in the childhood outhouse scene, incidentally, one of the funniest scenes I have witnessed in a while).

The actors are excellent. The children are so winning, and Dev Patel as adult Jamal is so powerful and understated. Yet, its the story and the city itself - representative of our world - that is truly the story. In the midst of hell and death, there is always hope.

My grade - A

Be careful with passwords...

Sonny Boy, Princess, and I are all on Facebook. My mom (Goggy) is as well. The kids can be on Facebook as long as I am their friend. They are also friends with their Goggy and other assorted family friends. Sonny Boy has a habit of asking the computer to remember him and his password, even when he is at his Grandparents' home. Goggy has had a devil of a time trying to get the computer to remember her, and not Sonny Boy, when she logs on to Facebook. So - she decided she would just be Sonny Boy yesterday, and wrote on his status - "Sonny Boy is listening to the Jonas Brothers."

One of the best laughs I have had in a while....

Happy Chinese New Year!

Princess dancing a traditional Chinese Folk Dance...

Dr. Joseph Lowery delivers Inauguration Benediction for Barack Obama

one of the best prayers I have heard in a while...

Lily Allen - The Fear (Clean Version)

Princess as Personal Trainer

Like most of us after the holidays, Hubby has a few extra pounds right now. It's not really that much, and thanks to his quite fortunate genetic make-up, any extra pounds always come off fairly easily. A few years ago he enjoyed holiday food so much that on Jan 3 he popped the button on three straight pair of pants as he was getting dressed for work. I laughed my head off and took to calling him Fat Boy for about a week. I would hear him rumbling around in the kitchen in the evenings, and say, "Hey, Fat Boy! Whatcha looking for in there?" Of course, the pants all fit fine after a few days of watching his diet and exercising a bit more, so the nickname was history, and I reverted back to the ol' standby, "Old Man."

I chose not to make any reference to the belly in recent days, but Princess has really noticed. She is not pleased at all with the way he looks. She has fussed at him about his diet, and then drawn up a rather extensive chart for an exercise regime. She has to initial when he has completed some activity. She even made him take a fast walk in a hail storm a couple days ago. Gillian - move over. This personal trainer looks like the toughest of them all!

(and yes, for all you men reading out there - I am well aware that Hubby could never, ever make a reference to my weight and hope to live. But as my mom always told me, life's not fair.)