Monday, July 06, 2009

Almost Nothing

Am not yet feeling 100% but am definitely feeling a *lot* better this morning. This weekend was very quiet. Was supposed to enjoy birthday drinks with @RubyLetters, but sadly ended up working till 19h30 and was just too exhausted and by that stage the night had brought my unwellness back on (you know, you feel fine during midday hours, but mornings and evenings are the pits!) so we didn't end up going. Instead Varen (who also worked late) brought take-out to my office and sat and ate with me till I was done and then we both headed home and watched some series.

On Saturday we didn't get out of our PJs till about 3pm. It was fantastic :) We watched series the entire morning and most of the afternoon. We let the bunnies run around and they were crazy buggers all day! Since Lily had not yet had any babies by Saturday we let her out with the other two and decided she & Coal could now occupy the big hutch and Rex, who has clearly figured out his role as a boy now (hopefully too little too late!!!) will be in the small hutch for the next few weeks (it takes a month before we can safely say there's no chance of him making the girls pregnant). Unfortunately on Saturday morning Coal went into nesting mode. She was collecting grass in her mouth from the garden and racing back to one of the nest boxes in the hutch with it. She started pulling fur again yesterday evening but so far we don't seem to have any babies (keeping my finger's crossed that these girls are just trying to show their readiness and are not actually preggers!).

Then Varen & I decided it was high time to get up and do something with our Saturday. And we were hungry and I was craving panzerotti :) So I took him to the original Giovanni's (you know the one, on Rivonia Road just passed Sandton Drive). Unfortunately it doesn't seem like non-mall restaurants are open before 6pm in Joeys. So we went and hung out at Sandton for half an hour or so before heading back for dinner. It was exactly what I wanted :) But I'll have to agree with Varen and say they are exorbitantly expensive. But their portion sizes are huge, I've never finished a pasta there. I dunno, me I prefer a smaller portion with a smaller price ... except when it comes to a pasta, cause it makes for great left overs :) Varen wasn't overly impressed with his meal but absolutely *loved* their tiramisu. Me, I don't understand tiramisu.

After that we decided to watch a movie (there's only so much series a person can watch in one day!). Ideally I want to see Ice Age 3 in 3D, which is showing at Sandton but a) was sold out and b) it's the opening weekend ... can you imagine the kiddy-rush? and I don't like to share my cinema with people at the best of times. So instead we headed to our old faithful, Brightwater, because generally there's no one else there. Sadly that was not the case on Saturday night and although our cinema was far from full, the people who were there were in full chetterbox mode. So so so annoying. Please, I beg you, Ster Kinekor & Nu Metro, could you do me a *huge* favour and install headphone jacks into each seat. That way I could bring my own headphones and enjoy a movie on the big screen without interruption. I really think it's the best way forward, how did they not think of this already?! I'm sure I've mentioned it before. Anyhoo, we watched Knowing.

A gripping action-thriller of global proportions about a professor who stumbles upon terrifying predictions about the future and sets out to prevent them from coming true.

In 1958, as part of the dedication ceremony for a new elementary school, a group of students is asked to draw pictures to be stored in a time capsule. But, one mysterious girl fills her sheet of paper with rows of apparently random numbers instead. Fifty years later, a new generation of students examines the capsule's contents and the girl's cryptic message ends up in the hands of young boy. His father, professor John Koestler, makes the startling discovery that the encoded message predicts - with pinpoint accuracy - the dates, death tolls and coordinates of every major disaster of the past 50 years.

Okay, I shoulda listened to Mark Kermode. This was utter crap. It started out nicely enough but the ending, whoa, the ending. What a steaming pile. I'm not going to give it away, but really ... okay, I'll give you a giant hint. Remember the way Midnight (cmon folks, his name is M. Night ... what else could it stand for ;) ) messed up Signs? It's *exactly* like that.

On Sunday we went and got our week's grocery shopping out of the way and then BrotherZion came over and we went for lunch at Cappello's in Greenside. The food was nice, Varen ordered particularly well. I had my "ye olde favourite", Chicken Trinchado. Which was average. It was more the way I like it than some of the Cappello's I've been to, but not off-the-wall the best. Cappello's is one "chain" restaurant that I've found to be pretty damn inconsistent meal-wise across their branches. Perhaps it's just the Trinchado?

And then we went home and settled in for the afternoon with some movies while the boons enjoyed an afternoon of run-around time :) They were much more back to their normal selves on Sunday. We watched Leatherheads and then The Bucket List.

Clooney plays Jimmy "Dodge" Connelly, captain of a struggling professional American football team in the 1920s (circa 1925), the Duluth Bulldogs. Dodge is determined to save both his team and pro football in general when the players lose their sponsor and the league is on the brink of collapse. He convinces a college football star, Carter "the Bullet" Rutherford, to join the Bulldogs, hoping to capitalize on Carter's fame as a decorated hero of the First World War (like Alvin York, he single-handedly captured a large group of German soldiers).

In addition to his legendary tales of combat heroism, Carter has dashing good looks and unparalleled speed and skill on the field. As a result of his presence, both the Bulldogs and pro football in general begin to prosper.

This was a fun movie. I enjoy George Clooney and will say that he & Brad Pitt excel in those leather-clad bike-riding scenes ;) Renee Zelwegger was looking her usual pinched self and definitely fits right in in the 1920s. I liked it, even tho it was a football movie ... luckily it wasn't too much of a football movie. I'm fascinated tho, how did American Football and Rugby converge or split ... which was around first? It's so weird if you think about it that they have the same goal-poles. I'm guessing they must've started together as one sport and diverge on the rules. I may have to look it up now :)

Blue-collar mechanic Carter Chambers and billionaire hospital magnate Edward Cole meet for the first time in the hospital after both have been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. They become friends as they undergo their respective treatments. Carter is a gifted amateur historian and family man who had wanted to become a history professor, but in his youth had been "broke, black, and with a baby on the way", and thus never rose above his job at the McCreath body shop. Edward is a four-time divorced healthcare tycoon and cultured loner who enjoys nothing more than tormenting his personal valet/servant, Matthew, whom he calls Thomas. He makes Matthew serve Carter as well as him and orders his employee and doctor to familiarize himself with Carter's health.

Carter begins writing a "bucket list," or things to do before he "kicks the bucket." After hearing he has less than a year, Carter wads it up and tosses it on the floor. Edward finds it the next morning. He urges Carter to do everything on the list (suggesting he add things like skydiving) and offers to finance the trip.

I've been meaning to watch this since it came out, especially since I like to have my own Life List staring me in the face on my blog, reminding me what I'd like to get done. It was fabulously cast and I enjoyed it :)

Other than that, I made my yummy Ostrich Chili Soup for dinner and that was the weekend.

4 comments:

AngelConradie said...

Ah. The joys of restaurants and movies during the school holidays!

AngelConradie said...

And Glugs and I were as sick as dogs and didn't make it to Ruby's birthday party either...
:(

Tamara said...

Missed you on Fri!

I surprised myself by enjoying Leatherheads too. Thanks for the warning on the latest in a long series of Nicholas Cage disasters.

Your earphone jack idea is the best thing ever.

Anonymous said...

i also unfortunately missed ruby's party, seeing that my brother who i've seen once in 20 years, was in town for 2 days and i'd in any case triple booked myself for friday night. damn!
that chili soup of yours sounds so good. i have to try it sometime soon!

Blog Widget by LinkWithin