Green Day at the TU

NOTE: this picture is from the timesunion website.

Green day put on a fantastic show at the TU center. It was one of the best shows I have ever seen, in terms of big energy, big enthusiasm and big NOISE! Billie Joe is amazing - he really worked very hard - it was a non stop show that went on longer than I ever expected, and kept everyone on their feet for the entire time.

The Bravery opened the show, this was the last show for them on the tour, and there was all kinds of mayhem going on on the stage, like people dressed in animal costumes, and toilet paper flying everywhere. It was very funny, entertaining and certainly distracting to the band! I think they only ended up doing 4 songs!

This was well worth the money for this ticket, and there are few people I feel that way about now....

Good Fortunes

For a long time I have had a fortune from a cookie taped to the corner of my desk: Success will not attack you. You must attack it.

Then yesterday I got this one: Success is on its way to you.

Does this mean I can stop attacking and just sit back and relax? Or is it giving me a warning so that I can ambush success when it gets here? Catch it when it's not looking? I'll let you know how it goes.....

Of course, I still have the best fortune (ever) hanging on the fridge: Your lover will never wish to leave.  Ok, so we all know how that turned out, but still...

Dutchess County Balloon Festival photos

I love balloons.

From netflix - Everything is Illuminated

This movie is so great. I have seen it before and had to see it again to know if it was still relevant to me, which it is. Quirky characters, good acting, and premium story. Greatest line:

I have reflected many times upon our rigid search. It has shown me that everything is illuminated in the light of the past. It is always along the side of us, on the inside, looking out. Like you say, inside out. Jonathan, in this way, I will always be along the side of your life. And you will always be along the side of mine.

How to be Lost by Amanda Eyre Ward

This was the June selection of the new ladies book club. If it wasn't for the book club, I never would have read this book. I thought the writing was TERRIBLE, the characters not developed at all, just surface people in a ridiculous story. I would not recommend this book to anyone, and I wonder who actually read it that made it a 'bestseller'. It was especially disappointing because I have been reading so many great books lately that I hate to waste my time reading crap.

Farmers' Markets

I love the farmers' markets. I have been so much more aware this year, and when the new one opened on Central Ave at the Linda, I made sure to get there. One week there was a guy with pea sprouts - ultra delish (I never even heard of them before) but haven't seen him since...still I make sure to go there every week - and then take a trip over to the Crossings. Two farms have vendors at both venues, but there are lots more things to try and some weeks one place has items that the other one doesn't. So far we've had lettuce, spinach, fresh baguettes, strawberries, raspberries, radishes, turnips (ewww) peas, fresh mozzarella, asparagus, cider donuts, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, zuchinni, summer squash, and the world's most delicious sticky buns from the Amish family.

birthday boot from Wolff's

I love Wolff's Biergarten. In addition to the great ambience of the place (picnic tables and peanut shells on the floor, hanging lights and a giant tree) and the wurst and schnitzel, they have rocking German bier. On your birthday, they give you this giant 2 Liter boot filled with delicious bier. Hmmm, it really was totally delicious, but....it may have killed my appetite to sample another beer till my next birthday... that was A LOT of bier, (but it also was a LOT of fun!)

From netflix - Garden State

This is another movie I just finally got around to seeing. Zach Braff was the writer/director/star of this film. Very introspective. Getting over the crap of the past and choosing to live.

"It's like you feel homesick for a place that doesn't even exist"

From netflix - Milk

OK, so I am totally late to see this movie. Finally watched it and was just totally blown away by how good it was. Sean Penn absolutely deserved that Oscar. What really struck me though was that it has been 30 years since Harvey Milk was killed, and yet the same human rights issues are still being fought. It was only last year that Prop. 8, which outlawed gay marriage, was voted on by the people AND PASSED. It is just ludicrous that "Anita Bryant" still lives on...

Little Children by Tom Perrotta

This book was the June Selection for the other book club - I found it very interesting, well written and thought the characters were fairly familiar. It is about people... families, parenting, relationships, marriage, and throw in a child molester to really shake things up. This book was made into a movie (but I never saw it). I do like the way Tom Perrotta writes, I think his characters are pretty true to life - I had previously read "The Abstinence Teacher" and liked that one as well.

From netflix - Rails and Ties

Rails and Ties was one of those dramas that was ok while you were watching it , but didn't challenge you in any way, or stick with you much once it was over. Completely forgettable except for one or two scenes...I didn't realize till after that this movie was the directorial debut of Alison Eastwood, Clint's daughter.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I read this for the May book club - and let me say that I loved this book. It is set in Germany during WWII, and upon starting the first chapter, I wondered if I really wanted to read this...but the more I read, the more I liked it...the characters were deep and beautiful, and the writing itself was wonderful and rich. It was a fantastic story of human relationships, of course a very serious and tragic story, but not depressing actually. This book has been on the NYT bestseller list, in the Young Adult category. I loved it, and although had an emotional meltdown of sobbing in the last chapters, did not feel sad at the end of the story. I recommend this book wholeheartedly.

From netflix - Catch and Release

This was a pretty enjoyable drama - Jennifer Garner plays the main character, whose fiance dies, (the wedding day turns into the day of his funeral)- and follows her struggle as she finds out that she didn't really know him as well as she thought. I only know Jennifer Garner from 13 going on 30, so I wasn't sure what to think but she was pretty good in this role. There is a scene where she is sitting in her wedding dress and thinking about life...Juliette Lewis was also really good in this movie. The one character I didn't like was Kevin Smith - he was like a cartoonish buffoon - was it written that way or should he just stay Silent?

My Life in Ruins

Saw this last week at the Spectrum with M. It was like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" sort of, only "lite' style, and without the wedding... enjoyable enough, but completely forgettable. Nice to see Richard Dreyfuss in this film though, and I do like Nia Vardalos.

Whatever Works 7/3/09

This came out today, the new Woody Allen film with Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood. Saw it at the Spectrum with M and liked it a lot. Interesting perspective about the randomness of connecting and clicking, kind of like M and I. Coffee afterwards at the Ultraviolet.

From netflix - Waitress

I love this movie. I think it is so funny, sad, uplifting, heartbreaking, all in a little cute film. Here is the greatest line:


Dear Baby, I hope someday somebody wants to hold you for 20 minutes straight and that's all they do. They don't pull away. They don't look at your face. They don't try to kiss you. All they do is wrap you up in their arms and hold on tight, without an ounce of selfishness in it.

The first time I saw this movie, that part just made me sob. I guess I was feeling unloved that day.