So much has happened, yet nothing has changed

There have been lots of parties, lots of pregnancies, lots of babies. Lots of changes with my job, but still at the same place. I still can't hold my drink. I still watch too much TV, especially in the morning when I should be going to work. Like this morning: I was about to finally get off the couch, and then I came across an episode of Reno 911! with Kenny Rogers guest starring, and I just had to watch.

I'm old.
One of my old babysitting charges, a girl who was born on my 13th birthday, is graduating from high school this month. And my oldest nephew is graduating from the eighth grade.

Recently Watched: Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Savages, Educating Rita, The Lookout, No Country for Old Men, The Red Balloon, Michael Clayton, Sweeney Todd, Charlie Wilson's War, Pierrepoint
Just Saw in the Theater: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (see below)
Totally Into Now: Flight of the Conchords
Need to See: Son of Rambow, When Did You Last See Your Father?

Next Stop: Knowledge
* In 1972 the Wings recorded a song called "Give Ireland Back to the Irish"
* There is a group of female DJs in England called the Shellac Sisters who use hand-crank gramophones.
* There was a late 60s show called The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, and its theme song, "The Tra-La-La Song," was sampled by Bob Marley in "Buffalo Soldier."
* The Sacred Harp Singers performed the song "I'm Going Home" in the movie Cold Mountain. I am totally into this now.
* A quire is 25 sheets of paper, or 1/20 of a ream.
* The state song of California is "I Love You California"

Hits and Misses of the Last Year:

Indiana Jones: It's a rare treat when Andrew will go to the movies with me, and we had been looking forward to the revival of one of our favorite movie series for awhile (and had enjoyed the numerous trilogy marathons on the Sci Fi channel), but sadly, the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a major disappointment. I wasn't expecting it to be fantastic, but I thought it would be at least true to the series. But when even I am rolling my eyes, shifting in my seat, and laughing at things that are supposed to be serious, then you know it's bad, Mystery Science Theater bad. I tried to play devil's advocate and asked myself, was this plot/acting/dialogue really any more far-fetched than the wrath of God emerging from a thousands-of-years-old gold box and vaporizing Nazis? Any more ridiculous than people falling out of an airplane, inflating a life raft in mid-air, and landing on a mountain slope without injury? Hand through chest and pulling out beating heart? A 700-year-old knight?? Faces melting after choosing poorly??? Well, the answer was yes. On the plus side, Shia LaBeouf just keeps getting cuter.

Mini Road Trip, Memorial Day Weekend 2008: My sister (who is currently a lady of leisure) and I took a whirlwind trip up to Oregon. We drove up to Cottage Grove on Friday where a delicious homemade dinner was waiting for us, courtesy of my friends, the cutest family I know. On Saturday, we took a day trip up to Portland for the obligatory visit to Powell's and had a nice dinner at DeSchutes Brewery. On the way home, we stopped for dessert and then stayed up too late laughing over grade school yearbooks. After a yummy homemade breakfast on Sunday, we headed down to Ashland where we drank more beer at The Black Sheep. My sister had booked us into the Columbia Hotel, which dates back to the 1910s and I think may have been a brothel in its early years. It's always an adventure when you've been drinking and the bathroom is down the hall. We dilly-dallied much too long on Monday morning (darn those shops that don't open until 10:30) and then hauled ass back home. Good times.

Auditioning for Jeopardy: I took the online test (with Andrew's help) in January and a couple of weeks later I got an email invitation to audition down in LA in March! A good enough as any reason for a road trip, so we drove down on a Friday and stayed three nights in the hotel where the audition was being held. The audition was at 11:00 on Saturday. I had some idea of what to expect from various stories I found online. When I arrived at the banquet room and checked in at the folding table outside the door, I was given a form to fill out, and I joined the others sitting on the floor in the hallway. The only evidence that I was at the right place was the Jeopardy pen I was given to keep. They took polaroid photos of everyone and then let us into the room. There were about 25 of us and we sat at tables. At the front of the room were several people sitting at a table with a laptop. The two emcees introduced themselves and took turns giving us background schpiel. We watched a "behind-the-scenes" explanatory video, practiced answering questions by raising our hands, and then took a 50-question written test. This was the part I had been nervous about, because according to online reports, after they collect the tests only those who pass get to continue to the next part of the audition. Well, we all continued to the next part, so I don't know if that meant I passed (I would be surprised, because there were a lot of questions I guess on) or if so few of us failed that they didn't want to single us out. Either way, the next part was the mock game which is the whole reason why I went. They called us up in groups of 3, had us practice with the buzzers, then put a question grid up on the screen for us to choose from. The buzzing in wasn't real; the emcee was looking at a box that lit up when we buzzed but she made sure that everone got to answer an equal amount. She also took notes and made suggestions like "more energy" or "a little quicker next time." Aftter 5 or 10 minutes of the game, we set down our buzzers and then had a one-on-one Q&A session with the emcee. I thought I did ok, talked about Disneyland and children's books, and then it was time to go. They didn't tell us our scores or anything, just said you'll hear from us if you made it. Well, I haven't heard, so I guess I didn't make it.
We spent the rest of that weekend exploring the LA area - had dinner in Santa Monica, drove through Venice, spent all day Sunday at the Getty Center which was a blast, and met up with some friends. I even got to see Doc Brown's house from Back to the Future!

Disneyland, Labor Day Weekend 2007: The heat, my God, the heat. This was the first time in several years that it was just the two of us. The downside: At 110 degrees in the shade, I was soaked with sweat before getting to the main gate. The plus side: The heat kept people away. We had never seen the park so empty, relatively speaking, and we were able to just "walk on" many rides. The downside of that: By the afternoon of the 2nd day, we had done everything we wanted to do and were kind of feeling like we could wait more than a year before coming back again. Other bummers: We had been looking forward to the new Nemo ride they created out of the old submarine ride, but it was a dud. Also, we had a 3-day pass that was supposed to include early entry into the park on one of the days. Well we waited until the 3rd day before trying it, and that happened to be a day when there was no early entry. I was irked. And the gallery was closed!
The disappointment of our last trip to Disneyland has been enhanced by our friends' consistent good luck at the happiest place on Earth. Fanatics to the core, they go just about every other month, and every time they go they manage to get dream fastpasses, break the high score on Buzz Lightyear, etc. And just last month? They were picked to spend the night in the dream suite and be honorary grand marshalls in the parade. That's right, they spent the night inside the park. Lucky so-and-sos!

Fiddle lessons: Oh me. Oh my. So last summer I finally got off my ass and rented a fiddle. (Yes, in reality is was a violin; there is actually no difference between a fiddle and violin except the type of music you play on it.) I found a gal over the Internet who gives lessons in her home. I learned the proper finger formation, how to loosen and tighten the strings, and how to (sort of) read the notes. I took a grand total of two lessons and performed "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" for my parents. Ta dah! And then the fiddle sat in its case for a period of months before I finally admitted that I wasn't going to follow through with it and I took it back to the shop. I cried of course. Hello, my name is Runamok, and I never follow through.