Movies and such

I went to see Michael Clayton yesterday. I hadn't intended to because my weekend was already busy. But I changed my mind. It was pretty good actually. Not all good, but pretty good. George Clooney? Good. Very good.

So now, if I wish to see all the nominated movies (which I sometimes do but never on purpose) I'd need to see Juno and Atonement. I don't have much desire to see Atonement. I read the book and I wasn't a fan (which was not the popular vote in my book club, but there was just something about it that kept me from even finishing). I know the story enough to know I don't want to see it on the big screen, Keira Knightley bugs me, and I'm just not up for a romance. Juno I was very interested in seeing. Now I'm only sort of interested in seeing. I think maybe the problem is I saw No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood already, and those movies are so good that it's like, why bother? And they're more my style of movie. Dark, brooding, interesting odd characters. And I adore the Coen brothers and PT Anderson. So it's sort of a tough call. Juno is playing very near my house, so maybe I'll just go. It also has that Michael Cera, who knocked my socks off in Arrested Development. If you haven't seen that show, you should. I have all the DVDs and I absolutely love it. It's just so clever. And he was one of my favorite parts about the entire series.

I also watched a DVD I got from Netflix. It was the Mystery Science Theater version of Giant Spider Invasion (a 1975 movie filmed entirely in Wisconsin!) and that had me cracking up. It had Alan "The Skipper" Hale in it. He was the sheriff and they kept showing him fielding phone calls, so they started chiming in as he'd answer the phone. So the phone rings, he picks it up and instead of saying "hello" Crow says "Pork vacuum!" or "Doughy has-been!" Probably doesn't translate well here, but cripes that's some funny stuff. I love that whole concept. They're so clever and quick.

My favorite MST line ever came from Space Travellers. I laughed about it for days. In the movie Richard Crenna, Gene Hackman and James Franciscus are stranded in space. The only way they'll have enough oxygen to get back to earth is if they have only 2 passengers, not 3. So Houston gives them that message, and they'll have to decide for themselves who gets the boot. So Crow says "Well, I vote for old zeppelin-lungs Hackman." Oh my God, it still makes me laugh out loud.

Anyway, in spite of being super busy, I was able to get in some entertainment too.

Saturday I helped out at the Green Acres booth at the Pet Expo. I tell you, that thing just gets bigger and bigger every year. But it's always fun, even though you sit there all day nodding and smiling and listening to the same stories. People are so sweet, you know? They just want to share. And the sentiment is usually "Boxers are the greatest dogs" and it's not like I'd argue with them.

At this event there are just so many people and so many dogs, and so many places who are out there doing animal rescue (none as well as GABR, and I'm not just saying that because my GABR friends might be reading; I firmly believe that this group is one of, if not the best run in the area and beyond). It just warms my heart. And oh there were some beautiful dogs. As I was leaving the place was really clearing out fast, and a woman walked past me with the hugest Alaskan Malamute I have ever seen. This thing was the size of a pony. I also paid a couple bucks at the Boston terrier kissing booth. That brought back memories. My little Boston was the kissiest little thing and I loved her all to pieces.

I continued this dog-theme by watching copious amounts of the puppy bowl yesterday. I find it so enchanting that I'll often forget to look at the super bowl. We went to my mom's after the movie to ostensibly watch the game, but ended up watching puppies. And we also watched the entire kitty half time show (take that Tom Petty--and I like Tom Petty) because it was so adorable. That animal planet knows what the heck they're doing. I read an article in the Times and I guess that a lof of, if not the majority of the pups are rescue dogs of one type or another. That just warms my heart. And then of course they have to keep playing that Pedigree commercial with David Duchovny voicing over that sweet dog in the kennel and it makes me cry. How I wish I could help them all, but it's just not possible. Can't be done.

Then next week is the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. I do love watching that. I'm not about getting dogs from breeders or anything, but being in rescue I do like to know what I can about different breeds, temperaments, trends. All dogs are beautiful, and here you get to see the most stunning dogs.

Last year I did a pool for the show. It was actually quite fun. We (me and my friend John) had to be pretty mathematical about it. I mean, there are 7 groups, and odd numbers of dogs inside each group, and you want everyone to have the same number of picks of course, so we had to do some math. By we I mean John. but he figured it out and it was quite fun. I won $5 myself. I forget what the final payoff was.

Seriously, people around here will gamble on anything. Football, NCAA basketball championships, Project Runway, Amazing Race. Crazy!

OK, I've gone off on a tangent again so I'll wrap this up.