Every Weekend is a Three-Day Weekend When You’re Unemployed

Song Lyric of the Day:

Take the last train to Clarksville / And I’ll meet you at the station

The Monkees / “Last Train to Clarksville”

7:00PM.
I got back from Clarksville at around 12PM today. Yesterday afternoon, Vanessa and I drove Ken to meet a coworker who would then drive them to the airport for their business trip. Unfortunately, Ken had been sick since Saturday, so he was looking worse for wear before even leaving for the trip. After seeing Ken off and wishing him a safe, hopefully healthier, trip, Vanessa and I headed for lunch at Chili’s. After lunch, we went to Best Buy (again), Sam’s Club, and Target. Vanessa informed me that Best Buy does price-matching, so now I have to find who has the cheapest price for DVD box sets I want to buy with the gift cards I received for my birthday. We got back to the house and finished watching “Valentine” from the night before. Vanessa then took a nap while I watched “Saturday Night Live;” I Tivo’d it since Steve Carell was the host. I thought the season premiere was pretty good, although they should have used Steve Carell more; he’s a really good host.

Once Vanessa woke up, I made Szechuan-Italian chicken for dinner, and we hunkered down to watch yet another horror movie, the German “Anatomie.” Paula Henning (Franka Potente) is accepted into the prestigious Heidelberg Medical School; she is excited at the opportunity to do more than work for her father’s private practice. On the train to the school, she meets Gretchen (Anna Loos), also on her way to Heidelberg. They decide to become roommates and shortly afterward end up saving a young man’s life. Once they arrive at the school, Paula becomes suspicious when the young man whose life they saved on the train ends up on their dissection table in Anatomy class. She soon uncovers a secret Antihippocratic society that believes still-living subjects make their research more effective–the work the society does is akin to the travelling Body Worlds art exhibit. Paula finds herself in mortal danger as the body count continues to rise around her. “Anatomie” had quite a few scares and created a real feeling of dread for Paula; would she survive to expose the society? Were any of her classmates in the society? Would they stop their “research?” While a couple of questions were not satisfactorily explained, the movie managed to keep us guessing and on the edge of our seats. Be warned, though–it is not for the faint of heart. The models used for cadavers are unsettingly realistic.

I slept better last night than I did Saturday night, so I was pretty refreshed when I woke up this morning. After hanging out a bit more with Vanessa, I followed her out of the neighborhood, and she went on her way to work while I headed home. I’m happy to have finally seen where my baby sister lives and hope to visit her and Ken again soon.

The drive home was uneventful, with me loudly singing along (cue Rich cringing) to Green Day, Moby, The Killers, Coldplay, Linkin Park, and Supreme Beings of Leisure, among others. You know, the usual suspects that can be found in the Xterra’s CD changer.

I was surprised to find Rich still at home when I got here. Turns out he was feeling a bit under the weather and changed the days he’d be working on site this week for a freelance client. We soon headed out to Best Buy (AGAIN), where I let Rich spend our Reward Zone certificates however he wanted (hello, wireless PS2 controllers). We then went next door to Mom’s movie theater to see “Corpse Bride.”

A stop-motion animated movie, “Corpse Bride” is a retelling of a Russian folk tale. Victor Van Dort (voiced by Johnny Depp) is set to marry Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson). Victor is afraid that he and Emily will not like each other. Their marriage has been arranged in the hopes of keeping the once-wealthy Everglot family financially afloat with help from the nouveau riche Van Dort family. Despite hitting it off with the lovely Emily, Victor finds himself repeatedly fumbling his marriage vows during the rehearsal. He runs away and finds himself in the forest, where he practices his vows over and over, until he finally gets them right. Unfortunately, when he does get them right, he puts the wedding ring meant for Emily on a twig that turns out to be the skeletal finger of the murdered Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham Carter). Victor and his new bride then travel to the Land of the Dead where she wants to celebrate her marriage. It turns out that the Corpse Bride was once engaged and on the verge of marrying when she was murdered in the forest in which Victor found her. Victor convinces her to travel back to the Land of the Living where he hopes to reconnect with Emily. Once the denizens of the Land of the Dead meet up with the Land of the Living, a startling revelation is made about the Corpse Bride’s murder. The beauty of the movie is that both of Victor’s loves are truly likable; while you know that he can only be with one, you feel sad for the one he cannot choose. As Tim Burton‘s previous stop-motion animation production, “The Nightmare Before Christmas was,” the film is visually stunning. The overall feel of the movie is an almost mournful one, creating a depressed Victorian England. The detail in the characters’ expressions, wardrobes, and movement, are amazing. However, the movie, while an animated one, is not truly for children. The dark nature of the story, of lost love and of a life lived in a state of fear, are very adult themes. However, even the most sensitive of children can probably appreciate the path Victor takes in learning how to stand up for himself and fight for what he truly wants.

10:05PM.
Holy cow! Three weeks?!? Three weeks?!? How am I supposed to wait three weeks for the next new episode of “Prison Break?” Escapist TV (literally) at its best, “Prison Break” has turned out to be a great, thrilling roller-coaster ride of a show. The riot Michael intentionally started on Sucre’s advice was impressive in its scope and overall destructiveness. Veronica and Nick are now in mortal danger as they inch closer to figuring out who framed Lincoln, and why. T-Bag killed the poor C.O. despite Lincoln and Michael’s threats. And now we’re left hanging for three weeks. Will Michael be able to pull off the escape plan by the end of the day? Will Dr. Tancredi figure out his true intentions? Will Veronica and Nick be any safer once they’re back in Chicago? What’s going to happen when the military enters the prison to restore order? And where, oh where, is Westmoreland’s cat? For anyone interested in catching up on this show from the beginning, FX is planning to air a “Prison Break” marathon on Sunday, October 23, from 12PM-7PM. So that’s your chance to catch up on all seven episodes so far. I know I’ll be watching to see what I may have missed during scenes where I had my eyes half-covered; the riot two-parter alone had too many “Oh, sh!t!” moments to count. And, of course, I could happily watch Wentworth Miller watching paint dry, so I’ll indulge in watching my fantasy second husband again. With Rich’s permission, of course. Ahem.

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