Boo!

I bought a new game for the Xbox…Fatal Frame II. This is a very scary game. No kidding. The lack of constant music and noise, the inability to control exactly what you look at, the ghosts…it’s simply spine tingling. The character can either walk or “run”—a dainty little runner she is—and wriggle free from the clutches of the ghost. It has the look and feel of Japanese horror films. I have to play with a light on.

I’m not someone who has a natural affinity for video games. It takes me a while to get the hang of the rules (mostly because I don’t want to bother reading the directions, I just plunge right in.) And even when I’ve started to get a feel for how the game works, I’m not a skillful player. I can be stuck on one section for days and days and days and days…which is probably a good way to save money.

So, I’m only on Chapter 2 of this game (which basically means that I’ve only accomplished one task.) and I’m good and stuck. And because I’m a little creeped out by it, I can’t seem to spend long hours attempting to pass this level. I’m a ‘fraidy cat. Yuppers, I am.

1995

I’ve been reading another Sarah Vowell book, Radio On.  A year’s worth of her radio observations.  

Does anyone remember what was happening in 1995?  A lot.  O.J. Simpson’s murder trial, the Unabomber, Oklahoma City, Waco hearings, Jerry Garcia died—and to read Ms. V’s comments on that, well it just made me smile to know that I wasn’t the only one who held such views regarding The Grateful Dead—Bosnia, we had an intelligent, articulate and seemingly interested in where THIS country was heading president, Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh was having a heyday…And I’ve only gotten through September.

It’s been a succession of “Omigosh.  That happened that year?”  Followed by a visceral memory of where I was when I heard whichever news it was for that day.  A trip down 1995 lane...

The Birds is Coming, The Birds is coming!

Last night there was a free showing of The Birds at a large neighborhood theatre. The Egyptian. One of those exotic locale theme based theatres left over from the beginnings of Hollywood. I’m sure there’s one in almost every state. I think I’ll google that later on…just for kicks. There’s on in Boise, Idaho. Only it is not as big as this one. Not too long ago I saw a little extra on a DVD about an Egyptian theatre in Hollywood and that was a movie experience. Huge palm trees and elaborate décor on the outside. King Tuts and Egyptian maidens in bas relief . Very fancy. Someone was filming people coming and going in that slightly too fast jerky speed of the late teens/early 20’s.

Our palm treeless Egyptian is big, has been restored in the last 10 years, and plays midnight movies on the weekends, besides “Indie” films. (Are they really Indie when they still cost a lot of money to produce and are backed by major studios? Does it really matter, since they are are, generally speaking, better than the big studio releases?)

Back to the The Birds.

Tippi Hedren is supposed to be there, as well as Robert Osborne, the cheerful, knowledgeable host of Turner Classic Movies. And did I mention that this showing, hosted by the above mentioned folks, is free? Yes. Free.

I walk up the hill from downtown, where I work and arrive to see a not so bad line beginning to wrap around the theatre. The people in front of me are discussing whether or not they should be in this line or the other line. There’s another line? Yes. It’s for people who have a reservation. You had to make a reservation? I missed that instruction on the flier I’d seen. There is an hour before the program starts. I fast walk up to the entrance and see the other line and two signs. One pointing to those who have made the necessary call and checked in at the box office and the other for the likes of me. The “hopefuls”. I’m not kidding. That’s what they called my line. “The hopefuls” line. Sheesh. I get back in line, actually in the same spot I was in, go figure; plug into my static making mini ipod and wait.

I can't believe this. I lost the entry...I'd edited and rewritten and added links and everything. I thought I'd saved it. I haven't the energy to do it again...grrrrr...

Back to Seattle

Hola!  We have returned from Espana with sun tans.  No kidding.  I haven’t had a tan since I lived in Tempe, Arizona…ages and ages ago.  Perhaps if one of my digital camera toting friends e-mails me some photos, I will post some on the blog for all 3 readers to see.  Fantastic time was had by all.  We swam in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.