Paranormal Activity

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've taken any time to post something! I've been working more hours at work, since we're now in the middle of planning season, and that's definitely making me limit computer time when I'm at home.

Anyway - on to the post.

We had a girls night last week and went to see Paranormal Activity. We actually ran into Kayla H. at the same theatre with a friend of hers - so it was kind of an extension of our usual group!

All of the reviews for the movie said that it was really good and really scary. I was so excited to go see a good scary movie that wasn't based all in gore...but maybe my expectations were too high.

Gotta say, I didn't love it. There were some good bump moments, and all of the night time footage was awesome. But the rest of the movie, when the boyfriend was holding the camera, all I could think was that he really sucked at knowing how to hold a video camera. Even normal people can hold it more steady!

So bottom line - it had a lot of promise, but for me the promise wasn't fulfilled because I couldn't even keep my eyes open for most of the movie. At least two of us were suffering from motion sickness by the end because of all the jarring, and that really took away from suggestion of horror which completely makes a psychological thriller.

If you haven't seen it and can handle the hand-held camera footage, then I think it's worth checking out. If you saw it, I'd be curious to know what you thought.

Clue

Hope you had a wonderful Halloween! Mine was very laid back, no costuming this year, but did go hang out with friends at Stephen's house. He lives in a real house in a neighborhood, so we thought he had the best chances of having tick-or-treaters come to the door. Not so much the case (only three kids total, if you don't count the pizza delivery lady who we did get to say "trick-or-treat!"), but at least the three kids were cute. Two boys actually sang me the "Trick-or-Treak, smell my feet song" and the one little girl told me how old she was (7) when I asked what year she was dressed as (lol - she was actually a 70s chick...her mom told me the daughter didn't really understand the costume but fell in love with it and had to have it.)

Then, my friend Liberty came to the party with Clue and Sweeney Todd - not horror movies, but still appropriately creepy for the holiday.

We opted for Clue first. Lande had been surprised that I hadn't seen it, especially considering how much Colyn likes the movie. I actually hadn't heard of the movie before, and Liberty was equally shocked that I'd graduated from AAHS without ever being exposed. So, finally seeing this one was kind of a big deal.

And...I loved it! Totally cheesey, but I loved the board game and whoever wrote the script must have had a ball with it! Some lines that stick with me:

Q: "Why isn't the care moving?"
A: "Because it's scared!"

Butler: "Mrs. White, how many husbands have you had?"
Mrs. White: "Mine or other women's?"
Butler: "Just yours"
Mrs. White: "Just the five...husbands should be like Kleenex, soft strong and disposable"

Ms. Scarlett at the end, after having the accuasation directed at her "That's very good! How did you know, are you Perry Mason or something?" (said with utter delight)

Butler to Scarlett: "Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn"

Seriously, I think I need to own this movie. The entire cast rocked their parts, almost every line was memorable, and the movie had three endings. That's right...just like in the game, where a variety of things could be the answer...so it was here!

And, in case you were wondering, I am reminded that I also need to have a house with secret passages at some point down the road.

Update on Snow

It's been nearly 24 hours since my other snow post, and it's still snowing outside. I haven't been out (am still so grateful to be hooked in from home!), but I think we're approaching 14-17". Check out the photo from today, also taken off my deck!

It's Snowing!

Today marks the first real storm of the season for Denver. Yes, we've had some snow over the past couple of months, but nothing that has accumulated. Today, we've officially been hit with approximately 8-14" of the white stuff!

The drive into work this morning was a challenge - there's a lot of uphill to get anywhere around here. It is definitely time to have my tires looked at and probably changed, and I'm hoping I can get that in either Friday or Saturday of this week so that I'm prepared for the next storm. Right now, I am happily working from home for the afternoon and watching the snow fall!

Now, it can officially be Halloween...I can't remember a Halloween when there wasn't at least a little snow on the ground!

Here's a photo off my deck:

New Volunteer Venture

This morning I had plans to go volunteer at a local no-kill cat shelter - it's one of the activities under Metro Volunteers, the group I've done some volunteering with in the past, and I'd wanted to check out the animal shelter but hadn't been able to get it to mesh with my schedule.

Unfortunately, this morning I woke up with a migraine (becoming way too common for my liking) so I thought for a few minutes that maybe I shouldn't go. And then I thought of getting to play with all those cats, and my decision was made. It's true, probably not the best decision...driving when you've got those visual auras is really, really hard...but it was so worth it.

The work part of our detail involved wiping down all the surfaces in the shelter. The place houses approximately 160 cats at any given time, so there is a constant need to clean. There was a fairly large group of us, and it was great meeting some new people. Seems like anytime I volunteer with Metro Volunteers, I meet really cool people, so added perk to the work! It didn't take very long for my partner and I to clean the room that we were assigned to, and the second half of our two hours was supposed to be spent socializing the cats. You got it - I volunteered to play with and pet all the 160 kitties who needed attention. Hard work, right?

I met some very friendly adult cats who were determined to be picked up (they must have come from the same gene pool as Lucy). I found some standoffish ones, and there was actually a room for the shy kitties and one for those who could get sick if they had contact with the other cats. And best of all, there was a kitten room! I'll admit I spent the better part of my socialization time being climbed on by kittens of all shapes and colors...they were so cute and tiny! One curled up in my lap to be petted, and a few minutes later a big white one (not a kitten, just one of the cats that liked to hang in the kitten room) laid down right on top of the little kitten who was already there, lol. Guess he decided that my lap belonged to him!

A few were complete spazzes (btw, did you know that word's in the dictionary??), leaping off all four feet at once, or sitting there completely calmly before bounding across the room and jumping on another kitten. And then - I found the most darling orange boy, who settled into my arms, flipped over, and went to sleep! Oh...if only I could have taken him, but my house is too small for two cats and I know it. I held that little guy forever, I just love it when they choose you...and then I handed him off to someone looking to give a cute little male kitten a home.

Anyway, it was a great volunteer opportunity and I can't wait to participate again. Next time I need to remember to take my camera, and I can post pics of the cute ones who borrow me for the hour.

PS - Lucy smelled me for the first 20 minutes I was home. It was the guilt sniff...but in the end it was fine. She knows I'm wrapped around her paw.

Rachmaninoff - The Bells

Saturday night was the closing night for the Rachmaninoff festival that has been playing at Boettcher Concert Hall for the last two weeks, and we got to play to a sold out house. I love that energy - there's nothing like seeing a venue filled up like that.

The performance opened with one movement from The Vespers, which is an acapella piece and was performed by a small chamber choir selected from the CSO Chorus. That group of select individuals did an amazing job with the piece, and it makes me curious to go look up the rest of the piece. Honestly, I've been so busy trying to learn our various pieces in Russian that when I got to sit and listen to the chamber chorus it occurred to me how beautiful the Alleluia in Russian really was. The piece isn't performed often, so if you ever have an opportunity to go hear it - definitely take advantage.

The second part of the first half of the concert was the full CSO and Chorus performing The Bells, which is the work that Rachmaninoff considered his best and is based on the Edgar Allen Poe poem of the same name. Rachmaninoff had a great love of bells, a carry over from the deep bells of Russia, and this piece explored a variety of these bells. The first movement was based on sleigh bells (light and childlike), the second was on wedding bells (full and solemn), the third was based on alarm bells (just wait until you see the translation for this - Maestro Kahane described it as scary - true because of the music, not just the translation and I think most of us in the chorus would agree that scary is accurate, lol - but I think Mary Louise captured it best when she described it as a mid-life crisis), the fourth and final movement was based on funeral bells. But in the end, there is peace and I love that I could hear and understand each of these shifts in the music. For me, it's always exciting when you really can read the music.

It was a unique experience, and the piece grew in leaps and bounds for me as I got more comfortable with the language (and how to spit out that many consonants at one time)! Ultimately, I don't feel that we did it justice the way that we do with pieces that are more common...there were some places where truly I was just praying that we would all wind up in the same spot at the same time. But, I'm on the lookout for the review to see what, if anything, the reviewers had to say about the performance. Our usual supporters were in the audience (I love that they hoot and holler for us no matter how I personally feel about the performance) so that made it a little easier. I can say that I was definitely working - I was kinda gross and sweaty at the end, which always tells me how into the piece I was. Hopefully someday I'll have another chance at The Bells, so that I can try to hone what I've already learned. With a little luck, I can pick up the score tomorrow at lunch so that I can transfer all my notes...not sure I want to start again from scratch next time we do this work, and my notes would be handy!

The second half of the concert for me was the highlight. Olga Kern played the Piano Concerto #2 (if you find it, you'll recognize it. I didn't think I would, and I absolutely did. Hmmm...actually, I need to go download it). That woman is so incredibly gifted and so much fun to watch that I feel fantastically lucky to have even shared a backstage with her. And her gown...seriously, that was a performance gown if I've ever seen one. It was strapless, light yellow with a yellow sash, and yards of tiered lace that actually ended in a train. I swear, if I'd seen more of those performers as a child, I might have been a little more adamant about learning to be a performance artist...if only for the dresses!!!

The one single sad moment occurred at the end of the second movement. Olga had just played the final notes of the movement, notes that were as delicate as they could possibly be and still be heard and the magic in the auditorium was palpable. And one beat after she lifted her hands, as the silence was still settling...someone's cell phone went off. Yep, that's right...it went off on a pitch just a little higher than the last notes of the bar, which completely destroyed that delicious tension the 2nd movement had created. Seriously, people...when they say to turn off all cell phone, watch alarms, or other electronics at the beginning of the show, they're not just announcing for their health. Shoot, they're announcing it for your own health - no one wants to be at the mercy of pissed off theatre goers!

Ok, now that I've vented that...as soon as I find the review, I'll post it, along with the translation. I still need to get the Three Russian Songs on here as well...so all of that coming soon!

Haunted House

So when Lande was here visiting two weekends ago, we got our crew of friends together to do a haunted house. The plan originally started out as a corn maze, but Colyn was sick over the weekend so we didn't want to drag her out into the freezing cold weather we were having over that weekend.

So...we headed off to dinner at Cheesecake Factory downtown (fabulous as always) and then up to Primitive Fear by the dog track in Commerce City. That haunted house gets two thumbs up - it's as good as I remembered it from years ago, with some new twists and turns. My friends let me lead, which is so the best place to be since you get all the scares first (and usually right in your face). I love just letting yourself be scared and screaming like the girl I am! Plus, when you've got a date it's a great reason to hang on...The only down side is how quickly it was over!

Anyway, thought that I'd post the photo of our group to share...we had such a great time!!