Boo! On Clematis Street

Last night we again observed the the craziness on Clematis Street. And again I forgot my earplugs -- a very big mistake. It is dangerously loud.
(You may click on these pictures.)

Click here for pictures from Halloween 2009

Dining Out

We had sixteen for dining out at Cracker Barrel.

Band Concerts

In our new volunteer ushering job at the Eissey Theater we enjoyed two fine bands. Sunday was the excellent Army Field Band from Washington and on Saturday was the Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches. I was pleasantly surprised at how much our local band has improved over the forty-plus years since I played french horn with them. It was a first-class most enjoyable concert.

Jane Out Of Hospital

Jane's back home after a three-night stay in the hospital. She had a cardiac catheter ablation for her atrial fibrillation. We were surprised by complications and a lengthier stay than expected. Last night we attended a performance of Guys and Dolls at the Lake Worth Playhouse. It was well done and enjoyable. Jane, having just been released from the hospital, didn't feel like going but she went anyway. She's feeling a little better today.

Movie - Hereafter

Last night Jane and I attended a prerelease screening at Muvico of Hereafter. I liked it for the superb acting and even more for Clint Eastwood's directing. I went in skeptical about what was inevitably the hokey subject of a psychic communicating with the dead. Yet, it was engaging and entertaining. I seem to be inexplicably prejudiced against Matt Damon but, surprisingly, I even liked Matt -- maybe because he didn't have a very demanding role. I won't call it a "must see" but I think most people would enjoy this movie. If you see it, tell me how they filmed the extremely impressive tsunami near the beginning.

City Walk

Eleven of us enjoyed a delightful Sunday morning walk along Lake Trail from Royal Poinciana Plaza to the Sailfish Club where we shuttled back to TooJays for breakfast.

Cuban Music

Tonight we volunteered at Eissey Theater and enjoyed "A Night In Havana" by Angel Roque's Piano and his Orchestra.

New Wheels Aquired

This morning we retired our old faithful but long-in-the-tooth Dodge Caravan (2000) with 147,000 miles on it and adopted a new Dodge (2010) with only 11,000 miles on it. I'm hoping we can now travel without worrying about breakdowns.

Last night we went to a prescreening of Red. It has a bunch of big stars I like but I can't recommend it to anyone except the fans of explosions and nonstop gunfire. It could have been funny as intended if I had remembered to take my earplugs. It had more explosions and crashes than Sweeney Todd had blood.

AARP Convention

Jane and I along with 24,000 others attended the AARP convention in Orlando Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This was our third convention. The two previous were Orlando 2000 and San Antonio 1992. It's really quite a big deal -- so much to see and do. A big frustration is being able to attend but a few of the programs since so many are on simultaneously. A few of the speakers we squeezed in were: Governor Charlie Crist, Dave Barry, Jane Pauley, Marlo Thomas, James Carville & Mary Matalin, Rob Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Larry King, Olympia Dukakis, among many others. The movies we saw were Waiting For Superman, Flipped, Secretariat, and Nowhere Boy (A chronicle of John Lennon's childhood).

Mao's Last Dancer -- A Must See

I've been neglecting my blog until today when I couldn't wait to tell you about the great movie we saw today.
Mao's Last Dancer "...tells the true story of Chinese ballet dancer, Li Cunxin, who grew up in rural poverty in Mao's communism before being given the opportunity to dance in the West in the early 80s. Li is forced to examine his conscience as he must choose between his career, family, culture, politics and love whilst having to make heart-wrenching decisions of what he must choose to sacrifice and what he must choose to save." This is the best movie we've seen in a long time -- a truly MUST SEE. It is was released in 2009 so you may need to get it on DVD.

A couple of weeks ago we saw Ben Affleck's new movie, The Town. "As he plans his next job, a longtime thief tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to one of his earlier heists." It is very well crafted and engaging and will, no doubt, be a contender for awards but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. It was too exciting and a little too gritty for my taste.

September Dining Out

With Liz hosting our monthly dining out this evening, sixteen of us enjoyed our get-together at Sweet Tomatoes.

We're Back In The Swing

Jane's eye surgery Wednesday wasn't as easy as we'd hoped. We're in recovery mode now with 18 eye-drops daily interfering with the fun.

I am disheartened about so many people speaking with the mind-set of hate, division, and intolerance who seem unwilling or unable to reason.

Man Of The Decade

I'd appreciate your comments on this: Man of the Year

Return

We arrived home safely late last night from our "summer camp for seniors" very tired but feeling thankful for the uneventful drive. We had stops in Minneapolis, near Chicago, Indianapolis, Shelbyville, TN, and Warner Robins, GA.

Nearing The End

It has been a very good ten weeks for us. We'll be leaving tomorrow on our trip home. It's always such a chore to pack up and move out. And we always regret having to leave our summer home so early. This morning we went to breakfast here.

Fish Boil and Hike

We had 27 hikers on The Congdon Trail along Tischer Creek this morning with Bill Delboy leading.

HIKE VIDEO CLICK HERE

The UMD Fish Boil was this evening, always the event not to be missed, with Social Hour in the Atrium and then Dinner in the Ballroom.

Goings-On

Monday evening we enjoyed pizza and a tableside view of the deer show from the window in Chadda and John Shelly's apartment.
Tuesday evening we went to Zinema to see The Girl Who Played with Fire. After that we went to a party at Mary & Evert's apartment.
I thought the movie was good but too complicated for me, especially with subtitles.

Collage UMD 2010

Aerobics Portraits

Into The Woods

Up behind our apartment a couple of evenings ago we observed a number of does with fawns and then last nights we saw these two bucks.