My Random Musings | Peaches Prattlings

{January 22, 2014} I went…

Skiing! Today I did something I haven’t done in almost twenty years! I went skiing!

(I talked to dead, GES, SDL and DCM, so sorry guys that you’ve heard all this already!)

My sister and I grew up skiing and I continued until I moved to Georgia. I even took a skiing class my last semester of college! It was great, we went to a mountain, had a twenty minute lecture/lesson and then we skied for an hour, how do you beat that? Thanks mom and dad!

My sister continued to ski after she moved to Boston, actually met my brother-in-law at a ski house they both had time in, that’s serious! And now, my nieces, 6.5 and 3.5 are both taking lessons, awesome! I was even on a ski slope the day I found out I got into college!

I used to love it and then when I moved to Georgia, I just didn’t go, said I would, but didn’t, there’s not a lot of skiing in Georgia, you can go to South Carolina, Virginia, places like that, just didn’t, so when I knew I was moving, I was stoked! And you remember the post about me buying skis, boots and poles? Well, now I need to use them.

For my birthday I got the Epic Local Pass, http://www.snow.com/epic-pass.aspx, how cool is that! My dad and my sister made it possible for me to go skiing today! I got up headed out to get pants, goggles and gloves and then I was off. It was about an hour and fifteen minute drive to Keystone and the drive is beautiful! I’ve made it a few times, going to Grorgetown, Breckenridge and a few other places to go sightseeing.

When I left Broomfield, it was 59 degrees, as you get deeper into the mountains, the temperature drops really quickly! By the time I got to Keystone it was 35! But the nice thing, no humidity, so it never gets too cold. Don’t get me wrong, cold is cold, just some cold is worse.

I found a place to park, free…wahoo! Geared up and headed towards the lift. Since it’s been a few years, ha ha, since I skiid, I asked what they recommended. I boarded the gondola and headed up to the top of the mountain, that’s where ski school was, along with green dot for beginner, blue square for intermediate and black diamond expert.

I was a little nervous and all I kept thinking on the way up in the gondola was “please let me like it again! please let me like it again and come back to me” I was afraid of not remembering what to do and not enjoying it and wasting all that money. I got off the gondola, put the skis on the ground, stepped into them, locked them in place and pushed off….

It was…awesome! Like muscle memory, I remembered how to push off, turn, speed up, snow plow, ball of it! It was an awesome feeling! I headed for a green dot and stayed with that the entire run. I took my time going down the mountain, slaloming and swooshing back and forth, going fast, going slow, taking some breaks in between, talking to the people who worked there who keeping an eye on the mountain and skiers. I laughed because during one break, there was a stereotypical group of snow boarders behind me, talking about shrooms and smoking the sweet stuff, that made me laugh!

It felt great! And all I kept thinking was, “let me get better, I want to be a black diamond again!”. GES is hoping that when she gets back on skis, she has just as easy of a time, I know she will, she’s skied longer and better than me!

I will tell you, one of the things I didn’t like was not eating before I went up the mountain, it had been about four hours since I’d eaten anything and halfway down, I didn’t feel so not, luckily, I got something to eat after I finished the run, which helped a little, I then decided it was time to go, I would be back! It’s always easier to leave someplace you enjoy when you know you’re coming back soon. I’ll also have to come up with a solution, I have a beaded ankle bracelet that I made when I was fifteen, this thing is not coming off the skis rubbed so hard I have blisters! Live and learn!

Bottom line, I have to tell you, it was soooo much fun! Especially when it all came flooding back to me again! One of the reasons I was so excited to move to Colorado..skiing! I am excited to go again!

Who’s coming with me?

Thanks again daddy and GES!

{January 21, 2014} Sherlock

Since I just watched the latest episode of BBCs Sherlock last night, I’m going to talk about all things Sherlock…Holmes.

I’m not going to discuss every version and incarnation of Sherlock Holmes, just the ones that stick out and are most influential to me, I think that’s the word I want.

I have loved Sherlock Holmes since I was a kid, my sister would read the books, I preferred watching the TV shows and movies on this one.

Let’s start with the latest Sherlock Holmes, Benedict Cumberbatch, just to get this out of the way…yum-my! I find him terribly tasty on a camera, but interestingly enough, in a few interviews I have seen him in, not as attractive as when in character, I wonder if it has to do with the character or the way he presents himself, things to ponder. And have you noticed that he’s in just about everything at the moment? Sherlock, August: Osage County, Star Trek, just to name a few, in addition to the guest roles he’s had over the years.

I really like this version of Sherlock, a modern version, with Martin Freeman as Dt Watson. He’s interesting in his own way, anti-social as they all seem to play him, rude, arrogant, self-righteous, a can’t-be-bothered know-it-all, I’m better because I’m smarter than everyone, I think that about sums it up. He’s only really loved one woman and cares only for Watson in the end, quite possibly because he’s the only one who really knows Sherlock and puts up with him, he’s a buffer to the rest of the world. Oh yeah, and he and his brother Microft are always thorns in each other’s sides, but would still do anything for the other.

I like the thought process, what goes through his mind as he “works things out”, to see everything mapped out for us as he is thinking it, it’s almost dizzying and yet, everything he says eventually makes senses. His powers of observation are uncanny, well, anyone who plays Sherlock Holmes has the same powers.

It’s new, it’s edgy and it’s good fun, I recommend it highly. Both Holmes and Watson blog, how could I not love it? Each episode is about 1.5 hours, almost a mini movie and well worth it, there are only three to four episodes per season.

If you have access to PBS, there is a great behind the scenes, “Unlocking Sherlock”, giving you an inside look at how they do it, came up with the idea, you find out that the actor who plays Microft, Stephen Moffat, is one of the shows creators.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1475582/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_6

The next Sherlock is Elementary, starring Johnny Lee Miller as Holmes, Lucy Liu as Watson and Aiden Quinn as LeStrade. Ie only recently started watching it, I thought it was going to be interesting when it first came out, I tried to watch an episode and didn’t make it and recently tried again and I like it.

I find this Holmes more disagreeable but likeable than most, I know, it’s weird. It’s very different because he’s in recovery and his father hired Watson to work with him on his recovery, I think that’s it, I’m in season 2 now, so forgive me if I’m way off base, but I’m looking for past episodes to get caught up. I think one of the things I like and don’t like is that it’s set in NYC, (I’m from NYC, so that part makes me happy) and again, it’s today’s time frame, which I like and find interesting and odd, same as the BBC version, embracing something different.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2191671/?ref_=nv_sr_1

I have to say, when all these Sherlock Holmes movies and TV shows started popping up, I was curious and apprehensive, much the way I was when Star Trek, The Next Generation came along, I was an original Trekkie and Basil Rathbone was my Sherlock Holmes idol!

You may remember Basil Rathbone more from Robin Hood with Errol Flynn, but my first memory is with Nigel Bruce Saturday mornings watching Sherlock Holmes mysteries on TV in black and white. Hehad the hat and pipe and played violin and was the first to really show the drug addiction. Nigel Bruce was the first to play Watson as more of a bumbling, but love able sidekick and friend to Holmes.I loved the way he spoke, deduced, dressed in disguise, which you don’t see much of with Cumberbatch or Miller, but you do in Downey Jr, interesting…
I can still hear him say “Come Watson…”
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038494/?ref_=nm_knf_t4

Jeremy Brett played Holmes from the mid 1980s through the mid 1990s. He was in color and a much harder version and showed the dark side of Holmes’ drug addiction, touched on by Basil Rathbone, but really brought to light by Jeremy Brett. I enjoyed his version immensely, it was definitely much more serious than his predecessor, Rathbone. His Watson, played by Edward Hardwicke was pleasant and laughable, but a little more serious, following Holmes.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0107950/?ref_=nv_sr_1

As far as the movies go, I am la la la loving the Robert Downey Jr movies, more traditional in terms of the time period, but modern in some of the weaponry and thinking and the one thing that seems to reflect the BBC Sherlock is the thought process, talking out how things are going to go.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0988045/?ref_=nv_sr_2

On the sillier side, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother stars Gene Widler as Sigerson Holmes, Marty Feldman as Sgt Orville Stanley Sacker and Madeline Kahn as Jenny Hill. “The younger brother of the consulting detective tries to steal Sherlock’s glory by solving an important case assisted by an eccentric Scotland Yard detective and a lovely but suspicious actress.”

It’s a fun play on the Sherlock Holmes enterprise, a musical and if you like Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn and Dom DeLuise, to name a few, want to laugh and are ok with utter silly, watch this movie!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072608/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

I’m sort of sorry…I didn’t realize I had that much to say on the matter! I know, me talk a lot, you’re sherlocked! Sorry, couldn’t resist!

{January 17, 2014} It’s official!

I’m a Coloradan! Well, almost…

Today, I went to the DMV, apparently, Tuesdays and Fridays are the wrong days to go and with Monday being a holiday…I surrendered my license, provided proof of residence, they aren’t too particular, I had a copy of the lease for the apartment, they were ok with a W2. She asked my height, 5′ 1.5″, so did I want 5’1″ or 5’2″? Hair color, today it’s red. Weight? I gave a weight…Eye color? Um, brown…hazel? So many questions.

Then I had my picture taken, I actually did my hair and even wore makeup! I know, hold yourself back! I wasn’t taking a crappy picture like last time! How did it come out? Do I look high? I look high in a lot of pictures, CKM is really the only one you can make me look..not high! He said it was good. Now, sign here, but don’t go over the line, crap! Then he gave me a metal rectangle to sign again, so much pressure.

Then he gave me my temporary license…a piece of paper, huh? It’s a long piece of paper with all the information, along with my GA license with holes punched out, hang on to it until the new one arrives. Good thing I use my passport when I travel!

So…in a short time, I will be an official resident of Colorado and as the bumper sticker says “Not a Native, but I got here as fast as I could”.

Yeah me!

{January 16, 2014} A sad day…it really does happen in threes

The expression is “it happens in threes” and that is so true.

There are events that happen all the time, but what we notice is people passing on the same day. I remember vividly Jim Henson and Sammy Davis jr passing on May 16, 1990, Jill Ireland two days later.

It’s always sad when someone passes, especially someone we have fond memories of from our childhood or even adulthood, those that touched you with their talent. Today, we lost three amazing actors, all made me smile at their memories.

The first was probably the most famous to most people, Russell Johnson, the professor from Gilligan’s Island. I know we’re all thinking, he was the smartest guy on the island, why couldn’t he figure a way off the island? It’s ok, he was pretty to look at! He was a guests star on many shows, his career spanned from 1950 to 1997, but he was best known for his role on Gilligan’s Island. And we are glad he was finally added to the theme song, along with Mary Ann, he had to get tired of being known as “and the rest”.
He was 89
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0426157/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Our next loss was Reubin Kinkaid from The Partridge Family, Dave Madden. And like the professor, he had career that spanned 1966 to 2000, TV roles, guest spots, The Love Boat, of course! to video games and animated films, but what will we most remember him for? The manager for the Partridge Family, getting the kids, especially Danny, out of trouble. He was 83 years young.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534573/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Last, but most assuredly not least is Roger Lloyd Pack. I was first introduced to him as Owen Newitt on one of my favorite BBC comedies, The Vicar of Dibley. You might know him better as Bartemius “Barty” Crouch from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He was a great talent, talents ranging from the very funny to the very serious, very impressive. His career started in 1965 and continued until last year.
He was only 69.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0516181/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Life is precious, enjoy and treasure it.

{January 15, 2014} A resolution and resistance training

First, I don’t make resolutions, but it flowed better than “a commitment and resistance training”, right?

Ok, so I don’t need to go to a gym for resistance training, I just need to go outside and take a walk! Oh my goodness! I decided to take a walk this afternoon, I probably should have gone in the morning because the wind was whipping so hard, it was almost like walking in a pool, that much resistance.

The first thing that happened was I got pushed by the wind, ran a little, then I decided it was too windy to go the way I had just come, so I walked around and then there goes my baseball cap! People were nice enough to not run over it with their cars when it flew into and down the road. Next, there was a woman who lives at the retirement home near me and she was struggling against the wind so much, trying to carry her packages. I asked if she would like to hold on to me, I took her bags and then she held on to me for dear life! She was tiny, both in stature and size, I could have seen her blowing away!

Once she got a grip on my arm, she didn’t let go, so I walked her to the door backwards, good for my glutes! She held on to me and her hair, luckily she didn’t lose either! I made it home, only losing my hat one more time before I turned it around, brim in the back, that seemed to help!

So, this leads me to my next statement, a commitment. You know I’ve been walking/running for quite a while, well, I haven’t done either in a while, got out of the habit and I’m kicking myself for that, I can feel it, blah. I have some races coming up and I’d like to get back into e habit of walking and running on a daily basis and eventually work up to running a full 5k and then some.

I was thinking about it and I remembered January 6th of last year, making a commitment to you and me that I would blog for a year, why can’t I make a similar commitment on a smaller scale? I am committing to walking one mile per day for thirty days, if I’m up to it, I may run a mile as well. After thirty days, if I haven’t increased my walk, I am going to commit to walking/running two miles a day for thirty days and so on. Not sure I’ll get up to twelve miles a day, but I will get to a comfortable place and pace.

It takes twenty one days to form a habit, here goes mine! I got day one down, here’s to tomorrow!

{January 14, 2014} Napping on planes

Napping on planes can be both good and bad.

For a long time, within twenty minutes of getting on a plane, I would fall asleep and wake up when the drink cart came by, pretty simple and relaxing. It’s not that way so much anymore, some flights I can’t sleep, some, I doze off.

Today, I slept through most of my first flight, I don’t remember much after takeoff and totally missed the drinks, then on the second flight, I fell asleep after my drink and snack and woke up once or twice before landing, I know I missed most of the movie I was watching.

Sometimes you feel better after a nap on a plane, sometimes not so much. The first flight, my nap was wonderful, I was refreshed and ready to go, after the second flight, I’m not sure if I actually fully woke up. I know I was kind of groggy coming out of it, mouth open, I know I had drooled at some point, I admit it, I occasionally am a drooler, there I said it!

I was fuzzy going to baggage claim, couldn’t quite shake the sleepiness from my head, I think when we got into the truck I was better, but here I am, still a little fuzzy, but if you think about it, I’m sort of still on eastern time and it’s 2:22am there, but I am looking at the clock as if it’s 12:22am, which it is, here in Colorado.

I only know that I was traveling for about ten or twelve hours, with two flights, so let’s just say I’m plum tuckered out and I’m going night night (spending a week with a six and three year old will do that to you and I will be saying going night night for about a week!) so…

Night night!

{January 13, 2014} Do we have to watch that again? Life with a wee tot!

Can we watch minions again? Can we watch minions again? Can we watch minions again? (Just for clarification, this is referring to Despicable Me 2, which my nieces discovered and loved.

They also have it on DVD, but discovered I have it on my iPad, so it’s “Auntie J, can I/we watch minions, or sometimes it’s ‘spicable me’ on your iPad? Yesterday, EJS went to swimming lessons, my sister and MGS watched it on the big TV, the minute EJS got home, she wanted to watch it on the big TV…agh! I’ve been here since Wednesday and I’ve probably seen the entire movie or parts of it at least 10, maybe 15 times!

It’s true, when you have a wee tot, ie toddler, grade schooler, there will be a movie or a show that captures their attention and they can’t get enough of it, can watch it over and over and over again, in a row! It’s a little different when it’s a TV show, sometimes, if you’re lucky, the episode will be different, but a movie is just that it’s the same every time!

I’m sure each of you who has or has had a small child in your home can sympathize and knows exactly what I mean! For a time it was Barney…aaaaccckkk! I’ve heard about The Little Mermaid, just to name another, enough that dads know it enough to make a video! http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zwSn5ObK8-g

I’ve had movies that I’ve watched over and over, not usually right after it finishes, although my sister and I would watch Cinderella and The Court Jester over and over, but we did it together, didn’t subject our parents to that!

It’s amazing what captures their attention at that age! And what they keep going back to over and over again! I feel for my sister and brother-in-law, especially since I’m going home tomorrow and I have a feeling it will be a while before I watch “The Minions” any time soon!

PS…the minions have their own movie coming out next year!
And..just for fun, here are a few links for the minions, I couldn’t choose and you’re not burnt out yet, right? You weren’t here with me all week, right?
They are cute! http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lnvy1gpZa7M

{January 11, 2014} In a perfect world…

Isn’t that an expression we use a lot?

I was watching something on Hulu and there was a commercial, go figure, for Dannin Oikos Greek Yogurt.”In a perfect world all the guys would look like john Stamos and bing…all men in the commercial were john Stamos.

I use that expression when I teach a software class, if something is not working right, going wrong or if just not functional in the training environment, as in “In a perfect world, you would be able to do this” or ” in a perfect world, the screen would look like that”.

I know we use it in reference to every day events, when it starts raining during a special occasion, if we really want something, if we really want something and someone else has it, when something goes wrong just as we are trying to do something or make it right.

I even have a metal board that was given to me that says “in a perfect world I live in Paris with better hair” isn’t that terrific?

I know it’s silly and ever a silly phrase, but doesn’t it sometimes make things better? In a perfect world it would!

{January 7, 2014} Did you order a Code Red?

OMG! How many amazing lines do you remember from A Few Good Men?

I was going to talk about something else tonight, but when I turned on the Sundance Channel, A Few Good Men was on and every time I see it, I am compelled to watch it, can’t look away, even when it’s on the “regular channels”, cut and bleeped, but luckily it’s on a cable channel, all the good words are still there!

I realized that this is not a movie in my collection and it should be, it still gives me goosebumps to this day and it came out in 1992. When it opens with the drill line, here, why imagine you can watch it http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IjLyz8OAj1s, i watch it in amazement, just truly master at Rob Reiner’s genius from that moment.

I still get weepy when they announce the verdict after realizing that “he does think better with the bat!”

I’m not a huge Tom Cruise or Demi Moore fan, but I knew I wanted to see this movie and I am so glad I did, it’s well written, well acted, keeps you on the edge of your seat for the majority of the movie. In addition, there is a great cast, the amazing and intense Jack Nickelson, could you have seen anyone else in this role? Not a chance!

Kevin Pollack is second chair, I was so used to seeing his stand up comedy, it was interesting to see him in a serious role, Keifer Suterland as Lt Kendrick, I always forget about Noah Wylie and Christopher Guest in bit roles and for the first few times I saw it on video, I would always say, I completely forgot that Kevin Bacon is the prosecutor!

Here are a few of the quotes you probably remember most from the movie:

“He eats breakfast three hundred yards away from four thousand Cubans who are trained to kill him and no one’s going to tell him how to run his unit, least of all the Harvard mouth in his faggoty white uniform.”
Lt. Daniel Kaffee

“I run my unit how I run my unit. You want to investigate me, roll the dice and take your chances. I eat breakfast three hundred yards away from four thousand Cubans who are trained to kill me. So don’t think for one second that you can come down here, flash a badge, and make me nervous.”
Col. Nathan R. Jessep

How about this piece of trivia…”You can’t handle the truth!” was voted as the #29 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
So here is the scene in full:
Judge Randolph: *Consider yourself in Contempt!*
Kaffee: *Colonel Jessep, did you order the Code Red?*
Judge Randolph: You *don’t* have to answer that question!
Col. Jessep: I’ll answer the question!
[to Kaffee]
Col. Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I think I’m entitled to.
Col. Jessep: *You want answers?*
Kaffee: *I want the truth!*
Col. Jessep: *You can’t handle the truth!*
[pauses]
Col. Jessep: Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.
Kaffee: Did you order the Code Red?
Col. Jessep: I did the job I…
Kaffee: *Did you order the Code Red?*
Col. Jessep: *You’re Goddamn right I did!*

{January 6, 2014} Happy Anniversary!

To me…and you, my dear sweet readers!

I started this blog December 29, 2006 and I would post things here and there, there were a few times I said I’m going to do this every day, you can imagine where that got me. Well, January 6th of last year, I decided I was going to try something and stick to it and here we are! I vowed to blog every day for a year and see what happens. They say it takes twenty one days to form a habit and we are way past that and I am loving it!

Who knew that I would actually stick with it and enjoy it. I know there have been a few times I was too tired, but I still posted something, it might have been “sorry friends, I’m too tired, but here is my post” but I did it! There were a few times I couldn’t think of a thing to say! Imagine that, me, not knowing what to say, well, not to worry, something came out of somewhere! And here we are!

I guess you could say I had an epiphany to write a blog telling you about myself to begin with and on January sixth, I had a serious epiphany…I was going to blog every day for a year and I am here to tell you, new epiphany, well, I’ve had this one a few times, I’m going to keep going!

I keep saying epiphany because today, January 6th is not only my anniversary, but it’s also The Feast of Epiphany!
“Epiphany, commonly known as Three Kings’ Day in the United States, is on January 6. It celebrates the three wise men’s visit to baby Jesus and also remembers his baptism, according to the Christian Bible’s events.” What are the odds I had an epiphany on The Epiphany! Too cool for school!

Thank you, CKM, for telling me about this holiday, I didn’t know anything about it! When I think of the word epiphany, I always think of the movie “Hook” when Captain Hook says to Mr Smee…’I’ve had an epiphany!’ And Mr Smee’s reply…’a whot?’.
http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/epiphany

So, a great anniversary just worked out…After messaging and talking to two of my besties from high school yesterday, today, I spoke with my sister, my dad, and three of my besties! SDL, CKM and JCT, how awesome has my day been? Try and top it!

So, in conclusion to my random rambling today…I want to say thank you for signing up, coming back, reading, laughing, loving and letting me entertain you for this past year and I look forward to the next year and the next and the next. Happy Anniversary!

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