Friday, we completed the tasks I had been assigned with for LA1. I spoke with him on the phone and verified with him that those tasks were completed to his approval. As we spoke, he asked me again to marry him and told me again that he was in love with me. I said,”Stop.” He said,”What?” I said,”It’s inappropriate.” He says,”Are you kidding me?” I said,”No, I’m not.” He tells me what a good looking guy he is and I repeated myself. I told him to stop immediately. I was just moments away of hanging up the phone. But he got the message. We continued talking and not another word of love or plane tickets to LA or marriage was spoken. He did say that he would have to find a way to find another project for me. I told him that our support department could help him from now on. I said,”Other than a follow up call now and then, we are done. That’s it. My team has completed the work on your project.” He was a little shocked, I think. What a grand and glorious way to start the weekend!
After work, I came home and watched one of my Netflix movies which is also nominated for an Academy Award. – The Weeping Camel is a documentary that is filmed in Mongolia. There is a family of sheep and camel herders who are assisting the camel mothers in the birth of their babies. One mother (a first time birther) is popping out an unusual white camel. Live camel births are not a beautiful site, no matter what your views are on the beauty of childbirth. The poor mama is trying to stand, trying to walk while the poor baby has his front legs sticking out and his head. Both are covered by the placenta. It is one of the grossest sites on film I have ever seen. Then the mama is laying on her side, and the baby is coming out more. The herders are pulling the baby out. There is a gush of placenta and whoosh – the rest of the camel is out. If you can get through that part, just wait until you see what happens next. Not gross, but tragic. The mama camel doesn’t want anything to do with her baby. They bring the baby to the mama. Nothing except a knee to the poor camel. They bring the mama to the baby. She sniffs for two seconds and wanders into the desert. They have to hand feed the baby because his mama won’t let him nurse. No matter what the family tries to do, the mother camel, who must be going through one major postpartum depression, continues to reject the baby. The baby whines for his mamma, who would rather be wandering around the desert than caring for her baby. They decide to bring in a violinist from some cultural center. The teenage boy and his brother (who was probably about 10) ride their camels off into the Gobi desert. I guess if you live there, you know the terrain and it wouldn’t be a problem. I was looking at it thinking there is no way on earth I would send my two boys out into the vast dessert like that. No way. I wonder how they can tell where they are in the bright daylight with no obvious markers around. It’s amazing to me how they know. Anyhoo, they go to the town (population of probably 200 max) and find a violinist to help them with the camel. They meet a pair of seniors who take them to the cultural center to find the music teacher. Later, they go to the marketplace to find batteries for their grandfather. At the marketplace, the little kid is swayed by the tv, computer and fancy technologies. When he gets back home, he asks his dad for a tv. Grandpa asks him what would he want with that devil? Then he ads, “You would sit in from of it all day and would do nothing but watch glass images.” Ain’t that the truth! Soon the violinist comes and plays while the herder mother sings. Believe it or not, the music tames the mama camel and her baby can finally be fed. Such a happy ending. Now that I have told you the whole story, you probably won’t see the movie. As you can see, I was quite entranced by the whole thing.
SATURDAY
I lost .2 lbs. Every ounce counts. Seriously. It made me happy that I didn’t gain. After the WW experience, I met Elissa at the Roxy so we could see another Academy Award nominee, “Hotel Rwanda”, a compelling story about the Rwanda massacres in 1994. It was based on the story of a hotel manager, played by Don Cheadle. I saw the real hotel manager and UN commander interviewed on Charlie Rose. Both of them seemed please with the film version. Of course artistic license was taken here and there, but both men seemed pleased with the results. It was a horrific and dark event in our world’s history. And extremely tragic that the United States among other nations, turned a blind eye to what was going on there. I would go on about the story, but I also feel I shouldn’t misrepresent anything there. I know, very different than the “Weeping Camel” story, eh? I thought the acting was very good and the story was well written. It was one of the best movies I have seen this year. After the movie, Elissa and I had to walk around for a bit as the movie was so heavy and affected us both so much. After we parted ways, I went home and did the dishes. I watched “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi”. I did have to forward through some of the ROTJ because the Ewoks were pretty unbearable. Here are a couple of comments about both movies. I know some of you have talked with me about this, but it’s bee ages since I have seen these movies. I thought seeing the “revised/enhanced” versions on DVD would sit better with me, but for the most part, nope.
- Star Wars – I don’t mind some of the extra creatures on Tatooine, but I still don’t get Greedo shooting Han first. I watched it frame by frame and it was painful. It looks so “added”.
- What’s with dubbing Boba Fett’s voice so he sounds like the New Zealander dude Jango Fett (?) from the new movies? It was lame.
- ROTJ – If Luke, the powerful Jedi knight was able to open the great, huge door at Jabba’s palace, why can’t he open the iron gate that is holding him in when he is battling the big thing in the pit? Where are his powers now?
- If Yoda was the dude who trained Obi Wan, like Obi Wan says several times, who the hell is Qui Gon? You know, Liam Neeson? I NEVER got that one.
- ROTJ – When Luke tells Leia that they are brother and sister, why doesn’t she comment on how icky it was that he had the hots for her not so many years ago, and that she gave him a not-so-sisterly kiss on Hoth? (I have always had a problem with that one. Also, Han never comments on it either.)
- BIGGEST PEEVE – So , I am watching ROTJ and had been warned by Carrie that old, fat Anakin was replaced by young, hot Hayden Christianson’s Anakin. I couldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself. Okay, there I am, watching Luke take off his dear ol’ dying dad’s mask. I thought, “Is this where it is going to be?” Nope. It’s the old, bald, fat British actor we have all seen and loved. (Sorry for not knowing his name…) So, I continue watching to see the horror that lied ahead. At the end of the movie when Luke is looking at the spirits of Obi Wan and Yoda. Who should appear? That’s right – Hayden as Anakin. So, if Hayden is Anakin at his best looking, why isn’t Obi Wan? For that matter, why not just dub Obi Wan’s voice so it matches the younger version? You want a through line, George Lucas? How about that?
- Don’t get me started about the Force and what George did to that one. Yoda explained it as did Obi Wan. Why didn’t George and his writers ever watch the original movies or read the scripts to get the history straight? I will never understand.
I was glad to see them, despite George’s “enhancements”. I will never be fond of Ewoks.
SUNDAY
Also, in sadness, we say goodbye to Sandra Dee. She died today at the young age of 63.
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