Christmas.

I got home from work this evening and put up the lights for this year. I decided that I wanted big ol' C-9 lights, the ones that were the only "outdoor lights" when I was a kid.

(There will be a picture here sooner or later with Robert standing on the steps in awe of the holiday display... having trouble with the ftp this evening, don't have a clue why!)

So, I bought three 30 light sets of C-9 lights in "traditional colors", which would be perfect for the look I wanted this year, sort of retro. It wasn't until I got home and looked at the boxes, that I realized that the three sets drew 600 watts total; sort of like running a small space heater on the front steps! Oh, what the hell, it's X-Mas...

Anyway, they look just fine. As I was putting them up and some of the lights were lit, Robert and I were looking at the results and one of our older neighbors came by on the way to a concert at the cathedral in Jackson Square. He stopped to talk for a bit and said that the lights looked "very sturdy". We both found this comment rather oddly amusing.

I may add a thing or two to the ensemble. I have those rubber rats left over from Halloween. I may do a trace of small lights on the posts with the rats (glittered up and with red bows around their necks) running toward each other, maybe with a wreath...

If you get the idea that I have a twisted view of the holidays, well you are correct; over the years, I've had to make the holidays over a few times when the old things didn't resonate anymore. Don't worry about the rat thing; it will be tasteful and amusing... and very New Awlins.

BTW, did you notice?
I changed the format for the blog. After three years, I decided it was time for a change. The new look is more like many of the other blogs, but it has the features that I liked in the other blogs, and it was sooo easy, just a click and several minutes of cold fear as the entire thing republished. I may do some customizing... but for now, I think I'll let it be. It's amazing enough to me that I have kept this up for this long. I've never been able to sustain any kind of journal for as long as this before, not even close.

New Orleans, Hollywood!

All The Kings Men, the remake, is being filmed here right now and that's a pretty big deal.

(New Orleans, LA) -- After months of anticipation, local casting calls, and hype, the film "All the King's Men" is finally shooting in New Orleans. The cast includes Jude Law, Sean Penn, Kate Winslet, Anthony Hopkins, Patricia Clarkson, and James Gandolfini. The movie is a remake of the film telling the story of Louisiana political legend Huey Long. It's the latest in a string of movies taking advantage of tax incentives to film in Louisiana.

All of my calls to Jude Law's people about a lunch date have not been returned... bwahahaha. But all these people are in town and will be for a while and that's kind of interesting... I'd love to meet Anthony Hopkins!

And here's something; as I was leaving the store this evening, I noticed this guy with dark hair and a rather interesting mustache, thin. He was dressed to the enth degree and groomed to the enth degree as well; you just had to look at him, he stood out among all the other customers. After I got home, I found myself thinking about this guy. Who was he? Certainly no one local... just too polished looking. I did an image search on Google for Sean Penn and... it was him... the store was busy and no one was paying any attention. And this is why fabulous film stars like to come here. People leave them alone. Queen Latiffa was in just three weeks ago, she did get recognized, but she was very gracious about it...

Family.

My family, (my sister and brother and their spouses, my Dad, my brother's kids, my cousin Eugene and his new wife Tammy and her kids, my cousin MaryAnn, my cousin Eddie and his wife, Phyllis and a few other family members and friends, all of whom I love dearly), have been on an 8 day cruise following Gene and Tammy's wedding. I wasn't able to go. It wouldn't have been career suicide... just career stupidity; it's just not the time to take off if you're in the retail biz. And if I had been with this company for maybe say, five years already and a bit more settled in place, I could have done it probably, but now was not the time. There's just too much coming up that's critical with respect to the rest of my work with WFM.

Not spending time with my family right now, especially my niece and my new nephew kind of hurts, but there will be time soon... it will work out. My sister and brother and I have agreed that I have to do my career, especially after spending so much time with my Dad after my Mom died. Getting back to work was difficult last time and I was lucky to find a company to work for that didn't have a prejudice for people over forty...or even... you bitch! I am strong and smart and incredibly efficient! How dare you patronize me! You "human resource" person!

(BTW, forty something, that's when age descrimination starts... didn't see it coming, couldn't even imagine it, but it happened).

So, they'll all be back on shore this weekend. Can't wait to hear all about it. And my brother has a new digital camera... can't wait to see the pics!


Movies.

This week, I watched Fellini's Roma, which everyone says is not one of his best, but I still love it. The scenes where they go down into the Rome subway system with the director of subway construction, and where you first see this huge mastedon "tooth" on a carraige, and where he tells them on the railway into the construction site about how many years it takes to dig the tunnels, because every "few hundred metres" they find some archeological site and then have to shut down for the archiologists to study it, and they all finally get to the drilling face...

And the forman says that the "gauge" , ( which I first thought looked plausible enough, but that I now recognise as the work of one of Fellini's brilliant set designers, who recently did all the sets for "Gangs of New York" at Cinicite), says that they are coming on to a probable site... so they shut down, and then carefully gouge out the next few metres of soil and OMG, there's a hole into the space... and there's this amazing ancient Roman Villa, with these fabulous frescos all over the wall and these amazing statues! Everyone in the scene wades around in the shallow water in awe, but suddenly the air from outside, finally let into this ancient space full of beautiful wall paintings and sculpture, causes everything to melt and fade. Everyone is shocked and stunned...

There are some parts of "Roma" that are somewhat documentary looking just before this, and the first time I saw this film, I bought it. I believed the whole scene for a few minutes... and then I remembered it was Fellini. That's why I love Fellini; you know you are watching a great film maker, a master of fantastic images... and still, you forget and believe.

NetFlix.

I watched "The City of Lost Children" last week, a very interesting looking film. I liked it, but if you rent it, choose the version in French with English subtitles. The dubbed English version is dreadful beyond belief!

I also watched the first half of Season Three of "Strangers With Candy".

Amy Sedaris is a mad godess! I recommend this to you all. If you don't get it, just e-mail me and I'll try to explain.

Netflix is great! You just pick the things you want to see on-line and make a list. You get the first three films and then every time you return one, they send you another. No postage, no late fees; the sooner you return a movie, the sooner you get the next one on your list. It's perfect!


Everything else.

Well, it's O.K. Still a lot of possibilities on the horizon, actually quite a bit more of them than a week ago. And that's all fine. I'm a bit tired of the way things are and a change of scenary would do me good.

I'm looking forward to the January trip to Vegas; it's always fun and I get to see luca again...

durlx