Saturday, July 25, 2009

Saturday-9am

Been a crazy year for algae in my aquarium. Growing like crazy this summer! I have to keep scrubbing down the front of the tank so I can see the fish--hehe! Cleaned it up again last night.
I'm sleeping my way around the clock again. Been up since 4:30pm Thursday and it throws my routine off. I actually forgot to blog. (I usually blog within the first couple hours I am up--no matter what time of day that happens to be.) Thought I'd blog now before I go to sleep instead today. :)
Since Karma has a violent streak, ever since she was a kitten I have allowed her to "attack" my hand through a sheet or blanket--but she can't bite too hard or the game is over. She was comfortably parked under the old sheet...
...but the second I covered her up she knew the game was on! Ears go back, she does a low snarly, growly thing, and I know her mouth is open under there--hehe! When I touch the sheet anywhere--she tries to wrap her clawless paws around my hand and bites like she is pretending to be king of the jungle!
I will play for a while. But Karma inevitably gets too rough and bites a little too hard--and then the game is over.
I took the sheet off the back of the chair and rolled her over by the fish tank. Can you tell she was really disgusted with me calling a halt to the game? Chuckle!
Let's see--I watched Grey Gardens -2009 a couple days ago:
Based on a true story, this made-for-TV drama stars Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore as the aunt and cousin of Jackie Kennedy Onassis (Jeanne Tripplehorn) -- both named Edie Beale -- who retreat from tony Manhattan society to a mansion in East Hampton, N.Y. After years in isolation, the women are thrust into the spotlight when journalists report on a series of health inspections that find the house -- and its owners -- in shocking disarray.
This movie was based on the documentaries I watched (I think I mentioned them in here, too?)--Grey Gardens -1975:
Documentary pioneers the Maysles brothers (Gimme Shelter) capture poignant moments in the lives of Edith Bouvier Beale (Big Edie) and her middle-aged daughter, Little Edie -- relatives of Jackie O -- at their decaying estate, Grey Gardens. The ladies shut out their bleak present by recalling richer times and lost loves, and while Little Edie confides that she'd like to leave, the camera captures a co-dependency destined to continue.
And The Beales of Grey Gardens -1975:
The ladies of the Beale manse -- Big Edie and Little Edie, kin of Jackie Onassis and stars of the cult classic documentary Grey Gardens -- return in previously unseen footage culled from the filmmakers' archives. Mother and daughter are as weirdly riveting as ever as they hold forth on everything from God to war, and Little Edie models a series of arresting ensembles amid the trash and critters that share the women's crumbling East Hampton home.
Having seen the two documentaries (the first one was the best), I was delighted at how well they portrayed these two eccentric women! Especially Drew Barrymore! I guess she stayed in character all during the shooting of the film and the crew called her Edie all the time. Drew was truly amazing! I would recommend that you watch the real women in the original documentary before you watch the new movie. Drew and Jessica did an excellent job.
I also got the first DVD in the newly released 6th season of the British series Wire In The Blood:
Season 6 of this British crime series, set in the fictional town of Bradfield, continues to follow clinical psychologist Dr. Tony Hill (Robson Green) and his partner, DI Alex Fielding (Simone Lahbib), as they investigate complicated murders and capture cold-blooded killers. And although he's often eccentric, Tony excels at his job, thanks to incredible perceptive abilities. The series is based on the best-selling novels of Val McDermid.
I really enjoy the program, but it is an acquired taste, I suppose. Very dark side of human nature and violent murders, etc. A lot of the investigations are along the lines of more Silence Of The Lambs type murders--sick, sick stuff. I am fascinated by humanity's shadow side, I guess.
I will also be getting the second season of Doc Martin--another British series that is coming out on DVD on Tuesday. Just watched the end of season one:
Frozen by a newfound fear of blood, once-brilliant London surgeon Dr. Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes) is forced to abandon his city practice and start anew as a small-town country doctor in the Cornish hamlet of Portwenn. As the first season of this English sitcom unfolds, Doc Martin opens his office, only to find his waiting room impossibly full. But nobody in town is really sick … they just want to meet their new neighbor.
It is both funny and sad/touching with lots of local "characters". Love those kinds of series!
Anyways, it's a sunny morning and 63 degrees right now. Supposed to get up to 80s today and the next couple days. Will probably have to turn on the AC before I finally go to sleep, I suppose. Karma likes it when I am up all night with her, I think. She can sleep all day in peace and quiet--hehe!
Have a great weekend!

4 comments:

Serena Lewis said...

We play similar games with Cody when he tries to grab at our hands or feet under the blanket.

The down-side to fish tanks for me is the cleaning part....I always end up killing the fish no matter much I adhere to the instructions. :(

I haven't heard of Grey Gardens or the documentaries re. the two Beale women. It sounds very interesting.

I think the English country sitcoms can be quite charming. I'm not a fan of their comedies though....some are okay.

Rita said...

Hi Serena!
Karma prefers it if we play using a bedspread, blanket, or comforter. You just can't bite very hard when it's a sheet--hehe!

I keep the fish alive okay--but the cleaning is the downside--yup! Good thing the fish and karma and I don't mind it looking like the bottom of a lake. Excess algae makes them start smelling like a lake, tho, too!

Those ladies were living in such dreadful conditions when they found them! Cats, raccoons, broken windows, tree branch growing thru a wall, holes in the walls, no electricity, couldn't afford to have garbage service for years--so you can imagine! They lived out of tin cans it looked like (piles of them downstairs) and in basically one bedroom. Neighbors complained about the smell finally. When it went public (news got ahold of it)Jackie O stepped in and had the place cleaned up enough and repaired to keep the building from being condemned. But the documentary is really a study of their relationship--Big and Little Edie's. Kind of a toxic, dependent, love-hate relationship--and denial as to the reality of their lives in that house. I suppose it was so gradual over the years. I was fascinated by the two of them and how they kept themselves going by talking about (and arguing about)the past--and Little Edie about her dreams of the future. For the movie--they did a lot of research on what the ladies had mentioned and worked their past into the story in flashbacks. Compelling--to me anyways. :) Be interested to see what you think if you get a chance to see any of them.

Intense Guy said...

My Mom's cat plays the same game - same rules too! Once he gets a little too "spirited" the game is over - but he never seems to mind - he just goes and hunts a box to lay in - preferably one too small for him to actually fit in.

Rita said...

IG--I keep picturing your mom's cat as a muffin top!! ROFL!! :)