May 7, 2012

Of Le Cheval, Ben and Jerry, Dolly Parton,

Nine to Five, Muriel's Wedding, Meghan, the Wife, iToys, Draw Something, and any other Girly thing one might think of.

Hope that is Skinny and Sweet™ in that coffee.


I will get to Nine to Five in a minute, and what a great little motion picture it is.

I am off work last friday at 7:30 PM.  Renee wants company over.  Her week has just ended and she had just done a fourteen hour shift the night before, helping with inventory, way out in San Rafael.  She calls me at work, tells me Meghan is coming over (Girly Night, Part Four!), asks if she can use my birthday gift certificate for Le Cheval (thanks, ladies!).  I say, Yes.  And then finish my shift.

I buy a couple of Prosecco 187s, crank up the iPod, and hit the trail on a gorgeous sunkissed evening in Walnut Creek, CA.

For me, lately, nearly all last week, it has been all David Bowie for my "commute", as it were. Here was my playlist for the walk home last Friday, May 4, 2012:

All tracks by David Bowie:

1. Life On Mars?
2. Queen Bitch
3. The Man Who Sold the World
4. Diamond Dogs
5. Candidate
6. Rosalyn
7. Friday on My Mind
8. Fantastic Voyage
9. Boys Keep Swinging.

The high point was probably the last line of Candidate, just as I started to climb the Hill, "We jump in a river holding hands."

When I arrived home, Renee and Meghan were laughing about one of their friends, who maintains that Dolly Parton is not Country but Classic Rock.  This hilarity has inflamed Renee with a passion to watch Ms Parton (the Wife and I loooove Dolly) in Nine to Five.  I say that is a marvelous idea, and help her get it set up on our teevee.  (Nine to Five is streaming on Netflix currently.  Check it out if it has been a while.)  But, I say, "If we're going to watch Nine to Five, we should be high, because of that scene in the movie."  This situation was perhaps taken care of, if you know what I mean.  Or, perhaps not? Thanks to everyone involved, it had been a loooong time.  And I am such a lightweight.

Anyhoo, then the second course of Le Cheval comes out as the movie unspools.  Shaking Beef, Imperial Rolls, seafoody delights for the ladies (I do not like seafood, really, except oysters with Champers, I suppose.)  We play with our iToys, we laugh uproariously when Dolly lassos Dabney Coleman, and when Jane Fonda has trouble with the copier.  Renee and I are both terrible with copy machines, hate 'em.

The movie is close to ending and the ladies want dessert.  I tell them I have two flavors of (junky) Ben and Jerry's in the freezer.  They say, Yes! I bring the pints to them, a pint and a spoon to each, and go out for a smoke.  Upon my return, they have each done a shift on their original flavors and have now switched so they will have each tried both!  They finish their dessert, I put the pints away, while Renee decides on the second film.  I sit down and watch as the credits roll on Renee's second feature selection, it is Muriel's Wedding, starring Toni Collette! Can we get anymore girly tonight?

Fine with me.  I love Muriel's Wedding.  I love Toni Collette.  We watch the movie, play with our iToys and then Renee gets sleepy.

Meghan and I nearly finish Muriel's Wedding, Meghan heads home and Girly Night, Part Four (the bestest and girliest of all four comes to a close.)

************

I am not going to do a bunch of research on this, or anything.  I am going to shoot from the hip, like Ms Parton probably would.  Nine to Five is a fantastic motion picture.  It has a good heart.  It stands for the right thing.  And the film is told with such panache, and is so hilarious, without being the least bit preachy.  And, how can you not love the idea of Jane Fonda playing a recently divorced housewife, desperate for some consciousness raising? Or, Lily Tomlin as a sweet single Mom (her scene, hugging her son, her legs lifting off the ground as the garage door goes down, is my favorite in the film.  It is so touching.)  And, then there is Ms Parton as Doralee, to wit:

Up until now I've been forgivin' and forgettin' because of the way I was brought up, but I'll tell you one thing. If you ever say another word about me or make another indecent proposal, I'm gonna get that gun of mine, and I'm gonna change you from a rooster to a hen with one shot! And don't think I can't do it. 

And then there is Sterling Hayden, from Dr Strangelove, Mister Precious Bodily Fluids, himself, taking Dabney Coleman to South America for a "promotion", as the team of Parton, Tomlin, and Fonda seem to be headed for running the company themselves.  

The film hits on sexual harassment, single motherhood, divorce, unequal pay, married relations, child care, health care, etc, ...  all of which are topics that are still relevant thirty frickin' two years later.

And Nine to Five sure plays pretty damn good right now, what with the GOP's War on Women™ currently in vogue.

Highly, highly recommended.  Have it with some BBQ like Parton, Tomlin, and Fonda do.  Or Le Cheval take away is always real good, too, ...








Mwah, ... 





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