My Sweetie, my cats, French films, and French wine will save this day.

This whole Todd Akin thing has got me really depressed and angry.  I wanted to do a v long post about the Sight & Sound Poll today, and even started writing, ... but, ...

"This tiny pink pistol is so cute.  And it matches my clothes."

I am going to watch 8 Femmes -- which I just bought on Friday last -- drink French wine and wait for my Sweetie to come home.

Politics can tear a soul to shreds on certain days.

Catherine Deneuve, Ludivine Sagnier, Virginie Ledoyen, and my lovely Wife can save me, though. And Molly and Mavis, too.

All my Monday love, Angels! I will get that Sight & Sound report to you soon, I swear.  And, an 8 Femmes review.






Ciao,
mds

H3LV371C4, H3LP M3! (UPDATED, 6/15/12)

Mavis sleeps peacefully, Molly nearly trees herself in the bathroom window sill.  Mavis sleeps peacefully -- well, with both eyes ever so slimly open, thus peacefully for her -- Molly roots around in the wine keller.  Mavis sleeps peacefully, Molly attacks the vertical blinds of our "windoor" -- as is our habit, Renee and I, to call such a thing.  Mavis sleeps peacefully, Molly bats around a stray golf ball.  Mavis sleeps peacefully, Molly rubs intently against my bony slender legs.


It is a lovely lazy quiet day by the golf course on the top of our golden Walnut Creek hill.  I am not like the Wire song, I do not feel mysterious today.  I am drowsy and enchanted, instead.  


And Molly has finally found a sunbeam to luxuriate in, nearly stretched to her maximum length.  


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


I am ever so tempted to go see Moonrise Kingdom again today.  But I am not.  I am going to be an obscene man of leisure, and do nothing.  Probably watch the entire first season of Veep and ... well, I do not know, ... 


Speaking of Veep, they closed out with their best episode, an absolute tornado of cynicism and unbelievable swear-y greatness.  Congressman No-Jaw, indeed.  The Thick of It, In the Loop, and Veep are so salty and pleasurable and satisfying and addicting.  They are a true guilty pleasure.  Not guilty pleasure meaning appreciating bad art in a campy sort of way, but guilty pleasure in the way you find yourself perhaps indulging yourself too heartily in all the non-stop schadenfreude.  You become alarmed at your own "schadenboner" (to quote directly from S1-EP7.)  


Thank you so much HBO for bringing Armando Iannucci and his crack team of writers Stateside. I can not wait for season two.  


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


Nick C and I went and saw Citizen Kane last night.  There was nobody there, about two dozen folks, an absolute flop.  Whereas, last month, when we got a bunch people to go see Casablanca, it was a packed house.  


I do not care, really.  It was a fantastic experience, and the digital version of Kane looked and sounded way better than the digital version of Casablanca.  I forgot how funny Citizen Kane is.  It practically is a comedy, with Welles and his entire team constantly winking at us the entire time.  


The film still completely blows me away; an astonishing work of American art, the richest and most perfect satire of Twentieth Century American Pop Culture ever produced.


Last night my favorite part was the parrot, leading to the walk out, leading to Kane's devastating meltdown.  Welles was heard to say after finishing his meltdown take, "My God, I really felt it."


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

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


St Helena is so calling us right now.  We will be getting away for two days and one night very soon, staying at the Hotel St Helena, or, as Renee and I like to call it, The Big Valley Hotel.  The cable box is awful, the shower is full of character, every room has a crazy Western folk art theme, on some floors the rooms all share a community bathroom, the hotel is v old, and at one time was a bordello.  It is right on Main Street in St Helena, next to one of my all-time fave restaurants, Market.  I love the place.  Renee does, too, but prob, not as much as me.  (That shower thing.  And she has v curly hair.) The main reason I love it is because when you look down on Main Street from your window, you really do half expect to see Missy and the rest of the Barkley clan on the street.  (They are probably checking up on their Napa vineyards, I suppose, ... ) The Barkleys own all of Northern California, dontcha know?


We'll hit Frog's Leap, hopefully Radio-Coteau, and Ridge.  I want to go to Market and Bouchon. The Wife wants to try Ad Hoc, and, of course, we will hit every single foodie shop in the vicinity. Maybe I will buy another bottle of Lail Georgia? Yum.  


We need it.  And Renee has earned it, besides; getting promoted, and all.  


Last Sunday, on our way to the Mount Madonna School play, I said to the Wife, "Let's just turn around right now and go to St Helena."


She said, "No, we'll go when we are supposed to.  That way I have something to look forward to."


h/t to my facebook friend-y, Freda M, who said, "Five years ago today -- I got lucky."


So true, me too.  I got very lucky, indeed.  












































Mwah, ... 

PS:  I just read that they have just made a film version of The Big Valley, coming to a theater near you, soon.  Ugh.  Just watch the old teevee program, that is all you need.


mds








UPDATE, 6/15/12:  I did not stay home and watch Veep.  I went and saw Moonrise Kingdom again.  


mds

This is Renee and I's

Wonderful routine every Monday thru Friday:

Renee wakes up first (generally anytime between three and six am.)  She switches off whatever black and white movie I have left on to fall asleep to, then puts the teevee on Channel 59 (FoxNews), or as we like to call it, The Channel of Hate.  This way I can catch up on whatever the Channel of Hate's big meme/message is going to be that day.  (For the longest time now, the CoH's big issue is Gas Prices and how they will cripple Obama's re-election bid.  Fox and Friends is def the worst.  They will say anything over there.)

I wake up slowly.  Renee and Molly (our youngest cat) hang out in the bathroom together, literally talking to each other.  It is a little odd.  Eventually, I wake up enough that I can yell at the nimrods on the CoH.

Renee does her normal girly routine and then makes us each a cup of Mariage Freres tea, using our Breville electric tea kettle (which was the most fabulous Wedding Present evah!)  My fave Mariage is Noel, but we also love French Breakfast, and Vanilla.

Luckily, last time my Da was in Paris, he bought us a whole bunch.  (It's not cheap here in the US.)  But Renee does a great job, keeping us well stocked, buying hers at Market Hall, Oaktown.

Renee heads to work, I take a shower. then hit the computer right before I head to work.

It is a well-oiled machine that is a joy to start every day with.  Love you, Pnut.

mds

Couple of days ago, the Wife and I

This is what it looks like nearly every night.

Were assuming our usual positions on the sofa, covered in cats, tucking in to the delicious Bistro Jeanty tomato soup that Renee had made for us (thanks, Angel, it was so good), watching the tube, when a commercial for cell phones (or services, I do not know) came on.  It is the company that has that skinny chick for a spokesperson.  She always wears hot pink dresses.

Anyhoo, the commercial is an Xmas ad, featuring Santa's elves building 4G cellphones, I imagine, and all the elves have hot pink facial hair.  You have prob seen this, already.

Instantly, I thought to myself, and expressed, "You know, this is the first time I have seen this absolutely awful commercial, and the saddest thing is, I am going to see this commercial at least five hundred more times before this year is over."

Renee laughed.









(As I wrote this, and set up the Bistro Jeanty link, I was listening to John's Children.  So, when I brought up the Bistro Jeanty website, the French music melded w/ John's Children.  It actually sounded "pretty cool," as Dignan would say.)

Kisses,
xxxoooxxx

There is a mean old

Cat Lady that lives just a few doors down from us.  She hates us (me, Renee has ne'er talked to her.)

She hates me b/c I confused the name of one of her cats w/ another cat that prowls around the Golf Course Condo Extravaganza we live in.

She has a male cat, Sparkles, (what the hell, I am sorry, kind of name is that? Especially for a cat) that weighs over thirty pounds.

Sparkles is grey and white.

Anyhoo, the Mean Old Cat Lady showed up at my store the other day.  I had ne'er seen her there before.  She was coming out of the bathroom, natch, and def saw me but despite my pleasant smile, acted as if she had no idea who I was.

Mean Old Cat Lady has a v large (not too chic) purple purse.

I tried to point out Mean Old Cat Lady to my buddy, Nick C, who was working with me at the time.  We were at the "Cheese Island", surrounded by the "Coffin Case", and Nick C was intently helping a moderately difficult customer whilst Mean Old Cat Lady was across from us, facing the other direction, at the Prepared Foods Counter.

I knew I could not have a conversation w/ Nick C, so, I took a small "taster" piece of wax paper and drew an arrow on't w/ a Sharpie.  Underneath the arrow I wrote the following words, "Mean Old Cat Lady (purple purse)".  I would move the arrow like a Ouija board towards my victim so that perchance Nick C got a chance, he would see her.

It did not work.

But we had a good laugh.

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

This was the same night the Rangers clinched the pennant.  And as Renee fell asleep on my  lap, me stroking her lovely curly locks, I heard a hiss.

We had left the main porch door open.  (It has been hot here, still.)  And there was a cat right up against our screen confronting Molly (our kitten).

It was forty pound Sparkles, right up in Molly's (and ours) grille.

Sparkles had ne'er been on our porch before, much less right up against the screen.  


I chased him off (but when I went to smoke later and Molly was quite content on the couch, away from the windoor) Sparkles had returned.

He ran away again.

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

You have got to be
Wary
Of the mean
Old
Cat Lady