chicago

My dad treated us to a yummy lunch at Sorn Thai up near Yonge and Eglinton. Sara and Annie were playing Cathedral when we arrived, a game that Jeff and I got them for Christmas. Annie wanted to ride her scooter, also one of her gifts from us, but the sidewalks were too snowy. Apparently Annie asked Kaarel if he'd be willing to shovel all the sidewalks between their house and the restaurant, but he said no (it would be a LOT of shovelling :-)).

While Jeff was gaming yesterday, I decided to be antisocial the rest of the day and just hang out by myself. Took a nap, did some reading (Heir of Shadows by Anne Bishop), had a ham and swiss sandwich for dinner at Tim Horton's, checked out Boxing Day sales along Bloor Street for about ten minutes until I lost my tolerance for the crowds and fled for the relative quiet of a movie theatre instead.

I went to see Chicago at the Manulife Centre at Bay & Bloor. Wow, did I ever love this movie. It was much more of a traditional musical than I expected, and apparently is pretty faithful to the original Broadway version. I had figured that the whole cast had their voices dubbed, but found out later that they actually did their own singing...even Richard Gere.

And Lucy Liu has a cameo role, yay!





I asked for recommendations for other movies. Here's what Joey Shoji wrote:

Some movies not on your list I've either seen and recommend, or want to see:

- Bowling for Columbine. It's been out a while but I loved it for amusing and horrifying me. A documentary by Michael Moore, it does have some creepy sequences, maybe a few of graphic violence, and some hysterical moments. If I recall, there are also a few Canadians in this movie.

- Far From Heaven with Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid and Dennis Haysbert. Haven't seen it yet, but it's directed by Todd Haynes who's made some bizarre independent films (Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, Poison, Safe) and a bigger budget letdown (Velvet Goldmine) I've liked.

- Talk to Her. The new Pedro Almodovar movie. This one's a drama where the characters include a ballerina in a coma and the male nurse who's infatuated with her, and a female bullfighter who's in a coma and the male writer who's in love with her. This just opened in the SF Bay Area and I'm anxious to see it.

- The Hours. I've read other novels by Michael Cunningham, but not the one made into this movie. Really like Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep, so I may see it despite the Nicole Kidman effect.

- Antwone Fisher. Denzel Washington as a director? Another based on a true story, but looks fairly sappy. I still want to see him, I mean the movie.

- Personal Velocity. It's got Parker Posey!

- Standing in the Shadows of Motown. I don't think this documentary got very wide distribution, but I enjoyed it for the history of the instrumentalists behind the vocalists on all those legendary Motown hits. Has some live performances I thought were great (Gerald Levert, Joan Osborne, Chaka Khan & Montell Jordan, Bootsy Collins) and one that was not good (Chaka Khan by herself). Highly recommend this one if it's still in your area.

Links/News:

In this Green Cine article, Peter Jackson explains why he made some of the changes he did in Two Towers.

China has closed more than 3,300 Internet cafes after a June fire killed 25 people in a Beijing cafe. "The crackdown adds to efforts by the communist government to control how Chinese use the Internet, even as it encourages the spread of online activity for business and education." Source: Wired

Pop-up ads get even more annoying. Source: Globe Technology.

One year ago, I got an Weta Digital Effects crew t-shirt in the mail.

Post your New Year's Resolutions here.

Post your predictions for 2003 here.

---

Today's Blatherpics:

	Chris Conway and his pal, Carmen Miranda. Posted with permission.
	Another Chris/Carmen masterpiece. By the way, Chris's online single, "My Mind's Eye", recently hit No. 9 in the UKSounds Top 10.
	Me near Sorn Thai yesterday afternoon. I'm wearing a harp pin that Lissa and Phil gave me a while back.