The FP Gal went out of town this weekend so I've had the house to myself. It's been a nice bit of time and space. A chance to unwind and kick back. So what did I do?
Well, firstly, and despite jokes to the contrary, there were no strippers involved. Only one striped cat.
Friday night after work, braved the slippery roads and high winds and hit the video store and a footlong from Subway. Nothing but craziness for me. Home to the cats and the couch. Much yelling about feeding time (this was kind of a theme the whole weekend).
Watched the third of the Matrix movies to finish the trilogy. It was disappointing. The special effects were nice but the story was meaninglessly convuluted and the ending falls flat. (Spoiler.) Neo negotiates a peace with the machines in exchange for tackling the out of control Agent Smith. This occurs as the machines are set to wipe out the last tribe of free humans. The machines all stop in their tracks and the humans cheer. "War is over!", shouts one and they all cheer. They won't all be slaughtered and I can understand that happiness but there isn't even a moment where they mourn for their fellow humans doomed to a life of being cattle. (End of spoiler.)
Saturday featured a basketball game that showed why this is the high point of the sports calendar. The game featured Memphis and Louisville, two teams that I don't care about, playing for their conference championship. Louisville is a highly ranked team that would make the NCAA tourney field regardless of the games outcome. Memphis is a bubble team. They might make it on their own strength but it's doubtful. The winner of the game gets an automatic bid to the big dance. In other words, Memphis needs this game much more than Louisville. The game is close and hard fought, but the ending is what made it special. The final play had Louisville up by two with a Memphis player taking a three-pointer. He was fouled and the shot missed. Time ran out during the shot. So with no time left and trailing by two he heads to the free throw line to shoot three free throws. If he makes all three, his team wins and gets into the NCAA tournament. Two will put the game into overtime. Any fewer and they lose.
He heads to the line. No one else is near him. He's all alone and the weight of his world is on his shoulders. The first shot is good. The anouncers suggest that the pressure should now be off of him. The second shot...misses! Overtime is still possible, but he needs to hit this last shot. And he misses again. He crumbles over at the free throw line. You can't write drama of that scope. (Or so I thought. More on that later.)
Next game up was the Gophers. They played well, but they were up against the top team in the nation and they lost by eight. They look good enough to make the tournament for the first time since Clem was here and I'm looking forward to cheering them on.
Saturday night's movie was 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'. This movie is made to look like an old 30's serial. And that part of it works well. But...Gwyneth Paltrow is like an anchor here. She's just too slow to make this work. Worth watching if it's on but don't make too much of an effort.
Sunday morning opened with 'Scent of a Woman' the next movie of my movie project. I'll give this it's own post of course. This afternoon, I went and saw 'Million Dollar Baby' and I think I'll give it it's own post too. Let me just say that it made me change my mind about what level of drama a movie can attain.
Soon, the FP Gal will be home. It's been quite nice but I'm ready to have her back.
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