Aug 4,2013

Dear Everyone,

This has been a busy couple of weeks for me.  Last weekend, on Sunday, I went to see Wolverine with some aikidoka. I would advise you not to bother.  We were forced to buy 3D tickets (even thought there was nothing much in the movie that made 3D necessary), and the movie was sort of a bore.  The plot was incomprehensible.  There were some good fight scenes, especially one where Hugh Jackman is battling yakuza on the roof of a speeding (300 mph) bullet train.  And if you like Hugh Jackman, he spends a lot of time with his shirt off, and he looks pretty buff.  Otherwise, I would skip it.

We have rented a couple of good movies lately:  Hitchcock, about how Hitchcock and his wife, Alma, self-financed the making of Psycho.  Anthony Hopkins did okay as Hitchcock, but he was really out-played by Helen Mirren as Alma.  We also saw Argo, which was certainly well edited, but quite tarted-up Hollywood style (as was Hitchcock).  I can see why Argo was in the running for Academy Awards, but as Lucas pointed out, it seemed a little weak to have won so many of them. Well, somebody has to win the big prize every year; I guess there was no stand out in 2012.  

Nicola happened to be home last weekend, and she and I made lahmacun (Turkish meatzas).  I had some extra that I brought in to Rasheed Hammadeh, which he had that evening at his home.  He said the flavor was good, but the dough and the meat topping were too thick.  I agreed with him absolutely, but I don’t know how to roll out the dough to ¼” thickness and keep it that way while I transfer it to a grill - - and we don’t have a big oven or any equipment to keep the dough thin.  I think when Ramadan is over, we plan on going with him and his family to a Turkish restaurant in Bensonville.

Continuing on the theatrical theme, Cindy and I went with Jim and Amy Tuchler to The Book of Mormon on Tuesday (the day before J&A went to Vancouver for a holiday; how nice to be temporarily without children).  The musical was pretty funny, but nowhere as profane as South Park, the producers’ long running animated television show.  Amy got us quite nice tickets – the front row of the first balcony, and we also bought access to a special room with hors d’oeuvres, alcoholic beverages and 2 bathrooms.  Unfortunately, I thought that the actors were over-amplified, at least in the bass register, and consequently I had difficulty understanding all of the lyrics of the songs.  I especially liked the scene where the Africans put on a play before the Mormon hierarchy on their interpretation of the Book of Mormon.

I have also made a lot of purchases the last week.  Lucas and I upgraded our cell phones to smart phones.  We were able to get Motorola Razr M phones for free (with continuations of our contracts).  I am happy to inform you that I actually get 1-2 bars of telephone signal in my office with this new phone, so you could try to call or text me. the number is 708 337 0953.  I much prefer the actual landline (708 684 5625) or email. 

In anticipation of the arrival of Luke (mark II) from Germany next weekend, we decided to upgrade our beds also.  So yesterday we got two new twin mattresses for the boys’ rooms, and Cindy and I got a queen tempur-pedic mattress.  The salesman says it takes about a week to get used to a memory foam bed.  Cindy and I both have painful joints early in the morning; I hope this ameliorates this.

We are still adjusting to using the voice recognition system at work.  Minor problems are still arising with the timing interface between the voice system and the pathology system.  I don’t know if these will ever be resolved as long as we are using Citrix as a server middleman.  Meanwhile, I am dictating in a robotoid fashion instead of like a cattle auctioneer.

I have read a couple of books lately that might have more general appeal than usual.  The first is The Accursed, by Joyce Carol Oates (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062233017).  This takes place in Princeton a bit after the turn of the century.  Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, and Upton Sinclair are all characters.  It’s a satiric novel, and her main targets are sexism, racism and classism - - pretty easy targets from 100 years later, but she is a good writer.  The book is something of a mix of Doctorow’s Ragtime, and Nabokovian unreliable narrators. Princeton does not come out looking very good.  Another good read is Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life (http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0316176486).  This novel takes place in England from 1900 -1950, and is a bit science fiction-y for Atkinson, whose other works are literary mysteries.  It reminds me of Connie Wills.  Atkinson has real plot mastery, and its fun to see her subvert it.

Love, H.