skjam

Our family Christmas party was yesterday due to ridiculous scheduling conflicts. Ate food, saw relatives, exchanged gifts.

I got two books from the Robot & Monk series, the first of which won a Hugo.

And here's Mom with the pashmina scarves I got her.

Current Music: Classic MPR

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) dir. Steven Spielberg

Elliott (Henry Thomas) is a middle child. He's old enough to want to participate in his teen brother Michael's (Robert MacNaughton) Dungeons and Dragons game, but not old enough to be welcome there. He thinks of his little sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore) as babyish, and hasn't noticed yet how smart she is. The kids quarrel a lot, exasperating their separated mother Mary (Dee Wallace). But Elliott is about to become one of the most important little boys on Earth. An alien has been stranded near their Northern California suburb, and Elliott is the key to saving this extra-terrestrial.

Somehow, I had just never gotten around to seeing this much-beloved movie during the year it ran in theaters or on TV or home video. My knowledge of it was all from pop culture references and ripoffs. So it's nice that I was randomly challenged to finally give it a watch.

E.T., as it will come to be known, is a member of a group of peaceful explorers who were examining an Earth forest when the ship was forced to take off before meddling humans could get to close. In the excitement, E.T. was left behind, and evidently the aliens do not possess a way to return to the same coordinates. E.T. senses a kindred spirit in the nearby town, and slowly reveals itself to the shocked pre-teen.

Elliott is forced to admit the existence of the alien to his siblings--despite their own tensions, they quickly bond over protecting the visitor. They try to hide E.T. from their mother, though Gertie tries the other approach and Mary completely misses what's going on due to her own pressing concerns. Meanwhile, shadowy figures infiltrate the neighborhood, led by the mysterious Keys (Peter Coyote).

E.T. has seemingly miraculous powers, but separation from its people is slowly killing it. The kids need to help it "phone home." Fortuitously, Halloween has arrived, making it easier for weird creatures to go out on the street, but will it be too late?

Good: Neat special effects, excellent music, some lovely shots. Keeping the government agents shadowy and a bit sinister until the last third of the movie works well. I also like that said agents turn out to be well-meaning, if overbearing and not willing to listen closely enough to the children.

Oh, and one of the first D&D scenes in media and mostly positive!

Less good: I found my attention wandering during the early "cute kid" scenes. Elliott seems a little too invested in E.T. being "a boy" (officially, its species does not have gender as we understand it.)

Content note: Some naughty language from children. E.T. comes close to dying and Elliott suffers with him. Younger children should have a grownup for support during darker moments.

I think I missed the window to consider this a really great movie, but it is pretty good and suitable for families to watch together (if your family is okay with "penis-breath" as dialogue.)

Current Mood: hot
Current Music: "Flow"

Perhaps I do not post enough cute pictures of relatives.

Here is my great-nephew in his new Dr. Zoidberg hat.

A small family restaurant in my hometown recently reopened, after a COVID-sparked closing. It's one of those places where the walls are covered in things to look at and maybe buy, including a selection of my father's carvings. He was a good friend of the owner, and supported her emotionally during the time the restaurant was unable to be open, and Mom is also a friend.

Aunt K (Dad's sister) moved back into the area during the time the restaurant was closed, so recently she had her first visit...and requested that she be given one of Dad's carvings "to remember him by." Mom was miffed when she heard, as 1) Aunt K already has several of Dad's carvings that he gave her over the years, and 2) Aunt K could well afford to pay the modest price. She informed the restaurant owner that Aunt K was to have nothing else free.

The Curse of the Cat People (1944) dir. Gunther V. Fritsch

Amy Reed (Ann Carter) lives in Tarrytown, New York, near Sleepy Hollow, with her ship designer father Oliver (Kent Smith) and draft creator mother Alice (Jane Randolph). Amy is a sensitive, imaginative little girl who doesn't get along well with the other children in kindergarten. Though their lives seem happy enough, the house is shadowed by the memory of Oliver's first wife, Irena (Simone Simon) who died under tragic circumstances. Oliver's never fully recovered from that incident, and sees some of Irena's strange beliefs in Amy's imagination. It's as though he's haunted by a ghost.

This movie is a sequel to 1942's Cat People, foisted on producer Val Lewton complete with mandatory title by executives at RKO. He was none too keen on just doing another movie about someone turning into a panther, so this is a completely different story that happens to have several characters returning from the first one.

Amy has a severe rift with the other children when they aren't invited to her birthday party (because Amy put the invitations in a magic hollow tree instead of the official post office mailbox) and is very lonely. She wanders by the spooky old Farren house, where a mysterious voice gifts her with a ring, and a severe-looking woman chases her off.

Jamaican manservant Edward (Sir Lancelot) playfully suggests that her new jewel is a wishing ring, and Amy wishes to have a friend. Seemingly, her wish comes true, even if her parents can't see who she's playing with in the yard.

Told that she must return the ring, Amy goes back to the Farren house with Edward, and meets Julia Farren (Julia Dean) an elderly actress, and her daughter Barbara (Elizabeth Russell). Mrs. Farren is friendly, but a bit delusional--she thinks that the real Barbara died years ago, and this Barbara is an imposter, which has made Barbara bitter to the point of near-madness.

Amy's friend turns out to be Irena, who may be a ghost, or imaginary, cobbled together from pictures Amy's seen and the name her mother mentions. The story never quite specifies. This disturbs Oliver, who reacts badly. On Christmas Night, Amy runs away into a snowstorm, leading to a strange climax.

This movie is certainly not the type of horror story one might expect from the title. There are certainly scary bits, and sad parts, but from Oliver and Alice's perspective, it's more about what happens after you've survived a horror story. Despite what we saw (or think we saw) in the previous movie, Oliver has convinced himself that Irena never actually transformed into a cat, and it was her irrational belief that she would that led to her death. That's why he is disturbed by Amy's bouts of imagination (even when Amy is not in fact imagining things.) He even resorts to saying that she's deliberately lying in an attempt to scare her out of it.

Friendly teacher Miss Callahan (Eve Marsh) explains that imaginary friends are not harmful, but a normal part of child development, and helps Oliver regain his senses. (This scene is one of the reasons this movie is often screened for child psychology students.)

This film is shot well, with good use of lighting and special effects. Ann Carter is an exceptional child actress, and the supporting cast is also excellent. There is genuine suspense.

Content note: A butterfly is crushed, and Amy hits a boy as a result. Suicide is mentioned. Oliver spanks Amy off-screen, and this is treated as a normal, if last resort, punishment. Julia emotionally abuses Barbara due to her delusions.

Overall, this is actually a heartwarming holiday film for certain kinds of families. If you can't take another viewing of It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street, try this one instead.

Evidently, my Uncle D is sulking because both Mom and Aunt K have set boundaries. He can only come over once a week for dinner, and has to call in advance to arrange it. And so he hasn't called either of them in a month.

Over the years, Uncle D had developed the habit of just coming over whenever and expecting to be fed, often just walking in the door without even knocking. Dad wasn't too thrilled with it either (D is his youngest brother) but put up with it because he enjoyed their domino games.

Saturday was my father's memorial service.

I dressed in my good dark suit at my apartment, though I carried the jacket and tie in a bag just in case I didn't need them. I had a few bad minutes when it turned out I had at no point during the last year verified that my second good shoe was behind my first good shoe as I assumed every time I saw that shoe. It turned up about three feet away. Got a ride up to Sandstone with my brother and his wife.

We had a light family dinner as people arrived, with all the preparations that had to be made. Then it was off to the Osprey Wilds Audubon Center. Dad was a supporter of the Audubon Society, and had played on that land as a child when it was a doctor's summer home estate and Grandpa Jamison was called in to help fix the place up. They even have some of his carvings on display there.

It had stormed ferociously early in the afternoon, but the clouds were parting as we got to the venue, and by the time the service started and we were all set up, the sun was shining. Dad lived in Sandstone most of his life, so there was a good crowd from in town, and all his surviving siblings managed to make it there. Masks were highly suggested, and most folks complied, though a couple were nose goblins, and my youngest uncle point-blank wouldn't wear one (he is, however, vaccinated) and came in a mostly-clean t-shirt and jeans.

We had the minister from our family church (Dad and Mom having been very active until advancing years and medical problems made it difficult for them to attend regularly). I read I Corinthians 13, one of Dad's favorite passages (and his father's before him) not choking up too badly, and we sang some of his favorite hymns. A last minute addition was the siblings sharing stories--caught the minister off guard and Mom had to remind her that they'd talked about this before.

After the main ceremony, we went outside for the military honors. (Dad being a Korean War veteran.) The rifle salute startled a squirrel, which went running through the mourners. Most of the honor guard from the American Legion were Vietnam vets, and one of them remembered Dad acting as one of the rifle squad for one of his friends' funeral back in the day. This was one of the times I really did choke up.

My nephew's wife missed most of the service as their son is teething, and his wailing kept setting off his slightly older sister's wailing.

Then the immediate family went out to the cemetery for the interment ceremony (Dad was cremated, so just the urn). I finally got to see my grand-nephew in person for the first time, he was calm for this bit. My sister's fellow played another song Dad had requested on his smartphone--I recognized it, but can't find it on Youtube. One of the lyrics is "tell all the refugees they can come home."

Then back to Osprey Wilds for more visiting, and cleaning up the place. My middle niece has gotten a job near my home town, so she was staying with Mom for the rest of the weekend, and my youngest niece rode with us back to the cities to be dropped off at college.

Current Mood: mourning

My father passed away yesterday.

He'd been very ill over the last few months, and for the last week been in at-home hospice. I received news that he was sinking fast, and Dad passed away while I was enroute from the city. Some of the family were there at the time, and the rest of us were able to make it in time to have a brief gathering with the pastor of our hometown church. I'll be heading back on the weekend to help Mom out as best I can.

Dad was a Korean war veteran, goat farmer, sign painter, woodcarver, corrections officer, avid gardener, a good father and grandfather, and will be sorely missed in his community.

Ponyo (2008) dir. Hayao Miyazaki

Brunhilde's father, Fujimoto, is a sorcerer in love with the sea, in the person of the Ocean Goddess. He has long abandoned the land and no longer considers himself human. He'd prefer that Brunhilde and her sisters stay safe under his protection forever in the depths of the sea, but Brunhilde playfully wanders off to explore. She's accidentally trapped in a glass jar and washed toward the shore, where she's found by a human boy named Sosuke. Sosuke breaks the glass and frees her, cutting himself, and Brunhilde tastes his blood.

Sosuke names the odd-looking goldfish he's found "Ponyo," which she decides she likes better than Brunhilde. Sosuke and his mother Lisa live on a cliff by the shore. Lisa works at the senior center which happens to be next to Sosuke's kindergarten. Sosuke's father Koichi is a ship's officer, and his duty means that he won't be home on the day scheduled. Sosuke and Ponyo bond a bit before her father comes and takes her home.

Back at the undersea laboratory, Fujimoto learns that Ponyo would rather be on land with Sosuke. And she's developing a more humanoid body! Apparently, tasting Sosuke's blood has activated her latent human DNA. In a panic, Fujimoto swallows some of the elixir that fuels his magic, and forces Ponyo back into goldfish shape. As soon as her father turns his back, however, Ponyo is freed by her sisters. In a series of mishaps, Ponyo gets a huge dose of Fujimoto's elixir, which allows her to assume a fully human shape. It also prematurely sets off a spell her father was preparing for far in the future, sparking off a typhoon.

During the typhoon, Ponyo reconnects with Sosuke, who instantly accepts that she is the same person as his beloved goldfish. The children bond, but the world is in danger. (No one dies though.)

This Studio Ghibli film is loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid", but takes it in a very different direction than most other adaptations. Ponyo is very much not silent or suffering while on land, and the stakes are rather higher than just her happiness. Her relationship with Sosuke feels more real than many Prince/Mermaid forced happy endings.

As always with Ghibli movies, it looks gorgeous, with a special concentration on water effects and sea life. Ponyo's transformations are cool to see.

Some interesting bits with names: Sosuke addresses Lisa by her given name, and also the women at the senior center, without honorifics. I don't think I've seen that from a child his age in any other Japanese media. And while Fujimoto is dismayed at Ponyo's choice to change her name, he respects it (and her mother instantly accepts it.)

This one's more on the "small child" end of the "family movie" spectrum; youngest viewers will be able to appreciate it, as will their parents and grandparents, but I suspect many teenagers will find the movie "babyish."

Content note: Some of Ponyo's transformations look painful.

Recommended for families with small children and Ghibli fans.

Summer Wars (2009) dir. Mamoru Hosoda

High schooler Kenji Koiso is a math whiz who almost qualified for Team Japan in the Math Olympics. But almost won't get you a good summer job, so he's a low level maintenance admin for the OZ online service. OZ is the most popular online virtual world, featuring everything from social media accounts with personalized avatars through online shopping to government agencies and satellite guidance. It needs a lot of low-paid grunts like Kenji to keep it running. So Kenji is willing to take a slightly better-paying job escorting cute senpai (senior at school) Natsuki Shinohara to a family reunion for her great-grandmother's ninetieth birthday.

The Jinnouchi clan used to be powerful and wealthy back in the day, but poor financial decisions by the late clan head mean that Great Grandmother Sakae is down to just owning the (very nice) house she lives in and the surrounding grounds. Which is not to say the large extended family is impoverished, as most of them have perfectly decent jobs that they're good at. What Natsuki didn't tell Kenji until they already arrived is that he's actually there to pretend to be her boyfriend and fiance, as she'd lied about having one to help keep Sakae's spirits up.

That's stressful enough, but Kenji also falls victim to a phishing attack disguised as a math puzzle sent to him in an email. This allows the malevolent artificial intelligence known as "Love Machine" to steal his moderator account as part of its bid to take over OZ. Even worse, Love Machine frames Kenji as the criminal! With the entire world in danger, Kenji and the Jinnouchi clan must find a way to defeat Love Machine.

This 2009 movie reuses some plot points from Hosoda's earlier movie Our War Game, part of the toyetic Digimon franchise, but places much more emphasis on the physical world and family relationships. By the end, almost every family member has contributed to the story in some important way. Which is not to say that all of them always contribute positively. Off-duty cop Shota makes several bone-headed choices (while still meaning well) while black sheep of the family Wabisuke has inadvertently set the larger disaster in motion trying to make good for running off with most of Sakae's money years ago. (In an amusing twist, we learn that Natsuki's fake background for Kenji as her boyfriend was based on Wabisuke's achievements.)

(There's also a nice parallel sports story going on in the background.)

Both the human and virtual worlds are important and the art for both is good, though I preferred the warmer tones of the "real" segments. I strongly connected with the characters' emotions and the theme of family working together, even when they struggle to understand each other.

The one part that's perhaps a little weak is that there's an awful lot of coincidence needed to make sure that this one particular family and their guest are pivotal to both creating and solving the worldwide crisis.

Content note: There's a bit of partial nudity, and I am told the English dub has more swearing than parents of young children may be comfortable with. That latter bit and a particularly affecting death may make parents want to screen the movie to decide if little ones are ready to see it.

Overall: This is a superior animated movie that tugged my heartstrings. Highly recommended.

Current Mood: impressed

Family celebration was on Sunday. Got a Lunds gift card, which I used today to purchase a fancy cake for work.

Actually did get a thank-you note for the United Way basket I made! A pleasant shock. I won the "first basket turned in" award, but there doesn't seem to be any actual prize involved.

I know a couple of people on my friends pages read novels about quirky Southern women. If this is you, please see my previous post.

Second person got their mix cds in for the exchange, so that's furthest away and closest. Two more to go.

Oldest niece is going back to college, this time at Mankato State. I mentioned that this was where I learned to play D&D lo these many years ago. (Biked over from Bethany Lutheran, or walked sometimes.) Man, I miss being able to walk three hours across town after midnight without being scared half to death.

Middle niece will be attending junior high in the fall.

Still waiting for "One For the Money". Saw "Brave," liked it.

How's by you?

Current Mood: sore

First off, both parents are out of the hospital and doing well at home. Huzzah!

This last weekend was Anime Detour, with the theme of "It Came From Japan."

Due to poor timing, I wound up in the Crowne Plaza hotel, so it was shuttle buses for me back and forth. This didn't work too well on Friday, as the shuttle driver got stuck in traffic coming back from the airport and had both shuttles' keys on him so the backup driver couldn't substitute. Things were moving much more smoothly by Sunday and checkout time. One of these years, I'll have to actually eat in the Plaza's restaurant.

Most exciting new thing this year was Otaku Speed Dating. Separate events for gay and hetero folks, to reduce confusion. To no one's surprise, guys outnumbered gals in line for the one I went to, and some had to be turned away. The room was relatively small and the acoustics were not suitable for about eighty people all talking at the same time. One minute per candidate, change seats.

I had more (very short) conversations with women in that one hour than I've had over the last three Anime Detours. Those of you who've known me for a while are aware that while I'm not particularly shy, painful experience has made it difficult for me to engage women I haven't been introduced to in conversation. Being given explicit permission to do so helped immensely.

Sadly, I got not one single "match"--not too surprising given I was at least a decade older than anyone else in the room, and the...other problems. Still very disappointing. I got a consolation email with pictures of puppies and kittens.

Most interesting normal panel was "Weeaboos Then and Now", talking about Japanophilia as it was in Victorian times, now, and some points inbetween.

Some nice AMVs as always--this year the contest broke up the showing order of the nominees a bit for better flow. NO WTF video contest this year, apparently.

I skipped the formal cosplay, most amusing hall costume I saw was someone as Amu from Shugo Chara, with three dolls representing her Charas hovering above her shoulder on wires.

Weather was cooler than expected, though it did warm up by Sunday evening when I left.

This coming week is Minicon, look forward to seeing some of you there.

Current Mood: restless
Current Music: "Crucial Spirits"--Milk

Dad's having heart problems, and the doctors have decided to put in a pacemaker. For some reason, he will be having it done in Duluth, which I can't reach so easily. Hope Dad can make it through....

Current Mood: moody

I took the day off as my mother was down at a local hospital having pacemaker surgery done.

It went well enough, but the hospital will be keeping her overnight.

Those of you seeing this on Dreamwidth will get to see a new icon courtesy of

djinni, who is having another free icon day on his LJ right now.

Speaking of which, if you are jumping from LJ to DW and still want to read my stuff, be sure and link up. Also, I wound up getting a lot more prompts for my microfic day on DW this time, so you may want to check it out.

Am heading home for the holiday, hope my folks will hold up okay.

One of the authors of "Board to Death" contacted me via my review of that book on Goodreads, and asked for some clarification. Nice to know someone actually reads these things!

Current Mood: awake
Current Music: "A Truly Talented Rival Doesn't Need to Show Off"--Maria Kawamura

Good to see the folks again, though the nephew and oldest niece couldn't make it. The latter will probably be sorry she missed the ice cream cake.

Frank Merriwell's School Days by Burt L. Standish

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the first of the long-running and once-famous Frank Merriwell series of exciting books for teenaged boys.

Young Frank wasn't quite able to make it into West Point (politics), so he has come to the slightly less prestigious Fardale Military Academy to get an education. No sooner has he alighted from the train than he crosses paths with Bartley Hodge, a spoiled and rather vicious lad, who swiftly becomes his rival. (We know Bart's a bad 'un because he kicks a dog in the second sentence of the book.)

From there on in, there's a whirlwind of exciting events with a fight or rescue or startling turn of events almost every chapter. This does, however, make the book not so much have a climactic ending as just a stopping point.

Frank's a likable young chap, accomplished in many areas, handsome, not given to vice (but not through a tiresome goody-goody personality) and an all-round decent fellow. Perhaps a bit too decent for his own safety, but he's also got some amazing luck. Even so, Frank is not invincible, he is outdone more than once, and suffers several temporary setbacks.

Ethnic humor is provided by two boys, one of Irish descent and the other of Dutch, both of whom have ridiculous accents and act stereotypically "foreign." They're good guys, though, so the humor never gets truly mean. The setting of a boys' school reduces female roles considerably, but we do have "buxom" farmer's daughter Belinda Snodd, who is quite capable of handling unwanted advances even without Franks' intervention, and dark-eyed Inza Burrage, a jolly girl that Frank and Bart both fancy. Inza's much more the damsel in distress type, I fear, and it is due to her that Frank gets a medal of honor from the US Congress about halfway through the book.

Yes, that's right, the awarding of a Congressional medal of honor to Frank isn't even the big ending of the volume!

Suitable for older teens, especially boys, who are interested in what life was like more than a century ago and are willing to slog through the awful comedy accents.

View all my reviews

Current Mood: drained
Current Music: "Hey, Good Lookin'"--Hank Williams Sr.

Christmas happened. It was good to see the family again, and much fun was had. The gift I gave out that seemed the most awesome was a volume of Amerlia Rules for the youngest niece. She was already halfway through when it came time for her to leave.

They'd changed the bus schedules so my bus back to the Cities left about noon; the folks and I had brunch in the Banning Junction cafe. Sadly, it seems that business is down, and that part of the restaurant is now closed and looking for someone to rent.

Snow and cold continue to dominate the weather.

I missed getting a room in the Sheraton for ConVergence; the room committee has acknowledged my request for a Sofitel room, but no guarantees, and I won't find out for a while if it took. I do have a room for Anime Detour though.

Work is tolerable. My supervisor went to Nicaragua for a couple of weeks and brought back souvenirs; I'll be regifting the coffee.

Oh, and back to Christmas for the moment, I sent out all the wishlist items, finally. I hope everyone got them okay. I was very pleased with several mix CDs, some candy, books and so forth. Thanks, internet!

For hobby stuff, I have been "liveblogging" the Republic movie serial "Zorro's Fighting Legion" over on the TV Tropes website. Take a look: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=12921152820B27780100&i_id=12921152820I27781900&p=1

Current Mood: cold
Current Music: computer hum

Have sent out quite a few of the surprises for the folks on

holiday_wishes and

wish_list. I know at least a few of them have arrived because the recepients have said so, and one definitely did not. (Gonna have to look into that.)

Need to wrap the presents I'm giving family members, and figure out who I've got left to shop for. My parents have asked for giving to a good cause this year, so that one's easy.

Made a couple of posts on Scans Daily, which is having a big December event.

Work goes okay.

Still trying to lose weight. Valiantly resisting my usual habit of buying cartons of egg nog and drinking them at a single sitting, but man I love egg nog. Exercise getting even harder to get around to with onset of snow, ice and frigid air.

Have received one package so far this season, I know who it's from and approximately what it might be, but am saving opening it for a little closer to Christmas. Also, my brother's family holiday letter.

Hope all of you are as well as can be expected, and keeping warm.

Current Mood: cold
Current Music: computer hum

I hope your day is filled with warmth and good feelings.

Been busy with the wishing communities, have gotten the first few surprises out--and a couple have already arrived! (Perhaps just a little *too* early Christmas ;)

The family is out to a restaurant this year, to save wear and tear on relatives.

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Music: computer hum

Well, life has been pretty blah lately, and somehow I never got around to posting....

Most exciting thing was youngest niece's birthday. I gave her a doll I picked up at ConVergence, Zoe Raccoon. Which is Zoe from "Firefly" if she were an anthropomorphic raccoon. Quite good quality, handmade, and I got it for a song. I think the grownups were more impressed than the niece, with much oohing over the handstiching, fabric choices, and the posable fingers.

Also, I provided a CD of spooky songs for Halloween. It was my brother's first exposure to Jonathan Coulton's hit "Re: Your Brains." Don't know if he'll let the niece listen to that again or not.

Went to see "Megamind" this last weekend; it was okay, but I don't think kids will like it as much as "Despicable Me".

Looking forward to the opening of the Holiday Wishes community--money's a bit tighter this year so I won't be able to send as many surprises, but I've already laid in some supplies for those I can.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: "Life: The Distant Promise"--Chrono Cross OST

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skjam

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Entries tagged with family

Family Holiday Gathering

CRUD Challenge: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Nephew in a hat

More family gossip

CRUD Challenge: The Curse of the Cat People

Family Gossip

Memorial Service

RIP George Jamison

CRUD Challenge: Ponyo

CRUD Challenge: Summer Wars

It is indeed my birthday.

This Last Weekend

And now Dad...

In other news...

Miscellaneous

Back from my birthday bash, and another book review!

Checking in

Progress report.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Still alive