Asian Art Museum - Ming Dynasty Exhibit

After SFMOMA, dropped by here, hoping for some lunch too. But really crowded with a busload of visitors, so I passed.

Ming very nice survey. Good collection in the usual two special rooms downstairs. Bought the catalogue too this time.

Quick walk-thru the permanent collection to check out my favorite works. Was able to sneak a pic of my all time favorite piece before the scowling guard came over.

Shakyamuni as an ascetic, Nephrite, early 20th.

MLK 'Revelations' Memorial

Across the street from the SFMOMA, this is a nice memorial. The thundering water really brings MLK's words to life.

SFMOMA Pics

SFMOMA Atrium

Matta's Works at the SFMOMA

Yippee! Got my expedited passport, no probs, excited about Madrid. Had a leisurely coffee at the Starbucks before, then quick stop at the MOMA again, this time camera in hand. Apparently can take pics of the atrium and the permanent collection only. Still better than nothing. Would have liked a pic of Liu Wei's Two Drunk Painters, 1990, oil on canvas, (love that decaying looking skin) and Yang Shaobin's Untitled 1999, oil on linen (the giant red canvas with the cannibal baby men eating each other), And Zeng Fanzhi's Mask Series No 10, 1998, oil on canvas (2 creepy masked men grinning coyly at each other, one holding a rose).

Anyway, at least I got these two:




Chamboles les amoureuses
Roberto Matta, Chilean, 1911-2002.












Invasion of the Night, 1941, oil on canvas
Roberto Matta

Arm & Hammer Super Scoop

This has been the best litter so far, and we've tried almost all the litters. But it's fragrance free, which the kitties all love, the right texture - they love scratching in it, it clumps well, and best of all, it holds in most of the odor. After a week, it's only mildly smelly.

This bigger size I can usually find at Target, and on sale it's $10 for the 35 lb box.

Tidy Cats Scoop Litter

Right texture, right price, fragrance not too strong - $10.99 each for a 38 lb tub on sale at Target, with an additional $5 gift card when you buy two. Ended last week, bought a bunch.

Wrong strength - says multiple cats, but this stuff really doesn't hold the odor but releases it. Within a day the litter smelled really bad. By the end of the week, we're practically gasping. With today's changeout, added a lot of baking soda, hope that helps.

Purple Passiflora

After Business in the City

After a very smooth (and quick) appointment at the passport ofc, decided to go around the corner and visit the MOMA. Spent most of my time contemplating the Chamboles and Invasion. Fascinating, just fascinating. The modern Chinese art exhibit is fantastic. Dropped by the Frieda exhibit, which was just packed, so went straight back out after a quick look at The Two Friedas.

Hey, noticed something interesting! People snapping pics all over the place, in front of the "security", and no problems! Forgot to ask the staff, but while online, crossed my mind to find out what the deal was, and apparently it's become ok to take pics, no flash of course. Excellent. Will bring camera next time. Should take pic of bldg exterior too.

Flowers - Clerodendrum Ugandense 'Blue Butterfly'

aka Blue Butterfly Glorybower. I LOVE THIS PLANT. Love it, love it, love it. But it's tender, the other one's already died on me during the winter. Can't take cold temps below 40. Maybe even 50 will cause it to sulk, haven't really observed it.

The flowers are just amazing, unusual, and beautiful. Continuous bloom throughout growing season. The leaves are a gorgeous glossy green, well-formed bushy and very tidy. Deciduous. Have it in spot that gets full sun for half day.

Book - Little Indiscretions

By Carmen Posadas. Hmmm, don't know quite what to make of the book yet. Feeling as ambiguous as the book, but that's not necessarily bad. Fantastic to get a little taste of Madrid and Costa del Sol. Definitely a departure from the usual murder mystery, no authorities or anything else like that involved.

Nestor, the caterer, is found dead in a walk-in freezer. The story weaves around all the guests in the house at the time, all assembled for a party. They all want Nestor gone, for different reasons. Their lives are all intertwined in ways that they don't know about, except for Nestor, who knows everything about everybody.

Yippee - More ScratchScrolls!

Dropped by Target again to pick up couple other things, and wandered by the kitty aisle again (of course). And, they had re-stocked the waves! Bought all 3. $22.79 ea. Have them all around the house. 2 are side by side, and guess what. All the new ones ignored except for the 1st one. Of course. I knew it.

Adding Tabs for Labels

While doing a quick surf thru other people's blogs for new features, stumbled onto a Malaysian woman's that had these cool tabs, and wow!, I want that too! So, after some searching and tweaking - Woohoo! I feel accomplished! I love my new tabs. Took me a while to figure things out, seeing as I'm not very computer savvy. Most of my info came from Hoctro's Place, which was a bit involved and confused me. But combined with the info from Blogger for Dummies, success!! Not perfect, will tweak the format later, but HEY!, I have tabs at the top of the page. I'm so happy.

Finished Drip Irrigation on Deck

YES!!!!! All done, everything looks good to go. Testing right now. 30 mins.

No leaks, everything good. Only problem is that the water drips only over the spot it covers and drains right down thru the pots without wetting any of the surrounding areas. Must plug the holes, I think. But even this is excellent for what I need.

Now front yard.

TV - Montalbano: La Gita a Tindari

Another great, funny acting job by Montalbano that had many funny moments. First one Hubby's seen, and he thought it was really well-done, much better than most of the US TV drivel. He's reading The Shape of Water now. That's a huge compliment, the man's not a big mystery reader.

Coincidentally have just gotten to this book now, and it'll be very interesting to see how it's similar/diverges from the TV version.

Plot: Guy gets shot outside his apt building. Older couple disappears, also from the same building. Obviously related. Thru the maze of clues, an audience and phone call from the local mafiosi capo, a horrifying trade in live body parts is uncovered.

Book - Voice of the Violin

Very good book. Well-thought out plot, story bit pedestrian but very tiny flaw. Entertaining read, just laugh-out-loud funny and so sad in places.

Woman is suffocated in her own home. Evidence of consensual sexual activity, and she's naked. Clothes nowhere to be found. Extremely odd. And how does a famous maestro recluse factor into it?

Office Chair Destroyed

Sigh. Added to the never-ending list of things the kitties have destroyed is my office chair. Ever since Pixie started using it as her personal scratch pad a year ago, it was history. This is the condition it is in today.

Kitties Hate MeowMix Wholesome Goodness

BWAHAHAHA. So much for getting McD's junk food treats for the kitties. Thought that they'd like the fast food - yeah, yeah, it states 'wholesome goodness' complete with pictures of vegetables and some lie that it's 'healthy'. Please. Get real. IT'S MEOW MIX. HAHAHA. Doesn't matter, kitties hated both flavors introduced so far. Even Chublet, aka Pixie, wouldn't touch it. Now THAT'S saying volumes.

Movie - Fifth Element

You know, if it's Friday night, you're exhausted from the week, you have a bottle of wine, and it's in 1080i HD, it's very entertaining! Really. We couldn't stand this POS first time around. Bad acting, bad everything. But, if you're susceptible, it's not that bad.

Scary bad evil in the form of a burning black planet threatening universe. Some aliens already prepared for this 300 years ago, and come to save the day, only they get blown up. A cell remains from the wreckage, they regenerate a whole human from it, turns out to be the 'perfect being' that will save the universe. In the form of an orange-haired, almost naked young girl Milla Jovovich. Bruce Willis comes to save the day, help get the 4 stones in the right formation with the chick that will vanquish the evil. Of course love saves the day and she blasts the evil thing.

Irrigation Project Cont'd

Excellent. Got another 15 done. Don't know if the plants will get enough water, though. See it just dripping quick out of the pots, so there's not enough to the roots. But it'll do for a patch.

Can't Find More ScratchScrolls!

Darned, checked the PetsMart and Targets (where I bought the 1st one) and no more. None online either. Even the SmartyKat company site doesn't list it. Discontinued? Crud! Kitties all like it, and take turns when they're polite - not very often. Squabbles ensuing while Pixie and Mozart are trying to lay ultimate claim to it.

Update.

Conair Infiniti Straightener

I LOVE this thing!! I have extremely coarse, frizzy hair, and could never really get it under control except with some serious blowdrying endeavors. Which I hate. So decided to try the Conair Infiniti a year ago, and bingo! Success! In less than 10 mins, the mess looks shiny and straight.

But, I'd like the ends somewhat curled, and have been experimenting with the curling iron, and just bought the smaller one on the advice of my stylist, who says it's gives more control. 1 try on it, and am liking it. I can get a subtle wave on the ends, unless I keep it in place too long, then I get a 90 degree kink instead, LOL.

The big iron is exactly like this one, only wider, obviously. Great price, and I got both on sale. From Target. Front & side views of the new, small one.




Controls on the side is the only minor irritant, if I don't pay attention, I can shut it off. The stainless part gets freaking hot too. Both minor flaws for something that makes doing my hair sooo easy!

Movie - Elizabeth: The Golden Age

This sucked eggs. Sucked eggs BIG. What a POS!!!

I loved the first Elizabeth. As close to perfect as a movie can get. One of my top 10. Poor Cate Blanchett, she's a wonderfully talented actress who was ROBBED of the Oscar to that hack (despite her, I loved Shakespeare in Love). I can understand her signing on to EII, but shit, this was so bad. The guy was determined to be artsy, with all the views thru many different translucent things - doors, windows, cups, mirrors, blah, blah, tons of pointless panning, sweeping, majestic shots. Enough already! Added nothing to the movie; even worse, dragged down the pace and made it tedious. Poorly edited, the characters' lines all sounded chopped, like they were responding to someone else, or no dialogue at all.

Watched this while working out, and lemme tell ya, it was a big incentive to go faster so I could log my target distance quicker and stop watching the movie. Unfortunately it didn't work, I finished the movie while stretching.

What's hilarious are the reviewers I read that have conniptions about the (non)-accuracy of movies like this, based on historical figures. Are they kidding?!? They're movies!! Never professed to be "accurate" history, it's "based on a true story".

Movie - Nuns on the Run

This is freaking hilarious! Hadn't seen it again since it first came out. Was a free on-demand selection, so why the heck not. I liked it much more than the American version, but memory may not serve properly, so at some point I'll have to see it again to compare.

Two hoods, thinking of going straight, gets incentive not to when their friend who's thinking the same ends up dead. But they get a chance to go straight (and rich) when they're in the midst of a robbery of the local Chinese triad. They get trapped and hide out in a nunnery with 2 cases of cash. They later get trapped in hospital, where they lose a case, which the nuns find. A girl that one of them's sweet on helps them escape (good god, those nurses' uniforms! LMAO!), they're on a plane off to Brazil - she in first class, they as stewardesses.

Beyond WiiFit

Getting bored with the games already after 2 weeks. No new games on sale yet, hope they come out soon. Still really enjoy all the modules, getting pretty good at most.

Really good thing: I'm remembering some of the yoga and strength poses, and do them outside of the Wii. Really fantastic thing: the only game that really elevates heart rate is the jogging in place. After playing it, I want more push on the rate, so I'm motivated to continue with a real workout. That's an excellent aftereffect!

Book - The Snack Thief

Great book, but a wee bit confusing. Writing is absolutely delightful. A dream. One flaw is that it was so convoluted that he had to use the literary device of explaining the entire situation to the commissioner (us). That's weak. But I really didn't care, can be overlooked.

A Tunisian gets killed in a boat off international waters. Dispute over what happened and where. Some guy gets stabbed in elevator. Seemingly unrelated. Montalbano puts it together, rescuing a young boy along the way, whom Livia completely loses her heart for.

TV - Inspector Lynley: Limbo

Hmmm, was just ok. Unfortunately figured out the killer the minute he appeared onscreen. That's really bad. Also, Havers was missing for the entire 1st half. That's annoying. I love Havers. I want her on screen. Oh well, guess it's a good thing the series is ended. Last one showing here on Sunday. Still sad to see something beloved end. That makes 2 of my favorite series gone, with no new British mysteries to replace them. I am bereft.

Kid goes missing. Body found 12 yrs later. Lynley, after getting kid's sister from Rome for the funeral, gets it on with her at his place. She's found dead after "falling" down his balcony. Lynley's a suspect. Old nanny/current nurse gets killed. It's the lawyer/Lynley's old partner's kid.

Lunch with MA

After book club, went down the street to her favorite family-run Mexican. Got the shredded beef enchilada and pork tamale. Ok food. Not sure I'd repeat in the near future, though.

Very nice chatting with her, she's very entertaining, tons of funny stories.

Book Club - Beekeeper's Apprentice

Ok discussion today. Book not bad. Well-written, well-plotted, and the villian was a surprise, despite all the clues well scattered throughout the story. Big Holmes fan, and this was a wonderful portrayal that really brought him alive in an authentic manner. I could practically see him come to life. Wonderful. Only gripe I had was the whole soft-hearted side that presumably kicked in in his old age? I don't buy that part.

The girl, not so much. Didn't care for her, and she never grew on me. Parts of the characters' actions made no sense, and Britain never really comes alive or feels authentic. It's like the author didn't know diddly about London or the English, but was describing sets or something. Confusing.

Plot: Told from the point of view of a girl who bumps into Holmes at age fifteen, and is a match for his ferocious wit and deductive powers. He starts to apprentice her, and end up partners. Series of small cases, then their big case, when someone seems hell-bent on killing one or all of those closest to Holmes.

Movie - Love Actually

I know, I know. Sappy, romantic, uber-chick flick. Cliche central, not a shred of reality in it. But I loved this movie. I've stopped at it every time it's rerun on TV. Caught the last hour of a rerun today. What an adorably cute movie! Colin Firth is hot, and I liked ALL the actors in this ensemble cast, which is downright rare.

New Toy - ScratchScroll, aka The Wave

Dropped by Target for litter, and of course, if there's a new toy, I'll buy it. Mozart seems to enjoy it, and Pixie's now enjoying the toy underneath. Yippee!

Usually they care nothing for the toys, but go after the bag/box/container the toys came in instead. LOL.





MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woohoo - Mobile Works Again

Whew. Dodged a bullet. Seems to be working again. Right away I typed down all my numbers.

But now I'm uneasy about the damned phone, since I don't know what happened. Will it just die on me for no reason again? Crappity crap crap. Crap!

TV - Maigret Se Défend

Maigret answers a late night phone call at his home, goes out to help the caller, and ends up getting accused of raping a young girl who happens to be the daughter of a VIP. He goes after a disabled crook and his wifey whom he's had 24/7 surveillance on, and is convinced are behind the framejob. Turns out it's the dentist across the street who's doing illegal abortions and thought the cops were investigating him, so he figured getting Maigret out of the way would derail it.

Giant plot hole - the dentist made no sense at all. Why would removing Maigret stop the investigation? Anyway, still an entertaining show.

Shit - Mobile on Blink

The white screen of death happening right now. Was chatting with sis while gardening outside, and afterwards it went on the blink. Dunno if it'll recover. Dunno what happened either, no droppage, no immersion, nothing. Turned it off anyway, took out the battery anyway, crossing fingers. Not logical, I know, but hoping anyhow. Can't find the damned warranty written anywhere.

Bad thought - what if it dies completely? Only place my #s are stored is the mobile. Double shit!

TV - Family Jewels II

Yup, watched several more of these episodes. Still somewhat entertaining, but starting to tire of it (thankfully). That Nick is really adorable and cute. Both kids seem like such regular, normal beings, which really seems to reflect well on Simmon's & Tweed's parenting skills, whatever the opinion may be about them. That plastic surgery's gotten hideous scary on both sisters.

Wii Fit - Yoga circuit

Finally got up the willpower to complete a whole circuit of the yoga games, and I must say, I felt very accomplished. Took the time to carefully pose properly, instead of concentrating on scoring high. Completed most of the strength games too, except for the 4 hardest last row. Feeling pretty good.

Today's Catnip - Mozart's Head on Our Pillows

Adorable, adorable, adorable. Did I mention adorable? Mozart this morning wakes me up at 5am by sticking his nose into my mouth, freaking me out. Then he settles in and lies down with just his head on my pillow, since there was space after I jerked my head back from my rude awakening. Then he took a turn on Hubby's pillow. Always has to wake us up to let us know he's sleeping with us, gets knudgies, then settles in. Always sleeps between us. Always has to be touching both of us. ADORABLE. Doesn't curl up entire body on pillow like other kitties, just his little head. Just like a human. OMG. ADORABLE.

When I saw him laying his head on the pillow, the excruciatingly sad thought crossed my mind that he's such a special one-of-a kind kitty and we will never have another kitty like him. Ever. Some of it was that he was an only kitten when we adopted him, so he imprinted like a human. But some of it's just this special orange cat. So special. Gonna go hug the stuffing out of him now.

Movie - The Last Emperor

So excited to see it when this first came out in the theater. Aired tonight on PBS. Ok movie, dulled somewhat over time, and the directorial and script deficiencies are more glaring. But still glad it was made, and exposed more people to a piece of Chinese culture, however cutesy this version made it.

A few other things caught my attention this time around, and I wiki'd the last emperor to get more accurate info on him. Interesting.

Also, I got curious about the eunuchs. I had a vague idea that "it" was chopped off. But what exactly was "it"? So googled it, and found out some unsavory things. Anyway, wandered into an area that is better left unwritten. All I have to say is, OMFG!!!!!!!

Wii Fit - Soccer Balance

HAHAHA!!! Can't believe I'm so proud of getting a perfect score in the soccer balance game. LMAO. Was really easy to do, though, so not like I really did anything special. How silly, but I don't care.

Hubby bitches about the game, blah, blah, "that goes against every instinct on how to really head the ball", blah, blah. Keep reminding him it's a balance game, not REAL soccer, just a visual cue, etc. Still bitching.

Destinos - Abridged

Woohoo woohoo!!!! All done editing all the silences, unnecessary pieces and repetitions out of the episodes!!!! Very adept at Audacity.

Getting a really good handle on the accents, according to Hubby. Can't wait to practice it for real.

TV - Foyle's War: All Clear

How sad it was to play this episode!!! I waited a while before watching it, so I could prolong the illusion that the series was still going on (yeah, yeah, I know it aired a year ago in the UK). This episode did not disappoint. It was the top 5 best series ender I've ever seen. What a dignified, still, poignant but un-sappy last show. What splendid (and usual) psychological murder-solving. It was just so sad and so perfect to see the DCS quietly put on his coat and hat and exit. Perfect.

Plot: Foyle investigates the death of a doctor who was part of the party committee celebrating the end of the war. Turns out it's the hotel magnate guy who'd gotten someone else to sub for him in the medical exam so he could weasel out of serving in the war. Very interesting subplots, including a cover-up of a major exercise fuck-up that resulted in hundreds of soldier deaths.

Drip Irrigation

Finally driven to look for a watering substitute, and attacked the HD irrigation section. Found some simple timers and using the 1/4" tubing. Think this'll do. Excellent.

These damned little bubblers are a bitch to stick into the tubes, and I'm not totally confident that they won't loosen up and leak. But we'll see.

Wii Fit - Week 1

Yup, the continual prompts annoy. Always having to hold the remote is annoying. But this is the cutest thing still! Enjoy the aerobics and balance games the most. Hubby likes the yoga and strength games more. Disappointing that it's so easy to unlock everything, I've already got everything without much effort or time. Oh well.

Must get new games for when we get bored with these.

Book - No Reservations

Pretty picture book covering the last 3 years of his travels on the show. Not much writing in this one at all, but he's taken some effort to add interesting little blurbs about most of the pics. Ok flipping thru it, not as engrossing as his previous stuff.

Book - The Terracotta Dog

GREAT book! What a sad story, but told with a good dose of humor, and not bogged down with moribund sentimentality. OMG, I laughed aloud several times. Acerbic wit flows from the pages, and I LOVE the sparse writing style. Brief, pointed but extremely evocative.

Movie - The Dark Knight

Not a bad movie to finish up the free tickets on. Ok movie, didn't suck. Storyline good, but ran too long. Hubby really liked it.

Too bad about the Joker character, he was a very good actor. His performance here was excellent, and he did portray a truly creepy dark villian.

I swear I'd already posted on this!! I even remember writing a relatively ok one, maybe I deleted it by mistake? Just great, senility.

Help - Lunch Question

Completely pointless blurbling until I can figure out the answer to that eternal question - what's for lunch? Approaching critical point here, starving.

Ok, ok, fine, it's 2 freaking hours later now. Dammit, crap, Chipotle it is. Again.

Wii Fit!!!

Woohoo! After calling all the stores in my area for months, I finally scored one today! Ran home and tried it out right away. LOVE this thing, it's cuter than words. Had the most fun with the aerobics and balance games. Really like the graph tracking weight, and the calendar tracking workouts. Can add my workouts in a "log", but not sure that it gets any points or whatever else that the Wii games does.

Not a big yoga fan, and the nonexistent graphics makes it not very appealing to me. It's the only section with no color and no decor on the "gym" walls. I'm sure it was meant to be "restful" and "zen-like" but it was just colorless and boring.

Can see the menu crap getting really annoying after a while, having to wade thru the same crap over and over when using this every day. Should have written something into the software to bypass after a certain amount of usage - I mean, Mii info gets stored, why not something like that?