Unending Epilogue 6

September 2009

I think my Salsa nights out were 7 in all in September - 9/1 Barking Dog, 9/7 Clarendon Grill, 9/12 DCDC 9/14 Clarendon Grill, 9/22 Barking Dog, 9/26 DCDC, 9/18 Clarendon Grill. 9/20 could have been Lucky Strikes, but that night was cancelled. 9/21 Clarendon Grill was an anniversary event with a live band and was skipped because I thought it was going to be too crowded.

The frequency of going out is pretty similar to way it has been since September of 2008. Since then the nights out have been 6 for 9/08, 7 for 10/08, 8 for 11/08, 10 for 12/08, 7 for 1/09, 5 for 2/09, 8 for 3/09, 7 for 4/09, between 5-7 for both 5/09 and 6/09, 5 for 7/09, 7 for 8/09. I think 6 to 10 times a month is a pretty good number for me right now.

Melanie, Meryl, Michelle and Shiela are the new names to be added this month to the “list” of people. I think I could add Steve to the same list since I mentioned him without conversing with him last month – now corrected. I felt that Steve was the better DJ at the last DCDC, and his last 2 songs were Satin and Lace (TR version with full ending) and Good Night My Love (Louie Ramirez).

Last couple of nights were somewhat more talky than usual (not that I was not dancing any less than usual). Topics included SF, Seoul, Laurel and Honey Pig with Luz and Jimmy; comparing DJs with Leticia; Europe (UK, London, Moe, Leon) with Maylis; usual random assortments with Tanya. Monday was a birthday for someone whom I’ve enjoyed dancing with for a long time here (but I never caught her name).

I have been catching up on movies lately mostly outside theatres. Below is how I would rate them. Usually I would only watch movies I expect to be good – so a movie I rate 3 stars probably met my expectation.

No Country For Old Man ***1/2
Minority Report ***1/2
Synedoche, New York ***1/2
Superbad ***1/2
Michael Clayton ***1/2
Burn After Reading ***
The Simpsons Movie ***
A Quantum Of Solace ***
Iron Man ***
Sweeney Todd ***
Star Trek ***
District 9 ***
Smart People *** (above expectations)
Pineapple Express ***
Knocked Up ***
Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist ***
Man On Wire ***
3:30 To Yuma ***
Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle ***
Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay **1/2 (met expectation)
Matrix 3 **1/2 (met expectation)
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button **1/2
Love Actually **1/2
Dogma **1/2
House Bunny **1/2 (met expectation)
I Am Legend **1/2
Harry Potter: Order Of The Phoenix **1/2
Nacho Libre **1/2 (met expectation)
Hellboy **
Romeo+Juliet **
Enchanted **
Semipro *1/2
Golden Compass * (did not meet low expectation)

I watched some movies starting with low expectations. Sometimes they were better than expected, met lower expectation or failed to meet even my low starting expectation. For example, Golden Compass failed to meet a very low expectation (I was expecting a 2 star movie and got a 1 star movie).

I guess I am making up for all the movies I did not watch because I was too busy at work or Salsa. For whatever its worth, I summarize last several years of movie for me below. Maybe it's safe to do this sort of thing now that the readership has gone down to about quarter of old days.

2008
I saw 1 of the top 20 movies in a theatre. Wall-E was good. I caught The Dark Knight and Slumdog Millionaire on airplane – both were good. I’ve caught a few other top 20 movies in the past month. I can do without the ones I have not watched thus far.

2007
I saw 1 of the top 20 movies in a theatre. Bourne Ultimatum was good. Three airplane movies (Spider-Man 3, Shrek 3, Pirates of Caribbean 3) were instantly forgettable. I’ve watched some of the other top 20 movies in the past month, and the only remaining one I would be interested in watching is Juno and maybe Ratatouille.

2006
I saw 2 of the top 20 movies in a theatre. Casino Royale and Talladega Nights were both good. The Departed on airplane was excellent. I could be convinced to watch Borat or Devil Wears Prada, but I don’t think I would be interested in any of the other top 20 movies. Cars probably is good, but the only Pixar movie I ever saw was Wall*E despite my guess that pretty much all Pixar movies are well made.

2005
I saw 4 of the top 20 movies in a theatre. Wedding Crashers and 40 Year Old Virgin were good, and Revenge of Sith and Goblet of Fire were not so good. I saw 3 others in airplanes. Batman Begins was okay, Hitch was forgettable and Walk The Line was pretty good. The other 13 titles don't interest me.

2004
I saw 3 of the top 20 movies in a theatre. Prisoner of Azkaban, Bourne Supremacy and 50 First Dates were good. Shrek 2, Spider-Man 2, National Treasure were airplane or TV movies and were mediocre. The other 14 are of no interest. I started taking Salsa lessons in Sept 2004.

2003
I saw 4 of the top 20 movies and maybe 4 other movies in a theatre. Return of the King, Pirates of Caribbean were good whereas The Matrix Reloaded and Terminator 3 were merely okay. This is the year I moved to the UK.

2002
I saw 8 of the top 20 movies as well as several less popular movies. I’m pretty sure I averaged at least one movie per month for much of my adult life in the USA.

Old friends news front. Vish moved his venues once again - now to old Po Na Na for Mondays/Wednesdays and to Sports Centre on Mill Lane for Fridays. Apparently Cyrille stopped by last Friday. On another side of the planet, Agnes moved from Singapore to the Bay Area (or close enough).

On a more official business matter, the draft of the manuscript is nearly finished at somewhere between 60 and 70 pages.