Awake.In:::DreamSpace:::

It’s my favorite time of year again. I let myself over indulge in guilty pleasures from Hollywood…summer movie blockbusters. Spiderman 3 opened and I had the perfect excuse to check it out, my 15 year old nephew was over for the weekend. I went online to www.fandango.com, bought 3 tickets for the 7pm Saturday evening show because even Bill came along, breaking his “I won’t go to a movie on a Saturday night especially on opening weekend” vow. Fandango has civilized the act of movie ticket purchasing. Check for movie online, purchase, go to theatre, print ticket, buy popcorn, enjoy movie. The ancient days of waiting in line for hours to get a movie ticket are gone. Yes, I know, the $1.50 fee, well, one of the benefits of getting older is you have more money to spend on such things.

Spiderman 3 holds up to its previous installments…there is, action, adventure, revenge, angst, evil villains, and ethics. Oh, the special effects are phenomenal. The sandman was cool but reminded me of stuff in “The Mummy” but the wicked black stringy meteorite goo was awesome.

The story is about love, friendship, honor, integrity and forgiveness. Peter Parker is infected with a parasitic symbiont and the early stages of his bad boy behavior are acted out to a music montage that has the audience laughing out loud. Later, as his actions lead him to the “dark side”, it isn’t funny anymore. It is refreshing to see a summer blockbuster screenplay that is cleverly written with moral messages that get across without the preachy drone that young people instinctively tune out.

Watch it on the silver screen with a crowd, the way a summer blockbuster film should be viewed.

Skye’s summer blockbuster guilty pleasures from Hollywood schedule:
May 18 – “Shrek – The Third”
May 25 – “Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End”
June 15 – “Fantastic Four – The Rise of the Silver Surfer”
July 13 – “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”
August 3 – “The Bourne Ultimatum”

After the summer:
Sept. 28 – “Across The Universe”
Nov. 16 – “Beowulf”
Dec. 7 – “The Golden Compass”
Dec. 21 – “National Treasure – Book of Secrets”

About 2 weeks ago my friends went to an indoor archery range. Let me elaborate, my friends who are girly girls, who like pink and pretty things, who watch costume drama films that are long, dull, and nothing happens for 3 hours. I was amused. Archery? Huh, with bows and arrows? I reminded them that there was nothing dainty about archery. They were determined and on an adventure, I was baffled. You see, I would be the archery type, not these two sissy mary girls. They came back and reported that they had a great time and went again a few days later.

After expressing interest in this activity, I went with my friend and her husband today. Amazing experience. I used a compound bow, definition from wikipedia, “a modern bow that uses a levering system of cables and usually cams and pulleys to draw the limbs back”. My instructor John showed me the basics and I was soon drawing a bead on the defenseless bull’s-eye target. Considering I never did this before, I was pleased with my performance. The arrows were in the targets range and grouped nicely. I even made a few bull’s-eyes. Not bad for a modern day techno-geek outdoorsy city girl.

Next time you are with friends and want to try something different that is challenging and fun, try archery. Tights and pointy ears are not required.

FYI…if you are on Long Island, visit C & B Archery, Hicksville, NY, 516.933.2697. http://www.kpsearch.com/DF/cbarchery/all.asp Their friendly and professional staff will make your first experience a memorable one. I’m heading back there tomorrow and taking my teen nephew with me.

Today was my post-op follow-up visit with the orthopedist. The stitches came out and now there are 3 dragonflies on my knee…sure beats looking like a bowling ball. The swelling has decreased by around 80% and there is still some bruising. At the first visit to the PT last Saturday, my knee had a range of motion of 98 degrees, yesterday it was up to 125 degrees. The PT informed me that it should go to 140 degrees, now with the stitches out I can bend without that pulling on stitches feeling.

My surgeon’s assistant took out the stitches and while I was chatting with him I told him that I was disappointed that I slept through the whole thing. He started laughing, I was surprised to be informed that I chatted through the whole procedure and was wide awake. (My family and friends aren’t surprised, they said I can’t even shut up when sedated!) Huh? I don’t remember a thing! I remember getting the IV sedation and then sitting up for the spinal but that is it, the next thing I remember was waking up in recovery. He also said that the drug cocktail they gave me causes this type of amnesia. Fine, now I feel like I was in an episode of “24” and experienced a CTU interrogation drug kit!

Anyway, the X-Rays show that I have plenty of cartilage left between the bones. The doc showed me probe pics of my knee prior to and after the procedure. The torn cartilages were attaching themselves to the tibia and were lasered off! YIKES! No wonder I was uncomfortable! Got a clean bill of knee health and I’m able to resume my “normal” activities. I will continue with low impact cardiac exercise like elliptical training, biking and walking to keep the remaining cartilage healthy.

Hopefully this is the only surgery I will ever need! This healthy eating and exercise thing is going to have to continue indefinitely…like forever…UGH…gym dues are better than doctor bills.

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Yes, I know, I have too much time on my hands, a rare thing for me...a benefit from recovering from knee surgery and being off from work on medical leave for a week :) Yes, I know, I should be using my time wisely instead of foolish surfing on the internet...I can't resist.

So, click on the link above and enjoy turning yourself into an M & M. Take a photo and star in a movie...all available on the website!

Last month I blogged and linked to the film “Fracture”. There aren’t many films I’ll plunk down 10 bucks for and see on the big screen but hey, for Anthony Hopkins I’ll gladly venture to the movie theatre opening weekend pull out $25 for a ticket, popcorn and a coke and sit back to listen and watch him for 2 hours.

Hopkins is Ted Crawford, a brilliant and meticulous structural engineer who finds out his wife is having an affair. He decides to kill her but before pulling the trigger he devises the “perfect crime”. Gosling is Willy Beachum, the assistant DA with a 97% conviction rate who prosecutes Crawford. OK, enough of the plot, you get the idea. I liked the film but as an admirer of Hopkins, I’m biased. The script was good and there were many laugh out loud moments in the court room and in the banter between Crawford and Beachum. Bits of Dr. Lecter spill into Ted Crawford, I guess Hopkins couldn’t help himself but heck, Hannibal and Ted are alike, wealthy, brilliant and both hang out on the dark side of the force...and is it me or does everyone love it when Hopkins winks?

The twist at the end was OK but I expected more. I read that Hopkins and Gosling were brought in to re-shoot the ending of the film, so I wonder if there will be an alternate ending on the DVD release.

Bottom line, if you are a Hopkins or Gosling fan or want to watch an intelligent thriller on the big screen, go for it. If not, wait for the DVD and enjoy in a few months.

Cool things in the film…

Ted’s car…a Porsche Carrera GT, sweet!
Ted house…awesome home and property.
Ted’s marble rolling sculptures…chaos and symmetry in one.

FYI…Against popular belief, Hopkins has only portrayed 2 criminals in his film career, Hannibal Lecter and Ted Crawford.