Friday, December 29
We’ve just acquired another electric car. Here’s a photo of M charging it up, which is very brave of him considering that a tuxedo-wearing dog the size of Godzilla has stationed itself near the charging station.
Saturday, December 30
E has decided we need to see some movies. Two days ago we went to a real theater and watched The Boy and the Heron, a new film by animator Hayao Miyazaki. About eight years ago Miyazaki, who is now 82, announced his retirement from filmmaking. But clearly he was not able to stop working and the result is awesomely beautiful. If you haven’t seen The Boy and the Heron and aren’t familiar with Miyazaki’s work, you might think from the title that it is a certain kind of movie. But no, it’s a little more complicated than that.
We also watched Maestro on Netflix. Maestro stars Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein and Carey Mulligan as Felicia Montealegre, the Costa Rican-Chilean actress he was married to. The film is full of beautiful images in both black and white and color. It has a tremendously high energy level and a some great music. It’s seems choppy at times, but biopics are like that. Did it tell us more about Bernstein than we wanted to know? Possibly.
Next up was Ferrari, with Adam Driver playing Enzo and Penélope Cruz as his wife Laura. The movie is set in 1957, a time when the company was in financial difficulties and the marital relationship had been badly wounded not only by Enzo’s infidelities but also by the recent death their young son from MS. The movie mixes racing drama with private life and includes scenes with both Laura the wife and Lina the long-term mistress, with whom Enzo had another son. Yes, it’s another film about a “great” man who is unfailingly unfaithful. But we liked it anyway. Adam Driver was very good and watching Penélope Cruz work was a joy. In the film, as in real life, Laura Ferrari was not just Enzo’s wife, she was also an equal share owner of the company. So there was some meat to the role. Ferrari also features beautiful vintage race cars and lovely countryside along the route of the famous Mille Miglia, a race that was so dangerous to drivers and spectators that it was banned after 1957.
The film is based on the 1991 book Enzo Ferrari: the Man and the Machine by the inimitable Brock Yates. Yates was an amateur racing driver and a long-time automotive writer, editor, and TV commentator. It was Yates, along with Car & Driver editor Steve Smith, who first conceived of the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash–a race that was never banned because it was never legal in the first place. Yates won the Cannonball in 1972 along with co-driver Dan Gurney. They drove a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona. Gurney later commented: “At no time did we exceed 175 MPH.”
Sunday, New Year’s Eve
Well, we had waffles with maple syrup for breakfast. Lovely. Then we took a long walk in the OSU forest up near where we used to live. It wasn’t raining and it wasn’t too cold. We got around five thousand steps and sixteen floors, or so said the phone. What the phone did not tell us was what that means in terms of tablespoons of maple syrup, which is what we really needed to know. Instead, we had to use the online Steps to Calories Converter. Couldn’t someone just make a Steps to Maple Syrup Converter?
In the afternoon, E had a zoom call with S and Mrs H, two of her friends from the early days. The trio wanted to get together to share their thoughts on this meaningful occasion.
After this we had fondue for dinner and then turned to the vitally important matter of this year’s jigsaw puzzle and its accompanying bottle of champagne.
Monday, January 1st
Progress is slow on the puzzle. After working for several hours last night and continuing for most of today, we’re nowhere near done.
Thursday, January 4th
We had a nice dinner at Koriander with B and B. They had pictures of their neighborhood New Year’s Eve party. Looked like a really great time.
And speaking of New Year’s Eve, we finally finished our puzzle. E says it had way too much snow.
Friday, January 5th
We had our traditional Peppermint Pig evening with B, J, and C. We finished with pig sprinkles over ice cream.
Saturday, January 6th
We’ve been trying to get a few things done before we leave on our trip. We’re flying to San Diego tomorrow, which should be exciting because we’re flying on Alaska Airlines. In the last month they’ve had two incidents, one involving a nutty pilot and another when a door came off during a flight from Portland to Ontario, California. What next?
Peppermint pig on ice crème. Yum!
I also like a few of those colorful chocolate covered almonds please. 😋
ahh puzzles and peppermint pigs…the things great days are made of!!
Mom and I also enjoyed The Boy and the Heron. Mom and I could not recall if she had ever seen any other of Miyazaki’s works. She said it was weirdo but she enjoyed it. I kept my eye on her and not once did she fall asleep.
Also, I almost got that puzzle instead of the dragon one for our trip to the beach. Check out my photo on facebook post of its successful completion.
We religiously follow your blog!