today: 70s power ballads

Every Sunday, a group of Mexican men gather outside a parked van, open a door, play the radio, and converse in Spanish from early afternoon through the evening--all beneath my apartment window. This drives me insane. Why? Because it is distracting as hell. It's pretty loud, and Sunday is usually the day I make my final push to get whatever work done I've been putting off for the week. (And yes, I'm in the process of grading midterm exams.) I have trouble concentrating when there is sustained noise like conversation or music in the background--even of my own choosing. It wasn't such a big deal last week when, at this time, Allie and I were knee-deep in (new) piles we made to clean my disaster of an apartment and building IKEA furniture. (Correction: Allie did most of these things; I supervised.) This also put to rest her suspicion that I exaggerated the decibel and duration of these Sunday visits.

But today I am compelled to write about this, because there's a break in the pattern. Instead of their typical music choice, which is certainly no favorite of mine (let's just say it includes a lot of accordion), they are playing a 70s power ballad station. We've had ELO, Billy Joel, Elton John, and their buddies. It is also louder than usual, but maybe that's just because I actually recognize the music. And dammit, I like a lot of it.

Damn. And I was hoping they'd be doing whatever people do when they celebrate Easter. It's also nearly 90 degrees, but that's not breaking up this party.

"All by myself / Don't want to be / All by myself anymore / All by myself..."

penelope

Today, Andrew and I saw Penelope at The Landmark (the chain's poor man's Arclight), partly because we both think James McAvoy is really hot. Oh man, he didn't disappoint (as if he could; the man is even sexier in person). Plus, the theater had costumes from Atonement on display. Andrew actually took a photo of McAvoy's tux from the film with his phone! Also on display is the green dress Keira Knightley wears (reason enough for the film to deserve best costume design, but of course it lost). I'm happy to report that the dress didn't look nearly as amazing on the mannequin, so props to Knightley! (I can't believe I just typed "props.")

Anyway, I highly recommend Penelope. It's visually stunning, the story is heartwarming and positive, it's very funny, and the acting is solid. I don't understand why the film sat on the shelf for two years, but it's well documented that my tastes diverge from Hollywood's and the public's, so who knows.

It may be a while before I can report on my next film-going experience. The next one I want to see is Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, which opens on Friday. But I'm waiting for Allie to arrive in town on the 12th for that one. It feels wrong to miss the opening weekend, but it's a small price to pay to go to the movies with my sister! You know I'm up past my bed time when I start to get sappy like that.