Christmas, Keyboards and Kong

Christmas being a Sunday, we opened our gifts the night before, and I am pleased to announce not even a certain cat was stirring past 11 pm. Since there was church the next morning, we didn't get over to the Autodaughters' until well past three o'clock and had our Christmas feast in the evening, whereas we usually do it early afternoon. We actually had some different dishes this year--baked potatoes, pasta salad, cranberry jello, and this green bean and bacon fried invention that didn't appear in the least bit appetizing to me--which was a nice change from the routine. We played Set (yeah, I pretty much won every round...) before dinner, and Cranium Congo after.

Aunt Bee, Fibonacci and I went to King Kong yesterday. As my mom put it, it was 'well done.' For the sake of not sounding unsatisfied (as some are accusing me of, quite ungroundedly), I will state the obvious. It was well done. The effects were fantaastic, the acting was good, it's the best Kong thus far (and likely forever), it is a great feat in the world of film, instant classic, blah blah blah... There were quite a few enjoyable scenes, my favorite (along with millions of other movie-goers, I'm sure) being the one with Kong, the T-rexes, and poor, dishevelled Ann dangling in the ravine. However, I wasn't as emotionally drawn into the story as I thought I would be, and I didn't leave the theater thinking "Wow, that was the best movie I've seen this year!" This is not necessarily a critique on the movie itself or the actors' portrayal of the characters or what have you, I just didn't care about them much. I guess there wasn't much substance behind the story, no great, immortal truth that drew me in, that I learned along with the characters. "It was beauty killed the beast" was a nice line, but nothing too deep. So don't watch it thinking you're getting a didactic tale. If you're looking for a thrill ride, however--with some romance and comedy thrown in--Kong certainly pays the bill (what the heck is "fill the bill" supposed to mean, anyway?).

Man, was I out of it last night at out open gym. It was a fun practice, mostly consisting of bump, an impromptu one-on-one tournament, blitz drill, and scrimmaging. It should have been easy, but I don't know where my head was. Fortunately, most of my mistakes were more humorous than harmful, and I was able to laugh at them, and my jovial teammates certainly jumped right on the proverbial bandwagon. Ah, well, hopefully I'll be more focused tonight...