11.30.2016

At the movies - The Accountant

The Accountant - 3

From imdb.com : "As a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities and the body count starts to rise."

I went to see this with my sisters and mother the weekend before Thanksgiving.

We came out of the theatre enjoying it moderately.  We discussed it some that afternoon and the next day and picked at it.  I thought the number of reveals at the end were too many too fast.  I also think they could have been left undiscovered for later installments.

The one we had the most issue with was the revelation of Justine's role: we could not figure out how, with the information the movie revealed, Christian ever had the opportunity to develop a relationship with her.

The final bit of the movie is an obvious lead in for sequels, but the basic premise of Christian's situation does not make me interested in further escapades.

I enjoyed it, but won't be seeing further versions in the theatre.


Houston Ballet - The Nutcracker - Stanton Welch production 2016

My family and I have been going to see the Houston Ballet's production of "The Nutcracker" for probably over 20 years.  I believe all of those have been Ben Stevenson's productions.  This is the first year for a new Stanton Welch production.

My family went to see it for the Sunday matinee with great seats in the Founders' boxes.  We were entranced by the first act, and bored by the second act.  The rest of the audience seemed entranced by it all, with a mostly standing ovation at the end.

The dancers, by and large, were fabulous.  The increased use of students from the Academy did improve the production and made the production more accessible for the younger members of the audience.

Drosselmeyer's cape in the first act seemed awfully cheap, but his assistants were an interesting addition.

The battle between Rats and Soldiers seemed inconclusive to me.  Definitely not as the battle in previous years.

Climbing a tree to the Kingdom of Sweets instead of being swept off in a carriage seemed a poor change.  The gate to the Kingdom of Sweets did not open and our protagonists apparently just went around the gate to get in.  We also thought, at first, that the gates were the Pearly Gates of Heaven.

The cats that escorted our protagonists to the wings, promptly let everyone back onto the main stage, so what was their purpose?

The dance of the flowers had us distracted by the noise the costumes made throughout the dance.

The dance of the snowflakes annoyed us with the dancers throwing snow at regular intervals.  The Snow Queen had no part in any dance.  The male snowflakes seemed a bit alien in their get-ups.

I think the large crowds onstage in the second act took the focus away from the main dances.  It was tough to focus as I wanted to see if any of the other preformers were up to something interesting.

The playbill indicated that the story would be more about Clara being a driving force throughout, but I don't believe that goal was achieve.





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Monday, November 28, 2016


Sunday, November 27, 2016

11.28.2016

Weekend update

Wednesday:

Had the truck towed to McRee for battery issues
Worked sent us home at noon
Mixed up some pie crusts

Thursday:

Baked two pies
Thanksgiving dinner with the family at Joe's
Baked another pie
Football

Friday:

Lunch with K. at Habanero's



Saturday:


Picked up a loaner at McRee
Turning in the shop
Football



Sunday:


Did some work on ASH
Did some chainmaille
Turning in the shop
Made some pralines
The Nutcracker with the family



Weekend update

Friday:

Lunch with my sisters and mom and Skipper's Cafe
Boot shopping at Cavender's
At the movies with "The Accountant"

Saturday:

Mowed the Creek
Picked up Boots from Mom
Dinner with the family at Mia Luna and The Chocolate Bar

Sunday:

Football/Nap


11.26.2016

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Thursday, November 24, 2016


Wednesday, November 23, 2016

11.22.2016

Tweet summary on 11-22-2016 for the past 3 days


Sunday, November 20, 2016


Saturday, November 19, 2016

11.18.2016

Aikido Thursday night - 11/17/16 - Wasabi Dojo

Aikido players:

 John, Adam, Bao, Willie, Rodrigo

Ukemi:

Basic slaps and a couple of rolls for me.

The Walk:

Three times tonight

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

Adam and I worked defensive Jo work with me as uke

Commentary:

None of note.

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Wednesday, November 16, 2016


Tuesday, November 15, 2016

11.14.2016

Weekend update

Friday:

Veteran's Day off from work
Worked on refreshing the sourdough starter and making a couple of loaves
Picked up the riding lawnmower from Gill'sMowed the lawn
Lunch with K. at Habanero's
Did some pen turning in the shop

Saturday:

Made a run to the Fall Haul A Day
Football
Dinner with K. and the in-laws at Joe's

Sunday:

Grocery shopping
Attempted two batches of cinnamon rolls.  Apparently the yeast is not working
Football/Nap



Aikido Thursday Night - 11/10/16 - Wasabi Dojo

Aikido players:

 John, Adam, Bao, Tabitha, Don, Cheryl, Brianna

Ukemi:

Basic slaps and a couple of rolls for me.

The Walk:

Twice

Releases:

Wit Don

Techniques:

Adam and I worked defensive Jo work with me as uke

Commentary:

None of note.

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Saturday, November 12, 2016


Friday, November 11, 2016

11.10.2016

Volleyball, 2-1

A good match versus a team whose name I can't locate.  We won the first game 21-15, lost the second 10-21, and won the third by some unknown score.

Weekend update

Friday:

Riding lawnmower issues at Gill's
Lunch with K. at Joe's
Did some work on the random orbit sander

Saturday:

Banking
At mom's showing/selling some pens
Football
Started/Completed a new Bronze Byzantine necklace
Dinner with K. at El Centinela
Sunday:

FootballNap



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Tuesday, November 08, 2016


Monday, November 07, 2016

11.06.2016

Tweet summary on 11-06-2016 for the past 3 days


Friday, November 04, 2016


Thursday, November 03, 2016

11.04.2016

Aikido Thursday Night - 11/3/16 - Wasabi Dojo

Aikido players:

 John, Randy, Adam, Rodrigo, Tabitha, Willie, Brianna

Ukemi:

Basic slaps and a couple of rolls for me.

The Walk:

Not tonight

Releases:

Not tonight

Techniques:

Adam and I worked on standing Koryu Dai San and then did some defensive Jo work

Commentary:

None of note.

11.02.2016

Volleyball, 0-3

"Id' Hit That" were our opponents this week.  Another disappointing night, but we were competitive.

First game: 5-21

Second game: 22-23

Third game: 10-15, I think

I don't remember who we

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Monday, October 31, 2016


Sunday, October 30, 2016