Going across the country by car

My hubby, our golden lab/basset hound mix dog and I (plus a very full car) have gone through seven states in three days, which is pretty incredible when you think about it. These are South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. I had been to all these states except for Arkansas and Oklahoma and my hubby had gone through all but the last three. We drove to nearly Atlanta on Tuesday night, then woke up late Wednesday morning (though didn't sleep much for the second night in a row) and drove to Memphis. We had found out last night that the Mississippi River was about to flood, but thankfully all of the bridges over it near Memphis were still open. However, the White River in Arkansas, between Little Rock and Memphis had flooded its banks and they had closed down part of Interstate 40, which is the main road we are taking from Memphis, Tennessee to Flagstaff, Arizona. So we had to find a detour for today, and even though we left the hotel by 5:45am this morning, it took us an extra three hours to get around the detour (which was super annoying as we had planned to drive all the way to Amarillo, Texas but ended up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma because we have been driving for 11 hours today). 

As I have said before, I have never been to Arkansas, but what I have seen from the detour and the rest of the state via I-40, I am not missing much. I will say though I am sorry for all the folks that lost their homes and farmland due to the river flooding. We saw the devastation of the it and the tornado that ripped through one of the small towns on the detour, as well as the damage done to one part of Birmingham yesterday while driving. I mean you see the news reports, but nothing prepares you for how crazy everything is in real life. Like all the homes with no roofs or those that were completely flattened. I don't believe I have ever seen the Mississippi River but it was very impressive and as one newcaster said, they were expecting it to get up to 12 ft above the river line when it does flood. It was looking pretty swollen and had covered trees and power lines nearly up to the top. There is almost nothing on I-40 through Oklahoma, except every 25-50 miles each county is owned by a different Native American nation, which had it's own casino. We went through the Cherokee, Creek and Kipopo Nations, just to name a few. It was very green and flat, though less green than Arkansas, which I was frankly surprised at. Also Arkansas had vineyards in the mountainous areas of the Ozarks, which I also wasn't expecting. 

Tomorrow we are hoping to drive from Oklahoma City to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I think my mom wants us to be in Arizona by tomorrow, but I think it we will end up getting there Saturday evening as it is nearly 16 hours there from where we are now. I could do 11 hours, though that is pushing it a bit with me being pregnant and a pooch in the back seat, but 16 hours is just too much

Finally got my car back and other distractions

So I have been two weeks without a car and let me just tell you how much that blows. It blows big time especially if you are used to having one to run errands and suddenly you have to rethink everything and keep putting things off, like a library visit to my internship site so I can finish up my booklist and get more info on the library for a paper I have to write due next Thursday, which I haven't started yet. The good thing was that we got to pay less than we thought because they took so long (it was supposed to have been done a week ago). I think I'm doomed not to have A/C because they apparently didn't fix that, even thought they did every flush and change imaginable since they took the entire engine apart.

humanThe other thing that has been uber-distracting is that I've discovered Lord Of The Rings online, which is now free to play up to level 50. So my hubby and I have been battling wolves, giant spiders, goblins, and brigands for the past three days. I have played online games before, my first being EVE (a space adventure game) that I started playing with my hubby before we were married, then I played a couple of free games named Rappelz and Flyff. For LOTR online, I started with a minstrel female human character and even though I love her random lute playing during battle, she has really low health and is more of a support character versus a fighter. So I started another character today, a female guardian (a tank character for those gamers out there) and she fights way better and has much higher health at lower levels. You can also pick a craft or craft area. The first time I was metalsmith/jeweler/cook and I love making the jewelry and mining, and this time I am metalsmith/weaponsmith/tailor since I always find a lot of animal skins out in the woods and again love mining. I'm a little miffed that the only hobby you can have is fishing as that's kind of boring. Once you get to level 15 you can get a house, which is great because you'll have collected a lot of stuff by then and you seriously have no room for it until you finally get to the town of Bree and can get a vault. However a house is a bit more permanent and once you've paid for the initial price, you wouldn't have to pay for upgrades like in a vault. So now I'm off to play again, assuming I can get on the server.

Trying to think of something more fun to write about than the state of my car

Alas, I'm having car troubles yet again, and it couldn't be worse timing. I am going to Virginia next week to celebrate my friend's wedding so that I'll have something happy to think about on Sept 11 instead of depressing things. My car is in the shop and looks likely to be there until next weekend, which means I can't pick it up until next week. Boo!

Anywho, I've decided to write about two films I've watched recently instead. These are two very different and random movies. First off is the big budget but ultimately a flop movie version of the Broadway play Nine, starring Daniel Day Lewis as Guido Contini, with Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Sophia Loren, Marion Cotillard and yes sadly, Fergie. First off my dislikes. I don't think Daniel Day Lewis should ever be allowed to sing again and I thought Fergie's song was annoying and way too easy to get stuck in your head. Granted, I've never been a fan of Mr. Lewis, although my mother swears by him in Last of the Mohicans, as I'm sure so do a lot of other women. Fergie should stick with the Black Eyed Peas. I also thought the story was a little pathetic. I mean the guy has everything and blows it all and has to start all over again from scratch. I mostly just wanted to steal his car, which was this cute little Italian convertible. On to the likes: the choreography and the performances of Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard. The dancing was fabulous and the movie was directed by Rob Marshall, who did Chicago, another of my favorite movie musicals. Nicole Kidman was only in the movie for a very short period of time as Guido's muse and leading actress, sings a wonderfully sad song called "Unusual Way." Judi Dench is amusing as Guido's straight-talking costume designer who used to work at the Folies Bergere and sings a song about it and how great it was. I must admit her singing in French was a bit off-putting for me as I see her as the classic British star, but she did put on a good act. Penelope Cruz is absolutely gorgeous and vulnerable as Guido's mistress and she sings this super seductive song in lingerie that I'm sure her new hubby Javier Bardem is getting a kick out of now. Marion Cotillard, who I loved in La Vie En Rose about Edith Piaf and as the lady in red and pretty much the only good thing about Public Enemy, plays Guido's ignored and unappreciative wife. She gets to sing one really great song "Take It All" and one good song called "My Husband Makes Movies."

The second movie I've watched recently is The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. This film was directed by Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame and who also did movies like The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and The Brothers Grimm. It was the last film role for Heath Ledger, and he died while filming it. The movie also stars the venerable Christopher Plummer, Verne Troyer (who was probably my favorite actor in this movie, I thought he was hilarious and I didn't care for him in the Austin Powers movies) as Parnassus's sidekick Percy, soon-to-be new SpiderMan Andrew Garfield as the stumbling vulnerable Anton, model Lily Cole as Parnassus's daughter Valentina and Tom Waits as the Devil. The premise of the movie is hard to explain, so I will refer to this AFI Fest article, "Gilliam's first feature since 2005’s TIDELAND, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is a return to the grotesque and arabesque aesthetic of some of his earlier work, including the Monty Python animations. Doctor Parnassus, like Baron Munchausen, runs a ramshackle theatre troupe, clattering round the shadowy streets of nighttime London in the hopes of entertaining a motley crowd of drinkers and shoppers. The show involves luring a member of the audience through a magical mirror and into the titular Imaginarium, where Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) uses his powers (he’s immortal) to amplify their waking dreams into the trip of a lifetime. Some lucky punters emerge from the mirror reborn, others find Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) lurking on the dark side of their daydreams, ready to lure them straight to Hell. The Parnassus crew is no merry band of players, however. The Doctor broods over a long-ago deal with Mr. Nick that is about to come due. Anton (Andrew Garfield) nurses an unrequited crush on Valentina (Lily Cole) who thinks of nothing but making a getaway, pasting the cover of Ideal Home (“norm porn”) above her bunk, to aid her dreams of regular family life. Percy (Verne Troyer) is Dr. Parnassus’ loyal longtime companion, but even he is getting frustrated by his boss’ drinking and mood swings. Their disequilibrium is disrupted still further when they rescue Tony (Heath Ledger), whom they find hanging underneath Blackfriars Bridge and he too becomes smitten by Lily’s charms. It’s inevitable that they will all end up in the Imaginarium, seeking answers and escape." Summary aside, I loved the movie and it's focus on imagination (the AFI article goes into Gilliam's views on imagination, which is a good read as well), and the battle between good and evil and which we one we choose. I loved the very Monty Pythonesque "Join the Police" clip in the middle of the movie, which I can't seem to find online to show anyone. I thought the visuals were fantastic, especially the monastery scenes and when they are inside Dr. Parnassus's imagination.