Weekend of Movies

This weekend has been relaxing, exciting, and a good time to catch two more flicks at the local movie theater.  I got to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine Saturday morning and Angels & Demons today.  I love going to the movies as is evident by my list of movies that I have seen so far this year.  You'll see most of them are older films but that is because I love going to the Arclight on AFI night.  What a great opportunity to have living in Los Angeles to see movies as they are originally intended on the big screen.  Between the old and the new there is always something at the movies to see.  With summer coming movie season is going to pick up with all the summer movies that are coming out.  So my list is just going to keep growing.  I can't wait to see how many I can catch before the end of the year.

The Beginning of New Adventures (May contain spoilers of the movie Star Trek)

**Originally published on the blog Do You Smell Guinea Pigs?**

Last night I had a blast seeing Star Trek.  We saw it at the AMC on the IMAX screen.  The sound was awesome at times vibrating the seats.  The picture was awesome on the large screen.  The whole experience was phenomenal.  

 

I am the first to admit that I have been a Star Trek (ST) fan since I was a little girl.  My fascination with the show began when I watched old episodes of the original series and then carried on to Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG).  I tend to enjoy the characters that are logical and look for a way to express their feelings.  So I love Spock and Data.  I will admit that I fell out of love with ST after TNG ended and I couldn't get into Deep Space Nine (DS9) or Voyager.  I never did watch Enterprise and I kick myself for that because I love Scott Bakula.

 

So back to the new movie.  I thought that the story was great.  I know that the show tended to use time travel a lot as a plot point and they do that in the film but in a great way.  While the action of the film revolves around a Romulan vessel coming through a black hole that is also a time warp to destroy Vulcan, the time travel in the film will allow for future movies if everyone involved is game.  History has now been changed for our heros back in the early years, who knows what can happen.  Granted I don't think the persona of Kirk will ever stop being a womanizer or a hot head that is full of himself.  I really want to see another movie that will explore the relationship between Spock and Uhura.  I loved at the end of the movie that Sarek admitted to Spock that the reason he married his mother was because he loved her.  He is human enough to admit that he had feelings which Spock has fought all his life. All I'm saying is that Uhura and Spock make an interesting story line.

 

I hope that there will be another movie with this young group of actors.  They did a wonderful job making each well known person their own.  The whole movie was an original based on an iconic television show that has captured many generations.  My hope is that this resurgence of Star Trek will capture another generation or two so that it lives on.  

 

Live long and prosper.

Tennessee in the Summer - West Coast Ensemble

**Originally published on the blog Do You Smell Guinea Pigs?**

Last night I had the privilege to watch four talented actors perform Joe Besecker's play Tennessee in the Summer at the El Centro Theatre in Hollywood.

There apparently were some minor technical difficulties that kept the house from being seated until 8 p.m. when the play was supposed to start. You would never know though that all the light cues had to be re-done as the actors hit every mark and light spot perfectly.

The play is about events in Tennessee Williams' life done in a series of flashbacks. Two of the actors played multiple roles with the other two being the steady characters of Tennessee and just simply Woman.

I was not quite sure at the beginning what to think of the woman character and towards the end I was convinced that she represented Tennessee's feminine side. The character of Tennessee in the play was very harsh and not very open, the Woman character showed a softer more caring side which I think Tennessee very much wanted but somehow could not fully achieve 100%.

My favorite part of the play was the series of flashbacks involving Tennessee and his lover Frankie. Tennessee abused the one man in his life who loved him for all his faults, good qualities and everything in between. Frankie eventually dies of lung cancer alone in his hospital room having never heard Tennessee admit the love he had for him. A very touching moment and sad because the death of Frankie hardens Tennessee's belief in fearing death.

A great production over all. I wish it were playing longer so that more people could see it and enjoy the experience. Thank you to the cast and crew for a great night out at the theater.

The Nominations Are In

**Originally published on the blog Do You Smell Guinea Pigs?**

Tonight was my local insurance women's group meeting.  We had an excellent speaker named George Hotaling.  He spoke to our group about insurance for trust programs offered through banks.  I found it totally interesting and something I would like to learn more about.  He's made great progress on his program developing their own software platform and working with a handful of companies to get the insurance.  

We continued on with our meeting and had nominations for the upcoming year.  I've been nominated to serve as my association's secretary which I'm totally excited about.  It is a place to start and grow from.  I'm very happy that they asked me to be a part of the board.

 

Next week is our regional conference in Salt Lake City.  I'm going to be the delegate for my association which it totally rad.  I'm looking forward to the trip and the time that will be spent with my fellow insurance professionals.