Movie Comments

I haven't seen the entire movie yet, but so far "Owning Mahowny" has proven to be an interesting story. It is actually based on a true story. The performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman is excellent. This movie would most likely appeal to a viewer who is interested in learning about the inner workings of a bank scam that is concocted to support a gambling addiction. The premise behind this movie may be old hat, but the direction and the quality of the acting, combined with an excellent script, makes this a much better than average movie. The movie also provides some insight into the infrastructure of big casinos by showing the various ploys used to keep the high rollers playing. Very intriguing stuff.

Delicious Food at Benihanna

This evening Dave, Tom and I went to Benihanna for a steak and chicken dinner (Rocky's Choice on the menu). Your meal is cooked on the grill, which is right in front of where you sit, so the food is served nice and hot - just the way we like it. Sue, the owner/manager, seated us so that we were the only ones at the grill station, so we had our very own chef (Martinez). They always make us feel special at Benihanna! It just doesn't get any better than that!

Afterwards, we ventured over to Costco for a little Christmas shopping and then we went to Tom's house to see how the Sacramento King's were doing (OK at the half, but not so good by the time the game was over). You can see the pictures of our outing to the right and at the bottom of the blog page. The video from Benihanna is shown on the link below:

http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w275/jimdaviselkgrove/?action=view&current=Benihanna-November282007.flv

Mercury Sable for 2008

I wanted to share my photos of the 2008 Mercury Sable, from the recent Sacramento Auto Show, primarily to show the interior of the car. As you may know, Ford/Mercury has struggled with trying to get consumers to pay more attention to their products, specifically the ones that they sell in this category of vehicles (large sedans). To date, neither the Ford Five Hundred (now called the more familiar name -Taurus) nor the Sable, have been big sellers. That has been the case for the last several years. The numbers being sold are no where near where they were during their heyday of the late eighties and early nineties.

I happen to think that Ford/Mercury/Lincoln still make good products. Competitively, the styling is often dated (that's changing somewhat), but to me, they still have a ways to go. You will notice from the blog pictures that the Sable is somewhat different from any other vehicle in the marketplace, when it comes to interior trim options. I did not see another vehicle with the type of trim that Mercury went with for the Sable. As you can see, the trim is white - as well as the rest of the interior. It is one of those love it or hate it combinations, I suspect - which pretty much sums up how I think most people see the Sable and Taurus models - you either really like it, or you don't. It's different enough so that it got my attention, but there sure is a lot of white in the interior. If nothing else, it's definitely unique! I rather like it.

Weekly Movies

This week marks the start of my eighth month of treadmill exercising. Now that I've added watching movies to my five day a week exercise routine, I've become a frequent visitor to the local Block Buster store. Finding good movies to watch is an ongoing challenge. Sometimes I only watch a short portion of a movie, particularly if it is just too boring or too much of a waste of time (yes, that movie watching premise holds true, even if the viewing is going on while exercising).

Each week I'm hopeful that my selections will prove to be meaningful. Actually it's kind of a crap shoot - until you start up the DVD, you never know for sure. Some recent real stinkers were:

Stealing Sinatra

Consenting Adults

This weeks selections to watch while exercising are:

Perfume - The Story of a Murderer

Crazy Love

12 and Holding

Owning Mahowny

Thank You for Smoking

Some recent movies that I watched and liked are:

The Queen

The Devil Wears Prada

Sicko

Smile

The Weight of Water

The professional movie reviewers won't necessarily agree with all of my selections, but critiquing a movie is a rather subjective endeavor anyway, so you may also not agree with my choices.

Next week I'll post to the blog any new favorites, or stinkers, that I view while exercising.

65 inch LCD HDTV

My friend, Terry, has been doing some research for his future purchase of a large screen LCD HDTV. To date, the largest available, in the United States, is a 65 inch set - manufactured by either Olevia or Sharp. There are plenty of sets that are DLP, Plasma, rear projection and the like - with large screens, but only the mentioned two brands have 65 inch LCD's. It is a different story in Europe and Asia. In fact, you can see many sets available for sale, beyond the 65 inch size, at CES in Vegas; those sets are not for distribution to the US.

Terry and I have been chatting about several products that he might consider. One of the more intriguing HDTV's is the aforementioned 65 inch Olevia that is sold at Costco and Target. The problem is in trying to get any test data on that product. We have not been able to find an Internet review on this five thousand dollar LCD HDTV (yes, it has a hefty price). If any of my blog readers can be of help, please send me an email with a link to a review of the Olevia 65 inch LCD HDTV that Costco carries. Terry needs some actual test data about this product, before deciding what he will purchase. Thanks.

Make Someone Happy

Nancy is still nursing a cold, so I went solo to the B Street Theatre this evening. Buck Busfield has written the theatre's Christmas holiday play for the last several years and he usually does something a little offbeat at this time of year. This year's play, "Make Someone Happy", was probably a little more offbeat than usual. When you have a stripper (in a dance cage, no less) and a nun interacting on stage, it can get a little weirded out... wouldn't you think. But as usual, Buck made it all work and it proved to be one of his better efforts.

I had dinner at Sae Jongs. The owner brought to the table some calamari for me to try, and even though it was a little on the spicy side, I really liked it. The miso soup and sesame chicken was also tasty and I enjoyed my late dinner as the play went a bit longer than usual. Buck got a little long winded in one of the acts.

Tomorrow morning is our Big Breakfast. I hope Nancy is feeling better. It takes two to get everything going just right and to time the meal so that everything comes out on time and hot. We've added biscuits and gravy to the Big Breakfast, along with our usual items - scrambled eggs, pancakes, hash browns, bacon, fruit, juice, coffee, etc. Hey, no sense in doing all that exercising if you don't eat enough to burn off some extra calories now and then. Anyway, it's only once a week, the Big Breakfast, and I look forward to preparing it and - of course - consuming the Sunday feast. However, by adding biscuits and gravy to the menu, I just may have to do a little more treadmill time this week. Oh well, it will be worth it. The meal is delicious!

Black Friday - Lots of Shoppers In Elk Grove

I ventured out a little before 4:00 am this morning, to see what was happening retail wise around the Elk Grove area. Mervyn's parking lot looked the way it might normally appear on a Saturday afternoon. Some of the people waiting in line for a Mervyn's credit voucher, worth ten dollars, had been standing for more than an hour - according to what I heard. There was even a limo in front of the store. I guess that group must have worked in shifts, or something on that order. You'd need to save a lot on your purchases, to make a limo worthwhile! That's a new strategy. One that I had not seen before.

The three hundred and fifty vouchers were given out at Mervyn's in just a couple of minutes. Some people were upset, because there were a few people who walked through the doors after cutting in the line. I didn't see any security near the entrance - just the huddled masses trying to claim their reward for standing out in the cold. It probably could have gotten ugly, but it didn't.

There were considerably more people shopping on Black Friday this year than last - at least in Elk Grove. Elk Grove has grown significantly over the last year and you really sense the the growth when you visit our commercial establishments. Retail outlets have also increased. Next year will bring even more commercial growth to the area. After a decade of planning, our first "mall" will open. That will bring even more shoppers to Elk Grove, along with a lot more traffic. If this Black Friday was any indication, next year should really be something!

I ended up buying a couple of photo items and a flannel shirt jacket. As long as you are not bothered by the crowds, it can be an interesting day to shop. We've still got another big discount day left this year. The day after Christmas. I'll probably venture out on Dec 26th - just to see what's happening and to maybe find a bargain. You'll never know, if you don't venture out!