Annnnnnnd, we're back! I am truly sorry to have left you all to fend for yourselves over the last nearly-two weeks. Hopefully, you amused yourself with the exploits of Sleep-Talkin' Man or other stand-in blogs. (And, yes, "Anonymous," I realize I used "hopefully" in an improper sense, but, then, I have always been more of a de- than a pre-scriptivist, so deal with it. Just be glad I'm back!)
New York was the proverbial hoot. I consider myself relatively lucky that the temperature remained for the most part south of 90 during my stay. Aside from a couple of times when I made the mistake of over-exerting myself (by, y'know, breathing), I stayed fairly comfortable. I had the opportunity to see MOS and FOS and Ex-Roommate of Solipsist (I'm not going to refer to him as EROS) and generally to reacquaint myself with the sights and sounds of the old stomping grounds.
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Drove down to Jersey to see Aunt of Solipsist. Neither she nor MOS is moving particularly well these days. Various combinations of age, arthritis, and general deterioration have slowed them both. We went out to lunch at a waterside restaurant. Afterwards, I walked ahead to the car and waited for MOS and AOS. They walked toward the car. And walked. And walked. And. . . . Let me put it this way: You know that scene in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" when Lancelot (John Cleese) is charging toward a castle, and the camera keeps cutting back and forth between him and the people watching in the castle, and Lancelot never seems to be getting any closer to the castle?
Yeah, it was kind of like that.
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Just remembered that MOS now has a little Netbook with which she can access the internet and read this column, so never mind what I just said.
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Managed to get caught up on all the superhero movies. Saw "The Dark Knight Rises," "The Amazing Spider-Man," and "The Avengers." "DKR" was excellent. Upon further reflection, there are some minor quibbles, but overall it did everything one could have hoped for, short of resurrecting Heath Ledger. "Spider-Man" kind of disappointed. Andrew Garfield is nowhere near as good a Peter Parker as Tobey Maguire. It's not his fault, though: The character was poorly written. I'm a Spider-Man purist and, to me, Peter Parker should be a geeky, gawky science nerd, not some tormented emo dude. I also enjoyed "The Avengers," especially since I watched it on the flight back to California. Nice way to kill two-plus hours. On the whole, though, "DKR" was better, but that could also be chalked up to the fact that I saw the Batman movie in IMAX and "The Avengers" on a five-inch seatback TV screen.
I will say, though, that Robert Downey, Jr., gets the lifetime achievement award for best performance by an actor in a superhero role.
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Couldn't actually find the Ground Zero memorial. I met EROS (there, OK?) down in the financial district and got a nice close-up view of the Freedom Tower under construction, but though I constantly saw signs with arrows pointing to the memorial, I couldn't actually find the place. Oddly enough, I asked EROS--who works in the area--and HE wasn't sure where it was, either. I was disturbed but not overly disappointed: Not disappointed because it would have been worth checking out, but it wasn't worth a full-fledged search. Disturbed because I worry that EROS may have done some serious damage to his mental/observational faculties during his time in college. It would explain a lot.
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So New York was lovely, bright and hot. Good to be back to Solipsist Central, though. I promise not to desert you all any time soon.
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