April 3

Carol Frank, Yolanda, Bill, Betty correctly identified "This bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that's the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever." coming from American Beauty.

Try this one: (It's an oldie, but goodie.)

"You risk your skin catchin' killers and the juries turn 'em loose so they can come back and shoot at you again. If you're honest, you're poor your whole life, and in the end you wind up dyin' all alone on some dirty street. For what? For nothin'. For a tin star."

This must be my Ewan McGregor week as I saw one Netflix film with him and one at the movies.

In Theaters:

Salmon Fishing in Yemen - What a delightful movie. It made me smile and shed a few tears. Kristen Scott Thomas steals the movie playing the Prime Minister's PR person . Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt make a lovely pair as scientist and representative of the sheik who wants to bring salmon fishing to Yemen. For a feel good movie, see this one.

On Netflix:

Beginners - Christopher Plummer won best supporting actor for this film and he does a fine job with the role. Ewan McGregor plays his son who learns how to live life after observing how his father lives after coming out. The film is based on the director's real life story. I found it slow, but touching.

Reston Community Center:

Once again we went to a performance at the Reston Community Center. This time it was not a play, but a performer. My friend Pat gave us the tickets for a show featuring Grace Kelly. No, she has not be resurrected from the dead, this is Grace Kelly the saxophonist, singer, composer and arranger. She is only 19 and can play a mean sax. She also writes much of her own music and has a lovely voice as well. Her main focus is jazz; not elevator jazz, but fusion jazz. It is an interesting sound and one that I must say I did enjoy being exposed to. If you are a jazz fan and see her around, you won't be disappointed in her show.

A wonderful read:

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See - Last year I read Shanghai Girls by See and this is a follow up to that story. Although you can read it without reading the first, I would recommend you read them in order. This one takes place in China during Mao's Great Leap Forward program. It is heart wrenching. I had visions of what I read for days after I completed the novel. It is a historical fiction and one that was a page turner. Not only is it about China, but it is about family dynamics. I don't believe you will be disappointed in this book.

DWTS

The new season has started and here are my predictions: Although I don't know their names, these are my top picks:

The opera singer
The football star
Disney star Roshon
Urkel - He has had bad press this week which might sway the voters against him!

After watching last night, not sure who will be eliminated tonight. I do think the judges are being exceedingly generous with their scores.

Just my opinion.

Roberta