...is a wonderful film starring New Cannan’s own Katherine Heigl, and comedic stalwart Seth Rogen. Although uncharacteristically long for a comedy at 2 hours and 9 minutes, the film moves at a respectable pace, fusing both real-life drama and hallucinogenic comedy. Chris Kaltenbach of The Baltimore Sun acknowledged the comic value of the film in spite of its shortcomings, saying, "Yes, the story line meanders and too many scenes drone on; Knocked Up is in serious need of a good editor. But the laughs are plentiful, and it's the rare movie these days where one doesn't feel guilty about finding the whole thing funny.” And for those who like action, the movie doesn’t disappoint. As the title suggests, there are several fighting and boxing scenes that are a sterling tribute to the finale of Karate Kid and the Ivan Drago / Apollo Creed sequence in Rocky IV.
On a rather unrelated note, we’re expecting!! Susi and I are besides ourselves with excitement as we wait for the arrival of our beautiful baby grand piano! Actually, it’s a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-555 digital grand piano, since we couldn’t realistically fit even an upright in our apartment without sacrificing some of Susi’s flower arranging paraphernalia. Admittedly, I’ve become quite rusty at the old 88 since moving abroad (and frankly, I wasn’t that great before I left). I’m hoping to find a local teacher who can help me get back into some semblance of musical form.
Much more importantly, we have news!! Yes indeed, I’ve finally cashed in on the gift certificate Susi bought me last Christmas for a 3 month subscription to the Times. With the ever growing gaggle of media outlets, it’s a rare treat to sit down with the broadsheets, and get up to date on all of the latest news and gossip. Unfortunately, the traditional print industry is a bit backward, and I’ve been on the phone for over an hour trying to delay delivery until after I return from the US. It would be quite a disappointment if the papers arrive prematurely.
And nearly finally, we are pleased to announce that Susi currently has a bun in the oven! It took far longer than we ever expected, and was much more difficult than people had said. The main problem with baking a monster 18-inch cinnamon-raisin Danish is that it’s almost impossible to shape it so that the dough in the middle cooks fully without the outer edges getting burnt. I told Susi that it would be much easier to make 8 or 10 smaller buns, but she insisted on making this giant “family sized” monstrosity… and to her credit, it’s baking away in there, and so far everything looks good.
And finally finally, we are all very thankful that I could only find 4 or 5 usable mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrases for the word euphemism. Likewise, I could only find a similar number of good euphemism’s for being in a delicate condition. All kidding aside, we are expecting little Mortimer or Morticia to wreak havoc on our independent and serene lifestyles this April!!! Really – I’m really saying it now – Susi is pregnant with a child of currently-unknown gender, and is due late April. This is not a test… No crying wolf here… just lots of crying!
Monday, 31 October 2011
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
It's time for an update...
It has been an eventful couple of months since my last blog. The well-oiled machine that is our government narrowly avoided default, the Northeast had its first hurricane since Gloria, and Great Britain teetered on the verge of total anarchy at the hands of marauding 14-year-olds looking to upgrade their Blackberries. All three crises largely averted, save the flooding of some beautiful Catskill and Green Mountain towns, we can now return to our general malaise stemming from the interminable skinny dip recession, flattened housing market, and the impending global domination of the Indosino power tandem to whom we so readily outsourced anything and everything except... consumption.
A bit more on the riots that took place here in London and in other cities across England. I could go on a bit about underlying issues that led to its fomenting, but the reality is that it was more Lord of the Flies than Communist Manifesto. A few enterprising youths stole the conch shell and incited a short but furious campaign of entertainment and petty enrichment, and I have little doubt that the vast majority of participants woke up the next day wondering themselves, “what the hell did I just do”? Few countries, if any, have an entitlement situation like the UK – where the “haves” have just marginally more wealth than the “have nots”. There’s just so little to complain about unless you’re a tea partier... As for the political fallout, the UK went through its usual brief cycle of outrage, chest pumping, breast pumping and narcolepsy.
One small element of personal growth stemming from the riots was my enchantment with, and immediate disenchantment with, Twitter. During the third day of riots, when I was contemplating a swift and conservative return to my flat before night fell, I was able to get real time “reports” from virtually every street corner between my office and my flat. People were posting up to the second updates, often with pictures, describing the exact state of order or disorder in every London neighbourhood. For about three hours, I could not tear myself away from the endlessly streaming Sit Reps. Ultimately, the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of tweets reflected a modicum of social conscious, and a huge, morbid desire from the masses to see some action. Needless to say, by that point, the kids finally realized that what they were doing wasn’t very beneficial for their long-term livelihoods, and save a few hangers-on, the riots ended as abruptly as they started.
On a happier note, Susi and I (not so) recently returned from Bad Kreuznach for the annual Jahrmarkt and a mini celebration of our 1 year anniversary! The nostalgia was a bit overwhelming for me... at one point the priest who married us forcibly removed me from our wedding church, and the Fuerstenhof (the wedding hotel) security team called in the pros when I insisted upon playing the Bischoff game (not worth explaining)... quite alone... until 5AM. A small perk of going with the Fuerstenhof had been a free night for our 1-year anniversary... I’m guessing they will stick to fruit baskets and champagne in the future.
We’ve now lived in our London flat for 4 years. Although the novelty of having a private garden (back yard) while living 10 minutes from central London hasn’t been lost on us, our guests have become exceedingly critical of the veritable shoebox that is the inside of our apartment. Still, we make the most of it, including the 2 well endowed apple trees by the back fence. We’ve managed to harvest somewhere in the neighbourhood of 50 pounds of truly organic apples, that we’ve turned into approximately... 3 pounds of jellies and preserves. Although most of that went to error (and a bit of trial), we’re very proud of our final product, and will be marketing it like mad if we can slip it through customs. Of course, due to the aforementioned space issues, we’ve had to store our hermetically sealed apply jelly in a hanging basket above our bed, guaranteeing that like the labels say, they were made with great angst... and love.
And finally, we’re soon returning for our next visit to the U.S. I remember the good old days of 2007 and 2008 when people feigned interest and excitement at our home visits. These days, it’s utterly baffling how many people have month-long out of town commitments – to places like Afghanistan. On an uncharacteristically serious note – we miss those of you on the other side of the pond, and I hope we can see many of you when we’re back!!
A bit more on the riots that took place here in London and in other cities across England. I could go on a bit about underlying issues that led to its fomenting, but the reality is that it was more Lord of the Flies than Communist Manifesto. A few enterprising youths stole the conch shell and incited a short but furious campaign of entertainment and petty enrichment, and I have little doubt that the vast majority of participants woke up the next day wondering themselves, “what the hell did I just do”? Few countries, if any, have an entitlement situation like the UK – where the “haves” have just marginally more wealth than the “have nots”. There’s just so little to complain about unless you’re a tea partier... As for the political fallout, the UK went through its usual brief cycle of outrage, chest pumping, breast pumping and narcolepsy.
One small element of personal growth stemming from the riots was my enchantment with, and immediate disenchantment with, Twitter. During the third day of riots, when I was contemplating a swift and conservative return to my flat before night fell, I was able to get real time “reports” from virtually every street corner between my office and my flat. People were posting up to the second updates, often with pictures, describing the exact state of order or disorder in every London neighbourhood. For about three hours, I could not tear myself away from the endlessly streaming Sit Reps. Ultimately, the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of tweets reflected a modicum of social conscious, and a huge, morbid desire from the masses to see some action. Needless to say, by that point, the kids finally realized that what they were doing wasn’t very beneficial for their long-term livelihoods, and save a few hangers-on, the riots ended as abruptly as they started.
On a happier note, Susi and I (not so) recently returned from Bad Kreuznach for the annual Jahrmarkt and a mini celebration of our 1 year anniversary! The nostalgia was a bit overwhelming for me... at one point the priest who married us forcibly removed me from our wedding church, and the Fuerstenhof (the wedding hotel) security team called in the pros when I insisted upon playing the Bischoff game (not worth explaining)... quite alone... until 5AM. A small perk of going with the Fuerstenhof had been a free night for our 1-year anniversary... I’m guessing they will stick to fruit baskets and champagne in the future.
We’ve now lived in our London flat for 4 years. Although the novelty of having a private garden (back yard) while living 10 minutes from central London hasn’t been lost on us, our guests have become exceedingly critical of the veritable shoebox that is the inside of our apartment. Still, we make the most of it, including the 2 well endowed apple trees by the back fence. We’ve managed to harvest somewhere in the neighbourhood of 50 pounds of truly organic apples, that we’ve turned into approximately... 3 pounds of jellies and preserves. Although most of that went to error (and a bit of trial), we’re very proud of our final product, and will be marketing it like mad if we can slip it through customs. Of course, due to the aforementioned space issues, we’ve had to store our hermetically sealed apply jelly in a hanging basket above our bed, guaranteeing that like the labels say, they were made with great angst... and love.
And finally, we’re soon returning for our next visit to the U.S. I remember the good old days of 2007 and 2008 when people feigned interest and excitement at our home visits. These days, it’s utterly baffling how many people have month-long out of town commitments – to places like Afghanistan. On an uncharacteristically serious note – we miss those of you on the other side of the pond, and I hope we can see many of you when we’re back!!
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