So it's truly a Sunday in late January, maybe a little bit because it's been bitterly cold out the last few days but mostly because the Patriots and Colts lock up again for an AFC championship game. I must say that after last weeks win over the Chargers, I like the Patriots' chances. When these kinds of games come along, they always seem to find a way to win. I called the game last week for the Patriots by three. I didn't call a score, but I got at least the margin of victory right. I imagine it will be a relatively high scoring game, so for today I'll go with Patriots 34, Colts 27.
Spent yesterday away from the cold with two movies and a comedy/music show at the "new" Citi Center for the Performing Arts. The movies were a pair I'd meant to see for some time. Started with The Last King of Scotland, for which Forest Whitaker is getting all kinds of praise and awards. I thought the movie was just okay and he, although good, might be getting too much attention. He effectively runs the gamut from charming to downright menacing as the Ugandan dictator Amin. But I feel like if you count the minutes of on screen time, he's more a "supporting" than lead actor.
Then on to Miss Potter, the very charming tale of Beatrix Potter and her writing and selling of her Peter Rabbit and other children's books. It's short, entertaining, and requires very little thought. A nice antidote to what I started with. Rene Zellweger is very good, but the movie's strength is its art and set direction.
After my double feature, it was time to work Jamie Foxx. I expected a comedy show. It was just that for about 40 minutes (of two and a half hours). The rest was a concert. I could have done without the concert part, but his comedy routine was absolutely hysterical. The concert segment did have one really "cool" part when he came out as Ray Charles and did a couple of his songs. That was fun. And then a quick tribute to James Brown.
I was just looking ahead on my calendar as I was writing in some work events coming up. And in so doing I realized how quickly we're moving towards April, which marks the first of a few eagerly anticipated trips for me. For ten days in April, I will enjoy my first ever trip to Italy, with stops in Venice, Florence, and Rome. That's an adults-only school trip which should be a lot of fun. Then in May I have five days in London around the Memorial Day long weekend, including performances of the new Lord of the Rings musical and the great play Equus (starring a Harry Potter-less Daniel Radcliffe). Then just after school gets out in June, I return to Italy for two weeks, but this time to Rome, Sorrento and the Mediterranean islands of Capri and Lipari. I will of course look forward to all of them, but something tells me that the last one will be much needed when we get to mid-June.
