Wall-E

Fun family movie. My 4 1/2 year old daughter liked it, though a lot of it was over her head. Nothing too scary for her, though. A robot love story wrapped in a cautionary tale about over-consumption and eco-catastrophe. With a happy ending of course.

My BDay

27th is my birthday again.  I don't usually make a big deal of it, but what the hey....  Probably go see The Dark Knight or something.

One of the cool things about where we live is that you can hike to the movies through the redwoods...about a 30 minute hike.  Pretty amazing, really.

Then over to the Britannia Arms for a pint or something.

D&D Online

Been playing this MMOG with old friends that I used to play D&D with, back in The Day, including John in Australia, Rod in Santa Barbara, and Mike & Tracy in San Jose. It's pretty fun, but I've kind of fallen behind the others because I never seem to be able to find the time to login.

Golf

Oddly enough, I'm attempting to pick it up, very late in life. Most people start playing at a much younger age. It's possible that I never was interested in it because of a painful accident when I was about eight years old:

My next door neighbor kid friend, who was a couple years older, was really into golf. He went on to be a "star" on the high school golf team, if there is such a thing. Anyway, one day I was watching him practice his driving, and he accidentally whacked me quite hard on the head, leading to a large goose-egg on my head and quite a bit of consternation on my part, as you might imagine.

Nevertheless, I decided in my dotage to try to play the game of my Scottish ancestors. I was told in no uncertain terms (by Candice, among others...she used to play a bit) that it's not a game you can just "pick up" like volleyball or ping pong. So, I've been taking lessons, and now I understand what they mean. It looks very easy, but isn't, and can be terribly frustrating.

But I've also found it strangely rewarding, and so far all I've done is practiced hitting the ball. So...we'll see how I take to it once I actually start playing.

Edgewood

Our little piece of paradise between the Monterey Bay and the Santa Cruz Mountains, truly at the edge of the woods, ten thousand acres of woods, in fact. We are fortunate to live in a beautiful area, a few minutes from the beach and a short walk to thousand-year-old redwoods. Amazingly, also within commuting distance of Silicon Valley, a world away.

Hellboy II

Went to see this one on opening night, at our local theater. Good fun from Guillermo del Toro, who directed the first Hellboy movie, as well as Pan's Labyrinth. Really good special effects, and good performances from Ron Perlman, et. al. All in all, a fun summer flick.

Independence Day at The Lake

We spent the Fourth of July holiday at our lake house, the "McKinney Relaxin' Shack." It's the big holiday at Pine Mountain Lake, and the place is packed. I got to see the fireworks show for the first time, and it was very nice indeed, watching from our neighbor's shore at the pyrotechnics reflected on the lake.

The festivities this year were tempered by concern for Candice's dad, who has been in the hospital with serious health problems. Now, Candice is planning a trip to BC to visit him and help out her family.

This on top of news that two of my old friends' fathers passed away: Tracy in San Jose and John in Australia. I guess I and my friends are all getting to that age when parents start going....