July 2020

New music that I heard

Due to spraining my ankle, I didn't drive to work for a few weeks, so I didn't keep listening to library CDs. 

I love jazz piano, and Diana Krall here is both an amazing pianist and vocalist in this 1996 video. 

 

For a more modern song, I really enjoyed The Sound of Silence, arranged and performed by Pentatonix.

Best Photo

Only July 31st, we went to the city pool.

New movie recap

I watched five movies for the first time this month.

My wife and I finally continued the watching the Academy Award winners, after watching the AFI Top 100 list.  So while we were watching AFI, we missed five Academy Award winners.

So we finally watched the winner from 2016, Spotlight.  We both enjoyed it.  It was suspenseful, and the acting was amazing.  I gave this 10 stars on iMDb.

We also watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988).  Since I had seen this as a child,I was seeing it with new eyes, so I counted this as seeing a movie for the first time.  It was really entertaining, although the final scene in the warehouse is too long and annoying.  I didn't think Christopher Lloyd was the right actor for the part of Judge Doom.  7 stars

I watched Smokey and the Bandit (1977).  A coworker of mine a while ago adored two movies- Saturday Night Fever and Smokey and the Bandit.  I watched Saturday Night Fever and hated it.  Now I finally watched Smokey and the Bandit, and did not like it either.  4 stars

March of the Penguins (2005).  I hadn't seen this documentary before.  It was amazing that the penguins give so much of their year to take care of their young.  And often the young don't survive.  Just the fact that these men got footage of this in Antarctica is a great accomplishment.   I gave this 10 stars on iMDb.

Madagascar (2005).   We've gotten into a pattern of each family member having a turn to pick a movie for family movie night.  This was the older daughter's pick.  They actually saw Madagascar 2 first, and wanted to see the first one.  I thought it was really disappointing.  It was one of the earlier computer animated movies, so the animation is not that great.  The characters are really annoying, and not very funny.  4 stars.

Chooser	Movie	Date
Wife	The Princess Bride	5/11/20
Me	Star Wars Episode IV	5/31/20
Younger daughter	The Wizard Of Oz	6/29/20
Older daughter	Madagascar	7/26/20

TV/Streaming Show/YouTube recap

I really enjoyed this video/piece from the Piano Guys.  It's kind of an older video from 2012.

Book recap
I read 8 books in July, to match the number from June.  This was done again by reading children's books.  In our family this is also the summer of reading Roald Dahl.

Matilda, by Roald Dahl, 1988.  I thought it got off to a great start, and had a great ending.  The middle was disturbing and surprising. 3 stars. 

I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 (I Survived, #2), by Lauren Tarshis, 2010.  2 stars.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O'Brien, 1971.  Read this right after I sprained my ankle, and wasn't moving around much.  This is one of the best books I've ever read, and I hadn't heard of it before my wife told me about it. Go read it. 5 stars

I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 (I Survived, #8), by Lauren Tarshis, 2013. 3 stars.

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg, 1967.  I thought this was really clever, and a good page turner.  4 stars.

Old Yeller, by Fred Gipson, 1956.  I read this in one day, since on the way to visit Grandma, we stopped by the library.  I wasn't driving yet due to the ankle, so I was able to read a lot. Then I had to work at 1 am, so I stayed up and finished the book.  This was an interesting look at frontier life, and how they lived, and how a dog could be helpful for life on the frontier.   4 stars.

Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald Dahl.   3 stars

George's Marvellous Medicine, by Roald Dahl.  2 stars.

I am reading PowerShell in Action, which is a 904 page technical book, so that will keep me busy for a while.  I'm over 100 pages through it.

My Music Playing

Played in an outdoor service using the Korg Module app.

I bought a MOTU audio interface, and gave me old one to someone else, so that they could record.  The specs on this one were a little better, and it has some features that I like such as the power button and headphone jack in the front.   It also has bars indicating the levels.

Good/bad moment

On July 4, the Kurtz family was kind enough to invite over our entire extended Gras family to their place.  An impromptu soccer game started, and I was actually doing well, and enjoying myself.  Even though it was very hot, I had a lot of energy to run both sides of the field.   I heard comments afterward from several onlookers about how well I was playing soccer.  That was the good.

Toward the end though, I tripped over the ball or myself and badly twisted my ankle.  There was a popping sound heard by both goalies.  I wasn't sure if I broke something, but it sure sounded like it.  So I sat in a chair with some ice until it was time to leave, and people had to help me to the car.  Thankfully, my cousin is a doctor, so she gave me some ice, and a pointer about seeing a podiatrist the following week.   The podiatrist gave me a walking boot to wear for four weeks.   I had to hobble around in pain for a couple of weeks.  At the end of the month now, it feels better to walk, but there are still some sensitive spots, and it seems weeks or months away from being able to handle running or moderate exercise. 

Good moments

Since I was in a walking boot, I could not mow the lawn.   My wife had a bad experience mowing the lawn last year, due to being eaten up by chiggers.  The lawn was growing very slowly due to the heat, but it was becoming clear that I wouldn't be able to mow before it got too long.  One day, I was walking a short distance in the neighborhood with the kids, and we passed by a teenager mowing his lawn.  So I asked him if he'd be willing to mow our lawn, and get paid.   Surprisingly, he said he would mow it for free.  When he arrived at our house with his mower, he asked me if I was the one who called them about their dog a couple of weeks before.  And yes, I was!  One day, my younger daughter saw a dog in our backyard.  I called the number on the tag, and the family came and retrieved the dog, and they later sent us a thank you note in the mail.   It turns out the teen is from the same family that I asked to mow the lawn.  So he said when he mowed the lawn it was another thank you for calling about their dog, but he didn't know that connection when he agreed to mow the lawn.  And mowing the lawn is a much tougher activity than calling a phone number!

Negative moments

I was in a rush to buy some semi-professional earbuds for around $90, so that I could wear them for an outdoor worship service, that was going to be in a few days.  In a perfect storm of bad luck, I bought them from a store that did not accept returns on headphones or earphones.  Then after I got home, I realized that I had bought the wireless version, rather than wired.  Luckily, this brand of earphones had interchangeable cables, so I had to buy an extra wire online.  Then come to find out, at the outdoor service, I didn't have the option of "plugging in", with the equipment that was there, so I didn't need earphones at all.  Everyone needs to make a dumb purchase every once in a while, and it seems to always happen when one is in a hurry. The good news is, I should be able to use these for church services someday.

Parenting moments

I'm proud of my kids.  They are very creative, and have fun personalities.  They don't seem too bothered by the pandemic, and they may be disappointed by the news that school is postponed for three weeks, but then they don't dwell on it.

Work moments

I was ready to return to the office after my ankle got better, then we found out that a coworker on our floor tested positive for COVID-19, and we had been ordered to work from home for two more weeks.  So I wasn't exposed, since I hadn't been to the office.