Susskins Central Dispatch

I throw you the Geritol.

Fred picked me up from work, and we went straight to the theater for today’s last matinee showing of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Verdict: Fun. Hokey, silly fun. Anyone who goes to an Indy Jones movie expecting rich compelling plots and believable action might as well just stay home and rent Merchant & Ivory movies. ‘Cause with Indy, shit is going to crash and explode and burn and brawl and fall.

He’s old. He’s mellowed. And he’s still a helluva lot of fun, even twenty years after the last adventure.

Shia LeBouf is fine in it. Does a good job. So does Karen Allen, Ray Winstone, Jim Broadbent, and especially Cate Blanchett.

We ate popcorn. We rolled our eyes. We laughed. And we squirmed.

I love Summer movies.

I’ve never seen the movie.

I’m participating in a little exercise in sharing and kindness, started by some folks on Ravelry. Would you like to join in? Do you have a blog?

Here’s how it works: I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

I will now Pay It Forward to you THREE, I wonder who you will be?! Please, be a PIF! You will enjoy it just as much as we do!

And, remember…you have 6 months to get your gifts done! Come on, you know you would love to be one of my angels. Then, one day, when you least expect it, you will get a gift that I have made especially for YOU!

Please remember, you don’t have to knit or crochet to participate, anyone who can make a nice handmade gift is welcome to join.

So if you’d like to participate, let me know in the comments.

A voice like brown silk.

Fred found me another Joan Osborne album, one that I inexplicably had purchased two songs from without getting the rest of the album.

OH MY GOD.

The album is called How Sweet It Is. And it is. It’s all covers, classic stuff like Only You Know and I Know, I’ll Be Around, Everybody is a Star, and The Weight.

Joan Osborne is easily the most underrated singer out there. Her voice is extraordinary, and all anyone knows about her is that damned One of Us song, which is totally out of character with the rest of her work.

Do yourself a favor, and look for her cds. Joan’s voice deserves to be heard. And if you don’t believe me, check this out. This is from Standing in the Shadows of Motown, a documentary film about The Funk Brothers, the session band for pretty much every hit from Motown. She fits right in.

Get thee to a theater, Sirrah.

Fred and I saw Iron Man this afternoon. Awesome fun. Tony Stark, millionaire genius, arms dealer, playboy. Builds an armored exoskeleton and flies around. Lots of snarky dialogue, and explosions.

Recommended. One of the best superhero movies you’ll ever see.

Keeping you updated with my ephemeral life.

Item: The sump is doing a good job. We’re not finished with it, but it’s functional and doing its job. This weekend will probably be a good test if we get the rain we’re supposed to have.

Item: That had better be it for the goddamn snow.

Item: Knit night last night. I’m part of a group that meets monthly to sit and knit. Or, as some say, stitch and bitch. We had about 12 people show up. I was of course the only male. We had a great time. There were cupcakes, which raises the awesome level by two points.

Item: Iron Man this weekend. Boo yah!

Item: Just over a month ’till my nephew Nick graduates from High School. That’s three down and one to go for my sister.