Time Flies

I can’t believe how time gets away from me. Seems like just yesterday I was pondering my daughter’s birthday on October 28, and now we’re a week into November. Wha’ happened? Well, here’s a partial list of wha’ happened.

I came back from Kansas City on Sunday, Oct. 30. That evening a small Halloween party ensued at my apartment. See the photo above for a shot of the gang. Unfortunately, most of the attendees did not come in costume. What’s up with people not dressing in costume for a Halloween party? Such slacker friends. Nevertheless, a good time was had by all.

I traveled with Taryn to visit a friend in Salem, Va. We met Sue at a place called Carini Pizza, which was mostly a dive but had really good pizza. The restaurant had a lot of character, though. Or perhaps that should be had a lot of characters, including the employees of this fine dining establishment. I don’t want to give away all the secrets of the Carini crew, so let me just say that if you ever get a chance to enjoy the dining atmosphere of Carini, it will be an experience that you won’t soon forget.

Part of the conversation between me, Sue and Taryn included Roanoke’s infamous Chicken Man, the incredible Charles Cullen. And I just learned that a documentary Cullen will be shown at Roanoke’s Grandin Theatre this Thursday, Nov. 10. And to think, I will be at the opera instead! Curses!!

After a busy week recovering from a trip out of town, my daughter was in town over the weekend. We went to see the new Disney computer-animated film Chicken Little. About the experience: Let me just say that, generally speaking, I’m not fond of kids. Sitting behind me were two women and two little boys. One of the little boys, who was probably six years old, was perhaps the antichrist. The kid would laugh with a fake laugh. He would squeak his chair. He would chat with the other kid. He was basically a royal pain and I wanted to throw him over a cliff. So here’s a note to parents: Keep your kids quiet at the movie theater!!! If the kid can’t sit relatively still and be quiet, wait for the freakin’ DVD to come out! Geez! OK, so there was the theater full of kids (this WAS the first Saturday afternoon for the movie), which was a major irritation, but now for the movie.

Zach Braff did a nice job as the voice of Chicken Little and some other voice performances were memorable, such as Joan Cusack, Amy Sedaris, and, in a brief role, Adam West. The musical score was also pretty good as it featured such tunes as REM’s “The End of The World As We Know It,” Barenaked Ladies’ “One Little Slip,” and a hilarious rendition of “We Are the Champions” by Zach Braff. The story was a bit weak, the animation only adequate, and the humor sparse. Basically, this film was no Pixar production, as Pixar still rules as THE big dog of computer-animation movies. Hey Disney, you're a huge megacorporation, I would think you could come up with better movies!

On Sunday, we tried out bowling at Radford University’s new student center, known as “The Bonnie.” The bowling lanes at The Bonnie offered pop-up bumpers for kids, so my daughter, Anna, got the pleasure of bowling gutter-free on her turns. Unfortunately, I did not. Nevertheless, I still finished with scores of 110 and 141, which may have been my highest bowling score ever. In the second game Anna bowled a 93, including three consecutive spares. Our third bowling participant, Taryn, was defeated by me in heart-wrenching fashion both games. She’s still licking her wounds from losing to a guy who basically sucks at bowling. Taryn has her own ball!!

Until next time, I hope you have a ball!!