hi. remember me?

“Remember me? I’m the fellow you slept on last night.”
Y’all know where that quote is from, right? I’m a little punchy right now, I just saw Prime and Tristram Shandy back-to-back and it’s late and we’re going on vacation in a couple of days and I’m not packed or anything.
Last night I saw The Corpse Bride … not to review, just for fun while it was still in theaters. The voice of Joanna Lumley was in it, and also the theme music from Gone with the Wind. What’s weird is that this is the second movie I’ve seen containing both those elements (Lumley and Steiner). Anyone know the other one? No fair searching on Google or IMDb.

I’ve been covering Austin Film Festival for Cinematical. You can read those entries here (I’m not done writing about it yet). Before that, I covered Fantastic Fest for Cinematical. You can read those entries here. Before that, I volunteered for aGLIFF and intended to write about that here, but was too busy with the other film fest writing.
I am glad that Austin doesn’t have any more film festivals for awhile, much as I enjoy going to the movies and writing about the festival stuff, because I need a little break.
If you want to read something bizarre, check out the comments on this review I wrote for Cinematical. My boyfriend and I were complaining about this short after we saw the Wallace and Gromit movie (which is delightful) and I spontaneously decided to write a quick review. I had no idea that a fan site for the animation studio that produced that short (initials are DW… I’m in no mood to be Googled on it) has a big fan site, which linked to my review, and then all the fans showed up to fuss at me.
On a related note, I have decided that I despise the term “politically correct,” which I think is used 95 percent of the time as an excuse for someone to make bigoted comments. As in, “It may not be politically correct, but I think women ought to stay at home with their kids.” Or “Screw that politically correct crap, I’m calling it Christmas in the Oaks.” Or it is a code word for someone who spoils everyone’s fun by pointing out racist, sexist, or otherwise offensive stereotypical/prejudicial situations. People use “politically correct” to justify some awfully ugly remarks. (The exception — there is always one exception — is here; if Rob wants to call his child “broken” he should.)
Anyway, it turns out my own sister didn’t like that dumb penguin short either, which she thought was just an extended ad for the DVD of Madagascar, so I’m not being elitist and humorless and all that. Or at least not alone.
Speaking of my sister, she is doing fine except she would like her cable TV turned back on. She doesn’t have any TV reception without it and she would like to catch the local news without a screen full of noise and static. I think the lack of cable is driving her crazier than the holes in her roof.
The rest of my family is doing fine. My parents just spent a week in Florida. My married brother is back in his house; he’s in charge of organizing classes at a temporary location for the high school where he works. The high school sustained severe water damage and may not be able to open this school year.
My little brother came to visit a couple of weeks ago and had a pretty good time, although I fretted that we might be a little dull for him. Also, I had to keep running away to review Fantastic Fest. Turns out he liked a laid-back weekend where we didn’t do much besides eat and hang out and watch a few movies. He looked at UT as a possible grad school, but apparently the theater department isn’t admitting new students until the fall of 2007.
My grandparents are the only family that are still away from home. Their home is pretty much gone. My mom goes over to their old house regularly to try to salvage china and other things: she managed to rescue all my grandmother’s jewelry and a couple of lamps, and some laminated pictures. But the house is not salvageable. My parents found my grandparents a new place to live, though — a house in walking distance from my parents’ house. This could be a great help or possibly inspiration for a sitcom.
My grandparents want to go back to the New Orleans area immediately and even asked my mom to find them a hotel room. They don’t even want to wait until they can move into their new house. The other relatives all want them to stay in Alabama until the house is ready. I can see where they’re tired of living in someone else’s apartment, though.
It looks like my boyfriend and I are going to visit the New Orleans area in mid-November. I feel like I need to see it, and I don’t want Christmas to be the first time I see everything. Also, I want to visit the relatives. I heard that The Prytania has reopened and I’m hoping we can make a pilgrimage there.
I think that catches everyone up on everything … wait, one more bit of good news. Read Ray’s entry. Seriously, stop and click to read it. That book he’s talking about? Looks like I’m having an essay published in it as well, about movie theaters in New Orleans. I’ll let you know more details as soon as I get them. Of course I will urge all of you to run out and buy the book.
Oh, and the boyfriend and I are engaged.
All caught up now, except for movie reviews.