To Kill A Mockingbird - Book & Movie

Mileage: 1,546

For our monthly book club meeting, we have selected To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It is the 50th Anniversary of the publishing of the novel, so to celebrate, we are reading the book again. We have scheduled to at meet at my home to watch the movie on DVD. We are going to discuss the themes in the book and discuss the differences between the book and the movie.

Skyfall - James Bond 50 Years of Movies

Mileage: 1,521

This Saturday after doing some Christmas shopping, I thought I would go see the new James Bond movie Skyfall. It had a few things going for it, one, Adele sings the opening song, love Adele! Two, it was getting good reviews and three, it was featured on 60 Minutes last weekend. One way to make a good James Bond movie is to have a good villain and this time they did in the form of Javiar Bardem with a bad hair piece making him even more creepy than most Bond villains. This movie did  sort of a "re-set" you will figure out what I mean once you see the movie.

I guess at the 50 year mark,  007 might need to be "re-set" to garner a new wave of fans, especially the younger crowd. This Bond movie had more humor in it and that appealed to me greatly. Sure, I like a good over the top action scene, but to deliver a pithy one-liner at just the right time, makes it even more enjoyable. Though I had my doubts about having a "blond" Bond, I am warming up to Daniel Craig, and heck I would love to cuddle with him too, I enjoyed this one completely and look forward to more Bond movies in the future. At 50, Bond (and the series) are still very entertaining and dashing as ever.

Lincoln - New Movie by Steven Spielberg

Mileage: 1,323

On a rainy Saturday afternoon, I went to see the movie Lincoln, the main focus of the movie was President Lincoln's attempt to pass the 13th Amendment (ending slavery) and presumably to help end the civil war. The movie was well done, well acted, and for the most part very accurate. Daniel Day Lewis excellent job as Lincoln, he made him more human and less god-like. Enjoyed it thoroughly.

Trip to Lancaster, CA

Mileage: 1,197

The Focus now has over 1,100 miles on it.  I drove it to Lancaster in the Mojave desert to visit my brother, Robert and his wife Alexis. I had transferred some home movies for him and wanted to make sure and return the movies and give him the DVD I had made for his family.

Had a great time visiting with Robert we went out to lunch at fun restaurant with tasty food.

More info on the transferred movies:

Book Club Meeting - Shell Beach, CA

Mileage: 538

Book Club Meeting for November 2012

We had a wonderful lunch and conversation at our monthly Book Club meeting at Basque Restaurant. The book we read was Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Attending were Left to Right, me, Rachel, Susan, Rachel's friend, and Rita.

The restaurant we select was a Alphy;s Basque Chateau, Shell Beach, CA. The cuisine comes from the Basque region, which occupies an area in and around the Pyrenees mountains on the border separating France and Spain. In keeping with Basque restaurant traditions, all entrees are served family style with fresh bread, Basque soup, salad, beans and Spanish salsa. Entrees include lamb, steak, chicken, pork and seafood dishes.

Halloween Time

Mileage: 487

I had a great time dressing up as a Flapper on Halloween at work. My co-worker, Mariel dressed up as a flapper, too. Had a Blast!

New Car - New "Focus" - New Adventures

Mileage: 225

Starting a new "Focus" of my blog. All puns intended. On October 20, 2012 I purchased a 2013 Ford FOCUS Hatchback. I love the car.

I purchased it from Perry Ford in San Luis Obispo, CA. Moses Medina was my salesman. I will be writing about my road trips with the car. When I bought the car it had 225 miles on it. I will indicate the odometer reading as I post blogs on this site.