On the Fifth Day of Christmas

I received a welcome call from our family tax preparer.  He graciously answered all our questions concerning some last minute year-end tax savings we could take advantage of.  Terry and I discussed and weighed the pros and cons but ultimately decided to take advantage of the tax deduction to offset a one-time heavy tax load we will have to deal with for 2011.

The second even better phone call came in mid-afternoon from my hubby.  He had just received good news from his doctor at his follow-up appointment.  The biopsy results confirmed the growth in his hand was completely benign.  No cancer!  And no need for any drastic treatments to combat any further cancerous growths.   He will need to go through some extensive occupational therapy, since the orthopedic surgeon does NOT want him moving his fingers, hand or wrists at all for several weeks.

Thanks to God and everyone who offered prayers on behalf of Terry.  And thanks to Rachelle for driving him to his appointment today.

God is Good!  All the Time!

Movie Review: Cowboys & Aliens (BluRay)

Cowboys & Aliens (BluRay)

4 out of 5 stars

My father lent me his BluRay of Cowboys & Aliens when he came for dinner Tuesday evening.  We would not have been able to view it via Netflix for another week or two otherwise.  After a dinner of leftovers (more ham and home-made bread), we sat down to watch the BluRay.  As usual, the combination of dinner and a movie put Terry into a food coma within thirty minutes, but Rachelle and I made it through to the credits without dozing off.

Daniel Craig did well, if stoically, as an archetypical Western character. Olivia Wilde’s performance didn’t wow me, but that’s usual for her.   I still think her best performance to be Quorra in Tron: Legacy.  I enjoyed Harrison Ford in a different type of role than what I’ve seen him do before. I also enjoyed Rockwell and Beach’s performances.

But by far my favorite, albeit not a long lived character, was rendered by Clancy Brown, who normally suffers under the stigma of villainous typecasting, this time around he stretched his wings as a gun toting man of the cloth who delivered some of the most memorable dialogue.

Overall, the movie was much better than I thought it would be and I’m sorry I skipped seeing it at the movie theater this past summer, especially after seeing the incredible cinematography (courtesy of the great state of New Mexico).  While four out of five stars might be stretching it a bit (considering the believability of the story and circumstances), I can’t say I didn’t completely enjoy my evening mash-up of two of my favorite movie genres:  westerns and scifi flicks.  The Old West has never been wilder!