A Couple of Movies and a Cover Up

We actually got out and saw a movie last night. We saw Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood. I know that it's been out for a while, but at least we saw it before it was put on DVD! I don't think it's up for any awards, but it should be. It's a powerful movie. I won't give anything away if you haven't seen it and are planning to.

I've been a Clint Eastwood fan for a long time...and I have to say that it was hard for me to see how much he has aged. I think that it was harder to see because of my dad....I've always sort of associated Clint Eastwood with my dad. First because of the spaghetti westerns that he did....tough guy on horseback....and then because of the Every Which Way but Loose movies. My dad got such a kick out of those....me too. And because Clint is only 1 1/2 years older than my dad. I knew that my dad was aging, but it happens so gradually that sometimes you don't really see it. With actors, you can see an older film one day where they are young and vital and then you see a current film and it feels like all those years have passed in a day. OK, I'm rattling on and not making sense...so I'll just say that it was a really good movie and that it was sort of hard to see Clint looking old. I wouldn't mess with him though!

Another movie that I want to mention is Taking Chance with Kevin Bacon. It's on HBO tonight. Here's a part of the synopsis from the HBO website.

In April 2004, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Strobl, USMC, came across the name of 19-year-old Lance Corporal Chance Phelps, a young Marine who had been killed by hostile fire in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Strobl, a Desert Storm veteran with 17 years of military service, requested that he be assigned for military escort duty to accompany Chance's remains to his family in Dubois, Wyo. Witnessing the spontaneous outpouring of support and respect for the fallen Marine - from the groundskeepers he passed along the road to the cargo handlers at the airport - Strobl was moved to capture the experience in his personal journal, writing Taking Chance.

Here's a link to the HBO site if you are interested. http://www.hbo.com/films/takingchance/

It looks like a very moving story. The other reason that I want to see it is that my photographer friend from Montana plays the bagpipes for the funeral service in the movie. We don't get HBO, but I am going to try my best to see it!

Now, for the cover up. It had been getting kind of gray looking around here. The snow that was left was dirty, the grass that was showing was dead. Well, all of it got covered up last night.

Almost 4" of new snow to cover up the grunge.

I am ready for Spring, but the snow sure made things white and pretty again.

It was heaped up on everything.

Even on the berries that still cling to the bushes.

The nice thing about when it snows late in the winter is that you know it won't stick around for very long.

Someone should let this guy know that....

...he's not looking very happy.