Sunday, March 11, 2007

Weekend Report- Fort Lauderdale edition


Friday- Spent the day lounging by the pool at my grandparents’ condo complex, where my tattoo (shamrock, lower back, I know…. how cliché) was the talk of the octogenarians. Had the early bird special for dinner at the local diner, then my grandmother and I went to Ladies’ Bingo Night. I won $2. And yes, I’m expecting my AARP membership in the mail any day now.

Saturday- Went to the beach with my grandparents, where I got the worst sunburn EVER. No, I’m not one of those idiots who doesn’t use sunscreen. I fall into an entirely separate category of idiot. The Extremely Pale tend to have a system for sunscreen application. I always put mine on in private, before I leave the house. That way, I can take my time, be thorough, and avoid any abrasive sand grains getting involved. Besides, no one needs to see all that pale jiggling. I go section by section: face, arms, legs, shoulders, chest, stomach, lower back, and save the upper back, the most burn-prone region of the body, for last. Saturday, the process went awry when I got distracted and completely forgot to put any sunscreen whatsoever on the sesnitive upper back quandrant. Add two and a half hours of midday sun, and boom…..I’m not even red, I’m fluorescent.

While at the beach, my grandparents and I met all sorts of people. I don’t know if it’s because people down south are friendlier, or if they are just lonelier, but everybody talks to you. First, a homesick mom of two young boys who moved from Massachusetts to Florida for her husband’s job. Next, a girl from Poland who teaches ESL in Cleveland. The Polish girl and I made plans to meet up that night, because apparently meeting a cute guy at the beach who wants to hang out is apparently outside my realm of. I spent the rest of the day back at the condo complex with the old timers. After dinner, I pick up the Polish girl in my grandmother's enormous light blue sedan, and she promptly informs me that she doesn’t drink but loves to go clubbing. "Wow, you’re like my exact opposite," I tell her. We go out for coffee then chec out a local club, which turns out to be packed with college kids celebrating SPRING BREAK 2007! GIVE IT UP EVERYBODY! WOOOOO! For some reason (lack of flannel?), I seem to be much more attractive to college boys now than I was when I attended college. Polish girl (who, it turns out is the same age as me) and I stay for a little while, laugh and have a good time, then escape the madness and I head back to the retiree bunker.

Sunday- Time for this little snowbird to fly back North. A Perfect Storm of travelers converge at the Ft. Lauderdale airport, with the spring breakers headed back to school and the Sunday to Sunday cruisers flying home. After the long lines and a packed flight, I made it home and rented Superman Returns. I won’t bother writing a full review, because most people who would see it probably already have. I liked it, though. Brandon Routh makes a good Superman and a better Clark Kent, and Kate Bosworth isn’t half bad as Lois Lane, although I hope she doesn’t digest her own heart before they finish filming the next one. (Sorry, was that in poor taste?) Not a perfect movie, but a decent one, and fun to watch, although I miss the original cheesy Fortress of Solitude.

7 comments:

Rob said...

I saw Superman Returns in the Jordan's IMAX theater, and then on DVD. It was 100x better on DVD, without the distractions of 3d glasses and having to turn your head back and forth during character conversations because the screen is SO BIG. It was like watching tennis.

Loved the movie though. I heard Brandon Routh got the part when he clumsily spilled a cup of coffee all over the director during their first meeting, which in turn convinced him that Brandon could pull off "Clark Kent-dorky".

eileen said...

Rob...I was wondering if I had missed out by not seeing at the theater, but I guess not. Although I'm sure it was better on your TV than my tiny crap one.

I'm excited for the next installment.

Rob said...

In a normal theater (Framingham 15 and what have you), I'd bet it was awesome.

I dunno ... for regular movies, I think the IMAX is just too much. Even if you sit in the back row, your nose is practically touching the screen! The IMAX does rule for 3D movies, and for long walks through the sectionals and dining room sets at Jordan's. :)

Moment in Superman I was not expecting: Luthor breaking off a shiv of kryptonite into Superman's side? EDGY!

eileen said...

I love that no one suspects Clark Kent (except for Lois' kid).

Also, did you notice the weird parallels to Christianity? A father sent his only son to Earth to save humanity? The son is the father is the son, etc...? Suprised that none of the reviews I read mentioned this aspect. Praised be Superman!

J.R. said...

eileeno, you kill me. its always pretty funny to hear the mildly shocked stories of you massachusetts lifers when you venture to other parts of the country/world and are astounded/weirded-out by the "friendliness" of everyone. Personally, i got a kick out of you wondering if maybe they're all just lonely.
On an unrelated side-note... how exactly is it that Boston got the rep of being a bit, shall we say, standoffish...

Rob said...

Another weird parallel between Superman and Christianity: I'd bet that if you shot either Superman OR Jesus in the eye, they'd still be standing there all bad-ass, like "OH NO YOU DIH-IN!"

But yes, there were some definite (actual) god-like moments in the movie. Resurrection at the end?

Anonymous said...

Okay, for one, I LOVE Rob's "on no you dih-in" comment. I could totally picture the saviour of all humanity being ghetto.
Two. Did you notice that all the "friendly" people you mentioned were not from down south. One from Mass and other other one from Poland.
Three. I think if JR met Hitler, he would think Hitler was a cool dude. Newflash, JR, not everyone--scratch that--no one is the "lets go hang out with Jeffrey Dahmer" kinda' person--except JR of course.