We have been here, the Northwest I mean, for 12 days. I really didn’t realize how much I love it.
When a person grows up in a place and spends their whole life in that place, I think they don’t really realize how much they love it. If they do love it that is. I’ve traveled a lot and I’ve always said no matter where I’ve been, and I’ve been a few places, the Northwest is/was the most pretty. I said that, and meant it. It’s just that I don’t think I realized the depth of the statement, of my feeling for it, until I moved away. I realize it now.
We have walked the streets of the city we love the most, spent time in the woods, helped to scatter my grandparents ashes, walked on the beach, spent time with family and friends, and slept in my childhood room so far during this visit. All of that in less than two weeks. I guess we’ve packed it in. Everything we’ve done, everyone we’ve spent time with, everywhere we’ve been has reminded me, further instilled in me, how much I love this place. How much it is in me, a part of me. How much I am, we are, of this place. It’s in our cells. I feel that. And it makes me know that I will never take this place for granted again. It makes me appreciate, even more, what the Northwest means to me.
There could be others, and I’m sure if I sat here long enough I would think of other films I should’ve and would’ve included. I think when I make one of these lists that it’s all about the day I’m making it. Tomorrow the list would include some of these same films, but there would probably be differences. That’s the way it goes. That’s life. For now, today, these are some of my choices for the top films that always make me cry. Honorable mention would go to films like Piano, On Golden Pond, Old Yeller, Fried Green Tomatoes, and countless other films you might be thinking of right now.
Philadelphia
The humanity in this scene is sort of overwhelming. You have to ignore the crappy dubbing and the Greek subtitles, but it’s powerful none the less.
Beaches
Friends know each other for years, have their differences, lead disparate lives, stay bonded through everything, and love each other to the end.
Steel Magnolias
Nothing more heart wrenching than mother losing daughter. I distinctly remember seeing this and crying and laughing out loud and crying again.
Mystic River
Again… parent losing child. This is powerful.
Playing By Heart
This whole movie takes the watcher on a roller coaster of emotion. I cried a few times. This scene is just sort of indicative of what the movie is about. Not really a scene that made me cry. It’s got an amazing cast and is a great film, if you like emotional movies about love and relationships that is. If not, skip it.
Schindler’s List
This is one of, for me anyway, the most powerful scenes in film, ever. Schindler is leaving and he breaks down wishing he could’ve saved more, done more. It makes me cry just thinking about this scene. Spielberg is a master.
Ghost
Sort of a common choice, but good none the less. A classic tear jerker. The moment when they see each other and he gets peace.
Powder
Fighting and then giving over of yourself… if you haven’t seen this movie it is a powerful film about humanity. Just strange and amazing.
The Hours
I could’ve picked more than just two scenes from this movie. It’s another character study kind of film about choices and consequences and living with both.
E.T.
I had to include this… E.T. goes home.
Boys on the Side
Love… loss…
Immortal Beloved
I don’t know why this gets me so much, but it does. Partly it’s the music, partly watching him remember and knowing, finally, as an audience member, what the music was born out of.
Saving Private Ryan
This is the worst battle scene I’ve ever seen in film, for me. I started crying almost immediately and by the end I was a mess.
Just a bit of a branch that had washed up at some point. And yes… if you’ve read the previous post and wondered, Weston did leave his mark on this one as well. There should be a sign… Weston was here.
I know this isn’t exactly probably very politically correct, but I had to post a shot of how Weston spends much of his time while on walks. He’s a boy dog… boy dogs like to mark. There’s not a log, or tree, or rock he passes without having to leave his mark… so to speak. Even when he has no mark to leave he tries to leave it. It’s kind of funny. He thinks he’s a stud… and, well… he is.
Not sure what the purpose of these sticks was/were. Interesting though. One never knows what one might see when one walks on the beach. (LOL That sentence just cracked me up. When did I get so proper?)
Uh, from the last entry… that would be last Friday afternoon, the 10th. Our anniversary is actually the 9th, but we really couldn’t take it off work as well. Have to save up that time off for trips to England and Chicago and visits with the kids. It’s OK though… we did go out to dinner last Thursday night to celebrate. Had some terrific Vietnamese food at Silk. Nice.
This baby was ready for roasting…. and we did. The best comment of the evening… Mary, who hasn’t been able to roast a marshmallow in a year (she lives in England where the marshmallows are apparently sub par), saying to her first nicely roasted specimen, “come to me my beauty”. It was a good moment.
Monday, during our drive up and around parts of Vancouver Island North of Victoria, we stopped briefly at a beach who’s name I can’t remember. It was pretty cool actually. Hardly anyone on it. Loads of stakes out attached to what we imaged to be some sort of lobster pots, or shrimp pots, or crab pots… who knows for sure. We never saw the pots, only the stakes and the line. There was also some awesome driftwood lying around and a great selection of rocks on the beach. We took pictures of the driftwood and brought some of the rocks home.
Sunday late afternoon and early evening we took a drive to the western side of Vancouver Island, not too far out of Victoria, to check out a beach. We landed at French Beach. This was Martin, enjoying the quiet and taking in the scene.
We had such a good time over at the coast this weekend. Walking on the beach, watching loads of movies (five actually… they were: The Savages, The Guardian, Juno, We Own The Night, and one of my all time favorites, Peter’s Friends), eating good take out Chinese food for dinner and then lunch the next day, chai teas, and walking on the beach… again, and again. It was a very relaxing weekend. Just what we needed.
Weston loved his time away. He’s a happy little camper when he can have both of us with him all the time. He slept, played, ran in the sand, dug in the sand, chased his ball on the sand, and looked out the window of the hotel room at all the birds sailing by.
Finally… we each called our mom’s to wish them happy mother’s day, but I’ll say again here… happy mother’s day mom’s!
These were pushed over the bank and lying next to the river. There were actually a few of them. Not sure why, or even how they got there, but they make for interesting discarded urban art, if you choose to look at it that way. I’m sure there are loads of stories behind these. It’d be nice to hear one or two.
Today’s theme for the hunt is wooden. I was looking through some of my photos and came across this one taken in October 2007 of the bay front in Newport, Oregon. Great wooden benches, railings, and boardwalk there, not to mention the big wooden boat in the background and the huge mural painted on the side of the wooden fish processing plant (or whatever you call it).
If you want to join in the hunt, go to tnchick to get all the info, and start snapping those shots!
Stop this day and night with me, and you shall possess the origin of all poems; You shall possess the good of the earth and sun—(there are millions of suns left;) You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books; You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me: You shall listen to all sides, and filter them from yourself. ~Walt Whitman
Words From Neil
May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself. ~ Neil Gaiman
Visually spectacular and suitably action packed, Star Trek Into Darkness is a rock-solid installment in the venerable sci-fi franchise, even if it's not as fresh as its predecessor.
With the help of its charismatic lead, some impressive action sequences, and even a few surprises, Iron Man 3 is a witty, entertaining adventure and a strong addition to the Marvel canon.
While certainly ambitious -- and every bit as visually dazzling as one might expect -- Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby emphasizes visual splendor at the expense of its source material's vibrant heart.
It may be his most thought-provoking film to date, but Michael Bay's Pain & Gain ultimately loses its satirical edge in a stylized flurry of violent spectacle.
While it may not be as (ahem) evolved as the best modern animated fare, The Croods will prove solidly entertaining for families seeking a fast-paced, funny cartoon adventure.
Music Playing on my Ipod
Frightened Rabbit, Goldfrapp, Crash Kings, Bruno Mars, Badly Drawn Boy, The Airborne Toxic Event, Bright Eyes, The Avett Brothers, James, Rob Thomas, The Devlins, Bell X1, Pink, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Van Morrison, Cher (the older stuff), The Swell Season, Ben Harper, Matt Nathanson, Ryan Adams, Sara Bareillis, Pink Martini, Ella Fitzgerald, Dixie Chicks, Billie Holiday, Blue October, Patty Griffin, Jon McLaughlin, Alexi Murdoch, Landon Pigg, Marc Broussard, Brett Dennen, Brandi Carlile, Sonia Dada, James Morrison, Antigone Rising, Gomez, Scissor Sisters, Melissa Etheridge, Paolo Nutini, Indigo Girls, Ray LaMontagne, Amos Lee, Uh Huh Her, Missy Higgins, Anouk, Duffy, The Frames, Arcade Fire, The Beatles, David Gray
We have been here, the Northwest I mean, for 12 days. I really didn’t realize how much I love it.
