This plot seems familiar

Oh Star Trek and Star Wars, how you both toy with my affections.

Watch My Favorite Movie (Star Trek vs. Star Wars) on CollegeHumor

St Elizabeth Seton

Over the weekend, I went with my parents and grandmother out to see the shrine of St Elizabeth Seton, the first American born saint. The basillica was quite pretty. I'm not sure when it was built, because it doesn't appear to be 1960s/70s architecture, but she was only beatified in 1964 and canonized in 1972, I believe. I could be slightly off on the dates. But she was sanctified around the 1880s, so they may have started building then. We didn't actually go into the shrine, because the Mt St Mary's College choir and orchestra were having a concert in the basillica, which we went to instead. But it was a lovely afternoon drive out to picturesque Emmitsburg.




The picture is a little small, and crooked, but you can get the idea.

Orioles' Magic

I went to the baseball game on Saturday with S and my cousin (pre-season game between the O's and the Nats). The O's lost, as is their way, with the tying run on third and the go ahead run on first, but it was exciting to get back to the ballpark (even if it was the lame DC park, and not Camden Yards). That means summer is coming. Yay!

Kings

Recently, I started watching Kings. It's the biblical story of David updated to trashy soap opera. Which makes it awesome, by the way. The review in the Forward, however, did point out that while they remain relatively true to the source material (at least as far a story line is concerned), it can be a bit on the trite side. And, of course, since it's on broadcast, their ability to have sex and violence is limited. Which David did have both of, though on the show David is still the upstart under Saul (or Silas as he's called on the show), so no BatSheva and Uriah the Hittite. But still, it's certainly more engaging than a Cecil B DeMille biblical epic.

To brighten your day

Newborn leopard cubs. Need I say more...

Who knew saving endangered species could be so sweet.

A sad day

The Senator Theatre, one of only four movie theaters in Baltimore City and one of the great old fashioned movie houses, is closing. I have many fond childhood memories (as well as more recent memories) that involve going to see movies at the Senator - seeing 1939 movies there for the 50th anniversary of the theater, going to see all three Star Wars rereleases (including the wait on line each time to buy the tickets), and of course seeing all the Harry Potter movies there. People have said that they want to take it over, but it's unclear if that will happen. If and until that happens, though, the theater will be closed, and it is a loss to the world of cinema.

Adult education class

I'm taking an adult education class this winter/spring. We're reading War and Peace, which is actually quite interesting, though I would not recommend reading it alone. It's definitely the kind of thing that you need to discuss with people as you are going along. I am far and away the youngest person in the class (every one else is at least considering retirement if they aren't retired already). But, that being said, it's a nice way to read a book that you might not otherwise want to just sit down and read. If you have a free night a week, I recommend finding the continuing education classes at a local college. They have the good parts of college classes (the discussion), without having to worry about ever having a test or paper coming up.