Howdy gang,

I probably forgot to mention that I am out of town this weekend, but I am, and I am relaxing, which is much needed. Really catching up on my sleep.

Last night Emily and I went out to dinner with her sister and brother-in-law and then to a movie. We noshed at the trendy PF Chang's Chinese Bistro (where they had a 2 1/2 hour wait...fortunately we had reservations.) The food was good, but a little bit pricey for chinese food. The bill with tip came to about $75 for the four of us. Once we actually sat down, the service was good. The food was good, too, but, like I said, a bit pricey.
Then we trundled off to the Regal for a early evening performance of the new film MIRACLE starring Kurt Russell as Coach Herb Brooks in a retelling of the story of the 1980 Olympic Hockey team. Even though you know how this one ends, it was very hard not to get caught up in the emotion of the event. The focus of the story was Brooks and of course the semi final game against the Soviet Union. Kurt Russell does a great job of portraying Brooks as a man driven by his past demons to create a compelling drama. The game against the Soviets took up almost 30 minutes of screen time and was a very realistic presentation of the emotional event. (Strangely the gold medal game against Finland was relegated to a glossed over 4 second voice over clip during a wrap up after the USSR game.) Jim and I enjoyed it very much and perhaps the most ringing endorsement came from Emily and Cath who both liked it. Not bad for a hockey movie. This definitely will have some crossover appeal and should do well. I predict it will be the #1 movie this weekend, and maybe next if words of mouth spreads.

Well, duty calls, I am being recruited to draw a chicken for my neice!


----Doug