11 November 1998: The Adventures of Robin Hood

Wednesday, 11 November 1998:

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Boy, was it ever windy yesterday.

I woke up and it was raining fairly hard. It was still raining hard by the time I left to go to work. On the way I stopped at the Post Office, by which point it had basically subsided, but when I drove off again it was raining hard again. But as I headed west towards work, I could see clear sky up ahead, and by the time I got to work is was sunny and mostly clear.

It didn't last, though. By the time I drove to my early-afternoon dentist appointment, it was windy as hell and overcast. It wasn't raining much, but it was blowing quite hard. When I was ready to go home from work, it was dark, and windy, and raining quite hard - and the wind was so strong the rain was basically "falling" sideways. It was impressive.

And yet, it was not really so bad. I never felt like my car was being buffeted around

Oh, and the dentist appointment? I got a clean bill of health, toothwise, that is. Apparently my dental habits are quite sufficient. Which is nice, because another thing to spend money on is the last thing I need this month. Between the car, cats, and other life maintenance stuff, my bank account is emptying quite nicely, thanks. And I expect I've still got a car insurance payment as well as Christmas presents to buy in the next six weeks. Ack!

After work I went to dinner with a friend from work and his girlfriend. They agreed to watch my cats while I'm at Windycon, and they suggested going to dinner before I showed them my place. We went to the Horn of Africa, which is an Ethiopian place on the other side of the capital from my apartment, and it is quite yummy! More than that, it's easily the spiciest (as in hottest) food I've had in Madison. Very impressive. I will have to go there more often, even if they are a little on the pricy side.

And then at work today we went to a new Chinese buffet near work, which was quite good. They have a very impressive selection of food, although in general I don't think the quality of the food is quite up to a few other places in town, although it's better than the other "huge selection, lower quality" restaurant in town. Certainly a place I would go back to. (I wish they had fried wontons and pot stickers, though.)

Tonight I went to see The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), with Errol Flynn. Nope, I'd never seen it before, and it was quite entertaining. Okay, some of the acting seemed a little forced, but the sets and swordplay were very impressive, and I'm a sucker of Olivia de Havilland, who is a babe (or at least she was in the 30s and 40s!). And, of course, the whole film belongs to Errol Flynn as Sir Robin, who is never without a glib line to taunt his enemies - or his friends.

I was a little surprised that it was in color; I am always a bit confused as to when color really came to movies, which I suppose is natural since there were many films in the 40s which were shot in black-and-white. But the film quality was surprisingly good for the era.

Oh, and I noticed that Little John is played by Alan Hale Sr., who my generation have largely forgotten in favor of his son, Alan Hale Jr., who played the Skipper on Gilligan's Island.

If this sounds a bit rushed, it is. I seem to have a pile of stuff to do tonight, including a taped Babylon 5 episode to watch, and a book discussion to go to after work tomorrow... busy, busy, busy!

Michael Rawdon (Contact)