We went to Terri's engagement party 2 weekends ago. She looked very happy. She seemed to have lost some weight. I guess that's what all brides try to do. She'll look amazing in her wedding gown. I wish the background of this picture is a little better than cement walls but we were standing in the back alley of their townhouse so it is what it is.

I was working at the booth at the BIS update conference with my coworkers Michael and Lisa this Monday.

Movies saw during flights

Marie Antoinette: I saw this on my flight to LA, which is why I even finished the entire movie. Aside from the lavish costume and set design, this movie is a complete waste of time. I understand it's supposed to be a stylized portrait of her life but the plot is just weak and lacks focus. The movie is supposed to provoke sympathy for Marie Antoinette for she was married into the French court with ridiculous rituals and rules at a very young age. But it failed miserably to do so. The use of 80's music seemed a very strange idea to me as well. I just didn't connect with the character at all. The film made her seemed like a little wasteful brat who deserved to be hung.

A Good Year: Yet another complete waste of time. It's a formulaic romantic comedy with a high-power investment banker finding his ideal life and true love in a small town in France. Russell Crowe's portrayal of the overbearing workaholic, Max, was simply obnoxious. He tries to be quirky and cute but it just didn't work. I'd say he should probably stay away from romantic comedies from now on. I didn't buy the love story between Max and the French woman he met while sorting out the business of inheriting the villa. I'd stay away from a arrogant a**hole like Max if I were her. I did enjoy the scenes when Max reminisced the days he spent at the villa. Freddie Highmore played the young Max. I absolutely adored him in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Max's uncle was played by Albert Finney.

Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor

I first heard this piece from the film Hilary and Jackie, based on the life of cellist Jacqueline du Pre, who, incidentally, was played by one of my favorite actresses, Emily Watson. Elgar started working on the concerto after World War I and his wife, Alice became very ill around the same time and died a few months after the premiere of the cello concerto. It represented for Elgar, the despair he felt after the war and his feelings about death and mortality. But even without the historical background, one can hear the lament and angst all throughout the concerto. The definitive performance for this concerto was performed by Jacqueline du Pre in 1961 with London Symphony Orchestra.

Here's a link to the more detailed history of the creation of this concerto:
http://www.elgar.org/3cello-c.htm

Other works of Elgar I enjoy:
Introduction and Allegro for string quartet and string orchestra op. 47
Variations On An Original Theme ('Enigma'), Op.36