I spent a very quiet and relaxing holiday, partly by choice and partly because winter weather kept people from traveling.

Christmas Eve was spent with extended family, playing games, listening to music, having dinner and opening gifts in front of the fireplace.  How all that can exhaust me I’ll never know, but it did!

Yesterday was spent tidying up a bit, quietly reading, watching movies (a remake of the classic Jane Eyre).

Prime rib made for some yummy leftovers. Here’s a cooking tip:  Slice very rare left over prime rib into nice thick pieces, sprinkle blackened seasonings and throw on the grill for seconds on each side – just long enough to warm it up.  Delicious!

Off shopping today!

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Snow and more snow, with the occasion interruption for snow flurries.  What a messy, miserable day here in Seattle.

Although my road were sanded in the wee hours, they’ve since been snowed over.  A couple of times.  I’m guess there’s around six inches of the white stuff in the yard and deck.

I’ve spent most of the day inside, watching kids slide down the hill and laughing at the occasional fool venturing out in a car.  What part of “stay off the roads unless you absolutely need to” don’t people understand?!  It’s an easy decision for me since I have a lightweight compact car that could no more drive down this hill than it could drive back up!

Here’s what I watched today:

Now I’m hoping that everyone is the neighborhood Gets Smart (and stays safe) by staying off the roads until the hazardous conditions pass.

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One of my favorite television shows signed off last week, Boston Legal.  While not a big television viewer, this show was always on my Tivo record list.

I discovered the show in its third season, and had to rent the previous season’s episodes to quickly get up to speed.  After only a couple of episodes, I was hooked.

What I liked about Boston Legal was how Alan Shore’s crusading sense of justice often butted heads with the reality of life in a law firm.  The cases and plot lines may have been plucked from the headlines, but the heart of the show was the characters and their relationship with one another.

The show always ended with Alan Shore (played by James Spader) and Denny Crane (played by William Shatner) smoking a cigar and having a drink on the deck outside of Denny’s office.  They talked into the night about the law, love, politics, philosophy, life, and mortality.  It was the kind of friendship that we should all be fortunate enough to find.

Here’s the final scene on the deck from the final episode:

Farewell Boston Legal.  I’m going to miss you.

______________________________________________________

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On a recent trip to Las Vegas, I stayed at the Mandalay Bay Resort.  When it came to choose an evening’s entertainment, it was easy to choose the musical comedy MAMMA MIA! since it was playing in the theater at Mandalay Bay.

While I’m not a huge ABBA fan, I’d heard so many good things about it that I thought I’d give it a go.  And am I ever glad that I did!

You may already be familiar with the plot – a young girl invites three men to her wedding, hoping to find out once and for all which one of the men is her father.  Of course, the answer can’t come easily, or we wouldn’t have a show now, would we!

The show is full of ABBA hits, including Dancing Queen, Take a Chance on Me, Knowing Me, Knowing You, The Winner Takes it All, and the grand finale, Waterloo.  If you were a teen during this era, chances are you danced to these tune, perhaps even wearing some of these same outfits!

MAMMA MIA! closes at Mandalay Bay on January 4th, 2009.  If you can’t make it to Vegas to see the show, catch it when it comes to your town – even if you’re not a Dancing Queen!

The story was chronicled in a movie, starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan:

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Beautiful new music —-

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In a moment of spend some time with a little guy this weekend, I was off to the local IMAX theater to see Madagascar 2 – Escape to Africa.

Having missed the first film in this franchise, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect – but it came very highly recommended by a number of five year olds, so I was down with it.

In this sequel, the Madagascar crew (Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, Gloria the Hippo) leave the relative comfort of the Central Park Zoo, and find themselves marooned on the shore of Madagascar.  They come face-to-face with other members of their own species for the very first time, but life is Africa is a little different than in New York City.

Note for adults:  Listen closely to see if you recognize the voices of all the Madagascar animals.  There’s some great talent there!

Though faced with several challenges, and lots of adjustments, the friends come to love Africa, learning that the species of the world can all live peacefully together.

And that’s a lesson important for the adults in the audience as well.

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While I was on vacation, all the others were reading John Grisham’s new book, The Appeal.  Now it’s my turn.

I’ve a Grisham fan, although some of his recent books have not held the same appeal for me as his earlier ones.  I’m hoping this one will break that trend.

I’ve read the first chapter, and am only a little intrigued so far.  But, I’m heading off to the sun for a couple days, and this will be the perfect beach read!

Anyone care to give it a thumbs up or thumbs down?

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