Nuns on diets lead to loose habits.

I just bought "Kate Remembered", the biograghy/memoir of Katharine Hepburn. I've read a few excerpts and it looks very interesting. She may be the original Diva because she wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Unlike a lot of present day Divas, she didn't pout and whine if she didn't get her way, however. Sometimes there's a fine line between class and being crass, and she always seemed to know which side to be. She also had a much sharper sense of humor than I expected. It should be a great read.
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Speaking of Hepburn's sense of humor, I recently read a story about the time when she was interviewed by Barbara Walters. It was the somewhat famous interview where Barbara asked Katharine if she were a tree what kind of tree would she like to be. The interview seemed to tailspin after that because Ms. Hepburn was becoming increasingly annoyed by the dumb questions. Barbara then asked Kate, who loved dressing in slacks, whether she even owned a skirt. Without skipping a beat, Hepburn replied that yes she did and that she would wear it to Barbara's funeral. I wish that I could have seen Walter's reaction to that.

The statement below is true.
The statement above is false.

It was so hot today, I saw a dog chasing a cat and they were both walking.

I saw "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" last Friday when I was home. It only got one star from Roger Ebert in the Sun-Times, but I think he was wrong. I liked it a lot more than Terminator 3 which was just boring and depressing. In The League, there are characters from many of the great works of literature, such as Captain Nemo with the Nautilus from "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea", The Invisible Man, Dorian Gray, Tom Sawyer, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide, Mina from Dracula, and Allan Quartermain from I don't know where. I particularly liked the cameo by Ishmael, Call me Ishamael from "Moby Dick", driving a huge car shaped like a white whale. They get together to prevent a World War in 1899. Sean Connery plays Quartermain, so it's a little like an early James Bond adventure. Mr. stick-in-the-mud Ebert didn't like the fact that a great deal of the action takes place in a modified Venice. He points out that there are no streets in Venice to accomodate the car that they use, nor are the canals wide enough for the Nautilus. I wonder whether he also criticized King Kong for being too large for an Ape and the talking fish in "Finding Nemo". I thought that the sets were well-done and the fight scenes more believable than in the Matrix Reloaded. All in all, it was an enjoyable two hours of entertainment; a great summer movie. The kind that you should just let wash over you like a cool summer breeze without questioning the details. I would give it 2 1/2 stars.

I went to see "Winged Migration" today. It's a film that was shot over four years in forty countries to capture the spring and fall migration of birds. I have a terrace where I frequently see flocks of birds overhead, so the subject was interesting to me. The film shows geese, ducks, hawks, eagles, storks, sparrows, penguins, gulls, loons, and several types of birds that I've never seen before, including one type that almost looked like they were wearing identical bad toupees. In making the movie they used helicopters, gliders, balloons, and other methods to capture the flight of birds. The film was augmented by great music and minimal narration. Besides the birds in flight, the film also showed the birds feeding, mating rituals, social order, and such.
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It was really an interesting movie. The rhythmic beat of the wings becomes hypnotic after a while. The birds that can soar really are majestic looking. It's also fun to see their different movements while on the ground or on a pond or lake. Unfortunately, it's also sad to see them get shot out of the sky or to see them get mired in pollution or mud. I don't think that the movie was made by environmentalists, but it certainly makes one appreciate their cause. This is definitely one of the best films of the summer.