Friday afternoon brought the breaking in of The Draft Shaft II at the Olde Bryan Inn, where Justin and I had lunch. That night we hit the Principesa Elena club for Italian dinner and drinks. We stopped in at the new apartment of some friends who live right by the club before heading to Justin’s place to meet up with Seth and Niki for a night of debauchery (rum drinks, Bailey’s, Pope’s, and reminiscing with old photos). We topped off nearly eight hours of partying with margaritas at Seth and Niki’s place.
We slept in a bit Saturday before going into overdrive: We raked, mowed for the first time of the season, cleaned the house, hung new shower curtains, and bought a backup propane tank for the grill in preparation for Karen and Joti’s arrival from Brooklyn. We grilled chicken and sang karaoke into the night.
Sunday we headed to Kinderhook for the day to spend Mother’s Day with my in-laws. We dined at the Chinese buffet in Hudson, played the accordian, and went to the movies.
Kingdom of Heaven was a let-down. It was just like every other medieval (Braveheart), Roman (Gladiator), or Tolkien (Lord of the Rings: Return of the Kings) epic battle movie ever made, but not nearly as good. Despite its problems, it was refreshing to see both Christians and Muslims portrayed as equals. Given the world climate today, I’m glad the film didn’t fall victim to demonizing the Muslim army. When the movie ended with some on-screen facts about how problems in Jerusalem persist today, one person in the theater clapped. I’m not sure why. It wasn’t a very good movie and Middle East violence is nothing to clap for.
