The past couple of weeks the movies that I have been watching on netflix.com have been coming from the books that I have recently reread/read or have read in the past from the list '1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die'.  I have been pleasantly surprised at how many have actually been made into films. 

M previous post was of the books I have recently read.  This list is from books that I have read in the past and actually still remember them.  Or read in the past few years.  Although there have been a few that have had no film adaptation made.

In my queue to watch are a couple of films about 'Huckleberry Fin' as I remember rereading that one last year --- and again I left the cartoon or animated films out.  Can't recall how many times I cofussed the story lines from Huckleberry Fin and Tom Sawyer!!!  After rereading the book I think I might have them figured out.  Believe it or not Tom Sawyer is not of the list!!!

'Perfume: The Story of a Murderer' One of the first books that I read when I started reading from '1001 books You Must read Before You Die' I remember thinking as I was reading this book, why is this one of the books I must read before I die? What is so special about this book? Cause I don't really like it all that much. Then remembered . . . . .

'For discerning bibliophiles and readers who enjoy unforgettable classic literature, it is a trove of reviews covering a century of memorable writing. Each work of literature featured here is a seminal work key to understanding and appreciating the written word.'

 Which to me means I may not like some of them all that much, but it helps me to follow and understand how writing evolved through the centuries to what we read now. Was pleasantly surprised that I, actually, found a film based on this book. Can't wait till it reaches the top of my queue.  and another film with Alan Rickman in it!!!  All of you who may not know who alan Rickman is -- think Harry Potter's Professor Snape -- hewas always one of my favorites for some reason, probably because I like the actor!!

'Catch 22' is another one from the list that I read when my youngest son was in high school as it was on their reading list. I have heard from lots of friends that they really liked this book, but again not one that I really liked all that much -- maybe the film will change my mind. By the Way this is one that was deleted by the third edition.

And another film in my film queue is 'Adam Bede'  downloaded this free from online a year or so ago and read it!!  Interesting book, watching the film will be an experience!

Well, that's my list of films to watch so far!!  The 7 dfferent ones for 'Jane Eyre' will take awhile as only one of them is on instant view!!  As I continue to read/reread books from the list I am sure that I will be adding more to my list!!

What I am Reading now - Update

Been a week or so since I've updated everyone on what I have been reading lately and yes, I have been reading.

Like I mentioned awhile back I got myself a new Kindle -- and I have downloaded quite a few of the classics that are on the '1001 books you have to read before you die list' -- when I was looking at the list I realized that there were quite a few books that I had read, but they were so long ago I couldn't remember really what the books were really about -- now do those books count?  I decided to reread a few of them!!

Started with "Alice in Wonderland' Was really surprised that a lot of what I thought happenend in this book really was in the second book 'Through the Looking Glass'. Guess I'll have to sit down and reread that one too very soon!!  I then went to netflix.com and watched all the actual movies they had that was based on the original book --- The latest one with Johnny Depp really doesn't count as it is really it's own story made up off the Alice in Wonderland character's!!  Plus I watched it a few weeks back at one of Trish's Girl get-togethers.  I did leave out the cartoon or animated movies though.

I then reread 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte.  There are 7 different films through netflix.com of this book that I am slowly watching as they come in.  The first one was made in 1934 with the last in 1997.  It will be interesting to see the difference in the different era styles and the BBC makes versus the American makes. 

I then reread 'Sense and Sensibility' by Jane Austen.  The reason I chose to read this book next was that somehow I had one of the BBC made films sent to the top of my watchlist at netflix.com so instead of sending it back and requeueing it I decided toreread it and then watch the other two films listed.  Thus the reason why I have watched the films for this book and not 'Jane Eyre'.  There were three available films for this book, all BBC made.  The first two were not as good as the last one made in 1995.  I think the main reason I liked this one the best is that as I was rereading the books I kept imagining the characters as the actors who portrayed them from the 1995 film. Emma Thompson as Elenor, Kate Winslet as Mariann, Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon and Hugh Grant as Edward Ferrars.

In the mean time in actual book form I have also finished reading 'The Tale of Genji' by Lady Murasaki.  This is one of the books added into the list since the first edition was published.  I did find that there was a film entitled 'Great Tales in Asian Art' that had this tale in it.  Yep, it is in my queue. I was surprised that this book was not that hard to read.  Lots of times when you read a translation from the original language books do not seem to read as smoothly.  Although I kind of felt left up in the air by the end of it.

Getting away from the list/book '1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die' I did read a book that a co-worker had loaned to me as she said it was a really good book.  After reading it, I too believe that it was a really good read!!  I tend to be interested in books about the women in the muslam world as my daughter spent a year over in Iraq in 2003.  The book that Diane loaned me was called 'The Dressmaker of Khair Khana'. 

The life Kamila Sidiqi had known changed overnight when the Taliban seized control of the city of Kabul. After receiving a teaching degree during the civil war—a rare achievement for any Afghan woman—Kamila was subsequently banned from school and confined to her home. When her father and brother were forced to flee the city, Kamila became the sole breadwinner for her five siblings. Armed only with grit and determination, she picked up a needle and thread and created a thriving business of her own.

Thursday night went out wine tasting for 'Thirsty Thursday' at SIP! Oh what fun.   Found a bush that had these beautiful flowers on it, but have no idea what they are. . . Anyone have an idea?  Guess I just don't have a green thumb!

It was 'Wild About Rose'  What fun we had tastiing different 'Rose'wines then heading over to Sho-Ka-Wah Casino for their $7.77 Prime Rib in their 'Many Fires SteakHouse.'.

Dancing with the Stars Season 12 -- Winner!!

Whoot!!  Whoot!!

. . . . . . . . and the winner is . . . . . . . . . .  .

Hines Ward!!!



What a trooper Kym Johnson was through it all -- taking Hines to the winning night even after taking a bad fall in practice!!!



No!!  I didn't get the night off work!!  Didn't even get to see the final dances -- hopefully I'll get to see that in the next couple of days -- but did make it in to see the final 5 minutes of the show and see Hines win!!

I can hardly wait now till next season!!

Dancing With the Stars!!

I'm just a little bummed that for the final night of dancing with the stars I have to work!!

And it's not my turn to be on-call!!

So I am going to go out on a limb here and see if I am right -- who is eliminated next? . . .

Kirstie and Maks

Sorry guys!!   I love Maks too!  But not sure that they had enough umph!! to pull through tonight!!  Their freestyle, although stupendous, just wasn't catchy enough for those judges, and her outfits didn't o her justice in any way!!

Who will win between Chelsea and Hines? . . .

Hines and Kym

In my humble opinion (which I have learned doesn't account for much)  I think Hines and Kym did the best dancing by far all season long!! The judges picked a good choice for them in the 'Quick Step' and totally loved their freestyle!!

So let's see who wins at the final dancing of the season with Dancing With The Stars tomorrow!!!

I so wish I ccould be home watching this tomorrow --- maybe things will ne slowenough at work to catch the final call!!!

SIP! Mendocino Thirsty Thursdays

Thirsty Thursday May 26th = WILD ABOUT ROSE'

SIP! Mendocino’s ongoing in house event series continues May 26th with Thirsty Thursday featuring PINK wines. 

Thirsty THURSDAYS is an evening at SIP! Mendocino dedicated to a single varietal or style of wine such as ROSE’.

Thursday May 26^th from 5pm to 8pm a selection of sensational Rose’ wines from producers such as Bink, Toulouse, Goldeneye, Naughty Boy, Mary Elke, Bonterra, Meyer Family Cellars and more will be poured for tasting and comparison, along with a savory spread of food to enhance the experience.  

Cover charge is $20 for non-wine club members and no cover charge for one person per each SIP! Mendocino wine club membership. 

A Simple Gathering #2

Taken directly from geocaching.com GC2TETB -- not my words, but I couldn't say it better!!  Hope the local geocachers can make this.

I can't as it is my weekend to work and I need to sleep sometime or I would never make it through that long 12 hour night shift three nights in a row!!

A SIMPLE GATHERING #2

GC2TETB

TIME AGAIN FOR ANOTHER SIMPLE GATHERING OF GEO-CACHING FRIENDS. TIME TO GET TOGETHER AND DO WHAT GEO-CACHERS DO WHEN THEY GET TOGETHER…..TALK GEO-CACHING!


TEAM ORVILLE & SILLY ONE 75 STARTED THIS GET TOGETHER IN MARCH 2011. WE HAD A GOOD GROUP OF CACHERS MEET AT STARBUCKS. WE HAD FUN MEETING EACH OTHER, HAD SOME GOOD COFFEE AND, YES, TALKED ABOUT GEO-CACHING!

THE PLAN IS THAT WE MEET EVERY OTHER MONTH. THOSE THAT ATTEND PUT THEIR NAME IN THE "RED CAN". IF THEIR NAME IS DRAWN THEY GET TO HOST THE NEXT EVENT, AND CHOSE THE DATE AND LOCATION OF THE EVENT.

I WAS THE BIG WINNER IN APRIL. BY WINNING YOU ALSO GET THE “FTF” FOR THE CACHE.

THE PLACE FOR THE MAY SIMPLE GATHERING #2 IS LAKE MENDOCINO AT JOE RILEY DAY USE AREA LOCATED BY THE SOUTH BOAT RAMP. BRING A LUNCH AND COLD DRINKS AND PLAN ON MEETING AT 12:00 ON MAY 22, 2011.

THIS DAY USE AREA IS NAMED IN HONOR OF JOE (VIRGIL) RILEY WHO WAS AN EMPLOYEE OF THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS. HE DIED FROM INJURIES SUSTAINED IN AN AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT ON 9/27/74. HE WAS 44 YEARS OLD AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH

Girls night out!

Well, it looked like everyone bailed on me for Ukiah's 'Girls Night Out too!

I decided that I would check it out anyway. . . got all the way downtown and was trying to psyche myself up to head out on my own when my phone rang. . . another friend of mine was calling wanting to go out for dinner!! 

So instead of going to 'Girl's Night Out' it looked like I was heading to 'El Azteca' for dinner and margarita's.  Hmmm, hmmmm good!!

While eating and chatting with my friend I mentioned that I was going to go to 'Girl's Night Out' when she called.  She decided that after dinner we were going to head downtown and catch the tail-end of 'Girls Night Out'.

Once we got downtown, it looked pretty much deserted, we had to look around to find the places that were still open.  But we did have fun at the places we stopped at, did lots of window shopping though!!

Found a woman downtown who was doing tarot readings -- Karen decided that we needed readings!!   Interesting!!!  Not sure how a deck of cards can tell me about myself and our futures!! 

But we had a blast talking to her!!

We wandered through a few stores looking at the neat knick knacks, checked out 'The Ruby Slipper' great gently used clothing! 

Played 'Man Bingo' at 'Shoefly & Sox' and had a blast!!  Even had a glass of wine while we were trying on shoes and playing Bingo!!!  Karen won the round that we played!! 

Found a pair of sandals that I really, really liked -- I may have to go back and buy them --- after talking myself into it over the next few days!!  Really like the people there. 

Not a bad night, but we both decided that we probably missed the best part of the evening by getting there so late -- next time we need to be there earlier!!

Hope to see you there!!

Girls Night Out

May 19, 2011



5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Come on girls, Let's Go!! Over 20 Downtown Shops stay open with night specials, bargains, goodies, games and more for all to indulge. It is truely an event for strolling and enjoying all the many places Ukiah has to offer in its Downtown. Ukiah Main Street Program strives to preserve and enhance what makes Ukiah a great place to Walk, Shop and Dine. This evening is just one of many for everyone to enjoy. So show support of your local Downtown Merchants and come have a fun night of socializing, shopping and sharing!

Win 2 Free Tickets to 2011 Taste of Downtown

Starting March 21st we are accepting entries in a drawing to win 2 free Taste of Downtown tickets held on June 10th, 2011. Please check our Drawing section of our website to enter your chance to win!! We will choose a winner the last day of May so hurry in to enter!

Win 2 Free Ticketsto 2011 Taste of Downtown

Scroll to the bottom of the homepage to enter into this drawing! Good Luck!

Second Saturdays in Hopland - Update

May 14, 2011





The Second Saturday program has been a huge success. Six Hopland wineries (Cesar Toxqui Cellars, Graziano, Jaxon Keys, McNab Ridge, McFadden and Weibel) become open houses for the second saturday of each month! Rain or shine, all wineries offer complementary seasonal culinary delights, paired with your favorite varietals. All of these wineries run second saturday wine specials, discounts and deals! There's always a few with barrels out, for tasting the wine of the future. These wineries spare no expense and feature vertical tastings of their best wines! Other Hopland wineries participate on and off, so if one of your favorites is not on this list, feel free to contact them to see if they will be involved!



Just noticed that Milano

Hopland Passport Day #2 - Sunday May 1

I have to say, offically, that I overdid it on saturday at the Hopland Passport!!  Thank goodness we had a DD -- Thanks so much Carrie!!

Sunday Turned out to be just as nice a day as Saturday!!  On our way out of town we picked up one of my co-workers, Marisela, to spend the day with us!!



We decided to hit the rest of the wineries -- or the in-town tasting rooms!!!

Parked at McNab and started the tasting there!!  We were, actually, just a little early, but that didn't stop us or them!!  We really like McNab and the wonderful dips that they always serve at their wine tasting!! Hmmm -- another one that I might just have to join.  You can even buy the dip packets there -- I admit that I bought a couple of them to use later -- probably at one of our girly get-togethers or some other such get-together!!  They, also, have a wonderful Sangria recipe that uses their 'Charisma' wine!!!  Yep!! I had to buy a couple of bottle of that too!!  One of these days I'm gonna make their Sangria!!  We were talking about making it for our next girly get-together(sunday?) or our monday 'Dancing With The Stars' get-together.



We then headed accross the street -- Carrie was hoping the 'hot' fireman was directing traffic again this year, but, alas . . .no!!

Brutacao was next on our list -- Their tasting room is also in with a really great Italian restaurant called 'The Crushed Grape' and they have 'Bocce Ball' courts.  Haven't tried the Bocce Ball yet, but maybe one of these days. . . .

I must say I have tried Brutacao's port and chocolate and hmmm is it good.  Being associated with an Italian restaurant they naturally serve piza, but not just any pizza - gourmet pizza's!!! 

Then it was on to another new winery/tasting room for passport - Cesar Toxqui, not bad for a small winery, will have to keep an eye on them in the future.  And yes. . . they served a mexican chicken dish, Marisela knew what it was called, but all I knew was that it was good and they served homemade flan to go along with it!! 

Right next door ar SIP they were tasting wine from the Patianna winery. I just love stopping in and chatting with Angela and Bernadette at SIP!  The wine is good too!

We headed a little further down the street to McDowell -- great gift shop and tasting room!!  the food was good too!!  Soft tacos!! Can you tell what I really come to this for? . . . the food!!  Oh yes, and the wine!!

Back across the street to what I like to call tasting room row!!  All of these tasting rooms are almost side by side in downtown Hopland!!  First of the bunch was Weibel -- their in town tasting room is fairly new, I still like heading out to the winery for the tasting better -- what a great place and another great view, so peaceful!!  Alycia's favorite by far I think -- they have some great sparkling wines and even have a non-alcoholic sparkling wine!!!

Next door is Graziano's tasting room!!  Some nice wines that are actually from Redwood Valley, the other side of Ukiah!!  Kind of funny that their tasting room is in Hopland!!  They have some great homegrown BBQ beef and wild rice salad that they present each time at passport!!  I understand that they grow the beef themselves and you can even buy it at the winery!!  Now that's some fresh meat!!

McFadden was the last of bunch for today. 

We all kinda took things easy and light on the drinking today!!  At least I know I did.  We were, actaully done about 3pm, I am sure Marisela was glad about that as she had worked all night and had only taken a cat nap prior to going out with us!! So we headed back to McNab, did a little more window shopping!!  Then headed home!!

Carrie, Alycia, Me and Marisela

Here we are in front of McNab's Tasting room at their fountain, Danielle didn't want her picture taken!!  So she took the pic and caught me with my eyes closed -- boy do I looked smashed!!  Well. . . it was the end of the day!!

Can't wait till the autumn Hopland Passport!!!

Hopland Passport was a blast!!!

Last weekend, Alycia, Carrie, Danielle and I went to the Hopland Passport!!  Sunday Marisela joine us!!

Two full days of fun from 11AM to 5PM! Receive a Passport logo glass, entry to all wine tastings, food pairings and entertainment at the seventeen wineries.

Saturday we visited at all the out-lying wineries (9) Starting at Milano always one of my favorites with their 'Sunshine' white wine and Tri-Tip Sandwiches!! Hmmm, Hmmm good!

We then tasted some Parducci wine at  'Real Goods'  and had a blast checking out all the inovative things there!! 

Next it was on to Rack and Riddle - another one that I just might have to think about joining one of these days!!  Love their sparkling wine!! The older ladies in the group had fun oggling the Sparkling wine server too!!  I remember Alycia commented as we were driving there that this was the place that always served enchiladas --- hahahaha!!  They agreed that they normally did serve enchiladas, but this time it was pasta!!  Their Syrahs are pretty good too!

Just a bit further down the road we stopped in to taste some wine, sample the refreshments along with their olive oil and honey at Terra Savia!!  They always have some beautiful artwork, and it's all 'For Sale'

Next we hit a new one on the list of wineries!!  Although I think they were there last Ocotber for the Autumn Hopland Passport, but we couldn't find them.  This year we had luck on our side!!  What a beautiful winery - the grounds are breathtaking!!  We even took a short breather and took in some sun with our wine!!

Danielle and myself soaking up the sun!!

I'll have to remember this place in the future.  Looks like they have some great conversation areas!!











I'm not sure just what order we did the next three, I am sure Alycia knows-she remembers everything, but they were somewhere along this line. 

Saracina!!  We like this place because of the 'Hobbit Hole' at least that is what we call it!!  But it's a big cave in the side of the hill where they store the wine barrels while they are fermenting.   Well, we also like the funky chairs out by the willows and the pond!!



Danielle, Carrie and myself in the 'funky' chairs



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jericho warrented a quick stop.  Hmmmm. . .if I remember right they were serving up a roasted 'pig' and I ran into a co-worker there!!  Nice grounds and tasting room, but they were doing it outside and taking advantage of the sun - we had been having prettty rainy weather till just a few days before the passport!!  So we were all pleasantly surprised at how nice and warm it was.

Nelson Family Vineyards.  I remember this one cause I've made the remark in the past that we didn't like anything that they made.  Well, last year we switched the order that we visited the wineries (this one was always close to the end - and yes we were a bit you know!!!) we were pleasantly surprised that we DID like what they served.  Alycia even made a purchase here or some 'Late Harvest Viognier' that we had monday evening whie watching 'Dancing with the Stars'.

So we saved the last of the day for another of our favorites!!  Jaxon Keyes - love, just love their wrap-around porch to sit and while away the hours.  The people, the wine and the view are wonderful!!  I'm not sure if it was busy there all day or just that everyone decided to do what we did, but the place was a-hopping!!  Ran into plenty of nice people, some I even knew!!  LOL!!  JK also sells 'Brandy' and some great flavored 'vodkas'. They distill the Brandy, but I don't think they distill the vodka!!