Pneumonia

I still have pneumonia. I’m not sure if I’ve “turned the corner” or not, but if not I’m at least close enough to see the corner. I’ve been ill for at least three weeks now, and have missed three days of work. The thirteen-dollar pills seem to be working… I can breathe a bit now without pain, my fever broke (for the most part) last night, and I can sit up for about half an hour or forty-five minutes. Things that still suck – nausea, headache, muscle aches, cramps – the usual litany of problems that happen to a body that’s been flat on it’s back for days on end. My sense of time is all whacky, too.

Dagmar, my beloved Viennese bride, was diagnosed with influenza a few weeks ago. She doesn’t seem to be in very good shape, either. She had bronchitis and a sinus infection, too. I worry about her. I should be taking care of her at this point, but she won’t let me.

The Year’s Best Movies…

Or more accurately, the best movies I’ve seen this year.

“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” – a comedy filmed in 1966 with Zero Mostel playing the lead, Pseudolus, is, was, and always will be one of my favorite films. Where else can you hear a man named Gloriosus bellow in basso profundo, “Stand aside everyone – I take large steps.” Lots of singing and dancing. source

“Madagascar,” – a 2005 cartoon (or animated feature, whatever). I saw bits and pieces of it while I was supposed to be socializing at my brother’s house on Thanksgiving. Cute story about zoo animals that make a break for the wild and end up washing up on the shores of Madagascar. “Where are you giants from?” asks a rather small critter. “We’re from New York,” answers the zoo lion. “All hail the New York Giants,” intones the critter. It made me laugh. source

“Schultze Gets the Blues,” – a 2003 German film, this was easily the best movie I’ve seen in years. (I’ve mentioned this one before – click here to see what I said the week after I saw it.) The film starts fairly slowly and gently, and stays that way throughout. There’s a delicate sense of humor, and a startling ending that had me pondering life in general for weeks afterwards. It has subtitles in the beginning, but it’s well worth watching anyway! source

“It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World,” – a 1963 comedy about greed, this movie always gets my attention. With a cast including Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Micky Rooney, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers, Jonathan Winters, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson and even Jim Backus (of Gilligan’s Island fame), you know it’s gotta be interesting. And it is indeed. source

“Hitchhiker’s Guide,” – if you read the books, you’ll like the movie. If you haven’t read the books, don’t bother – you’ll be hopelessly lost. I’ve read the books at least five times, and I was struggling to hold the plot in mind. It skipped around a lot. And they had to do substantial rewriting to get it to fit in a movie. But good nonetheless.

“Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Movie,” – I’ve seen woefully few episodes of MST3k, but at least I’ve seen the movie now. I sat on the couch all by myself, laughing like an idiot. It’s been a LONG time since a movie’s made me laugh out loud. What they do, see, is they take a really bad science fiction movie and, well, they watch it. One guy and two robots sit in the front row down there where you can see them and heckle the movie. “Okay, let’s see here,” says the guy as he reads the opening credits. “Shatner, Shatner… No doesn’t look like he’s in this one; we’re safe.” source

I have now taken a nap…

…and I’m hungry, really hungry for the first time in weeks. Lately whenever I’ve thought I was hungry it’d turn to nausea by the time I could get three crackers in me. I’ve lost ten pounds so far… Which is okay, but I’m not the biggest guy in the world to start with. I could probably stand to lose another five pounds off me big, bulbous belly, but I’d hate to lose more than that. I’m looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow. I hope I can get a full day in before I gotta lay down, though.