Thanksgiving 2006

We experimented with Thanksgiving this year by spending the holiday in Alexandria, Louisiana. We spent time with Adam and Toby, taking each boy through his usual "swimming pool" visit routine, then having Thanksgiving dinner at a local restaurant. Adam was a hoot, running around the restaurant, laughing and rolling around on the floor. Both boys were full of laughter and mischief. I can't remember a time when my kids laughed so much as they have the past few weeks. Unfortunately, Toby pushed a small girl into the pool during his second pool visit, so we had to take him out of the water early. He is perfectly capable of learning that the only person he can push into the water is me. Also, Adam had me jumping into the outdoor pool. It was 70 degrees out at the time, but it had been down into the 40s the night before, which meant that the water was lung-squeezing cold on the first plunge. Adam wouldn't get in himself; it was enough for him that I did it.

DW and I saw the new James Bond movie while we were in Alexandria. "Casino Royale" is a major departure from the Bond series, pretty much reinventing the character from the very beginning. The story begins at the outset of Bond's career as 007, though it is set in the present day. The Daniel Craig version of Bond is darker, more brutal, and more violent than the Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan versions of the character. The new brutality of the character slaps you in the face in the first scene of the movie, which is a juxtaposition of two brilliantly filmed black-and-white scenes. There were no cool gizmos and gadgets in this movie, and there was some real character development. Also, the writers played a little with Bond's catchphrases--I particularly liked the new Bond's response when the bartender asked whether he wanted his martini shaken or stirred: "Do I look like I really give a damn?" It's a whole other James Bond, and I like it.