1 day to half-way point

Tomorrow I have my 4th round of chemo which marks the half-way point in my treatment!! In some ways it seems like the time has gone by fast but in other ways, it seems like a long time. I can't explain it, but there it is.

Good Week
Last week was my "good" or week 3, so I did as much activity as possible. I went to the gym 5 times, went out for meals with friends (Tulin, Ann, Phil and Karen) and family (Sei and Karen), saw several movies (more below) and the Book Club came over our monthly meeting. It was a great week.

During my good week, I should be doing the hundred projects around my house, but I get cabin fever because I've cooped up for the 2 prior weeks. Tomorrow I'm back to week 1.

Movie Reviews
"Notes on a Scandal" -- Oscar buzz has been centered around Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren and while both of them were fabulous in their respective movies, Dame Judi Dench is far superior in this film. "Notes" begins as a simple story of a new art teacher joining the staff of a working-class neighborhood school. Dench's character appears to be a lonely, spinster school teacher who has become cynical after years and years of teaching.

The art teacher (Cate Blanchett) has an affair with a young, male student and Dench finds out. Rather than tell the schoolmaster, Dench confronts Blanchett, asks her to stop the affair and then leaves the information in her back pocket as "it will be useful at a future date". At this point, it becomes apparent that Dench is not as harmless as she appears. Over the course of the film, you realize that she is evil, scary evil, dangerously evil -- Shakespearian level evil. Lady Macbeth has nothing on Dench.

The director unfolds the story slowly, building to its climax. Both women are flawed and their actions are reprehensible. But which one is worse? The music by composer Philip Glass is really heavy handed at the end, but that's the only flaw in the film. It's a must see!!

Last King of Scotland
As if Dench's character wasn't scary enough, Forest Whitaker's portrayal of Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin, was equally impressive. Whitaker's Amin is charming and engaging one moment and then a mass killing, megalomaniac the next. But the real star of the film James McAvoy who portrays Nicholas Garrigan, a young Scottish physician working in Uganda. Garrigan's story arch is much more intereseting than Amin's. Maybe because Amin's story and fate are well known, I found Garrigan's story more compelling.

Garrigan starts out as an idealistic, young physician who goes to Uganda to work in a small clinic to help the natives. Due to a chance encounter, he's asked to become Amin's private physician. Although he first declines the offer, Amin charms him into taking the job. Over the course of time, Garrigan is seduced by the money, noteriety and influence he wields because of his position. Once he realizes he has sold his soul to the devil, the question is whether it's too late for him to redeem himself. McAvoy is very convincing as the young doctor and it's too bad he hasn't received as much publicity as Whitaker for the film.

The ending of the film is really violent but that reflects the end of Amin's regime. I closed my eyes during a torture scene. It was pretty bad. Other than that, the film is worth seeing.

Chemo cycle 4
After each chemo cycle, it takes me a little longer to bounce back -- which is normal. So, I expect to be pretty tired for a week beginning tomorrow. My friend, Sue gave me the entire series of "The West Wing" on DVD for Christmas, so I expect to be spending the next few days on my couch with Jed Bartlett and his staff. It's my favorite show so I'm not complaining.

Best to you.
Jean