Year: 2011

Napa Valley Film Festival–Is this the next Sundance?

Written by diana on November 15, 2011. Posted in Film Festivals, Local travel, Unhealed Wound. 2 Comments on Napa Valley Film Festival–Is this the next Sundance?

Last week (November 9-13) I attended the inaugural Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) with a friend who lives in Calistoga and has volunteered in the festival’s planning. Over 100 films were presented, many for the first time at any film festival, in 12 screening locations from Napa to Calistoga. Along with viewing films we had the ...

Profile in Scribbles–“All About Me”

Written by diana on November 7, 2011. Posted in Blogging, Writing and Blogging Tips. 3 Comments on Profile in Scribbles–“All About Me”

I will be reviewing some movies from the upcoming Napa Valley Film Festival in the next few weeks. But in the meantime, I am posting a recent interview profiling my background writing “scribbles” in the newsletter by the same name distributed by my writers’ group, Central Coast Writers. Some of you have been asking for more...

“The Mayor of Casterbridge”–A Victorian Drama for Today

Written by diana on November 2, 2011. Posted in movie reviews, Unhealed Wound. 3 Comments on “The Mayor of Casterbridge”–A Victorian Drama for Today

Victorian values seem remote — the language is obtuse, the character development Shakespearean in complexity. However, I adore Thomas Hardy. As the master of labyrinthine plots, Hardy surprises when the viewer least expects it. And the BBC/A & E mini-series, “The Mayor of Casterbridge” (2003), capitalizes on every...

Genealogy–Seeking Connections Past and Future

Written by diana on October 26, 2011. Posted in Internet usage. 2 Comments on Genealogy–Seeking Connections Past and Future

How much do we know about our own parents, let alone grandparents? To one degree or another the lives of our parents remain a mystery. Some families assign the responsibility of “family historian” to a designated relative to create and maintain a family tree. Our daughter, Maya, has just been entered into her husband’s...

“The Ides of March”–Beware, Beware!

Written by diana on October 18, 2011. Posted in movie reviews. 2 Comments on “The Ides of March”–Beware, Beware!

Is it possible for any political candidate to win and yet remain true to his or her original values? Movies about dirty politics such as “Wag the Dog”, “All the President’s Men”, “The Manchurian Candidate”, “Primary Colors”, “Bob Roberts” and “The Candidate” (to...

Moss Landing–Cruising around Santa Cruz

Written by diana on October 13, 2011. Posted in Local travel, MPC Print Club, Restaurants. 12 Comments on Moss Landing–Cruising around Santa Cruz

Last weekend, driving back from our daughter’s spectacular wedding at Costanoa Lodge, we stopped in Moss Landing to introduce some relatives to a small, going-back-in-time sort of place along the coastline. Not the typical, tourist-designed site for buying tchotchkes, Moss Landing retains its quaint, historic fishing village vibe!...