I picked Joe up at Southern States, where he left his new truck for detailing. We went to Crabtree, starting off with a cup of coffee at the Starbucks in the Barnes & Noble there. I went to the post office, and Joe went to the mall.
There were only 4 people ahead of me in line, so it went much more quickly than I anticipated. It was cold in there. Two of the clerks working behind the counter were dressed for the occasion. One had a scarf over her head, and gloves on, and the other one had on earmuffs. Bless their hearts. My package for Jeanie-baby was $8.50. When I turned around to leave, there were about 15 people in line. Good timing.
I went into Belks, and looked around in the men’s department a little. I found a Fossil wallet that I liked, and bought it was one of my gifts to myself from Mom and Dad.
Right outside Belks was the LB Sporting Goods store, which had the leather jacket for dad, which was my whole reason for venturing into CVM at all. It was very nice, but seeing as I’m not sure if he’d wear a large or an extra large, or that he’s even the leather jacket kind of guy, I decided against purchasing it when I asked the sales guy, “Can I get a refund for this if he doesn’t want it?”
“You can exchange it, or have a store credit, but no refund, I’m afraid.”
“Okay, thanks. I can’t do that.”
I called Joe and he told me he was upstairs at Belks. I found him in the housewares section, where he had already found a few gifts. He purchased those, and then we went to eat.
We had bourbon chicken and rice at one of those places in the food court. It was delicious. I didn’t have my flask with me to add more bourbon to the meal. 🙂
Joe took me into Restoration Hardware, which I had never even heard of until last night at that party. As expected, it was “not my kind of place.” We also went to the Pottery Barn, and then stopped in Crate and Barrel. After the first shelf in there, I said, “I can’t do this, it’s too much like the Pottery Barn.”
We went across the way to Kirkland’s, which was mildly interesting. Joe bought this pillow that felt like it was stuffed with bird seed that goes around your neck while you’re watching TV or reading. I liked it.
From there, we went back to the car, and I took him back to Southern States. It wasn’t a good sign that his truck wasn’t out front when we got there. After waiting for him for a few minutes, he came to my window, with his bottom lip turned down.
Turns out that his front window washer mechanism was defective, and they’re having to keep his truck overnight to fix it. He had a key to a loaner car. In the grand drama of buying this truck, this is the 6th vehicle involved. Conflama!
I stopped by the post office to check the TCW mail on the way home, and found free movie passes for a preview showing tonight of Beyond the Sea at Mission Valley at 7:30. As I entered the theater, I was handed a little package of cocktail napkins, maybe 15 or 20 of them, on which is written, “Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Beyond the Sea, In Theaters This December.” I was also handed a little plastic bottle on which is written, “Bobby Darin’s Splish Splash Bubble Bath, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Beyond the Sea, In Theaters This December, www.beyondtheseathemove.com.
I really liked the storyline of this movie, which is the life story of Bobby Darin, but the acting really didn’t work for me. I could never get into Kevin Spacey as Bobby Darin, and I felt no chemistry whatsoever between him and the actress playing Sandra Dee. At times the technique used in the movie reminded me of De-Lovely. I really loved the music in the movie (as I did in De-Lovely), and was impressed to read at the end that Kevin actually did the singing in it.
Movie Synopsis: For Bobby Darin (Kevin Spacey), performing was his life. It kept his heart beating. He came alive on stage, even when he was near collapse offstage. In BEYOND THE SEA, Bobby tells his own story. At age seven, Bobby gets rheumatic fever that damages his heart forever. The doctor tells his mother Polly (Brenda Blethyn) that he’ll be lucky to live to the age of 15. Polly and Bobby’s older sister Nina (Caroline Aaron) take care of him, along with Nina’s husband Charlie (Bob Hoskins). Modern medicine and determination keep him alive.
By age 20, with the help of his best friend turned manager Steve Blauner (John Goodman) and musical director Dick Behrke (Peter Cincotti) Bobby began working his way up, from tacky clubs to performing in Vegas, finally scoring a hit with `Splish Splash’. But Bobby wants more. As he tells Life Magazine, he wants to be a legend by age 25. ‘MACK THE KNIFE’ makes him the star he’s dreamed of becoming but for him this is only the beginning. The hits keep coming and his life keeps evolving, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in the movie CAPTAIN NEWMAN MD.
Never satisfied with success, Bobby continues to reinvent himself and moves from rock and roll into pop, gospel, country & western and folk music. By the end of his brief 14-year career, Bobby Darin had more hits in more genres of music than any recording artist except Elvis Presley and Ray Charles. When he kicks off his acting career, he meets movie star SANDRA DEE (Kate Bosworth) while filming COME SEPTEMBER in Italy. He falls for her, but has to jump through hoops to get around MARY (Greta Scacchi), Sandy’s possessive and overbearing mother. Despite her protests, Bobby and Sandy get married and they seem like the perfect Hollywood fairytale couple. But the conflict of her acting career and his touring puts a strain on the relationship.
His dogged pursuit of fame and fortune isolates him from the very people who love him and believe in him. His master plan for `Bobby Darin the star’ doesn’t leave much room for `Bobby Darin the man’. Confused and directionless, Bobby leaves Sandy in the late 1960s and looks for new meaning in his life by becoming politically active and leaving behind the Las Vegas glitz for anti-war protest songs and hippie hairstyles. But the new `Bob Darin’ doesn’t work for the fans.
In the end, during the early 1970s, with his childhood illness finally catching up with him, Bobby must look to his friends, family and extraordinary talent to quell his demons and return to the stage to accept who he is and what his life has meant. Bobby Darin remains one of the great entertainers of all time with a rags to riches story unknown.