Small steps & a few punches

I managed my first real 'run' in about two weeks yesterday afternoon: all of 2 miles from the house to the bridge over Rummel Creek, at the start of the Terry Hershey Trail by Beltway 8.  Not much but better than a kick in the head, as my old boss Martin Pieterse used to say.  So far so good, no pain or tightness in the knee this morning.  The strengthening exercises seem to be working - I've increased the size of the ankle weights from 5 to 7 pounds and will gradually add more weight up to a maximum of 10 pounds per leg.

Other than the running I have been doing some Crossfit type workouts with a mix of rowing, stretch bands, general calisthenics and punching the heavy bag.  My boxing skills (that's a stretch) are woeful, too bad there's not one of those old-fashioned gyms around here to get some instruction on throwing an uppercut or a left hook.  A 1-2 (jab-straight right) or a 1-2-3 (jab-straight right-left hook) combination?  Mix in a few uppercuts?  Land a few body blows, step back, step forward - weave and bob, left right left.  Doesn't that make you want to take up boxing right away?  I would box more if it weren't so tedious to put the gloves on and take them off.  First you have to protect your hands by wrapping with yards of tape or using a separate shock-absorbing glove.  Then you get to the actual gloves themselves.  The first one is not so bad, but the second one is a battle.  Once you've got them on, no way you can press the button on a timer or hold a cup of tea.  Trust me, I've tried...

Kathleen and I saw Inception over the weekend and while I was impressed with the entire production, and marveled at the depth of the fascinating concept and its brilliant execution, I had my hand in my pocket for the car keys, about 15 minutes before it was all over.  Just one too many shots of vehicles sliding around or falling off bridges, gun-toting skiers flashing by, and seemingly never-ending general mayhem and pyrotechnics.So put me down as entertained but not enthusiastic - I liked Memento a whole lot more. Inception ends up with too much exposition and too little emotion.  This is a dream that goes on far too long.  Wake me up already.

By contrast, Jean Luc Goddard's Breathless, which we saw at the Museum of Fine Arts on Friday night, in its recently restored version, is a masterpiece on many levels.  Shot 50 years ago, it still feels fresh and imaginative. Beautifully shot in black and white with (then) revolutionary techniques such as hand-held cameras and long tracking shots, there's really not much to the story but Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg are quirky and fascinating.  The boulevards and alleys of Paris make for an appealing backdrop to this slice-of-life drama where spontaneity and unpredictability trump story or plotline.  Breathless has some banal sequences but even those scenes, like the two main characters just chatting away in a small apartment room, contribute to a satisfying and memorable 90 minutes at the movies.