COUNTDOWN TO DENVER

Richard and Judy left early on Wednesday (the day after I got back from Florida) and we're off to Denver tomorrow for the DNC convention, so the remainder of the week has been spent trying to see as much of our DC friends as possible, as we're both away for the whole of the rest of August.

I've managed to see a lot of Anne in the past few days, which has been lovely, because I found myself missing her while we were away and was so happy to be welcomed back by a note from her on our door - it made the return to reality after Costa Rica more bearable.

Anne came out to dinner with us and Max's folks on Tuesday night, when we went to Bistrot du Coin, which is a French restaurant down the road from our flat, that Max usually goes to with his Guardian friend Oliver. It was a really lovely evening, though frankly anything unrelated to hurricanes would've been nice. The restaurant is always really busy and the waiters take the French authenticity so far as to be kind of rude while serving, which is nice.

On Wednesday night we swapped fine French cuisine for the finest food the Chinatown cinema could offer when we went to see 'Pineapple Express'. A supper of hot dogs, popcorn and diet coke - as nutritious as it is delicious. The movie was ok, but not brilliant - it felt a bit episodic and got a bit random. But James Franco was a revelation! So adorable! And seemed to really be acting, showing Seth Rogen up to be just a bit of a mook who was playing himself.

Unfortunately I think I'll be getting something of a reputation at the cinema concession stand, I was back there again last night, ordering exactly the same supper. I hasten to add that this had never been our plan. We met up with Alison, Emily, Patrick and Leanna for drinks at Poste, which has a nice outdoor courtyard, and were going to go for supper with them. But then Emily had to bail because she's dogsitting in Alexandria and wanted to get there before it was too late and I can't remember why Alison had to go, but she left early too.

So Patrick, Leanna, Maxy and I decided to go and see 'Tropic Thunder' but it was starting so soon that we didn't have time to go to a restaurant, and that's what brought me back to exactly the same server at the same cinema concession stand, ordering the same toxic-but-tasty supper.

We were pretty disappointed by 'Tropic Thunder'. Tom Cruise's cameo was way overrated, Jack Black didn't do anything and Ben Stiller was just Ben Stiller. Plus, again it felt a bit like a sketch show, all episodic rather than hanging together as a whole movie. Robert Downey Jr was freakishly amazing, though and Jay Baruchel - who I've hearted since 'Undeclared' (Judd Apatow's follow-up series to 'Freaks & Geeks') - was fantastic and I really hope this film does great things for him.

So tomorrow we're off to Denver - yippee! I'm really looking forward to it, though have been on quite enough planes already this month for my/Al Gore's liking. Ugh.