I can't believe people are taking this boycott of all things French seriously. In line at the box office last night one woman told another she shouldn't be watching The Pianist because it's a Canal+ production! Fortunately the thought police didnt' bother me because I was there (at the megaplex in Amarillo) to see a Japanese import, Spirited Away by Hiyao Miyazaki of Princess Mononoke fame. I was shocked to find it playing in the area, and since there was a big severe weather conference being held yesterday in Amarillo anyway, I decided to make an extended outing of it. I loved the movie. It's a Japanese Alice in Wonderland in which a girl is trapped alone in a weird, magical world full of Shintoist spirits, sorcerers, and mythical creatures. It's as imaginative and exciting as the first Star Wars, and the theme is refresingly personal (you know, love and all that sort of stuff) compared to the cosmic doomsday plots I'm used to seeing in other anime films. Go see it, on the big screen if you can.

While in Amarillo I stocked up on alcohol, and it was in this way I violated the embargo, finding some Merlot from Bordeaux and, amazingly, a bottle of Calvados from Normandy. I don't know if the latter is a well-known brand but it better be good given how much I paid for it! The beer I bought, though, was Czech (Pilsner Urquell) and American (New Belgium), so I hope that cancels out the treasonous French purchases.

I also ate dinner at the little Latin American restaurant I had first tried back in December and, of course, had a chat with the owner/waitress. (As Pablo pointed out to me, it's easy to engage people in conversation when you're giving them money.) To blow time before the movie I stopped by the Hastings (an all-purpose entertainment store for smaller markets in the South and West) and, I am proud to say, bought only one used CD, the Velvet Underground's Loaded, with the gems "Rock and Roll" and "Sweet Jane" worth every penny.

The storm conference was an all day affair held in the civic center. A few hundred people were in attendance. It was a pretty big deal, I reckon, since there were a number of speakers from the meteorological equivalent of the Pentagon, the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, and a lightning expert flew down from Chicago. Meteorologists from the NWS bureaux in Amarillo and Lubbock spoke, and there was a panel discussion with the local TV weathermen, one of whom was very funny for someone in a profession almost as nerdy as librarianship. I learned a few things I hadn't learned from the brief spotter training in Plainview, and I was excited to hear that everyone expects a strong storm season this year. I'm already on the lookout for anvil clouds.

I didn't get out of the movie until midnight. Add an hour for daylight savings and another 75 minutes for the drive back and, not surprisingly, I ended up sleeping in this morning. I might go down to Lubbock this evening for our supper and church history class, but my house really needs a good spring cleaning so perhaps I should devote the day to that.