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Ian Paul

Occupation

Doing something or another.

Location

Orting, WA

Interests

Digital photography Horseshoe pitching Prestidigitation Pipes & Cigars Writing Movies Wine Coffee Art.

My name is Ian. I'm in my early 50s, and divorced. I have no children.

I enjoy pitching horseshoes, writing (poetry, essays,fiction), picnics, family and fine dining restaurants, movies (theater or at home), and bed and breakfasts. I'm probably better well-read on the subject of cigars and pipes than your average tobacconist, finding the history and lore of these subjects absolutely fascinating. Something few of my friends know (or remember, if they do know) is that occasionally I do a fire-eating act.

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Favorite Things

Beverages: Coffee (French Roast, especially if it's French Pressed); Tea (the real stuff, especially Earl Grey); Rob Roy; Martini; Margarita; Scotch (neat, if I've just had a rich meal, otherwise, with a bit of water); Bordeaux; Chianti; Cabernet Sauvignon; Johannesburg Riesling; Chocolate Coke Floats.

Books: Freakonomics; Lies My Teacher Told Me; There's No Zoo in Zoology.

Food: Sushi; Prime Rib; Lobster; Prawns; Veal; Spaghetti Puttanesca; Spaghetti Bolognese; Asparagus; Turnips; BBQ Chicken; BBQ Ribs; Rice Crispy Treats; Tiramisu; Afagato.

Getaways: Port Townsend, Washington; Leavenworth, Washington (or Leavenworths if you're from Arkansas); Bend, Oregon.

Movies: Romance; Romantic Comedy; Drama; Espionage; War; Western; Suspense; Horror.

Music: Pre-'80s Country & Western; '60s & '70s Rock; Jazz; Caribean; Scottish; Classical; New Age.

Restaurants: Sushi Town (Bonney Lake); Europa Bistro (Tacoma); Marzano's Italian Restaurant (Parkland); Silverwater Cafe (Port Townsend); Cafe Panini (Enumclaw); Red Robin (Puyallup); Khu Larb Thai (Port Townsend); Tyler Street Bakery (Port Townsend); The Mint (Enumclaw); The Ram (Tacoma & Puyallup); Momma Stortini's (Puyallup).

Romance: Eating out at a nice restaurant; Picnics; Movie Theaters; Concerts; Walks along the waterfront or in some other pleasant place; Sitting on the couch watching a good DVD while enjoying wine and cheese (or coffee and ice cream); Ice Skating; Bowling; Amusement Parks; Camping; Museums and Art Galleries.

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Ian Paulwrote:

Hey, thanks, Gavin. And I appreciate your remarks on my recent blog, too.

May 10

Gavinwrote:

Hi! I so glad to have you as my friend, not only in my friends list at my space.

I, for almost one hour, have been reading the entries you posted and the other parts of your space. I, finally, seems to be attracted by your entries, your experience, and those photos...

I can, I could learn more from your words... Not only English the language itself, but also more about life.

thx. :)

May 10

My Movie Wish List

A list of movies I want to get.


	American Gangster The true story of how a black man came to control the New York Mafia for a brief period of its history.

	Breach Superb espionage movie.

	Bridge to Terabithia A wonderful movie that deals with difficult life issues, such as when good people die for no apparent reason, and how to live with a bully in your life. Great movie for the whole family.

	Bridget Jones's Diary Bridget Jones, falls in love with Mark Darcy, a high-priced lawyer who has been too hurt in his past love relationships to fall in love ever again. However, there''s Daniel, Mark Darcy's nemesis, and seeing as Bridget is too impatient to wait for her true love, he's perfectly willing to dive between the sheets with her. But then Daniel ditches Bridget to be with an old girlfriend. But, of course, a schmuck who would do a thing like that cannot hold the interest of any but the skankiest of women for very long, so then he tries to go back to Bridget; but he's such a cad that he actually lets on to her that she's the best he can do -- not because he thinks she's the best so much as because he's hit rock bottom and is just too self-involved to do any better. In the end, of course, Mark Darcy realizes that, however much he's been hurt in love in the past, he's in love with Bridget and must risk being hurt again to have her.

	To End All Wars This is an absolutely gripping tale of the horrors of a Japanese concentration camp during World War II. To End All Wars is the true story of a battalion of soldiers, primarily from two Scottish regiments (the Black Watch and the Argyll Sutherland Highlanders), both renowned for their fearsome valor and military conquests, that is captured by the Japanese in Burma. These two regiments were to the British, perhaps, what the 104st Airborne Division is to the United States. Their capture by the Japanese was a great horror to the British people. The struggles of these two regiments, to survive the horrors of their POW experience, resulted in a division between the POWs when one charismatic leader appealed to his fellow inmates to pursue peace and forgiveness while another charismatic leader pushed them to pursue escape and revenge. A classic, must-see movie with a heartwarming ending.

	The Four Feathers Possibly Heath Ledger's best film, it is a tale of courage about a man regarded by his friends and former fiance as a coward. This is one of the best war movies I have seen. This is at least the seventh Hollywood version of this story (three were silent films), which speaks to the its compelling plot.

	Frequency Possibly the most plausible time-travel movie ever made. This one is virtually a drama, and very well made.

	Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes By far, the best Tarzan movie ever made. This is perhaps the first truly serious attempt to give real life to Edgar Rice Burroughs' most famous character. All the elements (plot, acting, props, costumes, locations) fit together perfectly to create a highly believable Tarzan of the Apes with serious drama and moving romance. A woman I took to see this, at the theater, actually wept at certain scenes.

	Groundhog Day A sweet romantic comedy about a man who keeps reliving the same day, Groundhog Day, over and over again. He stops reliving that day only when, finally, he gets it right.

	The Notebook A touching story about an aging convalescent who daily reads to a woman in his nursing home who has senile dementia about the love they once shared.

	The Number 23 A brilliant suspense film in the tradition of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.

	Once

	Ratatouille Possibly the only animated film I'm likely to buy.

	Return to Me A really great romantic comedy about a widower whose heart is donated to a girl who falls in love with the man before she realizes that her heart came from his wife. Very moving and sweet.

	Sabrina A classic remake of a classic film version of a classic play.

	Savannah Smiles This is a really cute story about a little rich girl who runs away from home because she feels neglected by her parents, and stows away in the back seat of the car of a couple of escaped felons who hold her for ransom. But the longer they hold the girl, the more their hearts are softened by her, until, at last, there is a bitter-sweet ending.

	Say Anything... A romantic comedy starring John Cussack (one of my favorite actors).

	Smoke Not to be confused with the 1993, 1971, or 1970 films of the same title, this is a story about several characters who all have something to do with a cigar store in New York.

	The Story of Us

	Tender Mercies A Country & Western musician whose downward spiral into the depths of drunkeness wakes up in an out of the way motel. He hires on with the widow who owns the place, and soon finds himself in love with her and caring for her boy. But he's got a daughter he never was around to father, and soon she shows up. Moreover, before his drunk, he had a successful Nashville career. A sweet story that illustrates what all romantic relationships ultimately are: Tender Mercies.

	Three Fugitives A very funny, sweet movie filmed primarily in Tacoma, Washington and environs, mostly near a number of my old haunts (the place where I used to live can be seen in some backgrounds). This is the story of an recently released convict who gets shanghaied into a bank robbery by a man who is desperate to provide special care for his mute daughter. A classic movie.

	Two for the Road

	Under the Tuscan Sun Starring one of my favorite actresses, this is the story of a wounded, divorced woman who moves to Italy and discovers her inner slut.

	A Wedding for Bella A sweet story about an Italian baker who concocts a plan to make an elderly woman happy before she dies by marrying her daughter. Complications arise, however, when he actually falls in love with the girl.

Blog

June 16

Talking about Fake But Fun Destinations - MSN Travel - Slide Show - 1

Quote

Fake But Fun Destinations - MSN Travel - Slide Show - 1

4:54 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

May 02

Astrology

I've never been into astrology, but a friend of mine keeps reading my horoscope from different astrologers, and I've been rather surprised to hear that what they say is actually pretty similar and seems right (on except for a few things which, when my friend researches it, is consistently explained, as well). Anyway, I came upon my horoscope, today, and was surprised not only by how remarkably accurate it seems, but especially by the "clean freak" thing. Too funny.

12:59 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Yours Truly

April 27

Photo Album

I've added a small photo album of photos of myself, just below my blog.

2:46 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Ian's Hotmail Spaces

My DVD Collection

I have posted all of the most significant DVDs in my collection. You can view my DVD collection below my photo album, below. As time permits, I will add brief descriptions to each DVD, and, in some cases, a few of my own comments on them. I have more than 50 other DVDs, but, in my opinion, they're not worth the shelf space they take up, much less the time it would have taken me to post them on Spaces.

2:39 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Ian's Hotmail Spaces

My First 100 DVDs

DVDs in Ian's Library


	Grosse Pointe Blank Double Feature with High Fidelity. Great story about an assassin who returns home after ten years to attend his high school reunion.

	High Fidelity Double feature with Grosse Pointe Blank. A romantic comedy about a really nice guy (John Cussack) who is has been stung in love one too many times and now is on a quest to find out why women always dump him. Cussack's character makes some really salient remarks about what true love should feel like, what it should be like.

	Pure Country Double feature with Honeysuckle Rose. A really sweet romance, with George Strait as the leading man, which the whole family can watch.

	Honeysuckle Rose Double feature with Pure Country.

	The Remains of the Day Double feature with Sense & Sensibility. A drama whose only tie with Sense & Sensibility is Emma Thompson. An interesting film, but lacking in apparent purpose and climax.

	Sense and Sensibility Double feature with Remains of the Day. Based on a Jane Austen novel, it's a story about young women in a once well-to-do family seeking marriages that will provide both love and security in a society where women of dwindling resources often had no choice but to marry for security alone.

	The Wedding Date A triple feature with Prime and Wimbledon. A romantic comedy about a woman who pays $6,000.00 to a professional escort, to have him fly to London with her and pretend to be her sweetheart in order to make an old boyfriend jealous. Predictably, she falls in love with her escort. This was a very enjoyable romantic comedy.

	Prime A triple feature with The Wedding Date and Wimbledon. A romantic comedy about a cougar who confesses her enchantment with her lover to her psychiatrist, describing the feelings he provokes in her, how sexy she thinks he is, his lovemaking skills, etc. But her lover turns out to be her psychiatrist's son.

	Wimbledon A triple feature with The Wedding Date and Prime. A gripping romantic drama (why it was included with two romantic comedies is inexplicable) about, well. . . Tennis. Of course, it's not really about tennis, per se; tennis is merely the vehicle for the story. This is the only movie ever filmed at Wimbledon.

	Get Shorty A double feature with Be Cool.

	Be Cool A double feature with Get Shorty.

	Spanglish A double feature with 50 First Dates.

	50 First Dates A double feature with Spanglish. A charming romantic comedy, albeit a bit far-fetched, about an average guy who falls in love with a girl who suffers from a heretofore unknown form of amnesia that causes her to forget everything that happened the day before, forcing her to live with the present day, only, and her memories of what happened up until her head injury.

	The Sweetest Thing Double feature with Little Black Book. A romantic comedy about a slut who in her pursuit of Mr. Right-now finds Mr. Right. But the catch is, he's not an easy catch for her to land.

	Little Black Book A double feature with The Sweetest Thing. A romantic comedy that comes off more like a black comedy.

	3:10 to Yuma A western movie about a zealous, albeit poor, rancher who dedicates himself to bringing a notorious outlaw to trial, inspite of the fact that deadly outlaws surround him with a view to freeing his hostage.

	8MM 2 The sequel to 8MM, this movie doesn't leave the viewer feeling quite so contaminated as the original. Excellent plot with a good surprise ending.

	10 Things I Hate About You

	13 Going on 30 A romantic comedy about a 13 year old girl who wishes she was 30 and flirty, and who magically gets her wish only to discover that she has become a heartless bitch who steamrolls over those who stand in her way and has forfeited intimacy with someone who truly loves her for sex with men who are merely glamorous.

	61*

	Air Force One

	All the King's Men

	Analyze This An exceptionally funny comedy about a Mafia don who is having a mental breakdown, who seeks attention from an unwilling psychiatrist.

	Analyze That The sequel to Analyze This, it is essentially more of Analyze That. Very funny, but not quite so funny as the original.

	Apocalypse Now Redux Quite possibly the most tedious war movie ever made. It is unmitigated torture to watch this pointless yawn of a yarn.

	Atonement A very moving drama about a precocious 13 year-old girl who, after she comes to grips with the fact that she has ruined the lives of her older sister and the man her sister loves, seeks atonement through the novels she writes.

	The Avengers Based on the classic television series of the same name, the movie incorporates story lines from some of the most memorable episodes. Fun and nostalgic, but not as compelling as one might hope.

	Baby's Day Out One of the funniest comedies ever. I had always hated Three Stooges kind of humor, and this is just that sort of humor, but, nevertheless, it hooked me and reeled me in.

	Becoming Jane A great romantic drama, in the tradition of a Jane Austen novel. It's a fictional story that's very loosely based on facts, but which is well told and entirely enjoyable.

	Benny & Joon

	Better Off Dead

	The Big Tease

	The Bodyguard

	The Bourne Identity

	The Bourne Supremacy

	The Bourne Ultimatum

	Casanova

	Casualties of War

	Chariots of Fire A true story of courage and determination, about a man who stood by his convictions (however absurd they were) in the face of great opposition.

	Click Perhaps Adam Sandler's most thoughtful contribution to the world of cinema.

	Confidence

	Conspiracy Theory

	Crank An action-packed story about a man who has been poisoned and who seeks to avenge himself before the toxin does its job.

	Darkness

	Deeply

	Die Hard

	Die Hard 2: Die Harder

	Die Hard With a Vengeance

	Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

	Das Boot A moving tale about a World War II German submarine. The original was in German with English subtitles; the DVD includes a dubbed English version which is very, very good (most of the time it appears as if the speakers are actually speaking English, and the voices just sound right). This is a classic submarine film, well worth watching.

	Excalibur

	Double Jeopardy

	A Farewell to Arms

	Feast of Love

	Flags of Our Fathers

	For Love of the Game

	Frank and Jesse

	The Girl Next Door

	Gone With the Wind

	The Good Shepherd

	The Godfather

	The Godfather Part II

	The Godfather Part III

	Hart's War Perhaps Bruce Willis's best performance ever. A truly warming war movie.

	Hitman

	The Holiday

	Hope Floats Get out the Puffs Pluss, this one is a real tear-jerker. The theme is that hope floats, which is a crock. Shit floats; hope sinks like a rock.

	How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days This is a clever romantic comedy about a young journalist who is fed up with writing fluff pieces (e.g.," Cosmetic Tips to Make Him Sit Up and Take Notice" and "Ten Exciting Ways to Spice Up Your Sex Life") and wants to write serious stories (e.g., "What Every Woman Can Do to Save the Environment" and "Exposed: Europe's White Slavery Trade"). The heroine is assigned to investigate what it is that women typically do that cause men to dump them, and to write an essay titled, "How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days." When she is pitted against, or matched with, a most eligible bachelor who has wagered with his associates that he can make a woman fall in love with him in ten days, sparks fly. It's a well orchestrated plot, and a lot of fun to watch.

	The Hunted

	The Hunt for Red October

	Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

	Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

	Interview An artsy film about a pathetic man who is a serious news journalist sent to do an interview with an equally pathetic actress for a fluff piece that will promote her next film. Both he and she have hidden agendas, both he and she are huge pretenders. They both have a chance to be real and find something satisfying together, but while for a while the appear to actually take that chance, ultimately neither one does. An interesting film that lacks a satisfying ending.

	Intolerable Cruelty A fun romantic comedy about a suave, handsome attorney and a sophisticated, gorgeous dragon-lady client. Sparks fly when the lawyer finds himself very much in love with his client. But, where he is a no-holds barred divorce lawyer who always wins his cases, she is a professional at marrying men for their fortunes and then divorcing them. They both have a chance to be real and find something satisfying together, and happily they do.

	The Jackal

	The Jane Austen Book Club

	Jenifer My only horror.

	Joyeux Noel

	Just Like Heaven A charming story about a young woman who is in a lengthy coma, on the brink of death, and whose spirit beleaguers her apartment which, in her absence, her family has rented to a single man. Of course, romance blossoms between the spirit of the girl in the coma and the renter of her appartment, but what's he to do when he finds out her family has decided to pull the plug on her? Most viewers will no doubt find the ending very satisfying; I felt that a more realistic ending would have been much better (even if it was perhaps a bit too sad).

	King Kong

	In the Line of Fire

	Lord of War

	Love Actually

	Love Potion No. 9

	Maid in Manhattan

	The Majestic

	The Man in the Iron Mask

	The Man Who Knew Too Much

	Marie Antoinette This is interesting as a historical piece, even if somewhat fictionalized. Alas, the most interesting part of the story (the beheading of Marie Antoinette) was left out. Rather amusing was the split second shot of the pastel blue hightop Coach Converse sneakers amid the pile of Marie Antoinette's 16th century shoes.

	Memoirs of a Geisha

	Mrs. Doubtfire

	Music and Lyrics

	Must Love Dogs

	Mystic Pizza

	The Natural

	Next

	Notting Hill This is a reverse Cinderella story, where the Princess picks a common man to be her sweetheart. It's a very romantic and very funny romantic comedy. The soundtrack is terrific, too.

	An Officer and a Gentleman

	Open Range

My Second 100 DVDs

DVDs in Ian's Library


	Pale Rider

	The Peacemaker

	Pretty Woman

	Pride & Prejudice

	The Queen

	The Quick and the Dead

	Random Hearts

	The Recruit

	Rob Roy

	The Scarlet Pimpernel

	The Sentinel

	Serendipity A classic romantic comedy with lots of chemistry.

	Shallow Hal

	Sheena

	Sideways

	Sleepless in Seattle

	Sling Blade

	Some Girl

	Someone Like You

	Something's Gotta Give

	Splash

	Stand by Me

	Stranger Than Fiction

	Stuck on You

	Transformers

	The Transporter

	U-571

	Unforgiven

	Urban Cowboy

	The Wedding Planner

	What Women Want

	When Harry Met Sally

	Witness