You have a muzzled dancing monkey, a little cup in a hairy hand

Watched The Magnificent Seven earlier today. I've seen Seven Samurai, the film it was based on, about ten times, and I knew going into it that there was no way it was going to live up to it's brilliance. Seven Samurai is one of my favorite movies, and if I wasn't adverse to rating works of art numerically, I'd say it was in my top three. While the Magnificent Seven wasn't an improvement over the original, it was a good movie all the same. It followed the story of Seven Samurai pretty faithfully, with only a few minor changes, but missed out on it's richness and depth.
--
Traded some cd's in at Newbury Comics today and came away with some gems. I got the import of Donovan's '67 Anaheim concert which I've been meaning to get; Liege and Lief, by Fairport Convention, a stunning album that for some reason I never got around to getting until today; Sweet Child, a split studio and live album by Pentangle, Bert Jansch's old band; and A Gift From a Flower to a Garden, another Donovan record I'd been meaning to get. And of course I've been rocking the T.Rex. Tanx is the one I've been digesting lately. It seems I've landed in late 1960's/early '70's England. Fine with me.
--
Interesting bit of synchronicity today. I had been reading from The Beast of Bray Road, a book about a strange wolf-like creature that many witnesses reported seeing lurking about in Wisconsin, often walking upright. I put it down after reading a chapter on actual wolves and about a half hour later, Spira called and told me she thought she saw a wolf walking along a patch of ground near the on-ramp of 93. We determined, based on the way she described it, that it was a coyote. Still, though, pretty interesting. Too bad for me I wasn't reading about someone getting a massage, because then maybe I'd get a call from Spira telling me she saw someone getting a massage on a patch of ground near the on-ramp of 93. No, that wouldn't have benefited me in the slightest. Better if I just make an appointment somewhere for a massage.
--
Had a delicious salad for dinner that gave me a nice jolt of energy. In it was avocado, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, black beans, shrimp, grapes, tomatoes, onions, and of course, lettuce. Hells, yeah!
--
Now that I've divulged what was on the dinner menu, something I know you were dying to read about, I will finish my coffee and see if I can't work on some music.