Movie Review: Mojave Moon

Only For Die Hard Fans of Angelina Jolie
I wouldn't have watched this movie if it were not freely available on Youtube and if I didn't have a few hours to kill and was feeling too lazy to go out and do something productive. Anyway the highlight of this movie is the surgeon's masterpiece Angelina Jolie, in her pre-famous avatar.

The movie starts with Al McCord, a divorced used-car dealer from New York, who is trying to make a new life in Los Angeles. When he is hanging out at his favorite restaurant with friends and gawking at the beautiful girls passing by. In comes the the thick-lipped and big-busted Ellie (Angelina Jolie) and starts talking to him. She convinces him to go with her to Mohave Desert, to visit her mother.

The road trip completely transforms Al's life, Ellie falls in love with him, he falls in love with her mother. Then there is her mother's jealous, violent and drunk boyfriend who is ultra-possessive not only of the mother but also about daughter. Al meets with Jolie's mother and spends some time with her and heads back to LA only to find a half-dead man in his trunk. Al gets back to LA and starts wondering what to do about the body and his car gets stolen. The rest of the movie is how they escape from Jolie's mother's boyfriend and how Al and the latter hook up.

This movie is completely passable, and only Jolie's fans could probably watch this movie without getting exasperated. There are some scenes where Jolie reveals her surgeon-sculpted body. There is absolutely no storyline at all. Take my advise don't watch it.

Oliva's Adobe near Los Angeles

During our recent visit to Los Angeles we took a day off to look around and explore the beautiful countryside. As we drove towards Channel Islands we saw brown signs directing to "Olivas Adobe". The brown sign indicated that it was a state-recognised park or historic site. We decided to take a closer look and detoured off towards the Adobe.

Fountain at the Entrance to Olivas Adobe

Entrance to Olivas Adobe

Main entrance to Olivas Adobe - Another view

Main entrance to Olivas Adobe - Close up

According to the information onsite this is the one of the earliest two-storey Adobe (I guess home or abode) in the Santa Clara river valley. This was originally built in 1837 and expanded in 1849 by Don Raimundo Olivas, a prosperous cattle rancher. This is a California registered historical landmark. There is nothing special about the home/ building except that it is built of brick, mortar and mud and not wood, foam and shingles. The Olivas apparently had 21 children and I must say I admire the woman who spent 21 years of her life giving birth to offspring. She must have been one strong woman.
Antiquated Machinery at the Olivas Adobe

The home with large front, side and back yards is completely self contained, there are classrooms, bedrooms, entertainment rooms and a large playground too. So pretty much I would guess the children were schooled at home. What I found really impressive at the Olivas Adobe is two large plants: a grape vine and a fuchsia bush. According to signboards both these plants were planted in the 19th century and have survived more than 100 years and continue to thrive.

The fuchsia was planted by the 21st child of the Olivas in 1899 and is recognised by the British Fuchsia Society as the oldest, still flowering Fuchsia plant in the world. This plant belongs to the "Schiller" variety and has flowers with white petals around magenta sepals.
Fuchsia Plant

The Grape Arbor was apparently planted in 1860s and still bears bunches of purple grapes and we did pluck and taste a couple. They were sweet and juicy. I am definitely impressed by these plants and the way they have been preserved even after a hundred years.

Entrance to a Golf Course adjacent to Olivas Adobe

Beauty of Nature's creations

During my recent visit to California we stopped by at the Malibou temple. The temple is a beautiful white structure built as per South Indian style of architecture. But this post is not about the temple, it is about the antics of a squirrel I saw in the temple parking lot. This little creature was enjoying the summer prancing around the cars, bushes and trees in the open. It was a delight to watch this creature enjoying itself in nature without a care in the world. I tried to capture some of its interesting antics in my camera. Here are some of the better pictures...

The first sighting: squirrel looking for food scraps in the parking lot

As soon as the squirrel saw us walking, it scampered across the tarmac for cover

Stopped on the ledge ready to spring, waiting to see what we were upto

Trying to take cover or looking for food inside a car bumper

After roaming around parked cars, the squirrel came back to pose for pictures