for what could well be the two hundredth time. I used to watch it every time I got insomnia. Lauren Bacall, Humphery Bogart.

Bogart plays Philippe Marlow -- a "private dick" or a "shamus" depending on your favored terminology

"Eddie Mars: Convenient, the door being open when you didn't have a key, eh?
Philip Marlowe: Yeah, wasn't it. By the way, how'd you happen to have one?
Eddie Mars: Is that any of your business?
Philip Marlowe: I could make it my business.
Eddie Mars: I could make your business mine.
Philip Marlowe: Oh, you wouldn't like it. The pay's too small."

Marlow's a tough guy, honest, has a good right hook and women fall in his lap despite his bulldog looks and his lack of charm....

"Philip Marlowe: I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them on long winter evenings."

The whole movie is full of amazing quotes. The first 20 minutes is hypnotizingly clever.

"General Sternwood: Do you like orchids?
Philip Marlowe: Not particularly.
General Sternwood: Ugh. Nasty things. Their flesh is too much like the flesh of men, and their perfume has the rotten sweetness of corruption."

My favorite scene comes a bit later though. Bogart and Bacall are flirting, and it's very ... naughty....

Vivian: Speaking of horses, I like to play them myself. But I like to see them workout a little first, see if they're front runners or comefrom behind, find out what their whole card is, what makes them run.
Marlowe: Find out mine?
Vivian: I think so.
Marlowe: Go ahead.
Vivian: I'd say you don't like to be rated. You like to get out in front, open up a little lead, take a little breather in the backstretch, and then come home free.
Marlowe: You don't like to be rated yourself.
Vivian: I haven't met anyone yet that can do it. Any suggestions?
Marlowe: Well, I can't tell till I've seen you over a distance of ground. You've got a touch of class, but I don't know how, how far you can go.
Vivian: A lot depends on who's in the saddle."

I recommend renting next time you can't sleep....

Today I bought a gift and had it wrapped. I wasn't shown any wrapping paper, just asked to choose between red, blue, ivory and something else (my memory fails me).

It reminded me a lot of being on an airplane and being asked beef or chicken. For someone like me, who eats anything that's cooked well, that question means nothing. I'd rather be told what the sauce is (BBQ or teryaki), or how it's cooked (boiled or grilled) of what cuisine (french or japanese) than "beef or chicken." It's like walking into an art gallery and having the salesman ask you "oil or acrylic."

The ivory had pineapples on it. I was not properly prepared.