FARGO, THE LEFTOVERS, and BETTER CALL SAUL continue to delight me with their offbeat plots, terrific soundtracks, great acting, and gorgeous look. Damien Lindelof (LEFTOVERS) Noah Hawley (FARGO) and Vince Galligan and his writing team (BCS) have invented a new sort of TV show where many episodes function as short stories, separate from the story arc.
Phil continues to regain strength. Six months of chemo took a toll on us but things look a little rosier now. Thanks especially to the friends who have been along side us through this. You can never have too many friends. I really appreciate this more than ever now.
GRADUATION is a Romanian movie about a father whose daughter is assaulted on the eve of taking an important exam, which will allow her to go to Cambridge and escape the hard life people still live in Romania. They have some tough decisions to make. There is no pretty scenery in this one. So why does this make me happy? It's the artfulness of the film. It's the questions it poses. It's the quality of the acting and directing and the story.
It is making me happy that Phil is going to two men's groups. One is just ten men or so kicking whatever comes up around: sports, health, politics, restaurants in the area. The other is more formal. They bring a speaker in every Wednesday (hump day) and so far they have had a guy who spent 29 years in jail and was finally released, a guy running for City Clerk in Detroit who discussed its problems, and a guy from the World Bank. These activities were not available in our old neighborhood. So glad we moved even though we live in the money pit.
I am going out to dinner tonight with a new friend I have grown to like a lot. Here is her story. I wish I had the talent to tell it. If you have the time, this is really worth reading. Ina Silbergleit
13 comments:
I'm happy that the weeks of rain are finally drying up. We did get few snowflakes last night!
I'm excited about our upcoming trip to GOOGLE LAND to visit Patrick and see his new apartment.
I'm glad Art Scott decided not to mortgage his house to buy Prada fashions with Robert McGinnis paperback covers silk-screened on them. Some aspects of collecting have to be moderated.
Finally, I wish all the mothers who read Patti's blog a Happy Mother's Day!
It makes me happy to hear the good news about Phil. Sounds as if he's his old self again, which is very good news.
Thanks, guys. Hope your treatment is not too arduous, Bill. It really seems to differ from folk to folk.
Great news about Phil getting stronger. It does take time, and as we get older things do seem to take longer.
Carrie Coon has had quite a showcase, what with the very different roles on THE LEFTOVERS and FARGO running at the same time.
Jackie has been complaining a lot more lately about the dirt and crowds in Midtown, especially compared with Florida, but I'm enjoying getting to so many more shows this year. We've seen four in the last few weeks, have three more sets of tickets for the next three Sundays as well as one in June. And considering the price of a Broadway show, we've paid between $28 and $41 a ticket, which is quite the bargain.
I imagine New York would get harder and harder to negotiate as we age. Of course, you don't live in Midtown so maybe not.
Holy Moly, what a story Ms. Silbergleit has. Also glad to hear Phil is improving.
I'm full of more complaints than joys this week. But, there were bright spots.
- I was able to get the lawn mowed after borrowing my neighbor's mower.
- We avoided a $400 van repair bill. For now.
- I may be able to perform a couple additional van repairs and save expenses on a 200k mile vehicle I don't want to spend money on.
- The library is again hosting the school district art show and I like several of the clay pieces. goo.gl/n4pXnX https://goo.gl/WG2Cu1
Oh, here is one. I had to work Saturday but was still able to catch the end of a Kentucky Derby party hosted by a friend. It's always good to see people and included a pal dressed like this: https://goo.gl/0lgkck
I'm happy we went to the Clackamah County Spring Garden Show and Sale yesterday (we go every year, it's a big deal with nearly a hundred vendors. It was a really beautiful day. We had a short list, but bought some beautiful plants, and put most of them in yesterday. We be in the garden again today finishing up. The garden looks so nice!
I'm happy Phil is feeling better!
I'm happy with the improving weather.
Happy I got approved for a co-op apt in downtown Royal Oak. Nicer location than here in Pontiac, plus $100 cheaper plus it will cut my car insurance in half. Although moving with all my books, cds, movies and electronics is going to be a nightmare
Not so happy that the Tigers closer blew 2 games in a row.
Steve-I live right across Woodward in Huntington Woods. We'll have to meet up.
Reading the good news about Phil put a smile on my face. You and he have more people on your side than you realize.
It's been a good week for me:
While checking my x-rays, my doctor said that I have the knees of an 18-year-old. (I'm hoping that kid doesn't want my knees back.)
While driving grandson Mark to a party, we again realized how lucky we were. Mark is an amazingly good kid, with a sweet soul, and never a bad word about anyone. He's friends all come from the same mold as Mark. All of our grandkids are great, but sometimes you just have to stop and consider their individual good qualitites.
Speaking of grandkids, I was impressed as Erin practiced tossing (and catching) a rifle for her high school's color guard. Was also impressed when she showed us all the bruises she got as she perfected her toss.
I started using the library system one county over. My local library system has a very limited selection (and no Interlibrary Loan!). In it's defense, the local system is only ten years old and is staffed by some very wonderful people. But now, I can also get a much wider selection of books and am now able to use ILL. Yay!
I watched President Obama receive the Profile in Courage Award. Truly a class act and deserving of this award.
Gerard-every week has its own vibe, doesn't it. I could easily tell you about the five horrible things most weeks.
But we all need to embrace Jerry's exuberance. I love how much he loves his grandkids and his alternative library system. Your happiness gives me happiness, peeps.
Carrie Coon is amazing. And I wish I had gone to see Laurie Metcalf on Broadway.
Google Land sounds just about right for us now.
Further congratulation to Phil and you for the good progress!
You know, there are a lot of tv series that have alternated standalone episodes (or nearly so) with ongoing arcs...certainly the standalones tended to be the better episodes of ST.ELSEWHERE and THE X-FILES...
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