Enjoying STEALING THE SHOW by Joy Press, about female-led shows (MURPHY BROWN, ROSEANNE, etc). This refers to the show-runner more than the star. Also reading THAT KIND OF MOTHER by Rumaan Alam. Maybe Philip Roth had trouble with creating real female characters, but Rumaan does not.
It got hot here. Skipped right over spring as usual. The flowering trees are coming to an end. May is the most gorgeous month here. No contest.
Admired more than liked THE RIDER. Too much about breaking in horses and rodeos for me.
What about you?
17 comments:
Oh, that music does sound fun, Patti, even if the focus is mostly on heavy metal. What a great kid he seems to be!
I am so impressed in general with people who have musical talent, but when it's a kid like Kevin, even more so.
The weather has continued to be bizarre - there was an article this week saying that ice cream sellers basically lost 6 prime weeks of their selling season due to the cold Spring, and now we've gone right to summer, with occasional forays the other way. It dropped from a high of 89 on Saturday to 59 on Sunday.
Books, books, and more books are the good part. I'm reading three collections of stories (Robert Sheckley, Elaine Viets, Edward D. Hoch), among other things, and I'm accumulating more ebooks all the time.
I enjoyed the 2013 documentary GOOD OL' FREDA, about former Beatles' secretary Freda Kelly, who went to work for Brian Epstein when she was 17. I loved her stories about how close she was to the families, as when Ringo ("Ritchie")'s mother badgered Epstein to give Freda a raise, which he did.
We're watching TRAVELERS (season two) and THE RAIN (Danish) on Netflix, and WILD AT HEART (season five), THE INDIAN DOCTOR (season one), and GIRLFRIENDS on Amazon Prime/Acorn, as well as the last of THE AMERICANS (ends this week) and BARRY.
I have to admit I did not quite appreciate BARRY the way the critics did. Just like I never really got into SILICON VALLEY.
I didn't love BARRY either, but I like him and I thought Henry Winkler was a hoot.
Agree on SILICON VALLEY.
Diane and I attended a college GRADUATION PARTY (our nephew's son) in Ohio. It was good to see family members we haven't seen in years. This area is thrilled by the Cleveland Cavaliers defeating the Boston Celtics in Game 7. And the Cleveland Indians managed to come back from an 8-3 hole to beat the Houston Astros in 14 innings!
I managed to get some reading done: Lionel White (master of caper novels), Philip Roth (I might do a tribute to him on my blog), and another YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION volume.
The weather in Ohio is hot, hot, hot!
I used to read a lot of diaries, but haven't in some time. I'm reading one now - THEFT BY FINDING by David Sedaris, covering 1977-2002. He's said that he has 154 VOLUMES of his diaries. I have a Roth volume ready as soon as I finish some of the things I'm reading now.
Sometimes I think it would be a lot easier if I just read one thing at a time, but as a rule, I rarely do that.
Mark graduated high school this week. Off to college in the fall.
Memorial Day.
Our wheelchair has made the rounds. We bought it for Kitty's mother when she lived with us for the last two years of her life. Since then, it's been loaned out to half a dozen families for one emergency or another. This week Jessamyn used it for Mark's graduation because the chemo knocked the bejeezus out of her. A good investment.
Looks like we're going to survive Alberto, who seems to have skipped us for the most part. My personal opinion: Alberto was afraid of invoking Kitty's wrath.
Watched a very strange Sherlock Holmes movie that we had never heard of before. Amazingly, it's title is SHERLOCK HOLMES, a 2010 straight-to-video film starring Ben Syder as the great detective. Sea monsters, dinosaurs, fire breathing dragons, robots, a plot to destroy London and assassinate Queen Victoria, and the answer to what happened to Holmes' brother (Thorpe, not Mycroft)...all jumbled together with mediocre acting from a cast of unknowns (to me, anyway). The denizens of the slums of London all have clean white shirts. Yep, a perfect film for those with no taste and a desire to go slumming to watch. I loved it.
Oh, and there's a new kitten in Jessamyn's house, a Maine coon five weeks old. It was found nestled in the motor of one of Amy's coworkers' car. Her name is Anise and she has a clean bill of health and she likes to cuddle. They're going to let her get a bit bigger before they introduce her to the other cats, the dogs, and the snake.
In a few days June will be busting out all over. I hope it busts out all sorts of happy things for you and yours, Patti.
No spring here. Just went from April to July. Supposed to hit 95 today.
Went with my oldest daughter and one of my grandsons to the Detroit Tigers game on Sunday. They won which was nice. It was a brisk 2 1/2 hr game which was nice considering the temps.
Finished watching Barry which I enjoyed. Also liking Patrick Melrose with Hugo Weaving as the father from hell. Watching the Rain a Danish show but it has a lot of plot holes. Read All the Pieces Matter a oral history of The Wire. Read The Outsider the new Stephen King. I would give it a B. Read fast. Am now rereading Lonesome Dove one of my favorite books of all time.
I agree on the holes in the plotting of THE RAIN. Not much explanation. We've only seen a few episodes so far, but where were Martin and the others during the six years from the original rain to the point where they met Simone and Rasmus? Many other unanswered questions.
I'm waiting for the ebook of ALL THE PIECES MATTER to come in at the library. Agree on LONESOME DOVE, one of my all-time favorite books.
Heavy metal!!!!!
Happy memorial Day, Patti and Phil.
and...here I am posting my comment about the time everyone else is long gone. Sigh. I'm happy with our weather. The more I read about the rest of you mentioning your temperatures, the happier I am with Portland. It's in the mid-70s this week, will stay so through Tuesday, when we may have needed showers (we're below the usual amount for this time of year), then more 70s. Sunny, clear, warm not hot, perfect. Yes, I guess I'm bragging. The Iris are all blooming, the late Rhodies too, the Hosta are all flourishing and will probably bloom in a few weeks. And the Bellflowers (Campanula)! Oh My!
We finished a difficult 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle yesterday. We usually have one under way all the time now, but that will slack off soon as we're in the garden and on the go more.
I finished RAGGED LAKE by Ron Corbett and liked it pretty well. It's his first novel and first in a series, the second of which will be out late this year. The cop is an interesting character. I also read THE CAVES OF FEAR by John Blaine, which was fun, and CHANUR'S PRIDE, a science fiction novel by C. J. Cherryh. Haven't watched any TV or video except the PBS Newshour and the PBS Great American Read. Naturally I disagree with many of the selections.
I hope you have great holiday. I so much appreciate your blog, and all the work you put into it every day. Thank you so much!
Yes, Rick Robinson, THE CAVES OF FEAR is one of the most fun of the YA Rick Brant Electronic Adventures from the 1950s-1960s. THE WHISPERING BOX MYSTERY is probably my favorite...
(Rick Libott)
Patti, I just got around to reading the NY TIMES article (May 25) on Philip Roth's best book. Megan weighed in by choosing AMERICAN PASTORAL. Now I want to go back and reread it!
The majority seemed to pick that one, George. I would choose it too although Goodbye Columbus reminds me of being young.
LONESOME DOVE is everyone's favorite book.
I hope I get to visit Portland sometime.
Yes, chemo is the pits, Jerry. Phil can't shake the fatigue and nausea no matter what they prescribe.
Heard Sedaris on the radio and it reminded me how much I enjoy his writing.
I have tried LONESOME DOVE twice. I didn't make it past 100 pages either time. I kept asking myself, "why am I wading through this?" I won't try it again. So I'm at least one person for whom it is not my favorite book.
I visited my parents in Illinois over the weekend. My father's health has been difficult and my mother is the main caregiver. Not much I could do to help out but at least I was able to get down there.
I stayed inside almost all weekend. Aside from walking in the Memorial Day observance with Boy Scouts I stayed out of the sun. Over the past few years being in the sun just saps the strength right out of me. Boy #2 and I ended up watching a NETFLIX show that covered the Volkswagen's con job on diesel emissions.
I finally got around to reading/listening to a book by Nickolas Butler. Nickolas is a Wisconsin author with some big success but I just never got around to cracking one of his books. I've been listening to SHOTGUN LOVE SONGS and it has been pretty decent.
Drinking an Ensure helped Sandi with the nausea, Patti. It usually made her feel better about twenty minutes later. Sometimes it worked way better than the anti nausea pills.
Not much is making me happy these last few days. But, reading these good news deals from others helps a bit.
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