Monday, March 11, 2019

Monday Feeling







Really got a kick out of the Netflix series DATING AROUND. Any one of the episodes offers some salient detail that would make a good story. The gay couples are much more forthright about sex. Quite a difference.
Reading my friend, Dorene O'Brien's, collection of stories. She may not deal with outright crime but every story is as pitch dark as anything in noir. (WHAT IT MIGHT FEEL LIKE TO  HOPE).
Broke down and got SHOWTIME so we could watch BILLIONS and RAY DONAVAN. Also BRITBOX but not sure I will keep it. Have seen so much of their library.
Love telling Alexa to play whatever and have it usually be in the amazon library.
What about you?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've got Britbox, too, and I like it. I hope you'll find some things on there that you've not seen, and that you like.

Jeff Meyerson said...

Don't know that one but sounds interesting. We watched the Israeli WHEN HEROES FLY last week. Saw the first episode of WHISKEY CAVALIER (on ABC), as Jackie loves Scott Foley. The second one was better, as long as you can turn off your mind and just enjoy it. THE ENEMY WITHIN, on the other hand, was bad. Morris Chestnut was so much more appealing in ROSEWOOD. We started watching the last (#7) series of WILD AT HEART on Amazon Prime/Acorn, as well as (finally) season 3 of THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, and on Netflix we're watching season 2 of the Finnish eccentric cop show BORDERTOWN and the Australian SECRET CITY.

It looks like winter may finally be retreating here, as 40s and 50s (and even a 60+) will be the rule this week. The cold, dry weather and the steam heat have, as usual, played havoc with my dry skin. I hate the winter. Basically, it's been a quiet week.

George said...

Western NY got rattled by another High Wind event. Thousands lost power--but not us. But there's no climate change...

I'm recovering from my laser surgery. I see the plastic surgeon on Friday for a follow up visit. So far, so good.

Diane and I saw CAPTAIN MARVEL--which took in $345 million over the weekend, breaking records. Fun movie!

The Jobs Number was only 20,000. Bad Sign for the Economy. Prepare for the upcoming Recession!

Steve Oerkfitz said...

Been binge watching Billions. Only 4 episodes left. Halfway through Don Winslow'd The Border. It's a doorstop but reads fast. Nothing at the theaters that I want to see. It's that time of year.

Gerard Saylor said...

I completed Netflix's NARCOS: MEXICO over the weekend. I've really enjoyed all the seasons of that show. I'm also listening to WOLF BOYS which is about the drug wars but focuses on people in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo.

I was at training all day Wednesday and Thursday last week and then sick all day Friday. I came back to piles of paper, mail, and books on my desk.

I've taken to listening to iTunes on shuffle. I'm not sure how many hundreds of hours of music I have on there. Shuffle brings up neat songs I have forgotten.

I used to listen to BBC 6 Music every morning. The DJ duo I really enjoy were moved to a Saturday only show and my listening has really tailed off.

Todd Mason said...

I will again put in a negative vote on BILLIONS, despite a fine cast. But will encourage a look, or further look, as SHAMELESS, and SMILF, even as the episode transmitted last night was the weakest of that series and Showtime has announced its cancellation as Ms. Frankie Shaw, whose short film the series is based on and who is showrunner/creator/star/producer, has been harassing too many on the production apparently out of egomania unadulterated by substance abuse, which has usually been the one-two punch for the likes of ROSEANNE and GRACE UNDER FIRE. SMILF has been a pretty good series so far, and it's a pity to see the default Bostonian in Shaw apparently wreck everything for her and it.

And you might well, as several who contribute here do, like BILLIONS more than I do. But it has, as I've mentioned, struck me as about superannuated teens, and I had to give it up. Also, THE CIRCUS is an interesting mix of useful tidbits and pomposity posing as the opposite of pomposity, much as the notion of the news commentator regulars always gathering at a restaurant meal to do introductions to their reporting is tired, but Just Adorable. I catch it when I feel like it, another Showtime offering. You might enjoy Stephen Colbert's OUR CARTOON PRESIDENT upon its return, if the hurdle of animation can be bested....

Lauren Cohan will probably require my attention, however briefly, to WHISKEY TANGO. Adorable young actor out of Cherry Hill, NJ, by way of being raised in the UK. Scott who? Oh...yes, that fellow standing next to her. Agree that THE ENEMY WITHIN was just Sad from the pilot, which blew what little dramatic tension the series might've had.

SCHITT'S CREEK and I'M SORRY continue to improve among the sitcoms.

Jerry House said...

George, I think the last two jobs numbers were skewed one way or another by the partial government shutdown. Doesn't matter, I sez, because the economy IS in the pits and will continue to be until the problem of growing income inequality is addressed.

I'm glad we navigated the switch Daylight Daylight Savings Time successfully, unlike the year when (unkown to my wife) I sprung forward and Kitty then mistakenly fell back. (Off topic, perhaps, but I miss Bill's rants on Daylight Savings Time.)

I'm happy that my grandkids are still alive. Yesterday afternoon, 17-year-old Erin was driving here boyfriend and six-year-old Jack home when a motorcylist suddenly appeared next to then. While driving down a major parkway, the guy came inched from Erin's vehicle and punched out the driver's side mirror. He broke all the glass and did serious damage to the plastic holding it. He then roared in front of Erin and began weaving back and forth in her lane before taking off. Erin was completely freaked out and it was a miracle that she did not crash or swerve and hit the guy on the bike. Both she and Trey (her boyfriend) were too shocked to get the license number of the bike. I guess it was road rage but no one is sure why. Driving in the land of Florida Man can be an adventure.

Kitty had a great birthday. We celebrated with lunch at a combo Greek/seafood restaurant and bringing home baklava. The next night the kids came over with homemade and home-decorated cupcakes -- 71 of them laid out to spell a large 70 (the seventy-first cupcake was "one to grow on). Then on Saturday the entire family, plus Mark's "friend" Naomi (Mark is shy so he doesn't use the word "girlfriend") took us out to a pottery place where all eleven us painted different hand-picked pieces of pottery. I was amazed that everyone did such a great job decorated their pieces (even Jack, who designed and painted a porcelain puppy). It was great fun with lots of laughter. The shop, BTW, was cutely named "Kil'n Time." Then we all bundled over to McGuire's Irish Pub for a large and well-deserved birthday supper (complete with live bagpipes) that no one could finish. I did have two mugs of their homemade root beer, though. And there was more laughter.

Despite bloated tummies and screwed up circadian rhythms, we made it to the beach yesterday with Christina, Jack, and three-month old puppy Happy. The weather was beautiful, the waves hypnotic, and Jack doubled his body weight with salt water and sand. Happy made many friends, both human and canine. Everyone came back with their chi centered.

Like Jeff, we're watching SECRET CITY and enjoying it greatly. We also finally yawned our way through AQUAMAN, which starred vastly over-rated CGI. I also finished my reading of Seabury Quinn's stories featuring the totally non-PC occult detective Jules de Grandin. there were 93 stories published between 1926 and 1951 and I have now read all but six of them which are currently unavailable to me (they're available for download online but I've been too lazy to do it).

We were scheduled to have violent storms this weekend but the weatherman lied and sent us bright sunshine, which I will package up and send to you to make your coming week glorious. Take care.

Todd Mason said...

(I do find it amusing that my favorite sitcoms at the moment are THE GOOD PLACE, I'M SORRY, SCHITT'S CREEK, YOU'RE THE WORST, BROCKMIRE, the now-finished STAN AGAINST EVL, the now-finishing SMILF, BROAD CITY and the arguable sitcom SHAMELESS...with BROAD and WORST also on their last seasons. But mostly because all my sitcoms have rather self-critical titles, even if ironically in a few instances.)

Rick Robinson said...

Hope you're both feeling better soon!

Barbara, despite my repeated warnings, overdid it with the knee by not using her crutches and walking too much, and is in re-injury mode now, sitting, icing, crutches. She says now she wishes she'd listened... isn't that the way?

It's been cold and we had snow 2 or 3 times in the last week, which didn't stick on the roads, but did on the yard. Then cold and dry again. Several plants have died from the continued below normal temperatures. There will be a lot of work come Spring. On my blog today is my review of THE FARAWAY AND LONG GONE by Lou Berney, which everyone but me really liked. I guess that happens sometimes.

Nothing much else to report, I've been reading a long (four 500+ page books) fantasy series, and enjoying it, though I think it could have been pared down some. I'm a third of the way into the fourth book.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Those are the best sitcoms IMHO, Todd. The ones I watch too. PEN15 shows promise.
Must try SECRET CITY. Friends back from La Jolla. Slowly we are having more people to interact with. I get down on my knees and thank WHOEVER for my cleaner, who saves my life twice a week. You really don't want to know what my life is like so I am keeping it a secret.
Happy Birthday, Kitty.
Keep off that leg, Barbara.
Can I get BB6 on my radio?
I hope to see Captain Marvel soon.

Jeff Meyerson said...

Jerry, that is very scary. Glad your granddaughter came through it OK.

Todd, you aren't alone. My wife loves BILLIONS. I can't watch it. And I love BROCKMIRE too.

Patti, I know Megan is no longer involved with THE DEUCE, but I thought it might interest you that they are filming all over Bay Ridge this week. In fact, we can't park behind our building on Wednesday because they will be there. Today they were filming in St. Patrick's on 4th Avenue and 96th Street. They used that church in a Bill Murray movie (ST. VINCENT).

Gerard Saylor said...

BBC radio channels are neat because they all have streaming channels. The only exception are some sport events - which I don't care about. I'll also listen to World Service. Every once in a while I'll try out a few stations and sometimes listen to the Welsh channels to catch people speaking in Welsh.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_6music

pattinase (abbott) said...

I am very anxious to see the last season of THE DEUCe. It was well done even though I never connected with any of the characters.
I will try and play it on my computer, Gerard.
Speaking of kids and scary stuff, Kevin was at the theater with his parents watching a kids' play when someone above him in the balcony vomited and some of it landed on him. They didn't know whether to rush to the bathroom, the doctor, or a wipe was enough. The balcony at the Fisher Theater is very high. It must have landed with some force.

Todd Mason said...

As a consistent advocate of radio drama (modern BBC radio drama can be hit or miss, of course, like most throughout the decades), I'll recommend again THE BIG BROADCAST, the weekly four hours on Sunday nights out of the DC station WAMU-FM, and not solely because two of the better episodes this past Sunday independently involved characters named Mason.

The online archive of Sunday's episode will be up through Sunday night, if it follows the usual pattern (they usually post the new set overnight on early Monday): https://wamu.org/story/19/03/06/the-big-broadcast-march-10-2019/

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Good morning from NE Dallas where I am late, but can report that the entire yard has greened up and we have very noisy crickets. Very happy we missed all the severe eather yesterday morning as well as last Saturday and for now at least the skies are calm here.

Have seen and rather enjoyed Whisky Cavalier. I do agree, like most tv, one does not want to think too much when watching it. It comes across to me as a summer style deal that got bumped up to now.

Just finished reading and reviewing A DEADLY TURN by Claire Booth. Powerfully good. Very much enjoy the series and the latest installment was just incredible.

Car to the shop for a checkup tomorrow. Spring Break is next week for my son at UTD so in the middle of the week we are seeing the eye doc. Finally have insurance for this as well as some money. It is a family owned place and they all loved Sandi. Not sure if they know what happened or not though I know for sure the deal will come up. Dreading that. Also dreading the exam as manacular degeneration runs in the family and it was first spotted in my Dad's eyes at 57. I am 57 and hoping for a clean bill of eye health. This will also be the first pair of glasses without Sandi's fashion sense which means I am in serious risk of picking something that I like and others will shrink from in horror.

K

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Car is okay. I remembered to wear pants. Staff was pleased. :)