Lots of cloudy weather and rain this week. Enjoyed RULES FOR VISITING although the protagonist remained enigmatic to me. Do you mind that in a book? Does it bother you if you never quite understand why a character's life is like it is and what their motivations are? Also enjoying MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER.It tales place in Nigeria, which makes it all the more interesting.
I am watching PRIME SUSPECT from the nineties. It holds up so well. Mirren creates an indelible character. Also enjoying DERRY GIRLS although I really need closed captions to understand this one.
Had lunch with my son on Tuesday. Nice to have him to myself. Really wished I had a bigger family.
Saw JUDY. Renee Z was excellent but the movie dragged and was flat in many sections. Such a sad life. Her years at MGM amounted to child abuse.
What about you guys?
22 comments:
I've been wondering whether Judy was good, Patti. Thanks for your views. And, yes, Prime Suspect is an excellent piece of television.
Jackie is looking forward to Mirren as Catherine the Great later this month. The best thing we're watching now is UNBELIEVABLE on Netflix. The acting is superb (love Merritt Wever) and the whole thing is just so well done. Creators Susannah Grant, Ayelet Waldman, and Michael Chabon deserve a lot of credit. Also watching TRAPPED, MIDSOMER MURDERS, and GAVIN & STACEY on Acorn/Amazon Prime, and a couple more on Netflix. New network series, meh for the most part, but we are watching EMERGENCE (not sure where it is going but like the people, especially Allison Tolman) and STUMPTOWN. MADAM SECRETARY started last night, and they jumped ahead to Elizabeth McCord as President for the final season. THE DURRELLS IN CORFU is sillier than ever, but beautiful to look at.
Your comment about the enigmatic character rang a bell as I just finished a similar book, SARAH JANE by James Sallis. So much about the protagonist remains unknown throughout her narration, but as always he is more than worth reading. Not my favorite of his, but good.
This week was centered around Jackie's colonoscopy, which she did not enjoy (ha) but endured. We're hoping neither of us has to have another one. The weather dropped from a record 93 on Wednesday to 53 on Thursday, and we are finally getting a little rain after going a month with less than an inch total.
So far, so good for the Yankees, but the Astros loom ahead, a powerhouse roadblock.
We leave for Dallas and Bouchercon three weeks from tomorrow.
Loved UNBELIBABLE. The three women excelled. And the dialogue was terrific. Three weeks from Wednesday for me. Megan got us tkts to the Texas Book Depository. Had no idea it was an actual tour.
The Buffalo Bills are now 4-1 for the first time in years.
We had a rainy week, too. But a stretch of cool, dry weather awaits us later this week. Diane and I are going to Niagara-on-the-Lake to see two plays: BRIGADOON and GETTING MARRIED. We love the Shaw Festival!
I was underwhelmed by BATWOMAN. I'll give it a few more episodes, but maybe I'm getting super-heroed out.
Glad you liked Rene Zellweger in RUBY.
Can't wait to see you at BOUCHERCON #50!
I loved the Shaw Festival too. I have never seen BRIGADOON but I am seeing COME FROM AWAY next Sunday.
Been watching a lot of movies on blu ray this week. Not so much tv. Did watch the first 3 episodes of season 3 of Goliath on Amazon and will soon be binging the new season of Peaky Blinders on Netflix. Read A Life in Movies by Irwin Winkler. Also a well reviewed SF novel by Annalee Newitz-The Future of Another Timeline. Well written but I got tired of every white male being a racist or rapist. Just finished The Return of the Incredible Exploding Man by Dave Hutchison which I liked much better. Forget the silly title. Next up the Debbie Harry autobiography or Sarah Jane by James Sallis.
Otherwise a pretty uneventful week.
I'm a big fan of BRIGADOON. It was a fantasy I loved as a kid. Never saw GETTING MARRIED.
COME FROM AWAY is coming to Buffalo on October 20 and we have tickets. Wonderful story and music!
Trying to catch up with PEAKY BINDERS.
These tour companies plow through the country, don't they. Only in Detroit for a couple of weeks.
COME FROM AWAY is great. Sadly, there is little chance our country would ever act as wonderfully as the Canadians did under present circumstances.
I started watching THE DETOUR on Hulu and enjoy it much than I expected. I listened to WAYS TO HIDE IN WINTER and was underwhelmed. Nothing in the story grabbed me.
I had not heard Sallis had a new novel out. I will have to check that one out.
This week is the state's library association annual conference. I don't always find many sessions that interest me but each conference is a great professional pep talk. Enthusiastic people sharing successes and expressing how important and valuable are work can be.
Boy #2 has begun practicing a tuba piece for this year's Solo & Ensemble competition. I had not heard him practice in a while and had no idea he could play such a complex piece, and play it well.
I am constantly amazed at how well Kevin plays the guitar.
I will try DETOUR. Thanks.
And you are so right, Jeff. But maybe back then they might have.
Love COME FROM AWAY and BRIGADOON!
This coming weekend, the whole family (sans Kitty and me) are headed to Arkansas for a few days simply because they had never been there. Love that attitude!
Willow the Cat finally noticed the cat from next door. Neighbor Cat had been peering through our front window for days now but lazy Willow spent all her time sleeping. Til now. Willow finally spied Neighbor Cat and -- tail fluffed out to Alabama -- she charged and tried to get her through the glass, knocking over all sorts of knick-knacks. Neighbor Cat was not fazed, though, and returned three times in ten minutes, only to meet Willow's ferocious and futile attacks through the glass. Neighbor Cat did not return a fourth time and Willow went back to sleep, proud and happily assuaged because she had defended heath and home.
Weather has been cooler here and not so unbearably hot. Dare I say it? It's been just this side of pleasant.
Enjoyed an old western novel by Richard Matheson, THE MEMOIRS OF WILD BILL HICKOK, which slyly deconstructed that character's myth. For some reason it reminded me of Grimmelshausen's SIMPLICIUS SIMPLICISSIMUS. My own understanding of Hickok differs greatly from Matheson's. Hickok was a sociopath who was born with a cleft palate and was known as "Duck Bill" in his youth; he killed his father when he was 15 and began his adventures that led to his lionization, with his nickname changing from "Duck Bill" to "Wild Bill." Whether that's true or not, I can't say, but I did hear it from a highly respected Western historian. Be that as it may, I recommend the Matheson book.
I'm glad you had lunch with your son. You do have a very large family with your on-line friends, but that's not really the same thing. is it?
Enjoy your week.
And with my Michigan friends. But not the same, no. But far, far better than it could be.
I read the earlier comments and wonder what most of the stuff is. We can't seem to set up streaming, no most of that is unavailable to us. When did turning on the television become so damn high-tech? Urg! Barbara went to see Ad Astra but wasn't much impressed, plus the film broke at the mid point and no one in the theater knew until a customer went and told them. Then 20 (!) minutes later they fixed it. By that time Barbara and her friend no longer cared what happened, though they stuck it out. She said there were only a dozen people in the theater. All the others in the cineplex were showing JOKER and those were packed. Since the script of that one has nothing to do with the origin of the character which was in the comics, I wouldn't want to see it anyway.
Saw a Varied Thrush this morning on the lawn. We only see the Spring and Fall, so they must be migrating, though they are listed as resident birds here. They are really beautiful. The garden is slowing down and the weather gets cold (41 last night) and soon things will go dormant, which means pruning chores.
I've given up on reading novels and am trying short stories, of which I many collections and anthologies on the shelves. Hopefully that will get my reading juices flowing.
I sure wish we could go to Bouchercon, but since I do not fly, it's too far away.
I am noticing decidedly less birds than usual. I fear the decline is well underway.
Wish you could be there, too, Rick. I hate to fly but I hate to stay home even more.
I didn't notice many birds this year. Squirrels yes. We are overrun with them.
Are the squirrels killing the birds? I know there is a significant decline from various issues but it seems like it happened so quickly.
We have a few squirrels, but tons of birds. I'm not sure I see the connection.
Among the things I've been giving a shot on cable that haven't been getting a lot of attention (and some, at least, might be on the streaming services):
UNDERBELLY on CineMoi: Australian crime drama, definitely not a lavish budget but well-enough produced, and not too shabby. Ran from 2008-2013 on the Nine Network originally.
Took advantage of the free access to Cinemax, which both Verizon and Comcast seem to have removed from their combo packages in the last year, to see the first season of JETT, which I can recommend. It gets more clever as it goes along.
Aspire has a short-film/video anthology series URBAN INDIE FILM BLOCK, of which I've seen only the "Afro-Futurism" episode so far, but that averaged rather well, with two good if modest sf films and a less-impressive if watchable science-fantasy segment wrapping up.
Ovation picked up the Sky crime drama RIVIIERA, not bad, excellent cast, a bit of hugger-mugger.
Yes, THE DETOUR is a very good sitcom. Very good cast, generally good scripts.
Mostly enjoying my friends' support this past week, as various small crises and annoying time-sinks play out. Nothing catastrophic so far. We can hope. Am enjoying watching Trump's tantrums, if only they didn't at least help hurt so many.
Squirrels and birds can eat some of the same food, and can annoy and harass each other.
(THE DETOUR is still in production and is cablecast on TBS.)
RIVIERA online: https://www.ovationtv.com/watch/riviera/
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