Glad to have last week behind me. I managed to keep busy enough to have it go by. I saw DOWNTON ABBEY again with a friend looking forward to it. And she made a lovely dinner to thank me for going for the second time. Another friend went with me to see FIRST LOVE, a Japanese film. We walked out. Just too violent for us but we had a very nice Lebanese dinner. That is the great thing about Detroit. We have the best Arab restaurants in the country. Had lunch with Josh. Read THE WIDOWER by Simenon, which was terrific. Boy, how could he spin these stories in a matter of weeks. Also liked THE BODY IN QUESTION by Jill Ciment.
Watched the last episode of SUCCESSION (HBO), which was pretty amazing. These are not nice people but they are interesting.
How about you?
28 comments:
Simenon really could write well, couldn't he, Patti? Glad you've had some good dinners and good company. Here's to a better week this week.
Thanks, Margot!
Glad you enjoyed THE WIDOW as much as I did! I have THE MAGICIAN in the On-Deck Circle.
Diane is already starting to pack for Dallas. We're looking forward to taking you to dinner on Friday. Our panel should be fun, too!
The Buffalo Bills are 5-1. Woo Hoo!
I really need to get back and see which Simenons I've yet to read. Of course, I've read all the Maigrets.
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Packing? Really? We'll pack the night before we leave.
We finished UNBELIEVABLE, and they did a wonderful job with it. Terrific acting by the three lead women. We're trying to finish series we're in the middle of before next week - TRAPPED, MINDHUNTER (which we finally went back to), a couple of others. We watched the last MIDSOMER MURDERS of series 20 this weekend so will have to wait for series 21.
Momentous week upcoming. Tomorrow we have a Steely Dan Greatest Hits concert in their annual series of concerts at the Beacon. Saturday we're seeing Michael Tucker's off-Broadway FERN HILL, starring John Glover, Jill Eikenberry, Mark Linn-Baker and Mark Blum. And in between (Thursday) is our 49th Anniversary. Jackie may finally get to celebrate with strawberry shortcake.
I also saw First Love. The violence didn't bother me. It was rather restrained for this director. I didn't like it tho, too many characters and was hard to follow. Plus everything takes place in the dark. I noticed the trailer online looked a lot sharper. I think Landmark is dimming their projector bulbs to save money. They already have a terrible sound system. I saw the Roy Cohn documentary. Nothing really new revealed. I should have waited for it on cable. Comcast dropped TCM from my cable service and have put it on a sports package!?
Been reading a lot of short fiction. Started John D. MacDonald's April Evil. Enjoying Curious Toys by Elizabeth Hand which takes place in 1915 Chicago.
I really liked the first episode of HBO's Watchmen. Doesn't follow the movie/graphic novel storyline but creates a entirely new one.
Just had a granddaughter excepted at Wayne State University. Another graduated from Oakland University with a degree in sports medicine last summer. My granddaughters tend to be doing better than my grandsons.
Accepted at Wayne State not excepted. Sorry.
I meant to say, probably not the best one to be commenting as I didn't read the comic and hated the movie, but we really liked the first episode of WATCHMEN too. Very creative job.
I need to watch it again. I must have been too tired to follow the plot.
George-Mine was THE WIDOWER. Now I have to find THE WIDOW.
The Landmark is really down on its luck. Wonder if it will survive.
If you can't find THE WIDOW (aka TICKET OF LEAVE), let me know and I will bring my copy to Bouchercon. It's a thin Penguin.
I really liked the first episode of WATCHMEN. I hope the series can continue the beginning momentum. Most of our television this week has been repeats of FATHER BROWN, NCIS, and CRIMINAL MINDS -- comfort food for the mind.
We got our flu shots so hopefully we won't drop dead from that disease (although Kitty had a slight reaction to the shot). Probably not from any other diseases either. At least not his week. Jessie also got her flu shot but it laid her out for a couple of days (#cancersucks). Christina will be getting hers soon.
I read that people who own dogs live longer than those who don't. I told that to the cat but she (along with every other cat in the world) just didn't care. And, as I type this, the cat is going through one of those psychotic/manic cat phases, running around in a panic and trying to attack the invisible whatevers.
The weather has been lovely and cool, which makes me feel lovely and cool.
Mr. Trump's house of cards appears to be falling down and I'm chuffed. Hope it continues a rapid downward path.
Kitty remains beautiful and the girls and grandkids remain wonderful, so how can I help but be happy?
I hope your week goes swimmingly, Patti.
Patti-I have a copy of The Widow
I'm so glad to hear you had many good things happen this last week. Good for you! Can't say I'm fond of Armenian, or Greek, or Turkish food.
For me,
Bad: the Seahawks played a terrible game and got whupped by Baltimore
Good: the Oregon Ducks won
Bad: Barbara got really sick
Good: it only lasted 2 days and she's fine now
Bad: the beautiful Fall leaves have all blown off
Good: we have a leaf blower so cleanup is easy
Bad: I'm not going to Bouchercon
Good: I'm getting more reading time in, which is good since I have many books waiting.
Is it because I never read graphic comics that I found Watchmen so difficult? Or is my mind too linear and inflexible to follow a plot that touches on real events but changes them. Sad.
Thanks, Steve. Looks like I am set, Jeff. See you soon! Thursday night, right. And Friday is George.
Our leaves are just beginning to change and fall, Rick. Strange.
Patti Watchmen is basically an alternative history show. Robert Redford is president. Nixon is on Mount Rushmore. The opening scene is based in fact. I loved the clever visuals and will probably watch this a second time this wee.
Right. Thursday night, but I'm sure we'll see you before that.
Hopefully.
Part of my problem was it was so visually dark. Maybe I need a new TV.
The NY Times has a recap of the episode.
HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME AT BOUCHERCON, EVERYONE!
I was very busy yesterday but have plenty to be happy about.
• Boy #1 came in 2nd at a cross country race last week. Both his mom and I were able to attend the race and cheer him on. On Saturday he raced in the conference meet and earned 2nd team All Conference.
• I'm just outside the center of University of Wisconsin sports fandom based in Madison. Their loss to Illinois was a shock to them but a pleasing win for me.
• Boy #2 and I went to Boy #1's Saturday race and then he and I visited a Half Price Books for fun and then a rock and gem store for one of his school projects.
• I've been re-watching the first season of TWIN PEAKS with the intention of watching all the way through into the 2017 return. I never realized how hokey and soap opera-ish the show could be.
• I've been reading James Ellroy's HILLIKER CURSE from about 10 years ago. The book explains SO MUCH about his behavior. A neat read after his first memoir MY DARK PLACES.
Loved MY DARK PLACES. Pretty sure there is a doc on it.
For me, WATCHMEN was, typically of a Lindelof script, dragged down a bit by unforced Dumb, such as how the police chief was so isolated and riding about in such a vulnerable vehicle. Even the opening, set in the real, wrenching murderous attacks on the black community of 1921 Tulsa, OK, had a bit of that sort of haphazardness to it.
While it's definitely not quite following the comic (Alan Moore will never approve), it does rather conform to the film, which was mostly goofier, as far as we get to see with the first episode. Better scripters than Lindelof might well put this into superlative territory, if allowed.
GET SHORTY is still a delight.
Try the Doris Lessing adaptation, THE GOOD TERRORISTS. It works well.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009kfh
My second watching cleared up some of it. I see you point, Todd.
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