A lovely five days in New York, where I saw two great plays (Scotland, PA and Betrayal) got to visit with the Meyersons (thanks for getting me off on the right foot) , some other friends from Brooklyn, and Megan and lots of good meals, two okay movies. It was challenging, and there were one or two scares, but it was well worth it. And I was really lucky with the weather.
Reading OLIVE, AGAIN and NINETY GLIMPSES OF PRINCESS MARGARET. Watching THE CROWN. Love Harold Wilson, what a great actor and great historical figure. There is a great podcast on THE CROWN. And listening to Peter Morgan describing what a showrunner does, I am in awe that Megan has done this. If he is terrified waiting for the series to start, what must Megan be enduring.
And also found a fun series on you tube, "Technique Critique", where experts critique various things they find in movies: like accents, crime scene stuff, hospital scenes, etc.
What about you?
13 comments:
So glad you had a good trip, Patti. Happy, too, that you enjoyed the plays!
Yes, we had a great day and SCOTLAND, PA was better than I had anticipated. Plus, we had great seats in the fourth row on the side.
That was the week's highlight, though we did have my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. As far as I'm concerned, you can't go wrong with turkey and stuffing.
Yes, after an iffy start, Harold Wilson has really grown on me in THE CROWN. Also watching the third season of the Spanish THE MINISTRY OF TIME, the fourth and final season of THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE on Amazon Prime (too much emphasis on the black Communists), season two of THE KOMINSKY METHOD (man, Jane Seymour looks great, while Kathleen Turner was nearly unrecognizable), several others. Networks are virtually dead. Cannot believe how what was once pretty much our favorite network show, MADAM SECRETARY, has gone down the toilet in its final season with the ill-conceived execution of making her President. The nudge nudge, wink wink comparisons with Trump are pathetic.
The weather has deteriorated lately. We really are in December now.
So happy you had such a good week, Patti, and had so many great people to share it with.
For myself, happiness is Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays with its emphasis on reflection and family. This year was a low-key one with just Jessie and Ceili. Jessie
cooked a fantastic meal, the cats and dog were locked in another room while the food was out, and a good time was had. Laughter, talk, and a pile of leftovers for us to bring home.
Christina and her brood were in North Carolina, meeting her new surprise sister-in-law and family. Another good time, although the Thanksgiving meal was delayed and they didn't eat until 5:30 and Christina thought they would starve before she had a slice of turkey. Jack was beside himself with a whole new family to impress with his awesomeness; he developed a crush on Don, his new surprise uncle, who took him dirt bike riding. We had been lead to believe that the surprise sister-in-law was the result of a relationship that Walt Sr. had before he met his present wife and married her and that the pregnancy was kept from him. Now we learn that Walt had married the woman, knew about the baby, and left the marriage. Hmm. Hmm. Families are complicated. We'll learn more when we see Christina later today.
Weather here has been great. Warm but not too warm. The air conditioner is off and we can enjoy the outside again.
Finished the latest season of THE CROWN. It's interesting to watch the show while the Prince Andrew controversy goes on in real time. I strongly suspect that the monarchy may not survive after the Queen dies. A shame, because an honored tradition will go with it. But I may be wrong; I have been too many times in the past. We're now back to watching our old standards on TV. Nothing else seems to interest us at present.
The Trump brouhaha continues apace. The hearings are over and a recommendation to impeach will be coming soon. As more and more evidence piles up, its fun to watch the sidestepping of Lindsey Graham, Jim Jordan, John Kennedy, and their ilk. As it stands now, the Senate will not vote to convict because Republican members are too afraid of their base. I think we may have to wait until 2020 to vote him out, which is a shame because he is continuing to dismantle our country. At last I'm having fun now watching his discomfort.
I'm taking a break from novels and reading a lot of short stories from all over, something I do now and then. Don't know why I'm doing that but it's a lot of fun'
Enjoy your week, Patti.
As much as I like Olivia Colman in general, she comes across as much less sympathetic than the younger Queen as played by Claire Foy, at least as far as we've watched, especially in the Wales disaster episode, where her unfeeling reaction was inexplicable. On the other hand, Philip is much more sympathetic. And Margaret is Margaret.
Elizabeth, I think, didn't want to risk not being able to cry in Wales. I felt sorry for her, not being able to cry in public either. She went back to that town many times after her first visit. Of course, we will see her true stripes over Diana's death.
People assume not crying means you don't care and it isn't always related to that at all. And, I think Elizabeth lost that youthful vigor and Coleman captures that. She is becoming stolid in her forties. A shame.
Jerry-I am very fearful that no one will be able to beat Trump. Four more years of him will be intolerable.
Never watched The Crown. I usually find anything about the modern Royal Family boring. Maybe I'll have to give it a shot. Finished Season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale and am now halfway through The Man In the High Castle.
Saw Ford vs Ferrari which I liked a lot, and The Irishman which I liked even more. The three and a half hr running time of the later seemed to fly by. Next up Honey Boy, and Knives Out.
Read a Norwegian crime novel The Cabin by Jorn Lier Horst, and a British horror novel The Last Days of Jake Sparks by Jake Arnogg.
Weather here overcast and gloomy. Typical of Michigan for this time of year.
Steve-It is really as much about history as the royal family and that's what I find interesting as a history major in college. It is also very much character-driven, he is trying to figure out what made these people tick. It is a little too kind to Elizabeth and it feels somewhat sorry for Charles but it feels very right most of the time. It is not pure entertainment, for sure, but that makes it all the better for me.
So glad you have a good trip, Patti.
It's been cold here, mid-to-high 20s at night, high 30s or just barely over 40 days. So that we are very limited in our outdoor time doing the Winter garden chores. We did dig the Dahlias Sunday, in a cold drizzle, but it was unpleasant. After signing up for Netflix streaming, then dropping it the next day, all we've watched have been TCM (which now costs $10/month) and the usual PBS Newshour and some sports. Thus most of the things you and the others here see we don't. I did record Morse, and one of my favorite Christmas movie, The Bishop's Wife, so we have those to watch later.
A transformer blew up (don't know why) so we were out of power for quite a while, and just a few days before that a tipsy driver ran into a cable box at an intersection, also causing a power outage. In all the years we've lived here, we've not had two outages in any year, let alone two in a short time.
I have a lot of books from the library coming in, so in this cold I'm inside reading.
You might check and see if your library offers Kanopy, Rick. That is free and has thousands of movies. You can have eight a month.
I've been going through four books. One audio, one ebook, and two print and I keep getting the characters and plots confused.
A nice holiday as the entire family was able to drive down to my parents home for couple days of visiting. After trips to three hardware stores Boy #1 was able to reinforce a outdoor stair railing while I watched and assisted.
Christmas is coming up and Boy #1 never asks for much. My wife and I have been pondering different ideas about a trip somewhere, or a summer camp, or something. SOMETHING! Otherwise it is online games and Amazon gift cards he never uses.
It is difficult with Kevin too. He would never put down his Xbox navigator and iphone if he had his way.
Glad you had a great time in NYC!
Diane and I are happy we spent THANKSGIVING week with Patrick and Katie and our niece, Elise. Visited Monterey and Carmel and Big Sur. Great sights and food!
We had an hour delay at the Baltimore Airport, but we're now home safe & sound. Now we have to go through a ton of mail, newspapers, and magazines that accumulated in our absence.
You saw the LitReactor list of the Best Horror Novels of the last decade?
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