An odd week. Lots of sun, which is unusual for Michigan in the winter, but cold so sidewalks are icy with the last snow still. The number of sick grows in Michigan, but driving past restaurants last night, filled with patrons, it's like most people have shrugged and are letting fate take its course.
Three great movies this week. Loved THE LOST DAUGHTER, because the issues it examines: motherhood and a woman having a career are so seldom looked at. Hard to believe this is Maggie Gylenhall's first directing/writing job. It reminded me so much of a movie by Eric Rohmer or Bergman, perhaps a bit of both. And yet the subject is so much Ferrante, who wrote the novel is it based on.
Also loved the philosophical NINE DAYS. You can rent it on Amazon for $6. Sort of a combo of WINGS OF DESIRE and DEFENDING YOUR LIFE although no humor in it.
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH was so well directed and filmed. Although I didn't quite buy a Macbeth and Lady this old, it was credible. And so many lovely supporting roles. Saw this at a theater where there were perhaps 25 people on a Wednesday afternoon at 2.
Reading HAMNET for my book group and it is terrific. It is the story of the death of William Shakespeare's son from the Black Death. I think this is one we will all like and finish.
Anxious to see the last episode of STATION ELEVEN this week. Then I will hopefully watch it all over again to pick up the many things I missed. It is not a show to watch with your phone in hand because you miss to much. Just started YELLOW JACKETS on SHOWTIME. I can't believe how many streaming channels I have now. But what else is there beside books and TV.
Megan made reservations to come out the last weekend in January. It seemed like things would calm down by then but I am not sure. The largest hospital group had a full page ad in the local paper saying they are at capacity and so you better do what you need to to say out of the hospital. But nothing seems to stop these people from going bare-faced and vaccinated wherever they want. Sad that Michigan went right from Delta to Omicron.
What's new with you?
22 comments:
Macbeth is on my to be seen list. Will have to catch Last Daughter on Netflix. Finished binge watching The Kingdom on Netflix which I enjoyed. Just watched the last episode of Dexter New Blood and disliked this last episode more than I did the last episode of the original series. Will be starting Yellowjackets tomorrow.
Just started Silverview by John Le Carre. I havent' read any of his novels for years. Finished Butcher's Moon by Richard Stark.
Got covid tested again on Wednesday- I'm negative.
Had a echocardiogram on Monday. I passed with flying colors. Great relief. I'm always afraid they will find something wrong.
Sunny here but cold and windy.
Lions beat the Green bay Packers? Wow. Did not see that one coming.
It's been a strange here weatherwise. Bitter cold 80% of the time, refreshing mild over the rest. Last Monday, the Panhandle had snow, not much and quickly gone, but snow. Some people did not believe it and preferred to think it was cocaine.
Mark signed up for an ultramarathon to be held this Saturday. Between school and his social life, he has not really had time to prepare for it. We'll be there to support whatever's left of him as he (hopefully) crosses the finish line.
Kitty and I were retested for Covid. Both negative. Jessie and her girls were tested yesterday and Ceili came up positive. She works at the county jail doing intake and Covid has left them pretty much short-staffed, more so since she tested positive. Christina and her gang are still doing well although several of Jack's friends have popped up positive.
Seth Meyers has popped up positive, limiting the amount of late night we watch. A couple of Ryan Reynolds flicks and some romcom for Kitty, as well as a whole lot of forgettable shows were our TV viewing this week. One bright spot: BEFOREIGNERS is back for a second season, this time with Jack the Ripper.
I had selected six anthologies for my Christmas reading this year, hoping to finish by Epiphany. Some other reading got in the way, so I still ten more stories from Penzler's BIG BOOK OF CHRISTMAS MYSTERIES to go. For the record, those I finished were four edited by Richard Dalby (CRIME FR CHRISTMAS, CHILLERS FOR CHRISTMAS, GHOSTS FOR CHRISTMAS, CHILLERS FOR CHRISTMAS), as well as Abigail Browning's MURDER MOST MERRY (32 stories from EQMM and AHMM). To the mix I added Ed Hoch's TWELVE AMERICAN DETECTIVE STORIES (MY FFB last Friday) and Thorne Smith's RAIN IN THE DOORWAY. Currently reading Smith's SKIN AND BONES (the only one of his book I have not read) and am hoping to get to S A Cosby's BLACKTOP WASTELAND next.
And that's it from me. Wishing you a great, safe, and happy week ahead, Patti!
So glad you've had some good viewing, Patti. And I know what you mean about icy cold, but sunny, weather. I remember it well. Even if it's icy (so be careful!), it's still nice to see the sun - it's rejuvenating.
It is sad that BEFOREIGNERS sounds familiar to me but certainly not the title. COuld there be two where people emerge from a bog?
Steve-I heard GB played second stringers to avoid injuries for the playoffs.
Take care, Margot.
Last week I was supposed to meet with the Physicians Assistance at a Sleep Center. Medicare now requires a yearly appointment with Sleep Center personnel or they won't pay for CPAP masks, filters, or parts. The day before the appointment, I got a phone call from the PA asking if I could do a tele-conference. "I have test positive for Covid-19. I'm asymptomatic but I'm going to work from home." So I agreed to the tele-conference with the PA and supposedly, I should be able to get my needed CPAP parts this week.
Our temperature tonight is predicted to be 4 degrees. But, still no snow. When I look out my window, I see green grass! Very strange for January.
The Buffalo Bills beat the NY Jets so they now have a home Playoff game against the New England Patriots on Saturday night.
Our Covid-19 rates are in the 20% range and going up. We're hunkered down. Stay safe!
Detroit hit 40% last week although it might be less where I am.
We have only had about 8 inches of snow so far.
Patti, the Australian GLITCH might be the one you mean. People come out of their graves, some died 100 years ago, others much more recently. We quit it after a disappointing series 2, but might now go back and watch the final series. Series 1 was really good, I thought. Never heard of BEFOREIGNERS but we can't get HBO Max on our old television.
Anything new? Well, yes. We left New York last Sunday, got to Florida on Wednesday. The positive? The weather. Partly to mostly sunny and near 80 every day is pretty positive for me, though we're in for a "cooldown" (to low 70s) starting tomorrow, which is good for us.
The bad? What Jerry said on George's blog. Ron DeSantis - for his own political purposes - has turned this state into a petri dish of infection. There are NO MASK MANDATES other than individual businesses, and most people - judging from what we've seen so far - are in the "Covid, what Covid?" category of denial. The Gardens Mall and Macy's were appalling. Almost NO ONE wore masks, groups of teenagers (possibly vaccinated - who knows? - but unlikely to have had a booster that would protect them from Omicron) roamed everywhere (especially the food court) in unmasked packs. Macy's staff wore masks, and some seniors and the occasional family did, but otherwise no. Jackie was concerned about dirty looks and comments along the "Why are you wearing a mask?" line, but absolutely none of that. It's more laissez faire, live and let live, what mask? Most places like restaurants have their staff in masks, and some seem more careful than others, but no mandate for customers. One exception: the Palm Beach County Library. A woman made to stroll in without a mask despite clear signs, and a security guard at a table stopped her and made her mask up. Jackie made an appointment to have her hair done, but when she got there NOT ONE customer or staff member had a mask on so she canceled. She went back to the place she'd gone two years ago (she hadn't been able to get an appointment on Saturday) and EVERYONE was masked (as in the nail place she went to next door). The owner (who remembered her), tit was "the Wild West" out there.
So, we're going to be careful. Eat outside where possible (frankly, almost everywhere is possible) or inside where they are spread out and empty, shop carefully as we do at home (I found it particularly bad at Target, where half the staff was unmasked), and read and watch streaming television.
Back after I post this.
On the road it was much like here. Hotels and restaurants staff wore masks, otherwise hit and miss, though I was pleasantly surprised by how many hotel guests wore masks. We were caught in the beginning of the massive I-95 Snowmageddon mess on Monday, though it was still drivable when we left at 7:00. Had we left an hour or two earlier, it would have still been rain. Had we left any later, forget it. Still, it took me three hours at mostly 30 mph until it turned to rain before Richmond.
Turns out that even thought there are indeed new televisions in our apartment, the main one is a Vizio, which is NOT a Smart TV. But we got an Amazon Firestick (the landlady will reimburse us) and we can get Netflix and Amazon (and related channels).
We watched THE LOST DAUGHTER before we left. Jackie didn't like it much. I liked it but , I don't know, I've been hard to please lately. It was definitely very Ferrante, as Patti said. Well done by Maggie Gyllenhaal, whose husband Peter Sarsgaard plays the Professor.
We also watched the 2013 time travel movie ABOUT TIME. This time Jackie was a lot more positive than I was, though I am a big Rachel McAdams fan. You get a lot of GROUNDHOG DAY and TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE deja vu feelings in this one. If you are a "let it flow over you" person you'll probably like it more than if you're a "wait, that makes no sense" kind of viewer like I am. Domhnall Gleeson stars as the guy who is told after his 21st birthday by his father (the ubiquitous Bill Nighy) than the men in their family can time travel, jsut like that. Little makes logical sense but it's pleasant enough. But how come we're supposed to regard Bill Murray as sleazy in GROUNDHOG when he uses what he learns each day to better woo Andie McDowell the next time, but Gleeson get a free pass for doing the same here with McAdams, only in a more premeditated way, as he can choose when he goes back. THen, halfway though, Dad suddenly tells him more ""rules" that Richard Curtis seems to have thrown into his script at that moment. Oh well, it was a pleasant enough diversion.
I've read a couple of very positive reviews of THE TENDER BAR, the new Prime movie directed by George Clooney based on J. R. Moehringer's memoir, and starring Ben Affleck as his uncle/father figure after he is deserted by his disc jockey father. I can understand why this barely gets a passing grade on Rotten Tomatoes, though I can also understand why some people (Jackie) really liked it. Affleck does a nice job in his best role in some time, but the guy who played the 20ish J. R. really annoyed me with his incessant grinning. The mostly authentic period music (early to mid-70s) music helps. Good but not great.
As George pointe dout, Ron DeSantis just let A MILLION tests expire in the warehouse! Or, as he put it, he was "stockpiling them" for future use. Now that they've expired and he was exposed, he's going to send them to nursing homes! Way to go, Big Ron.
I'm thinking of KATLA, I think.
Yes, I liked the book THE TENDER BAR and will watch the movie. I think Ben is very good at this sort of role. I can understand not liking THE LOST DAUGHTER. Definitely more about feelings than plot.
I have friends trying to decide whether to go to FL (Sanibel Island) and I would like to send them Jeff's comments but I don't want to rain on their parade.
It may be that we are going to have to live with that FLorida world.
P.S. I agree about GLITCH. How could they go so wrong in Season 2.
Yes, KATLA! There will be another series, I believe.
We had a pretty good week, rain almost every day, but that’s fine. I finished a couple of books but can’t remember what just now, we watched the first episode of All Creatures Great and Small, season 2, and enjoyed it very much, though Tristan’s smirky attitude is galling. I reread the first book, in anticipation of the second season, and was surprised at how much the series writers had invented for season one. The scenery is gorgeous.
I understand Jeff and Jackie have their reasons for loving Florida and going there for months each year, so it’s not personal when I say anyone who lives or visits there is nuts. A mall full of maskless teens? I’d run. Covid deniers who get sick get what they deserve. I no longer leave my home. Barbara does essential errands, double masked, distanced, as necessary, we buy less and do it on line whenever possible.
I gave up on football. The officials wither whistles and flags, mistakes and wrong calls, have taken control of the games, filling them with arbitrary baloney. The sports rumor mill and inability of announcers to simply tell the audience what is occurring, without inserting coaching advice and mistaken interpretations is very off-putting. Not watching the so-called championship game tonight frees up over 3 hours for other things, and I’ll probably see 100 less commercials.
Have a good week, I’m glad you’re finding enjoyable things to watch and read.
We have been watching the DIE HARD movies and last night we watched DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE, the third one. We have not watched that one a lot of times so it was more fun than I expected. With Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Irons, 25 years younger. Aldis Hodge was in it (at age 8 or 9, a small part and not recognizable) but I had not realized that before.
Last week I read BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD by Toshikazu Kawaguchi as part of the Japanese Literature Challenge. It is about a tiny café that offers a special service; customers can travel back in time under specific conditions. I liked that book a lot, and will try to find the 2nd book in that series. Nice and short.
Now I am reading two books, OLIVE KITTERIDGE by Elizabeth Strout and LAST SEEN WEARING by Hillary Waugh, published in 1952. Enjoying both of them.
Glen is scheduled to have his retinal surgery on January 21. Getting appointments scheduled that have to happen before the surgery is not going well, due to the increase in positive COVID-19 tests and lower staffing and higher demands at Sansum (our health provider). Glen has already paid for some really expensive eye drops for the surgery, so we hope it does not get postponed. But at this point we are not getting too stressed over it. And staying home as much as possible, although he has a pre-op appointment Wed. and we have dental appointments Friday.
I am thankful for the sun. So unusual in Michigan in winter.
I just watched THE TENDER BAR. Ben was very good but boy was it an ordinary movie. I could read a book while I watched it. Kind of like a eighties Woody Allen movie without the laughs.
Yeah, I felt that way too, Patti. Could have been your tv movie of the week in 1980.
Rick, I saw agree about Tristan. I want to smack the living crap out of him every week. Of course he failed his exams! He is a lazy SOB who never does any work!
However, if Tristan was a great vet too, they would lose a lot of plot threads. He needs to have some fault and better lazy than a scoundrel. Too many perfectly behaving characters spoil the stew.
He also played the goofy brother Leslie Durrell in the PBS series.
Another late entry by me.
My family had a nice Christmas and New Year and my mother visited for about a week. I drive Boy #1 back to Minneapolis in a few days.
Boy #2 tried out for the school play and has a speaking role. His first practice was last night. This means I will be seeing the high school play for the first time in years and I will likely be attending all four performances.
I've been going through audio versions of Colin Bateman's mystery novels set in Northern Ireland. Bateman's comedic novels are a neat contrast to Adrian McKinty's darker novels set in the 1980s.
I am reading a second novel by S.A. Sidor. The adventure novels are a mishmash of pulp adventure, INDIANA JONES, 1930s serials, horror, and Brendan Fraser's MUMMY films. Similar to Hard Case Crime's GABRIEL HUNT series. Sidor is Steve Sidor. I've not read is mystery novels but I think I may have a paperback of one because it has a WI setting.
I've been planning to attend BoucherCon in Minneapolis this year. I am am still staying positive that it will be able to run. Boy #2's birthday present was to attend a big SciFi convention in Chicago after summer. Also hoping that will go through.
We are running nearly 40 percent here as well. Hiding at home.
I loved being in school plays but I never could persuade either child to do theater. Maybe the grandson but I doubt it.
Very hard to venture out, Kevin. Plus there is cold temps and icy sidewalks.
I guess that's his specialty, Jeff. And he is good at it.
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