HACKS is back, picking up where it left off. The chemistry between these two women make it zing. Also enjoying UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN
and BREEDERS.
Went to see a terrific MAMA MIA at a local theater here. I guess if you like the music of ABBA, which I do, you won't find much to dislike.
I doubt I have ever seen a cast enjoy themselves more than this one. Say what you want about musicals amateurs are much more likely to be able to sing than act. And this one had many good singers.
We have had a gorgeous week here. Although things are closing down to the left and right of me as construction begins, I can still sneak out. This was a good move for me. I feel calmer than in years despite all of the COVID and bad politics around me. Not sure why but I'll take it.
Reading THE LIONESS by Chris Bohjalian.
What about you?
30 comments:
The Tigers won three in a row. Will wonders never cease.
Also enjoying Under the Banner of Heaven, Barry, John Oliver and Reservation Dogs. Like Bosch but it would be better without the daughter. And Lincoln Lawyer isn't bad but not as good as the Movie.
Just finished Sea of Tranquility by Emily St.John Mandel which I liked a lot. Now reading Trust by Chris Hammer and Far From Home by Walter Tevis.
Glad you like Mama Mia. Personally I can't stand ABBA. Bubblegum pop.
Great weather although it is cooling down a bit this week. 89 degrees is fine by me. Some nasty storms just passed through this afternoon.
Tuesday my oldest daughter is getting an award for her work with special needs children.
And at least 4 mass shootings this weekend. And nothing will get done about it.
Entitled, check. Rude, check. Cowardly, check. Self-important, double-check. Living up to every stereotype of online correspondence...time for a well-deserved sleep.
As usual, thinking about what I should be reading when not thinking about the various things I should be doing. My friends still on the mend, for the most part (haven't even previously brought up another, whose crisis is more a long-term philosophical and emotional one). Doing some of those, not reading as much as I'd like, watching too much tv, particularly on Sunday nights...jumping to some news coverage between catching THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE (the new series version, not bad), BARRY (it *is* a sitcom, if an ultraviolet and also violent one), GASLIT, ZIWE and LAST WEEK TONIGHT...still haven't made up my mind about THE BABY, but it's certainly watchable. And another sitcom involving a whole lot that isn't funny.
Congratulations to your daughter, Steve!
Glad that, despite the street hassles, you are feeling less stranded in the new digs, Patti. May the good feelings continue.
I'm glad you've had a chance to get out to see a show, Patti. And you make a good point about how important the cast's attitude is. If they're having fun, it's contagious.
Feeling calmer is good. Nice weather is good. Liking ABBA is passible (I can take ABBA is small doses) but a good local theater can make anything great.
Great news about Steve's daughter; those who do good things should be celebrated.
My good news is that Kitty has a new heart valve! Headed out to Birmingham at 0-Dark-Hundred Wednesday morning in order for some more required tests that afternoon. Went in Thursday morning for the procedure. Everything went smoothly. Spent Friday morning in the hospital resting up and headed home Saturday morning. Fun fact: Birmingham has a Buckee's -- we stopped there Saturday morning for breakfast; both Kitty and I had beef brisket tacos...yum!
The new heart valve does not mean that her problems are over. It will take a few weeks to a few months to show significant improvement, but the life-threatening bugbear is gone. Now we get to take care of her other less serious but still important problems. Things are looking much brighter today.
Our stalwart crew was once again Christina and Amy, both of whom were a major help both physically and emotionally. Christina gave up her birthday weekend plans with Walt to come with us. Both she and Amy crocheted their little hearts out -- Amy finished a large, multicolored hooded cardigan which drew a lot of positive comments from people at the hospital. The two girls also did some serious bonding time.
We did not do much else this week. Television at the hospital was full of dismal choices. I did get a lot of hospital reading done -- four books by Joe R. Lansdale: TERROR IS OUR BUSINESS (stories about an occult detective; three of them written with his daughter, Kasey Lansdale); FENDER LIZARDS (a "mainsteam" novel about a roller-skating waitress), BUBBA AND THE COSMIC BLOOD SUCKERS (an Elvis-Is-Alive novel in which The King is part of a secret group protecting the country from terrifying events), and DRIVING TO GERONIMO'S GRAVE (a story collection -- all good); and a Perry Mason novel by Erle Stanley Gardner, TCOT THE BEAUTIFUL BEGGAR. I also finished SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN, a rather clunky page-turner from A. Merritt (IMHO his weakest novel) and CARL BARKS AND THE DISNEY DUCKS, a commemorative collectable about the creation and making of a series of high quality figurines featuring Donald and clan. Barks, of course, was the famed Disney artist who gave us the Donald Duck comics and who created Uncle Scrooge. I bought this one over 15 year ago at a thrift shop for a quarter and finally got around to reading it. (Abebooks is currently listing it anywhere from $1 to $110.)
The weather has been mixed. A lot of sunshine, a hellacious storm last night, and a number of flurries of deadly bullets throughout the country, especially in Buffalo and Laguna Woods. I'll gladly take the sunshine and I'll accept last night's storm, but this third weather pattern has just got to stop.
Hope you have a great week, Patti. Stay safe.
Sorry I did have to remove that post by anonymous. I don't mind being corrected but being chastised by someone who has nothing else to say and doesn't leave his/her name is unacceptable. Please don't come back because I will just delete you again. And I hope you don't have access to weapons other than your computer.
A mini excuse right now is that my legs are in a lot of pain from the estrogen blocker. I could look up spellings, of course, but I often lost my post when I do. Enough attention to anonymous.
Wonderful about Steve's daughter. People who work in professions like she does do not get the attention and credit they deserve often. I loved Reservation Dogs.
The dancing in Mama Mia was also terrific. They used two choreographers.
So happy to hear about Kitty's valve. You guys have been through so much over the last year. I am just super glad you have such a warm, loving family to boost you.
Margot-I just rented a place in La Jolla so I hope to see you next January.
Todd-I was all set to watch the TTW and then the reviews were pretty bad. Let me know if it's worth it. I love time travel. Barry is such an odd show. I going from feeling sorry for him, to fearing him in two second intervals. I hope his girlfriend backs away quickly. He has too easy access to multiple weapons and the anger issues to use them. I am hoping it's not going to end there.
Right now Buffalo, NY is locked down after the mass shooting at a TOPS grocery store where a 18-year-old wearing body armor and a modified AR-15 killed 10 people and wounding three. The shooter live-streamed his murderous rampage online with a camera attached to his helmet. The shooter has been arraigned on Murder in the First Degree with additional Hate Crime charges.
President Biden will travel to Buffalo to meet with the grieving families tomorrow.
Two of Diane's close friends have come down with Covid-19 despite being vaccinated and Boosted. We are scheduled for our second Booster tomorrow. Western NY's Covid-19 infection rate hovers around 20% but when Diane and I leave the house wearing our N95 masks, we see very few people wearing masks or social distancing. People are just ignoring the Pandemic.
Yesterday's NY TIMES devoted their front page to the 1 million people who died in the Pandemic. I wonder what they'll do when we reach 2 million. Stay safe!
Yes, at MAMA MIA only about 20% wore masks. We were two of them. I know a few people with mild Covid right now. I feel I will get it again but I am not willing to give up a life for it. Just wear my mask inside stores and such and cross my fingers. I am grateful for places that enforce masks like the library. I am there almost every day.
The library sale was disappointing. I only got three books: BLACKTOP WASTELAND (Crosby), THE PLOT (Korelitz) and ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS (Vuong). Although how I would have carried more than three home I am not sure.
Jerry--Very glad the largest hurdle is behind you all...all good things for her and you all. Abd the Lansdale(s) particularly sound like good companions during the waiting times.
Patti, sorry about the continuing leg pain...as you note elsewhere, perhaps George's current course of treatment might help, if the interactions and contraindications won't nix it.
On the basis of the first hour only, THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE the series is unsurprisingly able to dig a bit more complexly into events; didn't seek out any reviews yet, but perhaps this braidedness might seem either too cute or too Much losing the thread as the series continues. I'll see. (The cast manages to survive a lack of Rachel MacAdams.)
It's indicative of How Things Are Going that I keep forgetting to watch RESERVATION DOGS. That's how it's gone with ATLANTA for several seasons, and I've finally seen some good episodes of the current season.
Two series that I binged on Starz that I don't remember if I've cited here (think I have), but which I can recommend if one finds access, are BLINDSPOTTING and RUN THE WORLD, which are both expected to have second seasons Any Time Now. Still need to give AMERICAN GODS a real chance, as well. Starz series seem to be easily accessed on Roku, if that helps anyone.
My Perdita Weeks fix will need new dealers, alas, as CBS axed the MAGNUM, P.I. 2.0 version. And yet they kept...MAGNUM wasn't an actually good series, but it could be easy if limited fun, and was less clunking than the original became, after Selleck began throwing his weight around. The highest-rated broadcast cancellation, even after CBS moved it into a bad slot on a bad night...someone at the network might've had it in for them.
And today the Times had a very revealing piece about the difference between our Covid response and that of Australia. Had we followed their example instead of behaving as we did (probably inevitable, given where we are as a country today and who was President and set the tone from the start) our death total could be 100,000 rather than 1,000,000. But then, look how Australia handled the gun issue after ONE mass shooting compared to our non-handling of it.
Great news about Kitty! We can use all the good news we can get.
We're trying to see a Saturday matinee every other weekend via TDF (currently, we've been paying only $49 a ticket for plays, $52 for musicals). This week it was Tracy Letts' THE MINUTES. Once again we got great seats (Row G, center orchestra) for this dark play (written at the beginning of the Trump administration) from Chicago's Steppenwolf Company. Well written and acted, 90 minutes without intermission. We sort of enjoyed it. What we do is take the express bus from across from our house to 42nd Street and Madison Avenue and walk over to the theater.
Got a new television mainly because the other was too old to stream HBO MAX and IMDB (now FREEVEE), so we can watch HACKS. As if we didn't have enough to watch already. We've added CHERIF on MHz Choice. It's another mismatched partners/fish out of water French cop show. This one is set in Lyons, with Khader Cherif of North African descent, an unconventional detective whose unorthodox methods work. Adeline Briard is a transfer from Paris (again, personal issues) and very uptight and by the book. But they work well together. There are just so many shows available to stream these days We finished WHITSTABLE PEARL and have one more episode of ANNIKA to go.
The weather has finally warmed up, I did finish four books this week, but am not finding anything really exciting and compelling. I've been readng more non-fiction, currently another of Lawrence Block's books on writing, A WRITER PREPARES.
We really enjoyed MAMMA MIA and saw it about five times in London. No apologies for enjoying a fun show. New York City has dropped the "proof of vaccination" mandate for theaters, but so far still has the mask mandate, though they may drop it at the end of the month, which does not please me. We'll have to see how that goes.
Masks seem rather a small inconvenience still...in comparison. Even with less deadly strains presiding.
Ah, well. Definitely haven't been eating in restaurants...nor from the salad/entree bars the Wegman's market has back up. No chicken pox parties, thanks.
Boy #1 has been home a week. His mother and I figured he'd take a week off after finals. Now he'll need to get a job. A phrase that always reminds me of the song.
Boy #2 and his mom went to see a Neil Gaiman appearance last night in Madison. This was an event with multiple COVID reschedules.
I drove them to the theatre, took a walk in a University owned lakeside park, then found a bar to wait in. Bars are always easy to find in Wisconsin and I ended up at a whisky bar a couple storefronts down from the theater. To me the words "whisky bar" mean "too expensive, stay away". I walked in anyway and had a decent time sitting, reading, and screwing around on my phone. The bar stock includes 750 whisky bottles and the priciest option was $848 dollars for a 2 ounce pour of Macallan M.
I'm quite happy with the news KIDS IN THE HALL season. I've been watching an episode at a time to string it out - no binging.
Watched: local news, an episode of FATHER BROWN on PBS, an episode of MORSE.
Read: two essays in Slightly Foxed (5 pages total).
Travel away from home: zero.
Weather: cool and rainy, which is how I like it.
Garden: Rhododendrons blooming, Lilacs setting buds.
Hope you have a wonderful week.
Lilacs are already blooming here. Everything bloomed over a ten-day period, it seems. And you, too, Rick.
I have never been in a whiskey bar. I wonder if it is a WI thing.
I just went to the gym here in my building and walked a mile. It was better without the potholes but still hurts.
Jerry, I am very glad to hear that Kitty has a new heart valve and that things are going well in that area. Patti, I love ABBA's music also and would have loved that show, although I am not voluntarily getting out in groups like that at this point. Being in a packed court for voir dire for a jury trial was more contact with people than I have had for a long time. I was done with jury duty on Monday, luckily. I don't think I could handled being on a jury.
Watching: We started watching BROKENWOOD MYSTERIES a couple of weeks ago, but we only watch one every now in then. Same as with rewatching MIDSOMER MURDERS. We are moving quickly through the 7th season of BROOKLYN 99, which we have never seen, and will then move on to Season 8. We do watch NCIS, NCIS: HAWAII, and the last few episodes of BULL on Paramount+; also STAR TREK: NEXT GENERATION. BULL is not my favorite show but I do like Michael Weatherly's acting.
Reading: Finished JUSTINE by Lawrence Durrell and started reading BALTHAZAR, the next in the Alexandria Quartet.
Rick, I did get the older copy of the Slightly Foxed magazine which I had ordered from a seller on Amazon (No. 16 from 2007). It was the least expensive one I could find but is in great condition and has a lovely cover. I haven't read any of it yet but the essays I am particularly interested in are about Georgette Heyer, James Thurber, and clerihews.
In Michigan (or at least in my county) when you are called for jury duty, it you are not chosen the first day, you have completed your obligation. It seems really difficult (especially now) to have to return for two weeks. Of course, you can be called again the next year.
The last two times I was called for jury duty, it was Federal. Because we are in the Eastern District of New York, that covers not only Brooklyn and Staten Island, but all the way out to the end of Long Island. The first time was fine, but the second time they wanted me to show up to Central Islip! Well, one hates to be indelicate, but f... that. No chance. I let them know it would be a hardship and there was no way I could (or would) go all the g-d way out to Suffolk County, especially when I live in Brooklyn and they could have sent Suffolk County residents there. Whatever the reason, they accepted my "logic" and let me off. I told them I would serve in Brooklyn only. Some of the people in the jury pool either didn't know better or just did what they were told, as we heard stories of people getting from their homes to the Long Island RR, taking that into Brooklyn, and then getting the subway downtown.
Fortunately, they haven't called me again, and since the pandemic the courts were closed and even since then, they seem awfully quiet.
They will never choose me anyway because Josh is a prosecutor but try telling them that on the telephone. Or even when you show up. I think after age 75, you don't have to do it. And that is coming soon.
My son had to do Federal jury duty and he was pretty young when he did that. He had to take the train (Amtrak) down from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, and stay overnight in a hotel. He was able to get out of it because it was a long trial and it would have prevented him from taking a class.
In California, you are on jury duty for a week, and you "call in" each night (except now you check a very unhelpful web page), and if you don't get called in during the week, you have completed your obligation. If you get called in, as I did, you sit through the voir dire process while others are questioned, or get called up and questioned. This was the first time I sat through the whole voir dire, and it was interesting but tiring and repetitious. Previous times I was in the jury box but the lawyers did not like my answers. At that point I was released, but only for a year.
Jury Duty: in Oregon, one may request excusal if aged 70 or older. Barbara did so last month.
In California, you can only do that if you are over 70 and have a serious medical condition. (You can do that if you are under 70, but then you have to have something from the doctor to prove it.) I have lots of minor problems but no serious medical conditions.
As with so much, so strange that we have at least 50 ways of doing almost everything. Which is probably one of the biggest reasons we fared so poorly with Covid.
No, we faired poorly because of Trump.
Now that we have HBO MAX and Amazon FREEVEE, we watched the first episodes of HACKS and BOSCH; LEGACY last night. I prefer the former so far.
THE LINCOLN LAWYER on NETFLIX isn't bad. Although I have only watched two episodes. HACKS is good because those two women are so good.
Glad to see the positive medical news from many. So sorry about the leg pain, Patti. Hope it gets better.
KRT
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