I tried to rewatch THE X-FILES, but the episodes are so driven by an single idea (e.g. a guy that can ooze through grates) that there is not much else going on except them chasing after him. Tried a British show called THE BOOK GROUP but like a lot of book groups (not mine) the idea of a book quickly gets lost. Wow, that sequel to SEX AND THE CITY is an embarrassment, especially to the actress who plays Charlotte. Was she that ditsy in the original?
PT is tiring and I keep getting caught in torrential rain going home. My knee seems much the same after four sessions. No strength for going down the stairs. And since I have none, I can't practice. I may never be able to go to New York (or any big city) again if it doesn't improve.
My brother is off to Norway and Iceland via cruise ship. More and more a cruise makes sense especially for a non-driver. But on the other hand, I always get seasick on the water. My I am full of problems.
No new movies although I saw BARBIE twice.
How about you?
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Sick most of the weekend. Pretty much back to normal now. Had to cancel seeing any films and one of my great grandson's 2nd birthday.
Watched first season of Loudermilk. The documentary series on HBO-Last Call was quite good.
Read Flags On the Bayou by James Lee Burke. A novel of the civil war, not part of either of his series.
No films in cinemas, no book club (difficult enough to find enough undistracted time to write up the books I have been reading), and sorry there isn't enough opportunity to do PT exercise...the fire stairs in your building are alarmed only, or otherwise unsafe or unpleasant to use for the purpose? Gar.
The relatively captive quality of a cruise is probably what would put me off...never been prone to motion sickness, lucky me. Though my left hand is cramping up as I play with the New Cat...Life's rich pageant.
Just watched the pilot and second episode of SPECIAL OPS: LIONESS (on-screen as LIONESS, but this packaging helps differentiate it from the South African series and give an indicator of the machismic content awaiting the audience)...the pilot has more bullshit to it than the second, but the machas and machos, "good" and ambiguously but Necessarily compromised, and pure evil, are Taylor Sheridan'd in the kind of glossier version of Mack Bolan quantity one might expect, albeit in a context where such things are constant rather than the ridiculous fillips of cod-fratboy branding obsessions and casual but Manful murder of YELLOWSTONE. Soaps where no one does anything quite as non-telegenic as eye-gouging, throat-punching or other things real bad and/or desperate people do during no holds barred fights and torture, but everything is Very Necessary, of course, including rather starved-looking actresses here having endless resources for endurance in extremity. Biggest single stupidity in the pilot is that a US woman spy/"lioness" thought it would be a good idea to go undercover with a ISIS/ISIL/Daesh unit while having an unremoved crucifix tattoo. This will not tip me over into subbing to Paramount+. Saw this when I could've been watching the season finale? of DI RAY, the local repeats of PROFESSOR T and ASTRID (only missed one or two of those), or the new season of DARK WINDS. Managed to not-record BLACK SNOW, dunno if I'm sorry about that yet or not.
Reading some good things I will be writing about.
How young are the too-verbal children, btw? I was a pretty long-winded child by the time I was four...funny how some things stick, no?
Sorry to read you're under the weather, Steve. Better times for us all.
PT will either work or be useless. Depends on the quality of the therapist; there are too many poor ones out there. Hang in with it, though. If it seems like you are not getting the encouragement or the quality you need, switch.
The heat dome is back here with a vengeance. We're doing fine, although this month's electric bill was well over $500, which is indicative of much trouble ahead for poorer families. **sigh**
Erin finishes college on Friday. She had only one final class to take this sememster due to scheduling problems. Sadly, the class was Physics. She said she would rather drop out of school completely rather than have another five days of Physics; luckily, her wiser self is prevailing. On Sunday, she and Christina are headed for a 10-day trip to Scotland and Ireland as a graduation present for her. I told her she would have to eat haggis while she was there, but again, her wiser self will prevail.
Jessie's new wonky kitten, Creme Brulee, is doing well and is adjusting to the pther animals. She is a very sweet and loving animal, but she learned she can cow Amy's chicken-hearted dog and has taken over more than three-quarters of the dog's bed.
A good friend and her daughter were in Orlando this week for a major conference and stop by yesterday on their way back to California. She is a captioner who has worke at the White House, Supreme Court, and for religious, educational, and technical conferences. Usually based in D.C., she now lives in California to help care for her 86-year-old mother who now had dementia. It's been several years since we've seen them and it was great to get together gain.
Been watching/rewatching VERA from the beginning. Akways a treat.
Over the years, I've probably read about half the titles issued by Hard Crime Crime. This week, I pulled out five at random and rerad them: HOUSE DICK by that Watergate guy E. Howard Hunt (originally published under his "Gordon Davis" pseudonym; and also published as WASHINGTON PAYOFF. THE CORPSE WORE PASTIES by Jonny Porkpie, the self-styled "Burlesque Mayor of New York," Joseph Koenig's FALSE NEGATIVE, Seymour Shubin's WITNESS TO MYSELF (My FFB this week), and DAvid J. Schow's GUN WORK. Each a very different and provokative read. Hard Case editor Charles Ardai does a fantastic job curating this line. I'm also closing in my read of Erle Stanley Gardner books, reading two Perry Mason novels, THE CASE OF THE WORRIED WAITRESS and TCOT QUEENLY CONTESTANT, which leaves only one of his many novels unread (and I hope to get to that over the week or so). I also read Gardner's final non-fiction book, COPS ON CAMPUS AND CRIME IN THE STREETS, which was basically a cranky old man's "you kids get off my lawn!" screed; the good points Gardner made were lost due his unwillingness to accept nuance. (**sigh**) Also in the mix this week was the Micky Spillane/Max Allan Collins hitman anthology MURDER IS MY BUSINESS. Also read F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack graphic novel, SCAR-LIP REDUX, in which Jack discovers that the last Rakosh is not dead but is being controlled by a lottery millionaire to kill. Due to the graphic novel format, much of the story is rushed, but many of the Repairman Jack tropes and characters were present to make this one an enjoyable read. Currently finishing up Charlotte Armstrong's SEVEN SEATS TO THE MOON, while working on Gabino Iglesias's THE DEVIL TAKES YOU HOME and dipping into THE VOICE OF KALI, a Sax Rohmer collection of tales from the early Twenties.
Better times are coming, Patti. Stay safe.
I keep hearing the Hepworth is good, Patti - glad you're enjoying it overall. Sorry to hear that PT is so tiring; I hope you're making progress.
I did that PT, cortisone shots, SYNVISC shots, and finally had two total knee replacements. Parts wear out. Find the best orthopedic surgeon who specializes in knee replacements and get your mobility back.
The weather moderated this weekend after sweltering weather last week brought 90 degree temps and high humidity. But, heat returns later this week.
I know a number of people who have seen BARBIE twice...and a couple who have seen it SIX times! But the rest of the Summer movie season looks bleak.
More Covid-19 cases are showing up at local hospitals. Here we go again! Stay safe!
So sorry to hear that Deb has Covid. Lately, we've met or heard about a number of people getting it, including my brother in law in Arizona who ended up with pneumonia in the hospital for several days. He's home and better now.
We saw The Mavericks in concert Friday night, and I guess if there was a petri dish for infection, 3,000 fans standing and singing along was probably it. We are OK so far.... Great show, and what with the excessive heat and humidity, plus Jackie's refusal to take the subway, we decided to stay in a hotel for the night, a Fairfield Inn (Marriott) on 37th Street a few blocks from Macy's. Talk about your compact room. But the breakfast was surprisingly good, and it was about 40% of the cost of a night in the Marriott Marquis.
We're watching LONDON KILLS on Acorn. One more to go. Coming to the end of the Suchet POIROTs and this last group is pretty weak. Granted, "The Big Four" was an early, ridiculous book, derived from short stories the year she "disappeared" and needed to get a book out to make money. FOYLE'S WAR has reached May 1945, but happily the series went on past the end of the war.
Jackie watched the latest JACK RYAN and is now watching THE WITCHER. I've just had it with JUSTIFIED so will let her carry on without me. On Netflix, we're watching THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF JERUSALEM (second and final series; 16 episodes), we finished UNDERCOVER (a relatively happy ending), THE LINCOLN LAWYER (we waited to start it so we wouldn't have to wait between the first and second halves of the season), and the Indian (set in the Punjab) KOHRRA. In the latter, an Indian lawyer in London agrees to his parents' desire for an arranged marriage. But a few days before the wedding, he is found dead, murdered in a field, and his best (white) friend missing. This seems to be a Sikh community, and teh cops are pretty brutal in their treatment of everyone. It's a little difficult to keep everyone straight, but it is worth a try. Very different from the usual fare. We watched the first episode of DARK WINDS series two (FX) last night.
I'm reading more short stories, of course. I finally got the last Claire Keegan book I hadn't read from the library. Also reading short stories, of course. I finally got the last Claire Keegan book I hadn't read from the library. Also reading a Joe Lansdale novel.
I don't need a new knee. I need to build up the strength in it. (At least I think). It only hurts walking down steps.
I am also hearing about more Covid.
I am always surprised at how much there is to say about cats. More than dogs, it seems. Are they a more interesting animal?
I thought Dark Winds was on AMC. Maybe I can see it if it's one FX.
I heard THEATER CAMP is good, too.
No, you're right. It is AMC.
Once upon a time, you could watch anything except HBO and SHOWTIME. Now it costs an extra $100 or more dollars to do that.
We have HBO and Showtime and Starz as well as Prime and Acorn and Britbox and MHz Choice and PBS Masterpiece. It's only money.
I know. I am just never sure how much I will need to see me through what time's left to me.
LAST CALL was good because they focused on the victims and the anti-gay sentiment rather than the perpetrator.
Have to return to Death in Paradise but I probably don't have it anymore. I think Barbie would be much better on a big screen if you decide to see it.
Cats are somewhat (but only somewhat) more emotionally independent than dogs, which can make dogs even more problematic when they are inbred (too common) or ill-treated before one takes them in (likewise), inasmuch as they do ten to run larger and have more jaw power to them. Cats want human company, for the most part, but usually drool less. (We did have a cat, Jean, who would drool as she kneaded my sister's head, and would occasionally do the same to me--we would be sitting on a couch or stuffed chair watching tv, and she would sit on the back of the furniture, working our scalp as if looking for milk teats.)
New cat was not in the happiest of homes before adoption into ours. She is thus making life less pleasant than she should for our Old cat, and more annoying than it could be for we house apes, as I am now in charge of keeping them segregated, when not doing other work around the house or, y'know, sleeping. First attempt at medication for Whiskers was a bust.
Yes, the utter abandonment of masks by the population and the weather extremity are not a good combo. Sorry that Deb has contracted COVID...hope it passes through as easily as it can.
Good luck on the knee...
Only money as a concept, indeed, works better for those who have steady sources for same.
Tracy--did SS-GB the miniseries deviate from the novel's ending?
Todd, in some ways the ending of the novel and the miniseries were very close, but there were at least two characters that died in the novel and were left alive in the miniseries. Usually I don't mind a different ending but in this case I think they should not have messed with the ending. Maybe because I had read it so recently. The novel was more realistic in my opinion.
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