Back home. Except it doesn't feel like home yet. Had a very nice time, especially enjoyed all the seafood and music we were able to take it. Had the best calamari I have ever had. Lots of walking-didn't gain any weight despite eating like crazy. We had 20/21 sunny days. It was 61 every day. Perfect walking weather. La Jolla is beautiful.
Reading Wednesday's Child, which I think I read before. It's early in his series. Watched Paris Murders pretty much exclusively. Awfully violent but the detectives are interesting. Also watched DOG HOUSE UK Season 5. Although I have never owned a dog, I find them fun to watch.
So what is new on your front?
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Glad you are home and did not get washed away in the California rains...and just in time for Spring to start tomorrow!
Tuesday evening, Mark brought home a couple of friends for a sleepover. A and B were four-day-old kookaburra chicks, too young to be given names. To tell them apart, A had a whiteout dot on its head, and B had two whiteout dots. They were bald, pink, noisy, and scrawny, and flopped all around as they learned to control their muscles. Unlike Mark's buddy Spruce, the weeks-old tamarin, A and B needed only be fed once a night, instead of every two or three hours, allowing Mark to get some actual sleep. Also, unlike Spruce, kookaburras are carnivores, so Mark had to feed them chopped-up pinkies. There were three chicks born, but the parents ate the weakest; A and B were removed so they would not suffer the same possible fate. Nature can be cruel when it comes to ensuring the survival of the species. Nature can be cruel, but Mark isn't. A and B had such a good time, they came back two days afterward for another sleepover.
The chicks' mother, yclept Sheila, is what zoo officials called "feisty," zoo-talk for "difficult to handle." Friday, another zoo worker was checking on Sheila and her mate when Sheila discovered a hole in her enclosure and took advantage of it, escaping. That started the Great Sheila Hunt, in which Mark and many other participated. They tried to lure Sheila back with food (mice), but she was having none of it. Sheila flew to the top of some forty-foot trees where they could not reach her. Later, she swooped down and grabbed a snake, brought it back up to the treetops, and ate it. Now that Sheila knows there is food available, she will not be tempted by anything the zoo people can offer. Sheila may be loose for the duration. Saturday, she caught another snake. Also on Saturday, Erin and her boyfriend Trey saw Sheila and were able to take a photograph of her. The story of sheila and her great escape may be unending.
In the meantime, Mark has not heard back from the Gator Boys. Perhaps this coming week, we hope. Erin is now once again leaning toward applying to veterinary school. she had decided to put off the decision for a year because she fount that she much prefers the work she is doing as a vet tech over what a full-fledged vet would be doing. In other animal news, Amy and Jessie took a trip to Tallahassee yesterday to deliver a Doberman to rescue shelter for Amy's work. The dog only pooped in his crate three times during the ride, so the windows were own for much of the ride out of necessity and despite the rain. they had to stop and clean up the animal before the handover. On the plus side, they had some fantastic Venezuelan arepas for lunch.
Jessie has been wanting to fence in her back yard for years and the install had been scheduled for last Monday. Rain pushed the install to Wednesday, then again to today. Now yesterday's rain has pushed the install back to tomorrow. It's frustrating to have something you have wanted for years to be pushed back incrementally after you have finally made arrangements to get it.
Saturday was Jack's first soccer game of the season and his team got royally skunked, 7-0. Jack did play all but two minutes of the entire game. His team really has to learn how to work together, but it's early in the season. Christina and I watched and the sun was out in its glory. All three of us got sunburn, and Jack's face looks like he is wearing a bright red raccoon mask. I have decided that I don't really care for soccer dads. As a devoted man of peace, I was still sorely tempted to clock a few of them. **sigh**
(To be continued)
(Part Two)
Walt is due home from Thailand tomorrow. They really liked his photography work at the martial arts championship and, if the same people are in charge next year, he will be asked back. While he was there, he also managed to score another paying photography gig; the pay in Thailand, alas, is miniscule. But it's nice to be wanted.
Television this week included the latest VERA, DEATH IN PARADISE, and John Oliver, as well as the late night comics (where I get most of my news). I've started my binging watch/re-watch of SHETLAND, hoping to work through all eight seasons over the next two weeks; enjoying it a lot.
It was a slow reading week. I finished the James Lee Burke collection HARBOR LIGHTS and moved on to one of his Hackberry Holland novels, RAIN GODS, which I was only able to read in 30 to 40-page segments. It's a good, well-written, and complicated book, and I suspect my problem with reading it lies in the protagonist's deep feeling of loss because of his wife's death; a bit too personal for me, I think. I also finished GREAT TALESOF TERROR, an abridged (41 stories out of 52 total), instant remainder edition of the two differing edition of 1936's THE GREAT BOOK OF THRILLERS, which allowed me to finish all the stories in the two variant editions. I also read Jeff Lemire and Matt Kindt's graphic novel COSMIC DETECTIVE -- not bad, but Lemire has done better -- and Georges Bess's marvelously drawn (and massive) adaptation of Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN. I included a snippet of the first BLACK BAT novel by Norman Daniels in my blog today, and that book is next in my reading pile, perhaps for my FFB. In my latest FFB (of James Patterson and Brian Sitts's latest abomination of Walter Gibson's The Shadow sage, I mentioned that they had just published HOLMES. MARPLE AND POE, a book I fear that may shatter all records for terrible literature; George mentioned that he had (sadly) suffered through it and might even include a review some time in the future. I figured that if George could torture himself with it, then so could I. So I ordered it from the library and it may show up this week.
I hope the luck of the Nase/Abbott Irish was with you yesterday, Patti, and that tomorrow will bring a spring season of warmth and happiness to you. It's god to have you back. Take care.
Welcome home! We've got another week and a couple of days until we leave. Weather has not been as perfect as San Diego, but pretty good for us - mostly in the 70s with occasional forays into the 80s (the last few days, ending today, has been the warmest of the trip, but it is supposed to drop nearly 20 degrees tomorrow, to barely 70) and a few 60s. There has been plenty of rain, probably El Nino-related, but only two or three days were bad enough to keep us inside.
We like this location (you saw it last year) very much, and Jackie has already booked it for the next two years (January through March).
Of course, the biggest news was us having to buy a car, but that has worked out great.
Haven't watched PARIS MURDERS, but may give it a try. But that is the second streaming show where they started in the middle of a series here, rather than the beginning, in this case starting with series four, according to Wikipedia. We watched one episode of a Swedish murder show only to discover it was actually series five, we didn't know the characters or the background, and we gave it up.
What are we watching? NO OFFENCE (Britbox or Acorn, can't remember), the third and final series. Another Manchester cop show with a woman boss. SCOTT & BAILEY. Also Manchester, this is our second time through with it. Soapy elements, yes, but a really good mix. CANDICE RENOIR, series 8 (out of 10 or 11). I think this is Acorn or PBS. Set in the south of France. WALKING ON SUNSHINE. Silly Austrian weather show, series three. LUNA & SPOHIE, German cops in Potsdam (aka SOKO Potsdam), series three. VERA series 13. DEATH IN PARADISE series 13. NCIS series 16. THE WAGNER METHOD (PBS), set in Strasbourg, France. Neurotic hypochondriac cop put in charge by his mother, the Mayor, but better than it sounds. MI-5 (aka SPOOKS), series 3 (rerun). NORTHERN EXPOSURE series 2 (rerun), which we're enjoying the second time through. MUM. LOUDERMILK. Probably several others.
I've read about 120 short stories down here, plus mysteries and non fiction. We have a very good local library, though for Kindle books we have to get them from Brooklyn. You really can travel without books as long as you have your Kindle.
Only saw one movie this year, THE HOLDOVERS, and skipped the Oscars again. Most weeks, there is just nothing we've been interested in seeing. Sad.
Very annoying that PARIS MURDERS skipped Season 1-3 because they allude to plot points from those seasons too much not to be able to watch them. I read a synopsis online but it was not very satisfying. I am on Season 5 of NORTHERN EXPOSURE and it's starting to recycle plots.Loved Loudermilk.
I have two James Lee Burke's to read (from Rick's collection). Jerry, you are lucky to be so surrounded by your family. That must really help.
I saw all the Oscar films except ZONE OF INTEREST. Having been to Auschwitz I felt I could skip it.
After a couple of weeks of abnormally warm weather, Western NY is back into typical March temperatures. We woke up to 35 degrees this morning and the rest of the week will be the same.
Diane and I and some friends went to a dinner theater over the weekend. The food was good and the play was better: Neil Simon's I OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES from 1980. I've seen over a dozen Neil Simon plays and movies, but not this one. My review will be up on my blog tomorrow.
Patrick is getting ready for his trip to Paris, France. Katie traveled from Boston to NYC over the weekend to see Sutton Foster in SWEANY TOOD. Diane and I have tickets to this coming weekend's NICKEL CREEEK concert.
Patti, you must have loved those 61 degree temps! Stay safe!
I did love those sunny, warmish days. Perfect for walking. Your kids love to travel, George. And also love theater. You managed to give them broad horizons.
Boy #2 was waitlisted at one University. As he told his mother, "Better than a rejection." And the waitlist place has a tighter acceptance rate than the other place who turned him down: 6% versus 7.something%. Oh, well.
I plan to drive south in a couple weeks with the same kid for the eclipse. Traffic promises to be insane. I don't know how close we will get. My wife started following an online group about the eclipse and it has people offering "space in my field for $200".
Finished DDC Morgan's novel ROPE AND CANVAS. Third of his novel's set in post-war Britain with an ex-serviceman drifting among lowly security jobs and solving murders. Still need to finish THIN RED LINE and Gene Kerrigan's THE RAGE. Heard HELLO, TRANSCRIBER by Hannah Morrissey and enjoyed it. I think that is her first published book and it did not have some of the disjointed weirdness of other first novels.
The only thing I know about La Jolla is the mention in the Lyrics of GOLETA from Camper van Beethoven: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avO0LW1jhbI
Not too much new and unusual here. We haven't had any rain for a while and our small back yard which usually is in total shade for the Fall / Winter is beginning to get some sun along the back fence. I need to start weeding and cleaning up.
We watched a noir film from 1947, REPEAT PERFORMANCE. As the film begins, on New Year's Eve, the heroine has shot her husband. She goes looking for help in the crowds and somehow miraculously gets to live the last year over. Her goal is to change everything so that that year doesn't end the same. It stars Joan Leslie, Louis Hayward, and Richard Basehart. I have always liked Joan Leslie in Yankee Doodle Dandy which I have watched many many times. She is very different in this film. The film was based on a book and I bought a Kindle edition of that.
This week we watched the first two episodes of THE COMPLETELY MADE-UP ADVENTURES OF DICK TURPIN, which was fun. Also watching latest season of DEATH IN PARADISE. We are still in Season 3 of NORTHERN EXPOSURE and will soon be finishing the last episodes of STAR TREK: VOYAGER.
As for reading, I finished YOUR REPUBLIC IS CALLING YOU by Kim Young-ha. It was a very interesting story about North Korean spy who has been in South Korea over 20 years, and has now been recalled to North Korea. He has a wife and teenage daughter he will be leaving behind.
Next I read A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE by Malla Nunn, set in South Africa in 1952 when new apartheid laws have recently gone into effect. The protagonist is an English detective in the police who is investigating the death of an Afrikaner police captain. A good story but a difficult read.
Glen finished CHURCHILL'S MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE by Giles Milton. He is now reading ABROAD IN JAPAN by Chris Broad. The author went to Japan as an English teacher, and did not speak Japanese. He has a YouTube channel in Japan with the same title as the book. It is a humorous book and Glen is enjoying it. Lovely cover too.
It is indeed 86 and humid today in South Florida, but rain and cooler temperatures are coming.
Also watching: AN ALMOST PERFECT FAMILY (Swedish; Netflix). A 15 year old girl is raped, but under pressure from her mother (a lawyer), she doesn't press charges. Four years later, after a fun night out, she is arrested for murder of the guy she spent the night with (and there is no indication that anything untoward happened).
UPDATE: Sheila the runaway kookaburra has been captured and is safely back in her enclosure. Loose snakes in the area are breathing a sigh of relief. Sic transit gloria Sheila's Great Escape.
Jerry-you really do need to write a script.
I saw that Swedish one, Jeff. A very strange series.
I love stories where you get to take a different path, Tracy. Will look for it.
So much of the current crop of new series are getting bombed by the critics. Really too bad about the Kate Winslett series and also the Annette Benning one. I may have to join Brit Box again.
We will be facing that anxiety next year with Kevin, Gerard. How much do extra-curricular activities count? What will being on Moot Court, tennis team, jazz band, and a community foundation for charity be worth? I wonder. Are kids knocking themselves out to no avail.
Kookaburra is a fun word.
Thanks, Todd. Unless I get out into fresh air several times a day, I fall asleep. Makes reading for any length of time difficult. I think it's the thyroid medication.
I have my eye on two suspects, both new additions, but which Supposedly Don't Do This. Will drop one for the last set of the drug it replaced (clearly more for insurance not having to pay the extra two bucks a month...maybe five...than any other reason) and then see what might be the result of varying the other.
But getting out more wouldn't be the worst idea. Most of my walking is in supermarkets and the occasional bookstore or hardware store visit, or behind a vacuum or, once again, a lawnmower.
Alas, for those of us who do watch Colbert, Meyers, DAILY SHOW, Oliver, and Kimmel when he's not too sunk in fratboy mode, this is their Spring Break week, all repeats or pre-emptions till next. Not that this tempts me to try to catch up on Maher nor Fallon, the irresponsible (and woefully unfunny) more or less Joe Rogans of this form. CONAN O'BRIEN NEEDS A FRIEND, THE JACKIE AND LAURIE SHOW, BONANAS FOR BONANZA repeats I'd missed (usually with Maria Bamford), NEVER NOT FUNNY help supplement, when I'm awake.
Glad you are safely home.
Nothing much new here. Won't bore all with the lament. Can say that I got a little good news.
I hardly ever write now, but got pushed hard by several different folks to submit to two different anthologies. Somehow, I got in both. Last Friday I signed the contract for the second one that will be out later this year with the first coming in the next few weeks.
Can't say more. Probably should have not said this much. But, it rather amazes me that this has happened as, with Sandi gone, ideas just don't happen and writing anything, even reviews, is very, very hard. I'm fundamentally different now and not in any good way.
Sounds like Kevin will do well on extracurriculars. I'll admit to thinking it feels like there is a secret formula to admissions. My wife's library has brought in a college admissions advisor for a couple library programs. She has passed along the advisor's advice a couple times.
My mother mentioned how a guy at the computer science department at the U of Illinois said he has to send rejection notices and the kids that are rejected are all great. Sending the rejections is a bummer when they're all qualified but did not make the cut.
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