Rewatched THE NICE GUYS and still don't think it's a great movie despite its two stars. The mix of comedy and violence never goes down easily for me.
Went to a library book sale but because I was walking (about a mile) I could only purchase four books. I would go back today for the bag sale but I am going to hear Mozart at the DSO.
The one book you probably can't see (above) is a collection of short stories by Carol Shields (Dressing Up for the Carnival). Unlike Tracy's book sales there were not many great books to be had and there were almost no people looking at them. For an educated community, these people don't seem to read much. Or maybe they don't read used books. Or even library books.
Went to an architectural exhibit at Lawrence Institute School of Technology. Their graduating project was to design a sports center for Sault Ste Marie, a town in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Amazing to see their final projects. I have one friend who is willing to do oddball things like this. Thank God.
Anyway, I am not supposed to be buying books. Just reading them. Still working on THERE, THERE but reading a lot of magazines and short stories and trying to write haiku.
Lots of podcast listening. Mostly ones on books, movies, TV but some political ones too.
Exercise classes, writing group, and a woodwind concert at the Senior Center this week. They, too, are trying to build a better facility. Their programs are great, it's the building that isn't. I went to a meeting discussing what people want and boy, they want a lot but don't want higher taxes. Pickelball is the big thing.
How about you?
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Haiku is a itch
Five lines, then seven, then five
Hard to keep count
Just back from the beach on Cinco de Mayo.. Beautiful weather but no mariachi bands and o dolphins with sombreros. **sigh** I tried to get into the mood earlier by putting a jar of mayonnaise in the sink but I was told that's not how you celebrate.
The Maine coon cat we were hoping for did not happen; animal rescue decided to give the owner another chance and released the cat back to her. I hope it works put for the cat's sake but I fear the cat will be back at the animal shelter soon. Both Christina and Amy began checking Maine coon breeders and the is one in our areas but the cats go for $3500 to $4000 apiece. We're more of a "we'll take animals that need a good home" family rather than a "hey, let's dip into the kids' college fund to get a pet" family. We may or may not be getting a third hedgehog. Amy knows someone who is looking to rehome theirs and Erin is tempted although that will mean rearranging space in her bedroom. If Erin decides not to take the hedgehog, it will still be able to find a good home, so there is no pressure on that end. Time will tell. In the meantime one of Mark's baby snakes died; it's sad but baby snakes have a very high mortality rate. Mark has a phone interview with a zoo in Albuquerque later this week. We not getting out hopes up because he is an intensely shy introvert who does not do phone interviews well, although any zoo would be lucky to get a worker as good as Mark.
Watched the usual late night comics, and the latest episodes of SISTER BONIFACE and BEYOND PARADISE. Have been streaming FATHER BROIWN from the beginning and am in the middle of Season Five; it's light but enjoyable fare. (I have to admit I prefer the spin-off SISTER BONIFACE.)
It's been a graphic novel week, reading STEPHEN KING'S THE DARK TOWER: THE DRAWING OF THE THREE: BITTER MEDICINE, M. R. Carey's THE DOLL HOUSE FAMILY, DAPHNE BRYNE by Laura Marks, Carmen Maria Machado's THE LAZY, LAZY WOODS, and PLUNGE and SEA DOGS by Joe Hill, I'm about half-way through the 981-page SANDMAN MYSTERY THREATRE COMPENDIUM ONE by Matt Wagner and Steven T. Seagle, which contains half of the original 80 issues of the comic book. I also read THE LIAR's BIBLE by Lawrence Block, a collection of his WRITER'S DIGEST columns from the 80s, as well as Frank Belknap Long's ...AND OTHERS SHALL BE BORN, a short horror novel which was my FFB this week.
Bummed about Duane Eddy.
I hope you will not be bummed about your coming week, Patti; may it be a glorious one!
Yes, my haiku dropped a "B," because yours is a family-oriented blog.
"Haiku is an itch" seems also fair...
I didn't see any films in the theater but watched a great one from Denmark called The Promised Land starring Mads Mikkelson. It got a lot of attention when it came out earlier in the year but only played in Ann Arbor. I bought it on 4k and it looks incredible. Watching The Sympatizer, Sugar (getting a bit bizarre), Shogun, John OliverThe Jinx and Defending Jacob. Reading All That is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landry with the new Anthony Horowitz waiting for me at the library.
My cable company parted ways with Bally Sports and now I can't watch any of the Tigers games which is a bummer.
Polls showin Trump winning bums me out even more. Trying to avoid news programming, but CNN just ran a documentary about the state of climate change in Australia. Droughts, floods and fires are commonplace.
Glen and I are suffering from allergies; we often both feel fuzzy-headed and headachy, not to mention cranky. We have been weeding and clearing up our front and back outdoor areas, very slowly, which is just making the allergy symptoms worse.
We are still watching ELSBETH, MAGPIE MURDERS, NORTHERN EXPOSURE, and MURDER SHE WROTE. Plus STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE and CSI, and we watched the 1st episode of Season 2 of CHELSEA DETECTIVE.
I finished reading THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY by Amor Towles and WHAT WAS LOST by Catherine O'Flynn. I liked WHAT WAS LOST although it was confusing. A young girl (about 12) who lives with her grandmother wants to be a detective. She has few friends and entertains herself with cases she makes up. She spends a lot of time at a huge mall nearby. One day she disappears and most of the story focuses on how this affects the other people in her neighborhood.
THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY was a different matter. I was frustrated while reading it, irritated with the characters. The ending was much better than I expected, and it leaves a lot to the imagination of the reader as to what will happen. Which was fine. I am glad I finished it, but it should have been much shorter. I have to think more about why I stuck with rather than giving up.
Glen is continuing to read MOSQUITO: THE ORIGINAL MULTI-ROLE COMBAT AIRCRAFT (ebook) by Graham M. Simons. He has now started HOLLYWOOD'S SPIES: THE UNDERCOVER SURVEILLANCE OF NAZIS IN LOS ANGELES by Laura B. Rosenzweig. He is liking both of them, I think.
Yes, a bad allergy season. Mostly in my eyes as long as I take clairitin. A woman yesterday's book group were reading THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY. She preferred A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW
Really you have all the ingredients for a modern day Lawrences at Darfu, Jerry.Have never heard about Maine coon cats.
I should have stuck with SUGAR probably but it was getting weird. I will try to finish THE SYMPATHIZER and look for THE PROMISED LAND.
Wow! You've been keeping busy, Patti. I know what you mean about reading books, not buying them. Hard to resist, though...
So tired of all these pickleball stories. Enough already!
Still recording THE SYMPATHIZER but haven't started watching it yet. The NYT likes it a lot. Jackie is a huge Robert Downey, Jr. fan so sure we will at least try it. I liked the book.
Speaking of books, ridiculously I am now reading SIX books - three short story collections and three non-fiction. The James Patterson book allowing librarians and booksellers to tell their stories (THE SECRET LIVES OF LIBRARIANS AND BOOKSELLERS) is mostly a real feel-good one, despite the occasional downer of librarians having to deal with book banners.
Watching the final series of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY (meh), and Jackie put on (since we have Paramount + now) the first episode of a favorite older series, THE NEXT GENERATION. I know we've all aged since this went on in 1987, but the difference in Patrick Stewart between this and PICARD is particularly startling.
Yes, we're enjoying NORTHERN EXPOSURE, but occasionally there is an episode that is just too silly. They did a great job with the sexual tension between Fleishman and O'Connell.
Finished the latest CALL THE MIDWIFE series last night. A good one. Finally finished the first series of ARCTIC CIRCLE (Topic/MHz Choice). Ten episodes is several too many, especially when you know they are not going to wrap it up until at least series two. (Interestingly, series two and three are 6 episodes each.) Started HACKS. Good as always. We have two episodes to go on TEMPLE (series one; Topic), and anxious to see how he is going to keep his wife alive until series two.
Watching George's DEAD BOY DETECTIVES on Netflix. Fun so far. We always have several British shows to choose from for Saturday night Brit Night. This week it was BEYOND PARADISE, SCOTT & BAILEY (series 4), SPOOKS (MI-5), also have THIS IS GOING TO HURT, TEMPLE and a couple of others.
Weather has been odd - 87 last Monday, 52 with rain yesterday.
Oh, podcasts. After umpteen mentions by Deb, I finally started listening to A HISTORY OF ROCK MUSIC IN 500 SONGS by Andrew Hickey. Of course (you can trust Deb!) this is right up my alley and very worthwhile listening. It starts ca. 1938-39 with Benny Goodman. I'm up to episode 25, "Earth Angel" by The Penguins.
I need to listen to that. I could listen right at my laptop and put on the songs they are talking about on you tube. I feel I am completely out of it on rock music except the early to mid-sixties and the late eighties-nineties when my kids had it on. Otherwise FORGET ABOUT IT>
Diane and I enjoyed THE FALL GUY but it only took in $28 million (on a $130 million movie).
The weather in Western NY is slowly improving. A crew came out and installed the awning for Diane's deck. I helped move the deck furniture from the Florida Room to the Deck. I also moved the hoses out of the garage and hooked them up to the faucets. We're ready for Summer!
Diane decided she didn't want to ride her bike any more. Diane's teenage niece asked if she could have the Schwin bike and when Diane agreed, the bike was picked up and taken to Canada where Diane's cousin and niece reside. Glad they didn't have a hassle with Customs at the Bridge.
I went to a Library Book Sale last week and mostly bought classical CDs. Disappointing selection of books. Stay safe!
Patti, that's what I do, listen on the laptop.
And he has links to some of the songs, and to the books he uses for research.
We saw a bunch of FRIDAY NIGHT DINNERs at our friends' house in England years ago and watched some here - can't remember which channel. It's funny, because the late Paul Ritter was funny as the father, and in later years he played serious roles, as a cop or medical examiner on shows like VERA and NO OFFENCE. He died way too young, of a brain tumor at 54.
He was very funny. That show has more running jokes than any I can remember. His is he is always taking his shirt off and he never can get his hearing aid working correctly. I heard not long ago they were thinking of doing a US version but I doubt it will work here. British humor is a thing unto itself.
Our sale has thousands of DVDs but I just never end up playing them although they say hang onto them. Phil never learned to ride a bike so we didn't have any. Since childhood, I'd only ride a bike when we went to Ocean City NJ with my father and rode bikes on the boardwalk.
I can still remember my father teaching me to ride a bike. We lived in Queens (not far from where Megan lives now) and there were two connected apartment buildings that had just opened when we moved there. The street was nice and smooth and there was a playground with a slide, swings, seesaw, etc. after it, so we had plenty of uninterrupted room to practice.
When we were dating, Jackie once rode her bike from her house in Sheepshead Bay to mine on Ocean Avenue, two and a half miles. We put the bike in the car for the trip back.
I can't remember the last tine I rode a bike, or a horse for that matter, or went bowling, all things I did in my youth.
Face it, we're old.
I grew up on a farm and the side yard had a slight incline at the end of which was a stone wall. When it came time for me to learn to ride a bike. A farm hand would place me on the seat at one end of the lawn and given a push toward the stone wall. It took only a few tries for me to learn to ride the bike and avoid the stone wall. Farm boys were tough in those days.
Forgot to mention I watched the first two episodes of The Veil. Promising. Also Dead Boys Detective Club. I didn't like it at all and doubt I'll watch anymore of it.
I found it the library has a lead water lateral coming into the building. Today's replacement has gone on longer than expected - no surprise for a 120-year-old building - and we are still without water. The bad news of this is that is mean no coffee. I am not happy. I left my wallet and home and cannot walk nearby for a coffee.
Speaking of money. My sister-in-law in Seattle uses Apple Pay almost exclusively. I cannot think of a single place here that accepts it. There must be plenty, but when I also pay with cash or bank card I have never noticed.
Finished reading the second SLOW HORSES novel, DEAD LIONS, and it was fairly decent. Jackson Lamb is such an unlikeable person that I think I would quickly tire of him if I were to try and binge the novels.
Our weekly phone call with Boy #1 informed us he will likely have an internship in Indiana. I think he is pleased with this. Which means his mother and I are pleased with it. He'll be doing rocket science stuff. Getting an apartment might prove difficult but the job is close to Bloomington and he figures getting a summer sublet will be easy.
He is on an exciting path.
Maine Coon Cats are mostly notable for how large they tend to be...we (my parents and sister and I) had a small if muscular female tabby-mix rescue who apparently was knocked up by the time we collected her, and her swain might've had some Maine Coon in him, since her kittens grew to be almost as big as one...two toms we gave to family friends and a she-cat we kept; mother and daughter were reasonably happy to cohabit.
Glad that John Oliver's show, like AYMAN on MSNBC, pushed back on the narrative that the Stop the Palestinian Slaughter protesters on college campuses were notably pro-Hamas, nor that they were they seeking to justify anti-Semitism, with the usual fringe jackasses more often referred to than evidence provided of (as opposed to the majority of the counter-protesters at Ol' Miss or the goons who attacked the pro-Gazan campers at UCLA while police twiddled thumbs). Both-Sidesism run rampant, and annoyingly frequent.
I am enjoying THE SYMPATHIZER still, and PARISH kept improving as it went along, with an obvious hope to be renewed for a second season. Never a safe bet.
As I've noted on George's blog, I've listened to only one of the HISTORY/500 SONGS so far, and while I admire his attempt to be thorough and admission that he knows less about some of the musics he deals with than he does with what can sensibly be drawn under the rock umbrella, that he goes out of his way to cite George Russell's theoretical approach to jazz as he wrote it up in the early '50s, he manages to completely punk the realization that Russell was also making music along those lines, and latches onto Miles Davis's and John Coltrane's initially less adventurous but certainly more widely-heard music as the Actually Doing It examples. A bit like suggesting that Duane Eddy talked a good game about twang, but thank goodness the Ventures actually got it down on records. Weirdly blinkered. (This refers to the episode built around "Eight Miles High", the Byrds' classic, which is a simultaneous exploration of free jazz and raga techniques in a folk-rock song in the original FIFTH DIMENSION LP release, and not the only jazz-heavy song on the album.) As Deb (and Dana Gould) would note, still a very good episode, but the rock in the tapioca remains, and not trivially.
I'm pretty sure I typed "punt" rather than "punk" above, but maybe I Wasn't Spell-"Corrected"...
Indeed, best of luck to your elder son, Gerard, and to you and your younger gens with the gathering and sustenance of the non-human pals. And always glad to learn of everyone's adventures...before going back to wash the dishes and then another round of soaking the sore foot (I'm not quite in Total collapse, but my car has been in the shop a sinisterly long time at this point...if they don't call tomorrow morning, I clearly need to call them. At least no one seems to snark (spell-checker didn't like that verb) about still calling businesses...
Jerry, sorry, left your name off in the menagerie comment. Still a bit weary most of the time.
Todd-you seem to be in an almost "total collapse." I hope you get a much needed rest from the home repairs, car repairs, and kitty issues. Not having a car may be a good thing not that many people would choose it.
I've been worse-off! Thanks, though...
Yesterday was the first anniversary of having the orange cat in our house. He may have doubled in weight during that time. My wife says the cat does not eat that much compared to black cat, but he is still a rotund fella.
Apri1 1 (aye) our first year anniversary keeping our younger cat, eating as she does nearly twice as much as elder cat, but has only gained two pounds and remains a small beast...
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