And for the first time, I won't be looking for a post from Steve. He was such a nice if very quiet guy. He had read virtually every book you could name, and seen every movie of any merit. We only met up half a dozen times (he lives a mile or two away) and there was no romance about it at all, but I always enjoyed his company. Rest well, Steve.
I watched CHINATOWN the other night to remember Robert Towne. I watched an interview with him on you tube. He talked a lot about tuna fishing and darn if it wasn't mentioned in the first scene of CHINATOWN. I didn't know his brother was also a screenwriter. I hadn't seen CHINATOWN in years but it was as good as I remembered. Filmed so beautifully and with great dialog. I have never been a particular fan of Jack Nicholson or Faye Dunaway, but they both did great work in this one. It was strange how B list the cast was beside from them (and John Houston).
Hoping LADY IN THE LAKE (Laura Lippman's book) on Apple is good because there is so little on right now. I tried to watch RESPONDER with Martin Freeman on Brit Box and I could see it was well done, but just too depressing and dark for me. And I loved Martin Freeman. I also am trying to watch PRESUMED INNOCENT, but eight episodes to tell the story seems excessive. It was a two-hour movie I think
I ride right between shows that are too light and ones that are too dark. My comfort zone is LEWIS, where the crimes weren't too grisley, but they were not humorous. And I like to know the cops solving the crimes.
I may have to watch FRASIER for the fourth time.
What about you?
Reading JAMES by Percival Everett and it is terrific.
Going to Ann Arbor to see a play today. Always enjoy my little play group who supports this tiny, tiny theater.
24 comments:
It is hot, hot, hot!
The Blue Angels did their big Pensacola air show this Friday and Saturday and the entire population of North America (except me and thee) headed to the beach to watch. The crowds were packed like sardines, the traffic horrible, the parking non-existent. I don't have a count, but I'm sure a lot of people were felled by the heat We avoided the crowds and headed to the beach Sunday morning. At 8:00 am the heat index was already at 100 and there was absolutely no breeze. I managed forty-five minute before heading to the car and air conditioning. Christina, Jessie, and Amy lasted maybe a half hour longer. they scrambled out of the water when they spotted a shark. On the plus side, they did see four dolphins.
Sunday, Bastille Day (today, as I'm Typing this), was Kitty's mother's birthday; she would have been 102. We may do Chinese food later i her honor. It's a big birthday week. Tuesday Jack will turn twelve, if they don't hang him first. Wednesday would have been my mother's 102nd birthday. Thursday, Erin's boyfriend turns a calendar page. Willow cat turned 19 (!!) last Thursday and is still grooving along; Duncan, the phlegm-inducing allergen masquerading as a dog, will be 10 next week. Tempus does fugit.
Wacky cat now has his eyes open and is doing well, getting fatter every day. Amy's two dogs, Chicken Nugget and Macaroni, got onto a kerfuffle and are now undergoing mediation; differences will be resolved. (Amy should offer her mediation services to both political parties. That girl does not fool around!) Cayley is safely ensconced in her new home and her cat is happy; she may finish unpacking before the end of the year.
Walt's 80-year-old father had a heart attack and is back home after two days in the hospital. Walt, Christina, and the kids are heading up to Virginia to see them at the end of the month to try to fathom out what their plans for the future may be. We expect Walt will insist they move down here sooner if not later so we can keep a watch on them. The only thing that might be holding them to Virginia is stubbornness.
Had a doctor's appointment last week and evidently I am healthy and still alive. good to know.
Not much reading this week. Finished Lawrence Block memoir about walking, STEP BY STEP. Keeping with Block, I also read his "non-fiction" (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) book, THE WIFE SWAP REPORT, as by "John Warren Wells"; I managed to read it without blushing too much. My FFB was Norvell Page's Spider novel, THE CITY DESTROYER. Am almost finished with JOE GOLERM AND THE DROWNING CITY, an alternate world, steampunk, supernatural novel by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden.
Still trying to process that stupid jamook with a gun this Saturday...
Enjoy your week, Patti. Stay safe. Stay cool.
Finished streaming CRACKER; I was fascinated by Robbie Coltrane's self-destructive character. Not sure what I'm going to watch next.
I will miss Steve's posts. I remember when he said he was reading The Zebra Striped Hearse by Ross Macdonald for the third time. I have only read four of the books in the Lew Archer series and I want to read many more.
We have a fire nearby (about 30 miles away). It started July 5 and it has now grown to 38,000 acres. The only effects from the fire that we are experiencing are smoke. The measurements for air quality show that Goleta has good air quality but it does not feel like it here.
Monday morning, I have a doctor's appointment for a post op for my cataract surgeries. So I will check back in later in the day.
We have been watching mostly the same old shows: CSI, MURDER SHE WROTE, NORTHERN EXPOSURE, and STAR TREK ENTERPRISE. Tonight we finished up HARRY WILD season 3 and the last episode was very good. We have been watching more of RABBIT HOLE and we watched another episode of CHELSEA DETECTIVE. I am glad to hear that there will be a season 3.
I am now reading THE DEAD FATHERS CLUB by Matt Haig. Description at Goodreads: "A ghost story with a twist—a suspenseful and poignantly funny update of the Hamlet story." The main character and narrator is 11-year-old Philip Noble whose father recently died in a car accident.
Glen has read about half of REINVENTING HOLLYWOOD: HOW 1940S FILMMAKERS CHANGED MOVIE STORYTELLING by David Bordwell. This is the third book in a row that he has really enjoyed. He says the writing is scholarly but very readable.
I'm just the same, Patti. I like to straddle a thin line between too light and too dark when it comes to what I watch.
And it is hard to find that line, Margot. It seems like Glen and I enjoy the same sort of books too.
Wow, Jackie is surprised RESPONDER was too dark for you. I must add that it was very dark indeed, but we will definitely watch the second series. But then, she is watching the very dark YOUR HONOR. Love Martin Freeman. We're not having trouble finding things to watch, though there is no MONEY HEIST or SQUID GAME that we can't wait to get back to the next day. Watching a ton of European shows on MHz Choice/Topic, plus Britbox & Acorn & PBS Masterpiece. The one I could skip easily is D.I. RAY. She is such an unlikable woman and a character I don't care for or about at all. Her boss's boss may be an awful obnoxious person, but at the beginning of the last episode, I couldn't help but agree with everything he said about her - reckless, doesn't wait for backup, got someone shot by her reckless behavior, etc.
The Danish UNIT ONE is good. We're in series 2. It's like local police calling in the FBI on cases they can't handle, only they don't want to hog the credit when they're through. Mads Mikkelsen is the most well known actor. Also on the last series of the Daniel SEASIDE HOTEL, which we enjoy for a light break. Series two of the British TEMPLE is getting more and more ridiculous, but Mark Strong and Daniel Mays are good. The French NINA is a little soapy but good if you like medical shows. My main interest now is catching up on the German BABYLON BERLIN, which continues to fascinate me.
Let me post this, then I'll come back about our trip last week.
Jerry, I have to give you credit for nerve. No way I'd go to the beach when it is that hot. The last time I did that was...the summer of 1966. The sand was so hot we had to jump from blanket to blanket, and my friend and I left before noon. That was a very hot summer too.
Besides Coltrane, CRACKER gave a showcase to several young actors, like Robert Carlyle, Samantha Morton, Adrian Dunbar, Susan Lynch, and John Simm.
OK, the trip. We've been spending about 5 days with my cousin Nancy & her husband Jerry (still a practicing pediatrician at nearly 80) after July 4 most years since 2017. This year we went back to Mystic, a favorite place. The Southeastern coast of Connecticut was much cooler than most of the state - we were just around 80 all week, which was 10 degrees cooler (and felt another 10 degrees cooler than that) than Hartford, for example, so nice. There was originally a lot of rain predicted, but we had none, except overnight once or twice.
Monday we stayed at a Marriott in West Hartford (my cousin is half an hour east) and met them for dinner. We drove to their house Tuesday morning and went (as we always do) in their car. First stop was Mohegan Sun, so the ladies could gamble. Nancy is usually very lucky, but this year she lost. Meanwhile, Jackie won all three times. She plays video poker and didn't win a lot, but she won - $32 was her biggest win.
Went to Lenny & Joe's Fish Tale in Westbrook for lunch, then to the Marriott, then to the fun outdoor Tacquerio for dinner. We had fresh guacamole, and I had three tacos - a BBQ, a barbacoa and a carnita.
Wednesday we went to Rhode Island - not Newport this year, bu mostly in Narragansett, also on the ocean but a little south of Newport. Lunch at the Coast Guard House was a highlight, with the biggest lobster rolls I've ever seen (but very reasonably priced). For dinner it was a favorite in Mystic, Bravo Bravo (Italian, of course). Meanwhile, we were having ice cream every day, once at the Drawbridge in Mystic and once at a great place in Rhode Island, then lastly at a soft serve place outside Mystic.
Thursday was cooler and cloudy but it didn't rain. We went to Foxwoods so they could gamble again, and for the outlet stores, which were a disappointment. We did have lunch at the outpost of the Brooklyn favorite, Junior's. (No cheesecake, though.) Dinner was the S&P Oyster Restaurant in Mystic.
We had a little drizzle going back to their house on Friday. We went back to the hotel in East Hartford, did some shopping at Trader Joe's and Walmart, ate lunch at Panera, and met them for dinner at the Red Heat Tavern. Came home Saturday morning *when we finally got the rain).
Next year, we'll go back to Boston. Last time (2022) we had two days of scorching heat (97 and 100) and a couple of torrential downpours, so let's hope it's better next time. Let's hope there is still a country next summer.
I see my first post - from 7:53 - vanished. I sent a copy to Patti.
20yo Republican murderer and suicide-by-cop Crooks didn't help matters at all, no. Likewise all the Dems who couldn't be bothered to run against Biden in the primaries, but feel it's a good idea to kvetch about him now.
Well, for video, THE PORTER (APT syndie on PBS stations, originally a CBC/BET co-production) remains solid, HOTEL COCAINE (MGM+) improves as it goes along, MGM's new John Wells-produced series based on Stephen Carter's novel THE EMPEROR OF OCEAN PARK starts well, as does streaming service The Network's THE GREEN VEIL, even if the first episode is trying to lay a lot of pipe. Alfre Woodard in THE PORTER and Irene Bedard and John Leguizamo in TGV don't hurt my feelings. PROFESSOR T, GRANTCHESTER, D.I. RAY are still a good night on PBS Sundays, still, even when delayed by assassination wrapups. https://www.thenetwork.stream/details/TV_SHOW/collection/6346005964112/the-green-veil
Glad things are mostly good aside from temperature, and missing Steve O.
My parents enjoyed occasional trips to Mohegan Sun, before things went bad for them healthwise.As far as I know, no one in my father's family was messed over by the storms/flooding in Barre, VT (almost a year to the day after the round that did give some bad trouble).
BTW, Jerry, the US version of CRACKER wasn't as good, but for as long as it lasted (not long, nor did its star) was worth a look.
The A/C ran lsat night as the temps stayed high with oppressive humidity. Heavy rains hit this afternoon. Needless to say, Diane and I are hunkered down today.
Patrick leaves Stockholm tomorrow to return to NYC. Then he's off to Brazil. Katie and a friend are going to NYC this coming weekend to see STEREOPHONIC.
The toxic political environment roses with the assassination attempt. Many people think Trump will win in a landslide now.
I go for blood work tomorrow and meet with my internist next week for my Yearly Physical. Hopefully we can find something to perk me up from the effects of Covid-19. Stay safe!
I had vacation scheduled for most of last week with a trip to visit relatives in Lindsborg, KS. I ended having to work a good portion of that time - and a bunch of hours leading up to it - to complete grant paperwork. Did have tow solid days of no work or travel and I enjoyed them.
All of my wife's family was able to gather. A very good visit and typical mid-summer HOT in Kansas. Lindsborg has a nice walking trail that I usually stroll around on. The heat was enough that I figured, "I'm on vacation. I can hang out and read if I want" rather than take an evening walk.
Picked up a couple paperbacks at the used bookstore at the Milwaukee airport and another one at the library book sale in KS. Library paperback was A PLAY OF DUX MORAUD by Margaret Frazer. I never heard of this series before and enjoyed the book quite a bit. Traveling actor troupe in Middle Ages England also solves crimes. I hope Frazer was accurate about the historical facts because I really enjoyed the setting. Several books in the series as well. Looks like one of the authors (of two) passed away a decade ago.
Nothing to add regarding the assassination attempt. The candidate is still a racist rapist and thief and I would rather vote for a rabid raccoon carcass than him.
Jeff, CRACKER also gave significant air time to a young Christopher Eccleston (DR. WHO) and Jim Carter (DOWNTON ABBEY). One of the pleasures in watching this was in viewing familiar actors in early roles.
Todd, not a big fan of Robert Pastorelli so I've given a pass to the US version of CRACKER so far. That may change since I discovered that the episodes include guest appearances from Robbie Coltrane, Mariska Hargitay, Sarah Paulson, Lorraine Toussaint, Peter Sarsgaard, and Amber Benson. Despite whatever talents he had, I equate Pastorelli (probably unfairly) with Robert Blake and Phil Spector. In the end, he joined an exclusive club -- along with Elvis, Judy Garland, and Lenny Bruce -- of people who have died on the toilet.
I recall CRACKER being head and shoulders above most TV at the time. Later episodes or storylines declined in interest for me. Eccleston's death scene after he was stabbed still stands out. Fairly certain I read a CRACKER novelization or two.
What happened to A&E channel anyway? Absorbed by another network?
Jeff's first post.
Wow, Jackie is surprised RESPONDER was too dark for you. I must add that it was very dark indeed, but we will definitely watch the second series. But then, she is watching the very dark YOUR HONOR. Love Martin Freeman. We're not having trouble finding things to watch, though there is no MONEY HEIST or SQUID GAME that we can't wait to get back to the next day. Watching a ton of European shows on MHz Choice/Topic, plus Britbox & Acorn & PBS Masterpiece. The one I could skip easily is D.I. RAY. She is such an unlikable woman and a character I don't care for or about at all. Her boss's boss may be an awful obnoxious person, but at the beginning of the last episode, I couldn't help but agree with everything he said about her - reckless, doesn't wait for backup, got someone shot by her reckless behavior, etc.
The Danish UNIT ONE is good. We're in series 2. It's like local police calling in the FBI on cases they can't handle, only they don't want to hog the credit when they're through. Mads Mikkelsen is the most well known actor. Also on the last series of the Daniel SEASIDE HOTEL, which we enjoy for a light break. Series two of the British TEMPLE is getting more and more ridiculous, but Mark Strong and Daniel Mays are good. The French NINA is a little soapy but good if you like medical shows. My main interest now is catching up on the German BABYLON BERLIN, which continues to fascinate me.
Let me post this, then I'll come back about our trip last week.
I was in UK for a year when CRACKER was on but I may have to rewatch since so little else seems to draw me in. I didn't care for the story on RESPONDER. I have grown tired of stories about drugs and the people who sell them . But perhaps another series might work for me.
Sounds like a great trip, Jeff. It is a lovely area. And the food sounds spectacular.
If I were Patrick Kelley I would try for an overseas posting with GOOGLE. This country will be unlivable in a few months. If only Canada would take the old.
Have never heard of Frazer. I need to stop just reading books recommended in the NYTs and get into the weeds with more obscure writers.
Todd, your cable bill must be very high to get all of the services you get. Or have you found a way to beat the system.
Jerry, Wikipedia has an actual list: People Who Died While on the Toilet.
Besides the ones you listed, there was Don Simpson, partner of Jerry Bruckheimer, who had TWENTY-THREE DIFFERENT DRUGS in his system at the time he collapsed and died at 52.
King George II (the grandfather of the more well known George III), dead of an apparent aortic aneurysm at 76.
Godfrey IV, Duke of Lower Lorraine (as opposed to Upper Lorraine?), assassinated in 1076 while using the toilet.
Jaromir, Duke of Bohemia, was stabbed with a spear from UNDER A TOILET SEAT while defalcating, in 1035.
King Edward Ironside of England, stabbed while defecating in 1016. He was 26.
Caracalla (yes, as in the Baths of...), Roman Emperor, was murdered at 29 while urinating, year 217 AD.
OK, this POS Chromebook, which keeps dropping its connection to the network for no obvious reason, just ate a long comment. Will try to reconstruct later.
Bullet points--Patti, getting internet access via Verizon, or phone alone (not too common any longer, I'm sure) or cable alone, is the big lump of money...adding our current package of cable and phone is not a notable bump past the initial expenditure.
Gerard--what happened to A&E is what happens to a lot of cable channels--they discover that cheaper and often dumber programming gets them at least as many viewers; see also Bravo, IFC, Sundance Channel, etc. Hell, CNN Headline News. Often they or their parents corporations are sold, but not necessarily.
Jerry--Pastorelli was better in US CRACKER than anything else I've seen him in, probably because he could relate to the protag's dysfunction. Though I heard more episodes than I saw, since ABC in Philadelphia was on "old" Channel 6 then, and one could hear the audio feed of Ch. 6 at the bottom of the FM dials in US equipment. (I was working a swing-shift job at an insurance company in the quaint mid-90s when ABC's CRACKER was on.)
George, it might be wishful thinking, but as Drumpf has yet to win a popular vote, I doubt his abortion nor general fascist stances are going to win him this election, either, much less a landslide...and even the remarkably clumsy Biden campaign, and its rather late objectors, isn't Quite as bad as the HRC amateur hour was in 2016.
And, as it goes on, the Mohegan nation plays a large part in THE GREEN VEIL. Apparently, the second season has been greenlit.
https://www.tvinsider.com/1127385/the-network-streaming-platform-free-programming-launch-date/
'“The Network is providing a solution for consumers that feel overwhelmed by the excess of unnecessary content,” said founder Aram Rappaport. “The service is an opportunity to bring a curated catalog to U.S. audiences who want to eliminate the scrolling fatigue of subscription services. We are not justifying monthly fees by holding droves of content consumers get lost in. In fact, we never want you to search our platform, let us come to you. When there’s a new show launching – we’ll let you know.”
'According to the company, “contending that U.S. audiences truly ‘love’ only two pieces of content on any given streaming platform, the service will deliver two new offerings at a time, nothing more.” It is not going to license catalogs of old content or build a library of filler to justify monthly subscription fees."'
TGV gets better as it rolls on, in the 8-episode first season. Shall look at the BBC import sitcom from Steve Coogan and company next, though their cockiness about their "curation" is more than a little undermined by how often they slip in repetitive blocks of 30-second ads.
Sometimes it seems like you are offered a completely different set of shows and streaming
channels than me, Todd. What is GREEN VEIL for instance. What is TGV? What it THE NETWORK?
I have COMCAST-Xfinity-which I must use in this bldg. On there I just get five or six basic channels--for about $170 a month. It is also where I get HBO-Max. This includes my WIFI.
In addition, I have Criterion, Apple, Hulu, NETFLIX, Prime and Britbox. That is probably another 100 a month. I should get rid of Hulu and Netflix. And HBO where there is almost nothing anymore.
Yikes. We get our internet, cable and phone, with a pretty extensive set of channels on cable, for a comparable monthly rate. NJ must be holding a heavier hand on their electronic services than MI. Or, no monopoly (in our house, vs. the apartments we lived in previously which often offered similar take it or leave it deals, but never quite as expensively).
THE GREEN VEIL/TGV is one of the two first series offered on free-with-commercials The Network (though its labeling online is NETWORK with no article). THE GREEN VEIL is a serpentine series set in the late '50s in (it appears) California or Arizona nearish to the Mexican border, dealing with various sorts of institutionalized racism (particularly against native nation people, mostly cited as Mohegan), sexism, government paranoia and attempts to distract people with fake alien/UFO/flying saucer frauds, to cover up, among other things,abducting native children, among others, to place them with almost absurdly (though, sadly for reality, only almost) patriarchal, repressive, reactionary-fantasy nuclear families. It starts like a more paranoid X-FILES, but gets more interesting as it goes...8 episodes in the first season. The link I posted the other day:
https://www.thenetwork.stream/details/TV_SHOW/collection/6346005964112/the-green-veil
--takes one to the page where one can see the series.
It, and Amazon's FreeVee, also a commercials and no charge streamer, which is how I watch PERSON OF INTEREST, along with the likes of Tubi, and YouTube of course, and a few other free services, are most of what I use for streaming, though since we have HBO on cable, we can watch Max streaming for no extra charge; I dropped my Prime membership when they jacked the price, but Alice kept hers.
Just looked up GREEN VEIL. It is my firm opinion that anything with John Leguizamo is worth a try. I think he automatically improves everything.
He plays an interesting kind of monstrous person.
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