BLUE, SUN PALACE, showing at the Detroit Film Theater was very slow but interesting. A first film, set in Queens, Baltimore and somewhere in Asia.
I seem to be surrounded by Asian fare lately. Also rewatched IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, which is such a gorgeous film. And reading MINA'S MATCHBOXES by Yoko Ogawa who also wrote THE MEMORY POLICE and THE HOUSEKEEPER AND THE PROFESSOR.
Enjoying BALLARD (Prime), MURDERBOT (Apple). Not sure about the Lena Dunham show (Netflix), which has a hard-to-remember title Also liked PERNILLE (Netflix)
Weather been hot. I hate when I am tired of summer by mid-July because winter is so dreadful.
How about you?
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It's pretty warm here and a major heat wave is expected over the next four days. I think I'll stay inside.
Saturday's threat of rain dissipated in time for the Pensacola Beach Blue Angels Air Show. This would be a big deal anywhere, but never more so than on the Angels' home turf. A record crowd -- I don't have an estimate yet, but it far exceded last November's 120,000 -- poured onto the tiny sandbar to watch the performance. Traffic on the one road into the area was backed up for over five miles. By all accounts, it was a very impressive show. Again, I stayed home. I'm at the age where if the crowd is larger than three, I'm outta there. But we did get to watch them practice in the skies above over the days before the show.
Walt and Christina made it back from Virginia with the news that his folks have finally agreed to move down here. Walt Sr. is 82, and has had some major health problems, and Ellen, although she appears healthy, is older than dirt. There's is nothing holding them back in Virginia, and everyone would feel much better if they were closer. Walt and Christina spend the past few days checking out apartment complexes and retirement homes, coming up with two (out of seven) that might fit the bill. We'll see what happens. Their lease is up in October, and there are still the logistics of moving them down here, finding doctors, etc. But it will be a comfort to have them closer.
On the ride home from Virginia, Walt got a call from his boss. His company, which provides computer security for the Navy has been DOGEd. They are expected to make a 30% cut. From what, no one is saying -- from their budget? from their personnel? from their awarded contracts? Who knows? DOGE does not think these things through. What this means for Walt's job is up in the air. A couple of months ago, his part-time side gig consulting for the TSA was put on hiatus by DOGE. Plus, with less than a month before school starts up, Christina's contract has not yet been renewed. Interesting times ahead, I fear.
This coming Thursday would have been my mother's 103rd brithday. I'll raise a glass of beer in her honor.
Jolly the Golden Retriever is now attending obedience classes. It was decided thaat she "really doesn't have loose leash walking issues but that she suffers from a lack of impulse control." She must get it from my side of the family.
Caylee's wedding is two weeks away and I still have not got a clue about a wedding present. GACK!
TV continues on the blink. For books this week I read two posthumously published novels by Michael Crichton: MICRO (with Richard Preston) and DRAGON TEETH. Also, John Scalzi's WHEN THE MOON HITS YOUR EYE, John Brunner's HONKY IN THE WOODPILE (my FFB), and Wade Miller's BRANDED WOMAN. I also finished a 1971 British paperback of crime stories supposed edited by Ed McBain, DOWNPOUR. Coming up: more Michael Crichton, some early Rex Stout, and Lee Goldberg's latest.
Stay cool, Patti!
Isn't it interesting, Patti, how we read or watch similar things at the same time. It might be Japanese, or it might be something else, but we do have patterns and themes. I'm glad you're enjoying Ballard. I've not seen it yet, but I hear it's quite good.
I don't have that problem, but Jackie goes every three or four months to have the wax cleaned out of her ears. What is eye (near ear)-opening is how much the doctor bills Medicare for a simple, five minute procedure. We're talking hundreds here. This week we have the eye doctor.
We spent the week with my cousin Nancy and her husband Jerry in Connecticut as usual the week after July 4, and had a nice time as always. Monday we stayed in a Marriott near the airport in Hartford and met them for dinner. Tuesday we drove to their house (half an hour east) and left our car. We stay at a nice Marriott in Mystic, and spent most of the time in southeast Connecticut, with a trip to Narragansett, Rhode Island one day. They did get to gamble at Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods (Nancy won big money), and Jackie bought a pair of sneakers. Mostly it was driving around and eating, with plenty of ice cream thrown in there. Weather was pretty good, not too hot and most of the rain at night.
I read mostly short stories - I did get one book read, Jess Walter's SO FAR GONE, which I really liked - and we went five days without television, other than an episode of the Canadian TRANSPLANT.
We finished SPOOKS (MI-5) last week, and the follow-up movie - SPOOKS: THE GREATER GOOD (2015) wasn't streaming, so Jackie bought a cheap DVD and we watched it Saturday night. The only regular holdover from the series was star Peter Firth, with Game of Thrones's Kit Harington the major guest star. Jackie thought they might have wanted to set up a spinoff series of movies, but it didn't happen. Frankly, it was pretty mediocre. I'd recommend watching the series instead.
The latest (series 15 #3/4) episode(s) of SILENT WITNESS was particularly nasty, and for that show, that's saying something. We finished DEATH VALLEY and ART DETECTIVES last night. We like PERNILLE too. Henriette Steenstrup, who created the show and stars in it, previously played the mother in the Norwegian series RAGNAROK.
Good news! I am (once again) a great-uncle! Emma Elizaberth decided to come three weeks early because that is a young lady's perogative. Weighing in at 6 pounds 11 ounces and 19" inches, she is pure delight. Parents Julie and Tom are overjoyed, as is Gramma (Carmen) and Grumpa (Kenny); big sister Lily is thrilled. From the pictures we have been sent, we have a winner for the Most Beautiful Baby of 2025. We hope to take a trip to Massachusetts in early november to formerly introduce ourselves to Miss Emma; we had planned to go a month earlier but will be spending much of that month getting Walt's parents settled.
Lily missed her mother while Julie was in the hospital. After the second day she decided, and told Carmen, "Mama dead." Carmen had no idea where she got that idea until she remembered that she was explaining to Lily a couple of weeks ago about how flowers would eventually die after they were picked. Carmen was also showing Lily pictures of the family and, pointing to me, said, "That's Uncle Jerry, who is Grumpa's big brother." Lily has now decided to call me Grumpa-Too (or Grumpa-Two, who can tell?), so I may have that name for the foreseeable future.
Also on the Massachusetts front, Kenny's Alzheimer's continued to progresss slowly, but he remains relatively content. I wish we could be more present to help support Carmen during this struggle, but at least things are going as smoothly as possible for the moment. In case any should happen to her, Carmen is arranging for Jessie to gain power of attorney -- a good choice because Jessie is deligent and more than capable; I'm too old, Christina will have her hands full with Walt's parents, and Carmen's siblings are too remote. Isn't aging fun?
Summer heat baked Western NY this weekend with temps in the 90s. I've been emptying my dehumidifiers every day for a week. They're full every day!
I watched the closing episode of MURDERBOT. I'm hoping that Apple TV+ will approve a second season. Diane and I saw SUPERMAN and enjoyed it. It made $122 million over the weekend so Warner must be happy.
Diane will celebrate her Birthday with friends taking her out for lunch today. I took Diane out to Birthday Brunch yesterday. She had her favorite Belgian waffle. Stay safe!
Happy Birthday, Diane! Our nephew C.J. had his 25th yesterday.
Yes, Diane, Happy Birthday.! Your share your natal day with my late mother-in-law, but I won't hold that against you!
Wildfires are the big issue here in Manitoba with people in several northern and First Nations communities evacuated. Smoke has floated south and last week some Republican congress members in Minnesota and North Dakota sent a letter of complaint. No one can understand what they expected to happen. Have our Premier go out with a hose. He did not react kindly to them. All the hotels in Winnipeg are full and some evacuees were shipped to Ontario. The latest group of evacuees were placed in a hockey rink filled with cots. So far this summer I haven't been out to our cottage on Lake Winnipeg, but hope to go this weekend as my niece is there from Vancouver. Five holds from the library showed up last week including Carl Hiaasen's latest Fever Pitch and James Lee Burke's Don't Forget Me. Little Bessie.
Glad you discovered the problem, Patti! My tinnitus is probably largely from exposure to too many loud noises in my 20s (I do put hydrogen peroxide in my ears on occasion). Even bigger congrats to your enlarging family, Jerry! And happy natal to Diane, George! Time to go attack the front bushes (trimming, removing the nuisance vine) on a day which might not get a storm nor go above 90F. Sorry for this bad news, Kent...the dullness of R "Reps" doesn't surprise me...Manitoba is, after all, the world's largest source of Global Warming (koff koff)...oh, wait. There Can Be No Global Warming!
11:26 AM
And sorry it was an unpleasant unplugging, Patti...did the MD have any suggestions as to what you might do?
I just lost all of what I said, so in short happy birthday, and happy Birth day, and our air is bad too. I could not find mineral oil at CVS which is what I need to apply on occasion.
Try the better supermarkets. If you have Wegman's there, they seem to stock it regularly, but you might need to ask the pharmacy folks where it might be shelved. When Alice asked me to pick some up for her cast-iron pans (yuck), the pharmacy clerk and I both lucked into it, as she hadn't had to go looking for it thus far in her gig there.
Sorry to be so late again. I woke up groggy, had some problems with bills and such, and realized later it was Monday. We have been cleaning up around the house for an overnight guest on Wednesday. Glen and Doug have put in the most effort so far. I have a shoulder pain on my right side and it isn't extremely painful but it does hamper my movements.
Very glad to hear that Walt's parents are moving down to be close to Walt and Christina but sorry to hear that Walt's job is threatened. That really sucks.
Watching: Finished MURDERBOT and ART DETECTIVES (Acorn). We have started rewatching STARGATE SG-1 for at least the 3rd time. We will go through it more slowly this time, since we have so many other shows going too. We watched BEETLEJUICE last night because we have a copy of the new BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE film we want to watch soonish.
Glen is reading a book of ghost stories: THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE: Tales of Twilight and Borderlands by John Gaskin. He is close to halfway through and has liked most of the stories. He is also continuing to read TEN YEARS IN THE TUB by Nick Hornby.
I finished THE AMATEUR by Robert Littell. I liked it a lot, although it certainly is not your standard spy thriller. I have not read a lot by Littell, but what I have read I have mostly liked. The first one I read was THE COMPANY, twenty years ago, and even then I was bothered by its length (800 pages at least). But it was good.
Now I am reading THE MURDER OF MR. MA by John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan. It is a historical mystery, set in 1924, featuring Judge Dee and Lao She. I really did not know what to expect and was not sure I would like it, but I am enjoying it and am about 2/3 into the book. There is a second book in this series already out and a new book in the Lydia Chin and Bill Smith series coming out in January 2026.
All four o my family traveled to visit my wife's family in central Kansas. We did a 12-hour-day to get there. Spent a few days. Then split the return trip with a couple nights in Dubuque. Dubuque was a nice city, 60k population and a few nice places to eat in the downtown area. The National Mississippi River Museum was a nice visit.
I, too, returned from vacation with a COVID positive test. I emailed my Doctor about Paxlovid and she said I am low risk and don't need it.
As I am stuck at home - and partially missing two very important work events for our building program - I am lounging and sleeping more than reading and watching. I've never much cared about Civil Wart history but began BORN TO BATTLE by Jack Hurst about General Grant and pro-slavery traitor Nathan Bedford Forrest. Interesting enough and gives more detail about many things I only had a glancing knowledge of.
I quit BLUE HORSE by Bruce Borgos about a rural cop in Nevada. Not for me with some schmaltz, protagonist with a bullying attitude, and a bland start.
Did finish MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER by Karen Dione, POVERTY by Desmond, and a WALKING DEAD tie-in.
Sorry about the stressors for everyone--but glad neither seem too daunting as yet.
After some chores, sitting with the younger cat on my hip...she was just cleaning her left forepaw while scratching her left ear with her left hindpaw...I wouldn't've guessed that she was capable of this. Cats can surprise one.
Playing some PBS MASTERPIECE repeats...a girl screaming disturbs the cat.
The Senate vote on the clawback of public broadcasting funding is set for tomorrow...call or email your US Senators (when one has two, vs. Canadians et al.) if you're invested in having it continue (nearly party line voting has had it barely pass in the House yesterday). That POS Drumpf and his minions.
Will the public donations be able to keep it going. So frustrating that he wins so often. Dept of Education gone today. Now children in the south will have no education.
Some indoctrination of southern and other relatively strapped-area children will continue, I'm sure. And all the vouchers they can eat.
It will be tougher, and some stations/station groups will undoubtedly close, among the PBS and NPR affiliates, and possibly Pacifica and independent community radio stations, and the relatively few indy public tv stations and their associated websites/other programming. State funding will largely continue, I suspect, but it's all pointlessly tough sledding.
It would be nice if the Dems got their act together, and voters would actually turn out to outvote the batshit loonies and irresponsible sorts who can countenance voting for Drumpf and his minions. A few fewer hapless neoliberals among the DP will always help.
I've just read about Drumpf stealing the Soccer World Cup trophy from the victorious team. Senility as well as childish self-entitlement at its worst will out. FIFA will provide the team with a new, replacement trophy, and perhaps Drumpf will install his stolen trophy in one of the Mar-a-Lago "golden"-toilet lavatories.
Ah. Drumpf claims it was offered to him, and it's sitting in the Oval Office. OK.
The man is such a compulsive liar. What a rat.
impossible to understand anybody feeling a shred of support for him.
Agree. Even those whose policy views might lean in a similar direction can't be unaware of his constant malignant narcissism, concomitant criminal behavior, and the worst kind of proud foolishness and ignorance mixed with a narcissist's utter lack of empathy, to an extent that, say, even Reagan would or George W. Bush has noted as a disqualifying factor (and I'm not a fan of either of those politicians, but when even they have little good to say about someone arguably in their camp...even beyond Drumpf's ad hominem attacks on W's brother).
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