Enjoying THE DOCTOR BLAKE MYSTERIES on BritBox. Not a lot else although watching some movies here and there (Rohmer's A TALE OF SUMMER) and a bio doc on David Hockney.
This was the weekend of the WOODWARD DREAM CRUISE, which seems to get bigger each year. Thousands of classic cars to remember.
Had a final dinner with Kevin and his folks. He leaves for Madison next Sunday.
Reading THE ANTIDOTE by Karen Russell although it doesn't seem like my kind of book.
I did enjoy ABSOLUTION for my other book group though.
What are you doing?
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Best wishes to Kevin as he embarks on his latest adventure in life.
What have I been doing? I spend most of the week hating on technology. I spent several more days in feeble attempts to regain access to my bank account. Then, for no reason, I was suddenly locked out of my e-mail account, further driving home the fact that the technology gods hate me. But after four days, my e-mail was suddenly back, with no explanation and apparently undamaged. Saturday, I did what any smart person would do -- I called Jessie, pointed to my bank account and said, fix it. So she did, but it took about an hour and lots of cursing on her part. I am convinced that everyone needs a Jessie, and not just for the spontaneous lessons in profanity. It turns out that my bank account does not know my social security number. (Actually, it knows it selectively enough to file all my tax information to the government but not enough to identify me to the online banking system.) Also, the system was not set up to recognize my account number; rather it was set up to recognize my Visa card number -- something the real people and the help desk people did not believe possible. Then, Jessie needed a new password for my bank account, so she went back a gazillion years and used the one for my Apple account. (Wait. I have an Apple account? Since when? And why? From the looks of things the Apple account was set up by Kitty many years ago, so I'll never get answers to those questions.) And, VOILA! I once again had access to my bank account! As with my e-mail, there appears to be no damage from the experience. Bless you, Jessie.
AND, Friday was Jessie's birthday. I celebrated even before I knew she would fix my computer. (Really, I celebrate her every day of my life.) The day she was born was the day I realized that perfection could be brought into this world and nothing has ever made me alter that opinion.
School started this week and everyone in the eighth and fourth grades are doing well. Walt has been out of town for most of the week; when he returns it will be a few days home, then back out for another business trip. When he returns from that one, he, Christina, Erin, and Trey will trek to Virginia to move Walt Sr. and Ellen down here; Walt Sr.'s health has been doing poorly; he is now recovering from a bout of pneumonia. The hope is that we'll be able to keep a better watch on his medical conditions down here.
Driving rains most mornings with blistering hot spells immediately following. We were able to beach on Saturday and the girls spent most of the just floating in the water and having a great time. After an hour in the sun, I went back to the air-conditioned car and read book.
Television this week consisted of the first four episodes of WEDNESDY and LAST WEEK TONIGHT. As for reading, it's been a Michael Crichton week: TIMELINE (which was Kitty's favorite Crichton book), PREY (nanobots become "alive," swarm, and prey on humans), and two non-fiction books -- TRAVELS (a collection of articles in which Crichton explore both the real and metaphysical world) and JASPER JOHNS (a detailed look at the work of the visual artist). Short reads this week included IN WADERS FROM MARS by Keith, Joe R., & Karen Landale, based on a story from Keith when he was fice years old (and my FFB; charming), and Lee Goldberg's CROWN VIC 2: IF I WERE A RICH MAN ( a story written for his brother's HANAKKAH NOIR anthology and which he released in an e-Book Format). Still slowly going through Goldberg's massive UNSOLD TV PILOTS and really enjoying it.
Have a fantastic week, Patti. Stay safe.
The hellish weather in Western NY broke last night. I woke up to a crisp, cool morning of 70 degrees. No more 90s in the forecast.
Diane continues her preparation for hosting a Family Reunion in September. I'm assisting. We are now up to 27 guests who have told Diane they're attending. Diane set up the menu with the caterer so we're ready to go.
The Buffalo Bills laid an egg in Chicago last night in a terrible preseason game. The 38-0 loss makes this week's Cut Down Day easy.
Glad to see Megan made the WALL STREET JOURNAL list of REVENGE NOVELS. Stay safe!
Yes, to echo what Jerry said. Good luck to Kevin. How time flies.
We had our second concert/hotel stay last Tuesday, Jackson Browne at the Beacon (first of four shows he did there last week). Good show, he did three hours, including a 15 minute intermission, mostly his own songs, of course. He's written a lot over the past 60 years. (He is exactly our age.) We first saw him opening for Bonnie Raitt at Jones Beach in 1999, and have seen him 10 times since, including a few benefits. He actually seemed quite down at the state of the world in the first half of the show. Gee, I wonder why.
We stayed at the Marriott on 37th off Fifth Avenue again, and Jackie got us a major upgrade to what her buddy at the desk called the "best room" on the 19th floor overlooking the Empire State Building.
Other than that, it was a quiet, very warm week. I'm thrilled that the next three days are supposed to be in the mid-70s. Wednesday is my appointment with the doctor to schedule my cataract surgeries.
Never watched The Doctor Blake Mysteries, but as Jackie likes all things medical, might give it a try.
Besides the shows we are already watching, we have a bunch of things on Amazon that we added to the list, but because we haven't started any of them yet, they don't show up on the Continue Watching list and we forget we have them. So we are making a concerted effort to at least try them, or delete the ones that no longer seem interesting.
First up was the Irish BLACKSHORE (Acorn). After one too many excessive force complaints against her, DI Fia Lucey is sent to her home town to investigate a missing woman. She hasn't been back in 20 years since something bad happened (though the first episode doesn't totally spell it out, apparently her father murdered the rest of her family). The missing woman befriended Lucey back then. Of course, she is the first dead body found.
They said my comment is too long so will divide it in half.
Jackie read a list of the (supposed) 10 best Nordic Noir series, and the only one we hadn't watched (though it was on our list) was the unusual TROM (MHz Choice), set in the Faroe Islands 170 miles north of Shetland, midway between Iceland, Scotland and Norway. It is indeed in Faroese, not Danish (it is part of Denmark), and the rugged terrain is beautiful. A young investigative protestor is found dead after reporting threats to the police (including a Godfather-like "gift" of bloody whale meat in her bed), who did nothing but call it a prank. The investigation is going to be done by series character (never heard of the books) Hannis Martinsson, an investigative journalist, who turns out to be the young woman's newly discovered father.
THE LAKE TRILOGY (MHz) is another new country added to our all-Europe tour of TV shows, in this case Melania Trump's homeland of Slovenia. There are three stories, the first one in six parts, the others in three parts each. On New Year's Eve, a woman walking her dog (who else?) comes across the dead body of a young woman, naked and decapitated. The case is taken over by grumpy Ljubljana cop Taras Birsa, aided by his new psychologist partner.
Still too long. Here is part 3:
We're still watching three French shows - THE BUREAU, LE CODE and THE ART OF CRIME. The latter is quite interesting. The cop put in charge of the Art Theft Squad (he was demoted) is artistically illiterate, so has an expert assistant. The crimes all involve art - thefts, forgery, etc. - and The Louvre is involved in all. But they use real paintings by famous artists, and in every episode the woman "talks" to the artist - Courbet in the last episode we watched - about their lives, their paintings, etc. on which she always seems to know everything. Also watching the Italian THE BASTARDS OF PIZZOFALCONE, set in Naples.
Jackie is racing through all 3 series of SULLIVAN'S CROSSING in the afternoons, and is waiting for the final few episodes of COUNTDOWN.
We started the British CODE OF SILENCE and like it so far. She is very good.
Hard to believe that at one point I thought I'd read every short story I had in the house. These days I always seem to be downloading books from the library or buying them at Amazon. Currently reading collections (all from the library) by Jane Smiley, Nicole Krauss and Maggie Shipstead.Jackie read a list of the (supposed) 10 best Nordic Noir series, and the only one we hadn't watched (though it was on our list) was the unusual TROM (MHz Choice), set in the Faroe Islands 170 miles north of Shetland, midway between Iceland, Scotland and Norway. It is indeed in Faroese, not Danish (it is part of Denmark), and the rugged terrain is beautiful. A young investigative protestor is found dead after reporting threats to the police (including a Godfather-like "gift" of bloody whale meat in her bed), who did nothing but call it a prank. The investigation is going to be done by series character (never heard of the books) Hannis Martinsson, an investigative journalist, who turns out to be the young woman's newly discovered father.
That messed up my comment totally. "Shipstead" should be the last word there. Then it repeated earlier parts.
Just what I needed, more short stories - not! But my library had the Goldberg, EIGHT VERY BAD NIGHTS, so I downloaded it.
George, the Giants again looked good, beating the Jets like a drum. I hope we're going to see more of Jaxson Dart once the season starts.
Go Badgers!
Boy #2's U of WI tuition bill came in and I don't understand how the perfect student - on all academic metrics - doesn't get more scholarship aid. Such is life.
This weekend I take the train to Minneapolis to assist in moving Boy #1 back home as his job search continues. I cleaned up almost all of the garage - I left a couple corners alone - in anticipation of storing his stuff. The week after that Boy #2 goes back to the dorm for sophomore year. And clears up room indoors for a storage swap.
I have a flight to Dallas for a wedding in 2-3 weeks. I'll have to mask up for the flights and hope I don't get sick. I look forward to the trip and hope all political talk is avoided.
Finished ON THE ROAD. As a novel it stands up to it's reputation. Especially with the brilliant narration by Will Patton. As a memoir it's a story of a bunch of drunken jerks. Drunks. Junkies. Wife beaters. Thieves. Liars. Con men. Family abandoners. Child neglect and/or abuse. Speed freaks. Bigamists. And likely rapists.
I've kinda stalled out on reading PLAYWORLD. I'm maybe a fifth through and don't see a direction to the story. The writing and description are skilled, the scenarios are creepy, and what's the point?
I did finish a comic book nonfic. I NEVER PROMISED YOU A ROSE GARDEN by Mannie Murphy. The book jumps around a little but centers on Portland and the rest of the Northwest and the short life and OD death of River Phoenix. Plus Gus van Sandt, Oregon's white supremacist scumbags, and the author's overlapping life with all of it.
Nothing of note for the film and television. I was wanting to go to a movie theater over the weekend but never got myself to do so. I did spend way too much time wandering Home Depot, cleaning the garage, and cramming myself spelunking-style into the crooks of the kitchen sink cabinet to tighten a faucet nut.
Let me throw in one more rant. It turns out my supplemental health insurance was cancelled as of May 11. I had been paying the monthly premiums directly through my bank account online for nearly fifteens years. With the kerfuffle over accessing my account I contacted the company by phone and was told of the cancellation. It turns out they increased my premium and I never knew because their only communication with me was through an old address I had so their messages never got through to me. Parts of the company had my proper address and never used it and parts had the old address and used it. Fixed now thank goodness.
The company, by the way, was United Health Care...not that that makes Luigi Mangione right.
One more I forgot to mention: we did watch the first episode of NINE BODIES IN A MEXICAN MORGUE (MGM+) last night. This has to be the most unusual thing Anthony Horowitz (yes, that guy) has ever written, though it might be going in a Christie/AND THEN THERE WERE NONE direction (he wrote 9 or so POIROT episodes).
But for now: the beginning has a woman watching a military outpost in Mexico where a helicopter brings in the title nine bodies in body bags. We then go back Eight Days Earlier to a small plane running out of gas and crash landing in the jungle, flying from Guatemala. The disparate passengers include (or so they claim) a former doctor turned medical supply salesman (Eric McCormack), an insurance investigator, an English woman who won't say who she is, an Asian heiress (with a horrendous blonde dye job) and her new husband, a luchador - Mexican wrestler, though he certainly doesn't look like one, and an older American couple who claim they own a chain of motels in Kansas and Oklahoma, where you can get a 10% discount if you have a MAGA sticker on your car. These are played, in an unlikely manner, by Siobhan McSweeney, Sister Michael in DERRY GIRLS, with an over the top Southern accent, and Icelandic-American Olafur Darri Olafsson (the cop in TRAPPED).
Does any of this sound like an Anthony Horowitz script to you? Me either, but we'll keep watching.
Boy, do have a Jessie! The birthdays don't get much easier-even after 7 years.
I sent a response to your WSJ gift article but it came back. Don't know why. Can't believe Diane has the energy to host such a big party.
Again, we went out to the grocery store and breakfast, plus the most important thing, getting some more cat food and kitty litter for London. They did not have the kitty litter so we will have to find a place that does, soon.
How exciting that Kevin is off to University. And I am glad that you liked ABSOLUTION, Patti, because I want to read that before the end of the year.
In the last few days we have watched a Brokenwood Mysteries episode (we are in Season 10 now), Death on the Nile (1978 movie with Peter Ustinov and many other actors and actresses we enjoy), Dark and Story Night (Larry Blamire), and Rush Hour 2 (Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker). Plus lots of earlier episodes of Death in Paradise.
Glen finished BORN TO BE POSTHUMOUS by Mark Dery; it got better at about half way, but was still slow and thin. He is now reading a book from one of his favorite authors: MANSLAUGHTER by Parnell Hall, #15 in the Stanley Hasting series. Liking it a lot, as usual.
I finished my nonfiction book: PERPLEXING PLOTS: POPULAR STORYTELLING AND THE POETICS OF MURDER by David Bordwell. It was very good. In addition to his chapter on Erle Stanley Gardner and Rex Stout, the chapters on Patricia Highsmith and Ed McBain, and Donald Westlake and his Richard Stark books were also very good.
Now I am reading BEFORE YOUR MEMORY FADES by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, a book of novellas about time travel in a coffee shop in Japan. I have read two of the novellas, out of four.
Doctor Blake is somewhere between ALL CREATURES and GRANCHESTER but Australia in the fifties.
Out of state students to Madison pay a fortune. He could have gone almost anywhere else for far less because the private colleges all gave him big packages.
And, of course, that is what I have UHC.
Wasn't there one about time travel in a tea shop? I have to find it.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold" by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I read and enjoyed that one.
Not surprised the out of state is a fortune. Boy #1's offer from U of IL was quite expensive. He was more interested in MN anyway and that IL tuition fee was part of the push to MN.
I described it mistakenly as a coffee shop although I think it is really a cafe. The one I read is the third book in Kawaguchi's series. The "magical" coffee is what allows the time travel although in this book it explains that it doesn't matter what coffee bean is used, it just has to be made in a special coffee pot, poured by a special person, and the traveler to be has to sit in a special chair.
I argue that all coffee is magical.
I have come to coffee very late in life. I needed a machine in my lobby to start drinking it.
I like tea, hot or cold, but not sweetened or flavored.
Me too.
Me, as well...albeit a part Drumpf is trying to destroy much more assiduously than Mangione ever could.
"I like the java jive/And it likes me..." Drinking a fair amount of 1-part coffee/3 parts unsweetened almond milk "lattes" of late...have always liked all sorts of tea and tea+, and will drink too much Bing and Polar caffeinated/no sugar added juice soda (and sugarless Dr. Pepper...the Crider tipple).
Am trying MISS SHERLOCK (on HBO), this past season's Japanese "update" on Doyle, and the pilot's atrocious, the subsequent episodes rather better so far (the latter day female Holmes is initially just obnoxious, the Watson Too clueless). But it's not up to this past season's UK update/riff SHERLOCK & DAUGHTER (CW/HBO in US) nor CBS's WATSON thus far.
And sugarless Vernor's ginger soda and Gosling's ginger beer...the odd Canada Dry or Schweppes milder gingers on sale.
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