Saw BLUE MOON, which I liked very much, especially Ethan Hawke and Andrew Scott's performance. I am not sure people with no familiarity with the story (Rodgers and Hart) or music would enjoy it as much.
Lots on TV including NO ONE SAW US (Netflix) THE DIPLOMAT (Netflix) SLOW HORSES (Apple) and THE LOW DOWN (Hulu) Finished TASK which had a spectacular ending.
Really enjoyed Ben Stiller's doc about his parents. I was never a big fan of their very broad humor, but it was so well done in what it said about his family. He was honest in his own mistakes as well.
Colder but still lots of sunny weather here.
What's new there?
12 comments:
Glad you're enjoying Five Found Dead, Patti. Sulari Gentill is, in my opinion, a truly talented author. I had the pleasure of meeting her once - a lovely person!
Mark survived his year in Albuquerque and made it home. He spend his last day at the zoo working with birds and posted a sweet picture of him saying goodbye to his penguin buddy, Ike, who had bonded with Mark. He also send a video of him with a friendly emu. If Mark turns his back to the emu, she will go up behind him and rest her head on him, just staying there contented while Mark skritches her neck. (Of course while this happening, another emu is trying to eat the camera Mark had set up.) Mark made the two-day trip home without incident and with a black widow spider. He told me not to worry because his spider was safe in a box and could not get out; I replierd the box would just make it easier for me to aim my flamethrower.
Also good news, Amy has a new job! She began working with County Traffic Control, which is part of the engineering department. She is very relieved because ti had been some weeks since she quit her last job, along with most of the other employees, because of management misdeeds. Meanwhile, Trey is settling in nicely to his first real job after graduating as an engineer, and Mark will begin his new job next week. Walt's job is good for another year as his contract was renewed. The only one jobless now is me, and I'm biding my time before they proclaim me ruler of the world. I'm using the extra tine perfecting my plans for domination and making lists of certain people...
NewerCat Rose is slowly coming out her shell. She has met some of the other animals and all is going well, although Sage the cat is still giving her the stinkeye. She has made friends with Erin and Jessie. She still avoids me but that (I hopw) will change. In the meantime, Rockstar the rabbit has recovered from his surgery.
I screwed up my back again this weekend. Pinched nerve, making it difficult to do anthing, so I stayed home Saturday morning while the gang went beaching. It was a double-red flag day so no one went in the water, but they all enjoyed the sun, the breeze, and the quiet of the Gulf. Afterward, it was Get Christina Organized Day, an event that happenes at least twice a year. They organized the towering piles of paper that have been eating Chrisinta's desk and her life, orgainized all of Jack;s school stuff, moved stuff around to create a crochet supply closet for her, and made it so that one could actually the tops of three tables. We celebrated the monumental effort wwith Chinese food. Part two of Get Christina Organized will be in two weeks, when her bedroom closets will get the treatment.
My birthday is coming up this week and I am getting to the point where no one is believing I am thirty-five. Actually, with my back, I am having a fairly easy time realizing that I am just a year from my ninth decade. Other than not being spry and agile (which I probably never was), I am in remarkably good health and plan to stay aound until long after they declared me ruler of the world. Again, I am using that time to make a list...
Very little television; just the usual stuff. As for books, I read the two-volume FASTER THAN LIGHT: THE STORY BEHIND THE SCI-FI CHANNEL'S FTL NEWSFEED by Matt Costello and F. Paul Wilson, who created the program. FTL NEWSFEED was the first original program from the station, a five-day-a -week, one-minute news blurb purporting to be from 150 years in the future. It was funny, suspenseful, scary, and prophetic, with multiple continuous story arcs and of nifty easter eggs. Costello and Wilson were brought in to write each episode after the USA Network was sold to Viacom; earlier shows were written based on a "Bbile" they had written. The compendium includes over 500 scripts. the bible, proposed story arcs, and commentary from the authors. The other book I read this week was Brett Halliday's Mike Shayne mystery MURDER IS MY BUSINESS, another Hard Case Crime reprint.
Have a great week, Patti, knowing that I have not included you on my naughty list for when I take over the world. Stay safe.
Thanks, Margot. Looks like things are going well in the House house. Happy to have the universe in Jerry's hands.
We had our 55th (unbelievable) Anniversary on Friday, went to our favorite Italian restaurant and overindulged. This Saturday, American Airlines and the air traffic controllers willing, we'll be flying to New Orleans for 5+ days. We'll see Deb & family on Sunday. Can't wait.
It's definitely cooler but still pretty decent weather, mostly sunny, windy and cool. We can use some rain.
We finished VIGIL (series one; there is a second available, also on Peacock) and UNTAMED (Netflix), which has a second series coming, so I guess he did not leave the park (Yosemite) after all. THE DIPLOMAT is pretty ridiculous, when you think about the plot, but still very enjoyable. We'll finish TASK this week. Still a few shows we haven't started yet (GOLD, DEATH BEFORE EVENSONG), until all the episodes are available. We'll try the second two-part MAIGRET tonight. Jackie is watching the Montreal-set French Canadian spy show, CLASSIFIED (PBS Masterpiece), where (she says) all the characters talk so fast she has a hard time keeping up with the subtitles. She tried the new Harlan Coben series, but said it is (literally) very dark, as well as having a lot of woo woo elements, which don't bother her but might bother others (like dead people talking).
Jackie mentioned Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson being in A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE (which she watched; I didn't, as the real world is dark enough without watching an update of FAIL-SAFE). When I looked her up, I discovered SILO on Apple+, which I never heard of before. It sounded interesting, so I checked out the first book of the trilogy, WOOL, by Hugh Howey, a post-Apocalyptic dystopian series (I know, but ignore what I said up there) set in a community that lives in a giant silo, with 144 levels mostly under ground. So far, I'm enjoying the first book.
Western NY is preparing for Halloween with plenty of lawn witches, zombies, and ghouls blowing in the wind. There might be a chance of rain on Friday.
Patrick traveled from Taiwan to Madrid last week and presented another paper at an Artificial Intelligence conference. Right now, he's in Morocco (he's never been there before) and will fly back to NYC later this week.
Katie is meeting with a designer to help her update her kitchen. Diane is preparing for another visit (the 4th!) from her sister, Carol. Diane and Carol will be flying to NYC next week to see the Rockettes, the Bobby Darin musical JUST IN TIME, and visits to swanky restaurants with Patrick, Katie, and Carol's grandchildren.
I'll be home getting caught up on my reading. The book stacks are getting overwhelming! Stay safe!
George, we live in a very "craftsy" neighborhood with most people decorating the outside of their houses, but Halloween has become the #1 holiday for decorating it seems, and this year it started around September 20. Current forecast is for a LOT of rain on Thursday, but cleared out by Friday, so we'll see.
I think I saw Gold on another streamer last year. I enjoy THE DIPLOMAT too. It's really a comedy. I tried SILO but it didn't take for me. Maybe another try.
NY is wearing, George. I am always exhausted afterward. This neighborhood has cats as big as houses and skeltons even bigger. When did Halloween become such a big day.
Patti, I am glad to hear that you are liking FIVE FOUND DEAD by Sulari Gentill. We have that book on our wish list and were discussing whether to get it or not, especially because it set on a train. I bought a copy of HOTEL DU LAC a few years ago at a book sale, but still haven't read it. I don't know why, I like books set in hotels. And it is short. Glen just a copy of THE HISTORIAN, which is the opposite of short.
Glen is now dividing his reading time between two books. A SUNNY PLACE FOR SHADY PEOPLE by Marian Enriquez is "a diabolical collection of stories featuring achingly human characters whose lives intertwine with ghosts, goblins, and the macabre." I won't be reading that. And DEATH ON THE CHEAP: THE LOST B MOVIES OF FILM NOIR by Arthur Lyons.
In the last week I finished EVERYONE ON THIS TRAIN IS A SUSPECT by Benjamin Stevenson. It is the second in a series; the first was EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE. Both of the books were fun to read. Other than that they are hard to describe. They are based on a gimmick and I don't think the author ran that too much into the ground in the second book. I liked the ending although I don't like it when the denouement is excessively drawn out.
Now I am reading AT THE TABLE OF WOLVES by Kay Kenyon. It is in the fantasy / alternate history genres. I am liking it so far. The time period is 1936, set in England and Germany. The fantasy (so far) is limited to people who have paranormal abilities.
In addition to our usual shows, we have been watching HOTEL COSTIERA on Prime and enjoying it. Set in Italy, the protagonist is looking for the hotel owner's daughter who has disappeared and gets involved in side investigations along the way. We will be watching the last one in the season soon. We have not started SLOW HORSES yet, but we will.
Tracy, I didn't like the first Stevenson book enough to read the second, though it was OK. Thanks for mentioning the Lyons book, one I meant to read years ago but long since forgot about. I ordered a used copy. Glen's taste and mine obviously coincide on a number of books.
I always enjoy reading everyone's updates. Jerry, my engineer son is still looking for work. And he was on the Dean's List for all 8 semesters and graduated with distinction. Apparently, it's not not rocket science to graduate as a rocket scientist.
All four of the family got together on Saturday since we went to the University book sale in Madison. Then trips to lunch, CostCo, and a grocery store.
We went to the University book sale on the last day and arrived about 30 minutes before they kicked everyone out and then reopened 10 minutes later for the Everything Is Now Free portion of the day. The collection was well picked over but I bought a Philip Kerr, some Brit mystery, and a short story collection by an author who's number I forgot. Kerr was only 62 when he died of cancer.
Nothing of note on TV. I still tend to watch shows that don't require me to pay much attention. One of those is the second season of HALO. You'd know it was a shoot-em-up video game show from dialogue snippets.
"Come to daddy."
"On me!"
"I've got you!"
"Ergh!"
Jeff, I have an approach-avoidance conflict when reading Stevenson's book. I enjoy the reading but a lot of his writing choices irritate me, so I it isn't totally satisfying.
I am glad that we reminded you of the Arthur Lyons book at the right time... and that you found a copy.
Jeff, I am glad you are reading that 1st part of the trilogy of WOOL. I have that book and was thinking of reading it, so I will see how you like it.
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