1917 was more notable (to me) for its technical achievement than for its story telling, but that technical achievement was amazing. It very much seemed like the entire film was one long take with constant movement through the trenches of World War 1. A very fine lead performance too.
Also went to the DSO in the neighborhood program where Steling Elliott (above) played a cello piece by Lali. Also the music of Bizet's Carmen and Franck. I am ambivalent about this program, which was foisted onto the musicians after their last strike. But the very aging crowd at the synagogue that hosted them would have trouble getting downtown in January, I think.
Am enjoying the very strange novel, BILOXI by Mary Miller, which is mostly about a man and a dog.
After rewatching MY BRILLIAN CAREER, from the eighties, I caught up with Judy Davis on MYSTERY ROAD, on Acorn. It seems very stretched out and I believe it was a movie first. But seeing Australia not in the throes of fires was nice.
The weather here is odd. I am not sure the ground have yet been fully frozen and it's mid-January. Troubling.
What's happening with you?
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Read Where All Light Tends To Go by David Joy. I have now read all three of his novels and liked all of them. Am now halfway through Nothing More Dangerous by Allan Eskens.
Still haven't seen a movie for awhile. Probably see 1917 this week.
Watched the Hulu series Catch 22. As a fan of the novel I found this very disappointing. Tried BBC's Dracula on Netflix. Quite after less than an hour. Terrible acting with a wisecracking Dracula. Won't finish this. Also gave up on Netflix's The Witcher after two episodes. On a positive note I really liked the first two episodes of Stephen King's The Outsider on HBO.
Weird weather for Michigan in winter. Supposed to be high 40's tomorrow. The Big ice storm they predicted for Saturday night passed us by.
Western NY hit a new record when the temperature made it to 67 degrees on Saturday. This does NOT look like January. My lawn should be covered by a couple feet of snow...but all I see is green.
I'm catching up on reading my Library books. I had over a dozen out so I needed to whittle that number down.
The NFL Playoffs dominated our weekend. Plenty of great games!
I'm rooting for Deb's LSU Tigers tonight!
1. Florida
That's it. Even though we had two or three pretty decent weeks of weather (after a month of cold from mid-November on), and even though there was record warm temperatures in New York over the weekend, it is good to get away. Unlike the past 9 trips, instead of staying in a hotel, this year we rented a two bedroom apartment through Vrbo. We are in an area we like a lot, Palm Beach Gardens (about five miles north of the hotel), have a lot more room (and two bathrooms), have our privacy. Television is not great - no Netflix or HBO - but that's OK too. I'm hoping to get more reading done. We are five minutes from Starbucks and Publix, ten from the movies (we have tickets for Tuesday for KNIVES OUT - all shows Tuesdays are $5.35 each) and restaurants.
It's good to be here.
Wish I was with you despite the decent weather here, Jeff. So tired of the Michigan gray. All Michigan teams should have gray in their uniforms. Can't you access your netflix account on your computer, Jeff. We did that in California. And HBO GO for that matter. Maybe you don't take a laptop though? I could not rely on just an iphone. I would go blind.
I tried the first hour of THE OUTSIDER and wasn't crazy about it, but I will go back and try the second hour. Sometimes it takes a while to get going. 1917 is worth seeing on a big screen if you are going to see it. On TV it would lose most of what makes it work.
Yes. of course I can do that with the computer, but Jackie doesn't want to watch on the laptop. (I don't get the problem, since she has been reading books on her phone via the Cloud ibrary.) I'm hoping in a week or so she gets desperate enough to agree. We thought we could link it to the television but the big one in the living room is too old. We could do it in the bedroom on the smaller television, but it is a hassle, we'd have to get another chair in there to sit on, etc. The laptop is easier.
Things I learned this week: You can say "@ss f#ck" on USA Network (DARE ME).
Yeah, cable tv has changed since last I watched it.
Rainy here, snow predicted. Good reading weather. We tried the 1st episode of COPPER but didn’t like it, so the 4 episode DVD goes back to Netflix. Watched four NFL games over the weekend, unhappy about Seahawks loss. Three more pro football games and that’s it for sports for months. We don’t watch soccer, hockey or basketball (until March Madness), or baseball until playoffs.
Trying to decide what to read, maybe an old historical novel.
I always like Judy Davis, even in something not great, but I did like MYSTERY ROAD. I have the original movie (with the cop but not Davis) saved on Amazon Prime.
I had a birthday on Friday so I did jack all on Saturday except watch television and read a little.
Massive snowfall was expected and did not happen. What snow and ice we did get was scraped and shoveled by Boy #1. When more snow came Sunday BOy #1 again did shoveling until I got outside to run the snow blower. The snow blower started up and ran fine and I am always thankful for that.
I finished reading Rusty Barnes's KNUCKLEDRAGGER which was dark. I've been listening to a NonFic about the Allied's WWII post-Normandy campaign and drive into Germany. That has been interesting because so many of the Generals did not get along and Montgomery was roundly disliked by most people. Montgomery knew what he was doing and had sound analysis but he was such at prick that the message was lost.
Mark ran a half marathon yesterday despite not training for it. He came in first in his age group and ran the time he wanted (under two hours), so all good.
Watched DON"T F**K WITH CATS on Netflix last night. A creepy show about a guy who killed kittens and posted the act on the web and about a group of nerds trying to find out his identity. A bit too much swearing for my taste, but told with humanity and some humor. The show took a very dark turn when the real-life villain escalated. Grim stuff but a fascinating three-part documentary.
This afternoon we got word that a former co-worker of Christina's from Southern Maryland had died. Bonnie had been born in Germany shortly after the war and had a very hard life, moving from an abusive childhood to an abusive marriage and dealing with a drug-addicted son. She was a fighter and had survived three different bouts of cancer and a major heart attack, yet somehow she managed to keep a positive outlook and was a genuinely thoughtful and caring person, always happy and never letting anything get her down. I'm glad that she found happiness with her second husband and am thankful that we got to know her. She kept up with Christina on Facebook and we always enjoyed her posts. I'm happy that we were able to enjoy this wonderful person, however tangentially. It's the people you meet who can your make your life a little more beautiful.
I've never been a cup half empty/cup half full type of person, more of a now we can fill the cup again person. Despite all the terrible news that surrounds us -- Trump's disgusting antics, the bush fires in Australia, the mess in Iran, the earthquakes in an already devastated Puerto Rico -- I can see an ultimate good. Things will catch up with Trump, climate change will be acknowledged and we can do something about it, the Iranian people will persevere and cooler heads will prevail, and people will continue to step up for Puerto Rico and for other desperate areas in the world. I know the future is a coin toss but I remain happy in the conviction that the coin will come down on heads.
And as always, my family, friends, the sometimes unpredictable weather, the beauty that is always around, and even GD cat videos have made my week better.
May all your weeks be better, Patti.
And happy birthday, Gerard!
I've been wondering whether I should see 1917, Patti. It sounds as though it's visually impressive.
Yes, happy birthday, Gerard.
It was supposed to be ice here and it was minimal.
Sorry for the loss of your friend, Jerry. It sure goes around.
That was it, Margot. Visually it was a wonder.
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