A good friend died last week, which kept me away from FFB.
On a brighter note, a gathering on Saturday night saluted Phil and Arnold. Both had belonged to the same men's group and it was nice to hear the kind things said about both men. My doctor came and picked me up, which is one way of getting a house call.
Saw the fifth season of LINE OF DUTY and it is right at the top of the list for best cop shows ever. It is so complex though, you really need to give it your full attention. I am fading out again on THE OUTSIDER, which seems too woo woo for my tastes.
LES MISERABLES, a French cop movie, was pretty amazing. Awfully dark view of pretty much everyone and a fatalistic look at society today.
Went to hear Kevin play guitar and this time is was punk music. My ears are still ringing.
Still reading THE CHESTNUT MAN. The short chapters, many a page or two, makes me put it down too often.
21 comments:
When is the trip to Florida?
Florida still good for us. We had ONE very chilly day here (by Florida standards, I hasten to add), with 42 the morning low and some areas in the 30s. It got up to about 60 but the next day it was back to 70. They complain on the weather how wet this "dry season" has been, but we missed the worst of that in December and rain has been intermittent at worst.
Had a great day with my cousin and his wife yesterday. When we moved to Brooklyn (age 9), he lived across the street from us. He's exactly my brother's age (a year younger than me) and I've probably known him longer than anyone other than my brother and a handful of other people. We walked over to the Sunday Greenmarket and bought German chocolate cake and apple strudel, he got a dozen bialys. Then we drove them around the area and went to eat at the Waterway Cafe on the Intracoastal, where large and small yachts glide past you while you eat. Fun day. They are down here for the winter too, having bought an apartment.
I did get some reading done, though far from as much as I'd like to. We always seem to be running around, going for lunch and then from store to store, it seems. Then there is the internet sucking up my time. The televisions are too old to connect us to Netflix, so we are making do with reruns of Andy Griffith and Midsomer Murders and the like, plus rented DVDs (DOWNTON ABBEY was the latest), and we're catching up on missed movies. Today is PARASITE and tomorrow is LITTLE WOMEN.
This apartment really works for us and Jackie is already planning a return next year, so all is well (fingers crossed).
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Hope everyone out there is feeling well.
So happy to hear that Kevin is pursuing his music, Patti. That's great. And I'm glad that there was such a nice tribute to Phil - he deserved it.
We're only up to series 4 of Line of Duty. Series six has been commissioned for late 2020.
We leave on the 17th. Later than I would have liked but I was a latecomer to planning it. Maybe I will return to spring here. Season 5 is very good. Two episodes were nominated for Edgars.
Thanks, Margot. It was a nice evening. Most people are afraid to mention Phil but these guys had no trouble.
Diane and I baked a couple of loaves of Cranberry Pecan bread. Yummy with coffee! We also made some Apple Crisp. Using the oven made sense as temps fell into the 20s.
I'm meeting with the SUNY at Buffalo librarians today. They scheduled a photo shoot because I'm donating more books.
Diane and I are catching up on episodes of LOVE IT, OR LIST IT on HGTV.
I am sorry about your friend, Patti, but I'm glad that he and Phil are being remembered so well. i don't know if I could have taken the punk music; I'm at that age where I'm beginning to like my parent's music.
Acorn's operation last Friday went well but she's is not happy having to wear a cone.
The girls surprised us yesterday with Chinese food. Yum.
We are having our tile floors steam-cleaned today. The one drawback to our new apartment is the floors. They don't look it but the tiles are fairly dirty as we can tell from the soles of our socks every day. Ordinary scrubbing haven't helped at all, so now we try steam cleaning, which should work.
More corroboration is coming about Trump's activities from Lev Parnas, John bolton, and others. Hope it makes a difference, but probably not, leaving the election as the best remedy. Time to vote the scalliwags out!
We watched a lot of bad old movies on television. We really enjoyed RENFREW OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED -- it was just cheesy enough to strike our fancy. We also enjoyed a number of YouTube videos satirizing (and basically destroying) Home and Garden's HOUSE HUNTERS show. A little bit of schadenfreude is healthy, I think.
A lot of reading this week, including a number of Mike Faraday PI mysteries by Basil Copper. Copper was an english writer and Faraday is meant to be a tough LA private eye. The trouble is that Copper writes in British English and with British spelling and all the British expressions are a bit jarring. Faraday also talks to himself, says "if you know what I mean" a lot, drinks copious amounts of coffee, usually shoots it out with one mob or another, and stares at his secretary's legs. Also, the secretary is a lot smarter than he is. The entire series is one of my guilty pleasures and is a refreshing diversion from the more gritty stuff. There are over fifty books in the series so I have many more to look forward to.
Wait. What's that sound? Why it's Florida calling out, "Patti, come down. Come down, Patti. The weather's good and the people here are crazier than anywhere else. Come down, Patti! The 17th can't come soon enough."
Ahem. Sorry for that interruption. Anyway, I hope you have a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious week!
Jerry, in my book buying and selling days I picked up whatever Basil Copper/Faraday books I came across. At the time, I don't think any (or at least not more than a few) were published here, and I never had trouble selling them. I must admit I never read one.
I meant to see Les Misérables but it only lasted a week and I missed it. Saw Just Mercy. Well done but I feel like I've seen it before. Does have some good performances by Jamie Foxx and Tim Blake Nelson. Saw The Gentlemen. The new Guy Ritchie. It's of a piece with Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. Two of my favorite movies. It is not quite as good as those but still a pleasant two hours. Good performances by Colin Farrell and Hugh Grant.
Enjoying The Outsider more than you. Also enjoying the returns of Bill Maher The New Pope, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Still one behind on Dare Me. Having a problem with it. None of the female characters are likeable and the male characters are played by very bland actors. I saw several seasons of Line of Duty several years ago but can't remember where I left off.
Read Handsome Johnny a bio of mobster Johnny Rosselli. Just finished Many Rivers to Cross, a fine DCI Banks novel by Peter Robinson. Not sure what I'll read next.
Let me know if that steam cleaning works. I have a lot of tile and it is old. It may be too old to get clean.
Wish you were close enough to Treasure Island to meet up, Jerry.
How many this time, George. They are going to have to name the library after you.
Patti, I have a couple thousand books packed up in boxes and ready to go to SUNY at Buffalo. Of course, Diane thinks this is Not Enough. I'm trying to find Good Homes for my books. The next project is to find a home for the thousands of music CDs I've accumulated over the years. Patrick and Katie have no interest in them so I'll have to find a university or college that would accept them.
You spend the first part of your Life buying stuff and the last part trying to get rid of it!
I think the music will be more of a challenge given the way people listen to music today.
Both Barbara and I are ill with either the flu or pneumonia. We have had the shots for both, to no avail. Wracking cough, terrible headache, temperature. She went to Urgent Care and they gave her a cough pill (?). I'm running about a week behind her, so no MD visit yet, but may have to. No, it's not that cronovirus ting. I hate being sick!
We watched RBG last week, and liked it, though thought it a minor effort. Not sure what's next in the queue, maybe THE BIG SHORT. Yes, we're way behind.
Patti, the steam cleaning worked out great. Tile evidently picks up dirt easily and is almost impossible to clean by any other method. They did the entire apartment for just $200 and it took a bit over an hour. We left them to it and went shopping, leaving indoor cat Willow cowering under the passenger seat of the car the whole time. She may not speak to us ever again.
Jeff, all of the Faraday books were published in large print paperback format. I picked up about 20 of them as used library books and will probably do the same with the remaining titles. Their not everyone's cup of tea but I love them.
Rick, you and Barbara did not get permission to be sick, so fix it! Now!
Jerry: cough, cough, cough, sneeze, blah.
Hope you are better soon, Rick.
I hired a company to clean this tile when we moved in but they only succeeded in ruining the baseboards by getting cleaner on them and running the machine into them. I may have to put a new floor in.
And my problem is the grout. Way too much grout.
Glad to say I have not caught the flu this year.
On Saturday my Rotary Club hosted it's 6th beer and wine tasting with the best attendance yet. I'm glad to say tear down did not take all damn night like in a couple previous years.
I have not gotten much reading done. I started listening to the audio of FRANKENSTEIN. I had not idea that so much of the famous film version in 1931 was not in the novel. I'm not far enough in to find out if Abbott and Costello show up.
HINT: No. I have never read the book to my shame, Gerard.
Dare Me is definitely about the girls. Her book most about male characters was THE SONG IS YOU.
I will loan you a copy. THE FEVER and THE END OF EVERYTHING has strong male characters. This and the last one GIVE ME YOUR HAND have lesser male parts.
I think this was the strongest episode. All three women get their own arc here. Again, it doesn't bother me if they are likable if they are interesting. But I know most people don't feel that way. Especially when it comes to women. Who was the likable character in THE IRISHMAN?
Actually, even though he was not a good person, I found Joe Pesci likable.
I know what you mean. But is that the actor shining through or is it built into the character.
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