Monday, August 29, 2022

Monday, Monday

Saw Three Thousand Years of Longing with Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, which was good if not great. Also enjoyed A Love Song with Dale Dicky and Wes Studi. A total of 12 people in these two theaters.


Reading Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara, and it is an exceptionally fine novel. Reading her bio in the back you see what a successful career she has had, aside from the novels. A real advocate for the Japanese/Asian community, especially the gardeners who lost their preeminence in California to Mexicans immigrants. Also like that I am learning about wartime Chicago. Finished the Robotham, which I liked but did not love as much as I did his series novels. 


Watching Bad Sisters (Apple) and the victim in this series steals the show. Watched We Have to Talk About Cosby. He was so much worse than I ever imagined. It is streaming on Prime through the 31st and perhaps also HULU. It will knock your socks off. Also Watching Kleo (Netflix), about an Easter German female spy. A bit like Killing Eve.

What a lovely week it has been. Although the summer has been hot, I never remember a sunnier one. Hopefully the construction will be done in another six weeks or so. Although the Dream Cruise has ended the racing cars with their loud noise persists. I rewatched American Graffiti this week and it was sadly similar,

I am trying hard to get back to the writing. Wish me luck.


26 comments:

Steve A Oerkfitz said...

I read Clark and Division when it first came out. Great book. Just finished The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Trembley. Very good. read some short fiction by Stephen Volk. Just started The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias. Also rereading The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe.
When I saw Me and Crimes of the Future, we were pretty much the only persons there. Smaller films are just not drawing audiences.
Watched Kleo. Watchable but it gets rather silly by the end. Watched the finale of Animal Kingdom. Recorded House of the Dragon but haven't watched it yet. waiting till I get 3 or 4 episodes available.

George said...

I suspect the Pandemic changed viewing habits perhaps forever. It takes a lot to get me to go to a movie theater today. I have no problem streaming movies. I'm guessing AMC and REGAL will be bankrupt in a couple of years.

We're on our way to hit 90 degrees today. I plan to stay in the A/C and read.

Diane is busy preparing for her Book Club meeting on Wednesday. She's hosting the meeting on her deck. Temps are supposed to be in the 70s so we'll see how that turns out.

I'm whittling down my Library Book Stack to nothing before my trip next week to Minneapolis for BOUCHERCON. I'll say "HI!" to Megan for you! Stay safe!

pattinase (abbott) said...

I am not sure Megan will be there. But if she is, say hi.
What book are they doing, George. I need some ideas.
If the big screens disappear, we are likely to see much less expensive stuff on the small screens. Maybe the day of "movies" is disappearing and we will just have series.
That is my fear about KLEO. YOu could see the tendency right away.

Jeff Meyerson said...

No to the Cosby thing.

Yes, ,I definitely get a KILLING EVE vibe from KLEO. Still mostly enjoying FRACTURES, but the last (#4) episode upset Jackie so much it affected her sleep. She has always had a thing about corporal punishment, and the guy beating up his kids and his wife really set her off. Finished THE LAST MOVIE STARS. Hadn't realized that Joanne Woodward's mother had Alzheimers too. Very sad. Still watching our 4 French language series. Finished LONDON KILLS (series 3 is the last so far) and HIDDEN ASSETS (first series), STATION ELEVEN quite different from the book, but mostly holding my attention. Still on CONDOR. Bob Balaban quite slimy playing a weasel.

We're big fans of the quirky British screenwriter David Renwick, who created and wrote every episode of two of our favorite shows, ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE and JONATHAN CREEK. He also wrote a few POIROT scripts, among other stuff. Jackie discovered that after those he did a series called LOVE SOUP in 2005, starring Tamsin Greig and Michael Landes, and since it was not available for streaming here, she bought the DVD of the first series of six hour long episodes. (The second series, without Landes, was 12 half hour episodes, and doesn't sound as good.) We watched the first Saturday night (our British TV Night) and enjoyed it. Any show that can make you laugh at an "early Alzheimers" joke was probably written bu David Renwick. Greig works at the perfume counter in a big London department store, but commutes daily by train from Brighton. Landes is an American screenwriter working in England. Both are looking for real romance, though their dating life is checkered, to say the least.

I enjoyed GIRL IN ICE in the end. THere is something about Greenland that fascinated me.

Our weather has basically sucked. We rarely get to this point in August still as hot and humid as it has been most of this month. At least we did finally get some rain.

Todd Mason said...

Good luck, on getting the writing back on track...I'm trying to get coherent writing (and accurate typing, and regular reading) all back on track, so all sympathies!

Inasmuch as no one has assured me that KILLING EVE ever pulled back from aggressively stupid after midpoint in the first season--hey, I have a new baby and a wife recovering from the delivery and I'm a seasoned spy who follows a known assassin into a chaotic situation for no good reason, and gets unsurprisingly killed...that's OK, my good friend, since I will similarly endanger my own life multiple times and those of my beloved family because this blonde is Just That Cool--anything that can be described as similar is a non-rec for me.

Well, frankly, we haven't really seen the end of any of the breakout diseases of the last several years, even if the less dangerous variants seem to be on the upswing...even with some theaters finally offering comfortable seats, paying too much for the privilege of hit or miss big screen offerings is problematic. Particularly if monkeypox and its delightful ability to be spread from nonliving surfaces contact gets worse.

Very briefly spoke with Hirahara at the 9/11+ Bouchercon, little more than hello and I like what I've read of your work, and a few comments on one list or another. Between my politics and living in Hawaii, liberation movements and reparations struggles and the like have been something I've been aware of for quite some time...wasn't aware of her specific work thus, should Go Look.

Indeed, Cosby was definitely the archetypal Me Too villain, and presumably still would be. And it isn't too surprising, alas, when one looks at his public demeanor far too often. We didn't actually elect a similar thug, some years back.

Jeff Meyerson said...

I probably should have specified that LOVE SOUP is the British DVD.'

Todd, I'd say it is more the feel of the quirky assassin, the look of the show, etc. than specific plot, though it is certainly nothing one could take seriously. It is probably more fantasy than KILLING EVE, set in 1990. But then, I didn't watch much of the latter.

Todd Mason said...

Wih the last episode of ANIMAL KINGDOM and the return, after ducking the premiere week of the GAME OF THRONES sequel series, of CITY ON A HILL helping to make last night a good night of television, the most moving thing I saw was the Charlie Watts episode of the short documentary series MY LIFE AS A ROLLING STONE, with episodes devoted to each of the surviving (till recently) members (no Bill Wyman as well as no Brian Jones). The notion of being in a job one likes that rewards one mildly well artistically and ridiculously materially but which gets in the way of one's true calling is a hell of golden/platinum handcuffs bind. Watts always wanted to be, and really always was as the hour made abundantly clear, a jazz musician, who happened to land in an initially blues band that became a rock band, and depended on him not only for his artistry but to be the Sane Voice in the Room. And when a midlife crisis hit him hard in the mid '70s, the low point of the Stones' artistic and even a bit of their commercial career, his brief period of heroin abuse and even greater boozing was helped to end by, among other people and factors, Keith Richards, insert joke here. Richards somewhat abashedly recalls, Yes, *I* was the one who basically sat him down and reasoned with him--"This isn't You." And so Watts shortly thereafter set up his brief but for him joyous Charlie Watts Big Band. Married mostly happily with his only wife for 57 years, they noted, at time of death. Collected mementos, notably some of their drum sets, from some of the great jazz drummers, including those we both admired greatly (and two I got to talk with once each, Max Roach and Joe Morello). Hell of thing, how life happens, even for those who have almost no cause to complain, except they only rarely got to do what it was they really wanted to. But came pretty close, and were rewarded handsomely.

Todd Mason said...

Jeff--in not wasting much time with KILLING EVE, I suspect you were ahead of the game. It was jejune Kewl from jump, with just enough good about it to make more annoying how stupid it was. Sandra Oh certainly deserved a better series. But she got the series she got.

Gerard Saylor said...

When Watts died I learned he was a history buff of the U.S. Civil War. Surprising to me. Similar to finding out Phil Collins is a collector of Alamo artifacts. Watts used to visit local bookstores when on tour to check out the history selections.
I've been finishing VAN HELSING which was a SyFY and Canadian production. Early SyFy network productions were always low budget and this show always looks great. All the actors playing vampire are guilty of super over-acting. Sometimes the vampire characters are turned human and the actors tone down the whole performance. They have the vampires hissing a lot, as well.
I, too, am headed to Bouchercon. I still need to make hotel reservations. We moved Boy #1 into his campus apartment in Minneapolis last Tuesday. I threatened to stay with him during the conference. After our mortgage refinancing Boy #1's rent is higher than our monthly payment.
I've not been reading much. I started reading 1901's OCTOPUS: A STORY OF CALIFORNIA by Frank Norris after it was referenced in another novel. Slow going because of the long-winded writing style of the time. Quite a bit of humor in the story but it takes a while to build. More of a "sensible chuckle" vibe than bursts of mirth.
Burst of Mirth WBAGNFARB.

George said...

Patti, the BOUCHERCON info says that Megan will be hosting NOIR AT THE BAR. I'm sure she's on some panels, too. Diane is beginning the packing process. I'm dreading the Delta flights I'm scheduled for. All my flying friends report nothing but delays and cancelations. The Skies are NOT Friendly anymore.

Gerard Saylor said...

I'm fortunate enough that I can drive or take the train to Bouchercon.

Steve A Oerkfitz said...

Todd. Don't know I would call the mid 70's a low point for the Stones. Some Girls came out in 78 and was one of their best albums (in my opinion).

pattinase (abbott) said...

I remember reading OCTOPUS many years ago.
MY LIFE AS A ROLLING STONE. Sounds good.
Jeff, the last season of BORGEN dealt with Greenland a lot. Sounds like quite an odd place.

TracyK said...

I am glad you are getting back to your writing and I do wish you luck.

I am having a hard time motivating myself to do anything lately, not sure why. Even reading. But I did finish all the books I was reading last week: VANISH by Tess Gerritsen went very quickly, even though the topic of sex traffic is not a favorite; WHY DO BIRDS SUDDENLY DISAPPEAR? by Lev Parikian; and DEATH AROUND THE BEND by T. E. Kinsey. All were good books, each in their own way.

I am now reading THE TENDERNESS OF WOLVES; it is going slow but I am liking it a lot.

I have CLARK AND DIVISION but still haven't read it yet. Also have four books in Hirahara's Mas Arai series that I haven't read yet. I should get to one or the other.

We stopped going to theaters long before the pandemic, but the thing we did not like was the crowds. Still I don't think we will return, we are fine with watching film on DVD or BluRay or streaming.

Jeff Meyerson said...

I noticed while rewatching BORGEN that there was a Greenland episode where Birgitte goes there, and I remembered that it was the focus of the new series. We're up to series three now and will get to the new one in due course. John Scalzi's KAIJI PRESERVATION SOCIETY also centers on Greenland.

Currently reading Ramona Emerson's SHUTTER. The protagonist is a Native AMerican photographer for the Albuquerque PD who sees and talks to ghosts. Seems the supposed suicide on the highway was actually murdered and she wants Rita to do something about it.

pattinase (abbott) said...

No crowds now at least with the movies I go to.

Sounds good, Jeff. I like books.tv shows about Native Americans. I really miss LONGMIRE.

Jerry House said...

Seems my comments, which I posted shortly before 4:00 this morning, have vanished into the ether. There was nothing majorly earthshaking in them so I'll try again next week.

Jeff Meyerson said...

I've read a third of the book today so far. Very good. Definitely recommended.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Sorry, Jerry. I never saw it but I will hope it was a rundown of the House family's activities. I feel like I read TENDERNESS OF WOLVES but I am drawing a blank. Will look it up.
I will reserve at library, Jeff.

Gerard Saylor said...

Jerry, I think we have all experienced that aggravation. Even worse is when the text/post disappears after I've been taking three times longer because of typing on a mobile device.

pattinase (abbott) said...

That is exactly why I never do a post or reply on my cell. Urgh.

Steve A Oerkfitz said...

Just saw a posting for Playing Games edited by Lawrence Block on the Subterranean Press website. You are in good company.

Todd Mason said...

Steve--1978 isn't the mid '70s, though some of SOME GIRLS might've been recorded as early as '76. However, GOAT'S HEAD SOUP, IT'S ONLY ROCK AND ROLL and particularly BLACK AND BLUE and LOVE YOU LIVE are among their worst albums, and IT'S started a not unsurprising sales slump in their releases that SOME GIRLS reversed.

Todd Mason said...

Just send along the Subterranean Press ad for their hardcover edition of the Lawrence Block anthology...a very impressive list of contributors, and one popular one whose work I have never found worthwhile, but so what? Hope to read your story, Patti, and the book soon...

pattinase (abbott) said...

I wonder when it is coming out? I will look at the website.

Todd Mason said...

Out now, in that edition, at least.
https://subterraneanpress.com/playing-games