Reading the second book for my Senior Center book group. Go as a River (Shelly Read) which seems like a YA book to me. For 70 pages a seventeen year old girl in the 1940s chases after a boy and the author dispenses WW 2 info like we're hearing it for the first time. Yet, it has very enthusiastic reader reviews on Amazon. Are their reviews just a crock? Also racism (against Native Americans) is played with such a heavy hand it is hard to read.
Maybe Bad Monkeys (Apple) will be good. And Pachinko and Slow Horses are coming back. But the only other thing I watched this week was Broadchurch, which was less brilliant than I remembered. How many red herrings are too many?
We had our Dream Cruise yesterday. Saw 40, 000 vintage cars decked out and parked or driving the 20 mile stretch of Woodward Avenue. This is the largest one-day auto event in the country and the sidewalks are impassable with tailgaters.
Megan arrives Tuesday for 2 days. She has Bouchercon next week. I miss not going but I did it for eight years and that was enough.
Hey, I listened to a Desert Island Disk podcast yesterday. It was Rob Delaney who is always charming. Wish they would bring back Catastrophe? I see he is on Bad Monkey though.
I would never be able to pick seven interesting pieces of music. Because that somehow needs to define you. Will never forget Hugh Grant picking The Teddy Bear Picnic-and that was well before he had children. What would you pick? I'm working on mine/
What are you up to?
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A lot going on over here.
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First, the sad news. We had to put Willow down. We were afraid we would have to do it the other week, but the cat rebounded, which allowed us some extra time with her. She was given an antibiotic for her mouth infection and a shot for her arthritis. The shot seemed to help. She was able to jump onto Mark's bed -- something she had not been able to do for a year. And for the first time in two years, she ventured out of Mark's room, walking around the house, examining everything, being curious and engaged and without any sign of pain. Just as suddenly as she improved, she declined, not eating for two days, being listless and refusing to move from the pillow and blanket on the floor which was her happy place. Both Christina and Erin decided it was time. It turns out the mouth infection was actually an inoperable tumor under her tongue; she was wasting away, not in pain yet but she soon would be. For nineteen years she was treated like the queen she truly was and gave us as much happiness as we had given her. It was tough saying goodbye, but it was the right thing.
And then, about forty minutes after Willow died, Christina got a txt from Erin with a picture of a cat and the message, "Is it too soon for another cat because I love him." The cat is a loving five-year old gray and white mix that was due to go to the shelter the next day. Erin and the cat bonded immediately. His name was Slinky, which Erin and Mark both liked; Christina and Walt thought Bamboo would be a better name (don't ask) so he is sometimes just called Newcat. He likes purring and cuddling and belly rubs,. so the number of animals here has not decreased.
Actually it increased. Mark brought home a black widow spider. He had read that they are very shy and had to be provoked to bite a human. In the back of his mind, Mark wanted to put it to a test, so when he found one at the zoo, he caught it and brought it home. We have video of him on the front patio, trying to get the spider to climb onto his arm. Mr. Shy spider kept trying to run away. Mark finally got him on his arm and the spider refused to bite him. Another successful experiment! The spider was released to do his arachnid thing. Luckily, I was not around for the entire event because I do not like spiders. Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em. And don't given me all that propaganda about how spiders are good for us, destroying more harmful insects and all that, No, just give me a flame thrower...
Mark's last day a the zoo was Saturday and they gave him a decent going off. One of the things they did was to get paw/foot/hoof/talon prints of many of Mark's favorite animals, from Baby Goat Gordon (who was born on Mark's first day at the zoo), to a tortoise, to a baby hippo, to various birds and primates. Mark is leaving Friday to drive to Albuquerque for his new job. We'll be having a going away dinner Wednesday at his favorite Vietnamese restaurant. I will miss him greatly. Every day over the past 24 years he has given me nothing but joy.
Two birthdays this past week. Duncan, the phlegm-inducing allergen turned 10 (does anyone else record and celebrate the birthdays of their pets? i didn't think so), and (saving the best for last) Jessie turned 52. there are only three things in my life that I am truly proud of, and Jessie is one of them.
What else? It was the first week of school and Jack has not been suspended or arrested and seems to be doing well, so that's a simple win. In Christina's third-grade class it's the Beginning-of-a-School-Year-So-Everyone-Is-Giving-Each-Other -The-Plague, Running--Nose-and-Grossly-Sneezing Time of Year. So far Christina has not picked up any of the bugs; if she makes it safely to Wednesday, the Season should have passed.
Still more to come...
Until now, I've never thought of what I might suggest, from the hundreds of various sorts of music recording I love most, in the unlikely event of being tapped by the BBC. Hm. I did just answer Eric Alter's query on TwitX as to what was my favorite album by listing 4 of my favorite jazz albums: Ellington, Roach and Mingus's MONEY JUNGLE the Modern Jazz Quartet's THE LAST CONCERT (the complete version), the Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin Big Band's INSIGHTS, and the Brubeck Quartet's TIME FURTHER OUT: MIRO REFLECTIONS. While noting I'd have other suggestions there, and among other music, too.
Glad you're expecting company! It's just too much hassle for the crush of people to do Bouchercon and such now? Even given how close PhilCon happens to my current residence, after "John Grant"'s death, I'm not sure there's anyone who wants to see me all that much in the smaller but still concentrated crush.
Even though the concept of it being a comedy was a turn-off the last time I mentioned it, seeing some of the cast of CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL including Rob Delaney working together in a medical-themed sketch on LAST WEEK TONIGHT last night was both heartening and amusing. Oddly enough, ten years+ later, they look older...fancy that.
Up at this ridiculous small hour since I have to move Alice's car to an adjoining street early this morning, as the church kitty-corner to our next-door neighbor will be blocking our street till noon with a funeral, and she needs to be at her clinic at noon. Rather remarkable, the degree of indulgence. Don't live here, for several reasons, though it isn't the worst place to do so. No massive classic-car display blocking sidewalks, though.
Continues to watch THE EMPEROR OF OCEAN PARK, which keeps beating "the arrangements" into the ground as McGuffin, but otherwise is good (though I should go see what's plaguing Forest Whitaker these days, I was kind of hoping his apparent speech difficulty was part of the role, but he seems to have the same hesitation in his contributions to HOLLYWOOD BLACK, which follows after EMPEROR on MGM+...I tried watching a bit of CHIMP CRAZY, which apparently HBO's attempt to offer another TIGER KING, but the horrible conditions of the chimps' captivity, and self-delusion of the chimp-keepers was too depressing,, as was, in a nitpicky way, the documentarians' use of a monkey reference to entitle the episode...turns out the folks involved also treated capuchin monkeys badly earlier, which made it Very easy to go watch the film documentary series instead.
7 recordings which pushed me along my path and I still love: from the quartet cited above, I might plump for THE COMPLETE LAST CONCERT by the MJQ, the first album by them I heard (in its original incomplete vinyl release); DELIGHT by J. B. Priestly, probably my favorite spoken-word recording of essays in my youth; either WAREHOUSE: SONGS AND STORIES by Husker Du, or GOD BLESS THE GO-GO'S, or DOLL REVOLUTION by the Bangles, among rock albums, since quantity could certainly count on a deserted isle, as my rock album...DESTINATION VICTORIA STATION by Johnny Cash, a surprisingly good anthology album, for country, which collects many of his best train songs, with only the attempt to make a real song out of his restaurant jingle not first rate; Bach performed on harpsichord would probably serve as my solitary classical selection, not sure at the moment which--did enjoy the Bach Guild albums of my youth; THE WEAVERS: WASN'T THAT A TIME! box set allows me to cheat for folk; some sort of anthology of comedians, ranging from at least Jack Benny and Fred Allen through Lenny Bruce and Tom Lehrer to Jackie Kashian and Maria Bamford and Aisha Tyler.
Very sorry about Willow, and that you will miss Mark in proximity...we don't celebrate our cats' birthdays because we haven't had one whose birthday we were certain of, so far...even among my birth family's cats, the only one we knew the true birthday of was the kitten we kept, Winona, from the litter of the young Nemesis (both names from my sister, as I had named the previous two), which my mother had rescued, probably already preggo, from a field near her Fairfax, VA, police dispatch station. (Winona's brothers were happily adopted).
My second post seems to have vanished. **sigh**
In brief: AC now working. Weather hot. Beach good. Jack and Christina subpoenaed for pedophile hearing.; hope to avoid Jack testifying at trial. Walt's car died and his local garage fired all their mechanics. Songs that define me might include When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob bobbing Along, Ian Tyson's These Friends of Mine, Red Is the Rose, and How Great Thou Art. Read six books by Lawrence Block, plus a collection of song lyrics (some by Block) edited by Dave Van Ronk. Primary season in MAGAland is surreal and Moms for Liberty coming out of the woodwork. Have a great week, Patti, and stay safe.
We woke to temps in the 60s this morning after suffering from a hot week. Relief!
I was tempted to go see ALIEN: ROMULUS, but passed. It's the Box Office winner over the weekend.
I don't think we'll watch much of the Democratic National Convention. Diane still thinks Trump might win with some thuggish tactics.
My yearly appointment with my Sleep Doctor is today. Diane is off to get some blood work before her yearly physical with her internist next week.
My SEVEN SONGS would change just about every day but today it's:
"Coming On Strong" -- Brenda Lee
"Trapped Again" -- Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes
"Wonderful Summer" -- Robin Ward
"Love and Affection" -- Joan Armatrading
"I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" -- Tommy Hunt
"Wuthering Heights" -- Kate Bush
"Tumbling Dice" -- The Rolling Stones
It's funny. I never think of "songs that define you" but in the mid-'60s my song would have been "I Am a Rock" by Simon & Garfunkel. And years later, I had a couple of other friends who also strongly identified with that one.
Again I will suggest there is a book in the animal kingdom of Jerry House. And Todd can add some cat sections to it. I will think about my musical choices and come back with them after exercise class and grocery shopping. The Haitian Fight Song by Charlie Mingus is on there. Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. Nina Simone, I Put a Spell on You.
Jerry, I am very sorry to hear about Willow. I am glad that she did not get to the point where she was suffering. Best Wishes to Mark in Albuquerque and I hope his travels to that area are safe. And so glad he got the job he wanted. That information about black widow spiders is interesting.
Imagine, John Lennon, Life on Mars, David Bowie, Be My Baby, Ronettes,
Send in the Clowns, Judy Collins
This summer has gone by so fast. Actually I count summer as June through August, not June 27 through Sept 27. Our summer weather sometimes starts in August and goes through October, but it is still cooler here.
I have a copy of THE MAN WHO WATCHED TRAINS GO BY, but I haven't read it.
This week we have been watching MURDER SHE WROTE, SHAKESPEARE AND HATHAWAY, THE ORVILLE, plus other standards. We watched the first episode of THE GOOD SHIP MURDER, after Jeff recommended it. It is light and fun, and we will keep watching. We watched two movies: BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS (Roger Corman's version of Seven Samurai) and MOULIN ROUGE. Both were good.
I am still reading the annotated edition of THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS. I read THE LADY IN THE LAKE by Raymond Chandler, which was a good read, and I have now started A SYMPHONY OF ECHOES by Jodi Taylor. It is a time travel story, book 2 in The Chronicles of St Mary's series. I got so immersed in the story last night that I stayed up too late reading.
Glen is reading INSIDE THE VICTORIAN HOME: A Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England by Judith Flanders. It is another long book but with decent print size and some good photos to illustrate it. He just started it. In the introduction, the author mentions THE DIARY OF A NOBODY by George and Weedon Grossmith. That book sounds interesting and we have a copy on the Kindle so we will both give it a try soonish.
Glen seems very interested in English history. Is his family from there? I don't know many men who read as widely as he does. It must be a pleasure. Phil read widely especially as he got older and wasn't as driven to publish. I have never read THE LADY IN THE LAKE but don't tell my daughter.
Glen's father was German, his mother had English and French background. I think he just likes history in general, although he does read more English history or history related to World War II. But now that I think about it he has read a lot of German history too. He has always read more nonfiction than fiction, and I have always concentrated on fiction, mostly mystery or espionage.
I actually liked THE LADY IN THE LAKE better than I liked THE LONG GOODBYE, and really I just like the way Chandler writes. The stories are secondary.
He is Megan's favorite. Much of her dissertation (also a book called THE STREET WAS MINE) is about Chandler (also Cain and Chester Himes) I should read more history.
Tracy, I agree with you on LADY IN THE LAKE vs. LONG GOODBYE.
Sorry to hear of the cat. All my best luck to Mark on provoking his next spider into biting him.
Late entry. We moved Boy #1 from his college rental. Most of his stuff went to a storage space in the new rental. He has a week or two of gap between leases and is home with us. Boy #2 moves into college next week for his year of school.
Tried out a Maisie Dobbs mystery for the first time and am enjoying it. AN INCOMPLETE REVENGE is 17th entry in the series and I grabbed it because it was available. Since I am already out of order I suppose i can listen to whatever one I see next. Also listened to one of Stuart M Kaminsky's Petrovich novels. Have BATAVIA'S GRAVEYARD up next.
The Batavia was a ship that wrecked on an island off the coast of West Australia. The survivors ended up ruled by a maniac and things went bad. A few years ago I read a brief book of the wreck. The book's author wrote he for years he was intending to write a full book about the wreck and survivors. But, he put it off, put it off, put it off. By time he got started BATAVIA'S GRAVEYARD was published.
"Nuts", the guy says to himself "I need some filler." So he wrote about the wreck for the first half of the book and the second half was a story about his time as a seasonal deckhand on sailing ship in France that did commercial fishing.
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