I didn't much enjoy FREAKIER FRIDAY. Never much of a Jamie Lee Curtis fan for one thing. I watched the Kurosawa version of HIGH AND LOW on HBO, which is great. Hopefully I will see the Spike Lee one soon. Started THE HOSTAGE and am also watching SON OF CRITCH and FISK, all on Netflix. Still watching PLATONIC on Apple and DOCTOR BLAKE Mysteries on Britbox. Although I read an alarming reason for why the show was cancelled. It's a good enough show but I don't know if I will continue given his wandering hands on set.
Reading STONEYARD DEVOTIONAL (Charlotte Woods) and THE ANTIDOTE (Karen Russell) Both are very good.
Some nice weather.
Kevin and his parents are on their way to Madison. I am sad to think I won't see him until Thanksgiving. His hair is perfectly straight now. I miss the curls but that style is gone, I guess.
What about you?
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Glad you've been enjoying your reading, Patti. As for Freakier Friday, I saw the original, which was OK, but have no desire to see this one. It sounds as though I'm not missing much.
Kevin is going to rock Madison!
It's been an up and down week, the down part occurring early Friday when Mango, the South American tegu died suddenly. We don't know what happened but it was probably old age -- she was at least ten years old, which is a decent life span for a tegu. Walt, who is super-smart 99 percent of the time, got rid of the body by putting it in the trash...in August, in Florida, on a Friday when the next trash pickup is not until Thursday morning. **sigh** But he did put the four and a half foot body in a plastic trash bag. We are now down to only five animals in the household (seven, if you count Jack and myself), and Walt and Christina vowed no more animals...Until Saturday, when they bought a Maine Coon Cat. She's a two-year old affectionate female and will be ready in a couple of weeks, after spaying and whatnot. They will probably name her Paprika, and not Newercat.
It's the start of the school year so the entire fourth grade has the plague, with sniffles, runny noses, and sneezing. They passed to Christina, who has passed it to Walt. I remain immune for the nonce. I had a couple of doctor appointments this week and, for an old fart who can hardly move, I am amazingly healthy and cancer-free after three years. Yay!
We beached on Saturday and, for the first time in months, there were dolphins! Yay again! The water was beautiful, the waves were mesmerizing, the skies were clear, and the gentle breeze helped offset the sun. We came back refreshed and renewed to face the coming week.
I finally finished two series that were interrupted when my television was giving me problems: GOOD SHIP MURDER (not the greatest show on Britbox) and Marvel's IRONHEART (which was much better than I had predicted. I lso began Season 4 of SISTER BONIFACE (still cute, but straining relly hard this time out).
Books. I spent some time with two really good friends: Charlie Parker in john Connolly's latest, THE CHILDREN OF EVE, and Walt Longmire in Craig Johnson's latest, RETURN TO SENDER -- both highly recommended. I also had a great time with Steve Hockensmith's CADAVER IN CHIEF, about a zombie President (and my FFB). I have temporarily given up on two books, Heather Fawcett's EMILY WILDE'S COMPEMMDIUM OF LOST TALES and Stephen Graham Jones's THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER; just not in the mood; I may or may not get back to them. Still having a good time dipping into UNSOLD TELEVISION PILOTS (I'm up to 1979 and have read reviews of some 1800 pilots -- great fun!). I have also started dipping into SPACESHIPS! RAY GUNS! MARTIAN OCTOPOIDS!, interviews with science fiction legends, which George recommended last week.
Have a fantastic week, Patti! And if you can't stay out of trouble, we'll do our best to raise your bail!
Now that they have four body crosses, I could not keep straight who was who.
I miss Longmire the TV series. That was a great one but I think Covid got in the way.
Going to be a tricky couple of weeks for me. I'm having my cataract surgery in my left eye tomorrow, go back to the doctor on Wednesday to check that it's OK, then repeat the same with the right eye next Tuesday and Wednesday. Plus, I need to be downtown (she is operating in Brooklyn now, where Jackie had to go to the East Side of Manhattan for hers, three years ago) at 7:45 tomorrow and 8:15 on Wednesday. Not worried about the surgery itself.
We started THE HOSTAGE too. Also watching CODE OF SILENCE, which is very good, though she gets more reckless each episode, it seems. Watched the first MARLOW MURDER CLUB episode of the second series last night. We're trying to make sure that we watch series that are one continuing story as opposed to individual cases faster, so we don't lost track of what is going on. We had to rewatch the second episode of the Slovenian THE LAKE TRILOGY because we both nodded off the first time. Also watching TROM, set (though not filmed there, apparently) in the Faroe Islands. It's fascinating listening to the different languages rather than our usual French or Swedish or whatever. We finished the second (final) series of the French LE CODE, and as anticipated, they left a cliffhanger ending. Watching series 4 of the British PROFESSOR T.
Weather has, fortunately, finally cooled off here, though my brother said it was 100 in Portland, Oregon. Mostly mid-to-upper 70s this week with a couple of cooler, rainy days. This week looks nice too.
Reading a lot of short stories, with a bunch of collections on hand, mostly from the library. Currently reading Nicole Krauss and Maggie Shipstead, neither of whom I had heard of two weeks ago. Also have books by Walter Tevis, Lee Goldberg, Tove Jansson and a Hannukah Noir collection edited by Goldberg's brother Tod. Plus I bought a couple of others.
I thought Robert Taylor was perfect as Longmire, though I thought they went wrong with some of the other casting. Since then we've seen him playing really nasty characters in two or three other shows.
Western NY is experiencing a bit of Fall weather this week. We woke up to temps in the 60s this morning and we may not hit 70 until later in th week.
Patrick flew back from his conference in Seattle. Katie visited Patrick in NYC this weekend and they went to some plays and a WNBA game.
Diane continues to prepare for hosting the Family Reunion--just two weeks away! I'm nearly done clearing out the Computer Room (aka, Patrick's room). I moved five boxes of books yesterday. If I get ambitious today and clear out five more boxes, I'll be done. Tempting....
I spent four and a half years in Madison and loved it! I'm guessing Keven will, too! Stay safe!
Diane is my hero. So nice your kids spend time together in other places.
Yes, CODE OF SILENCE was good but the police should not have allowed her such freedom with no training. It was scary. I read THE HISTORY OF LOVE, I think. Or at least started it.
Tell your family to wave to Lake Mills if they are driving. They're welcome to stop by the library of course.
I picked up most of Boy #1's apartment belongings over the weekend using a one-way U-Haul truck. U-Haul contacted me multiple times trying to get me to take a empty trailer along back to WI with offers of extra mileage and days. They then offered $100 and I considered it, but I've never pulled a trailer and wasn't willing to learn while driving a 15' truck. Speaking of which, I reserved a 10' truck but those were either unavailable or they needed a 15' one in WI. There was A LOT of extra space inside the cargo box. Moving his stuff took only 30 minutes and we drove to a state park to walk around the woods.
I stayed at a downtown Minneapolis hotel and walked over to both the truck rental place and my son's place. I was a bit bummed he is moving away because I think Minneapolis is quite nice. Sunday morning was great weather for walking and plenty of people were out with their dogs.
On Wednesday Boy #2 moves into his dorm in Madison with a 12PM time slot. He has a single person room this year. Last year's move-in went very fast. Only a couple trips by the three of us from curb to room. I presume he'll want us gone ASAP.
I listened to Bill Pronzini's SPOOK from 2002. All the many, many books he has written over the years and I think this is only the second one I read. Solid story and it moved along quite well. Narrator was Nick Sullivan. I've heard Sullivan before and enjoy his performances.
I'm typing this as the BBC World Service plays and I am resisting going on a rant. Suffice to say the orange idiot is a mendacious menace.
I think Kevin would have loved a single-person room since he's an only child but maybe it's harder to make friends that way. His slot is 4, I think.
Driving with an empty trailer with a good hitch isn't Too trying, Gerard, assuming you're not going over typical US roads these days, with an impossible number of potholes and hotpatches. But saying No was a good idea. You have a Lot of good Pronzini waiting for you (I assume you've read his short fiction and perhaps his anthologies?). And you're too kind to Drumpf.
Slot? Also, Curtis strikes you as too broad an actor, or? I generally like her, though I haven't seen her in too much that really taxed her acting chops.
I haven't though too much of LONGMIRE or SON OF A CRITCH for at least a year or so, though did enjoy both...CRITCH in its run on the CW, but it won't be the straw that gets me to finally sub to Netflix. (SHERLOCK & DAUGHTER running first on the CW and then repeated on HBO struck me as an amusing development, as well. Ah, well, I'll miss the CW's usually at least one or two series worth watching, as the MAGAt sorts who bought it fill it with less worthwhile fare.)
She is too over-the-top for me. I thought Lindsay Lohan was pretty good though.
We haven't done much in the last week. Mostly getting used to having a cat in the house and getting to know him. London likes to be with us but doesn't like brushing and only likes limited petting. He wakes Glen up early in the morning and is far too interested in food (his food and ours). Now that we have figured out his preferences, he is keeping a very neat litter box.
It is getting warmer here after a mainly cool summer. I guess that will continue into September.
Patti, I will be interested in what you think of STONEYARD DEVOTIONAL. I also want to know what slot 4. I like Curtis fine but really haven't seen her in that much.
Watching: Last night we watched EVIL UNDER THE SUN with Peter Ustinov as Poirot. I liked a lot of the other actors in that version but I think they made many of the characters more unlikeable than in the book. It was very entertaining regardless.
We finished the second season of GOOD SHIP MURDER. My favorite police procedurals that we are rewatching right now are ELEMENTARY, THE MENTALIST, and CSI: NEW YORK. We also watched another MIDSOMER MURDERS.
I will be back with our reading in a few...
Congrats to Jerry on keeping the cancer away.
Pronzini does indeed have a deep catalog to delve into. I think one of his westerns is available on audio.
Forgot to mention that after a long wait I have HAMPTON HEIGHTS by Dan Kois. Set in a mid-'80s, imaginary neighborhood/suburb of Milwaukee. Five middle school kids (six?) are taken there to get newspaper subscriptions on a November evening.
Not a YA novel.
Maybe a horror novel.
Not sure what it is yet - cannot recall why I reserved it - but am enjoying.
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