Went to a great chamber music concert Saturday night. The Zukerman Trio played piano trios by Mendelssohn and Dvorak. We can get very good seats for $30 at a lovely venue. I also spent a beautiful afternoon walking the riverfront in Detroit, which now extends for more than five miles. Windsor, Canada is on the other side and two bridges and a tunnel connect the two.
It is astounding to compare many areas of Detroit to the way they were twenty years ago. Of course, other areas are still in need of help.
And what about you?
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Another quiet week with great weather. Dolphins were out ion force at the beach Saturday.
Newercat Rose is still adjusting. Mark is coming home for a week this Wednesday, so she will have to share the room she hides in with him. Should be interesting. Mark will putting his notice at the first of the month and will be moving here permanently at the end of October. This coming Saturday the gang will take a trip to the Gulfarium in Fort Walton Beach-Destin to scope it out. If memory serves, it's not the biggest place on Earth. Mark also heard from a zoo in North Carolina where he had interviewed. Mark thought the interview went poorluy but they asked if he would be willing to be considered for a desert position in addition to the two openings he had already applied for. The desert position would involve both desert mammals and reptiles, including rattlesnakes, gila monsters, and scorpions. So something may happen on that front.
This Saturday's jaunts means postponing Christina's massive clean-up operation. Every so often, she calls everybody in to help her organize her life, which includes her desk and its many compartments, her closet, and various disorganized places around the house used as convenient dumping grounds.. When she was alive, Kitty would devote a full day to helping Christina get organized, so it's been a while since a massive organizational effort was made. I love Christina, but if it lands on her desk it doesn't get put away.
Trey starts his new job in October, just after helping move Walt's parent down here. Jessie says that his new company has a very good reputation in the area. Very happy for him. Amy has a delayed job interview tomorrow -- the entire department wants to interview her and one person had been on vacation until now. She's more than qualified for the position so we're looking for a job offer soon.
Christina's fourth grade class took a field trip to downtown Pensacola. One mother proved to be an irritating chaperone. The less said about that the better.
Having finished WEDNESDAY, I moved on to ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING. Three episode in I'm enjoying it, perhaps more than many others. Also watching the new LYNLEY; the only off-putting thing about the new series is the relationship of Lynley's new boss to him (IMHO). The second episode of HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU walked a fine line, barely touching on Charlie Kirk; but there was enough other stuff to keep the show very topical. (Guest Mae Martin, a Canadian comedian, was visibly surprised at some of j. D. Vance's antics that did not get as much press in Canada.). Began streaming Season Two of WILL TRENT.
Did not get much read this week. Three Doc Savage adventures from "Kenneth Robeson" (Lester Dent) -- two of which I covered for my FFB. I'm about 3/4s through a fourth one one. Also read an anthology George sent me, CREEPY CLASSIS II, mostly well-known tales. I'm just past the halfway point in a 1960 Ben Gates detective tale by Robert Terrall, KILL NOW, PAY LATER; good plotting with 60s P.I. sensibilities.
Diane--with the help of Patrick and Katie--hosted a wonderful FAMILY REUNION. We had 25 guests from all over the country. Everyone loved the food provided by Knead the Dough--a local restaurant. The chicken and roast beef were tasty. The salads--fruit, veggie, and broccoli pasta--were hits. Patrick and Katie baked FIVE desserts: honey cake, chocolate cake, raspberry bars, sesame cookies, and lemon cake. One of our guests brought her fabulous chocolate chip cookies! Yummy!
I have my yearly appointment with my retina specialist today. Diane has a Book Club meeting on Wednesday. I'll be back to the Pool tomorrow. We have tickets to the musical THE OUTSIDERS on Sunday. We'll get back to Normal this week. Stay safe!
We tried that new JACKAL after my cousin told Jackie it was "the best show she's ever seen," but we didn't like it at all and quickly turned it off. But then, I read the book and watched the original movie.
We did watch the first episode of LYNLEY and will go back and watch (in some cases, re-watch) the original series when we finish the new one.
I never read THE CITY & THE CITY (or any other China Mieville books), but Jackie saw the 4 part, 4 hour mini-series from 2018 was available on Prime, so we decided to give it a try. David Morrissey stars in what could be called a SF/hardboiled mashup. See, there are two cities next to each other, but not only can't you go from one to the other, you aren't even supposed to look at the other one. You are trained to blur it out. But a woman from one side goes to the other, then is found murdered and cop Morrissey is on the case. We're halfway through it.
We watched the next two-part MARLOW MURDER CLUB episode(s). Mostly, we're watching the same shows we were watching last week. Glad to see THE PITT win several Emmys. You couldn't pay me to watch that show, however.
Two and three weeks in, my eyes are doing well. Another month to the check up. This Wednesday is Jackie's birthday. Going to our favorite Italian restaurant to celebrate.
Still reading a bunch of library books. We watched Leanne Morgan's Netflix special and I'm reading her book, along with a mystery, two short story collections, and THE PLEASURE OF READING. It was another mostly beautiful week, two days over 80, the rest in the low to mid-70s.
If it wasn't clear (it wasn't), by "that show" I meant the Emmys, not THE PITT, which I loved.
So good to hear you're enjoying The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Patti. I really liked that series. And the concert sounds terrific; I'm glad you got to see it.
Mark's zoo employment journey is always of interest to me. Now that the children are grown we don't visit zoos like we used to every summer.
I listened to a published diary of a North Vietnamese surgeon who was killed in 1970, the diary went to US Army Intelligence, the Officer kept the document, he later found the Doctor's mother, the diary was 'pubbed in Vietnam and was a bestseller. Interesting document but much of it was her angst at romantic issues. Namely, she had none. And her position and the culture did not allow one. The war was the other focus and her hatred of Americans and allied Vietnamese and all her many, many colleagues and friends getting killed. It got depressing, so I sped up the playback speed and got through the last couple hours.
I visited my mother in a quick overnight visit that was prompted by a memorial service and the after-meal my mother hosted for the mourners. Got to see some people I'd not seen in decades. One of whom looked EXACTLY like her mother. Only weddings and funerals bring the entire family together.
Of higher general interest is that I drove through my mother's neighborhood and saw a lady decorating her lawn for Halloween in the 95 degree heat. Of lesser interest, I thought for sure I'd fixed the leaky toilet in her half-booth. Nope. I replaced one old seal but the the toilet tank still runs due to a second loose seal.
Oh, the Vietnamese diary was LAST NIGHT I DREAMED OF PEACE by Dang Thuy Tram. I mentioned the book in my last library newsletter and it looks like the book was on hold by one of our local people.
Outstanding photos of the Northern Lights from Sunday night over Lake Winnipeg are online today on the Village of Dunnattor Facebook page. Worth a look. My high school friend from northern Manitoba, who has lived in Florida for more than 50 years, has a dream of seeing them one more time. She's visiting her sister on Vancouver Island until late October so there's a hope. When we were teenagers, it seemed they were out all the time. As for reading, I greatly enjoyed Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea. Picked up his next book Those Empty Eyes at the library and already half way through it. Anyone read him?
Donlea's name/byline is new to me, Kent. Will Go Look.
Well, my sister, who is leaving the US with her life partner in hopes of escaping the incipient dictatorship here, has sent along some of our parents' documents and photos and such that had landed with her till now...the postal worker on our route just rang the bell suggesting the fourth box of four has arrived. I still have somewhere north of a hundred first cousins at large in the States, and with luck not too many will be executed soon.
Congratulations on a successful reunion, George! And on the further adventures of your clan, Jerry.
And very glad you're still out and exploring the community, Patti.
Gerard, it's a Very rare event that manages to get more than a plurality of either side of my enormous extended families together, but I'm out of touch with too many, and might've missed the recent ones. We followed my father's slightly addled memory at the end of having met our mother in Hawaii (they met in Alaska, though he served part of his USAF tour in Hawaii and almost got killed there in a hardware-failure accident that killed several airmen standing several feet away--a new model bomb rack didn't fit onto its plane correctly, and fell on the several enlisted men. Some memories lost are a small boon). Their ashes (she predeceased him) were interred at Punchbowl Military Cemetery, which does have the difficulty of making it an expensive trip to get to the site. (I was the last of my immediate family to leave Hawaii, in 1984, after we had all moved there in 1979.)
I like THE PITT very much as well, and despite being a pop culture and not least tv historian in a small way, also agree, Jeff, that I can do without nearly everything to do with any given Emmys ceremony.
Trivially but amusingly (to me), my blog is likely to receive its 3,333, 333th visit today...the post gathering up all the episodes of the PBS sitcom anthology series TRYING TIMES (that I could find online) is this week's improbable? hit post.
Better times (yet, in some cases!) for us all!
As the protagonist of 20YL is a Ms. Avery Mason, she is probably a second cousin on the fictional side of the family.
Well, I watched it. The awards were fine-agreed with most of them, but the show was horrendous. Whoever came up with the idea-(you can read about it online) of penalizing a charity by speeches that went on too long, was a complete jerk. Some of these actors, writers, etc had waited their whole life to thank people and this ruined it. And Nate whatever his name was, seemed completely incompetent as a host. The opening sketch was beyond ridiculous. I love THE PITT despite hating hospital shows. It is too good not to like. Although SEVERANCE was the more creative show. The reunion sounds great, George. Glad everyone enjoyed the food. We have a place a few blocks away that is good for that sort of event too.
Josh and Julie came back from Wisconsin. I think they were happy with Kevin's adjustment but haven't talked to them yet.
Happy Birthday, Jackie. I like Italian but we don't really have a good one near me. Lots of Middle Eastern, Asian, and steak houses.
I have never seen the Northern Lights but I have terrific sunsets many nights. Being on the eleventh floor facing west is good for that.
Nate Bargatze. Pretty good stand-up, but as the NPR commentator on HERE AND NOW this afternoon seemed to have every point ready: this, the penalty countdown for an acceptance speech beyond 45 seconds (really? I think it was) was the kind of notion a head writer or producer, should've nixed immediately, and not only was it intrusive and a bit nasty, but it was a dumb joke that they in applying had to keep coming back to, over and over. I cheerfully missed it. I'll read the winners and noms lists and see any speech I'm moved to in clips.
It took over the show because they kept flashing to the clock. Horrible. I may never watch it again. I really think Jerry should write a book about his life with animals and animal keepers in Florida. His stories are the hit of every Monday.
My brother texted me from Oregon 15 minutes into the show to tell me how horrible it was and that he was turning it off. My mother used to be addicted to these award shows and I could always count on at least one phone call re either how awful someone looked or an award she really disagreed with. I miss that.
Because we don't have enough streaming services, I guess...Jackie just spent an additional $3 a month to upgrade to AMC+/Acorn (the upgrade is that we already had Acorn) without commercials. She wanted to see the original DEPT. Q movies (we saw the first one years ago), and now we'll be able to see the later series of WISTING, the Norwegian police procedural. We've seen the first two of 5 series.
I'd buy it and read it!
I am way late, so we will see if I am capable of writing a short(ish) comment.
We went to Costco this morning to pick up two medications for me. Had to wait a hour to have one filled, so it took even longer.
Friday and Saturday we went to the first two days of the big book sale. I think I bought about 50 books, maybe more. The first day was a mad house. I found three books by Anthony Price that I haven't read and a few later books by Catherine Aird, but no books by Bill Crider. I found a copy of Elizabeth Strout's latest book for a good price.
Last night we watched an MST3K episode, SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL, which we enjoyed. We did not watch the Emmy's. We still don't have access to watch THE PITT, but I do want to eventually.
Reading... Glen finished the book of short stories by Cornell Woolrich (NIGHT & FEAR) and has started reading YOU CAN NEVER DIE: A GRAPHIC MEMOIR by Harry Bliss. He likes it, although parts of it are very sad.
I finished reading STATE OF WONDER by Ann Patchett (enjoyed it very much, although it is unusual to say the least). I am now reading MRS. DALLOWAY by Virginia Woolf. I am glad it is relatively short, because I would not be able to get through it otherwise. I feel like I would have to read it three times to get it. I am not hating it, I am just mostly confused. I am reading it for a challenge at Neeru's blog, A Hot Cup of Pleasure: the ‘Hundred Years Hence’ Reading Challenge. The goal is "to read a text that was published for the first time in 1925." Or more than one.
link to the challenge:
https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpress.com/2024/12/11/announcing-hundred-years-hence-reading-challenge/
I have never got through MRS. DALLOWAY although I liked THE HOURS. Your book sale seems much better than any around here.
Sadly, the issues in 1950s Austrailia seem like the US today!
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I doubt I will try the 1925 challenge but it does sound interesting. A quick search gave me a list on Goodreads - with what is likely some slop thrown in - that does have a couple intriguing titles.
I had a class that read MRS. DALLOWAY in high school, and damned if I can remember anything about it beyond that. And I generally like Woolf's work. The 1925 Slop Challenge is the Real endurance test.
Tracy, in re Bill's books...I don't think he ever sold quite as well as Aird (particularly of late) or Price (who has been "revived" as well), and we can hope this also means that not so many find their copies of his books as disposable. (As they probably mentioned on the MST3K segments, SF INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT was one of the "wheel" anthology components that NBC particularly was fond of in the early '70s, particularly after the NBC MYSTERY MOVIE [COLUMBO, McCLOUD, MACMILLAN AND WIFE, et al.] really took off...)
Todd, You may be right that people just hold on to Bill Crider's books if they enjoy them. I did not expect to find many of them but I can always have hope.
I was aware that San Francisco International with Pernell Roberts was the pilot for a TV show that had six more episodes, with Lloyd Bridges taking Pernell Roberts' role, but not much else. We have watched the MST3K version many times.
I always check book sales for Crider copies.
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