ONE BATTLE was the best movie I've seen in a long time. I am only occasionally a Paul Thomas Anderson fan but this one is right up there with PHANTOM THREAD. I also rewatched COLUMBUS at home. I can't say exactly why this movie works so well for me but I would love to go to Columbus, Indiana and see all of the great architecture.
Reading THE SUMMER HOUSE (Matsuie), a novel also about architecture and BLACK CAKE (Wilkerson).
On TV, watching THE LOWDOWN (HULU), TASK (HBO), LYNLEY etc.
It's been weeks since it rained. It is killing my sinuses.
How about you
20 comments:
Sorry about your sinuses. Mine are killing me also because of allergies. More on that later.
It's been a very weird week, starting on Monday when we learned that my nephew, Jesse Sean, had died of brain cancer at age 49. The news hit me harder than I first realized, since I hardly knew the man. Jesse Sean had lived in Canada where he was born since he was a teenager. His parents were very strange people and were into every fad out there, usually ab out six months after the fad had passed -- something I blame on the drugs of the Sixties and Seventies. Mike had dropped out of Rutgers during his second semester senior year (going for a degree in engineering) and moved to Canada; he was not evading the draft (they wouldn't want him) but he felt like he should be avoiding the draft. I liked mike a lot; he had his quirks, such as being convinced he would make the newscasters mon television do his bidding, but he was a sweet guy. Mike and Patti had two kids, Dawn, who was born a few months before Kitty and Ii Married, and Jessie Sean, who came along about nine yers later. Mike and Pattie split up while Jessie was very young and Patti moved back to the States with the kids. Patti had her own problems and was never the greatest mother. She did, however, dote on Jesse Sean, overly so and to his detriment. When Jesse was a teenager, he got into trouble and before he could be arrested, he was shipped to Mike back in Canada, and there he stayed. I knew Jesse when he ws very, very young and he was a sweet, intelligent, albeit spoiled jid. I met him once as an adult,; he showed up at the service for Kitty's mother and was very personable,, while lacking any sort of ambition and worked menial jobs. Mike died a few months later (a perhaps horrible story for another time) and Jesse Sean inherited some money. Dawn figured he would spend the money on a fancy truck, but she was wrong -- he got a full body tattoo. And that's all I knew about him until he died.
Dawn stayed in touch with him. he eventually syraightened himself out. He was married to Kelly. He was diagnosed with brain cancer over a year ago and the treatment seemed to work, but the cancer came back full force a month ago and he knew his time was very limited and refused further treatment. The only people who knew of this were Kelly and
Dawn, who were asked to keep Jesse Sean's illness a secret. And then he was gone.
So why did this death of a person I hardly knew affect me so mjuch? I think it was because of the lost opportunity, of actually not knowing him. there's a part of me that says I SHOULD have known him better and that it was only time and circumstance that made that impossible. I am a firm believer in family and have been able to remain close to most of my nieces, but my trwck record with nephewss is not stellar. Of five nephews, one died over ten yer ago, two are busy with their own lives, one (now 25) I have not seen since he was an infant, and now Jesse Sean is dead.
Anyway, I spent much of the week in a strnge sort of greif -- =mingles with a dash of self-pity -- for what might have been.
In the meantime, Christina and Walt and Erin and Trey went to Frederiksburg, Virginia to move his folks down here. They got off to a slow start because the moving van was not readily avauilable, but pushed through and had it all packed by Friday's end. Erin and Trey would drive the moving vtruck, Christina would drive Ellenn innher car, and Walt would drive Walt Senior in his truck. They made good time andarrived at Walt Senior and ellen's new apartment by 2:00 PM yesterday, unloading the moving van in half the time it took to fill it.
More to come.
Back again, with apologies. I stupidly pressed "publish'' without proofing my many, many typos. Sorry.
Where was I? Oh, yes. While the gang was on the moving-the-old-folks duty, I stayed back to take care of the 13 animals (14, if you count Jack). (Erin had dropped of Duncan and Newcat and Potato the hedgehog.) Jolly the Golden Retriever is very food motivated, and that means anyone's food. So Jolly gets fed in the kitchen, Happy the beagle gets fed in Christina's room, and Duncan gets fed in my room. Jack, trying to help on the first day, put Duncan's food down in the living room, where Jolly could get at it. So Jolly did., and Duncan, despite his small size, is a feisty critter and would have none of that that and the mother of all dog fights ensued. fur was flying, Jack panicked and was screaming, and I could not separate the two because of my bad back. I did have my cane though and gave Jolly some solid whacks across the nose and eventually got her outside. Surprisingly, there was little blood, although a lot of fur was displaced; no need for an emergency vet visit. Jolly also kept raiding Newcat's food. Newcat had been hiding out in the laundry room, so I placed her food on the dryer and closed the door to keep Jolly away. Turns out Newcat had exited the laundry room and I did not know it until about 12 hours later when Newcat came up to me meowing in hunger. **sigh** Anyway i managed to feed the animals, water them, and clean the appropriate litter boxes over the weekend. Duncan and Happy were given their medicine as required. NewerCat Rose, who was hiding out in the spare room, needed special meals prepared -- a dollop of ground meat with some paste (either chicken of fish) squeezed on top. Potato the hedgehog would enjoy the food I gave him, then immediately pee in his food dish. Ben, the bearded dragon had refused to eat anything for a week, but on Sunday morning managed to down three mealworms which I fed him. Jack the human child got fast food takeout all weekend. Everyone survived so I did good.
Mark sent us pictures of him walking his buddy Indah the Komodo Dragon on a leash in the desert. I think all the animals in Albuquerque are going to miss Mark when he moves back here next week. Christina and Walt will be driving out to Albuquerque in Walt's truck later this week to help Mark with the move. On the way back, they may be able to pick up Mark's broke-down Jetta from East Overshoe, Louisiana where it had broken down for the final time two weeks ago. The Jetta may or may not have been repaired; Walt and the garage have been playing phone tag for the past few days, so we are now sure if it had been repaired. If it has not been repaired yet another road trip will be looming in the near future. And we're still hoping to squeeze in a long-delayed trip to Massachusetts to see my brother and to be introduce to my latest grand-niece.
Also this week, I've been getting angrier (I mean, Lewis Black-angry) about the state of out country. Too much needless and senseless crap happening. Yeah, my mood has not been great this week.
I watched a lot of television, including the entire second season of WILL TRENT and the Mark Wahlberg flick about Westlake's Parker that George panned recently. I read no books this week -- zero, zip, nada. Just could not concentrate. I had begun Megan's latest just before I received the news about my nephew. and it was great reading, but I had to return it and the latest S. A. Crosby to the library unfinished. **sigh**
Nest week will be better. For you, Patti, I hope, as well as for me. Stay safe.
Sorry about the missed opportunity to know your nephew, Jerry. I have many family members I don't know at all, having left Philly at 19. Megan's books takes place where we brought our family up. That is the last one she will set there, I think. She likes anonymous settings better.
Like Jerry, Diane and I are dealing with a friend who has Neuroblastoma and is in Hospice. End of Life situations are sad and, in this case, tragic. Our friends wife tried to take care of him at home, but his condition worsen last week and he was moved to Hospice. Diane and I are going to drive two hours today to visit him. I doubt if he will recognize us, but we're there for his wife.
No rain in Western NY, either. We're in Drought conditions. And, like you, my allergies are raging. Stay safe!
I too have a friend with a daughter (48) with neuroblastoma. She is in hospice at home. Her parents spend a lot of time commuting the five hours between houses. Horrible.
Never heard of COLUMBUS. Sounds interesting, though.
We started watching VIGIL (Peacock) and there is NO CHANCE you would ever get me on a submarine. I was getting claustrophobic just watching it.
Just thinking about the last time we went to the movies and it had to be before the pandemic. March 10, 2020 we saw ORDINARY LOVE (Liam Neeson & the ubiquitous Lesley Manville). I think that was the last. We've been to the theater since then - the first time was TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD in October 2021, and we went 10 times in 2023, only 3 this year, though that is more a product of lack of shows we want to see. We went to a couple of concerts in 2021, then saw a lot of "catch up" concerts the next year (9), and have seen 7, 6, and 5 since, though we do have tickets for a couple more this year. But clearly, we've gotten out of the moviegoing habit. We went last winter to the local theater but they were renovating it and there was just nothing we had to see that couldn't wait for streaming.
We have watched some movies on television, but surprisingly few. Again, just out of the habit. I think we both prefer hourlong dramas these days.
We watched the 6 episodes of the latest series of UNFORGOTTEN, a pretty good show, and finished the Danish SOMMERDAHL MYSTERIES. I like to move around, with one foreign language show each day (except Saturday, Brit Night). We're waiting on stuff like TASK and MURDER BEFORE EVENSONG until all the episodes are available. I see the new MAIGRET has two-part episodes, so we'll wait until next week to try the first one. I am skeptical - a young, hunky Maigret? - but will give it one chance.
Jackie is watching BRILLIANT MINDS in the afternoons, a show that is fingernails on the blackboard for me. Before that she watched THE TERMINAL LIST: DARK WOLF.
Otherwise, it's been another quiet week here, the way I like it. Eating out, reading, television. It's been quite a bit warmer than normal, and no needed rain. The Yankees handled the hated Red Sox, but just had a weekend from Hell in Toronto, so they need to win three in a row or they're out.
Less than four weeks until we visit New Orleans and spend a day with Deb & family. Really not looking forward to the whole flying thing, especially with what is going on lately, but the end result is worth the hassles.
Just read all the comments. Yeah, allergies bad here too.
Healthwise, knock on wood. My sister survived breast cancer 15 years ago and had kidney cancer last year. So far she's doing OK, while continuing her very demanding job working for the Governor's office in Arizona, not to mention taking care of her (high functioning) autistic son and not very healthy husband. She calls us with updates periodically and Jackie always offers to visit her again (as we did last Fall), but she doesn't want that. So far, she seems to be doing OK, but it is one test or scan after another, seemingly every week or two. She is 66 and Jackie is encouraging her to retire. It is a high stress job, which can't help.
Jerry, my condolences on your nephew.
My wife and I spent a week vacation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A few nights each in Au Train and Paradise. My wife's sister and husband travel a good amount and she enjoys reading about and planning trips. We basically tagged along and our only planning for the trip was booking our lodging.
I brought along several books but only read one. A Hard Case Crime of one of Max Allan Collins NOLAN novels. Enjoyable stuff.
I finished the audio version of ANNIHILATION by VanderMeer. It was okay. Interestingly, the other three people on vacation had all read it with mixed reviews.
My wife started playing an audio of John Scalzi's OLD MAN'S WAR. I'm enjoying the story. With so many similarities to STARSHIP TROOPERS I presume Scalzi was riffing on it. I'm not interested to find out if that is the case and I also have not yet finished the novel. Our drive ended before the book ended. I'll have to grab a print copy.
Nothing exciting, good or bad, in our lives. I am making an effort to clean / declutter more than usual before a friend stops by overnight next weekend. Having a new cat in the house complicates that in many ways. So my focus is on more on that.
Patti, I am sorry to hear about sinuses bothering you. Glen and I both feel allergic (all the the time, although it seems worse now). My nose runs almost constantly. Glen is congested. But neither of those are as painful as sinus problems can be.
Is your foot better now?
We are watching the same TV shows, and are close to finishing season 1 of RETURN TO PARADISE. I like the setting (Australia) and I like the characters. Last night we watched THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVERA. We watch that one on rotation with some of Larry Blamire's other movies, especially DARK AND STORMY NIGHT.
Glen finished reading THE RURUAL CEMETERY MOVEMENT: PLACES OF PARADOX IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICA last night. Unfortunately, it was a very dry read, but fortunately it was relatively short. Now he is reading REVENANT, a novella by Bill Pronzini, part of the Nameless series. He just purchased a copy recently, and it is a very nice edition. He always likes books in the Nameless series.
I read THE SATAN SAMPLER by Victor Canning this week. It is one of the later books in his Birdcage series of espionage thrillers. I loved it. The stories are usually somewhat of a downer in the end, which is realistic for spy fiction, but this one had a more upbeat ending than usual.
Last night I started OH WILLIAM! by Elizabeth Strout. I am enjoying it a lot. I plan to read LUCY BY THE SEA in November and TELL ME EVERYTHING in December, or something like that.
We're watching the original Lynley series first. As usual, it's fun to spot people 20 years ago, like Idris Elba and a young James McAvoy.
The latest Silent Witness (17 5/6) was set in Scotland and had ubiquitous Scottish actors Gary Lewis and Martin Compston. Coincidentally, both are in VIGIL as well.
I have to get back to Silent Witness. No idea where I left off though. Strout is always at least pretty good and often great. I like her writing style and characters. My foot was about better but I think It is going to rain because it is swollen today.
Just had a tour of my library. Unbelievable resources.
I have never been to the UP past St. Ignace. We always went to the east coast for vacations. I tried Brilliant Minds but it is too depressing although I loved the work of Oliver Sacks.
That is the problem with cancer. You are never done with it.
So much rain here that an entrance to a nearby bridge had to be shut down for a couple of hours. Sun is back out. Read the latest Randy Wayne White book in his Doc Ford series titled Tomlinson"s Wake that is set in Honduras. Thought it was terrible. The long series has had more ups and downs and the previous book, One Deadly Eye, about what happened during the hurricane on Sanibel Island was excellent. Also read Ken Bruen's latest Jack Taylor mystery titled Galway's Edge. Edge is a shadowy group in Galway that rids the city of criminals and abusers who have avoided the law. Another series of mostly good books, but a few I felt wasted my time. This one was somewhere in the middle. Canadians are very happy that the Blue Jays beat the Yankees so badly in the first two games of their series.
Yes, what is the most consistent series is an interesting question. Ruth Rendell, Peter Robinson?
John D. MacDonald?
Jerry, all sympathies, particularly given how much a family man you are. My folks in some ways had always Had Enough of their huge families as kids into young adulthood, with certain sibs more their friends than others, that I was barely able to meet, and never have met, for example, all of my 120+ first cousins, as I recall a possibly incomplete count from fifty years ago. Like/liked some of them a lot, haven't seen any in more than thirty years, some are in touch through social media.
Donald Westlake? Or is this a query about those with one series (or essentially so)? Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini are in the running, either way (even given they have shorter series to go with the longest one.
No contest. Bill Crider's Dan Rhodes series.
Ross Macdonald too. Sue Grafton. Morse.
Crider never had a bum one in the RHODES series.
Post a Comment