The Cheese Stands Alone

Sa 3/31/18 Up 730am; started Walter Yetnikoff's bio, HOWLIN' AT THE MOON; 2am-3am. Rain early; cloudy- 50's. Netflix disc, 'THE SENTINEL'; 845am. First class cheesy entertainment; easily as good as THE EXORCIST and chock-full of 70's stars- very odd that Jeff Goldblum was barely even mentioned in the cast- within a decade, he became a superstar.  Spent some time getting the new phone in order. I installed all of the apps from the old phone. It was a snap- download time is infinitely faster than the old unit. First episode of Season # 6, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, Two more EASTBOUND & DOWN- Kenny Power's parents are Don Johnson and Lilly Tomlin!!! Ordered Amazon Free Shipping- "Yiakeng LG X Charge Case,LG Fiesta LTE Case,LG X Power 2 Case, Shock Absorbing Dual Layer Protective Fit Armor Phone Cases Cover Shell For LG Fiesta LTE,X Power 2,LV7 (Blue)"- $7.88 by April 3. 230pm- to the Wabash PO and then to Planet Fitness. 45...

Fr 3/30/18 Up 645am; partly sunny and to mid 50's. Wrote up 'BORDERLINERS'- Peter Hoeg for the blog. The first book in a long, long time that I really did not like- or really missed the point. Listening to Danny McBride on WTF and decided to start with a couple of his EASTBOUND & DOWN's. 930am- it seems that the new phone is partially activated. I've gotten some the old apps from the Tracfone- most important!! Google Play, but I don't seem to be on the network to make or receive calls. I'll make a stop at the Xfinity store on the way to the 'Y' later. Now on the phone with YSA to find out why I didn't get that thousand dollars that I spent at the dentist last week. The plot-line seems to be that I have to go to Westside and get the paperwork on the work that was done and then send this to The Woodlands, YSA. I'm also going to ask about the cap on the right molar. When I use the flossing tool it gets stuck and I'm ...

Th 3/29/18 Up 620am; Fog, clouds, light rain throughout the day- low 50's. Netflix disc, 'JACKIE';(720am). Natalie Portman becomes the character of Jackie Kennedy. However, you wonder if it's true, but it certainly might be true. Youtube video of the 'THE WHITE HOUSE TOUR OF 62' is almost identical of what's in the movie. Great film! Then, SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL; Xfinity; (10am) Jean Luc Godard; Watched about 30" of this; more of less a footnote of musical history. Probably a fairly accurate presentation of how a song is constructed.  Two CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM- Korean bookie and dog meat/ Larry goes to heaven- Dustin Hoffman is one of his guardian angels. Paid the Xfinity bill for $60.27, and it looks like I successfully set up the auto-pay tied to the Ameriprise account.  Reading 1230pm. Plan to finish THE BORDERLINERS, then hit Planet Fitness and the Wabash PO.    Spend a laborious and turgid hour with the book, and then I wr...

We 3/28/18- Contemporary Book Club Tonight; details on the 'porting' problem on this post. Up 545am; Cloudy and to upper fifties; light rain by afternoon and continued through the night. 'THE DUEL'- Amazon Prime (645am). 'The Deplorables' would really like this concept. No need for a wall- just have sportsmen pay to murder the Mexican rapists as they cross over into the land of the free. Woody Harrelson as a murderous snake handling preacher in a corrupt Texas border town.   740am;   Cable TV Comcast arrives; done in 10 minutes. Restarted the movie, apprehension about getting the cable back- but, went OK. 945am- checked 'port support status' with ATT and it says that the 698 number is not in the transfer/ porting process. link to ATT port support- https://www.att.com/port/lnpCheckPortStatus.do "Karen: The online site, www.att.com/port, will allow you to check the status of any number that you are porting from anoth...

Tu 3/27/18- New Caps Westside Dental Up 7am; Periods of heavy rain last night- Warm, temps in mid 50's and cloudy with random showers. Adobe Version 29.0.0.113.... DOWNLOAD IT!!! Watched the last hour of 'TONI ERDMANN'.  Called Customer Service Visa '4460' and realized from the recording that I'd double paid the last bill in December of '17. That's why I got the ninety dollar check. Watched more of ERIC CLAPTON- LIFE IN 12 BARS before the dentist at 1110am. Got to the dentist right on time and it took over an hour to get all three teeth in place and secure. Everything looks great, and then I hit the Heartland Credit Union to deposit the $90 check. Then, dropped the disc at the Wabash PO, and on to FitClub South. On the machines at 1pm. Precore (45"- HARVEY DANGER/ BILL FRISELL). 45" Recumbent Bike (began PARIS TROUT). 45" Walk. (3.5-3.6/0). 30" Bike. 45" Cross. All in the TV area. 10" Steam Room/ 1...

Mo 3/26/18 Up 545am; Overcast with temps to mid 50's- rain beginning early afternoon and continuing through late Tuesday. Listened to Sharon Stone on WTF; 'Mosaic'. For some reason, 'Unspeakable' by Bill Frissell won't load to Google Play. Will wonders never cease? In about an hour, the Bill Frissell album uploaded. How come the Smashing Pumpkins disc went up at once, and there was a rather long delay with Bill? A little after 830am a guy from the city pulled up in front in a pickup truck. He was here to check for buried lines in the back. I spoke to him as he was leaving, and he said that after the work is done, I can just throw away the orange flags. He needed to take a picture of his work, but his batteries were dead- more in the truck, he said. Watched a documentary on Xfinity called, 'ALL GOVERNMENTS LIE' which was about what you'd expect- Chomsky featured prominently, and Matt Taibbi is obviously the new HS Thompson- we need an...

Su 3/25/18 Up 530am; mostly sunny; 30's- 40's. 'IRREVERSIBLE'- A French film on Amazon Prime. I'm going to try it on Google Chrome; maybe the additional bandwidth will allow it to play. Will try the Google Chrome another time, but the French film was just too much of a downer. I'd seen it before- a rape presented out of sequence and intentionally disorienting. Vincent Cassel is always good, but too much for a Sunday morning. Switched to 'LANDLINE' a film made for Amazon. Two sisters learn their father is having an affair- or they think he is. Also, the older sister is also having second thoughts about the affair that she is having; Very, very rooted in the 1990's. Started 'ADDICTED', episode #1 on Amazon Prime in Google Chrome, and it didn't work- choppy little hang-ups. Back to Internet Explorer. I really don't understand why Chrome doesn't work. Began the pilot of 'THE CHI' on Xfinity, and just a tiny bit of ch...

Sa 3/24/18 Up 545am; Gray, wet, cold and rainy all day- to high 30's. Wrote up THE BURNING GIRL for the blog.  Watching 'SHERLOCK HOLMES' (Robert Downey, Jr./ Jude Law) on Xfinity. The overwhelming objection to this film was that it was not true to 'the real' Sherlock Holmes. The famous detective was more of a cerebral fellow, and the naysayers feel that it's wrong to portray him and Watson as 'action figures'. I can see what they mean, but I think that Guy Ritchie makes it work. I really liked the film, and it was good enough to forgive the excessive length.  To Amazon Prime for, 'BILL FRISELL, A PORTRAIT' (1115am) Two hours of musical bliss- He's as in awe of his stupendous musicality as his fans.  PK Dick's- 'The Commuter', #9 To Wabash PO and Planet Fitness; 2pm. 45" Walk (3.6/0- ankle still a factor, but not so much). 45" Recumbent Bike (new novel; by the SNOWS OF CAMILLA guy). 45" Cr...

Fr 3/23/18 Up 550am; To upper 40's and rain beginning late this afternoon and to continue all day Saturday; 1"-2" of rain could fall. 'THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN'- Amazon Prime (710am) My overwhelming impression is that although Sean Penn seems hardly more than a teenager, he is a riveting actor even at so young an age; filmed in 1985. Then #4 of 'WILD WILD COUNTRY'. More crazy antics from Rajneesh, Sheela, and their band of delusional holy fools. Hard to believe that this really happened in the 80's, and seems more plausible in the age of Trump.  1245pm- To Walmart/ Xfinity Store/ 'Y'. Got a 30 pk., and I'm hoping that I can keep the good thing going, and this will last two weeks, bought a belt- a kind of army belt that I can cut to fit and it doesn't have holes, and two large bottles of hot sauce for eighty-eighty cents a pop. Then to the Xfinity store to be told almost the opposite of what the installer said. Now...

Th 3/22/18- Morning Power Outage Up 710am; spent almost an hour trying to local Royston, MA at Google Maps on the smart (not so smart) phone; 4am. I think 'Royston' is fictional, but Haverhill exists. Sunny and calm; to about 50.  Wrote up 'BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON' FOR THE BLOG. Heard a 'Boom', then 'Power Out' from about 815am till 915pm. I had constipation issues, and then read 'THE BURNING GIRL' on the couch. Now I can go back to waiting for the delivery of the new phone via FedEx. And, watch 'UNDERBELLY BLUES' on Amazon Prime. Watched this travesty for about thirty minutes, but far too amateurish; apparently Quentin Tarantino's father was responsible for this turkey. Then to 'THE CLASH- TORY CRIMES' (50")- more my speed, and finally, episode #3 of 'Wild Wild Country'. Finished at 115pm. The plan is to read until 2pm, leave a note on the door that I would pick up the package at their...

We 3/21/18 Up 710am; Reading Koontz 4am; only ten pages left in 'BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON'. Sunny to mid 40's with strong breezes from the north. Watching 'WAKEFIELD'(Bryan Cranston/ Jennifer Garner), Xfinity on 'Showtime on Demand'. Almost all of the film is told by Howard as voice-over, and Jennifer Garner's character says almost nothing- she's just observed. Weak ending. Then, a 'CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM'- crooked bingo/ doctor or pharmacist?/ Chicken Teriyaki Boy. And then another 'CURB'; Richard Lewis needs a kidney/ Eeeney Meeney!!??/ using my hand on your ass as a lever as an enhanced hug.  Listen to MC Xfinity Live- Hip Hop & Jazz Trying to wait for the phone delivery, but that doesn't look like it will happen.  I was on the machines at FitClub at 230pm, and no FedEx. 45" Octane (GIN BLOSSOMS ). 45" Bike- in the track area. 45" Cross. 30" Recumbent Bike. 30" Old Style Cross....

Tu 3/2/18 Up 550am; more partly cloudy conditions, winds from the north, and temps to low 40's. Xfinity TV Stream- Showtime/ Cinemax/ Starz ABC/ CBS/ FOX NBC/ PBS MC (Music Choice)  Netflix disc, 'THE BEGUILED' (645am). A remake of the 1977 film with Clint Eastwood- Colin Farrell plays his role in this version. Set is beautiful; almost Edenic. Who beguiles who?  Then, some of 'ERIC CLAPTON- LIFE IN 12 BARS' on Xfinity. I've saved this, and will watch the rest later. Watched a couple of videos on how to connect the laptop to a monitor. I call BLH and they have the necessary HDMI cable for five bucks, and I'll stop in on the way to FitClub South later.  Episode #2 of 'WILD WILD COUNTRY' on Netflix. Wrote an email to Janny about the new Xfinity account and the birthday pix of '104 years young'. On the road to BLH and FitClub South by 130pm. Got the cable and the guy wanted to charge ten, but I told him I got ...

Mo 3/19/18- Xfinity Installation/ He's 104 Today! Up 615am; Cloudy and to the mid 50's by afternoon- gloomy. CROWN HEIGHTS- Amazon Prime (745am). Xfinity guy arrived right at 10am. We talked for a long time and he mistakenly thought that I was going to keep my land line, and he cancelled the order and rescheduled for 3/29. Then, he realized that I was dropping the land line, so we went ahead with the order. Done at 1pm and all systems go. He had to climb a pole in the back and they will have to bury the cable sometime within the next ten days- I don't have to be here. I learned a lot about how the Internet works. Now I know that "throttle" isn't necessarily a bad word. And, Speed Test isn't really an accurate measure of anything. To access Xfinity account-  ID- kenworden1 PASS- "Oh, ya don't..."zip Xfinity Deal; Monthly Charge- $67.77 LGX Phone ($7.50 per month on  a separate account from the cable/ in...

Su 3/18/18 Up 659am; Heavy fog early; sunny to mid 50's. Amazon Prime, 'THE KING OF DEVIL'S ISLAND'. Fairly standard prison drama only this one is based on life at a boys work camp off the coast of Norway; Stellan Skarsgard is featured. BESIDE BOWIE: THE MICK RONSON STORY, Amazon Prime (1030am). The documentary makes the irrefutable case that Mick Ronson's arrangements and guitar playing were essential to the career of David Bowie. Bowie's genius would have made him a star, but Ronson elevated him to rock star status. And, who knew that Angela Bowie was American? Excellent film and absolutely vital for anyone who is a fan of Bowie, or Lou Reed, or Morrisey, or Iggy Pop, or many other musicians of the Swingin' 70's. I was also shocked to learn that Ronson produced 'Jack & Diane' for John Mellencamp, but it certainly fits.  1230pm The Weekly Cleaning. Called Xfinity about 115pm and I think I've got a great plan. Details lat...

Sa 3/17/18- St. Pat's Reading Koontz at 4am and up at 530am. Some heavy rain last night- when I was watching the film last night I thought that the thunder was a motorcycle. I had no clue that we were in for some heavy weather. Today will be mostly cloudy with temps in the mid to upper 30's.  Watching Netflix disc, 'POLINA'. Lacking in drama, but the best dance movie I think that I've ever seen. Then, Amazon Prime, 'FINDING JOSEPH I: THE HR FROM BAD BRAINS DOCUMENTARY (930am). Well, that explains why the Bad Brains didn't get anywhere close to their full potential. His name is Paul Hudson. According to the Rastafarians if you were born in February, you were 'Joseph', and 'HR' stands for Human Rights which was a band made up of members of the Bad Brains.  ATT.com- called and got in a chat to find out what I pay. It was tied to an ancient email acct- I think this is what I used when I worked at ATT. I'm $66.11 for 12Mbps...

Fr 3/16/18 Up 530am; Overcast and 30's- 40's today, and rain for this afternoon and overnight. (But, got no rain all day) Ran Malbyte and found three PUP's linked to Avast, and Security Essentials is back in play. Watching Netflix original, 'OUTSIDERS' with Jared Leto. A thin movie, yet Leto is superb. A mysterious American stranger befriends a Yakuza member in 50's Japan while in prison and this 'white guy' becomes a powerful figure within the gang. Leto seamlessly channels early Clint Eastwood- he's perfect, and colossally wasted on such a dull film. 920am- Dumping all the CD's from yesterday to Google Play. Played around with it until 1030am. Sent the new discs to Dropbox and the upload is putting a drag on the system; might take an hour. Hopefully I have enough bandwidth to watch Netflix, and Amazon Prime was too slow to logon that I didn't even try. Watched episode #1 of a new series on Netflix called, 'WILD WILD...

Th 3/15/18 Read from 415am to 6am; Sunny and to 50's later (Actually hit 61 degrees!!). Watching video about Greg Iles. The actual statue of The Turning Angel is in the cemetery where his family plot is located. His father is buried there and was also a doctor- just like Penn Cage. The author loves Tab, cats, and The Beatles. And, he plays guitar. Watching Netflix disc, THE DISASTER ARTIST; 715AM. It's a movie about the making of the worst movie ever made. James Franco's character is unbelievably like the real Tommy Wiseau. Microsoft Essentials won't update, but I ran Avast. Are the two connected? Watched Amazon Prime, 'POVERTY, INC'. Why the current system of international aid is only a new form of western colonialism. RULE OF LAW- 1) Property Rights 2) Rights to justice in the courts. What I wondered is why this same system worked at the end of WWII in Europe. What stopped this program so that local national businesses and industries could take hold...

We 3/14/18 Awake at 330am and read for about an hour and finished MICHAEL BLOOMFIELD- IF YOU LOVE THESE BLUES. Out of bed 750am and I noticed a huge tangle in my hair. I got it out by getting it wet and soapy and combing through it, but I really felt that I would have to cut it out. Wrote up, MICHAEL BLOOMFIELD- IF YOU LOVE THESE BLUES  by Jan Mark Walkin and Bill Keenon Netflix, 'MUTE'- 910am. Fairly interesting, but not what I've come to expect from a Netflix produced product. In a not-too-distant future in Berlin, an Amish mute bartender tries to find his missing girlfriend in the city's criminal underworld.  Paid the cards and will head to FitClub around 1pm; Maybe head downtown later to check out the bookstore and pickup some CD's at the library. On the machines about 130pm, and soon realized that I wouldn't have time to go downtown- maybe tomorrow. 45" Octane (HOW THE WEST WAS WON). 45" Recumbent Bike. 45" Cross. 30...