The Cheese Stands Alone

Th 4/30/2020 Up 630 am: Bright, sunny, and windy with temps to mid 60's. Wrote up 'THE FOOLS IN TOWN ARE ON OUR SIDE' by Ross Thomas for the blog. ***I was surprised by how much more water had seeped into the downstairs area last night. This morning the entire area needed a solid session with the shop vac and the dehumidifier had turned off due to 'a full bucket'. I thought that it was supposed to come out the hose? I spilled the bucket getting it out, but all is well. Watched, 'THE PLAGUES OF BRESLAU' (Netflix). A brutal murder happens at 6 pm every day for almost a week in a moderate sized Polish city. A woman is protesting her treatment by those in power and a distraught female police detective is being used. Not until the very end is this dark plan revealed. Real good, and very gruesome scenes- man pulled apart by horses, a man stitched inside of a horse's hide and as it dries he is crushed, a guillotine beheading, graphic depiction of an aut...

We 4/29/2020 Up 8am: Rain to begin later this morning. More seepage downstairs and I hope today's round of showers are not as severe- temps to low 50's. Wrote the reply to Janny's email about my share of taxes paid from the Worden estate. They decided to send the check, but failed to mention the amount. I also mention the new findings about blood clots and COVID-19. Watched, 'BLOW THE MAN DOWN' (Amazon Prime); Set in a fishing village on the coast of Maine, two sisters cover up a murder. One of the girls was attacked by a man and she kills him. But the movie is mostly about the town and how a few women came to run and protect the neighborhood house of prostitution. In tone the film is somewhat like 'FARGO'; with Margo Martindale. A clever movie! 1200 pm: Got in a walk before the rain. Up Westview and down Parkview to Wash. Pk. Around the southern edge and across to the panhandle and back...gentle rain began and the umbrella came in handy...around the...

Tu 4/28/2020 Up 730 am: Slept in and feel great. Sunny with temps to low 70's, but rain to begin later this afternoon. Watched, 'ROGUE WARFARE' (Netflix). An international team of 'tough military guys' (and one woman) do battle with a masked group of terrorists in Afghanistan. They do stop the use of a dirty bomb, but one of their group is held hostage...To Be Continued...Corny and childish and includes every 'tough guy' cliche in the book. The film is a very misguided 'Terrorist Thriller' that only works for the most credulous and feeble minded. 1130 am: Rain to begin mid afternoon, so I'm going for the walk early. Up Westview and down Parkview to Golf Course path. Over to Edwards and east and then south on College/ Pasfield/ Holmes to Laurel. Laurel west...Got another shot of the boy statue with the flag...Across Chatham and took Hubbard to see 'the new mansions', then north on Interlacken, Oakmont, Parkview and down to 940: TWO A...

Mo 4/27/2020 Up 7am: Mostly sunny with temps to upper 60's. I gave the the downstairs 'wetlands' another twenty minute session with the shop vacuum. I think that the water has stopped seeping through the walls and now it's just a question of drying the carpet. The 'outdoor/ indoor' carpeting was such a great idea and I remembered thinking that a plush deep carpet might have been the way to go. That would have been a major mistake.  Watched, 'SERGIO' (Netflix).  A kind of biopic of senior UN Brazilian ambassador, Sergio De Mello and his work as a humanitarian mediator for the United Nations, yet the film evolves into a very well done love story between him and Carolina Larriera. His death in Baghdad in 2003 ended negotiations in Iraq and marked the beginning of years of strife and civil war that continues to this day; with Wagner Moura and Ana de Armas.  Then watched, 'REMEMBER THE DAZE' (Amazon Prime). A teen film that celebrates the dr...

Su 4/26/2020-41 Up 630am: The rain ended sometime last night and today it's to be mostly sunny with temps to low 60's. ***I spent about twenty-five minutes vacuuming the downstairs area. I am still getting water seepage along the trench that was dug for the sump pump. I did hear the pump run last night, so it is working, but the effectiveness is difficult to determine. Would it have been worse had the pump not been installed? The biggest area of water is along the wall behind the PC and in the 'Stones Corner'. Watched, 'EXTRACTION' (Netflix). The biggest drug dealer in Bangladesh kidnaps the son of the biggest drug dealer in India and a mercenary is called in to save the boy.  Lots of martial arts, car chases, explosions, and gun fights make it watchable, but obviously no new ground was broken. Then watched, 'MODEL MAJORITY' (Amazon Prime). A solid Independent about a dysfunctional Japanese/ American family living in a poor section of Los Angeles...

Sa 4/25/20 Up 735am: Rain and periods of heavy rain all day- to 50. ***Spent an inordinate amount of time trying to order more weed online. Can only get one 1/8 and when I finally placed order, 'Closed due to high volume'. Will continue throughout the day.  In about ten minutes the site took my order. I ordered 1/8 of Lemon Pepper (only one per customer!)- $75, and one Sweet Strawberry Gummy- $38. Waiting for the message that I can pick it up. About 11am I got a link to select a time and everything was booked until 430 pm-5 pm. I took it. Then I had to download a 'scan code' to the phone and this was unnecessarily difficult.  In between all the marijuana confusion I watched the last half of the Netflix disc, 'THE DEATH AND LIFE OF JOHN F. DONOVAN'.  1045 am: Finished the Netflix disc, 'THE DEATH AND LIFE OF JOHN F. DONOVAN' and the Bonus Features. An odd tale of a a young man who is a closeted gay star in the movie industry who has a secret pe...

Fr 4/24/2020- County Market Up 610 am for the dawn trip to County Market. In the store by 7 am and even less people in the store than the last visit: $123.00- more expensive rice, an eight dollar can of decaffeinated coffee, and enough can goods and frozen vegetables to last three weeks. Put an unknown CD by Youssou N' Dour on Google Play and the mp3 player. Watched the last hour and a half of '2001: A Space Odyssey'.  It's very much an Art Film and I forgot how little dialog is in the film- no conversations until almost 25". Monolith with pre-cavemen, Monolith on Moon gives off signal toward Jupiter, Mission to Jupiter to determine signal to Jupiter....Goes through a supernova...18th century bedroom. older, old man, fetus... ***There were nearly a dozen reviews at IMDB- Metacritic and they were all '100' except for one...The New York Times gave it a 60, and said said it was " somewhere between hypnotic and immensely boring". 1125 am: On ...

Th 4/23/2020-Edibles Up 640 am: Rain through this afternoon with temps to high 50's. Wrote up 'DARK AND SACRED NIGHT'- Michael Connelly and added BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND LIVE NYC 2000 to Google Play. Watched, 'THE BIG SHORT' (IMDB-TV)..."It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so."- Mark Twain... with Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Brad Pitt, Tracy Letts, Marisa Tomei, Jeremy Strong, and Melissa Leo. The film is a kind of a 'CliffsNotes' of the financial meltdown of 2008 that began with the collapse of the housing market. A difficult subject, yet the film is both informative and entertaining. The reason that was offered for the crisis was to blame immigrants and minorities which is really 'The American Way'. ***At 1021am. the power went off and before I could connect to CWLP it came back on.  It was off about five minutes and to...

We 4/22/2020 Up 630am: Mostly sunny, breezy with temps to about 70. Watched, 'THE LIGHTHOUSE' (Amazon Prime)..."Nothing good can happen when two men are trapped alone in a giant phallus...director/writer Robert Eggers"; with Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. Not really a ghost or mermaid story, but more of a film documenting a descent into madness. Filmed in black and white in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Then watched, 'ANGEL HAS FALLEN' (Netflix). A Secret Service agent is framed for an attack on the president. A wealthy private security agency is behind it all and operating at the behest of the Vice President. The film contains some nice special effects involving a drone attack on the president while he's fishing on a boat and various explosions at a hospital under SWAT attack; with Gerard Butler, Danny Huston, Lance Reddick, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Nick Nolte. Not a bad Secret Service/ Action/ Thriller. 130pm: Reading Michael Connelly and listening t...

Tu 4/21/2020 Up 6am: Sunny, breezy with temps to upper 50's. Wrote 'The Wrap' and sent a reply to the person on Nextdoor who is making face masks near Outer Park Dr. Later I found that they are at MONSTER PAWN and I called the store and they have plenty to give away. The store is NOT the one on Spring St. downtown, but on MacArthur near Outer Park. Watched, 'HIGH RISE' (Netflix). A dubbed in English German film about a couple of guys who stumble upon a plan to 'flip' properties once they meet a woman who can manipulate financial institutions. 'THE WOLF OF WALL STREET' it ain't. Then watched, 'PICKENS' (Amazon Prime). A particularly well done Independent about a female headed family that owns a bar and when the mob tries to take it over, Mom fights back. The cinematography was really great for such a low budget film. No stars, shot in New York State. ***PC froze up and for some reason I lost the Notepad. It's OK now. 130pm:...

Mo 4/20/2020 Up 630am: Sunny with temps to low 60's. Watched, 'THE GHOST WHO WALKS' (Netflix). An ancient story of a man fresh out of prison who tries to reunite with his lover and the daughter he's never met, but the mob has other ideas. Filmed in St. Louis, MO. A cut above the usual low budget Independent and well worth a look. Then watched, 'THE MISSING PERSON' (Kanopy). A boozy PI gets a job to follow a man on a train from Chicago to Los Angeles. He thinks that this man might be a paedophile, but actually he helps lost kids, although the orphanage is run by a Mexican drug cartel. Noir flourishes throughout, and this was most definitely a cut above; with Michael Shannon and Amy Ryan. My post at Kanopy: "Finely nuanced Detective-Noir with note perfect performances by Michael Shannon and Amy Ryan. This is clearly an overlooked film, and most definitely worth a look." Then watched 'HELLAWARE' (Kanopy). A young NYC photographer trave...

Su 4/19/2020 Up around 6am and finished, 'EARTHLY POSSESSIONS' by Anne Tyler. Napped and then out of bed 740 am. Partly cloudy with temps to low 60's. Wrote up, 'EARTHLY POSSESSIONS' for the blog. Watched, 'UNDER THE SILVER LAKE' (Amazon Prime). Director:  'IT FOLLOWS'- David Robert Mitchell.  A young man fears that something evil is operating behind the scenes in Silver Lake, CA when his beautiful neighbor disappears. Using secret hobo codes, conspiracy theories, suicide cults, morse code, and questionable evidence he tries to ascertain what is the dark mystery of Silver Lake; with Sam Garfield and Riley Keough (Elvis's granddaughter)..."a down-the-rabbit-hole movie"... Watched the first episode of Season 3, 'OZARK'. 215pm: PC is 'Off'; re-began 'THE SACRED NIGHT'- Michael Connelly and listened to the living room Altech. 405pm: On the walk and vaguely trying to do yesterday's walk in reverse. Up...

Sa 4/18/2020 Up 645am: Sunny, breezy with temps to high 50's. Watched Netflix disc, 'THE UNITED STATES OF LELAND'. A teenager is incarcerated in a juvenile facility for the murder of a mentally challenged boy.  Lots of characters and subplots are explored, but the killing is never shown. I didn't get it. Is the film telling us that the killer was actually saving the challenged boy from future heartache and disappointments? with Ryan Gosling, Jena Malone, Don Cheadle, Michelle Williams, Martin Donovan, Ann Magnuson, and Kevin Spacey (Ex. Producer). Watched, 'ABERDEEN' (Amazon Prime). Mom is dying in an Aberdeen, Scotland hospital and has her profligate daughter locate the ex-husband in Norway so that she can see them both one last time....'A raw, haunting experience'...TV Guide Magazine. Then the last episode of, 'KILLER RATINGS' (Netflix). As expected, no clear cut resolution of the truth. Wallace's chief accuser recanted his damning ...

Fr 4/17/2020-32 Up 630am: Cloudy with temps to the low 40's. Watched the last half of Netflix disc, 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD'. Quentin Tarantino's cinematic valentine to the spirit of Hollywood during the summer of 1969 as seen through the relationship of a fading television cowboy actor and his stunt double. The climax of the film is a more than slightly fictionalized portrayal of the events of August 9. 1969- The Manson Murders. A very powerful film and I loved it; with Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Damian Lewis, Al Pacino, Lena Dunham, Scoot McNairy, Kurt Russell, Michael Madsen, and many more superb actors. Watched some videos and read articles about the Tarantino film, then watched, 'FRANKIE & ALICE' (Amazon Prime). A fairly dull film about a woman who suffers from multiple personalities. Among her personas are a stripper, a girl with a genius IQ, and a white racist (based on an actual case); wit...

Th 4/16/2020 Up 625am: It started snowing around 7am and all the lawns are covered- about a quarter inch. Rain to begin later this afternoon and continuing through the night- temps to upper 40's. Snow disappeared by noon. I wrote up 'COGAN'S TRADE'- George V. Higgins for the blog. Watched, 'NO STRINGS ATTACHED' (Amazon Prime). A couple are convinced that they can be 'sex friends', but love intrudes. A movie that's silly, predictable, and not above the usual rom-com corniness; with Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Kline, Greta Gerwig, and Ludacris. Then the last episode of, 'HOW TO FIX A DRUG SCANDAL' (Netflix). The ACLU was able to overturn thousands of Massachusetts convictions on cases handled by the two crime lab chemists. They never mentioned whether the rules have changed and that now chemists (or anyone with access to police drug storage units) must be drug tested. It seems like this should have been an obvious rule from t...

We 4/15/2020 Up 640 am: Overcast, blustery, and cold, but sunny later- to mid 40's. Added an album by MOBY, '18', to Google Play and added to Mp3 player. Watched, 'RED DOG' (Hoopla). A man reviews his life and the deep connections that he has to The Red Dog Saloon, a strip club and biker bar in Oklahoma City, OK. His mom was an exotic dancer there and he was friends and family to many of the crazy and drugged out characters that frequented the bar in the nineteen eighties. A strangely moving portrait of weirdly crude, yet complicated people who have come to terms with the good and bad life choices that they've made. Then watched, 'I SEE YOU' (Amazon Prime). A really different way of telling a story. The first half of the film is what you think is going on and the second half is what is really going on. Boys are being kidnapped and presumed dead. A woman has cheated on her cop husband and the family is at odds. In the next part of the movie we lea...

Tu 4/14/2020- Webex Meeting With Dax 1pm. Up 729am: Partly cloudy temps to mid 40's. ***Connected new Mp3 player to living room PC. Added the albums on this computer. Watched, 'SON OF A GUN' (Kanopy). An imprisoned criminal mastermind meets a young guy in prison and involves him in an elaborate gold robbery. An Australian prison/thriller/heist film with a moral twist- There can be honor among thieves; with Brenton Thwaites, Ewan McGregor, and Alicia Vikander. Enjoyable if you don't think too hard. Then the next episode of, 'KILLER RATINGS' (Netflix). Representative Wallace Souza's trial is finished and the judge is about to announce her decision. It looks like he was being set up by the government, although Souza still could be the head of a criminal gang. Even when this series is over, I don't know if I would believe that the outcome was just. 1245pm: Waiting for Dax's call at 1pm. He called a little before 1pm and we were done by 130pm....

Mo 4/13/2020 Up 710am: Very windy, cloudy (bright and sunny later) with temps to low 40's. Watched, 'BLACK HAWK DOWN' (Hoopla). Simple premise- insert a team, capture the target, and leave the area, but 'The Fog Of War' lays waste to the most meticulous of plans. What sets this war movie apart is that it is so unbelievably convincing; with Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Sam Shepard, Danny Hoch (TRAINSPOTTING), and Jeremy Piven (ENTOURAGE). 11am: Bright, blustery, and cold, but decided to take the gas can down to the station at Chatham and Monroe for a fillup. 1105-1140 am: Got the gas and walked back. Wrote 'The Wrap' and sent it off. Watched, 'STEPHEN KING'S A GOOD MARRIAGE' (Amazon Prime). Stephen King wrote the screenplay from one of his short stories, yet it's a surprisingly bland thriller about a wife who finds out that her husband is an active serial killer; with Joan Allen and Anthony LaPaglia. ***My new Mp3 p...

Su 4/12/2020- EASTER Up 630am: Cloudy and rain predicted for most of the day- to 60. The rain pretty much missed, but still a chance overnight. Watched, 'LES MISERABLES' (Amazon Prime). A rookie's first day on the job in a Parisian 'police/neighborhood enforcement' squad. The title refers to Victor Hugo's novel that was set in the same area where the movie takes place. Stolen lion cub...kid shot in the face with a 'compression flare'?...Best part of the film is when the unit is trapped in a high rise with gangs of teens trying to inflict grievous bodily harm. The film is like a French 'TRAINING DAY'. Not bad at all. Watched the next episode of, 'KILLER RATINGS' (Netflix). Representative Wallace Souza is impeached and now, as a private citizen, he can be prosecuted. It's suppose to rain all day, but it looks like a break from the storms between 11am and 2pm. Will walk early today. 1215pm: Up Westview and over to Parkview to t...

Sa 4/11/2020 Up 720am: Feel well rested and it's a sunny day (cloudy later) with temps to low 60's. Watched, 'THE ROAD TO WELLNESS' (Hoopla). A farce about the whacky 'health cult' that led to the birth of the 'Healthy and Modern' attitude toward  'The Most Important Meal of The Day' in Battle Creek, Michigan. Most of the bizarreness of the film is totally based on fact which I think many viewers don't realize; with Anthony Hopkins (with a strange overbite), Bridget Fonda, Matthew Broderick, John Cusack, Dana Carvey, and Lara Flynn Boyle. Filled out the forms to claim $180 for my 'out of pocket' for the colonoscopy. Then watched an episode of, 'FLEABAG' (Amazon Prime). Her character is never named and she is called Fleabag because it means a dirty or unpleasant person or animal. That's what people call her. 1pm: Walking to Wabash PO to mail Netflix disc and the YSA request for my 'out of pocket' of colono...

Fr 4/10/2020- County Market/ PNEUMONIA SHOT Up 540 am and 630 am at County Market to hit the Senior Hours...Sunny with temps to mid 50's. ***Downstairs PC is up to date on Windows Updates. The unit ran all night and probably unnecessary since there was no significant change. Why is upstairs PC running a different version of Windows and downstairs PC still no Search Bar? Watched Netflix disc, 'THE LAST CIRCUS'. Set in Spain- 1937 and the early 70's. Possibly some kind of whacked commentary on Franco's Spain? Son of a 'Happy Clown' becomes a 'Sad Clown' when he grows up. He joins a small circus, falls in love with the beautiful lady high-wire artist who happens to be married to a violent and abusive husband. Lurid, violent, and over-the-top. More than likely a 'Cult Favorite' somewhere. ***During the film I called Heartland Credit union to get a replacement for my broken debit card. I was shocked to learn that they can make a copy in t...

Th 4/9/2020 Up 710am: Sunny early, then clouds and very blustery/ windy- low 50's. Watched, 'DONALD CRIED' (Kanopy). A man goes back to his childhood home in Warwick, RD to settle his grandmother's estate and he meets an old acquaintance from his past. 'Friendship' portrayed as toxic passive-aggressive behavior and both of the lead characters never address the real issues, but I guess that's how it goes...sometimes. An enjoyable film with a pretty significant 'squirm factor'. Then watched, 'FRANK & LOLA' (Netflix). An up and coming chef is in love, but his lover, an aspiring fashion designer, has a shady sexual history. Some nice scenes between the two leads, yet the film is pretty nondescript. Set in Vegas and Paris; with Michael Shannon, Imogen Poots, Rosanna Arquette, and Emmanuelle Devos. 1245pm: Running the Windows Updates to see if they stick. Reading and a long walk later. Windows Updates took with a minimum of hassle. I g...

We 4/8/2020 Up 830am: Mostly sunny with temps to high 60's. When I awoke it was 74 in the house. ***Tried to order the Ventolin refill at Walmart, but the prescription had been dropped since I hadn't refilled in three years. I called Ellison's office, and they will see if it can be activated. They'll call me back. Watched, 'Krisha' (Kanopy). I had seen this one before, but well worth a second viewing. Krisha is a woman in her sixties who has been trying to sober up and get her life back under control. The film is about her ill fated reintroduction to her extended family on Thanksgiving. Too Much Too Soon. A fantastic Independent film! Then watched, 'THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT' (Hoopla). Christian theology is revisited. God is a cranky guy who lives in Brussels, married to a 'goddess' who won't stand up to him, and his son, JC (one of the characters thinks that 'JC' would be Jean-Claude Van Damme) got himself killed and stuck up o...

Tu 4/7/2020 Up 630am: Partly cloudy with temps to mid 70's. By late afternoon it was a beautiful and warm Spring day. ***Made two more picks for Hoopla, and 'WAITING FOR ANYA' is for tonight. ***I ordered an Mp3 player from Walmart. Free delivery:$28.68 Watched, 'THE MINORITY REPORT' (Netflix). In the future three precogs are able to foretell the future so all murders have been prevented before they can occur. Then, a cop was framed for a murder he didn't commit. The film's title refers to an alternate reality or path that people who have been judged guilty might have chosen. Great special effects and one of the better Steven Spielberg films; with Tom Cruise, Samantha Morton, Colin Farrell, and Max von Sydow. Watched, 'I LIKE ME' (Amazon Prime). Older sister visits younger sister and moves in. No stars, not funny, and older sister looks about forty years older than younger sister. And, she becomes a 'self help guru'. Completely impl...

Mo 4/6/2020 Up 7am: Mostly cloudy, breezy to upper 60's. Wrote up VIVA LA MADNESS for the blog. Watched, 'MELROSE' (Hoopla). A low budget Independent about two young people who try to work in Los Angeles without destroying their dreams of making it in the movie business. She has a job selling to businesses along Melrose Ave. and shows him the ropes. They fall in love, she leaves him, and he starts anew. Not bad. Then watched, 'SAND CASTLE' (Netflix). At the beginning of the Iraq invasion in 2003 a young man breaks his had to get out of the war, but he's put back in the fray and his unit is assigned to repair a pump station at an Iraqi village. They take heavy casualties trying to repair the pump, but no one wants them there. Not a bad film about the futility of war; with Nicholas Hoult, and Logan Marshall-Green (this guy looks just like Tom Hardy). Wrote the 'Wrap' and sent it off. 330pm: On the bike....I had planned to take the bike trail in...

Su 4/5/2020 Up 6am: Partly sunny with temps to about 60. Ordered a couple of films on Hoopla to watch over the next couple of days. It seems Hoopla reaches the max by mid morning now that everyone is home and streaming. Watched, 'ABOVE THE CLOUDS' (Hoopla). On her eighteenth birthday a young girl from Margate, UK learns that her real father lives on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. She decides to visit her real father and needs a 'responsible adult' to drive since she only has a learner's permit. She takes an affable homeless person. Strange premise, but the film is a nice 'Buddy/Road Picture'- A crowd pleaser at festivals around the world. Then watched, 'INCEPTION' (Netflix). I'd seen it before, but such a complex film almost demands at least a second viewing. A professional thief who steals information by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to have his criminal history erased as payment for the implantation of ...

Sa 4/4/2020 Up 740am: Partly cloudy to low 50's. Watched Netflix disc, 'ATTENBERG'. The title refers to, Sir David Attenborough, an English broadcaster and natural historian. Two young and naive Greek women imagine themselves from the perspective of an animal. Both occasionally 'play/dance/walk' as if they were animals of a species other than human. One's father is terminally ill and the other seems preoccupied with sex. Puzzling, Strange and deadpan- similar to DOGTOOTH and LOBSTER. Then watched, 'SEEKING JUSTICE' (Hoopla). This was one of the two films that I 'rented' from Hoopla just after midnight this morning. A man's wife is beaten and raped and the police have no leads. The husband encounters a stranger who claims that he can 'take care of the problem' and he would only have to do a 'few things' for the organization in the future. An interesting premise, a clandestine group seeking justice but not involved with th...

Fr 4/3/2020-18 Up 7am: Cloudy with rain possible mostly late this afternoon (8pm: hasn't happened so far)- high 60's. Watched Netflix disc, 'MANAGEMENT'. It's almost impossible to present a positive love story about a stalker in a comedy, and this film is no exception. The whole thing was wildly improbable. A motel clerk in Kingman, AZ has a hookup with a random businesswoman, and he becomes romantically obsessed. When he joins a Buddhist monastery for a few months, it became just too much to accept. And, Steve Zahn's 'middle-school' schick is getting old; with Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn, Fred Ward, and Margo Martindale. ***Library is all out of picks for Hoopla Then watched a French/Canadian film, 'THE DECLINE' (Netflix). After a man is blown up at a remote survivalist camp, members can't decide whether to go to the police or hide the body. The group splits, some go to report and the others break out the heavy artillery to stop the...

Th 4/2/2020- Cabbages From The Brandenburgs Up 645am: Partly cloudy, breezy to low 60's. ***At 5am I awoke to a strange beeping. I thought that sometime during the night the power had gone off and the sump pump was alerting. Then I realized that it was the Baby Boomer speaker in the bathroom. I had forgotten to turn it off last night and it was signaling that the power was low. I plugged it in to charge and it went to 'blue' around 9am, so it takes about four hours to charge. ****8am Joe and Janny dropped by with a couple of cabbages and some books. I asked them to pick up when they visited Sam's. She said that there was an incredible line at Sam's, so they went to Walmart. They were at the store very early! Watched, 'DONNIE DARKO' (Kanopy); with Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Patrick Swayze, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, and even Seth Rogen. A film classic from 2001. I posted the following on Kanopy: "After watching the film I had plenty of quest...

We 4/1/2020 Up 645am: Bright and sunny with temps to mid 50's. Watched, 'TEARS OF THE SUN' (Hoopla). Melodramatic to corny. A SEAL team is sent to Nigeria to rescue a female doctor and some missionaries. The rebels are in hot pursuit because a member of the Nigerian royal family is among these evacuees. This would have caused an unprecedented international incident had this occurred in real life; with Bruce Willis, Tom Skerritt, and Monica Bellucci. Then watched, 'MARGOT AT THE WEDDING. Not much of a real plot or storyline, just setups for quirky and odd conversations about relationships that are in a constant state of flux. Some of the dialog is mildly amusing, yet none of it even comes close to the weakest Woody Allen film; with Nicole Kidman, Jack Black, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ciaran Hinds, and John Turturro. Directed by Noah Baumbach and he was married to Jennifer Jason Leigh. I posted this in the comments for the film at Kanopy. I wrote a reply to Janny th...