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Showing posts from July, 2020

Fr 7/31/20- County Market Groceries

Fr 7/31/20- County Market Groceries Up 7am: Cloudy with temps to upper 70's. 740am to the store and back by 825am: $96. Watched Netflix disc 'THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP'. A fine film, but only very loosely based on the book. I thought both Robin Williams and John Lithgow were quite believable in two very difficult roles; with Robin Williams, Mary Beth Hurt, Glenn Close, John Lithgow, (very briefly) Hume Cronyn, and Jessica Tandy. Then watched 'Siskel and Ebert's' review of the film on YouTube. Siskel loved it and said that the film 'showed the entire arc of a life- through the good and the bad'. Ebert felt the crowd of quirky characters did not resonate with him. All sizzle and no steak.  I got an email from one of the techs at Horizon Treadmill telling me that I didn't need a pin number to connect the Bluetooth option. I went downstairs and tried again, and although it did ask for a pin number, when I entered '1,2,3,4' it worked. I still ne...

Th 7/30/20- First Time On Treadmill

Th 7/30/20 Up 720am: Rain all day with temps to the upper 70's. Watched 'EX MACHINA' (Kanopy).   My post at Kanopy: "Deliberately paced SciFi drama in which a young man is enlisted to determine if an artificially enhanced robot can actually 'think' or does she only mimic 'thinking'. It left me feeling that maybe 'a facsimile of thinking' is good enough."; with Domhnall Gleeson and Alicia Vikander One more pick for this month at Kanopy, so I chose- 'HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES' (Kanopy).  "I had a planned adolescence under duress". "Dyslexic Cnuts". Aliens visit Punk Rock Croydon in 1977, but the locals think they're Americans.  My post at Kanopy: " If you're a fan of the first wave of British Punk Music this offers a kind of 'rosy' snapshot of the era. Nimble dialog, clever sets and costumes, but not even close to the truth, but an enjoyable experience nonetheless. The soundtrack is authe...

We 7/29/20- Treadmill Delivery at 4pm

We 7/29/20- Treadmill Delivery Up 710am: Mostly sunny with temperature to 90. Added three CDs to Mp3; Steve Earle- 'Train A Comin', David Bowie- 'Lodger', and Guided By Voices- 'Bee Thousand'. Watched 'CAPTAIN FANTASTIC' (Kanopy). My post at Kanopy: "A single father attempts to raise his children 'off the grid' in the American Northwest. The film's resolution offers a kind of compromise between 'Love It Or Leave It' and 'Stick It To The Man', but I wonder what will become of this family over the next several years. I guess all they can do is follow Bob Dylan's adage, "To Live Outside the Law You Must be Honest". And given the character of the father and his kids, maybe they have a shot." (with Viggo Mortensen, Steve Zahn, Kathryn Hahn, and Frank Langella) ***Called Body Quest with a question about using an extension cord. The unit comes with an eight foot cord so I think I'll locate it next to the d...

Tu 7/28/20

Tu 7/28/20 Up 640am: Sunny and temps to mid 80's. Watched 'HEIST: WHO STOLE THE AMERICAN DREAM' (Kanopy). Glass-Steagall Legislation stopped local commercial banks from joining the 'Wall Street Investment Banking Casino' and forced them to loan to local communities and insure solvency. What could be wrong with that? My post at Kanopy: "A great nation is not one with the most billionaires and millionaires, but one with a flourishing middle class where the majority of people do well and not just the wealthiest. This is the central thesis of the film and that was 'The American Dream' that we had up until the 1980's, but what we have now is a system in which you MUST be asleep to believe in any 'dream'." Then I watched 'THE STRANGE LITTLE CAT' (Kanopy). My post at Kanopy: "This is not a film in the traditional sense but more of an attempt to provide a simple snapshot into the daily life of an ordinary family. I don't think ...

Mo 7/27/20

Mo 7/27/20 Up 730am: Overcast early and rain predicted for most of the day- to low 80's. Watched 'SPOTLIGHT' (Netflix). An investigating team at the Boston Globe, 'Spotlight', uncovers a massive cover-up by the Catholic diocese of Boston to protect pedophile priests. INTERESTING FACT: Although celibacy is a prerequisite to the priesthood, 50% of all priests have sex with other human beings though not necessarily with children; with Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schrieiber, Stanley Tucci, and Billy Crudup.   Then watched 'WITHOUT NAME' (Amazon Prime). An Irish land surveyor attempts to map a remote and ghostly forested area and loses his mind or he becomes enchanted by a supernatural entity.  I guess it's open for debate. Directed by Lorcan Finnegan who did 'AVARIUM' and this film is not nearly as good, but still very much worth a look.  Wrote and sent off The Weekly Wrap.  315pm: PC is 'Off' and according to the weath...

Su 7/26/20- Biked North of Stuart Park

Su 7/26/20 Up 710am: Hot and nasty. Temp already at 80 and will climb to mid 90's later. AC 'On' all day. I entered 'THE COSMIC RAPE' by Theodore Sturgeon and noticed that three entries from 'THE CHEESE STANDS ALONE' had been entered in error on my blog 'BOOKS RECENTLY READ'. I made the correction. Watched 'ASH WEDNESDAY' (Amazon Prime).  Set in Hell's Kitchen, 1983;  a young man seems to have come back from the dead. Three years earlier he killed three men who were going to kill his older brother, Fran. The local priest and Fran made it look as if he was killed and his body was thrown in the Hudson. He was supposed to never come back to the neighborhood again, but he felt that he must at least try to reconnect with his wife. Not the best, but certainly worth a look; with Edward Burns (he directed the film), Elijah Wood, Rosario Dawson, and Oliver Platt. While writing the notes on the film I found a Rami Malek movie, 'BUSTER'S MAL...

Sa 7/25/20

Sa 7/25/20 Up 725am: Very sunny, hot and humid- temps to 90. Watched Netflix disc 'THE TRAITOR'. Two and a half hours of basically an Italian courtroom drama in which a major Sicilian mob figure rats out the Cosa Nostra and manages to avoid retribution by entering witness protection in Brazil and the US,  yet still maintains that he is an honorable man... Mild and bland.  ***1145am: time out to water the flowers out front and do a bit of weeding. AC is 'On'- very hot already.  Smoked a small bowl and watched 'ELECTRICK CHILDREN' (Amazon Prime). A fifteen year old Mormon girl believes that she was impregnated by listening to a cassette recording by The Nerves. Wholly implausible, but the acting was first-rate and I liked it;  Julia Garner, Liam Aiken, Billy Zane, and Rory Culkin. 245pm: Preparing to enter The Heat. Will take the bike out to mail the disc and maybe walk afterward. 3pm on bike to the Wabash PO the usual way  {to Planet Fitness}, then east on bike t...

Fr 7/24/20

Fr 7/24/20 Up 640am: Sunny and hot with temps in the upper 80's. Watched Netflix disc 'DOWNLOADING NANCY'.  From the Village Voice review: "The jump cuts and nonlinear narrative are gratuitously stylish, and when you peel away this film's complex performances, at the core of its drawn-out suicide spectacle is pain so extreme, so alienating, and, in the end, so pointless."  But, this is precisely the reason that I liked it. I enjoyed the stylish, nonlinear narrative and the cast really did deliver a complex performance. Unfortunately, suicide is so prevalent that maybe the question of 'pointless' should be re-examined and this film will most definitely start some interesting conversations about sex, marriage, intimacy, and suicide.  Then I watched 'KNIVES OUT' (Amazon Prime).  I almost always hate  'The Agatha Christie Treatment'- a mob of suspects are introduced and the reader or viewer is required to uncover the motives and the identit...

Th 7/23/20

Th 7/23/20 Up 630am: Sunny and hot- temps to mid 80's. Added 4 albums to the Mp3; THE BRAINIACS- 'Smack Bunny Baby', LOS LOBOS- 'Will The Wolf Survive', THE SCREAMING BLUE MESSIAHS- 'Gun Shy', SUGAR- 'Beaster'. Watched 'A CIVIL ACTION' (Hoopla).  A rather bland, yet effective civil action case concerning a group of Massachusetts families whose children died from cancer due to improper disposal of chemicals at a local tannery. The lawsuit named Beatrice Foods as the defendant since the tannery was owned by one of their subsidiaries. "We should have verified who helped in the cleanup, not who dumped the chemicals in the first place"; with John Travolta, Robert Durvall, Tony Shalhoub, William H. Macy, Kathleen Quinlan, James Gandolfini, and Sidney Pollack.  I tried to use the old memory stick in the pen cup to copy all the music on the living room PC. Not enough room, so I just copied a few 'important' records;  'Smack Bunn...

We 7/22/20

We 7/22/20 Up 645am: Overcast to partly sunny, humid with temps to mid 80's. I wrote up 'THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP' for the blog. I found an hour documentary on Amazon Prime where John Irving discusses his craft: Irving competed as a wrestler from age fourteen to his early thirties...He sees wrestling as a metaphor for writing- they both require much practice (re-writing) and the smallest of details are constantly repeated...He is very knowledgeable of his characters' occupations...Each book takes five years or more because of this attention to detail...In later novels he wrote in a shack on a tiny Canadian island that one of his wife's relatives won in a poker game in the 1930's.  Then watched 'THE DARKNESS' (Netflix). On a camping trip to The Grand Canyon with his family a young boy removes some sacred stones that guard the nexus to another dimension. A plot point is that autistic children can act as a conduit for spirits on other planes of existence...

Tu 7/21/20- 7.8 AT Horizon Treadmill; BODY QUEST

Tu 7/21/20- 7.8 AT Horizon Treadmill; BODY QUEST  Up 7am: Very humid with rain to begin mid morning- temps to mid 80's. Roiling storms off and on all day....very sticky.  ***Both ears plugged and I jumped in the shower stall with the waterpik; 70% better. Watched 'THE OLD GUARD' (Netflix). A very pleasant surprise.  The film is a clever and well done rendition of a graphic novel that is believable and compelling because the characters seem real. For centuries a handful of immortal warriors have worked as a team for the good of humanity. Just as they learn the 'why' a new story-line pops up. Sequel in the offing? ***Soaking, soothing summer rain began about 940am, and within ninety minutes it got very humid.  Watched more of an interview with Roseanne Barr on The Joe Rogan Experience. Then the next two episodes of 'BEYOND THE POLE' (Amazon Prime) End of Season 1. Just before 2pm the PC is 'Off' and getting ready to hit the two treadmill stores. Janny ...

Mo 7/20/20

Mo 7/20/20 Up 630am: Partly cloudy and humid with temps to mid 80's and a 15% chance of showers this afternoon. Watched 'DEVIL'S ADVOCATE' (Netflix). "...good, kitschy fun"..."Vanity is definitely my favorite sin". A soapy melodrama about the Devil's temptation of a Good Man. Why does Satan always get the best lines?"- with Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, Jeffrey Jones, and Craig T. Nelson. ***1040am: Extended my library card for another two years. Very simple and my Hoopla and Kanopy accounts will continue uninterrupted.  ***Called BODY QUEST, FITNESS FOR ALL, and DICK'S for information on treadmills. Dick's doesn't do service- you connect with a company and the service plan is very short. The other two are 'full service', but nothing under $1,300. ***Called Aetna and learned that the reason I didn't get full compensation was that I've gone over my $750 yearly allowance. In early Fall I must get a bette...

Su 7/19/20

Su 7/19/20 Up 620am: Eighty degrees at 630am. I opened the windows for about ten minutes until I realized how hot it was already. Possible rain late this afternoon (didn't happen) and a Heat Advisory until 7pm with heat index values of 105 to 110. Watched Netflix disc 'BEFORE I FORGET'. A Parisian man of about sixty has tested HIV positive for many years and the film is a grim reflection of the emptiness of his life. As a much younger man he had been a well-connected gigolo, but now he is alone and he is dying. A moving portrait of a man at the end of his life.  Then watched 'TRIAL BY FIRE' (Amazon Prime). Based on the true story of Todd Willingham, a Texas man who was sentenced to death for the murder of his three young daughters. Years after he was executed scientists overturned the questionable expert evidence that was introduced at his trial; with Jack O'Connell and Laura Dern.  Watched and read videos and articles about the case. His ex wife is convinced th...

Sa 7/18/20- $100 at the pot shop

Sa 7/18/20 ***Reserved a quarter ounce for a hundred bucks. Pickup 930-10am. Left home at 930am and stopped at the Dollar Store at Fairhills for a new coffee mug and a container to store pot. Back home by 1015am. Up 7am: Opened the windows, but will close by mid morning. Temps to hit low 90's later. Because I had to be downtown soon I just watched an episode of 'SCHITT'S CREEK' (Netflix). And then more of the Roseanne Barr interview with Joe Rogan. Watched 'VIVARIUM' (Amazon  Prime). It's creepy, weird, and relentlessly off beat and could be interpreted as a dark satire on raising children; "Raise The Child And Be Released", "I am not your fucking mother!"; with Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg. Watched some YouTube videos about 'VIVARIUM', and I left the following post: "I thought that the use of  '#9' for Tom and Gemma's house could be a reference to the Beatles song 'Revolution 9'. This song is composed...

Fr 7/17/20- County Market Groceries: $101.00

Fr 7/17/20- County Market Groceries: $101.00 ***Downstairs PC is caught up on the Windows Updates. I guess I'll just leave this PC 'On' all night and turn off the monitor for future updates. Up 640am: Sunny and brutally hot- to 90 and to the mid 90's tomorrow and Sunday.  825am: Back from the store and grocery shopping is put away. Onions have doubled in price! $2.60 for an ounce of hand sanitizer! Watched Netflix disc 'WILDLIFE'.  Set in 1960, a fourteen year old boy in Montana bears witness to the disintegration of his parents' marriage. A depressing story, but brilliantly told and deeply moving; with Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Ed Oxenbould. Directed by Paul Dano. Watched some of the Bonus Features, but many more are already on YouTube.  Then watched 'LAWS OF GRAVITY' (Amazon Prime). 'Cinema Verite' about a group of jobless losers in 90's Brooklyn. They drink, fight, argue, and feud, yet never accomplish a single thing until o...

Th 7/16/20

Th 7/16/20 Up 710am: Sunny with temps in the mid 60's early and to a high of 85 this afternoon. In the mid 90's this weekend. Watched 'HUMAN CAPITAL' (Hoopla).  It seemed so familiar because I had seen the original Italian film based on the book. A complex plot that elegantly reveals itself through shifting points of view that examines a hit and run accident and how this event had dire consequences for two families; with Marisa Tomei, Peter Sarsgaard, Liev Schreiber, and Maya Hawke. A fantastic film! Then watched 'CAPONE' (Kanopy). A very strange take on the infamous Chicago crime boss, Al Capone; with Tom Hardy, Linda Cardellini, and Matt Dillon. Here's my post at Kanopy: "Al 'Fonzo' Capone, infamous kingpin of The Outfit, is depicted as a fragile and cruelly demented man in the final stages of dementia. He's totally unhinged from reality and visits various events in his life like a gun-toting Ghost of Christmas past...and there's somet...

We 7/15/20- Google Play to YouTube Music

We 7/15/20 Up 7am: Overcast, humid and heavy rains moving in- low 80's. Temps to the mid 90's on the weekend. Added 'BIRDS OF FIRE'- The Mahavishnu Orchestra to the Mp3. Watched '7500' (Amazon Prime). On a flight from Berlin, Muslim terrorists enter the cabin and try to take control of the plane. Not a bad thriller, but the plot seemed to unfold in a deliberate manner without surprise; with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. ***1010am. Patch Tuesday and I have to restart the computer.  It went without a hitch, only took a few minutes, but I hate this! And I'll have to deal with the downstairs PC later this evening.  Watched 'O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?' (IMDB-TV).  Three convicts escape from a Mississippi chain gang and take to the road during the Great Depression. Although beautifully shot, the script seems to embrace nearly every cliche about life in the American South during the 1930's- nefarious bible salesmen, contemptuous sales clerks, wicked Klansmen, a...

Tu 7/14/20

Tu 7/14/20 Up 630am: Sunny, hot, and humid with temps to almost 90. Windows open all day, it didn't seem that hot and humid. Tomorrow it's going to rain all day.  Watched 'TRAITOR' (Hoopla). A deep undercover US operative becomes involved in a terrorist plot to explode fifty bombs on fifty different buses on Thanksgiving Day in the American heartland; with Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, and Jeff Daniels.  ***Watered the front flowers at 1015am and the new neighbors were trying out a new lawn service. The man drove away in the muscle car that was delivered several weeks ago. It looks like an older black couple are the new neighbors...maybe. ***The new lawn crew trimmed all the bushes and shrubs.  Then watched 'I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS' (Kanopy).  Stranger than fiction, over-the-top gay romance. A con man meets the love of his life in prison, but cannot follow the straight and narrow; with Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor and Leslie Mann. My post at Kanopy: "An over-the-...

Mo 7/13/20- Eye Doctor Appointment

Mo 7/13/20 ***Janny said that she and Joe would be able to take me to the appointment on August 19th at 2pm at the Springfield Clinic.  Up 645am: Sunny and hot with high humidity and temps in the upper 80's. Temps edging to the upper 90's by this weekend. It was almost 120 degrees in Phoenix over the weekend. Watched 'BEFORE AND AFTER' (Hoopla). "Your whole life can change in a second, and you never even know when it's coming"...  A steamy melodrama about a family's moral dilemma when their son is charged with involuntary manslaughter; with Meryl Streep, Liam Neeson, Edward Furlong, and Alfred Molina. Then watched '13Th' (Netflix). I recently watched 'SLAVERY BY ANY OTHER NAME' and '13Th' just underscored the big points of that film. The Prison Industrial Complex is just an extension of Reconstruction policies that failed during the late 19th century. Slavery in the US is not allowed UNLESS it is used as punishment for criminal ...

Su 7/12/20

Su 7/12/20 Up 715am: Cooler, but still hot with a chance of rain this afternoon- to mid 80's. The chance of rain was revised by late morning.  Watched 'KNOCK KNOCK' (Hoopla).  An upper-class husband and father is alone over the Father's Day weekend. While working on his architectural project, two young women knock on his door. They're lost, he invites them in, they seduce him, and then the madness begins. They punish him for falling for their own seduction scheme; with Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, and Ana de Armas. Filmed in Santiago, Chile. The library had not reached their daily limit so I also reserved 'BEFORE AND AFTER'  to watch tomorrow.   Then watched the next two episodes of 'BOSCH' (Amazon Prime). I finished the Joe Rogan Experience with Charles C. Johnson and began Rogan's interview with Alex Jones. 1245: Will read for a while and then an early walk... Such a nice day. 240pm. On the walk. Parkview, Country Club, Outer Park asphalt. North...

Sa 7/11/20

Sa 7/11/20- Beers all afternoon Up 645am: Very humid and hot with showers later this afternoon- to low 90's. ***Added one disc from ALLIGATOR RECORDS retrospective and 'Jack Johnson'- MILES DAVIS. Watched Netflix disc 'SATURN IN OPPOSITION'.  A group of middle class Italian friends, married, gay, and straight, live their emotionally charged lives and then one of them dies expectantly. A real soap opera, but well done. An Italian/Turkish production; dir. Ferzan Ozpetek. Strong storms expected later (what else is new?), so decided to take the bike to the Wabash PO to mail back the disc. 11am.... Just as I pulled out the 'Drive by Birthday Party for 5 year old Vivian across the street. I put air in the rear tire, but I came back to add more.  To Wabash PO... I saw the couple across the street [prostate cancer guy] on Bellerive... my normal bike route and back the same way. ABOUT AN HOUR AND 20 MINS.  Smoked a bowl and walked Wash. Pk.  1240pm...Parkview, north side...

Fr 7/10/20

Fr 7/10/20 Up 615am: Overcast and a very cool morning with temps only to 70. Windows are open and the AC is 'Off', but to the upper 80's later. Wrote up 'O-ZONE' for the blog. Watched Netflix disc 'CHOP SHOP'.  A young boy and his sister(?) earn a living in a sprawling car repair/junkyard on the outskirts of Queens, New York. The setting could be a third world country and was disconcerting to see such poverty in The Land of The Free and The Home of The Brave. Another saga of people striving to survive on the lowest rung of the economic ladder. ***1045am: Fire Truck arrived to 'drain the fireplug'. ***Paid the car insurance. Got about a twenty-five dollar reduced rate due to less driving during the pandemic. They will send the receipt.  Tried to watch a film from Hoopla, but the quota had been reached. Looked on Kanopy, but found a film that was on Amazon Prime. Watched 'SOUTHERN COMFORT' (Amazon Prime). Walter Hill directs a film about a grou...

Th 7/9/20

Th 7/9/20 Up 715am: Another brutally hot and humid day with a chance of pop-up showers late this afternoon- low 90's. ***Added 'Happy Trails'- QUICKSILVER'S MESSENGER SERVICE and 'Remain In Life'- THE TALKING HEADS to Mp3. Watched 'LAST DANCE'.  After twelve years on death row a woman finally finds a lawyer who mounts a successful stay of execution, then the ruling is overturned and she is put to death. I don't think that I was the only one who thought there would be a different outcome; with Sharon Stone, Randy Quaid, Peter Gallagher, and Rob Morrow. Then I tried to watch ''HOW RADIO ISN'T DONE' (Amazon Prime). But then I noticed that 'this film is not available in your area'. What? Watched, 'SLITS-HERE TO BE HEARD: THE STORY OF THE SLITS' (Amazon Prime). I guess they were more famous as a band than for the popularity of their music. Their biggest influence was that they were a band of women who tried to widen the sco...

We 7/8/20

We 7/8/20 Up 645am: Hot and humid with a possibility of pop up showers later this afternoon- low 90's with Discomfort Index to three digits.  ***The plan is to mow the lawn before the rain. Watched 'BRONSON' (dir. Nicolas Winding Refn). "...an utterly repellent look at a psychopath..." or "...Bronson invites you to admire its protagonist as a pure, muscular embodiment of anarchy."  Not a lot of story-line, plot, or character development, but we watch spellbound as this fully developed psychopath explodes on the screen. Tom Hardy perfectly embodied the role of the true life character, Michael Peterson, "England's most notorious prisoner". 10am: PC is on 'Sleep' and I mowed the lawn. Finished about 1115am (raked and some trimming)  and within a half hour it got very dark and thunder ringing in the distance, but it blew over. ***At Boozer's old house guys are building a metal 'pergola'. And there is a sign in front of the h...

Tu 7/7/20

Tu 7/7/20 Up 725am: Very hot and humid with a chance of a pop-up shower later this afternoon. Triple digit discomfort index.  Smoked a bowl and watched 'THE TAKING OF DEBORAH LOGAN' (Amazon Prime)-'Found Footage Genre'; A woman is either in the mid to late stages of Alzheimer's or she is possessed by an ancient Indian serpent demon. Pick your point of view, but not bad either way.  Then watched 'LIAM GALLAGHER: AS IT WAS' (Crackle). The Ballad of Liam and Noel Gallagher. This is Liam's side of the tale. He was in a legendary English band with his brother, they split up, and he rose from the ashes. They haven't spoken in ten years.  More storms are moving in later this afternoon, so it's another early walk beginning just about 1pm. 105pm. Lawrence, Edwards, 3rd South to Vine. West through Park south side. Road to Parkview and down to 940. 2 HOURS. I had planned to hit the Dollar Store at Fairhills, but out of time.  Downstairs with a cup of coffee...

Mo 7/6/20

Mo 7/6/20 Up 625am: Hot and humid- low 90's. ***9am: watered the front flowers. Watched 'WASP NETWORK' (Netflix). The film concludes with info about a spy ring based in the US that carried terrorist bombings in Cuba to destroy their tourist industry. One man's Freedom Fighter is another's Terrorist. The locations were beautiful, but I couldn't really say who were 'The Good Guys' and who were 'The Bad Guys'; with Penelope Cruz, Edgar Ramirez, and Gael Garcia Bernal. The Feelies and Willy DeVille had songs on the soundtrack.  Watched 'FEAR X' (Amazon Prime). A security guard's wife is gunned down at a mall and for months after her death he obsesses on finding her killer. A secret government police agency was conducting a clandestine operation and she was killed in error. What they were doing or the circumstances of her murder are never revealed. Very slow paced, but this only helped to heighten the tension, but apparently not enough bec...

Su 7/5/20- To The Pot Shop

Su 7/5/20- To The Pot Shop Up 7am:Sultry and hot- to low 90's ***Ordered an eighth: $75. Pickup 830-9am. 820am: left for the pot shop. Home by 845am. Neat, Sweet, and Discrete.  Watched 'THE STEPFORD WIVES' (1975).  At times a bit strident or heavy-handed and probably doesn't hold up as well as Levin's masterwork, 'ROSEMARY'S BABY'. ; with Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, and Peter Masterson- From the Ira Levin novel. Watched a 17" YouTube mini-documentary from 2001 about the 1975 version of 'STEPFORD WIVES'. ***Due to a chance of rain later, on the walk before 1pm. 1255pm. Parkview Wash. Pk., Higgins south to Outer Park. East to Walnut, over to Holmes. Panhandle, north side. West and up hill. Parkview down to 940. 2 hrs. Mp3. Keith Richards & the X-Pensive Winos, King Crimson, Little Johnny Taylor. ***When I was almost out of the park a woman and guy from Channel 2 News asked me if I wanted to answer a few questions about how this summer...

Saturday, The Fourth of July, 2020.

Saturday, The Fourth of July, 2020. Up 645am: Sunny, humid with temps to about 90. Watched Netflix disc 'A SECRET'.  The secret is that Dad tried to deny his Jewishness during the war and had another wife and 'favorite' son, but they were murdered at Auschwitz. The corrosive effects of a toxic secret that is never addressed is the theme of this amazing film; with Cecile de France, Patrick Bruel, Ludivine Sagnier, Julie Depardieu, and Mathieu Amalric..   ***BEEPING NOISE- 910-920am. I had left the Baby Boom on all night and it was alerting that the battery was low. It took too long to locate the 'beeps' because they were almost a minute apart. I thought that I might have to call the fire department, but clearer heads prevailed.   ***At noon I water the front flowers. Watched 'MORVERN CALLAR' (Kanopy). The quintessential Christmas Day surprise. Morvern awakens to find her boyfriend has committed suicide and left a note telling her that 'it seemed like ...

Fr 7/3/20- County Market/$96- 730am.

Fr 7/3/20- County Market/$96- 730am. Up 7am: Overcast and muggy early, then mostly sunny to 90. Watched Netflix disc 'MAN PUSH CART'. A bleak,  yet satisfying look at life at the bottom of the economic ladder. I put 'CHOP SHOP' in the queue.  ***The Brandenburgs arrived at 1130am and we had a nice chat on the breezeway till 2pm.  I watched the next episode of 'BOSCH' (Amazon Prime).  Then a YouTube interview with David Cay Johnston, 'THE MAKING OF DONALD TRUMP. Terrifying. At least Hillary, as president would have  understood and followed the law, but Trump clearly wouldn't and hasn't.  415pm. Parkview, Washington Pk., Vine, Allen. North on 2nd St. tracks, 6th,downtown MONROE PO. Through the State Complex, Boone's Saloon. Edwards west over to Lawrence, Fairway, up to 940. 2 Hrs. 15 Mins. Mp3. PONTIAC BROS, PIXIES, JON SPENCER. In the tub without reading OZONE. Instead I watched YouTube videos and SAM JONES - MICHAEL SHANNON. and listening to AVER...

Th 7/2/20

Th 7/2/20 Up 720am: Humid with a chance of rain this afternoon- upper 80's. Watched 'THE JIMMY SHOW' (Amazon Prime).   By day he stocks shelves in a grocery store and at night he tells jokes at the local comedy club. But, his jokes aren't funny and his routine is troubling and crafted to draw attention to the horror of his lonely life. A real downer of a movie (but in a good way) and the ending could imply a nervous breakdown or he's finally found the strength to change. The film is based on the play, 'VEINS AND THUMBTACKS'. More storms moving in around 2pm, so I decided to do a morning walk. As luck would have it, no rain fell all day.  11am. Lawrence, Edwards, South on frontage to 2nd St. tracks. West on Laurel to Holmes, Walnut, Vine, Washington Pk. up hill on the north side Parkview down to 940. ( 2 Hrs. 5 MINS)- MP3. ZZ TOP, WILCO, TOM PETTY. Reading OZONE in the living room.  Smoked a small bowl and watched 'MYSTERY ROAD' (Amazon Prime). A blac...

We 7/1/20

We 7/1/20 Up 8am: Overcast, threatening with chance of rain most of the day- to about 90. However, it never got close to 90. Almost watched 'DEN OF THIEVES' (Netflix), but realized I had seen it recently. Switched to a French film called 'LOST BULLET' (Netflix).  Crooked cops are using their own 'fast mechanics' to employ nitrous to beef up police car speed. One mechanic turns on the gang when they try to frame him for murder. He must get the car with the missing bullet to the authorities before the bent cops get him. Some very different fight scenes from the typical American film in that the actors are clumsy make mistakes just like in a real fight. Also, some very inventive car chases and wrecks... "Entertaining but ultimately forgettable". Then two episodes of 'SELLING SUNSET' (Netflix). My Bravo fix. Then the next episode of 'BOSCH' (Amazon Prime). The storms have moved out of the area, but it's still quite muggy. Will read O-ZO...