The Cheese Stands Alone

 Sa 10/31/20- HALLOWEEN! Time Change late tonight. I changed the clocks upstairs this morning, but I do not look forward to changing the time of the new Casio wristwatch. Very confusing and the watch face is not big enough to read unless I'm in direct sunlight. Up 745am: Sunny with temps to the upper 50's. Springfield has OK'd Trick or Treating between 4-8pm. I will be leaving my porch light 'OFF'. Watched 'ROGUE CITY' (Netflix). Set in the seamy epicenter of Corsican drug trade at the port city of Marseilles, France. A drug unit within the police force is corrupt, but nothing compared to the system itself. Since all of the cops involved in the dirty dealing are killed by the drug lords in the final scenes, maybe it means that the police are no match for the power, money, and influence of organized crime. Then watched 'THE LIE' (Amazon Prime). On a Canadian winter morning a man is driving his daughter and her girlfriend to a ballet camp and the frien...

 Fr 10/30/2020- Grocery Day Fairhills; $70. Up 7am: Bright and sunny with temps to 50. At the store by 730am and back by 8am. Watched Netflix disc 'MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN'(written, directed, and starring Edward Norton). A Noir-ish look at 50's NYC and how the city was planned and built behind a wall of deception and greed. A racist plutocrat grabs the political power to remove whole neighborhoods of poor minorities to build bridges, apartment buildings, and parks for 'the good of future generations'; with Edward Norton, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alec Baldwin, Willem Dafoe, Bruce Willis, Ethan Suplee, Cherry Jones, and Bobby Cannavale. 1pm: An early walk to the Monroe PO to mail back the disc. East on Edwards, South on 4th, West on the alley next to South Grand, through the park on the south side, up the hill, Parkview and down to 940...TWO HOURS...Mp3...THE WHITE STRIPES, THE STONES- 'Voodoo Lounge', THE BLACK KEYS. Then watched 'JUDY' (Amazon Prime).The story f...

 Th 10/29/20- Geek Squad: 1045am-120pm Colin Bechtel: 217-521-6949 Colin.bechtel@geeksquad.com Radiolab "What if" Up 8am: Rain last night with a slight chance of showers early this afternoon- to upper 40's. ***It seems that the downstairs PC is 'Up To Date'. PC said that the updates were current and then I did a 'restart' and it finished an update for Windows Defender. It ran for about thirty seconds and then it said I was current. I watched about 45" of  'THE THREE DEATHS OF MARISELA ESCOBEDO' (Netflix). Her daughter was murdered, the man confessed yet he was still acquitted. She continues to protest and she is killed. Nothing was done. Ten women are killed daily.  After the first session on the treadmill I finished the doc.   Colin called and said he would arrive early. He arrived just before 11am and finished about 130pm. He brought a dizzying array of expertise and it was easily worth the money. Most of the time we were waiting for the upd...

 We 10/28/20- AON Insurance Call 11am-1pm. Up 705am: Cloudy with temps to low 50's. Watched 'EXPERIMENTER' (Kanopy). A film about 'The Milgram Experiment' in which volunteers administered shocks to subjects that gave a wrong answer to sample questions. 65% of the participants administered painful electrical shocks to another human being just because someone (or the situation) told them to do it; with Peter Sarsgaard and Winona Ryder. An 'arty' presentation, but very effective.  ***Alexander Skarsgard was in 'THE HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT' and Peter Sarsgaard was in 'EXPERIMENTER'. 1030am: prepping for the insurance call, and she called at about 1040am. I decided to keep my regular insurance. The website checked plans that were better than what I had, but they found nothing. And, if I was to take a new dental plan I would have to wait six months at least before I could have crown work done. By changing dental plans I would have gotten $500 more cove...

 Tu 10/27/20 Up 730am: Mist and drizzle early with temps to low 40's and overcast all day. ***1045am: Public Works trucks got the large branches from the lawn of the house next door; 'roof/rake house'. Watched 'THE HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT' (Netflix). Two cousins convince a titan of Wall Street to fund a project to lay fiber optic cable in a straight line from Kansas City to NYC. This will make the connection a split second faster and enable this increase in information flow to reap billions on the stock exchange; with Jesse Eisenberg, Alexander Skarsgard- he was fantastic as the Idiot/Savant genius, and Salma Hayek. 1145am: 4 MILES on the treadmill to a 3.2 pace. Finished Matthew McConaughey on The Joe Rogan Experience and began the first few minutes of Rogan's conversation with Pauley Shore.  Then watched 'YES, GOD, YES' (Netflix). Then I watched 'YES, GOD, YES' (Netflix). MOVIE NATION..."Teen sex comedy with heart, smarts and subtlety..."...

 Mo 10/26/20 Up 830am: Gray and cold with rain/drizzle beginning later this morning. Temps only to the upper 30's. Watched 'END OF SENTENCE' (Hoopla). I borrowed this a couple of days ago. The second movie in a week about people who go on a journey to bury the ashes of a loved one. This one has a clever twist. His wife's dying wish is that he and his son deliver her ashes to a tiny lake in Ireland. Along the way he learns that his wife had a suitor and she wants her ashes in the lake with this man's ashes. Hubby is just the delivery boy. That's not what really happened and there's lots of 'father/son bonding', but a noteworthy look at Love and Forgiveness- worth a look; with John Hawkes, Logan Lerman, and Sarah Bolger. 1215pm: On the treadmill for 4 MILES. Finished Joe Rogan with Robert Downey, Jr. and began his chat with Steven Tyler. Then I wrote and sent 'The Weekly Wrap'.  Watched 'IT WAS A DISASTER' (Amazon Prime). During a '...

 Su 10/25/20 Up 730am: Overcast and chilly- temps to upper 40's. Watched 'Final Girl' from Hoopla and borrowed 'End of Sentence' also from Hoopla. 'Final Girl' (Hoopla). A Teen Scream Flick with Art House overtones. Four young American aristocrats dress up in tuxedos and then hunt down and murder young women. One girl has been trained to even the score. Corny, but with a few interesting moments...a nice dance with an ax to a Rockabilly tune; with Abigail Breslin and Wes Bentley. ***Washed and Pledged the bathroom floor. 1150am: an early walk and then back for the Weekly Cleaning... Parkview, south side to Wiggins, east on Laurel and back to Leland, Across McA, Walnut, to panhandle and west on the north side, up the hill, Greenview and up to 940. ONE HOUR AND 30 MINS...Mp3...DISRAELI GEARS/ WHISKEYTOWN. A few hits and watched '420: THE DOCUMENTARY' (Hoopla).  I had forgotten what a despicable and racist clown Harry Anslinger really was. "Reefer m...

 Sa 10/24/20 Up 730am: Cloudy early, then bright and sunny and chilly- to 50. Watched 'BLACK COAL, THIN ICE' (Hoopla). A dizzying mix of 'Droll and Noir' in a film about an ex cop who re-opens a cold case that cost him his career. The intricate plot involves a beautiful young woman who works at 'Rong Rong Laundry' who ruined a leather jacket many years ago and felt she had to murder the owner because she couldn't afford to replace it. Her husband worked at the local coal plant and threw the body parts on a train bound for stops across the province to remove the evidence and confuse the authorities. The frigid winter weather and the shabby industrial settings really add to the tone and feel of the film. A 'difficult' Art Film that's worth the effort; dir. Yi'nan Diao.  Noon: An early walk and then back for a film and a session on the treadmill with The Joe Rogan Experience...Lawrence, Edwards, south on Glenwood to Fayette, up to Walnut and the...

Fr 10/23/20 Up 815am: Gray drizzle early, then cloudy and raw with temps dropping to the low 40's by late this afternoon. Watched the interview with Michael Haneke, the director of 'CACHE' on the Bonus Features. Will watch the YouTube material after the next film. Watched Netflix disc 'CLIMAX'. At the start of the film over three minutes of end credits are shown and I'm sure I've not been the only one who thought that I had started with the final chapter. THE SET-UP: At a party for a dance troupe the sangria is spiked with LSD. At first it's fun with unbelievable synchronized dance sequences and then it turns into Hell. CineVue says: "The film is freaky, experimental, sometimes hilarious and unnervingly intense". But here's what VARIETY says: "But then it sinks in that you’re watching “Fame” directed by the Marquis de Sade with a Steadicam". 1-120pm: Quick walk to the box at Walgreens to mail the discs. Out Fairway and back Westvi...

 Th 10/22/20 Up 8am: Bright and sunny with temps to about 80. However, after today the highs will only be in the fifties. Watched 'COLOMBIANA' (Netflix). A young Columbian girl's parents are violently murdered in front of her and she spends her life exacting retribution. Her uncle educates her on how to become an elite contract killer and she is employed by him as an assassin, but this part of her story isn't told. That might have been more insightful, but what we get is a fairly competent action/adventure yarn. Luc Besson wrote the screenplay and the film is from his production company and another example of his "high-octane, medium-budget action films". FUN FACT: Luc Besson was among the first to introduce the 'Parkour' discipline into action films. Then watched 'JUDY & PUNCH' (Kanopy). Set in 'Seaview' (somewhere in the countryside and nowhere near the sea)...A very odd tale of domestic violence set in the medieval theater of ...

 We 10/21/20 Up 715am: A gray and chilly day with temps to about 60. Rain predicted for late this afternoon. Watched Netflix disc 'THE WHITE CROW'. The film charts Rudolf Nureyev's rise to the top of the ballet world and climaxes at his defection in 1961. Only just worth a look; with Ralph Fiennes directing and acting and Oleg Ivenko as Nureyev. Liam Neeson is one of the executive producers.  ***Buddy broke his china plate. It's back to paper. ***Maxine 'of the recumbent bike' died in Feb. according to Nextdoor. 1215-130pm: A walk to mail back the disc at the Walgreens letterbox...Up 940 and Fairway across Monroe...drop box...behind the stores and over to Washington. East to Amos and over to Wash. Pk. along the northside and up the hill. Parkview and down to 940. AN HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES...Mp3...DYLAN, DEREK AND THE DOMINOES. Home to watch THE WAY BACK (Hoopla). Inmates escape a Russian gulag in the middle of WWII and walk from Siberia through China, Tibet, a...

 Tu 10/20/20 Up 745am: Overcast and rain forecast for later this afternoon- damp mid 50's. Watched 'THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO SEVEN' (Netflix). Star-studded cast with a light touch of humor. I didn't know that the former Attorney General of the United States was called as a witness for the defense. He testified (without the jury present) that the previous administration had determined that there was no conspiracy between the members of The Chicago Seven. The judge ruled that this evidence was inadmissible; with Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Frank Langella; Aaron Sorkin directed and wrote the screenplay. Noon: Preparing for a walk before the rain. 1210pm: Parkview, Wash. Pk. southside, panhandle across McA, and back northside of park, Parkview, Greenview, and up to 940...An Hour and 15"...Mp3- Bill FRISELL, BLUE CHEER.  Home to watch 'HONEYTRAP' (Netflix). A young girl from Trinidad comes to live with her mother in Brixton, Lond...

 Mo 10/19/20- Dental Checkup; 2pm I awoke 645am to the Baby Boom speaker in the bathroom chirping. I recharged and read the phone till 8am. Overcast and temps only to the low 50's. Watched 'THE NEXT THREE DAYS' (Amazon Prime- leaving on 10/31). The premise is totally unbelievable, but still an engaging action/thriller. A man's wife is convicted of murder and gets a life sentence without possibility of parole. Her husband tries every legal maneuver to get her free, but the government's case is airtight, so he concocts a daring plan to get her out of a downtown Pittsburg jail and escape the country...with their six old son; with Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Brian Dennehy, and Kevin Corrigan.   Wrote The Wrap Up and sent it off.  Dentist: in the chair by 210pm and out in less than an hour. Tech lives in Worden, IL. I will continue to do the cleanings once every four months instead of six- 'my gums are sinking'.  To Green Automotive across the s...

 Su 10/18/20 Up 720am: Cloudy and cooler with rain late this afternoon- mid 50's. ***Arranged to get two eighths of 'BIO JESUS' from the pot shop between 930-10am. I don't need any weed, but I want to make sure that I have plenty if things lock up later in the season due to COVID. Wasted time watching some Q-Anon YouTube videos and part of an interview with David Pakman and Jesse Lee Peterson before the trip to the pot shop.  I got to the pot shop at 930am and this was the least crowded Sunday morning that I've seen. A small wait to fill the order and that seems to be a problem. The clerks have to go to the back room to fill an order. This should be done as soon as the order is placed and I called this in two and a half hours before I scheduled the pickup. ***I bought a five dollar glass 'one hit' pipe and tried the new stuff when I got home around 10am. I only took three hits and I was going to have some more with the bong, but I decided to wait a few minut...

 Sa 10/17/20 Up 720am: Overcast with temps to upper 60's and windy. ***I let the downstairs PC run all night in 'Troubleshoot' mode. It required a restart and it allowed me to 'pause' the Update until 11/6. The upstairs PC is 11/5. GEEK SQUAD- (217) 698-8551 Give them a call and schedule a service date. Watched 'DOWNFALL' (Hoopla). Bruno Ganz is fantastic as Adolf Hitler at the end of his career down in the bunker. The recent video of Trump's words in Ganz's portrayal of a mad dictator made me want to see this again, but it's a powerful film and is worth many viewings.  115pm: Preparing for an early walk.    140...Parkview, Wash. Pk. Northside and Park south to Outer Park, Laurel, Country Club, Parkview and down to 940...2 HOURS... Mp3... YO LA TENGO, WILCO, STONES.  READ for a while, then did 2 MILES on the treadmill... JOE ROGAN/WHITNEY CUMMINGS.  In the tub with BULLET PARK and listening to FUGAZI~'13 Songs', TSOL. Watched 'THE COM...

 Fr 10/16/20- Call from ATT Insurance 2021 Up 730am: Partly sunny, breezy, and temps only to about 50. ***I got a text last night saying that the call will come between 945-10am. Hopefully it will be a learning experience. I want to know about AON and Medicare and how they work with my ATT insurance. I know that if I left the policies the same for next year I could easily handle it, but I hope to up the ceiling on the dental plan from $750 to a more reasonable amount. The call came at 930am but he only called about Life Insurance and they enrolled me in a free supplemental benefit program...Catastrophic? But I was able to make an appointment to have a representative call me on Wednesday, Oct 28th between 11am and 1pm. Got high and watched 4 episodes of the Roger Ailes bio 'THE LOUDEST VOICE IN THE ROOM' on Amazon Prime.  This is a brilliant series and really shows how the groundwork for Trump's election was foreshadowed by Fox News.  ***150pm: Got a scam call from Amazon ...

Th 10/15/20 Up 810am: Overcast and much cooler- temps only to upper 50's and breezy. ***I had left the computer on 'Sleep' yesterday, and today it requested a 'Restart' to install Updates. And there is a problem... "(0x80070002)" whatever this is. I hate Windows! Watched Netflix disc 'BONNEVILLE'. Three middle-aged women travel from Idaho to California in a vintage Pontiac to bury the ashes of one of their husbands. They're all Mormon and I wonder if this was a Latter Day Saints production; with Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Joan Allen, and Tom Skerrit...Warm and fuzzy, signifying nothing. I am going to do a 'Restart' and then hit the grocery store at Fairhills. I left for the store about 1215pm and was back home in an hour- only spent $67. ***The PC wants to download the entire 'Windows 2004 Update' again! I am sick of Windows Updates!    Watched 'COLD HARBOUR' (Netflix). Set in Cape Town, South Africa the film concerns a...

 We 10/14/20- Last Mow of The Season Up 8am: Partly cloudy, temps to about 80, and winds picking up to gusts of 40 mph. I tried to arrange the insurance coverage for 2021 and I had to change my pass/ID to enter the system and then I had to schedule an appointment- Friday, 10/16 at 945am. Watched 'BULLY' (Netflix). A documentary focuses on several kids at school and in their daily lives who are the victim of bullying. TOWN MEETING: Authorities try to shift the blame to the parents..."The school can't do anything if the parents don't do their share"...RESPONSE... "We're passed that. Nobody can make the parents care if they choose not to. So what do you plan to do now? The kids must be safe at school regardless of who their parents are. It is your responsibility." 12pm: PC is 'Off' and will read for a while and then tackle the lawn for the last time. I'm really just going to run the mower out of gas for the last time this season. 315~415...

Tu 10/13/20 Up 8am: Bright and sunny with temps to the upper 70's. Watched 'BAD DAY FOR THE CUT' (Amazon Prime). Another fine Revenge Film. A middle-aged Irish farmer's elderly mother is killed and he exacts his revenge. Forty years ago mom was having an affair, the man wanted out, so she shot him. It was the man's adult daughter who killed the farmer's mother to exact her revenge. Shot in Northern Ireland near Belfast. Then I watched 'THE MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS' (Amazon Prime).  A writer is working on his second novel, but his inspiration has fled. He meets a sophisticated man who runs an escort service and he convinces the writer that being an escort might be just what he needs to turn his life around. His first client is married to a famous writer and this leads to the end of his marriage and his contented life, but in the end he's able to get it all back. The moral is that you don't miss it until it's gone; with Andy Garcia, Mick Jagger,...

 Mo 10/12/20 Up 715am: Partly cloudy, at times very windy, with temps dropping from almost 70 to the low sixties by late this evening.  Watched 'AURORA' (Netflix- 3Hrs 5M). A peek into the daily life of a Romanian man on the day that he kills four people. With no explanation as to why he is doing what he is doing, the viewer is plunged into his daily routine. You watch as he goes from apartment, to work, to stores, and commits four brutal murders in between errands. He targets and kills his ex-wife's lawyer and a woman who just happened to be on the scene and both his ex-in laws. He used a shotgun that he had a man create a firing pin. I guess in Romania you buy a weapon and the firing pin is sold separately. Three hours seems a bit long, but you find yourself mystified and very interested in what is going on. I liked it. I wrote the Weekly Chat and sent it off. Just as I was about to close out I remembered that I hadn't seen the end of '30 DAYS OF NIGHT', so I ...

 Su 10/11/20 Up 8am after reading and finishing 'KILL THE MESSENGER' very early this morning. Sunny with temps to just above 80. ***I tried to play 'THE DARK HORSE' on the living room PC and it wouldn't play. It's not the player because it ran another disc perfectly. I went downstairs and tried the DVD player/ MONITOR that I haven't used since last winter and 'THE DARK HORSE' played, so I watched downstairs. I'm glad I didn't send it back without seeing it because it was a fine film. It was based on the true story of Maori speed-chess master Genesis Potini. Suffering from mental illness this man is able to organize a children's chess club that was able to beat the best that New Zealand had to offer. A subplot about a kid (nephew of Genesis?) whose father headed a motorcycle gang, The Vagrants and wanted his son to forget the chess club and join the gang ("Because life is hard and nobody got anywhere just playing games"...or some...

 Sa 10/10/20 Up 715am: partly sunny with temps to mid 80's. ***10am: Gave in to the inner demons. I decided to pay fifty bucks for another bottle of drops...Just to be safe. Watched 'A FAMILY AFFAIR' (Netflix). A 30 year old film photographer shoots a documentary about his elusive grandmother. Several times she has tried to have someone document her life, yet she will drop the project. She recognizes her family only when it suits her and when she is crossed, she just flees to her South African estate. We learn that she abandoned her two young sons and left them in an orphanage, and then returned two years later to become a family again. A profile of a very manipulative, neurotic, and psychologically destructive woman. Interesting and disturbing.  Noon: Walked to County Market for eye drops.  About 30" total and they didn't have the prescription, then she found it.  They also do not have the Tamsulosin script. I don't want to deal with these people, and I'll...

 Fr 10/9/20 Up reading 'KILL THE MESSENGER' for over an hour and out of bed at 8am. Bright and sunny with temps to low 80's.    ***Added several albums by Ben Webster to my Amazon Music, but not 'Soulville'- only on Unlimited.   Watched 'LITTLE PINK HOUSE' (Amazon Prime). A film about Eminent Domain- State or local government can take a citizen's property and allow anyone to buy it if the new owner can demonstrate the ability to generate more tax revenue. Ex. A Motel Six owner can be bought out and replaced with a Hiatt House because a luxury hotel complex would bring in more taxes than a Motel Six. This was the most hated supreme court ruling in American history; with Catherine Keener and Jeanne Tripplehorn. 1245pm: PC is 'Off' and will read for a while and think of reasons NOT to do the backyard weeding of the flower beds. Best Excuse: Wait out the warm weather until the eve of the first real cold snap.  330pm...Wash.Pk. Northside to Park south...

 Th 10/8/20 6am: Reading 'KILL THE MESSENGER' by Tami Hoag and out of bed at 715am. Bright and sunny with temps to about 80. Beautiful! Watched 'BLAZE' (Netflix). A terrific biopic about the Texas singer/songwriter, Blaze Foley (Michael Fuller). The set-up is an interviewer recording a discussion about Foley with Townes Van Zandt(Charlie Sexton) and Zee(Josh Hamilton), two of Foley's friends. Directed by Ethan Hawke; with Ben Dickey, Alia Shawkat, and a small cameo for Kris Kristofferson. Sam Rockwell, Steve Zahn, and Richard Linklater played three oilmen/record label owners. ***I ran out of the eye drops that I was supposed to be taking until Monday. I have no symptoms, so I'm going to take one drop a day of the other drops. They all seem to be doing the same kind of thing- preventing infection and I think if it was to be infected, it would have already happened.  12pm: Just for grins I'm going to walk over to Walgreens and see if they have bath salt/bath o...

 We 10/7/20 Read in bed from 6-7am and finished 'BLESSINGS' by Anna Quindlen. I wrote up 'BLESSINGS' for the blog. I watched 'GEMINI MAN' (Amazon Prime). The best federal hitman the nation has ever produced has retired, but someone very high in the chain of command has put a hit on him. The government has been running a secret program in which his DNA has been used to produce clones and they want to make an army of 'hims'. Will Smith plays 'Henry Brogan', the hitman and 'Junior', his clone. Not too much of a plot, but a nice motorcycle chase and some pretty brutal hand-to-hand fights; with Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (SMASHED), Benedict Wong, and Clive Owen.   Then I watched 'OVERBOARD' (Amazon Prime). Corny, silly, and not even as funny as a run-of-the-mill television movie. A young and selfish billionaire falls off his yacht, loses his memory and a woman who he had abused convinces him that he is actually her husband and...

 Tu 10/6/20 6am read for an hour, napped, and up at 815am. Bright, sunny, and warmer- upper 70's. I watched the Netflix disc 'FRANKIE'. A legendary film star has orchestrated a family gathering in the Portuguese town of Sintra. She's going to let them know that she is dying; with Isabelle Huppert, Brendan Gleeson, Marisa Tomei, and Greg Kinnear. A very fine character study of a family in flux.  Then watched one more episode of  'I THINK THAT YOU SHOULD LEAVE' (Netflix).  Then I watched 'LAVENDER' (Netflix). A female photographer of old houses begins having troubling memories about a bloody secret from her past. After a car accident in which she sustained head injuries, her unconscious goes into overdrive; with Dermot Mulroney and Abbie Cornish. Well shot, pleasing to look at, and a difficult story that ties up at the end. 330pm: PC is 'Off' and walking to the Wabash PO to mail back the disc. 340pm...Out Country Club, Chatham.. WABASH PO and stopp...

 Mo 10/5/20 Up 830am, but read 'BLESSINGS' for about an hour. ***The sound on the living room PC did not come on until I used the 'clicker'. Why? I watched 'THE CAT AND THE MOON' (Netflix). The title is a poem by W.B. Yeats.  A high school senior from Detroit is sent to live with a bandmate of his late father. Mom's an addict and Dad committed suicide, and when the boy lands in Park Slope, Brooklyn everyone is in for a rocky ride. The dialog between the high school students seemed incredibly believable; Alex Wolff wrote, directed and stars. Another pleasant surprise.   ***1016am: A strange fuzziness on the monitor for just a moment...Black/ Back On. Why?  It never returned and hopefully it was something to do with Xfinity and not the living room setup.  I wrote the Weekly Wrap during a break from the film.  130pm: PC is 'Off' and I plan about an hour walk to and from The Dollar Store at Fairhills for more vitamins. And, the rest of the walk will be d...

 Su 10/4/20 Up 630am, but read 'BLESSINGS' in bed until 730am. Partly cloudy with temps to the high 50's. I watched the remaining two hours of 'NEVER LOOK AWAY' and it is without a doubt one of the best foreign films I've seen in quite a while. A painter strives to portray his art in spite of other artists and authority figures who claim that ..."Painting is dead and no more relevant than making lace, folk dancing, or silent films". The best part is the beginning lecture about the negative aspects of 'degenerate art'. And the insane scenes of the artist's aunt being euthanized because three Nazi 'experts' judged her schizophrenic and not worthy of life. The film is over three hours in length, but never a dull moment. In 2019 the film was nominated for 2 Oscars and another 5 wins and 18 nominations. Another tiny bong and then I watched 'MR. PIG' (Netflix). Diego Luna directs. An elderly hog farmer bids his old life adieu and ...

  Sa 10/3/20 Up 730am: Cloudy with rain beginning late this morning and again late this afternoon- 50's; not much rain, more like mist. Watched 'BLUE RUIN' (Netflix). I'm culling through 'My List' and trying to watch the ones that I really want to see and deleting the questionable choices. A 'Revenge Flick' where the protagonist is feckless and completely out of his depth. While living on the streets a man learns that the man convicted of murdering his parents has been released from prison. The killer committed a double murder because of his wife's infidelity. Killing triggers more killing and the film becomes a chronicle of two families at War. A fine 'Overlooked Film'. ***Cleaned the bong by boiling in water. Works fine now for a test drive...I should have done this months ago! Then watched 'OLOTURE' (Netflix). 'Oloture' means endurance. A look at an international sex trafficking operation out of Lagos, Nigeria. A female rep...

 Fr 10/2/20- $74 at County Market; Dropped off presidential ballot. Up 715am: Partly cloudy with temps almost to 60. After the shopping I went downtown to drop the ballot on the south side of the Sangamon County Building. Two old guys were collecting ballots from the ballot box and I asked if the mailing envelope was necessary. "Just put it in, it really doesn't matter'. Home to put away the groceries and watched Netflix disc 'HIDEAWAY'. Dir. Francoise Ozon.  Pregnant and a junkie, the father of her child dies of a heroin overdose, but she decides to keep the baby.  She's living in a rural area of France when the dead man's brother drops in and forms a relationship with the girl. Not great, but worth a look.  Then watched 'PICKPOCKET' (Netflix). Set in Bogata, Columbia a policeman who works closed camera surveillance runs groups of pickpockets in the city's tourist section. He finds a crew that he helps, and, in the end, they help him to leave t...

 Th 10/1/20 Up 645am: Breezy and partly sunny with temps to low 60's. I watched 'THE GOLDFINCH' (Amazon Prime)- From a novel by Donna Tartt. A sprawling soap opera about an upper class kid from NYC who saves a very valuable painting when he and his mother visit a museum. Terrorists planted a bomb and he survives and escapes with the artwork, but his mother is killed. This sets off a series of over-the-top life changes that involve living on the edge of the desert in a nearly abandoned housing development, meeting a Ukrainian friend, living with a gay furniture restorer, and becoming an expert on antiques and developing a serious involvement in drugs and a couple of murders. It didn't get very positive reviews, and I can understand the objections, but it's a complicated story that you can get lost in. I liked it! Nicole Kidman, Luke Wilson, Jeffrey Wright, and a fine ensemble cast.  ***I learned that the ballot box by the Sangamon County Building is designed for 24 h...