The Cheese Stands Alone

 Sa 5/30/26 Up 6am: Partly cloudy with temps to mid 80's.  710am {1/2 'Extreme Chill' 150 mg: 75 mg total}. 715am (GB: 6/ Durban Poison). 820am (6-B: Hybrid Popcorn). 1025am (6-B: Green Crack).  1235pm (GB: 6/ Durban Poison). 225pm (6-B: Hybrid Popcorn). 435pm (GB: 5/ Hybrid Popcorn). 535pm (GB: 5/ Hybrid Popcorn). 845pm (GB: 6/ Durban Poison).  Wrote up 'DEVIL'S WALTZ' by Jonathan Kellerman for the blog.  Watched 'A FOGGY TALE' (Netflix). A young girl's brother is executed in Taiwan during the 1950s and she travels to the big city to retrieve his body for burial. She gets tricked by the locals, but manages to win them over. A pleasant 'feel good' kind of a film that was also a complete immersion in the culture of the time.  'The tale within the tale'- Fog vs. Cloud: the mission is to become part of the scenery. 'Fog' becomes 'Cloud' again and again, until it becomes part of the seas. Harmony (Sameness?) is the point o...

 Fr 5/29/26 645am (GB: 6/ Durban Poison). 645am {1/2 VIIA 'Day Drift' Sativa 100 mg: 50 mg total}. 740am (GB: 6/ Hybrid Popcorn). 935am (5-B: Hybrid Popcorn). 1225pm (GB: 6/ Durban Poison). 320pm (5-B: Hybrid Popcorn). 535pm (GB: 6/Durban Poison). 835pm (GB: 6/ Hybrid Popcorn).  Up 550am: Partly cloudy with temps to mid 80's. Cleaned Glass Bong ***This morning I noticed that the white straight truck that's been parked on the street for months has been removed. I wonder what's the backstory on this? Watched 'KARA' (Netflix). A thief returns home to ask for a loan and ends up robbing banks to save his village from foreclosure. Set in 1991 and pretty corny, and possibly a distorted view of an alien culture.  Would contemporary Indians accept the premise? Set in Renigunta which is a suburb and outgrowth of Tirupati in Southeastern India near Chennai. The hero travels south along the coast to Ramanathapuram, India; 350 miles. I watched an hour and 45 minutes and ...

 Th 5/28/26 650am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 650am {1/2 'Extreme Chill' 150 mg: 75 mg total}. 735am (5-B: Green Crack). 945am (4-B: Green Crack). 1215pm (6-B:  Cat Piss). 350pm (5-B: Cat Piss). 535pm (GB: 6/ Durban Poison...NEW STRAIN). 825pm (GB: 6/ Hybrid Popcorn...NEW STRAIN).  Up 540am: A mix of sun & clouds, breezy and temps to upper 80's.  The woman across the street was working in her backyard before 7am.  Later I heard a chainsaw and noticed that I wonder what it looks like back there? There is a bald man that has some connection to the house. Husband? He has a silver station wagon and it seems like he is also working at the house. He could be a worker or an owner. A chainsaw has been at it from that side of the street for a couple of hours. Not sure where it's coming from. The newest branch pile out front should be the proof. {It's the house up the street that removed a big tree on their front lawn right after they moved in. Now they're removing a very larg...

 We 5/27/26 630am {1/2 VIIA 'Day Drift' Sativa 100 mg: 50 mg total}. 635am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 730am (4-B: Green Crack). 920am (5-B: Green Crack). 1150am (GB: 6/ Green Crack). 150pm (GB:  Cat Piss). 430pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack). 530pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 840pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack).  Up 540am: Showers predicted early {no rain all day}, then partly sunny with temps to mid 80's. Damnit! 640am: a request for a 'restart'. Took about three minutes and there was no difference in performance. Watched 'AGORA' (Netflix). An odd film about the trials and tribulations of a female astronomer (Hypatia) in fourth century Alexandria, Egypt. The Holy Roman Empire is crumbling and Christians, Pagans, & Jews fight for supremacy. It's a corny morality play with lots of togas and facial gymnastics that include an astronomy lesson about the importance of ellipses vs. circles; with Rachel Weisz, Max Minghella, Oscar Isaac. "55" Metascore and I would go to "74...

 Tu 5/26/26 635am {1/2- 'Extreme Chill' 150 mg: 75 mg total}. 640am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 730am (4-B: Green Crack). 840am (5-B: 5/ Cat Piss). 1230pm (GB: Cat Piss). 215pm (4-B: Green Crack). 435pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 535pm (GB: 5/ Cat Piss). 830pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack). Up 550am: Partly cloudy with temps just over 80. Watched 'BARBER' (Kanopy). A private investigator from Dublin, Ireland is hired to find a 20 year old missing girl. It's the standard 'PI-Missing Person' genre plotline, but what makes it different is that it's a pro-gay movie and Val Barber is bisexual and no shame is attached. He has an affair with a man and a woman. However, the 'Big Reveal' is that the grandmother was really helping her granddaughter (who wasn't missing) to expose a high ranking official who was sexually abusing young girls (masturbating in front of them). Grandma & 'the missing girl' were using Barber to flush out more victims of the sexual predator....

 Mo 5/25/26- Mowed Lawn 630am {1/2 VIIA 'Day Drift' 100 mg Sativa- orange: 50 mg total}. 635am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 720am (4-B: Green Crack). 915am (5-B: Cat Piss). 305pm (5-B: Cat Piss). 535pm (GB: Green Crack). 830pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack).  Up 530am: Bright & sunny with temps just over 80.  Bought laxative and a 'duster handle' from Amazon: $25 Watched 'MY DEAREST ASSASSIN' (Netflix). Another head scratcher. The film has something to do with a girl who has 'the world's rarest blood type'. She is kidnapped by a man who runs a martial arts studio? This man has a son with the same rare blood type and he needs 'extra' blood for the boy??? His son and the girl become romantically involved. I didn't get any of this, and the violence was so cartoonish that it was more like watching a bad video game. This is from the title page at IMDB- "Hunted for her rare blood type, a caged woman vows to fight alongside the assassin she loves to protec...

 Su 5/24/26 7am {1/2 VIIA 'Day Drift' 100 mg...the last one: 50 mg total}. 745am (4-B: Green Crack). 10am (5-B: Green Crack). 1235pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 535pm (6-B: Green Crack). 830pm (GB: 5/ Green Crack). {50 mg of VIIA settled in nicely today!}  Up 530am: Light showers very early, then partly sunny with temps to 80. Weekly Cleaning Watched 'SHOOTER' (Hoopla). A retired sharpshooter is asked to plan an assassination because the government requires his expertise. Actually, it's a top secret government agency that's setting him up to be the patsy, but he escapes and goes on a rampage for 'Truth, Justice and The American Way Of Life'. He murders a United States senator at the end of the film and you feel like cheering. It's a very 'pro-conspiracy theory' film and unapologetic to the end; with Mark Wahlberg, Michael Pena, Danny Glover, Elias Koteas, Levon Helm. "53" Metascore and I would go to "76". From 'WASHINGTON POST...

 Sa 5/23/26 710am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 805am (4-B: Green Crack). 930am (5-B: Green Crack). 1210pm (GB: 5/Cat Piss). 145pm (3-B: Cat Piss). 425pm (GB: 4/ Cat Piss). 530pm (7-B: Cat Piss). 830pm (GB: 5/ Green Crack).  Up 625am: Mostly cloudy with temps to upper 70's. Watched 'TROPIC  THUNDER' (Kanopy). Absolutely hilarious. I had seen this one several years ago (released in 2008), and very well worth 'many looks again'; with Ben Stiller (director), Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson, Steve Coogan, Tobey Maguire, Danny McBride, Bill Hader, Nick Nolte, Tom Cruise, Mathew McConaughey, Jon Voight. Nominated for 1 Oscar; 10 wins & 47 nominations. "71" Metascore and I would go to "90".   Finished 'LEGENDS' (Netflix). The end credits inform us that the British Customs prevented tons of heroin from hitting the streets and they did it with very little training or government financing- Just like in the series. An extrem...

 Fr 5/22/26 615am (5-B: Cat Piss). 655am (5-B: Green Crack). 835am (GB: 6/ Green Crack).  1240pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack). 210pm (GB: 4/ Green Crack). 435pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack). 535pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack). 830pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack).  Up 530am: Cloudy & breezy with temps to about 70. Watched 'PREPARATIONS TO BE TOGETHER FOR AN UNKNOWN PERIOD OF TIME' (Hoopla). It's a very odd Hungarian Art Film. A female Hungarian brain surgeon practicing in the US and meets a fellow surgeon at a conference in New Jersey. They hook up and agree to meet in one month in Budapest. When they meet he claims that he doesn't know her. For most of the film you wonder if it actually happened, or if it was all in her imagination. In the end we learn that he was married with two daughters and he didn't want an affair to disrupt his life. He gives his lover an expensive speaker system (to make up for the misunderstanding?) and the movie ends as delivery men employ a crane to hoist a huge speak...

 Th 5/21/26 650am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 725am (5-B: Green Crack). 910am (5-B: Green Crack). 1140am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 540pm (GB: 5/ Cat Piss). 830pm (GB: 5/ Green Crack).  Up 6am: Partly cloudy & breezy with temps to about 70.  Watched 'I SEE YOU' (Kanopy). A podcaster and her cameraman 'phrogg' at the upscale suburban home of a police detective, his wife and teenage son. The cop happens to be a serial kidnapper of young boys and the podcaster's cameraman is one of the boys who got away. It's an intricate and well told story and some of the details were familiar so I must have seen this one before; with Helen Hunt, Jon Tenney, Owen Teague (BLOODLINE). "65" Metascore and I would boost that to "84". From 'VARIETY'- "An eerie suspense exercise that starts out looking like a supernatural tale — one of several viewer presumptions this cleverly engineered narrative eventually pulls the rug out from under." Phrogging- the act of s...

 We 5/20/26 655am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 730am (5-B: Green Crack). 815am {1/2 'Extreme Chill' 150 mg: 75 mg total- later in the morning to see if it lasts into the afternoon}. 940am (5-B:  Green Crack). 1255pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 315pm (5-B: Green Crack). 540pm (GB: 5/ Cat Piss). {tired; no weed} Up 6am: A mix of sun & clouds with temps only to about 70. Began 'BABYLON' (Netflix). A funny blockbuster about how Hollywood changed when 'talkies' came to town. A great cast headed by Brad Pitt & Margot Robbie. Nominated for 3 Oscars; 48 wins & 158 nominations. Only a "61" Metascore {IMDB gave it two Metascores of 1oo and two of 25. I'd rate it "85". I shut it down at the two hour mark and there's an hour ten left to go. I'll finish it tomorrow.  Watched 'STREET FLOW 2' (Netflix). Filmed in Val-de-Marne, a suburb southeast of Paris, France and part of it was shot in Mali, Africa. It's a gritty & soulful tale of li...

 Tu 5/19/26- Back Pain 705am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 8am (5-B: Green Crack). 110pm (GB: 5/Green Crack). 430pm (GB: 3/ Green Crack). 535pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 835pm (GB: 5/ Cat Piss).  Up 620am: Cloudy with a 30% chance of showers and temps to the mid 70's. {not much rain fell at all} ***For the last couple of days I have been having back pain on my lower left side.  I stretched with my arms above my head to the upper part of the archway between the hall and living room. This exercise stretches the muscles (deletes the tension) and now the discomfort is about gone and I no longer have a pronounced 'slump' when I walk. I wasn't sure if the pain was external or internal, but today I'm pretty sure that it was a muscle issue and it's on the wane. I still don't know what caused the problem in the first place.     Watched 'REMAINS OF THE DAY' (Tubi). Merchant & Ivory essentially tightened up the novel and made the storyline more direct and less ambiguous. The...

 Mo 5/18/26 650am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 740am (6-B: Green Crack). 945am (6-B: Green Crack). 110pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 430pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack). 535pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 835pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack).  Up 550am: Light showers & storms began about 9am and continued randomly all day with temps to low 70's.  Watched 'MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART' (Netflix). The movie is far from Romance, yet it's a kind of a 'love triangle' set at three different periods of time;  1999 to 2014 and then 2025. The film begins and ends with people dancing to the Pet Shop Boys song, 'GO WEST'. THEME: The film chronicles the Capitalistic spirit that fueled China's economic boom into the 21st century. The 'love triangle' is between a quiet coal miner, a flashy Chinese speculator, and a young woman who seems to have feelings for both men. The woman (China?) chooses the rich guy (Western Values?), but that relationship ends in divorce (Systemic Failure?). However, the son (named ...

 Su 5/17/26 705am {1/2 'Extreme Chill' 150 mg: 75 mg total}. 710am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 735am (6-B: Green Crack). 955am (3-B: Green Crack). 1250pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 355pm (3-B: Green Crack). 540pm (6-B: Cat Piss). 835am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss).  Up 555am: Mostly sunny & windy with temps to mid 80's.  Weekly Cleaning Watched 'KARTAVYA' (Netflix). This was a film where you had to know something of the culture to understand what & why events unfolded as they did. It went over my head. A cop is upset that a teenage boy was forced to murder a female journalist. The kid was part of a cult and the swami wanted the woman dead.  Also, villagers are trying to kill his brother and his betrothed because they are marrying out of their respective castes. The cop ends up killing all of his enemies (no thoughts of guilt or being caught?) and the film ends on a high note. Mystified...Filmed in Western Uttar Pradesh of India which is located in the north central part of the country ...

 Sa 5/16/26 705am {1/2 'Extreme Chill' 150 mg: 75 mg total}. 710am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 805pm (5-B: Green Crack). 955am (4-B: Green Crack). 1250pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 305pm (4-B: Green Crack). 430pm (GB: 5/ Green Crack). 530pm (5-B:  Cat Piss). 835pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack).  Up 610am: Morning showers, then cloudy with temps to 80.  Watched 'THE NIGHT OF THE 12TH' (Kanopy). While walking home late at night a young woman is doused with gasoline, set on fire and dies a horrible death. She had many questionable male friends yet her killer was never caught. It's similar to the story of a retired cop remembering the single case that he could never forget. At the end credits: "This film is a work of fiction based on real events". From 'LITTLE WHITE LIES'- "It’s a satisfying film, even though it lacks closure. Nothing is unnecessary or over the top – so Moll doesn’t push the boat out". "81" Metascore and I would go to "86". Filmed ...

 Fr 5/15/26 645am {1/2 'Extreme Chill' 150 mg: 75 mg total}. 650am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 730am (4-B: Green Crack). 955am (4-B: Green Crack). 1225pm (GB: 6/Cat Piss). 535pm (GB: 6/Cat Piss). 830pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack).  Up 540am: Rain showers early, then partly sunny & breezy with temps 80. Watched 'NEXT SOHEE' (Hoopla). Nearly half the movie concerns a young girl working in a call center performing a job that she hates. She commits suicide and the last hundred minutes of the film are about a female detective discovering and then exposing gross workplace violations. Many suicides were reported and nothing was done. Schools had students perform temp-work and receive college credit. The company paid slave wages and withheld incentives and it was clearly a toxic environment... "Getting yelled at for a living" by customers and management. I really liked this film and scenes of her training at the call center brought back memories of being a telephone operator.  Wa...

 Th 5/14/26- Mowed Lawn 650am (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 740am (4-B: Green Crack). 9am (5-B: Green Crack). 410pm (GB: 5/ Cat Piss). 535pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 830pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack).  Up 550am: Bright & sunny with temps to mid 70's.  ***Goddammit, a fucking prompt to 'restart' right as I was preparing to begin the film. Completed in under three minutes and now I get a list of what is to be done. The last couple of updates have targeted the 'drivers' and I wish them well. {Later in the afternoon I read an online article saying that Microsoft will require more 'restarts' this month. They're making some big changes to Windows 11 and Windows 10 will be dropped in October}.   Watched 'THOSE WHO REMAINED' (Amazon Prime). A strange film about a teenage girl and her lonely gynecologist. Set in Hungary in 1948, the country is now under the control of the Soviets and the people are suffering various traumas and deprivations from the end of the war. Both the ...

 We 5/13/26 640am (GB: 5/ Cat Piss; the one-hitter works fine with a tiny nugget, but it is a dicey hassle). 645am {1/2 'Extreme Chill' 150 mg: 75 mg total}. 735am (5-B: Green Crack). 930am (4-B: Green Crack). 1140am (3-B: Green Crack). 1255pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 240pm (4-B: Green Crack). 435pm (GB: 5/Green Crack). 535pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 830pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack). Up 530am: Bright & breezy with temps to about 70.  Watched 'MY DEAREST SENORITA' (Netflix). Adela (A.D.) saved $6,000,000 Spanish pesetas which is about $40,000 usd. Filmed in Pamplona, Spain. 'Intersex' is an umbrella term describing people born with physical sex traits that don't fit typical biological male or female definitions. One point seven (1.7%) of the world population is born with intersex traits, making it about as common as having red hair. The movie is upbeat and shows that intersex can be a synthesis of the best of masculine and feminine characteristics...if you work at it.   So...

 Tu 5/12/26 645am {1/2 'Extreme Chill' 150 mg: 75 mg total}. 645am (GB: 6-B: Green Crack). 720am (6-B: Green Crack). 910am (4-B: Green Crack). 1015am (4-B: Green Crack). 1240pm (GB: 7/ Cat Piss). 540pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 830pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss).  Up 6am: Mostly sunny and breezy (Wind & Dust Advisory In Effect) and temps to low 80's. Watched 'THE GUNMAN' (Netflix). A mercenary working for a multinational in the Congo is contracted to assassinate their minister of mining. He must leave the continent, but years later, while in retirement, he realizes that someone is trying to kill him and it's somehow tied to the Congo operation. Kind of hokey, but somewhat worth a look; with Sean Penn, Idris Elba, Javier Bardem, Jasmine Trinca, Ray Winstone, Mark Rylance. "39" Metascore and I would go to "73".   Finished 'UNCHOSEN' (Netflix). The young woman and her daughter leave the cult and the silver-tongued devil becomes the new 'head pasto...

 Mo 5/11/26 7am {1/2 'Extreme Chill' 150 mg: 75 mg total}. 7am (GB: 6/ Green Crack). 735am (5-B: Cat Piss). 935am (4-B: Green Crack). 1245pm (GB: 5/ Cat Piss). 535pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 825pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack).  Up 610am: Bright & breezy with temps to low 70's.  ***Just as I was about to begin the film, I noticed a prompt to 'restart'. I scheduled a 'restart' at 915pm tonight. This didn't seem to work when I set a time for the restart on the downstairs PC. Watched 'PEAKY BLINDERS: THE IMMORTAL MAN' (Netflix). I thought it would bring back plots from the series, but I didn't remember anything. I was confusing it with the movie 'GANGS OF NEW YORK'. The movie was an engaging 'stand alone' with a very novel premise.  The Germans attempted to win the war by bringing down the economy of Britain. They devised a plan to flood the country with millions in counterfeit money and create super-inflation. Oddity: All of the cash is in...

 Su 5/10/26 7am {1/2 'Extreme Chill' 150 mg: 75 mg total}. 7am (GB: 7/ Green Crack). 8am (5-B: Cat Piss). 920am (5-B: Cat Piss). 1225pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 210pm (4-B: Cat Piss). 435pm (GB: 3/ Cat Piss). 530pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack). 825pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss).  Up 530am: A mix of sun & clouds with temps to about 70. Weekly Cleaning Watched 'INFERNAL AFFAIRS' (Kanopy- the basis for the American film 'THE DEPARTED'). The cinematography was superb but the storyline was more than a little hard to follow. It seems like it was taken from a deep and well written Police Procedural novel. Both 'INFERNAL AFFAIRS' & 'THE DEPARTED' tell the same story, but differently. "75" Metascore and I'm surprised it wasn't higher and I'd go to "90".  Watched 'ANIMAL KINGDOM' (Tubi). Wow! The movie was much more insightful and edgy than the series. The actor who plays, Jay the sixteen year old waif is perfectly cast as a cagy ye...

 Sa 5/9/26 740am {1/2 'Extreme Chill' 150 mg: 75 mg total}. 745am (GB: 7/ Green Crack). 830am (5-B: Cat Piss). 1235pm (6-B/ Green Crack). 540pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss). 825pm (GB: 6/ Cat Piss).  Up 630am: Fog early, then mostly sunny with temps to upper 70's.  Added three books to the blog:  Watched 'SHUTTLE' (Amazon Prime). It's a bad movie with a terrific ending. A late night airport shuttle driver kidnaps a load of passengers on the last run of the night. It gets pretty bloody, and you never know the driver's motive until the very end and it does keep you guessing. He's just part of a human trafficking outfit that specializes in kidnapping beautiful women for international prostitution. The final scene is a shot of the baggage claim area on the next morning as one of the kidnapped woman's bags finally arrives, although the owner is now shanghaied and her old life is dead. The ending was shocking, but the movie was just a gorefest and totally implausible...

 Fr 5/8/26 650am {1/2 'Extreme Chill' 150 mg: 75 mg total}. 650am (GB: 5/ Cat Piss). 730am (5-B: Cat Piss). 940am (5-B: Cat Piss).  1215pm (GB: 7/ Cat Piss). 210pm (4-B: a mix of shake). 435pm (GB: 6/... NEW....Green Crack). 535pm (Gb: 6/...NEW...Cat Piss). 830pm (GB: 6/ Green Crack).  Up 540am: Partly cloudy with random showers this afternoon and temps to mid 60's.  Watched 'ANEMONE' (Netflix). Painfully slow high drama about a man suffering from PTSD who lives in the woods as a hermit. After twenty years of exile, his older brother pays a visit to get him to return and meet the son that he abandoned. It features a very freaky and violent hail storm. Filmed in Anglesey, Wales, and Chester, England. Chester is about 25 miles south of Liverpool and Anglesey is in far western Wales. "The exquisite agony of self-denial". Payback for rape by a priest..."I manured him". An IRA bomb explodes and embeds the teeth of one man into the side of another man...