The Cheese Stands Alone

 Mo 2/27/23 715am (B). 845am (1- SB). 1050am (1-SB). 2pm (2-B). 440pm (2-B). 720pm (2-B).  Up 540am: Heavy thunderstorms early, then overcast & very windy with temps to mid 50's. Watched 'ARMAGEDDON TIME' (Peacock-TV). A coming of age tale of the director's life (James Gray) as a 12 year old boy growing up in racially troubled Queens NY in 1980. Janny mentioned this film and I think she didn't like it. Family Values run amok, and are not very sympathetic to 'right-wingers' so I can see why it wouldn't be her cup of tea; with Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb, and Anthony Hopkins. It's not a civics lesson, but more of a memory piece about the director's life in racially conflicted Queens NY- 1980. Wrote 'The Chat' and included a ham-fisted review of 'ARMAGEDDON TIME' and 'DOPE'. Watched episode #3 of 'CRIME DIARIES: The Candidate' (Netflix). 1155am: PC is 'Off' and preparing for a f...

Su 2/26/23 725am (B). 1105am (1-SB). 1230pm (2-B). 430pm (2-B). 705pm (2-B).  Up 540am: Partly sunny with temps to mid 50's. Watched Netflix disc 'FUNNY PEOPLE'. Well written dialogue and an interesting premise made this film highly engaging. It concerns a rich and famous celebrity comedian who is told by his doctor that he's dying and has only months to live. He begins to change his life and then he learns that he's in remission. The film is chock full of today's famous comedians that appeared in the film when they were so, so young; with Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Aubrey Plaza, RZA, Aziz Ansari, and James Taylor.  Began season #2 of 'GANGLANDS' (Netflix). Watched 32 minutes of episode #1 and the plot is very dependent on last season's story, so it doesn't make much sense. 1150am: The PC is 'Off' and the plan is to do the weights and then walk downtown to mail back the disc.  Weights:...

 Sa 2/25/23 805am (B). 1245pm (2-B). 7pm (2-B).  ***Last night was a very, very restless night's rest. I smoked a small bong to relax before I got into bed and my feet became so cold that it was preventing me from sleeping. I got up and rubbed muscle cream on both feet and bumped the electric blanket up to '8'. I still don't know what caused the unusually cold feeling in the extremities , but I couldn't fall asleep.  Up 705am: Partly cloudy with temps to mid 40's. Watched Netflix disc 'NOPE'. A UFO movie with a touch of horror. A remote horse ranch in the west is the scene of an extraterrestrial visitation. It's just a physical manifestation of pure HUNGER and blood will rain down! What a pleasant surprise. Yesterday evening I was surprised that Janny had seen this one and I couldn't get her to categorize it. Now I understand because this was certainly something very different and high marks for unrelenting dread; with Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer...

 Fr 2/24/23- Fist Fry on Red Oak at 5pm 710am (B). 10am (2-B). 430pm (2-B). 950pm (2-B).  Up 535am: Partly sunny with temps to upper 30's. Watched 'THE POST-TRUTH WORLD' (Netflix). A film from Taiwan about the murder of a young girl in the public restroom of a baseball stadium. Her boyfriend is tried and convicted for the killing, but he escapes and teams up with an on-line podcaster to find the real perpetrator. A wild and wooly plot and the killer is the grandmother of a food vendor who was present in the bathroom when the killing occurred. Maybe it was aimed specifically at Taiwanese audiences because it certainly did not make sense to this American. The film seemed to strain to be layered and intricate, but it just came across as dumb.  1005am: The PC is 'Off' and the plan is to get in 5 miles now and 2 miles later. I have to be at the Lake at 5pm for the fish fry.   1020am: FIVE MILES AT 4.0 PACE AND ZERO SLANT; began 'Protect Our Parks 7' on J.R.E.  R...

 Th 2/23/23- Dentist 1pm 7am(B). 920am (2-B). 445pm (2-B). 7pm (2-B).  Up 530am: Partly cloudy, breezy and temps to mid 40's. Watched 'THE STRAYS' (Netflix). A wealthy and mixed race English woman has concealed from her family the fact that she abandoned her two other children when they were babies. Almost two decades later the two Black children come back to terrorize their mother and her new family, and then Mom leaves everyone...again.  'You can never get away from the fact, if you are not White, you are considered Black'. This film was edgy, but didn't go far enough so I'd only give it a 'B' Minus or a 'C' Plus. It's still 'worth a look' because it did offer tonal elements of the Horror/ Slasher Genre for a unique perspective on Race & Class.  Watched a YouTube explanation of the film. I didn't learn anything new and his interpretation was the same as mine. 'A portrait of a selfish woman who yearned for a better li...

We 2/22/23 650am (B). 9am (1-SB). 1005am (1-SB). 240pm (2-B)- new 1/8th. 450pm (2-B). 710pm (B).  Up 515am: A rainy day with temps to about 60.  Watched 'TAR' (Peacock-TV). A brilliant film. It makes you feel like you have gained IQ points after watching the movie.  It's the story of a female symphony conductor at the top of her career, but she's losing it. Her greed and ruthlessness begin to eclipse her genius; with Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, and Mark Strong (during the film I thought I was watching Stanley Tucci). '92' Metascore (it got six '100' scores among the critics); Nominated for 6 Oscars; 59 wins & 238 nominations total. Began 'YELLOWSTONE' (Peacock-TV). Two cultures clash in scenic Montana. The speculators, in the name of progress, want to develop the land and the landowners want to conserve what they have. Shut it down one hour and 11 minutes into episode #1. This is the best American series that I've seen in a long time. ...

Tu 2/21/23- Buddy Sick 725am (B). 1030am (1-SB). 2pm (1-SB). 440pm (2-B). 710pm (B).  Up 6am: Mostly sunny with temps to upper 40's. Rain and warmer temperatures for tomorrow. ***Buddy ate all of his breakfast and then threw it all up around 630am. A little more at 720am and he wolfed it down. He's back to normal.  Watched 'THE WOMB' (Netflix). A young woman from the slums agrees to move in with a mysterious elderly couple during her pregnancy and then let them adopt her child. The old couple have an adult son and he is cursed to suffer a deadly accident every ten years unless a mother and her newborn baby are murdered in his place.  The son, the woman, and her newborn escape, but the man is run over and killed because the curse of ' Wednesday' was real because he didn't make it a day past the ten year mark. Filmed in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia. It was kind of like a foreign and strange 'ROSEMARY'S BABY'.  I liked it.  I began the first episode ...