A Summer Saturday

Today was a great summer day.

Jeff and I visited the New Canaan Farmers Market. Our priority was to get some pasta--the best ravioli I've ever had. We also got pesto, hummus, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, kale and chocolate mousse.

Next we headed to the Norwalk Art Festival in Mathews Park. We saw some beautiful paintings, jewelry and some awesome "transformer" wooden baskets. Jeff picked up lunch from Blue Cactus Grill and then we took Lola for an hour walk at the Wilton Loop of the Norwalk River Valley Trail.

We came home and changed and visited a contemporary art fair in Westport. Back home again I made dinner: duck breast with fresh strawberries, sweet potato, asparagus with Parmesan cheese and a salad of tomato and cucumber. Don't forget chocolate mousse and raspberries for dessert. A delicious meal.

To top off the evening the Mets beat the Giants 5-2.

Welcome Summer!

Wednesday was the first day of summer and the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.

It was also the opening reception for the Iconic Norwalk photograph competition. Jeff and I went to check it out. It was nice, but smaller than we expected.

Since it was the longest day for us, we took Lola to Taylor Farm for an evening visit.

Looking forward to a good summer.

Live Jazz Night

On Saturday night, Jeff and I went to a jazz show at the Carriage Barn Arts Center in Waveny Park in New Canaan. In addition to the jazz, we saw the current exhibit, and sampled some local spirits and chocolates.

There were a few problems. The venue was too hot; surprisingly that didn't effect me--maybe because I had a cold--but I could see that it bothered Jeff. More importantly, several people just milled around and talked through the entire performance--loudly. I tried to ignore them, but it was hard.

We left a little early because it was hot and I didn't feel well, but enjoyed the music. I expect we'll return to Carriage Barn Arts Center.

Goodbye Bill

Jeff and I went to a memorial service Saturday for our friend Bill who died at the end of April.

I've always thought that funerals are barbaric--gazing at the corpse--hearing people say the deceased looks good. Memorial services are much better. Maybe you can't escape the sadness, but the focus is on celebration.

We saw a slideshow of photographs over the years with the soundtrack of James Taylor's cover of You've Got a Friend and John Denver's Sunshine on my Shoulders. A minister who didn't know Bill led the service. Bill's sister Janet and two friends spoke. The minister ended the service by playing Bill's favorite hymn.

I was surprised to hear about some of Bill's travels. He had been to Nepal and climbed the pyramid at Chichen Itza. Jeff and I also climbed Chichen Itza--we could have shared memories.

I wonder what other friends' stories I've been missing.

Three with Margaret Lindsay

Here a a few of TCM's offerings that I saw over the last few days.

Caught a quickie--60 minutes long--yesterday: 1936's Isle of Fury. In addition to Margaret Lindsay, it stars Humphrey Bogart. The film begins with their wedding, which is interrupted by a shipwreck which brings a new arrival (Donald Woods) as a rival to Bogart. The problem is that the romantic rivalry is never really developed or possibly too subtle under the Production Code. Bogart and Woods become best buddies despite the underlying conflict between their positions. I can't discuss this film without mentioning the stupid octopus attack. The whole sequence makes no sense. Bogart is going pearl diving to show the natives it's not dangerous. But he wears a deep sea diving suit--they have no such equipment. The octopus is ludicrous. Then Woods dives in--sans suit--and saves Bogart. Strange.

I had previously seen and recently recorded Fog Over Frisco (1934.) This stars Lindsay and Woods along with the great Bette Davis. Davis is the "bad influence" sister of Lindsay and is involved in securities fraud. She pays for her crimes by dying halfway through the film. This is one of her few early films that Davis enjoyed. It's fast paced and fairly complex with good San Francisco location shots. Although some IMDB users compared Fog Over Frisco to Psycho, the comparisons are few. Both films involved the star stealing money and both stars died in the first half of the movie.

Today's film was Private Detective 62 (1933). This time Lindsay stars with William Powell. They had great chemistry. Come to think of it, I can't think of anyone Powell didn't have good chemistry with. (I would love to re-watch Fashions of 1934 to see him with Davis.) Powell plays a moral private detective in an immoral profession. He reluctantly takes a job to discredit Lindsay, but falls in love instead. He ultimately saves her from being framed for murder.

To sum up: Isle of Fury is only worth watching for fans of Bogart, Warner Brothers B films and bad octopi. The other two are much more enjoyable.

Congratulations Curtis on 300!

Last night Curtis Granderson hit his 300th career home run joining an elite group. 

It wasn't just a personal triumph for Curtis; he broke a 4-4 tie in the Mets' rubber match with the World Champion Cubs.The Mets exploded for five runs in the eighth inning for a 9-4 win.

Last night's win provides great momentum for an important four-game series against the Washington Nationals starting tonight. Dare I hope for a sweep? It will bring the Mets up to .500 and they'll close to 4.5 games behind the Nats in the National League East.

Last Sunday I overheard two guys at Southbury Dog Park discussing the Mets. One thought the Mets didn't have a chance to get back into the pennant race.

I want to hope. I want to believe. It will be tough, but stranger things have happened.

Connecticut Open House Day

Saturday was Open House Day here in Connecticut.

One local event was a tour of WPA murals as well as an outing on a oyster boat. I led one of the mural tours, and Jeff and I were psyched to get out to the Norwalk Harbor. It was a a beautiful day. We learned a lot about the oyster business.

We also went to the re-opening of Mill Hill. The grounds had been landscaped with new signage added. We also enjoyed an art show which included preliminary versions of Alexander Rummler's WPA murals.

After Mill Hill, we headed home to pick up Lola for an hour hike at Cranbury Park. To top off the day, the Mets swept a double header, and Jeff cooked dinner.

It was a good day.

Mis-Scheduling

Last Sunday we bought a dishwasher. Our current machine hasn't been working properly for some time; it would stop in mid-cycle. It wasn't so bad if it happened once, but it got to he point that it took all day to run a full cycle.

I thought the dishwasher would be delivered today. I had selected an 8 to 12 window. But d'oh. The actual delivery date is next Thursday, the 15th. I was annoyed because I adjusted my schedule around the delivery time today. It's not a big deal; I worked on some things that I could do at home, but it wasn't the best use of time.

One of my most exasperating traits is that when I have extra time to get somewhere I manage to just make it or I'm a little late. Similarly when I have a full day to do something, I often don't accomplish anything.

Sometimes this failure to accomplish things extends into weeks. When I have a week free, I often waste most of it.

I've been working on this by tracking my time, making to-do lists and plans. But it's frustrating to see how easily I can be thrown off my game. Next week, I have to devote another morning home for the real delivery. Another day I have to take my mother to her ear doctor.

And so it goes

Re-reading Game of Thrones with an Assist

I started my re-read about two weeks ago and am around 40 percent through the book (borrowed from my brother.) I'm trying to read carefully to see clues that I missed in my first reading.

Originally I read the book after watching the first season of HBO's Game of Thrones, starting sometime in the summer of 2011. Technically I read a package of the first four books on Kindle. I'm ambivalent on reading on Kindles. It's certainly convenient for carrying a variety of books. On the other hand, I prefer the tactile nature of books. Plus it's so much easier to to move backwards and forwards, to check the maps and appendix of houses.

After several chapters, I remembered this website, Race for the Iron Throne. I have caught up to the chapter by chapter analysis (okay, I still have to read the analysis of the chapter I read last night (listed on the website as Eddard VII.) Race for the Iron Throne analyses each chapter with insights from all of the books of A Song of Ice and Fire as well as HBO's Game of Throne, and historical perspectives.

The show's seventh season will start in five-and-a-half weeks. I'm not sure how far I'll get in my re-read by then. I've decided to re-read the first three books. I'm also re-watching the show on demand. I should be able to keep things straight with help from Race for the Iron Throne.

Twin Peaks Update

Although we still haven't re-watched Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me, Jeff and I started the new season on Showtime. We watched the first three episodes twice. I still don't understand what's going on, but I'm not as lost.

One major issue for me: the show has no charm. In the original Agent Cooper was enchanted by fresh air, pines, cherry pie and coffee. The characters were quirky and intriguing. The new season is lacking all that. It's hardly in Twin Peaks at all: the original show characters mostly appear as cameos.

For now I'll keep watching and hope the charm returns.

Binge-Watching Twin Peaks

I had just gotten to episode two of season one about two weeks ago. Well, I finished the eight episodes of season one and 22 episodes of season two by May 29th. I belatedly discovered that Showtime would only have the original series on demand until May 30th--binge time. Yesterday, I found that Showtime had reinstated the complete series as well as the film Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me. I have to re-watch that film--as I recall it's gruesome--but my memories are vague.

Back to the original series, I loved it originally and on re-watch. My memories of the second season were vague (like the movie.) I think I enjoyed most of the story lines the first time around. On re-watch, I'm more critical.

Going from eight to 22 episodes was a mistake. The writers had to add too many subplots that weren't particularly entertaining. The worst offenders were James and his journey to low-rate noir and Benjamin's Horne's Civil War interlude. Neither story had any relation to the overall season arc.

Another problem was teenage Nadine. This subplot was kind of funny, but again had no relation to the season arc. Hmm, was teenage Nadine the inspiration for Dena Higley's teenage Jess on One Life to Live? For the record, Nadine's storyline was much better.

We watched the first new episodes of the new Twin Peaks--not sure what to make of it. I think I need a re-watch to figure out what's going on.

A Blessing

Today was a blessing of the animals at Do Ngak Kunphen Ling Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace in Redding. We had driven by the Center before but hadn't visited. The Center is located on 100 acres of woods and meadow. Before the blessing ceremony, Lola loved exploring the grounds. This setting was more dog friendly than the church building where Spike was blessed. Also, this blessing will extend into Lola's next lives. 

We heard from a photographer who's done a series of pit bull portraits with flower crowns. After a series of prayers, we lined up for the blessing. More prayers followed, and then we headed to Putnam Park.

This was our second visit with Lola to Putnam Park. We walked the main loop which took about a half hour before returning home.

All in all, a lovely day.

Five Years Ago Today...

the Mets finally got their first no-hitter. It took 8,020 games (better late than never.)

There wasn't much to cheer about in the 2012 Mets season. Their season record was 74-88, fourth in the NL East. But we had Johan Santana's no-hitter, plus 20 wins and a Cy Young award for RA Dickey.

I haven't given up on this year yet, but the Mets have a long climb just to get back to a .500 record.

I hope to have more to celebrate.