Movies Rewatched Courtesy of TCM

Doctor Zhivago (1965): I saw this movie years ago. Since then I've only managed to catch bits and pieces of it. TCM had it available on demand and I sat down to finally re-watch it in its entirety. Over the years, one image stood out to me: the sheet of ice covering the door to the train car as Zhivago and his family retreat in the Ural Mountains. 

I found the movie somewhat sterile; the great love didn't seem all that great. There was one tragic scene. Years after their love affair, Zhivago sees Lara from a bus, but he dies of a heart attack before he can reach her. I was much more moved by Nicholas and Alexandra, which also deals with the Russian Revolution.

Games (1967): All I really remembered about this movie was that I liked it. Inspired by a new friend, a couple move from pinball to mind games. At one point, I thought the games were stupid, but then things quickly got interesting before a twist ending.

Superfly (1972): I remember the Curtis Mayfield soundtrack more than the story in this film. I was disappointed that Freddie's Dead wasn't featured. According to IMDB, it only appeared in the film as an instrumental. The actual story is light. I didn't particularly like Priest but was glad he achieved his goal to get out of the drug business with one last score.

Charade (1963): We just re-watched this film tonight. Knowing all the twists takes away the suspense and thriller aspects of the film, but I still enjoyed the comedy. One of the funniest lines was when Scobie (George Kennedy) calls Regina (Audrey Hepburn) and says it's me, the guy who was in your room following a fight with Cary Grant. The inspector is obsessed that the murder victims died in their pajamas. He wants to know if it's an American fad. 

The film's last line is great. Cary Grant has finally reviewed his true identity after using four false names and proposes marriage. Regina hopes they have a lot of boys so they can name them all after him. 

Book Three: The Scorpion's Tail by Preston & Child

I requested this book from the library before it was even released. This is the second official book in the Nora Kelly series. Nora has been my favorite character in the Preston & Child books since she first appeared in Thunderhead. Bonus: apparently the new series will continue to feature Corrie Swanson. Corrie made a memorable debut in Still Life with Crows.

Here Corrie investigates the mummified corpse of a man found in desert ghost town. Nora arrives to excavate the body, and things keep getting stranger from there. 

I like the team of Nora and Corrie and look forward to more in this series. 

Catching Up

I didn't expect to wait nine days since my last post. I had actually started another post immediately after the I published the last. 

Why haven't I been posting? It's partially a case of avoidance, partially a case of being preoccupied with Jeff's recovery plus my own health. We had neglected getting regular checkups and are working with some new doctors, researching insurance coverage, etc. 

I've had some writing block issues. I had two weeks for my latest class assignment. The theme was paths crossed using two characters from our previous two assignments. I wasn't crazy about my characters (one was based on me) they just weren't all that interesting. Writing the new story was a slog. 

I also need to talk about the mundane: habit. I got out of the habit of posting. Previously, I've compared blogging to working out at the gym. It can be hard to get started, and sometimes the process is frustrating, but it feels so good when it's over. There's a sense of accomplishment. 

I mentioned a snow hangover in an earlier post. We didn't get rid of that snow before we got another six inches (or thereabouts) last Thursday and Friday. It was flurrying when I got up on Saturday--I felt as if the meteorologists had betrayed me. They told me the snow had finally ended on Friday. On Monday we got additional snow/sleet/rain. It didn't amount to much in terms of measurement, but it was demoralizing. The older I get, the more I hate snow and its aftermath of slippery surfaces and slush. There were days when even Lola didn't want to go out. 

I'm stressed: a perfect storm of concern about Jeff, added responsibilities while Jeff is recovering, depressing winter weather, illness (I had a bad cold last week--the worst in years) plus Covid isolation and the usual day-to-day to-dos.

I know what I need to do. I've got to get better organized about my to-dos, so they don't overwhelm me. When I stop to think about it, I really don't have things that bad. I'm actually pretty privileged. 

I need to talk to friends more often. I may not be able to see people in person safely, but we can talk. 

Finally I need to create. I need to write more for my class and otherwise. I need to work on collages and art journals. I took a gelli plate workshop last month but haven't done anything since then. It's true that the layout of our condo is not conducive to making art, but I just have to make due. 

Book Two: From Time to Time by Jack Finney

This is the sequel to Finney's Time and Again. I liked Time and Again, but I really liked this sequel. For one thing, the first book took time to establish that time travel was possible and that Si Morley was a legit time traveler. In the sequel, we could get right into the action.

I liked the prologue: people remembered things differently, from recorded history and found things--such as newspapers and political buttons--that showed a different history. It reminded me of scenes from The Man in the High Castle showing a different outcome of WWII. 

While Si originally is hesitant to go back in time with plans to change history (other than a personal request from the creator of the time travel project) he does agree to try to stop World War I and possibly save his own son Willie.  

Si's travels include some time spent among vaudevillians and on the Titanic, before he returns to his adopted time of the 1880's and his wife and son. 

Snow Hangover

It started to snow sometime around 9 on Sunday night and lasted through sometime today. Norwalk got 15.9 inches (way to be precise News 12 Connecticut.) We also dealt with rain, sleet, and flurries today. 

Living in a condo, I don't have to shovel the sidewalk, but I do need to dig out my car. That's a job I hate. At least there wasn't ice on my car this time. 

Today Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. I'm sick of winter already.