test please delete

[xoggoth]

Bah! Very thin cloud so got a good view of the New moon but enough to obscure any chance of seeing the meteor shower. Just a few of the brightest stars are visible. Ah well, maybe I'll see a meteor before I snuff it.

Actually, being a lazy sod, a bucket list that requires no effort on my part ain't bad.

[NickFitz]

Bah! Very thin cloud so got a good view of the New moon but enough to obscure any chance of seeing the meteor shower. Just a few of the brightest stars are visible. Ah well, maybe I'll see a meteor before I snuff it.

Actually, being a lazy sod, a bucket list that requires no effort on my part ain't bad.

I saw a few really good ones about thirty years ago, out in the middle of the countryside. Might have been around September; whichever shower arrives then.

So it can be done

[NickFitz]

Popped up to the Amazon Locker to collect some Amazon gift cards; and with that, I believe my Christmas shopping is complete

I'm also feeling well enough (though not yet 100%) that I might have a beer or so while watching some film or other this evening

[NickFitz]

Despite the lingering lurgy, I ended up devoting some time tonight to the art of the kinematograph. The first exemplar of said art was Entebbe (2018), concerning the only interesting thing to have ever happened at Uganda's airport. It was very good, but I was rather confused by the intertwingling of a contemporary dance performance with the entire storyline, and in particular the climax of the story.

As is normally the case with a hijacking of the kind with which we all became so familiar during the 1970s, some exciting stuff happens at the start, then not a lot happens for quite a while but with tension, then some more exciting stuff happens at the end. But in this case, a contemporary dance performance that appears to have something to do with Jewish identity is seen in rehearsal, sprinkled throughout the film on the vague hook of featuring the girlfriend of an Israeli commando, then in full performance intertwined with the actual assault on Entebbe, though there's no way the two things could have happened simultaneously as the assault would have taken a lot longer than the dance even if they started at the same time, which is unlikely.

I assume the intention was to elevate the film to the lofty status of Art. But the dance stuff, while it was impressive enough to raise my opinion of contemporary dance, was of no relevance at all. It was decoration in a fancy hat, and that ain't Art.

Still, if you want a fairly good account of the Entebbe hijacking and don't mind learning a bit about contemporary dance along the way, there it is

And after that: Changing Lanes (2002), in which Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson have a minor vehicular collision while they're both in a hurry, and things spiral out of control. From the précis, I assumed this would maybe involve them chasing each other around the streets of New York and having fights and such, but it's much subtler than that as they each find ways to screw each other over by largely procedural means without actually meeting again, with everything getting worse and worse for them both at every step either of them takes. Worth a watch

And despite that, I'm not feeling too rough and think I might have finally beaten the lurgy

Though I suppose I'll know the truth about that in the morning

Goodnight all

[DoctorStrangelove]

I ended up devoting some time tonight to the art of the kinematograph. The first exemplar of said art was Entebbe (2018), concerning the only interesting thing to have ever happened at Uganda's airport. It was very good, but I was rather confused by the intertwingling of a contemporary dance performance with the entire storyline, and in particular the climax of the story.

As is normally the case with a hijacking of the kind with which we all became so familiar during the 1970s, some exciting stuff happens at the start, then not a lot happens for quite a while but with tension, then some more exciting stuff happens at the end. But in this case, a contemporary dance performance that appears to have something to do with Jewish identity is seen in rehearsal, sprinkled throughout the film on the vague hook of featuring the girlfriend of an Israeli commando, then in full performance intertwined with the actual assault on Entebbe, though there's no way the two things could have happened simultaneously as the assault would have taken a lot longer than the dance even if they started at the same time, which is unlikely.

I assume the intention was to elevate the film to the lofty status of Art. But the dance stuff, while it was impressive enough to raise my opinion of contemporary dance, was of no relevance at all. It was decoration in a fancy hat, and that ain't Art.

Still, if you want a fairly good account of the Entebbe hijacking and don't mind learning a bit about contemporary dance along the way, there it is

I think the Charles Bronson version, sans the dancing, rather hits the spot for me.

Raid on Entebbe (TV Movie 1976) - IMDb

Morning.

Grey. Very very grey.

Misty.

Moisty.

Damp.

Dank.

Dreary.

Sunless.

Warm. 17 deg in the living room, with 10.5 in the laundry room and a min of 8.1.

Drizzly.

<hiatus>

Stone me there's a lot of water coming out of the turkey legs.

Maybe it was a swan instead.

Lunch is underway and this week, mostly due to boredom, is turkey legs (Morrisons, unreduced).

With some pigs in blankets (Morrisons, unreduced by much) roasting gently on the top.

The Hell's Angel biker dude has come along to have a look at the house next door with a view to project managing the remaining work.

No doubt there'll be discussions tomorrow about how we progress the ongoing disaster.

The drizzle is unrelenting, as is its wont.

Quite enjoyed the Desert Island Discs with the chatty man.

<hiatus>

Still drizzling.

The turkey legs turned out rather well other than the bit that was too hard to chew so I gave it to the cat.

Looks very much as if I'll be eating the rest of it for the entire week.

About to go out & do the usual Sunday shop, which will be more than averagely chaotic.

<hiatus>

And so it proved.

Tesco packed out.

Checkout woman irritated me and I irritated her.

Getting out of carpark endlessly joyful.

Morrisons not so packed out.

Checkout chap more reasonable. .

Managed to fart all the way around Tesco and all the way around Morrisons.

And I haven't had baked beans today.

Yet.

[NickFitz]

Afternoon denizens

Raining out, and has been for a while

The lurgy continues, but is quite a bit better than it has been; temperature still hovering around the 99.5-100.6°F range

[NickFitz]

First mince pie of the season now being consumed. It's an all-butter Sainsbury's mini one, and it's rather nice

[DoctorStrangelove]

First mince pie of the season now being consumed. It's an all-butter Sainsbury's mini one, and it's rather nice

Strangelove contemplates the jars of mincemeat (BBE 2015) in the cupboard, as left by Strangelove Mater, and remembers the frozen pastry that's somewhere deep in the freezer just waiting to be used to make another batch of mince pies.


Tea/dinner/brunch/breakfast/lunch this evening was lentil <pfffft> soup.

It was a bit more creative today since it had extra stuff thrown in for good measure in a not altogether successful way.

Tomorrow's tea/dinner/brunch/lunch/breakfast will happen in Swansea in some restaurant booked by Strangelove Sister.

Xmas (Bah! Humbug! are there no workhouses? are there no prisons?) Lunch will take place in Swansea in some AirBNB thing that's been booked because next door ain't finished or anything like finished, despite plans to the contrary.

And, oddly enough, I'm not looking forward to either.

Tomorrow will be difficult since public transport stops at about 21:00 and thusly I might get stranded in Swansea, a fate worse than death.

[NickFitz]

I'm off south to my sister's place, where I was staying last year after the operation, but my brother is picking me up on his way there on Christmas morning. Staying down there on Christmas night, then get dropped home on Boxing Day afternoon

[DoctorStrangelove]

Enjoy.

This evening's first feature, before the Oak Island nutjobs, is "Lawless" with Gary Oldman et al being the story of bootleggers in the early 1930s.

Lawless (2012) - IMDb

It was too exciting so I'm watching The Oak Island nutjobs while I calm down.

They found more wood.

And some clay.

And bedrock.

Oh Dear. How Sad. Never mind.

Only another 2 seasons to go.


"Lawless" finally got itself into gear & got to a satisfactory conclusion.

It was ok.