test please delete

[NickFitz]

Tonight's major motion picture premiere was Sisu (2022), a Finnish film (though largely in English) in which a bunch of Nazis (proper SS ones) on a scorched earth retreat from Finland encounter a prospector and seek to steal his gold. As many Russians could have told them, trying to **** over a Finn is not a thing that should be done, but they learn this lesson by other means. I thought this was excellent; not to say that it's always realistic, but as I often say, it's a story not a documentary. A bit of Sergio Leone influence in there, I shouldn't wonder. There's a lot of brutal stuff going on, but it's also beautifully filmed. Assuming the date of its release into the wild is within the rules, I wouldn't be surprised if this won the Oscar for foreign film next year. Well worth a watch

And then an early Christmas movie: Trading Places (1983) which has been upgraded to 4K. I think the last time I watched this was on Christmas Eve 2020, in the heyday of the seasonal lockdown, but I'm not sure if it had already been upgraded then.

And to follow, an earlier Eddie Murphy appearance in 48 Hrs. (1982). It's interesting to note the difference between this and the preceding film; in this one, he seems more like he's playing a role as written but was allowed to bring in some of his own ideas as to how to play it, whereas in Trading Places it's more obvious that the role was written for him to play as he saw fit.

Goodnight all

[ladymuck]

Morning all

Blue sky, sunny, dry. Currently 3 degrees ('feels like' 1) with a high of 6. Sunshine expected all day. Barometer up a smidge to 1022 mBar

I have vouchers to use up before they expire so a visit to the shops is the order of the day. Best do it now before the hoardes clutter up the place for Christmas.

[NickFitz]

Morning denizens

It's a bright, clear day out, but not warm: 4°C and no more than 5° expected, having dropped to -2° overnight. The barometers are pretty steady at 1009/1017mB

[DoctorStrangelove]

Not showing edits again. FFS.

Saturday.

Dry.

Sunny: golden rays of joy.

Fecking cold: frosty as feck: 12.3 deg in here, 11 deg in the kitchen, 9 deg in the leanto, 2.5 deg in the salting house.

1020.5 mBar, 30.135 in Hg, 765.43 Torr, 14.8011011 psi, (down from 1021 last night), 73% RH (GDR hair), 61% RH (Lidl electric).

Meanwhile on the 31st of July 2019 "On Golden Pond" was donated to those lucky bastards at Oxfam, and having watched the Duke returning to Bataan, I then viewed The World at War with Larry Olivier's narration of the same event in reality, whereas NF was still afflicted with some bug or other and SimonMac was awaiting the VPN on day two of his new engagement.

Walk (abbreviated) walked in the sunshine & cold, preceded by three horse riders for an irratating length of time. Explains the piles of horse dung at one particular place on the path.

Lunch: baked spud.

Entertainment: Money Box waffling on about the bollox from Wednesday

But at least it got back to the 31st of July 2019 without much problem unlike this morning.

More "gardening" done: lopping more stuff off the apple tree.

Shopping trip to Morrisons done dusted washed dried sanitised & put away since I won't be in the mood for it on Monday.

Entertainment: "The Atom & Us" on PBS, followed by "Broken Arrows" Parts I & II.

Dr Who. Well that was much better than expected.

Well there's a thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star_Beast_(novel)

I thought it seemed familiar.

Maigret. S3 E7 "The Dirty House" (1962).

Thing about Concord(e) on 4+1.

Bits of Terminator.

Yet more of the interminable Dawkins "The ancestor's tale" book. Feck me 75 pages to go. I've nearly lost the will to live.

More Terminator.

Maybe a little of Death Wish III.

[NickFitz]

Lunch: sausage and bacon baguette (Cumberland chipolatas, red sauce)

[NickFitz]

The Chinese is back in action after its three week hiatus. Whatever it was they were doing, it didn't include anything that might make them able to get to the phone more quickly, but she answered in the end. My order will be ready in an hour, so they clearly didn't take on an additional chef either

It's a good job they make such excellent food - though I suppose that's also the reason they always seem to be so busy

[NickFitz]

The Chinese is back in action after its three week hiatus. Whatever it was they were doing, it didn't include anything that might make them able to get to the phone more quickly, but she answered in the end. My order will be ready in an hour, so they clearly didn't take on an additional chef either

It's a good job they make such excellent food - though I suppose that's also the reason they always seem to be so busy

Very nice, as usual

The place seemed unchanged, so I still don't know why they were closed - maybe it was just for a holiday

[NickFitz]

The usual wildlife stuff, including Monkey Life, was watched during the afternoon and early evening.

And then I resumed reading Pax, in which Pompeii and Herculaneum have just come to an unpleasant end

Not sure yet if the mild lurgy has cleared up, or if taking it easy just means I didn't feel it so much. Early night now, as it can't do any harm

Goodnight all

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning.

Sunday.

Grey.

Misty.

Sunless.

Drizzly.

Damp.

Dreary.

Chilly in here at 11.8 deg, 11 deg in the kitchen, 9 deg in the leanto, 5 deg in the salting house.

1013 mBar, 29.913 in Hg, 759.8 Torr, 14.692 psi, (down from 1018 last night), 73% RH (GDR hair), 61% RH (Lidl electric).

Meanwhile on the 31st of July 2019 WTFH was misidentifying a vintage 1929 6 litre Bentley Special as a 4.5 litre blower Bentley, all due to a wandering dog.

Freecell score: dire. running average: 86%.

Lunch: baked spud etc.

Entertainment: TWTW.

Freecell score: 89%, running average: 86%.

Tea: spag bol penultimate portion.

Entertainment: STOS S1 E28 "City on the Edge of Forever". Making stuff out of stone knives & bearskins to slow down a tricorder.

The Secret Genius of Modern life: the Dyson Vac. <click> That's quite enough of that. The favourite discard at your local amenity site: the unfixable Dyson.

Last bit of "Wyatt Earp (1994)".

"The Medusa Touch (1978)" with that Welsh chap Jenkins from Pontrhydyfen. A prediction of 9/11 from 1978. From a Peter van Greenaway novel.

NASA's Unexplained Files on quest: more bollox: Apollo 17 flying foam. Lost blanket from the ISS. Geysers on a moon of Saturn. Stuff travelling faster than light in a Hubble image. Odd markings on the surface of Mars. A "hole" in the sun. Are we being watched? The Truth is Out There. Trust No One. etc.

[NickFitz]

Morning denizens

After a frosty night, it's a cloudy day, and will continue so with rain likely this evening. Currently 2°C but the cloud and, presumably, a warm front moving in mean it will continue to get warmer even into the night, reaching 6° by midnight. The barometers are down a bit at 1004/1012mB