Tonight's major motion picture premiere was Valkyrie (2008) in which Tom Cruise leads (in the lead actor sense, not in terms of the coup's chain of command) the plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944. I chose this because it's been in the queue for ages, probably three years or more, and reading Blitzed reminded me of it. In fact, I started watching it one time, but wasn't in the mood for machinations that evening and abandoned it after a short while to switch to something else instead. Being in the appropriate mood tonight, I thought it was a very good account of the matter, given the usual provisos about the historical accuracy of "based on a true story films", which I've decided to ignore until the next time they're about something I know about, when they'll probably annoy me again
And after that, a rewatch of The Siege (1998) in which the response of the USA to attacks by Islamic terrorists gets out of hand. This one's quite prescient, because it involves the FBI (aka Denzel Washington) stepping up and stopping the US Army and the intelligence services from doing disgraceful and unconstitutional things in the name of "protecting America". In reality, of course, after 9/11 they did exactly the things seen in the film, but mostly outside the USA and in places where they couldn't be seen, and were thus never held to account for them
And then a further episode of S4 of The Wire
Goodnight all
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Previously on "test please delete"
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Tea: rack of ribs (with the honey-based BBQ sauce) and chips
Accompanied by Trucking Hell, where I've finally made it to S8
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Morning all
Cloudy and damp. It was very windy earlier but that seems to have died down. This morning's rain is not forecast to return. Currently 13 degrees with a high of 16 expected. Barometer up to 1019 mBar.
Rental referencing shenanigans ongoing with the vetting company claiming that scraping 12 months of bank data then requesting six months of statements for the same account didn't prove I'd paid my rent on time, so I could I upload 6 months of bank statements?
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Darn it. Another neighbour passed away. Must have been in her 50s at most. Will miss the little xmas street parties she had in her front garden.
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Originally posted by NickFitz View PostMorning denizens
Another cloudy start, and a windy day due with a chance of showers. It's 11°C now and only getting to 16°, but the barometers are bouncing back at 1007/1015mB
I awoke to an email from my siblings, who had a meeting yesterday with a property developer who's trying, as so many have in the past, to buy up chunks of the extensive back gardens at our parents' house and those of their neighbours. I'm dubious about the scheme; none of the previous schemes have got off the ground, but now everybody's older, some of those who stood firm in the past seem a bit more inclined to sell, or have died in my parents' case. Anyway, keeping an empty house for maybe two or three years in the vague hope of a bit more money at the end seems foolishly optimistic to me. If his plan has legs, he should find it easy to buy the place off us at the current market price and keep the extra money for himself once it comes to fruition. If he doesn't bite our hand off at that prospect, it says a lot about the plan, I reckon
There was also another mad scheme to build a house next to the canal & the church at the other end of the road after Ken died having claimed squatter's rights on the land behind Llantwit Cottage.
None of them came to anything, mostly due to access problems and/or not crossing the right palms with silver in the approved fashion in this locale.
As in Haycock* the then chairman of the education committee asking someone I met "Do you have anything for me, my boy?" when applied for a teaching post. The something being a nice bung in a brown envelope of course.
*Lord Engine Driver is long dead: he was booted into the HoL by Harold Wilson when said Engine Driver wanted to become an MP.
Last edited by DoctorStrangelove; Yesterday, 15:31.
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Morning all
TFIF, etc.
CBS on the perambulation earlier, which covered a reasonable 7.65km. Looks like the blue skies may be drifting away as clouds are coming in from the north.
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Morning denizens
Another cloudy start, and a windy day due with a chance of showers. It's 11°C now and only getting to 16°, but the barometers are bouncing back at 1007/1015mB
I awoke to an email from my siblings, who had a meeting yesterday with a property developer who's trying, as so many have in the past, to buy up chunks of the extensive back gardens at our parents' house and those of their neighbours. I'm dubious about the scheme; none of the previous schemes have got off the ground, but now everybody's older, some of those who stood firm in the past seem a bit more inclined to sell, or have died in my parents' case. Anyway, keeping an empty house for maybe two or three years in the vague hope of a bit more money at the end seems foolishly optimistic to me. If his plan has legs, he should find it easy to buy the place off us at the current market price and keep the extra money for himself once it comes to fruition. If he doesn't bite our hand off at that prospect, it says a lot about the plan, I reckon
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Morning.
Friday.
Dry.
Wanly sunny.
Chilly in here at 16.9 deg, 18 deg in the kitchen, 16.5 deg in the leanto.
1017 and a tad mBar, 30.03 in Hg, 762.96 Torr, 14.753 psi (up from 1014.5 last night), 78% RH (GDR hair), 71% RH (Lidl electric).
Woke unbidden at 06:10, read book, sleep did not return.
Meanwhile on the 4th of October 2019 WTFH was in discomfort, it was dry & breezy around here, NF railed a little against the 0.1% which seems rather restrained.
Shedload of books donated to Oxfam Swansea. Unfortunately half a shedload came back with me plus the Better Call Saul boxset.
Lunch: scrambled egg etc.
Entertainment: the 38 bus back. TWATO. The BM theft thing at 13:45.
Veronica Mars S2 E22 "Not Pictured". EOS. S3 starts on Monday. . The various dangling threads were concluded in a decent enough way.
Some vaccing of the leanto, kitchen, and living room.
Tea: soup etc. Couldn't be arsed to do anything else.
Entertainment: UFO bollox on Blaze. The ancient aliens greek american was doing one of his spiels at Vasquez Rocks if I'm not very much mistaken. I almost expected to see that Zeity chap behind him.
No Iolo Williams showing us bits of nature this week: postponed for some match or other.
Freecell score: abysmal.
Bits of the thing about pyramids.
The Hoover Dam: building the impossible. Those mussels do a fine job of blocking cooling pipes.
Cursed Treasures on Blaze. More bollox.
Last edited by DoctorStrangelove; Yesterday, 21:48.
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Nice to hear some good news from New York
Tonight's viewing was, of course, an old Police Interceptors
And in Blitzed, things are going even worse on both Eastern and Western fronts - but after the von Stauffenberg assassination attempt, the Führer has been treated for some slight injuries to his ears with a 10% solution of cocaine hydrochloride, applied directly to his nasal membranes with swabs by the ENT specialist a couple of times a day, and is feeling on top of the world, albeit totally divorced from the reality of what's going on in it
Friday tomorrow!
Goodnight all
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Tea: pork shoulder steaks with chips and beans
Getting some blue sky again now. Unclear whether it'll last, though
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The sun came out for a while followed by a very enthusiastic rain shower that came down at a rather jaunty angle. Now the sun seems to have reappeared.
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I should stop being optimistic about the weather. Several showers, including a couple of very heavy ones, this afternoon. It's grey now
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Lunch has been a bit of shepherd's pie
There's been rain off and on this morning but it's turned sunny and rather Simpsonesque now. Don't know if that will last though
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Morning all
Cloudy but quite bright. Dry at present but rain forecast around lunchtime and early evening. Currently 14 degrees with a high of 17 expected. Barometer steady.
There is an electrician in, to fit an isolation switch for the cooker. The landlady is also here, fussing about nonsense. I've retreated to the safety of my office rather than make small talk.
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