November 26, 2017

I really like the timer function. Great for cooking.



My grammar school alumni game had a final game last night. Probably my last B-Ball game. I was the oldest guy on the court by several decades. My team won.



Bought this with remaining gift card balance and a 25% off coupon. Looks interesting.

November 25, 2017

Because I know how to carve, I am always asked.



This pothole wiped out my front passenger side front tire. I called 311 after the online version didn't recognize the address. I had pictures but no one wanted them. NYC will only reimburse if they had prior notice. Well, now they do. 311 system is rather disappointing.



Books for Christmas gifts with 20% off coupons on top of online discounts except the New Orleans book which was 40% off and an extra 10%.



As gifts to myself and my sons, Echo and Echo Dot. Will upgrade to Amazon Music unlimited shortly. Pretty easy to set up. Will use it for music and alarm clock for now. My Prime membership gives me quite a bit of music already, Listening to the Christmas channel right now.



LADY ANNE: I would I knew thy heart.
GLOUCESTER: 'Tis figured in my tongue.
LADY ANNE: I fear me both are false.
GLOUCESTER: Then never man was true.
LADY ANNE: Well, well, put up your sword.
GLOUCESTER: Say, then, my peace is made.
LADY ANNE: That shall you know hereafter.
GLOUCESTER: But shall I live in hope?
LADY ANNE: All men, I hope, live so.
GLOUCESTER: Vouchsafe to wear this ring.
LADY ANNE: To take is not to give.

Richard III, Act I, scene II.

November 24, 2017

Benedict Cumberbatch makes a fine Richard III:

Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity:
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.



Thanksgiving music included A$AP Rocky's "F**kin' Problems" and Fetty Wap's "679."

November 23, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving !



Turks !



Spectrum was down since last night. Luckily, I had the DVDs of The Hollow Crown available.



BBC-A has the original Star Trek on all day

November 22, 2017

I always knew the Blueberries were healthy.



March of the Wooden Soldiers on tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. on channel 11, followed by eight The Honeymooners then repeated at 3 p.m.



Today is pie pick-up day. First stop is Momofuku Milk Bar for some Crack Pie, then on to the Greenmarket for Sweet Potato and Apple Pies.



And, Brooklyn Blackout cupcakes.

November 20, 2017

My memory: "Maybe one day we shall be glad to remember even these hardships."

November 19, 2017

Finally tried it. A real nice cream ale.



Saw the movie, now I have to read the book which is in my collection. A real nice piece of work. A cousin of mine was the inspiration for one of the characters. Many young adults at an almost full 7;50 pm screening. Applause at the end, which you don't hear very often.

November 18, 2017

Grandma Pie !



Sirius XM started Christmas music on November 1st with two channels. Christmas music already playing in stores like Starbucks. I won't partake until after Thanksgiving.

Holly (channel 70, Nov. 1-Dec. 30)

Holiday Traditions (channel 4, Nov. 1-Dec. 30)

Holiday Pops (channel 76, Dec. 24-Dec. 26)

Country Christmas (channel 58, Dec. 4-Dec. 26)

Navidad (channel 785, Nov. 27-Jan. 7)

Holiday Soul (channel 49, Dec. 4-Dec. 26)

Radio Hanukkah (channel 77, Dec. 12-Dec. 21)

New Year’s Nation (channel 4, Dec. 30-Jan. 2)



Summer with Monika playing at TCM on-demand. Interesting view of life in Sweden.

November 16, 2017

Perfect score !



Nice place in Queens. Real old-school. Robiola Pizza was excellent.

November 14, 2017

The Blue Wizards: Alatar and Pallando. How come I never heard of them ? I even slogged through The Silmarillion. Oh wait, it was in this essay: The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age. That short essay states the three were Curunír (Saruman), Mithrandir (Gandalf), and Radagast, and there were "others of the Istari who went into the east of Middle-earth, and do not come into these tales." They are later named in Unfinished Tales.

November 13, 2017

New Glarus Spotted Cow from Wisconsin is not shipped out of state. A co-worker who visited her son at the University of Wisconsin brought it back for me.



Only in Wisconsin !

November 12, 2017

Deborah Kerr as Portia in Julius Caesar. Great lines:

PORTIA:
Is it excepted I should know no secrets
That appertain to you? Am I yourself
But, as it were, in sort or limitation,
To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed,
And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs
Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,
Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife.

Julius Caesar → Act 2, Scene 1



She was great in From Here to Eternity. Her recollection of the Halona Cove scene:
[about her famous romantic beach scene with Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity (1953)] "It had to have rocks in the distance, so the water could strike the boulders and shoot upward -- all very symbolic. The scene turned out to be deeply affecting on film, but, God, it was no fun to shoot. We had to time it for the waves, so that at just the right moment a big one would come up and wash over us. Most of the waves came up only to our feet, but we needed one that would come up all the way. We were like surfers, waiting for the perfect waves. Between each take, we had to do a total cleanup. When it was all over, we had four tons of grit in our mouths--and other places."

November 11, 2017

Next year is the 100th Anniversary of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect.



My trip to the Whitney museum was fine until I was told that George Bellows' Dempsey and Firpo was no longer on display.



Unusual settings.



Lots of Hopper including : A Woman in the Sun.



Jimmie Durham's exhibition was thought provoking.



Criterion collection was 60% off at Barnes and Noble. Bought The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Michael Hordern is a terrific Ashe.



Richard Burton gives an understated yet powerful performance as Alec Leamas.




Thanksgiving on the way, cranberries abound.

November 10, 2017

Today is Veterans Day observed. Lots of Vets in my family.

November 9, 2017

Clock and Water Tower, 13th street.



Always see long lines at this Dim Sum only restaurant. Wait on Election day was only a 1/2 hour. They take your phone # and call when you are up.



The best Pork Rolls I ever had.

November 7, 2017

Vote early and often !



What the Flock ? Sitting close together, or staging, helps protect against predators.



They give you a sticker for voting.



I really wanted a lollipop, to make up for it I made Bloody Marys.