Monday, February 27, 2017

February 27, 2017



Warren Beatty was given the wrong envelope. I was asleep before the snafu. I did like Viola Davis' speech. Didn't see La La Land or Moonlight. The whole thing took too long.



CBS aired one episode of The Good Fight, the rest is only available on CBS All Access. They did the same thing for a Big Brother session. I don't know if I want to spend $5.99 just to watch The Good Fight which looked pretty interesting.

Sunday, February 26, 2017

February 26, 2017



Perfect score !



Octopi at Zenon Taverna in Astoria. Had the Saganaki which was outstanding. The saganaki cheese is flambéed at the table (sometimes with a shout of "opa!"), and the flames then extinguished with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Discussion on Rex Parker's blog: Octopi or octopuses or even octopodes ? From today's crossword: 78D - Sea creatures with remarkably high I.Q.s : OCTOPI. You like tomato and I like tomahto Potato, potahto, Tomato, tomahto: Let's call the whole thing off.

"“Mischief and craft are plainly seen to be characteristics of this creature.” --Claudius Aelianus.



Saturday, February 25, 2017

February 25, 2017



Using my $110 Amazon gift certificate and trying out Amazon Prime. All arrived in two days except Agent Zigzag and a Laura Nyro CD. They arrive Monday. I e-mailed Amazon customer service, they apologized and gave me one more month of Prime. That makes up for the delay.



Amazon Prime has books for free and the Kindle reader app for PCs and I-Phones is free too. I downloaded the free The Fellowship of the Ring and 1984. I like to read the printed version but the digital one can be searched in seconds.

Friday, February 24, 2017

February 24, 2017



Paid my last car payment today. It is now all mine. Love Bluetooth phone connection through the radio, hands off the cell phone while driving. I also set up a connection to play my I-Pod. I kept the SiriusXM connection, overpriced but Soul Town and Jazz stations make it worth it.



OTHER MINDS: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness. Next on the reading list.



Waiting on this order, Laura Nyro: Live at Carnegie Hall.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

February 23, 2017



I had two light sockets with broken light bulb metal stuck in the fixture. I tried many things from potatoes to needle-nose pliers. Nothing worked. Then I found Alden 9207P Ease-out Standard Light Bulb Extractor Kit. Worked like a charm. Only $6.59 (shipping almost as much.)



NYS Tax refund arrived. Fast for them.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

February 21, 2017



Had a 20% coupon, this looked like a good one. Love the title: The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks who plotted Hitler's defeat.

Monday, February 20, 2017

February 20, 2017



I'm glad for the day off.



Now North by Northwest is on TCM on-demand. I can watch what I missed the other day. Of course, when Thornhill is at Chicago airport, he goes to the Northwest Airlines area.

Roger Thornhill: In the world of advertising, there's no such thing as a lie. There's only expedient exaggeration.



as "The Professor" put him in good stead for spymaster Alexander Waverly on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.




From Russia with Love owes many things to North by Northwest including the Grey Suit and the helicopter scene.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

February 19, 2017



I've had the DVD of Django Unchained for several years now. Finally watched it last night. is amazing. Lots of cameos: as Big Daddy, as U.S. Marshall Gill Tatum, as Son of a Gunfighter, as Old Man Carrucan, as Bag Head #2, and as The LeQuint Dickey Mining Co. Employee /Robert (Bag Head.)




Watched the last hour of North by Northwest. Loved this line:

Roger Thornhill: Now you listen to me, I'm an advertising man, not a red herring. I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don't intend to disappoint them all by getting myself "slightly" killed. 



The real Mt. Rushmore sequences were limited and most scenes were done away from South Dakota: "Alfred Hitchcock's Expedient Exaggerations and the Filming of North by Northwest at Mount Rushmore."



“We’re talking about putting a manifestly irresponsible man on national television.”

Network still packs a punch. Wonder what Paddy Chayefsky would think of today.

in the house.


This is not a psychotic episode. This is a cleansing moment of clarity. I’m imbued, Max.I’m imbued with some special spirit.It’s not a religious feeling. It’s a shocking eruption of great electrical energy.I feel vivid and flashing,as if suddenly I’d been plugged into some great electromagnetic field.I feel connected to all living things.To flowers,birds,all the animals of the worid. And even to some great,unseen, living force.What I think the Hindus call prana.

Prana: In Hindu philosophy including yoga, Indian medicine, and martial arts, prana (प्राण, prāṇa; the Sanskrit word for "life force" or "vital principle") is all cosmic energy, permeating the Universe on all levels. Prana is often referred to as the "life force" or "life energy".

Saturday, February 18, 2017

February 18, 2017



Fed Tax refund came in today. NYS will arrive next week.



$17.50 win. Also $1 from Mega and a free ticket from Take Five.



Friends have recommended Amazon Prime. I signed up for a one year try-out. My boys will enjoy the streaming audio and movies. I will enjoy the free two-day shipping.



Doing a Penne Bay Scallop Shrimp Alfredo dish tonight. I always take off the white, fibrous looking flesh on the side of the bay scallop.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

February 15, 2017



Son's pictures from the Grand Canyon.



Latest gift book. Interesting read.

Monday, February 13, 2017

February 13, 2017


A visit to AMNH, dinosaurs on tap.



Olmec head.



Cuba exhibit.



Twelfth Night.



Stone Cold Creamery Valentine's cake.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

February 12, 2017



Happy Birthday Father Abraham!



Went to Gramercy Farmer and Fish. Crowded, cramped but the service was friendly and attentive. The food was fresh and tasty. The portions were smaller than most other places (one shrimp in Tuna main dish and three oysters in the oyster pan roast.) I will take quality over quantity any time. The Octopus appetizer was great as was the S'mores. Both dishes becoming staples in NYC restaurants.



Going to the¡Cuba! exhibit at AMNH. Looking forward to the Mummies exhibit in March.



Chateau La Tour L'aspic Pauillac Red Bordeaux 2009. When the going gets tough, the tough reach for a good Bordeaux.

Saturday, February 11, 2017

February 11, 2017



Outside The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine.The Peace Fountain depicts the struggle of good and evil. The forces of good, embodied in the figure of the archangel Michael, triumph by decapitating Satan, whose head hangs from one side. The fountain is encircled by small, whimsical animal figures cast in bronze from pieces sculpted by children.



Entrance: The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine.



Enormous size and scope.



The FDNY memorial in the Labor Chapel was originally conceived to honor 12 firefighters killed in 1966, but hundreds of personal notes and trinkets of remembrance have transformed it into a moving tribute to the 343 firefighters killed while trying to save others on September 11, 2001.



Tapestries throughout the post funeral repast location.



Wonder and 365 days of Wonder :Mr. Browne's Precepts by E. J. Palacio are next on the reading list.