November 28, 2018

$16.50 win!



Nice piece by Calvin Trillin in the online New Yorker: Nearby and Familiar.

November 25, 2018

Green Book was good. Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali sell this movie.

November 24, 2018

They were emus. Nearly six feet tall, typically seventy-five pounds, these flightless birds stand beside the kangaroo on Australia’s coat of arms as a symbol of this otherworldly continent at the bottom of the globe. Emus seem part bird and part mammal, with a little dinosaur thrown in. Shaggy, twin-shafted brown feathers hang from the rounded torso like hair. A long black neck periscopes up from the body, ending in a gooselike beak. The wings are mere stumps, and stick out from the body like comical afterthoughts. But on their strong, backwards-bending legs, emus can run forty miles an hour — and sever fencing wire, or break a neck, with a single kick.

At the sight of them, a shock leapt from the top of my head down my spine. I’d never been so close to this large a wild animal before — much less while alone, on a foreign continent. I was not so much afraid as I was dazzled. I froze, caught by their grace and power and strangeness, as they lifted their long, scaly legs and folded their huge dinosaurian toes, then set them down again. Balletically dipping their necks into an S-shape as they picked at the grass, they walked past me, and then over the ridge. Finally their haystack-like bodies blended into the brown, rounded forms of the wintering bushes, and were gone.

After they left, I felt a shift in my psyche. But I had no idea that I had just caught the first glimpse of a life farther off the beaten path than I had ever imagined. I could not have known it then, but these strange giant birds would grant me the destiny Molly had inspired, and they would repay me a millionfold for my first act of true bravery: leaving all that I loved behind.

Sy Montgomery - How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals



Free Will and Quantum Theory.



Toward the end of his career, having made thousands of martinis, Mr. Rowles said there was a right way to make one.

“My secret is to forget about the vermouth,” he told FT Magazine, a weekly supplement of the British newspaper Financial Times. “I don’t know why people put it in. A bottle of vermouth, you should just open it and look at it.”



From my bartending days and nights, two methods: 1) Wave the bottle over the Gin; 2) Pour Vermouth over the ice, then throw out the Vermouth, leaving a hint on the ice.

Mostly stirred, rarely shaken. Sorry, Mr. Bond.

My parents used to make a batch in a carafe. They called them Martoonis.



Christmas Music Time, the SiriusXM current channels:

Holiday Traditions (Ch. 3)
Holly (Ch. 4)
Hallmark Channel’s 24/7 “Countdown to Christmas” (Ch. 70)
Mannheim Steamroller Channel (Ch. 30)
Radio Hanukkah (Ch. 77)
70s/80s Holidays (Ch. 780)
Rockin’ Xmas (Ch. 781)
Holiday Chill-Out (Ch. 783)
Jazz Holidays (Ch. 784)
Navidad (Ch. 786)



Nice display at the Greenmarket.



Liked the sun on the building.



First Christmas book. Will give it to my brother. I will read it first. Is that wrong?

November 23, 2018

I am always asked to carve. I know how to because of a NYT video "The butcher carves a turkey."



The basics. The video gives you the instruction.



Sides are more important than Turkey. I bought wine and pies.



Real cold yesterday. Reminded of when I took my boys many moons ago and it was freezing. They had a good time for a while then just wanted warmth and food.

November 22, 2018

Happy Thanksgiving!



Wall art, 13th street off of Third Avenue.



9:00am, Channel 11: The March of the Wooden Soldiers. A Thanksgiving tradition.



Mimosas!

November 19, 2018

Sancerre is now my favorite white wine.



My colleague gave me two cans of Spotted Cow from her University of Wisconsin visit. Victory beers for the Giants win yesterday. A real good cream ale.



Moonraker is a mess. Some good things: shots of Venice and Rio, the name Goodhead and Jaws. Space battle reminded me of Thunderball.

November 18, 2018

$40 win!



An okay movie. moves slow at times. Really liked Elizabeth Debicki and Daniel Kaluuya. Elizabeth Debicki seemed really tall, she is 6'2¾".

November 17, 2018

First snow, lots of tie-ups.



Heavy snow coupled with lots of trees with leaves= branches breaking. Union Square Park was closed due to danger.



The Holiday Market has opened.



The Spy Who Loved Me had a great song, Walter Gotell, Barbara Bach,and Richard Kiel , that's it. Kiel is great as Jaws, Gotell was Morzeny in From Russia With Love. I do not like Moore as Bond but I will continue because the other actors sometimes shine.

Movember 15, 2018

Kyma!

November 12, 2018

Finished the Sean Connery James Bond series with You Only Live Twice. Again, a mix of awfulness and some good spots. I liked the Ninja Academy but didn't we see something like that in From Russia With Love? Roald Dahl, a friend of Ian Fleming, penned the screenplay.

My Rankings:
1 From Russia With Love
2 Goldfinger
3 Dr. No
4 Thunderball
5 Diamonds Are Forever
6 You Only Live Twice
7 Never Say Never



Roger Moore, not my favorite Bond. I was a big fan of The Saint. I will plow through them. Also, On Her Majesty's Secret Service will be viewed.



All the Bonds. What about David Niven?

November 10, 2018

$16.50 win!



Diamonds are Forever is okay, I liked Bambi and Thumper and Wint and Kidd.



Wint and Kidd played by Bruce Glover and Putter Smith. Glover is the father of Crispin Glover. Smith is an accomplished Jazz musician.



Lola Larson and Trina Parks as Bambi and Thumper.

November 6, 2018

Vote early and often. The poll site was crowded at 7:30 am.



$15 win!



Never Say Never Again is not a good movie but there are some good moments.  Klaus Maria Brandauer and Barbara Carrera are excellent. Thunderball was the backdrop for the plot.

November 5, 2018

Epix has all the pre-Daniel Craig James Bond movies until December 31st. Just watched Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, and Thunderball. From Russia with Love is my favorite.



Pedro Armendáriz as Kerim Bey:

Not bad for a man who started life breaking chains and bending bars with his teeth in a circus. 

November 4, 2018

Leaves slowly turning colors.



Interesting film, didactic and some really good performances by:  Amandla Stenberg, Russell Hornsby, Anthony Mackie and crossword favorite Issa Rae. Fascinating that the movie theatre was packed, a lot of families with youngsters along. The audience clapped at the end.

November 3, 2018

Gain an hour tonight.



Sunrise on Queens Boulevard.

November 2, 2018

Whoppers! Haven't seen them in years, a favorite childhood candy. A colleague heard my reminiscences and brought these in for me.



Live and Let Die was a mess. A James Bond and Blaxploitation mix. Yet,  Yaphet Kotto and Geoffrey Holder are quite good.