TV - Foyle's War: Broken Souls

This is truly great TV. Truly. Love this series, and coming to the 2nd of the last episode ever. Wonderfully written, shot, costumed and acted, this is a tour de force. Everyone is fantastic, but I especially love Michael Kitchen. What an incredible actor!

This was such a sad episode. You knew the doc was guilty, but you were wishing so badly that it wasn't him. The look on Foyle's face at the cafe at the end just says it all.

Plot: Doctor at the psych hospital gets killed, and the doctor playing chess with Foyle is the main suspect. Turns out it's the head doc, who didn't want his affair with a patient's wife uncovered, and wanted his love letter back from the blackmailer. Also, a German POW gets killed while escaping from the camp. He'd been day working at a woman's farm, but the husband had returned, and was angry and jealous. Turns out it was the chess doctor, in a susceptible frame of mind, in a completely random encounter.

Salon Haircut

Took a chance, nicer, upscale-ier place. Went in and got someone available for a walk-in. Girl had only been doing hair for 2 years, so little nervous, but she did a great job. The ends are perfect, and cut is expert. Only gripe is that there could have been more layering, it has somewhat of a mullet feel - beautiful layering to my chin, then a straight dropoff to the ends. We'll see.

Salon over by the Hacienda movie theater.

Destinos - Editing

Started the long process of editing out all the long silences, repetitions, etc from the audio on Audacity. Very good exercise too.

Book - The Shape of Water

Excellent book! Really fun and easy to read, quick, acerbic wit and fun tongue-in-cheek snappy lines. Translation little off, I could tell in places where the translation was word-for-word, and should have been given a different English phrase altogether, but minor quibbles - not enough to distract from the overall work.

Really liking the Montalbano character.

Drinks with Andy and Evelyn

Continuing our efforts to keep touch with the neighbors, invited Frank's brother and his wife over. It was somewhat sad, feeling Frank's absence, but they're holding up well, and getting a lot of support from his close friends in taking care of his business and affairs. Good people with good hearts. Not much in common, but had a good time chatting about general stuff.

Playing Tourist Over Wknd

Little bro & girlfriend up for concert & sightseeing. Not sure about these people. The minute they got to our house Fri afternoon, they were fighting outside on my sidewalk. Great sign of things to come this wknd, I wondered.

Anyway, staved off any time they may have had for mischief by exhausting them running all over the place w/ the obligatory sights - GG Bridge, Pier 39 & the 3 remaining seals, Chinatown, Union Sq, surroundings & Cheesecake Fac, North Beach, Twin Peaks (fog), MLK memorial. These kids today - they actually were shruggy & chuckling that they didn't read !? LMAO - dragged them to CityLights anyway and TWO museums MOMA (they were interested in the Frieda exhibit - kinda) and Asian (Ming dynasty). Nothing better than forcing some culture down their throats - revenge. Excellent.

Book - A Taste For Death

Meh. Just Ok. Needlessly repetitive, which didn't build any interesting psychological points or anticipation. But overall, still a decent read. Two bodies with their throats slashed are found in a church, and because of the prominence of one of them, Dalgliesh is called in.

Woohoo! Now I can start on Camilleri's books!

Book - A Cook's Tour

Really fun, entertaining. Excellent read.

Book - The Nasty Bits

Loved all the articles in the collection - blowhard crap and all. It's really interesting to track his moods of the moment, and it's nice to have a little blurb commentary at the end of the book that provides extra insight into his state of mind at the time. He obviously didn't put as much thought into some of the pieces, as I'm sure he was just cranking out something for some of the mag requests he got. Writing not so good sometimes.

I didn't get some of the moronic reviews on Amazon about the book being disjointed, unconnected, blah, blah. Did they not fucking read? It clearly states IN THE TITLE that it's a collection. He explains some more in the beginning too. Not only that, he adds little follow-up blurbs to the articles at the end. So WTF? LOL. Anyway, I was extremely entertained.

TV - Family Jewels, Oh The Shame

So...there was a marathon, and....ahem....I DVRd it, and....ummm.....I watched it. I admit it. Took me a bit to even decide to write this entry, despite the fact no-one (hopefully) reads my blog. LOL. I was actually entertained by this show. They're very funny, not outright moronic, and I really liked the kids.

Couple More From Orchid Barn

Dropped by McClellan but didn't see anything I really wanted. But can't go away empty-handed, right? So walked on down 2 doors to the Orchid Barn, very nice family-owned place, and bought - only 2! Of course, it could be because I was being reasonable, or that Hubby was there. LOL.

Both are NoIDs, but don't care.

From Blooming Orchids!

From Blooming Orchids!

SFMOMA - Frieda Exhibit

Not my area, nor my preference, but a nice exhibit. Definitely worth a visit. Very packed, which was wonderful to see, on one hand, but on the other hand, annoying as hell trying to appreciate artwork while negotiating the crowds. Will return during the week.

The exhibit was a comprehensive representation of her overall work. There were over 40 pieces, I think, along with numerous photos, a separate section on her stay in SF, and even a short home video. Many, many self-portraits - understandable, considering her setbacks. The Mexicano-pueblo indigenous style that she was so fiercely proud of is not as appealing to me as original Aztecan-Mayan archaeological works, which I appreciate. But both Hubby and I can appreciate the emotions that's practically flung on the canvas. Raw expressiveness is dramatically evident in her depictions of her miscarriage and her brace, but the one that left the most impression on us was "Two Friedas", which was also a large scale painting.

Prompted us to rent the movie, which was just ok.

Smoothies at Ron's

What a nice guy. Invited over for a chat after my work was over (market close) and to look at his new landscaping. Luci's getting interested in orchids, and they'd bought a bunch while vacationing in Hawaii, so they were interested in checking out my collection. Glad I've cleaned everything up and repotted stuff, so it'll be nice to show it off.

TV - Inspector Lewis

Trying REALLY really hard to like this. The plots are ok. But not working for me in general. Lewis just can't drive a show. Buuuummmer!! I don't see the same kind of chemistry with this new duo.

The sidekick doesn't look so much sullen as tired, bored of being there and just all around unremarkable. He's the educated one, a la Morse?, and it would have been nice to present the kid as Morse-as-a-young-man thing. If that's what they're trying to do, they're failing miserably. There's none of Morse's fire in him, none of that puzzle-solving desire that drove him, how he's curious about the work even though he's a reluctant copper. Colin Dexter still made his cameos in both shows I saw, so he must still be advising, so???

Disappointing.

Today's Catnip - Pixie Rolls Off

Kitties that are not so graceful. Pixie sleeping on the sofa back next to me, and accidentally rolled off. Luckily onto the sofa seat side and not the floor. She was just adorable - she looked confused, gave a little meow?, thought about it a bit more, then got back on the sofa back, gave a defiant little meow, and there she is, napping away again. LOL.

And, while writing all this, Kayla is very comfortably stretched out on my lap.

Frank's Memorial

A very nice service and wake for him this afternoon. The Catholic service was thankfully cut short, and while against my preferences, was glad to put in an appearance out of respect for his family, all of whom are so nice and warm. What a big loss, he was such a sweet man.

My friend P's cousin had a stillborn last week, and the memorial was Wed. How awful. Sadness all around.

Book - Kitchen Confidential

What an absolutely fun and hilarious read! This guy is a riot, like his writing style a lot. Shoot, wish I'd gotten his other books ready to keep reading, I feel strangely bereft now I've finished the book, and need more of his stories immediately!

Remember seeing him on a TV program, he was in Greece somewhere, and he was just unbelievably freaking hilarious. Will go look up his reruns.

Book Club - Where Are The Children?

Ok meeting, but I'm getting tired of the continual talk that veers to mental illness, pedophilia, and psychopaths. If they don't widen their discussions, I'll have to drop out.

I really dislike Mary Higgins Clark, but I'm a good sport, so I read it anyway. The story was ok, and the kind of crime little discussed at the time it was written. But the overall plot was weak, there was no character development for the lunatic stalker, and I wanted to punch the "heroine" myself. Forget about figuring out what the hubby was. She couldn't figure out why she was out like a light every night, and always felt logy and was always "so tired"? I'd know my body enough to know something was funky. And the overblown prose and overwrought drama really irritates me no end.

Sad Night

Firefighters and cops and lights, so went out up the street to find out what happened. Apparently Frank passed last night, and his friends just found him. How very sad, he seemed such a nice guy, we never really got to know him. Kept meaning to invite him over, too late now.