My computer died yesterday. It wasn't pretty. As you might imagine, I am putting all my data on the new pal the, HP Omni Desktop in Gray Wood. Ugly! But I am sure we will be fast friends soon. So, I hope I will be posting regularly, but the next few days could be sporadic.
I usually wait until December to watch this movie, but I was having a little fun with the AI photo editing features on my new phone, and I found myself playing with Joey's recent photos. As you see, I managed to turn him into William Powell. Well, The Thin Man, just happens to be one of my favorite films, so this week's movie of the week kinda chose itself. It also fits that we are pretty much at the half way point of the year, so if you are already longing for cold weather, delicious holiday foods, and sparkling Christmas trees, this movie fills those needs as well, and on top of delivering all that, it's an awesome murder mystery. But goodness, was there ever better banter in film, then that of Nice and Nora Charles? Even Asta, their dog, seemed to know it was true! This is also a love story. I am not giving you anything beyond that regarding the storyline, because it's great to just let it unfold.
PS... Read the book.
Honestly, Myrna Loy might just have been who I looked to for style,
Dionysus: Have you e'er be struck by a sudden urge for soup?
Heracles: Yes! Zeus-a-mercy, yes, ten thousand times."
~Aristophanes
The Frogs
Ahh... summer, and summer soups! Above you see the ingredients for my homemade Gazpacho soup. I got so good at making it, that I could do it in my sleep! But that was many moons ago. In fact, I believe it was 2019 give or take. The counter you see was in my old house. It was a galley kitchen, but not like the one I have now. Ugh, I can't deal with how small it is, so hubby does most of the cooking now, which is why I have no idea how I made it! That's a bad thing. Gazpacho is such an easy soup to make, and it can be made to the particular desire of whose making it! Avocado Gazpacho, Watermelon Gazpacho, Traditional Gazpacho, you name it, and there is a version that lift your spirits! But alas, cooking is not always like riding a bicycle. Sometimes you need to refer to the recipes, to remember that culinary magic you once made. So, here are a few recipes for chilled soups I found here and there, and all of them sound terrific! I also found a couple recipes for a cold dessert type soup. They would both be good with some crusty sourdough bread!
"The baby bat screamed out in fright, turn on the dark, I'm afraid of the light."
~Shel Silverstein
Yep, they're home! The Mexican Free-tailed bats have returned to the Franklin boulevard Bridge! It's early in their arrival, so there weren't many, yet there were enough for me to believe it's going to be an amazing bat season, fingers crossed! I was very pleased with the results of the camera on my new phone. It is every bit as good as the reviews said it was! I need a lot more practice, but these photos are the clearest I believe to date! I practiced a bit with the video feature, but haven't had a chance to edit what I got. I hope to go out again tonight, but frankly I am still rubbing Hydrocortisone on my many bites, and man is it painful, but I have been waiting a long time for the return of my friends, so bugs or no bugs, I am going to be on the Franklin Bridge a lot this summer! Jeepers, can you believe it, I was on the bridge last Thursday, and here it is, Monday, and I am still finding new bites. My doctor said bites like this can take up to 2 weeks to fully show up!
I'm taking a few days off. No recipe. No odd political word of the week on Sunday. I want a little time reading, and birding, and batting. Yes, the bats are back, and I will have photos on Monday! We went out Thursday night and enjoyed a really nice night of the first flying of the bats for 2026! As a result I have 25 individual bites from assorted creatures, mosquitos in particular, which need treating.
OUCH!
So, enjoy your Saturday and Sunday! See you in a couple days.
Amelia: Do you know what Napoleon gave Josephine as a wedding present? It was a gold locket. And on the inside he made an inscription, 'Destiny'.
Amelia ( Catherine Zeta-Jones)
The Terminal
2004
The Terminal, was another film I had never seen before, but the other night I did, and it was just what I needed, a story with heart, humor and love that made me believe that the world can still be a good place to live in. Tom Hanks makes those kinds of movies! I mean, have you ever walked out of one of his films hating his guts? So what the HELL with folks on the right throwing shade, or out right accusing him of deeply awful conspiracy theories? He was even bashed for, he and his wife, donating antibodies during the Covid-19 crisis. The republicans determination to hate anyone on the left who is willing to help in times of trouble, are exactly what leads to the kind of discouragement that causes me to run to movies, like this one, for the relief and clarity it gives me.
The movie is directed by Steven Spielberg, and features, Stanly Tucci, and Catherine-Zeta Jones. I have always loved Steven Spielberg films, but it's the movies he's made that featured reality that I always appreciated the most. The Color Purple, Catch Me If You Can, The Post, there are so many great ones, I can't name them all! I remember completely pissing off a friend of mine, years ago, when she mentioned that Spielberg was her favorite director. I shared (I shouldn't have shared ) that I wasn't that impressed with him anymore because I felt his movies had become mostly cookie cutter sci-fi! Well, BOOM! A causal observation, had just given birth to my having NO taste in movies or directors! In fact I didn't understand art of any kind! LOL. Eventually her odd anger wore off, and we didn't discuss films ever again. Shrug. Life.
I haven't seen my old friend in a long time. I am not sure if it was the great Spielberg debate, or if, as happens in life, we simply drifted apart, like characters from a really good Spielberg movie. But as I watched, The Terminal, I wondered to myself how she would have felt about this amazing, heartfelt story. There's zero sci-fi involved, but it is a Steven Spielberg film that delivers all the observations of life, with none of the negativity, because even the "villains" in the film come from a place the audience can understand and accept without the urge to see them ran over by a bus. I'll take that over all the pearl clutching and hand ringing that seems to permeate life in 2026.
