Paul Meets Amy

\Queensland Rail

Seein' the Pope

Trippin' Out “ This is truly a milestone week for me. I've been using all my spare time, which is to say all my time, getting MoSup ready for her visit to see the new Pope.  Since telephone rates from Europe are exorbitant, and since—as she pointed out to her sister—we have never gone a single day in our 82 years of marriage without talking to each other, I needed a plan..  I got the bright idea to polish up my 7 year-old Acer Aspire notebook, and harness its powerful Intel Atom CPU NC70 @1.608Hz and 93.38 GB of available memory—and  10" display— to power Skype.  I ain't never used Skype before, but all my kids use it (on their fancy Apples) to interface with each other.  I down loaded and installed it, and now what?  Shit.  I'll deal with that later. Next thing I had to set up her e-mail, because JFC, can;t be missing those gardening tips and sewing machine projects.  Iit's been years since I set up her Verizon e-mail, and none of the passwords or account names are working.   I'll have to call Verizon and find out WTF her e-mail particulars are.. Shit.I'll deal with that later. Of course the first thing I  had to do is sanitize the thing.  It's been so long since I used it on road trips that, you know, some stuff might have gotten on there.  What happens if Pope Francis admires her notebook, and asks to see it?  And he pushes some wrong keys and up pops Paris Hilton in sporting mode?  Or  her plane is hijacked,  And the Islamos something like  this?  I did a full scrub, a full defrag and a full everything., then dabbed some holy water on it.  It's still slow as shit, so I'll be interested to see how it handles Skype. This is where the milestone comes in.  My grandaughter (4ys) got for Christmans what I thought was a toy I-Pad.  Oh no.  The sumbittch has Skype on it. She and the princess are coming tomorrow to show me --SHOW US! how to use it.   I may look like I'm only 75, but I damn sure feel like 76 (after a certain point, nothing more changes.  What's gonna shrink has done shrunk, and what gonna ache, does, always.  But Hey!  Soon as she leaves, it's PAR-TAY TIME. sigh ”

Jane Tennison

At The Cinema                            Best Series Ever (Confirmed) Salesmen will understand.  When I find something that excites me, I am compelled to tell people about it.  I'm also  naturally prone to over-hyperbole stuff, even afterjust  a short test drive. This sometime comes  back to bite me in the ass, like when I waxed all flowery about LILLIE: "This BBC series is magnificent on several levels, not the least of which is it's intimate look at Victorian Age London ..." Problem was, I had only watched  a few episodes when I wrote that. When the action  moved from London to America, the whole thing fell apart.  The characters were  boring and not believable;  the sets cheesy.  I immediately jumped ship, but felt guilty at having led others into a trap.  An event that would naturally send them cursing and to pretermit future recommendations.  Same thing happened with SPOOKS.  Almost immediately calling it "the best television action series ever made," it went into full blown, anti George Bush BBC liberal mode.  I have since skipped several episodes, but am recently  rewarded when Adam Carter gets blown away.  The BBC is no more to be trusted than NBC. But, Prime Suspect.   In April I called it the "Best Series Ever."  I just watched the 15th, and last episode, and it is all of that.  Confirmed with a ++. Premiering in December 1992, it lasted until October 2006.  Helen Mirren's 30 year career as Detective Inspector Jane Tennison evolves, almost in real time.  In those 14 years she ages gracefully, but noticeably.  I fell in love with Mirren, and this week's public rant fits perfectly Jane Tennison, who by the end had  become an alcoholic.  Bravo. Best Ever. By the bye, it happened that just afterwards I watched what I thought was the 81st, and last, episode of Midsomer Murder.   There was no great acting here, nor brilliant screen play.  And it was decidedly  about showing the worst side of Britain's landed gentry. But it was like chicken soup, or a sail on the bay.  Something to exorcise demons after a day of too much Obama. I just now discovered it has continued,  with retired Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby's  cousin, John,  taking over for him.  That series in not in the NetFlix line-up, but I assume it will pop up soon.

Thank the Hollywood News Machine

Accomplices

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