FILM
AMC recently presented the 1975 film, Three Days of the Condor, with Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway and Cliff Robertson . It has always been one of my favorite movies. Each time I watch this film I notice something I had not paid much attention to in previous viewings. What struck me this time was that having just watched CNN continue reporting on the BP oil disaster, along with coverage of the Washington Post series "Top Secret America" the film was very timely. The movie gives us a rogue operation within the CIA with scenes set in the lobby of the World Trade Center and a plot based on the demand for oil. Remember the movie was made 35 years ago.
WINE
I recently came across an old and yellowed newspaper clipping from the San Francisco Chronicle. It was written by Herb Caen, the Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the paper who died in 1997. The paragraph was from his daily column and this one was titled My Kind of Monday. He wrote: "I have a new hero: Kermit Lynch, wine merchant, of 935 San Pablo Ave., Albany. His latest elegantly produced
brochure includes this offering:'1962 Romanee St. Vivant (H. Auddifred, shipper). Cloudy, browning garnet. Nothing to the noise but oxidation. Flat and empty on the palate. No character or depth. Way past its prime. $21.50 per bottle. $232 per case.' ... Imagine what it would cost if it were any good ! (No sales to date.)"
CALIFORNIA
It amuses me that Republican candidate for Governor of California, Meg Whitman, will spend upwards to $200,000,000 of her personal fortune to win the election. At the same time she is preaching that we must cut expenses, not raise taxes and tighten our belts to turn the state around. She is a classic example of "Don't do as I do; but do as I preach!" Seems that having wealth does not necessarily mean one will have wisdom.
WEATHER
Reliable sources report that the month of June was the coldest month for the San Francisco Bay area in 40 years, with temperatures consistently below normal. I now understand why the politically correct term "global warming" was changed to "climate change". Now where did I put my extra sweatshirts?
TELEVISION
Not long ago we received our television signal via the roof top antenna. Today we have a choice of cable or dish reception. There is a problem however in that what we receive is crap and what we used to receive was, in my opinion, a wider selection of quality programs. It seems my cable channels are clogged with alleged reality, insipid attempts at comedy, desperate bitches, and countless reruns of the Shawshank Redemption. Amazingly what we once received for free we now pay through the nose to watch in HD. No wonder Netfix is so popular.
READING
Back in early December of 2009 while visiting Bainbridge Island my good friend, Mary Miller, gave me a Michael Connelly novel, The Black Ice, to read and I was hooked. Harry Bosch is the smart ass, laid back, to hell with authority character that reminded me of Clint Eastwood's character, Harry Callahan. Over the next six months I read all 21 novels by Connelly, most revolving around the character, Harry Bosch. On October 5th his next novel, The Reversal, will be released. In the mean time thanks to another close friend, Gerry Donnelly, I am reading the novels of John Lescroart and enjoying another enigmatic character, Dismas Hardy.
AMC recently presented the 1975 film, Three Days of the Condor, with Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway and Cliff Robertson . It has always been one of my favorite movies. Each time I watch this film I notice something I had not paid much attention to in previous viewings. What struck me this time was that having just watched CNN continue reporting on the BP oil disaster, along with coverage of the Washington Post series "Top Secret America" the film was very timely. The movie gives us a rogue operation within the CIA with scenes set in the lobby of the World Trade Center and a plot based on the demand for oil. Remember the movie was made 35 years ago.
WINE
I recently came across an old and yellowed newspaper clipping from the San Francisco Chronicle. It was written by Herb Caen, the Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the paper who died in 1997. The paragraph was from his daily column and this one was titled My Kind of Monday. He wrote: "I have a new hero: Kermit Lynch, wine merchant, of 935 San Pablo Ave., Albany. His latest elegantly produced
brochure includes this offering:'1962 Romanee St. Vivant (H. Auddifred, shipper). Cloudy, browning garnet. Nothing to the noise but oxidation. Flat and empty on the palate. No character or depth. Way past its prime. $21.50 per bottle. $232 per case.' ... Imagine what it would cost if it were any good ! (No sales to date.)"
CALIFORNIA
It amuses me that Republican candidate for Governor of California, Meg Whitman, will spend upwards to $200,000,000 of her personal fortune to win the election. At the same time she is preaching that we must cut expenses, not raise taxes and tighten our belts to turn the state around. She is a classic example of "Don't do as I do; but do as I preach!" Seems that having wealth does not necessarily mean one will have wisdom.
WEATHER
Reliable sources report that the month of June was the coldest month for the San Francisco Bay area in 40 years, with temperatures consistently below normal. I now understand why the politically correct term "global warming" was changed to "climate change". Now where did I put my extra sweatshirts?
TELEVISION
Not long ago we received our television signal via the roof top antenna. Today we have a choice of cable or dish reception. There is a problem however in that what we receive is crap and what we used to receive was, in my opinion, a wider selection of quality programs. It seems my cable channels are clogged with alleged reality, insipid attempts at comedy, desperate bitches, and countless reruns of the Shawshank Redemption. Amazingly what we once received for free we now pay through the nose to watch in HD. No wonder Netfix is so popular.
READING
Back in early December of 2009 while visiting Bainbridge Island my good friend, Mary Miller, gave me a Michael Connelly novel, The Black Ice, to read and I was hooked. Harry Bosch is the smart ass, laid back, to hell with authority character that reminded me of Clint Eastwood's character, Harry Callahan. Over the next six months I read all 21 novels by Connelly, most revolving around the character, Harry Bosch. On October 5th his next novel, The Reversal, will be released. In the mean time thanks to another close friend, Gerry Donnelly, I am reading the novels of John Lescroart and enjoying another enigmatic character, Dismas Hardy.
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