Mastery of the Con

 We're in the 2nd day of our current Polar Vortex.  The high today will be in the mid 20s (F), and, as in past winters when we had long periods of sub-freezing weather, I am climatizing.  While I know it's cold, I'm no longer experiencing the bitter Brrr when I go outside.  As a species, we are quite adaptable, otherwise we would never have survived for so long.  Still, I am looking forward to Spring and the warmer temperatures it will bring.

I had my hair cut yesterday.  Haircuts are one of those things I have always had dislike for, unfortunately I don't like long hair either because it takes more time to maintain.  A simple shampoo and air dry is fine with me.  Having to spend money in order to maintain a certain appearance should not have to be a priority in life.  With prices predicted to rise, I will start giving myself buzz cuts again.

Also, much was accomplished yesterday.  A new pump and filter was bought for the big aquarium.  The overly large pump and filter that sits on a shelf beneath it is going away.  I've always hated having to change the filtering medium.  Its replacement will hang off the back of the tank.  

I also got a 6 mile bike ride in.  That was nice.  In Corsica.  I've done the ride before, but Tacx has updated it.

And I went to see Captain America:  Brave New World.  I liked it at lot, possibly because right now it might not be a bad idea if there was a super hero Democracy could count on. Anthony Mackie does a good job transitioning a character many identify with Chris Evans.  Harrison Ford played against character, which was interesting.  Not all of the reviews have been kind because, in the end, this is still a Marvel movie with a superhero.  I mean, what were these reviewers thinking?  That Marvel might decide to do a version of Jane Eyre?  

As for politics, for the most part, I stayed away form social media, however, what I did see and notice is that certain outlets are beginning to push back and Orangie and his cultists.  I did watch a short clip of Stevie Miller shouting over a correspondent about how much fraud they were finding, shouting over a question about prices and the fact that they were still climbing.  They are getting frustrated.  As I've said countless of times before, he and his cultists have always failed to understand there are both consequences and ramifications to their actions.  For example, they evidently fired essential people who were researching Bird Flu.  These fools, however, don't just terminate the position, they eliminate all information regarding the unemployed individuals, including phone numbers and email addresses, so, when they discover these people are necessary, there's no way to contact them.

And Orangie and Elonia had some sort of love/bro fest on Fox where the only thing they didn't do was canoodle. Even though some think they'll be at each other's throats soon, I'm suspecting they are too enraptured with each other's mastery of the con. 

As far as Super Heroes Go

It's Monday.  Someone from UGI is going to come check out my gas line, not because there's a leak, rather this has more to do with making sure no leaks occur which is why it happens every 4 or 5 years.  I've already told them I have big dogs.  Not everybody likes 180 lbs of dogs.  Some might feel threatened.  I do not doubt that, if someone behaved aggressively towards me, Lily would bite.  Seig?  He'd just punch them out.  He's a Boxer, remember?  A really... big... Boxer.
I went to see "Captain Marvel" last night.  It was good.  Not great.  Different from the other super hero movies the Marvel Studios put out in that, like "Captain America," there were fewer big, action set pieces.   Another thing which made it different was the time period - early 90's - well before Chris Evans, as Steve Rogers, unfurled his naked torso to the world to become my most favoritest super hero of all time.  "Captain Marvel" should have been the lead off film rather than "Iron Man."  Instead, they waited until just before "Endgame," the final film in the 'Infinity War Trilogy.'  Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but you don't wait until this late in the game to bring in the game changer.  Oh, and if you're a Jude Law fan, you do get to see him with his shirt unbuttoned.  Brie keeps her clothes on.

And the Idiot Jerk is handing over his budget to congress today.  Ooohhh.  In addition to the monies he wants for his racist Wall, I understand his administration is also asking for a 5% cut in domestic spending.  I didn't see any details concerning which programs the Republicans want to slash, but they, themselves don't mean that much.  What really needs to shock people is that 5%.  That's a very high percentage.  Oh, I did see, they are going to increase spending for military health benefits... that's to give the Army, Navy & Marines a vested interest in keeping him in power.  I suspect these figures are merely a smokescreen to keep people from talking about the fact that North Korea is preparing to launch a rocket.  Ooops.   Wonder how that's going to effect the stock market.

Big Seig and Captain America

I had off yesterday and managed to get quite a number of things accomplished.  The first, and biggest, so to speak, was taking Seig to the Vet for his shots,  He's now good for 3 years.  As part of the process he needed to be weighed, of course they weigh every pet that comes through the front door.  After some maneuvering, I managed to get him onto the scale.  Sometimes he's a leaner, and that's what he was doing yesterday, leaning against my leg, meaning his weight was not accurate.  After some shifting and pushing I finally got him standing by himself.  Now I have to tell you, he's called Big Seig because he's... well, big.  Yesterday we found out how big.  He's 108 pounds big.  And none of it is fat.  He's just a very big Boxer.  That's what the Vet said.  She also said he's probably going to get a bit bigger since he's only about 16 months old.  That's fine.  He's a very well behaved dog.

Waiting for the Vet

And last evening I went to see Captain America: Civil War.  Of all of the super hero franchises, I think this is my favorite.  While the others focus on fighting super villains, there is a distinct line between good and evil, that line is much more vague.  In Civil War that line almost seems to disappear, they deal with death; saving the world causes collateral damage and innocents get killed.  Good gets twisted and manipulated into bad.

There is no black and white

A scene between Alfre Woodard and Robert Downey Jr in front of an elevator is pivotal; this is not superhero banter, nope, this is drama.  Not that there aren't superhero moments of mass destruction, now, however, the audience realizes there are casualties.  In fact, death is an integral part of Captain America: Civil War.  By no means is this an escapist film.

Avengers!

I saw this yesterday and now know what all of the buzz is about.  I liked it... a lot, or very much (take your choice)! I wish they could have gotten Edward Norton to play the Hulk, not that Mark Ruffalo does a bad job, he's a good actor, I just think Norton's Banner is better.  Will there be a sequel?  Well, that's a stupid question no one's been asking.  Of course, I am now and will always be a fan of Captain America.

I'm a little confused as to who is making the LIONS share of the money.  An analyst on CNBC said it was Disney (whose stock has started to rise) but Paramount released it.  Maybe Disney owns Marvel, don't know, will have to check that out.