Rebirth

 Well, we did have thunderstorms yesterday.  We even got rain, though there was no downpour at my house.  There was thunder and lightning, and a bit of wind, but otherwise the worst parts of the storm moved around me.  The temps dropped briefly afterwards, but then climbed back up into the upper 80s (F).  We have the same forecast for today.  

I did get a nice ride in yesterday in Corsica.  At present it's one of my favorite rides.  I rode 10.71 miles.  Today it's free weights and bands this morning, and then a ride down to the Lebanon VA for an appointment.  I have to schedule one of those dreadful colonoscopies, not because anything is wrong.  Nope, my doctor just recommended that I do it, and there's nothing wrong with being precautious.

I went to the movies last evening and it was... interesting.  The young man who sold me my ticket was, I think, more concerned with the fact that he was the only one at the concession stand selling tickets and a line was quickly growing behind me.  He'd called for help twice and no one seemed to be coming for help.

Then, during the movie, my friend Patty became irate because the little boy behind her kept kicking her seat.  She turned around and asked his mother to have him stop. His mother said he was moving to another seat, but 10 minutes later he was back.  And he talked because he's a little boy.  He commented in his little boy voice about what was happening on the screen.  He and his mother really should have moved to different seats.  Instead they stayed until my friend stood up and, with no filters, told them she was tired of him kicking her fucking seat.  They moved.

And what movie did I go see?  Jurassic World, Rebirth.  It was fine.  Entertaining.  There was also a lot of reworking of scenes from the original Jurassic World.  It wasn't all a rehash.  Raptors made an appearance, but only briefly, which was nice. They had become a too reliable predator.  T-Rex returned in a rather nice scene.  Probably the biggest surprise was Jonathan Bailey, who was last seen singing and dancing in Wicked.  He did a fine job at playing a nerdy dinosaur guy who is neither meek not mild.

And MAGA world is still flipping out about the Jeffrey Epstein lists disappearing.  I'm enjoying this.  The really big problem for Republicans is that for a very long time they promised the cultists blood, and now they want them to forget those promises.  Does Orangie's name permeate the list?  I don't doubt.  Another fly in the ointment is that it now appears that during a certain period of time Epstein was collaborating with the FBI in their investigation of insider trading on Wall Street, providing them with a lot of juicy information.  This means it's probably not only himself and other perverts that Orangie is protecting, or maybe I should say blackmailing... or maybe I should say extorting.  If this is the case, I wonder how much those billionaires are willing to pay for protection.  And you know, Orangie would love this kind of racket.

A Serendipitous Tour

 Thursday.  I work.  For a full 8 hours shift.  Luckily, I start an hour early, which means I leave work at 1800, rather than 1900.  I'm fine with that.

And yesterday was one of those days when I got a lot done: mowed the lawn, couple loads of laundry, worked on the tank in the living room, played some Elden Ring.  Oh, and I did 2.25 miles on the treadmill.  I increased the weight in the spats by 1 pound on each foot, and my left knee was achy last night, so I'll probably drop it back down for a bit.  And, speaking of walking, I perused this article in the NYT this morning. Very Interesting.  Like the scientists involved in the study, I, too, would have thought dancing would have had more of an impact than just walking.

I went to see the latest Jurassic Park movie last night.  It started off a little clunky as the old cast members were reintroduced and the romance between Laura Dern and Sam Neil seemed forced, but the movie turned out to be far better than I was expecting.  Jeff Goldblum had the best lines.  In the last few Jurassic movies, action scenes seemed to take place because one of the writers said, "we need an action scene here."  In Jurassic World - Dominion, action scenes are integral to the plot, now, isn't that a nice surprise?

The January 6 committee is having their 3rd public hearing this morning and (crap, crap, carp) I have to work.  Was anyone surprised yesterday when they released video of Rep. Loudermilk (R) taking a group of people on a tour January 5?  I wasn't.  How about that gent taking pictures of staircases and hallways?  Rather serendipitous, wouldn't you say, since he happened to be one those marching to the capital the very next day.  At first Loudermilk said the tour was for family, and then he said it was for family and friends, and then he changed his story to say it was for family, friends, and friends of friends (or something to that effect).  You do know that the Republicans pulled this shit because they thought they were going to get away with it.  Now they're running around trying to coverup their shitty asses.  

Finally, it seems as though the GOP is going to escalate 'voter fraud' into being their most favorite dead horse to kick.  Pay close attention to what's happening in Nevada.  Losing candidate Joey Gilbert is already stomping away because he won in so many counties, though lost bigly in Clark county, which gave Lombardo the win... by 11%.  Ouch.

Disappointment Day

Well, yesterday was disappointing as hell, wasn't it?  Chief Justice Kennedy's announcement was quite the stunner.  Not that it came as a total surprise, there have been rumors for quite some time.  Still, the idea of the Supreme Court losing it's 'swing voter' is more than a little disheartening.  Of course, the Republicans are going to try to rush through a nominee before the Mid-Terms.  You can bet they're going to be pushing a man in his forties who has no problem shitting on women's rights. They want another Neil Gorsuch who will give Conservatives what ever they want.  This is how they say "fuck you" to the majority of people in this country.  For all you voters who sat home in 2016, those of you who thought your vote didn't matter, or who believed Hillary had it in the bag - this is your payday.  This is what your apathy is depositing into your account.  Same sex marriage?  You know they're going to go after that, chipping that right to bits and pieces.  If you didn't vote and are beginning to get worried - good, this is the price you pay for staying home.
And is if that wasn't disappointing enough, I went to see "Jurassic World, Fallen Kingdom" last evening.  I'd watched a video in which some guy said he thought the whole movie was sad.  He was wrong.  This latest installment isn't said, it's cynical as hell.  I'm suspecting this might be the middle part of a trilogy which will end on a brighter note.  But, even if that's the case, there were some serious problems, like predictability, and lack of originality.  There's a dumbwaiter scene lifted straight from the script of Jurassic Park.  Right from the beginning there are problems.  A volcanic eruption is threatening to destroy all life on the island.  Spoiler alert.  At the height of the eruption, an aerial shot proves the island is much, much bigger than the eruption, that you'd actually need some sort of Krakatoa event to destroy all life.  About 20 minutes in, you realize the writers decided to cobble most of the script from a discarded draft of Jurassic Park 2.  Chris Pratt was fine, but not as funny.  He evidently realized the best parts of this film, were the clips they used that were supposed to be from the first Jurassic World.

As I said, this movie wasn't as sad as much as it was cynical.  Of course, we're all going to become a lot more cynical when the new, conservative justice takes his seat at the Supreme Court.

Jurassic World - an 'A' ride

I went to see "Jurassic World" last evening and liked it... a lot.  Looking at how much it's making at the box office, quite a few people are really liking this movie, too.  One of the things I found super neat was they way they embraced the original "Jurassic Park" so thoroughly.  I'm sure everybody in that theater has seen the original and there are scenes where the old film and the new film are juxtaposed so perfectly you could feel it in the air.  Think of it as electrically charged nostalgic memories of "I remember that."

This is not to say it's a perfect movie, it isn't.  There are some... plot holes.  There was a moment when my friend leaned over and asked "where'd that raptor come from?"  Of course I didn't need to answer because the raptor did what raptor's do, and in that finger snap of a moment the story had moved on.
For all those Chris Pratt fans out there, you'll be pleased to know he does an outstanding job of doing what he's supposed to be doing, anchoring this film.  Those times when he isn't on the screen are a bit wobbly, but then he enters the scene and everything stabilizes.  If you haven't seen it, then go see it.  In my book it's an 'A' ride ticket.