This that and the other thingamig
Aug. 16th, 2023 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Dresser's bottom drawer broke - have to get a new dresser, don't want to, but it is what it is.
Flirting with Oakleigh 7-Drawer Dresser from Pottery Barn. Previous Dresser was a cheap one from Gothic Cabinet Craft - which lasted 23 years. So, not bad. Considering it only cost me $500, if that.
I'm thinking of spending a bit more and getting a quality one from Pottery Barn.
2. Talbots Order came in - and alas, I have to return two of the items - because they look awful. They looked great online, they do not look great on me. Oh well, it should be easy enough. Just need a return label and a bag to put it in, then drop it off at UPS.
I hate returning things, I suck at it. I've lost more money because I suck at returning things. It's why - me and online shopping are not necessarily mixy things.
The items were Pleated Sleeve Crewneck Top ( and no, it did not look like that on me - it looked gadawful.)
And... Indigo Blue Top with Pattern - (also looked horrible on.)
Both have to be returned. I'll try to get into the computer at work tomorrow to print off the label.
It's either that or give them to Housing Works. Considering they cost over $80 together, I'd rather return them. Oh well, at least they were on sale.
3. Finished Blood, Sweat and Chrome: The Making of Mad Max Fury Road via audible. It was okay. Told mainly through interviews, so a lot of voices. After a bit I was able to distinguish George Miller, Charlize Theron, and Tom Hardy (they had actors perform them - it wasn't them).
My difficulty with it - was after a while I got tired of them telling me how great they all were and how great the film was. It was okay, I wouldn't call it great - necessarily. Depends. I actually liked Spotlight better.
As far as Mad Max films goes - I'd say it was excellent, although I preferred Road Warrior. As far as car chase action films go - yes, it was among the best I've seen to date. But, I get bored after a while watching car chase scenes - I'm not a huge car fan or car chase fan. Watching people drive and race cars doesn't do a heck of lot for me. But it is among the best and most entertaining in that arena. As far as female action films - it's among the few that has a good female lead. And possibly among the best female lead action films out there.
But...if I had to choose between watching Spotlight or Fury Road again, I'd pick Spotlight. I also would pick Oppenheimer over Fury Road. But I'm admittedly more of a fan of dialogue heavy films than car chases. There's a reason I've not watched any of the Fast and Furious films, and am not into John Wick. I get bored in a lot of action movies. I'm thinking I take after my father in this regard? He liked them to an extent, but uber-violence and heavy action tended to irritate and bore him. He preferred dialogue heavy films that involved intellectual analysis. I see a lot of that in me.
To each their own, I guess? It's probably a good thing that we have all sorts of films to choose from?
In regards to the Oscars race - they were happy with all the technical awards, but bummed about the Director and Best Picture. (Honestly, I'm ambivalent about Oscars. You are pitting movies that have absolutely nothing in common outside of being well movies, against each other. It would be akin to having a contest between which fruit is best - apples, oranges, grapes, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, raspberries or blackberries. How can you possibly make a decision - they aren't comparable.)
It was a tough shoot for everyone. No one regretted doing the movie. Everyone was proud of it - ridiculously so. But no one really wanted to do it again. Also they felt that it was very topical and dated well - and Imortan Joe and the War Boys bore an uncomfortable resemblance to Trump and his supporters. It's not an easy movie to watch - there's portions that make me cringe.
Oh, they are filming a prequel with Ana Taylor-Joy as Furiousa. So if you are into this sort of thing...and feel a need for completion? They are continuing the Mad Max films with Furiousa. (I've seen all the Mad Max films, but don't feel an over-powering need to see more.)
I'm now listening to the audiobook version of The Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grahn (Non-fiction for some reason or other works better for me as an audiobook than fiction. I do not know why.)
This has multiple narrators or readers. They are: Will Patton, Ann Marie Lee, Danny Campbell. I think I bought it mainly for Will Patton's narration. Actually, I didn't buy it - I got for free via audible credit.
It's good. I had tried it previously when I wasn't in the mood. Now I am.
It goes into depth on the Osage Indian Tribe or Native Americans. They go by Osage Indians in the book. In Oklahoma and Kansas. Osage County was in both states, and that territory belonged to the Osage Tribe, but the nasty White Settlers came along and pushed them increasingly off the land. However, the tribe wasn't stupid and fought for their rights to own certain portions of the land, and they were somewhat wealthy and educated in their own right. One of the leaders of the tribe knew about ten languages. The White Settlers were evil and dumb. (They do not come out well in the book. Nor for that matter does Laura Ingels Wilder's parents - who didn't like the Indians and thought they should get the land, since they got there first. Uhm no, you didn't. I only vaguely remember this in Wilder's books - which were all read to me as a child. I had all of them.)
Anyhow, the book is about the murder investigation regarding the deaths of several Osage Indian Women in the 1920s. To get there? We get a lot of history into the Osage Tribe and what the US did. For example? The Indians names were changed from their original tribal names, or birth names, to English names. (White Americans did that to a lot of people - which is why so many people get annoyed when you mispronounce or misspell or truncate their names - because they did that. For example? One Tribal Cheif's name was watered down from his actual name to something like Jim. Same with one of the heroines, her name went from a long, rather beautiful Osage name to well Molly - which isn't even similar to her original name. And no, I can't remember the originals, because they are only mentioned once.)
It goes into detail on the whole discovery of oil or black gold in OK, which changed things (Guess where the Indian Reservation was? On the land with the black gold.) And into detail about "Private Detectives" and the reason they were called private dicks (because they were dicks). In fact one who Conan Doyle nicknamed the American Holmes, brilliant but ruthless and corrupt. He committed crimes and all sort of unsavory activities to get what he wanted. Also talks about the first detective agency, the Pinkertons.
I got all this while doing laundry, putting laundry away, trying on Talbots clothes, and alas - trying to fix my dresser. I sweated like a stuck pig during the whole laundry bit. Also took down the recycling. I had a lot of boxes to take down - due to a delivery of a new air purifier this week - which is big, and apparently required three boxes. I don't know why they had to put it into three boxes but they did.
"In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered.
As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history."
4. I got a new air purifier this week - which is working beautifully.
It is... Conway Air Purifier - which went down in price after I got it, damn them. So you could get cheaper, lucky you.
5. I've not been having a good week. Little annoyances throughout. And struggling with sleep again.
They say insomina is a result of a)being really smart (so if you don't suffer from it - are you not really smart? Tee hee.) or b) ceiliac disease (far more likely) or c) they don't know. (probable.)
For me - it's usually my body or mind don't want to sleep yet and can't get comfortable for whatever reason.
I don't know if mercury is in retrograde - but it would explain it.
Also, I find myself haunted by Oppenheimer. I'd been looking forward to it for months. (Rare that - I rarely look forward to movies any longer). And worked hard to go to it - or out of my way. We usually just go in Brooklyn or the neighborhood. Not an hour and a half away in the city.
And my mother talked incessantly about it after she saw it - now she's done. Damn her. Also as a result - I knew a lot going in. I did not go into that movie blind. I knew it was talky, I knew that the protagonist is a shell of himself at the end. There weren't that many surprises - outside of the fact that I loved it - that surprised me.
It's interesting how that film has taken off. It's breaking records right and left. And critics are scrambling to explain why. I know why - it haunts people. Plays with their heads long after the fact. Also there's something universal about it - that it taps into - a universal rage about the atomic bomb, and an attempt to come to terms with the fact that this threat that has been hanging over all our lives since most of us were born (those who were born before it - are dying off or are dead already, and those who created it - died ages ago). Greatest Generation kind of doomed the generations that came after - and I think there's a collective rage about it? Most of the people seeing this film are between the ages of 18-45. The crowd in the theater I was in - was much younger than me. They don't romanticize the Wars, the way the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers did, instead, much like Generation X, they rage at them for the horror shows they were. And we're seeing that now expressed in recent cinema. At least that's impression - I'm not entirely sure, it's just a gut feeling at this point. Partly due to the popularity of Oppenheimer in Korea of all places.
Flirting with Oakleigh 7-Drawer Dresser from Pottery Barn. Previous Dresser was a cheap one from Gothic Cabinet Craft - which lasted 23 years. So, not bad. Considering it only cost me $500, if that.
I'm thinking of spending a bit more and getting a quality one from Pottery Barn.
2. Talbots Order came in - and alas, I have to return two of the items - because they look awful. They looked great online, they do not look great on me. Oh well, it should be easy enough. Just need a return label and a bag to put it in, then drop it off at UPS.
I hate returning things, I suck at it. I've lost more money because I suck at returning things. It's why - me and online shopping are not necessarily mixy things.
The items were Pleated Sleeve Crewneck Top ( and no, it did not look like that on me - it looked gadawful.)
And... Indigo Blue Top with Pattern - (also looked horrible on.)
Both have to be returned. I'll try to get into the computer at work tomorrow to print off the label.
It's either that or give them to Housing Works. Considering they cost over $80 together, I'd rather return them. Oh well, at least they were on sale.
3. Finished Blood, Sweat and Chrome: The Making of Mad Max Fury Road via audible. It was okay. Told mainly through interviews, so a lot of voices. After a bit I was able to distinguish George Miller, Charlize Theron, and Tom Hardy (they had actors perform them - it wasn't them).
My difficulty with it - was after a while I got tired of them telling me how great they all were and how great the film was. It was okay, I wouldn't call it great - necessarily. Depends. I actually liked Spotlight better.
As far as Mad Max films goes - I'd say it was excellent, although I preferred Road Warrior. As far as car chase action films go - yes, it was among the best I've seen to date. But, I get bored after a while watching car chase scenes - I'm not a huge car fan or car chase fan. Watching people drive and race cars doesn't do a heck of lot for me. But it is among the best and most entertaining in that arena. As far as female action films - it's among the few that has a good female lead. And possibly among the best female lead action films out there.
But...if I had to choose between watching Spotlight or Fury Road again, I'd pick Spotlight. I also would pick Oppenheimer over Fury Road. But I'm admittedly more of a fan of dialogue heavy films than car chases. There's a reason I've not watched any of the Fast and Furious films, and am not into John Wick. I get bored in a lot of action movies. I'm thinking I take after my father in this regard? He liked them to an extent, but uber-violence and heavy action tended to irritate and bore him. He preferred dialogue heavy films that involved intellectual analysis. I see a lot of that in me.
To each their own, I guess? It's probably a good thing that we have all sorts of films to choose from?
In regards to the Oscars race - they were happy with all the technical awards, but bummed about the Director and Best Picture. (Honestly, I'm ambivalent about Oscars. You are pitting movies that have absolutely nothing in common outside of being well movies, against each other. It would be akin to having a contest between which fruit is best - apples, oranges, grapes, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, raspberries or blackberries. How can you possibly make a decision - they aren't comparable.)
It was a tough shoot for everyone. No one regretted doing the movie. Everyone was proud of it - ridiculously so. But no one really wanted to do it again. Also they felt that it was very topical and dated well - and Imortan Joe and the War Boys bore an uncomfortable resemblance to Trump and his supporters. It's not an easy movie to watch - there's portions that make me cringe.
Oh, they are filming a prequel with Ana Taylor-Joy as Furiousa. So if you are into this sort of thing...and feel a need for completion? They are continuing the Mad Max films with Furiousa. (I've seen all the Mad Max films, but don't feel an over-powering need to see more.)
I'm now listening to the audiobook version of The Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grahn (Non-fiction for some reason or other works better for me as an audiobook than fiction. I do not know why.)
This has multiple narrators or readers. They are: Will Patton, Ann Marie Lee, Danny Campbell. I think I bought it mainly for Will Patton's narration. Actually, I didn't buy it - I got for free via audible credit.
It's good. I had tried it previously when I wasn't in the mood. Now I am.
It goes into depth on the Osage Indian Tribe or Native Americans. They go by Osage Indians in the book. In Oklahoma and Kansas. Osage County was in both states, and that territory belonged to the Osage Tribe, but the nasty White Settlers came along and pushed them increasingly off the land. However, the tribe wasn't stupid and fought for their rights to own certain portions of the land, and they were somewhat wealthy and educated in their own right. One of the leaders of the tribe knew about ten languages. The White Settlers were evil and dumb. (They do not come out well in the book. Nor for that matter does Laura Ingels Wilder's parents - who didn't like the Indians and thought they should get the land, since they got there first. Uhm no, you didn't. I only vaguely remember this in Wilder's books - which were all read to me as a child. I had all of them.)
Anyhow, the book is about the murder investigation regarding the deaths of several Osage Indian Women in the 1920s. To get there? We get a lot of history into the Osage Tribe and what the US did. For example? The Indians names were changed from their original tribal names, or birth names, to English names. (White Americans did that to a lot of people - which is why so many people get annoyed when you mispronounce or misspell or truncate their names - because they did that. For example? One Tribal Cheif's name was watered down from his actual name to something like Jim. Same with one of the heroines, her name went from a long, rather beautiful Osage name to well Molly - which isn't even similar to her original name. And no, I can't remember the originals, because they are only mentioned once.)
It goes into detail on the whole discovery of oil or black gold in OK, which changed things (Guess where the Indian Reservation was? On the land with the black gold.) And into detail about "Private Detectives" and the reason they were called private dicks (because they were dicks). In fact one who Conan Doyle nicknamed the American Holmes, brilliant but ruthless and corrupt. He committed crimes and all sort of unsavory activities to get what he wanted. Also talks about the first detective agency, the Pinkertons.
I got all this while doing laundry, putting laundry away, trying on Talbots clothes, and alas - trying to fix my dresser. I sweated like a stuck pig during the whole laundry bit. Also took down the recycling. I had a lot of boxes to take down - due to a delivery of a new air purifier this week - which is big, and apparently required three boxes. I don't know why they had to put it into three boxes but they did.
"In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered.
As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history."
4. I got a new air purifier this week - which is working beautifully.
It is... Conway Air Purifier - which went down in price after I got it, damn them. So you could get cheaper, lucky you.
5. I've not been having a good week. Little annoyances throughout. And struggling with sleep again.
They say insomina is a result of a)being really smart (so if you don't suffer from it - are you not really smart? Tee hee.) or b) ceiliac disease (far more likely) or c) they don't know. (probable.)
For me - it's usually my body or mind don't want to sleep yet and can't get comfortable for whatever reason.
I don't know if mercury is in retrograde - but it would explain it.
Also, I find myself haunted by Oppenheimer. I'd been looking forward to it for months. (Rare that - I rarely look forward to movies any longer). And worked hard to go to it - or out of my way. We usually just go in Brooklyn or the neighborhood. Not an hour and a half away in the city.
And my mother talked incessantly about it after she saw it - now she's done. Damn her. Also as a result - I knew a lot going in. I did not go into that movie blind. I knew it was talky, I knew that the protagonist is a shell of himself at the end. There weren't that many surprises - outside of the fact that I loved it - that surprised me.
It's interesting how that film has taken off. It's breaking records right and left. And critics are scrambling to explain why. I know why - it haunts people. Plays with their heads long after the fact. Also there's something universal about it - that it taps into - a universal rage about the atomic bomb, and an attempt to come to terms with the fact that this threat that has been hanging over all our lives since most of us were born (those who were born before it - are dying off or are dead already, and those who created it - died ages ago). Greatest Generation kind of doomed the generations that came after - and I think there's a collective rage about it? Most of the people seeing this film are between the ages of 18-45. The crowd in the theater I was in - was much younger than me. They don't romanticize the Wars, the way the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers did, instead, much like Generation X, they rage at them for the horror shows they were. And we're seeing that now expressed in recent cinema. At least that's impression - I'm not entirely sure, it's just a gut feeling at this point. Partly due to the popularity of Oppenheimer in Korea of all places.
no subject
Date: 2023-08-17 10:08 am (UTC)Allan Pinkerton's first home was within an easy walk of where I now live.
A lot of my favorite movies are rather slow and talky, I liked films like Tarkovsky's Stalker, I've also liked television shows like In Treatment, The Booth at the End, etc. It's hard, though not impossible, to make a car chase much interesting, harder still if they veer into implausibility.
no subject
Date: 2023-08-17 10:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-17 04:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-17 10:13 pm (UTC)But I'm breathing better now all around. Was beginning to wonder if I had COVID or something else - I was always congested.