Weekend Update
Good evening gentle readers.
I say good evening because it is night time when I wrote this blog. I know you may read it at another time of day or night.
This Weekend Update blog will not be very long. I had a slow and quiet weekend. It is hard to make cleaning the place, taking trash out to the containers, going to the market, or doing laundry very exciting. I did not do very much was noteworthy or blogworthy. Sometimes, life is like that.
Friday
It was a good day on Friday. We had no emergencies at work for a change. After a week where we had power failures, building evacuations, and lost network and telephone connections, a quiet day is nice for a change.
It was Day 44 of the building next door Non-Deconstruction. Nothing happened that I could see from the 10th floor window.
I phoned my friend Sharon to see if she was going to join the Big Guy and me for a steak and lobster dinner next Saturday. Sharon said she had nothing else planned for the Saturday so she would love to join us. She asked what about the Big Guy’s friends. I said they had other plans and could not join us.
Since the steak and lobster special expires at month end, we can not reschedule or defer the dinner.
I told her when I would pick her up and later sent her a copy of the reservation confirmation email. Things are all together.
Vivian, the office assistant, said I looked nice in the casual shirt that I wore on Friday. Then, she realized that her statement did not come out as well as she thought it would. It was a very light moment as she tried to say what she meant. I understood what she was saying. I thought that was very nice of her to say that I looked good today.
Then, we talked about dry cleaners and where I go to get my shirts done. Apparently her cleaner does less than a satisfactory job on her clothes. I told the place that I go to and that I have been pleased with their work for the last five or six years.
I did some reading when I got home tonight. I finished one of the new books and started a second one. The first book was very small, only 150 pages with large type. It was probably no more than 80 pages on regular type. It was an easy read for me since I was familiar with the novel’s characters and the basic plot line. This book was the new prequel to a 27 volume series that I have read.
The second book was the 12th and most recent in a series. It is a regular sized book, 330 or so pages, so it will take me longer to finish off. I should finish it sometime on Sunday I think.
Both of the series deal with the Royal navy during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Since they tend to follow the same historical tread, they are familiar and easy to follow. It also helps that I have read the complete Patrick O’Brien series on the same subject.
Location Scouting
The Big Guy arrived at my house right on time. We left immediately for the Korean Friendship Bell.
On the way to the Bell, I told him that the lobsters for the dinner next Saturday would be full size lobsters and not the smaller lobster tails. He thought that was excellent. I told him that it looked like it would be the three of us.
I did mention that Sharon could always have a business meeting come up and not be able to join us. I told him that I was already over that possibility and that it would just mean we would have to share a smaller table for dinner. That was not an inconvenience for us.
I asked him why the professor had chosen the Korean Friendship Bell foe the location scout project. The Big Guy said he chose the site because he wanted to see the Bell and because it was such a great scene in THE USUAL SUSPECTS. The students could pick any site for a location scouting exercise.
After we got there and parked, we walked to where the camera was set up for scene in THE USUAL SUSPECTS. I cracked him up as we were walking along by saying that this might be a good place to come to pick up Korean-American chicks. We walked around the Bell, trying to pick a good spot to take the still photos.
He wanted to shoot the Bell from the ocean side. I suggested that he use the other site. We walked back to the other site and he agreed that this spot would work better from a visual setting. There was various state flags flying since it was Constitution Day weekend. There was some sort of related ceremony to be held later that afternoon. We finished up with the camera work in less than twenty minutes.
Our next stop was the local one hour film developing store. I picked up some greeting cards while he took care of the film developing. Then, we were off to the Original Tommy’s Hamburgers at their original location, just west of downtown Los Angeles. Tommy’s has been a Los Angeles institution for almost sixty years now.
We showed no imagination when it came to lunch. We both had Mega Combos with the large drinks, I had root beer and he had Sierra Mist, and the large order of chili cheese fries.
There is something special about standing at a counter in the open to eat your hamburger and fries and drink. Maybe it was the exhaust fumes from the cars that park right next to where we were eating our meals or the noise from the busy streets a few feet away. There is nothing like a fire engine with its lights and sirens on and flashing to add a little excitement to lunch.
Then, we burped and belched our way back to the film developing place. The film was ready when we got there. The film turned out just fine. The Big Guy still has to mount the photos on a poster board and put together some narrative but he has until next Thursday to finish off the project and turn it in to his professor.
The Rest of Saturday
The Prelude rolled over at 326,000 miles or 525,000 kilometers on the way home from the one hour film developing place.
After the Big Guy headed back to the O. C. [Orange County], I went out on the balcony to read. I made good progress with the second of the Royal Navy based novels. I also read some more after Yi Soon-Shin on the television.
I did watch The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin tonight but I will talk about the episode along with Sunday’s episode. I that makes for a better story.
One of my activities for the weekend was to go to the movies. I had thought about driving to Santa Monica to see KAMAKAZI GIRLS or driving out to the O. C. to see BALZAC AND THE LITTLE SEAMTRESS. In the end, I decided to save some money for tickets and gasoline and wait for the DVD to come out.
I plan to watch Tim Burtons’ THE CORPSE BRIDE and maybe the LORD OF WAR next weekend. They are likely to be playing at a local cinema so I can get in for an early show on both Saturday and Sunday and still keep all of my other plans.
Sunday
I was disappointed to read in the paper this morning that my beloved University of Utah Utes played Texas Christian University on Thursday night and lost in overtime. Now they are 2-1. It will be interesting to see what happens next week when they play the Air Force Academy.
I went to the post office this morning and sent the Brother a month’s worth of Los Angeles Times Sports Sections. He likes the papers, even though they are almost a month old, because his local San Francisco papers do not cover our local teams well.
I also mailed a parcel off to my longest Internet friend Lara in South Africa. She likes our coffees so I sent her two pounds or almost one kilo of quality coffee along with a bunch of newspapers on the cinema. Lara owns a video rental store and finds our local papers have information for her on upcoming films long before the South African papers do.
I finished the second Royal Navy based novel this afternoon while I was out on the balcony reading. I started up reading one of the Chinese books.
Now, I am reading THE DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER. This is regarded as one of China’s greatest novels. The translator’s forward calls it the Chinese version of Romeo and Juliet. Since I have only read three of the chapters, it is a little early for me to say. It does seem well written and is interesting. It present likes in early to mid-18th century China before there was extensive European influence, control, and occupation.
The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin
In last night’s episode, the king decided to dissolve the navy and combine their forces with the still vastly outnumbered army. Sort of like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic; not a very sound idea. But then, the king seems overly ready for a massive breakdown anyway.
Yi Soon-Shin gave the men one of those great before the speeches on Saturday. It was close to the “Band of Brothers” speech. It was one of those defining moments when the morale of the forces shifts from one side to the other. The Korean sailors knew they were facing long odds as the speech started but they were shouting for victory at the end.
Tonight, the king changed his mind. He changes his mind with almost every episode it seems. The navy can stand for now because Yi has said he will be victorious when he fights the Japanese.
Even the Korean Prime Minister has found his courage. He wrote the Ming emperor that if the Chinese do not send a real army with real generals, then the Koreans will ally themselves with the nomadic horsemen from Mongolia. This would represent a power shift in the area and would be upsetting to the Chinese.
This is real Cold War statesmanship that is so very close to the concept of mutually assured destruction of John Foster Dulles.
Episode 95 closed tonight with the opening of the battle.
The Japanese are over confident as usual, even the generals who previously counseled caution are now arguing for a head long charge at the weak and outnumbered Korean navy. The Koreans know the waters and the weaknesses of the Japanese. The Japanese understand the strong currents that control passage in a narrow waterway.
Yi plans to trap the Japanese until the current changes. All he has to do is hold the Japanese for about two hours and then the battle will be his.
Yi also has a trick that the Japanese are unaware of but soon will know that he has laid an iron chain across the narrows. This will trap and block the Japanese ships until the tide turns and current rips the Japanese fleet. The chain will also box the Japanese fleet into a compact mass so any cannon shot from the Koreans will hit a target while the same can not be said for the Japanese.
Next week will be an interesting set of shows.
This was my weekend gentle readers. I hope you had a good weekend as well.
Be well and stay happy.
I say good evening because it is night time when I wrote this blog. I know you may read it at another time of day or night.
This Weekend Update blog will not be very long. I had a slow and quiet weekend. It is hard to make cleaning the place, taking trash out to the containers, going to the market, or doing laundry very exciting. I did not do very much was noteworthy or blogworthy. Sometimes, life is like that.
Friday
It was a good day on Friday. We had no emergencies at work for a change. After a week where we had power failures, building evacuations, and lost network and telephone connections, a quiet day is nice for a change.
It was Day 44 of the building next door Non-Deconstruction. Nothing happened that I could see from the 10th floor window.
I phoned my friend Sharon to see if she was going to join the Big Guy and me for a steak and lobster dinner next Saturday. Sharon said she had nothing else planned for the Saturday so she would love to join us. She asked what about the Big Guy’s friends. I said they had other plans and could not join us.
Since the steak and lobster special expires at month end, we can not reschedule or defer the dinner.
I told her when I would pick her up and later sent her a copy of the reservation confirmation email. Things are all together.
Vivian, the office assistant, said I looked nice in the casual shirt that I wore on Friday. Then, she realized that her statement did not come out as well as she thought it would. It was a very light moment as she tried to say what she meant. I understood what she was saying. I thought that was very nice of her to say that I looked good today.
Then, we talked about dry cleaners and where I go to get my shirts done. Apparently her cleaner does less than a satisfactory job on her clothes. I told the place that I go to and that I have been pleased with their work for the last five or six years.
I did some reading when I got home tonight. I finished one of the new books and started a second one. The first book was very small, only 150 pages with large type. It was probably no more than 80 pages on regular type. It was an easy read for me since I was familiar with the novel’s characters and the basic plot line. This book was the new prequel to a 27 volume series that I have read.
The second book was the 12th and most recent in a series. It is a regular sized book, 330 or so pages, so it will take me longer to finish off. I should finish it sometime on Sunday I think.
Both of the series deal with the Royal navy during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Since they tend to follow the same historical tread, they are familiar and easy to follow. It also helps that I have read the complete Patrick O’Brien series on the same subject.
Location Scouting
The Big Guy arrived at my house right on time. We left immediately for the Korean Friendship Bell.
On the way to the Bell, I told him that the lobsters for the dinner next Saturday would be full size lobsters and not the smaller lobster tails. He thought that was excellent. I told him that it looked like it would be the three of us.
I did mention that Sharon could always have a business meeting come up and not be able to join us. I told him that I was already over that possibility and that it would just mean we would have to share a smaller table for dinner. That was not an inconvenience for us.
I asked him why the professor had chosen the Korean Friendship Bell foe the location scout project. The Big Guy said he chose the site because he wanted to see the Bell and because it was such a great scene in THE USUAL SUSPECTS. The students could pick any site for a location scouting exercise.
After we got there and parked, we walked to where the camera was set up for scene in THE USUAL SUSPECTS. I cracked him up as we were walking along by saying that this might be a good place to come to pick up Korean-American chicks. We walked around the Bell, trying to pick a good spot to take the still photos.
He wanted to shoot the Bell from the ocean side. I suggested that he use the other site. We walked back to the other site and he agreed that this spot would work better from a visual setting. There was various state flags flying since it was Constitution Day weekend. There was some sort of related ceremony to be held later that afternoon. We finished up with the camera work in less than twenty minutes.
Our next stop was the local one hour film developing store. I picked up some greeting cards while he took care of the film developing. Then, we were off to the Original Tommy’s Hamburgers at their original location, just west of downtown Los Angeles. Tommy’s has been a Los Angeles institution for almost sixty years now.
We showed no imagination when it came to lunch. We both had Mega Combos with the large drinks, I had root beer and he had Sierra Mist, and the large order of chili cheese fries.
There is something special about standing at a counter in the open to eat your hamburger and fries and drink. Maybe it was the exhaust fumes from the cars that park right next to where we were eating our meals or the noise from the busy streets a few feet away. There is nothing like a fire engine with its lights and sirens on and flashing to add a little excitement to lunch.
Then, we burped and belched our way back to the film developing place. The film was ready when we got there. The film turned out just fine. The Big Guy still has to mount the photos on a poster board and put together some narrative but he has until next Thursday to finish off the project and turn it in to his professor.
The Rest of Saturday
The Prelude rolled over at 326,000 miles or 525,000 kilometers on the way home from the one hour film developing place.
After the Big Guy headed back to the O. C. [Orange County], I went out on the balcony to read. I made good progress with the second of the Royal Navy based novels. I also read some more after Yi Soon-Shin on the television.
I did watch The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin tonight but I will talk about the episode along with Sunday’s episode. I that makes for a better story.
One of my activities for the weekend was to go to the movies. I had thought about driving to Santa Monica to see KAMAKAZI GIRLS or driving out to the O. C. to see BALZAC AND THE LITTLE SEAMTRESS. In the end, I decided to save some money for tickets and gasoline and wait for the DVD to come out.
I plan to watch Tim Burtons’ THE CORPSE BRIDE and maybe the LORD OF WAR next weekend. They are likely to be playing at a local cinema so I can get in for an early show on both Saturday and Sunday and still keep all of my other plans.
Sunday
I was disappointed to read in the paper this morning that my beloved University of Utah Utes played Texas Christian University on Thursday night and lost in overtime. Now they are 2-1. It will be interesting to see what happens next week when they play the Air Force Academy.
I went to the post office this morning and sent the Brother a month’s worth of Los Angeles Times Sports Sections. He likes the papers, even though they are almost a month old, because his local San Francisco papers do not cover our local teams well.
I also mailed a parcel off to my longest Internet friend Lara in South Africa. She likes our coffees so I sent her two pounds or almost one kilo of quality coffee along with a bunch of newspapers on the cinema. Lara owns a video rental store and finds our local papers have information for her on upcoming films long before the South African papers do.
I finished the second Royal Navy based novel this afternoon while I was out on the balcony reading. I started up reading one of the Chinese books.
Now, I am reading THE DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER. This is regarded as one of China’s greatest novels. The translator’s forward calls it the Chinese version of Romeo and Juliet. Since I have only read three of the chapters, it is a little early for me to say. It does seem well written and is interesting. It present likes in early to mid-18th century China before there was extensive European influence, control, and occupation.
The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin
In last night’s episode, the king decided to dissolve the navy and combine their forces with the still vastly outnumbered army. Sort of like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic; not a very sound idea. But then, the king seems overly ready for a massive breakdown anyway.
Yi Soon-Shin gave the men one of those great before the speeches on Saturday. It was close to the “Band of Brothers” speech. It was one of those defining moments when the morale of the forces shifts from one side to the other. The Korean sailors knew they were facing long odds as the speech started but they were shouting for victory at the end.
Tonight, the king changed his mind. He changes his mind with almost every episode it seems. The navy can stand for now because Yi has said he will be victorious when he fights the Japanese.
Even the Korean Prime Minister has found his courage. He wrote the Ming emperor that if the Chinese do not send a real army with real generals, then the Koreans will ally themselves with the nomadic horsemen from Mongolia. This would represent a power shift in the area and would be upsetting to the Chinese.
This is real Cold War statesmanship that is so very close to the concept of mutually assured destruction of John Foster Dulles.
Episode 95 closed tonight with the opening of the battle.
The Japanese are over confident as usual, even the generals who previously counseled caution are now arguing for a head long charge at the weak and outnumbered Korean navy. The Koreans know the waters and the weaknesses of the Japanese. The Japanese understand the strong currents that control passage in a narrow waterway.
Yi plans to trap the Japanese until the current changes. All he has to do is hold the Japanese for about two hours and then the battle will be his.
Yi also has a trick that the Japanese are unaware of but soon will know that he has laid an iron chain across the narrows. This will trap and block the Japanese ships until the tide turns and current rips the Japanese fleet. The chain will also box the Japanese fleet into a compact mass so any cannon shot from the Koreans will hit a target while the same can not be said for the Japanese.
Next week will be an interesting set of shows.
This was my weekend gentle readers. I hope you had a good weekend as well.
Be well and stay happy.
posted by Chuck Reinhardt at 9:01 PM
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