Star Wars -- January 23, 2021

Star Wars: Wow, wow, wow -- TNT is on a Star Wars binge. I don't know how many episodes TNT plans to air in this 24-hour period, but so far we've seen episode IV and V (#1, #2) and now, beginning at 7:53 p.m. CT, is episode VI, "The Empire Strikes Back" (#3). I recall seeing the first episode when it first came out, episode IV (the first in the series) but then I don't recall seeing any more from start to finish. It's kind of fun to watch these movies back-to-back. And it appears these movies are being shown with limited commercial interruption. And I can see the ur-models for all the Star Wars-themed Lego kits.

[Sunday morning, January 24, 2021: I see the Star Wars binge continues -- now playing: Rogue 1: A Star Wars Story (2016). Surprisingly well received. From wiki: Rogue 1 was the first installment of the Star Wars anthology series and an immediate prequel to Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977). 

[Sunday afternoon, later, January 24, 2021: episode VII, The Force Awakens 2015). This was the first installment in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, following the story of Return of the Jedi (1983), and is the seventh episode of the nine-part Skywalker saga. 

Jack Reacher: forgot which network I was watching this on last night; most likely Paramount. First time I saw this movie. I lost interest in Tom Cruise once he started the Mission Impossible franchise. I never wanted to see Jack Reacher. Turns out, for this genre, a very, very entertaining film. Loved seeing Duvall. Wiki on Jack Reacher.

Ads: compared to YouTube, commercials are hardly a nuisance on cable television. Most notable: no masks being worn by anyone on any commercials. 

Mr Blandings Builds Hi Dream House (1948) on TCM: opening scene -- Cary Grant and wife (Myrna Loy) sleeping in twin beds. LOL. In full-body pajamas. Myrna Loy: "Nora Charles" in The Thin Man (1934), and then five more times in same role. Born in Helena, MT, and raised in Radersburg, MT, before moving to Los Angeles in early adolescence. Born, 1905, early adolescence, let's say 12 years of age, would have moved to California about 1917 -- looks like they moved during WWI. 

Today: two big football games. Hard to say which will be most compelling. By a hair: Buccaneers vs the Green Bay Packers. I think the Packers will prevail but if Tom Brady pulls it off and advances to the Super Bowl we can all say that it was Coach Belichick was the "emperor with no clothes." I've never followed the Buffalo Bills so by default I'm going with the Chiefs. Looks like Mahomes will play. With Mahomes handicapped, the Bills could pull it out. First game, Fox; second game, CBS.

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For The Grandchildren / For The Archives

A reader sent a link about the dismal state of affairs in Portland, OR.

My not-ready-for-prime-time reply:

I was last in downtown Portland maybe two years ago, well before Covid. That summer and each of the several summers prior to that I noticed the streets were almost empty and this would have been the height of the tourist season.

Downtown was dead.

I went downtown to visit the library (huge disappointment) and the Apple store at the downtown mall (the Apple store was not a disappointment).

I'll be surprised if libraries survive in the long run.

I'm not sure what to say. NYC -- Manhattan, downtown -- always invigorated me but I never wanted to live there.  

We live in the "Golden Triangle" in north Texas -- an inverted triangle -- Denton to the north; Dallas to the southeast; Ft Worth to the southwest: for me it is the city of the future and no one sees it. 

Incredible highways; huge shopping centers where one drives up to the front door and walks in -- not the huge enclosed malls of the 1970s. Nightly entertainment that rivals what NYC has (no theater but Texans not interested in Broadway plays). Parks everywhere; sports facilities (indoor and outdoor) everywhere. Huge lake with few restrictions. Sophia goes rock-climbing every weekend.

It's very possible we may see some solution to the homeless problem in Portland. There must be a huge amount of office space that is being unused, and each of those office buildings have more than adequate bathroom facilities --- over time, showers could be added.

Kitchens would not be needed due to GrubHub and DoorDash.

Maybe Bezos could step up to provide funding for those shower stalls.