Category Archives: Movies, TV, Podcasts

3/23/2019 – breakfast, farmers market, travel photos, art opening

Saturday

Late breakfast at Bob’s. Whitney and Steve were there. Karen and I talked about a road trip in September. Went to Walmart. Karen arranged for my first shot of the new anti-shingles vaccine.

Worked on the photos from the Sicily trip in 2018. Over 1,400 from this Netherlands-Sicily trip in October. The iPhone time stamps and the camera time stamps are slightly out of synch causing troubles with the sequencing.

Went to art opening in late afternoon at Hudson Opera House. Too many people. Stopped at Red Dot for a drink and appetizers.

On the way home ran into Michael O’Hara outside his house. We stood over the construction site next door.Just as I noticed that the first floor joists are attached to a ledger board instead of sitting on top of the foundation Michael said that the contractor had poured the wall 18” too high. What a mess. Then Michael told the story of how the original building had collapsed because they had dug down 2 feet below the bottom of the original stone foundation. The clay subsoil gave way causing first a side wall then the front wall to slip in under the building. Big SNAFU. So far this is not an advertisement for competence on the part of the architect owners nor the contractors.

Watched the fourth in the Kavanaugh Q.C. British TV series from the mid ‘90s. Followed by another VEEP.

 

3/2/2019 – HAL, Bauhaus, end of Rive Gauche

Saturday 3/2/2019

Breakfast at Bob’s. Then off to the library for the board meeting and planning retreat.

Meeting went very well. People really enjoyed the group breakout sessions. Productive discussion of board governance issues. Also toured the basement (Lower Level) which was new for most of the board members. Board rejected the idea of a co-presidency in favor of Chairman of the Board and President. I think and stated that if we put together an integrated fundraising committee, then the chair of that committee will take a big load off the president.  

Late afternoon went to TSL to see a movie about the Bauhaus school and its impact on architecture, urban planning, etc. A little sleepy during its coverage of the 1920s and 30s. Very interesting stuff about urban design and development in South America. Columbia and Venezuela.

Karen had received a call from Dave Drake that Rive Gauche in Athens where he is bartending is closing today. So, we went over for a drink and nibbles. The place was very crowded and noisy, mostly with locals. As we were getting ready to go Samira ?? Showed up. Karen and she went out to have a smoke accompanied as it turned out by the owner Joe’s SO. When I turned my stool over to Samira I found Karen propped up against the buyilding. One Scotch and a nicotine rush and she had to hang on to me for the walk to the car.

2/1/2019 – Getting ready to be off to Cambridge

Friday 2/1/2019 – Very COLD

Setting off by noon for annual Super Bowl followed by trip to Florida for cousins’ dinner at Flo’s pad.

Checked in with UTMers. Packed. Left Hudson by noon. Arrived at Esther’s by 3. 

Saw The Favorite at Landmark. Disappointing ending. 

Then dinner. 

Over-rated food.

Thursday – 3/9/2017

Worked library voter lists. Then we drove to Crossgates Mall in Albany in search of rain proof coats for our Netherlands visit. Went to Burlington Coat Factory. Dreadful place. Never enter that store again. Walked across mall to Macy’s. now suffering from early signs of consumption revulsion. Nothing water proof there. Stopped at Dicks where we found two water proof jackets. Saved. Continue reading →

Tuesday – 3/7/2017

Worked on library volunteer site most of day. Solved the problem of keeping two different type of volunteers visible until processed. Then they automatically show upon Active lists. 

Went to PT for second visit w Susan Sheldon about vertigo she repeated treatment to try to overcome lingering problems on getting up from bed. 

Tennis nets are up early this year!!

Boring UTM telecon w Seth, Ole & Gayle went on for almost an hour. Need to work on marketing plan. 

More Homeland and The Americans followed by 30 Rock.  Karen still coughing. 

Monday – 3/6/2017

8:30 discussion with Jeffrey Cadan about his business presentation. Made revisions. Plan to talk further at 11. No call back from him for the rest of the day. 

 

Worked on volunteer site for HAL. Trouble with backend filters. No OR function.

Brief walk to river with Karen. Made vegetable frietada for dinner. 

Watched two more episodes of The Americans. Scandal and then 30 Rock. 

Saturday – 3/4/2017

15 degrees when we got up. Winter is back for sure. Bob’s Diner for breakfast followed by quick shopping at Price Chopper. Home for coffee then a walk up to the indoor Farmers’ Market for Berkshire bread. 18 degrees. Cold fingers and face on walk back going into a stiff wind.

Karen noted this house on S. 6th St. again. Odd arrangement; maybe complex elevations inside.

Read much of a new NYReview of Books.

Went to library at 4 to see how the Living Library program was going. Karen talked with Jeff Rigby about repairing a book; I made paper birds with Pamela Badilla.

Off to TSL to see BEHEMOTH (BEI XI MO SHOU) a 2015 movie. Very compelling scenes from strip mining for coal in Inner Mongolia. Workers and goat herders lives in a tumult. Moved on to iron production. Workers with lung diseases. Ended with scenes in a ghost city of apartment towers somewhere west of Beijing. A tour de force about unrelenting uncontrolled exploitation of the earth and people by Chinese state capitalism.

Monday – 2/6/2107

Up promptly – in car and out of Belmont by 7:40am. Back to Hudson by 10:30.

Promised teleconference with UTM evaporated.

Long talk with Brigid Dorsey about her business. She has come around on her own to the need to raise funds from friends and network. Has reached out to Joe Keenan and his daughter Lauren to help with a crowdfunding campaign.

Watched more of the British TV series- The Shadow Line.  Trouble getting to sleep. Need to be up at 5:30 tomorrow to get to hospital for cataract surgery at 6:30am.