Elkit in Wonderland

You Say To-May-To, And I Say ...

Garden  on May 17
Originally uploaded by elkit

Well, actually, I also say to-may-to, so let's not call the whole thing off quite yet.

This is what my garden looks like this weekend.

May I introduce everybody? Clockwise from bottom left: strawberries, basil, tomato, tomato, tomato, cucumber in a tomaato cage, tomato, bell pepper, cilantro and another tomato, lettuce, empty spot where arugula seeds are deciding whether or not to make an appearance, more lettuce, and corn. (Corn! I planted corn! Not an acre though.) In the middle, the flowery bits - marigolds up front, nasturtiums behind them. And I put cocoa shell mulch around all the plants. Keeps moisture in the soil longer, keeps weeds from growing, and best of all, it smells like chocolate.

I'll plan to take a picture every couple of weeks, so see how all the edibles are coming along.

Back Of My Neck Feelin' Dirty and Gritty

Hottish today - over 90 degrees, which I would venture is unseasonably warm for mid-May. The entire production department (i.e. Tim and I) took this as a good excuse to flock to the Peninsula Creamery for lunch, where I proceeded to have a banana split. I say that was the best lunch of the week.

Now I'm gonna run off home to see if the kitties are roasted. I think they should be fine - I locked down good this morning, closing all windows and pulling all the shades down. The roastingest part of my day will probably be the drive home. (I am always reluctant to turn the AC on in the car; I prefer to roll down the windows and suck in the hot breeze. I dunno why.)

This Old House Moves, This Old House Moves And Moans (19/52)

F. Paul Wilson, The Haunted Air - another Repairman Jack novel, another great read. I really like Jack and his friends and the people he encounters - so much so that I am beginning to think I ought to slow down, because there are only four or five more books in this series. Should I sidestep to other Wilson works? Fortunately, he's a prolific writer. But like I said a couple of books ago, I didn't care as much for the Adversary Cycle story that I read. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't as good to me as The Repairman.

We'll see, I guess. And I have switched gears to a different kind of page turner: The Story of French is a fascinating read. Well, to a language geek like me, anyway.

Tracks Of My Tears

Here are my Unconscious Mutterings for the week:

• Track :: and field
  
• Snake :: those motherf#@$ng snakes on this motherf#@$ing plane
  
• Assignment :: homework
  
• Blockbuster :: streetsweeper
  
• Bombastic :: spectacular
  
• Adventure :: exploration
  
• First time :: for everything
  
• Aged :: like a good wine
  
• Grip :: best boy
  
• Shortcut :: may turn out to be a detour
  

I Would Get You Back If Only I Could

Monday Music for you: Back Door Slam and "Come Home".

Everybody was Kung-Fu Fighting ... (11/2008)

...or Jiu-Jitsu or something. I am confused after seeing Redbelt. Was this supposed to be The Spanish Prisoner meets Fight Club? And one review said this was Mamet at his best? I wanted to see this because Mamet usually does dialogue-heavy cerebral, stage-like dramas, and just about did a double-take when I heard about him doing a film involving martial arts. This got several good reviews, but I'm sorry, I didn't buy it. I liked the martial-arts part, and I really liked Chiwetel Ejiofor - I think he's a fine fine actor. The plot, on the other hand, made no frigging sense to me whatsoever. What is it with movies threading events in a line that won't hold up on the slightest tug? I've got to say, it dampened my enjoyment of the film. I believe Mamet is a smart guy. Does he think I'm stupid?

Plot holes to drive the proverbial truck through: was this all supposed to be a set-up? Was the actor - Tim Allen nicely cast as a not-so-nice guy - supposed to be in one some conspiracy? How? Why? One guy "won't bring dishonor to the academy", but it's not dishonorable for him to kill himself? That bit I found REALLY hard to believe. A couple of things were never explained (how did that shell case turn up again?), and some important things were brushed off in in a subclause! Who set him up? "So-and-so sold you out." Why? And how?

Still, I didn't hate it, and I thank Chiwetel Ejiofor for his performance. If you like him, you'll probably like this movie. Oh, and you might also enjoy an interview with him at the AV Club.

Iron Man Lives Again (10/2008)

Did you think that Robert Downey jr. would make such a fine superhero? I probably would not have thought of casting him, but I bought it from the first morsel of trailer I saw a few months ago, and could hardly wait for the film to open. I happily suspended my disbelief and thoroughly enjoyed Iron Man. That was a great ride. I mean, GREAT ride. 

Nothing But A Good Ride

When Obama wins, SkyNet will be destroyed at last.

I keep going back for more. I bet you will too.

I See A Bad Moon Rising, I See Trouble On The Way (18/52)

Back to my F. Paul Wilson fest - but "Reborn" is not a Repairman Jack novel; it's from the "Adversary Cycle" - sort of related, all part of the Secret History of the World. I found this interesting, and a breezy read, but I didn't like it quite as much as my man Jack.

Straight Into Darkness (17/52)

I've had "The Left Hand of Darkness" sitting in my stash for a while. Never read anything by Le Guin, not sure why. I liked this a lot - it made me think I ought to read more sci-fi written by women. How many female sci-fi authors do I even know? Three? Ursula Le Guin. Octavia Butler. Connie Willis. (Who else is there? Help me out here.)

Anyway, back to "The Left Hand of Darkness" - I loved the setting here: the lone envoy for a planetary federation, come to a wintry planet to invite them to join. I don't usually care all that much for the outer space sci-fi, because most of it is about weaponry and aliens who must be defeated. I loved this so much more because it wasn't like that at all - it talked about how hard it is to make contact, and how easy it is to egregiously misunderstand each other, when you have such different planes of reference. What's common and normal to the envoy, is weird and freaky to the inhabitants of Winter, and vice versa, and it is only very slowly that the two sides come closer to each other. This is what I love about sci-fi: that it can take a foreign setting to get right into your head and illustrate truths about the human condition.