Wednesday, September 13, 2017

A Garden Mystery, and The Godfather


Still no resolution on the strange book switcheroo that I mentioned yesterday. My supervisor talked to the manager of the store, who said they'd recently expanded into international online sales and had to hire a lot more people, and that these new people have been making mistakes. My supervisor pointed out that this seemed unlikely to be a random mistake and urged him to investigate further. He said he would, and would let us know the outcome. Stay tuned.

I'd still love to flame them on social media, but my supervisor doesn't want to drag the school into a public conflict, which -- as much as it pains me to say -- I completely understand.

Dave and I have had to turn the heat on the last few mornings. Otherwise the house is painfully chilly when we first get up. It's 55ยบ out now, and I'm hearing lots of wind roaring through the treetops.

Did I mention that the top of our patio-fence bird feeder went missing? I went to refill the feeder with peanuts yesterday morning and the lid was nowhere to be found. Spirited away by some spiteful, frustrated squirrel, no doubt. I spotted it last night in the neighbor's garden beneath one of her rose bushes. Now I just need to retrieve it, which probably means knocking on the neighbor's door. Fortunately, this isn't Mrs. Kravitz -- it's the neighbor on the other side, who we barely ever speak to. I don't even know her name. I should consider this a bonding opportunity!

Prompted by "The Sopranos," Dave and I recently decided to watch the "Godfather" movies. I had never seen "The Godfather, Part II," which everyone says is the best one, and although I never really liked "The Godfather," I remember being tired and falling asleep when I tried to watch it many years ago. (It was allegedly my father's favorite movie.) Maybe, I thought, if I gave them a second chance, I would finally see what all the fuss is about.

So we rented them both, and watched them -- not on the same day. I still don't love them, although I agree that Part II is the most compelling. I am just not a mafia-movie person, and they are too darn long. I think we're going to skip Part III, since everyone agrees that it's terrible.

(Photo: A bench along the River Darent, Southeast London, on Sunday.)

12 comments:

  1. I'm with you on "The Godfather" movies -- never a fan. There's something unsettling about the glorification of people whose behavior was worse than animals, I think. I do remember loving it when Diane Keaton's character aborts their baby and she just revolts from it all. Was that in Part 2?

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  2. I hope you get to talk to your non-Kravitz neighbour. It's so sad that people can live in big cities and even after years have passed they may still not know their neighbours. As Grace Slick once sang - "We should be together" but how can we be if we have never spoken to our immediate neighbours?

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  3. I loved the Sopranos ( Watched it twice )but like you didn't like the Godfather. Recently our Grandson told us to watch Heat but we didn't like that either, in fact we didn't even get all through that one.Goodfella's was brilliant though.
    You sound like us with neighbours. Once upon a time we knew all of the neighbours to speak to but now things have changes and nobody wants to be friendly, sign of the times.
    Briony
    x

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  4. What is that little painting done on? A small piece of wood? It's heartbreaking somehow.
    I can barely handle the emotions in Call The Midwife right now. I am just overwhelmed by everything in the world.
    Thank you for being a good part of the different parts of my universe.

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  5. The Godfather trilogy, along with The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings and the Transformer movies, are on heavy rotation on one of the channels Marc tunes into. We had an early cool front blow in the week after the flood which has been nice but it is supposed to get hot and muggy again. signs point to an early fall here.

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  6. Not a big fan of gangster, mob, violent, tough guy movies or TV. I saw Godfather 1, and that was enough for me. Now we're living it live in the White House. Love that painting.

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  7. I guess I'm a throwback. I much preferred the noir movies in the days of Bogart and Cagney.

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  8. I must be the same when it comes to mafia movies. I avoid them at all costs. I'm glad your supervisor has put some pressure on that bookseller. If he has a self-crusading employee, he needs to know about it and correct it.

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  9. I've never watched the Godfather movies & really have no interest. I'm more of a Die Hard kind of gal - ha!

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  10. I think I am the only person in the world who couldn't stick with The Sopranos.

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  11. I was on the young side when The Godfather was released and it wasn't my idea of interesting anyway, so that's a part of my education that's missing!

    Good that you found your feeder top; otherwise you'd have squirrels bedded down permanently inside :)

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  12. I understand your ire with the book situation but I am thinking if it was deliberate then making an example of this will only give them even more oxygen.

    As for the mafia, I am not a fan, whether it is real life, movies or a TV series.

    So happy the Olga situation ended well yesterday.

    Alphie

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