Mafia Night Out

As you can see from the attached photos the Favorite Panamanian escaped birthday cake and cookie prep to enjoy a night out with the Panamanian mafia gals yesterday. The Neighborhood Mafioso invited her to join the gang as they took in a concert from a Latina trio that was playing in Worcester last night. She returned with rave reviews for not only the concert but the time spent with her friends.  She also purchased a couple books they were selling, as Wingman would say, as “merch”, aimed at helping young children learn Spanish. My Favorite Panamanian’s biggest, or I should say, one of her biggest, issues is that none of her grandchildren speak Spanish. Yet. Every time she tries to engage them, they run away (I know the feeling). The FBR and BRS are both showing small indications that they would like to learn so these books may come in handy.

The Mafia Last Evening

It seems as if we’ve been on a roller coaster since our return from Panama, a lot of that involving medical appointments delayed until our return. On that subject, I had my six-month dental cleaning and check up yesterday. My well-endowed dental hygienist took out the big tools (dental) to clean the accumulated grime. I wore my running cap so she wouldn’t have to stare at my scalp excavations while doing her own digging. We have a new dentist and I swear he looks like a high school kid but that could be because of the relative distance, chronologically, between us. I also set up an appointment with the physical therapist to deal with the right foot problem. I guess medical science is still marveling that I’ve gotten through all these years, and an Army career, with arches this high. Civilians!

Of Course Dinner was Involved

At the Concert Venue

You’ll notice from the A-Z watch that I had a lot of time on my hands over the past couple days. It rained all day yesterday and I mentioned that the Favorite Panamanian was out all last night (so, no chick flicks in the Man Cave!). Since the Red Sox were doing their usual swoon against Tampa Bay, it was movie time. As I look at the movie library shelves, I think am about at the exact half way point in this effort. Of course this doesn’t include the other shelves which include everything from “v” onwards, the James Bond collection, the Marvel movies, the DC movies, and assorted other favorites. The march goes on. It's shaping up to be an epic weekend. We’re going to a church dance tonight (guess whose idea that was) that my Favorite Panamanian volunteered to set up. Tomorrow morning we head up to New Hampshire to celebrate BR3’s 4^th birthday. We’ll deliver the bike I put together as well as yet another fantastic cake my wife has created to birthday girl specifications. Time to get psyched!

We went to see The Fall Guy earlier in the week. This is a very enjoyable movie which shouldn’t be a problem but I guess I was expecting more of a punch, considering the cast. As it is, it is a devoted love letter to the Hollywood stuntman and the stunts, obviously not CGIed are truly epic. You would think the Blunt-Gosling pairing would be magic. They’re both very good in this, especially Gosling. He was back in the well remembered and loved type personae of The Nice Guys. He’s semi-bumbling but highly effective stunt man trying to win back Blunt’s love. There’s also a murder mystery involving the movie within the movie’s biggest star. I expected to be blown away and while I really enjoyed the movie I wasn’t. Considering the director’s past films I thought there would be non-stop action and a thrilling finale. The finale was awesome but the first part of the movie dragged a bit. Still a solid start to 2024’s summer movie season.

Today’s weigh-in, 18 pounds lost towards 25-pound goal. The last ten is putting up a fight.

In my A-Z watch, six fell since I last posted, five keepers: Dune Part 2 (new addition), a sequel better than the original, awesome final battle; In Time, quirky sci fi with time and or lack of it as the primary motivation in life; Into the Blue, really bad beach melodrama, but then there’s that Jessica Alba bikini, had to keep it; The Invisible Man, Elisabeth Moss adding real texture to a riveting horror story; I Robot, back when Will Smith could carry a movie effortlessly; and Ironclad, thought I would love this medieval sword adventure and it had Kate Mara, but, just a bad movie - jettison.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course