It was an interesting weekend to watch
the events in Russia, for everyone except the residents of the Kremlin. One of
Putin’s most devoted henchmen, Yevgeny Prigozhin, turned on him and started an
armed march towards Moscow. The march was more of a publicity stunt than an
armed insurrection but I was stunned by how far he got on the road to Moscow.
He was able to seize the Russian logistics hub in Rostov and then got within
150 miles of the Russian capital. He also shot down a number of Russian
aircraft sent against him while meeting no significant resistance. The stunning
part was seeing the news reports of the reception his forces received during
the march.
Putin asserts absolute control over the
Russian media but we caught a glimpse of fragile that can be when a people have
memories of a free press because there was definite discontent with the war in
Ukraine and more chilling for Putin, an impression the Russian people were ecstatic
that someone was standing up to the dictator. I know the images we saw were
carefully broadcast by Prigozhin but it was telling. It’s all very Russian. I
put the over/under on Prigozhin’s lifespan at three months. Putin continued miscalculations
that began with the invasion of Ukraine continued with placing so much trust in
his former hot dog vendor. The only problem being his only exit is to continue
to feed young Russians into the Ukrainian meatgrinder hoping to eventually wear
the Ukrainians down.
 |
| Happier Times for the "Buddies" |
In entirely more mundane news, my Favorite
Panamanian has latched onto another project for her husband to undertake. The
innocent stairs from the garage into the house are the unwitting victims of her
latest focus. She decided the stairs, currently unpainted, needed some sprucing
up (because, why not?). My dithering campaign failed miserably in the face of
her focus and I spent some time at the Home Depot this morning acquiring some
gray paint. The stairs are our main entrance to the house as well as where we
keep the recycling bins so they needed the spruce up but that also meant I had
to clean them before I start applying the paint. That formed the latter part of
my day as I taped off the surrounding area as well. Tomorrow the paint will
fly, hopefully on target.
 |
| Target Area |
My Favorite Panamanian and I knocked out
a couple movies this week. Kandahar has Gerard Butler running around with lots
of explosions going on around him, again.
I hadn’t heard much about this but it’s a pretty taut action flick. Butler
plays a CIA contractor in Iran helping take down an Iranian nuclear facility.
The Iranians are not pleased and take exception to his efforts, especially
after they learn his identity from a newspaper writer and that he’s hanging out
in nearby Afghanistan. The bulk of the movie has Butler and his Afghani translator
making their away across Taliban controlled Afghanistan with everybody, and I
mean everybody, trying to kill them. It’s a very engaging story with some real
humanity between the two. Butler does so well in these type roles and he
delivers again.
No Hard Feelings is an absolute riot of
a raunchy comedy. Jennifer Lawrence can do anything and proves she has incredible
comedy timing along with her other, obvious capabilities. She plays a down and
out, incredibly immature, but hot, 32-year-old hired by some helicopter parents
to “school” their Princeton bound son. You have to suspend a lot of disbelief
to buy the concept but Lawrence and the young actor make it work. The success
of any comedy depends on the supporting cast and the couple playing Lawrence’s friends
are hilarious. It was nice to finally see another R-rated comedy come out since
it seems Hollywood has been trying not to offend anyone which is basically
impossible and a comedy is guaranteed to offend some overly sensitive group.
This was a great watch.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 3rd 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; Soxfather -
my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course
No comments:
Post a Comment