Mystery Solved and Movie Landslide

Kind of a weird day. I slept until almost 10am which is virtually unheard of. I think the last time that happened was back in college before the Army cured me of the concept of sleeping any later than 7am. I assisted myself in this effort by not being able to fall asleep last night, despite being fairly well exhausted by a week of chasing the FBR around the homestead or at least trying to keep up with her. Is it possible to be too tired to sleep? At any rate, I snuck out of the room to the old master bedroom and watched some late-night television until I thought I could sleep. I purposely didn’t turn on A/C in the room so when I returned to our bedroom it would be sublime. It was and probably why I zonked out as long as I did. The FBR will tire you. As a matter of fact, I think of all of my granddaughters as energy vampires. They seem to get more active as I feel less and less of capable of same.

The across the street mystery has been solved. I activated all the neighborhood intel assets (actually just asked the next-door neighbor what she’d heard) and learned the now old neighbors had decided to move to Pennsylvania without telling any of us. The realtor sold the house before he could even put a sign up (a sign of the times) and we’ll be getting new neighbors in shortly since they closed on Monday. Kind of scary how much information my intel source acquired.

My Favorite Panamanian and I have spent the last two afternoons at the cinema catching up on movies we had to forego when the FBR was in residence. Apparently, I scarred my daughter for life by taking her to some of the movies I did when she was the FBR’s age because I was on strict guidance not to do the same with her daughter. I don’t know what the big deal is since my daughter turned out just fine but she gets the final say and, needless to say, my Favorite Panamanian is completely on her side.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a truly fitting send off to an old friend. Harrison Ford is still a bona fide movie star and effortlessly carries this action flick despite his age. It was so fun to root for him again, especially since he gets to take on his old tormentors, the Nazis. The first part of the film features Indy back in World War 2 and the de-aging process was amazing. In a few years they won’t even need actors any more if this is where digitization is headed. They followed the tried-and-true formula assigning appropriate references to earlier films while still pursuing a fun adventure in the late 60’s. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is fantastic as the female lead, a goddaughter to Indy and every bit as watchable as in her earlier roles. A very fun film that will serve as an entirely more worthy send off to this iconic character. Loved it.

Mission Impossible, Dead Reckoning, Part 1, delivers exactly what you expect from an MI film and damn it, they make you love it anyways. Cruise is still amazingly doing his own non-CGI stunts and providing the needed pathos as he goes about trying to save the world yet again with his merry band of misfits. The stakes are predictably astronomical but this is the IMF we’re talking about. The fight on top of a moving train has been done so many times, but someone they make it fresh and scary. Hayley Atwell, Captain America’s (and my) crush, arrives on the scene with appropriate dash and adds a lot to the already talented cast. I just cannot dislike a movie when it delivers exactly what it promises and forces you to enjoy it. I certainly did.

Three movies fell in my A-Z watch (finally exiting the D’s), all keepers, Dusk to Dawn, Salma, Salma, Salma and vampires; The Eagle, Channing Tatum as a Roman Centurion, okay, I’ll bite, and Eagle Eye, completely implausible but lots of fun

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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; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course