Movies Watched -- Summer with Monika (1953)

In Swedish. 97 minute running time so not overly long, though it felt pretty long, there’s not much dialogue (23 page script) … Ingmar Bergman movie, his first with Harriet Andersson … middle class boy and working class girl fall in love and quit their dead-end jobs and spend the summer boating around the Stockholm archipelago, but she gets pregnant and they have to go back to reality as autumn approaches … spoilers: she eventually leaves him and he’s stuck with the baby … this is not a feel-good movie. I didn’t hate it, but I also wouldn’t recommend it. I’ll have to figure out which of Bergman’s movies to include on my Top movies list … this one probably isn’t it. John Farr recommended it despite it being a heterosexual love story.

Out with hussies, no doubt. Like that slut at the grocery store.

Josephine Foster -- I'm a Dreamer

I like her voice … reminds me of Connie Converse. I guess the Spotify algo thought so too, thus the recommendation.

Blancolirio and Zoom Earth

I enjoy watching Juan Browne’s channel on YouTube, “blancolirio.” He’s a pilot who has a no-nonsense, “just the facts, ma’am” approach to reporting on subjects that he’s interested in, mostly aviation-related things. I noticed today that he was using a really neat weather website I’d never seen before called “Zoom Earth,” which is both beautifully done and free. Check them both out.

Dr. Handerson

Report of Independent Investigation: Allegations of Sexual Misconduct Against Robert E. Anderson — 240 page pdf document

“Dr. Anderson’s misconduct ranged from performing medically unnecessary hernia and rectal examinations on patients seeking treatment for wholly unrelated issues, to manually stimulating male patients and causing them to ejaculate, to quid pro quo arrangements in which he provided medical services in exchange for sexual contact.”

“The most common form of misconduct patients described to us involved Dr. Anderson conducting sensitive examinations (i.e., hernia and/or genital, prostate and/or rectal, and breast and/or pelvic examinations) that they perceived as unnecessary.”

“Almost immediately after Dr. Anderson arrived at the University, rumors about him performing inappropriate and unnecessary examinations of a sensitive nature started circulating on campus. The names by which student athletes referred to Dr. Anderson included ‘Dr. Balls Anderson,’ ‘Dr. Drop Your Drawers Anderson,’ ‘Dr. Handerson,’ ‘Dr. Jelly Fingers,’ ‘Goldfinger,’ ‘Handy Andy,’ and ‘Nutsy Anderson,’ among others.

Washington National Cathedral Organists Play "Baby Shark"

One of the greatest things I’ve found on YouTube, and happily among the top ten most watched Washington National Cathedral videos (over 3,200 total).

Zippo Armor Chinese Dragon Sterling Silver Emblem No. 49555

High Polish Sterling Silver

Zippo Armor Cowboy Design No. 24095

Black Ice lighter in a vivid Laser 360° design … I’m not a fan of any of the Zippo skull or skeleton designs, but I do like the Multicut lasso outline and horse and rider silhouette on the back of this one…

Zippo Armor Tentacles Design No. 167-104480

High Polish Chrome lighter in an intricate 360°MultiCut design

John Cassavetes Made Awful Movies

“Pauline Kael called Faces (1968) ‘dumb, crudely conceived, and badly performed.’ ‘Muddle-headed, pretentious, and interminable,’ was what John Simon had to say about A Woman Under the Influence (1974), while Stanley Kauffman called it ‘utterly without interest or merit.’ Variety jeered at Minnie and Moskowitz as ‘oppressive,’ ‘irritating,’ ‘shrill,’ ‘numbing,’ and ‘indulgent.’”

AND THEY WERE BEING KIND! I hate every movie John Cassavetes ever made and instantly know that someone has his head up his ass when he says he likes the movies of John Cassavetes.

“Among later generation critics, David Denby is still unconvinced that Cassavetes' work merits attention.”

Hurray for David Denby!

Movies Watched -- Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)

135 minute running time so 40 minutes too long … who wants to decode another movie from creepy weirdo David Lynch? I guess this is a “prequel” to the Twin Peaks television series. Lynch is interested in surface normality (bucolic small town America and nuclear families) and hidden corruption and rot and terror, the dream world and the waking world, fantasy and reality. Serious and disturbing issues like sexual abuse leading to drug abuse and sexual promiscuity … he’s interested in this. He’s also interested in the relationship between women, the jealousy and competitive nature of female relations, this is a constant theme. He makes the same movie over and over and over.

Mullholland Drive is better than this because it’s more comprehensible, the story makes more sense in the context of the failed Hollywood starlet and her suicide.

I AM your best friend.