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I think father is getting well. In fact, I'd day he's almost back to normal. Yesterday, he watched several hours of Fox News and praised the governing efficiency of Hitler's Germany.

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For the past two days in a row, the Internet has gone out at about midnight and remained off for the rest of the night. As a night owl who makes money working online overnight, that has been a real problem for me. I don't know what my ISP is doing or whether the same thing will happen tonight, but just in case, I'm typing this as fast as I ca

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Found in my mailbox today:

Thanks, Meyer. I'm rather partial to the chokLit bunny myself.

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You might think that having a convalescent parent in the house would make for more time watching movies, but you'd be wrong. You know how some critics always complain that even Disney movies have scenes that can be too scary for small kids? Well, they're right; and the soundtracks of those scenes can scare sleeping old people, too. Stay away from that apple, Snow White!

119. (1978.) The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018)
Watched because it was filmed in scenic Newnan, Georgia. The house used as the main location is right in the path of the tornado that came through earlier this year, but it received minor damage compared to many of its neighbors. The nearby high school has been condemned and will have to be razed and rebuilt. Wait, isn't this supposed to be a movie review? It was fine. I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed that section of town before it all blew away.

120. (1979.) Blow Out (1981)
This movie is not about a tornado. The title refers to a literal blown tire that is blamed for the death of a politician, but a sound engineer's recording reveals a preceding gunshot. The political intrigue plays backseat to the paranoia of the people involved as the whole thing is Brian De Palma's take on a Hitchcockian suspense thriller. (Unfortunately for the audience, De Palma never learned Hitchcock's Rule of the Ticking Bomb.) If you ever wondered how Travolta got from Saturday Night Fever to Look Who's Talking, the answer is here. The movie is worth watching for its opening scene, but once Travolta enters the picture, I recommend you turn it off.

If all this suspense is making you thirsty, reach for a Coke!

121. (1980.) In Bruges (2008)
Crime noir done right with a great cast and a perfect ending. Just amazing all around. I loved it.

122. (1981.) The Scarlet Coat (1955)
A fictionalized true tale of the American Continental Army's discovery of the treachery of Benedict Arnold. It's an entertaining if slightly stiff adventure yarn best suited for Saturday afternoon matinees.

123. (1982.) By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953)
Doris Day plays a tomboy who wants to marry, and Gordon MacRae plays the boy who doesn't want to settle down just yet. Miscommunication and hijinks ensue. While the boys are watching The Scarlet Coat, the girls can sit through this.

More to come

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I vowed that if the 1-4 Dolphins lost to the 0-5 Jaguars today in London, I wasn't going to watch another Dolphins game all season.

Final score: Dolphins 20, Jaguars 23.

So long NFL. And thanks for all the fish.

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I had to change the latch to our picket fence gate because Scarlett learned that she could put one paw on the handle and push to let herself out of the yard.

My irritation at having to track down a muddy escaped poodle was tempered by my appreciation that she learned how to escape just from watching us come and go.

Never underestimate a determined poodle.

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I don't feel guilty about watching Hallmark mystery movies, so I can't call these "guilty pleasures." "Comfort movies" seems a more fitting description.

108. (1967.) Sweet Revenge: A Hannah Swensen Mystery (2021)
Hannah the baker is my favorite of the Hallmark mystery series detectives, and I'm glad to see her return even in a silly, uninspired installment. However, I'm willing to ascribe most of the worst changes between this and her last appearance to COVID-inspired filming restrictions. If COVID is good for anything, that thing is scapegoating.

110. (1969.) Mystery 101: Deadly History (2021)
This series has long had some of the better mysteries (and sillier endings) of Hallmark's offerings, a trend this continues. It seems producers now want to establish greater connective tissue between installments — more time for romance! — that I'm not entirely sure works in the series' favor. I guess time will tell.

116. (1975.) Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Honeymoon, Honeymurder (2021)
Get a load of that that title! Can you believe anyone would name anything that? Ms. Teagarden is the nosy Ms. Marple wannabe that I love to hate. I very much look forward to the episode in which someone needs to solve her inevitable murder.

124. (1983.) Redemption in Cherry Springs (2021)
Another case where it seems that COVID limited filming conditions to a series of claustrophobic two shots. The core fault of this movie results from its attempts to break the Hallmark formula by making the mystery a missing person yet having the love interest/cop insist he should be the only one trying to solve the case. What a dick.

More to come.

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• Awoke to a call to repair a broken door at our commercial rental property
• Bent the jack on my aunt's new lawnmower trailer as I was swapping her two trailers
• Smashed my thumb with a sledgehammer while trying to "repair" said jack
• Nearly wrecked my car changing lanes in front of a tiny Smart car on the way to the hospital
• Visited Dad in the hospital to find him once again weak and confused (he was readmitted on Saturday because he couldn't breathe well... and he still can't breathe well)
• Failed to properly latch the gate and allowed Dad's poodle Scarlett to escape my yard
• Struck in the eye by a falling acorn
• Watched Matt Amodio lose on Jeopardy!

That was my Monday. I don't think I'll be getting out of bed on Tuesday. I don't want to find out what falling thing hits me in the eye next. It'd probably be a plane.

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