Highlight Reel – September 2023

Did okay with this last month. Let’s try it again for September….

Multimedia – Watching, Reading, Listening

Watching: All kinds of things!

• Movies (blog links, not affiliate links)
  • Gran Turismo – Good sports movie, though rather “loosy goosy” with the facts. Pretty standard, but still well done, with some excellent camera work (be it real, special effect, or hybrid). I love that the real Jann Mardenborough was the driving “stunt double” for the lead actor.
  • A Haunting in Venice – Not as good as the first two entries in the Branagh Poirot series. More style than substance this time around, but still enjoyable (even if I did mostly figure it out before the end). If you liked the others, you’ll like this one. If you didn’t, then this one won’t change your mind.
  • Push – interesting take on “powered people,” with a post-Johnny Storm/pre-Steve Rogers Chris Evans, and a very good turn by a teen Dakota Fanning, plus several other familiar faces where were generally unknown or “between peaks” at the time (Ming-Na Wen, Cliff Curtis, Corey Stall)
  • Kingsman: The Secret Service – had seen most of it, but in bits and pieces, never all in one go
  • Sleepless in Seattle – had seen all but about 20 minutes of it over the years, but never sat down intentionally to watch it until now
  • You’ve Got Mail – figured I should knock this one out, which I also had only seen in bits and pieces, though much less of it over the years than Sleepless
  • I, Tonya – This was an incredibly interesting movie, not so much from the story (which was both pretty well known and straight forward), but from the actual movie-making perspective; the faux documentary style, breaking the fourth wall (and I don’t mean during the documentary interview portions), just the way the whole thing was crafted and edited. And Allison Janney 100% earned her Oscar; what an incredible performance!

• TV
  • Atlanta Braves Baseball – Watching Acuña be the first player in MLB history with 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases was amazing. Looking forward to October baseball!
  • American Ninja Warrior – that finale was awesome, and heartbreaking
  • The Wonder Years – well, we knew when they waited until summer to release season 2 that things were not looking good; it was officially cancelled in mid-September; such a shame, as we really enjoyed it
  • Star Wars: Rebels – I was usually working when L watched this in the afternoons, and Steve was usually at work, so we really needed this refresher; watched the first episode of Ahsoka and decided we didn’t remember enough of it to move forward until we had rewatched
  • Ahsoka – Good thing, too, since many reviews said this is basically “Rebels Season 5,” which is spot on accurate!
  • Loki – Season 1 rewatch
  • The Irrational – new TV series on NBC with Jesse L. Martin

Good Times – Friends, Family, Fun

Celebrated Dad’s birthday over Labor Day weekend with a visit from us and L. Laughed ourselves silly playing dice games.

News Reel – Noteworthy Events

• Jimmy Buffet passed away.
• Chris Evans got married; not sure why no one sent me condolences!
• My friend Robin passed away from metastatic breast cancer. She went into remission 2 years ago, but it came back over the summer, though that was not public knowledge. She went to the hospital on September 2 not feeling well, and they discovered a “spot” on her brain. She went home for hospice care starting September 13 and died on September 22. It hit me really hard. I’ve known her since 1990; she was 12 years old then (I was about to turn 14). We were extremely close for a few years. Though we lost touch after that and we’ve only been “online friends” for the past 10-ish years, she’s still probably the closest I’ve ever come to having a little sister. Truly one of the best people I have ever known. I can’t believe she’s gone.
• David McCallum (Duckie from NCIS) passed away.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly – Six Words

Busy. Tired. Movies. Quiet. Sad. Cooking.

Daily Dispatch – the Everyday and Routine

• Meal planned this month and it went pretty well. Ate at home 4-5 nights a week, including actual cooking (not frozen or sandwiches) at least 3 nights a week
• Obviously no blogging happening this month. The last six months have been…. a lot. Just taking some time for myself and “hermit-ing” for a bit.
• Weather is definitely cooling off, and the leaves are starting to turn. It’s been really lovely out for quite a few days this month, though coastal me could use a little more rain/humidity (but not too much!).
• Formerly routine but much more rare these days: I put on some press-on nails near the end of the month. Didn’t get a picture before one popped off after less than 48 hours, though. Maybe they’re too old and the adhesive is drying out?

Just Keep Swimming – Progress on Goals

• Finishing touches on the new 101 Things list for next month.
• October meal plan ready.
• Cleaned and published, uh, 0 old blog posts, so still at 153 out of 1997 reposted from the old blog. Also 0 of the 97 previously unpublished posts about my prior 101 Things lists were cleaned and published. Aiming to have all 97 cleaned and published by the time Version 5 premieres near the end of October, but given that I’m not even posting this review until October 16, I’m doubting that will happen, but we’ll see.
• Every Movie I’ve Ever Seen list also made no progress.

Into the Unknown – Future Plans

• Really want to focus on getting my previous 101 Things posts published before Version 5 comes out.
• Planning to see The Creator, probably the first week of October, because….
• Luke’s birthday is next month, and he will be home.

That sounds like plenty for now! See you back here in a month.