Saturday
It recently rained worms in China. Speculation is they were picked up by high winds and dumped. Photo from Google Images:
Friday night’s movie fix was one I’d taken peeks at on Spanish stations, Knowing (2009). It’s a thriller/mystery that, refreshingly, gives equal footing to faith and science, and asks if events are random or determined. It stars Nicolas Cage as a widower whose son is given an envelope from a time capsule interred 50 years ago. All the other kids received drawings. His contains a page filled with numbers. I won’t say more about the plot. The scenario is absorbing. Suspension of disbelief is required. The special effects are first rate. The acting is fine. Rose Byrne co-stars as a divorcee whose mom sent the numbers. Chandler Canterbury is terrific as the son, as is Lara Robinson as Byrne’s daughter. The former racked up 15 credits from 2007-’14, then seems to have given up the trade. The latter is in the midst of a promising career, 22 titles under her name at IMDb. Alex Pryos directed. He honed his craft doing shorts and music videos and went on to entertaining speculative fare such as The Crow (1994) and Dark City (1998). There are 35 titles under his name. He also has eleven credits as a writer and the same amount as a producer. Ryne Douglas Pearson, Juliet Snowden, & Stiles White collaborated on the screenplay of Knowing. Pearson is a novelist and short story author whose focus is thrillers such as Mercury Rising, which was adapted as a Bruce Willis vehicle in 1998. Snowden and White concentrate on screen thrillers. 238,000+ users at IMDb have rated Knowing, forging to a concensus of 6.2 on a scale of ten. I’d go higher if it wasn’t so bleak. Despite its grimness, it fared well at the box office, returning more than $183 million worldwide on a budget estimated at $50 million. It runs about two hours. On the violence meter, it’s below midrange. Here are the leads in character, photo from GI:
Headline from nypost.com: “NYPD cops resigning in new year at record-breaking pace — with a 117% jump from 2021.” Leftists are getting their wish.
Also from NYP: “Silicon Valley Bank CEO sold $3.5M in shares just two weeks before collapse.” I wonder if any pols did the same.
This may be the most amusing headline of the day, from NYP: “Tambourine-waving ex-NYPD cop convicted for role in Jan. 6 Capitol riot.” Lethal Weapon 5, coming soon to a theater near you.
Headline from newsmax.com: “After 35 Years, Vinyl Records Outsell CDs.” There are some things for which I’m nostalgic, but not this.
Headline from foxnews.com: “MSNBC editor trashes Oscar-nominated movie for portraying US military in a positive light.” Consider the source, and it’s not even remotely surprising. He shouldn’t worry, as it appears America is moving toward a woke military.
RIP Jesus Alou, 80, youngest of three brothers to play in the major leagues. Born in the DR, he played for five teams in his 15-year career: the Giants, Expos, Astros, A’s and Mets. In his first MLB game, late in 1963, he, Matty and Felipe batted in the same inning and were retired in order. Five days later the three played the outfield for the Giants at the same time, an MLB first. He was a valuable reserve on the A’s ’73 & ’74 world champions. Overall, he had 1216 hits and an average of .280. When his playing career ended he served as a scout for Montreal and then director of Dominican operations for the Marlins and Red Sox. He was a father of five. Well done, sir. Photo from GI:
The rain moved out, allowing the floating book shop to operate. My thanks to the gentleman who bought five hardcovers in Russian, and to the young woman who wants to improve her English comprehension, who at my suggestion purchased kids’ versions of War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling, and The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, as well as a large tome on Italian — despite the large stain on the cover. Grazie asai.
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