“They” can take all the flowers up from the grounds around our buildings but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a load of them in my apartment! At my count today I have 29 mostly in the living/dining room area. There is a pepper plant in the kitchen along with “I don’t know what kinds of seeds I have thrown in there” pot! I have an orchid plant on the bathroom sill that needs ‘saving’ !
There is a miniature evergreen in the east window that is growing so slow I might get old before it is tall enough to decorate!
50
weeks of the year I have to depend on uber, lyft, cabs, TOPS (A county
service) or insurance car rides to and from doctors! The other two weeks
of the year Allen goes to visit his daughter, and twin grandchildren, so I
have his car. Oh yes! No way can I forget Jacque who lends me her car almost once a week so I can go to a movie and some med appointments.This
week Allen went up north and on top of that my neighbor’s wife had to go to
Argentina as her 97 year old mother isn’t well and that’s where her
family lives. He said I could use the car as long as she is away (and
when they go on vacation) and they just got her this new used car.So
now I have to decide whether I use one car or alternate the cars but at
least Jacque’s car gets a rest from me. And you think you have
problems!!PS After Wednesday it is back to no car!
The
only reasons to see Tarantino’s latest movie are the really alive
performance by Brad Pitt, the red Rottweiler Brandy and a scene where
Margot Robbie, playing Sharon Tate, watches herself on the screen in a
theatre and enjoying the audience’s reaction plus it is always good
seeing Al Pacino, even in a wasted role.As
to be expected in a Tarantino’s film there is a lot of very vivid
violence, much distortion of history and facts and a lot of extraneous
scenes that bring nothing to the film.I
have always been a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio since “What’s Eating
Gilbert Grape” even in his lesser pictures but in this movie he is just
bad and I put the blame on Tarantino’s shoulders as director and
screenplay writer. There are many cameos but none memorable or even
remembered 5 minutes after you see them.The
only reasons to see “Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood” are if you have 2
hours and 41 minutes of your life to waste and/or your electricity has
gone out and this is the only theatre that has air conditioning!
synopsis
Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood visits 1969
Los Angeles, where everything is changing, as TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo
DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) make their way
around an industry they hardly recognize anymore. The ninth film from the
writer/director features a large ensemble cast and multiple story lines in a
tribute to the final moments of Hollywood’s golden age.
Comedy, Drama 2 hr. 41
min.
The ‘new’ Gateway is almost complete–just missing a few bushes!I
give the owners credit for making the inside of the apartments really
modern with new kitchen and bathroom cabinets, new hurricane windows,
new ceiling fan/light fixture in the ceiling of the bedroom and new
lights in the kitchen and bathroom, new blinds though the new air
conditioners/fans don’t do as good a job as the old system and they
certainly fixed up the hallways.The
big problems are on the outside where all individuality has been taken
away. No more Christmas/Hanukah lights and contests for the best
displays (or even the company putting up lights all around). The biggest
downer are the beautiful individual gardens that many residents put
their own time and money in to liven up the place with Hibiscus &
Rose bushes, many colored orchids, Banana plants, lemon, grapefruit
trees with blossoms, sunflowers, etc., etc. No plants on the window
sills, no decorations of any kind on the doors and/or windows. Our
avocado tree from which we got 75 avocados one season is gone.Now
you can’t tell one building from another and I don’t know if one has to
do with the other but all of a sudden we are ‘losing’ residents to
death, rehab and nursing homes more than usual!Don’t
get me wrong! I love my apartment and I can look out and see Karen Bay,
green trees but from the outside all you can see are bland buildings, one
after another and sometimes ‘uniform’ can be very dull!
Someone
asked me a question about my restaurant reviews and this is what I
answered–hopefully it will help and not add to the inquirer’s
confusion. Welcome to Fort Lauderdale in
Broward County where there are over 2,000 restaurants and it is too hard to
keep a record of how many open and close within ONE year. I have/had been in the
restaurant business 38 years, all positions, now retired and the biggest
problem I have found is that too many restaurants open before they are ready to
open and/or don’t have enough money to see them through a year. With all that
said I am pretty easy with restaurants as I really don’t expect much except a
clean place, good food—doesn’t have to be great!–good servers–not
necessarily super stars but at least show that they have been trained well.
With prices as high as they are today, with a choice of 4 types of restaurants
starting with full service, followed by buffets, then the new fast casual and
finally fast food, a restaurant really don’t get a second chance Added to that is
the fact there are too many choices of each types of food. In 1970 we had 2
Mexican restaurants now I can count 23. Italian restaurants? There are 9 within
2 miles from where I live. Just recently, within 1 mile we have 3 Cuban
restaurants and Peruvian restaurants are growing faster than I can count. I eat
out twice a week, one usually fast casual or lower priced full service and
another a new one. I have 5-6 favorite restaurants that I try to get to 2-3
times a year at least. Add to that I am a Leap Year baby which means I have
(and only celebrate) a birthday every 4 years with a dinner party at a
restaurant, usually a new one, that I have tried in the intervening years and
comes Saturday, February 29, 2020 I will be celebrating my turning 21 at the
Nabu restaurant if #1 They are still open and #2 I haven’t come across a newer,
better one. My last birthday was in 2016 and I held a dinner for 22 people at
Cafe Vico and I couldn’t have asked for better food, service, atmosphere or
evening. I usually will try to speak to a manager if I find something
wrong–some listen, some don’t. I see over 100 movies a year in
theatres–maybe, if I am lucky, I will see 5 or 6 that I would want to see
again. Why do I bring this up? Too many people today don’t have the money to go
to movies anymore and certainly not to eat out. I don’t like to see any
business close or employees lose employment but I know I read reviews for
restaurants, movies, plays, etc., so I won’t waste my time and money. I soon
learn who to trust when when reading their reviews and who not to. For instance
there is a critic in South Florida that I know if they dislike some place
chances are I will love it! Didn’t mean to go on so long–I appreciate your
note and just wanted to explain a little–which turned into a lot!–of where my
head is at regarding my posting reviews! I reviewed 2
restaurants recently–VALE FOOD CO and CAO Bakery & Cafe–each had
something good but I won’t be returning to either because there were too many
negative things that should have been taken care of before they opened if not
after customers brought it to their attention. Hope you find some great places
to eat! Martin
Water, water everywhere without a drop to drink! Thursday morningI received an alert message,not only on my phone but also on my Internet email, stating that Fort Lauderdaleand
a few surrounding cities had contaminated water due to a company
busting an old 42″ water pipe and due to old safety valves the water was
not transmitted to safe water pipes and so: Tap water
should not be used for drinking, making ice, preparing foods, washing dishes,
brushing teeth, taking showers, etc. Before using be sure to boil water for a
minute to eliminate bacteria or other organisms. “They”said
this should be fixed within 36-48 hours and here is it 88 hours later
and the warning is still in effect. At least the water is still running! It
being hurricane season most many people had bottled water in their
homes just in case but it seems the majority didn’t as stories below
talk about. On
Thursday Allen and I went on to do our regular Thursday chores only
this time we had his daughter who was here on vacation joined us and we
decided to eat lunch in a ‘nice’ placebut many restaurants
weren’t open because they didn’t have water to cook, clean or to serve
to customers. Just think about all the businesses that depend on
water–clean, germ free water–and imagine the loss businesses will take
not to forget employees! We finally found a restaurant that was open
but I still think they used the tap water to make that awful lemonade I
had and all the dirty tables! (See my post about Vale Food Co.) It took a
couple of days for restaurants, hotels, etc., were able to reopen. Needless to say that any place selling water was immediately cleaned out by panicked customers! I
lucked out that I had bottled water supplies in case of a hurricane but
I got a bonus in that my neighbor orders bottled water and last week
they sent him double the amount he usually gets so he gave me a case of
24 bottles, each bottle holding 18 ounces and he has 12 more cases if I
need some! “They
are testing the water again today and we are waiting to hear the
results meanwhile having a heat wave like the rest of the country (but
not as bad and at this time of the year we expect it and know how to
deal with it). Meanwhile
I have Allen’s car to get out and enjoy a beautiful sunny day in Fort
Lauderdale with water all around—only not to drink!!
The second time in a week that I was
to a restaurant in a location that has failed before, the dish I had was
excellent but everything else was either blah or downright not good.
We had other plans but with the water
situation the few places we wanted to go to were closed and I had a coupon for
this place that had been another
restaurant for a short time. Vale has kept the same set up which is fats
casual, line up for your food, get it, pay and go look for a table, hopefully
to find one that isn’t dirty, sticky and still have used plates on it.
I had the small Aci bowl which is
normally $7.99 but with the coupon I got it free as long as I bought a drink,
which I did and cost $3.52 with tax.
The Aci bowl was really good with
bananas, strawberries, granola, something like a blueberry cream sauce but the
drink, organic lemonade made with sugar cane and blue agave that tasted like
gasoline
If nothing else that ‘drink’ would
keep me from ever going to that place again but the dirty tables was/is even
more of a reason not to go back.
In 1994 I saw the animated film of “The Lion King” and was impressed. I was even more impressed seeing the Broadway musical version 3 times including just this past May 9, 2019, in Miami and each time my jaw dropped to the floor with the opening number. Now we have a live action/CGI version. I admit I haven’t the slightest idea what that means except the talking animals really seem to move and talk just as human actors do! I very seldom have good things to say about a remake but in this case a remake of a remake of an original held my attention from beginning to end even knowing the story forward and backwards.The cast voices fit perfectly and Billy Echner as Timon the meerkat almost, almost, makes me forget Nathan Lane’s voice in the original animation and Seth Rogen gets all the laughs he can as Rumbaa the warthog. It is good to hear James Earl Jones reprise his roll as King Mufasa while the new voices of Chitwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Donald Glover as grown-up Simba and Beyonce Knowles as Nala are equal to the best. By the way the cubs playing Simba and Nala will make anyone a cat person! The direction, (how do you direct a live/CGI animal?) by Jon Favreau, the photography by Caleb Deschanel with the visual effects by Robert Legato and Adam Valdez all combine to make this version of “The Lion King” a clear winner!
Rainy season runs from May to mid-October while hurricane season is June 1 to November 30 and so far we haven’t had much rain in Fort Lauderdale. Other towns and cities seem to get more than us but I am not complaining.
Contrary to what people think rain does not cool down the temps but does send the humidity sky high!When it does rain it is usually in the morning or around 5 PM but an hour later you would never know it had rained!
One pleasure I have in the summer is sitting at my dining room table, have supper and watch the moon rise. Doesn’t take much to make me happy but Mother Nature does her best!
Right now at 5:44 PM in Fort Lauderdale we are not allowed to use the tap water without boiling it–will explain over the weekend–right now I want to enjoy the blue sky, puffy clouds, sunshine and everything that makes living here so great!
All right, I do it in public so I might as well admit to all: most people who know me know I cry in movies and I have never been ashamed of it but to cry in an animated film??? Come on!! Okay I did and I do. I remember years ago crying when Bambi’s mother died but until cartoon movies became way more, in technical ways, I didn’t during Snow White, Pinocchio or even Fantasia!I saw “Toy Story 1” but aside from remembering some of the characters I remember little of the story. I skipped 2 & 3 but not having anything else to see today I decided to see the, supposedly, latest and last story. It is a story about how one feels not being wanted or loved anymore and how to handle the feelings and life changes.In this film we find an old friend Woody, a sheriff, has lost his first owner, Andy, who pushed him aside when Andy went off to college. Woody found consolation with Bonnie who inherited him but now she is off to kindergarten and has made her own toy, Forky, made from trash items like pipe cleaners, a plastic spoon, doll’s eyes and considers himself trash but Bonnie loves him.
Very shortly after bringing him home she loses him and Woody feels it is his duty to return Forky, now Bonnie’s friend who in turn deserts him while at the same time convince Forky he is not just trash.
The chase involves some old, and many new characters, in the Toy Story series but bogs down in the chase sequences while at the same time offering a few laughs such as a skunk sort of being a Trojan horse or at least camouflage! The main tug at the emotional strings are the reunion of Bo Peep and Woody with the former having accepted the fact that she no longer serves a purpose just moving here and there.
Not having seen the middle stories I am not sure who is new here but Tom Hanks, as always, is very effective and, yes, believable as Woody. Tony Hale, new as Forky, is funny while Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear gives solid backup to his friends while Annie Potts returns as Bo Peep as a very strong woman and Christina Hendricks as sort of a villainous Gabby Gabby who wants Woody’s voice box. One of the newest characters, and definitely the funniest, is Keanu Reeves as Duke Caboom, a Canadian stunt motorcyclist, full of himself and daring to do anything.
“Toy Story 4” is a film for both children of all ages and adults will, in many cases, enjoy it more! After seeing about a dozen of the ‘new’ ways films are animated I am still intrigued at how the characters seem alive and, in many cases, you believe in them.
Synopsis Woody has always been confident about his place in the world and that his priority is taking care of his kid, whether that’s Andy or Bonnie. But when Bonnie adds a reluctant new toy called “Forky” to her room, a road trip adventure alongside old and new friends will show Woody how big the world can be for a toy.
greatmartin 