I think that destroyed a few brain synapses

We love us a fun good bad movie (FGBM). Linda had a talent for picking them out. There were some real stinkers in the mix along the way, with some that hit the sweet spot, and a few that were actually much better than we expected. Not actually good, mind you, just an actual competent movie.

Given how many people are involved in making a movie, I'm a little surprised that movies get made at all, let alone good ones. There's so many things that can go wrong, and some of them are not under the control of the crew. Some are, though, and that makes it the their fault when badness happens.

This one was just bad and it was the crew's fault. We're fans of Lucy Liu, and when I saw her face on the cover of the DVD, almost by accident, and I was in the mood for a break from Grey's Anatomy and a FGBM, I picked it up. The library is free, after all. What's the downside?

Holy doodle it was bad! So bad in so many ways it hurt. The Man with the Iron Fists. Just don't. I figure they either paid her really well, or the part tickled her fancy for whatever reason, or she wanted to go slumming. Maybe actors like making a FGBM sometimes, or it's a project with buddies they owe a favour to, or it fits in with something else, or most likely, they needed the money. After Lucy's paycheque, I figure the biggest expense was the many (many!!) buckets of fake blood. It's obvious there wasn't anything in the budget for a writer or story editor.

Enough of that. We're still chewing through Grey's Anatomy, into season 14 now. It was a bit of a slog when that one bully contractor showed up last season. I've done lots of training over the years, and that person had no idea how to do it. You have to have at least some understanding of the 'as-is' before starting on the journey to 'to-be'. We cheered when that bit ended, and didn't feel the least bit sorry for the person involved in the fallout. We were a bit puzzled when one character showed up again for no apparent story telling reason, didn't seem to do anything, and now appears to have disappeared again. Maybe there was a plan, and something changed behind the scenes.

The huge photo editing project I talked about on Friday has ended for now. 2384 photos winnowed down to 98 to show the client. There was some tough sledding there, trying to choose between photos. And yeah, there's probably another 100 I could add to the list if they want more. 

I'll do it all over again in a couple of weeks with a different batch of kids. I hope they're as photogenic as this batch was. The kids appeared to enjoy it as well; several times they'd make sure I was ready, they'd do something, then run over to see the photos. One of them had not realized she was all hunched over on the unicycle.

In the getting back to normal thing, I had coffee with a buddy talking about a community association project. It reminds me of back when you'd periodically see someone wearing a mask. The assumption I made was they had allergies, or an issue of some kind relating to breathing. Our waiter wore a mask, but nobody else in the shop did. I think it's going to be a bit of a hit and miss thing for a while. Some places are going to encourage mask wearing in indoor spaces, some aren't going to care. Some people will continue to wear a mask under some circumstances, but not others.

At least until the next variant comes along. I've been reading about the Delta variant, and have to admit I'm not surprised. In two weeks we may be saying to ourselves, 'Stampede was the stupidest thing we could have done.' Even with all the vaccination work, there's still a lot of people not fully vaccinated, and the virus is still doing it's thing. The last thing I want to see on Labour Day is another wave.

I laughed out loud when I read that the cruise lines are treating the unvaccinated like second class citizens. What did they expect? If I were trying to rebuild the cruise industry brand (a hopeless task in my view) I'd be insisting on proof of vaccination before boarding. The airlines are desperate to get the seats full again, and Linda is starting to look at the deals. I'm not tempted. Westjet damaged their brand by not refunding money for tickets on flights they cancelled until they were shamed into it. I don't want to get into that game.

The sound wall under construction near us is close to completion. From this

To this.

One of my buddies lives near the far end of the sound wall, and says other than construction noise, it doesn't seem to be doing anything. She can't hear a difference. 

In other news, I am hearing a difference. The people that supplied my hearing aids dragged me into a session. It turns out to be a couple years since my last checkup and it's been almost 8 years since I got them. I haven't been wearing them much lately. The best use I got from them was pulling voices out of background noise and there hasn't been a lot of that lately. Much of the rest of the time they just annoyed me. 

Well, it turns out technology has changed. The audiologist hasn't seen my model for years, and assumed they had all been replaced. I'm test driving some new ones, and I have to say this experience is a whole lot better. More news as it happens. Stay tuned.

Of the Day

Artsy

Linda and Celina, but first a serendipity.

Flower

Peony

Bee, but another serendipity along the way, playing games with depth of field.