I watched Ghost Story for the first time in ages—decades—yesterday afternoon. I’m not sure how critical response was to it at the time, but it does not stand up well to age. It looks a little like a movie of the week, except for the nudity. You’d think that with icons like Douglas Fairbanks and John Houseman that you’d be treated to tour-de-force performances, but it’s pretty shoddy work all around. If ever a novel deserved a second look as an adaptation, this would be one.
I got back to the work of writing this morning for the first time since the storm. I revised what I had written on a short short story that I began a while back and moved onward a little as well. I also got another story back into submission and received a rejection letter, so the game continues.
I think most of my coworkers have power now, and the local percentage rate for those still in the dark is around 7%. Still something over 400 people on the missing persons list on the Houston Chronicle web site, though.
The “newly dating” couple on The Amazing Race has trouble written all over their relationship. His way of “correcting” her when she does something he doesn’t like is to say “I love you, honey, but please don’t…” The first time he did it, it seemed considerate, but then I realized it was his passive-aggressive way of ordering her around. He also makes snide comments to her, like the way he said she couldn’t talk and climb at the same time when they were scaling the mesh. She ends up apologizing for her actions a lot. Looks very unhealthy to me. I was sad to see the beekeepers go so soon, since I think they would have injected a much-needed sense of humor into the race. It’s funny the way the brother/sister team have adopted the separated couple as surrogate parents. It’ll be interesting to see how the dynamics evolve in the coming weeks. I like this show because no one gets voted out. People eliminate themselves by failing to perform as well as the others, so there’s less posturing and artifice. Though there can be some sniping and mean-spirited behavior, it’s not the rule. No one is immune from one leg of the race to the next, and it’s easy to go from last to first (or vice versa).
Cold Case was back in its usual banal form. I’m not sure why I continue to watch the show. The characters aren’t really all that interesting and the cases don’t often stand out from one season to the next. I continued reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle as I watched, and am about 40% of the way through the book. I was surprised by the arrival of a James-Lee-Burkesque supernatural element to the story. The title of the book becomes clearer now, given the way that the Sawtelle’s files on their dog breeding endeavors leads to a continually updated story for each dog they’ve raised over the years.
I taped The Unit, which is on a new day this season.
