That is a real capture of my weather app from my iPhone on Saturday afternoon. This is the first time in recorded history that Houston had a day over 105° in a month other than August. The humidity, at 24%, was surprisingly low for around here, but it was too hot to venture out of doors anyway. Sunday was much the same, but the weather broke and it was 15° cooler when I got home from work yesterday than it had been at the same time on Saturday. It was unusual to feel cool when it was 90° outside, but it really did feel nice. We could sure use some rain, though.
I find the process of editing and revising interesting. I wrote a 2000-word article over the weekend. I had most of the bits and pieces in place already, but it wasn’t a coherent essay yet. After I had it whipped into rough shape, I printed it out and red-lined it by hand. I went through that process, keying in the changes, printing it out and editing it, at least three times. Maybe four. By the end, I was tinkering with only the odd word choice here and there. Then I went through it on the computer screen and discovered all sorts of things that I wanted to change. Big things. Structural changes. I deleted and added sentences. Rearranged paragraphs. It often goes that way—the types of changes I make are different in the two styles of editing.
We finished the first two seasons of Luther over the weekend. Season 3 starts in the UK tonight but doesn’t air here until September. I had already watched these ten episodes before, but my wife hadn’t. She wasn’t sure about Alice at first, but then she started finding her intriguing. The big question isn’t why Luther is fascinated with her but why she is so fixated on him. She’s a puzzle for him to solve. Does she like him because he’s the first person to figure out who she really is? Alas, precious little of her in the second season. Hopefully more in the third.
Zero Hour really is getting quite dire. I feel strangely compelled to finish it off, but I’m not sure why. Perhaps because there’s not so much else to watch at the moment. I’m liking King & Maxwell quite a bit. I liked that they went to bat for the FBI agent last week, even though their relationship with the Feds hasn’t been great. The character of Edgar could be a caricature, but he’s an interesting guy. Giving the kid his precious pencil sharpener this week was a nice grace note. He’s definitely earning his keep by getting King interested in the assassination case again, too. I like it more than Major Crimes, although you can’t beat a Flynn & Provenza Abbot and Costello caper like the one this week. I’m still watching The Killing, but only with one eye. I find it hard to feel engaged by the characters or the case.
Whodunnit? is an interesting diversion. It’s like a live-action version of Clue. I wish they didn’t try so hard to make it seem like the scenario is real. No, you aren’t really going to die if you don’t solve the mystery. You just won’t win the $250,000. I like the fact that the players have to decide how much information to share. If no one shares what they learn, no one will solve the crime. Three allies, though, could make it through to the end if they are completely straight with each other. One to go to each of the investigative scenes. There are a few ways I would change the show (should anyone care to ask me). I’d shorten the scene at the end where they all find out if they are “spared” or “scared.” Why waste so much screen time? I know there’s a certain amount of suspense involved, but I’d rather use that valuable time to enhance the actual crimes. Do a quick, everyone at once reveal. Also, the bit where the people go into the room and present their case…pretty much a waste of time since, if you read the fine print at the end, they are actually judged based on a written test.
Dexter is back for the final run. Interesting to see that Charlotte Rampling has joined the cast. My wife watched Georgy Girl the other night, starring her, Lynn Redgrave and James Mason. We knew the song by The Seekers, of course, but neither of us knew there was a movie to go along with it, let alone one that garnered several Oscar nominations.
It’s been six months since the shooting (two years in Harrison development time, apparently). Dexter hasn’t changed, of course, but Deb sure has. Spiraling out of control. The introduction of Rampling’s character will give Dexter something else to worry about in addition to his self-destructive sister. I knew Angel would be back after the shooting. I thought, though, that his sister had better sense than to hook up with Quinn. I noticed one unusual detail about the show that I’ve never realized before: there’s never a medical examiner at the crime scenes. It’s always the forensics geeks explaining the cause of death, etc. I wonder when and how Hannah will return to the series.
