time's up

When was the last time you dialed POP-CORN (767-2676) to get the correct time? This service is no longer available. Without warning or any notification that I saw, it just disappeared. This travesty took effect on September 19, 2007. How am I going to know what time it is if all the batteries in the house are dead, the electricity goes out, and the sun doesn't rise? (In Mexico, you get an actual human being to tell you the time when you call.)

Now on to less important things.

I went to see "No End in Sight", Charles Ferguson's documentary about the Iraq war. Everything in it I had heard/read before, but having it distilled into 2 hours was almost more than I could bear. The cast of characters doing mischief in Washington is appalling. Don't miss it.

Then I saw "Blue Water, White Death" by Peter Gimbel, the department store heir and movie maker obsessed with sharks. Although nobody gets eaten in this documentary, it's every bit as nervous-making as was "Jaws."

Two more films on deck for today. "The Lives of Others" and "A Month by the Lake", set at Lake Como. The latter flick is in preparation for the Italian adventure, due to commence in a month.

Meanwhile, EK came today for a walk-about and a set of operating instructions pursuant to her taking up residence here while we are on said adventure. Except for a door that simply does not want to be locked, the house behaved beautifully.