Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Starting Over

I am still around after a busy Monday running about and getting myself lost in downtown Loogootee. It was Joe Allen who pointed that out to me early yesterday afternoon as he drove north on JFK Blvd and I walked south on the same. Actually Gasoline Alley (Ed) was putting new tires on the Jeep and I was taking the opportunity to wander about and take in the sites of this southern Indiana town at the start of a new month. Don't do that often, wander about, so it was nice to check things out. I even sat on a bench and watched the water tumble in the square while munching popcorn from Builders Best. A little later, stopped in at the Dairy Queen and had a cup of coffee with a blizzard - got a small one and that was even really more than I wanted - but it was awfully good. Hmmm, popcorn, coffee and a blizzard for lunch - a little bit out of the ordinary.

So, yesterday: new tires for the Jeep; Eric found the problem with the tractor - a wire going bare and shorting out; antenna still does not send a signal to the tv (seems like this should be a pretty simple fix, right?); more Nixon; and a movie, this one a Japanese one made in 1961: End of Summer. Diane didn't make it through the movie, moved way too slow. Actually I enjoyed it though I was surprised to be looking at a Japan in the early 60's that I was mostly unaware of - Diane and I landed in Yokosuka with the Navy in 1962 and were swallowed up in the life of an occupying force. To see regular people doing regular things and going about their daily lives without a military presence, well, that surprised me. In the end, the aging father in this movie has a heart attack and dies but not before saying, "is this it?" Kinda like Peggy Lee asking if "that is all there is?" or Kurt Vonnegut saying life is a crock. The settings did remind me of Edward Hooper: sparse, stark, lots of contrast. Gave the movie a rating of four.

I hear the golf course calling; actually heard it calling thirty minutes ago. Best go see what's going on. I'll be back.

Reminder: Tuesday Evening Scramble starts around 4:45.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

About that movie End of Summer... I gave it a 1-1/2. Midway between "Hated it" and "Didn't Like It". Really slow, really dumb, really a waste of time. But then I've been accused of being a whirling dervish (..what's a "dervish"?...) and wasting time is not my thing. ;-)