1. I picked up a couple of dvds the library held for me and went on a shorter walk, only about a mile, and was more than curious to see how it would go in light of yesterday's incident. It went fine. That's a relief. I am definitely going to take the advice of those who have recommended that I be sure to have eaten well before I go on my (almost) daily walks.
2. The Deke was very happy that I cooked a very simple dinner tonight: I stir fried onion, zucchini, eggplant, red pepper, and broccoli, scrambled three eggs, and stir fried brown rice in sesame oil and, voila, that was dinner tonight. Simple. Not the usual complex of flavors. Really good.
3. One of the dvds that came to me on interlibrary loan was the third installment of the Johnny Worriker trilogy, featuring Bill Nighy playing a British spy on the run with his former lover (Helena Bonham Carter), but working with an ex-spy turned journalist back in England to bring down the prime minister (Ralph Fiennes). The whole trilogy was a fascinating story about power and corruption in British politics -- and, in particular, the corruption that grew out of the USA/British response to the attack on New York and the Pentagon on 9/11/01. I experience it as more true than history when it comes to the nature of corruption and its cumulative nature -- or, maybe I should say, its metastasizing nature. Two other things strike me about watching these British shows, namely A Touch of Frost and the Johnny Worriker trilogy. First of all, in spirit (not in direct references or allusions), the influence of Shakespeare as a story teller, creator of characters, and master of the English language is always present, even if I can't put my finger on exactly where. I often get this Shakespeare shiver down my spine as I watch these shows. I also get another favorite shiver. I'll call it the Harold Shand shiver. This shiver is a soundtrack shiver. It's a saxophone shiver. If you've seen Bob Hoskins as Harold Shand and Helen Mirren as his wife, Victoria, in the 1980 movie The Long Good Friday, then maybe you, too, find the movie's soundtrack unforgettable, especially the saxophone. I do. It is in my head a lot. A similar saxophone soundtrack accompanies moments of action in A Touch of Frost, making me shiver, and Johnny Worriker loves jazz, and, at some key moments, saxophone jazz swells up on the soundtrack and I get that Harold Shand shiver.
By the way, here are the titles of the three films that comprise the Johnny Worriker trilogy:
Page Eight
Turks & Caicos
Salting the Battlefield
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