Autumn running

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When I last mentioned this I was about to undertake “speed training” again. And I did. Was worried about the first workout (5×400) but made it through. Struggled a bit on the last repeat but accomplished the designated number at the designated distance at the designated pace. A day of road work was nice. Next rack day was to be 8-12×100 in 20-22. First four were around 17. Realized that was too fast so I eased up for the next three just under 22. And then it happened. The “last” one was gonna be my burner – wanted to “top end” it. But about five steps in felt that twinge in a quad. Familiar. So I pulled up immediately.

Perhaps it was too much too soon. Opted get back into road work for a month. About ten days later felt a twinge in my left calf. A new one. Quarter mile in to a 2 1/2 mile road run. So I walked back and realized the rest of October would be walking. Which it was.

We’re now into November. Finally started running again. At the beginning. Calf still a LITTLE sore but I think I can work through it. And maybe by 2022 I’ll be able to try another foray into speed work. On the BRIGHT side …. only put on 3# while walking and and managed to shed it pretty quickly. Was under 215 Sunday morning. 210 for Remy’s wedding is withing sight!

8600

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Took longer than I thought, especially with October in the books. 8700 before 2022?

Not much of a change in the Top 10.

Might wanna watch Maverick, season 2 episode 10The Sting1973George Roy HillPG1
“This could be the start of a beautiful relationship”Casablanca1942Michael CurtizPG2
Overly long and historically inaccurate but wow!Lawrence of Arabia1962David LeanG3
Current generation laments lack of superheroes and explosionsCitizen Kane1941Orson WellesNR4
IconicThe Godfather1972Francis Ford CoppolaR5
My guilty pleasureHoliday Inn1942Mark SandrichNR6
All minus one. Read your Locke.High Noon1952Fred ZinnemannNR7
Maybe I need to rewatch but the opening alone is top 25 materialPatton1970Franklin J. SchaffnerPG8
Timing is everythingRocky1976John G. AvildsenPG9
Newman’s bestThe Hustler1961Robert RossenNR10

The sorry state of “state” education

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Glad to be teaching where I am. The leftist faculty is limited, prone to self-identification and somewhat easily counteracted.

Having taught at a career college I’m quick to promote career education. And then there’s this: “In America, not a single Ivy League university has a Shakespeare requirement for its undergraduate literature students anymore.”

“The Failure of Public Schooling in One Chart.”

I’m TRYING to help: How Teacher Shortages Are Making Public Schools Even Worse

SERIOUSLY, WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO TEACH IN THE GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS? “NYC sub teacher suspended for COVID origin claims, lamenting Chinese communism: ‘Racist’.”

A substitute teacher in New York City has been suspended for lamenting to a classroom of mostly Chinese-American fifth graders about the Chinese Communist Party, allegedly telling the group of mostly 10-year-olds that the coronavirus might have been developed in a Chinese lab.

And THIS is why I never bacame a full time teacher. Well. …. it’s ANOTHER reason: The Demoralization of the American Teacher

A two-fer: BUT TEACHERS WANTED TO WORK FROM HOME, AND HAD THE POWER TO MAKE IT HAPPEN: Study finds that in much of the US, virtual school did not lower COVID-19 case rates in surrounding communities.

and finally: THE BIG LIE IS STARTING TO UNRAVEL

Who slips in?

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Top spot is easy. Georgia. They’ll run the table, win the SEC and be crowned the prohibitive favorite.

And to get the easy part out of the way …. Cincinnati won’t make it. They’ll likely win out by the AAC schedule with some non-BCS schools peppered in there isn’t gonna get you ready for the bigs.

IF Alabama beats Georgia they’ll get a bid. If.

Buckeye’s run the table and get the #3 spot. 4-5 points better than tsun. 15 better than Sparty. Nobody in the West threatening.

Oklahoma? They’ll win out and get the #2 seed.

Which leaves the #3 spot. IMHO it’s Notre Dame this season. Killer schedule. ACC just doesn’t have the pop to boost Wake Forest. Nobody else dominating enough in the second slot of any of the other power

So Georgia vs Notre Dame. Buckeyes v Sooners. And then hopefully we’ll get to see the OSU offensive line vs the Dawg Defense!

Until next October

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A change of events (for the good) let me cram in quite a few extras this year!

First we had the regulars. Halloween (the original – dated but still fun), Bride of Frankenstein (better than Whale’s original – he’d gotten the hang of it) and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. Simple fun and MY fave. Then throw in The Great Pumpkin (on beggar’s night – single digit tricksters …. we haven’t had decent weather here in YEARS!,) X-Files season 4 episode 2 (Home – you can’t keep a Peacock down!) and the dance scene in From Dusk til Dawn.

Extras you say? Young Frankenstein. Then the original. And Audition. Haven’t seen it since I came out.

A good month of classic movie viewing. I’ll take a few weeks off then put together my CHRISTMAS list!

There’s more to an election than ballots

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Calls For Investigation Of Big Tech For Violating Election Laws

Arizona 2020 Vote Audit Finds Potentially Election-Shifting Numbers Of Illegal Ballots

Facebook ‘Whistleblower’ Was Part Of Election-Meddling Team That Nuked The Hunter Biden Laptop Story

Biden 2020 win ‘tainted,’ 56% say it was a cheater’s paradise.

The 2020 Election Wasn’t Stolen, It Was Bought By Mark Zuckerberg

And since MLB has egg on its face, trudging reluctantly back to Georgia: Two Georgia Elections Employees Fired Over Allegations of Shredding Voting Applications.

related: I’m so old I cen remember when questioning the results of an election was grounds for impeachment: McAuliffe claims Stacey Abrams should be governor of Georgia, furthering what some call her ‘Big Lie.’

and we’ll get MORE next week! Terrified Virginia Democrats Seek to Change Election Laws After Voting Has Already Started.

I was assured by the BEST people that his never happens: Former South Philly Judge of Elections Charged in Massive 4-Year Voter Fraud Scheme.

In keeping with the title of this post: & More News: Watch State Supreme Courts on Partisan Gerrymandering & Hold Your Breath on Fed Courts

but it’s not ALL gloom & doom: How Texas Protected Its Vote From Getting ‘Rigged’ In 2020

Vote early and vote often!!!

The Final Five

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except of course the the traditional favorites which I’ll write up 11/1.

The Conjuring. Really well done. We see something new every viewing. Clean and well told story. Oft repeated, never exceeded. Moved it UP a couple notches. #125 on my list, with a 9.9.

The Shining. Same thing. Really not a fan half-a-dozen years ago but it just keeps making this list because of OTHER people and I just keep dinking up MY list. Finally cracked my top 1,000. 9.1

Suspiria. Not the 2018 remake – MUCH more sexual but not NEARLY as iconic. It ads social commentary at the cost of art. 9.7

Ghostbusters. Ray Parker Jr. “There is no Dana. There is only Zuul.” The most Libertarian movie on the list. Hell, probably the second most Libertarian movie on ANY list (cf. Groundhog Day.) I’ll be honest – haven’t seen it much over the last couple of years. Liking this “new” list construction for October. 9.7

The Sixth Sense. JUST misses my top 500. Dropped a little this year. Still merits a 9.4 and will probably make the list for quite a few years,

The beginning of the end

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No ….. not the big grasshopper movie …. the movies for the last 10 days of the month.

The Innocents. 1961 take on The Turn of the Screw and perhaps the best. Deborah Kerr rips it up and Martin Stephens is solid (until the last 10-15 minutes.) You might remember him from Village of the Damned. For Kerr this may be better work than From Here to Eternity …. and she DOES reprise the governess bit from King and I. Dropped it a little but it’s still a solid 8.3.

I have nothing against Michael Keaton. Geena Davis is fine when well directed. Catherine O’Hara I’ve always found vapid. And Alec Baldwin killed someone this week. Beetlejuice. Not a fan of horror-comedy. The only two truly food scenes are the Harry Bellafonte song numbers. And Winona Ryder is 17. I can only manage a 2.5 – dropping it quite a bit this viewing. I’ll be surprised if it makes the list next season. If it DOES it’l be earlier in the month!

The Haunting from 1963. My favorite take on the Shirley Jackson story. Liam Neeson did OK. The series wasn’t bad. But this one kinda has it all. Great cast, top to bottom, including Miss Moneypenny. The relationship between Harris and Bloom isn’t forced as it was in the modern film. Robert Wise lends a deft touch as director and the photography is outstanding. Throw in Richard Johnson’s voice acting and you have a truly scary movie. Moved it up from 999 to 554 …. and a 9.4! Perhaps too high. We’ll see next year.

The Others. The anti-Innocents. Or perhaps the mirror. Nicole Kidman makes her second appearance this season. This things just so well staged/written/paced and filmed. It HAS to make this list under most permutations. Dropped it a tad this season. Still merits 9.7 nestled between Jaws and Able Gance’s Napoleon.

The final new viewing of this season: When Marnie was There. Anime. Studio Ghibli. I’m not a fan but am often impressed by their work. It was beautiful as always but not really my cup of tea. I can only give it a 2 out of 10.

I’m nearing a state of done-ness

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FAKE STATISTICS: Hyping the Covid Burden on Hospitals. In the U.K., as in the U.S., health officials and the media have been exaggerating the number of people hospitalized for Covid because the tallies include those who test positive but don’t need treatment.

After Mandating Masks Outdoors, Oregon’s Active COVID-19 Cases Increased 73 Percent.

Local Detroit TV Asks For Stories of Unvaxxed Dying from COVID – Gets over 182K Responses of Vaccine Injured and Dead Instead – Geller Report News

Age May Trump Vaccination Status in Assessing COVID-19 Risk

New York Governor Confirms Covidianism Is A Pagan Cult

GEE, DO YA THINK? “‘Too Much Masking is Real’: More Districts Call on Students to Mask Up Outside, but Scientists are Skeptical.”

All-Time Highs In COVID Cases Hit Australia, Despite Tighter Restrictions

Biden’s education secretary tried to use a study to justify masking kids in schools … and he got publicly shut down by the author of the study 😂

Fauci Really Said “There Comes a Time When You Have to Give Up What You Consider Your Individual Right of Making Your Own Decision”

Virus surge hits New England despite high vaccination rates.

IT’S JUST MORE TOTALITARIAN EXCUSES:  Obesity and COVID death rates,

That’s enough for now. More to come …. sadly.

The end of the middle

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Witches of Eastwick. Fun bit of fluff but I don’t care for it. Yes, they’re all wonderful actors. Don’t care. Just not my cuppa. But it comes up as a witch movie so there ya go. Dropped it out of my top 1k this year but it still gets 8.8.

More witches? Practical Magic. Kim and I BOTH crush on Sandra Bullock. Nicole Kidman looks good too. Hell so does Stockard Channing for that matter. (Never a big Dianne Weist fan.) Haven’t seen this one in YEARS! Dropped it out of my top 500 but it still gets a 9.4.

The penultimate unseen flick of this season? Blood on Satan’s Claw. 1971. How in the HELL did this get ranked so high? What did I miss. Pedestrian Brit witchcraft fare. Limited teen nudity. Simulated forced sex. Just not good on any level. I’ll give it a 1.5

In addition there were three movies I skipped from the list. William Castle’s 1959 House on Haunted Hill. Saw it a few months back when Kim was craving good bad horror. It still scores a 9.1 but it’s dropping. Edward Woodward in 1973’s Wicker Man. No idea why I watched it this summer but we did. Maybe I shoulda plugged in the Nick Cage version? Britt Ekland’s dance alone merits the 6.9. And finally The Old Dark Houe from 1932. Great cast. Great use of light and shadow. 9.2.

Just over a dozen movies to go and you can probably guess the titles.