Entries tagged with summer

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Ugh

Last week of August and the weather was practically fall-like. The highs in the 70s, except for one day where I think it only got up to 69°F. Lows were in the 50s, and even the high 40s.

It's September now and... ugh.

Yesterday was one of the top five hot days of 2015. Still didn't break 90°F in Grand Rapids or Kalamazoo, although Mount Pleasant was 90°F on Tuesday and 91°F on Wednesday. Lows have been in the high 60s, low 70s. Heavy fog Tuesday morning. Lighter fog Wednesday morning. And Thursday? Murk. As in humid.

The air feels awful. And in prepping for the Fall Semester -- starts Tuesday! -- I came into Kalamazoo twice. Wednesday and now Thursday. Yesterday was pleasant. But today... ugh. The A.C. in Everett Tower is doing nothing. The air is just as thick and heavy and damp as outside, albeit a little bit cooler. As in a few degrees. Not sure how long it is practical to be here today, although I now hear a background rumbling in the building. Is the A.C. back on? We'll know in a while.

Right now, not only is my skin clammy, but my palms are sticking to the wrist wrest on OUEST. (Say that fast six times!) Thankfully, years ago I rigged up a Radio Shack 110V 5" computer cooling fan and have the air circulating in my little office.

It feels cooler if I turn the overhead lights off.

At home, I had the annual heat pump and furnace checks done on Tuesday, and the big accordion pleated air filter replaced -- not sure that got done last year. But we're in good shape. Had the batteries changed in the thermostat controller. 3xAAA and the old ones tested in the yellow on my tester, so glad I thought of that. High tech worries on a system that used to use just a simple coiled bimetallic strip and a glass bead with two wires and a drop of mercury. Progress.

Gas prices. Well, the BP refinery in Indiana is back in operation. I suppose you could say that gas prices are dropping, though they never seem to fall as fast as they rise. This all while crude oil is running under $40/bbl and in fact is so low that the dreaded fracking oil sources are shutting down exploration and calming down production because oil is too cheap to pay the bills. I'd say that the free market is doing what environmentalists were unable to do to save the planet -- except oil is not exactly a free market.

After regular topped locally at $2.99.9/gal, it dropped to $2.72.9 last week. Wednesday is was $2.52.9/gal and Thursday $2.50.9/gal. "They" are still talking about under two buck a gallon gas by Christmas -- it was supposed to before Labor Day, but then the BP in Indiana "crisis" flared up.

The big summer road projects are beginning to show signs of getting somewhere. Usually during the summer I take "the back way" to connect from M-45 Lake Michigan Drive to M-11 Wilson Avenue. It's curvy and pleasant and takes you away from the big parking lots and three sets of traffic lights at the Meijers in Standale. But... this summer they took out and replaced a bridge. Then they did roadwork on Wilson. And they are currently rebuilding the M-11 28th Street/I-196 intersection and interchange, resulting in me avoiding that area and some ugly detours. Just as well I didn't have summer classes this year.

The bridge on the back road is done and yesterday they were painting a few miles of lines on all the shiny new pavement. Yay. Similarly the new paving on Wilson is done. And all four legs of the I-196 interchange are open again, so I can use my usual routing if I so choose again.

As for Western Michigan University, one can't complain that they don't want to finish up New Student Week with a bang:

The Bronco football team opens its season with a matchup vs. Michigan State at 7 p.m. tomorrow. Sept. 4, at Waldo Stadium. Many WMU offices will close at 2:30 p.m. in anticipation of increased traffic on campus.

Western has never beaten a Big 10 opponent -- and the Spartans are highly ranked nationally. I believe only Ohio State has a better national ranking in the Big 10. Of course rankings mean nothing now and very little later when they are used to justify the networks' choices for bowl games and the mythical pseudo-playoff national champion.

However... I expect Western to give it a good start. And I'll post the results Friday night with the appropriate school LJ icon for the winner. Full disclosure -- I work at Western and indeed worked for a while on a second Ph.D. in Science Education here AND I like Michigan State and have something like two Continuing Education credits from them for taking the six week 2004 Clarion workshop when it was still held in East Lansing.

Tuesday will be a parking zoo on campus. Fortunately, I have the handicapped hangtag, which means I don't have to compete for parking spaces. See, they don't actually ticket students for parking in faculty spots for the first two weeks or so -- and the students know this.

Ugh, indeed.

Dr. Phil

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Mid-August

31 days of August.

That makes August 15½th, a few hours ago, the halfway point.

In just a little over three weeks we will have Labor Day. And the next day classes begin again at Western Michigan University. The grind begins anew.

It is a beautiful August day here in West Michigan. The sky is blue. The temperature is 89°F, once again Not Ninety. At least so far.

Under other circumstances I would be out with my cameras and long lenses, maybe over at the crowded lakeshore. Or chasing trains, except it's Sunday.

At home, though, it is August bug noise season. The last few nights when I have gone to bed after 4am, the bugs have still be going -- and loud enough that I think the bedroom window needs to be closed. But it is closed.

Every morning I check my temperature. But the new Walgreen's thermometer I got a few weeks ago beeps so quietly, I had to do a repeat to try to hear its DONE tone, because the bugs outside were so loud.

Right now I have headphones on and Mrs. Dr. Phil has Bluetoothed her Kindle Fire HDX to Echo and is playing podcasts while she cooks. And I can still hear the bugs.

Mmm...

There are reasons why we haven't mowed the yard in over ten years...

And we have peaches. Flaming Furies and Red Havens. And big local tomatoes.

Mmm...

It's lovely.

It's August.

It's summer.

Limited availability, your mileage will vary, check your newspaper for current listings, offer not valid in all fifty states...

Dr. Phil

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I Haz The Strawberries

Ah, the summer produce of West Michigan...

For several weeks Mrs. Dr. Phil has been buying the asparagus grown a few miles from us. This year's crop has been extraordinary. Most of the stalks have been medium thickness, but they've been as tender as the dainty thin ones. Not a woody one in the bunch. We've had the wonderful chicken with asparagus in tarragon mustard sauce -- twice. And the new small upper oven of the new stove does a fine job of broiling/roasting asparagus. Yum.

Last Wednesday, 3 June 2015, was the start of the weekly Farmer's Market on the campus of Grand Valley State University in Allendale. Somebody is apparently using little tents to grow early tomatoes and so we had two nice ripe local tomatoes. We had BLTs and tomato bisque soup on Saturday for dinner, and the first of the traditional Dr. Phil summer tomato sandwiches (DW) (LJ) for lunch on Sunday. Oh. Yum.

But it's the beginning of June and we're awaiting strawberry season. Looking back through the years, I've seen discussion of local strawberries in this blog back in May. This year, though, well we had a long winter and a cool spring. The last few days I've occasion to head up 68th Avenue towards Coopersville -- and as I've passed through Eastmanville, I've looked for the little white signs for Cook's. Consistently for at least fifteen years, Cook's has had the best local strawberries, about a mile east on Leonard.

Today I headed north on 68th at around 10:09am -- nothing. Then south on 68th around 12:09 and BOOM. Sign. STRAWBERRIES.

There were people all around. Some driving up, some driving away, some working, some young teens out in the fields. Cars everywhere. I asked for two quarts. Did I have a preorder? No. What kind did I want? Huh. We've been going to Cook's for a long time. This time, they had two varieties ready at the same time. One called Jewel and one called Honey Something (all I can think of is Honeycrisp, the "new" apple variety that everyone has gone gaga over the last few years). Which do YOU like better? The woman working the stand -- I like the Honey whatevers. The two boys bringing back baskets of strawberries from the field and logging their loads in the book -- both are really good. Great, so why not one of each? Good choice!

Cook's lovely strawberries. The Jewels are on the left and the darker Honey Somethings on the right. Also one of the wonderful brown eggs Mrs. Dr. Phil has been getting from someone at the GVSU library. With natural light, I can get decent color shots at ISO 1600 on the Nikon D1H and the 24-120mm VR lens is very good at low shutter speeds. Pleased. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2015 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)

Also asked Cook's How is the crop? Well... there was some winter damage. So, shorter season? Not necessarily, but the yields per plant are expected to be lower. If you've every grown strawberries, they take a couple of years to settle in -- one of the buyers today was explaining their strawberries are in their first year, so they had to come to Cook's.

Alas, it doesn't sound like I'll get strawberry shortcake tonight. S-i-g-h... But! We'll do a taste off of strawberries and whipped cream, so that's not so bad. (evil-strawberry-grin)

Summer. Is. Here.

Dr. Phil

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Another Saturday Tour

More Photo Wandering

Two weeks ago I shot some thistles by the driveway (DW).

They're all grown up now. (Click on photo for larger.)

On Friday I had errands to do in Holland MI and finished by getting some tomatoes at Potters. But the sign also said they had raspberries. Still? Apparently yes, because as I was selecting the tomatoes a breeze wafted by and I could smell them. They had some dark red autumn raspberries, but also some freshly picked summer ones -- the ones with the fragrant bouquet and near perfect soft, fluffy plumpness.

Despite the losses of many crops and a lot of the tree fruit, we have managed to get some good produce -- even some decent Flaming Fury peaches. And lovely tomatoes.

So on Saturday I saw these big crates of butternut squash in the fields on 84th Avenue. (Click on photo for larger.)

The Old Monarchs Home

We've raised a few monarch butterflies this season, and after a slow start we actually found a few caterpillars and eggs. Yesterday Mrs. Dr. Phil realized there were holes in some leaves of what she thought was a jar that didn't take -- little bugger had gone into hiding until it was nearly half an inch! Today she released another big male at work and there should be another butterfly tomorrow.

The last couple of weeks I've seen some monarchs fluttering through our milkweed stand, but until this Saturday they haven't lingered long enough to shoot. Pretty much all my butterfly photos the last two years have been our releases. As I drove down the driveway I saw one monarch, but it flew away. But when I came back from town, I paused by the milkweed to look for signs of caterpillars. When one monarch lit on a plant, it stayed around long enough to swap lenses on the D1 and then shoot through the weeds.

Could be a male. And is that left wing damaged? (Click on photo for larger.)

Second shot after it drifted down into the shade. The wings look tired and dried up. Shouldn't be a surprise, especially given the heat, but I've just rarely ever seen old butterflies. (Click on photo for larger.)

Heavy weighs the crown of the old monarch as the dog days of August wane. (grin)

Dr. Phil

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The Cicadas of Home

Thursday Night...

... I arrived in Greensboro NC along with the setting sun. In the dark tree lined streets of August, there was a lazy buzz of cicadas filling the air. These weren't the Giant Cicadas of my short story, but I was struck with how their tempo sounded like Greensboro. Strange, hard to describe.

Our land in West Michigan is nearly all pines -- we don't have squirrels and we don't have cicadas. First cicadas I heard this summer were in Illinois -- Champaign-Urbana and Oak Park -- before I heard them in Allendale proper and in Kalamazoo. Somehow they sound faster up there. (grin)

Somewhere I have a great Agfachrome slide from the early 70s shot with a Pentax Spotmatic and a variable close-up lens on a 50mm f1.4 Super-Takumar of an empty cicada shell after molting. The round empty clear eyes are almost creepy. This was in our backyard in Greensboro, the shell still fiercely gripping the bark of a dogwood tree. I think this was also one of the big cicada brood years -- oh the racket all those bugs made!

So it was nice to hear the Greensboro cicadas again. Sounds like summer.

Dr. Phil

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A Loop Around Allendale

A Lovely Day

After two days plus of rain, mostly a long light soaking rain, and colder temperatures -- much of Friday was around 59°F and we actually switched the heat pump over to Heat mode for a day -- Saturday was full of sun and clouds and breezes and pleasant temps.

So I had to drive into town and check the P.O. Box, and decided it was a good day to take some pictures and packed up the Nikon D1. I'd been meaning to shoot some of the dry corn fields -- the rain has done a little greening up around the area and the bugs at night seemed very happy -- but really, it is too late for many crops and the rains may have even hurt some.

But... amazingly Mrs. Dr. Phil came home Thursday with actual Michigan peaches. Not sure where the orchard got them, since the fruit trees were so decimated around here, but these were Flaming Furies. Not quite as good as Red Havens, but they smell nice, are plenty juicy and taste lovely.

Not bad bounce illumination from Wendy's old tiny Nikon SB22 Speedlight. (Click on photo for larger.)

On my way down the driveway, I stopped to shoot these thistles. (Click on photo for larger.)

In Allendale I was quite surprised to see a white Lotus Europa -- late 60s/early 70s -- my favorite car, though I'd rather it was in black with gold pinstripe John Player Special. (grin) Turned out there must be some sort of classic car drive or show, since there were about a dozen neat old cars.

The picture's not very good -- not only was I shooting through the windshield, I had to deal with the glare off the glass and the wrong lens. On the other hand, I did get three shots. (Click on photo for larger.)

This is the BBQ operation that I wrote about a while ago (DW) -- operates most weekends in Allendale on 68th Avenue just north of M-45 Lake Michigan Drive. (Click on photo for larger.)

I noticed this corridor running deep into this corn field on M-45 west of Allendale on the north side of the road. I think it's a path for the irrigation system. You can see the corn nearest to the road hasn't had as much water. (Click on photo for larger.)

On 84th Avenue, this field hasn't had a lot of watering. The corn is stunted and tasseled much too short. (Click on photo for larger.)

Same field, showing more dry corn. (Click on photo for larger.)

Same field, one lone corn stalk sticking out above the rest. (Click on photo for larger.)

So that's my photo essay for the day.

Dr. Phil

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Melting

Truck Work

The 1996 Blazer got dropped off at Chevy on the Fourth -- and on the Fifth it got fixed. With the high heat, overheating a bit is not good. Worse, was the loss of some power. Oh, sure, I could still drive at 70mph on the freeways, but getting there took a little time. What it reminded me of, though, was the feeling I'd gotten with the 1982 Cavalier wagon and the 1985 T-10 Blazer when their catalytic converters melted.

In those earlier cases, I could do barely more than idle. But when the '85 Blazer had its problem, it was a brutally hot summer day and as it drove worse and worse, I almost made it to Chevy, but eventually had to get it towed.

I did not want to let things get that bad.

But before I did my diagnosis, there were a lot of possibilities and I hate going to a mechanic with nothing more than "it ain't runnin' right." In this case I was spot on. I thought maybe I'd need some more exhaust work, because there was this rattling, ringing sound I thought was a loose or broken heat shield, but apparently it was the lump of platinum catalyst rattling inside its metal shell.

I hate shelling out money, though it did come in under estimate by nearly $50, but once again the timing couldn't have been better. Not teaching, and with the temp jumping from the 90s to the 100s, I really didn't have to be on the road to the office if I didn't want to be.

Okay, So It's Hot

Look, just as 0°F is just a number, so is 100°F. It's not that much hotter than 98°F, for example. And even 103°F, which Kalamazoo hit today, isn't the hottest temperature in the nation. And we have a ways to go to get to the all-time recorded high for Grand Rapids MI, at 108°F.

As far as hitting the century mark, there's 100°F and there's 100°F. The Bravada has an exterior temp readout, and given the heat buildup on pavement, 100°F isn't impossible to see in the summer. Officially GR hasn't been to 100°F since 1988. Unofficially, I know that our thermometers here in Allendale hit 100°F on Friday 30 July 1999 -- I made some memorial wallpaper for the computer. (grin) And I know I trotted that wallpaper out on another occasion a couple of years later.

Now I'm not complaining about global warming -- remember that weather and climate are different. What I'm grousing about it somewhat of the same thing as weather obsessions with single digit temps and wind chills in the winter. Historically, it's been 100+ before and sometimes in blocks of three or four days.

Of course, I'm happily living in air conditioning. No wonder it's not so bad. (evil grin)

Dr. Phil

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On A Happier Note

The Day Lilies Are Blooming!

Late Monday, when it was still in the 80s, I noticed that a couple of the day lilies that were hiding from view of the bathroom window behind the railing had bloomed. Tuesday, a front had gone through and the high was around 70°F, but there was lots of sunshine, so I waited until around 6pm to get the flowers nicely lit by the sun.

First day lilies of the year. (Click on photo for larger.)

Next, I need to see some fireflies -- and to find some monarch caterpillars. (grin)

Summer is coming. Even if it's 45°F outside and some counties north of us have frost warnings. (double-grin)

Dr. Phil

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One Bad Apple

Nothing So Rare...

Last night it was meatloaf roasting in the oven, cold rains, high in the 60s, gas down to $3.50.9/gal. A perfect fall day (*scritch!*)... on the 1st of June? Man, just a week ago we had highs in the 90s, and last night it was fifty degrees colder than that. Welcome to West Michigan wacko weather.

Snow White and the Huntsman [PG-13]

Holland 7 Theatre #7, 3:00pm

I love retellings of old fairy tales. Very pleased this year with ABC's Once Upon A Time and Jim C. Hine's princess novels, etc. So I've been waiting for this movie ever since Charlize Theron hosted an evil queen dinner on Bravo's Top Chef: Texas. Let me start off by saying this is one of the most beautifully filmed dark movies I've seen in years. And the clever special effects, whether CG or stagecraft, never felt like special effects to me.

The filmmakers of Snow White and the Huntsman expect you to have to have some familiarity with the story. The Apple. The Dwarfs. Hearts. So they can go on with their story without having to explain everything. Also, this isn't some fun romp. They are playing this as a deadly serious thing, which makes this much more of a grownup film than for kids, even with a PG-13 rating. The grim nature of some of the proceedings has the blessed effect of cutting down on the nonsense, like big love scenes in the middle of a crisis. But also some tragic images, such as the plight of the women living in the reed village.

*** Some Spoilery Bits Ahead ***

Charlize Theron and her costumer are brilliant. She is both evil and demanding, has a false soothing manner to calm her victims, but also bits of backstory which give her an eensie bit of sympathy. In other words, she's bad, but I feel for her fall more than I do for Sauron or Voldemort. (grin)

And yes, it is inevitable that you'll see bits and remembrances of every big/good fantasy movie of the past 20-30 years. The White Tree of LOTR:ROTK, expecting to see R.O.U.S.es at any moment in the Dark Forrest, Uther Pendragon's seaside castle from any number of Arthurian epics, Peter Jackson level quality dwarfs -- even thinking of Mouse in the sewers from Ladyhawke and "they've got themselves a cave troll" in the troll bridge scene. (grin) Partly it's iconic imagery, partly is that there's little choice. I don't know that you could cover the themes of this movie without touching base with every other epic.

The Dark Forest is pretty grim. Nicely evil -- damned annoying that at every turn I kept on wanting to refer to another movie, because some of the effects/evilness was so nicely done. The enchanted forest, however, is staggeringly different -- at first it seems over-the-top Disneyesque and then Avatar-like -- but it works after a moment of shock. I really liked the faeries and especially the mushrooms with eyes. On the other hand, even before we saw it, Mrs. Dr. Phil leaned over and called them on "about to have an Aslan moment". Which raises an interesting side note. At one point we have someone reciting the Lord's Prayer and there are clearly cardinals lurking in the background, so his alternate universe is definitely medieval Christian, something that doesn't always come up.

Snow White herself is done by the girl from Twilight. From my perspective, Kristen Stewart's given much better material here. A couple of reviews I read this morning complained that Snow is in too good shape if she'd been imprisoned in a tower most of her life. Jay Lake worries that he channels writer Cat Valente every time Snow is on the screen, which I can understand, but betrays his "wee crush" more than anything. (grin) And 2004 Clarion classmate and fantasy romance novelist Marjorie Liu, without mentioning a movie by name, complains that if you're going to sell something as a romance, you can't lose sight of it and not put in the romance at the end.

And I suppose this is one of the two knocks I have against this movie. We do have a weird triangle between Snow, her childhood friend and the Huntsman. One that partially plays out in an intriguing way, but we're not going to end with a happily-ever-after-wedding in this version. Not even as a Dr. Phil Special after the credits, of which there is, alas, none. If that annoys you, then just take solace in the title of the film and go around with a knowing smile. (evil grin)

The other knock I'll make, and I'm just saying it aloud without completely feeling it's a deal breaker, but I'm sure others will mention it -- In a movie pitting two women in a war of good versus evil, the good Snow does not triumph over the evil Ravenna by dint of her good and nonviolent ways. I suspect it's not just a lack of vision thing. Standing up the queen in a such a fantasy Medieval military world would last about thirty seconds, even without magic. There's a part of me that wanted Snow's healing touch to cure the break in Ravenna's own heart. It'd be too much for her to mend her evil ways, but the revelation that she was evil could do her in. Or damn her. Or piss off her mirror. Or something. But no. Violence is met with violence.

Actually, I thought Ravenna was going to pull the old body duplicate at the end. "Kill her, she's the evil one." "You must kill us both." But then we've seen that scene too much, too, so I suppose I'm glad that they in fact didn't pull out that cliche.

Because this movie is too beautiful to want to hate it.

Recommended (But Not Perfect)

Trailers: Walt Disney/Pixar Brave still looks good for animated, and based on previous viewings, the 3D will probably be worth it. First look at footage from Les Miserables and Hugh Jackman versus Russell Crowe. Looks like Anne Hathaway will do the Natalie Portman V For Vendetta haircut, and wide-eyed Amanda Seyfried as Cosette. Opens for Christmas and you know we'll be there. (Wikipedia says that the innkeeper and his wife will be played by Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter!) More summer action with The Bourne Legacy, minus Matt Damon but still with some of the same CIA heavies trying to run/not run Treadstone. BTW - Friday night I caught Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman in Invictus, the lovely movie about Nelson Mandela and the Rugby World Cup. Also Christopher Plummer in The Tempest (simulcast), another look at the 80s big hair rock ridiculousness of Rock of Ages, which I might have to see just 'cause, and the no-Ahnold, no-Mars, more-Philip K. Dick (?) Total Recall.

Dr. Phil

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The Official Start of Summer

The Weather Is All Back And Forth

It is warm, about to turn HOT. When we left the house today at 3:30pm, it was around 77°F -- as I handwrite this in Holland, it's around 81°F. Sunday it is supposed to be in the 90s and very humid, also hot on Monday -- but Tuesday through Thursday has highs forecast in the 60s. And did I see on the weather map that near the Indiana border it'll be 98°F?

It's been so warm for so long this year, that it's hard to remember that May is NOT summer. And I'm not talking about the technical start of summer nearly a month from now. But until you get to Memorial Day weekend, it's really not summer in America.

The air is filled with cottonwood fluff. Not quite the same as the pulsing flowers of Avatar, but close. The parking lot at the Holland 7 was sealed recently, so there's still some puddles from earlier, which now have become fluffy with fluff. The pictures don't quite show off the 3D nature of the effect:

Cottonwood fluff on puddle. (Click on photo for larger.)

A closer view. (Click on photo for larger.)

We were in Holland on a mission. It's been ten years since we saw Men in Black II. There's been a lot of talk about how bad MIB 2 was, but we didn't think so -- the post office scene alone was worth it -- and we quite enjoyed it. Sure, it follows the emotional and quality letdown that follows Dr. Phil's Rule of Sequels, but so what? So far, the one comment I'd heard about MIB 3 was "better than 2".

Men in Black 3 3D [PG-13]

Holland 7 Theatre 5, 4:30pm, $18.50

Well, we thoroughly enjoyed MIB 3, which we saw in 3D, but not IMAX 3D, and overall the 3D was nicely done. Certainly didn't detract from the movie. As for the movie itself, it is useful to note that Mrs. Dr. Phil and I are old enough that we watched all the Apollo 11 coverage from July 1969 live. And in stirring Black & White. But in November 1968, I'd moved to White Plains NY, 27 miles north of New York City, so I watched the Mets become the Amazing Mets and pull off their miracle. Mrs. Dr. Phil was a loyal Cubs fan living in Chicago during the swoon. So perhaps this movie will always be a little more special to us than to the young whippersnappers of the Summer Blockbuster Ideal Demographic.

It's been some time since we've had a Will Smith "I own the 4th of July" summer blockbuster, so this year we get one on the official Memorial Day kickoff to summer. Considering that Spiderman is coming and how strong some of the spring movies were, it's still a pretty big weekend. Because with good popcorn and a suitable summer mindset, MIB 3 doesn't disappoint.

Our villain is pretty villainous. Reminds me of Mickey Rourke's villain in Iron Man 2, but, you know, alien. Good lord, how meta is it to be comparing sequels to sequels? Of course my big question in the opening shot is this -- I understand why high heeled boots have zippers, but why does the zipper go all the way down the stiletto heel to the floor? (grin) And it's no spoiler secret to know that we have a time travel adventure to deal with or that Josh Brolin has managed to channel an excellent young Tommy Lee Jones. Meanwhile Emma Thompson is flawless -- no one can deliver lines like she can (snicker) -- and the Andy Warhol bit is great fun.

But this isn't just about "the usual" time travel issues of what to reveal about the future to anyone in the past. Or even the small nods to recognizing Will Smith's special problems in dealing with 1969. No, where this movie becomes a joy for us is Griffin -- a (mostly) joyous alien who has a rather special relationship with time. Or his appreciation for the significance of temporal and cultural events. Even when the setups are obvious -- think Cracker Jacks -- he's still a fun romp of a character.

Unlike Battleship, which intends to use real world technology to battle the invincible aliens, there's no point in trying to worry about the Physics in a MIB movie. This is a special effects fest, delivered in a big tub of summer popcorn, emphasis on the corn.

What the time travel plot does -- besides inventing yet another novel AND ridiculous method of jumping in time -- is to put a fresh spin on what would be just the same old retread of the Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones J & K schtick. And the puzzles and clues aren't too devious to figure out with or ahead of the characters. Although I have to say that the final two reveals, one in 1969 and one in 2012, are unexpected.

I'd really hoped for a Dr. Phil Special at the end of all the credits, but alas, producer Steven Spielberg is too cheap for that. (grin) Still, MIB 3 follows Dr. Phil's Rule of Sequels in that it doesn't have the innocence of the first, but knowing how this series goes, the third installment really delivered for us. Mrs. Dr. Phil opined that this was her favorite. And I think that'll suffice to leave this review there.

BTW, methinks that the Wikipedia entry is in error, referring right now to liquid nitrogen, when it makes perfectly more good sense that it should be liquid oxygen. I'm sure it'll shortly be changed. (double-entry-grin)

Highly Recommended

Trailers: Finding Nemo in 3D. Sure it's a Disney re-release, but it's been years since this one has been on the big screen and frankly the colors and the 3D animation are really great looking. And in November we get a new James Bond film with Daniel Craig. Still fence sitting on the new The Amazing Spiderman movie.

Added: 5-27-2012: First trailer I've seen of the new Total Recall. No Ah-nold. No Mars. No decision yet.

Dr. Phil

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Mark Your Calendars -- It's The First Day of Summer

Sure It Says Spring...

But the record temp for Kalamazoo for March 20th jumped today from 69°F to 84°F, marking like the fifth record day in a row. And Grand Rapids' 86°F was a record for the month of March in any year since they recorded temps. This is the weather usually reserved to start in June.

And tomorrow will be warmer.

Now in case you're thinking that Spring arrives on March 21st, remember that February had Leap Day, so March was a day late in starting this year. (grin) And for those of you who want to start spouting off about global warming -- in either direction -- remember that weather and climate are two very different things. (double-edged-grin)

It'll be cooler this weekend, with highs only in the 60s. But the apple trees are three weeks ahead this year, and we've heard tell that the strawberries will be early -- and we're eagerly awaiting the local asparagus from down the road.

Our forsythia bush, which we've never done anything with after planting it something like 18 years ago, should be gorgeous tomorrow. I need to try to get a photograph of it backlit when I get home.

Dr. Phil

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The Last of the Summer Tomatoes

Alas, No More

I'd hoped to get one more round of tomatoes from our Potter's farmstand. Yesterday as I drove off to Holland on an errand, I passed by Potter's and the signboards still said TOMATOES. But today, despite the lovely autumn sunshine, following a below freezing night, the TOMATOES sign was down and all they had was apples and squash and a few peppers and such.

It's not that the other things aren't good, but one of my favorite things to have in the summer is a tomato sandwich -- and with me on sabbatical, it was practical to have tomato sandwiches several times a week. Yum!

The Dr. Phil Tomato Sandwich

I know I've rhapsodized about tomato sandwiches before, but I guess I've never gotten around to posting about, though I've meant to. The other day I was looking for another photo from the Sony from two years ago and came across this picture:

Dr. Phil's Tomato Sandwich

Bread
Cheese (Velveeta, Sharp Cheddar, American or other yellow cheese, 
                or Swiss)
Peanut Butter (smooth or chunky)
Thick slice of tomato (or two if the bread is large enough)
Salt to taste
Ketchup 
Mayonnaise (optional)

What is amusing about this 2009 picture was that we'd just discovered the Kraft mayo with olive oil -- really nice stuff. Alas, we don't use mayo all that often and around here, we can't even get a bottle this small anymore, which would be a waste because it doesn't have an enormously long shelf life. So we don't.

I'm sure the food critics out there will have plenty to say. Velveeta? Sure you can use "real cheese", but I eat a processed cheese food stuff slice sandwich every day -- and have since I was a little kid. I like it. Ketchup? It adds a little sweetness and some moisture against the peanut butter. Don't want ketchup? Don't add it. If you're making a tomato sandwich, it's YOUR tomato sandwich, not mine. (grin)

Look, the real taste here is the tomato versus the peanut butter. For many years we bought Reese's peanut butter, but then the local stores stopped carrying it. So we did Skippy again for a while. My mom uses Jif. Lately we've found a really nice Planter's peanut butter -- and a Skippy All-Natural. Grind your own if you like. For my taste, despite the salt in the peanut butter (and the ketchup for that matter), I still need the salt on the tomato slice, too. Again, your mileage will vary.

Anyway, the real tale here is that I had my last tomato sandwich of 2011 on Wednesday or Thursday this week. Alas.

The BLT Factor

But ten days ago we ended up with a bunch of lovely tomatoes, and also had the rest of a package of Smithfield bacon. So what could be more fun for a dinner than B-L-Ts?

Now for many of you, the mere mention of bacon makes you go crazy. Frankly, neither one of us believes the current foodie mantra that "bacon makes everything taste better". Mainly I prefer bacon as, well, bacon. Preferably sitting next to a lovely stack of pancakes, smothered in maple syrup. (Ah, WindyCon and breakfast via the Harry Caray's Steakhouse... coming up on November 11-13 -- you going to be there?) A good club sandwich or BLT will do, though, because the bacon can stay crispy and whole, rather than get lost in the mush.

The Parts

Dr. Phil's B-L-T. Note the new Hellman's container which can make ribbons of mayo, rather than blobs. It works, sort of, but can get messy and leaves the cap messy. The jury is still out as to whether this is an improvement to either the regular squeeze bottle or a jar-and-a-knife.

After I shot those, Mrs. Dr. Phil piped up and asked, "What about mine?" So here's Mrs. Dr. Phil's B-L-T:

Note the fresh dill on the right side -- and I think there was some spicy mustard under the lettuce on the left side. Also the soup was a Campbell's Select squash soup, I believe. Needed salt -- two words I never thought I'd need to say with a Campbell's Soup product. (double-word-score-grin)

Needless to say, the sliced tomato season of 2011 was a complete success. We won't be trying to duplicate this with the sad and hard and tasteless tomatoes of winter. Some things are best not to speak of.

Dr. Phil

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Crossposted on LiveJournal

Current Mood: accomplished

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Nuts and Bolts and Writing

I'm Alive

That's official, by the way. Had the annual physical today and my doctor was pleased with some progress on some outstanding issues. (grin)

Two Thoughts on Writers and Writing

Three, actually if you count the nice piece I read the other day and failed to record the URL asking the question about whether you want to write or be a writer. (triple-word-score-grin)

Ken Schneyer talks about the mixed emotions we can have about the Jealousy - Envy - Regret of our writing and the success of others. In particular, he addressed the question of regret over not starting earlier. I think, though, that everyone's mileage is different. In my case:

I "could" have started submitting stories in 1976. Well, no I couldn't -- I had notes and ideas, but no writing.

I "could" have submitted stories in 1985, but they were pretty raw. In 1990 I started writing a novel -- that one isn't done but it spawned my 29th century and half my stories. In 1997 I started on a tear -- and when I discovered that writers were worried about word count, I checked and this second "novel" was three-quarters done... at 1.5 million words.

I started submitting with a 5000 word story in June 2002. It helped get me in Clarion and finally sold six years later on its 11th outing.

Yeah, I could've started earlier, but it wouldn't have been the same.

Then Tobias Buckell wrote on milestones versus goals. Or the difference over which things you can and cannot control.

If you're a writer -- or want to be -- you should read these two pieces.

Which Brings Us To...

Assuming my stats are right, my 388th submission today is my 300th commercial submission and the 30th in the month since my sabbatical began. All I can control is what I write and taking charge of sending it out.

Still have 24 stories out in the world tonight. Better than lottery tickets. (double-edged-grin)

And the Velveeta? That was lunch. The cheese, that is, in a tomato sandwich. Mmm... summer.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: pissed off

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The Nerve Gas of Some People

It's 54°F Outside and Calm

So why are we buttoned up in the house at 11:30 at night with the windows closed and the AC on after such a glorious day?

Because some sonofabitch is the neighborhood with a burning barrel has been burning plastics and the stench has settled into the outside air with no breeze to disburse it.

How stupid do you have to be? Burning plastic is not only illegal and smells bad, the gasses produced are not healthy. Alas, because there's no breeze we cannot tell the direction, and with the slow drift, there's been plenty of time for the burning barrels on either side of us to go out before the smell wandered in. Or it's from further on -- can't tell. Oh, and for the record, we do not have a burning barrel on our own. We like to breathe.

Thank you so very much for fucking up our air.

Dr. Phil

UPDATE: At 7am the smell was still outside -- dead calm air near the dew point made it linger. Thankfully by 11am, the sun had burned it off and we can resume reveling in open summer windows. Bastards.

Current Mood: happy

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A Perfect August Summer Sunday

73°F -- Sunny -- Clear -- Breezes Diminishing to Calm

A friend "accused" me of gloating about the Red Haven peaches yesterday. Which isn't true -- see the comments. (wry grin) So I'm not gloating when I report how lovely the weather is today. Things like this have to be recorded -- I was just reviewing last winter's blizzard reports last night, after all, so there is some serious perspective here. Also I finished today two courses of tetracycline, which amongst antibiotics is annoying because of the requirement to stay out of the sun.

The weather will pop back up to the 80s and humid thunderstorms by midweek, but meanwhile we'll have another day of this tomorrow. As opposed to Greensboro NC, where my mother reports that it was 92°F in late afternoon, only by dint of clouds rolling in to block the sun. The humidity down there makes breathing resemble drowning -- ugh.

With it cooling now that the sun has set, the crickets are cricking at a sedate pace, slower than the other day. A few minutes ago a tiny bird landed on the railing of our rear deck, looked at us through the screened door and gave us what-for for a moment without any real venom. Even the road traffic has dropped off.

And Mrs. Dr. Phil pulled out another extraordinary rhubarb-peach-blueberry crisp -- this one more blueberry (local frozen) and less peach than the last one, but all good. And another extraordinary Red Haven for lunch. And a tomato sandwich. Yum summer.

Just a nice evening to sit and relax. Cubbies playing in Wrigley on ESPN versus their arch rival Cards.

Nice.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: accomplished

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Going All In

And Off To Market We Go

Thought I'd update about my writing since I last reported on my sabbatical.

From Friday July 29th to today Tuesday August 9th, I shipped 18 stories to 18 markets -- submissions #360 to #377. Two markets had fast turnarounds and have already rejected, plus the five I had out prior to the binge, means that I have 21 stories out in the wild right now

Well since I wrote the eleven days ago, we're up to submission #385 with 26 stories out there right now, including one new story for Redstone SF's Identity Crisis contest. That's amazing.

Of course there's no guarantee that I'll ever sell another story, but you can't sell if you aren't shoving things under the editor's nose. Most of the 26 markets are pro paying or close to it. Not that I'm "counting my money before the sale", but to indicate these are quality markets.

Now... back to new stories. (grin)

Dr. Phil

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Getting a Leg Up On the Competition

Sabbatical 1.31 Report -- July 2011 (and into August)

A six-month sabbatical should have six months in it, but I didn't actually know that July was the first month until very late -- Tuesday 26 July 2011 to be exact. And no sooner had I officially started my self-imposed sabbatical, then I had to spend a lot of time in a chair with my left leg propped up. Great. Today, in fact, is the first time I've been in my office since the 26th.

Now from the title of this post, I don't want to mislead anyone into thinking that I think that writing and submitting is a competitive action. Editors are going to buy what editors are going to buy. They may be buying from people they know, they may be buying stories that resonate with what they want for their publication and this particular issue. Rejection is just part of the game. I recently had a novella rejected in part because the market already had a couple of novellas bought and didn't need another one. Had I submitted at a different time, who knows? So I'm not really competing against "you".

But I have been productive.

Being Prepared

Knowing that I'd be doing a lot of sitting, and not planning to spend 7-10 days just watching TV, I updated my flash drives from my main Sony at home, then brought out SUMMER, the tiny Fujitsu U810 UMPC (Ultra Miniature PC), USB numeric keypad and Microsoft LED travel mouse.

SUMMER (Fujitsu U810) versus WINTER (Fujitsu 1510D) -- same specs, different size

Once I'd downloaded a couple hundred meg and got connected to the wireless HP Deskjet 6980, I was in business. Mostly.

See, as a Very Large Person, I don't have a lap, so I can't sit with a laptop balanced on said nonexistent lap. I could put a laptop on the "arm table" next to me, but not with my leg propped up. So, it's hold the U810 in my left hand and type with one finger on the small keyboard. Needless to say, I was not writing much in the way of new stories, but with a mouse and an arrow keypad, I could do cover letters, editing, etc.

You Can't Sell Stories Unless You Submit

From Friday July 29th to today Tuesday August 9th, I shipped 18 stories to 18 markets -- submissions #360 to #377. Two markets had fast turnarounds and have already rejected, plus the five I had out prior to the binge, means that I have 21 stories out in the wild right now.

That should be a record. I think once I had 19 stories out at once.

In addition, the two recently rejected markets have 7 day delays before next submissions built in, which will soon be expiring. I've got one window closing on the 15th if I can get a new story written in time -- and I should be able to start devoting some real Time In Chair on that project Real Soon Now -- another closing on the 31st, and a couple of markets opening up on the 1st. So I'm not done yet.

To put this in perspective, I have 71 stories in my Invenstory which have shipped a total of 377 times now. 15 have been published, with 1 reprint. 21 of 56 stories means that 37.5% of my Invenstory is out to market right now. And of the 25 remaining stories, well, 3 are tied up with an outfit that may or may not ever get around to publishing them -- see The Lost Stories -- and some of the rest either are awaiting a rewrite or aren't worth rewriting.

So I'm pretty happy with all the productivity. And as markets reject (or buy) and reopen, the stories will churn through all the places they need to go.

But having some time to sit down and plot this out, reject all the market submission guidelines and get the stories in order, this has been golden. It would've been done eventually, but this has sped up the process immensely. Go me.

Oh, and for the record. Of the 18 submissions I've just made, exactly two of them have been mailed. All the rest have been e-subs.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: amused

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Sabbatical 1.3

Semester 59 - Fall 2011

One of the adventures of teaching part-time is that I never know what's next, particularly at the end of the school year. Am I teaching in the Fall? It doesn't help that the fiscal year ends and begins in the middle of the two summer sessions, so that departments can't make immediate decisions early. Or that for the last decade we've had uncertain budgets and adventures in state funding and university priorities, so that departments don't always even know how much money they're going to get. I've been doing this for nearly twenty years and, like enduring rejections from market after market, all you can do is go with the flow.

Alas, Tuesday I learned that I didn't have an assignment for Fall 2011, though I should have a class for January 2012 -- I don't count anything until I get a signed contract letter AND enrollment passes the threshold.

The Third Time's The Charm?

Rather than be upset or depressed about this, I am taking advantage of finishing 2011 free and clear -- though the free part is annoying (grin) -- and declaring this to be Sabbatical 1.3.

As some of you may recall, Mrs. Dr. Phil had a six-month sabbatical in the first half of 2009, and when it looked like I wasn't teaching from July to December that year, I declared that I'd get a six-month sabbatical to do writing. But a funny thing happened, and I ended up teaching a class in Fall 2009 anyway. So lather, rinse, repeat and in 2010, a similar situation developed and I did two months off for Sabbatical 1.21 in May-June, taught a course and scheduled Sabbatical 1.22 for September-December. Once again, however, a course showed up for Fall 2010.

So this is my third attempt at having a half-year -- five months effectively at this point -- sabbatical and switch into full-time writing mode for a while. I need to hit the start of this hard, because there is always the possibility that something will happen in the next four weeks and I'll find myself back in the classroom anyway after Labor Day. (whistling-in-the-dark-grin)

So, What's Next?

During Sabbatical 1.1 in 2009, one of my projects was finishing a novel and sending it off. So I have several other novel projects that I just need to spend Time In Chair on. I have a rewrite to work on and a number of other shorter projects. With novels ready to go, I shall start working on getting an agent as well.

Nearly a year ago I did something which ended up compressing a nerve in my leg and that's caused all sorts of problems. Including limiting the amount of Time In Chair I could stand (or sit if you want to be precise), so it's just as well that Sabbatical 1.22 in Fall 2010 was canceled and I was back in the classroom. I also skipped WindyCon -- that is not going to happen this year.

Also this summer I've already made one trip to my mother's house in Greensboro NC. And I was planning to do an August trip. But... given the opening up of my schedule and the heat which had gripped the South for so long, it makes sense to defer that trip to the fall. Maybe I'll have to take pictures of the fall colors in the West Virginia mountains. (grin) Though I can see it now -- as soon as I work through the time that I would've used for my August trip, I'll get a class for Fall, you wait and see.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: annoyed

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Hullo! What's THAT In The Road?

The Usual Apology

It's that time of the semester -- Grade-a-thon -- as we finish up the rushed 7½ weeks of the Summer-II Session here at Western Michigan University. My PHYS-2070 University Physics II class, Electricity & Magnetism, is now done. The Final Exam was Friday. We are so ahead of the usual curve here. Admittedly, I have just 41 students instead of twice that many, but except for one double-quiz and the Final which are being done by my grader, and the Science Literacy book reports which I am doing now, I've got all the other grades, re-grades, corrections and turned in late scatter-gather quizzes, graded and recorded in the spreadsheet. That has got to be a record for me. (grin)

I've even done 17 of 40 papers. Time for a nap, before my eyes close for me.

Driving Hazards

But that's not what this post is about. Instead, I think it was Tuesday's drive in, about 9:52am EDT, as I was heading south out of Grand Rapids on US-131, heading up the hill past the exit for 84th Street, I saw something slithering across both lanes of the highway. Minivan ahead of me half drove onto the paved right shoulder, but I was going to have to move over a bit further -- and of course I was on the brakes -- to avoid running over...?

A spinning ladder. A two-section aluminum extendable ladder, which had spun on the pavement and now came to rest across all of the left-hand southbound lane and most of the right-hand. Just about perfectly perpendicular to the flow of traffic. There was plenty of time, relatively speaking to dump a lot of my speed before hitting the rubble strips on the right shoulder. I had no intention of running over an aluminum ladder at 70 mph and I also didn't want to hit the shoulder, paved though it might be, at 70 mph given that it was likely to have stones and other trash.

So no problem. Hazard avoided. Though there was plenty of southbound traffic behind me, and ladders don't sprout legs and walk themselves out of the way, so I hoped that those behind me could see that two vehicles had just dove onto the shoulder to avoid something.

Ah, But The Idiots

Of course as I'm passing the ladder on the right at 40-50 mph, there's some import SUV crossover clattering over the ladder in the left hand lane at 70+ mph. Nailed it good, so it just made a lot of noise, but didn't spin out to whack me or anything. Near as I can tell, no attempt to slow down or move to the right or left. Hmm, pay attention to one's driving much? I don't know if the driver was actually on the phone or whether that's just wishful/evil thinking from several days out on my part. (grin)

In that driver's defense, though, I did notice that further up the hill on the left-hand shoulder was a blue pickup truck -- and it was starting to back up. One would suspect that he's the one who lost the ladder. And he is the one I wish to vent my ire on.

See -- I didn't see any sign on the ladder that it had a red flag tied to either end. Or at least not a big one or a very visible one, a very common complaint of mine. And this pickup truck had no ladder rack, just the usual 8-foot bed. And given that this ladder, unextended, was nearly two full lanes wide, that tells me that the damned thing was too long for that pickup truck bed, which means it was probably just tossed in the back and sticking out over the tailgate, unsecured. Which means this was an accident just waiting to happen. No doubt the guy was accelerating up the hill when friction failed to keep the ladder in the back -- who could ever conceive of such a thing happening? (ironic grin)

I've seen a lot of this lately. Various construction and service vehicles with open backs and gear just lying around. One of my favorites was a truck carrying concrete construction forms which had these racks holding these foot-long or so spikes -- looked like multiple rocket launchers on the back. One had a slight angle on it, but one was completely level. How would you like to be behind this guy when he guns it and those spikes slide out of their slots and into your lane? Look, I understand Physics, so I'm not asking that things be hermetically sealed at all times. But Michigan roads are not smooth surfaces, and bouncing can move things. And I don't want to have to dodge your tools and I don't have time to rebuild my vehicles. 'Kay?

Likewise, I don't drive behind trucks holding trash bins or asphalt -- seen too many stones, clumps of stuff and trash fly out behind these trucks.

I tell you, folks, it's a jungle out there. Doesn't anyone ever write tickets?

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: relaxed

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The High Summer of August

Today Was A Mild Summer Day

Pleasant temperatures in the mid-80s. In the next two days the heat and humidity will return, though not nearly the searing sauna which parts south of us, east and west, have endured.

Perfect.

Sundays we take the newspaper down to the kitty room about 11 am and read for a few hours. Today we could fling open the windows and enjoy the breezes and noises of August.

The buzzing of insects, cicada-y things, crickets -- birds of all kinds in the trees. Some bird was raising quite a fuss in the tall weeks about ten feet from where Sam lay in the open window, basking in the sun. But I don't think the alarm was about Sam, who knows nothing about being outside, and who wasn't even looking that way. One little bird flew off, followed by the one who had been complaining and still was in flight.

Even the cars up and down the Warner Street Raceway are mostly muted by the bug noises. Ah, August -- happy summer times.

The High Summer Days
Of August Have Arrived,
It Goes Fast, But Pleasant Enough.

The End Of A Month Of Holidays

August 1st is Swiss Independence Day. A string of independence holidays which have struck my fancy -- Canada Day on July 1st, Independence Day on July 4th, Bastille Day on July 14th.

Dr. Phil