I was hoping once we got through errands today that we could find ourselves in a nice cool mall doing some walking. Cumberland would have been perfect for serious walking since Waldenbooks is now closed and the only thing of interest to distract us is Hallmark and American Greetings. Town Center would have been a longer walk, but with more distractions.

Instead we went to Kroger for necessities like yogurt and bananas and a newspaper, along with a couple of other things, and BJs for milk and mushrooms, plus stopped at Food Depot for sugar-free ice cream bars in one 16-minute excursion (this includes the driving time), and just stayed at home. I had a killer sinus headache, apparently from my allergy since my eyes were doing an imitation of a faucet with a loose washer, and it felt as if someone were whapping the right side of my head with a tack hammer. I finally tossed down three Advil and lay down for an hour.

When I got up the headache was down to a dull roar and James had gone downstairs to his hobby room, so I put the first part of Centennial on. It's a nice print, complete with the Michener introduction, although it really hadn't been restored; one shot of Michael Ansara was quite dusty and the scene with young Lame Beaver and his uncle silhouetted against the sky had a noticable shimmy for several frames.

James came upstairs near the end and grilled dinner: two pork chops we found on sale at Kroger along with a nice ear of corn each, then we watched the second episode of Peter Davison's The Last Detective. The mysteries in this keep you guessing till the last, but "Dangerous" himself is a melancholy character, and one wants to swat his idiot of a soon-to-be ex-wife, who apparently just gets squidgy for guys in uniform (she's presently dating an airline pilot), although it does appear he is a bit of a workaholic (but is that just Davies or because of her disapproving stance?).

The original plan had been to watch Last Detective and then Masterpiece's showing of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, which was advertised last week. Except it wasn't on because it's #$!%%!$!#$! fundraising again. With GPB and WPBA both viewable in Atlanta, and since they often alternate fundraising, it makes it seem like PBS is shilling for money every month. It wouldn't be all that bad if they would show us something new, but sheesh, how many times can we watch Anne of Green Gables (1, 2 or [shudder] 3), Suze Ormond, Celtic Woman, nostalgia movie star specials, and fifty salutes to country-Western performers and Elvis? Remember when PBS only shilled for money twice a year?

So we watched episode two of Centennial instead. You know, Robert Conrad had been working in the business for years. He had three (that I remember) regular series, including the one that got him the most notice, The Wild Wild West, plus Hawaiian Eye and the Black Sheep series, plus guest star appearances and some really fun times on Battle of the Network Stars (ah, yes, the infamous brohaha between Conrad and Gabe Kaplan...). But Centennial is Conrad at his finest. This miniseries had great casting, but Conrad's was superb. He didn't just play Pasquinel, he was Pasquinel, the tough little coureur de Bois who earned the trust of the native people but who was still flawed and often dishonorable.

Labels: DVDs, shopping, sickness, television

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 8:14:00 AM

Comments:

Linda I remember when PBS pledge weeks - at least the ones from Detroit which we see here - were actually worth watching. They'd have things like Doctor Who marathons and actually debut good programming. I think either The Civil War or Baseball first showed up during pledge season. These days the pledge weeks seem more like a string of infomercials for music or self-help types. Sickening.

# posted by  Brent McKee : 4:34:00 PM

 

Too true, since both James and I used to answer phones during fundraising with the rest of the Terminus TARDIS DW fan group. DOCTOR WHO made GPB some good revenues. So, of course they quit showing it.

# posted by  Linda : 8:44:00 AM

 

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