Movie Time: The Friend

It's Movie Time!

For today's movie post, we're gonna get into some heavy stuff, dude. We're going to touch on grief, love, loss, memory and just how frickin' sad life can be.

And yes there will be some sweetness and hope and maybe even a laugh or two.

It's a film about the trials and travails of human life.

And a dog's life. 

From 2024, it's The Friend. 

The film stars Naomi Watts and Bill Murray.

As Bing as the dog, Apollo.

At the center of our tale is Iris, a writer and college professor in Manhattan.  Iris is caught up in a swirl of emotions over the death of Walter, also a writer and to Iris, a friend and mentor and once, even a lover.   

Walter was quite a bon vivant, a racounteur, who regaled dinner parties with the best stories. In life, Walter was a womanizer and leaves behind a long line of ex-lovers, ex-girlfriends and ex-wives who still love the guy.

He also leaves behind a dog.

A very big dog.

Apollo is a large white black spotted Great Dane and somehow Iris has become responsible for this conspicuous canine.

Apollo is quite an unusual presence in Iris' small book filled rent controlled apartment.  Apollo immediately confiscate's Iris' bed where he spends a lot of time sleeping while nestled with one of Walter's old sweatshirts.  

Apollo is in mourning.  

Iris is unsure what to do with the very big and very sad dog. She's got a lot to contend with. She's got classes to teach that clearly do not engage her.  She has a book that she can't quite seem to finish despite desperate pleas from her editor to get it done already. 

And on top of that, the housing board that runs her apartment building is threatening to evict her for having a dog, a violation of building rules.

Iris makes various efforts to get Apollo taken in by someone else but nothing seems to work.

And is it possible Iris is really ready to let Apollo go?

Iris finally figures out a way to keep Apollo and not get evicted from her apartment but to qualify Apollo as an emotional support animal, she needs to confront why she needs emotional support.

Walter didn't just die. He took his own life.

And yes, Iris has feeling about that. 

And as Iris bonds with Apollo, the dog becomes a bit less sad and Iris learns to process her feelings about Walter, about his life and his death. 

The "It's That Person Who Was In That Thing" Department 

Noma Dumezweni as Barbara was UNIT Captain Erisa Magambo in two episodes of Doctor Who, "Turn Left" and "Planet of the Dead".  

The Friend has a bit of a wibby-wobbly timey-wimey structure. Walter is dead when the movie starts but there he is entertaining dinner guests with the story of how he first met Apollo.  Or joining Iris for coffee.  Or in an extended fantasy sequence, being confront by Iris about how could he just kill himself like that and leave his dog alone.   

Bill Murray is perfect for Walter, simultaneously a charmer and a curmudgeon.

And Naomi Watts has a lot of heavy lifting to do, approaching the role of Iris with humor and grace while dealing with a deep seated trauma. 

And I cannot say enough good things about Bing who plays Apollo. Seriously, this dog can act. This is some of the best dog acting I've seen since Diesel played Rex on Hudson & Rex. 

Below is a video clip from the premiere of The Friend with Naomi Watts and Bing on the red carpet.

The Friend is a movie that is sweet and sad, kind of depressing but also emotionally uplifting as well.  

It's a film that makes who feel and think about a lot of things.

And on top of that, there's a dog. 

_____________________________________

Naomi Watts and Bing will return with next week's Your Friday Video Link.

Tomorrow is more Star Trekking with a tale from the 2nd season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  

Until next time, remember to be good to one another.  

Moon Trekking IV: The Voyage Home

After a journey of over 252,000 miles, the Artemis II mission is back in Earth.

Watching the Orion spacecraft descent to a safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off  San Diego, I will admit I was overcome with emotion, overwhelmed by the enormity of what has been accomplished and the exultant relief that these four explorers have returned safely.

I will have more to say later but for now, welcome hoReid Wiseman,Victor Glover,  Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.

Welcome back to Earth. 

Moon Trekking III: Your Friday Video Link

More adventures in space with Your Friday Video Link.

As the Artemis II mission to the moon winds it's way back home, here are some videos what the crew saw and experienced in their journey in outer space.

We start of with a video that captures the Earth, the Moon and the Sun (vis a vie, a solar eclipse).

More moon stuff? Why not! More moon stuff! 

Here is the story of how a little boy created Rise, the Zero Gravity Indicator. 

Here's a video of life on the Orion space craft called Integrity and you can see Rise in action. 

And finally here is a video about the return of the mission to planet Earth.

Integrity will be splashing down off the coast of California this evening.

The return of a space craft through Earth's atmosphere can be nerve racking and I will be super stressed until the craft is safely bobbing in the waters of the Pacific.

God bless the crew of the Artemis II mission and welcome back to Earth. 

Hostess Ads with Spider-Man and Superman

 Taking a blogger break with some wholesome Hostess Fruit Pies.

February 4, 1975, it's your friendly neighborhood Spider Man making his first appearance using fruit filled pastries to fight crime. 

That big blue boy scout Superman made his first appearance in an Hostess ad on March 27, 1975.

Tomorrow we'll venture back into space with Artemis II with Your Friday Video Link.

Moon Trekking II - Electric Boogaloo - IN SPACE!!!!

The Artemis II mission boldly goes where no one has gone before.

On Monday, the Orion capsule carrying 4 astronauts ventured out further than any humans have ever gone before.

Well, that we know of.

There is alleged testimony of cousin Elroy Elmore who swore he was abduted "by them thar aliens" who took him in their spaceship to Saturn for several sessions of anal probing.

He claimed it was a horrific experience but he would get a wistful smile on his face when he mentioned the anal probing.

But for the official record, the Artemis II mission went  the furtherest humankind has gone into outer space, breaking a record set by Apollo 13.  

Here's what  Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman had to say about that:   "As we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from planet Earth, we do so in honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats as our predecessors in human space exploration. We will continue our journey even further into space before mother Earth succeeds in pulling us back to everything we hold dear. While, we most importantly choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long lived."

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen captured a slew of photos of the moon’s rugged terrain, sprawling impact craters and vast, dark plains.

Here is the Earth setting over the Moon's horizon.

In the middle of all this wonder, tragedy struck.

Donald Trump called.

Well, he is allegedly the President and Presidents get to do shit like this. 

Back in the 1960's, it was John F. Kennedy who got to kick off the space race to get humans to the moon but it was RIchard Nixon of all people who got to make the phone call. 

Li'l Donnie surprisingly behaved himself but when he heard one of the astronauts was Canadian, he went off on a ramble about hockey player Wayne Gretzky.  

The crew smiled politely but I can't help but wonder if the problematic space toilet with the space toilet was now the 2nd worse thing about the trip.

OK, back to space stuff! 

Here is a solar eclipse when the moon is up close.

And here's the crew watching the eclipse.

Safety first! 

Here's another spectacular shot of the moon! 

Look to the bottom of this image for the 5th member of this screw, a soft li'l plushie named Rise.

Rise is no mere toy but a ZGI, a zero gravity indicator.

In case Christine Koch's floating hair is not sufficent evidence of the absence of gravity.  

Rise is part of a tradition for other space missions to take a long a little stuffed critter to serve as a ZGI.   

So we're on the back half of the journey now as the Orion spacecraft makes it's way back to Earth. 

Check out this week's Your Friday Video Link for some videos about the Artemis II mission.  

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Jeopardy!

 

Let's  touchbase on Jeopardy! this week.

The show has had an incredible run by a multi day champion named Jamie Ding.

As of last night the New Jersey resident rang up this 17th win with earnings totalling  $494,012, which 8th on the regular-season money list all-time and 19th overall.

This puts Jamie on Jeopardy's top 10 list of contestants with the most wins.  

Jamie first appeared on Jeopardy! on March 13, 2026.  Some of the games since that time have been close.

For one game, Jamie set the lowest one-game winning score of season 42 in regular-season play with $3,933.

But in this same streak, he also had a game that set a season 42 records for the highest amount won in a single game,  $56,400.

Mostly, Jamie has been a buzz saw against his hapless competitors, frequently ending the game going into Final Jeopardy completely out of reach. A lot of times, the only real suspense is to see who comes in second. 

Jamie Ding certainly has nature and nurture working in his favor. His father is a professor of neurosurgery at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and his mother recently retired as a math teacher.  

Jamie Ding's favorite color is orange and he always wear a shirt or sweater this is all or at least part orange.

Andrea and I are also following Celebrity Jeopardy All Stars with returning season champions Ike Barinholtz, Lisa Ann Walter, and W. Kamau Bell along with 18 other past celebrity contestants who have actually won some games.  

So far the play has been pretty solid with these celebrity players who actually know stuff and act like they know what they're doing. So far, this run of episodes as avoided Emily Hampshire levels of embarrassment.

Recently, Ken Jennings hosted a special game called Jeopardy You Tube Edition featuring Monét X Change, Rebecca Black & Brennan Lee Mulligan as contestants.

For all you ADHD people out there, there is only 1 round, not 2 with a Final Jeopardy round at the end. It clocks in at just a few secs under 20 minutes. 

You can watch the game here! 

Here's the post game discussion.

And for any of you have perhaps forgotten what "Baby Shark" sounds like....

Wait!  What did one of you other there say? Really?!?

No, man! Fuck YOU!

Just for that...

 OK, so that is that for this week's Touchbase.

Next week it's 2nd season wrap ups for St. Denis Medical, High Potential and (at long last) Fallout!

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.   

Now Let's Get This Strait or Welcome to the S.E.P.

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, writer Douglas Adams posits ways to make things invisible.

Most involved complicated machinations involving mirrors and light distortions to make something invisible to the eye.

But what about making something invisible to the mind?

It starts with taking the thing you want to make invisible and doing something weird to it, such as painting a mountain bright pink.

Then you slap an "S.E.P." around it.  An "S.E.P." is a low grade telepathic field that makes something "somebody else's problem." Out of mind, out of sight, if you will.

I apply the term "S.E.P." to my job for things that come into our department that are not things our department actually does. And I'm proud to say the term is catching on.

In a team meeting,  a co-worker was discussing some requests we received that we simply do not and cannot do.  She remarked, "Like David says, that's an S.E.P."  

Now declaring something an S.E.P. is not to be taken lightly. We have to be absolutely sure it's something we are not set up to do, not trained to do, not supposed to do. And even then, we have a responsibility to communicate it to the correct parties who are set up, trained and supposed to do the thing. 

I consider calling something an S.E.P. as a near sacred trust. We can't declare a thing as an S.E.P. simply because we don't want to do it.  

Like clearing the Strait of Hormuz.

We're, what, 5 weeks into our war with Iran.  We've been bombing the shit out of Iran and they have responded by jamming up the Strait of Hormuz, thus blocking 20% of the world's petroleum products. 

Everbody predicted that any military action taken against Iran would cause Iran to block the Strait of Hormuz. 

Either Li'l Donnie didn't know that was something Iran could do or he was so starstruck by his own war propaganda that he didn't conceive of Iran being able to do such a thing after we bombed the shit out of them.  

So Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz and now my goddam gas is $4 a fucking gallon.😠😠😠

Which is just the beginning of the pain. 😢

Higher prices at the pump means it costs more to transport shit so stuff at stores gets more expensive.

Natural gas is used to make fertilizer and farmers already fucked over by Trump's tariffs are now paying more for fertilizer.

So Trump hit up NATO and even China to help unclog the Strait of Hormuz.

The response was a deafening indifference.

Donald Trump has spent years denigrating and insulting member nations of NATO as well as China and he did not bother to consult them before he launched his war against Iran. 

So who would be surprised that these countries would be less than eager to clean up a mess they didn't make? 

Well, Trump seemed perplexed by their response but then, he's stupid.  

Last week, der Führer posted this proclamation on his mildew rotted Truth Social.

Trump is trying to make the Strait of Hormuz an S.E.P.   

Well you dumb fuck but we can still SEE the Strait is jammed up and NO, it is NOT somebody else's problem.

YOU started the war with Iran that caused Iran to retaliate (as everyone but you knew they would) to close off the Strait of Hormuz.

YOU! BROKE! IT!  And you can't make someone else buy it.

Well, I suppose we're buying it in the form of fucking four 😠 goddam dollars 😠😠a fucking gallon, you goddam 😠😠😠 motherfucker! 😠😠😠😠

Am I angry about that? Why, yes, yes I am. 

So after trying to make the Strait of Hormuz an S.E.P. by schlepping it off on to Europe, Trump pulled out his box of crayons and scrawled out this message:  

"Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out - 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them."

Did he mean to say "reign" instead of "rain"? 

So bombing the shit out of Iran made Iran close the Strait of Hormuz.

So even more bombing more of the shit out of Iran will make Iran OPEN the Strait of Hormuz?

The beatings will continue until moral improves. 

Then on Easter Sunday, der Führer doubled down on his threats.

Aren't you glad we didn't elect a WOMAN as President who would be all crazy, hysterical and emotional? 

It's good that we have a MAN who is cool, calm and professional.  

Why, yes, I am being fuckin' sarcastic, you crazy bastards! 

Where was I? Oh yeah...

This whole damn war with Iran has been one continual cycle of contradictions and uncertainty. 

One minute Li'l Donnie is chastising Europe that it's THEIR problem to get the Strait of Hormuz open.

The next, Dumpster Trumpster* is making even BIGGER threats of action by OUR military to force open the Strait. 

*"Dumpster Trumpster is a new nickname I'm taking out for a spin. I haven't quite made up my mind if it will be a regular parrt of my repetoire.  

I really wish I could consider Donald Trump an S.E.P.  But my wallet won't let me do that.  😢