Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 14 January 2018

Thank you Diane for starting us off on a larky new week! And thank you for the cooler weather. Please note it is warming (!) up again to an expected 41 C on Thursday. Thus dooming any chance of an escape with Friend, merely retiring to a bakery is not fair as she is dieting.

I went “church-crawling” this morn, revisiting 3 red brick churches. One to clarify excessive no of foundation stones. I was delayed at railway crossing by a train with 4 engines and 90+ appendages. Two, a church that advertises Sat eve Mass, was unexpectedly open, so my camera waltzed in. Third church for stained glass. Windows were very modern and disappointing but people very friendly.

Good Morning Everyone.  Thank you to Diane for starting us off again, with the pretty Meadowlark. I have wondered in the past, when reading American literature, if they were more colourful than our birds. Do they have a lovely song, too?

AQ -- At least you managed a quick fix, how nice that you were welcomed so well. I think I would spend Thursday sitting in the fridge if it were me.....

Today's pic:

"So I said to her, don't talk to me about how crazy young people are these days!"

Good morning, lovely people.  I can't believe that this time tomorrow I'll be at the airport waiting to fly off to Cambodia!  It seems to have been a long time coming, and now I'm in panic mode.  It's going to be hot, hot, hot - not quite as hot as your temperatures, AQ, but very high humidity as well.  

Now to ask for some help.  I know lots of people here are regular cinema-goers, which I am not.  However, I have 13 hours to sit in a plane tomorrow, so can you recommend some films I could watch?  I am not in to lot of shooting and 'cops and robbers', but enjoy a good story.  Don't particularly like musicals either.  Oh dear, I do sound picky!  I like a good and absorbing story, and a mystery.  Any suggestions would be welcomed.  I'm quite a nervous flyer, and need something absorbing to look at - although I also enjoy watching the little plane flying across a map!

Lindy: There are Eastern Meadowlarks and Western Meadowlarks. They look almost identical, but I think the Western's song is slightly more beautiful. In Indiana, we are right on the boundary of the Eastern and Western ranges, so ours can sound a little like both. 

I treasure the Meadowlark. I once had a job that I'd grown to loathe, for various reasons -- long hours, etc. Every morning on my way to work, I walked past the small metro airport in the city. Almost always, a beautiful Meadowlark was sitting on the fence between the runway area and the road. That little bird always sang his beautiful song to me, rain or shine, and he always made my morning more enjoyable.

You can hear their lovely songs by clicking on the little green arrows under "Sound" here. 

PatO: I so hope that you have a wonderful, meaningful, memorable trip!!! I look forward to your reports when you return. Have a nice time!!!

I have weird taste in movies, so I'm probably the last person who should make suggestions to you. I mostly watch sci-fi movies and sometimes political films. My favorites of all time include: Contact (1997), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), K-Pax (2000), The Village (2003), Transcendence (2014, most people hated it), Avatar (2009), Limitless (2011), Snowden (2016, you might be offended by the politics), Thirteen Days (2000), and The Stepford Wives (1975 original, not the remake which was really, really awful).

Probably better to listen to someone like Lindy or Annette rather than me. LOL

Pat --  It's a personal thing, of course, when it comes to enjoying films. I agree that watching one will help you to be distracted during your trip. I love Avatar, too, but some people don't enjoy anything too Science Fiction. 

I could say that t he recent films I've seen which were excellent included "Paddington Bear2", which was very funny (you don't have to have seen the 1st one to enjoy it), and "Murder on the Orient Express" a mystery, which sounds like your kind of thing. Also, if you enjoy a bit of nostalgia about history, the film "Their Finest" is multi layered. Can recommend "The Kings Speech" which is a few years old now but well worth seeing.

If you like a bit of romance, we enjoyed both "The Holiday" and "The President".

Pat O said:

Now to ask for some help.  I know lots of people here are regular cinema-goers, which I am not.  However, I have 13 hours to sit in a plane tomorrow, so can you recommend some films I could watch?  I am not in to lot of shooting and 'cops and robbers', but enjoy a good story.  Don't particularly like musicals either.  Oh dear, I do sound picky!  I like a good and absorbing story, and a mystery.  Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Unknown said:

I have weird taste in movies, so I'm probably the last person who should make suggestions to you.

DIANE - thanks for the new week and that beautiful Meadow-Lark.

PAT O - I don't watch films - but I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

CLARE - I hope the football results were satisfactory for LIMPY!  You seem to be getting out and about a lot for some wonderful photos!

ALL - have a good day.

I am still very sleepy - lovely visit from the extremely cute Miriam but left me feeling exhausted!  At least I slept well!  Staying at home today - even OH isn't going to church.  We may go out tomorrow, depending on weather - want to buy our "seed potatoes" with lunch at garden centre, and then shop in M&S food.