The Last Summer is a breezy viewing experience

The review:

William Bindley captures the Last Summer (the one after high school and before college) in this pleasant ensemble movie that is as breezy as the wind off Lake Michigan.* Maia Mitchell and K.J. Apa** are the main twosome, playing an aspiring filmmaker and musician, but there’s also Sosie Bacon*** as a girl hoping to get into her fourth-choice college, and Halston Sage**** who has a meet-cute with a baseball player during a Cubs game.***** It’s not an earth shattering movie, but that summer after high school is, in some ways, the last gasp before real life starts and I appreciate having a 2019-era chronicle of it.

The verdict: Good

Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*I’ve not actually been to Chicago and so I have no idea if there is wind off of Lake Michigan in the summer, but that sentence needed an ending, so there it is.
**His face is so symmetrical that I have trouble looking away from it.
***I also enjoy Sosie Bacon. I think it has to do partially with her genetic material (mother is Kyra Sedgwick who imprinted on me in Singles, father is Kevin Bacon, of well, every movie, to at least the sixth degree) and partially because she’s got a laid-back frowny vibe which I enjoy.
****So very good in Before I Fall and Paper Towns
*****There are a few other plots involving boys—most memorably two nerdy guys who accidentally pass themselves off as stock traders so they can drink in a bar—but I only have three sentences and we’re already at fifth-level asterisks.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Both K.J. Apa and Maia Mitchell are not orginally from the United States. Apa is from New Zealand and Mitchell from Australia.

SKS Postcard: Alma again.

Another first-of-two postcard that arrived first!

Sara grabbed this when they ate here for their anniversary dinner. She had a comment about the food that she told me not to put on the blog so I won’t.

The dinner was there courses with wine pairing and she reports that it was nice to visit a place they’ve been wanting to go to for a special occasion.

Fence creeping closer

We turn to the housing development down the street to see how it progresses. We illustrate the progress with blurry pictures (sorry).

This house used to have a full driveway. It now has a skinny sidewalk. As I am concerned about how this development will affect parking in front of my house (which does not have a driveway because I am also part of the problem) this isn’t great news. I assume the house is staying (but perhaps not?) and eventually those two units will be occupied again and will need parking, just like all the new units will.

And when I say “units will be occupied” I mean by rent-paying people. The squatters who have been living in it don’t come with cars. You can see where the trash has been emptied from the house. Again.

A view from the opposite corner. I can’t remember how high this development will go, but it is probable that eventually the house will not be visible.

SKS Postcard. Fancy!

This one arrived a little worse for wear. See: that schmutz in the corner. But it’s fancy. It changes when you move it in the light.

She found this while packing up her office. It originally came from Virginia, but has made its way to me. She hopes that I’m enjoying that packing and moving is NOT part of my summer.

And her hopes are not in vain. I always enjoy when packing and moving are not parts of any season of my life.

Last days of the Alder Street Food Cart Pod

The Alder Street Food Cart Pod is famous! It takes up an entire city block. Yes! People can walk the perimeter and find a large variety of choices for their meals.

It’s also going away at the end of the month. A luxury hotel and condominium will be built on the block instead.

These pictures were taken from the streetcar, hence the blurry glare.

There has been talk of relocating some of the food carts to a different area of town, maybe the North Park Blocks, or the underused park on Ankeny and Burnside. But nothing has been firmed up. So in a few days, these carts will be gone.

Kim’s Convenience provides a variety of comedy

The review:

If you are looking for a gentle ensemble comedy with a lot of laughs, look no further than Kim’s Convenience.* The convenience store owned by the Kim Family (parents Appa & Umma,** with their grown children Jung and Janet***) provides a steady series of memorable situations and characters. The Kim family is partially estranged—father and son haven’t talked in years due to Jung’s delinquent adolescent choices—but there are still a lot of laughs to be had as the Kim family goes through life’s ordinary trials.****

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: Netflix monthly charge ($8.99)
Where watched: at home with Matt, who heard about it on Feminist Frequency

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*It also has the charm of being set in Toronto, which means when characters are issuing apoligies, you get to hear that charming Canadian closed-mouth prounciation: “soory”.
**I know this is Korean for father and mother, but IMDB doesn’t list the parents’ names.
***There’s a great supporting cast too: Jung’s friend Kimchee; Jung’s boss Shannon, who is delightfully awkward in her trying to project that she’s hard-working, while barely hiding her crush on Jung; Janet’s friend Gerald, who is a pushover; the too-familar Mr. Mehta; and the ever suffering Pastor Nina.
****Most of the humor comes from normal situations such as trying to prove who is the better photographer, and a goodly number of complexities arising from situations at church.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The interior set of the titular location is an exact replica of a real downtown Toronto corner store, Mimi Variety.

Waiting for Pride 2019

I arrived at the Rosetown Ramblers designated parade slot at nine a.m. and groups were already assembling in the parade staging area. Energy was high. Music was playing, people were dancing, talking, shouting.

That energy was sustained for a very long time, but by noon most people had wilted. That’s when I caught this picture of Jim and Eileen.

Energy returned once we started marching, and the parade was, as usual, an overwhelming experience of celebration and joy.

SKS postcards: Union Station, Sweet Science Ice Cream

Sorry for the blurry photo. It might be my middle-aged eyes, it might be lack of attention to detail.

Sara uses a postcard of Union Station in Washington D.C. to remind me that I’ve got this. As in: YOU’VE GOT THIS! Also to let me know that the stamp was the last of her hummingbird postcard stamps, which she had to augment with a 1-cent stamp because the price had gone up and those hummingbird stamps weren’t Forever stamps.

She sent this postcard from Sweet Science Ice cream to update me on their weekend, which was quite busy, but not with church. (!) Also, the realtor team was coming over that morning. The house sale begins in earnest!