July 19, 2008

           I woke JP up at 9:00 in the morning. We had a billion things to go over so we went for brunch (on Jimbo’s) at some local and overpriced chicken place. Coffee was not on the menu. The original plan was to get some tubes for JP’s bicycle but that didn’t happen until twelve hours later. He’d left the bicycle at his dad’s place, so we went over there to pick it up. The central air was on and it was so cool inside he promptly fell asleep for three hours while I read books. This view is looking down the hallway from the upstairs library into the west side of the living room. If you look close past the chandelier, you can see a door. JP is sleeping on the couch by the pool table on the other side.
           Their new satellite TV system has a large selection of movie channels, which JP explained to me to no avail. I just don’t understand TV. A weird doomsday movie called “Dawn of the Dead” was the most interesting offering. It is very lucky for grade B actors that Hollywood zombies also become retarded, making for some spectacular escape footage. Most popular scene is they modify a bus with horizontal slots along the side so they can slip a chainsaw through there and clear off any unwelcome hangers on.
           We still had a lot of talking to do and he wants to meet Wallace. Alaine had recommended a DVD called “There Will Be Blood”. All we could find was the Blue-Ray version, which we don’t have the correct player to decode. So we went to Blockbuster and rented the regular disk. That was one cheaply made movie. Except for blowing up an oil well and some special effects, it is about an oilman wandering around the west Texas desert. After three hours, neither of us could figure out where this movie was going. I roundabout liked it because it was mildly based on real incidents I read years ago in books like “The Wildcatters” and “Oil”. The plot goes on as if the author [U. Sinclair] was stringing together local urban legends.
           The computer at JP’s is set up and I have no theory why he was not able to play all his disks, audio and video. They work for me. His brothers have produced a family tree history covering nearly a century. It is very well done but I could not get it to play on the regular desktop DVD player. JP has not learned to operate his equipment and I am now forced to look into the new disk format since Sony will use the new standard to squeeze out all other formats. I’ve seen HDTV and suspect the media is not capable, over a two hour movie, of producing better quality than most existing equipment can display it. It is inevitable that I at least check it out.
           One thing we discussed was our account with FPL (Florida Power and Light). Anybody who claims the electric company only wants your personal information so they can bill you for service is not being realistic. JP didn’t have his social security number and I had the zip code off by one digit. This touched off a five-week telephone battle of them demanding information, and us saying just leave things the way they have been for years. By the end, FPL was prying to areas far beyond anything needed to get paid. I can’t give you details because the issue is still live.