Where’s Aldo?

unidentified snail on grape vines at sunrise
I should probably let the cutesy titles slide on occasion, especially when I’m reaching…

I mentioned the posts being thin, and this reason for this was that I was traveling – I mean, not the reason for mentioning it, but the reason for the thin posts… let’s leave my poor sentence structure behind and move on. Actually, we’re probably not going to leave it behind at all. Anyway, I had to do a trip to central New York, and was gone for just over a week. I don’t have a laptop, actually detesting the damn things, and the tablet is simply not the interface to even attempt something like posting, even if I had access to my images and a decent editor. I lined up two quick posts ahead of time and let them appear on schedule.

wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo under rhododendronsThis was family-related stuff, so there was little opportunity to chase photos – I would have liked to have gotten back to Watkins Glen and done a better job, but it was not to be. So I just grabbed a few wherever I had the opportunity, like the semi-domesticated wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) seen at right walking through yards where my dad lives, or the unidentified snail on the grapevines outside the motel room, visible at top. The snails were out in force, and I don’t remember anything of the sort when I used to live in the area, so I suspect they are a new arrival.

I must take a moment to give a shout-out to the desk clerk at our motel; I cannot remember whether it was her or I who started the good-natured ribbing war, but I’m more than willing to put the blame on her. She (purposefully, I’m sure) wasn’t wearing a name tag so I can’t really call her out here, but it might have been Theresa. Or Karen. Something feminine, anyway. Stay on top of the orange juice, whoever you are…

I took the opportunity to slip in a side-trip to visit some friends as well, enjoying some homemade roasted red-pepper pasta during my stay (which helped make up for some of the ridiculous time spent in airports.) And root beer floats – let’s not forget them. We also got out to see Mad Max: Fury Road, because, well, we had to. My knowledge about the film had remained at an absolute minimum, purposefully because of the project at that link, and I admit to having some misgivings about The Road Warrior being reimagined. Much of that vanished when I found out that the same director was in charge, and the rest dissipated not twenty minutes into Fury Road. I’m not going to spoil anything, and I’m not much for offering movie reviews, since so much of it is personal taste – I’ll do it for books with the assumption that, in being here, you have some vestige of the same interests, but the movie is pretty far removed from all of the topics I’ve dealt with herein. Suffice to say that it is not The Road Warrior, and it is not the CGI-laden superherofest that defines too many movies anymore, while still being heavy on the action – some of it, indeed, over-the-top. There are many subtle references to the previous films, more than I imagine either my friend or I have caught so far.

I am peripherally aware of some hullabaloo regarding feminist agendas and all that, and I suppose, if you’re stupid enough to find strong female characters to be unrealistic, the film might be interpreted this way. Can’t see it myself, nor am I very impressed with what many people claim lies under the surface of fictional works. But the internet is the official meeting hall for righteous indignation and teapot tempests, and it keeps our street corners less crowded. Jonathan Rosenberg at Scenes From a Multiverse has (as of this writing) a three-part take on that aspect.

More will be along shortly, as I get things a bit better organized, but I wanted to get this out before the date changes, because that’s important. Somehow. Keep watching this space, anyway.