Oscar Movie Nominations and Impressions of Those We Have Watched So Far

The nominations have been announced for the 2021 Oscar Awards. Carrie and I have already watched half of the movies and plan to finish up the four four before April 25.

Congratulations to the Best Picture nominees! #OscarNoms pic.twitter.com/UaSUkyrvha

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 15, 2021

Having watched half of the nominated movies, I will post a brief description of each and my reaction to each movie thus far.

Watched Movies

Judas and the Black Messiah is a story of Bill O’Neal infiltrating the Black Panthers. Based on true events the movie kept my attention throughout. Powerful story of true events that I had never heard before. At this point through four movies watched, this is in the top two of my favorite movies.

Nomadland is a story of a woman who lost everything and lives in her van traveling the country. Another movie based on true events with some of the actors in this movie being people living as nomads. While not in my top two movies, it is a very well done movie and compelling story that kept me watching to the end.

Sound of Metal is a top two of the movies I have watched so far. This movie is based on a true story as well about a man that loses his hearing and his struggle through the process. The acting is excellent from the entire cast. The directing was also very good with special effects where I had myself questioning if I had lost my hearing while watching the movie. It helped to make a connection with he main character. I highly recommend watching this movie.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 is about the trial of seven individuals that started at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. This is close to being in my top two movies watched thus far. Had some funny moments and also surprising as the story unfolds that this happened in our country.

Not Watched Yet

Mank sounds interesting about a 1930’s process of writing Citizen Kane. I do not believe I have ever watched Citizen Kane but might have to do so following watching of this movie.

Minari looks very interesting. A Korean family starts a farm in Arkansas in the 1980’s. I think this will be an interesting movie to watch and look forward to doing so before the Oscars.

The Father is a movie about a father who refuses assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he ages, he begins to question everything about him including those that love him.

Promising Young Woman is a story about a woman who has something bad happen in her past and then seeks out revenge against those that went against her. Again, sounds interesting and look forward to seeing how this plays out.

In Summary

There appear to be a number of nominated movies that are based on true events. Of the four we have watched so far, all four were based on true events. After we watch the other four, I will do another update on impressions of those movies and whether they too are based on true events.

If I had to pick my favorite movie today, I would say it would be Sound of Metal. Although after we watched Judas and the Black Messiah, I told Carrie it was my favorite movie. So, it might depend on the day which is my favorite. All four have been very good and highly recommend watching any or all of them.

St. Patrick's Day and a Little Luck to You

Happy St. Patrick's Day! A year ago, this day came and went and I barely noticed. Today, at least I am able to acknowledge it is St. Patrick's Day. Much like last year, there will not be any celebrating taking place on my part by drinking green beer or going out on the town. No, instead, it will be spent doing our regular routine. 

I hope you have a good St. Patrick's Day celebration. Stay safe. Be smart and Top of the Irish to you!

Good time to remind you if you have not already to complete your ESPN Tournament Challenge. A little different this year with play-in games being Thursday and then round one games on Friday/Saturday and round two games on Sunday/Monday. Get your picks in now!

March Madness 2021 ESPN Tournament Challenge

It is good to have basketball again. Be sure to get your bracket created so you can be sure to take part in the 2021 ESPN Tournament Challenge. It is free, it is fun, and you might even win something (from ESPN) if you pick the correct picks. Make your pick today!

Directions for joining are listed below.

1. Visit ESPN which will take you directly to the March Madness Hopefuls.
2. If you are already signed into the ESPN web site, you can immediately create your bracket. If not sign into the site and then you will be taken to the March Madness Hopefuls group or you can search for March Madness Hopefuls to join.
3. Join the group.
4. Repeat the above process to create additional brackets. In the March Madness Hopefuls bracket, you can have three entries.

Be sure to submit your entries by 10:00 am CST Thursday, March 18. This will make sure you get your entries submitted and have time to get them submitted. First game tips at 11:15 am on Thursday March 18.

If you have any questions or problems, please post a comment to this post.

Good luck and enjoy March Madness!

Mower Replacement for Haverty Never Ends

Trees are starting to bud, grass is starting to turn green, and I see my neighbors starting to work on their lawns. I guess it means it is almost spring time in Kansas! I am so excited for spring to arrive and looking forward to green trees, grass, and spending more time outside.

As the spring starts, I am once again reviewing lawn mowers to purchase. This will be my third lawn mower since 2006. The first mower I had was a Honda mower which I loved, but a problem with the handle a few years ago and I was told it was cheaper to replace rather than repair. Basically, the weld came undone on the left side of the handle causing the whole unit to be useless. So, I order a Troy-Bilt self-propelled mower. I had it for about four or five years. 

I sent in the Troy-Bilt mower over the winter months for routine maintenance. I soon received a call to tell me it was badly damaged and could not be repaired. Seriously? Turns out that last summer when I was mowing one evening I went over a metal leg on our hammock and the blade caught on the leg. It scared the crap out of me and of course the mower stopped immediately. It bent up the leg on the hammock pretty good but from what I could tell, the mower was not damaged. I continued mowing and mowed the rest of the summer/fall 2020 season with that mower. 

To help you with your lawn edgers information, please refer to the Happy DIY web site. There is a wealth information available they have provided on a variety of edgers.

When the company doing maintenance on the mower called me to report major damage to the engine, I knew immediately what had caused the issue. I was told that they could try and repair it but again, like the Honda, the repair would cost more than buying a new mower and it might not fix the issue. No-brainer, I decided to let them keep the mower, pay for the work already completed, and get a new mower as it got warmer and time for mowing again.

So, here we are making another purchase. I actually did like the Troy-Bilt mower I had before, so looking at getting the same brand again. This will hopefully be the last mower I buy for a long time. Stay away from metal and keep from having the handle break on me, should be able to keep over ten years with maintenance and upkeep.

Happy mowing and wish me luck on keeping this mower for a long time to come!

Nostalgia Over Cabin Key Plus Pinewood Derby

It is interesting what triggers memories. Sometimes it is the sound of something or even the taste of a food that brings back memories. In my case, coming across items in the house or on my key chain I carry around each day brought back memories. Our minds are amazing at what makes a connection that we will remember years later and what our mind chooses not to remember or prompt with prompts around our environment. For me, these are good memories that I came across and thought they were interesting to share as I enjoying remembering these items.

Key Brings Back Memories

Cabin Key Memories

I decided a week or so ago to clean off some of the keys on my key chain as I needed to make room for some work keys and came across a memory. As I looked through the keys on my key chain, I found a key that had notches on the sides in order to tell it apart from the other keys. I do not have a lot of keys on my key chain with nine keys total at the current time, as soon as I saw it I knew what it was and where it used to unlock.

The key was made years ago probably when I was in high school by my dad. The key resembled in shape other keys on my key chain at the time and in order to tell them apart, my dad took the key to the grinder on the work bench and did notches on the sides. I still remember him taking the key from me, grinding it, and handing it back to me saying now I will be able to tell it apart from other similar keys.

The key was my key for our cabin out at Lone Star Lake. Seeing the key and remembering how I got it, who made it, and that I had been carrying it around for all this time brought back a lot of memories. Fond memories of going to the cabin to hang out on a evening, or weekend, to spend time with family and friends. We had a ski boat, paddle, Jon, and other various boats. We had a lot of fun out at Lone Star Lake and spent a lot of weekends growing up and through some of my adult years having fun at Lone Star, working, or a little of both. 

While the key was given to me by my dad and the notches so I could tell it apart from other keys, I also recall it was given to me as I was heading out to the cabin to do work. I remember not looking forward to the work at the time, but now I would love to have that place back to spend time hanging around the lake and enjoying the day.

Pinewood Derby Memories

Pinewood Derby Car

While Carrie and I were cleaning out a room in our house, I came across my old pinewood derby car. It had been in a box that my mom gave to me on one of the various times throughout the years she has handed over “my stuff” to do with it what I want. As usual, the stuff handed over to me through the years tends to sit in the same boxes she gave them to us in and then they sit in our house. In this particular case, I found the old pinewood derby car and put it on the shelf in our bedroom.

The pinewood derby car was built and designed with the assistance of my dad way back when I was in grade school. I was in Cub Scouts and still recall doing the building and racing in the gym at Sunset Hill Elementary School in Lawrence, KS. I recall putting on the coins to the car to make it go faster, putting in weights in the back to help with weight, and sending it down the line to test all while my dad was helping me to do the adjustments and tweaks. Where I ended up in placement of the pinewood derby race, I have no idea. It is simply another good memory I recall of my dad and I working on a project together.

What Else Will We Find?

As we continue cleanup and throw out of items from our house, it will be interesting to see what else we come across that sparks memories. As I mentioned at the start, it is interesting how our minds work and just by coming across something familiar from our childhood years brings back memories of that event, person, or experience. It was good to remember these experiences and made me laugh that I had the key on my key chain when our family sold the cabin back in over five years ago. I know I decided at the time to leave the key on my key chain as I wanted to remember the settings. For now, the key will go in my drawer to find another time when I can remember again about the family cabin.

YouTube TV Added MLB.TV as an option for Add-on this Past Week and I Added Immediately... I Still Want to See Fox Sports Midwest Available for YouTube TV Customers

Today marks the beginning of spring training for the 2021 season. Looking forward to watching baseball after a shortened 2020 season. This past week, YouTube TV announced they added MLB.TV to their add-on lineup. While a step in the right direction, it still does not address the missing Fox Sports Midwest channels from YouTube TV, Dish, Hulu, Sling, and others as contract disputes continue between providers and Sinclair Broadcast Group.

I was excited when I read the tweet earlier this week that MLB.TV was now available as an add-on for YouTube TV. I added it almost immediately and I look forward to watching more games this year starting with spring training today. I remain disappointed that blackouts still apply and I will not be able to watch the Kansas City Royals as they are blacked out.

Originally, I was thinking that for the 2021 season, I would be listening to MLB games through the radio option of MLB.TV which I still subscribe to and I did not think I would be able to watch any games. I decided to check with my mom to see if I could use her Midco account from Lawrence; I believe I will be able to watch the Kansas City Royals using Fox Sports app and logged into the Midco account. I have tested and it appears to work, but I will not know for sure until the games start later today.

I remain excited to have MLB.TV available on YouTube TV as I have been a subscriber through MLB direct for many years. The past two years though moving to the radio only option, but I did enjoy the watching of live games through MLB.TV  watching key game recaps, key plays, etc. on archived games. While I wish there were not blackouts I am happy to have the ability to watch games again not in my market. I am hopeful that one day I will be able to watch my local sports teams through YouTube TV, but for now, I will watch out of market games through MLB.TV add-on for YouTube TV and my Royals through my mom’s account.

Extreme Weather, Remembering Snow and Cold from February 2021 and a Dog Paw Hurting from Extreme Cold

What a few weeks it has been not only here in Kansas but across the whole United States. Record temperatures for much of the country and in Kansas we saw temperatures drop to -16 which did not include the wind chill. Our friends in Texas continue to deal with water issues from not being able to drink water to broken pipes when their temperatures fell below normal temps for the region. We have heard that friends in Houston and Dallas are starting to return to normal with drinking water returning to normal in some areas, but still many people in Texas reported as not having power or issues with the water they have in their area. With warmer weather, hopefully we continue to see areas return to their normal temperature for this time of year and get things back to normal.

Here in Topeka, I worked from home Monday and Tuesday as there was snow, extreme cold, and not ideal to be outside let alone traveling. On Wednesday, February 17, I went into work and found that the roads were not bad at that time. The city had not done much of anything to treat the roads, but I had no issue getting around. By the weekend, we are up in the low 40’s and find much of the snow melting away. 

After having what I would say is a mild winter, we were caught in extreme temperatures, snow, and even some freezing rain, to make the middle of February 2021 interesting. As we see MLB spring training starting next weekend, college basketball is winding down to final regular season games, we can only hope that no more extreme winter weather will be had for our state or others that suffered through an unusual winter period for all.

I know our dog, Oliver, is happy to have warmer temperatures. On Monday when I let him out at one time,  I think he hurt his paws with the being in the snow and cold. Prior to that time, I was not letting him be outside very long and would often go with him to rush him along, but one time on Monday when he was out, he appeared to hurt his right front paw when the cold got to it. He was not interested in our touching him or checking why he was hurting. By later in the week, he seemed to be back to normal and whatever was hurting him from Monday had stopped hurting. 

Be safe and just think that Spring is right around the corner.