‘The Last King of Scotland’, ‘Blood Diamond’
(posted from home)

(this post covers 8 – 11 May, 2007)


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Friday, 11 May –

I must have overdone it yesterday. Today I woke with a sore throat and lots of nasal drainage after a miserable night. I’m not sure if I have a cold or I have allergies to the massive amount of pollen in the air now. But whatever the case, today was a loss—I spent it all in my chair or napping.
That evening we watched ‘Blood Diamond’ with Leonardo DiCaprio. Leonardo did a great job of acting but the storyline is way too violent and simplistic.

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Thursday, 10 May –

I rode the Concours down to Starbucks for a coffee and the Times this morning and then rode on to Rocky Ridge. This time I jogged a different route which took me to the far ends of the park but on the northern side of the ridge. I was pleasantly surprised to find new trails in this area. Where the old trail had been a heavily-rutted path straight up (or down) the hill, the new trails wind back and forth, providing a much better surface for jogging or walking. Today my jog was a slow one but lasted for an hour and forty-five minutes.
That evening we watched the extras on “Last King of Scotland” and ‘Survivor’.

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Wednesday, 9 May –

Today I zoomed the motorcycle over to a local fishing shop near Pinchot Park to look around and then shot down through Dover to the new West Manchester Target for a Starbucks fix. This Starbucks is inside the Target, the first one of these symbiotic arrangements in our area. I had planned to ride on to Rocky Ridge for a jog but then decided I’d get my exercise today by mowing the lawn on this hot but airy day.

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Tuesday, 8 May-

This morning I had a quick follow-up with my periodontist on the surgery work I had done last week. All is well. That afternoon I picked up and mounted the tire I had left for repair after my flat up in the Black Forest several days ago. The tech had found a puncture in the tread but there were no clues as to what had done it. I then took the van to the nearby car-wash to clean off the dust from the forest roads. Late in the day I installed the new 3 x 4 downspout I bought last week to resolve a rain-gutter overflow problem. I had problems removing the old 2 x 3 drop fitting from the gutter because of the tough rubber sealant used on it but otherwise the installation went as expected.
That evening we watched “The Last King of Scotland” on DVD. Forrest Whittaker is magnificent as Idi Amin but I have mixed feelings about the success of the movie overall. I’m not fond of movies ‘based on true events’, particularly when we aren’t privy to what the true events were. In this case it’s quite a stretch to show the young Scottish doctor as a close advisor to Amin and to invent a storyline of the doctor having an affair with one of Amin’s wives.