Sunday, August 31, 2014

Day #22,901

Walk km 17,468-14,469: to breakfast
Walk km 17,469-14,479: Yaletown

Meetup walkers
approx km 17,476 in front of Vancouver stadium

Movie #2545: You Am I (2006, Kristijonas Vildziunas)

Movie with no plot. Lotsa mystical shit. No thanks.

Day #22,899-900

Walk km 17,433-17,435: to Safeway
Walk km 17,435-17,445: Whalley
Walk km 17,445-17,456: Whonnock
Walk km 17,456-17,466: Willoughby
Walk km 17,466-17,468: downtown

walker in the woods
approx km 17,448 Whonnock/Thornhill

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Day #22,898

Walk km 17,422-17,433: Parkway @ Plateau (Coquitlam) to  St Johns @ Queens (Port Moody)

Movie #2544: The Spy In Black (1939, Michael Powell)

Powell is one of the all time greats but a spy vs spy drama set in WWI just isn't my cup of tea.
One interesting point is that the Germans are not portrayed as devils as they would be in WWII movies.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Day #22,896-897

Walk km 17,404-17,415: down Burnaby Mountain to Sperling Station
Walk km 17,415-17,422: down from Parkway @ Plateau to Ioco

trees
appox km 17,418: Ridge Park

Movie rewatch: Assault On Precinct 13 (1976, John Carpenter)
Well, that got that bad taste out of my mouth from watching the remake.
Available right now on YouTube. Watch it before they take it down.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Day #22,895

Walk km 17,398-17,404: going out to eat and errands

Movie #2543: Grown Ups (2010,  Dennis Dugan)
Horrid. Not only is it not funny but it panders to it's demographic audience.
Everyone in the audience is assured that the era that they grew up in was the best. The kids all learn that their 21st century entertainments are just crap whereas their parent's 1980s way of growing up was far superior.
Added to this is a big glob of smaltz which just puts the icing on an already rotting cinematic experience.
Avoid at all costs.
Almost Forgot: Steve Buscemi is in this movie. In a bit role - 12th billed!. Just goes to show, even cult movie stars have to pay the rent. 

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Day #22,894

Walk km 17,387-17,398: Westmount to Park Royal

seashore
approx km 17,393 West Vancouver seawall

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Day #22,893

Walk km 17,377-17,387 (5506 to go): Pacific Spirit Park
Meetup walkers
approx km 17,379 Pacific Spirit Park

Friday, August 22, 2014

Day #22,892-894

Walk km 17,364-17,367: west Steinbach
Walk km 17,367-17,371: running errands
Walk km 17,371-17,377: down Burnaby Mountain

old truck
approx km 17,366 Highway 52 (Steinbach)

poles
approx km 17,373 Burnaby Mountain Park

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Day #22,890-891

Walk km 17,354-17,362: around the section (Grunthal-Steinbach)
Walk km 17,362-17,364: Riverridge trail (Winnipeg)
farm equipment on the road
approx km 17,360 31E Road

Movie #2541: The Angriest Man In Brooklyn (2014, Phil Alden Robinson)
The worst movie ever made? Gotta be close. Now we know why Robin Williams commited suicide. It had to be very painful for him to watch this and remember what used to be.  

Movie #2542: Spots (2011, Aldo Tardozzi)
It's "Thelma And Louise" Croatian style. Can't complain.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Day #22,889

Walk km 17,345-17,354: 30N Road

my sister
approx km 17,346 Deerwood Bay

Movie #2540: 50 First Dates (Peter Segal, 2004)
I was once on a bus ride and this movie was playing. The trip ended before the movie did. So, I figured I'd watch it to see how it ended. Cutesy, sappy and not funny. I guess that on a bus, almost anything appears entertaining.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Day #22,886-888

Walk km 17,328-17,330: to bus stop in Halifax
Walk km 17,330-17,338: around Steinbach
Walk km 17,338-17,345: trail north of Loewen in Steinbach

Movie #2538: Smiles Of A Summer Night (1955, Ingmar Bergman)
A bit too refinded for me.
Movie #2539: The Omega Man (1971, Boris Sagal)
2nd version of Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend". Charleton Heston has fun with guns. Religious stuff in this one too but God does not trump science in this one. Originally seen in Lundar in early 70s. 

Book #507: The Cop Killer (1974, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo)
#9 in the Martin Back series. A scathing indictment of the Swedish police force.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Day #22,885

Walk km 17,318-17,328: downtown/harbour/citadel
statue of "emigrnt"
approx km 17,321 harbourfront




Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Day #22,884

Walk km 17,315-17,318: to Smitty's
Walk km 17,318-17,327: around Lake Micmac
squirrelhouse
approx km 17,321 Lake Micmac


Monday, August 11, 2014

Day #22,881-883

Walk km 17,273-17,287: West Lynn
Walk km 17,287-17,296: arriving in Halifax
Walk km 17,296-17,304: Point Pleasant Park
Walk km 17,304-17,325: to Giant Tiger
two trees
approx km 17,301 Point Pleasant Park

Movie #2537: Hard Times (1975, Walter Hill)
Not the best quality picture from a weak wifi signal here at Dalhousie University. However, there's nothing wrong with Walter Hill's direction. Charles Bronson plays the strong silent type and James Coburn is great as the weak yakky type.

Book #506: Jade Lady Burning (1991, Martin Limon)
Something different as two military policemen investigate the murder of a Seoul prostitute. Well done second tier roman noir. 


Friday, August 8, 2014

Day #22,880

Walk km 17,263-17,273: West Lynn testwalk
roots
approx km 17,266 Lynn Canyon Park

Movie #2535: Pippi Longstocking (Olle Hellbom, 1969)

"a film for the whole family" - were they trying to tell us something?


Not really a movie, just a bunch of episodes from the 60s TV show pasted together. Nice idea for a kid'sd show but could have done without the superhuman strength stuff.
More recent comments about Pippi seem to focus more on her new fans - perverts! Well, she does wear garters!  

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Day #22,879

Walk km 17,250-17,263: West End & Stanley Park
the seawall
approx km 17,256 Stanley Park

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Day #22,877-878

Walk km 17,238-17,248: Webster's Corners
Walk km 17,248-17,250: running errands
couple of figurines
approx km 17,247 end of 248th Street (Webster's Corners)


Movie #2534: Men In Black (1997, Barry Sonnenfeld)
Don't know why this didn't work whereas Evil Dead II did. I guess I'd have to understand comedy. This is a SciFi/Comedy and there are some amusing bits in it but overall it falls kinda flat.
Hey, maybe because in Evil Dead II the characters weren't  in on the joke whereas Jones and Smith are ovbviously goofing around here. Maybe.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Day #22,875-876

Walk km 17,211-17,228: Upper Lynn, Upper Lonsdale & Lower Lynn
Walk km 17,228-17,238: Walnut Grove

Meetup walkers crossing a pedestrian bridge
approx km 17,232 Walnut Grove Community Park


Movie 2532: Evil Dead II (1987. Sam Raimi)
One of the all-time greats. I saw this on TV way back when. One example where the sequel was better than the original.
Horror/Comedy that IMDB claims is 84 minutes long but you'll swear that it's more like 14.
I assume that this won a bucket of Academy Awards? Checking IMDB................
Turns out it won 0 Academy Awards because it received 0 nominations!

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Day #22,874

Walk km 17,200-17,211: testwalk through Walnut Grove
another trail
approx km 17,204 Walnut Grove

Movie #2527: Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974, John Hough)

Another Dodge Charger car chase movie but this ain't exactly Vanishing Point.
Still, it's a lot of fun
This is the 3rd John Hough movie I've seen. The last one was at the Metropolitan Theatre in Winnipeg 41 years ago.
After writing this I was wondering if I had the right theatre. I was sure the Metropolitan was torn down years ago but the internet says it has recently reopened. The address is on the south side of Portage which is where "The Legend Of Hell House" was playing but I didn't realize that it was as far down as Donald.
Oh, I think the other one was The Capitol Theatre - it was on the other side of Portage and it was the one that was split in half and had 1/2 the people watching movies in the balcony while another movie was showing in the lower half at the same time. I only saw one balcony movie there because there was a light up on the ceiling which screwed up the picture..

Friday, August 1, 2014

Day #22,873

Walk km 17,189-17,200: Grouse Grind entrance to Lonsdale Quay

first meal of my new diet
approx km 17,200 Lonsdale Quay

Book #505: I Can See In The Dark (2011, Karin Fossum)
I thought Karin stumbled a bit with the last one I read. This is more like it. Not spectacular (which is what she attempted last time) but a wonderful page turner with great characters. 

Movie #2525: 49 Up (Michael Apted, 2005)
Movie #2526: 56 Up (Michael Apted, 2012)
Finally finished. Just too much repetition when you watch them back-to-back.
Also, whomever did the CC on 56 Up should have been fired!