Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

Sunday Thoughts

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We had a huge thunderstorm early this morning, while we were still sleeping. Rolling thunder, rain slamming against the windows, maybe a little hail?  I can’t be sure because I was still in a sleep state. The sump pump has been going on and off for a few hours now.

There’s something neat about a middle-of-the-night thunderstorm.

Don had a gig last night so I decided to watch Allen vs. Farrow – an excellent documentary about the Woody Allen/Mia Farrow custody fight in the nineties. It’s a four-part series and I ended up watching all of it. For the record, the moment the news broke that Allen was sleeping with Mia’s daughter, Soon-Yi, I stopped watching his films. And I loved his work. That was long ago and I haven’t watched a new film of his since. This documentary is primarily concerned with accusations of sexual abuse with his adopted daughter, Dylan, but the situation with Soon-Yi is also covered.

He’s a despicable human being.

And Dylan is an incredibly brave woman who eventually spoke out about what happened to her.

I can’t stop thinking about it today.

It’s on HBO/HBO Max, if you’re interested.

More rain today, more thunderstorms. I was telling Don that I don’t think we’ve ever had so many thunderstorms during the summer. Rain, yes, but constant thunderstorms? No. Yet another extreme in this summer of extremes.

I have some chores to do today that I don’t like doing, but I’m forcing myself to do them. I guess that’s called ‘being an adult.’

And I continue to think about social media and my presence there. I’m definitely spending less time visiting Instagram and Twitter and Threads. I check in, but try not to stay there too long. I love Instagram, don’t get me wrong, but it’s entirely possible to spend hours scrolling through the feeds and I’m so aware of TIME at the age of 70. Do I want to spend that much time looking at something virtual? I don’t think so. We’re actually turning our phones off for portions of the day. I have a blog, a FB account (mainly for birthdays of my friends and former students,) 3 IG accounts – my main account, my Blythe account (because not everyone that follows my main account is interested in dolls and some of them would think I’d lost my marbles) and my book account, which was started when I had the book review blog. I scroll Twitter and Threads mainly as an up-to-the-minute news source. And I have this blog. That’s a lot.

Lately, the sheer amount of news and pictures and self-promotions and selfies and ‘influencers’ and dolls and everything else has begun to wear on me. So I’m taking more time to talk to my husband, to read, to walk in the garden, to meditate, etc. Quality of life going forward is important, so important.

So that’s where I am at the moment.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

 

 

 

A Little Pause

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Friends, I need to take a break today. Too much social media, too many images, too much stress, too much.

I started the day off meditating and will probably do so again before the day is done.

More tomorrow.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

On Strike

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Don is officially on strike. I will periodically talk about the real perils facing actors (and writers) and the outrageous offers from the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers). You can Google what they are trying to do to actors. And by the way, no actor currently gets residuals for anything filmed for streaming. The producers and CEOs get millions. The actors? Nothing. Streaming series can be played again and again, are watched by millions of people, and the actors get nothing. Not so for the corporations and CEOs.

They also want background actors (formerly known as extras) to submit to an AI ‘scan’ and sign over the rights to their image forever. Then the studios can own that image and use it in other projects. If that happened all the background people you see in any film would be AI-generated. Fake. Background actors get a paltry $200 a day for what are often hours and hours of work. And they’re supposed to sign away the rights to their image (for no fee, by the way) so that the studios can save money by not hiring background actors? Their ability to work would be eliminated. This disdain for human beings who play all of the characters you see in the background in any film, that make the film come to life, is disgusting. I watched the background actors work on Spoiler Alert (and there were a lot of them) and they were truly excellent at what they do. It takes a special skill to be real on screen and not steal focus. I don’t know if I could do it.

Just as the studios are attempting to use AI to write scripts, they’re also trying to use it to eliminate the need to pay actors for their work.

Don and I have been extremely wary about AI for a long time. And don’t think it’s just about actors and screenwriters. It can and will impact everyone if it isn’t regulated ASAP.

If you have a minute go to YouTube and listen to SAG President Fran Drescher’s speech yesterday. It was magnificent.

On a lighter note, Don says he can now change his status from ‘unemployed’ to ‘on strike.’ 💪

It’s raining. It’s hot and humid. My brain is in a fog.

I took this picture to show those of you who are unfamiliar with catalpa trees the bean pods hanging from the branches. It’s often called the ‘bean tree.’ The pods begin to appear in mid to late summer. Makes for a messy cleanup later on, but I wouldn’t trade my catalpas for anything.

And a photo of Livvy and Ella.

They’re darned cute.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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