Friday - 2008-0425-2200 - Rain - London - Shaftesbury Avenue; TV Programs - "Moonlight"; TV Programs - "The Crying Indian"; Yuccky; Store Room; An Opportune Moment; Storage - Final Results; Interior Painting; Petrol Prices

Rain - London - Shaftesbury Avenue Larger Image

"Moonlight's" Alex O'Loughlin Larger Image

A gorgeous photo by Juan-Luis. "My first office at work overlooked Shaftesbury Avenue from the 4th floor, and with the rain on the window I couldn't resist."

If you visit the Shaftesbury Avenue site, YOU MUST look at the 1949 image of the Avenue from Piccadilly Circus. "Featured picture star This is a featured picture, which means that members of the community have identified it as one of the finest images on the English Wikipedia..." Oddly enough, this is such an incredible shot that I think of it as a recreation of the scene for a movie.

Such shots as those above are examples of the unique serendipity of the web.

I can hear a little voice in your brain going, "Oi, not another tv review."

One of my favorite shows "Moonlight" is at last back after the writer's strike. The photo at the left gives you some idea of my reason for watching. A very hot shot of star Alex O'Loughlin who plays private detective and vampire extraordinaire Mick St. John. Not to be too obvious but he can come bit my neck any night he wants.

And the male beauty does not stop with Alex but also includes the delectable Jason Dohring as Josef, a 400-year-old vampire. Jason spent three seasons on "Veronica Mars" and is one of my favorites. He has a puckish charm and a dry delivery worthy of Noel Coward.

Several episodes ago, Mick was able to escape his vampire existence and become human. But tonight, to save the love of his life, he is forced to face a ferocious enemy, whom Josef assures him he will be unable to do as a mere human. So he begs Josef "to turn him," to make him a vampire again. What followed was this incredible scene of male to male contact and deliberate blood sharing that I found hyper homoerotic.

In reference to Earth Day, someone send me a link to the very famous PSA of "The Crying Indian" featuring Iron Eyes Cody. It is considered by many to be among the most impressive moments of TV.

Being the over curious 12 year old that I can be, I Googled "Iron Eyes Cody." And at Wikipedia - Iron Eyes Cody discovered to my utter shock that he was not Native American but of Italian ancestry, born Espera de Corti!!!

And I immediately thought "Does that really matter?" I also thought of Picasso's quote: ""Art is the lie that tells the truth."

I've spent most of the day feeling yucky. Headaches, congestion, slight nausea, feverish, very tired. muscle aches. Then I remember what I did this week, and my physical state came as no surprise.

There is a small store room at the back of my car port that is about 6 feet by ten feet. Obviously constructed before the need for room to store a lawn more, leaf blower, shop vac, lawn tools, washer and dryer, etc.

Some months ago, I'd decided that the only way to solve some of the issues was to use pegboards on the wall. But to my horror, I discovered that the peg boards were too long, and were very woobly if attached only to studs. So I cut several strips of lumber to attach across the studs; then I screwed the pegboards into the strips. Then I had to cut about three inches off the pegboards.

Something I'd not thought of was that the pegboards being plastic were slippery as a greased python. They slipped, slid, fell, dropped: it was horrendously difficult to hold one in place. After several tries and retries and re-mailing and re-screwing, I was able to cover one wall with three pegboards.

When I bought the pegboards, I also picked up several sets of attachments. But there's nothing that tells you which attachment to use with which implement. And the attachments come in everything from small u-shaped sprockets to long prongs to curious pieces that were a total mystery. After an incredible amount of experimentation, I was able to attach hammers, limb cutters, spades, etc. At the end, I had about 40 items.

Several years ago, I'd ripped out all the hooks, shelves, extra boards and so forth installed by my father. And installed two sets of plastic shelving. A couple of days ago, I bought a series of clear plastic boxes with lids that proved ideal for aggregating items of similar purposes: paint brushes and rollers, rolls of tape, tubes of putty and adhesive, etc. By having a lid, the boxes could be stacked.

At the end, I was able to clear the carport of about 80% of the accumulated items.

Next, I carted items to the street for disposal. Two beat-up chairs, an old tool rack, a floor lamp, six wooden shutters, a half-dozen blinds, an ancient tape recorder, plastic container lids, tow wooden bookcases, and other items. I knew that passerby would scavenge the area like junk vultures. And in the act of carrying out stuff, someone stopped and got the bookcases.

Left in a corner of the car port were six rugs, three lamps, two tables, two paintings, and a mirror. A woman stopped and said she was trying to collects items for a couple whose house had burned. As she went through the street junk, I thought that this would a good time to get rid of the remaining items. I keep babbling about having a garage sale, but I keep dallying, so this proved an opportune moment to dispose of the remainder.

She came back this afternoon with a truck and a friend from Sussex. In the conversation, I discovered both did volunteer work with homeless kitties. So we had a wonderful discussion about our feline friends.

I now have a store room containing far more items than I had envisioned; everything neatly arranged. And a car port totally devoid of ANY paraphernalia. I'm again able to park the auto on the car port for the first times in ages. And I had a splendid conversation with two other cat fanciers.

As I look at in hindsight, I realize how much work it was. And how much dust was disturbed. Even wearing a dust mask, it is impossible to eliminate the inhalation of all containments. And that is no doubt why I feel yuckky today.

In its current state, the living room has one wall painted Pebblestone - a medium gray tint; two walls, New Haven Clay - a light brownish tan. The door is a high gloss terra-cotta called Autumn Russet. The east wall with the three windows still needs help. I've at least decided on a varnish for the wooden window trim. It's a very unobtrusive oak stain that closely matches the original.

Last week, I filled up with petrol at a cost of $32.87. The cost per gallon, unleaded, was $3.319. The tank took 9.904 gallons. This really is outrageous. I've read that is now not uncommon to spend over $100 per tank of petrol in the Los Angeles area.

(In Friday - 2008-0425-2200 / Out - 2008-0426-0045) This entry was written in a single setting.)

Pax! Erin go braugh! Je accuse...