I'd planned to head for either Pepperell or maybe Brookline NH, but changedy mind. I got to the end the Minuteman and was going down 225 and decided to follow the upside down pi sign. It seemed to follow another sign that looked like a house. Both seemed recently painted so they were easy to follow for the most part. Upon further investigation, it shows to be the CRW "Apple Pi" ride. [Map]

Ah! And the house shaped one is the CRW "Friday Unwinder" [Map]

But I got to 495 in Stow at 2:00 and decided it was time to turn around since I didn't know where these rides went. Turned back to Concord and came home. Stopped in So. Acton for lunch. A befuddled cafe guy who "was subbing for the girl that's usually here". He was slow, but man was that a good sandwich! Turkey and avocado. MMmmm.

Ended up being about 75 miles, a little too far for the first good weather ride of the season, but I made it back okay, if very, very tired. I'm also feeling the not-being-on-the-bike-for-three-weeks, and the extra 10 pounds I'm carry over last year. But what a nice day. I think I may even have gotten some sunburn. Awesome.

Didn't do anything much on Saturday.

Took the dog for a longish walk on Sunday. Swarms and swarms of media trucks at 1 Norway St. wating for Jill whatshername to get home.

Bought Tropical Brainstorm by Kristy MacColl this weekend after hearing a few tracks on Radio Paradise. I've only listened to the whole thing once, but I like it a lot.

It's a (mostly) Latin-inpsired collection of really good tunes. Very clever lyrics and solid musical lines with some truely beautiful phrasing. It's hard to pick "the best" track, but a video of Mambo de la Luna is included, so that must be the one the label pushed. RP also plays In These Shoes. Treachery, England 2 Columbia 0, and Here Comes That Man Again are also excellent tunes. The bonus tracks, hoever, should have been left off and they are much weaker than the rest.

Ah, the good die young.

Death on the Nile
[Netflix] [IMDb]

A bunch of people who hate each other are on a boat travelling the Nile. Five get killed. Poirot calls them all together to announce the murderer. The end.

Granted, no one will equal David Suchet's Poirot, just like no one will equal Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes. But even granting that will never happen, this is really a second rate effort. Peter Ustanov has an <voice="monty python">outrageous accent</voice>, Belgian or not. Only someone farting in your general direction would talk like that.

An impressive cast, and some of the acting efforts are quite good. Bette Davis and Maggie Smith are notable, and Angela Lansbury is fantastic, but David Niven is woefully underused. (Does Angenla Lansbury get shot in the forehead in every movie?) And every time I saw Lois Chiles, all I could think of is Dr. Goodhead.

Surely, there's something more to the story that what's here. The first half hour sets up how much everyone hates each other, although it's still a mystery how they all end up on the same boat, Then Dr. Goodhead, or whoever, gets shot, then Poirot calls everyone together where he explains what happens. There's never a "game afoot".

This is the same basic story as Evil Under the Sun and I knew who dun it in the first 10 minutes. Bleah.

; would not watch again

Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy
[Netflix] [IMDb]

Dr. Cooper develops a drug to cure depression. The drug company he works for wants to market it without proper testing. The drug turns out to have unfortunate side effects. Hilarity ostensibly ensues.

Rarely have I been so dissapointed by a film I really wanted to like. The Kids in the Hall are one of the best and funniest comedy troups ever, equal in every way to Monty Python and better in a lot of ways than Second City TV. But this thing is crap. C-R-A-P. There is maybe one or two funny lines in the movie, but even those are only amusing in an abstract, analytical way. The emo rocker who can only create when he's miserable is sort of interesting, but not exactly funny. The CEO/flunky relationship might have been funny with work. But it wasn't.

I wasn't expecting an extension of the sketches from the tv show no more than I expected Monty Python sketches in Holy Grail or Brian. But where Python showed their brilliant creativity in movie length stories, this just falls flat. I nearly had to fast forward through it looking for something -- anything -- good. I didn't find it. Terribly disapointing.

; would avoid at all costs