First, a summary of July weather. It's been a pretty typical month of summer weather here in southwest Ontario. Though we have had little rain there has been plenty of sunshine and warmth. We managed to actually go outside and walk one time. One morning it was cloudy and only 80 F (and humid, of course), so we took advantage of it and went for a short neighbourhood walk. That's about our July average. We had a total of nine days where the temperature hit 90 F or higher, and four days where it stopped at 88 or 89 F. The coolest day saw the temp hit 75 F, while the hottest was 98, twice. So, 13 days above 90 altogether since June 1st, and seven more at 88 or 89 F. Like I said, about average, maybe a tad warmer. Things sometimes cool down a bit in August. One can always hope. Places like Vienna, Austria, have been hotter than we are this summer, which is really really strange. And I doubt this kind of weather will simply disappear next summer. In fact...
The paving project on our 4-lane road in front of the Homestead is now complete, and cars are once again zooming past, this time on brand new pavement. We get our chance to try it out tomorrow, as Deb has some routine blood work to get through.
There are no new films to report. Instead, we have been watching a 1968 8-part television series of The Odyssey. We saw bits of this many many years ago on TVO (Ontario's public TV channel), but then lost track of it. Well, it recently received a good update and is now available to all on Youtube. Viewers have to play around a bit to get it translated, but we managed. It was a Dino De Laurentiis production, thus big budget. Filmed in Italy and Yugoslavia, it was aimed at a European audience. Different directors helped out, including the gruesome cyclops episode by Mario Bava. We have not seen the Nolan version, and aren't really that keen to do so. Someday, no doubt. But this one is top notch, and worth sitting through. Costumes, sets, locations and acting are all quite fantastic, and the pace is measured when needed, and action packed when needed. Probably the most faithful filming of the book. Highly recommended!
We got through our first adventure in the PC game 80 Days. The game is a cross between the old text adventures and more modern but economical 2D adventure games. It is a delight to play. We managed to get around the world in 79 days, winning the bet! We are already on our second round, trying to take a totally different routes. The game has nearly endless possibilities. I will play at least three times for now. By coincidence I am currently reading a Jules Verne adventure story, The Children of Captain Grant.
Mapman Mike
