I have been really taking advantage of my Black Friday Hulu score (99 cents a month for a year!). On top of various TV shows I have also been catching some movies and documentaries and some have been really good. Two documentaries really stood out.

One was called “Forgive – Don’t Forget”. It was about a guy whose family had a WWII samurai sword captured in battle and he decided to try to return the sword to the soldier’s family. It was an interesting story.

The other one was a Ron Howard-produced doc on The Beatles called “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years”. It is probably THE best music documentary I have ever seen, and I have seen many. It sheds a lot of light on not just Beatlemania but also the band being on the road and their growth both musically and personally, individually and as a band.

I watched with amazement how each of them – Ringo included – took turns singing during live shows. There were no flashy lights, no f-bombs, no pyrotechnics, no pretentiousness…just great music and four friends entertaining and having fun doing so.

I was a huge Beatles fan growing up and always liked the music. I posted a while back that I had listened to several of the Beatles’ later albums (Revolver, Rubber Soul, etc.) and I really liked them – they had matured very well as songwriters and George Martin’s production was incredible given the equipment he had to use. I had not really listened to them before (at least like they needed to be listened to) and only really knew the hits. I liked all of the members individually but was a bigger fan of John Lennon than the rest, especially as a person. He spoke up about things that meant something to him and did not care about the repercussions – you know, silly things that didn’t matter…like peace and love. The rest did speak up to varying degrees about but it seemed to come later.

The pressures on them were immense and unimaginable. I learned so much more about them watching this film. Lots of great interviews with people who were there really shed a lot of light on not just the times and the immense impact they had on not just music but  on society as well. A must-see for any music fan.

I’ve just been laying low recently, not doing much and saving some money while getting a few other things done. I had to take a break from my photo project – I got a bit overwhelmed at times with some of the memories and I needed to step away for a bit. I will resume the project as soon as I feel like it. With the photos in the computer all gone through, the scanning of the remaining photos I have not yet scanned is the next part.

I have not had to cook for several days with my leftover food cache in the fridge/freezer and I still have almost a week’s worth in there to eat. Last night I made chicken Italian sausage in olive oil with garlic over pasta.

The weather has sucked but we have been getting some breaks and it’s good to see the sun. I have been getting out walking around my neighborhood and getting some exercise when it has been nice. When the weather has been bad I have been walking in place in the house to keep the exercise going. Sounds silly perhaps, but at least I’m getting some exercise in. I went birding a few days ago with a friend and that was fun to do. It was a nice change of pace. We went out for food and beers afterwards. I had Dungeness crab cakes and a red currant hard cider that was delicious.

My off-season is winding to a close. I’m not really ready to go back to work yet but it will be good to recharge my savings account so I can get my travel funds built back up! I’m trying to get a few things done before I go back but I am also trying to savor these last few weeks while I can. I am still pondering just one more trip in this remaining time off and I am considering a short jaunt in the Hilander. I can go pretty cheaply in it.

In anticipation of the possibility of going someplace I went out to do a few things in the trailer a few days ago (plus, it was something to do). First was some organizing; storing and securing some stuff to get it ready to go. I had gotten into it to get some things out, and when I put some other things back in it I was being lazy and just put them inside the door. I got the Battery Tender hooked up to keep the battery charged and operating. I fired up the furnace to make sure it was functioning well…plus it was cold out there working in it. It is ready to go for a dry-camp trip (no water in the system since it is still cold and can possibly freeze). All that’s left to put in there is a propane refill and food.

That’s about it for now.