The fence has gone up. Thankfully, it hasn’t cut off sidewalk access yet. All the little one-unit apartments are boarded up.
I’m going to miss this little apartment complex.
Apartments Boarded Up
Month: April 2021
My First Shot
I headed down to the Portland Convention Center to get my first dose of the Coronavirus vaccine. It was a very fast and efficient process and provided more people watching opportunities than I had had in more than a year. Also, the woman who gave me my shot is the mother of two of the First U youth I met when I was doing YRUU. Portland, the biggest small town in the USA.
There were stern “no photos!” rules, but I couldn’t resist grabbing this photo of the discarded stickers saying what time people could leave after their 15- or 30-minute resting period. As you can see from all those 6 p.m. stickers, my appointment was at the end of the day. I got the Pfizer shot.
And here you can see that I was one of 13,000+ people to get the Pfizer vaccine that day.
Kunis and Timberlake Sparkle in Friends with Benefits.
Friends with Benefits
?Directed by Will Gluck?
?Written by Keith Merryman, David A. Newman, and Will Gluck?
The review:
This film worked for me because I was in the mood, I like both Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake,* and I was amused by the recurring joke.** However, this is one of those romantic comedies written for women by men and I can’t help but wonder how much better it would have been if a member of the audience it is aimed at was part of the team that created it.*** Ultimately, it’s good at what it does,**** but I want more.
The verdict: Good
Cost: Netflix monthly fee $8.99/month
Where watched: at home
Consider also watching:
Further sentences:
*Plus ancillary performances by Richard Jenkins, Jenna Elfman, and Patricia Clarkson, also always delightful.
**It has to do with Capitan Sully’s historic landing.
***Or, gosh, all of the people who created it?
****And memorializes the flash mob thing, which is fun.
Questions:
- Do planes more or less land themselves?
- New York or Los Angeles?
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
Although Jason Segal and Rashida Jones are technically uncredited in the film, their real names can be seen on the cover of the DVD next to the TV when Dylan and Jamie are watching it.
Other reviews of Friends with Benefits:
- Dana Stevens, Slate
- Kimberly Jones, Austin Chronicle
Shots Round Two! Easier!
Our second round at the drive-thru clinic did not include the endless wait times that the first trip did. And now both mom and Aunt Pat are fully vaccinated! (Though Aunt Pat needs to pull up her mask to cover her nose.)
