The Avengers ("The Frighteners")

Solely for the sake of watching Alicia Witt, early last evening I put our Android TV Box to use and tuned in the 2016 movie Last Holiday.

The first half of the movie was so unrealistic that the point came where I was set to fast-forward through scenes ─ presented as supposedly believable, the scenes were just too unrealistic. And Alicia did not appear until maybe the middle of the movie ─ she was the only reason I was watching the stupid thing.

Honestly, I never began to enjoy anything about the movie until after an extended slapstick snowboarding / skiing scene. I can even recall just precisely where that turnaround came for me ─ it was when Queen Latifah's character and Alicia Witt's character are both taking advantage of the massage centre at the resort and come to have a heart-to-heart conversation.

Until then, I was not even enjoying Alicia, for there was nothing likeable about her character. It was only when she began to reveal herself to Queen Latifah's character that I felt any emotional investment in the movie at all.

And by this time, I would say the movie was well into its second half.

So yes, the remainder of the movie was definitely enjoyable, but that was not quite enough to restrain me from my verdict that the movie was 'a lost cause'.

If it is true that John Candy had been considered for the role, it defies my understanding how anyone could come to conceive that Queen Latifah could possibly be a best second choice.

Basically, it was a lousy movie.

After my younger brother finally showed up well into the latter half of the evening following his daily socializing, I used our Android TV Box to access an episode of DC's Legends of Tomorrow; and then upon having earlier learned that there were only three intact episodes in existence from the first season of Britain's The Avengers, I decided to find and watch one of those episodes.

In my haste, I overlooked the earliest of the three episodes, and mistakenly thought that "The Frighteners" was the candidate for that distinction.

And so it was that I located a source for "The Frighteners" at this link at OK.ru.

I should have watched the episode on my own ─ my brother was too disruptive, not having the same nostalgic and historic investment in the series as do I. Likely I will get around to re-watching it at some point.

How peculiar to see Patrick MacNee's Steed character so entirely different from the character he was to eventually become as a home-soil-based 'secret agent' for the government. His earlier incarnation was more of that of a private eye.

In addition, he was not as unflappable and self-assured. We were treated to expressions of doubt and uncertainty, and were even given glimpses of someone capable of violence as a means to an end. As well, he was somewhat bombastic. So by and large, a considerably more immature version of the later John Steed.

Young actress Dawn Beret who was featured as a naive rich man's daughter, and who was apparently being successfully wooed by a cad intent on marrying her for her potential wealth, was born sometime in 1941 ─ in other words, approximately eight years before my own birth year.

I would love to have access to the original large image ─ if one exists ─ of her striking this magnificent pose:

That is a fabulous physique! If it is from a movie, I may try to find and watch it sometime.

My brother and I finished off the evening with an episode of Big Little Lies.

As usual when I spend an evening watching shows with my brother, I enjoyed two cans of the strong (8% alcohol) malt that I keep in stock for myself.

I suppose that I had a decent enough sleep overnight, not finally rising until a little past 8 a.m. and finding that it was raining. It did not rain all day, but the sky remained overcast.

My brother had to pick up his girlfriend Bev at 10 a.m. to drive her to work, so I took that as my opportunity to engage some backyard tool shed exercises ─ first weighing myself while fully clothed and in a pair of runners. Unhappily, I was potentially as heavy as 198 pounds.

This unmanned me somewhat when it came to the six sets of pull-ups and chin-ups that I meant to engage ─ I never even came close to my current achievable ceiling of 4 - 3 - 3 - 2 - 2 - 2 repetitions in six sets.

I was only able to lead off with three repetitions, so I carried on with a few extra sets ─ in all, another seven sets, each with two repetitions.

I keenly want to drop some poundage, but not at the expense of any muscle size. Sunning weather is coming, after all.

Speaking of that, tonight marks the Spring time change here in the Pacific Time Zone ─ we move our clocks ahead an hour so that (for example) this morning's 5 a.m. will tomorrow become 6 a.m. In other words, we lose an hour.

Anyway, my brother and I did watch some morning T.V., beginning with the remainder (over an hour's worth) of the documentary that I wrote of in my post two days ago ─ the documentary was The Assassination & Mrs. Paine. In that post of two days ago, I offered a current online source for the documentary, so refer to it if at all interested.

We finished up our morning T.V. with an episode of the British sitcom Coupling. This was the third episode we have enjoyed, always getting some good laughs out of the titillating scenarios.

My brother sought some bed rest afterwards, while I indulged in my day's first meal. Really, I should be fasting. I still had not sought the nap that was coming before he emerged from his bedroom and left for the day to socialize anew.

And now late into my afternoon my youngest stepson has come home and proffered me a wholesome-looking dish of take-out that he evidently bought at T&T Supermarket (their T&T Kitchen).

Similarly, last evening he handed me a satisfying burrito-like sandwich originating from Tim Hortons.

He's a good young man ─ I wish that I was in a position to do more for him and his older brother, especially in view of what I know is on the horizon for our world. 

But instead, I am just another helpless sitting duck awaiting my inexorable doom.

I will not be sitting up late this evening ─ my brother will have to find his own entertainment via the basic cable package for our T.V. My intention is to get in some early shopping tomorrow ─ potentially, the Real Canadian Superstore outlet that is approximately a 5.625-mile round trip hike (I do not drive).

We shall see.