The house of plague

We have the plague again. My daughter, when in Spain stayed in a hostel with someone with COVID. Now she and my wife are unwell. My daughter has tested negative to COVID, but my wife has tested positive. My son is now isolating himself in the bedroom. While I have felt a bit unwell, I do not know if that is my mind playing tricks on me.

We all were healthy enough to go out for a lunch to celebrate results which we all enjoyed. In addition to being proud of our children, we are also proud of the way my son helped one of his friends on Thursday. His friend had not got a grade to study at the Sixth Form College, so he rang them and sorted things out for him.

Anyway, now my son and I are hoping we stay well. At least it is a long weekend…

Alien

In space, no one can hear you scream.  An awesome line for an amazing film. It is filmed so well. Watching this, it is easy to see how the other four films fall far short of the standards set here.

When watching this, you are reminded how we have moved on when it comes to workplace standards, one of the crew has naked pinups stuck up for example. But going back to the film, it manages suspense really well. It has a great plot and is directed well.

This is the template of how a film in this franchise should be filmed. The original is the best and has not been beaten.

The Best People

The speech by the Obama's was amazing.  Listening to The Rest is Politics and The Newsagents has been interesting as well.  

An issue that has been raised is how many people who have worked with Trump no longer support him.  While this advert is out of date, in that some people have repented and have Kissed The Ring, the essence is correct in that so many people who have worked for Trump no longer support him.

But the main thing I want to focus on are the Obama's, both of whom are excellent communicators.  Both had excellent and very memorable lines.

If you get a chance, listen to the entire highlights above.  I will see if I can listen to the speeches of both in their entirety later.  But the bits I have focused on are the two most memorable lines.  And for one, hand gesture...

Rick Gates: Convicted.
Paul Manafort: Convicted.
George Papadopoulos: Convicted.
Mike Flynn: Convicted.
Michael Cohen: Convicted.
Roger Stone: Convicted.
Steve Bannon: Arrested.
Donald Trump: Impeached.

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) August 20, 2020

The best people. pic.twitter.com/kFLduz0pPJ

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) August 20, 2020

Results

I am hoping that today ends better than it starts.  My daughter rang in the early hours as when at a club in Barcelona, the friend she had travelled there with had her phone stolen.  They went to the police station, but could not report it stolen as they did not have the ID information on it.  They were assured that they would be able to report it at the police station at the airport however.

So this morning, after waking up late I when on the dog walk, I got a message about not being able to find the airport.  I sent instructions to them after a quick Google search.  When I got to work, my label printer was missing labels, but there were no labels to find.  Also, needing sleep, I needed coffee, but there was no coffee!  I did find both in the end, but ended up starting work late.  Later, my daughter's friend lost her wallet!  Fortunately, they are both home now.  

My son also got his GCSE results.  Apparently, he is not too pleased with his Chemistry and Biology results as he is hoping to study both subjects at A-Level.  He has enjoyed the rest of the day with friends.  

Anyway, I am off home soon and will hopefully be relaxing with no more drama!

Alien: Covenant

Another good film.  Much better than the versions featuring the Predator, but not as good as Prometheus.  As a film, it flowed so much better than the first two.  Like with Prometheus, not all the red shirts had character development but it had enough to make you relate to many of the characters.  The relationship between them also added to the sense of loss that the crew felt when one died, if not for the deceased, then for the partner who was living (until they died).  I loved the start when it looked at creation, but I will not spoil that part too much.

As a sequel to Prometheus, it was great.  As a prequel to Alien it was not.  There are a lot of unanswered questions, notably, how the eggs in Alien ended up on the ship.  I am glad I have watched it, and I may watch it again one day.  

Distraction

Results day is tomorrow for my son. Today we took him out, kept him active and started to watch a film. But then a friend of his called. Apparently, according to a friend of his, the grade boundaries for A-Levels changed by quite a bit. He is worried the same will apply with him and that his grades will be not what he wants. Fingers crossed that he has nothing to worry about. 

My daughter is still in Spain with a friend and will be back tomorrow. Hopefully it will be to good news.

Prometheus

I liked this much more that the earlier films.  It humanised the characters much better than the previous two films and was not rushed in the way that both came across as being. 

It had a few flaws. At the beginning of the film, where life is to be introduced to Earth, you see plant life in the background. Also, thanks to evolution, we would have evolved to look like our masters on a planet of such genetic diversity. Idris Elba would have been better served having a British accent and the Silica storms that occurred would have caused a lot more weathering to the structure which was investigated.

If you like science fiction and/or horror, this is certainly worth watching.