After a trying but curiously productive week, this seemed like a good choice. First time I’ve seen Carell in anything, and it was very entertaining. Polish dogs are just the thing for this kind of film, if only I’d thought to pop some corn as well.

And it’s been there for a year (what’s been happening to all my food?).

Apparently, it’s a common thing to do, even with our endless gadgets. But if you insist, here’s something that won’t leave a lingering stain on your skin: To-Do Tattoo. Via Popgadget.

We’ve been relocating squirrels for years. Our yard is surrounded by oak trees, and last year being a mast year, there is once again an abundance of rodents. It is impossible to plant seeds since the squirrels are constantly digging holes in the garden beds. Most of the pots have small oak trees coming up in them.

Sunday morning I glanced out to see that one of the traps had an occupant. The view was partially blocked by one of the raised beds, but I could see that it was not the usual squirrel. Gosh, I said to a family member, I think we caught a cat.

But wait. It was by far the biggest cat I’d ever seen. It took up. . . the. . . whole. . . cage.

At a distance, it looked cuddly with that irresistible face. Closer, there was no doubt it was a feral creature, hissing and emitting bark-like sounds. I took a few pictures, but was reluctant to get very close. They do bite, and are known to carry nasty diseases.

Family members wearing thick gloves took it to the heavily wooded reservoir area.

Am I ready to buy more koi? Well, no. Raccoons also have family members.

I didn’t pay much attention to the synopsis when I rented it. A family member is a great Daniel Craig fan, and it seemed the pairing of James Bond and Nicole Kidman couldn’t be that bad.

It was. Although I left the room several times, I did stay till the end, which must mean that even when top-notch stars appear in a less-than-wonderful movie, they’re still fun to watch.

The home-fried chicken and potato salad were exceptional. And even after a working weekend, I made some fresh strawberry mascarpone tarts.

What made the weekend was the raccoon.

We picked up Chinese takeout, and found the movie highly entertaining, although critics might quibble about this and that. On a holiday weekend, we’re not too picky about our films. Within reason.

Not so much the smoothies as the information near the end of the article. As one with a relative who regularly cleans his ears with a toothpick, I shouldn’t cringe. But I fail to see how an individual with a reasonably sound mind can apply a hammer to his mouth to extract bits of food. Or a screwdriver.

To get me through the upcoming sweltering days, I just might get one of these. Once only available to the military, they’re now for sale to all.

Maybe I’ll start drinking coffee after all. This is kinda scary. But relax, it’s still just a rumor.

A helpful family member cautioned me about the copious weeping of Ben Kingsley. I needed to be distracted from another day in the 90s, but the promise of cooling by Sat. made it more bearable. Dinner was a ham sandwich (my garden lettuce) and watermelon.

This is most definitely not a good movie to dine to. In fact, some feel this is a movie to avoid at all costs. But it kept me from thinking about work for awhile. I stopped watching about halfway, and I am kinda sorry I saw as much as I did.

I’m a bit behind on the action movies. On a night when it was still hovering close to 90° near sunset, it was time for a diversion. The movie was all that and more. For a change, I didn’t know what to expect. Turns out I was very familiar with the Batmobile scenes, just didn’t know they were from this particular Batman.

Dinner was leftover barbecued baby back ribs and cornbread salad, which is a Southern thing.

When it’s 95°, popsicles don’t stay frozen very long.

One of the gods of modern art.

Michael Clayton was next, but a family member who also wanted to see it is dining elsewhere tonight, which is a story unto itself, and perhaps one day we will go into it. But to go with the chili, I dug out a movie that has been in the collection for some time. I knew it was not going to be pleasant, but figured I’d be finished with dinner before that part got started.

I was right, and I was wrong.

It is not a good dinner movie, especially the beginning, which is the birth of our hero. But I stayed till he emerged from the cave, and found the second redhead. By then I had finished my chili and salad, and came in here to watch this.

At Whole Foods last night, I wanted to get some chowder for a family member who was working late in SF. Alas, there was none to be had. There was shrimp bisque, crab and corn chowder, northwestern chowder, cioppino and a Thai soup. As I was pondering the matter, a customer walked briskly up. He checked the contents of each pot, letting the lids fall with a loud bang. He picked the cioppino.

The family member makes a very excellent cioppino of his own, and as I was debating whether to just forget the soup, another gentleman stepped up. He headed straight for the cioppino.

I got the small container. Then I headed for the ice cream section where, after much deliberation, I chose Rice Dream marble fudge, Ciao Bella mango sorbet and a dark cherry soy ice cream. More on these another time.

Turned out that the family member ate duck and fig handmade sausages in SF. He was still talking about those sausages during dinner tonight.