A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Look! My new laptop! (Photo by the author) Hi there, Dear Reader. Just a quick update to let you know that the Odyssey of the Wayward Laptop is over. Yesterday, Best Buy handed the replacement of my lost   Lenovo – IdeaPad S340 15″ Touch-Screen Laptop over to UPS, which then shipped it to Louisville, Kentucky in the afternoon, then – apparently – flew it from there to Jacksonville, Florida. This morning, the   Lenovo – IdeaPad S340 15″ Touch-Screen Laptop was sent to Lakeland, Florida, which is roughly 25 miles away from here. There, at 9:36 AM Eastern, it was placed on a UPS truck and marked Out for Delivery. Sometime after 3 PM Eastern, it arrived here, along with the 2018 Jurassic World Five-Movie 4K UHD/2K Blu-ray set with all five currently-extant films in the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World series. It’s late (10:27 PM Eastern) and I’m tired, so I’m going to close for now. I just wanted to let you know that I received my new laptop (even though UPS has not explained why the...

   "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." – Murphy’s Law Hi, everybody, how are you all doing? It’s early afternoon here in West Florida on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Currently, the temperature outside is 90 ˚ F (32 ˚ C) under sunny skies. With the wind blowing from the west at 13 MPH (18 KM/H) and humidity at 55%, the heat index is a whopping 97 ˚ F (35 ˚ C).   Today we were supposed to get light rain, and we still might, but as of right now all we are getting is broiling sun and heat. The high is expected to reach 91 ˚ F (33 ˚ C) by 3 PM Eastern. Tonight, the skies will be partly cloudy and the low will be 71 ˚ F (22 ˚ C). I’m writing this as an update to May 3’s Update from New Hometown post. That’s the one where I mentioned the purchase of a new Lenovo – IdeaPad S340 15″ Touch-Screen Laptop. If you recall, I wrote: Apparently, Best Buy does not have any laptops of my model in stores close to New Hometown, so my new  Lenovo IdeaPad S340 15" Touch-Screen L...

Publicity photo of Buena Vista Home Entertainment's region-free Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga 18-disc box set. © 2020 Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) On Monday, April 20, Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) and Lucasfilm Ltd. released the 18-disc variant Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, a counterpart to the larger 27-disc box set of the same name released less than a month earlier as a Best Buy exclusive. I bought my from Walmart.com – I haven’t seen it as an official release on Amazon, although I have noticed that the 27-disc version of The Skywalker Saga is sold at the site by third-party sellers at inflated prices – this smaller, less elaborate box set was intended primarily as the region-free European release, as it sports the rating seals from the British and Irish counterparts to the Motion Picture Association of America as part of its indicia.  From a young Anakin Skywalker’s descent into the dark side to the rise of the Resis...

Promotional photo of Buena Vista Home Entertainment/Lucasfilm Ltd.'s 18-disc Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Blu-ray box set.  This is the region-free edition made for the UK/Europe but sold in the U.S. by Walmart. © 2020 Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Hi, there! Welcome to another edition of Bloggin' On, the more "personal" section of A Certain Point of View where I just chat about everyday topics and stuff that doesn't fall neatly into the categories that I usually write about ﹘ reviews, politics, or life in the time of COVID-19. It's a nice morning in my corner of Florida; as I write this, the temperature outside is 78℉ (25℃) under partly sunny skies. According to my computer's weather app, today's forecast calls for a high of 84℉ (29℃) under mostly cloudy skies. It's going to be a humid and maybe even rainy day at times (52% humidity and 60% chance of precipitation), but it doesn't look as if it is going to ...

Promotional photo of Buena Vista Home Entertainment/Lucasfilm's S tar Wars: The Skywalker Saga  box set, a Best Buy exclusive. © 2020 Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Hi, there, Dear Reader. I hope this post finds you safe, healthy, and adjusting to the new realities of living in the "dark times" of the novel coronavirus pandemic. I know that you must be feeling frustrated and scared about the effects of social distancing, working from home, and the effects of a "lockdown" on the economy. I, too, am fretting about the same things, and I am hoping that the pandemic will reach a peak and eventually peter out as a result of prudent self-quarantining and other preventive measures. If you know the history of how I became a Star Wars fan back in 1977, you doubtlessly understand that the franchise created nearly 45 years ago by George Lucas has helped me cope with sad and stressful situations. If you don't, all you have to know is that...

Slipcover art from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's Multi-Screen Edition Blu-ray. © 2019, 2020 Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Well, it's Sunday, March 29, 2020, and it's the last weekend of a tumultuous month unlike any other since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against America. Once again, the entire country is facing a danger that's posed not just to human lives, but to the values that many of us hold dear - civility, decency, moral courage, and a belief that we as a nation can unite despite partisan divisions and persevere in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, unlike those dark and scary times after the Twin Towers fell and part of the Pentagon was scarred by the impact of an American Airlines Boeing 757 hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists, when a mediocre Republican President named George W. Bush managed to rally the nation and prepared to strike back at our enemies, the ship of state is rudderless,. Most of...

The unsung hero of Ronnie and the Pursuit of the Elusive Bliss. Photo: Alex Diaz-Granados  Hello again, Constant Reader. Welcome to another edition of Bloggin' On, the no-reviews/no politics section of A Certain Point of View where I basically write about whatever topics cross my mind or just vent about everyday stuff that saddens or irritates me. Well, it's Monday afternoon in my corner of Florida; right now it's mostly sunny outside; the temperature is 79℉ (26℃) and the humidity is low at 48%. It's so nice out that I'm almost tempted to go and sit out on the front porch and read for a while. That's something that I always say I want to do; when I lived in East Wind Lake Village, I used to go with a book to the nearby pool, lie on one of the deck chairs, and read for an hour, maybe two, out in the sun and fresh air. Here, I'd be content if I went out on the porch with a book and my Amazon Fire tablet and read for a while...but for one reason or ...