Cloud Nine

Hello World, Happy Memorial Day weekend! Although I have it on good authority (well, social media, anyway) that like Yom Kippur and other solemn occasions, you're not supposed to wish anyone a "happy" Memorial Day, because there's nothing happy about it. But around here, we always say that there's no wrong way to celebrate a holiday, and we're counting on the plucky Flag Brigade to hoist the colors on Monday (as well as Tuesday, in acknowledgement of actual Decoration Day) in recognition of the selfless sacrifices from generations of brave men and women in uniform. At least, weather permitting, and depending on the last two addled brain cells of The Flag Brigade (which I have renamed G.I. Joe and G.I. Jane in honor of the event) always with the proviso that we may be expecting too much of them, alas. For everyone out there in the wide world with an opportunity to enjoy a long 3-day holiday weekend, I hope it would be all that you could wish for - and don't spare the barbecues, parades, and fireworks, if you please! After last week's brutally unexpected heat wave, which set high temperature records all over the region, the local weather settled back into some chilly and damp conditions that had many of us wondering if this really was the last weekend in May, and June was right around the corner. (I was expecting complaints from the robins wearing earmuffs, and bumblebees in fur coats, so I wasn't surprised by the protest signs, but frankly, I thought the press conferences were just a bit too much.) But it hasn't slowed down our cavalcade of spring flowers, including some tender pink roses, colorful columbine, and fluffy white cimicifuga, which all seem early to me. On the other hand, the wild phlox popped open in the backyard right on schedule, with its heavenly fragrance sure to be a tonic for what ails you, and thanks ever so. On the weedier side of things, there's plenty of false asters everywhere you look, and I noticed the poke weed is already about 3-feet tall, so that's certainly not wasting any time. Speaking of tall, it would be impossible to miss the menacing clumps of rampant alien mutant poison ivy in the ivy patch and elsewhere in the landscape, laughing at hot weather and cold weather alike, dry or wet, and easily fending off all other neighboring species, even the hardy Thorndale and relentlessly invasive porcelain berry, without breaking a sweat. No press conferences for them, by golly. Hard on the heels (literally) of the Kentucky Derby earlier in the month, the 142nd running of the Preakness Stakes was last Saturday, and what a difference a couple of weeks makes, Mister Ed. (You youngsters out there will have to ask your grandparents about that one, I'm afraid.) Pimlico attracts more of a "jeans and T-shirts" crowd than the fancy dress revelers at Churchill Downs, and gaudy hats are more of a rarity than otherwise. Also unlike the roiling sea of horseflesh at the Derby, the Preakness fielded a mere 10 mounts, of which fully half of them had skipped the Derby altogether - with only Always Dreaming, Classic Empire, Gunnevera, Hence, and Looking at Lee running in both races. Unfortunately for fans of Triple Crown glory, the evil spirit of Affirmed struck early, and even though Derby winner Always Dreaming left the gate as the 6/5 favorite, he couldn't keep up the pace, and finished a disappointing 8th on a fast and clean track. Even the 2-1 second favorite Classic Empire, who ran a strong race, was edged out at the wire by the unsung Cloud Computing, a 14-1 nobody who came out of nowhere to win by a head at a peppy 1:55:59, and still pulling away at the end. It should be interesting to see which horses from both races make the trip to the Belmont in a few weeks, and whether one of the two previous winners takes a second jewel in the Triple Crown, or if like last year, all three races are won by 3 different horses. Or, as the Wizard of Oz once famously observed, "Now, that's a horse of a different color." On the local scene, because we had already seen the first one, last week we headed to the movies and took in the new "Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2" in glorious IMAX 3-D, and found it highly diverting. Even though the film had only been out for a couple of weeks, there was still a mere smattering of spectators in the cavernous theater at the time - although I will say they made the most of it, and seemed to have a rollicking time throughout. Like many offerings from the Marvel Studio stables, it helps a lot to have already seen the first one, and perhaps by virtue of that, this one is undeniably a whole lot funnier, and seems to bounce along effortlessly from one escapade to the next. [SPOILER ALERT: If you don't laugh out loud at the part about David Hasslehoff, I'm afraid that you would have to be declared legally dead.] The new one also seemed to hold together a lot more cohesively in terms of story, and the characters were more fleshed out and interesting besides - although admittedly, it's difficult for me to take Kurt Russell too seriously after playing second fiddle to a chimpanzee in "The Barefoot Executive." But nonetheless, it never lags, is full of high spirits, plenty of action, genuine hilarity, and eye-popping special effects, so it has a lot to recommend it. Of course, all movies go better with pizza, and this did not disappoint - even though the cinema minions have taken out the tables and chairs in the lobby, so now you have to eat it in your movie seats, but was still a winning combination for us. Sort of like winning the Double Crown, if only there was such a thing, alas. Or as we say in the Emerald City, "Now, that's a horse of a different color." Elle