WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IS

What the bejesus is happening to The Sopranos?? A full head-scratching episode last night that jumped from one baffling scene to another, beginning with Tony’s girlfriend setting herself on fire and progressing bizarrely to Tony renting a suite at the Plaza Hotel in New York, ordering a hooker, and then falling asleep. After which we poor unsuspecting viewers were treated to half an hour or more of Tony’s surreal dreaming, which was, to put it mildly, boring as hell – as other people’s dreams generally are. (Unless you have a vested interest in deciphering them. Which was not the case here.)

The question arose as to whether this was some kind of heavy intellectualism, infused with obscure symbols (lots of television screens, dead people, guys going ‘bang-bang’ with their hands) designed to give our man Tone some kind of heretofore undisplayed depth. But this was quickly dismissed and replaced by the conviction that the scriptwriter had been high as a frigging kite and therefore it probably all made perfect sense to him. Or her.

In any case, pah! A sad state of affairs for a show that has consistently had some of the best writing/characterization/acting on television but seems to be losing its grip. Perhaps it really is time to end it.

WEATHER

Today: lurrvvely!! Absolutely not-a-cloud-in-the-sky clear, with temps hovering around the freezing mark and breezes so minimal as to be non-existent. A perfect winter’s day, save for the absence of snow. Meanwhile, Christmas lights are going up all over the city, a merciful respite from the midwinter gloom.

Yesterday I reported that our complementary trial subscription of Morgunblaðið had run out and therefore sunrise/sunset times were unavailable. Today I am delighted to report that I was completely wrong. For some unexplained reason (that I don’t want to delve into too closely) Morgunblaðið continues to appear in our mailbox. So if The One Responsible is reading this: The Iceland Weather Report humbly thanks you.

And on that note: sunrise was at 10.44; sunset is set for 15.48.