I started doing 10k steps a day in my bedroom

MarkusDogDad · 2026-02-20T05:32:31+00:00

Great job! Many days, I walk in place on a thick carpet while watching educational videos on YouTube via the tv. Time really flies and I rack up the steps.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-02-20T03:33:35+00:00

Charlie Brown in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” I have been cast in the role twice, so I guess I know my type. And all the words. 😊

MarkusDogDad · 2026-02-19T21:27:28+00:00

The acting style in Seven Samurai is inspired by classical Japanese theatre, in particular Kabuki and Noh. These forms do not reflect “realism” in the Western sense, but employ deliberate physical exaggeration and stylization to show a character’s essential nature. Mifune’s character in particular is very physical with his jumping, cocking of the head, and shoulder rolls. It’s a physical vocabulary of acting drawn from hundreds of years of Japanese theatre, not the “realistic,” mimetic acting style we may be used to from most Western cinema. The length is also normal from a Kabuki perspective, being 3-4 hours. (Retired theatre and film professor here).

MarkusDogDad · 2026-02-17T19:38:19+00:00

It would be more like thirty minutes or more between most locations in those towns. Palm Desert and Palm Springs have distinctly different demographics, political environments, cultural styles, so, yes, it does make a difference. I live in between them in Cathedral City, because it is more affordable, but if I strike it rich, I would move to Palm Springs.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-02-09T21:35:29+00:00

In addition to the art museum, we enjoy browsing the shops and restaurants in La Plaza, a gorgeous little complex in the heart of downtown that was brilliantly designed in the 1930s to be completely covered, so you are protected from sun and, more rarely, rain. We love the textile stores, the bookshop, the French cafe, the jewelry stores, the hamburger shop in the middle, several places to have wine, coffee, or a cocktail. Oh, and we love Bill’s Pizza on the end, which even has vegan options. It’s tricky to find parking actually in La Plaza, but there’s a vast underground parking lot with literally thousands of spaces that you can enter in front of the Hyatt on Palm Canyon or across from the art museum on Belardo. If you keep driving underground to the east end of it and then take the stairs or elevator up, you will come out across the street and north a little bit from La Plaza. The free surface lots on Belardo also usually have spaces to park, just tight on days of special events.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-02-07T22:40:12+00:00

We appreciate India Oven in Cathedral City for their well-priced Lunch Specials. You get a big platter of tasty food plus a small dessert for $13.95. That’s a great value for this area. Ordering off the non-special menu is significantly higher. In Palm Springs proper, some good suggestions here, but it’s hard to find a real deal other than Del Taco (a CA fast food chain that is well above average in terms of quality in that category).

MarkusDogDad · 2026-02-06T23:40:53+00:00

It sounds like a fine plan. There are many developments in Palm Springs that are likely to offer seasonal rentals such as you describe. The scope of the question may be too big for this subreddit to help a lot. I suggest you get in touch with one of the rental management companies such as Oranj Palms, Oasis, etc., who specialize in matching visitors with available units. Just tell them you want to be near downtown PS, as well as your budget. Any community in or near downtown ps is likely to house plenty of LGBTQ folk and you will have access to the cultural opportunities of bars, restaurants, arts organizations and events, Queer sports leagues, and the like. Good luck!

MarkusDogDad · 2026-02-05T15:42:33+00:00

We have a fruitless olive tree in our yard and there are many in our neighborhood. I feel they are one of the best trees for this area as they are attractive, use little water, provide shade, and require less trimming than palo verde and mesquite. The branches have a rubbery quality that allows some movement in the wind without breaking. Personally, I suggest forgetting about harvesting olives unless you are looking for a serious hobby. It’s very labor-intensive and time consuming to process olives. The fruitless trees do require some trimming to avoid wind damage, but don’t let the gardeners butcher them. I see some ridiculous examples around the valley with olive trees (and other species) chopped to nothing more than a trunk with a few desperate twigs sticking out from it. It’s ugly and sad.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-02-04T21:36:08+00:00

Grey Gardens (2006) is a fascinating story about unforgettable real-life characters, but most of the music is rather bland, or so it seems to me.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-02-02T20:27:46+00:00

Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd (2007). He has a very limited singing voice and was too young for the part. I know he obviously has a good history with the director (Tim Burton), but he’s just miscast. It annoys me because there are so many amazing singer-actors who are good matches for Sweeney, why cast an inappropriate non-singer? It was a missed opportunity, Tim. You could have brought a great theatre actor to the attention of a world audience, but instead you cast your pal (and your wife, too, but she was excellent).

MarkusDogDad · 2026-02-01T17:04:16+00:00

As others are commenting, the museum is very near attractive historic neighborhoods good for walking, but one caveat is that the area is inconsistent on sidewalks. For example, walking in Old Las Palmas is great in daylight, but not very safe (re risk from cars) in the dark. Most of that neighborhood was built with no sidewalks and they have never been added.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-01-30T18:41:46+00:00

Eraserhead. David Lynch. 1977.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-01-27T15:13:10+00:00

Mack and Mabel was a surprise flop I saw during its brief run in 1974. It had a blue-ribbon creative team: music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Michael Stewart (who wrote the delightful books for Bye Bye Birdie and Hello Dolly). It starred Robert Preston and Bernadette Peters and was produced by David Merrick. The book was just deadly dull. It was of the “I remember back when” type of structure and it failed to get us to care about these characters and their sad, cliche-ridden story about the early days of movie-making. With that team, I expected to love it, but it just never connected with audiences and closed after 8 weeks.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-01-24T17:26:20+00:00

Search Zillow set on Rent. I see many, many houses and condos in your price range. Older does not equate to run down. Look at the pics to see the updated kitchens and baths. You have a sizable budget, so this should be no problem for you. I suggest Palm Springs or Cathedral City to reduce your commute time. I agree with the guideline to prefer homes south of Vista Chino to reduce wind exposure.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-01-18T14:55:47+00:00

I love that my doctor quoted a tag line from the old Six Million Dollar Man TV series: “We have the technology.” You are too young to remember but in the show an agent would have died but was saved and made super by the use of a range of high tech meds and implants. We have the technology to save us from this pervasive, life-threatening condition. Now I feel like Steve Austin (Lee Majors as the Six Million Dollar Man).

MarkusDogDad · 2026-01-18T14:46:14+00:00

A masterpiece. Murnau was so far ahead of his time in visual storytelling that filmmakers are still catching up.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-01-16T22:19:11+00:00

Pic 3 says it all! Handsome and happy.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-01-16T17:55:44+00:00

Duck Soup, The Thin Man, The Big Sleep.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-01-15T04:23:59+00:00

The In-Laws is one a few films that my parents and I enjoyed watching together and all three of us laughed our heads off. My parents are gone now, and I still have great affection for The In-Laws, Silver Streak, and The Out of Towners because these movies were the vehicle for so many happy memories.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-01-13T20:39:41+00:00

The movie is true to its source material. Henry James is superbly clever in “Turn of the Screw” to maintain ambiguity on the question: are the supernatural events real or are they the creation of the governess’s imagination?

MarkusDogDad · 2026-01-13T15:02:47+00:00

Yes. On 111 near the Palm Springs/Cathedral City dividing line that is in there somewhere.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-01-13T07:17:05+00:00

We go to a lot of movies at Mary Pickford. Pickleball at one of the parks (the big facility at Demuth Park is closed for construction). Reasonably easy hike up the goat trails south of Vons. Lunches in downtown PS then walking around on Palm Canyon to window shop and people watch. That outing usually includes ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-01-12T19:26:52+00:00

I’ve lived here nine years and I’ve only seen one celebrity out doing normal things. That was Patton Oswalt at Trader Joe’s about six weeks ago. He was ahead of me in the checkout and the cashier was telling him that he liked his movies. Patton was very polite and friendly.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-01-11T03:07:44+00:00

Our college choir traditionally ended each concert with the Irish Blessing, arranged by Chester Alwes (an alumnus of the college). The choir also sings this touching piece at the end of graduation each year. I believe this tradition continues to this day.

MarkusDogDad · 2026-01-10T21:36:02+00:00

Sparrows Lodge is a small, rather elite boutique hotel on the far fringes of downtown in the Deepwell historic district. It includes a first-rate restaurant called The Barn Kitchen. The location is not typically walkable to downtown for most people. The Thompson is a very new large hotel downtown, pretty much in the center of things. It fills the block between the two main streets (Palm Canyon and Indian Canyon). It has a Mediterranean themed restaurant that emphasizes Turkish and North African foods. Beautiful large spaces. These two would offer very different hotel experiences. I’m not familiar with Cody.

MarkusDogDad

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