Okay, well - it did materialize. The heat, that is. In fact, make that The Heat. Remember last night, I said that it felt too cool to develop into the temperatures that were predicted. But it did develop and then some. By 3pm it had reached 115 degrees in Northridge. Some parts of the Valley got as high as 117. So temperature-wise, it was one of the five hottest days I can remember, a certified Rip-Roaster.
However, as I remarked on Facebook, it really wasn't as uncomfortable as you might imagine, because of the extremely low humidity, only 6%. I remember going to Las Vegas in June of 1981, and when we got there the temp was way up high, probably close to 110. But it was "dry heat", as they say - desert heat - and so the air felt light despite the high number. It was super hot, but not too oppressive as compared with what we were used to in the Valley. That type of ultra dry heat was new to me, and today was the first time I can remember experiencing it here in the Valley.
Usually when we get an extreme temperature (above 110), which happens maybe a few days a year, it is accompanied by what they call "monsoon" conditions, even though we don't get monsoons. But what we do get is high humidity, 40 to 60 %, and when combined with a char-broiling temperature it feels like a red hot bubbling sweat box full of heavy air with a lid on top. I can remember some hikes back in 2014 where I was pouring with sweat. The temp was perhaps 100 to 105, but the humidity was much higher than today. And so the quality of the heat felt much different, much heavier.
This afternoon, I went to Aliso at 4pm for a nice 2 1/2 mile walk. Yeah, I'm nuts - but.....
As you know I enjoy the heat, and the thing was that I barely broke a sweat because the air was so dry.
And so, the whole point of my explanation is to say that, even though we had a record high temperature for this day, and one of the highest Valley temps ever recorded, it did not feel as hot as when we have had those really heavyweight monsoon humidity conditions in combination with extreme temps.
But yeah........ today it was very hot indeed. And I'll take it any day over freezing my butt off in December, lol. The Dreaded L.A. Cold is what I fear.
It was still 103 a few hours ago at 10pm. Not sure what it is now. We've got the air conditioner cranked here at Pearl's.
I also don't mean to make light of the effects of the heat on other people. I know for many it is very hard to deal with. Tomorrow should be about ten degrees cooler, doggonnit. :)
I kid, I kid! But it will be a tad cooler. The main thing is to pray for no wind and no fires, thank You Lord. ///
Tonight I watched another Moto, my fifth in a month. I love Moto! This one was called "Mr. Moto In Danger Island". As the movie begins, Moto is in San Juan, Puerto Rico, sitting ringside at a wrestling match. As the match ends, the losing wrestler blames Moto and his friends for influencing the referee with their catcalls. Moto uses Ju Jitsu to thwart his attack, and the winning wrestler becomes his devotee. Together, they infiltrate a diamond smuggling ring, the real reason for Mr. Moto's being on the island in the first place. Moto meets with the Governor and Commissioner of Puerto Rico and their underlings - all caucasian - and begins to discern the workings of the operation. He fakes an appendicitis attack to make the bad guys think he is near death, to give them false confidence, and then later on, he writes a press release which states that "Mr. Moto" the detective is an imposter. The man posing as Moto is in fact a Japanese criminal mastermind.
But he is just playing the bad guys. Moto is an investigative genius, as we have seen through the five films we have reviewed thus far, and he has tricks up his sleeve that neither you nor I nor certainly the crooks can imagine.
I wish Mr. Moto was investigating Trump! Everything would have been settled by now.....
But yeah........Moto. As played by the great Peter Lorre, for whom I have great admiration now, having seen this series of films. It is said that Lorre himself disdained the character, and wanted out of the "Mr. Moto" series after making eight pictures in just two years.
That's a lot of work in a short period of time, and Lorre was a serious actor who had won wide acclaim for his role in "M", and he would go on to greater fame for "Casablanca" in 1941. But I have gotta say, as great as he was (and is) in all his other roles, he created an indelible character in "Mr. Moto", and it is that character and this series of films that showed me another side of Peter Lorre, who had always been cast as killers and psychos. With Mr. Moto he was an inscrutable, sophisticated and mild mannered hero, and he nailed every aspect of his role, even despite the fact - as I just learned tonight in watching some bonus dvd material - that he was seriously addicted to morphine while making the Moto movies.
You'd never know it.
So here's to Peter Lorre, a great actor, and here's to the Mr. Moto movies, even if he didn't like them himself. Sorry Peter, you are wrong because they are a lot of fun and you were great in each one. ///
Elizabeth, that was another fantastic photo on FB Stories this afternoon. The birds in the pic look 3D, lit by the twin bolts of sunlight coming down in the middle. It must have been one of those photos where you had to snap immediately.....before the birds flew away. And you got them.
I see that you were in Indiana, at a state park along Lake Michigan. You were not all that far from Dad Country! :) My Dad was from Goshen, which I Googled and it was only 62 miles from Indiana Dunes.
Pretty cool, I think, and another great photo from you.
See you in the morn. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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