I really didn’t go anywhere yesterday, except to take a short walk to get an espresso at the Italian Bar (I didn’t know if my goal was the walk or the espresso). I hadn’t looked at a clock and I thought that it was probably about 3 p.m., but it was really after 5 p.m., and I think the double espresso kept me up last night. I didn’t fall asleep until about 2 a.m. That’s the second time I had a double espresso in the late afternoon or early evening and couldn’t fall asleep. Having a cup of coffee after dinner doesn’t bother my sleep pattern, and I have read that there is less caffeine in espresso, so how do you explain it? If there is something explain. But it has recently happened twice, so…….

Well, all is well that ends well. We did watch the second half of RRR, and it ended with the British out of India, our two heroes reconciled, the beautiful Seetha and Jenny joining the men in the dancing finale, and they all presumably lived happily ever after, no longer the slaves of an evil international empire. What could possibly go wrong?

It turns out (reading a bit after the end of the film) that the two main characters shared the names of two real life anti-British Indian revolutionaries, who never in real life met each other or Seetha or Jenny, and certainly never had the adventures these folks had on screen. And the film also depicted them as two Hindu gods who shared their names. This explains the flaming arrows that accompanied the final battle with the Brits, among other things.

How many died in this film? Hundreds, at least. But it’s all in fun, right?

On to other things:

I have now the watched three episodes of Criminal: France while on my stationary bicycle. As expensive a film as RRR was to make, that’s how inexpensive Criminal: France must have been. It all takes place in a police station interrogation room in Paris, and in the hallway outside the room. Each episode shows the interrogation of a suspect of a crime: a young woman who allegedly collected a victim payment after a terrorist attack on a venue where she had not been present, a woman construction executive who was having an affair with a younger construction worker who fell to his death, and a hidden gay man who witnessed a murder at a gay bar and whose wife and children knew nothing about his hidden life. I think that’s it for Paris, and the show now goes to three more countries Whether the other versions will be done in the same way, I don’t know yet. I liked the three episodes I saw – all conversation, no action, like reading a who-done-it.

In my work as president of the Jewish Funeral Practices Committee of Greater Washington and the work I have done as part of the Adas Israel Bereavement Committee, I have worked closely with Hines Rinaldi Funeral Home of Silver Spring, and with one of their top Funeral Directors, Gary Gise. Sadly, Gary passed away last night after a two year long battle with esophageal cancer at the very young age of 60. A very friendly and competent fellow, he put up a tremendous fight, and held his head up throughout his battle. May his memory be a blessing.

Maybe my title today is not the right one.