Natalie Portman

            On Friday morning I finished working out the chords for "Baby alone in Babylon" by Serge Gainsbourg. I ran through the song in English and French and then uploaded it to Christian's Translations. I started editing it to prepare it for publication on the blog and I should have it posted tomorrow. 

            I weighed 84 kilos before breakfast. 

            In the late morning I finished tagging and labeling the candy for my daughter. I had planned on going to get a haircut today but the snowstorm hit and I wasn't going to ride my bike up to Yonge and St Clair. I did ride to the post office to buy a bigger shipping box, then I brought it home and packed it. I secured it with packing tape and addressed it, then I took it back to the post office and mailed it via express. It's supposed to get there by Monday but I wonder of that's realistic considering the weather. 

            I weighed 83.6 kilos before lunch. 

            In the afternoon I rode down to No Frills where I bought five bags of grapes, old English cheddar, five-year-old Canadian cheddar, a strawberry-rhubarb pie, three bags of skim milk, Basilica sauce, mild salsa, a container of skyr, and a jug of cranberry juice. 

            I weighed 84 kilos at 16:30. I was caught up on my journal at 18:52. 

            I extracted almost two months from my journal for a bedbug timeline. 

            I had a potato with gravy and two chicken drumsticks while watching Thor: Love and Thunder.

            The story begins with Gorr and his dying daughter in the desert. He prays to his gods but she dies. He finds an oasis where his gods live and they are arrogant and indifferent. The god-killing Necrosword offers itself to Gorr and he takes it to kill his gods. The sword gives him the power to create shadows that spawn monsters and he uses it for his new mission to kill all gods. 

            Meanwhile Thor is travelling with the Guardians of the Galaxy who are stopping some furry sky bikers from attacking the Indigarrians whose protective gods have been murdered. Thor defeats their enemies but inadvertently destroys their sacred temple. Nonetheless they reward him with two giant screaming goats. These goats in Norse myth are Toothgrinder and Toothgnasher and they pull Thor's chariot through the sky. 

            Meanwhile on Earth, we see that Thor's former lover, Jane Foster has stage four cancer and she's taking chemo therapy. But she remembers having written about the strength giving powers of Thor's hammer Mjolnir which was destroyed by Hela. Its pieces are on display in the Norse God colony of New Asgard on Earth. She goes to see them and in her presence the pieces begin to pull together. We remember then that Thor had previously said to Mjolnir for it to always protect Jane. 

            The Guardians receive several distress calls about attacks by the God Butcher and one of them is from the Norse goddess Sif. Thor and his rocky friend Korg along with the screaming goats teleport with the help of Stormbringer to where they find Sif with her arm ripped off. She says Gorr is headed to destroy Asgard. Thor takes her there to receive medical help and finds Gorr and his monsters are already attacking. Valkyrie the King of Asgard is there fighting and Thor joins in. He senses the presence of his hammer and calls to it. It flies towards him and stops and then flies into the hand of Jane Foster who is the new Mighty Thor. Thor swallows his surprise and they fight off the monsters, but Gorr kidnaps the children of Asgard. One of the children is Heimdall's son Astrid, who now goes by Axel because he likes Axel Rose of Guns n Roses. Axel has the power to send a ghost projection of himself to Asgard but he does not know yet how to fully channel it. Thor helps him concentrate and Thor's ghost image is able to go to where the children are imprisoned. They are in the Shadow Realm.

            Thor and Valkyrie agree that Gorr will be most powerful in the Shadow Realm and so they need to raise an army of gods. They go to Omnipotent City that is presided over by Zeus. The four of them travel there in a flying Viking ship pulled by the goats. At Omnipotent City Zeus is played by an over-the-top Russell Crowe with a Greek accent. He puts on a show with his lightning bolt. But then he starts talking about orgies and human sacrifices and they start to think they're not going to get any help from him. Valkyrie says they should steal his Thunderbolt but Thor is against that. While they are arguing Zeus asks, "Who's talking?" Thor starts to speak but Zeus tells him to take the stage. Thor tries to appeal to him about the God Butcher but Zeus is not interested. He is angry that Thor is arguing and tells him he is uninvited to the orgy. He confines Thor's hands on each side and then strips him to see through his disguise. Upon seeing Thor naked the goddesses standing beside Zeus all faint. Zeus says Gorr will not reach Eternity. Valkyrie says, "Oh shit!" because she knows now that is Gorr's goal. Eternity will grant the wish of the first person that reaches it. Zeus tells Thor that he can't let him and his friends leave Omnipotent City because then Gorr can learn where it is. Thor breaks free and Jane, Valkyrie and Korg attack, defeating Zeus's soldiers. Zeus hits Korg with his Thunderbolt and destroys his rocky body. He throws it at Thor but Thor catches and throws it back, killing Zeus. Under the pile of rocks that are left from Korg's body is his face, still alive. It turns out that's the only living part of a Kronan. Valkyrie ties Korg's face to the back of her head so he can help her fight her way out. Korg calls for the screaming goats and they come crashing in. Valkyrie grabs the Thunderbolt, kisses one of the goddesses and they escape. 

           They make it to the Shadow Realm but the children are gone. Gorr is there and Jane figures out that Gorr needs Thor's axe Stormbreaker to open the gates of Eternity. Gorr binds the three in shadows and tightens them on Jane, threatening to kill her if Thor does not call the axe. Thor calls it and they are freed. They battle and Valkyrie is stabbed by the Necrosword. Thor has Stormbreaker take them home but just as they are teleporting away Gorr grabs the axe. They make it back to Asgard, Valkyrie receives medical attention but Jane's cancer gets worse and she collapses.

            Thor takes the Thunderbolt and travels to the gates of Eternity where Gorr has taken the children. Gorr sets up Stormbreaker to begin firing energy to open the gates. Thor arrives and gives each of the children some of his power so they can become Asgardian warriors and fight the shadow monsters while he fights Gorr. While they are fighting it is not going well for Thor. Jane sees Mjolnir floating beside her hospital bed. Thor is about to be killed when Gorr is hit by Mighty Thor's hammer and Jane arrives on Valkrie's winged horse. While she is fighting Gorr, Thor frees Stormbreaker, throws it to Axel so the children can teleport home. While the Necrosword and Thunderbolt are locked together, Jane throws Mjolnir and breaks the Necrosword. 

            Jane collapses and Gorr makes it through the gate. Gorr is about to make his wish but Thor reminds him that rather than wishing for the death of all gods in revenge for his daughter's death he can simply wish for his daughter to be alive. Then Thor goes to hold Jane in her finale seconds of life. Gorr wishes for his daughter and she is there alive. Thor and Jane kiss one final time and she dies. But Gorr is dying and he asks for Thor to take care of her and he nods. Korg's body grows back. Gorr's daughter is named Love and Thor becomes her foster father. He's trained her to be a warrior and she has Stormbreaker while he has Mojolnir back as they fight bad guys together as Love and Thunder. 

            In the end Jane arrives in Valhalla. 

            In the end credits we also see that Zeus is alive and he tells Hercules to go after Thor. 

            I found this movie to be a charming blend of sadness, comedy and action. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. But you can't go wrong with screaming goats and Greek Goddesses fainting when they see Thor naked. 

            Jane was played by Natalie Portman, who was born in Jerusalem but was raised in the US. She studied ballet and began to do theatre. Her film debut was in Leon the Professional in 1994. She starred in the short film Developing. She co-starred in Beautiful Girls, Everyone Says I Love You, and Mars Attacks. She played Anne Frank on Broadway. She was in her senior year in high school when she played Padme Amadala in Star Wars the Phantom Menace and became a star. She co-starred in Anywhere But Here, Where the Heart Is, The Seagull, Zoolander, and Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. She graduated from Harvard with a psychology degree in 2003. She co-starred in Garden State, and then in Closer, for which she won a Golden Globe. She co-starred in Star wars: Revenge of the Sith, Free Zone, V for Vendetta for which she won a Saturn Award. She hosted Saturday Night Live. She co-starred in Paris je T'aime, Goya's Ghosts, My Blueberry Nights, Hotel Chevalier, and The Other Boleyn Girl. She directed the short film Eve. She co-starred in The Other Woman, New York I Love You, and Brothers. She produced and co-starred in Hesher. She starred in The Black Swan, for which she won an Oscar. She produced and co-starred in No Strings Attached. She co-starred in Your Highness, Thor, Thor: The Dark World, and Knight of Cups. She directed and starred in A Tale of Love and Darkness. She produced and starred in Jane Got a Gun. She played Jackie Kennedy Onassis in Jackie. She produced Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. She starred in Planetarium. She co-starred in Song to Song, Annihilation, The Death and Life of John F Donovan, Vox Lux, and Lucy in the Sky. 

            I searched for bedbugs and for the second night in a row I found none.