Monument's Men

George wears all the hats

A funny thing about reviews - "American Hustle" received fantastic reviews and will probably win the Academy Award.  I disliked it so much that it was all I could do to sit in the theater until it was over.  I would say "Exceedingly boring with no redeeming value."

Bill Murray

On the other hand, "Monument's Men" has received terrible reviews, locally and nationally.  And I loved every minute of it.  Produced, written, directed by and staring George Clooney, it's the true story of a group of eight men who were tasked by President Roosevelt to go to Europe during World War II and rescue artistic masterpieces from the Nazis.  Hitler wanted them all for himself - but if he should lose the war - he wanted all of them destroyed.

Cate Blanchett

So the question was, is it worth the loss of life in order to save ancient treasures?

John Goodman

I was very moved by scenes of great art lost and then found, of a warehouse loaded with the personal artifacts of displaced Jews, and of a Jewish soldier who was shown a Rembrandt stolen from his hometown.  He'd never been allowed to see it prior to the war because he was Jewish.

Matt Damon

 I loved the final scene.  The question to Sparks, played by George Clooney, is " Will it make any difference 30 years from now that we saved this art?

Nick Clooney

The final scene, 30 plus years later, is of Sparks, this time played by Nick Clooney (George's father) visiting the saved Bruges Madonna by Michelangelo.

Michelangelo's Bruges Madonna


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Shirley Temple - Hollywood Success Story

Movie Star

We all know the grim statistics regarding the prospects for child actors.  Few of them make it as adults and many if the ones that do flame out in big ways.  (I'm thinkin' about you Lindsey.)

Easily the most popular child star of all time, Shirley Temple died a couple of days ago at age 85.  Her heyday was a little before my time but most people across the globe have seen at least one "Little Shirley Temple" movie.  She was a huge star at age four - and remained a huge star for several years.

And then she wasn't.  Shirley acted a bit as a teen and young adult but she was never again a big movie star.

By the way, I love the movie "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer" with Cary Grant as the bachelor and Shirley as the bobby soxer.  Find it on Netflix.  You'll love it too. 

So, what did Shirley do for the next 70 or so years?  Plow through a bunch of lovers?  Deal drugs out of her palatial home?  Get fat and go to therapy?

No!

Diplomat

She turned her talents and energy to other things.  She did volunteer work, mostly for the Republican party.  That led to unsuccessfully running for office, but that led to:

• Appointment to the 24th Assembly of the United Nations General Assembly by President Nixon.
• Diplomatic appointment as ambassador to Ghana by President Ford.
• Appointment as Chief of Protocol - she was in charge of the inauguration of President Carter
• Appointment as ambassador to Czechoslovakia by President Bush (H.W.)

For 55 years, Shirley Temple was married to Charles Black, a successful oceanographer with an MBA from Stanford.  When she died she was surrounded by her family.

Shirley Temple's life, to me, from beginning to end, is truly a Hollywood success story.


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Waiting Is Our Destiny

Dr Bob preached on "Waiting" this morning.  Not the trivial kind that we hate - like when your spouse is never on time - but the important kind like when you're waiting in the hospital for the doctor to come out and give you news that may change your life forever.

Dr. Bob said this:

What God does in us while we wait is as important as what it is we're waiting for. 

But before he got to the serious part he quoted one of my favorite poets.  In case it's been a while since you've read this one, here it is.

THE WAITING PLACE by Dr. Seuss

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting
around for a Yes or No
Or waiting for their hair to grow.

Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting of the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.

Everyone is just waiting.

I guess the important thing is what is going on with us while we wait.


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Check to See if You Have These Things in Your Home

I love my state.  Florida is a wonderful place to live.  As Stefon used to say on Saturday Night Live,

This place has everything!

A few days ago sheriff's deputies raided a home in Central Florida and discovered the following:

• Two frozen alligators
• Meth in a box of baby wipes
• A marijuana plant
• A live bass in an aquarium
• Ammo
• Homemade drug pipes
• Ten month old twins

The couple living in the home had logical explanations for some of these things.  For instance, They planned to stuff and display the alligators.  

Unfortunately, this is no logical explanation for this couple having twin babies. 

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Cataract Tales

When my good friend was a teenage volunteer Candy Striper in the 1960s, her job at the hospital was to feed folks who'd had cataract surgery.  This was because they couldn't move for several days. They had to remain perfectly still and, even then, serious head pain was an issue.

Cataracts have been dealt with in some fashion or other for centuries.  The first procedures involved sliding the film over to the side of the eyeball.  That must have been a little uncomfortable!

I had cataract surgery on Tuesday.  I was in and out of the Ophthalmology surgery center in about an hour and a half.  I'd like to tell you about the procedure but I, apparently, was asleep.  Only a little discomfort the first night, but now, two days out, I'm in no pain, and, best of all, I'm seeing better.

What interests me this morning is seeing different colors with my "new" eye than I'm seeing with the "old" one.  The wall looks a creamy beige with one and grayish with the other.  How exciting!

It's not quite as dramatic as the photo above but, there is a big difference, for sure.

Claude Monet was a famous cataract sufferer.  Lots of his paintings have been categorized over the years according to where he was in the process.

I'm just happy that things are rocking along with my eyes. And I'm being a good patient....using my various eye drops on schedule and not bouncing around at the gym too much.

Hopefully, I'll be ready to have the cataract in my other eye removed in a couple of weeks.  Can't wait to see what color the walls will be then.


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Will We Floridians Ever Evolve?

Orlando Sentinel columnist Beth Kassab alerted us this morning to the latest Florida evolution  controversy.  The newest member of the State Board of Education opposes teaching evolution as a "fact" in Florida.

He's quoted as saying "I'm purely in favor to it staying a theory and only a theory."

Beth Kassab's response:  "Oh, brother."

It would be funny if it wasn't so serious and scary.  In the great world math and science competition the United States is mediocre at best.  We rank about 25 world wide.  What are some of the top performers?  Shanghai Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Estonia.

I was in Estonia a couple of years ago.  It's beautiful, but a cutting edge science country that is kicking the butt of the United States of America?  Come on!

Beth Kassab says, and I wholeheartedly agree:  "There's irrefutable evidence that evolution is the underlying biology behind how living things develop over time."

This new school board member admits evolution exists but his problem is that scientists can't say for certain how and when the universe began.

I think I can help.  First, there's this book that tells me spiritually and theologically all I need to know.

Genesis 1  In the Beginning God...

Then, as you know from older postings, there's this song that explains the science:

The whole universe was in a hot dense state,
And nearly 14 million ears ago
Expansion started, Wait...
The earth began to cool,
The autotropes began to drool,
Neanderthals developed tools
We built a wall (we built the pyramids)
Mather, science, history
Unraveling the history
That all started with the big bang.
                 - Barenaked Ladies


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Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Forty-five or so years ago when I was part of a production of "The Glass Manager," I asked the director,

How can a person (Truman Capote) know so much about life yet not live it well?

His reply was something like, knowing how to do something and actually doing it are two different things.

And now we've learned that Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who won an Academy Award for playing Truman Capote, died yesterday in his Manhattan apartment from an apparent heroine overdose.

Ever since seeing "The Talented Mr. Ripley" I've been a huge fan of Hoffman.  He always seemed to become  the character he was playing.

A couple of years ago I saw him in as the very creepy master in "The Master."  Seriously disliked the movie and the character and had to keep reminding myself he was acting.   Two relatively recent serious films that I loved and loved him in were "Doubt" where he played a priest and "The Savages" where he played a son who had to put his dad in a nursing home.

At lunch today Dave and I talked about how, since neither of us is prone to addiction, it's hard for us to truly understand how addiction can and does devastate so many lives.  From what little I know about Phillip Seymour Hoffman as a person, he seemed like a good guy.  Not "Hollywood" but New York apartment, subway riding, taking his kids to school kind of guy.

I'm sorry he's gone.  His talent was immense.


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