Yet another year opens wide .... let's hope for the best, shall we
(I mean . . . what could happen ?)
Here are some recent (more or less) pics from Rebekah, Loretta and Mike .....
Rebekah, some of her young Dance by Design students, and Christian somewhere between Texas and DisneyWorld .....
Loretta, Jack, Rachel and Jake, down to Disney to bring Jake home (the party's over kiddo).
Loretta and Jack .... I think all my grandchildren are now taller than me !!! .... and isn't he handsome (those are my genes at work)!!!
And . . . up to South Carolina . . . Jake, Sara, Jack, Loretta and ?Sara's Mom?. . .
Shamelessly stolen off Rachel's Instagram page .... A true Fashionista !!!
Chris and Mike ventured up to Montreal just after Christmas .... and Saoirse ("Sirsha") giving them her "You left me home" stare....
Two pics of Great-Grandson Archie (family barely moved into new home at Christmas - hectic times !!!). Sadly I can't get the video clips to convert properly (they are *.3gp files ?)
A suprisingly excellent vintage "crime" movie
"I'll give it 10 minutes" I thought ..... watched the whole thing. Very low key, intelligent, funny at times, nicely acted reel of film.
Howard Duff suprisingly good as a "classy" pathological liar. Barry Fitzgerald fit his role perfectly - didn't have to "act", just played himself and it worked well.
Would not do well in theaters today because it is clearly vintage script and direction, but take it for what it is and .... pow !
When you wake up (as I did this morning) with "Hang on Sloopy" playing in your head, you know it's gonna be a great day.
ASL Practice (I am Struggling)
* with added narration *
Translation: Peace. I have 3 children. One son, two daughters. My son is strong, big, smart but not pretty. My daughters are smart and pretty. Peace.
Bargain ($2, used) DVDs at a local warehouse
I know, I know ...."you actually bought The Last Samurai ? ? "
"Art"
In Color and B&W (.... wait 3 seconds)
(or, maybe just "coloring book therapy")
They Don't Sing 'em Like This Anymore
Many long years ago, when my Dad was a devoted Sinatra fan, I argued with him (Dad, not Sinatra) about that. "He never hit a note in his life", I said. "He's so out of touch with this generation", I said.
Well, I was right on both accounts. But not much later in life I came to realize that hitting notes is not so very important (ask Ella, Mel, Coleman, Oscar, Miles, Chet ..... etc etc etc), and very soon I myself was out of touch with "this generation".
Back to Sinatra .... he had a stage presence you could not argue with. He had a style that had fans for generations.
And I really miss listening to those scratchy 78rpm records that Dad played endlessly.
Thank you, Pete, for sending this clip.
The New Gates to The Shire (Chris' & Mike's)
The posts are embedded in concrete down 6'.
Andy Warhol would approve .....
(I have since got a haircut :) )
Donald Trump gets inaugurated today. Worst POS human being there is, but he is now the President and I promise to give his administration 4 years before I pass sentence on him in that capacity.
On a much more important topic. Godzilla is at it again this morning......
The Christian Science Monitor in 2025
This is my annual plug for the CSM and its very unbiased reporting and commentary. As I've said many times, if you are looking for an incendiary view of the news, this is definitely NOT for you. If anything, you will be bored (and maybe annoyed ! ) with their even-handedness of the news and commentary. So if your looking for "news" that simply reinforces what you want to believe, again.... not a good source for you.
But if you want a pretty much dead even accounting of what is happening in the world, Go Here.
And, hey .... let's be careful out there.
Found Memories
Lovely little (very slow going) movie in Portuguese (I think). Dialog is sparse so it's easy to follow along the English captions. Forgot how I stumbled onto this many years back. Bought a used DVD from a library.
"The cemetery is closed."
"Who closed it ?"
"God."
.webp)
