THE MOVIE...'WAR HORSE'

War Horse....Good entertainment...lots of meaningful insights....but fantasy....
and fantasy is ok....
Especially when it is conditioned by plenty of reality....
But my goodness....the ending is soo syruppy.

Note the two cavalry charges...the one for practice...the other for real.

Good juxtaposition.

But the ending taints the picture... it needed to be a little more....real.

This is not a cartoon.

b.o.

We have postponed the military exercises with Israel so as not to upset iran.

Surein’, we would not want them to dislike us.
And now they are threatening their neighbors.
Say what???
iran, threatening neighboring states????

b.o. is in charge. He will handle it. He has the world well in hand.

Sure he does.

The United States will get the leader it deserves, no matter how bad that leader is.

As the chicago pols say, vote early and vote often. Go b.o.

Let's vote him in again. 
He has done such a memorable job.

DISCLAIMER

Freakin' is not the other word.

POLLS

The political debates are a bore.
Enough!!!

You would think that nothing else is going on in the world.

I wonder if in years gone by the political news was full of   POLLS or if it was full of points of view and arguments and speeches by the candidates.

POLLS are wonderous things....

God save us from freakin' polls!

AND SO IT GOES

You work withi a colleague for 20+ years.
You eat lunch together and argue politics and he coaches a soccer team against your own son.
It is a good game, a life time ago.
And you love every minute with him.
And then he dies.
You attended his wife's funeral.
And now he is gone.
And so are other colleagues.  And their wives.
And your high school teachers are almost all gone.
And even your college teachers.
And now your own professional colleagues.

And you go to an Irish pub in town with 11 friends and you remember and you sing and you request songs.
And you shed a tear.

And life goes on, whether or not we go on in this place.

And so it goes.

BLESSED

We took our Granddaughters to a science center and viewed bats with six-foot wingspans.

We will be going back to view the night sky.

We took them to an art institute and viewed Roman gold.

We bought and ate pizza together.
We go to church together.
We watch movies together.

We support their piano and bass lessons and attend their recitals.
And they spend occasional overnights with us.

And we get to do all these things in our little home town.
We are very, very blessed.

BOOKS AND TV

Currently reading, as possibly reported before, John Ford, Joe McBride. Not quite half through, on page 254.
‘Tis a long book.
December was busy.
The book is big, heavy, and full of all sorts of details about the director; his family; his profession; his private life; etc.
And lots of good pictures.

Another book just made known to me: The Widower’s Tale, Julia Glass.

Haven’t started it yet, but the jacket appeals: [paraphrased] Percy Darling is 70; is settling into retirement quite happily; reads novels and enjoys old movies; and likes to swim naked in his pond.

Now, there is an interesting fella.
I know someone very well who does most of those things.
All  but one.

I would promise to report on my progress but I forget to keep such promises…
As a friend at Church remarked, “It is hard to manage retired guys.”

Regarding TV currently watched: Our purchase of a large flat screen TV has seduced me into trying out a few shows…some of them delightful fantasies…but delightful nonetheless.

Season 2 of Downton Abbey is eagerly anticipated… truly a masterpiece.

And then the other little items: Person of Interest; Gifted Man; Terra Nova; Bluebloods; and Body of Proof.

All of them appeal. All have interesting messages, albeit not new.

Have never watched so much TV since being a youngster.