More Flowers

On the side of the driveway.

These blooms never last long, except this year with the rain we've have many for more than a week.

Remember that Sucking Noise

In a true pet love moment Bobby Jenkins of Hawk Springs, Wyoming saved his lab, "Tank" by sucking rattlesnake venom out of the dog's bitten nose.
Bobby told Examiner.com reporter Larry Berreth...

"It was 20 minutes to town and I knew he would not make it. So I grabbed his nose and started sucking the rattlesnake poison out of the top of his nose and spit it on the ground."

Parts my childhood are memories if my little brothers having runny noses and making that sucking noise rather than wipe their their nose. The parents were always trying to correct this disgusting habit, but how do you stop a boy from being a boy. Scott and Bruce were the worst, Douglas not so much.

Bass

This fish is still alive, shortly before it was set free in the lake.

Five plus pounds.

Found out afterwards when I suggested that this would have been good to eat, my son has never cleaned a fish, he has always practiced "catch and release". Altruistic, no, he just does not want to clean the fish.

In my experience, filleting fish is easier than scaling fish and both are easier than clean duck.

Stimulus

Notice, these people are not smiling, this is not a big joke or habitual teasing of socialists. This heartfelt, people who know that the otehr shoe has to fall.

Milk

A movie released in Jauary 2008, directed by Gus Van Sant, the same who gave us Good Will Hunting and My Own Private Idaho (a personal favorite with Keanu Reeves and River Pheonix).


This is the true life story of Harvey Milk, an early seventies emerging leader of gay activism who after many failed candidacies was elected as California's first openly gay elected official. The movie is offered in the format of Milk's flashbacks revisted during a self-recorded epiloge. Starting at the age of 40 in New York City, Harvey meets Scott and the couple moves to San Francisco. There, the couple opens a camera shop in a district known as The Castro. Starting from his rejection as an openly gay business owner Milk organizes a pro-gay business alliance. From this Harvey Milk discovers a passion for politics and runs for various offices for close to 5 years before being elected. The position City Supervisor puts him at political odds with another newly elected named Dan White who is a Roman Catholic from a blue collar region of the city. San Francisco, fresh out of the hippie phase is a community ripe for Harvey's kind of politics. Dan White finds himself on the political outside. In frustration White quits, tries to get reinstated and then Mayor George Moscone refuses. For this White assassinates the Mayor and Harvey Milk.

• Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, the openly gay, and politically activist San Francisco City Supervisor. A role for which Penn received the Best Actor Oscar.
• Emile Hirsch as Cleve Jones, plays Harvey Milk's last boyfriend, an emotionally dependent man who commits suicide.
• Josh Brolin as San Francisco Supervisor Dan White, a good job here as Milk's political enemy.
• Diego Luna as Jack Lira, a Mexican actor that is crossing over to Hollywood
  productions.
• James Franco as Scott Smith, a busy actor over the last decade, nothing
  impressive, good in this role as Milk's true love.

I give this movie a rating of 33 of 50.

• Character Development, 7 of 10, Milk as the main character begins as a closeted homosexual, becomes a gay activist.
• Screenplay, 6 of 10. This won an award for best screenplay, I found it to feel more like a 20-20 docu-drama.
• Acting, 7 of 10, Penn won for best actor, but I found the part to feel like a reprise of the retarded "Sam" role for which he received much acclaim.
• Photography, 6 of 10.
• Plot, 7 of 10, feel like I could have gotten the same from a textbook.

I was not inspired by this movie, found it to be over-rated.

Do the Right Thing

Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back To America
By Mike Huckabee
Published by Sentinel of the Penguin Group, Copyright 2008, 216 pages

A Christmas gift, and a book written by a current political figure. Mike Huckabee is the other governor from Hope Arkansas. In the 2008 he made a surprise showering in Republican primaries. Cast by the mainstream media and republican rivals, as an niche candidate with a strong religious following.
My first choice was Duncan Hunter, who by the time the primaries rolled through Georgia, was barely an asterisk. Like Hunter, Huckabee endorses the Fair Tax, this by itself I consider to be strong selling point. If applied properly, the Fair Tax would remove the staid practice of politicians playing class warfare with promises of punishing the successful to win the backing of low end of the economic demographic spectrum. At least for a while till they figure out a new path for social equalization. The Fair Tax would promote capital investment, and retard employment expatriation.
Enough about that, if he runs again and hold true to Fair Tax he has my vote.
A governor of Arkansas, the author points to many achievements. These are pluses for all governors who are by design miniature Presidents. These same attributes are often both appealing in political races and isolating in national practice.
Huckabee makes clear his beliefs...

• Lower taxes are better than higher taxes.
• The purpose of government is to protect us, to to provide for us. We should provide for ourselves.The best government is self-government.
• If there must be a form of civil government, it should be as limited as possible, and as local as possible.
• The most local government is ideal in that it is closer to those being governed and therefore must be accountable to the governed.
• Peace for a nation is best achieved by having a superior military capacity than those who pose a threat.
• Government should facilitate and not complicate the free enterprise system.Excessive taxation, regulation, and unmitigated litigation lead to job migration.
• Government intervention and regulation should be the court of last resort not the first option in anything.
• Mothers and fathers raise better children than governments do.
• Government should undergird the basic family structure and not undermine it.
• The Constitution and Bill of Rights were written to limit and restrict the government from interfering with the rights of it's citizens, not from keeping the citizens from exercising their rights.
• Small business is the backbone of the American economy, and we should make it easier not harder for an aspiring entrepreneur to succeed.

That as he says "all straight forward enough" and goes on to express that is the value set about which the Republican part needs to coalesce.
Not high art, the book reads like any television commentator's book, mimicking the spoken narrative. I enjoyed the book. Give it a try.

A Tea Party Picture

Have been reading the new Levin book, I think that this man would agree with his philosophy.

We need a reset button.

Can't Hear?

This morning I was at the local convenience store getting my coffee.
Standing next to me fixing her coffee was a semi-elderly lady.
She smiled and said "good morning, how are you".
I responded with a "good morning, I'm good, but late for work".
She tilted her head to the side and asked "you're a virgin?".
Before I could correct her she said "well don't be impatient honey".
For real.
I was speechless, paid for my coffee and headed to work.

70 Years Ago Yesterday

Scott will appreciate this.
Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of the first commercial FM radio station.

That by itself is unremarkable, the station makes it more so, WDRC of Connecticut. Home of Walt Dibble and the Big D.

Walt Dibble is the father of Cincinnati Red pitcher, former Nasty Boy, now ESPN commentator.

Front Yard Roses

This bush always does well at the start of the season. Then the crepe myrtle tree fills out and the cow lillies grow tall and shade denudes the bush.

This time of the year is lots of work in the yard.

Pam Says Brother's Blanket Smells Like Ass

Maybe Douglas has been playing too much Donkey Ball.
As if the English need ammunition to look down their noses at the Americans, the site Telegraph.co.uk carries this story about the terrible fund raisers who torture donkeys for sport and donations.
It's terrible, just terrible.
PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals) representatives said....

Under pressure from organisations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), however, school districts in states including Oregon, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania have banned the activity.
PETA claims the sport is cruel because donkeys are confused in the chaos and are often dragged, kicked and whipped to make them perform.
They also say the animals can be hurt by overweight riders and are deprived of food and water for several hours before a game so they do not foul on the basketball court.

New Jersey, no problem, just have the students ride the hairy backs of Italian men.

Broken English

On Friday night, finally opened the two week old Netflix envelope and pulled this out, cannot remember selecting the movie, so I have no remembrance of the reason. Perhaps for the lead role, Parker Posey, now thirty something, has kept my interest since seventies period piece Dazed and Confused.
This movie was released in the summer of 2007.

Movie was written and directed by Zoe R. Cassavetes, who is the daughter of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands.

The plot....
Simple, a woman born to wealth, well educated, good looking, is discouraged, all of the men she dates seem to fall short of her expectations. This has developed into paranoia of becoming a spinster, leading to excessive drinking, one-night stands, and depression and anxiety attacks. Encouraged to grow by her best friend and by her mother by trying unfamiliar social settings, she attends the housewarming party of a co-worker. At the party she has a couple of drinks and is ready to make a mad dash for the security of home. At the elevator door, she meets a friend of the co-worker, just getting off the elevator. The man, wearing a straw hat and tee-shirt, is French and speaks broken English in a very charismatic manner. The man convinces her to stay for a few drinks, a few drinks turn into a long walk through the streets of New York City, all in search of experience. Back at her apartment, they meet another friend and enjoy some wine; she in a haze wanders into the bedroom and falls asleep. The man being a gentleman sleeps in a chair and fixes breakfast for her to wake up to. When she wakes she is surprised that he is still there, perhaps even scared, this is unfamiliar ground for a girl who used to sneaking out in the dark of early morning. A strong friendship and love bond form in the short time before he has to return to France. He invites her to come to Paris, and while she is surely in love with him, feels tied to responsibilities and more so fears the leap of faith that it will require.
After he leaves, she returns to her work and ways of anxiety, she misses him. Her funk causes the beginning of an employee reprimand, during which she quits her job. Shortly after she convinces her best friend to fly to Paris with her in search of Julian. Under the pretense of delivering documents for her husbands business, the two women go to Paris and friend, a newlywed has a tryst with the man receiving the package. She cannot find him; both are to return home, when she decides at the last minute to stay a little longer, not so much to search for Julian but to make it more of an adventure in personal growth. After getting out there and starting to feel stronger, she is out of money, needs to return home, on the subway to the airport, Julian gets on. She gets up the nerve to approach him, explains that she came to Paris to look for him but is on the way to the airport to return home. Julian, at the next stop, take her bag and her hand and pulls her out of the subway car, they go outside to a café, where he says that she is going to miss her plane. Movie goes to black.

The cast…..

• Parker Posey as Nora Wilder, she of minor parts in a number of movies I have enjoyed, Dazed and Confused, You’ve Got Mail, and The Sweetest Thing. Parker Posey has a smile that lights up the screen. In research I found out that Posey is 41 years old, that surprised me.
• Melvil Poupaud as Julian, the French film editor and object of Nora’s break from her relationship pattern. Plays this part very well, at time the silence and body language project a confident man but having fear and loss like any other person.


• Drea de Matteo as Audrey Andrews, Nora’s best friend, and new wife of her rich ex-boyfriend. Drea, of The Soprano’s, has a unique presence playing the Italian Madonna part her again. The role is not that of a likable character, if not selfish, but the actress play it well.


• Gena Rowlands as Vivien Wilder-Mann playing Nora’s mother, another role with some unlikable characteristics, but having loving intent for her daughter. Ms. Rowland's has had a long distinguished career, of late starring in The Notebook. Rowlands is the mother of the director.
• Peter Bogdanovich as Irving Mann, playing Nora’s step father. Also, of The Soprano’s, a director of enormous achievement.

You might guess that I really enjoyed the movie, after a slow start in development of plot, this evolved into something I wanted to watch again as soon as it was over. Told the bride that she should watch the movie and she did, got bored with it, said it reminded her of that movie I took her to on our first date, Whit Stillman’s Barcelona. This was funny to me because I had enjoyed the movie for its similarities in style to the Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan.

I give this movie a rating of 45 of 50.

• Character Development, 10 of 10.
• Screenplay, 9 of 10.
• Acting, 10 of 10
• Photography, 7 of 10. The city thing.
• Plot, 9 of 10.

Watch it.