Sunday Filler two days late

People are interested in birds only inasmuch as they exhibit human behavior—greed and stupidity and anger—and by doing so free us from the unique sorrow of being human.
Douglas Coupland, author

Foreign movies. Why is it that I have to turn the volume up to make sure I don’t miss anything said, when it is all written out for me and I wouldn’t be able to understand a word if it wasn’t? The movie I was watching was Volver with Penélope Cruz, which turned out to be a nice movie.

"Stranger than Fiction." I thoroughly enjoyed this Will Ferrell movie that featured Emma Thompson, along with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, and Queen Latifah.

Writing this. I am sitting here in my den trying to think of something to write when I notice several birds flying into the garage. I walk into the garage to kick them out and it’s like an Alfred Hitchcock movie, they came after me, and then left. We have an issue with birds around here; well I have an issue with birds around here. They think they own the place. They have made homes under the eves of the roof, from which I have had to evict them because I am not excited about cleaning up their droppings. Now before you think that I am just mean, we have a little bird feeder on the tree out front, but are they grateful? No. Instead they attack the windshield wiper’s on wife’s car. I go out there and pull the wipers up to stop them. I tried to get the bird in action, but the digital camera is too slow.

Sunday Filler

Dangerous Beauty
In your high school photo
You looked so young and naïve
M. Jagger/K. Richards, rock singers

Neo-Cons. The post below about the guns was posted in anger after I was so disgusted with neo-conservative comments on a couple of blogs. I have to say that people who are so righteous in their beliefs depress the hell out of me. To me most things in life are gray, but the righteous right see it as only black or white. I can’t even fathom that kind of thinking. To me there are only a number of issues that are black and white. However, I have no interest in debating that or the shades of gray in life. You may have even noticed that I have largely limited my Bush bashing. There is no sense.

"Notes on a Scandal." What an excellent movie. A great story and outstanding acting by Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, and Bill Nighy was fabulous too. I highly recommend it.

You Tube. I am familiar with the site and have posted videos from it, but I never really explored it. Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours viewing a number of the Rolling Stones’ videos. Some of them brought back a lot of memories of watching them on the Midnight Special or the early years of MTV. I posted one of the silly ones by the Stones “She’s So Hot.” Followed by the complete opposite “She’s So Cold.”

Midlife Crisis. I was chatting with a friend yesterday, who is just months away from qualifying for AARP membership, and he told me he is having an affair with a 22-year-old. The guy who cuts my hair is also in the same age category, he is divorced, but he too dated a 20-year-old. I guess midlife crisis are real and it’s a crisis for all concerned.


Gradnite '75. This is me at gradnite with my first love. Where is she today? No idea. When I received this picture a few weeks ago, it was the first time I had seen it since the day it arrived. I hated that picture of me. My girlfriend at the time still looks exactly the same in my mind.

Sunday Filler

If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen are defrocked, shouldn't it follow that cowboys would be deranged?
Cowboy quote found through Google

Cowboys. I love westerns, not all westerns, but the “good ones.” Long ago, when I was a kid, the Rifleman was one of those shows. Recently I discovered that it’s on every night on the western channel. It was a time when crises had nicely wrapped endings and there were no ambiguities. When Lucas McCain was challenged, the town of Northfork threatened or his TV son Mark endangered, McCain answered with his

repeating Winchester rifle, unrealistically faster than a quick-draw firing off his pistol. The best episodes are the ones directed by Sam Peckinpah.

Here is a little bit of Rifleman trivia from Wikipedia:

• Conners played with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, briefly.
• In the opening titles of The Rifleman, Connors fires a Winchester repeating rifle 12 times. The Winchester 1892 only held 10 rounds.
• Connor's height is listed by the Dodgers as 6'5".
  At a party given by U.S. President Nixon at the Western White House in San Clemente, California, in June, 1973, Connors was introduced to Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union.. The Rifleman was one of the few American shows allowed on Russian television at that time because it was Brezhnev's favorite. Connors and Brezhnev hit it off so well that in December 1973, Connors traveled to the Soviet Union where he presented Brezhnev with two engraved Colt revolvers and filmed a documentary.

Movies. Within the last month, I watched two movies about magicians (“The Prestige” and “The Illusionist”) and enjoyed both even though neither movie was great. They were fun to watch. I have to say I learned a bit more about magicians from “The Prestige,” well at least what the title means.

Fish. My new favorite barbecued fish is Orange Roughy now that I am tired of Salmon. However, today is Sunday and the young Republican has to have her Tri-tip, which is fine with me too because it complements a nice heavy red wine. Then I can settle in and watch the "Tudors" and the "Sopranos."

Miscellaneous Notes

“It’s Easter; living by the days,” Joe Cocker
“I was just gonna say, don’t get hung up about Easter,” Leon Russell
From the CD "Mad Dogs and Englishmen," 1970

Presidential Campaign. In my humble opinion, the presidential campaign has started so early because there is Bush fatigue; both sides want him out of office.

Vacation. The little Republican is on a long weekend cruise.

Cable Season. I’m looking forward to the "Sopranos" tonight and "The Tutors." Also waiting for "Big Love" and "Weeds."

Dinner. Attended a very nice and thoughtful dinner last night given by friend Sylvia. She thanked her close friends for being friends. It was very sweet.

Trees. I am amazed at how fast the leaves have appeared on the trees around the house. While I look forward to their shade this summer, I dread the fall and the mess they make. Not a bad worry to have.

Baseball. Thank goodness for baseball. It’s just such a wonderful sport. Unfortunately, everything about it outside of the white lines seems to want to detract from the game: owners, salaries, steroids, parking fees.

Personal Tidbit. I am an excellent ping-pong player. My closest competitor wins maybe three out of 15 games. I need new competition. I am not talking national ping-pong championship style; I am talking about playing in the garage. Hey, one has to emphasize one’s positive attributes where they can be found.