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Recently saw Duck. Wow. It's the story about an elderly man whose only child dies in young adulthood.
Later he loses his wife after a long and expensive illness. He's got nothhing left and he's about to be evicted from
his Los Angeles apartment. He goes to the park to bury his wife's ashes and commit suicide. Then a baby duck whose
mother and siblings have been hit by a car comes up to him. He names him Joe and together they navigate a life on the
streets and meet a host of characters--some kind, some not so kind. This is an indie film. Some folks loved it--some
hated it. I loved it. Music by Leonard Cohen. I'd for sure check this out.
All the Little Animals - 1998. Bobby (Christian Bale), a mentally challenged young
man, runs away from home to escape an abusive stepfather (Daniel Benzali) who torments and slaughters Bobby's beloved pets.
During his travels, Bobby meets an old man (John Hurt) who spends his days protecting animals from speeding vehicles on the
highway and giving a proper burial to unfortunate road kill. The two become friends, but Bobby's hateful stepfather soon tracks
him down.
Bobby (Christian Bale), a mentally challenged young man, runs away from home to escape an
abusive stepfather (Daniel Benzali) who torments and slaughters Bobby's beloved pets. During his travels, Bobby meets an old
man (John Hurt) who spends his days protecting animals from speeding vehicles on the highway and giving a proper burial to
unfortunate road kill. The two become friends, but Bobby's hateful stepfather soon tracks him down.
Finally saw Hidalgo. I really liked it. The old Lakota man in the film is Floyd Red Crow Westerman.
He used to hang out with us when I lived in L.A. Hidalgo is about a mustang entered into a race against pure Arabians.
The horse is sacred among Native nations. In Lakota it is called Sunka Wakan or "Holy Dog." The
U.S. calvary used to kill these horses hundreds at a time because they knew the Indian people loved them and because it made
it harder for Natives to fight. About three years ago, former Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) and his ilk tried to eliminate
the last wild mustangs and burros--a herd size of less than 10,000. They are still under constant pressure from
ranchers who want to use public lands to graze their cattle at less than $1.50 per cow per month. They want to put most
of the mustangs up for auction where they will wind up in slaughter houses for foreign markets. The International Society
for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros is trying to save the horses and repatriate them back to Native lands. Please
look at their website. www.ispmb.org
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| Luther starring Joseph Fiennes is among my favorite films. |
You can know that any film bankrolled by Trident Lutheran about Martin Luther is going to have a budget big enough to
attract A list actors and it's going to be richly produced too. I liked the passion exhibited among the characters in
this film. Troubled times lead to passionate actions. I keep wondering where our Martin Luther is. Maybe
all of us have to be willing to challenge the status quo just a little bit. Small courageous acts can change the world.
Really. I believe this.
My brother bought me this book for my birthday along with its companion book, The Zombie Survival Guide.
At first I thought it was silly then I began to see the wisdom. Done in the Studs Terkel style--personal narratives,
it's first person accounts of what happens when a zombie epidemic strikes the global community and systems as we know it are
wiped out. The human race is down to survival. That's it folks. No more telephones, Internet, trash collection.
It's a fiction, but I keep it on my desk at work (I work for USAID) to remind me that while I live in the most developed country
in the world, you never know when my life could be reduced to survival. We help people who walk three hours to get to
school each day and sit in classrooms with no desks, chalk, books, or pencils. Our kids complain because we take away
their cell phones. It's all about perspective. This book put it there for me.
You bet I'm a Rolling Stones fan. I never could take the ticket stubb from the last Stones tour out of my jacket
pocket and I even had the priviledge of covering the Keith Richards solo tour while a journalist in Los Angeles in the late
80s. Thanks Keith, you are still my favorite. My boyfriend bought this for me. I had to watch it alone.
I don't think he's seen the side of me that comes out when the Stones take the stage.
If you want to protect big cats in the wild against poaching. This is a great site.
This one too. I could use some lucky mojo. Mugoddai isn't just a member of my family. He's my familiar. No, I'm not into black
magic, I just think the site is groovy.
That's me feeding the animals at the park.
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