If you guessed Casablanca, you win.
It was weekend of movies. We saw Casablanca Sunday, on Rogers pay-per-view, and Saturday we went to see All The King's Men. I mentioned Casablanca first because it stands the test of time. Like an old friend, it has a few minor flaws but I love it and besides - who could resist Bogie? All the King's Men was very good and Sean Penn gives a powerful performance, but there are dramatic moments followed by lulls that maybe could have been fixed. Naturally, it's a great story with lots of plot twists and turns. Sometime, I'm going to watch the original movie version since some critics say it is better than the 2006 version.
Speaking of Bogart, the man in my life said he'd heard that Bogart and Ed Sullivan were brothers. That bothered me and I had to check it out. It isn't true. It's merely one of those legends that someone started. Don't people have better things to do and don't I have better things to do than to disprove said legend? Well, sure, and I mean to get to them. Right after I take a walk through the autumn leaves.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Thursday, September 14, 2006
If it Bleeds, It Leads - Gore Sells
The shootings in Montreal yesterday at Dawson College are featured on the front page of our local paper, The Record. The two lead articles are about the "rampage" and I don't disagree with their placement. But - there's a picture - and a huge one of students leaving the college and at the bottom of the picture, there's the blood and the covered body of the gunman.
Gee thanks - I really needed to see that. My twelve year old grandson really needs to see it too. He reads the paper every day. I don't subscribe to the paper and only saw it by accident while having coffee at Tims. And you can be sure I'm not going to subscribe anytime soon.
Gee thanks - I really needed to see that. My twelve year old grandson really needs to see it too. He reads the paper every day. I don't subscribe to the paper and only saw it by accident while having coffee at Tims. And you can be sure I'm not going to subscribe anytime soon.
Wildlife and A Wild Life
Yesterday, people in the area were told to watch out for escaped bison and a couple of weeks ago, there was a black bear wandering somewhere on the outskirts of the city. But it won't be long before any large animal will have no space to hide in around here. I've had the opportunity to tour the outskirts, or what used to be the outskirts of Kitchener Waterloo. There are so many new subdivisions going in that I began to wonder if I was seeing Calgary.
What the hell are the so-called planners thinking? They're building houses in environmentally fragile areas and, according to the man in my life, one huge subdivision is being built on land that will surely sink. At this rate, we'll soon become just another suburb of Toronto. The Region and the Province keep talking about improving the "transit corridor" between this area and the Big Smoke, but nothing happens.
Since I live in what the city refers to as the Civic Centre area I do have the luxury of visiting any of the three court houses, if I want to be entertained. The court house that is closest to my apartment building is going to be renovated. It's the Family Court and they need a new court room that will be designed for children's needs. That's fine, but the contractor wants to work on the building from 5 in the evening until 6 in the morning so that the court will not be shut down. That's not fine at all, and no one in the neighbourhood was notified of the contractor's intent until the last second. The contractor claims not to have known about the anti-noise bylaw. City council has not approved an exemption yet, and if local residents can protest loudly enough, maybe the council will stand firm. I hope so, because I'd like to have a few quiet months before spring arrives and the city begins tearing up the street on the far side of this building to replace water and sewage lines and repave.
I've been reading "Floor Sample," Julia Cameron's memoir about her life. She wrote The Artist's Way and The Artist's Way at Work and several other books about the creative life. The Artist's Way at Work is on my bookshelf. I read it a few years ago and found that writing morning pages helped me to clarify why I didn't want to work at the community centre any more. So, I was interested in finding out more about Julia Cameron. She's led a "wild" life in many ways and seems to have always followed her creative instincts, sometimes without remembering to care for herself.
I'm going to write my morning pages again for a while and see what they tell me.
What the hell are the so-called planners thinking? They're building houses in environmentally fragile areas and, according to the man in my life, one huge subdivision is being built on land that will surely sink. At this rate, we'll soon become just another suburb of Toronto. The Region and the Province keep talking about improving the "transit corridor" between this area and the Big Smoke, but nothing happens.
Since I live in what the city refers to as the Civic Centre area I do have the luxury of visiting any of the three court houses, if I want to be entertained. The court house that is closest to my apartment building is going to be renovated. It's the Family Court and they need a new court room that will be designed for children's needs. That's fine, but the contractor wants to work on the building from 5 in the evening until 6 in the morning so that the court will not be shut down. That's not fine at all, and no one in the neighbourhood was notified of the contractor's intent until the last second. The contractor claims not to have known about the anti-noise bylaw. City council has not approved an exemption yet, and if local residents can protest loudly enough, maybe the council will stand firm. I hope so, because I'd like to have a few quiet months before spring arrives and the city begins tearing up the street on the far side of this building to replace water and sewage lines and repave.
I've been reading "Floor Sample," Julia Cameron's memoir about her life. She wrote The Artist's Way and The Artist's Way at Work and several other books about the creative life. The Artist's Way at Work is on my bookshelf. I read it a few years ago and found that writing morning pages helped me to clarify why I didn't want to work at the community centre any more. So, I was interested in finding out more about Julia Cameron. She's led a "wild" life in many ways and seems to have always followed her creative instincts, sometimes without remembering to care for herself.
I'm going to write my morning pages again for a while and see what they tell me.
Friday, September 08, 2006
It 'Themes' to Me
A friend remarked that she seems to write about the same thing in many of her stories and I started to think about that. Sometimes I'm a slow thinker but once in a while I have a flash. I'd think it was a hot flash, if I wasn't too old to have them. I seem to have an object fetish. When I write, I like to change the role of ordinary things like chocolate, or brushes or slippers and I guess I'm also fascinated by death and being near death and lost chances for love and connection. Just your typical writerly fascinations, I suppose.
I've been participating in an online discussion about what love is and men and women's different approaches to it. It's fascinating to read what some young people think love is. As for me, I'm in the same camp as Scott Peck. I think love is not primarily a feeling (though, believe me I enjoy the feeling) but an activity and an opportunity for spiritual development for both people.
Okay, that's more than enough high-falutin' philosophizing for one blog. It's time for nitty gritty things - like putting one sentence after another. Maybe I can even manage to write a whole paragraph without rereading and changing every sentence as I go along.
Maybe.
I've been participating in an online discussion about what love is and men and women's different approaches to it. It's fascinating to read what some young people think love is. As for me, I'm in the same camp as Scott Peck. I think love is not primarily a feeling (though, believe me I enjoy the feeling) but an activity and an opportunity for spiritual development for both people.
Okay, that's more than enough high-falutin' philosophizing for one blog. It's time for nitty gritty things - like putting one sentence after another. Maybe I can even manage to write a whole paragraph without rereading and changing every sentence as I go along.
Maybe.
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