JACK'S BACK, and this time it's personal!
DATE AND STATUS: Sunday, October 7th, 2012, and when I'm in New York City on November 14th, 2012, I'm getting to go and see the legendary Patti LuPone and three-time Oscar Nominated, Debra Winger, in David Mamet's new play of "The Anarchist." How about that sports fan!
Quote of the Day by Samuel Johnson: "One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing child."
DATE AND STATUS: Sunday, October 7th, 2012, and when I'm in New York City on November 14th, 2012, I'm getting to go and see the legendary Patti LuPone and three-time Oscar Nominated, Debra Winger, in David Mamet's new play of "The Anarchist." How about that sports fan!
Quote of the Day by Samuel Johnson: "One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing child."
Hello, I think I'm going to go the next Turner Classic Movie (TCM) movie festival which will be held next April 27th, to the 30th of April, 2013. I may be a little off in my date, but that is an approximation. Wanna come with me? Do you like classic movies? Come on, it will be fun.
I know you haven't heard from me in a couple of days, actually, it's almost been a week, but, I've been somewhat busy. Like you, I have many things on the go, and while I do my best to prioritize my activities, things always come up to surprise and upset my timetable. For me, last night it was my sister, Shawna, calling me to tell me that my three-year old niece, Sophia, had been admitted to McMaster Hospital with a pneumonia.
My sister is quite naturally worried, and so am I, I mean Sophia is still a toddler, so I'm asking all of you to include my precious, adorable, niece in your prayers, as am I. I told my sister not to worry and that if a person is sick, usually the best place for them to be is in the hospital. Usually, and as long as they don't encounter a doctor like the one that I had recently treating me. Anyway, enough about that one, for at least now.
The biggest and most demanding item that takes up my time, and Mac's, is this blasted wound on my left knee. Not only do I have to try and keep it elevated whenever I'm not using my legs, but, twice a week, (are you ready for this oxymoron,) Mac and I have to go to North Bay to get "home care."
Each time we go to North Bay to get the home care, the trip takes up valuable time, ranging anywhere from four to seven hours. We have to take the boat to get to the mainland, and then vice versa when we head back to our gorgeous home on the lake.
Depending on the mood of lake, whether or not its calm, or if the North Wind has caused the lake to be quite turbulent with large, choppy, scary waves, which makes the driving of said boat, slower, well, you have to be safe, and you don't want to frighten poor beloved little Angel, and/or me. Okay, I confess, you don't want to frighten me.
That' s the home care part of my life, the rest of the time, the dressing on the wound needs to be changed twice daily by Mac, who has to not only clean the wound, but has to apply medication to it, and then carefully bandage it, so as not to hurt my very delicate, damaged skin, and finally wrap gauze all around it, and then re wrap it to ensure that it holds up.
You probably think dressing my wound is quite a simple task, but it takes Mac a while to do this task, as Mac is very methodical in his approach, he carefully examines, and scrutinizes the wound to keep track of it's progress, or lack of progress.
Mac takes daily takes pictures of the wound, and then examines the pictures carefully, and charts it all up so he has a good record. It's important to keep proper records people, and if you need any help in this regard, just call the wonderful Evelyn Seto at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, (WSIB) who will be more than happy to help you in this endeavour.
My other daily duties include incorporating daily writing tips that I receive from into my writing, and, it is like taking a course at a University, except the University comes to my website, regardless of the location of schooling, the work, and the homework is still the same, alot.
Some of you may have noticed that my vocabulary continues to improve, this is due to my receiving, from Dictionary.com, a new word every day. While some of the words that I receive will never be incorporated into my speech, and/or my writing, receiving a new word every day is something that I look forward to every day, it's kind of like receiving a present every day, and I love to receive presents.
I'm also researching homes in Florida, so that come December, Mac, Angel and I can get away from the very cold, windy, dark winter months up here, at least for a little while.
I have got to finish my letters of complaint regarding a certain, ass of a doctor at the North Bay Hospital, and this has to be done in a timely manner, otherwise, what's the point.
I'm trying to catch up on my email, when I first logged on to The Camden Plus after getting out of the hospital, I saw that I had over two thousand new emails, and while some of those emails are spam, the bulk of them are not, and will require my personal attention.
As do my friends on the phone, and everything else, they all require my personal attention and take time. Sometimes, I wonder where the day has gone.
Just so you know, I am still mourning the death of the soap opera, "All My Children," (AMC,) and I am in deep withdrawl of not having Susan Lucci, aka, Erica Cane, brighten up my day. I did start watching sister soap operas, "Days of our Lives," (DOOL) and "The Young and the Restless" (Y&R)to fill the void of AMC, and while DOOL is getting interesting, and I'm beginning to know and understand its characters, I haven't yet appreciated why everyone loves the Y and the R so much. But I'll get there, like everything else that is new, it takes time to appreciate novel things.
For those of you who detest getting up early in the morning, try turning the negative into a positive by looking out your window to catch the beautiful sun rise, just like I did, and do every day. I love getting up early, I feel it's just me with the world.
A lot of nature is still sleeping, and its interesting to watch as everything gradually wakes up, the squirrels are busy gathering and collecting nuts to prepare them for the harshness of Winter, the birds are especially working hard, searching for food that may still be sleeping making it easier for them to catch it, and get it in their bellies or to their nests.
I'm told that fishing is at its best first thing in the morning, and it is on my bucket list to get out there and do it one of these mornings, its just that usually, I'm so in awe of the view, that I end up doing nothing but meditating on the beauty of the world.
I also do transcendental meditation twice a day as it helps keep me relaxed and focused. Trust me, I know what you're thinking, but believe me, I would be even more scrambled if I didn't meditate.
So many of the sun rises offer spectacular colours that artists love, and hope to capture for their work, when ever I see a sun rise (or sun set for that matter,) I know for a fact that there is a God, as only he could create something so magical.
I thank God for all these blessings he has bestowed to me, and to you, to all of us. You know, watching a beautiful sunrise is absolutely free, so take advantage of it, it just might change your outlook for the day.
I wish I could learn how to load pictures into my blog so I could share with you pictures that I've taken of sunrises, sunsets, and the moon looming over the lake at three o'clock in wee small hours of the morning. While I'm not Ansel Adams, I am getting better at taking pictures.
It takes time to live, and unfortunately, I'm not Superman, consequently, I am only posting when I can, however, don't fret, some days things go faster than other days, and I will be able to enlighten you on a movie that I have never seen before. Today, that movie is "The Big Lebowski."
"The Big Lebowski" is a 1998 comedy film and is a genial, shambling comedy about a human train wreck, and should come with a warning like the one Mark Twain attached to ``Huckleberry Finn'': ``Persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.''
Written and directed by the Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, Jeff Bridges stars as Jeff Lebowski,
a Los Angeles slacker, and avid bowler, who is referred to (and also refers to himself) as "The Dude".
The Dude has a goatee, pot belly, ponytail, he's behind on rent, and is also stone-cold unemployed. The Dude is the laziest man in Los Angeles County. He's the last person on earth that kidnappers would reasonably mistake for a millionaire with a trophy wife, which is the central joke in "The Big Lebowski!"
The goons of course have the wrong Lebowski, but before they figure that out, one already has urinated on the Dude's rug, causing deep enmity: "That rug really tied the room together,'' the Dude mourns.
The Dude decides to seek compensation for the rug from the other Jeffrey Lebowski. The next day, the titular "Big" Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire, refuses The Dude's request. The Dude meets Bunny Lebowski, (Tara Reid,) the Big Lebowski's nymphomaniac trophy wife, while leaving the premises with a rug taken from the mansion.
Days later, the Big Lebowski contacts The Dude, revealing that Bunny has been kidnapped. He asks The Dude to act as a courier for the million-dollar ransom because The Dude will be able to confirm whether or not the kidnappers were the same thugs. Later, a different set of thugs enter The Dude's apartment, knock him unconscious, and steal his new rug.
When Bunny's kidnappers call to arrange the ransom exchange, Walter tries to convince The Dude to keep the money and give the kidnappers a "ringer" suitcase filled with his dirty underwear. The kidnappers escape with the ringer, and The Dude and Walter are left with the million-dollar ransom. Later that night, The Dude's car is stolen, along with the briefcase filled with money.
The Dude receives a message from the Big Lebowski's daughter, Maude, played by Julianne Moore ,who played a porno actress in "Boogie Nights,'' and whose versatility as an actress seems boundless, here plays an altogether different kind of erotic artist; she covers her body with paint, and hurls herself through the air in a leather harness,and admits to hiring the criminals who knocked him unconscious.
The Dude visits Maude at her art studio, and she reveals that Bunny is a porn starlet working for Jackie Treehorn. She agrees with The Dude's suspicion that Bunny kidnapped herself and asks The Dude to recover the ransom, as it was illegally withdrawn by her father from a charity.
The Big Lebowski angrily confronts The Dude over his failure to hand over the money, and hands The Dude an envelope sent to him by the kidnappers which contains a severed toe, presumably Bunny's.
The Dude later receives a message that his car has been found. Mid-message, three German nihilists invade the Dude's apartment, identifying themselves as the kidnappers. They interrogate and threaten him for the ransom money.
The Dude returns to Maude's studio, where she identifies the German nihilists as Bunny's friends. The Dude picks up his car from the police, but the briefcase with the ransom money is still missing. He and Walter track down the supposed thief, a teenager named Larry Sellers. Their confrontation with Larry is unsuccessful, and the Dude and Walter leave without getting any money or information.
Jackie Treehorn's thugs return to The Dude's apartment to bring him to Treehorn's beach house in Malibu. Treehorn inquires about the whereabouts of Bunny, and the money, offering him a cut of any funds recovered. Treehorn then drugs The Dude's drink and The Dude passes out.
After a surreal dream blending the themes of bowling, the Persian Gulf War, Maude’s “vaginal” art, and the nihilists, The Dude wakes up in a police car and is then placed in front of the police chief of Malibu.
The police chief verbally and physically assaults The Dude and warns him not to return to Malibu. After a cab ride home, The Dude exits and a red sports car zooms past. Bunny is driving, with all ten toes intact. The Dude is greeted by Maude Lebowski, who seduces him.
During post-coital conversation with Maude, The Dude learns that she hopes to conceive a child with him, but wants him to have no hand in the child's upbringing. He also finds out that, despite appearances, her father has no money of his own. Maude's late mother was the rich one, and she left her money exclusively to the family charity.
In a flash, The Dude unravels the whole scheme: when the Big Lebowski heard that Bunny was kidnapped, he used it as a pretense for an embezzlement scheme, in which he withdrew the ransom money from the family charity to keep for himself. He gave an empty briefcase to The Dude (who would be the fall guy on whom he pinned the theft,) and was content to let the kidnappers kill Bunny.
Meanwhile, it is now clear that the kidnapping was itself a ruse. While Bunny took an unannounced trip, the nihilists (her friends) alleged a kidnapping in order to get money from her husband. The Dude and Walter arrive at the Big Lebowski residence, finding Bunny back at home from her trip.
They confront the Big Lebowski with their version of the events. The affair apparently over, the Dude and his bowling teammates are suddenly confronted by the nihilists, who have set The Dude's car on fire. They once again demand the million dollars.
After hearing what The Dude and Walter know, the nihilists demand all the money in their pockets. Walter responds by biting one nihilist's ear off, throwing a bowling ball at another's ribs, and knocking the final nihilist unconscious with their portable radio. However, in the aftermath, Donny, played by Steve Buscemi, a member of Walter and The Dude's bowling team, has a heart attack and dies.
Walter and The Dude go to a cliff overlooking a beach to scatter Donny's ashes. After an informal eulogy which Walter turns into a tribute to the Vietnam War and accidentally covers The Dude with Donny's ashes, Walter suggests, "Fuck it, Dude. Let's go bowling." "The Stranger" at the bar of the bowling alley hints that Maude may be pregnant with a "little Lebowski".
The Dude tends to have colorful hallucinations when he's socked in the jaw or pounded on the head, which happens often, and one of them involves a musical comedy sequence inspired by Busby Berkeley. (It includes the first point-of-view shot in history from inside a bowling ball.)
Since its original release, "The Big Lebowski," loosely based on Raymond Chandler's novel, "The Big Sleep," has become a cult classic, noted for its idiosyncratic characters, dream sequences, unconventional dialogue, and eclectic soundtrack.
One of the film's indisputable triumphs is its soundtrack, which mixes Carter Burwell's original score with classic pop tunes and some fabulous covers.
However, it's hard to believe that the Coens' first outing since winning screenwriting academy awards for "Fargo" (few movies could equal "Fargo,") is "The Big Lebowski." Although some of its parts are brilliantly executed, and played by a terrific cast, the result is sometimes scattered, over amplified and unsatisfying. There's a large amount of profanity in the movie, which seems a weak attempt to paper over dialogue gaps.
The film's premise is a tired idea, and it produces an episodic, unstrung film. It's as if there is a bunch of ideas shoveled into a bag, and it is allowed to spill out at random. The film is infuriating, and will win no prizes. But it does have some terrific jokes.
There is still the Coen Brothers inspired, absurdest taste for weird, peculiar Americana, but in this film it's a sort of neo-Americana that is entirely invented, the brothers have defined, and mastered their own bizarre sub genre. No one does it like them and, it almost goes without saying, no one does it better.
For those who delight in the Coens' divinely abstract take on reality, this is pure nirvana, and in a perfect world, all movies would be made by the Coen brothers.
To be sure, "The Big Lebowski" is packed with show-offy film making, and as a result is pretty entertaining. But insofar as it represents a moral position, and the Coens' relative styling of their figures invariably does, it's an elitist one, elevating salt-of-the-earth types like Bridges and Goodman, over everyone else in the movie.
The significance of the bowling culture was important in reflecting that period at the end of the fifties and the beginning of the sixties. That suited the retro side of the movie, slightly anachronistic, which sent us back to a not-so-far-away era, but one that was well and truly gone nevertheless.
Mr. Bridges finds a role so right for him that he seems never to have been anywhere else. Watch this performance to see shambling executed with nonchalant grace, and a seemingly out-to-lunch character played with fine comic flair. However, sometimes the Dude is too passive a hero to sustain interest, but there is enough startling brilliance here to suggest that, just like the Dude, those smarty-pants will abide.
Thanks to "The Big Lebowski" we now have an online religion devoted largely to spreading the philosophy and lifestyle of the movie's main character which was founded in 2005, and is simply known as Dudeism. It's also known as The Church of the Latter-Day Dude, the organization has ordained over 130,000 "Dudeist Priests" all over the world via its website.
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