DVD Viewing

Here (below) is a quick overview of some of the DVDs I have watched recently. All were borrowed from the public library. These are not necessarily in chronological order.

"The Wages of Fear" was a DVD I picked up by chance. I had been thinking of another movie, which was a remake of this 1953 B&W film. It was pretty long and deep. Dialogue in French. Very arty. No happy ending.

 

I like to have some comedy to ease the tensions of life and clear my brain.  Watching Season 1 and Season 2 of the old TV series, Get Smart definitely clears out your head. Would you believe that our library only has seasons 1 and 2 but not the other 3? I watched these back-to-back (that turned out to be something of a challenge).

One Day on Earth was another one that I found in the library. I remember hearing about it and it looked interesting so I took it home.  It is a documentary, a series of events happening around the world to document 10-10-10 (October 10, 2010). I watched it on 10-10 (2013), another reason I got it.  I liked it so much that I watched it a second time and tracked down a similar movie ("Life in a Day" - which I have yet to watch).  "One Day on Earth" made me feel so connected to all the people around the world. It was awesome because it showed so many different kinds of people doing different things, showed birth, death, weddings, music, etc. Highly recommended!!

Another, sort of light, TV series I watched was Jackie Gleason's The Honeymooners. Because it was from the 1950s, it is in B&W. No problem for me. Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) is always getting himself in trouble. I love his wife's character, Alice. She doesn't let him push her around but loves him nonetheless because she knows he's only trying to get ahead (but he can't win). For some reason, Disc 4 is missing from the Library-hopefully it will be returned soon so I can actually see all 39 episodes.  The set is pretty beat up and I have suggested they invest in a replacement copy. "Bang! Zoom! To the moon...."

Lost in Translation is sort of a meditation on mid-life crisis, marriage, and the meaning of life. The movie is set in Tokyo. Because of the age difference between the Bill Murray character and Scarlett Johannson, it reminded me of the Pygmalion story. I also think there were some similarities with Michael Caine's Educating Rita.  I liked that despite the flirtations between the two leads, their relationship remained chaste as they struggled to make sense of their individual roles as spouse in their own marriage. I liked the ambiguous ending because you can contemplate the different potential futures depending on how the relationship impacted them.

I almost forgot this film: Drive. It was pretty weird and violent. I didn't really care for it. To me, it seemed like a long, bad modern TV plot. I'm not sure why I got it.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wages_of_Fear
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Smart
http://www.onedayonearth.org/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1687247/?ref_=nv_sr_1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Honeymooners
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_Translation_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_(play)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educating_Rita_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_(2011_film)

Sound Tigers - Lose!

My ticket-this is how ugly all the tickets look, not just Comp seats.

Last night, we (Lynn, Richard, and me) went to see the AHL Sound Tigers battle the Wolf Pack. Out first game of the AHL season. Our tickets were courtesy of a friend of Lynn's (who has "connections"). However, we did not sit our assigned seats. Rather we sat in the middle, opposite the benches (to the left of the penalty boxes).  The Sound Tigers lost 5-3.

Shot during warm-ups.

We arrived early in order to watch warm-ups. I like to sit behind the goal and watch the pucks come right at me. I did get a puck that squeezed over the glass and through the netting. Richard gave it to a little kid (we have a ton of warm-up pucks from over the years).

Not too many people attended (officially 1857 but probably actually less) because tonight was the 6th game of the World Series in Boston (and the Red Sox ended up winning the game and the Series). However, we did run into Richard's old roller hockey coach (Dean) and a woman that Lynn knew from high school days.

Food was fair. I bought chicken tenders and fries for $8.  Had to go to the other side of the XL Center to find it. Richard took only a few bites because he wanted BBQ sauce. Unfortunately, the XL Center  doesn't have sauce packages (like BPort); instead you have to squeeze out into an open tiny cup from a bulk container. Hard to carry that back to your seat. A 20 ounce bottle of Aquafina was $4. Parking in the garage at the Center was $10.

One exciting moment came during the 2nd intermission when Richard was selected to go on the ice for a contest. They wanted a Sound Tigers fan to compete against a Wolf Pack fan.  Being close to Halloween, they shot little plastic skulls into a hockey net.  Richard got 2 of 3 goals during the first round but so did his competitor. Richard was not so lucky in the 2nd round and lost but he did get a (Wolf Pack) T-shirt out of the deal.

During the first intermission, they had a "Howl-o-Ween" costume parade around the ice. Lots of kids plus a few parents plus some scary adults dressed up like medieval warriors or something. We saw them walking around the concourse before the start of the game. They were dressed in black with black executioner masks and carrying very real looking axes. Don't know how Security let them in - we found it rather unnerving. I wish I had taken a picture. When I wrote this up, I found a short blurb that seemed to indicate they might have been actors from a local amusement park's "Haunted Graveyard." Pretty spooky.

Links:
http://www.soundtigers.com/
http://theahl.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1011223

Revd W11/6/13 for Howl-o-Ween parade notes.

Hedda Gabler

Richard's first play in college was this past week. They had rehearsals last week and performances this week. This made for long days and late nights for Richard.  He was getting home around 11:30 p.m. during rehearsals and 10:30 p.m. when the show was on. Most of the time, Lynn was driving him to school in the morning for classes, picking him up in the afternoon so he could be home for a couple hours, then taking him back to school ~ 6 p.m. and picking him up at the end of rehearsal or play. I took over a few times in order to give her a break.

Richard is credited in the program as "Light Board Operator." He was involved with installing the various lights, focusing, and setting up the light cues. He said that this show had more cues (over 100) than any show he's been involved with. During the performance run, he had to arrive early and check to make sure all the lights and lighting equipment was working properly; if not, it had to be reported and resolved prior to the start of the show.

The play was an adaptation of Hedda Gabler (A Dream Play),  the classic Henrik Ibsen play: a psychological study of a cultivated woman, recently returned from her honeymoon, whose boredom and dissatisfaction in a stifling environment lead her to destroy others — and herself. Steve Ginsburg, the co-Artistic Director of HartBeat Ensemble was guest director. Steve conceived this production as a dream, which underscores the central character’s desperation as well as its early feminist themes.

Lynn and I went to the Saturday evening performance. We like attending the last show. I have to confess that although I had a vague concept of what the play was about, I really had a difficult time following the story. I kept waiting for the feminist part but I just didn't catch it. All I saw was play about a neurotic woman. Perhaps that is what today's feminism has morphed into. I hope not.

Ironically, one of the biggest sensations of the evening had nothing to do with radical feminism but rather a newborn baby.  After the show, the director was walking around with his newborn baby (less than 2 weeks old) carried in one of those sling pouches at his chest. Of course, everyone had to have an admiring look. So tiny and fragile. For all of Hedda Gabler's feminist ranting about wanting "the power to mold a human destiny", becoming a parent is such an awesome and creative act.

Richard got comp tickets for us. We were a little nervous because the tickets were printed for Thursday rather than Saturday. But there was no question and we picked out our seats per Richard's suggestion. The theater is a black box theater. This type of theater is a very intimate setting.  The show was about 2 hours with a 10-minute intermission.  Richard did a good job with the lighting-it all looked good to me.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedda_Gabler
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/theater/18ishe.html?pagewanted=all
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_box_theater

Updated T10/29/2013 for director's baby and NYT article.

Back from Africa (Uganda)

"This picture is of a quilt that 1 of the Nurses here made for me, using the pictures I bro't back from Africa."

Received another letter from Fr. Hattie. Actually, it arrived in Thursday's mail in a small envelope with a homemade DVD (see below) documenting his return visit to Uganda in August. He is now back in Michigan at the Columbiere Center.
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My dear Rick: Peace of Christ!

     As if by schedule, your lovely & generous Gift of $XX.00 rolled in like clockwork. Thanks for being so kind. I think I had told you that I had written, after my trip to Africa, to the 110 donors who had stopped giving Gifts after my return to the USA. Well, the effort is paying off, for I received Gifts from 15 of them along with theirs. Pray that it keeps up. They had probably thought that I no longer had any connection with orphanage. But, in my letter, I assured them that I definitely HAD & was the only fundraiser.

    On my trip to Africa, I gave the Sisters 2 large Charitable Foundations & told them that they would have to learn to take over since I was NOT going to live to be 120 in spite of what they might think. They'll find it hard & time-consuming in the beginning, but if one is appointed to beg for their entire Congregation, they'd be better off.

     We buried 1 Father last Monday. I was shocked because I had eaten dinner with him the previous night & he seemed to be in good form. Another is on his way 'out', so I've been sitting with him for hours since he is terrified of being alone & tries to get up. It gives me a good opportunity to make a meditation on death..how all the trivial things that bothered us in life, seem nothing then.

     Be sure that you have your special place in my daily Mass & prayers & please don't forget my 5 wonderful Sisters, my 1000 kids & myself in yours. Meanwhile, keep smiling & spreading His & Her love, peace & joy all over W. Hartford.

      Tons of love & gratitude.
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A DVD containing highlights of his visit to the Nsumba Orphanage in August was included.

Mark your calendars for the 60th anniversary of Father's ordination; he was ordained November 21, 1953.

Send your cards & letters to Fr. Hattie at:

Fr. Gene Hattie, SJ
Columbiere Center
9075 Big Lake Road
Clarkston, MI 48346

or email to: EHattie@Ymail.com

Send donations for orphanage to:

IHMR Convent
c/o Sr. Christine Nantaba
5802 Evanston Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46220

Include a note on your check that donation is for Fr. Hattie's Nsumba orphans.

Finally, you may recall that this connection with Fr. Hattie and the orphans is via my late Grandma Marie P and her Circle 7 mission group. As a rosary was part of their gathering and this is October, the month of the Rosary, praying a special rosary for Fr. Hattie would be very appropriate.

PEACE!

Links:
http://www.colombierejesuits.com/about_history.html

Catholic Team Falls to the Devils

Saturday October 26th was another home game for Richard's college. And they played another Catholic school....and WON!  For the season, the Blue Devils are 2-2 versus Catholic Schools.

This week's opponent was the Salve Regina Seahawks. "Salve Regina"" is a Latin term which translates as "Hail (Holy) Queen." It strikes me as somewhat blasphemous (or at least vulgar) to hear fans shouting 'holy' words while cheering at these games (e.g., "Go Salve", "Go Sacred Heart", etc.). To me, it shows the ignorance of their fans toward their own religion (and just think how much tuition costs at these private schools).

The weather was cool but sunny (I felt sunburned by the end). Richard and I again sat in the Student section stands, towards the top, about mid-field. The Blue Devils Dance Team was on our side of the field, along with the Marching Band, while the Cheerleaders were on the opposite side of the field (by the Reserved seats).  For some reason, there weren't too many fans; the official attendance was only 3312 (Hardly OSU or Georgia or Tennessee).

Having played in my high school marching band, I have to say that I am very impressed with the Blue Devils Marching Band. While it is small in numbers, it is very professional and polished. They do a nice medley of Rhapsody in BLUE, Behind BLUE eyes

So far, for each game, they have distributed "goodies" at the gate when we entered.  This time we received little NEC backpacks which included a pen (blue ink, of course) and some sun screen (which I didn't realize until after the game-see above).  We found out later, they were also giving away single servings of flavored pretzels. Ended up getting a "bunch" of those too.

The Blue Devils dominate the game. At half-time the score was 35-0. The Devils third TD was an exciting 94-yard run.  The final score was 47-13.

I was looking forward to a tasty cheeseburger from Ted's food truck but it wasn't there this time. So instead, we each had a "Frito pie".  This is a tasty small dish (only $3) of black and red beans in a chili sauce, poured over Fritos with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese. Yumm.

After the game we walked around the campus; had hoped to go to the bookstore but it was closed. Had to get home in order to get ready for this evening's final performance of the play, "Hedda Gabler."

Links:

http://www.salve.edu/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salve_Regina

https://www.facebook.com/CcsuMarchingBandFans

http://www.northeastconference.org/

http://www.ccsubluedevils.com/sports/fball/2013-14/boxscores/20131026_inbm.xml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frito_pie

http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2013/10/hedda-gabler.html

Double Dead!

Double-our beloved friend.

Lynn's long-time orange cat, Double, went to the Big Sky on Wednesday October 16, 2013. Lynn's other cat, Cutie, was by his side at the end.  Double was something like 10-12 years old. Kidney failure.

Double was the king of the cats in Lynn's house, the alpha male. When I came by, he was always at the door to greet me and lead me into the apartment. Same when I left. He was the first cat to get petted when I arrived, and last when I left.

He would watch TV with Richard and me. When Lynn joined us and sat in the rocker, he would jump into her lap where she would scratch his head and pet him; he would only do that with her.  He liked to drink from the large plastic "Double Gulp" cup that Lynn got from 7-11. That was HIS cup-he knew.

Double arrived after Trouble. Hence, at one time, Lynn had "Double" (and) "Trouble." After Trouble met his match with a car, Double became an indoor cat.

I remember a time playing roller hockey in the driveway at Lynn's place against Double. Perhaps that was the start of Double's connection with hockey. In subsequent times, it was not unusual to look for Double and find him curled up in Richard's hockey bag (do cats have a sense of smell?).

Double must have remembered his time outside because he periodically would try to slip out of the apartment and run down the stairs. Then we would have to scoot him back up the stairs.

Double liked to sleep on the edge of Richard's bed (on the orange comforter).

Slightly blurry picture of Double in the fridge.

Double was a "cool" cat in more ways than one would think. One day, Lynn noticed that Double wasn't around. She looked everywhere for him but to no avail. Thinking he might have slipped outside, her search extended outdoors. No luck. Where was Double?

When Lynn opened the refrigerator to get a drink, there on the bottom shelf sat Double. He looked up at her with a blase look as if to say, 'where did you think I was?' Apparently, he was hot and wanted to cool off. At first, we thought he slipped in when someone left the door ajar too long. However, after we found him in there several more times, we realized he was able to open the door himself and climb in. I learned that this type of behavior is not as unusual as one might think.

After Lynn took him to the vet and found out that Double's kidneys were failing, she made a valiant effort to prolong his days. This included special food, and almost daily fluids via IV. Sometimes I would help: I sat on the floor and held Double, while Richard inserted the needle and monitored the flow, while Lynn stood on a chair to hang the bag of fluid from the chandelier in order to hasten the flow.

During his last few weeks, Double took to curling up in a shoe box on the window sill in the sun.  Often, the other orange cat, Cutie, was nearby.

Cutie (L) & Double (R).

Initially, Lynn wasn't keen on cremation. But after Richard requested it, there really wasn't any other option. She found a good deal where she got a swatch of his fur, paw print in plaster, and a very handsome wooden box with "Double" engraved (wood burned) on the top. So now Double is still with us, still nearby as we sit in the living room. Thank you Almighty One for Double, our beloved friend.

Links:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/08/cute-cat-photos_n_2088407.html
See also: http://www.ourcatspictures.com/cat-loves-the-refrigerator-322.html

Updated T10/29/2013 for refrigerator.
Updated Sun11/03/2013 for hockey bag & fridge pic, window sill pics, IV text.

St. Margaret Shrine

After the football game at Sacred Heart University,  we drove down the street a short bit until we came to Saint Margaret Shrine. I hadn't been there for several years and the last time I was there, I was sad to see it in a state of noticeable disrepair.

We were pleasantly surprised to find it in significantly better condition.  It was apparent that serious effort had been taken to repair and even upgrade the shrine.  It essentially is a hillside with about a dozen little stations devoted to saints and events (e.g. Fatima).

There was a new Padre Pio statue as well as a large area for Our Lady of Guadalupe.  We would've stayed longer but there was a wedding party taking pictures. Also since Saturday Mass was just letting out, we didn't get a chance to peek into the little church. Maybe next time.

Links:
http://www.parishesonline.com/stmargaretshrine
http://www.stpadrepiosociety.com

Slain by Sacred Heart

Richard and I attended our third college football game today. It was an "away" game at Sacred Heart University, another "Catholic" college. It was about an hour drive for us.

The weather was weird. Last week, we baked in the sun. So this week, because it was sunny again, we prepared for hot weather and left our jackets in the car. Mistake! The Visitors stands were located in the shade and it was very COOL in the shade. The Home stands were on the opposite side of the field in the sun. It was so hot in the sun, that the home fans were shedding their clothes and coming over to the shade of the Blue Devils. Meanwhile, we were freezing. How ironic.

Our football team must have felt us shivering because they were not hot at all. The Pioneers whooped the Blue Devils 59-36. Even though it wasn't very far to travel, our marching band, dance team, and cheer leaders did not attend. The SHU marching band put on a spiffy half-time show including the Michael Jackson song, "Thriller" which included a break where all the participants (including their flag line, dancers, and cheer leaders) were moon-walking.

The food was disappointing. They pre-cooked the hotdogs on the grill and then wrapped them in foil. So they were basically cold by the time we ate them. They shut the refreshment stand down shortly after half-time too. It felt good to get out of the shade at half-time and soak in the sun.

Chapel of the Holy Spirit (at Sacred Heart University).

On our way back to the car after the game, we peeked into the SHU Chapel, a very modern building, only a year or two old. The mosaics inside were fabulous. Check out the link to the web page-there is a lot of info and pictures there.

After we left, we drove down the street and stopped at St. Margaret's Shrine (see separate post).

Links:
http://www.sacredheart.edu/
http://www.sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-footbl/2013-14/boxscores/20131012_1vme.xml
http://www.sacredheart.edu/faithservice/chapeloftheholyspirit/

Devils Beat St. Francis!

What a day! A great game, great weather, and a delightful surprising burger.

Saturday (October 5, 2013) I accompanied my son, Richard, to another football game at his school.  You may recall that we went to a game a few weeks ago where Holy Cross got the upper hand.

This time the game started in the afternoon and the weather turned out much better than forecast. We were anticipating a partly cloudy day in the low 70s but were blessed with a mostly sunny day in the mid-upper 70s. Sitting in the student section was brutal because of the sun. Most of the fans bailed from that section by halftime.  I suspect many left around then because the score was was 28-3 at half time.

But the game turned out to be a nail biter as the St. Francis Red Flash almost caught up. By the early 4th quarter our Devils were only ahead 31-29. It came down to the final moments with the Blue Devils scoring with only 2 minutes to go. The final score was 38-29.

Last game, they passed out plastic blue devils horns that lit up. This game they gave out blue rally towels (see below).

Rally towel: about the size of a large wash cloth or small hand towel.

For the first half of the game we sat in the stands next to the visitors section. I was shocked to learn that St. Francis is in Loretto, Pennsylvania near Altoona and Pittsburgh and took about 8 hours to travel to the game. Saint Francis University is the oldest Franciscan institution of higher learning in the United States.  It is a Catholic, coeducational liberal arts university sponsored by the Franciscans of the Third Order Regular.

I find it interesting and somewhat more than coincidental that we (the Blue Devils) have played against Catholic Schools in both games Richard and I have attended. Next week, the Blue Devils play at Sacred Heart University (another RC school). Also, somewhat ironical, is that Richard's former roller hockey team was also the Blue Devils.

One of the highlights of the "game" for me was unexpectedly encountering a food truck from Ted's Restaurant. Because we sat in the Student Section/Visitor's stands, we were not near the stadium's refreshment booth. However, there were two food trucks parked nearby.

Initially, Richard took a look and was not impressed with the choices. However, when I took a peek I recognized the significance of Ted's Cheeseburgers. Ted's usually comes up in lists historic and significant area burger joints. One of my work colleagues had traveled with her family several hours just to try out the steamed burgers. So, recognizing the name, I decided to give it a try (without onions) even though sitting in the hot sun was not ideal for enjoying a juicy cheeseburger.

Overall, I was pretty impressed with the cheeseburger. Very tasty and filling. I'm pretty sure it had all the fat and calories needed for the entire day (and perhaps more). Richard was not as adventurous (he was skeptical about the cheese, I think) and missed his opportunity.

After the game, however, we stopped by a nearby Mooyah. We have one of these near home, so it is familiar. Had the best sweet potato fries this time. Even though I was still stuffed from my steamed cheeseburger, I had a hard time to keep from stealing some of Richard's sweet potato fries. Yumm.

Links:
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2013/09/last-evening-richard-and-i-attended.html
http://www.ccsubluedevils.com/sports/fball/2013-14/boxscores/20131005_usc8.xml
http://francis.edu/
http://www.tedsrestaurant.com
http://www.mooyah.com/

Red Truck Red

For years I have been interested in learning more about wine. For about the last two years merlot has been a favorite. Then my sister Lisa brought a bottle of Pinot Noir during a holiday gathering and I really enjoyed that. Recently, I stumbled on "red truck 2011 california red wine." I'm on my 3rd bottle.

Perhaps the label helps the appeal.  I also like the cap with the truck inscribed. For now I am going with this.

Any suggestions for something new to try? Let me know.