"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"
Movie Monday
No Knitting Friday last week, if anyone noticed. I was in a real curmudgeon state by Friday ("Hey kids, get off my lawn!) so I just growled around the whole day. What caused my Pollyanna personality to take a dive? Well, the furnace (it's called a boiler really but I still can't wrap my mind around that name) broke. It just up and broke. No warning cry. No farewell note. In the morning, I got a warm shower; by evening, nada.
Well, we do have the Worry Free PSE&G contract and they did show up right away. (No, that does not convince me of the existence of God.) They showed up last Wednesday that is (this saga took a few days), and told us that the furnace and hot water heater were as healthy as that proverbial horse but the "guard dog" switch to prevent problems like flooding, was itself the problem.
For joy! The service man was able to bypass the guard dog but couldn't fix it since the "P" in PSE&G does not stand for plumbing and if they were to bring in a plumber it would get pricey. So, the furnace was working (warm weather, don't need it) and also hot water heater (needed it) with this temp fix.
We called the plumbing company (who was also the installer of this 4-year boiler) and got an appointment for Friday. That's why this saga played out for a few days. And that's why I was anxiously awaiting the plumber and not writing Knitting Friday on Friday.
Oh, the angst! The guy didn't show up until 4 p.m. and almost $500 later we had a replacement guard dog. It looks the same as the original and will probably last as long.
So that's why I got into the curmudgeon mood for the weekend which manifested itself in my immediate disdain in looking at personalities (yes, I do cruise gossip sites) in torn jeans. You know, the rich wearing ratty clothes at exorbitant prices so they can connect with the poor. Or my disdain at those cheery shoppers at Wegmann's carrying in scads of environmentally-friendly shopping bags just after they park their SUVs.
But this mood has almost passed and I do have some movie picks; though not particularly cheery ones.
You Don't Know Jack, an HBO movie on Jack Kevorkian (the assisted suicide MD.) Kevorkian, in real life, comes across as an angry old man. (And let me add, an angry old man who is a personal hero for me.) I hope everyone (except, Savonarolas who seem to exist in abundance in this wacky country) is in favor of assisted suicide since death with dignity is really a no-brainer.
Watching this movie, I realized for the first time that the typical way of assisted suicide in this country (withdrawing feed tubes, etc.) is inhuman. Listen to Pacino (who plays Kevorkian) talk about this in the movie and you'll understand this. I also learned that Al Pacino has deep acting skills which shone through here. He was a Kevorkian with a depth and compassion which never translated in his headlines. I was able to re-appreciate Danny Huston, Brenda Vaccaro, Susan Saradon, John Goodman - the acting was stellar.
It's not a happy movie. The outcome wasn't "happy" as it played out in real life. But you have got to see this movie. You'll get to know Jack and his important cause which still has not come to a successful conclusion in the US.
And then there is that old chestnut, The Last Picture Show. 1971! That was the Dark Ages.
Roger Ebert once said that he used to go to the movies to find out how to act with girls. If you think back, even those hokey Andy Hardy movies showed how teens interacted. Today, with grossness like American Pie or contrived maturity like Juno, that's all changed. Even Towelhead, which deals realistically with the sexual awakening of a young teen mixes in pedophilia as a hook.
But take a look at The Last Picture Show. It was not made during the time of mythical "Mom and apple pie" US society (1971 was sex, drugs and rock and roll) but it captures realistically the awkwardness of teens dealing with sexual pressures as they enter uncharted adult seas. For example, take a look at Cybil Shepherd's consecutive scenes; first, as a tease in the car and then at the indoor pool as she strips on the diving board. She moves from a sexual confident woman back to an awkward teen in minutes. These understated scenes speak volumes of the complicated rite-of-passage that the teen years are.
Well, we do have the Worry Free PSE&G contract and they did show up right away. (No, that does not convince me of the existence of God.) They showed up last Wednesday that is (this saga took a few days), and told us that the furnace and hot water heater were as healthy as that proverbial horse but the "guard dog" switch to prevent problems like flooding, was itself the problem.
For joy! The service man was able to bypass the guard dog but couldn't fix it since the "P" in PSE&G does not stand for plumbing and if they were to bring in a plumber it would get pricey. So, the furnace was working (warm weather, don't need it) and also hot water heater (needed it) with this temp fix.
We called the plumbing company (who was also the installer of this 4-year boiler) and got an appointment for Friday. That's why this saga played out for a few days. And that's why I was anxiously awaiting the plumber and not writing Knitting Friday on Friday.
Oh, the angst! The guy didn't show up until 4 p.m. and almost $500 later we had a replacement guard dog. It looks the same as the original and will probably last as long.
So that's why I got into the curmudgeon mood for the weekend which manifested itself in my immediate disdain in looking at personalities (yes, I do cruise gossip sites) in torn jeans. You know, the rich wearing ratty clothes at exorbitant prices so they can connect with the poor. Or my disdain at those cheery shoppers at Wegmann's carrying in scads of environmentally-friendly shopping bags just after they park their SUVs.
But this mood has almost passed and I do have some movie picks; though not particularly cheery ones.
You Don't Know Jack, an HBO movie on Jack Kevorkian (the assisted suicide MD.) Kevorkian, in real life, comes across as an angry old man. (And let me add, an angry old man who is a personal hero for me.) I hope everyone (except, Savonarolas who seem to exist in abundance in this wacky country) is in favor of assisted suicide since death with dignity is really a no-brainer.
Watching this movie, I realized for the first time that the typical way of assisted suicide in this country (withdrawing feed tubes, etc.) is inhuman. Listen to Pacino (who plays Kevorkian) talk about this in the movie and you'll understand this. I also learned that Al Pacino has deep acting skills which shone through here. He was a Kevorkian with a depth and compassion which never translated in his headlines. I was able to re-appreciate Danny Huston, Brenda Vaccaro, Susan Saradon, John Goodman - the acting was stellar.
It's not a happy movie. The outcome wasn't "happy" as it played out in real life. But you have got to see this movie. You'll get to know Jack and his important cause which still has not come to a successful conclusion in the US.
And then there is that old chestnut, The Last Picture Show. 1971! That was the Dark Ages.
Roger Ebert once said that he used to go to the movies to find out how to act with girls. If you think back, even those hokey Andy Hardy movies showed how teens interacted. Today, with grossness like American Pie or contrived maturity like Juno, that's all changed. Even Towelhead, which deals realistically with the sexual awakening of a young teen mixes in pedophilia as a hook.
But take a look at The Last Picture Show. It was not made during the time of mythical "Mom and apple pie" US society (1971 was sex, drugs and rock and roll) but it captures realistically the awkwardness of teens dealing with sexual pressures as they enter uncharted adult seas. For example, take a look at Cybil Shepherd's consecutive scenes; first, as a tease in the car and then at the indoor pool as she strips on the diving board. She moves from a sexual confident woman back to an awkward teen in minutes. These understated scenes speak volumes of the complicated rite-of-passage that the teen years are.
That's it for now. Enjoy your movies.
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