Movies I've Seen - This Is 40

• Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) are turning 40. But instead of celebrating, they're mired in a mid-life crisis with unruly kids, debt and unhappiness mounding. Pete's record label is failing and Debbie is unable to come to terms with her aging body. As Pete's 40th birthday party arrives, Pete and Debbie are going to have to rely on family, friends, employees, fitness trainers, aging rockers and ultimately each other to come to terms with life at age 40.
  - Written by napierslogs

Another movie I watched...
It was a series of over the top family sitcom scenarios with unnecessarily foul language and a beautiful, wealthy, white family (part of the movie is about their money problems, but their house looked expensive and they both own a business - they may be cash poor, but they're asset rich.).

Suddenly we discover, out of the blue in my opinion, the parents have marital problems and have been seeing a therapist all along.  They turn into obliviously horrible people wrapped in a pretty package.  The Mom threatens a 13 year old boy, the Dad threatens the boy's mother, and they both make the boy's mother look like the crazy one when she takes it to the school principal.

They can only love each other when they blame other people for their problems.

They say horrible things at a birthday party and then there's a magical happy ending.
Just like a sitcom.

At the end, the wife says she liked things better before they tried to change.  When were they trying to change?  Did I sleep through that?

It turns out this movie is supposed to be a sequel to "Knocked Up" which was the story of a couple who hooked up and got pregnant.  They decide to keep the baby and raise it together.  I didn't see that movie.

I wouldn't say I didn't like this movie, and I can't say I didn't laugh.  It just seemed a little disconnected to me and I couldn't follow the emotional beats.

Here's a NY Times review

Movies I've Seen - Zero Dark Thirty

• Maya is a CIA operative whose first experience is in the interrogation of prisoners following the Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. on the 11th September 2001. She is a reluctant participant in extreme duress applied to the detainees, but believes that the truth may only be obtained through such tactics. For several years, she is single-minded in her pursuit of leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden. Finally, in 2011, it appears that her work will pay off, and a U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden. But only Maya is confident Bin Laden is where she says he is.
  - Written by Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

I finally watched Zero Dark Thirty.   (Finally?  It was first in wide release just over one year ago.  Movies are in and out of theaters in the blink of an eye these days.)
Did they ever say those words in the movie?   I have since learned it's the military term for the time of bin Laden's death, 12:30 am.

I'll agree with Roger Ebert on this one...
"My guess is that much of the fascination with this film is inspired by the unveiling of facts, unclearly seen. There isn't a whole lot of plot -- basically, just that Maya thinks she is right, and she is."

I wasn't able to follow the logical moves from here to there that allowed Maya to feel so confident that bin Laden was in the compound.
I would say this is a good overview film.  There seemed to be any number of stories that would have been more emotionally engaging.  I was interested in the way the CIA station in Pakistan is run, the people tracking the courier, the Seal team member who looked like he might have roots in the region and was having second thoughts as he walked through the compound with the body bag, the friendship of the two female analysts at the CIA in Pakistan, why Maya was recruited from high school, and a discussion about torture, among other things.

So, now I've seen it.

Working

image on original page

I worry about what will become of humanity.

We've got to get it out of our head that WORK is the primary way to spend the hours of our days and how we get resources for survival.
At some point, there just isn't going to be enough work to go around.

When there isn't enough work for everyone to have a job do we let people starve because they're "too lazy to find work"?

***

I read more and more articles like this that make me wonder...
"Will Technology Make Work Better for Everyone?"

Colossal - Art and Visual Culture

I was introduced to an online magazine Colossal - Art and Visual Culture via Feedly this morning.
These three items blew me away...

Stainless:  Hypnotizing Slow-Motion Footage from Trains Pulling into Stations by Adam Magyar
Why was I struck by this?  Because I feel connected to each of the people through this moment: their lives, their thoughts, their story.  It feels immediate and real to me.  I'm overwhelmed by the energy and love that a person expresses when they are alive...each and every one of us, in each moment.  Whether I know these people or not, every person on Earth experiences their story with the same energy that I experience mine.  I don't think we often acknowledge that because it can be overwhelming.  Every once in a while I'm reminded of it.

A Lion Made from 4,000 Pieces of Hammered Metal by Selcuk Yilmaz
Why was I struck by this?  There is so much detail and it takes a huge dedication to craft and requires focus and patience.  It also looks amazing.

The Incredible Underwater Art of Competitive Aquascaping
Why was I struck by this?  My first thought when I saw these pictures was that someone had designed the aquascape in a reef or lake or other natural body of water.  Fantastic!  It seemed reasonable because they make coral reefs don't they?
It turns out these are aquariums (I should have noticed the tiny fish).
I still like them.  I like water, and I've always had the idea that I'd enjoy creating mini landscapes or dioramas.  So, the aquascapes appeal to me on a couple levels.
Once again, I'm impressed by the dedication to craft, attention to detail, and patience it takes to create these.

It occurs to me, oftentimes I feel blessed and lucky to have been born in the United States.  I wonder if the fish who live in this aquarium feel the same sense of gratitude.  I suppose not.  But, this would be a cool house for a fish.  Check out the website for several others.

To check out more interesting art and visually ingenious items go to Colossal.  I'm glad it's on my Feedly.


UPDATE (a little later)  I see that the sponsor of the video at the top of this post is Optronis.  It looks like they make slow motion cameras.  Anyhoo - their motto is "Make Time Visible"  Aha!  Yes.  Another reason I like the video...I am like a turtle, I move slow, and a slow motion image gives me time to see more.
Also, I'm reminded of my favorite idea in Star Trek Insurrection:  A lifetime is lived in a moment.




Warning:  Excessive flirting in this next scene...






And don't forget the classic Star Trek The Next Generation episode called "The Inner Light" when Picard lives most of a lifetime in a matter of minutes.

Seahawk Seattle, Saturday night ( 2014 01 18 )

photo by Rod Mar

Blue Friday

The people in this town are on fire!  Sunday is the NFC Championship game against rival San Francisco Forty-Niners, here in Seattle.
I learned years ago I get too upset when my team doesn't win, so I can't be a full on fan, but I'm happy for the people I know who are FANs in the truest sense of the word.
And, I'm proud of the 12th Man.  I like the regional pride.
Go Hawks!

To celebrate, here's an article from Slate Magazine that celebrates the connection of father and daughter through the Seattle Seahawks.

Robert Gates on CBS Sunday Morning

Former Secretary of Defense (December 18, 2006 - July 1, 2011) Robert Gates has published a memoir called "Duty".  He was on CBS Sunday Morning to talk about it with Rita Braver.
These are my takeaways from the interview:
1.  He now lives in a town outside Seattle.  Welcome!  He's not from around here so I'm not sure why he chose to retire in the Pacific Northwest, but he said he and his wife have known they would retire here for years.
2.  While Secretary of Defense, and in private, he was angry all the time and wanted to leave government all the time.  Why?  "...getting anything done in Washington was so damnably hard."   He had to fight his own war within the Pentagon to get Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles produced.  It seems odd, to me, because these would protect the troops and it's a no-brainer to fund that.  Gates said, "It's beaurocratic inertia, it's unwillingness to spend money on a war that everybody expected to be over soon."
3.  He faults President Obama for not having a passion for pursuing the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It's one thing to tell the troops that you support them.  It's another to work at making them believe that you believe, as president, that their sacrifice is worth it, that the cause is just, that what they are doing is important for the country.  And that they must succeed.  President Bush did that with the troops, when I was Secretary.  I did not see President Obama do that.  And as I write in the book, it was this absence of passion, the absence of a conviction of the importance of success that disturbed me.

By the logic Robert Gates is proposing, the only way to support the troops is to believe the policy the troops are carrying out is the correct one; that it is a just cause and their sacrifice is worth it.
But Obama doesn't support the war.  He inherited Iraq and Afghanistan.  He was elected in large part because the country doesn't support the war.  How does that make the troops feel?
Obama has done his best to support the troops by getting them out of harm's way.  I think that shows a lot more care for the troop's well being than promoting war until victory.


After their original interview some time ago, and subsequent to the reaction to the book, Rita Braver talked to Robert Gates again.

One of the things he's been criticized for (and I agree with) is that he's written critical things about President Obama while he's still in office about ongoing policies, particularly his commitment to the war in Afghanistan.
Gates says he made it clear in the book that he agreed with all of Obama's decisions regarding the Afghanistan war.  His one concern is that the President had reservations whether it would all work.  He thinks that's a fair thing to say.

He also says:

Here I think you have to look at the entirety of the book.  And the fact that it deals with getting into wars, getting out of wars.  And frankly it seemed to me that with the experience and perspective of working for 8 presidents and having been secretary for 4 1/2 years, I didn't think that waiting until 2017 to weigh in on these issues, and in a comprehensive and thoughtful way made any sense.

He continues...

In a way, the way people are looking at the book reflects the polarization of our political process at this point.  A lot of people, not everybody, is going to look at this book in terms of 'how does it advance my particular political agenda', or 'how does it damage my political agenda'.  And my objective was to stand back and try to provide a nonpartisan look at the kc and try to provide a nonpartisan look at the kind of issues that have riven our country and riven our government for the last number of years.

I think Mr Gates is hoping people in the current administration will read his book and learn from it while they're still in office.
I find that interesting above all.
It's both genuine and naive.

Television I Watch - Parks and Recreation - Stop Hating on Jerry!

Season 6 Cast Photo

I enjoy Parks and Recreation because it's wacky and has an optimistic, kind heart.  I like that.  

I wish they'd stop hating on Gary/Gerry/Larry/Lenny so much.

They've gone overboard lately.  There isn't any trace of humanity.

He takes it well, and I know he's a character on a television show.

It really hurts my heart.

Especially because these are nice people.  Where does all this hate come from?

I suppose the writers think the absurdity is what makes it funny.

It's too much.  Dial it back, please.

Here are some articles about why everyone hates Jerry:

Why We Hate Jerry Gergich

The Problem of Gerry Grgich:  Pity and Comedy on Parks and Recreation

I Don't Wanna Grow Up: The Real Reason Why Everyone Hates Jerry

Parks and Recreation: A celebration of every ill-fated exploit of Jerry Gergich

Local News Starts the Day

I turned on the local news this morning and this is what I heard in the first minutes at 6:35am:

1.  Ski areas have just received some snow, but they need more and have lost revenue so far this winter.
2. A pedestrian was hit and killed on a busy highway.  Witnesses say he deliberately ran into the highway (not in a crosswalk) to avoid nearby casino employees who were chasing him because he'd just stolen from the casino.  He was rushed to the hospital, but died of his injuries.
3.  A man is being sentenced today for stabbing his former girlfriend to death at the home she shared with her two children.  While he was in prison on other charges, he'd written her letters telling her he was going to kill her.  Two weeks after he was released he did.
4.  A 28 year old woman wrote a lengthy letter telling the police that if she ever turns up dead, it was her ex boyfriend who did it.  She said no piece of paper (restraining order) would protect her; at least, with the letter, they'd know who did it.  A few days ago, policy found her body.  She'd been strangled in her bed at the home she shares with her four children and her mother.  The ex boyfriend is cooperating with police and at this time they cannot connect him to the murder.
5.  Later today, a man is being sentenced for stabbing his cousin to death on Christmas Eve in 2012.  The cousin called him a name and that caused the man to react.
6.  The trial of a man accused of killing six members of a family has been delayed because the judge wants to be clear on how the death penalty may or may not be applied in the case before it goes to trial.

And then it was 6:38am

Eek - that's a negative and scary way to start the day.  I only wanted to know the weather for the weekend.


I wonder if these are really news stories.  It's more like a police crime roll.  The news would be the story behind the story, wouldn't it?  What are the factors contributing to these events and is anybody trying to effect change?   That sounds like news to me.

I actually like KIRO for my local news.  By 6:30, they've been delivering 'news' for two hours already, since 4:30 am.  The 1/2 hour before CBS This Morning is supposed to be a quick condensed version of all the news for the day.  If I continued watching, they'd get into the weather and traffic and the big Seahawks game this weekend.

An unanswered question

Note:  I originally wrote this post in April 2009 and either forgot to post it, or posted a modified version (I found this in the drafts section).  It's nearly five years later and the divide is growing wider.






I wonder if we'll ever be able to work things out in this country? And the world for that matter. It seems to me there are people born with a positive, hopeful attitude and others who are born with a glass half empty, its a dog eat dog world attitude.
How will we learn to live together?

One side is motivated by hope and the other by fear.

Should Edward Snowden receive clemency?

What is clemency?  Its the power of a president (protected by the Article 2 of the Constitution) to pardon an individual and either forgive the act altogether, or reduce the sentence.  The most famous pardon was when Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon.  The presidential decision cannot be questioned or overturned.

Last Sunday, the New York Times wrote an editorial that Edward Snowden should be pardoned for leaking NSA secrets.

According to an article in The Guardian, Edward Snowden said he didn't trust the internal system developed to report complaints about the NSA.

One of the main criticisms levelled at Snowden by the Obama administration has been that he should have taken up an official complaint within the NSA, rather than travelling to Hong Kong to share his concerns about the agency’s data dragnet with the Guardian and other news organisations. But in an interview with the New York Times, Snowden has dismissed that option as implausible.
“The system does not work,” he said, pointing to the paradox that “you have to report wrongdoing to those most responsible for it.” If he had tried to sound the alarm internally, he would have “been discredited and ruined” and the substance of his warnings “would have been buried forever”.

On one side, I want people to use the prescribed processes for whistleblowing.  But, by requiring that, are the rules being given more prominence than the truth?
On the other side, if we do grant clemency, does that set a precedent that could easily get out of control?

In both cases, the bottom line is that we can't trust that every person will do the right thing.
If there's a valid complaint to be made, we can't trust that every person in power will take the appropriate action.
And if one person is granted clemency, we can't trust that every person who claims this benefit would have the best interests of the nation in mind.

I don't think I'd have the courage to be a whistleblower.  It's huge.  It changes your world in a way you won't be able to take back.  But, if you're going to do it, you have to take the consequences.  That's the power of civil disobedience.  That's why Ghandi and Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela were a force for change - they accepted the consequences of standing up against wrongdoing.

Staying silent has consequences, and courageous acts have consequences as well.

I don't know the right answer, but my gut instinct is that Edward Snowden should come back to the United States.  I think he should serve some time.  Unless we hear more about how these leaks have caused the death of other Americans, I don't think he should serve more than 5 - 10 years in a minimum security prison.

What do I know?  I don't feel right making any kind of judgement because I purposefully make sure I'm not in a position where I'd have to make this kind of decision.  I'd probably pick silence and I'm ashamed that I would.

Specks on a Dot

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Earth - as seen from Saturn by the Cassini space probe.  Look at that little dot!  They had to put an arrow on the picture so you wouldn't think it was dust on the lens.
More than 7 billion people are on that dot!!!!

How can I feel so big in my space, and in reality be SOOOO small in the universe?

It's not just me.
President Barack Obama takes up about the same amount of space.
And, even though Vladimir Putin wouldn't like to believe it - HE'S just a speck on a dot too!
So are all those people fighting throughout the world in the name of religion...You're specks on a dot, people!
We're ALL specks on a dot.


Reminds me that life on Earth is a miracle, and it makes no sense to worry about anything.

More Television

A favorite show from 2009/2010 that I wish hadn't been cancelled.

I recently found a list of television shows I had on the Season Pass of my TIVO in 2009.  Again, for the sake of looking back and because television seems to be a big part of my life (I made the list because I needed to organize my TIVO schedule - that says a lot about TV in my life!), this is what I was watching:

Lost, The Amazing Race, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, So You Think You Can Dance, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Modern Family, Community, 30 Rock, The Mentalist, Bones, Project Runway, Ugly Betty, Stargate Universe, Defying Gravity (I don't even remember this show), Better Off Ted, In Plain Sight, Saving Grace, The Closer, My Boys, and a lot of news and lifestyle shows including America's Test Kitchen, CBS News Sunday Morning, Washington Week, Bill Moyers Journal, C-SPAN's Q&A, Independent Lens, Frontline, Property Virgins, House Hunters, Divine Design, That's Clever, Chopped, and The Next Iron Chef.

I didn't watch every episode of all these shows; but they were available.

This Day

Mount Rainier, around 4:45 pm 1/4/2014 from Levee Road in Fife.  After a clear, chilly day, the sun was going down, casting it's last light on the mountain and there was a beautiful glow that I wasn't able to capture.  What this picture does show is that you may be surprised by stunning beauty around any bend of the road.  You never know.

"Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control."

Robert Kennedy

That's a reminder that the things I do today, create the tomorrow I hope to live.

Everyone Has a Story

I'm very curious about how people live.  I enjoy a peek into their real lives - a moment, an experience, a generation.

CBS This Morning shared a piece about a website by Brandon Stanton called HUMANS OF NEW YORK where he takes pictures of strangers in New York City and tells a little bit about their story.
I'm overwhelmed by the energy created when billions of people live on Planet Earth.  We affect each other, even when we don't mean to.
We can change the world if we would only hold hands.

Other places to hear people tell a story of their life:
The Moth - True Stories Told Live
StoryCorps
Risk - True Tales, Boldly Told
Snap Judgement

Of course, all those radio shows came to me via KUOW and OPB

The First New Day of 2014

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an art but a habit.” — Aristotle