What We've Been Watching: The Invisible Man, Red Army, John Adams

Red Army (2014)

Riveting account of the Soviet hockey team before the collapse of the Soviet Union. As someone who watched their Olympic defeat at the hands of the U.S. with relish, I was fascinated to see the other side of the story. This documentary begins far before that and ends in modern times.

What we really are seeing is an interesting insight into life in the Soviet regime as part of their propaganda machine. That didn't make their accomplishments any less and seeing what happened to the players later in life was an interesting look at how people get buffeted around after their foundation has been knocked out from under them ... and at how they get back up again.

The Invisible Man (1933)

This 1933 film was a blockbuster for the special effects, humor, and thrills. I'd been really interested to see how it held up and have to say I was really impressed with the special effects. No wonder it wowed 'em!

Claude Rains, hired for his first Hollywood movie because of his expressive voice, was masterful in acting without his face showing since it was swathed in bandages to give it visual form. I wish I could say the same for the acting of his supporting cast. Gloria Stuart, William Harrigan, and Henry Travers were either placeholders or wooden at best. I did like James Whales' trademark humor which was strewn throughout, especially the contributions made by police officers.

Overall recommended for an entertaining evening at the movies and a view of Hollywood film history.

John Adams (HBO miniseries) 2008

This had been recommended by so many people and won so many Emmys that we weren't surprised to find ourselves really liking it.

However, my husband read the book some years before and after a while he began saying, "I don't remember so much emphasis on this thing." Or "They make the Jefferson-Adams hostilities look like a minor tiff."

Once I began looking there were a lot of places where the series diverged from the book, we assumed for dramatic purposes. We understand things have to be dumbed down for translation from an indepth book to television, but still the points began adding up.

Then one wonders if the need to dramatize led to a whole lot of adding-on for modern sensibilities. For example, there is, of course, an inherent irony now because slave labor worked on the White House. However, in actuality there were also free African-Americans, migrant laborers, and regular tradesmen. I understand the need to make a point. Slavery was a touchy topic from the word go. And, as I said, the irony. But to be shown only a slave workforce and then get hit over the head with it every time the Adams popped their heads out of doors got a bit old, considering the actual fact of the matter.

This was just one of a variety of areas where we felt modern interpretations were too much with us (Adams weeping in the alley after casting off his scoundrel son was another such moment, though I haven't read the book and perhaps he dutifully recorded deep sorrow in his diary entry that day).

Watching a historical movie is one thing when inaccuracies are used for presentation purposes or to make a point more clearly. However, seven episodes of someone's life story, even one as full as that of John Adams, one would hope the details could be correct. I'm not here for the acting or set designs after all, splendid though they were.

In which it's the White Moll's turn to rescue The Adventurer and we learn something shocking!

Chapters 9-10 of The White Moll are ready for your listening pleasure at Forgotten Classics!

Worth a Thousand Words: The Boats are Still Sleeping

The Boats are Still Sleeping
painted by Edward B. Gordon

The boats are still sleeping. Early morning by the river. The morning light finds its way through the clouded skies, the temperature still pleasant, refreshed by the coolness of the night, time to go for a swim…

Genesis Bible Study - Index

GENESIS

• Studying Genesis - Resources
• Introduction - In the Beginning
• 1:1-31 - A Hymn of Creation
• 1:1-31 - The God Who Creates Out of Nothing
• 1:1-31 - God Revealed Through Creation
• 1:1-31 - Revelation About the Universe and Man
• 2:1-7 - Covenant and Being Human
• 2:8-17 - Creation of the Garden
• 3:1-3 - Intimidation
• 3:4-5 - Temptation and Response
• 3:7-15 - Consequences
• 3:16-19 - Pride and Suffering
• Adam's Resume
• Eve's Resume
• Masculine Genius and Feminine Genius
• What the Bible Says About Marriage
• The Woman: Full of Grace
• The Woman: Both Blessed and Suffering
• The Woman: From Jesus' Lips
• The Woman: Seeing Mary
• Her Seed: Jesus
• Her Seed: Birth of the Church
• Her Seed: Resurrection and the Tree of Life
• 4:1-26 - Life Outside Eden
• 4:1-26 - A Lesson in Contrasts
• Cain's Resume
• 5 - Adam's Descendents
• 6-8 - Left Behind
• 6-8 - Noah and the Flood
• 6-8 - Symbolism in Noah's Story
• Abel's Resume
• 6-9 - The Noachide Covenant
• 9-10 - Covenant Renewed
• 11-12 - The Call to Abram
• 13 - Abram's Practicality
• 14 - Melchizedek
• Melchizedek's Resume
• 15 - God's Covenant with Abram
• 16 & 17 - Faith and Obedience
• 18 & 19 - A Man of the Covenant
• Lot's Resume
• 20 & 21 - A Stumble and a Son
• Ishmael's Resume
• Hagar's Resume
• 22 - The Test
• 23 - Burial and Bargaining
• Jews, Christians, Muslims ... and Abraham
• 22 & 23 - What Abraham's Life Means to Us
• Abraham's Resume
• Sarah's Resume
• 24 & 25 - Isaac - the Bridge Between Generations
• Isaac's Resume
• Rebekah's Resume
• 27 & 28 - Jacob, Chosen by God
• Soft Spot for Esau
• Esau's Resume
• 29 & 30 - Growth and Testing
• 31-33 - Wrestling with Faith and a New Name
• Rachel's Resume
• Laban's Resume
• The Importance of Isaac and Jacob
• 34 - A Violent Attack and the Wrong Reaction
• 35 & 36 - God's Covenant Confirmed
• Jacob's Resume
• 37 - Joseph Sold by His Brothers
• 38 - Judah's Story
• 38 - More About Judah's Story
• 39 - Dealing With Temptation
• 39 - A Few Facts About Egypt
• 41 - Pharaoh's Dreams and Levels of Meaning
• 42 - Jacob Meets His Brothers Again
• 42 - Responding to the Test
• 46 - The Significance of Numbers
• The New Covenant is Fulfillment of the Old

I finally felt an earthquake.

We've been having little tremors for months but I've never felt one until this morning. It was reported as 2.7 (about 6:15am) in the usual location across town in Irving but, as my husband said who was in another room at the time, it shook the house like a tree fell on it.

It was crazy. I was sitting on the couch reading the paper and suddenly the front door shook as if a gigantic gust of wind had hit it. Our big Boxer woofed and went to look out the front window. No one was there. He looked over his shoulder at me inquiringly. We decided it must have been an earthquake.

It was our Doan and Carstairs moment. (Because, yes, everything always seems to come back to books.)

There's a Lot More to Podcasting Than "Serial"

(Links for all the podcasts mentioned below can be found in the sidebar at Forgotten Classics.)

Serial — we're told it is the "break through" podcast in the "sleepy world of podcasts."

Decoder Ring Theatre

Hmmm.

Podcasts are popular again. They went through a period of popularity when they began and then faded into obscurity as far as the media was concerned. But like bees or ants, podcasters just kept busily producing their audio shows, ignoring the "podcasts are dead" media talk, buoyed by their enthusiasm for their creations. Their audiences kept listening and sometimes growing large, as in the case of shows like 99% Invisible or The Tobolowsky Files or Welcome to Nightvale.

Not that you'll hear about those shows in the regular media. Every journalist is looking for the thing that podcasting's not: the mass audience, mass interest, "must hear" shows for everyone. "Serial," that phenomenally popular podcast, was just close enough to that criteria that the media woke up and "discovered" podcasts. Again.

Those of us who've been there all along would thank them, except for the fact that every time I've read a piece on podcasts it has clearly been written by someone who doesn't have a clue. Certainly they haven't taken the time to do more than interview a few sources who aren't really helpful to those of us who'd like to see some sort of breadth represented.

Stories compare podcasts to radio shows, they focus on the "pro-casts" (professional radio shows broadcast through podcast feeds), and they tell you how hard it is to find them. Then they introduce their definitive listening guide. Which is generally anything but definitive.

In so doing, they miss the delightful, quirky world of passionate amateurs who have taken this broadcast medium to heart and produced a wild variety of shows. These podcasts may serve a mind-boggingly specific or small audience. And yet, they are some of the best entertainment available today.

What surprises me is that I'm not the only one who finds this annoying. I can be excused for being opinionated. I have two podcasts and regularly am a guest on a third. I am a voracious podcast listener and know there's a big world out there. But when my mild-mannered husband tosses the paper aside in disgust after reading one of these pieces, then we know there's a huge problem. He listens to fewer podcasts than I do. But he's a passionately loyal listener. Because when you listen to a podcaster regularly, you become part of their community.

Reporters also miss the true beauty of the podcast. They rarely mention that they are completely mobile.  Download or stream one whenever and wherever you want. If you've got wireless, you've got access.

I myself am an old-school, download-through-iTunes gal. But if you want streaming and apps just Google (or Bing or DuckDuckGo) it.

You'll also hear that podcasts are hard to find. I'm not sure what world these journalists live in. Have they never browsed in a bookstore (granted, those are increasingly rare these days) or cruised TV channels? All you've got to do is push the iTunes "Podcast" tab which reveals a marvelous world of possibilities waiting for you. Organized just like their music, the front page features hot picks, collections, "favorites," and interesting oddballs.

Each category (just click the drop down "All Categories" menu) has its own front page and will lead you down fascinating rabbit holes of listening. I check iTunes every couple of weeks and always seem to find at least one undiscovered show to try. And I've been listening since ... forever.

My personal favorites tend to be what I call "true" podcasts — done for the love of the thing. CraftLit, SFFaudio, the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast, Spilled Milk, King Falls AM, and Music From 100 Years Ago are just a few of them. (Drop by my Forgotten Classics sidebar and you'll find the links for these and many more.)

Popularity can produce greater success and push podcasts into becoming "pro-casts." Freakonomics and The Dinner Party Download are just a couple that I listened to before they were discovered and put in the big show on regular broadcast radio.

My favorite success story is 99% Invisible which is about the design elements we see all around us but which ideally should be almost invisible if they work the way they should.

Roman Mars always sounds like the happiest guy on the planet and it might be because he can now make a living form his deservedly popular show, while forming a podcast network to provide support for other "hey, that's interesting" podcasts.

Podcast networks. Yes, they exist. They're also not that hard to find.

And plenty of other fascinating podcast "extension" stories exist. The Tobolowsky Files, featuring character actor Stephen Tobolowsky, tells hilarious or astounding stories of his life with a subtext that taps a deeper, sensitive side. His success almost led to being picked up by a broadcast network but when that didn't come to fruition they made a movie. A story telling movie. I love it.

Welcome to Nightvale began as a way to promote a book publisher. When the podcast took off, they began doing live shows. They now do international tours which quickly sell out.

This isn't to say that I have anything against "pro-casts" but let's be clear about what they are. They're often simply convenient ways to hear your favorite radio shows on your own schedule. (I'd languish without my daily dose of Bird Note.) They also open a world that you can't get to otherwise, such as with foreign radio broadcasts. I get to hear shows from the BBC, Australia, Canada, and beyond that I love.

Sometimes, though, they are time capsules. Such is the case with my husband's favorite, Desert Island Discs. This hugely popular BBC radio show has been on air since the 1940s and they've made all their past episodes available via iTunes.

Each is an interview with a celebrity who has chosen the eight songs they'd take with them if they were stranded on a desert island. These songs often tell the story of their lives and the interviews are fascinating. They'll interview just about anyone. Many are the sort you'd expect like actors, singers, and well-known British celebrities like various Beatles and the Monty Pythons. But you'll also find prime ministers, scientists, bankers, and more who are a lot more interesting than you'd have thought.

I know this is long and passionate. But I'm not the only one who's steamed about the way the media misunderstands podcasting. Heather Ordover at CraftLit (another favorite of mine) did a special episode on this topic. The episode and transcript are here.

She's not only got clarifications about podcasting but a lot of the history and context that I left out. (Because I knew Heather had my back.)

As for Serial, I've got nothing against it. I'm not a fan of true crime stories but I do really like Trial Lawyer Confidential which is excellent real world advice and The Black Tapes podcast which riffs on the Serial format in an otherworldly way.

Yes, there is a lot more out there waiting for you. All you have to do is take a look.

============

Speaking of Desert Island Discs, here are my top 8 desert island podcasts. I have tons of favorites, but these are the ones I'd have to have on a desert island to keep me sane. In no particular order:

1. The Tobolowsky Files
2. Bird Note
3. The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast
4. Food News
5. The Classic Tales Podcast
6. Spilled Milk
7. 99% Invisible
8. A Good Story is Hard to Find (Yes, this is the one I do with Scott Danielson. What can I say? I like listening to old episodes. It's good to be proud of your work, right?)

Do you have a Desert Island podcast list? Let me know.

Well Said: The opposite of addiction is connection

Human beings have a natural and innate need to bond, and when we're happy and healthy, we'll bond and connect with each other, but if you can't do that, because you're traumatized or isolated or beaten down by life, you will bond with something that will give you some sense of relief. Now, that might be gambling, that might be pornography, that might be cocaine, that might be cannabis, but you will bond and connect with something because that's our nature. That's what we want as human beings.

[...]

And what I've tried to do now, and I can't tell you I do it consistently and I can't tell you it's easy, is to say to the addicts in my life that I want to deepen the connection with them, to say to them, I love you whether you're using or you're not. I love you, whatever state you're in, and if you need me, I'll come and sit with you because I love you and I don't want you to be alone or to feel alone.

And I think the core of that message -- you're not alone, we love you -- has to be at every level of how we respond to addicts... The opposite of addiction is connection.

Johann Hari, TED Talk,
Everything You Think You Know About Addiction is Wrong

Do go listen to this talk or read the transcript. This just reinforces the core message I learned from Brené Brown in The Power of Vulnerability talk. Which I also recommend.

Worth a Thousand Words: Horizons

Horizons
photographed by Will Duquette

I've enjoyed Will Duquette's writing for a long time but now he's gotten back into photography and is graciously allowing me to share some favorites. (His Flickr stream is here.)

This one somehow captures those huge, fluffy clouds that we all love to watch majestically soaring through the sky. It is somehow so rare to see a good photo of them that this one took my fancy at once.

Well Said: The Search of Reason and The Sense of the Ineffable

The search of reason ends at the shore of the known; on the immense expanse beyond it only the sense of the ineffable can glide. It alone knows the route to that which is remote from experience and understanding. Neither of them is amphibious: reason cannot go beyond the shore, and the sense of the ineffable is out of place where we measure, where we weigh.

We do not leave the shore of the known in search of adventure or suspense or because of the failure of reason to answer our questions. We sail because our mind is like a fantastic sea shell, and when applying our ears to its lips we hear a perpetual murmur from the waves beyond the shore.

Abraham Heschel, Man Is Not Alone

I was talking to my spiritual advisor about the first paragraph. He pointed out that we can't live purely on reason or the ineffable. We live at their intersection.

This raised a lovely image for me of walking in the damp sand by the sea, with occasional wavelets lapping around my ankles. We can walk more in the land of reason, struggling through the dry, hot sand. We can wade in the sea of the ineffable, with the waves pulling and pushing our legs, impeding progress. It is on that damp sand that the walk is the easiest, the most satisfying, and lets us sample both land and sea.

I like it.

Blogging Around

Tom Cruise is the Best

I'm going to call him Tom Cruise during the rest of this review of "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" because even though his character has a name, Ethan Hunt, it is really Tom Cruise who makes his entrance clambering over a hill and exhorting his lovable tech guy Benji (Simon Pegg) to use his hacking skill to open the door of a cargo transport plane that's about to take off with a belly full of nukes stolen by Chechen separatists or something, I don't know who they are, it doesn't matter, Tom Cruise is running, arms and legs pumping, hair flying, and holy mother of moley he's climbing onto the top of the plane and hanging to its underbelly as it takes off, with his bare hands!

Matt Zoller Seitz's review of the new Mission Impossible movie is just about as fun as the movie (probably - I mean, I haven't seen it). It typifies the way Tom Cruise can make you feel when he's been properly cast. It's the way I felt watching him in Edge of Tomorrow, which I did not love. But I loved Cruise in it. Just go read the review.

Rhetorical Context

An excellent piece from The Curt Jester about the revelations from the Planned Parenthood videos. What I especially like is his reminder that we must not fall into the same error of dehumanizing those doing the evil. Read it all, but here's a bit to get you started.

I once wondered how the evil of Nazi Germany could have come about? Unfortunately I now understand this much better. The first step is historically always dehumanization. Using language that moves from a defined reality to a more abstract concept. Once that is done you can intellectualize your reaction. To develop a purposeful blindspot as a callus hardening against conscience.

The conversations in these videos shows the “banality of evil”. No maniacal laughs like movie villains. Calmly discussing the parsing of unborn children for parts as if it is the most mundane task. Like they were playing the battery-operated game “Operation” with a comic likeness of an unborn child.

Hunting Is Normal. Enjoy Your Tasty Animals.

Time for another cultural update from the backwards southerners, and to get us started let’s hear from the guy so southern and backward nobody can stand him:

129. In order to continue providing employment, it is imperative to promote an economy which favours productive diversity and business creativity. For example, there is a great variety of small-scale food production systems which feed the greater part of the world’s peoples, using a modest amount of land and producing less waste, be it in small agricultural parcels, in orchards and gardens, hunting and wild harvesting or local fishing.

Laudato Si’ 129.

Jennifer Fitz cracks me up. Oh, she's very serious on this topic and I urge you to go read it all. But she's got a way with a hook and a way with words ... and a way with logic. All of which I enjoy greatly.

Well Said: God never wrote that book with ink.

Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead, He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?

Augustine of Hippo

In which the White Moll sinks deeper into underworld New York to save a man's life by pulling off a diamond heist.

Chapters 7-8 of The White Moll by Frank L. Packard are ready at Forgotten Classics podcast.

Well Said: The most thoroughly converted man I ever met

[C.S.] Lewis struck me as the most thoroughly converted man I ever met. Christianity was never for him a separate department of life. Not what he did with his solitude; not even, as he says in one essay, what God does with his solitude. His whole vision of life was such that the natural and the supernatural seemed inseparably combined.

Walter Hooper,
Introduction to God in the Dock
by C.S. Lewis

I get it.

Worth a Thousand Words: Setting Sun

Setting Sun
taken by Remo Savisaar

Once again, Remo has so many wonderful photos on display that I had a hard time choosing. You owe it to yourself to go look at all of them. This one speaks to me of summer and vacation and what could be better for the beginning of August?

If, like me, you can't get to the seashore, just enlarge this photo and let your imagination fill in the sound of seagulls, the sight of brown pelicans coasting just above the water, the continual splash of waves, the salty spray on your lips, the humid breeze waving your hair in your eyes, and the scrunch of sand beneath your bare feet.

Well Said: God's Fool

Ah, well, I am a great and sublime fool. But then I am God's fool, and all His work must be contemplated with respect.

Mark Twain, A Biography

Prayer Requests — For the Culture of Life

Beyond Cana Marriage Retreat

As many regular readers know, I've been involved with Beyond Cana for many years. It is our parish's marriage enrichment retreat. I've seen God use it to renew and strengthen marriages in wonderful ways, including my own.

This weekend we begin another retreat, joined by many last minute sign ups. I love that as a sign that God is working in couples' hearts always and everywhere.

Please pray for the couples attending and those presenting the retreat.

For Those Who Suffer from the Culture of Death — A Holy Hour Today

We must pray unceasingly for those who suffer from the unmerciful culture of death, laid bare in recent days and weeks with the Planned Parenthood videos we’ve seen and read about.

If you are in New York Friday (July 31) at 3 pm there will be a special holy hour for mercy, healing, and reparation. Please join us in prayer in person or wherever you are. Details here.

The rest of us can join them in prayer and fasting. That's the beauty of God's internet. (Via Kathryn Jean Lopez.)

Catholic Bytes - a great new Catholic podcast

Each episode features a different priest who is in Rome right now. They discuss a variety of topics such as the importance of the body, prayer, how Christ makes us free, saints, and much more.

No matter the topic, the explanation is simple and understandable. A host gently inserts questions for further information but the focus is on the presenter. There's also a quick summing up at the end which is a nice touch.

The episodes are short, between 8-10 minutes, which helps make them easy to fit into your schedule and to understand. Or you can do it like me. I'm addicted and have been listening to one after another.

They'd be good for anyone who is interested in learning more about the Catholic faith, from those who are simply curious to Catholics who'd like a quick refresher which might also just prove inspirational at the same time.

Catholic Bytes just began about a month ago but they've already got 13 episodes posted.

Not every episode shows up in the iTunes feed but if you go to Catholic Bytes' website, it's easy to go to the older page and download the older episodes.

Worth a Thousand Words: Life on the Provence Coast

Life on the Provence Coast
taken by French Sampler

None of the alleys near me ever look like this. Darn it.

Well Said: What's Your Hurry?

“What's your hurry?"

"Because now is the only time there ever is to do a thing in," said Miss Ophelia.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin

I'm rereading this for the fourth time as I prepare for an upcoming episode of A Good Story is Hard to Find. Still loving it all the way.

Miss Ophelia and Topsy's relationship is one of my favorite parts of the book.

I listened to a number of audio versions before taking myself back to the one I did myself at Forgotten Classics. I was gratified to find that the reading wasn't half-bad; in fact, no worse than the best of what I could find on Audible. Plus the commentary was comparable to that of Heather Ordover at CraftLit.

It sounds as if I'm patting myself on the back, I know. The truth is that enough time has gone by (7 years) that I can listen to it objectively. I'm just pleased I did the job well. And can enjoy it myself from the "outside," as it were.

Worth a Thousand Words: Chagall

Chagall
painted by Karin Jurick

I love Karin Jurick's paintings of people looking at art but this one hits me harder than the others which are usually in well-lit museums. This one is in a museum also but it feels like a chapel because of the lighting and ambiance.

Well Said: A Good Prayer for Many Sad Hearts

When my friends are in sorrow and trouble, or even when they are just without spirit, I like to pray, "Jesus, they have no wine," or "Mary, they have no wine." It is a good prayer for many sad hearts today.

Dorothy Day, On Pilgrimage

I'm rereading this book which is Dorothy Day's daily diary from 1948. Into it she pours all the daily activities, which are quite varied considering she begins the year spending 2-1/2 months with her daughter in the country waiting for a new grandchild to be born and then returns to the city for her retreats and charity work.

Interspersed with all this are her spiritual reflections and often tart comments on the state of the country in general.

She's a fascinating person who I relate to in many ways. In others, not so much. But that's how it is with friends ... and saints ... is it not? The point is seeing where we intersect which, hopefully, is where Christ comes in.

This caught my eye because I recently began saying that prayer for my daughter and her fiancé who are searching for a good, inexpensive spot for their wedding reception. I thought what better prayer to say in this instance? After all, we know Jesus cared enough to provide enough wine to make that town very happy for a long time.

It was when reading this passage that I realized all the different ways "they have no wine" could be interpreted. What a good use of scripture in prayer.

What We've Been Watching

Summertime, with our regular television shows on hiatus, means we can catch up a little on our movie viewing. These are mostly big movies that I was curious about. They surprised me in ways I didn't expect, for the most part.

Birdman (or the unexpected virtue of ignorance) 2014

A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.

People either loved or hated this. Tom felt lukewarm approval. I can't say I hated it but it did seem like a big waste of time.

That one shot trick was amazing and the use of the drum score to highlight the character's internal tension was very interesting ... but in the end I felt as if I were watching a one trick pony.

I thought these quotes in Wikipedia said it all ...

[Director and cowriter] González Iñárritu's own experiences influenced many of Birdman's themes, and said "What this film talks about, I have been through. I have seen and experienced all of it; it's what I have been living through the last years of my life."

Duh.

Cowriter Dinelaris described this aspect as "a laughing look at oneself", but said it had to be done in a comedic way otherwise "it would have been the most unbelievably self-absorbed look at the subject".

I've got news for him. Humor didn't take that edge off.

I've seen All That Jazz. I've seen Adaptation.

Brilliant commentaries on art from people in those fields. Birdman was not those movies. Brilliant tricks and fantastic acting can't make up for an abundance of self-absorption and a lack of depth.

Magic in the Moonlight 2014

Set in the 1920s French Riviera, a master magician is commissioned to try and expose a psychic as a fraud.

A sweet little film that is not one of Allen's greatest but which does a good job in the first two acts of keeping us interested in the "is she or isn't she" clairvoyant question.

Colin Firth is good as the Houdini-esque character who debunks mediums. Emma Stone is good as the medium in question. Not something I'll want to watch again but it doesn't pretend to be more than it is. This was just what I expected it to be and that isn't a bad thing.

American Sniper 2014

U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) takes his sole mission—protect his comrades—to heart and becomes one of the most lethal snipers in American history. His pinpoint accuracy not only saves countless lives but also makes him a prime target of insurgents. Despite grave danger and his struggle to be a good husband and father to his family back in the States, Kyle serves four tours of duty in Iraq. However, when he finally returns home, he finds that he cannot leave the war behind.

This true-life tale is a surprisingly "traditional" sort of war movie in that it didn't worry about the politics of the war or about whether it was right or wrong to be in Iraq.

This is the story of a soldier doing the right thing as best he could, the toll it took, and his way back ... with no excuses and no finger pointing.

I found it refreshing.

Her (2013)

In the not so distant future, Theodore, a lonely writer purchases a newly developed operating system designed to meet the user's every needs. To Theordore's surprise, a romantic relationship develops between him and his operating system. This unconventional love story blends science fiction and romance in a sweet tale that explores the nature of love and the ways that technology isolates and connects us all.

This was a fairly astounding movie. It startled, shocked, endeared, and made us think. We're still talking about certain aspects, especially how it looked at men and women (the title is "Her" after all and there is more than one woman in it), while simultaneously thinking about how we interact with technology, AI, and aliens. The more I think about it, the more I admire it.

This is all without even going into the atypical-typical futuristic look, the color themes, and Joaquin Phoenix's brilliant acting.

There was a certain amount of predictability to at least half of it but the unpredictable parts more than made up for that element.

NOTE: There is a surprising amount of sex in this movie, though not a way that is easy to explain. It is there for a reason but still surprised us and sometimes made us uncomfortable (which in itself had a purpose in the movie).

Edge of Tomorrow 2014

Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same day and is forced to fight and die again... and again - as physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop.

This was recommended by two people or I probably wouldn't have bothered.

Not bad but not great. Tom Cruise is a pleasure to watch in action movies, which are what he does best. However, there was some sort of problem with the pacing so that both Tom and I at different times said, "How long is this anyway?" It fell short of 2 hours but felt more like 3. That could be because so much time was spent in the beginning making sure we understood the concept. Note to director/editor: we've seen Groundhog Day. Just get on with it.

The World’s Fastest Indian 2005

The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle -- a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.

The name and poster say it all. Anthony Hopkins gives a nice, underplayed performance as the old codger who no one takes seriously except the little boy next door. His goal is to get to Bonneville Flats with his 1920 Indian motorcycle in an attempt to beat the world land speed record. This sagged a bit in the middle on the road trip from L.A. to Utah, especially with so much of the story left to tell once he got to the trials. However, that's really neither here nor there in the big picture.

Not a big movie but it especially entertained my husband who loves cars and racing and engines and speed trials. Definitely recommended for Hopkins or car fans.

Worth a Thousand Words: Brousov Calendar

Brousov Calendar, Viktor Vasnetsov

Blogging Around

In Praise of Sadness: The Healing Insight of "Inside Out"

“Inside Out” stands in opposition to an entire culture that tells people that happiness is the highest, best and sometimes only permissible emotion, and that sadness is an obstacle to being happy, and that we should concentrate all of our emotional and cultural energy on trying to eradicate sadness so that everyone can be happy. 

A good piece for those who have seen Inside Out. It's by Matt Zoller Seitz, my favorite reviewer at RogerEbert.com.

When the Pope is Viewed Only Through a Political Lens

Standing on a stage beneath a yellow metal roof, Francis used the wedding feast of Cana – in which by the biblical account Jesus ultimately turned water from ablution jars into wine – as a metaphor in which the wine symbolizes happiness, love and abundance.

“This lack of ‘wine’ can also be due to unemployment, illness and difficult situations which our families may experience,” he said.

That's part of the New York Times' summary of Pope Francis's homily about the wedding at Cana and families in Ecuador. Reading the homily itself, one has a hard time seeing the summary above as accurate. Do take the time to read it. It made me remember what a treasure our families are and, of course, the marriages from which they spring.

GetReligion discusses the way journalists tend to report on Pope Francis versus what he's really doing, which is ... well ... poping.

Pope Francis is preaching. The faith elements are part of the content, not words that create an irrelevant frame for the real news, which by definition has to be about politics.

This conflicts, as I said the other day, with the"mainstream journalism Grand Unified Theory" stating that "no matter what the pope cites as his reasons for visiting a land or region, he is actually there for political reasons. He is there in an attempt to impact the lives of real people through political ideas or actions (as opposed to through sacraments, biblical truth, etc.)."

SIL missionaries, jungle Indians unexpectedly steer a Jewish reporter toward home

Ira Rifkin advises journalists who want to write about religion in a pluralistic society to get comfortable with people who believe very differently from them. His illustration is a personal story that is touching and inspirational. I'd quote some here but I don't want to ruin it. Just dart over to GetReligion and read it for yourself.

Well Said: Making Mistakes

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

Albert Einstein

Worth a Thousand Words: Fern Forest

Fern Forest
taken by http://blog.moment.ee/2015/07/sonajalamets-fern-forest.html

There are so many wonderful photos at Remo Savisaar's blog right now that I had a hard time choosing. This just looks so peaceful and cool, doesn't it? And it is not at all what I'd expect to find in Estonia which I somehow imagine to be too chilly for ferns.

Well Said: Wasted Hours

Remember this, if you can--there is nothing, nothing more precious than time. You probably feel you have a measureless supply of it, but you haven't. Wasted hours destroy your life just as surely at the beginning as at the end--only in the end it becomes more obvious.

Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny

Scott and I recorded our upcoming episode about The Caine Mutiny last night. Our conversation brought me an even greater appreciation for the book.

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity by Nabeel Qureshi


This is the book I'd recommend to any Christian who wants to understand how Muslims view Christianity (and Christians) and how they embrace and love their own faith. At least you'll better understand Westernized Muslims, which is the author's background.

Growing up between Great Britain and America, Nabeel Qureshi never fit in with Western culture because of his Islamic heritage. When Qureshi meets David, a devout Christian, he finally has a friend who is more like him than anyone else because their faith is such a core element of their lives.

Qureshi soon begins trying to convert David to Islam because he is sharing the greatest gift he knows, true knowledge of God. However, he gets a surprise when the arguments that previously planted doubt in Christians all fall apart when raised with a Christian who knows his faith well. In the process Qureshi carefully explains "what every Muslim knows" about Islam so that we understand his reasoning. This provided insights into the Muslim understanding of faith and God. What became really interesting was watching when Christian friends began asking about Muhammad and the Quran.

We know from the title where this book will end so as it progressed I became increasingly apprehensive, just as Qureshi was, for what a decision to become Christian would do to his loving parents. I really loved the window this book provided into a loving Muslim family and this was one of the most gripping parts of the book.

There is an emphasis in this book on history, source materials, and reliability of testimony which I am used to seeing applied to Christianity but which becomes riveting when seeing it applied to Islam. I also appreciated the way that Qureshi was careful to explain the differences between what Westernized Muslims teach versus Eastern Muslims. That in itself was an education and helped me see why some explanations of Islamic behavior (peaceful versus ISIS, for example) are so contradictory.

Eye opening, inspirational, and definitely recommended.

In which the White Moll carries out her promise to Gypsy Nan and encounters The Adventurer.

Chapters 3-4 of The White Moll are ready for your listening enjoyment at Forgotten Classics podcast.

Worth a Thousand Words: Dama en la Exposición Universal de Paris

Luis Jiménez Aranda, Dama en la Exposición Universal de Paris (1889)

This is another of the fine paintings we enjoyed last week on our date at the Meadows Museum. I found myself continually admiring Luis Aranda's paintings, as it turned out when I kept checking the plates next to various paintings.

Well Said: Giving and Following Advice

She generally gave herself very good advice (though she very seldom followed it).

Lewis Carroll

Isn't that the way?

I myself have the same problem. It's the source of many moments that lead me to the confessional.

Well Said: There are traps everywhere

In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere — "Bibles laid open, millions of surprises," as Herbert says, "fine nets and stratagems." God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.”

C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy

I see that attitude a lot, beginning with St. Augustine. It's one of the reasons why I'm surprised that God snared me without any reading at all.

Of course, it didn't take long before he was peppering me with reading that carried me further and further under his influence. It began before my confirmation with a gift from my sweet godmother, Aunt C.B. who sent me Rome, Sweet Home by Scott Hahn. Thank you, Aunt C.B.!

Well Said: The acceptance of grace

The acceptance of grace is not a passive thing; it demands a surrender of something, even if it is only our pride.

Fulton Sheen, Peace of Soul

Ain't that the truth!

"Only our pride." That's the hardest surrender of all usually, at least for me.

Worth a Thousand Words: Saints Justa and Rufina

Saint Justa, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
The Meadows Museum

Once again, I'm going to remind anyone living in Dallas that The Meadows Museum at SMU is the city's best kept secret.

Thursday nights are free and so last night Tom and I had a date night perusing The Abelló Collection. It is one of top of private Spanish art collections, including works by some of the greatest artists from the 1500s through modern times. Some of the paintings were truly stunning and I was reminded that the computer is a flat way to see art.

We also went into the other half of the upstairs exhibit space where we encountered some paintings from the regular collection that we either didn't remember or were part of the concurrent exhibit: The Meadows Collects: 50 Years of Spanish Art in Texas.

At any rate, these two beauties by Batrolome Murillo (a favorite of mine) entranced me. I was drawn to them again and again.

I'll be sharing other favorites next week.

Saint Rufina, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
The Meadows Museum

Worth a Thousand Words: Common Blue Dameslfly

Common Blue Damselfly
taken by that master nature photographer Remo Savisaar

Reading Slump Solution: Hard-Boiled Detectives

It took Sherry at Semicolon to put a name to my recent reading problem. She talked about nothing appealing to her and said she was in a reading slump.

Yes! It's funny how having a label often brings focus to life.

I'd been drifting lately, with plenty of good books to read for upcoming podcasts but with nothing that really grabbed me, nothing that made it hard to turn out the light because I had to read just one more paragraph. I must have had this happen before but well into the third week I felt life had lost its savor. I never realized just how much I depend on books to invigorate me.

It was so bad that I went through several days without really reading for more than a few minutes at a time.

I know, right? I can't express how startled I was when I realized this.

The Long Goodbye - Raymond Chandler

The solution came from an unlikely combination. It went down like this:

They laid it out right up front. "Two days to do the layout for a 400 page book. Over 4th of July weekend," they said.

I drained the coffee cup. There were grounds in the bottom. The staff was getting sloppy. Maybe there was too much overtime all around. Or maybe they were just sloppy.

I crushed my cigarette in the ashtray.

"I can handle it."

"And revisions," they said, eyes glinting in the car light reflected from the big front window. "That'll be another couple of tough days."

"I said I can handle it!"

When basically tied to the computer for two to four days, what do you do? Load up an audiobook that packs maximum enjoyment and lets your brain glide over the action without having to pay too much attention. Luckily Audible recently put The Long Goodbye on sale and I'd bitten.

Ray Porter is a bit too straight-forward and forceful as Philip Marlowe. I always felt there was more of a laid-back sophistication underlying the dialogue. And I'm used to Porter laying it on thick when he reads Jonathan Maberry's Joe Ledger novels. But you can't beat him for doing the secondary characters. And, who knows? Maybe Marlowe was more of a straight-forward simple guy than I'm giving him credit for.

I'm about a third of the way into it and surprised at how modern the action, attitudes, and dialogue seem. This must have been like dynamite back in the days when it was brand-spanking new.

This began to wake me up but it wasn't something for the eyes, something to pick up and dive into when you couldn't devote time to listening. I needed more.

It was when looking over the Philip Marlowe books that I remembered Raymond Chandler's unfinished novel Poodle Springs was completed by Robert B. Parker. (Did you know there were seven? I had no idea.)

And I remembered it had been a heckuva long time since I'd read a Spenser novel. Even better, the library had the ebook available to download directly to my Kindle. (Sometimes I love living in the future with instant books.) I began instantly and found myself reading every spare moment right up to the time I was falling asleep with the book in my hand.

The Godwulf Manuscript - Robert B. Parker

"A pig is a pig," she said. "Whether he's public or private, he works for the same people."

"Next time you're in trouble," I said, "call a hippie."

Oh yeah, that's the stuff.

I encountered the Spenser novels in the early 1980s and became enamored. I'd never read anything like them.

Of course, I'd never read Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler. I knew of them from movies but hard-boiled didn't appeal as reading material or even, at the time, as viewing material. It took a smart mouth like Robert B. Parker's detective, Spenser, to delight me and pull me into that world.

Now, decades later, I realize the legacy Parker was carrying on. Rereading this book while listening to The Long Goodbye, I really appreciate just how well Parker pulled it off.

For this particular book, the first of the series, it's interesting to me that I recall the solution to the big problem but I have absolutely no memory at all of most of the book. Terry Orchard and her string of problems are completely new to me.

So I am in the unique position of reconnecting with a well-loved literary friend and of reading a "new" book by him. What slump wouldn't that cure?

Next Rediscovery - Lieutenant Luis Mendoza mysteries by Dell Shannon

All these trips down memory lane made me remember a series that my parents loved. It was long running string of police procedurals set in Los Angeles featuring Lieutenant Luis Mendoza.

It has to have been unusual for a Hispanic homicide lieutenant to be the main character of these books but it never struck me at the time. I also never realized that Dell Shannon as a nom de plum.

Amazon says:

Debonair LAPD Lieutenant Luis Mendoza, broke new ground in being one of the first Latino police officers in the procedural genre, and Linington herself was a pioneer in a male-dominated industry, earning the moniker "Queen of the Procedurals."

The Kindle sample made me go right to the library to request the first in the series. No one really remembers them any more but they were really good.

Soooo Much Work ...

... which is a good thing.

I was happy to get the opportunity for an emergency book layout job. Yes, such things exist, believe it or not. These jobs don't come along often. So spending most of my 4th of July weekend and yesterday glued to the computer was not as distressing as it might have been.

As the final stages of proofing wear on, I myself am wearing down to the point where blogging is going to have to wait.

I hope to be back tomorrow, refreshed, and with something interesting to look at or read. Until then ...

A Movie You Should See ASAP — Inside Out

Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it's no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley's mind, where they help advise her through everyday life.

There are not enough stars to say how much I loved this movie.

The movie description, while accurate, cannot possibly do this film justice. Ignore it and go anyway because this is one of Pixar's masterpieces.

It works because we all recognize everything going on in this girl's life and in her head. If Pixar had taken a false step we would have felt it, because we all know the source material so well. They hit every note perfectly to tell a nuanced, complex story that made me laugh and cry (just a little), touched my heart and made me appreciate my emotions just a little more.

I didn't read more than the beginnings of all the positive reviews because I didn't want the plot revealed. And I am going to follow that guideline here.

This movie ranks with The Incredibles and Wall-E, which is to say it is Pixar gold standard. This is already a top movie of my year and it may just push its way onto my all-time favorites list.

Get out there and see it in a crowded theater where you can enjoy it best.

In which we meet The White Moll and Gypsy Nan.

Who could resist a crime novel with someone named Gypsy Nan? I can't!

We're beginning it at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

Well Said: Show me your hands...

Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?

Fulton Sheen

Words worth considering as part of my self examination.

Worth a Thousand Words: The Klostersee

The Klostersee
by Edward B. Gordon

It's been too long since we've feasted our eyes on Edward B. Gordon's art at this blog. This is a lovely, pastoral scene.

And it's in Pomerania! I couldn't resist. Though I don't see a single Pomeranian (human or canine) in this painting.

Well Said: The Church's Execution

The notice of [the Church's] execution has been posted, but the execution has never taken place. Science killed her, and still she was there; History interred her, but still she was alive. Modernism slew her, but still she lived.

Fulton Sheen, The Divine Romance

Well Said: How Easily You're Offended

How easily you're offended is directly proportional to how dumb you are.

Bill Murray

Supreme Court Decisions and Living the Christian Life

I was surprised at how hard  the decision hit me. I was really hoping they'd go for truth and wouldn't let popular opinion sway them. I was surprised at how fervently I began praying for my country, which I was surprised to realize I love so much, in the midst of its folly.

So — I was surprised by a lot of things. And left feeling adrift, shaken, devastated.

What helped me was two things.

I share them with you in case you're also struggling.

First, I continued my reading of The Everlasting Man, G. K. Chesterton's look at the spiritual journey of humanity through history. After an hour, I switched over to a history of Catholicism from The Teaching Company. I didn't intentionally select these to help my mood. I was just casting around for listening material.

History was the perfect corrective to remind me that this isn't the first time a country has gone off the rails. And the faith persists, because the believers continue to testify to the Truth wherever they are.

Secondly, we had dinner with a young couple that night. When our talk finally lighted on the topic, both said they were dreading having to turn down invitations for gay friends' weddings. The man said that he'd been wrestling all day with how hard this all was.

I'm condensing our conversation here, but in essence he said, "I realized it should be hard. Christianity began as a humble, downtrodden religion. If we fit in too well then something is wrong. We shouldn't be too comfortable."

Those words have come back to me again and again in the days since.

"It should be hard."

That works on a lot of levels.

What hits me in terms of regular life is how hard it is when things become personal rather than an ideal to argue about.

I imagine gay people whose invitations are turned down may think it is because of harsh judgment or bigotry. I'd bet that much more frequently these are reluctant decisions made because the dictates of conscience and faith must be followed no matter how much we love those friends and family.

I always thought of Jesus' words in Matthew 10:34-38 as those for new converts with disapproving relatives. I see that these timeless words apply right now to our society in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision.

Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man "against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household."

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.

Do we love them less?

No. But we love Jesus Christ, the ultimate truth, more. So eventually we are driven to choose.

In other words, "It should be hard."

That's how much we should love and pray for those who put us in the position of choosing.

Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul
Chattanooga, TN

Finally, John C. Wright wrote a fine piece about what helped him begin to be able to pray for the conversion and salvation of those who have so wounded us.

It begins in a church. It ends with some of his thoughts. No one can be more inspiring when he gets going. Here's a bit.

In one hundred years, when this ruling is only an historical curio, like the Dred Scott Decision ... the One, True, Apostolic and Catholic Church will still be in business, still preaching and teaching the same truths that she has always taught.

And the Church will still speaking the language of sacrifice and self-denying love to a race of fallen beings ... who are so selfish and self-centered that this language is folly and a stumbling block to them.

Selfishness cannot understand selflessness. The darkness cannot comprehend the light, cannot surround and cannot besiege it, cannot defeat it, even in their hour of victory.

Because when we pray for the souls of our deadly enemy, our prayers are answered.

I'd forgotten the Dred Scott decision.

The outrage we feel now must be the same way people felt back then. Not all of them, of course. But over time we have all come to realize the obvious injustice. Which has been corrected.

That's the third thing.

Let us pray.

Well Said: Chris Rock used to tell a joke about racial hardship

In the 1990s, Chris Rock used to tell a joke about racial hardship. "Do you know how hard it is to be black in America?" he would ask the audience. "I'll tell you how hard. There's not a single white person in the audience who would trade places with me. And I'm rich!"

Perhaps Ms. Dolezal is another sign of racial progress.

Jason L. Riley, What Charleston Tells Us About Race Relations