Revenge Is All I Live For Now

Revenge!  That's all I live for now!

I'll make them wince and cringe and cry!

I'll spit in their collective eye!

I'll have one thing before I die......

Reeeee-venge!

Those are lyrics from a song in It's A Bird It's A Plane It's Superman (music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams), the first musical I performed in, way back when I was in high school.  I was a huge Superman fan, and joined the choir just so I could be eligible to be in it (it was only for members of the musical department).  I played the Mad Scientist, a brilliant man who had felt slighted by his colleagues, and devoted his life to gaining his revenge on them for his mistreatment.

What a waste.  A brilliant scientist who could have invented things to benefit people and progress civilization forward, was instead bent on the destruction of those who he felt had wronged him.  It made for great entertainment, and was one of my favorite characters I've ever had the privilege of playing, but it was a horrible life lesson.  In the end, all he achieved was his own inevitable destruction.

A recent TV show, that is still on but slumping dramatically in the ratings, is a show entitled Revenge.  Alison and I watched the first two seasons, but than bailed, as the plot got too repetitive and soapy.  It centers on a beautiful, intelligent woman who spends all her time and energy on gaining revenge upon a family that she believes is responsible for the jailing and murder of her father.  She devotes herself to the family's destruction, only to find herself more and more becoming like them.  My understanding is in the current season, she discovered that her father was not actually dead!  Great.  So much for THAT motivation.

What a waste.  She could have been an example of doing good with resources and wealth she had at her disposal, combating the other family's evil by instead doing good.  But, no.  She will waste her life trying to harm those who committed a murder that may have never taken place.  Does it make for good drama?  Well, it did, at least for awhile.  But in the end, what has she achieved?  Even the TV audience is fleeing her quest.

Revenge.  Hate.  Anger. Jealousy.  These are all emotions central to drama and stories, but seldom achieve what we want in real life.  They often lead to bitter, empty and unsatisfactory ends.  They often lead you to be as dark and negative as the forces you oppose, if not more so.  They often lead to never ending spirals of vengeance and violence, as we see in the Mideast and other areas of conflict.  It leads you to believe that some people are less worthy, have fewer human qualities, that your pain is greater than their pain.  And yes, it leads you away form the spirit of God and love, and working to improve the human condition.

If you see evil, it is right and good and just to oppose it and expose it.  But try not to do it with a heart filled with hate and the desire for revenge.  Orchestrated take downs can make for good drama on the stage and screen.  In real life, not only can it result in the destruction of your target, it can also result in your own diminution as a human being.

Living just for revenge?  What a waste.

Ripping Good Yarns: My Review of the Oscar Presentations

Here is my review of Sunday's Academy Awards telecast -


I didn't watch it.

For the first time since I could control a TV dial or a remote, I watched absolutely none of the Oscars.  That probably means nothing to most of you reading this.  But it is a bigger deal to someone who has consistently watched them for over half a century.

Granted, since the DVR, I had time shifted and sped through portions of it, I had nevertheless recorded it and saw the important bits.

Last night, I saw on YouTube the Everything is Awesome musical number, and it was, indeed, awesome.  Too bad the best animated film of the year, The Lego Movie, didn't even get nominated for Best Animated Film of the Year.

I was happy to hear that Eddie Redmayne won the Best Actor award for playing Stephen Hawkings in The Theory of Everything.  That was a good movie.


The attention paid to Birdman (the anti-blockbuster movie) and Boyhood (the artistic stunt movie), the unexpected dissing of Selma (about 90% historically accurate), the fawning over American Sniper (about 25% historically accurate), the lack of nominations for those superhero blockbusters the ultrasophisticates in Hollywood seem to detest (especially the highly deserving Guardians of the Galaxy), all led me to willingly skip this year's Oscars, to not even record it for later or time shifted viewing.

Maybe next year, the nominations and Oscar races will be more interesting, and I will be more inclined to watch (although past history indicates they will not).  Maybe I have finally weaned myself off my Oscar watching addiction.

Of course, if they nominate Avengers: Age of Ultron , and/or the new Star Wars movie for Best Picture, than all bets are off the table.  Get me a vat of buttered popcorn and a jumbo cherry coke, and I'll be back in the Oscar saddle!

Yeehaw!

We Have Joy in Our House

This is a picture of our wonderful new foster, Joy.  I will keep this post updated with additional pictures of Joy, as they become available.

UPDATE:  LOOK!!!  Now with more pictures!

Okay, Mama!  I is ready for my closeup!

Cat (Skitty) and Dog (Joy) living together.

Joy is a pretty dog, a sweet mix of small to mid-sized breeds. She is mostly black, with smatterings of white.  She has had a rough go, and is missing her teeth.  But she eats soft dog food just fine.  She loves people and is very affectionate, and she gets along well with our animals.

We were introduced to the world of fostering by Robert Stewart, President of the Okefenokee Humane Society, and a dear friend.  It has been an amazing addition to our household, and I think it has helped make our family stronger.  Joy is our seventh foster.

Alison told me this morning that she believes there is as many as forty dogs in foster care coming out of the Humane Society.  It is an important testament to the kindness and generosity of so many in our area.  On the flip side, it is disturbing that there are so many who neglect and abuse their pets here.

There is much pain and abuse and nastiness here, but there is also caring and hope and Joy...if you just open your heart and look for it.

Tax Hump Day

As of yesterday, tax season was over half done.  Whoop-e-doo.

It doesn't feel like much this year.  There still is a long way to go, and with other things happening, it is a milestone that has not drawn a lot of my attention.

Nevertheless.....hooray.

This year has been slightly tougher because of the changes enacted by the Affordable Care Act.  There are more forms and questions to answer.  Nothing that is impossible, but it does require more steps and details than last year,  It is a shame that with all the talk of simplifying the tax code, it just gets more and more complex every year.  But this was what we could get through Congress, and the bottom line is that millions more have access to health insurance, a basic necessity in today's modern world.

I had hoped that I could let my 10% retirement encroach into tax season.  The physical and mental stamina required to concentrate on this is an increasing challenge to me.  But so far I have not really cut back anymore than I have in recent years.

This is the first year since I could reach a TV dial or remote that I did not watch the Oscars.  So far I haven't even seen clips, although I wouldn't mind seeing the performances of the winning song Glory from Selma, and Everything is Awesome from The Lego Movie.  I didn't care whether Birdman (the I hate Hollywood and it's overcharged superhero blockbusters movie) or Boyhood (the oh look at our fancy aging stunt movie) won Best Picture.  And don't even get me started about American Sniper.

I have completed the first phase of the DASH diet.  It was a struggle, but I kept to it.  I am concerned about continuing progress while I add in more foods.  Portion control has never been my strong suit.

Visitation for Steve Bean is not until Friday, and the funeral Saturday.  They have family from North Carolina coming in.  Both visitation and the funeral will be at Grace Episcopal,  at the church that he so loved and that so loved him.

Hugging Steve Bean

My good friend, Steve Bean, looking out at his back yard, holding his precious Pip.

The first time I was in The Studio, a building that is part of the complex of the Okefenokee Heritage Center, it was for the performance of John Youman's wonderful play about the Salem Witch Trials.  It was a play performed across the Heritage Center, and the audience moved from one place at the Heritage Center to another.

The actual witch trials took place in The Studio.  Two men who had been going to my church, Steve Bean and Rob Stewart, played the Judges of that trail.  They did a marvelous job, and it was a pleasure to see them performing.

Later, a group I was close to, Flying Dragon Arts Center, a children's theater group, was faced with having to cut costs and find a different venue.  I thought of The Studio, and Steve, as curator of the Okefenokee Heritage Center, was kind and generous in trying to work out arrangements with him.  Alas, it was not to be.  Part of the reason lay in the inadequacies of the facility, having no air conditioning, and no bathroom inside the building.

But Steve did not forget.  Thanks to his efforts, and those of the Heritage Board and John Youmans,  The Studio has improved dramatically.  It now has heat and air, the roof has been restored, and there are plans to install a bathroom.  It is becoming the perfect facility for small theatrical productions and other performances.

The last time I was in The Studio was yesterday afternoon.  Director Barbara Griffin put together a brilliant showing of the play Purlie Victorious, a play written by Ossie Davis, the versatile actor who had grown up in Waycross.  While I was at that play, enjoying the fruits of what Steve Bean had helped curate and create, Steve passed.

He'd had a triple bypass a couple of weeks ago, and there were complications.  He had a massive stroke on Wednesday night, and the doctors said that Days 3 and 4 were crucial days to survive brain swelling.  On the afternoon of Day 4, he did not make it.  He lost his fight for life in this realm, and moved to a different one, one of light and love and free from woe.

He was a good friend whom I will always love and cherish.  He was a friend to our entire family.  Every time Alison saw him, she had to go get "her hug from Steve".

He was my vestry buddy in church.  We would sit together during meetings, and make humorous comments to each other about the proceedings.

He helped draw in the Okefenokee Heritage Center as a more central part of my life.  It was his support and encouragement that led to the creation of the Writer's Guild.  When I took over the accounting of the Heritage Center, even though Steve was definitely not a numbers person, he did everything he could to help me.  I would often go to the Heritage Center in conjunction with both fiscal and artistic endeavors, and we would talk and kvetch.

He was a great lover of dogs.  He wasn't a big part of the Humane Society, as was Rob, but he did open his heart and his home to all the fosters Rob brought home.

But most of all, next to my father, Steve taught me what it really meant to be a Christian.  It's not a list of do's and don'ts.  It's not a litany of intolerances.  It's first and foremost about love.  It's about caring and sharing, about opening your heart.  He expanded my definition and understanding of love, of what being a Christian is and should be.

Every time Alison and Benjamin and I go into our church, it will be with the presence and love of Steve.

Every time I enter the Heritage Center, it will be with his memory and artistry and caring inspiring me.

And every time we see Rob, it will be with a hug, and it will not just be him that we are hugging.  Every time, that hug will also include Steve.

We love you, Steve, Rob and Cody.  Now and always.

Anti Antiboitics?

Antibiotics have been a blessing.

A true blue miracle.  Their use has helped save countless lives.

And their overuse is putting countless more at risk.

Bacteria and infectious microbes have been with us for millions of years.  They may be the oldest organisms on Earth.  And they didn't survive all that time without the ability to change, mutate and adapt.

Superbugs are becoming resistant to our antibiotic efforts.  They are becoming more of a menace to our general health.

CRE is just one of the superbugs that are becoming an increasingly more virulent threat.  There was a story just this morning about an outbreak at an L.A.  hospital that has already killed two and exposed 200.  And stories like this are occurring more and more frequently.


We must start using antibiotics more judiciously, and keep them a powerful and targeted tool in waging our war against disease.  Their continued overuse keeps us all at grave risk.

We can do things on two fronts.

First, PLEASE don't resort to antibiotics every time you get the sniffles.   If you are resorting to antibiotics several times a year for routine illnesses (and you do not have a seriously debilitated immune system), you may to rethink your strategy.  If you go to the doctor and YOU'RE the one who brings up the Z-pack, you may need to think again.

Just one example are sinus infections.  Acceding to medical opinion found on Health.com, only 2% of sinus infections are bacterial infections and warrant the use of antibiotics.  And yet, I constantly hear about people who have resorted to it.

Those individuals who habitually use antibiotics, I believe find them less and less effective over time.  It's not helping them prevent sickness, and it's not helping them get well any faster.

The second thing we can do is buy less meat that has been obtained from animals that receive high levels of antibiotics and steroids.  This use of antibiotics simply for making the animal more of a "meat machine" is causing a great deal to develop resistance in both the animals and in us.

Grass fed beef, and antibiotic/steroid free chicken, pork, turkey and other meats are available if you look.  They may cost slightly more, but some costs are worth bearing, particularly when the costs of the alternative is far greater.


Antibiotics serve a vital, life-saving purpose, and have helped transform the last one hundred years into a brighter, safer place.  But their misuse is threatening all that.

Choose antibiotics, but choose them carefully and wisely.  Choose them when they will do the most good.

We need them to help us for generations to come.

Live In My Dorm Room....It's Saturday Night!

Eddie Murphy, another one of my top favorites from Saturday Night Live.

By my Junior year in college, I had fully given in.  I had a small black and white TV in my dorm room, and although we couldn't pick up a lot, it did give us a few shows.  There was a larger TV in the dorm commons that we watched most shows with, including M*A*S*H, but it was good for late Saturday night.

One Saturday night, neither I nor my roommate could sleep, so I turned it on and tuned it to one of the few stations we could get.  I probably was looking for a late night horror movie, with one of those cheesy hosts like Elvira.

Instead we found this show with a man and a woman sitting at a table in a restaurant.  They were look at each other longingly.  The woman asked, romantically, "What are you thinking about?"

The man looked wistful and said,"  Oh...wart hogs."

And the scene switched to a shot of wart hogs in Africa.

The man and woman were Chevy Chase and Jan Curtin, and the show was from the first season of Saturday Night Live.

I was hooked.

I watched the show faithfully for decades, and saw dozens of impressive performers, from John Belushi to Kristen Wiig, impressed by the range of many.  My favorite parts was the political humor, Weekend Updates, and the many vibrant characters created by so many.

There were so many classic moments, I would need all day, and the world's longest blog post to mention them all.  Everything form the Samurai Delicatessen and Rose Hadannana, land sharks and Cone Heads, Puppy Uppers and Doggie Downers to the Church Lady and Wayne's World, and on and on.

One of my favorite performers, who got slightly short shrift, was Jan Hooks, a beautiful woman who sadly passed a few months ago.  Phil Hartman may have been Saturday Night Live's best performer, and she held her own and brought him out more in sketch after sketch.  She played a brilliantly wide variety of characters, demonstrating perfect comedic timing and an incredible range.  She was a Georgian, who made her first impression on the Tush show, a strange little sketch comedy show that was done on TBS right here in Georgia.  Bill Tush held open auditions for people in Georgia to fill this show, and Jan Hooks answered the call.  I thought about trying out, but I didn't have the will power or confidence to try.


In recent years, I have fallen out of the habit of watching Saturday Night Live.  I sometimes see highlights on YouTube or Hulu, but it has been awhile since I have seen a whole show.  The performers seem not as talented, the sketches blander and less funny, the political humor off (especially compared to The Daily Show and Colbert), and, well, I always zoned out or skipped the musical guests.  I sometimes think the show might be better off  if Lorne Micheals lets it go, and lets someone else take over,  but that is a different blog for a different day.

Meanwhile, as Chevy Chase would say on Weekend Update.....

Goodnight, and a have a pleasant tomorrow!


aaannd, yes Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead!

Tuesday Tidbit Downpour

The rain is pouring this morning.  A dark deluge whose accumulations I cannot yet see,

The dogs refuse to go outside to do their business.  I have left them on the screened-in porch with the door propped open.

It is much colder up in the northern climes.  My native Michigan has experienced a number of drops of below zero temps (especially "feels like" days and nights.  Sometimes I miss the snow and more pronounced season changes of where I grew up, but I don't miss below zero temps.

Alison and Benjamin are sleeping in.  Pierce County Schools are on a "break" and they won't go back until tomorrow.  Not me.  Like Tom Hanks said in A league of Their Own, "There is no crying in baseball", there are no winter or spring breaks in public accounting.

We watched SNL 40, as did an unprecedented number of people.  It was a great show that brought back a lot of memories.  I watched it from it's first season, when there was nothing on quite like it.  In recent years, I have finally fallen out of the habit of watching it.  It just doesn't seem to be what it was, but that might just be an older person's preference for nostalgia.

I struggled mightily this last weekend to stay on the more restrictive phase of the DASH diet.  I stayed within it's boundaries of what to eat, even though that meant not enjoying the full range of the church's Valentine's Italian dinner.  I gave up Alison's Lasagna, and chocolate raspberry cake.  I increased my level of exercise.  I did everything right.  And I still gained back a pound and a half.  Sigh.  Weekends.  What are you gonna do?

We are trying to sign Benjamin up for a Robotics Camp at Georgia Tech this summer. This would be an amazing experience for him.  Cross our fingers and wish him luck.

Tax season is not even half way through yet.  Still about 54% of it to go.  I feel like my brain has been hijacked.  Nevertheless, writing is important to me and I will soldier on as best I can.

The rain continues to pour.

A Grace Filled Valentine's

It was our special second annual Valentine's Dinner at Grace Episcopal Saturday night.  Over three dozen people were served in style, including by that blur of a waiter you see, Benjamin Strait.

The theme was Italian, with spaghetti and lasagna served.  The delicious spaghetti sauce was prepared the couple at the center of this picture, James and Selina Pinckney.  The lasagna was prepared by Alison Strait.

We were serenaded by beautiful musical accompaniment, featuring the piano and vocal talents of our choir director, Mike Taylor.  Play it again, Mike!

The dessert was prepared by Jennifer Strickland, chocolate raspberry cake.  People raved about how good it was.  I did not get to try it, as I am in the middle of phase one of the DASH diet that allows for no fruit or grains for two weeks.  So I basically had salad and spaghetti/lasagna sauce.

Pictured above is some of the kitchen staff, starting from the left with Audrey Jernigan, Brandy Holland, some lost looking guy named me, Alison Strait and Carlie Holland.  Not pictured because they were too darn busy to pose for a picture were Donald Holland, Lillie Holland and Benjamin Strait.

It was a fantastic, romantic event, and I look forward to the third one next year, when hopefully I won't still be on Phase One of DASH.

What is your Church Accomplishing?

If your church accepts gay people, in a friendly and open way, but considers their behavior a sin that needs to be changed or suppressed, what are you really accomplishing?

If your church  is completely open to gay people, and accepts then as they are, but does nothing to improve the civic law that discriminates against them so, what have you accomplished?  You have created a sanctuary, a welcoming home, but you haven't changed that a loving couple may not be able to carry each other on their health insurance, or get the paid leave they need to take care of each other in times of medical crisis.

If your church accepts the poor, and maybe assists the poor, but at the same time considers them lazy and solely responsible for their condition, and imposes many conditions and strings to your charity, what have you really accomplished?

If your church readily assists the disadvantaged and poor, without precondition or judgement,  without the main goal of conversion but of simple Christian charity, but then deny that government policy and social/economic structure has anything to do with creating poverty, the shrinking of the middle class, or the concentration of more and more income in the hands of a very few, have you really accomplished everything that you can do?

If your church has a fund raiser so that a church member can afford a surgery that would otherwise bankrupt them, but then breathes fire and brimstone about socialized medicine and extending the right to health care to everyone, what have you really accomplished?

Good churches reach out in love to even those it considers sinners.

Great churches reach out in love to both sinners, and to those that others consider sinners but are not, because their only sin is love, and that is not a sin at all.

And the best churches reach out beyond their church and community, and strive for those reforms that will bring social justice for all.

My Favorite Ozstritch: Saturday Political Soap Box 102

Brian Williams lied.

Yes, he did.

He wasn't on that helicopter in Iraq that got shot.  He was on the one that didn't.

What a lyin' resume-inflatin' piece of scum.

That's why I don't listen to the news.  It' all a bunch of malarkey.  Why waste my beautiful mind on all that stuff and nonsense anyways? I've got more important things to do than to keep up with things.

Do I vote?  Of course!  How do I learn who to vote for?

That's easy.  I talk to family and friends that I trust.  That's how I know that Obama dictator is a Muslim.  Aunt Mildred read it in an email.

I hate Obamacare.  I can't get it because my income is too low for the subsidies, and I would qualify for Medicaid but Obama was too stupid to let us have them here in Georgia.  Cousin Eddie, our family commie, ol' crazy Eddie says that's because the state government won't extend Medicaid like they do in some other states, but I think he's lying like Brian Williams.  Governor Deal is there to make sure my taxes don't go up like those big spending Democrats  would if they were in charge.  Of course, at my level of income, I don't really pay much income tax, but I'm sure he'll reduce the sales tax, property tax and gas taxes.  I mean, look at how much Deal has reduced the price of gas here in Georgia already!

I learn things from my pastor and my church.  I learned that you love the sinner but not the sin.  That means it's okay to love gays, especially if they don't be gay no more.  Or gay acting.  Obama is gonna make us marry gay people, and this is going to be devastating to traditional marriage, and I sure don't want to ruin my fourth marriage.

Many in my church say that Democrats can't be Christian.  Well, I'm a Christian so I ain't no Democrat. End of story.

I let Uncle Miltie watch the TV news for me, while I stick to wholesome shows like Duck Dynasty, Honey Boo Boo and a whole bunch of Real Housewives.  I trust Uncle Miltie more than that Lyin' Brian, or that drag queen, Rachel Hagcow.  He tells me all the scoops that I need to know.  That's how I know them Iraqis really did have weapons of mass destruction, that AMWAY (or maybe it was ACORN - I forget) rigged the voting to elect Obama, that most people who get welfare are able-bodied people ripping me personally off, that liberals hate Christmas and are at war with it, and that the best way to get the economy moving is to let the rich keep more of their money and get rid of all them pesky government regulations.

There are way too many people sucking off the government teat.  I don't need no news program to tell me that.  Somebody in front of me in the grocery store was using food stamps, and had manicured nails.  How is that possible?  Probably took off in a Cadillac too.  All these fake poor too lazy to work, and these loafers on disability, it just really burns my goat.  Especially when there are legitimate people out there like my sister Wanda, who is on disability because her simonatic nerve is messed up, and she gets fainty when employers ask her to do stuff.  But I'm not worried.  Them conservatives Uncle Miltie likes will weed the bad people out of welfare, and leave deserving people like my sister on it.

And I don't need no news to tell me that global warming is a hoax.  I know that because it was cold this morning.  Case closed.

So thank you, family and friends, and my carefully cultivated Facebook friends, for letting me know about Lyin' Brian Williams, and confirming what I done already know.

Watching the news is pointless.  Why should I?

Ignorance is bliss.

Flu Shot Fever

Earlier in the week, I did a blog story called Vaccination Nation, urging the importance of vaccinating against childhood diseases that, as long as everyone vaccinates, are completely wiped out.  It's clear that there are compelling reasons to get your child vaccinated.

And then there's flu shots.  It started as something that a few did.  Then it moved to cover the more at risk groups - children and seniors.  Now it's approaching almost universality.  Alison and Benjamin now both regularly get flu shots.

I do not.  I have never had a flu shot.

It's not because of any inherent risk in the shot per se.  I have read that there are chemicals and elements in the shot, such as mercury, that could prove to be dangerous.  And they have to reformulate every year to combat new projected threats, and that causes  a greater risk that they may not get it right, maybe even makes things worse instead of better.  Or it may prove to be ineffective in combating what's to come.  But that's not why I don't get one. If it was, I would encourage Alison and Benjamin not to have it also.

I don't take it because I think it is better to develop your own immunities than to do so by artificial injections.  This may be naive.  This may be wrong.  But so far, it has not ill served me.  I rarely have flues or colds, certainly significantly less than those around me, many of whom have taken the flu shot.  It may be just a genetic gift of having a stronger immune system.  I don't know.

My childhood was not quite perfect.  In addition to the regular childhood diseases that are now wiped out by vaccination (well...WERE wiped out), I also had mono and pneumonia twice.  But as an adult, flues and colds have been rare.  I get them often enough to prove that I am not super human, or an alien from another planet (some might dispute that), but they are not very frequent.

I discussed this with someone recently who claimed that by not getting a flu shot that I was putting everyone else at risk.  That just because I didn't get sick didn't mean that I wasn't carrying the virus to someone else.  Like a typhoid Mary, I guess.

I don't know.  It's something I have to think about.  But for right now, I think I'll continue to skip it, although I am always willing to look at new research and results.


So....for the record.....

CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONS......YES!

FLU SHOTS......................................MAYBE.

What's up next time I do this?  ANTIBIOTICS!

Guess what the answer is for that one?

It's Almost Time for the Ball!

It's almost time for the ball!

Get with your fairy Godmother and start making plans now!

This is going to be one of those big cast/multi-talents/amazing spectacle shows you ARE JUST NOT GONNA WANNA MISS!

Cinderella was first done by WACT some 17 years ago, and it was the first play that I saw the theater group do.  I was hooked.  It was also the last performed in the play before the roof collapsed, and it was a couple years before they could get back in.

Enjoy the magic!  Reserve your seats now!

Vaccination Nation

There was a time, not too long ago, when virtually every child had to suffer through a swath of childhood diseases.  Two of the more prominent that I remember were the mumps and measles.

I had the mumps when the family was on one of Dad's National Science Scholarship summers, and that year we were in Muncie, Indiana (or as my sister and I might call it - Mumpsie, Indiana).  This was back in the early sixties.  I remember it being an unpleasant nuisance, but not all that hard to get through, at least for me and my sister.  You had puffy cheeks and felt bad for a few days.  I even remember playing outside with them.

Not so with measles.  I contracted the hard measles my Kindergarten year, and it wasn't pleasant at all.  I missed over a month of school.  There were some doubts as to whether I would be able to advance to the first grade.  And there were some doubts as to whether I would survive.  The family legend is had the measles raged just slightly longer and slightly harder, I would not have survived.

To me, the value of vaccinations that eliminate these horrible diseases is essential.  I cannot imagine these scourges sweeping the nation again.  And yet, apparently, some parents don't see it that way.  They are willing to play measles roulette with their child, and risk infecting other children as well.

The world of medicine and pharmaceuticals is complicated and sometimes risky.  Many of the corporations are motivated much more by money than in any cure.  But the science on these basic vaccinations to prevent childhood diseases has long since been in.  We have eradicated them, and they can stay eradicated, as long as parents don't get into their head that the diseases are worth the risk.

The measles were certainly not worth the risk for me.  I am lucky to have survived.  Back then, not every child was so lucky.

Please.  Let's not go back to that time.

Americans Streaming and Other Monday Musings

This is the current show I am on a "slow-binge" on.  I'm seeing three to five episodes a week in order to catch up to the current  season, which I am putting on the DVR.  It is a well done show, and it pushes the edge of what you can get away with on a basic cable show.  The two leads, Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys give their characters depth and realism.  I love how the show is deeply ingrained into its times, intersecting with real events and real people of the time.

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We have a new foster.  Her name is Joy.  She is a small dog, about Corgi/beagle size, of black coloring.  She is sweet and a bit shy.  She had a hard time in the shelter, as she was not a very dominant dog.  She has no teeth and needs to eat soft foods.  Pictures to come!

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I am starting Phase One of the Dash diet.  I have been flirting with it since January 5th, but this first phase is the one that officially starts it.  Basically, no breads/starches, fruits or sweets for the next two weeks.  This is supposed to kickstart  my metabolism.    Diet wise, I certainly need to be kicked, so we'll see.

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Got no sport to watch, now with football over.  Ice hockey and basketball are of some interest, but they generally have more games than I can keep up with.  I've watched some Indy and NASCAR in prior years, but I don't know.  I've liked the sport in the past, because it is the rare one where men and women compete on the same field.  But I've become more skeptical that  Danica Patrick or other female driver is going to consistently perform in the top tier.  Maybe when I hear or see more evidence of that, it will increase my interest in watching again.

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I got a little too fired up in Sunday school yesterday.  My hot button of health care access got punched, and then I got wound up.  If you want to have a Sunday School class that is truly open and full of spirit, than you need to check out the adult Sunday School class at Grace Episcopal.  9 AM.

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Progress on History of the Trap final editing has hit a brick wall.  My second edit is still in the hands of some others, and I am awaiting additional feedback.  Meanwhile, I have trouble finding the time and the will power to re-edit the novel myself.  Most of my other longer term writing projects seem to be on hold as well.  The chasm that is tax season is swallowing more and more of my brain wattage.

Until next time,

T. M .Strait

Movie du Jour: Saturday Political Soap Box 101

Before the domination of television, video games, computers and the Inter-webs,  people went to the movies a lot more than they do now.  People still see plenty of movies, but many of them are at home, via TV, DVDs, or streaming.  Going to the movie theater has become less routine.

Part of the reason has to do with the aforementioned competition from other entertainment sources.  Part of it has to do with the pricing of the theater and its refreshments.  What used to be under a dollar in the fifties and sixties now has become uncomfortably expensive for a family.  I'm pretty sure if it was examined, you would find that the cost of going to a movie has exceeded the cost of inflation, and certainly the lack of rise in middle class incomes over the last few decades.

So American movie goers have become more selective in what they see.  Every five to seven years, one movie pulls in people who are the rare movie attendees, those who only go to a movie once or twice a decade.  Why they choose the movie they do, is something that fascinates and mystifies me.

Forrest Gump some twenty years ago was such a movie.  Its box office exploded beyond all expectations because of this phenomena.  Why?  I saw it once, and thought it was a good movie, but not a great movie.  But something in it rang true to a lot of people, and caused those infrequent goers to show up.  I'm not sure why.  It used some unique techniques in placing Forrest into archival historical footage, and it was directed by one of my favorite directors, Robert Zemeckis (most famously of the Back to the Future movies).  Tom Hanks was the top actor of the time.  But I think what brought them out was that this was the premier achievement of the theme of "so innocent, ignorant and stupid that you were actually wise and smart".  Dave and Being There are other examples of this type of film.  Somehow, with a smart President like Clinton, with "experts" challenging some of the more common thought and tradition, the idea that someone without guile and pointy headed intellectualism, could actually connect with better and wiser results, somehow that made an impression on the once a decade crowd.  This concept was smashed for all time to come by the presidency of the second President Bush.

In the past, I think Titanic and Avatar have fit into this category, of reaching out to the non-regular moviegoers.  And I thought I knew for sure what the next one was going to be.

I had watched a preview for it two months before it came out.  And for the first time in my life, it left me openly weeping inside the theater.  It hit a chord upon the central struggle of that time, and even into this time.  It was Selma, and when I got to see the whole film, it blew me away.  This was, by far, the best picture of the year.  This was the one worthy of  attracting in the non-regular moviegoer.  Yes, there was some complaining about how LBJ was portrayed, but overall, it concisely fit the tenor and struggle of the times.

And I was wrong.

On Martin Luther King Day weekend, the film about a central incident in the life of a man of peace, of non-violence resistance, one of the greatest examples of Christian love of our times, a man whose life was brutally cut short by a sniper's bullet, received only one tenth of the box office of another movie that celebrated someone who had killed from a distance more people than any other soldier, American Sniper.

Why?

I would love to say it was because Clint Eastwood made the kind of anti-war movie that he though he did.  But if that is what he tried to do, he failed.  I don't think that's what people saw.  They saw a movie that glorified and justified the Iraq War, incorrectly connecting it to 9/11.  They saw a movie that stereotyped the Iraqi people as savages, and covered up the awful murkiness and grayness of any war.  They completely missed the moment of self-doubt that Bradley Cooper (playing a fictitious version of sniper Chris Kyle) had with the psychiatrist and convinced themselves that he was fully justified in everything he did, and that self-doubt was for liberals and losers.  They came out fired up and ready to condemn and vilify anyone who dared question Chris Kyle or the premise of the movie.  Poor Michael Moore put his foot in it, and now the right wing jihad against him is fired up again.

All our soldiers need to be respected and taken care of.  They are serving this country faithfully, and following the commands of those who sent them, even when those commands are for a war that was immoral ,wrong, and most importantly, stupid.  Yes, there are atrocities committed in the fog of war.  But every single soldier deserves our support, both when they serve, and even more importantly, when they come home broken.

Chris Kyle, who in reality was not a very charming figure, came home broken, whether he understood that or not.  He needed and deserved our support.  The soldier that killed him was also broken, and also deserves the best we can give him.

But mostly what our soldiers deserve are leaders that won't send them out on stupid missions that do more harm than good.  They need us not to nostalgically look back and think the war was justified.  They need us not to be led by the nose again by lying leaders and big media (with Faux News leading the charge) into an unnecessary, expensive and destructive diversion.

Make the right choice, America.  It's not too late.  Choose to celebrate what we can achieve with non-violent resistance.  Choose to understand that the voting rights so strongly fought for in the sixties, are being challenged once again.  Choose to move forward with tolerance, forgiveness and love.

Choose Selma.

Ripping Good Yarns: Our Third Hall of Fame Movie

This is our third Hall of Fame winner, joining The Wizard of Oz and Star Wars in our Ripping Good Yarn Hall of Fame, Movie Division.  It is a about a prisoner who eventually escapes using a trick.  The two leads are played excellently by Timothy Robbins and Morgan Freeman, and much of the movie revolves around the relationship of these two prisoners.

The story is based on a Stephen King short novel called Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.  It's good to see my favorite modern writer already in the Hall of Fame.  

I would show you a vote but I can't.  There were very few votes, and they were scattered over months.  The Shawshank Redemption was the only one to receive multiple votes, beyond just getting one or two.

It is my fault for not being more persistent in soliciting votes.  It takes a lot of effort just to do something that is supposed to be fun. I found it hard, with everything else I've got going on,  to concentrate on it.

I love Ripping Good Yarns and the Hall of Fame idea.  But until I can figure out a way to garner more participation, I will probably suspend this for awhile.

Thanks to those of you who did participate.

T. M. Strait

Sister in the Hizzy and Other Monday Musings

My sister, Carol. and my brother-in-law, Mike,  Mike is holding their dog, Ellie.

Me and my sister.

We enjoyed a visit from my sister this last weekend.  It was the first time she and Mike had come to a home I lived in since the early nineties.

I would love to tell you that we went out and did a lot of active and touristy things.  We did not.  But I feel like what we did was even better.  We talked and talked and talked.  We ate chicken and pork chops that we grilled at home.  We walked the dogs together in our neighborhood.  Benjamin showed him his amazing Rube Goldberg device he is building in his study.

And it was all good.

We did get out to tour some of the houses we had lived in before, and showed them where Alison worked, and where I worked.  We showed them the sanctuary of our church, and the stage at the Ritz where I had been involved in so many plays over the years.  Carol has not seen me in a play since high school.  I thought about getting onstage and performing a medley of my greatest bits, but alas, my memory is not that good.

On Saturday, they had their choice of many local restaurants, and they chose Hog 'n' Bones.  They loved the ribs, but I think our style of serving BBQ was a little different for them.  In Michigan, most often when you order BBQ, the meat comes already sauced, instead of adding it at the table.  It was a surprise to me when I first saw it done that way.  I had always though that BBQ meant the fact that the meat was cooked in BBQ sauce. Now I like it because it allows me to pick my favorite sauce to put on it - the sweetest one I can find.

We saw a movie from Amazon Prime Saturday night, The Captive with Ryan Reynolds.  It was a good movie, but not a great movie.  What was special was being able to see it with Carol and Mike.

They left Sunday morning to go stay in Florida for awhile.  I can't imagine why they would want to escape part of the Michigan winter, but there you go.  I'm longing for a snowflake, and they're longing for sunshine.

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After they left on Sunday, I couldn't help but reflect on the fact that they were both able to be retired now (Carol is about fifteen months younger than me).  I have cut back my work schedule a bit, but it's going to be sometime before I can comfortably leave accounting.  It was tough showing up at my work mid-Saturday afternoon, and finding two work associates there.  It gave me feelings of guilt and a little bit of hopelessness.  

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We attended a funeral Sunday afternoon.  It was a family friend that Alison grew up with, Mr. Bill Long.  He was a great man, with a marvelous sense of humor.  It was held at the church Alison grew up in (and where we were married), Blackshear Presbyterian.

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I watched more of the Super Bowl than I intended.  I didn't think Alison would want to see it, but we wound up watching more of it than I thought we would.  There were a few good commercials (The Snicker's Brady commercial was a highlight for me), and the game fit in with one of the strangest seasons the NFL had had to date.  I still enjoy watching football, but I am becoming more and more aware that these people are messing up their bodies and brains for our amusement.

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I made no progress on my writing projects.  I am sitting with a completed novel, and I did nothing really to accelerate to some kind of publication.  I try to stay optimistic, but I hesitate when I glare into the harsh reality that is is almost certainly not going to help me do what I want to do.

But somehow I have to fight the naysayers in my head and at least try.

At least try.

So much easier to say than do.

Until next time,

T. M . Strait