I heard about this movie in a variety of places. My news magazine, my brother, all recommended it. On the strength of those I added that to our Netflix queue. I have never read a complete review but accepted it on the word of mouth of people I respect.
"The Lives Of Others" is a German film about life on the other side of the Berlin wall. It is in German with subtitles. It has always been my contention that you watch a movie like you read a book but this movie I HAD to read. It was a powerful portrayal of life behind the iron curtain. I was struck by its honesty from the very first moments. I found that I was glued to the screen. I had to read the dialogue. It was just a very powerful story about life in a communist society.
I was moved by the story of the playwright, his friends, and his actress girlfriend; the workings behind the reasons for the state police to bug his apartment; and the cold, lifeless, police officer in charge of the surveillance. I cannot say too much of the story beyond this because I do not want to give it away but this movie has some amazing scenes. Some brutally honest scenes that make you ask yourself how would you react if these were your neighbors, if this was your town, your friends. I think we need to ask ourselves this occasionally. What price do we pay for our freedom? What price would we pay to get it back.
I was moved to tears several times. It has some beautiful portrayals. I recommend that everyone to rent it.
Very powerful stuff. Rent it.
David.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
oil
I started this blog about six months ago and I made a commitment to myself that I would try not to be too political. I can't keep that promise any longer. I have to say something about certain current issues in the US.
We all know oil prices have gone up and when oil goes up so does gasoline for our automobiles. So in the US we have been looking for cheaper, better alternatives. Bio fuels. From corn oil and other sources. We are using more of our crops for the lucrative bio fuel market. Then the US gets criticized for not exporting enough food to starving countries.
The real food crisis has been traced to the rising middle class around the world. With the growing economy millions more people have prospered to become more affluent in a global economy. This new middle class opulence has seen a consumption of more food in China and India. More demand there. Less exports for anywhere else.
It is interesting how the US is to blame for a lot of things. And we get criticized for acting in our own self interests.
Sometimes it just gets really annoying. I mean why can't world governments produce enough foods for there own people? I know self determining governments should function in their citizens best interests. Don't get me wrong. I know some of these answers. And I know it is just a lot easier to find an easy scapegoat.
Update: Apparently Opec thinks that oil should be priced about $60 to $120 a barrel. So who is raising the price. Some investors looking for a profit at the expense of the consumers. Amazing.
David.
We all know oil prices have gone up and when oil goes up so does gasoline for our automobiles. So in the US we have been looking for cheaper, better alternatives. Bio fuels. From corn oil and other sources. We are using more of our crops for the lucrative bio fuel market. Then the US gets criticized for not exporting enough food to starving countries.
The real food crisis has been traced to the rising middle class around the world. With the growing economy millions more people have prospered to become more affluent in a global economy. This new middle class opulence has seen a consumption of more food in China and India. More demand there. Less exports for anywhere else.
It is interesting how the US is to blame for a lot of things. And we get criticized for acting in our own self interests.
Sometimes it just gets really annoying. I mean why can't world governments produce enough foods for there own people? I know self determining governments should function in their citizens best interests. Don't get me wrong. I know some of these answers. And I know it is just a lot easier to find an easy scapegoat.
Update: Apparently Opec thinks that oil should be priced about $60 to $120 a barrel. So who is raising the price. Some investors looking for a profit at the expense of the consumers. Amazing.
David.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Baseball
I have been meaning to write this for several years now. I have wanted to tell let people know how much enjoyment I have received from baseball over the last twenty-five years that I have been a baseball fan. I fell away from the game of my youth when I was a teenager – too many other things going on and I lived in a town with out a professional team. And now, I find myself falling away again. I became a fan in 1980 after a friend started explaining the nuances of the game to me. I was hooked.
I became “Mr. Baseball” to my family (two brothers, four sisters) and I made them all baseball fans too. But I better get to the point. I was such a baseball fan that after my wife became pregnant, I held the baseball encyclopedia up on the dinner table and let it fall open so that I could randomly pick a baseball name for our first child. I pointed to the page with my eyes closed. I was astonished when my finger pointed to a player named “Buster Maynard”. It was so cool that my first child would have such a great baseball name. Well, my wife, being the more practical person in this marriage, vetoed my choice of names, for which I’ll bet my daughter is eternally grateful. But that name, that player has stuck in my family's folklore for eighteen years.
In my younger, more frivolous years, I listened to interviews and radio shows. I read articles, I watched all the games I could. I heard all sorts of baseball stories, great little pieces of Americana. I loved the spirit of it all. Hearing about the humanity of the players and all the baseball greats.
It must have been the mid-1990’s that I heard my first “Buster Maynard” story. I was listening to the great sportswriter, Phil Collier, before a game and he told a story of Buster Maynard. It seems that as a young journeyman player on his way up in the minor leagues he was admired by this certain 11 year old kid. That kid was so impressed that he asked Mr. Maynard for his autograph. Mr. Collier relayed that the esteemed Mr. Maynard was tired after a game and told the kid to get lost.
Years later, the story goes, when Mr. Maynard was on his way down in his career, he was facing a pitcher in the minor leagues. The pitcher brushed Buster back with several pitches and it was very clear that the pitcher had it in for him. After the game Maynard went up to the pitcher and asked him why he was so tough on him. It was then that the pitcher said he was the kid that didn’t get that autograph seven or eight years earlier. Mr. Collier mentioned that the pitcher that night in the mid 1950's was none other than Tommy Lasorda, the famous Los Angeles Dodger's Manager.
I have cherished that story ever since. As a fan of southern California baseball, I used to root against the Dodger's all the time. But I was sad when Tommy Lasorda retired. He truly was, and still is, a great Ambassador for Baseball.
I have always been impressed by the scope of Lasorda's career. I was impressed with his skill as the Dodger’s manager. I was extremely impressed by his comments as Manager of the Olympic Baseball Team. What he said was that it transcended the city teams, the professional teams. Because the players and coaches represented the whole country and everyone at that time became baseball fans rooting for the one team.
Tommy Lasorda has given me great pleasure as a baseball fan. But have to state that for a long time I was a San Diego Padres fan. I have been since I moved here in 1980. Sorry. But you have given baseball fans everywhere something to be proud of – the fact that we are Baseball fans. I have no motive for writing this other than to say thanks for all the great memories that I received from baseball. I am at heart a true baseball fan.
But I stated earlier that I have fallen away from baseball. The drugs and steroids scandals have really turned me off. I remember a fallen player, a once great competitor, whose skills waned a bit. He was out of baseball and died of a drug over dose. (I actually remember quite a few players that this happened to). I also remember owners and managers giving quotes to newspapers stating that they knew this one particular player was using drugs but they were winning, so...
So, I have weened myself off of baseball. It makes it easier now that my team is in last place. But I still miss the great ones, and I miss their stories. If the game changes, I may be back. Until then, I wish them all well.
David
I became “Mr. Baseball” to my family (two brothers, four sisters) and I made them all baseball fans too. But I better get to the point. I was such a baseball fan that after my wife became pregnant, I held the baseball encyclopedia up on the dinner table and let it fall open so that I could randomly pick a baseball name for our first child. I pointed to the page with my eyes closed. I was astonished when my finger pointed to a player named “Buster Maynard”. It was so cool that my first child would have such a great baseball name. Well, my wife, being the more practical person in this marriage, vetoed my choice of names, for which I’ll bet my daughter is eternally grateful. But that name, that player has stuck in my family's folklore for eighteen years.
In my younger, more frivolous years, I listened to interviews and radio shows. I read articles, I watched all the games I could. I heard all sorts of baseball stories, great little pieces of Americana. I loved the spirit of it all. Hearing about the humanity of the players and all the baseball greats.
It must have been the mid-1990’s that I heard my first “Buster Maynard” story. I was listening to the great sportswriter, Phil Collier, before a game and he told a story of Buster Maynard. It seems that as a young journeyman player on his way up in the minor leagues he was admired by this certain 11 year old kid. That kid was so impressed that he asked Mr. Maynard for his autograph. Mr. Collier relayed that the esteemed Mr. Maynard was tired after a game and told the kid to get lost.
Years later, the story goes, when Mr. Maynard was on his way down in his career, he was facing a pitcher in the minor leagues. The pitcher brushed Buster back with several pitches and it was very clear that the pitcher had it in for him. After the game Maynard went up to the pitcher and asked him why he was so tough on him. It was then that the pitcher said he was the kid that didn’t get that autograph seven or eight years earlier. Mr. Collier mentioned that the pitcher that night in the mid 1950's was none other than Tommy Lasorda, the famous Los Angeles Dodger's Manager.
I have cherished that story ever since. As a fan of southern California baseball, I used to root against the Dodger's all the time. But I was sad when Tommy Lasorda retired. He truly was, and still is, a great Ambassador for Baseball.
I have always been impressed by the scope of Lasorda's career. I was impressed with his skill as the Dodger’s manager. I was extremely impressed by his comments as Manager of the Olympic Baseball Team. What he said was that it transcended the city teams, the professional teams. Because the players and coaches represented the whole country and everyone at that time became baseball fans rooting for the one team.
Tommy Lasorda has given me great pleasure as a baseball fan. But have to state that for a long time I was a San Diego Padres fan. I have been since I moved here in 1980. Sorry. But you have given baseball fans everywhere something to be proud of – the fact that we are Baseball fans. I have no motive for writing this other than to say thanks for all the great memories that I received from baseball. I am at heart a true baseball fan.
But I stated earlier that I have fallen away from baseball. The drugs and steroids scandals have really turned me off. I remember a fallen player, a once great competitor, whose skills waned a bit. He was out of baseball and died of a drug over dose. (I actually remember quite a few players that this happened to). I also remember owners and managers giving quotes to newspapers stating that they knew this one particular player was using drugs but they were winning, so...
So, I have weened myself off of baseball. It makes it easier now that my team is in last place. But I still miss the great ones, and I miss their stories. If the game changes, I may be back. Until then, I wish them all well.
David
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Two Poems
Water
A young lady, dressed in tight, black sweats and a pink sport's bra, out jogging on a warm spring day in southern California. The water-starved area doesn’t stop people from having our well manicured lawns. We are so conscious of our water needs that sometimes we even water the parched sidewalk. And when this young lady comes to that point in her jog she stops to enjoy the spray. She raises her face to the shower and refreshes her beautiful smile.
Spirit
A young girl, on a tour in France, wandering the cemeteries in Normandy. She stops and pauses by an unmarked headstone. An unknown soldier. She puts her hand to her lips and kisses her fingers. She places the kiss on the headstone.
A lost soul wandering the universe feels uplifted. The joy of remembrance has touched his spirit. He finds comfort and peace.
A young lady, dressed in tight, black sweats and a pink sport's bra, out jogging on a warm spring day in southern California. The water-starved area doesn’t stop people from having our well manicured lawns. We are so conscious of our water needs that sometimes we even water the parched sidewalk. And when this young lady comes to that point in her jog she stops to enjoy the spray. She raises her face to the shower and refreshes her beautiful smile.
Spirit
A young girl, on a tour in France, wandering the cemeteries in Normandy. She stops and pauses by an unmarked headstone. An unknown soldier. She puts her hand to her lips and kisses her fingers. She places the kiss on the headstone.
A lost soul wandering the universe feels uplifted. The joy of remembrance has touched his spirit. He finds comfort and peace.
Friday, May 2, 2008
M&M’s
On a newly paved private road, a bag of M&M’s was spilled. A beautiful array of colors on a black background. The hot spring sun beat down on the road and the candies melted, not in mouth or hand. Cars came by and flattened the melted candies. A beautiful mosaic of dots of magnificent colors, like stars on a midnight sky. What a tragedy for chocolate.
D. Normand, 2008
D. Normand, 2008
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