60 lessons from 60 years
A birthday list of 60 things I’ve learned in my (now) 60 years of life.
All posts filed under: Best Of…
Year-end compilations and collections
Quest for the Best (2015 Edition, Round 2)
Since our last report on our quest to see the Best Picture, Candice and I have seen three more of this year’s nominees. So let’s get to it. We walked to our “commercial” theatre (the Regal) in downtown Silver Spring earlier this week to see Selma. This movie has had its share of controversy, from the treatment of Lyndon Johnson in the film, to the snub from the Academy in terms of award nominations. David Oyelowo was excellent as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a performance certainly deserving of a Best Actor nomination. But the film was stilted at times, and uneven. Selma is not the year’s Best Picture, but it is the most important film of the year. We forget too quickly how difficult it was to attain rights for all, and how much pressure there is, even today, to restrict or even take away those rights. I have members of my extended family who love to wave the Confederate flag, without any understanding of what that really means. I grew up in …
A Quest for the Best Picture (2015 Edition)
As we entered our empty nesting period, Candice and I took the plunge in 2012 and made a pledge to try and see all of the year’s films nominated in the Academy Awards’ “Best Picture” category. We (almost) succeeded – seeing eight of the nine 2012 nominees – and every year since we’ve taken on the same challenge. While we seldom get to all the films (we generally avoid the gratuitously violent ones such as 2013’s Django Unchained), we’ve seen the vast majority and have really enjoyed talking and – in my case – writing about them. This year there are eight nominees, and as we enter the final month we now have three under our belt. The Grand Budapest Hotel is a wonderful, lush, and very funny film by Wes Anderson, which we saw in March when it was first released. The acting by Ralph Fiennes as the concierge, along with that of the rest of the ensemble, is delicious while the plot is convoluted and crazed. This is a very good film…but not …
Our year in photos – 2014
A cross-country trip and a visit to see Andrew in Copenhagen were part of our 2014 year in photos.
Twelve influential books (and a few more thrown in for fun)
Since I left Facebook about 18 months ago, I miss 99.5% of the silly contests, lists, and challenges that clog the social media world. And even when I was on FB, I would occasionally take one of their lists — such as the five albums I’d most want on a desert island — and expand that into blog posts (as in album #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5). But the other day, my sister Debbie put up a list of ten influential books in her life, and asked Candice to do the same. The challenge was to come up with the list quickly. Both Debbie and Candice had great lists, and that made me think about what my list would look like. So…here is my off the cuff list of twelve books that I’ve read (and usually re-read, and re-read). Since this is my blog, I’m not going to be bound by the FB convention of ten. And, in fact, you’ll see I’ve thrown in a bonus book or two along the way. Through the …
Quest for the Best (Picture) Final Edition
In this final installment of thoughts from our unqualified but enthusiastic movie reviewer about the 2014 Best Picture nominees, I’ll provide thoughts about why each of the six pictures I saw could, should, or won’t win the Best Picture award. In alphabetical order… American Hustle – Great ensemble acting. Any of the four principals would deserve an award. And yes, I love anything that Jennifer Lawrence is in. Amy Adams is pretty amazing as well. But the story line doesn’t hang together for me. (When I read this NY Times article on David O. Howard’s filmmaking style, I realized why.) While American Hustle is one of the favorites, I think there are several better movies in the running this year. Gravity – After seeing this movie on the plane earlier this week, the Tina Fey line at the Golden Globes about the lengths George Clooney will go in order not to date any female his own age finally made sense! Seriously, this is a terrific movie. Clooney is Clooney. (These days, he appears to just …
Quest for the Best (Picture) Update
In our quest to see all the Best Picture nominees before the March 2nd Academy Awards show, Candice and I find ourselves well behind our pace of recent years. We’re going to blame it all on February. Have I mentioned that I really hate February? Why does this month even exist? But enough with the excuses…we’ve now seen four of the nine nominees. I wrote earlier about the first two, so let’s focus on the most recent films we’ve seen. Both were very satisfying. Philomena stars the incomparable Judi Dench who – as Philomena Lee – undertakes a search for a son she was forced to give up for adoption some fifty years earlier by the nuns of an Irish convent. This is a deeply moving true story, that is lovingly filmed. Steve Coogan, as the journalist Martin Sixsmith who uncovers Philomena’s story, interacts very effectively with Dench on the screen. I won’t spoil it for those who have not seen the movie, but this is one I strongly recommend. Philomena is a terrific movie. …
Quest for the Best (Picture), Year III
Yes, we’re at it again. As has been the case the past two years, Candice and I are out to see all of the Best Picture nominees (or as many as possible) before the Academy Awards show. We began this new tradition two years ago after we became empty nesters, and I have to say it has raised my stock as a husband. One of my major failings in life before I came up with this brilliant idea was not making an effort to go to the movies. What can I say… However, we got a late start this year. (Once again, the “sure things” we went to see early in the year – I’m looking at you Lee Daniels’ The Butler – didn’t make the final cut of the Academy.) So here it is February 1st – with the awards show just weeks away, and we’ve only seen two. However, I’m pretty sure we’ve seen the winner. If there is any justice in the world, 12 Years a Slave will win in a rout. …
Best bluegrass of 2013
This year brought us some very good bluegrass music – much of it coming out of Alison Brown’s Compass Records in Nashville. In looking at the different albums that came to my attention in 2013, three of my top five bluegrass releases of the year came from this eclectic roots music label which has been stretching boundaries and introducing the world to exciting new artists for almost two decades. First up in the More to Come… “Best of Bluegrass 2013” list is the wonderful Claire Lynch and her Dear Sister project (and not just because she signed my CD cover). This is a great group of songs that include tunes I began writing about almost two years ago. The title track comes from letters written before the Civil War battle of Stones River – fought near my hometown of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. I’ll Be Alright Tomorrow is a new working of the Osborne Brothers classic, that sounds just right in the hands of the newly minted 2013 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Female Vocalist of the Year. …
Our year in photos – 2013
2013 saw Andrew and Claire pass the halfway point of their college years, with all that brings.
MORE TO COME... 