All posts filed under: Random DJB Thoughts

This is where I put anything that is not easily categorized…

Quest for the Best Picture (2016), Part 2

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After this weekend, Candice and I are one-third of the way towards our annual goal of viewing all the “Best Picture” Oscar nominees.  We’ve seen three very different films, but all terrific in their own way. Last weekend we saw Hidden Figures, a wonderful movie with an inspiring story just right for our times.  On Friday we again walked up to AFI Silver Theater, this time to see Moonlight. This coming of age film was both difficult and yet ultimately very satisfying. I was initially uncomfortable, because I was disoriented by the context.  The story of a young, gay, African American male learning about who he is through the bullying, teasing, and uncertainty was one I could understand. However, the setting – amidst the poverty, racism, and drug culture of Miami – was not familiar.  Once I sorted that out in my mind, I saw the strong qualities of this movie on multiple levels. The acting is superb, beginning with Mahershala Ali as Juan, the drug dealer who befriends the main character, Chiron, and Naomie …

He (or She) Who Hesitates is Not Always Lost

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A couple were riding in their car recently when they approached an intersection and pulled into the right lane in order to make a turn.  Immediately in front of them was a car with the left blinker engaged.  The husband made the comment – with irritation in his voice – “Why does this guy think he can turn left from the right hand lane?”  A few seconds later he looked up, realized that the four-lane street dead-ended into another four-lane road, and that the overhead signage indicated that the right lane could indeed be used for either left or right turns. Turning to his wife, he pointed to the sign and said, “Never mind.” His wife, speaking with a tone of voice that reflected more than three decades of patiently waiting for him to observe the obvious, replied, “Several years ago I came to a realization that changed my life.  When I faced a situation where I thought someone was in the wrong,” she said, “I stopped myself from judging them and asked instead ‘What …

Annual Super Bowl Rant

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I thought I would just be upfront about it, and title this post accurately.  No alternative facts here, folks – just truth in advertising! Ever since Super Bowl 48, when I famously (at least in my mind) declared it to be my last, I’ve gone back and explained why it is time to give up on the NFL.  Surprisingly, they still play the thing, and here we are at Super Bowl 51.  (Reason #10 I gave up on the NFL was those stupid Roman numerals.) So, here we are on Super Bowl Saturday, and I’ll just give you a few more reasons you may want to go to your local theatre and watch Hidden Figures – my early front-runner for Best Picture of the Year. (And since I gave you ten perfectly good reasons back in 2014, I’ll begin with reason #11.) 11.  It’s the damn Patriots.  Again.  Is there anyone more insufferable in sports than Bill Belichick/Tom Brady? (Wait, I’ll answer that.  Maybe Coach K. But that’s another post. And I know that Belichick …

Courage

Refuse to be afraid

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In anticipation of next Sunday’s Super Bowl game, I’m going to pass along a football story.  However, those who know me well know that I don’t watch much football, so this tale will come via a baseball source, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle as recounted in the book Big Data Baseball.  (And if you don’t want advice from a sports figure, just jump to the bottom for a little Tolkien.) According to the book’s author, Hurdle recounted the following story for his team after a difficult patch of games: “Tim Wrightman, a former All-American UCLA football player, tells a story about how, as a rookie lineman in the National Football League, he was up against the legendary pass rusher Lawrence Taylor.  Taylor was not only physically powerful and uncommonly quick, but a master at verbal intimidation.  Looking Tim in the eye, [Taylor] said, “Sonny, get ready.  I’m going left and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Wrightman coolly responded, ‘Sir, is that your left or mine?’ The question froze Taylor long enough to allow …

Quest for the Best (Picture) Returns

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After skipping a year, Candice and I are back and enthusiastic about choosing this year’s Best Picture winner for the Oscars. We started this annual review of the top picture nominees from two highly unqualified movie critics around 2012, and did our last round in 2015.  Sometimes in year’s past, we weren’t interested in seeing up to a third of the nominees due to violence or other graphic content (I’m looking at you Quentin Tarantino).  But in reviewing the trailers for this year’s class, we’re excited about all of them.  We have a month…so let’s go! Today, we walked up to AFI Silver to see Hidden Figures – a marvelous movie that we both highly recommend.  A colleague at work told me she had seen it three times already!  The story is compelling (especially since it is true) and the ensemble acting is superb.  Octavia Spencer as Dorothy Vaughan was especially compelling, but all three female leads were terrific from my perspective. Get yourself to see this movie.  Oh, and bring your hanky.  Even though …

T&B Opus 65

A bit of Shenandoah Valley musical magic in the Big Apple

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Even in New York City, it doesn’t take much to realize how small the world can be at times. Candice and I had a flashback to our wonderful 15 years of living in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia when we realized that Grace Church – just four blocks from our friends’ apartment in Greenwich Village – is home to one of the most astounding Taylor & Boody organs (Opus 65) I’ve seen.  (More on that in a minute.) George Taylor and John Boody are longtime friends as well as world-class organbuilders, and as soon as I found this on the Grace Church website, it was clear where we would be on Sunday morning. It all started coming back as we entered the church.  Candice and I had watched this organ being installed through John Boody’s Facebook page.  Kate Harrington – our friend and the wonderful daughter of dear friends Jim and Constance Harrington – was one of the pipe makers for this organ and helped with the installation.  Andrew, when he was at Brown University, …

Who Tells Your Story

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The full story of America can be seen, told, and appreciated at so many places and on so many levels…if one only cares to stop and listen. Candice and I are in New York City for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend.  New York is the poster child for how our rich national story is a blend from so many different people, both ordinary and extraordinary, and it is timely to be here this weekend.  The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is among the most powerful examples of an extraordinary person who fought to ensure that the full talents, opportunities, and stories of all Americans would be supported and recognized.  In the first 24 hours in the city, we saw, heard, and thrilled to various aspects of the story that it truly American. We are staying in Greenwich Village, which counts among its many notable former residents Richard Wright, author of Black Boy and urban activist Jane Jacobs.  Neither was seen as anything other than ordinary, until they put pen to paper, spoke …

The More Things Change…1998 to 2017

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My father loved to read Molly Ivins.  Her brand of populist liberalism, her concern for the powerless, her razor-sharp wit were all right up his alley.  As a New Deal Democrat, Daddy didn’t have much sympathy for corporate-backed, hypocritical, poll-watching politicians. So when I went to my father’s house earlier this year to help clear out his library, I brought home the four Ivins books he had at the time plus a biography of the Texas firebrand.  Daddy had almost all of Ivins’ works, but some he had given away.  (He once gave me a copy of one of her books that he said he had purchased at the remainder table at the local bookstore, only to come home and find out he already had two copies of the same book.) I was looking for a quick and lively read a few days ago after working through a couple of more difficult offerings, and pulled You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You off the bookshelf.  This is Ivins’ 1998 take on the Clinton …

Top Posts of 2016 (The “Whatever Else Tickles My Fancy” Edition)

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As promised yesterday, I’m back with the top posts on More to Come… from 2016 that don’t relate to family and friends.  What I’m calling the “Whatever Else Tickles My Fancy” edition. In a year when I took my sabbatical in Rome and Maine, many of the top posts are from those trips. If my day job doesn’t work out, I may have a future as a travel writer! As was the case with yesterday’s top ten, I’ll list them in the order they appeared during the year. I left for Rome in early March, and Time Off was my post to set the stage for my sabbatical. I had a number of nice comments from friends and colleagues with well wishes.  I also got to showcase my cool “What Would DJB Do?” mug! My first post from the American Academy came on March 10th, and was entitled Looking Back, Looking Forward.  After that, I was posting 3-4 times per week for the remainder of the six weeks we were in Italy. Claire joined us …

Top Posts of 2016 (Family and Friends Edition)

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I’m lucky to have patient readers of More to Come… as the blog (like my mind) is often all over the place. In looking back over posts from the past year, I decided to highlight the top ten (in terms of views) in a “family and friends” edition, to be followed tomorrow by a “whatever else tickles my fancy” edition, where I’ll catch the posts that don’t directly relate to family members. Unfortunately, many of the top family posts this year related to death and loss. There were so many losses this year (both family and others who felt like family) that I added a Rest In Peace category to the blog. I’m grateful for the notes and comments these musings brought, but like so many readers I still miss the people who are no longer with us. I’ll highlight the top ten family and friends posts in the order in which they showed up on More to Come… Andrew was asked to join Lady Gaga and 50 other survivors of sexual assault on the …