Number 9 , Number 9 , Number 9....

'You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.'  -Chinese Proverb

Before The Devil Knows Your Dead

Before The Devil Knows Your Dead is an incredible film by an incredible director, Sydney Lumet. Of course making an outstanding picture is easy when you have all the components in place. Kelly Masterson wrote the amazing book about a pair of brothers on the edge of oblivion, and the leap that takes them both into the abyss. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke are the fate crossed siblings and Albert Finney plays their father. Hoffman is so mesmorizing in this movie that it's extremely hard to take your eyes off him. Ethan Hawke, however, gives an incredible tour de force performance as Hoffman's younger brother. Melissa Tomei is surprisingly good as Hoffman's wife in this unique drama. I don't believe in giving away too much. So I'll conclude that this is a must see movie. 

27 Years Ago.....

John Lennon was killed 27 years ago. Yoko has a website honoring the memory of her husband at www.imaginepeace.com. If you have a story or remembrance of  John or that December day 27 years ago, send it to: stories@imaginepeace.com 

Contemplative Thought # 8

Eighty percent of success is showing up.  -Woody Allen

                                                                          

Let's Pick A President That Looks Presidential!

It's really hard to try and concentrate on what each presidential candidate says. I mean, we have a current Prez with obvious signs of being learning disabled and possessing a low IQ. I mean look, he couldn't even get it together enough to pronounce the names of the head of state of Israel, and the head of the Palestinian Authority correctly. I guess what I'm saying is, that if we can't expect to elect an Adlai Stevenson or Harry Truman type of leader, let's at least elect a leader who LOOKS good. Do any of you remember when President John F. Kennedy stood up there to field questions from the press how good he looked? He was so smooth and charming. It mattered not what he said, he had the press corp eating out of his hand.  None of the current candidates have any of Kennedy's charm and elan. Kuccinich is a pretty smart guy, but he looks like his suit is too big for him and he's standing on  a milk crate because he's so short. Mitt Romney could be a perfect game show host. But who'd want a game show host as our country's leader? Sure, it would be pretty cool to have a woman president, but Hillary's hips are too wide and besides, she looks like an elementary school principal or a superintendent of a small suburban school district at best. I do like Barack OBama but, did you notice his head? His head is way to small for such a tall guy, and I kinda feel that a guy with a small head has a small brain inside to boot! I'm glad Giuliani did away with his comb-over. But have you ever checked out that creepy, toothy smile of his? How does a guy who is so ugly, have women chasing after him, and he has the audacity to have affairs? McCain looks like a guy who was imprisoned and tortured which in fact he was. This is his only toe-hold on some realistic integrity he has as an individual. Notice the left side of his head. It looks like some bastard beat him with a bat which they probably did. Fred Thompson is just plain scary looking. He kinda looks like a monster, or modern interpretation of old Frankenstein. John Edwards has a perfect head of hair with no hair out of place. He's kind of a pretty boy who's obsessed with his hair. It's no wonder he paid $400 to have it cut. That dude, Mike Huckabee, looks like he sells insurance for Mutual of Omaha and anyway, who wants to have the leader of a country named Huckabee? It sounds like the name of a jam or fruit preserve. I know what you're thinking right now. You're thinking, "Hey Miles, by the look of your picture, you've got some helluva nerve to criticize how somebody else looks" and you know something? You're right! But then, I'm not running for President!

Contemplative Thought # 7

"There's one good thing about old-age. It usually don't last long." - Cormac McCarthy

Red Sky, Blue Bridge

Somewhat Apocalyptic Eh???

An Average Man's Book Review - Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer

My grandfather, a tailor who lived in Brooklyn, was a Jack London fan and loved to read adventure books sitting by his old reading lamp in his apartment in Flatbush. Being rather a couch potato myself, I nevertheless love reading adventure genre books. I believe that my Jack London, is the author Jon Krakauer. I've read all his books and eagerly await any new ones he's written. Into Thin Air, which is Krakauer's account of a disastrous ascent up Mt. Everest was my first Krakauer read followed by Eiger Dreams, an  accounting of people who are driven to do what most of us wouldn't dare doing. Krakauer makes us wonder whether these people are crazy or are they experiencing life at it's very fullest. After all, we're only here once. Might as well go for it. I found Under The Banner Of Heaven a fascinating story of violence, lust and everything that is wrong with religion gone amok. Into The Wild is the book I recently finished. It's the story about a young man, Chris McCandless, a recent Honors graduate of Emory University, who withdraws his $25,000 life savings, donates it to charity and leaves his comfortable middle class existence for a life on the road. This book is more of a study of a young man who rejects it all and decides to just vanish "Into The Wild". It's a harrowing tale but I was totally absorbed by it. The rights to this book were recently purchased by Sean Penn who was as smitten with it as I was, and has recently made it into a movie. Let me know what you think. -Miles

An Average Man's Book Review- No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Many times reading an excellent book will make me want to see the movie. Other times, seeing the movie makes me want to read the book. In this case, I didn't see the movie, but when I heard that the Coen brothers made a movie called, No Country For Old Men, my interest was peaked. You see, the Coen's have been responsible for some really great pictures that have included Barton Fink, Raising Arizona, Fargo, and The Big Lebowski among others. Author Cormac McCarthy is no slouch himself having written the Pulitzer Prize winner, The Road. The first sentence of No Country For Old Men begins, "I sent one boy to the gaschamber at Huntsville." from that point on, I was seriously hooked and couldn't put the book down! The pacing is faster than you have the ability to turn the page. If you crave action in a novel with loads of interesting characters, and incredible descriptive settings, you will really love this book. I'll tell you something else without divulging too much. The book doesn't end the way I thought it would, but after thinking about it, I think it ended just about right. Let me know what you think and what you recommend. (I think I'll run out to see the movie today!) -Miles

An Average Man's Book Review - A Death In Belmont by Sebastian Junger

Junger is quite an accomplished author. He authored the books, Fire a collection of journalistic essays, and is probably best known for his work entitled, The Perfect Storm which you may recall was made into a major motion picture. If you enjoy reading non-fiction crime books, you will  enjoy Junger's book A Death In Belmont. This book deals with the sensational murders that took place in 1962 - 1963 and which were attributed to Albert DeSalvo, aka The Boston Strangler. Without divulging too much of the book, it features a very weird connection between DeSalvo and Junger when the author was a mere infant. It also features another man by the name of Roy Smith, a black ex-con, who was convicted of one of the murders and may be innocent due to the frenzy caused by the murder spree, and race relations that existed at that time in the United States. Junger's book is very well written, easy to read and extremely interesting if you like this kind of book. If you've read it, please comment and let me know what you thought of it. If you've read something that you can recommend, please do!                                                         Regards and good reading - Miles

Haven't Been Around For Awhile...

but I'm back! I'd like to add the words "New and Improved" but that seems lame. So I'll just say, "Hello, and how're ya doin?" Things have not changed that much since my last posting. We still have an idiot in the White House, the Mets are doing better than the Yankees (Thank You Great Spirit!) and Angelina is still my favorite paramour. I'll be back later. -Peace