"There is no accounting for taste."
MOVIESAvatar - See it in 3D. Lots of explosions, great soundtrack by James Horner (Titanic too). Plot is a thinly veiled swipe at Corporations that fuel much of the economy and tries to paint the Military with Vietnam era stigma trying to bulldoze righteous occupants of the rainforest. James Cameron should know better, but no one will see this for the politics. This semi-animated tale of an indigenous people being oppressed with epic battles and explosions is an amazing fantasy brought to life. Seems right that Sigourney Weaver (Alien) stars as well.
One from the Heart - 1982. A real sleeper, and total box office disaster, this was a revisit. Bankrupted Zoetrope Studios. Great love story. Cast: Frederic Forrest, Terri Garr (Young Frankenstein), Nastaskia Kinski (Tess, Cat People), Raul Julia(Kiss of the Spider Woman), Lanie Kazan, Harry Dean Stanton (HBOs Big Love). This is "Moulin Rouge" before there was Moulin Rouge with Nicole Kidman. Quirky, musical and surreal, with elements of "Streetcar Named Desire" and Brando. I almost expected Frederic Forrest to scream a Brando-esque STELLA! a few times during the film. MUSIC by genius Tom Waits & Crystal Gayle. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Rated R: artsy, erotic, not for the kids, and sorry Marty, no explosions, much blood or violence. Did a second view with GREAT DIRECTOR COMMENTARY AS A SPECIAL BY COPPOLA. This film is a MUST for Garr, Kinski, Raul Julia and Tom Waits fans. CAUTION: If you liked the Godfather by Coppola, you are not guaranteed to like this one because he directed it. Most of American brainwashed Disney culture didn't see it. Available on Netflix.
Charlie Wilson's War 2007 HBO
Congressman CIA, true story Soviets covert Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts Music James Newton Howard, Mike Nichols film
WIKIPEDIA: Charlie Wilson's War (2007) is a biographical drama film recounting the true story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson (Dem., TX) who partnered with "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen in their resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The film is adapted from George Crile's 2003 book Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History.[2] It is directed by Mike Nichols, written by Aaron Sorkin, and stars Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Om Puri, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Ned Beatty and Emily Blunt. It was nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, including "Best Motion Picture", but did not win in any category. Philip Seymour Hoffman was nominated for an Academy Award for "Best Supporting Actor".
GOOGLE CHROME BROWSER - Mac Beta
ALTERNATIVE BROWSERS are always a good thing. Especially for MAC. Google Chrome is available in Beta and seems to outperform Firefox for me. Firefox is slow and crashes from time to time, but nowhere as frequently as Internet Explorer did. Firefox can't handle too many open tabs and won't tell you that you have 35 open tabs. Speed is the thing and it hasn't crashed on my yet in two months of use on different machines. PS Opera still disappoints me as it confuses fonts and can't download files to the proper folder on the Mac platform. Safari still works but it can't remember things like id's and passwords.
Books
Buzz Aldrin, Magnificent Desolation, the long return home from the moon. Rocket Hero. a great story by someone who is not a wimp. What do you do for the rest of your life after going to Moon? Interesting story of one of my childhood heroes. Went from Apollo 11 to selling Cadillacs and back to the forefront of promoting Space Flight after recovering from alcoholism and depression.
Wesley the Owl - Romance novel, for the naturalist. True story a woman's 19 year relationship with an adopted, injured Barn Owl. Great for nature fans, biologists and folks who love "critters." I loved it and couldn't put it down. Quick read, it is not SHOGUN.
Yanni In Words. Copyright 2002. Very interesting biography of a perfectionist. Whether you like the music or not (I do), creatives will gravitate toward his story of succeeding agains tremendous odds and roadblocks. Throw in some paragraphs by Linda Evans and stories of his early rock career and it makes for an "R" rated story. I like his view of the creative process as I can relate it to photography.
Music
Yanni Voices After reading the book, I investigated what he had done lately and found an album cover of a clean shaven guy with short hair. I did not recognize him at first. The album is phenomenal IF you like Opera and/or Pop Vocals. Yanni fans will like it no matter what. He teamed up with Producer Ric Wake (Celine Dion, JayLo, etc.) to promote four up and coming vocalists, Nathan Pacheco, Chloe, Ender Thomas, and Leslie Mills. Yanni only composes instrumental music. However, on this project, Ric Wake found four new talents that wrote lyrics for (mostly) existing Yanni music and sang it. While they are all VERY GOOD, to my ears, the standout is Nathan Pacheco who just knocks his songs out of the park. Personally, I put him #2 to Luciano Pavorati. But there is no accounting for taste. http://www.yanni.com/
Al Dimeola in concert with the new World Symphonia ensemble. Saw him at the Count Basie theater last week. Amazing, played for almost three hours. He is going back in the studio and they will have a new CD later in the year. Opened with a new pianist he appears to be mentoring:Taylor Eigsti Gumbi Ortiz is his perennial conga player, and rounds out with Accordion, another guitar, drums and bass. For more info on the Tour and cities: http://www.aldimeola.com/new-site/tour.php
Forgotten Cold night beverages
Hot Buttered rum: Shot of Rum in a coffee cup of hot water. Sugar to taste, float a small pat of butter. Cinnamon stick, nutmeg, allspice optional to taste.
Tea with Port: Coffee mug with 50% water and regular tea 50% Taylor Port or other Non-Vintage port. Sugar to taste.
"Whiskey mac" Any whisky, (best with Generic Scotch): 1:1 with Stones Ginger wine. Serve neat in a Brandy snifter
Forgotten Cold night beverages
Hot Buttered rum: Shot of Rum in a coffee cup of hot water. Sugar to taste, float a small pat of butter. Cinnamon stick, nutmeg, allspice optional to taste.
Tea with Port: Coffee mug with 50% water and regular tea 50% Taylor Port or other Non-Vintage port. Sugar to taste.
"Whiskey mac" Any whisky, (best with Generic Scotch): 1:1 with Stones Ginger wine. Serve neat in a Brandy snifter
