Back Off

This back pain thing is still with me and the improvements are only incremental so it’s extremely frustrating.  Now that the weather allows us to get outside I’m forced to watch instead of participating.  Yesterday’s indignity was watching my wife using the weed whacker to edge around the house.  She’d never done this before and actually listened as I tried to explain how to do it.  This is not something she’s used to doing, listening to me that is.  I think she’s actually enjoying these tasks that are usually reserved for me.  She really has risen to the occasion and forcefully reminded me not to do anything that would stress my back.  It’s so incredibly frustrating, I’m not sure I’m going to agree to get any older as this is not much fun.  I forget to mention one of the highlights of the past weekend up in Keene.  We stopped in, at my wife’s insistence, at the best friend of my mother’s.  She’s in her eighties and was a big part of my life growing up.  She was at every Christmas and major family event and we always referred to her as “Aunt” even though there was no blood relation.  She was in reality a second mother and much gentler than my own mother, which was a welcome necessity at times.  I get up to Keene a lot and always mean to go by and visit but most times lose track of time and fail.  My wife absolutely insisted and I am so glad that she did.  Outside of my close friends I am not the most outgoing person and I need that push sometimes.  I learned she had gone through some tough health issues earlier in the year but she looked good and was even back driving.  We all pledged at my mother’s funeral almost ten years ago that we would stay in touch and I haven’t done enough.  Thanks to my wife I think I’ll be better at it.  Now if I can just get this damned back to work again. 

Great Lady - My Second Mom

Backing Out of the Weekend

Our Favorite Hometown Watering Hole

Well, the back is still out of whack and that made for a very painful Sunday.  It’s never stayed out for so long so I may begin to worry at some point.  We got home yesterday from a truly great, but quick trip up to Keene, New Hampshire, my home town.  We were joined by two of my best friends for dinner and libations.  The local college was graduating that day and it was Cinco de Mayo so we were concerned we would not be able to patronize our favorite watering hole, Margarita’s.  I like the place not so much for the atmosphere or the food but because it’s right in the heart of downtown and always provides an opportunity to watch the town walk by.   We had an incident a few years ago there involving a surly waitress but I eventually decided to relinquish the resulting self-imposed boycott.   Luckily and somewhat inexplicably we walked right into Margaritas and were ensconced in a booth with great views.  My wife left shortly after dinner to explore tax free shopping opportunities.  I had a fantastic time catching up with my two friends and exploring the medicinal effects of demon alcohol for my back.  One of the other advantages of this place is that it is within walking distance of the friend’s house where we were staying the night.  I’m not saying I walked a completely straight line back but we made it.  There was some big deal made about the full moon on Saturday but it looked fairly routine to our combined and fully explored opinion.  The local college kids had fireworks going until about 3am which made for a less than restful night for Buddy, I slept through all of it (again medicinally effected).   When we got home yesterday my wife refused to let me lift anything, not that I could have anyways but I had to mow the lawn.  Every time the grass catcher filled up she demanded that she be summoned to empty it.  I did sneak in one emptying without her knowledge but she watched me like a hawk for the rest of the exercise.  She was such a good sport that I let her driver the mower, something I am completely loathe to do with anyone, for the last little bit.  I enjoyed the almost child like delight she derived from it.  I may have to hide the keys to it while I’m away.  

The Wife and I Administering Treatment

My Two Physician's Assistants - Great People

First Friday and Yard Saturday

Where We Spent First Friday Last Night (No Snow Though)

Yesterday we finally took a breath at work and conducted what I christened as First Friday.  It is a revered tradition that began when I first arrived in Worcester back in 2005.  I brought it from the military where we always got together on Friday evenings to commemorate the First Friday of the week.  We headed to place where we used to go all the time, Brew City.  We stopped going there because the service was abysmal with the waitresses hanging out together and gabbing while we sat with empty glasses.  I was pleasantly surprised when a very cute redheaded waitress did a fabulous job and kept our glasses full all night.  I’ll definitely go back there.  Our boss surprised us by picking up the tab at the end of the evening, thanking us for all the hard work over the last few weeks.  Did I tell you what a great boss I have?  My wife and I decided to head up to my hometown today after completing some chores.  I cleared all the kitchen counters and put sealant down on the granite.  I was told, by my wife, that the advantage of granite counter tops was the lack of maintenance required.  When am I going to stop listening to the sales pitches when my wife really wants something?  Editor's note:  I can't mention the granite counters without documenting the official color is Green Ubatuba - a friend would never forgive me if I failed. The rest of the morning was spent out in the front yard as my wife and I planted flowers in her garden.  Buddy stayed on patrol the entire time protecting us from bicycle riders and joggers passing by.  My wife kept warning me to be more careful in how I was working because I could hurt my back.  This is part of our normal discourse and I just kept saying, yeah, yeah.  We made a quick trip out to pick some more flowers and when we got back I planted the last of the flowers.  As I turned away and walked up the front porch stairs my back seized up painfully.  My first thought was how I was going to hide this from my wife because of the “I told you so” factor.  She recognized the painful way I was moving and immediately diagnosed and medicated me with a liberal amount of that factor.  Luckily the ibuprofen and hot shower seems to have loosened things up so we’ll be leaving shortly for Keene.  I think the other muscles in the body should protest the amount of work the back gets to do.  Every little thing the body does seems to involve the back, you don’t appreciate how much until the back starts hurting.  Luckily I plan to administer significant amounts of beer to help when I get to Keene.

The Almost Maintenance Free Counters Being Sealed

My Wife Takes Justifiable Pride in Her Gardens

Buddy On Patrol Today - Beware Joggers

Wife Planting in her Favorite Boots

Voices of Inappropriate Worth

We just finished the big PR campaign to inform the public about our new fare boxes.  By all accounts it seems to have gone well as we finish the first week of implementation with no major issues.  The effort however brought me into contact again with several people whom I absolutely loathe.  They cloak themselves in the mantle of “community activist” and seem to make it their life’s work to be contrarian.  They do this not because they honestly disagree with something but that whatever is happening, because it was not their idea, must be wrong.  The People’s Republic of Massachusetts coddles this type of individual and lionizes their sometimes idiotic posturing.   There are some very good people doing great things for the underprivileged as community activists, I’m not speaking about those heroes.  The people I’m talking about give themselves that title and because they are loud and willing to be incredibly rude they are given a voice in the process.  The rules of a democratic system allow this because excluding them would exclude some worthwhile contributors as well.  It’s incredibly frustrating to have to listen to the absolute garbage some of them spout and then have local politicians actually pander to them.  We have one lady who has serious mental (as well as personal hygiene) issues.  She’s lived in several other big cities until she found the fertile Taxachusetts ground for her special kind of crazy.  She’s obvious intelligent but chooses to use that intelligence to throw whatever kind of governmental process she can insert herself into chaos.  She’s against everything.  She crusaded against us, claiming we didn’t inform the people of the upcoming changes.  When we pointed out the massive PR campaign we were in the midst of, she just kept going on.  The ultimate justice was when she got another meeting and started her posturing there she made the mistake of thinking everyone agreed with her.  She turned to the audience and said, “Who agrees with what the transit agency is doing, by a show of hands”.  She was dumbfounded when 98% of the audience raised their hands.  Maybe there’s hope for us yet.

Nostalgic Sanctuary

I finished the book Dead Watch by one of my favorite authors John Sandford.  It was one of his older works that I had somehow missed.  It didn’t contain any of his regular characters which is probably why it didn’t achieve the level of notoriety some his Lucas Davenport novels did.  It was a good read though and allowed me to disengage from the Palahniuk induced funk.  That’s one of the things I like about the Kindle.  I finish one book and then just log on to Amazon and search out some of my favorite authors and 30 seconds later the book is on the kindle to read.  I know they use your purchasing history to make suggestions and I kind of like the fact that my eclectic selection must be straining their logic algorithms.   Despite this additional example of technology enabled instant gratification, I do miss my forays to book stores.  I used to truly enjoy disappearing for a couple of hours into a book store to wander the aisles and check in on these authors. It brought back memories of my times early in my life where I would disappear into the Keene Public Library which became kind of a refuge from the turmoil of my family life prior to my parent’s divorce.  It was an old mansion that had been converted into the town library; its still there but almost unrecognizable due to expansion over the years.  I can still remember the smell of the place, the marble staircase, and the feeling of a trusted sanctuary to escape into the literary world for a while.  I guess I’m going to have hit the nearest Barnes and Noble to assuage this latest wave of nostalgia cascading over me.  The night ended well when were called by my distant son who is struggling with a decision.  He’s been asked to extend his stay in Kyrgyzstan and is severely conflicted by his feelings for a certain young lady who draws him home.  He’s a smart guy with a really good soul and I know he’ll make the decision that is right for both of them. 

My Childhood Sanctuary As It Looked Back Then

Safe Date

Yesterday was a miserable day, weather wise, in Worcester.  We certainly needed the rain but spring rain always seems more depressing for some reason, could be the cold temperatures.  I didn’t get a chance to take my daily run.  I swore when I left the Army that I would not run on rainy days.  I spent too many days doing that while in the Army and decided I would take that one advantage to being a civilian.  We also learned that the new fare boxes don’t like rainy days which made for an interesting day at work.  After a day like this it’s so great to come home to a real bubbly personality which I certainly have in my wife. She was just coming in from a yoga class and was full of information and guidance for me.  Buddy and I quickly went into the receive mode and enjoyed the energy.  Last night was also date night so my wife and I headed out to see the movie “Safe” that latest Jason Statham thriller.  He plays the same deadly, kick ass character again, but boy is he good at that.  He’s also my wife’s latest heart throb so she was gushing about his shirtless scenes.  The best part of the night came when we were back home and my wife was diligently investigating the internet shoe market and we were surprised by a Skype video call from our daughter and son in law.  He just got back from some European tour dates and it was good to see them together again.  They seemed moderately happy about it also.  So, rainy day, sunny wife, one for the win column.    

A Labor of Love

This is a post that I put a lot of work into.  I noticed when I worked on the post about my favorite music how much more video was available in the electro-magnetic spectrum.  If you know anything about me you know that I am a complete and utterly hopeless movie nut.  I decided to see how many of my favorite scenes from the movies were available.  I was quickly astounded and moved as these favorite scenes, some only dimly remembered, were transported to my office computer.  Actually I was the one transported as this was the quality these cinematic moments have for me.   I decided to take a systematic approach and went through my movie list and wrote down a specific scene that I would classify as a favorite.  All of these scenes had the ability to move me either emotionally, spiritually, physically, or all of the above.  I ended up with a list of 50 scenes (told you I was hopeless).  I then started out on what was a week long journey down memory lane trying to find these scenes on YouTube.  I’m sure some of my co-workers were wondering what was going on as they wandered by my office and heard all the weird noise coming out from the closed door.  I had to work on this off and on as work allowed but I had so much fun doing it.  If you have time and love movies then I know you have some favorite scenes.  I would strongly recommend this process to you - it will rekindle the love of cinema and its ability to touch the human soul as no other medium is capable of (again, totally hopeless).   After re-viewing all of the scenes, 36 made the final cut.  The biggest surprise was that I was able to find all 50 scenes, with the exception of three, on YouTube (apparently there are a bunch of movie nuts out there – most a lot more computer savvy than I will ever have).  I’m sure somebody with that savvy could have found the remaining three – if they can please let me know.  The missing three were:  1.  The sword fight between Robert Wagner and James Mason from the 1954 movie Prince Valiant.  2.  The George Malley death scene from the movie Phenomenon.  3.  The final scene for the movie Fly Away Home when the geese land in the sanctuary.  I was able to find the music for it and have included that below.  So, for whatever value they may have for you I offer you my favorite scenes.  They are not in any specific order except for my favorite three scenes which I include last.  So here they are, I hope you enjoy them half as much as I did while re-discovering them:

“The Natural” Final Scene where Roy Hobbes, injured and barely able to walk, hits the game winning homerun to confound the villains.  This is the hope of every American boy - to win the big game and ride off into the sunset with that first girl he ever loved.  The music is hauntingly perfect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcPQeClnilY&feature=related

 “Bicentennial Man” The Little Miss Wedding scene (starts at the 3:25 mark) where Andrew the Robot and Little Miss’ father watch her move on from their lives.  I can truly relate with the feelings of the father at the end of this clip, so proud of his daughter but realizing her wedding is the true end of their exclusive time.  I actually thought back to this scene at my own daughter’s wedding.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2n3BCYYy3g

“Independence Day” Speech by President Bill Pullman before the final battle.  The writers were able to transcend the popcorn quality of the subject matter by giving Pullman some very moving words to speak.  Even though this was science fiction level impossible – I was still ready to go out and fight for him.  I think it also taps into my hope we can find something to unite humanity at some point in our future.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l31UUl5SyXk

“Hoosiers”  The final scene when Jimmy Chitwood sinks the game winning shot to win the state title for the tiny high school playing a much bigger school.  Again great music accompanying the action but the theme is more about second chances and making the most of them, from the coach, to Chitwood, to the drunken father in rehab.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fttt3fFTxk

“Cinema Paridiso” The final scene with the now grown Toto seeing the combined clips the village priest ordered excised from the movies of his youth.  The clips were assembled by his secret father and this is perfect ending for the movie fanatics who relish the part movies have played in their lives. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVj0vDM9SI8

“Usual Suspects” The ending scene containing one of the two greatest twists in movie history where Keyser Soze is revealed.  This movie is such a great ride and the set up is perfect.  You cannot say enough about the job Spacey did in convincing you that he was what he seemed.  That made the reveal so much more shocking and his level of evil so much more profound. “The greatest trick….”

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBrwUGdbODA

“The Sixth Sense”  When Willis realized he’s a ghost himself is the second of the two greatest twists.  I usually pride myself on guessing these kind of things but this totally floored me when I first saw it.  It makes watching it again and again a real pleasure as you see how skillfully they put this whole movie together.  This makes Shaliman’s later so efforts so disappointing – you know he’s capable of this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj0JDnQIZf0

“Star Trek Undiscovered Country” Farewell scene in where we see the original cast and the Enterprise sail off literally into the sun with the music from the original series playing and followed by each actor’s signature.  This was my absolutely favorite TV series when I was 12 years old and captured my imagination in a way I can never adequately describe.  Most of the attempted remakes were lame, including those with the original cast.  This was still a very emotional moment for me – seeing these characters from my youth whom I grew to think of as friends signing off for the last time. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZikqRa4A4Q

“Zulu”  I think this movie help steer me towards a military career.  I was amazed at the steadfast courage of the British who faced death and sang their regimental song, Men of Harlech, in the face of a horde of Zulus preparing to charge and chop their heads off.  This still inspires me every time I see it. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfqgsA2McdA&feature=related

"Saving Private Ryan”  This is the scene where Hanks’ character is dying on a bridge and he tells Private Ryan to “Earn This”.  This is the true message of the entire movie which Speilberg made as a tribute to the World War 2 generation.  I think it transcends that generation.  I spent my entire adult life in the military and I think it’s what every Soldier hopes, that their sacrifices, be it their life, their limbs, or their youth are validated by the lives of the people they have protected with those sacrifices.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r8zgU7wE8w&feature=related

 “The Vikings” A 1950’s era Kirk Douglas swashbuckler which has a great homecoming scene, viewed from 4:19 to 6:12 on this clip.  The Vikings are called home with a huge horn and then run on the oars of the ship as they approach home.  For some reason this justly totally blew me away when I was a kid and is still fun watching.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvB1jLld1W0

“The Two Towers” Charge of Rohirrim at the end of the battle for Helm’s Deep.  You have to love the good versus evil of LOTR and that’s perfectly captured in these next two scenes.  First in the this movie where we see Eomer yell “To the King!” and he rides to the rescue against the horde of Urak Hai threatening to over run the remnants of defenders.  A total geek moment but this was done so well.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9gVWG5IQ7w

“Return of the King” Charge of Rohirrim at the battle of Minas Tirith (such great names).  I didn’t think they could top the charge from the second movie but they did so in spades.  The hopeless courage of the Riders of Rohan when faced with the orc army in truly inspiring and Theoden’s speech is awesome.  Truly great epic cinema -  a true “Sword Day”.

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5HXF2qp-yY&feature=related

“True Grit”  John Wayne is one of my favorite actors of all time and I think this is his best scene.  An aged duke is confronted by a group of bad guys and takes them on single handed.  Quintessential John Wayne – you totally believed he could have done this.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-cPWheNyaA

 “Powder” I selected two scenes from this movie which really touched me.  This first one concerned father and son who were estranged but were brought back together by Powder’s ability to access the thoughts of the dying mother/wife.  Really powerful emotions, extremely well acted with some great music – from beginning to 4:34 mark

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grg7Gt4cHBQ

“Powder” The second scene is from the finale where Powder is taken.  This movie was all about possibilities and tolerance.  Powder in leaving bequeathes a little of himself to his pursuers.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9k7W5b5-yc&feature=related

“Mission to Mars”  The final scene where the astronauts find a billion year old time capsule which explains evolution and that we all are descended from Martian life.  I loved the way this was revealed and Sinise is a great actor - the best part starts at the 2:40 mark
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9dVZBGm85w&feature=related

“Man Who Would be King”  A true guy’s movie and this is the final scene where Connery’s and Caine’s fraud has been exposed and the Afghans walk Connery out on a bridge to die.  The way Connery faces death, singing The Minstrel Boy, is truly inspiring, the best part starts at 2:30

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apfaDqcf2FA&feature=related

“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” The single sexiest scene ever filmed in my view. It involves no nudity but has Katherine Ross disrobing, seemingly at gun point.  The scene ends with the reveal that Redford is her boyfriend.  “Just once….”
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMlw-LXRXfQ

“Fly Away Home”  This is the song I wrote about above I couldn’t find the scene but this was music playing as little girl piloted over some great scenery with geese for final successful landing in the sanctuary.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAbUSIG48m8&feature=related

“Forever Young”  The ending scene where the now eighty year old Gibson is reunited after 50 years with the love of his life whom he thought was dead.  Great music and acting.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WICqe84zNwE&feature=related

“Red Dawn”  The scene where the high school kids emerge as successful guerillas against the occupation with the catch phrase Wolverines! This was the best embodiment of Reagan era rebirth of the American fighting spirit even if the plot was fictional.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoM6IFiyRjE&feature=relmfu

“Gettysburg” The charge of the 20^th Maine at Little Round Top, Day 2 Gettysburg.  They did such a great job of rendering the crucial point of the battle.  The Confederate attack was about the turn the flank of the extreme left of the Union line when the union regiment ran out of ammunition and their leader, Col Chamberlain, realizing their critical position, decided to charge with bayonets instead.  A great moment in US military history that is overshadowed by Pickett’s Charge on the 3^rd Day but this is where the battle was won.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYDhAmjmxYk

“Ghost” The final scene where Molly can finally see Sam again before he heads upstairs.  She gets to say the goodbye she was never able to before and he can profess his love – great ending. This is all the more poignant now with the passing of Patrick Swayze. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=895PZQJK5TM

“Homeward Bound” The ending scene with the return of animals.  A total sap movie but it gets me every single time I watch it.  I defy you not to cry when Shadow comes back.  Start watching at the 1:45 mark for the best part

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_-FCLvI5gI

“Up”  The montage of the marriage of Carl and Ellie.  I just love this movie and this montage did such a great job of setting up the entire rest of the movie.  Although Ellie was gone her spirit infused the entire movie as if she was in every scene.  Pixar truly does have a telescope into the human soul.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmZp_v7WN3o

“Spartacus”  Another Kirk Douglas epic but the best scene in the movie is when the defeated slaves answer the Roman conquerors with “I’m Spartacus!”  A cause embodied in human spirit eloquently portrayed.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8h_v_our_Q

“Upside of Anger”  A mother catches her young daughter in bed with an older man and is then forced to eat a civilized dinner with him.  The movie gives us a glimpse into what she’s really thinking and it’s a classic moment, just fall out of your seat funny if an exploding head can ever be funny.  Joan Allen is a true goddess.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDEDHNwl6Jw

“Rudy” The final scene where he finally gets into some meaningless, to everyone except him, moments of a Notre Dame football game.  The entire movie led up to this moment and it delivered – triumph of the little guy – what’s not to like.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ7ZpLgkVxA

“Deep Impact” The scene where the Robert Duvall led crew sacrifices their lives to save the planet. The sacrifice of the few for the many always makes good cinema and the quiet dignity here is striking.  I couldn’t find the clip of the part immediately preceding this where Ron Eldard says goodbye to his wife and kid which is part of this great finale . 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQWmd8REdaE&feature=relmfu

“Armageddon” The final scene of the better of the two meteor disaster movies just after Harry says goodbye to his daughter.  The frantic action and great one liners keep you on the edge of your seat until the bomb blows and then a great tribute to the heroism.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMSO5mHqFLM&feature=related

Well, that took longer than I expected but we’re here at “Three Favorite Scenes” 

“Man of La Mancha” The scene where a dying O’Toole reawakens the nobility of spirit of Don Quixote with the help of Dulcinea.  O’Toole and Loren are such great actors – the really great part of the clip starts at 2:12.  There was a quote on YouTube that said everything that needs to be said about this scene:

“For those who are saddened by the real world, keep this in your heart. Always reach for that star. Yes, this is silly. Yes, this is cliché. No one is a knight in this day and age.  But keep this nobility in your heart. Man, woman, and child, everyone can follow this quest.  Heroism is not just made of fantasy and dreams, but is in the heart of all.  Everyone can reach for that unreachable star. And woe to the wicked!” 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfHnzYEHAow

“Joe Versus the Volcano”  A kind of silly movie that I absolutely adore.  Hanks is truly the best actor of this generation and in this one scene he also happens to capture my favorite thought (written about in an earlier blog entry).  Near death, stranded on a floating set of suitcases adrift in the ocean he awakens to see a spectacular moon rise and is thankful for his life despite his current condition. “Thank you for my life” encompasses the wonder of actually being blessed with life. Hanks is the best.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1EOnVSSJYs

“Field of Dreams” This has long been my favorite scene of any movie.  It’s the end where Ray learns why he built the field and is reunited with his long dead father.  It’s probably because of the way I lost my own father but this still gets me every time and speaks to that bond between a father and a son that too few of us are ever brave enough to acknowledge.  I had to put this in two clips because I couldn’t find one that had all the parts that I wanted.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz1TJ4r7bOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_wnD6jxREU&feature=relmfu

Thanks for hanging with me – go out and find your own favorites and, trust me, you’ll be rewarded.