Reading vs Watching

Between watching movies on Netflix and reading books, time is limited. My goal is to read one book every week during the year. That means I must find something I like, and then read it within a week. I am a slow reader and my comprehension is lousy. Often times, I must take a rest and not even touch a book for a week or two. The worst thing is when I start reading a book that is too philosophical, or too wordy, and it takes me too long to finish. Most likely because I really don’t want to finish, but my tendency is to read each book from cover to cover, even if I think it is horse crap. My theory is that even those books which I rate poorly have been published because someone else thought it was good. Publisher’s don’t like to invest in books that don’t make money.

My kind of movie: The story is plausible, but I’m sure some of the scenes are contrived for effect, and not believable.

DOG

  • Stars: Channing Tatum.
  • Directed by: Reid Carolin, Channing Tatum.
  • Release date: Feb. 18.

Dog is a comedy road trip movie coming to theatres starring Channing Tatum as Army Ranger Briggs who is given the seemingly impossible task of transporting Lulu, an unruly Belgian Shepherd, down the Pacific Coast to attend its owner’s funeral. 

Watching movies is another matter. After supper every evening I look for an interesting movie to watch. There are days, when I spend thirty minutes scrolling through the movie menus trying to decipher whether I should waste my time watching, or not. One thing I like about Netflix is it’s ability to screen what I like to watch. The one thing I hate about Netflix is that it narrows the field of movies that interest me to a commonality that makes them all the same.

Netflix has targeted me with foreign films and they are the ones I watch most often because they tend to have better story lines. American films are too comic-book, crime related, shoot-em-up oriented, which turn me off. I love good stories, I even love bad stories. How often have you witnessed shootings and murder in your lifetime? Some of the films expect us to believe the impossible odds of the good guy escaping harm after being shot at by a dozen armor clothed goons spraying bullets with machine guns. Even more unbelievable is the good guy shooting his way out with one pistol and one clip of bullets. This is not realistic. That many bullets resembles war, but good guys get killed in wars. I’ll stick to the stories that involve real people and real life situations. Of course on the other side of the picture there is the Hallmark channel that shows only love stories with happy endings.

Last year I kept track of the movies I watched with my ratings. People were always asking me for the title of films that I thought were good. So, to accommodate them I noted each film on my phone. Unfortunately, I lost the file of over 500 film titles, and was really pissed for a few weeks. Now, I just watch the movies and don’t even try to remember the titles.

Good Bye November 2021

I’ll miss you. You granted me some really nice weather, warm and sunny days, the kind I enjoy. You gave me activities that kept me imbibed in red wine which I really loved. You goaded me into starting the Second Annual Lions Winter Coat Drive. I stood outside on the one cold day, and shook my bucket for dollars and cents so my Lions Club could buy Thanksgiving dinners for some people who are down and out. Although I came home frigid I had fun greeting people with a warm smile and a quick quip.

I especially liked the three days when I got to send my kids birthday cards, although it is hard to believe they are adults on the verge of retirement and not toddlers. The visits with my only daughter turned into fun when she and her husband related the activities of their children. I especially love it when they tell me about my grandkids activities and I remember myself doing the same things. My wish is that they are having as much fun doing them as I did.

All month my lovely and I have become more acquainted with specialists who relieve pain by the barbaric method of twisting and crunching the body into conformance, and then treating the same places with electro-stimulation and light therapy. The amazing thing is that it works. This not curing the body, but it is reducing, and/or eliminating pain. This is one type of treatment that I never believed in and put into the same category as Chinese herbs and teas.

Another joy to behold was attending the funeral of a very good Lion friend. He was my mentor. His personality was a little gruff, but underneath he was all mush and kindness. When I asked him about the history of the club, so I might lead them in a traditional way he spent hours explaining how it was when he was President. He was a member of the old guys section and often they became boisterous and obnoxious in their comments about the new guys and their dumb ways. He helped me understand so I was able to steer the ship through troubled waters safely.

Every year I set a goal to read fifty-two books, and every year I get to forty when time runs out. This year, I am currently reading number fifty-one and have two more novels parked on my desk ready to be read. The book I’m reading is the history of Asian immigrants coming into America, and now I can see why the Liberals think we are a racist country, because we were. Their problem is that they believe we are still racist, and they are dead wrong.

Cute smart preschool girl reading books in library or at home. Kids early learning and home education concept.

There were some days when the mere thought of going outside to clean up the garden incited my body into extreme laziness and spasms of muscular pain. Thankfully, I counted to five, took the step, and went outside to dredge the pond, clear the leaves, and cut back all the tall stuff growing around the water’s edge. As I did those things I remembered back thirty years when a much younger Joe loved working in a much larger yard when it was cloudy, grey and forty degrees out. Those days energized me and nourished my soul. This year though, after two hours I came in drenched in sweat, and so tired I never moved another muscle for the remainder, but I still decided I loved doing the work.

Another November project was the annual Christmas Card design. In years past I went to my art file and pulled a drawing that I could work into a card. This year “I had a dream” that my message should involve Morty Angel my cartoon character. The concept involved all new art work so I wound up drawing pictures which took way too long only because I am out of practice and my hands don’t move as fluidly as they did when I drew last. Then, I had to relearn software that I use once a year and which is no longer supported by Microsoft because it is too old.

Tomorrow, I welcome December 1, 2021 with a to-do list a mile long, and even though December has thirty-one days they will pass in a flash and I will be toasting my lovely on New Year’s Eve at 12:00:01 A.M. on the first of January 2022.

Learn Something New Everyday

Famous sayings about having a cold one!

https://i0.wp.com/cdn1.iconfinder.com/data/icons/BRILLIANT/food/png/400/beer.png?w=468“Sometimes, when I reflect on all the beer I drink, I feel ashamed.  Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I did not drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. I think, it is better to drink this beer and let their dreams come true, than be selfish and worry about my liver.”

Babe Ruthhttps://i0.wp.com/cdn1.iconfinder.com/data/icons/BRILLIANT/food/png/400/beer.png?w=468

“When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.”

Paul Horninghttps://i0.wp.com/cdn1.iconfinder.com/data/icons/BRILLIANT/food/png/400/beer.png?w=468

“24 hours in a day and 24 beers in a case.  Coincidence?  I think not!”

Steven Wright

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“When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep.  When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.  So, let’s all get drunk and go to heaven.”

George Bernard Shaw

 https://i0.wp.com/cdn1.iconfinder.com/data/icons/BRILLIANT/food/png/400/beer.png?w=468

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

Benjamin Franklinhttps://i0.wp.com/cdn1.iconfinder.com/data/icons/BRILLIANT/food/png/400/beer.png?w=468“Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer.  Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.”

Dave Barryhttps://i0.wp.com/cdn1.iconfinder.com/data/icons/BRILLIANT/food/png/400/beer.png?w=468“Beer: Helping ugly people have sex since 3000 B.C.”

W. C. Fields

https://i0.wp.com/cdn1.iconfinder.com/data/icons/BRILLIANT/food/png/400/beer.png?w=468

“Remember ‘I’ before ‘E,’ except in Budweiser.”

Professor Irwin Corey

https://i0.wp.com/cdn1.iconfinder.com/data/icons/BRILLIANT/food/png/400/beer.png?w=468

“To some it is a six-pack. To me, it is a Support Group.  Salvation in a can.”

Leo Durocher

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One night at  Cheers,  a TV Sitcom, Cliff Clavin said to his buddy, Norm Peterson: “Well, ya see, Normmy, it’s like this .. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo.  And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first.  This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.  In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells.  Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells.  But, naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first.  In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine.  That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers!”

Is There a Heaven?

I’m ashamed to admit I finally finished reading a book this year. It is March, and by now I should have several reads under my belt. The Lord must have wanted me to begin with the book I finally chose. It is strange how this book came to me. Last week we visited friends in another town nearby. We  were three couples. During the course of the visit the three guys became one group and the women another. It was a beautiful time.

Yesterday, I noticed  strange book on the coffee table. I picked it up and read the title, Heaven Is For Real. That intrigued me. I asked Peg if she knew where it came from. Our friend Carol gave it to her the day we visited with them last week. I began reading and could not put it down.  This is a true story written about the medical emergency experience of a four-year old boy and his family. The story has been on the New York Times non-fiction best seller list for 119 weeks.  The author is the boy’s father Todd Burpo a minister from a small town in western Nebraska.

The story is amazing and I found myself wanting to hear more. As I said above, I couldn’t put the book down until I finished it.  Granted it is short, only 162 pages, but I don’t have that kind of interest often. Usually I can only read thirty pages a day.

If you have ever questioned the existence of heaven like I have you must read this book. If you have ever wondered what heaven is like, you must read this book. If you are an atheist or an agnostic you should read this book it will challenge your belief about God and heaven.

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What Does it Mean?

What does it  mean when you finally do something that has been on your to-do list for fifty years?

Earlier this summer, I spoke with my granddaughter and asked what she was going to do with her summer. She is an avid reader. She announced her intention to read all the books on her school recommended reading list.

“What are some of the books?” I asked

She rattled off several that didn’t register but then struck a chord with “East of Eden.” I am a John Steinbeck fan and have always intended to read that book. I never did, until now.

Why I put it off so long, I cannot answer, but the wait was worth it. Steinbeck has a beautiful style of writing. His characters are so real, I feel I know them personally. He describes the  locales in such a way as to see, smell, and hear the surroundings.

In the early chapters of the book, I kept thinking this sounds like something I have read before. The people and places were so familiar. As the pages rolled by I realized that I had not read this particular story before, but I had read several other Steinbeck stories. All of them take place in the same valley  near Salinas, California. He had to have borrowed some of the same characters for his novel.

East Of Eden is a complicated story that spans three generations of families, and it would take me the same six hundred pages to tell it. I love the period the story is from, i.e. 1875-1925. Life was hard then, but so much purer, yet so much more decadent at the same time. Steinbeck’s depiction of the era is historically accurate. His characters fall into the categories of good and evil. He describes how evilness is a trait a person is born with just as he might be born with a physical defect. Why not a defect in the brain that makes one inherently evil?

Thank you Dana for triggering me to read this book. Now, I am anxious to see the movie. In my mind, I have determined which generation I would have made the movie about. The movie will be higher on my to-do list, and not take fifty years to get to. I wish we could watch it together.