JACK'S BLOG
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11/29/2015 0 Comments Is there something you've left undone? Something unsaid? Don't let it become a regretShort StorySometimes I wonder what I've left undone. I've lived a long and adventurous life, one filled with love and hate, success and failure, great joy and great despondency. Still, there seems to be something left undone. I'm still here. Why? There is one question that hasn't been answered. Why did my wife wait so long for me? She is a beautiful woman. The perfect mate. She was thirty before we met and I have often wondered what was wrong with the men in California? Why did they leave the most desirable fruit unpicked?
She'll probably blush when she reads this. She always does when I tell her. Then it occurred to me that she may have had a premonition, one that discouraged her from encouraging just any man. She was waiting for me. Why? Like any good storyteller, I used it as grist for my mill.
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TelevisionThe better question may be what's right about American crime dramas? Nothing. Seriously. They use stick thin women to play detectives and beat cops who would have a hard time carrying their own weight on a fashion show runway. Whenever I see them kick in a door or rough up a thug, my ability to suspend disbelief cries out in anguish. Also, the Brits seem more enamored with acting ability than with beauty. And American crime dramas don't have a consistent theme. American producers, directors, and writers should study their British counterparts. The Brits have a theme. They love cops who are broken human beings. The more dysfunctional the better. Take, for example, River, a recent offering from BBC and available on Netflix. Detective Inspector John River is barking mad. If he were any crazier they'd have to keep him in a straight jacket whenever they removed him from the funny farm to investigate a case.
John sees dead people. He talks to them. They talk back. John responds physically and emotionally to them. Like I said, John River is barking mad. A nutter, as the Brits would say. 11/25/2015 0 Comments Do you fear #Thanksgiving table talk?Oh dark thiryDid you ever feel deprived because you family never lived up to a Norman Rockwell image? I did. However, one day a Lutheran pastor assured me that no one else's family did. Did yours? It's gotten worse with age, especially in this age of political correctness. My children have little tolerance for my traditional views and they certainly don't want their children infected with them. My wife, a very successful mother, is remonstrated if she dares suggest any child rearing advice to the very children she lovingly raised. Then there are those other relations: Siblings, nieces and nephews. Dinner conversation is a minefield for any so brazen as to broach it with them. That's why I'm going armed (or armored) with a list of 10 No-Fail Dinner Party Conversation Starters provided by that bastion of political correctness, The Huff Post. I've also read The Democrat's Guide to Talking Politics with Your Republican Uncle to inure myself to the propaganda I can expect in spite of every effort to avoid discussing politics. Thus I shall endeavor to abide by my wife's most fervent wish to keep peace in the family. Good luck to all others who find themselves in my position. Happy ThanksgivingGood ReadsIs there any question that we're living in The Devil's Pleasure Palace? Political correctness runs amok on American campuses as students demand freedom from offense and free everything else. Sex loses all its pleasure as it becomes easier to obtain. The practice of abortion destroys human life in numbers that would make a Nazi blush. Pseudo-science is used to control behavior. Atheists have gained the legal right to demand tolerance of their belief system only. The purveyors of progressive leftism, like Rousseau, Marx, Brecht, Sartre, and Lillian Hellman, beasts in their private lives who profess to love humanity most but despise people, have come to dominate American philosophical and political thought. So, what else would you call this place other than The Devil's Pleasure Palace? Explaining this phenomenon is the goal of The Devil's Pleasure Palace by Michael Walsh.
Oh Dark ThirtySome of my most vivid memories were provided by great storytellers. It's an art that comes in many forms. Oral. Film. Radio drama. Plays. Pantomime. Now there's a new one that helps ordinary people tell their life stories. It comes from an innovative organization called the StoryCorps. They produce short films illustrating stories narrated by the people who lived them. StoryCorps is something we can all help support. You may donate at the StoryCorps website while you visit to see their latest productions.
Also, make sure you subscribe to the StoryCorps channel on YouTube to help promote their work. |
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