10.06.08
Posted in Main, Movie Reviews at 6:33 pm by lee1990
This is not a movie, so don’t go looking for it.
I recently saw a unique performance of Shakespeare’s Macbeth at the Hanna Theater in Cleveland as part of the Great Lakes Theater Festival. While the story and dialogue were pure Shakespeare, the setting, costumes and style of presentation were heavily influenced by Japanese theater. There was a sort of music background applied by use of a pair of Japanese-style drummers positioned on either side of the stage. They gave a traditional yell before starting to drum and both the start and end of the play.
The costumes were a odd mix of Japanese samurai kimonos and medieval Scottish garb, the armor had a Roman feel to it, and the swords were a mix of samurai and broadsword elements. When consulting with Macbeth, his nobles sat in a kneeling position with swords sheathed but pointed upward in Samurai fashion.
The most Japanese part of the play was by far the portrayal of the three witches. They could have been drawn from a Kabuki theater. They were costumed in jet black robes with white painted faces, and moved in a unnatural, jerky, stooped over fashion by leaning on canes at the end of their arms, concealed beneath their robes. They were very similar to the way ghosts and evil spirits are portrayed in Japanese stage theater and horror movies.
The combination successfully juxtaposed two very old and very different theatrical styles, making for a unique experience. I recommend anyone who will be visiting the Northeast Ohio area to make an effort to see this play.
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Posted in Main, Movie Reviews at 5:48 pm by lee1990
I will freely admit that I am usually no fan of Spike Lee movies. I feel that they exploit and may in fact at times aggravate black racial resentments. That aside, I must say that he has produced one of the best WW2 movies that I can remember seeing.
It will be difficult to review this movie without giving away too much, but I will do my best.
The movie opens with a old black postal worker shooting a man at work with a WW2 German luger pistol seemingly for no reason as soon as he sees the man. As a reporter begins to question the otherwise silent man, all he can barely manage to say without bursting into tears is that he is the last one who “knows where the sleeping man lies”.
The remainder of the movie is a prolonged flashback displaying the attack in Italy in which a Negro unit under the command of a southern white officer (who just radiates “I am white trash”) is butchered after being ordered to attack head on at an entrenched German position. A group of 4 of the soldiers becomes separated and trapped miles behind the German lines. As they proceed looking for shelter, they come across a small, clearly traumatized Italian boy, who although it is not immediately clear, is central to the story.
There is also, interestingly, a flashback within the flashback, showing the black soldiers’ encounter with “Southern hospitality” when they stop at an ice cream shop in Texas near their base. Not only does the owner refuse to serve them, he chases them out of the shop with a pistol. They get served anyway, but I won’t give it away (think angry men with machine guns). In this scene, Spike Lee also shows that not all the white soldiers agreed with the racists; a group of white MP’s transporting German prisoners are so incensed by the owner serving German prisoners but not American soldiers that they angrily take the prisoners away and even threaten to have the shop declared off limits.
The movie has a good mix of characters, only a few of which are stereotyped.
The plot was very well thought out, with an ending that brings everything together in a way that makes you believe in a just God.
My only real objection is that the music for the Nazi’s was a bit over the top; the Nazi’s were an evil that does not need musical enhancement.
8 out of 10
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Posted in Main, Word for the Day at 3:01 pm by Holder
Means
resources, property, riches
Debt
something owed by one person to another: an obligation or liability to pay or return something
Something that has amazed me in this ongoing financial trouble in our country is the idea that businesses need to borrow money to make their payroll. Granted, I am not a business type person, but it just seems that if a business is run soundly, that they would have each payroll in reserve ahead of time. It just seems that a company isn’t on very sound footing if they have to borrow to pay their employees. But then, too many in America have the idea that living on credit is just a fine idea. Others understand that it is important to live “within your means.” When you get that monthy or weekly check from your employer, it is not really your money. The part left over after you pay all your bills is the part that is yours. You have already spent the other part and people are depending on you to pay up. As the definition of “debt” says, you have an obligation to pay.
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10.01.08
Posted in Main, Word for the Day at 6:40 pm by Holder
Wonky won.ky
shaky, tottery, feeble
Gaffe
A foreign noun [French] which means “blunder” or faux pas
I heard someone say today that they were a “wonk” when participating in a debate, at least that is what I thought she said. I had heard the word and knew it didn’t have what you would call a positive connotation. When I looked it up, the noun “wonk” wasn’t in the dictionary, but the adjective, wonky, was there. My dictionary is old, so “wonk” might be in the most current one. In an interview or a political debate, you don’t want to be wonky, that’s for sure. We’ll see after Thursday night if anyone comes across as “wonky” in the Vice Presidential debate. I just hope that if there are any references to American history, that there are no gaffes. You’d think that our elected officials wouldn’t be that bad at American history considering what is said about needing to know history if you don’t want to repeat its mistakes. Some others in Congress have very short memories too and can’t even recall recent history. Or maybe they would prefer just to forget their history and hope that nobody else remembers it either.
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09.29.08
Posted in Main, Word for the Day at 3:09 pm by Holder
gluttonous glut.n.nes
comes from “glutton”, a person who consumes too much
purveyor per.va.er
a person who supplies something
pork
money,position, etc. received from the government through political patronage
patronage pa.tren.ij
the power to appoint to political office or grant other favors, especially political ones
Synonym: United States Congress
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09.25.08
Posted in Main, Word for the Day at 9:49 pm by Holder
Depression
In economics: a period marked by slackening of business activity, much unemployment, falling prices and wages
The word strikes fear in our hearts because my generation grew up with stories about the depression. My father was lucky enough to get work with the Civilian Conservation Corps and worked in California when he was single. That got him through the worst of it, I guess, and he came back to Ohio to work. My aunt told of heating food on the furnace because her family couldn’t really afford to run the stove. Their families didn’t have money to begin with, so they didn’t lose money at the time of the stock market crash. But they still suffered as a result of the crash. My mom told of having holes in her stockings and quitting school because of remarks made to her about it. When you can’t buy a simple pair of stockings to cover your legs, things are bad. It was sad because she was a bright, intelligent person and would have benefited by that education. It would be tragic to see another depression.
The Emblem came from the inside of a little old trunk we found at a garage sale.
Here is a pdf from the National Archives that tells about the CCC. The information is on page 3.
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09.24.08
Posted in Main, Word for the Day at 2:37 pm by Holder
Apathy pronounced ap.e.thy
indifference; listless condition; lack of interest or emotion
Empathy pronounced em.pe.thy
the projection of one’s own personality into the personality of another in order to understand him better; intellectual identification of oneself with another
This morning on Fox cable, one of the guests used the word apathy instead of empathy in reference to trying to understand those who got mortgages that they could in no way afford. The hosts sort of cringed, but didn’t say anything about the mistake. We definitely shouldn’t have apathy toward our country’s financial difficulties, and I’m not sure we should have empathy either for those who caused it, especially when we have tried so hard to live within our means for so many years. If someone suddenly lost a job or became ill and could no longer pay, that would be deserving of empathy. We often drive through a neighborhood and wonder how the people could afford those half-million-dollar houses. Now we know.
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Posted in Main, Word for the Day at 2:21 pm by Holder
Feud pronounced fud
a bitter, deadly quarrel; especially, such a quarrrel between clans or families
History channel had an ad for a program last weekend and they spelled this word “fued”. Come on, let’s try to spell things right out there in tv-land!
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09.22.08
Posted in Main, Word for the Day at 2:52 pm by Holder
Earmark
To set aside or reserve for a special purpose
In reference to bills in Congress, we used to call these “riders”. This is costing the American taxpayer millions of dollars as Congress uses earmarks to buy votes from their constituents or to send tax dollars to their area that benefit them is some personal way. Wasteful spending by Congress is the same as wasteful spending on the part of the average American. And that is what got us into this banking mess. Buying more that you can really afford is not the way to live. The right to buy a house presupposes and requires the ability to make the payments for that house. We have the right of the pursuit for happiness, not the guarantee of happiness. We have to work for what we want. Living above your means is not a responsible way to live. And our government has been doing the same thing……living above its means. Borrowing money from China is not the way to run our country.
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09.20.08
Posted in Main, Word for the Day at 8:21 pm by Holder
Hysterogenic his.ter.e.jen.ik
causing hysteria
Laconic le.kon.ik
expressing much in few words; pithy; concise
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