Thoughts on Living the Life Creative
Once Upon A Time In America (1984) - This is one of those movies I'm pretty sure the cognoscenti think I should like. Sergio Leone is one of those directors that a certain portion of the movie loving community fawns over. I just can't muster a whole lot of enthusiasm for either. I do kind... Continue Reading →
The Retribution by Val McDermid - I don't think I've read anything else by this Scottish author and that's clearly a mistake on my part. While it's yet another forensic profiling meets crazed serial killer novel McDermid finds ways to bring a little freshness to the ideas. The book is the latest in a series... Continue Reading →
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne Somehow in all the years of science fiction reading I've done I have somehow managed to never read this classic by Verne. It is a classic story of a man who turns his back on civilization after his family is presumably killed. But rather than disappear into... Continue Reading →
Slap Shot (1977) - If you talk to hockey players this is commonly listed as one of their favorite movies. It's also a movie that generates conversation. So let's get this out of the way right up front. This is not a great movie. At the same time it is a great movie. In the... Continue Reading →
The Men Who Lost America - British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire. By Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy In school we all learned the American mythology of how we won our independence from Great Britain. It wasn't until I was in college that some of the detail of that part of our history... Continue Reading →
Panic (2000) - As the credits roll I'm thinking "How have I never heard of this movie?" William H. Macy, Tracy Ullman, John Ritter, Neve Campbell, Donald Sutherland, Barbara Bain. Miguel Sandoval even has a short little role towards the end. A classic spot the stars and yet I've never heard of it. Turns out... Continue Reading →
The Lost Cyclist - David V. Herlihy (2010) - The sub-title here is "The Epic Tale Of An American Adventurer And His Mysterious Disappearance" which offers a nice little summation. This is the story of Frank Lenz an early star in the world of bicycling. Bicycles are such a common object that we forget that... Continue Reading →
The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom (2012 Hyperion) Got this one as a Christmas present. I read "Tuesdays with Morrie" a couple years ago and was moved by Albom's story. So I was happy to put this on the To Read pile. The book tells the story of Father Time. He was the human who... Continue Reading →
Eastern Promises (2007) - This is one of those movies I'm "supposed" to like. It's directed by David Cronenberg, the critics generally love it, the movie won a couple minor awards, received several larger award nominations including a Best Actor Oscar nod for Viggo Mortensen. It didn't make a huge amount of money but enough... Continue Reading →
Not sure I've ever laid this out. The passing of Roger Ebert got me thinking about why I do all this and how I make my judgments. For me a critic's opinions are worth very little if I don't understand where they find their foundation. Some of my most reliable critics are the ones with whom... Continue Reading →
Stories Are My Life 