Big Thanks ... once again to all who showed up to my dopey reading last week at The Raconteur bookstore in Metuchen, New Jersey ... it was enough of a success for them to ask me back with Rough Riders next July (who says bribery doesn’t work?) ... the highlight was my daughter and son-in-law showing up with a big container of meatballs (that’s what I’m talking about) ... the store filmed the thing and as soon as I get the link, I’ll post it here and on FB so yous can all heckle along with the Doc ...
Eyes Wide Open ... a hell of a movie about a culture clash with sexuality. This is the second Hebrew movie I’ve watched recently. After living in a very Hasidic neighborhood in Brooklyn (we were one of a very few non Hasidic families on the block), I had read a bunch of material on the culture and found it every bit as fascinating as upsetting (regarding what I consider, as I do with pretty much all religions, a tunnel vision view of life). I was not aware of “modesty squads” until seeing this movie, however and it was a scary concept. This one takes place in Jerusalem where a butcher befriends a gay man and discovers his own sexuality. Very highly Recommended ... Please excuse the dopy commercial at the start of the trailer ...
The Civil War ... when I was a kid, I used to call it the Silver War (probably because in my toy soldier set, Marx’s The Blue & The Gray {now worth $3,000} the southern army was literally grey/gray. Anyway, today is the 150th anniversary of the bloodiest four years in our country’s history. I don’t know why, but it has always been a fascinating time to me. I’d like to believe it was the injustice behind it (I am one of those who believes it was fought over slavery couched in a state’s rights issue), but I’m just not sure anymore. It probably has more to do with my being born a northerner than anything else (that dangerous sense of nationalism that has fooled too many of us, myself included, more than once). It was certainly a noble cause and a just war and I’ve always admired the civil war historian, Shelby Foote, for his admitting he probably would have fought for the south (being a southerner), even though he deplored the idea of slavery.
In any event, the Stella famiglia tries to visit different civil war battlefields from time to time while reading up on the war between the states. I know my daughter and her husband will be revisiting Gettysburg in a few weeks. My cousin (the coach, Jason--the guy I went to Antietam with last year) and I will be venturing toward the same battlefield in a month or so and hope to catch up with author Dana King when we get there. I’ve taken the Stella brats there at least once and have visited Gettysburg a few times in my past. It really does knock you back on your heels to think of what happened there in 1863. And if you read Lincoln’s address at the battlefield site and do not weep, check for a pulse.
As it happens, I go through an almost daily civil war with a conservative blog called Stand Up For America (SUFA) where the contributors range from anarchists to red thru and thrus (apparently moi) and although the waters get a bit testy from time to time, the discussions are usually pretty engaging as each side gets to present their own ideologies ... some of the Ayn Rand hubris can be a bit overwhelming at times but we all have a bit of that, I suppose. Today, by the way, I am “Charlie and his gang” (he means reds) ... there are some pretty good arguments there (even if you just view for fun and ignore the extra doses of sarcasm---unless you’re Doc and you like seeing me broiled every now and again).
Oy vey ...
The Knuckmeter ... that’s right, Doc’s favorite target is back in action ... after defeating bronchitis my own way (without the help of antibiotics), the ugly one is back at the gym and training harder than usual). With the return of the original Stellamobile, (the now 13 year old Honda to the stable), I’m able to go and come as I please. Nightly walks with the wife also contribute to the goal of ducking under the three bills mark before the start of classes in New Hampshire June 15 ... so, at this point, here’s that stats:
Starting date: 4/10/11Starting weight: 328
First weight update (as of 4/12/11): 324 (like a rocket, brothers and sisters ... coming down like a rocket)
oy vey ...
—Knucks
A little Peter Erskine for your drumming pleasure ...
