Archive for December, 2007
Three tour boats bob back and forth, fastened to Westminster Pier by loosely tied ropes. The bow of another boat appears beneath the bridge and slowly creeps downstream.
Suddenly, French horns and laughter and bright lights fill the air. Handel’s Water Music. How appropriate—royal barge music along King’s Reach. As the tour boat emerges from beneath the bridge, I notice a group of people standing on deck near the stern. One young man, dressed in a blazer, is holding a bottle above his head and seems to be initiating a toast. As he un-wraps the cork, he sees me on the bridge and points toward me. The others look up.
“Here, my good man,” he says, pointing the top of the bottle toward me, “catch.”
With that, he pops the cork. It flies on target, like a tiny white bead, but loses loft as it nears my grasp. I lean over the railing and concentrate—and then snatch it out of the air.
The boaters cheer and applaud. “Good show, old man.”
I wave while the boaters applaud. The young man in the navy blazer holds the bottle overhead again, perhaps as a symbolic offering. I slip the plastic cork into my pocket.
Continue Reading December 30th, 2007
Sometimes l like to detach from my physical self, to stimulate an out-of-body experience, so to speak, so that I may view my life much as a biographer would. This exercise helps me to analyze all that I do and determine whether or not I am on course to accomplishing my goals.
Such an exercise can be enlightening, but is only advised for those who can handle the realization that life is nothing more than big dreams caged by a somber reality. That being said, the best of us can use this exercise to motivate, refocus energies, be proactive and ultimately get something accomplished. The rest of us, by which I mean most of us, will simply spend more time on the couch, depressed by our futility, watching reality TV reruns and wishing our life could be half as successful as the contestants on “Dancing with the Stars.”
Continue Reading December 29th, 2007
Rob Reiner's latest directorial effort, "The Bucket List" is going to challenge my declaration that, "The Great Debaters" is going to sweep the Oscars. An all-star cast including, Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes of "Will & Grace" and Rob Morrow, think Dr Fleshman from Northern Exposure perform.
Continue Reading December 27th, 2007
Here's what my readers and a few experts have to say…
"Please read, grade and see who stands for our country and who wants to finish destroying what is left of America. Let us keep track of what they say and then we decide who we will vote into the highest office. We cannot make another mistake again like we did with President Bush."
~ Carmen and Joe dontspeakforme.org
Continue Reading December 27th, 2007
I never dreamed slowly cruising on my motorcycle through a residential neighborhood could be so incredibly dangerous! Little did I suspect?
I was on Brice Street—a very nice neighborhood with perfect lawns and slow traffic. As I passed an oncoming car, a brown furry missile shot out from under it and tumbled to a stop immediately in front of me.
It was a squirrel, and must have been trying to run across the road when it encountered the car. I really was not going very fast, but there was no time to brake or avoid it—it was that close. I hate to run over animals, and I really hate it on a motorcycle, but a squirrel should pose no danger to me.
Continue Reading December 26th, 2007
by Fitness Department
Drink plenty of water. 
Water is a natural detoxifer. It helps counteract the dehydrating effects of travel or drinking alcoholic beverages and it amy also help satiate your appetite since thirst is often mistaken for hunger.
Avoid taking seconds. 
Fill your plate once with the food you enjoy the most and then Stop! Eat slowly and enjoy the unique flavor of the holiday foods.
Bring a vegetable tray to parties. 
Use unusual festive vegetables like red, green, yellow and organge peppers, asparagus, snow peas and mushrooms along with the traditional favorites like carrots, celery, radishes etc. Then be your biggest fan and eat more of them than any of the high calorie snacks like chips and dips, cheese and crackers, pate’s desserts, cookies and candies. Use non fat yogurt in place of sour cream or salad dressing for a lighter dip.
Have just a few bites of your favorite dish or dessert. A small amount can be just as satisfying when you taste it mindfully.
Poistion yourself away from the food.
When you are at a party so you are not constantly tempted. Calories add up quickly. If you have a tendency to stand by the food table and just snack, you could find yourself eating 1,500 to 2,000 extra calories without realizing it and that won’t include the drinks or the full course meal to follow.
Bring a festive fruit basket. 
to parties or to work for everyone as an alternative to sweets and candy treats. If you feel obligated to try a friend’s homemade specialty, take a small bite of the treat and savor it. No need to eat the entire thing.
Try one day of fasting or detox per week.
during the Holidays to give your body a rest from food. Vegetable and fruit detox progrmas work the best.
Take time for yourself. 
Although spending time with friends and family is essential, it’s also important to set aside some time every day for yourself to relax. Try practicing deep breathing (Chi Gong) exercises when you feel stressed out.
Don’t set unrealistic goals. 
Aim to exercise 30 minutes a day instead of an hour. Enlist a friend to exercise with you. Walking and talking with a friend can be a great way to burn extra calories and reduce your stress level.
Use alcohol and caffeine in moderation. 
These substances will only create anxiety in the long run by adding to your feelings of stress and by depleting your nutrient base. Try drinking hot herbal teas instead of coffee and keep the number of alcoholic drinks to a minimum.
If you your stress level is high, supplement with extra B vitamins.
These nutrients help support the adrenal glands and reduce the effects of stress. B-vitamins convert food to energy and aid in relaxation. They can used in addition to your regular vitamin-mineral supplement during stressful times.
Listen to relaxing music. 
Studies prove that music can sooth the nerve4s and restore energy levels in the body. Try classical music to restore and relax your nervous system.
December 26th, 2007
Some of you may be old enough to remember a TV show from early 60s called “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.” It was a relatively early attempt at a sit-com and it proved to be a smash hit for a couple of years. Dobie had a friend Named Maynard G. Krebs (played by Bob Denver) who was a “hippie.” Actually, in those days they called them beatniks, but the point of all this is that Maynard’s favorite movie, always playing at the Bijou, was “The Monster that Devoured Cleveland.”
The question that I ask, rhetorically, is whether we have a “Monster that’s devouring Aspen?” Let’s take a look! First of all, I am going to fill you in on a little secret. There is no such thing as a “Monster Home.” Like beauty, the size and appearance of a home is relative to the needs and eyes of the beholder. The term Monster Home, like Palestinian, is made up by those with a particular political agenda.
In fact, if you ask most Aspenites what is the ideal size of a home, they will usually respond that “it’s just a bit bigger than the one they live in.” A waiter in a studio wishes he had a one bedroom. An architect in a one bedroom wishes she had a two bedroom. A lawyer with a family would love to have an extra bathroom. Parents from Chicago yearn for a media room for their children. Grandparents from Kansas want a home large enough to for their children and grandchildren. Finally, the truly fortunate in this town hope to have a home large enough to serve as a family compound. Aspen has become a retreat for families. Ironically, when the Burlingame affordable housing complex was designed, our own politicians suggested that we increase the size of the typical units because “larger homes are more livable for families.” This is pure genius at work! In fact, that’s why we pay these guys the big bucks.
Our politicians, who are tighter with F.A.R. (floor area ratio) than the rusted lug nuts on a 54 Chevy, are entirely correct when they say that 5750 square feet is large enough for a family. However, most of Aspen’s homes are not just for Ozzie and Harriet and their two kids David and Ricky. More often than not, Aspen home owners are trying to squeeze in Ozzie, Harriet, David, Ricky, Uncle Tanoose and Aunt Bee, Grandpa Jed Clampett, the Brady Bunch grandkids, two nannies and Sky King with his co-pilot, who ferry the family back and forth from Los Angeles. 5750 Doesn’t work for a family compound!
Why should we care about these extended families? In simple to understand terms, the children and grandchildren, who can no longer afford to come to Aspen on their own, represent Aspen’s “seed corn” for the next generation. If Aspen continues to evolve into a place where folks only come to retire, how are young people going to learn about our wonderful town? Moreover, along with affordable housing, these family compounds provide a vibrant venue for the continued infusion of young blood. We don’t want Aspen to become a geriatric village.
By now we have all heard that Monster Homes are wasting energy like an open fire-pit on the mall. Ooooops….bad example! Anyway, since Monster Homes are in conflict with the Canary Initiative, we should ban them, right? Not so fast! Many of the newer homes in town are being constructed with solar and geothermal energy, beefed-up insulation, and greener building principles. These are not your grandfather’s monster homes.
When I travel, I sometimes ask people from other states innocent sounding questions. “Would you like to live in a town with large, spacious homes?” The answer is almost always a resounding “you-betcha!” My follow-up question is “how about living in a town with Monster Homes? Their response is usually a wrinkling of the nose and a shaking of the head. Of course, it’s the same question both times but with a change in the all-important “spin.”
What does all this mean? I have no bleeping idea, except of course that I wish my house had one extra room for my treadmill. If it did, Maynard G. Krebs would say “that’s cool, daddio.”
December 25th, 2007
As we look back on 2007, we thank our computers hooked up to the Internet that hooked us up to one another. Without this unlimited communication device—Bush and Congress would have destroyed our constitutional republic.
For the past 20 years, their lies, incompetence and sheer greed proved more powerful than the will of American citizens. The military-industrial complex and corporate America dictated this country’s path. They own the media which feeds us the news they demand. They buy the Congress via huge financial perks. Men like McCain, Kennedy, Specter, Martinez, Hagel, Reid, DeLay, Cunningham and others routinely forgot their oath of office or responsibilities toward our country. Crooks like Delay and Cunningham got caught, but dozens if not hundreds still slink around in the shadows like rats. Presidents and senators did not enforce our laws, didn’t respect our citizens and failed to maintain our borders...
Continue Reading December 25th, 2007
What I am about to relate here must be prefaced by a confession of my own limitations. I am not a history scholar, not even a buff. My relative ignorance about WWII is glaring in attempting to give you a just sense of this movie.
The setting is Asia, Shanghai, more specifically, pre and early WWII. My frustration with appreciating this film began with the challenge of overcoming the distraction of a Chinese language film with white subtitles over a moving and often white background. An hour into the film, I was asking myself, "What the hell is going on here?" if I were to recommend this film, it would be with a recent study of Chinese/Japanese relations pre WWII, if not a Cliff Note course in Chinese. Too often, the subtitles, several lines long, were flashed on the screen for just a second or two, hardly time to be read.
The title is truly an understatement. Walking in the snow back to the parking lot, such comments as, "brutal", "gratuitous violence, sex and violent sex." resonated from patrons. There was no applause during or following the credits, rather there was deafening silence. Ang Lee left me/us stunned, not praising a stunning film that I admit I had an expectation of. I prefer to go into a film without expectation, not necessarily even knowing anything about the subject . . . a clean slate to be impressed upon. Lust, Caution is an exception. I wish that I had brushed up on the history of the Chinese/Japanese tensions of that time and had some familiarity with Chan Ailing's story and style. Ang Lee is quoted as saying, "we didn't really "adapt" Chan's work, we re-enacted it, just as her characters act and re-enact their parts.
As far as the art and craft of filmmaking, this effort was substantial. Beautifully lit and photographed, well cast and my reaction to the film speaks to the quality of direction and acting. Filmed on location in Shandhai, only elaborate preparation and local cooperation allowed this to be made.
Approach this film with caution and reserve your lusts for more appropriate targets.
Next on my ticket and schedule is, "The Bucket List", Rob Reiner's latest directorial effort. An all-star cast including, Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes and Rob Morrow perform. Screening is in Aspen Wednesday, December 26 at 5:30 PM, Harris Hall.
What does your list of, "To Dos", before you, "kick the bucket", look like?
Have a very Merry Christmas and Love and Peace to you and yours throughout the Holidays.
December 24th, 2007
That title so invites double entendre. Ok, so this was the first film and I have already cast my "vote" for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and supporting Actor. What a rich, heart-warming and extremely well done film. I love the underdog and Wiley College in East Texas during the depression is definitely the underdog on the national collegiate debate scene. Denzel Washington directs and costars with Forest Whitaker. The other cast members, unknown to me, were perfectly cast and we will see more of them I'm certain or at least hope.
I am not going to tell you the story here, only that it is a remarkable story and beautifully championed subject and film. So many controversies are touched upon and delicately handled. From racism to socio-economics and politics. This film models integrity and is an example in itself!
You must see "The Great Debaters." It will warm your heart on a cold winter's eve and make you a better person for having seen it.
Next on my list, Sunday night is, "Lust, Caution" the much anticipated new project from Ang Lee of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and more recently, "Brokeback Mountain" fame. I can't wait, the momentum is almost out of control and it is only day three of the 2007 AspenFilm Academy Screenings.
Check the schedule online at aspenfilm.org, call or stop by the Wheeler Opera House 970-920-5770 or get tickets online at aspenshowtickets.com.
See you at the movies.
December 23rd, 2007
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