QUARTET (THE MOVIE)

Loved it, loved it, loved it. What's not to love? It was all about me, starring wonderful British actors, except I'm not a retired opera singer, living in a Beechem House, a retirement home for musicians in England, but otherwise...

Maggie Smith (Jean Horton), Pauline Collins (Cissy Robson), Tom Courtenay (Reg Paget), and Billy Connolly (Wilf Bond) play the roles of the opera singers.  The characters bravely, and more or less cheerfully, face the challenges and vicissitudes of aging.  Cissy suffers from what seems moderate dementia, and the scenes which show Reg and Wilf protecting her and caring for her with love, tenderness, and gentle humor, are quite moving.

The musicians remain active in their former professions by teaching classes to young musicians, but the home is in danger of being closed due to lack of funds.   The residents hope that a planned gala performance fund-raiser, starring themselves, will provide sufficient funding for the continued operation of Beechem House.

Cissy, Reg, and Wilf live rather quietly until the arrival of Jean.  Whenever Maggie Smith comes on the scene, we know she will stir the pot, and so she does when she joins the others in the home.   All four characters knew one another during their performing careers, and Jean and Reg were briefly married, very briefly, only one day, before the marriage ended.  Jean tries to mend their relationship, but Reg will have none of it.

Since I don't want my review to be a spoiler, I'll give no more details but only say that I highly recommend the film.  The actors are delightful in their roles, and, although there's much in the story line that is improbable, if not quite impossible, I loved "Quartet" anyway.  For me, the test of a drama or any fictional art form is whether I get caught up in the story and suspend disbelief, and I did, in spades, as I watched "Quartet", so much so that I want to see the film again.

IN THANKSGIVING FOR 52 YEARS TOGETHER

 

We thank you, most gracious God, for consecrating our marriage in Christ's Name and presence.  Lead us further in companionship with each other and with you.  Give us grace to live together in love and fidelity, with care for one another.  Strengthen us all our days, and bring us to that holy table where, with those we love, we will feast forever in our heavenly home; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

(The Book of Occasional Services - Episcopal Church)

 

ONLY YOU

Only you can make this world seem right
Only you can make the darkness bright
Only you and you alone
Can thrill me like you do
And fill my heart with love for only you

Only you can make this change in me
For it's true, you are my destiny
When you hold my hand
I understand the magic that you do
You're my dream come true
My one and only you

Only you can make this change in me
For it's true, you are my destiny
When you hold my hand
I understand the magic that you do
You're my dream come true
My one and only you

Not Shakespeare, of course, but very nice for slow-dancing back in the day.

EDWIN EDWARDS ON LARRY KING NOW

Crusty old James Gill, whose columns I've read seemingly forever, and whom The Advocate managed to steal away from the New Orleans Times Picayune when Advance Publications decided to reduce the paper edition to only three days a week, writes about Edwin Edwards' appearance on Larry King Now.

Edwards told King that he has finally “found something good to use Republicans for — sleep with them.” He would have expressed that sentiment less politely in the days before a Republican became his third wife and mother of his infant son, Eli.

One Republican got no sympathy whatsoever in Edwards’ interview with King: “I don’t understand the man,” Edwards said of Gov. Bobby Jindal. “He’s sitting on a program which would provide immediate health benefits for 300,000 to 400,000 people in Louisiana, and he refuses to sign onto it. He’s a different sort of person.”

Former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards, the crook, is indeed a better man than the fine, upstanding Catholic Christian Bobby Jindal, who denies health insurance to hundreds of thousands of Louisiana citizens to further his own political ambitions.  Edwards would never have refused to implement a program such as Medicaid Expansion which would provide health benefits to many low income people in the state.  With Edwards, I don't understand a man such as Bobby Jindal.

Has Bobby Jindal ever read one word of Roman Catholic social justice teachings?  Does Jindal pay any attention at all to Pope Francis' many statements about preferential treatment for the poor?  How could he and remain so focused on his own selfish political ambitions even as the people of Louisiana go wanting for decent health care?  Shame on you, Bobby Jindal.

"APOTHEOSIS" - IN MEMORIAM"

"Apotheosis" - Tobias Haller

Hear our prayers this day as we remember those of many nations and differing faiths whose lives were cut short by the fierce flames of anger and hatred. Hasten the time when the menace of war shall be removed. Cleanse both us and those perceived to be our enemies of all hatred and distrust. Pour out the spirit of peace on all the rulers of our world that we may be brought through strife to the lasting peace.

Thanks to Tobias Haller on Facebook for the picture.

Thanks to James on Facebook for the prayer, who says of the prayer, "I adapted this from the 'official prayer' for the memorial of this day by the Episcopal Diocese of New York.  I stripped it so it is religious-specific free."

SEEING "THE BUTLER"

A couple of weeks ago, Grandpère and I went to the theater to see "The Butler".  People were talking about the film here because scenes from the movie were filmed in this area, in Houma, Louisiana, and at Laurel Valley plantation outside Thibodaux.  The movie makers built a false front to a building in downtown Houma and blew it up.  The early scenes from Cecil Gaines' childhood in the film were set in Macon, Georgia, but Louisiana is close enough, right?

Forest Whitaker's portrayal of Cecil Gaines is excellent.  Gaines erved as a butler in the White House beginning in the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower into the presidency of Ronald Reagan.  Cuba Gooding, as head butler, does a fine job of acting, as does Oprah Winfrey, as Gaines' wife Gloria, somewhat to my surprise.

If you heard or read of the outrage of Reagan admirers at the casting of Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan, which I found quite amusing (After all, Fonda is an actor and was playing a role, and why not the role of Nancy?), you can think of it as a good joke on the part of the filmmakers or as brilliant casting.  Whatever their intention, the result was brilliant.  Fonda was Nancy Reagan, or so close as to be surpassed only by the reincarnation of Nancy Reagan.

Real footage from the civil rights struggle was painful to watch and brought back terrible memories of the horror of the times.  I sat in my seat cringing and squirming, wanting the scenes to be over.  Gaines son Louis (David Oyelowo) becomes active in the struggle, which causes a breach between him and his father, who disapproves of his activism and prefers to work quietly to achieve equality in wages for the African-Americans on the White House staff, who earn less than the white employees.  As Gaines goes about his work, he hears discussions about the demands of African-Americans and the "problem" of the fight for civil rights, but, of course, he cannot react in any way.

While there was much that was good about the movie, Tom and I both came away feeling a bit unsettled and questioning.  The movie seemed to lack a point of view.  Who was the hero?  Was it Cecil, who did his job, serving faithfully in the White House and caring for his wife and children?  Or was it Louis, who was active in the fight for civil rights?  Both?  Were we meant to be left to decide for ourselves? Anyway, we walked away shaking our heads.

There you have it.  I hope I've succeeded in writing my impressions of the movie without spoiling the film for those who have not seen it.

THE WHITE HOUSE'S POLITICAL RESOLUTION IS TO SEND EXPLODING MISSILES TO SYRIA

Yesterday, White House chief-of-staff Denis McDonough made the case for launching missile attacks on Syria on David Gregory's "Press the Meat" show.

But ultimately, the resolution of this, David, there's not a military resolution to this. There is a political resolution.

And the political resolution is to launch missiles that will explode and kill people? Will the president and his top aides continue to argue the case in the pure logic of doublespeak? The people who believe the president is feinting may have a point. The president and his top aides seem to have stopped trying to persuade or make sense.

H/T to Charles Pierce at "The Politics Blog."

TAKING ACTION IN SYRIA - ANDREW BACEVICH

How I wish for President Obama, Secretaries Kerry and Hagel, and every member of Congress would to watch and listen to Andrew Bacevich's brilliant and articulate commentary on the present decision facing the president and Congress with regard to launching missile attacks in Syria.  How I wish for every citizen in the country to watch.  Even those who disagree with Bacevich, might come away better informed.

ANDREW BACEVICH: Well, I mean, if I could have five minutes of the president's time, I'd say, "Mr. President, the issue really is not Syria. I mean, you're being told that it's Syria. You're being told you have to do something about Syria, that you have to make a decision about Syria. That somehow your credibility is on the line."

But I'd say, "Mr. President, that's not true. The issue really here is whether or not an effort over the course of several decades, dating back to the promulgation of the Carter Doctrine in 1980, an effort that extends over several decades to employ American power, military power, overt, covert military power exercise through proxies, an effort to use military power to somehow stabilize or fix or liberate or transform the greater Middle East hasn't worked.

“And if you think back to 1980, and just sort of tick off the number of military enterprises that we have been engaged in that part of the world, large and small, you know, Beirut, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and on and on, and ask yourself, 'What have we got done? What have we achieved? Is the region becoming more stable? Is it becoming more Democratic? Are we enhancing America's standing in the eyes of the people of the Islamic world?'

"The answers are, 'No, no, and no.' So why, Mr. President, do you think that initiating yet another war, 'cause if we bomb Syria, it's a war, why do you think that initiating yet another war in this protracted enterprise is going to produce a different outcome? Wouldn't it be perhaps wise to ask ourselves if this militarized approach to the region maybe is a fool’s errand.

"Maybe it's fundamentally misguided. Maybe the questions are not tactical and operational, but strategic and political."

From the transcript.

SENATOR VITTER TO VOTE AGAINST PROPOSAL TO ATTACK SYRIA

U.S. Sen. David Vitter said today that he will oppose the White House resolution that calls for a military strike against Syria.

Vitter, R-La., participated in a briefing Wednesday for Senate Armed Services Committee members. Attending were Charles Hagel, secretary of defense, and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“After a lot of careful thought and prayer, I have decided that I will vote no on the Syria war resolution,” he said in a news release today.

Will the Republicans be the ones who save us from war? Vitter will vote against the resolution because he's against anything the president proposes, but I'm not choosy about allies in the effort to stop the madness.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) and Rep. Bill Cassidy (R) are still undecided.

My guess is President Obama will order the strikes whether Congress votes in favor of the resolution or not, to what good purpose I cannot see.

STORY OF THE DAY - SECOND THOUGHTS

travelling as fast in one direction as she can go before 
she has second thoughts & goes back to doing the 
same old stuff

From StoryPeople.

"THE CIVIL WARS" ARE OVER

Only several months ago did I discover The Civil Wars on NPR and fall in love with them. After watching and listening to the video, I purchased their first album, "Barton Hollow," which I've listened to again and again. Their chemistry in performing, and the near perfect blend of their voices in harmony give the songs a magical quality that completely won me over. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance and Best Folk Album in 2012.

Joy Williams and John Paul White scheduled a tour of Europe, and in the middle of the schedule, they cancelled the rest of their appearances due to "irreconcilable differences." The two had also started production on a second album, which they completed despite their disagreements. Their excellent new album, titled "The Civil Wars", has been released and is now available.

The split greatly disappointed me and thousands of fans. I'm in mourning. Joy and John Paul performed alone for several years before getting together, and both have wonderful voices, but I doubt the magic will translate into their solo performances. I wish them well, but, more than anything, I wish they'd resolve their "irreconcilable differences" and get back together.

Set List:

"Barton Hollow"
"Twenty Years"
"Poison & Wine"