Monthly Archives: November 2021

What Books Have You Enjoyed the Most This Year?

27 Saturday Nov 2021

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“A Best Friend Is Someone Who Gives Me a Book I’ve Never Read.” A. Lincoln

As I have done for the past 12 years, I am asking for a list (anywhere from one to as many as six) of the books you’ve most enjoyed reading in 2021.

There is no definition to the kind of book which you might add to this list. They can be fiction, non-fiction, science fiction, science, mystery, romance, hobbies, children’s books, etc. I am just looking for what you truly enjoyed this past year (old or new books) with the thought that others might get some ideas for their reading in 2022.

Even if you think others may recommend a particular book that you liked, please include it on your list. Some folks like to know that more than one or two MillersTime readers have enjoyed a given title.

Also, if you want to include any of the books you cited in the 2021 Mid-Year post of favorites, feel free to do so.

Send me your list (Samesty84@gmail.com) with the title, author and whether the book is fiction (F) or non-fiction (NF). Please take the time to include a few sentences about the book and particularly what made this book so enjoyable for you.

For many of the contributors and readers of this annual list, it is the comments that are what’s most important about MillersTime Favorite Reads each year.

Please send your list by December 20. Then I can post the results by January 1.

Thanks in advance.

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To see previous years’ lists, click on any of these links: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. 2016. 2017. 2018 Mid-Year, 2018, 2019 Mid-Year. 2019. 2020, Mid-Year 2021.

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Thru Ellen’s Lens: Alaskan Landscapes & Skyscapes

20 Saturday Nov 2021

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Last month we posted photos from our ‘encounters’ with the brown bears of Alaska: Thru Ellen’s Lens: The Brown Bears of Katmai , Alaska. (If you haven’t seen those, stop now and see them.)

What you haven’t seen are Ellen’s photos of landscapes from our time in Prince William Sound; the results from her three-night odyssey learning to photograph the night sky and the Northern Lights; and photos from our drive north to Denali National Park.

It was a landscape photographer’s dream. After five days of chasing animals that were always moving, or in the wrong light, or looking the other way, the absolute beauty of the Alaskan landscape was just there. With the right light you could almost just ‘point and shoot’ to capture it. Prince William Sound (the site of the Exxon Valdez Oil spill in 1989) was glorious, so much so, that the colors seemed unreal. Ellen shot many of her images there in black and white, concentrating on details and patterns. 

That was followed by three nights of skyscape photography, 10 PM-2AM, with vistas that were literally out of this world. She was working with a professional photographer who goes by the name of Aurora Dora, a knowledgeable and patient teacher. The first two nights — despite the predictions — there were no Auroras so the photography focused on the night sky, especially the Milky Way. On the last night, the Auroras appeared and did unpredictable and magical things. It was cold, very cold. with temperatures in the low 20’s, but Ellen came back from her night time photography every night (with frozen fingers) awed. Fortunately, she insisted on the third night that I go out on my own to see it. (And so I did, rather than watching it through the window.)

The Denali range in Alaska has always been very special for us. We’ve stayed in the national park on two family trips in the early 1990’s, and all of us remember those trips fondly. This time were staying in the small town of Talkeetna, about 70 miles south of Denali National Park (though with all the en route photos it took us almost three hours to get there). When we arrived, we found a vast frozen wonderland. Unfortunately, we were only permitted to drive about 35 miles into the park because of the weather which had already dropped some snow on the roadway. Nevertheless, Denali and the National Park were spectacular — a true winter wonderland.

To tempt you to see all 45 of Ellen’s photos in a large format, here are just three of them, the first from Prince William Sound, the second one of the Northern Lights, and the third ‘focusing’ on Denali.

If you find these three of interest, we urge you to go to the slide show (see the link below for details).

One of the 150 glaciers in Prince William Sound

The magical Northern Lights, seen from Talkeetna, AK

Mt. Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America

To see more, use this link to Ellen’s slide show: Alaska Landscapes & Skyscapes.

For the best viewing, click on the little arrow at the top right of the first page of the link to start the slide show.

See all the photos in the largest size possible (use a laptop or desktop computer if you have access to either). They are much sharper, and the larger format presents them in much more detail than the ones above, or if you only look at the opening page of the slide show.

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2021 MillersTime Baseball Contest Winners, Part II

16 Tuesday Nov 2021

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Results of Contests 1 and 3 are now in:

CONTEST #1: How will the COVID-19 virus affect the 2021 MLB season? Include some Overall Predictions as well as some Specific Ones. Creativity is encouraged. I’ll choose the five best submissions and have MillersTime baseball contestants vote on the winner:

Winner as chosen by you readers was #2: Very little overall. There will be some hand-wringing about vaccinations, but the season will happen and a champion will be crowned. Attendance will increase throughout the season, and the World Series will have a completely full stadium.

BRANDT & SAMANTHA TILIS who submitted that answer are the winners. As their Prize, they get to join me at a Nats’ game next year, or I’ll join them for a regular season MLB game of their choice anywhere they choose, at my expense (for the cost of the tickets and refreshments only).

(Full Disclosure: Brandt ‘happens’ to be my son-in-law and Samantha is his daughter and therefore my five year old granddaughter. Fortunately, I do not vote in any of the Contests and the selection in Contest #1 was chosen by readers/contestants who voted for this anonymously listed submission.)

CONTEST #3: Five Fill in the Blanks & Five True/False Questions.

There were five submissions that all answered seven of the 10 questions correctly:

Daniel Fischberg, Jeff Friedman, Larry Longenecker, Ed Scholl, & Matt Wax-Krell.

By dint of being the earliest submission, ED SCHOLL is the winner and his Prize is to join me (along with another guest of his choice) for any Nats’ game in the 2022 season. (If I’m not available, or if he prefers, he can choose to take two others with him to that Nats’ game.

Additional Prizes for those who sent in questions that were chosen for the 2021 Contests: – Tim Malieckal, Zach Haile, Dawn Wilson, and Steve King: Choose either to join me, and you can bring a friend, for a game of your choice with the Nats in 2022 or get one of the MillersTime Contest Winners Exclusive T-Shirts. Let me know which you choose.

And if you missed the winners of Contests #2 & #4, check here.

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For anyone interested in attending Nats’ games next year, here is an offer from a friend, Jim Cooke, a long time Nats’ season ticket holder:

I have a full season plan for a pair of seats at Nats Park in Section 117 (3rd Base Dugout Box), Row K, seven rows from the field, 90 feet from home plate. I’m relocating to Philadelphia and would like to hold onto them for the sake of three current partners. The seats are available at cost ($80 per), so a 10-game share costs $1,600. You pick the games you want in a draft of dates in early March. For more information, please contact me at my cell phone number (240) 731-9576. Thank you, Jim Cooke.

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20 Movies in 8 Days: The Philadelphia Film Festival, October ’21

06 Saturday Nov 2021

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From Ellen & Richard Miller:

Following our third vaccine, we ventured to Philadelphia for one of our favorite pre-pandemic annual events – The Philadelphia Film Festival. A long-time and dear friend was involved in launching this film festival many years ago, and we’ve used the film event to continue and extend our friendship.

Over the years, we become friends with their friends, gotten to know a bit of Philadelphia beyond the movies, and decided that this is a festival for us.  The curating is superb, the logistics are easy and smooth, and the two major theaters where the films are shown are within a easy 20 minute walk of each other, giving us a chance to stretch our legs or get a bite to eat.

This year we stretched our usual four-day attendance to eight days, and  invited one of our friends to join us. Generally, we didn’t see more than three films a day…which was a pretty relaxed pace for us.

We saw a lot of very good films, as you’ll see below, and we’ve briefly noted what we liked about them.  We’re not writing overall reviews of each film — we have provided links to professional reviews — but we did have a few over all takeaways which we are happy to share:  not all movies have happy endings, in fact some movies seem to haves no endings at all. (At least one we saw was interminable.)  We saw a number of truly wonderful films produced in Iran, Palestine, Italy, featuring strong female roles; deeply acted dramas about families, and a number of really terrific films featuring nonprofessional actors. We saw films from “masters of cinema” and first time directors. The geography of the films spanned a good part of the world. It was an impressive experience.

And what a delight to be back in movie theaters– socially distanced and masked, and with vaccination and IDs required to attend.  It felt comfortable, familiar, and rejuvenating. 

(Note: A number of these films are already available in theaters or on one of the various streaming services. Click on the title of any film below to read a critic’s review.)

Best of the Best ( five stars from us both):

Belfast: Set in the city the title suggests, we see the impact of “the troubles” through the eyes of one family and particularly through the eyes and experiences of a nine-year old boy.  Shot in black and white, nearly everything about this film is perfect: acting, direction, story, and filming.

Amira:  This is a ‘small’ but moving film about a Palestinian girl coming of age who learns that her father is not a lauded terrorist who has been incarnated in prison for many years. It’s a story that shakes the entire culture of her family and how she moves forward in life.

Ballad of a White Cow: An Iranian drama about a woman whose husband was wrongly executed, having been blamed for a crime against the state which he did not commit. You’ll be riveted throughout the entire film.

A Chiara: An Italian drama about a teenager whose father is deeply involved in the world of the drug trade. Great story telling and good acting, largely with nonprofessional actors. This one is full of ethical questions and dilemmas the family and the teenager must face.

Paper & Glue: This is a remarkable documentary – truly a must see — about the work of the street artist JR and the impact of his art and activism throughout the world.  Perhaps our favorite film of the Festival.

Mass: Another must see. This is an incredibly acted four-person drama. Two couples meet together to discuss the impacts on both families of a school shooting by the son of one couple which led to the death of the other couple’s son. This is, as you can perhaps imagine, a highly emotional drama.

Hester Street: This is a restoration of this classic film about life on the Lower East Side at the turn of the 20th century.  This version maybe hard to find, but it’s not only a delight; it’s also relevant to today’s world.

The Braves: This is an inspiring story about the friendship of two young women struggling to become actresses, a story of mutual support, dedication, and friendship.

Almost as Good (four stars):

The French Dispatch: If you’re a Wes Anderson fan, you’ll love this.  We found the story hard to follow, but that’s not the point here. It’s superb film making.

Captain Volkonogov Escaped: A good story, with good acting, and a look inside Russia’s authoritarian and dark underbelly. Very usual subject matter, superbly filmed, and filled with suspense.

Bernstein’s Wall:  Somewhat of a bio-pic (a portrait actually) of Leonard Bernstein as told through his own eyes and own voice via clips, photographs, his own writing, and letters. We found it engaging and learned much we did not know about Bernstein.

A Hero: This film –  with it sometimes confounding plot and multiplying  ethical choices — was disappointing. It does, however, give the viewer quite a bit to discuss to try to sort it all out, which we’re not sure we ever did! We had given Asghar Farhadi’s previous full-length features five stars, but this one didn’t match A Separation or The Salesman.

C’Mon C’Mon: A lovely, and already much praised film, superbly acted, about uncle and his nephew who form a bond with each other.

Luzzu: This is another ‘small’ film, with nonprofessional actors. The story involves a Maltese fisherman who struggles to hold on to his father and his ancestors’ old ways as they clash with modern life and his marriage.

The Worst Person in the World:  A strong female character searching for her way in life and love, beautifully filmed. But there might be only one likeable person in the entire film. The title of the film becomes very clear by the end of it.

Not on Our ‘Must See’ List (mostly three stars)

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain: Wonderful acting by Benedict Cumberbatch can’t save this tale of Louis Wain, a British artist known for his drawings of cats. At times it seemed like a Disney-produced children’s film.

Our American Family:  This documentary is about five members of a Philadelphia family and their struggles with generational addiction. This film ends well.

Three Minutes-A Lengthening: This was an effort to create a larger story from a recently recovered three-minute segment of a 16mm homemade movie about a Polish town just before World War II. It’s an attempt to piece together the lives of its 3,000 Jewish residents just prior to their deportation and deaths (which they do not know is coming.)

Brother’s Keeper: This boarding school drama takes place in Eastern Turkey and illustrates the uncaring administration and staff of the school, when a boy becomes critically ill and his friend tries to save him.

Don’t Bother:

Memoria: Critics and curators unanimously loved this. Audiences not at all.  Ellen walked out half way through it.

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2021 MillersTime Baseball Contest Winners

05 Friday Nov 2021

Posted by in Go Sox

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The winners of two of the 2021 MillersTime Contests have been decided. Two remain to be chosen.

CONTEST #1: How will the COVID-19 virus affect the 2021 MLB season? Include some Overall Predictions as well as some Specific Ones. Creativity is encouraged. I’ll choose the five best submissions and have MillersTime baseball contestants vote on the winner:

No decision until I hear from you all. Choose which of these you think deserves to win. Put your choice in the Comment section of this post or email me (Samesty@gmail.com) your choice by Nov. 15th.

1. Minimal impact. A game postponed here and there, and those will be early in the season. Every team will complete their schedule in full barring a late season rainout.

2. Very little overall. There will be some hand-wringing about vaccinations, but the season will happen and a champion will be crowned.  Attendance will increase throughout the season, and the World Series will have a completely full stadium.

3. As the summer comes along and people get vaccinated, increasing attendance at baseball games will be one of the ways that the country starts to measure the return to normalcy. This will help to restore MLB as a major fixture in American public life.

4. Teams will have full stadiums by July 4th because of herd immunity and availability of the vaccine. The Blue Jays will finish the season in Canada but still have to start the season in the US.

5. All 162 games will be played and there will be over 75 doubleheaders because of COVID cancellations. I think last year was around 44. (2021 Actual Results: It was a full season with only one team playing 161 games. Last year there were 45 doubleheaders; this year there were 59.)

And on the ‘creative; side, this:

6. Pete Rose will contact COVID and pass away and will ultimately get elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously. AND – Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, and Sammy Sosa all get their Covid vaccinations and issue a joint statement, “We got our injections to make ourselves better. How ’bout that Hall of Fame?”

CONTEST #2: Pick your favorite MLB team (or the team you know the best) and outline how they will do in the 2021 season compared to last year. Include both general and specific predictions and the reason for those predictions.

Seven of you basically nailed your teams and showed you knew them well: Ben Senturia on the Cards, David Price on the Yankees, Brandt/Samantha Tilis on the Red Sox, Larry Longenecker on the Rays, Justin Stoyer on the Orioles, Zack Haile on the Reds, Jere Smith on the Red Sox, and Chris Ballard on the Astros.

CHRIS BALLARD is the winner. Here is why:

He predicted the Houston Astros would do the following:

Record 95-67, 1st place in the division, and 4th best record in baseball. (Actual record – 95-67, first in their division, and tied for the fourth best record in baseball.)

Lance McCullers Jr. will break out with an ERA below 3.30 and win over 15 games. (McCullers’s ERA was 3.16, and he won 13 games.)

MVP of the team – Kyle Tucker will hit .290 + and have over 30 home runs. (Tucker hit .294 and hit 30 home runs.)

Altuve, Alvarez, Bregman, Correa, Tucker will all hit over 25 home runs. (Altuve hit -30, Alvarez – 35, Correa – 26, Tucker – 30, Bregman – 12)

Prize: Chris can join me for a Nats game of his choice next year in my seats, 20 rows off the field between home and first, or I’ll get tickets and join him for a regular season game of his choice, wherever he chooses. (Note: Chris still owes Ellen, Brandt, Elizabeth, and me a steak dinner for a bet from two years ago.)

CONTEST #3: Fill in the Blank and True/False Questions:

a. Which team till have the most wins in the AL and NL? Correct Answer – RAYS (100) and GIANTS (107).

b. Which team will be King of NY? Question submitted by Tim M. Correct Answer is the YANKEES whose record was 92-60. Mets were 77-85. (Though the Mets did win three out of four games played between the two teams).

c. Number of hitters who will strike out more than 200 times? Question by Zack H. Correct Answer is TWO (Joey Gallo (213) and Matt Chapman (202)

d. Who will be Manager of the Year in either the AL or NL (name one). Correct Answer: NOT DECIDED YET as we will have to wait for which, if any of the following wins Manager of the Year: Counsell (Brewers), Alex Cora (Red Sox), Kevin Cash (Rays), Dusty Baker (Astros), Brian Snitker (Braves), Gabe Kapler (Giants), Tony LaRussa (White Sox), Carlos Montoyo (Blue Jays), David Ross (Cubs), or Jayce Tingler (Padres).

e. Which AL & NL teams will have the most improved record from 2020. Correct Answer: RED SOX (from .400 to .568) & BREWERS (from .483-.586)

True/False:

6. Every team below the league average in payroll (currently $118,485,369) will miss the play offs. Question by Zach H. Correct Answer: FALSE as the Brewers and Rays were under and made the playoffs.

7. Dodgers & Padres will combine to win 200 or more games. Question by Dawn W. Correct Answer: FALSE. Dodgers held up their end winning 106, but the Padres only won 79. Their combined wins totaled 185.

8. There will be more HRs in 2021 on a per game basis than in 2019 (1.39) and in 2018 (1.15). Question by Steve K. Correct Answer: FALSE. 1.19 HRS per game in 2021, a few more than 2018 but far behind 2019.

9. No MLB team will play all 162 games. Correct Answer: FALSE. All teams but the Braves played 162 games. Braves played 161.

10. No MLB pitcher will have an ERA below 2.00. Correct Answer: TRUE. The closest weren’t even close – Corbin Burnes (Brewers)- 2.42 and Max Scherzer (Nats/Dodgers) – 2.46.

We have to await before we know who is chosen as Manager of the Year to determine. The following are in the running for this contest: Ed Scholl, Daniel Fischberg, Matt-Wax-Krell, Larry Longenecker, and Jeff Friedman.

CONTEST #4: What two teams will make it to the World Series, which one will win, and in how many games? (And a few other questions in case of a tie).

There was no need to go to a tie breaker. Most of you were wildly off, as were many of the baseball writers and supposed experts. MillersTime contestants didn’t do well either as you overwhelmingly predicted the World Series would be between the Dodgers and the Yankees, though a few of you expected the Astros to get to the WS.

Only three submissions got anywhere close:

Bill Barnwell had the Astros losing to the Dodgers in six games, and Rob Higdon had the Astros losing to the Padres in six.

NICHOLAS LAMANNA is the winner because he predicted the Braves would win the World Series in six games (though he had the White Sox and not the Astros as their opponent).

Prize: Nick gets one ticket to the 2022 World Series or two tickets to the 2022 All Star Game in Los Angeles.

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Please remember to vote for your choice for the winner of Contest #1. You can put your choice in the Comment section of this post or send it to me by email – Samesty84@gmail.com.

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