Vote Now for the Best Caption

04 Saturday May 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures, The Outer Loop

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

Caption Contest, Papa Bush, Pink Socks, Vote for the Winner

obama-bush-library

Five finalists in the Caption Contest for the above picture:

1. “Forever a preppy.” **

2. “Who wears brown with pink before Memorial Day.”

3. “I’m pretty sure Laura said pink was the color to support breast cancer. Crap, what if she’s wrong, and it’s actually gay rights?”

4. “Gosh darn it. I forgot to take off Barbara’s socks. Come to think of it, these undies are a little snug too.

5. “George finally came out of the closet with a pair of Barbara’s socks.”

Vote once by leaving your choice for the best one in the Comment section on this post or send me an email (Samesty84@gmail.com). It’s OK to get your friends/foes to vote too.

Deadline for your vote: Monday, May 6 at 4:38 PM, EST.

Winner gets a pair of socks similar to Papa Bush’s, or the closest match I can find.

**Update: 5/4:11:59 AM. I mistakenly wrote “Always A Preppy” when I first posted this at 7:54 AM this morning. Fortunately, the author so informed me of this egregious error, writing, “That word “Forever” was very important to my caption–captures George’s senior’s very old age and apparent state of health in the picture.” The author further indicated that this error voids the results “whatever they might be” as well as calls into question all of my contests. Said author suggestion my hiring auditors or lawyers or the Sunshine Foundation [sic.] to check my results.

Join Me Sunday Morning

02 Thursday May 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

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DC Cinema Club

header

If you live in the DC area (or happen to be here this weekend), love movies, get up at a reasonable hour on Sundays, and/or want to get a taste of the DC Cinema Club, join me this Sunday for a 10:30 AM showing of a movie whose title you will not know until you get to the theater.

As some readers of this site probably know, I’ve been touting the benefits of this ‘sneak preview’ Cinema Club for a number of years. Usually, the films shown have not opened nationally, are often ones that have garnered positives in the various film festivals, and usually are independent films.

Over the past few years, many of the best films I’ve seen I saw in the Cinema Club, including ones that never made it to the big screens or ones that were only shown briefly in a few small(er) theaters.

Often, there are discussions following the film, sometimes with directors or producers or a film critic or someone who knows films. But there’s no need to stay beyond the showing of the Sunday film (usually about an hour and a half).

Anyway, if you are able to get to the Avalon Theater on Connecticut Ave, NW in DC by about 10:15 this Sunday, I’ve got one free ticket as my wife has a work obligation and can’t be there.

Email me: Samesty84@gmail.com.

First to do so, gets the ticket.

Looking for a Good Movie?

28 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 1 Comment

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"Mud", "Still Mine", "Twenty Feet From Stardom", Jeff Nichols, Mathew McConaughey

I’ve got one for you.

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Mud ****1/2

I don’t want to ‘oversell’ this film, but if you’re looking for something a bit different and at the same time a bit familiar, something with terrific acting, a good adventure story, and a glimpse into another part of America, put Mud on your ‘to see’ list.

It is written and directed by Jeff Nichols and stars Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Tye Sheridan, and Jacob Lofland. McConaughey (Mud) and Witherspoon (Juniper) may be what draw audiences to this film, but it is the story and performances of Sheridan (Ellis) and Lofland (Neckbone) that make this movie a winner.

Caption Contest

26 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

Bush Presidential Library Inauguration, Caption Contest, Papa Bush, Socks

obama-bush-library

Papa Bush is ‘known’ for wearing colorful socks, and yesterday, at the inaugural of his son’s Presidential library, was no exception.

Since I love to run contests, here’s one that doesn’t involve knowing baseball, reading books, knowing history, etc.

Just come up with the best caption for the picture above, and I’ll try to get you a pair of similar socks for your very own wearing (or giving to your father).

Leave your entries in Comment section of this post or send them to me: Samesty84@gmail.com.

Deadline: May 3, one week.

“4000 Miles” – A Play to See

24 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 2 Comments

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"4000 Miles", Amy Herzog, Grant Harrison, Joy Zinoman, Russell Metheny, Tanya Hicken, The Studio Theatre

Photo by Scott Suchman

Thanx to a good friend, I just saw 4000 Miles last night. Otherwise, I might have missed it entirely.

That would have been a shame.

Set in a Greenwich Village apartment in 2007, the play centers around two characters, widely separated by age. Vera (Tana Hicken) is in her 80s, lives alone, and is struggling with the various losses that come with the final years of one’s life.

Leo (Grant Harrison) is 21, has just completed a cross-country bike trip, and is also struggling with a number of issues, many of which become more clear as the play progresses. Vera is Leo’s grandmother (step grandmother?).

As the play opens, Leo appears in the middle of the night with his bicycle and packs and needs a place to stay. What follows is largely what happens between these two characters as their stories unfold in some wonderful dialogue and exchanges. Vera is lonely and seems a bit lost. And so too is Leo, tho in different ways.

Do You Reread?

22 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 6 Comments

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How to Read a Book, Michael Dirda, Reading and Rereading, Vladimir Nabokov

April 22, 2013.

Several months ago a movie critic described to some of us who were spending an evening together how she approaches reviewing movies. She said she tries to think about films using three points: what was the artist trying to do, how well did he/she do it, and was it worth doing?

That was eye opening (mind opening?) for me as I usually just react to what I’ve seen by thinking about what I liked or didn’t like. While I can’t say I’ve totally changed how I approach thinking about the many movies I see, I have been using her categories to expand my response to what I am seeing.

I also began to wonder about my reading and my reactions to what I read, as I spend a good deal of time with books (in one form or another). In fact, I signed up for a two hour talk and discussion at our wonderful, local bookstore, Politics & Prose with Pulitzer Prize winning critic Michael Dirda on “How to Read a Book” (I’ll write about what I learn after the ‘course’).

And I began to think about reading vs rereading, Continue reading »

“42” – A Home Run

15 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures, Go Sox

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

"42", Branch Rickey, Brooklyn Dodgers, Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Jackie Robinson

JR.IMG_0433

April 15, 2013

42 ****

Not a grand slam, but a a solid homer.

As even those who don’t follow baseball know, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball (April 15, 1947).

He wouldn’t have done it without Brooklyn Dodger General Manager Branch Rickey, who chose Robinson because he believed Robinson could handle what would be thrown at the first negro to play in the Majors.

In Brian Helgeland’s new film 42, both those who know little and those who know a lot about baseball will walk away knowing more than when they entered the theater and with admiration for both Robinson and Rickey.

I suspect the far larger part of the audiences seeing the film don’t know many of the details of what happened between 1945-47. They will after seeing 42.

Two Films & a Play

10 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

"56 Up", "A Hijacking", "Happy People: a Year in Taiga", "Mold, "NO", "Still Mine", "Stolen Seas", "The Gatekeepers", Studio Theatre

Thanks to the D.C. Cinema Club, I continue to see films that I might otherwise miss.

Here are a few more to consider, along with a play I hope will be reproduced around the country.

Join Me for a Nats’ Game (.2)

09 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures, Go Sox

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Baseball Tickets, Washington Nationals

Here are a few more games that I have available for fans to join me at a Nats’ game. Actually, you don’t have to be a big baseball or a Nats’ fan, just interested in a pleasant evening at the park.

Let me know (Samesty84@gmail.com) if you’re interested.

~~Thursday, April 25, 7:05 vs Reds~~
Friday, May 24, 7:05 vs Phillies
Tuesday, June 4, 7:05 vs Mets (two tickets for sale)
~~Wednesday, June 5, 7:05 vs Mets~~
~~Thursday, June 6, 7:05 vs Mets~~
~~Tuesday, June 25, 7:05 vs Diamondbacks~~

On a different note, I’m still working on a spread sheet of the predictions all 47 of you made in the 2013 MillersTime Baseball Contests. But it may take me another week before I can complete that and send it out.

Finally, thanks to alert reader Harry S, see this morning’s NYTimes article For 2 Unheralded Players, a 3-Point Shootout by Ben Shpigel. Terrific sports’ writing.

Ellen’s Slice of Sicily

07 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures, Family and Friends

≈ 2 Comments

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Ellen's Photographs, Sicily, Taormina

The pictures below and the ‘slides’ you can see by clicking on the link at the end of the pictures on this page come from our recent, return trip to Sicily to complete a previously interrupted visit. We ‘encamped’ in Taormina and ventured out each day.

As usual, Ellen’s eye and photography skills capture it.

Six Days in Sicily

01 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures, Family and Friends

≈ 5 Comments

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Bronte, Caltigirone, Cantania, Castelmola, Messina, Paterno, Sicily, Taormina

While we await Ellen’s photos from our trip to Sicily (she has more to sort through than most of us take in an entire lifetime), I thought I’d offer a short quiz about our trip (and avoid a boring travelogue).

There are ten questions below, and three extra credit ones for those over achievers among you. You can put your answers in the Comments section or send them to me at Samesty84@gmail.com.

The prize of some wonderful pistachio nuts from the heart of pistachio growing area in Sicily, Bronte, to the winner.

Note: Many answers of the possible answers sound plausible. Find the Best answer (as defined by yours truly).

1. How many pictures did Ellen take over the six day period in Sicily, including both those with her new camera as well as her iPhone?

Want to See & Hear Paul Farmer? Join Us.

07 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures, The Outer Loop

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"Mountains Beyond Mountains", "To Repair the World", Dr. Paul Farmer, Sixth & I Synogogue

far1-001

Paul Farmer, one of the giants of our day, will speak at the Sixth & I Synagogue in Washington, DC, Tuesday, May 7 at 7 PM in conjunction with the upcoming publication of his book, To Repair the World.

If you want to join Ellen and me, we have two free tickets for his talk. Let me know by email, Samesty84@gmail.com or leave a note in the Comment section below. First two people to contact, get the tickets.

(If you miss these tickets, go to the Sixth & I website to get your own. Tickets range from $12-$45. Student prices are $12, single tickets are $25, or you can get a copy of To Repair the World and one ticket for $35, or the book and two tickets for $45.)

“Homeland” vs “Downton Abbey” vs “Mad Men”

01 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 10 Comments

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"Downton Abbey", "Homeland", "Mad Men"

As some of you may know, I was ‘shamed’ into watching the first season of each of these TV shows by my wife, two daughters, and a son-in-law.

‘Shamed’ may not be the best word nor the most precise reason why I succumbed, but after being cut out of numerous conversations with the above mentioned family members, and with a bit of free time available, I decided to see what all the fuss was (about).

Know that I am not a TV watcher, except for an occasional baseball game (mostly I watch that exquisite form of entertainment and beauty in person or on my iPad), the presidential election results every four years, and the occasional glance at whatever the most recent news crisis.

In fact, I think Full House is the last TV series I watched regularly, tho I did see a few 90210 episodes, a couple of The West Wing ones , and have tried to keep up with Bill Moyers for years with his interviews.

First, I had to learn how to access the ‘On Demand’ feature of our TV/cable set up and also understand how to use Netflix. Once I conquered those hurdles, I decided to start with Homeland, then go to Downton Abbey, and end with Mad Men. My theory was I would move from the least serious (most escapist) to the more serious and thoughtful shows.

Four Small Films Not to Miss

28 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

"56 Up", "Happy People", "NO", "The Gatekeepers"

First, I’ve updated my list of 2012 films which I rated with four, four and a half, and five stars. There are 40 of them, and while I might adjust a few up or down a star or half star, I’ll stick with what I rated them when I saw them.

Below, are four more films I’ve seen recently and think are worthy of your consideration: