Why Is President Obama Such a Polarizing Figure?

23 Saturday Aug 2014

Tags

"A More Perfect Union", Ferguson, Hilary Clinton, Polarization, President Obama, Race in America

My daughter asked me last weekend, “Don’t you think {President} Obama should go to Ferguson?”

I immediately said, “No. I don’t think he should.” And I talked briefly about the issue of local and state control. Although there was increasing tension and violence (on both sides), I didn’t believe it was the President’s role to go to the scene of the turmoil in that city.

But I also felt that Pres. Obama could not go, even if he wanted to.

For a variety of reasons, he has become a polarizing figure in our country. (See Why Obama Won’t Give the Ferguson Speech His Supporters Want).

NYC in August

20 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures, Family and Friends

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

"Abuse of Weakness", "Beautiful", "Frank", "Kinky Boots", "Once", Broadway Theater, Central Park, Family & Friends, Garry Winograd, Lincoln Center Films, Metropolitan Museum, New York City, Nom Wah Tea Parlor, Pace Gallery, Peter Luger's, The Astor Court

It was Ellen’s idea.

“Let’s plan a trip in August to NYC,” she said. “It’ll be similar to our one-week-a-year trips to a foreign city.”

I was skeptical: “NYC in August?”

But then I”m a married man, and so we headed to NYC last Friday, returning home today, five nights, six days later.

Films vs Books…Documentaries vs Memoirs

03 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

Books, Documentaries, Films, Memoirs

Thank you to friend and MillersTime reader Elliott Trommald for his Comment (which I only just saw this morning) on my post on the film Life Itself. He wrote:

Stepping Back from the Precipice…for the Moment.

01 Friday Aug 2014

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Andrew MIller, baseball, Ben Cherington, Bill Beane, Boston Red Sox, John Lackey, John Lester, Red Sox, Sox, Yoenis Cespedis

sox

Twenty-four hours ago I asked my wife Ellen to lock up all the sharp knives and put a barrier across the stairs to the third floor.

It was clear to me that the Sox were about to explode, that GM Ben Cherington was about to cast off, minimally, our two top pitchers and one of our top relievers.

For what? A bunch of prospects?

My well being was threatened, and I needed protection from acting impulsively.

This morning I told Ellen she could unlock the knives and take down the barrier to the third floor.

For the moment at least, things didn’t seem so dire.

Favorite Films from First Half of 2014

31 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

"MillersTime" Film Reviews, 2014 Film Reviews, Best Films in 2014, Documentaries, Films, Foreign Films, Movies

Compiled below is the list of films I saw between Jan. 1, 2014 and July 31, 2014 that I rated from three and a half to five stars.

These categories are somewhat arbitrary, but generally the five and four and a half star films are pretty close, and I enjoyed those tremendously. The four star ones were all good, but I had some (minor) reservations. The three and half star ones were more problematical films but still worth checking out.

If a film did not make it into one of these categories, I did not write a review.

The ones listed below I recommend for your consideration.

BBQ, Thai, Sushi, Bread – DC Updates

29 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Bakery, BBQ, Bread Furst, Fat Pete's BBQ, Mark Furstenberg, Sushi, Sushi-Keiko, Thai Food, Thai X-ing

For those of you who live in the DC area, as well as those who come here on occasion, here are mini reviews of three local restaurants and a bakery that might have some interest for you.

Fat Pete’s Barbecue, Est. 2014:

Looking for a Summer Read?

25 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Books, Favorite Books, Favorite Books of "MillersTime" Readers, Summer Reads

books1-539x303

Many of you know that each year readers of MillersTime succumb to my pleading and endless reminders to send in the titles of books they’ve most enjoyed reading in the past year, not necessarily new books, just ones that have been their favorite reads of the year.

If you are looking for something to read as the summer moves into August, click on the link below, and I’ll bet you can find some good reads.

The Books Most Enjoyed by “MillersTime” Readers in 2013

PS – I’m also taking this opportunity to remind you that I will again seek your favorites come December, 2014. So be warned.

Finally, if you have a particular book you have read recently that you would like to suggest now (and not wait until the end of the year), please put the title and perhaps a one or two sentence reason in the Comment section. You could also send me an email with the title, etc., and I can add it to the Comment section.

“Boyhood” – One of the Year’s Best Films?

21 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

"Boyhood", Elijah Smith, Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawk, Lorelei Linklater, Patricia Arquette, Richard Linklater

MV5BMTYzNDc2MDc0N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwOTcwMDQ5MTE@._V1_SY317_CR0,0,214,317_AL_

Boyhood ****

The reviews of the new, independent film Boyhood have been almost exclusively positive, and, in most instances, the film has been acclaimed as one of the year’s best movies.

The All Star Game – 2014

21 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

2014 MLB All Star Game, Derek Jeter, Target Field

First, a few of Ellen’s pictures from the only MLB All Star game I ever attended:

“Life Itself” – The Documentary and The Memoir

20 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

"Life Itself", Chaz Ebert, Documentary, Gene Siskel, Memoir, Roger Ebert, Steve James

20131120142143-life_itself_igg_graphic

Life Itself ****1/2

Often, a movie, particularly a documentary, sends me to the book upon which the film is based.

And usually, almost always, I find the written work better than the film version.

In fact, I don’t think I can name more than a handful of films that I found superior to the written ‘version.’

The current documentary, Life Itself, about the life and ultimately the death of Pulitzer Prize (1975) winning film critic (Chicago Sun-Times) Roger Ebert, is one of the instances in which I’d choose the film over the memoir.

Two Very Different Films

30 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

"Korengal", "Restropo", Afghanistan, Jon Favreau, Korengal Valley

116317_gal

Chef ****

I was skeptical about this film before we saw it, but it was much more enjoyable than I expected.

Summer Read(s)

27 Friday Jun 2014

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

" J.K. Rowling, "Casual Vacancy", "Cuckoo's Calling", "The Silkworm", Harry Potter, Robert Gailbraith, Whodunits

BOOK-master180

If you’re looking for a book or two to add to your summer book bag and travels, and if you enjoy thrillers/mysteries/crime/detective/whodunit stories, Robert Galbraith, who is actually J.K. Rowling, has a new one just out.

Yes. That J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter lady.

If you missed it, Rowling has turned her pen (computer?) to detective stories, and The Silkworm is the second in a series (reported to number seven). I reviewed her first one, Cuckoo’s Calling, earlier on MillersTime and wrote:

It’s good.

Maybe not as good as an Agatha Christy mystery, but if you’re looking for something along the line of a Steig Larsson book, you’ll probably like it, tho it’s not quite as good as Larsson’s first one, The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo.

The Silkworm is perhaps a bit better than Cuckoo’s Nest, but then when one races through one of these page turners, I’m not sure it’s about good literature, but more about entertainment.

GrandPapa Wants to Know

16 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by Richard in Family and Friends

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Competition, Grandparenting, Parenting, Winning, Winning & Losing

Eli arranging 1. Grandson Eli starts the Memory game with me. (He likes to go first. And to make up the rules too.)

E winning, hands up 2. Eli, legitimately, crushes me in the first game.

photo(115)

3. In game two, Eli (barely) loses. Has minor ‘meltdown’ (formerly referred to as a ‘tantrum’).

(OK. The pictures aren’t as good as Ellen takes. But you get the point.)

My question is about winning and losing.

“The Case Against 8”

15 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

"The Case Against 8", Ben Cotney, David Blakenhorn, David Boies, Jeff Zarillo, Kris Perry, Paul Katami, Proposition 8, Ryan White, Same-Sex Marriage, Sandy Stier, Ted Olsen

The Case Against 8 ****1/2

We didn’t know much about this documentary when we went to see it last night. We were just looking for a film that we’d enjoy.

When we left the theater, we felt as if we had hit the jackpot.

Not only were we totally absorbed by the almost two hour film, we happened to attend the night the two directors, Ben Cotner and Ryan White, and two of the four plaintiffs, Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, were present and answered audience questions about the film and about themselves.

First, the film.

What the Hell Is Going on in Washington?

13 Friday Jun 2014

Posted by Richard in Articles & Books of Interest, The Outer Loop

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Eric Cantor, Majority Leader, Paul Krugman

The title of this section of MillersTime is The Outer Loop, referring to the outer loop of the Washington Beltway.

It’s meant to be a forum I use to comment, on occasion, about what is happening in our nation’s capital as well as beyond it. It is also a place where I can link to articles, ideas, and thoughts about issues other than baseball, family and friends, or escapes and pleasures.

Friends often ask Ellen or myself to explain what’s happening in Washington, as if our living inside the Beltway might give us some understanding of just what’s going on here or what is going to happen.

When you’re deeply lost in the trees, it’s certainly hard to know what the forest really looks like.

Note the surprise this week by virtually everyone within the Beltway of the upset of Majority Leader Eric Cantor by a college professor in the VA 7^th District primary.