The Importance of Grandparents
16 Sunday Mar 2014
Posted in Family and Friends, Go Sox
A Fantasy, Partially Fulfilled
12 Wednesday Mar 2014
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Tags
"Elsa & Fred", "The Immigrants", "The Mountain", "Words and Pictures", Miami International Film Festival
Four Films in 26 Hours
For some time now I’ve wanted to attend one of the premier film festivals (Sundance, Tellerude, Toronto, etc.) and immerse myself in five or six days of nonstop film watching.
I got a taste of that this past weekend when I was in Florida, taking in a few Sox spring training games and visiting my soon departing Miami daughter.
A couple of months ago said daughter sent me the program for the March 2014 Miami International Film Festival, and without much planning or investigating, I quickly chose four films that sounded of interest and got tickets.
How was it?
I loved it.
I saw one film Friday night at 7 PM and three the next day, at 1:15, 3:30, and 7 PM.
The films were all very different, but all four were enjoyable and entertaining. None will win awards, I suspect, but there is something I continue to enjoy about not knowing before hand much about what I’ll see.
Something We Know, and Now We Know Why
10 Monday Mar 2014
Posted in Articles & Books of Interest
Tags
Brain Development, Helping Adolescents Negotiate Troubles, Regulating Impulses & Emotions, Teenage Brains, Teenage Suidcide
People often say adolescence is a time of turmoil, and for some, tho not all by any means, it certainly is.
When a group of us were working at a school for troubled kids, a mentor, Laurence Frost, use to remind us that perhaps the best we could do for some of the adolescents was to provide them with structure and a ‘floor’ upon which they could steady themselves until the natural maturation processes took over.
Now there is research to explain what he knew from his work and from his experiences at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital with children and adolescents.
Two articles today bring this to my mind. On the front page of the Washington Post is an article, On the Reservation, Childhoods Lost, about the high rate of suicides for Native Americans. In the Boston Globe, there is an article, Teens’ Brains Make Them More Vulnerable to Suicide, including the following paragraphs:
Researchers have long known that the basic problem with the teenage brain is the “asymmetric” or unbalanced way the brain develops, said Dr. Timothy Wilens, a child psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital specializing in adolescents, addictions, and attention deficit disorder.
The hippocampus and amygdala, which Wilens calls the “sex, drugs, and rock and’n’ roll,” part of the brain, feels and stores emotions and is associated with impulses. It matures well ahead of the section of the brain that regulates those emotions and impulses, the prefrontal cortex.
Throughout the teenage years and up until about age 25, this executive section of the brain, also responsible for planning and decision, lags behind, Wilens says.
Until the front part of the brain catches up, if kids get sad, “they really experience sadness un-tethered.” He adds. “It’s why first love really does break the heart.”
The developmental gap between these two parts of the brain working together does not just pertain to suicide, but it is probably also related to other behavioral and emotional issues for some adolescents.
Time to Pass the Baton
24 Monday Feb 2014
Posted in Family and Friends
Ellen posted the following on her blog at Sunlight Foundation today:
It’s time for some personal and professional transparency.
After a long, challenging and very satisfying career in public interest work, I have decided that it’s time to retire. When I was a young congressional staffer, I thought changing the world was going to be a sprint. In the middle of my career, when I launched the Center for Responsive Politics and then started Public Campaign, I thought it was going to be a marathon and you just had to be a long distance runner; so I trained up for that. Now, after eight years building and running the Sunlight Foundation, I now see this process as a relay race — and one where I’m glad to say there are many other great people running alongside me, including the terrific team we have built here at Sunlight. It’s truly extraordinary. And it’s time to pass the baton.
I recently informed the Sunlight board of my intention to step down by the end of 2014. The board has appointed a search committee, and a job description for interested applicants for the Executive Director position will be posted soon. Before I leave, I’m going to make sure that Sunlight is in the strongest shape possible for my successor, because the work we do here is absolutely vital.
Sunlight’s uses of open data and the web have created an exploding interest in civic technologies as tools for accountability. Our mantra around openness and transparency — not just for governments but for society as a whole — have taken root and are becoming the norm. Our open (by default) data, software and platforms have pioneered a new standard for many organizations. And Sunlight’s vision to use technology to enable more complete, equitable and effective democratic participation has inspired many throughout the world.
I couldn’t be more pleased or grateful to all who have worked with me at Sunlight toward all these accomplishments. I especially want to single out and thank Mike Klein, Sunlight’s co-founder, who was an unwavering partner and personal inspiration during my tenure. I also couldn’t be more grateful for all the extraordinary support we’ve received, both large and small, for this work.
I truly believe that open and equal access to information is the bedrock of democracy. Without it, citizens cannot make informed decisions. With it, citizens learn who and what they can trust. This belief has always been the passion of my life as it will always be the Sunlight Foundation’s goal.
2014 MillersTime Baseball Contests
23 Sunday Feb 2014
Posted in Go Sox
3/21 – DEADLINE EXTENDED: Contrary to the information at the end of this post, the deadline for submissions has been extended until the first pitch is thrown on Opening Day, March 31, in the US (as opposed to the two games early opening day games in Australia between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks). For individuals who have submitted their picks in a timely fashion, you are welcome to amend any or all of what you’ve submitted. For those of you who are slaggards, your procrastination/careless reading of the previously announced deadline has been ‘rewarded’. However, in case of a tie in any of the contests, the individual who first submitted the prediction will be declared the winner.
Contest #1:
2014 Oscar Nominees, Best Live Short Films
20 Thursday Feb 2014
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Tags
"2014 Oscar Nominated Best Documentary Films ( A & B)", "2014 Oscar Nominated Best Live Action Short Films", Oscars
As I wrote in a previous post about our Cinema Club, I find I am increasingly enjoying seeing films about which I know nothing in advance. Assuming someone has filtered out the bad ones, there is just something enjoyable about being totally open to what is presented.
I experienced this again when I saw the five 2104 Oscar Nominees for Best Short Live Films. These five ranged from seven minutes to 30 minutes in length (total time for all five is 108 minutes). I found two of these five quite absorbing, one, had it ended better, could have been excellent also, and two were just fair, in my unschooled opinion.
“Particle Fever” – A Film You Probably Won’t See, Unfortunately
17 Monday Feb 2014
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Particle Fever *****
Five stars for a 99 minute documentary about science, about the Large Hadron Collider, about the search for the Higgs boson, and about the ‘rivalry’ and lives of theoretical and experimental (?) physicists?
Yes.
And we never would have seen this film if we had read about it in advance.
Who Said “You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks?”
14 Friday Feb 2014
Posted in Go Sox
An updated version of this wonderful picture will be posted following my family’s attendance at the 2014 Opening Day at Fenway in April.
The title of this post is perhaps slightly misleading, but then it may have gotten you at least to get this far into today’s post.
It’s about that wonderful time of the year when football, basketball, and most of those other minor sports are either off the front of the sporting news or are tiresome, and folks who understand the fascination of baseball are beginning to get revved. After all, truck day has come and gone, most pitchers and catchers have reported, full squad practices are beginning, and we will have a year without A-Rod disgracing our blessed game.
What more could we ask?
The point of this post, you ask?
I am ‘working’ on the 2014 MillersTime Baseball Contests and need a bit of your help.
2014 Oscar Nominated Documentary Short Program (A & B)
13 Thursday Feb 2014
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Tags
"CaveDigger", "Facing Fear", "Karama Has No Walls", "Oscar-Nominated Documentary Short Films", "The Lady in Number 6", Films to Consider, Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall"
Last year, at the urging of several ‘film friends’ and breaking with my prejudice against seeing short films, I found I thoroughly enjoyed both the 2013 Oscar-Nominated Documentary Short Films and the 2013 Oscar Nominated Short Live Action Films.
In fact, much to my surprise, both of those made it into my top category (five stars) of films seen throughout last year.
So, of course, I am returning to see the ones nominated in both categories this year. Reviewed below are the Documentaries, divided into two shows, Program A & B. You can see both A & B, currently in DC at the West End Cinema and at other independent theaters here and around the country, with a half hour break between the two and a discount for seeing them both. If you only have enough time for one of the Programs, see Program B.
The Two Indias I Know
11 Tuesday Feb 2014
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures, Family and Friends
Tags
"Beyond the Beautiful Forevers", Bengaluru/Bangalore, Chennai/Madras, Gujarat, India, Kolkata/Calcutta, Kutch, Mumbai/Bombay, The Experiment in International Living
In January, Ellen and I were in India, Ellen as a co-host for a conference in Bengaluru (Bangalore) on corruption and transparency and both of us for a celebration of 50 years knowing and being part of an Indian family.
For me, there have always been two Indias, and I think Ellen has captured some of both in her photos below and in a slide show of additional pictures.
Three Foreign Films To See
05 Wednesday Feb 2014
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Here are mini-reviews of three foreign films, all worth your serious consideration, depending upon your interests:
PS
06 Monday Jan 2014
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Tags
Best Books Read in 2103, Favorite Books of MillersTime Reader in 2013, Favorite Books Read This Year
Again, many thanks to all of you who took the time to send in your favorite reads from 2013 and to write briefly about them.
A few thoughts, questions, a suggestion, and a plan:
Favorite Films Seen in 2013
05 Sunday Jan 2014
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Compiled below is the list of films I saw in 2013 that I rated four (4), four and a half (4 1/2) or five (5) stars.
All of them I recommend for your consideration.
Films: “Philomena” and “Blue Is the Warmest Color”
02 Thursday Jan 2014
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Tags
"American Hustle", "Blue Is The Warmest Color", "Gravity", "Philomena", "The Great Beauty", "The Lost Child of Philomena Lee", Abdel Kechiche, Adele Exarchoppoulos, Judi Dench, Lea Seydoux, Steve Coogan
Philomena **** 1/2
I think I tend to rate films with good/terrific stories and good/terrific acting as four and a half or five stars. I’m not ‘schooled’ in films in the way many reviewers are, and while I can appreciate good film making, good photography, and some of the other aspects that make movies outstanding, for me it’s most often the story and the acting.
The Books Most Enjoyed by MillersTime Readers in 2013
28 Saturday Dec 2013
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures
Tags
Favorite Reads This Year, MillersTime Readers' Favorite Books 2013, Most Enjoyable Books Read in 2013 Year
“A Best Friend Is Someone Who Gives Me a Book I’ve Never Read”- A. Lincoln
You’re gonna need some time for this post.
And probably pen and paper to jot down some titles that you’ll likely want to add to your ‘to read’ list for 2014.
Despite a recurring theme in contributors’ emails about not reading as much this year nor finding as many memorable books, I think you’ll find a diverse and rich list of titles and comments.
Seventy-two of you contributed this year, listing approximately 325 books, with fiction leading nonfiction 55% to 45%. The female-male division of contributors was also 55%-45% (F/M), about what it has been in the past. The contributors are listed alphabetically to make it easier to find specific individual’s choices.