The Year Past, 2010

Howdy Folks (that is, those of you still out there)!


It has been a year of of ups and downs, but that is usually the case for everyone. This year started with the loss of my close friend and mentor at Yavapai College, John Haynes. He was only 75 years old and pretty vibrant until stricken with the big "C" in November of the previous year. I mark this as the low point for the year. May he be remembered by all he touched, especially those myriad of students he influenced for all those years that he taught. I will miss him everyday of what I have left of life.



The rest of the year went pretty well for those in my my circle of life. Daughter Natasha and her husband Jason, after some pretty trying financial times at the beginning of their married life, rebounded wonderfully to become more financially stable with a government job for Jason in Okinawa. He, and they are doing well there and that makes me happy. My sister Norma, after several years of less than bliss, got married to Scott, a good man, and are very happy. I had two great trips this past summer up to Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. On both trips I got to visit with family and friends. Even got to sneak in a performance at the Utah Shakepeare Festival of "Much Ado About Nothing," one of my favorites.


My trip to Colorado and then on to Wyoming in June was nice as I had not visited Colorado in several years since my youngest daughter Natasha and I made our way camping throughout the state. I visited The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Crested Butte, both places I had wanted to go for several years. A highlight of the trip was staying over in Littleton, CO with niece Kimby, her husband Dennis, and my great niece and nephew Melissa and Kyle. A bonus was that my sister Norma flew in and we all went to Melissa's dance recital. From there I went up to Wyoming and visited my friends Ron and Brooke in Lander and then on to visit my former ranger colleagues and friends in Grand Teton National Park.


Later in the summer I returned to Wyoming and Montana to rekindle my annual trip to Glacier National Park with my good friend Ranger Bob Hoyle. A bonus on that trip was that my other good friends Bob and Cindy Henry were in Yellowstone and I was able to "hook-up" with them, albeit, for only a couple of hours. So, the summer went well.


I have just returned from my Christmas trip to San Diego County where for most of the time the area was under a deluge of rain and flooding. But I was able to spend time with family and that is what the holiday is about. In addition, my eldest grandson, Zac, turned 14 on December 30th. It seems like just yesterday when he was born.
And so it goes . . .


As promised, I am giving you my list of best films and actors for 2010. My rule is that I have to have seen them in a theater myself.

Top Films of 2010 (out of 62 seen):

1. The King's Speech
2. True Grit
3. Social Network
4. Inception
5. Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Swedish version)
6. The Town
7. The Kids are All Right
8. The Fighter
9. Get Low
10. Ghost Writer
11. Nowhere Boy
12. City Island
13. Fair Game


Best Actor: Colin Firth, "King's Speech" Best Actress: Annette Benning, "Kids are All Right"
Supporting Actor: Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech," Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, "The Fighter"

Other notable performances: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit, Natalie Portman, The Black Swan, Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, and Amy Adams, The Fighter, Julienne Moore and Mark Ruffalo, The Kids are All Right, Jeremy Renner, The Town, Robert Duval, Get Low, Andy Garcia and Julianne Margollies, City Island, Ann Hathaway, Love and Other Drugs, and last but not least, Noomi Repast (sp), for Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (all three Swedish films that I had to make special trips to Scottsdale to see, books were good too!).



As you can see the last movies I saw during the year tended to be better, as is usually the case. I saw 6 films since my last blog. The best are the ones at the top of my list at numbers 1 and 2. The Fighter and The Black Swan were the next best, although I felt very uncomfortable watching the latter but Natalie Portman gives a great performance. The last two I viewed over this period were entertaining but not great. They were; How Do You Know, kind of funny but too long, and Tron: Legacy, which I consider the lowest on my rating but again, entertaining and I took my grandsons to see it.


So I guess this is it for the year 2010. I wish you all a Happy New Year.

December . . . Cold But No Snow!

Good Morning Folks,

As you can see by the accompanying picture, I must be in the holiday spirit or . . . On my good friends, the Henrys, trip to Flagstaff after Thanksgiving we did some "larking about." At any rate, one of the major highlights of the last couple of weeks was my friends visit. I last saw Bob and Cindy for a couple of hours in Yellowstone Park last summer where they were camping.

Bob works as a Ranger in Alaska now and Cindy lives in Goodyear, AZ. Bob makes it down on a furlough or leave every few months. This was their first visit to Flagstaff since I bought my condo. The funny thing is, they came on "day trip" because Cindy, or MooseLee as we call her (from her love of Moose and days in Jackson Hole), was worried about the forecast we had for snow for the next day. I assured her that we would get next to nothing so they stayed the night. Alas, we all awoke to about 4 inches of the white stuff the next morn. She was not happy about that! But it allowed me to have more time with them and they did not leave until mid-day.

I put up a small Christmas tree this year to get myself into the spirit of the season. It is not quite as small as my Dad's pitiful little one. I seem to be following in his footsteps though. He too was a solitary man after the divorce from my mother until his death. But he seemed to love Christmas. He spent a lot of the year gathering presents for the kids. Granted, my sister Norma finally had to tell him that they were no longer little children to

ensure their presents were age appropriate. But, he always had that little tree. So, in keeping with that "tradition," I have my little tree.

The other thing I enjoy doing over these holidays is watching the "smultzy" Christmas movies that they show on the Hallmark Channel. It seems to be what some might call a "guilty pleasure." However, even though I love James Stewart as an actor, I am really sick of It's A Wonderful Life. I do like the early 1950s version of A Christmas Carol with Alaster Sim as Scrooge (best ever) and the Maureen O'Hara/Natalie Wood version of Miracle on 34th St.

The funny thing about all of this is that I do not consider myself a Christian, or in fact, a believer in any supernatural mythology. I do not believe in the innate "goodness" of human beings either. All one has to do is look around the world and see man's inhumanity to man, especially if they belong to a different culture or have differing religious views. These religious views are most often the cause of this violence. What is even worse is that children and woman around the world seem to beneficiaries of most of this violence. Be that as it may, I cling to these good feelings engendered by the spirit of this season. Probably it is why I love to watch these films that continue to give me the illusion of harmony and peace on earth.

Speaking of films . . . yesterday I viewed the much anticipated Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp newest international thriller, The Tourist. I have to say that although this is one of my favorite genres this film lacked something. I think it was an OK movie but not great. The best parts seem to be the scenery of Venice, Italy. Last weekend I went down to Prescott to see my friends the Hammonds (Marc and Carol). While there I caught Fair Game, featuring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn in the story about the female CIA agent who was "outed" by Vice President Cheney's people during the run=up to the Irag war. This was a much better film and very thought provoking. The day before Thanksgiving I went to see Love and Other Drugs. It is a bittersweet love story with Jake Gillyanhal (sp) and Anne Hathaway. I liked the film, especially Hathaway in her role.

I am eagerly anticipating more of the holiday fare for some good films. The new Cohen brother's version of True Grit and the British offering with Colin Firth, The Kings Speech are the highest on my priority for viewing list. Look for my top ten movies of the year (those I viewed in theaters) and best actor rankings in my next blog.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Well into November and Burrrrr in Flag

Good Morning Folks,


November and the leaves are falling and near the end of their cycle toward winter here. We have had a bit of snow on the peaks and a couple of chilly rain storms in town. For the past week night time temps have been below freezing, and in fact, in the 20s most of the week with exception of Friday morning when it was 19. The days have been pleasantly in the 40s to low 50s. This is my favorite kind of weather. I can break out all of my fleece and start wearing my winter clothes. The only disturbing thing is the forecast for a La Nina, which does not bode well for a snowy winter.


As I understand it, La Nina winters mean that the jet-stream bends further north, giving the largest amount of moisture to the pacific northwest and northern Rockies, while the southwest gets a cold dry winter. During El Nino years the jet-stream dips to the south giving us more snow. It all derives from changes in the Pacific Ocean currents. At any rate, it doesn't look good for cross-country skiing this season.


I am trying to "rev up" for the coming holiday season. So far I am pretty much done with a Christmas package that will be sent out to Okinawa in the next week sometime (got to get it across the Pacific before the holiday rush). As for my stateside daughter and her family I am marshaling my resources to get their stuff together early as well. Thanksgiving dinner is going to be at the El Tovar Lodge restaurant at the Grand Canyon with my recently deceased friend John Haynes family. It was a tradition with them and they have invited me to join them. It should be a bit of a "bittersweet" affair for all of us. In addition, I have been invited to Prescott that weekend to have another "Thanksgiving" with my friends the Hammond's. So, there should be no dearth of turkey for this elderly gentleman.


This is the time of year where thoughts tend to stray toward my mother. As I have mentioned before, Christmas is just not the same since her passing. I miss her everyday but it seems that Christmas is the worst. Don't get me wrong I have wonderful memories of her during the holidays even though she out "curmudgeoned" me the last few years of her life concerning this holiday. We spent many a solitary Xmas Eve and morning those last few years. In earlier years the family would all come over to Mom's on Xmas Eve, even if it meant just stop offs as was the case for Tania and her young family. They had so many family obligations in other places. At least they made the effort to be there for a little while.


I think Mom's souring on this holiday stemmed more from her feeling that she could no longer do family members justice in terms of presents with her limited income. I tried, as did Norma and Marlene, to make her last few holidays good for her. I had vowed a long time before that she would never be alone Christmas Eve and Morning. I accomplished that, and now often as not I spend the Eve alone (mostly by my own choosing).


Movies: I have seen three films since last I blogged. I must say that as the holiday rush begins that one of the three Due Date I personally found to be less than desirable. I did not find it that funny as it should have been. Robert Downey, Jr did not live up to expectations and that Galfidikus (sp) guy is a "one trick pony." He plays the same character in every movie. Besides, this film was already done much better by Steve Martin and John Candy, Planes, Trains, & Cars . . ." A bit better comedy, which is not getting great reviews, is Morning Glory with Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton, & Harrison Ford. I found this to be a nice and pleasantly amusing film, especially Keaton and Ford's performances. McAdams is a bit over the top with her endless "perkiness." The spliced in romantic part between McAdams and Wilson seems a bit forced and superfluous. The best of the three movies was Unstoppable starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. This was a gripping, non-stop thriller based on the true story of a runaway train in Pennsylvania. I have to say that I was so tense watching it that I came out of the theater with the "shakes," good movie!


I look forward to the better holiday films the studios release to get Oscar nods. Some of the ones I'm waiting for are: the remake of True Grit, The King's Speech, The Fighter, The Tourist, The Tempest, Blue Valentine, and Black Swan. Of course there may be others, especially independent films that I may have an opportunity to see in San Diego over the holidays.


Hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving, and good luck/"break a leg" to my great niece, Melissa, in her Nutcracker performances.


Cheers!

October over! Unbelievable!

Howdy Folks,


Haven't been with you for awhile, again. Seems to get more cumbersome to write something, especially since the only feedback I get is from daughter Natasha. Who, by the way, has her own much better written and more interesting blog coming from Okinawa. You'll have to contact her on Facebook if you are interested. I am not to give out the address, only she will "anoint" those deemed appropriate for it.


As alluded to above (and obvious to all of you) October has whizzed by. Tomorrow is "All Hallows Eve," Natasha's favorite "holiday." Last weekend my friend Marc came up to Flagstaff and we hiked in the Kachina Peaks (also known as San Francisco Peaks officially, but not to Hopis or Navaho's). The colors were outstanding. The Aspens were in their full glory, or maybe just a bit passed prime. It has been difficult to get up there lately with all the rain and wind we had before and since our hike. In fact, the Aspens around my condos are already nude of leaves with all the storms we have had. Ahead we are supposed to have a week of sunny, 60+ degree days. However, we are never sure of the wind situation. Today was nice but with about 20mph gusts.


Next week are the elections. I am dreading that, or the result of it. I have voted already. I get an early mailed ballot. In all probabilty my votes will not matter much having voted straight democrat. In AZ, for statewide elections the "other" party usually wins. But, I have voted in every election since coming of legal age and I do not believe that you earn a right to "bitch" if you don't vote.


The political climate is so hostile these days. There are no compromises what so ever. Everyone wanted change and they voted for Obama, but like a bunch of "instant gratification" babies, they think things change overnight. Look at what we had before when the republicans controlled everything. They are the ones who got us in this mess with their greedy ways. Now, all these people want to bring them back with their same approach that got us here. The Tea Party people do not present alternatives; they just "bitch." Most of them are frightened white people who are afraid of the "colored horde"that they think is taking everything from them. Most of their rhetoric and those of the so-called conservative pundits seem a bit racist to me.


The world has changed. The United States is a backward facing nation. We are frightened of everything different. The religious right is no better than the extreme elements of Islam. They proselytize about everything that was accepted scientific fact in the previous century. Everyone wants what science brings us technologically (IPads, IPhone, etc.) but do not believe in the basic tenets of science. Are we doomed as nation to keep going down this path of IGNORANCE. No one reads books or reputable news sources, and those that read only get their information from the Internet and believe what any "yahoo" writes on their blog with out proof (that includes mine). I hope we do not continue on this path as a nation or as individuals. We need people who are critical thinkers, not just uneducated demagogues spouting "bullshit" as Hitler did in the 30s. Dumb is not good, only pitiful. We do not need followers blindly falling in line behind the likes of Sarah Palin (the epitome of ignorant), Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, and others.


Not much else going on in my world. I have seen a few movies since last I posted. Today I saw Nowhere Boy, a really good film about the early years of John Lennon's life, his relationships with his aunt who raised him and his mother are key. I was pleasantly surprised that this small independent film made it to Flag. It is very well done and a bit sad. The performances by the actors are great. Yesterday I went down to Scottsdale to see the opening of the final Swedish film in the trilogy that started with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I have read all three books and seen the first two films. This one, The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, relies very heavily on viewers having seen the previous two, or read the books, others, I fear will be lost. I like it very much but I knew what was going on.


Hereafter is an interesting film and an especially different subject matter for the director, Clint Eastwood. Matt Damon and Belgian actress Cecile De France do a good job in a movie that is a little weak at certain points. I have loved Cecile since seeing her in the french film Avenue Montaigne. I enjoyed very much the movie RED. It is a bit over the top but is supposed to be. After all, it comes from DC Comics. Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren (another favorite), Morgan Freeman, and John Malkovich romp around fighting their former employers the CIA who have retired them and now want to get rid of them. Secretariat is a nice and predictable presentation that has as it's main asset Diane Lane, another actress I adore.



That's about it from windswept Flagstaff for now. Happy Halloween and election day. At the very least get out and exercise your right as an American, VOTE!


Cheers all!

Fall Rains Have Come . . . With a Vengeance

God Morning Folks,




I was awakened this morning with a very violent thunder, lightning and rain storm. Last evening we were subjected to an early hail and rain fest. Fall has come in with a roar after several very warm days. The temps are now pleasantly in the 60s and 70s, perfect weather as far as I am concerned.



The trip to California to see family is a little over a week in the past now, and as is the case with most of these forays out of Flagstaff these days, it almost seems that it never happened (but not quite). It was a good trip with many baseball and soccer games and visits with family, which was the primary purpose. The grandsons are growing fast. One thing that I thought might not be in the cards was getting to spend a little one-on-one time with Zac, the eldest of Tania's offspring. Granted it was not for a very long period just an hour or so but it was greatly valued. My reason for believing that it might not happen is because he is 13 going on 14 rapidly, not an age that lends its self to close contact with adults. But, he made very obvious shows of affection with me and spent some time that was very much appreciated. Both Cole and Torin also seemed glad to see Gramps.





Another very nice activity that I was able to engage in was seeing my sister Marlene and brother Russell. On two separate occasions I had breakfast with each of my siblings. Of course there is my sister Norma. She is always there for me and she and Scott graciously open their house to this old curmudgeon. Of my family members she is my rock. I have to say that I did have some nice extended conversations with my eldest daughter, Tania, as well.



Speaking of daughters, today is my youngest's second anniversary. I cannot believe it has been two years since we were all rushing around getting this wedding off the ground. Jason and Tasha were under pressure to find a place to live as well as get the married. They had a rough first year and a half being stuck here in Flagstaff with making a living in this financial recession a struggle. They survived it as an intact couple and are now living half way around the world in Japan. They have gotten a handle on their finances. Here's to them and their future together!



While in California I saw three movies, and one since I returned, all were fairly decent. The first was, in my opinion, the best. That was The Town, directed, co produced, co-written, and featuring Ben Afleck. He did a great job in all aspects on this gritty Boston based film. Second of the four on my list is the one I viewed most recently. The Social Network chronicling the invention of "Facebook" and the eccentricities of it's creator was a well done film as well. You cannot go wrong when the writer for the film is Aaron Sorokin (also creator and writer of my favorite all time TV show, The West Wing). An interesting but slow moving film that I saw while in southern Cal was Cairo Time starring Independent film actress Patricia Clarkson. It was great tour of Cairo, Egypt while being a different kind of "almost" love story. Lastly, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was better than I had expected. I went to see it the last morning of my visit. Primarily, it was to be a diversion until the grandsons got out of school and was surprised that it was an interesting film dealing with the most recent financial collapse. Michael Douglas, Josh Brolin and Shia LeBouef (an actor I do not usually like) did a nice job but I love Carry Mulligan. She is one of my new favorite actresses along with the Kate and Cate.



That's about it from rainy but beautiful Flagstaff.



Adios Amigas y Amigos!

Back from the North!

Howdy Folks,

I am back from my latest journey through Utah and Idaho to Wyoming and Montana. It was a great 10 day trip beginning with "Much Ado About Nothing" at the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City. It was a very good production. I viewed it in a matinee and continued on another 250 miles following the performance. I made it into Jackson, WY by midday the next day, then on out to my old stomping ground at Colter Bay in Teton Park.

My second day up there I headed up to Yellowstone NP to see my good friends Bob and Cindy Henry. Bob was on a leave from Denali Park and had met Cindy up there. It was really good to see them.

We walked around West Thumb Geyser Basin together. It was like old times together with them but alas, it was only a couple of hours. They headed south to the Tetons while I headed north to see the new Visitor Center at "Old Faithful." It opened August 25th.

"Old Ranger" Bob Hoyle and I headed out to Glacier Park a couple of days later where we ran into a bit of winter. On the drive to Bozeman the first day we drove through a small snow storm. A word about Bozeman . . . we visited an REI there and I was kind of "pissed" that a town their size had an REI and Flagstaff, which is larger, does not have one. The next day we stopped off in Missoula for break and visited another new REI. I do not mind that one because Missoula is the same size as Flag.

We arrived on the east side of Glacier Park in the early evening to stay at the Sun Rise Lodge. We had never stayed there. It was quite nice in a rustic way. The next day we headed up to Logan Pass before backtracking down to my favorite place, Many Glacier. It was very misty and gray up at the Pass but breathtaking as usual.

Many Glacier is a very beautiful place with a great old lodge built by the Great Northern Railroad to look like a large Swiss Chalet. It is a very isolated part of the Park, and ways off the highway on the east side. Before we got to the hotel we saw a large black bear. As we got closer we viewed a black bear sow with two cubs. Up on the hillside across the road there were 19 Big Horn sheep.

Later that day we had two more bear sightings, and from the deck of the hotel we saw a Moose in Swift Current Lake. It was a bonus day for wildlife viewing. Because it was raining all day we spent most of it in the lodge reading by the fireplace, eating Huckleberry soft ice cream, and wandering around the spacious hotel and gift shop. We had dinner at the hotel and went back to our lodgings at about 9pm.

The next day it was back up the pass in heavy fog. We could not see a thing until we hit the west side. Then, everything miraculously cleared up and we got great views of the peaks and waterfalls. We stopped by Lake McDonald Lodge and the Apgar Visitor Center. At the VC we got to talk with one of our favorite people, Ranger Doug. He has been a ranger at Glacier for 51 years. He is in his 80s and still going strong. Doug is quite a character. Every time he sees Bob and me, he exclaims, "Here come the Teton boys!" After that we went into Whitefish, Montana. Later, in the afternoon, we came back to our room at Apgar. Next morning we did a marathon drive back to the Tetons in rain all the way.

I spent one more day in the Tetons but it rained all day so I did not hike, which was a disappointment. The following morning, Saturday, I drove 14 hours straight and got back to Flagstaff at 6:45pm. It was a long day, 825 miles. The next trip begins this Friday to San Diego County to visit my family.

Movies: Of course I did not see any films while on the road but did see a couple before leaving and one today. The best was Get Low, an Independent film with superb performances by Robert Duval and Bill Murray. The American with George Clooney was the film I saw today. It is a different role for him as an assassin tracked by other assassins. It is filmed entirely in Italy with all foreign actors. Clooney does a great job in a different role for him. The last film I wish I did not have to mention seeing, The Switch, starring Jenifer Anniston and . . . , was forgettable.

Well, that's about it for now.

Ciao!

Rain, Rain and then more Rain

Good Mornin' Folks,




As you can see by the title of this blog that rain seems to be the topic of choice, or maybe necessity. After the early summer brought us 6 weeks of big winds, the last 3-4 weeks have been ones of big rain, thunder and electrical storms. Some of these weeks brought us daily rain storms morning, afternoon, or evenings, some all three. In most cases the temps stayed up in the 80s in the daytime which left us with very high humidity for Flagstaff.




The past couple of days have been rain free, at least in town. But, at 1am this morning all hell broke loose. I was awakened by thunder, lightening and torrential rain that lasted for at least an hour. The thunder sounded so loud that it seemed to be "cracking" right over my condos.




I know that Arizona has a monsoon season but the rains this year have been well beyond that. Flagstaff is a high wind area as well. But again, this spring's were well beyond the past and more persistent. The folks who do not believe in "climate change" need to look around the globe and see what has happened with our weather. The term "global warming" was an unfortunate use of terminology. People grasp that when winters were big here to say, "Is this your warming?" The problem is that they do not understand the total picture. For example the melting of polar caps contributing to change in weather down our way . . . and so it goes!




I haven't been doing too much since last I wrote here, mostly working out at my club, reading and seeing a few movies. However, plans are afoot to head out on two trips in September. The first will be back up to Wyoming, the Tetons, and on to Glacier Park with my friend Ranger Bob (the elder). I have secured a ticket to see "Much Ado About Nothing" at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City on my way north to WY. The plan is to stop off there for the matinee, then get in the car afterward drive north and spend the night in Bountiful, Utah. The second trip, in the middle of Sept. will be over to San Diego County to visit family.




As for the movie report I did get to Inception and it was a good film with interesting concepts. However, I liked the director's earlier movie, Memento, much more. I walked out of Dinner for Schmucks. That is a rare occasion for me. The last one I walked out of was The Invention of Lying. Schmucks was painfully unfunny and moronic. One of the best films of the summer I saw last week. It was The Kids are All Right with Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo. It is a family picture but not "G" rated. It depicts the trials and tribulations of a Lesbian couple's children searching for and finding their "sperm donor" father. The last cinematic experience I had was The Other Guys, featuring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell. Generally, I have made it a practice not to go to Ferrell's films but in this case the movie got some good reviews and I was desperate. I was pleasantly surprised. It was amusing, if not great, about 3 stars on my rating system and way above the aforementioned Schmucks.


That's about it from "rainy" but beautiful downtown Flagstaff.

Until next time, or I get tired of writing this drivel,

Adios Amigas y Amigos