I have always said that to really appreciate the work of others, one should try to do what they do. Writing a movie review is a good example. I always read Mike Schulz's reviews in the Reader and feel that he does an excellent job. I also feel I probably take his work for granted, not taking time to think how much time, thought, expertise, and talent goes into his work. Yesterday, my wife and I saw Memoirs of a Geisha. We have spent considerable time discussing it. I decided that the best way to put my thoughts in order would be to write a review. It is now that I realize just how difficult that task is.
I read several reviews in Rotten Tomatoes.com. Most of the negative ones were critical because Rob Marshall chose to use non-Japanese actresses. Another criticism was that the movie was in English. The reviews seemed to feel that to Caucasian Americans all Asians look alike and that Americans would be upset if the script was in Japanese using subtitles. Neither of these two criticisms were a problem for me. I didn't realize that the actresses weren't Japanese until I read an article in Entertainment. I feel the entire cast gave excellent performances and that their nationality wasn't an issue. This happens all the time. We have non-Irish actors playing Irish characters, non-British actors playing British actors, etc. I also didn't have a problem with their speaking their lines in English. Personally, I don't care for subtitles.
The one big criticism that I have is that there were aspects that weren't explained very well. If I had read the book, perhaps I could have understood parts of the movie better. These are the aspects that I had difficulty with: 1)Why did Hatsumomo take an almost instant dislike of Chiyo? Could she tell that at an early age she would be a rival? Did Chiyo do something to her? Was she a saddist who enjoyed hurting others? 2) I could discern that Hatsumomo and Mameha were rivals. Were they of the same Geisha house? Apparently Pumpkin was Hatsumomo's protege and the owner of the Geisha house chose Mameha's protoge, Saguri, over her. Was she chosen to be the "prima donna" of the Geisha house and to replace Hatsumomo? 3) What was the significance of Saguri cutting herself and then going to the doctor? I gathered that this was all part of Mameha's master plan, but I didn't really understand it. 4) When Saguri was at the Baron's Estate, did he actually rape her? At the end of that scene, I felt he did. But then, the doctor, I believe, paid $15,000 yen for Saguri's virginity? So, maybe she wasn't raped afterall. Also, Mameha said that someone else, I didn't catch who, had bid higher, but Mameha kept that a secret. I didn't catch who, and I especially didn't catch why. I felt the fire scene left some questions unanswered. I gathered that this was Hatsumomo's ultimate revenge on the owner of the Geisha house and Saguri. It looked like they were trapped in the upstairs with no way for escape. Then, somehow they got out. I thought this segment was poorly developed. It seemed to be something that was just thrown in and not developed very well. Later, when they had gone off with the American officer, there was this plan by Saguri. She asked Pumpkin to bring the Chairman's friend to the place where she and the American were. Instead, Pumpkin brought the Chairman which really messed up Saguri's plan. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't let the audience know what Saguri's plan was. I can think of some ideas, but none of them really make any sense. Also, I didn't really understand the feelings of the Chairman's friend. He said he was in love with Saguri, but I also got the impression that he was using her to help his business deal go through. That doesn't sound like how you would treat one you love. My final concern is with the ending. It was a happy ending, but also a little melodramatic.
Most of what I have written is negative, but I do have to admit that I did enjoy the movie. Being a typical American male, I was taken by the beauty of the three leading women. Also, this movie generated an interest in the whole concept of the Geishas. I intend to read the book and also to do more reading so as to learn more about this part of Japanese culture. Perhaps after reading the book, I will be able to answer my questions. As they say, I don't think I will give up my day job to write movie reviews. Me and my Schnauzer would both starve.

Reading other people's blogs is a good source of topics for my blog. This evening I read a blog about churches in another area that decided not to have church service on Christmas Sunday. There seemed to be three reasons for this decision: 1)Church Services were held on Saturday so why have them again on Sunday; 2)Church Service would interfere with family activities such as opening gifts; and 3)not having Church Service would give families more flexibility. I found this almost unbelievable that churches even considered cancelling church services on Christmas Sunday. Perhaps some churches in our area did too, but I am not aware of any. Ours certainly didn't. The topic never even came up. The first reason given implies that going to church is an obligation that we are to perform once a week and any more than that is going beyond the call to duty. I feel going to church is an opportunity to worship God with my church family. I welcome the opportunity to go two days in a row. The second reason implies that God is not number one in the lives of the church members. Families and family time are certainly important, but God is the most important. I find it difficult to believe that churches would say that opening gifts is more important than worshipping our Father. The third reason implies that if we can't work God into our busy schedule, than we can just skip worship. God should come first and the rest of our schedule built around worship. I am very pleased that our church didn't even consider this. We had a wonderful and meaningful Christmas Eve Service and an equally meaningful and wonderful Christmas Day Service.

Today I read another's blog that I disagreed with. I wrote a quite lengthy rebuttal to his or her comments, but got a message that the blog site was not accepting comments. So, I decided to comment on it here.

The blogger's point was that there was little to do in the Quad Cities and that the QCA is a cultural wasteland. I get quite upset when I hear comments like that. I feel that we are very fortunate to have so many activities going on here. We have several excellent theatre groups - Playcrafters, New Ground, Ghostlight, My Verona, and the two colleges, St.Ambrose and Augustana. I am always amazed at the quality of college productions and the talent of these young people. We saw The Laramie Project and four Edward Albee one-act plays at Augustana and Urinetown at St.Ambrose. All very well done. At the other theatres we saw many productions such as Neil Simon plays, Drawer Boy, Vagina Monologues, Boston Marriage, Scotland Road, Closer, Enchanted April. We also saw Altar Call which was written by a local playwright at Playcrafters and Miss Saigon which was performed at the Adler. Music Guild also has a good selection of musicals. In addition to the theatre, other cultural productions are the Quad City Symphony and Ballet. Early in the year we went to both Edward Albee appearances, St.Ambrose and Augustana, and listened to him.

Art is another cultural activity which is abundant here. In the Reader I counted 27, yes I said 27, art exhibits and shows. Anyone who has not seen the Thaddeus Erdahl ceramic sculpture display at the Quad City Arts Center is missing a real treasure. A trip to the new Figge Art Museum is certainly well worth the time.
There are also many other listings under such headings as literary arts, dance, comedy,museums, and community courses in such areas as art, dance, crafts.
If one is interested in sports, there are the Steamwheelers, Mallards, Swing of the Quad Cities, and Augustana and St.Ambrose athletic events.

To anyone who feels there is nothing to do in the Quad Cities, all you have to do is pick up the new copy of the Reader every Wednesday and select from a large array of activities. Perhaps instead of complaining, some should spend their time finding out all that is offered here.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Tonight was the Christmas Eve Service at our church. It was a lovely, meaningful service. Just the right length. Just the right balance between recitatives and Christmas songs. Young people taking part in the service.
On the way home I was thinking about the controversy about being politically correct and saying Happy Holiday instead of Merry Christmas. I think it is unfortunate that so many people get upset about this. People from both points of view. The big concern seems to be that people feel if they can't say "Merry Christmas" that Christ is being taken out of Christmas. I think people with this point of view are very wrong. We can keep Christ in Christmas and still say Happy Holiday. Keeping Christ in Christmas involves more than just the word "Christ." Keeping Christ in Christmas means living lives following the teachings of Jesus. Keeping Christ in Christmas should be a way of life - using our resources, talents, abilities, and time to make life better for those less fortunate. As we left the Christmas Eve Service we each carried a lighted candle that signified that we were to take the light of Christ into the world. Showing others that we keep Christ in our lives by what we do and say is how we should keep Christ in Christmas. I often wonder about those who get so upset about people using the term Happy Holiday. Do they go to church on a regular basis? Do they keep Christ in their lives throughout the year? I'm sure some do, but I'm also sure that many do not. Last Sunday the Pastor said that there was a family in our community that needed help with Christmas. We spontaneously took up a special offering and raised a considerable sum for this family. This, to me, is how we keep "Christ in Christmas."
Look at the column to the right. After my profile, there is a link to a blog entitled "The Homeless Guy." Click on it. His entry for December 23 is very interesting.

I read in the paper today that another community in our area is worried about sex offenders moving en masse to their area. The local leaders passed an ordinance that says these offenders cannot live within 1000 feet of a child care facility. I understand the townsfolk's concern, but I don't understand the rationale of the 1000 feet. If a sex offender lives in an apartment that is 995 feet from a child care facility, then he is a threat. But, if he lives in an apartment that is 1005 feet away, then he is not. Also, what about a sex offender who lives 5000 feet away but is on the route many children take on their way to and from school. Wouldn't he be a threat. I have no issue with communities taking action to protect their children, but I feel this is just another example of a governmental agency doing something just for the sake of doing something, and this ordinance really will have no effect one way or the other. Also, I feel there should be a distinction made between sex offenders based on the offense. A nineteen-year old who has sex with a fifteen year old who snuck into a fraternity or college party is technically guilty of having sex with a minor, but this is not the same thing as someone who seduces small children. They should not be treated the same. The nineteen-year old can be branded for life for an act that wasn't even his fault. I feel each case should be looked at individually and not all just lumped together.

My wife says I have to be careful so I don't turn into a crabby old man. I really try to be positive and not complain, but it is so difficult. Shopping isn't easy these days. I'm not talking about the crowds or the traffic. I'm talking about the stores themselves. Almost every store now has some kind of special card that you need to have to get discounted prices. Also, they have special programs where you can earn points. All these things make checking out take so much longer. People are at the register fumbling through their billfolds or purses. Sometimes they can't find them and then the clerk has to enter their names - all of which takes time. Why can't they just lower their prices and forget about all these special promotional gimmicks. Also, I bought an item that was supposed to cost $29.95, but the register rang it up higher. When I inquired, the clerk informed me that that price was after rebate. Now I have to fill out the form, send it in, and wait eight weeks. More hoops for the consumer to jump through.
I watch the news and usually I get upset about the stories. There was this special segment on employers raiding their pension funds. The network had their financial expert on and he explained how pensions as we know them today may not exist in the future. His suggestion was for employees to begin saving on their own. This is great if one is making lots of money. We are supposedly getting a new industry here and most employees will be making $11.50 per hour. They can't even live on that; how are they supposed to put away $200 per month for retirement. Many of the high paying jobs that were available to my generation are not there today. It seems like whenever the news has on financial experts they are always talking to the people with lots of money, but not to the thousands who are just barely, or not even barely, getting by. These people just don't live in the real world.
I read an editorial in the paper today regarding the Tookie Williams execution in California. I am not a strong advocate of capital punishment, but I certainly don't feel any sympathy for him. I always become upset when I see the people trying to generate sympathy, compassion, or mercy for criminals such as he was. Would these people feel the same compassion if it was their loved one who was murdered? I doubt it. Also, do they ever give any thought to the victims' families. I doubt it. The editorial pretty much mirrored my feelings. Great to see others agree with me.

Today was a very good day. I started with painting at the painters loft. I started a new painting. This will be a still life with a Virginia sunset as the background. All went very well and I got off to a great start. I enjoy painting at the Loft as the others there are really neat and fun to visit with. Three women brought donuts. I was quite proud of myself as I eschewed eating any. What will power! Actually I had a good day at the food trough. Didn't overeat and one lone cookie in the evening was my only deviation from healthy eating. Took the Schnauzer to Peterson Park and he was really excited. It is fun to see him enjoying life so.
Just a few comments on the political scene.
1) I saw a headline that said Vice President Cheney thought the President should have more power. I wonder if Kerry had won the election and wiretapped the religious right if the VP would feel the same about presidential power.
2) I saw that a judge in Pennsylvania had ruled against the creationists. I agree with the judge that it is just a way of teaching religion in the schools. I strongly suspect that the creationists believe that the Hebrew creation story from the Book of Genesis is the one that should be taught. Many religions of the world have creation stories. What if the schools taught the Hindu creation story. Or an African tribe's story. How would they feel about that. If people want their children exposed to religion at school, they should send them to parochial schools.
Hope tomorrow is another good day.

Today got off to a great start. We had breakfast with my son and his girlfriend. Later I had coffee with a friend. Everything was going great until I made a humungous mistake. I stepped on the scale. 186 pounds!That is about 30 pounds more than I should or want to weigh. The other night on one of the educational channels there was a program about a facility in Ohio that worked with the morbidly obese. At the rate I am going, I will probably be checked in there within a few years. Also, I looked at a blog this afternoon that had a section on "fat Friday" which was a collection of overweight people. Again, at the rate I am going, my picture will probably appear on his blog. This summer I have my 50th class reunion. I have to lose some weight before I go. I haven't seen any of my former classmates in years. I certainly don't want them to see me this heavy. They'll probably make comments like "Where do you buy your clothes? At a tent and awning store?" or "I'll bet when you step on the scale, instead of giving your weight, it says 'One at a time, please.'" All of this is my own fault. I have been eating everything in sight for some time. Tomorrow, I am going to start eating responsibly. I don't expect to lose all the weight in a month, but I do intend to be on the downward trail. I remember years ago I had a friend who gave me a check for $100 and said if he ever smoked a cigarette again, I was to send it to the Republican Party as a contribution. I should do the same thing only with eating improperly. Just the thought of giving any money to the Bush Admnistration would make me eat properly. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to report that I had a good day exercising and at the food trough.

Today was another good day. I began by going to the painters loft during the morning. I finished my still life that has Peterson Park as the background. I was quite pleased with it. Then I worked on the portrait of my wife. I did have some problems with it as I couldn't get the facial coloring the way I wanted it. I'll work on it again on Wednesday. I had lunch with a friend. We are going to water their plants while they are away for the Holidays and I picked up the key. I overate. I didn't need the double hot fudge sundae at the end of my lunch. Will I never learn. My son and his girlfriend drove down for the evening. We had a good dinner at Granite City. My stepson joined us. Afterwards we returned home and opened gifts and visited. Our Schnauzer was really excited as he loves company. All in all, I had a great day.

Today has been a good day. I have had a cold the past week or so, but seem to be getting over it. My wife and I went to church. I really enjoyed the service. The youth from our Parish put on the worship service. A young man played the guitar and we sang "My God is an Awesome God" and three familiar hymns. The youth put on a puppet show entitled a "Cowboy Christmas." It was quite enjoyable and had a good message. After the service we went to lunch with two good friends, Elmer and Edna. A lot of the conversation was about blogging, my latest interest. Elmer is the one who helped me get started. He is extremely computer literate and helps me with all my questions and problems with cyberspace. We are trying to figure out a way to use the weblog concept with the Parish Website which Elmer and I handle. Neither of our wives seemed too enthusiastic about the weblogs which is surprising since almost every idea we have is a good one.
Early in the afternoon my friend, Fernando, called and wanted to go out for coffee. We went to a local coffee shop and discussed many important topics. Fernando and I have been friends for over thirty years. We met in the mid-70's at square dance lessons. We were both recently divorced. I enjoy visiting with him as he is an excellent conversationalist - well-versed in many areas and has great listening skills. We both try to practice the Navajo way (we read about this in the Tony Hillerman novels) of not interrupting and being sure the other person is done expressing his idea before speaking.
When I arrived home, I discovered that my wife was out having coffee with her good friend, Nicolette. They have been friends since high school. Nicolette is an extremely intelligent, well-read person and also an excellent conversationalist - traits that she and my wife have in common.
I worked on the prayer requests for our church. I e-mail them to all members who have computers, but mail them to fifteen members who don't have e-mail. I enjoy doing this as I think it is important and the members appreciate receiving the prayer requests. Later we took them to the mailbox and took our Schnauzer, Gromit, for a ride. We stopped at the River Walk and let him out for a while. He is quite spoiled.
I am excited because my son and his girlfriend are coming tomorrow. They live in the New York City area and aren't able to come very often. We have been out there twice this year.
It's almost time for the Bears game to start, so I guess I'll quit for today.
More tomorrow.

I have just discovered weblogging. I have several interests and will write about one of them each day. The first day I wrote about my model railroad. Today I am going to write about our interest in plays. My favorite playwright is Edward Albee. Last year I had the good fortune of seeing him in person when he was a guest lecturer at a local college. A year and a half ago we saw his latest play, "The Goat or Who is Sylvia." The play and the production were excellent. This is typical Albee, full of insight into human behavior and conflict. If you have the opportunity, see it. If not, purchase the printed copy and read it. We also saw four of his one-act plays at a local college. I am always amazed at how talented college students are. "The Zoo Story" was excellent. My favorite Albee play is "A Delicate Balance." There are many themes running through the play. One of the most interesting is when the thirty-five year old daughter comes home after her third or fourth marriage has failed. Is this still her home? Does she still have the right to her bedroom? Do her parents still have the responsibility for providing for her? These are questions that were discussed some decades ago when the play was written and are still being discussed today. Also, an alcoholic sister lives with the family. What responsibility does one have for a fifty plus year old sibling? I don't have any idea where this is being performed now, but the movie version is excellent. The DVD also has extra information.
Other plays that I have seen that I would highly recommend are "The Vagina Monologues", "Drawer Boy", "The Laramie Project", and "Boy Gets Girl," a real thriller about a stalker. We also saw "Scotland Road" recently, but I have mixed feelings about it. This is about a girl who was found floating on an iceberg who was a survivor of the Titanic. The problem is that she is found is the present time, eighty years or so after the sinking. Obviously, it has a supernatural theme. I found the play interesting, but was disappointed in the ending. I felt the ending was weak. It was very abrupt and confusing.

My model railroad is named the Platte Valley. The setting is northeastern Nebraska in the 1950's. The Platte Valley is an imaginary railroad that runs from Grand Island, Nebraska to Sioux City, Iowa and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. My railroad provides the Union Pacific with access to the Twin Cities. The Chicago & North Western tracks are used between Sioux City and the Twin Cities. I model seven miles of this route. The major town is Battle Creek and the major industry there is the Cornhusker Packing Plant. On the outskirts of town is the Nebraskaland Feed Company. Another town is Winnetoon which is a town of about 100 people. It has a grain elevator, junk yard, coal yard, and oil facility. Elkhorn Junction is an incorporated town that has a team track, an alfalfa dehydrating plant, and the Siouxland Corn Processing Plant. Elkhorn Junction is where the tracks divide going to Sioux City and Sioux Falls and also a branch line to Wakeland. Several passenger trains use this line. The Chicago and North Western line from Omaha to Chadron and Rapid City use this line as their tracks were continually being washed out by the spring flooding of the Elkhorn River.