Almost all of our fellow-beings deceive us, but a few of us have known the joy of meeting a woman or a man whose sincerity and frankness were genuine, who in almost every situation has behaved according to our wishes, and who in our most difficult moments has not forsaken us. Those few are familiar with that marvelous feeling: confidence. With at least one person they are able for a little while each day to lift the heavy visor of their helmets, breathe freely, and show their faces and their hearts without fear. | |
— André Maurois | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | Exceptional |
2012 | A Wild And Crazy Believer |
2011 | A Lack Of Scarcity |
The Joy Of Prevention | |
Archive for April, 2014
That Marvelous Feeling
Posted in Faith Family and Friends, Quotes, tagged André Maurois, On Confidence, On Friendship, Quotes on April 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Outta Here
Posted in Leadership, Quotes, tagged Bossypants, On Being A Good Boss, On Business Leadership, Quotes, Tina Fey on April 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »
In most cases being a good boss means hiring talented people and then getting out of their way. | |
— Tina Fey | |
From her book: “Bossypants“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | Getting Words Right |
2012 | There’s A New Dog In Town |
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is | |
2011 | A Conservative Is… |
Question From A Founding Father
Posted in Faith Family and Friends, History, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged History, On God, On Miracles, On Religion, Philosophy, Politics, President John Adams, President Thomas Jefferson, Quotes on April 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »
The question before the human race is, whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or whether priests and kings shall rule it by fictitious miracles. | |
— President John Adams | |
second President of the United States | |
(In a letter to Thomas Jefferson, June 20, 1815) | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | Make Heroes |
2012 | See And Hold |
2011 | Am Not, Are So |
Like Shells On The Shore
Posted in Faith Family and Friends, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged André Maurois, On Faith, On Friendship, On Great Men, Philosophy, Quotes on April 26, 2014| 1 Comment »
Well fitted for friendship is he whom men have not disgusted with mankind, and who, believing and knowing that there are a few noble men, a few great minds, a few delightful souls scattered through the crowd, never tires of searching for them, and loves them even before he has found them. | |
— André Maurois | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | More And Why |
2012 | How To Gain Effective Fire |
2011 | Patriot Act |
The Omnipresent Teacher
Posted in History, Leadership, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged History, Justice Brandeis In Dissent, Leadership, Olmstead v. United States, On Privacy, On The Administration Of Law, Politics, Quotes, United States Supreme Court Decisions, www.law.cornell.edu on April 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Decency, security and liberty alike demand that government officials shall be subjected to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen. In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the means — to declare that the Government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal — would bring terrible retribution. Against that pernicious doctrine this Court should resolutely set its face. | |
— Olmstead v. United States | |
277 U.S. 438 | |
Decided: 4 June 1928 | |
(see Brandeis dissent for privacy) | |
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/277/438 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | Don’t Waste |
2012 | Earning Thanks |
2011 | Fuzzy Vision |
2010 | Movies and Book |
Open Early
Posted in Humor, Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Frank Zappa, Humor, On Keeping An Open Mind, On Learning, On Parachutes, Philosophy, Quotes, The Real Frank Zappa Book on April 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »
A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it is not open. | |
— Frank Zappa | |
From his book: “The Real Frank Zappa Book“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | Movies And A Lifetime Of Lyrics |
This Truth | |
2012 | Cheaper To Hold |
2011 | Resistance Is Futile |
One Great, One Enjoyable, One Terrible… | |
Unfortunately, No Approval Is Required | |
Outside Dependence
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, tagged André Maurois, On Greed, On Happiness, On Wealth, Philosophy, Quotes on April 23, 2014| 3 Comments »
No great amount of experience is required to discover that the greedy search for money or success will almost always lead men into unhappiness. Why? Because that kind of life makes them depend upon things outside themselves. | |
— André Maurois | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | Doing Right |
2012 | A Short Course In Human Relations |
If Death Be My Future | |
Strive | |
Such A Fool | |
2011 | I’m Working For A Living |
We Speak For Earth
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Carl Sagan, Cosmos, Obligations, Philosophy, Quotes, Science, Survival, TV Shows on April 22, 2014| 4 Comments »
We are the local embodiment of a Cosmos grown to self-awareness. We have begun to contemplate our origins: starstuff pondering the stars; organized assemblages of ten billion billion billion atoms considering the evolution of atoms; tracing the long journey by which, here at least, consciousness arose. Our loyalties are to the species and the planet. We speak for Earth. Our obligation to survive is owed not just to ourselves but also to that Cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring. | |
― Carl Sagan | |
From his TV Show: “Cosmos“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | Inward Urgency |
2012 | Delayed Reviews |
Fulfilling My Duty | |
2011 | Interference |
If You Ever Fall…
Posted in Other Blogs, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Falling In Love, http://relationshipreinvented.com/, Love, Other Blogs, Philosophy, Quotes on April 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »
If you ever fall in love… | |
Fall in love with someone who wants to know your favorite color & how you like your coffee. Fall in love with someone who loves to hear you laugh & does whatever they can to hear it often. Fall in love with someone who puts their head on your chest to hear your heartbeat. Fall in love with someone who kisses you in public & is proud to show you off to anyone & everyone you meet. Fall in love with someone who makes you question why you were ever afraid to fall in love in the first place. Fall in love with someone who makes you realize you are winning the race. Fall in love with someone that will show you that when you hurt, he or she will hurt with you. Fall in love with someone who will spend years with you & will still always flirt with you. Fall in love with someone who falls in love with your flaws & thinks you are perfect just the way you are. Fall in love with someone that shows you how to stop leading with your brain & start leading with your heart… | |
[Found on one of the blogs I follow: http://relationshipreinvented.com/ | |
The specific post is located at: http://relationshipreinvented.com/2014/03/29/the-soul-of-a-man/ | |
— KMAB] | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | Glory Days (part 2) |
2012 | They Follow A Pattern – If You Know What I Mean |
What I Live For (Precis) | |
2011 | Giving |
I’ve Never Have Had
Posted in Faith Family and Friends, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged David Geffen, Faith, Happy Easter, On Happiness, On Money, On Wealth, Philosophy, Quotes on April 20, 2014| 2 Comments »
Show me someone who thinks that money buys happiness, and I’ll show you someone who has never had a lot of money. | |
— David Geffen | |
[Christ is risen! (Christians) Happy Easter to all! (Spring pagans) God is Great! (Monotheists) And, let’s give peace a chance… (Atheists, agnostics and everyone else 🙂 ) — KMAB] | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | Glory Days (part 1) |
2012 | Feeling Old? |
2011 | Even When I Wish Really, Really Hard |
Skeptical Fathers | |
Cha-cha-cha-changes |
Who Was That Masked Man?
Posted in Movies, tagged 300, Dredd - movie review, Judge Dredd, Karl Urban, Low To Moderate Recommendation, Sylvester Stallone, Watchmen on April 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Today’s review is for the Sci-Fi movie “Dredd” (2012) starring Karl Urban. This movie is a remake of “Judge Dredd” (1995) which starred Sylvester Stallone. Whenever you start off a movie review with “remake”, there are two immediate questions: have you seen them both, and, which one is better. Answer one: yes. Answer two: neither one of these is going to win anyone any Oscar. As a Urban “fan” and as someone who is not “really” a Stallone fan (although I’ve seen a LOT more of Sly’s work than Karl’s), I’d be tempted to go with the remake. In fact, though, they are different films about the same main character which makes comparison more problematic. | |
Dredd (Sly) is a lot of action with a touch of humor. Dredd (Urban) is a lot of action with a lot of blood. Dredd (Sly) is a lot like any other over the top comic hero shoot ’em up. Dredd (Urban) is a visual “experience”, shot very similar to “300” or “Watchmen” with slow-mo amputations and spurting blood. It was obviously meant to be viewed in 3-D at a theater, but I’m a 2-D person at home, so it probably lost some of its effects. In any case, even when these visual effects are spectacular at the start of a movie, at the end of two hours you’re still yawning (ho-hum). | |
In this film, Dredd is assigned a new partner and he must evaluate her performance. The pair get trapped in a meg-structure controlled by a drug-cartel / gang. (Spoiler alert) The twist is that the cartel hires some “bad” Judges to come in and kill Dredd and his partner. Three guesses: which judges win? who gets out of the building alive? and, does the rookie pass her evaluation? | |
The movie is about a dystopian future where there is very little value placed on human life. Still, I found it mildly off-putting there was so much emphasis on the carnage and blood-letting and so little on a plot which made more sense. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m just getting old. Yes, the F/X are better in the remake, but I can’t help feeling the first version had more story. I’m definitely NOT saying it was a great movie – or even a better than good movie. I just feel the first was better than the second as a story if not as a movie. The one exceptional thing about this movie was the decision that Dredd would not take off his helmet for the entire movie. I can’t think of many actors who can convey emotional content – for an entire movie – without the use of their eyes, but Urban carries it off. (Like I said, I am a Karl Urban fan.) | |
Final recommendation: low to moderate recommendation with the qualification that although the title character is based on a “comic-book” character, this is not a child appropriate film due to language, violence and adult content. | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | Enemy Mine |
2012 | Strengthen Me |
2011 | Service, Please |
2010 | The Church In Crisis… |
Hi-Yo Silver, Away!
Posted in Movies, tagged Armie Hammer, Clayton Moore, Highly Recommended Movie, John Reid, Johnny Depp, Movies, Pirates Of The Caibbean, Texas Rangers, The Lone Ranger - movie review, Tonto, Western Mythology on April 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Today’s movie review is for the 2013 version of “The Lone Ranger” starring Armie Hammer (as the Lone Ranger) and Johnny Depp (as Tonto). Now, I don’t know Hammer from beans, but I’ve grown to really like Depp since he went through his “Pirates of the Caribbean” phase. This is a remake / reboot of the classic Western genre movie hero. It is also a classic “buddy-movie”. I grew up listening to “The Lone Ranger” as a 78-LP, even before I started watching it on TV with Clayton Moore. Needless to say, I first saw this movie on its opening weekend and this viewing is from the DVD which I was recently given. (You can read my first review here.) | |
The “Lone Ranger” myth is a classic story of good versus evil. In this version, a man, dedicated to law and order, and to justice, survives an ambush, teams up with an American Indian (Depp / Tonto) and they seek to bring justice to the gang which slaughtered the posse of Texas Rangers and the Indian’s tribe. | |
Within the context of the struggle between good vs evil / power vs justice, the movie has an over-arching theme and then two sub-themes. The over-arching theme is exaggerated action typical of the “Pirates” series (same director). This is meant to visually stimulate and entertain the audience with “eye-candy special effects”. The first (for me) sub-theme is that peaceful folks survive by luck and this is represented by almost slapstick comedy (basically, the first half of the movie). The second sub-theme is that criminals can “really” only be confronted and controlled by violence (the second half of the movie). In this movie, there is a palpable change between sub-themes when the main character (John Reid / Hammer) decides to “become” the avenger for Justice: “The Lone Ranger”. After this inflection point, the action becomes intended instead of “chance / coincidence / slapstick”. While I don’t agree with the “philosophy” of the decision towards violence to confront the criminal, it is (probably) mostly inescapable in real life. | |
So, is this a Disney / family / kids movie? Kinda to mostly, but not entirely. There are a few scenes which are surprising graphic and may be too intense for very young children (under 8), but all in all, it remains a “Disney” film. I found it to be long, but entertaining, well worth the purchase price and I hope there will be sequels. Final recommendation: with the minor qualification about age appropriateness, this is a highly recommended film. | |
In case anyone cares, most of the “professional” reviewers hated this movie, while most of the regular folks either liked or loved it. I think (still) history will show it was better than the professional reviews. When I went to see this movie at the theater with my daughter (Sarah), there was a line! I was stunned and said aloud, “Don’t you people realize this movie was trashed by the critics!?!” What I noticed was there were of lot of older Dads and Grand-Dads bringing their kids and Grand-kids to see this movie. I like to think of this as cross-generational pollination of the “good and worthy” hero to those who follow. And so the myth of that hero in the Old West continues… | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | Warning: |
2012 | Thinking About Beauty |
2011 | A Founding Father’s Argument Against Public Funding Of Religious Education |
Weekend Update | |
So Far, So Good | |
Good Wins
Posted in Movies, tagged Jane Eyre - movie review, Magneto, Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Movies, Strong Recommendation, X-Men on April 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Today’s review is for the 2011 version of “Jane Eyre” starring Mia Wasikowska (title character) and Michael Fassbender (“Young Magneto from the X-Men series” as the romantic interest). If you are into period costuming (and I am) and / or into romantic characterizations where the good people “win” in the end (and I am), then you will enjoy this movie (and I did). This is, however, a dark movie about a young girl who must endure physical and psychological abuse while growing up. She is blessed with a keen mind, a sharp tongue, a strong will and a kind heart. In the end, her mind, her will and her heart earn her the love she has been seeking her entire life. | |
Viewing this movie, I was struck by the fact that although the title character achieves “love” at the end, the movie itself was surprisingly unfulfilling for me. I was left with the impression that I’d just seen a very good performance by Wasikowska, but it was not a movie which left me saying, “I want to see that again.” This is in contrast with “Pride & Prejudice” (2005), which I’ve seen at least a dozen times and will watch again (I am sure) anytime I’m given a chance. Final recommendation: strong recommendation. Interesting and thought provoking, but not what I would call “enjoyable”. I guess the best way to describe it is to say that not every hearty dinner has to end with a great dessert in order to be satisfying. | |
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On This Day In: | |
2013 | Before |
2012 | Look To This Day |
2011 | One View Of Man |