Do What You Can

Katsumoto (Samurai leader):  You believe a man can change his destiny?
Captain Nathan Algren:  I think a man does what he can until his destiny is revealed to him.
[These two lines are quoted from fictional characters in the movie:  “The Last Samurai”    —    kmab]
.
On This Day In:
2021	Do What You Can
	From The Shadows
2020	Mostly To Just Smell A Few More Roses
	Above The Storm
	R.I.P.: Jerry Jeff Walker
2019	Ought To More Often Than Once
2018	Talking About Egypt, Not The White House
2017	Left Behind
2016	Self-Restraint
2015	In The Midst
2014	Match Book
2013	Disservice And Disingenuous
2012	Giants Win Game 1 Of The World Series 8 to 3!!!
	On Death
2011	The Spirit Of Universal Connectivity
2010	SF Giants Pitchers Witness Protection Program
	Orange Outside (Too) & Fear The Beard
	Non-Taxing Read

Read Full Post »

Before It’s Gone

“Dances With Wolves” (1990)  —  movie review
Today’s review is for the epic western directed by and starring Kevin Costner as Lieutenant John Dunbar / Dances With Wolves, Mary McDonnell as Stands With a Fist (his wife / romantic interest), Graham Greene as “medicine man” Kicking Bird, and Rodney A. Grant as Wind In His Hair (Dunbar’s initial antagonist and then friend).  This is a LONG (3 Hrs.) movie about a civil war Union officer who fails to commit suicide during a Civil War battle and instead ends up a war hero.  For his “reward” he is granted any post he wishes (shades of “Top Gun“).  Dunbar asks to be assigned to a post on the far ends of the plains (South Dakota) so he can see the open frontier “before it is gone.”  He is granted his request.
Dunbar ends up in a small post in-between two warring factions of Native Americans (the “good” Sioux, and the “evil” Pawnee).  The post appears to have been destroyed by Indian attack.  Dunbar makes friends with the Sioux and eventually becomes a valued member of the tribe / nation.  Ultimately, Dunbar takes his wife and leaves the tribe as a personal sacrifice because his presence will only bring retribution / retaliation from the Army who are tracking him down for desertion and treason.  The movie ends with a closing note about the end of a free Sioux Nation on the open plains.
So, is this a “good” movie?  Is it entertaining?  Did I like it?  Well, it won “Best Picture” and “Best Director” at the Oscars, so that kind of answers that…  Is it entertaining?  Yes, mostly.  It’s a long movie and you have to be prepared for that (physically and mentally).  You have to watch the movie or you miss subtle dialogue and facial exchanges.  Visually, I found it very reminiscent of “Lawrence of Arabia” with the colors and scenic vistas.  Story wise, I found it very reminiscent of “The Last Samurai“:  U.S. Calvary officer goes native after spending time with the locals and discovering himself.
And, did I like it?  Mostly.  I tend to like my epics with happy endings and a triumphal hero.  This is not that kind of movie.  Although both the hero and the tribe “win” the last battle, the closing screen makes clear the tribe loses its battle for survival (they get confined to a reservation).  There is no mention of what happens to the Dunbar and his wife.  This appears to have been left open as a lead in for a sequel, but Costner doesn’t do sequels, the role has never been recast, and he has made clear his opposition to participation in a sequel.
Final recommendation:  highly recommended!  If you are into the “heroic journey” story, this will be your cup of tea.  It was for me.  The movie was “kind of” a surprise hit.  Westerns had a big fall-off after a number of bombs in the 1970s and 80s, and this movie is credited with breathing new life into the genre.  I like westerns, even if they are rarely realistic portrayals of their periods, so this was a good thing for me.
One last comment:  I have seen some of the parts of this movie over the (last 30) years, but had never seen it straight through from start to finish.  This is my loss.  If you have not seen this movie, but enjoy Westerns, hero’s journeys, or even just epic video story telling, don’t let this be your loss, too.
.
On This Day In:
2019	Imagine If…
2018	How Many Now?
	Day 29: Tied (By The Time You Read This)
2017	Earn The Gift
2016	Still Loud
2015	Surprise! No Evidence
2014	Real Ideals
2013	A Happiness Weapon
2012	An Eagle Has Departed
	Ummm
	And In My Prayers
2011	Welcome Doubt
2010	Talk, Talk, Talk…
	Every Day At Least
	Democratic Suicide
	Pleasurable Reading
	Loose Joy
	Do, Er, Write – Whatever
	This Glorious Company
	Relax With A Good Book
	Neither Vice Nor Weakness
	That’s Rich!
	Man Will Prevail!!!
	Frankly Speaking to Arizona
	Brother By Another Mother

Read Full Post »

Make Two Calls

Personal Ads:  “Got a problem?  Odds against you?  Call the Equalizer:  212 555 4200.“
Today’s reviews are for a movie and its sequel:  Equalizer (2014) and Equalizer 2 (2018)
Both movies star two time Academy Award winning actor Denzel Washington as the lead character: Robert McCall.  The character and stories are based on a moderately successful TV show from the mid / late 1980’s of the same name starring Edward Woodward as McCall.  McCall is basically a “hero for hire” and the show is pretty similar to another TV series I enjoyed from the same period called “Stingray” (see my review of that TV series here).  The main difference is McCall never really seems to ask for a payment, whereas “Stingray” asked for a favor some time in the future.  Anyway, in this version, instead of a geriatric Brit playing McCall, we have a geriatric American.
Equalizer (2014)  —  movie review
This movie is rated “R” for violence, language and implied sex.  Basically we have a normal looking man who has a history as spy / detective / electronics expert and martial artist.  He is “retired” from his official duties at “The Agency” by faking his death.  Whenever he sees someone being hurt or taken advantage of unfairly, he exacts his sense of justice on the bad guy.  He says he usually gives them a chance to do the right thing (mostly they don’t) and if not, well, they don’t usually live to regret it.
In this movie, McCall makes friends with a young hooker who is beaten and nearly killed by her pimp.  The pimp is part of a Russian gang, so McCall ends up having to bring down the gang, too.  There are lots of great fight choreography – particularly a scene which replays in slow motion.  On watching it, I was reminded of a similar “replay” technique / scene used in “The Last Samurai“, another action movie I also enjoyed.  The scene works because it demonstrates the “temporal shift” it is said happens to highly trained and skilled warriors / athletes in which they say time slows down for them as they fight / perform.  Unless you have actually been in that “zone”, it (the feeling) is hard to relate to, but once you have experienced it, you find an enjoyable sense of déjà vu when you see the feeling in film.  At least I always seem to.
If you are a fan of violent action movies (and I can be), you will enjoy this movie because it is literally a string of increasingly violent encounters tied together by a thread of a plot.  It works because Washington carries the hero’s role and the Russian baddie (Nicolai Itchenko played by Marton Paul Csokas) is equally believable.  As an aside, there is also a scene in which a personal item is stolen from a co-worker of McCall.  The item is recovered and McCall is seen wiping down and replacing a hammer at the hardware store shelf display.  There is no “action” at all, but you know the robber has just had a very bad day.
Final Recommendation:  strong recommendation.  While the story is almost unbelievable, the hero and the bad guy both make the movie an enjoyable action film.  It is violent and not appropriate for pre-teens.
Equalizer 2 (2018)  —  movie review
Okay, let’s get this out of the way:  “Denzel doesn’t do sequels…”  What we have here is Denzel Washington in his first career sequel reprising his role as Robert McCall:  a guy who goes around helping others and righting wrongs.  I don’t mean stopping jay-walkers and litterbugs;  I mean Russian gangsters (in Equalizer 1) and here (in the sequel) rogue killers who work both sides of the political fence.  When an “Agency” asset is killed, a former top analyst is sent to make sure it wasn’t a “hit”.  When she gets wacked, something smells fishy in Denmark (actually Brussels).  Because the lady is a lifelong friend of McCall, he must avenge her death.  Oh, and he’s upset because he will only get to kill them once.
The main bad guy in this movie is Dave York (played by Pedro Pascal), who worked for and with McCall before McCall’s staged death.  York was not aware McCall is still alive and he and the rest of McCall’s “team” go private after McCall’s death.  Anyway, the team kill a bunch of people on assignment and then to tidy up loose ends and there is a big battle at the end which (of course) pits McCall against the team.  After tidying up their loose ends McCall gets asked:  “Who are you Mr. McCall?”
Final recommendation:  Moderate to strong.  Again, another violent movie…  The sequel is just not quite as good as the first.  Yeah, I know, big surprise.  It’s well shot and reasonably well acted, but the bad guy(s) just aren’t as threatening.  I guess they are a little too “clean” as professionals and lack the intensity of the actors playing the Russian gang in the first movie.  If you are a fan of Denzel or of this genre, you will enjoy this movie – both movies, actually.  I did.  But, it’s really not quite as good as “1”.   There is talk of a “EQ3″…  We’ll see…  I think I would prefer a re-boot / prequel with a younger actor.
.
On This Day In:
2022	Limited Knowledge And No Control
2021	Gifts
	Look Inside Your Heart
2020	A Strength Of Science
2019	A Higher Standard
	Make Two Calls
2018	Irreplaceable Sparks
2017	Saving For April 15th
2016	First Wish
2015	Tracing Shadows
2014	One Thing
2013	More Is Less
2012	The Screw-Up Gene

Read Full Post »

The Not-So-Modern Samurai

Today I am home ill with what seems to be an ear infection.  Every few years, I get this swollen sensation on the right side of my head.  It feels like my head has a weighted balloon attached to the right side.  When I turn my head, stand or look quickly in any direction, I get a light-headedness and it feels like my vision / brain is continuing to move after my head (or eyeballs) have stopped.  Several years ago I had to go to the ER to get seen by a doctor about this condition.  Then, I also had an associated fever, which I fortunately don’t have this time.  In any case, I take some decongestants and my vertigo pill and I kind of spend the day in a half-stupor of fatigue and dizziness.
This morning I completed a book I’ve been reading off and on for several years now.  Our local library system has an annual shelf clearing book give-away each August and they have about 800 to 1,000 boxes of books which are set out for anyone to take what they want – as much as you can carry, and come back tomorrow.  Today’s book was one of these and I picked it up about three years ago.  It has mostly sat in my car waiting to be read.  I would grab it whenever I had a doctor / dentist visit to have something to read in the waiting room.  Unfortunately, if you don’t wait much, you don’t read much, so this has taken quite a while to get through.
The book is titled:  “The Modern Samurai Society: Duty and Dependence in Contemporary Japan“, (1982©) and was written by Mitsuyuki Masatsugu.  The book attempts to explain contemporary (circa 1982) corporate Japan in terms of the historical legacy of the Samurai (“samurai” means “one who serves”) society which held sway in Japan for several centuries.  The samurai tradition fell out of favor with the coming of the industrial revolution in the last half of the 19th century.  (As an aside, part of this transition was portrayed in the Tom Cruise movie:  “The Last Samurai“.)  In essence, it attempts to explain Japanese business management techniques to non-Japanese.
To Masatsugu, successful Japanese management stems from eight factors which incorporate two features from Japanese culture.  The eight factors (guiding principles) to success are:
1)  Paternalism;
2)  Guaranteed lifetime employment;
3)  Seniority-based promotion;
4)  In-company unions;
5)  Periodic transfers;
6)  Overtime work as a safety valve;
7)  Enriched welfare program;  and,
8)  A selective retirement system.
The two features which Masatsugu believes to be uniquely emphasized in Japanese society are:
1)  Diligence – the duty each individual has towards their country in general and towards their company in particular.  And,
2)  Dependence – a recognition that even though the employees are individuals, they must work together to surpass non-Japanese companies.
Like any “valid” theoretical explanation, management theories must meet a minimum of two criteria:  does it accurately describe what is currently happening, and two, does it have predictive value either for when external conditions change or when internal structures are abandoned (or both).  In this book’s case, we now have the benefit of thirty-two years history to see that Masatsugu’s proposal was pretty spot on.
Since the book’s release Japan has suffered both a housing boom collapse and an economic drought now approaching the middle of its third decade.  The housing collapse happened in the 1980’s and the start of Japan’s economic drought (I hesitate to call it a collapse as Japan has only recently been surpassed by China as THE economic power in Asia) occurred in the 1990’s.  In fact, the 1990’s is sometimes referred to in Japan as “the lost decade” because there was so little economic growth.
Specifically, Masatsugu suggests the structure of Japan’s economic strength is based on these principles and if any one (or combination) fails, the entire structure will waver and ultimately collapse.  Masatsugu predicts the gradual incorporation of western management will bring about an economic failure.  He leans towards the abandonment of guaranteed lifetime employment and seniority-based promotion when “times get hard”.  Masatsugu says that in past times, management held to principle and the economy eventually turned around.  He cautions that future management might not have the fortitude to withstand to pressure to abandon principle in an effort to meet “western style” quarterly objectives.  We now know Japanese management has moved away from guaranteed lifetime employment, seniority-based promotion and selective retirement.  All of these actions have had a detrimental effect on business (and societal) productivity in the U.S. over the last 40 years.  It will be interesting to see if the same happens in Japan and how long it will take to happen (if it does).
I doubt very much that this book could be written in today’s “politically correct” world as it has several racist and sexist comments which, in context, seem common sense, but are actually inculcated cultural biases.  For example, women are generally considered unequal to men in the business world, because…  Wait for it…  Because they are!  (Well, except when they aren’t.)  In the author’s view, a woman can be one of the main reasons a man succeeds in business.  But, a female can never succeed in Japanese business on her own.  In all, though, these are trivial reasons to be critical of a book which I believe is overwhelmingly a valuable (if dated) insight into Japanese business culture.  Highly recommended!
.
On This Day In:
2021	MAGA Choice: Reality Or Lies
	You Seem To Be
2020	A Good Reason To Blog
	Finally Enjoying The View
2019	Living Free
2018	Relative Imagination
2017	Thank You, Senator McCain (So Far Anyway)
2016	What About Friends?
2015	It Tastes Good To Me
2014	Others’ Footsteps
	The Not-So-Modern Samurai
2013	Doin’
2012	A Lover
2011	What Have We Found Here
	Words

Read Full Post »

Not Quite Exceeded Reach

Today’s review is for the detective / mystery / action movie:  “Jack Reacher“, starring Tom Cruise.  Now, in all fairness, I like Tom Cruise, but I am not a big fan, so my views on this film are slanted towards “no dog in the fight”.  This wasn’t a movie I was looking forward to seeing in the theater, but when it became available on DVD, I decided to check it out.  Actually, I borrowed it from my brother.
The movie starts out as a “who-dun-it” and then quickly devolves into an action movie with set pieces to showcase Tom.  There is a particularly good street fight, which seems to be lifted out of “The Last Samurai” – which is my favorite Tom Cruise movie and which I’ve watched a couple dozen times.  Anyway, the next fight scene is in a home and is (I suppose) more of a comedy than a realistic fight.  Anyway, just before the ending, Tom has a big fight with the main ass-kicking villain (as opposed to the brainy villain).  The fight is okay, but not particularly believable.  For one thing, Tom is like 5′ 6” and the bad-guy (Jai Courtney) is 6′ 1”.  Of course with good camera angles you can make Tom look taller, but not so much and not so well here.
Incidentally, and I didn’t know this at the time of the viewing, the character “Jack Reacher” is from a series of novels and he is supposed to be around 6′ 5” and a force of nature.  Tom has charisma, but a “force of nature”?  Again, not so much.  Needless to say, the fans of the novels were not too keen to see Tom selected for the lead role.
Having said all this, I liked this movie.  It has a great little role for Robert Duvall (one of my favorite actors), and Tom does actually carry the role off rather well.  If I hadn’t done the background read about the novel and then thought about Tom Cruise in the role, I might even think more of it.  Anyway, it works as both a detective story and as an action movie.
Final recommendation:  moderate to highly recommended.
.
On This Day In:
2013	Who’s Side?
2012	Why I Joined The Army And Not The Navy…
2011	Is It Your Turn Yet?
	Just Trippin’

Read Full Post »

They Are All Perfect

I have spent a majority of my life feeling disconnected from the rest of the world.  I had never really felt with one with anything, and certainly not anyone that wasn’t a member of my family or my close group of friends.
…ironically, there is a way for it to improve simply by getting yourself locked into that very mundane circle, I have tried to avoid it everyday of my life, thinking that one of not knowing and random acts of adventure was “where it was at” it isn’t.  By forcing such things into your life or expecting them, can only cause impatience and a feeling of sadness that things are not happening for you.   For it is that very essence, of locking yourself in to a life that is routine, that we all begin to connect.
—  from a blog I follow titled:   http://tearmatt.com
The individual blog title is:  Monotonous As One
[The first sentence struck me very close to the bone;  as did the second.  As I continued reading, less and less so.  Which in no way detracts from the substance of the initial two sentences – which I think is some of the beauty of words as a mean of expression.  The blog ends with a few words on how we may attempt to “connect” with others.  I don’t agree with the concept of locking oneself into a routine so that one may “connect” with others.  While there will certainly be a level of similarity, this is not my idea (or ideal) of connecting.
I am reminded of an exchange in the movie, “The Last Samurai“:  “A man may spend his whole life looking for the perfect blossom.  And, it would be a life well spent.”   It is only at the end of the movie that the speaker (on viewing some blossoms blowing in the wind) realized:  “They are all perfect…“
We are all connected.  Whether we realize it or not…  Unfortunately, most never do.    —    kmab]
.
On This Day In:
2021	Follow Up
	Still Confused
2020	Boxing: Precision Target
	A Funny Red Sheet
	Why #45 Is So Pitiably Small
2019	Yet We Should Keep Trying
2018	Let Us Dare
2017	Two Good To Be Real
	Secrets
2016	Learning Subtle Differences
2015	Dog Eat Dog World?
2014	And Sometimes Blogs About It
2013	Outside-In
2012	They Are All Perfect
2011	Delegation – The “How-To’s”
2009	Diet Update and Other Bits & Bobs…

Read Full Post »

Snap!

…If we are to learn to improve the quality of the decisions we make, we need to accept the mysterious nature of our snap judgments.  We need to respect the fact that it is possible to know without knowing why we know and accept that  —  sometimes  —  we’re better off that way.
—     Malcolm Gladwell
From his book:  “Blink“
[To misquote “The Last Samurai“:  Sometimes, they ARE all perfect!    —    kmab]
.

Read Full Post »