New Shoes in the Rain

Maybe a little TOO dramatic with the subject line today..... In the spirit of the now-underway summer Olympics, thought you might like to know that others are accomplishing some things.  The Cincinnati Reds have now won ten consecutive games for the first time in thirteen years.  And this weekend my son and I painted the living room of our home, for the first time in nine years. That doesn't sound like much to a lot of folks, I know, but consider these factors: *  Neither of us enjoys painting *  My son is a very busy dad to two kids, both under the age of three *  I travel very frequently for my demanding job (in fact, I'm leaving today for three nights) *  Oh, and did I mention that this room has a fourteen foot vaulted ceiling? Therein was the problem.  Last time around, we used a variety of tools to complete the job, and by our own admissions, we weren't very good at painting.  Using an extension pole to put paint into odd plac...

As was reported here recently, my wife and I were in Cincinnati over the weekend and saw "The Dark Knight Rises" on an IMAX screen.  Before I comment on the movie itself, let me offer a brief endorsement of the IMAX concept.  This was a motion picture format that used to be confined to museums and other similar attractions (the first one I saw was at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida some years ago) but in the past few years there have been more and more commercial cinemas with IMAX auditoriums.  The screen is several stories tall and proportionally wide, and the sound is better than any I've heard in a movie theater. Anyway, without revealing any major plot items, let me say that "The Dark Knight Rises" is a worthy conclusion to Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.  "Batman Begins" and its two sequels show its audience what it would be like for a man to decide to become Batman in the REAL world, not a world filled with cartoonish villains ...

Good morning, all....and happy birthday to me.  52.  Gotta remember to change my Blogger profile. I write this having just learned of the horrific mass shooting in a movie theater outside of Denver, Colorado last night at a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises."  This is a movie that I have anticipated as much as anyone, and my wife and I will be seeing it this weekend (more on that later).  I truly hope that the gunman, whom initial news reports indicate acted alone, was not somehow motivated to these acts of violence by this film.  Certainly will make one think. Anyway, the day is off to a pretty good start....I just had a nice breakfast, and am watching the Open Championship (British Open to the masses) golf tournament  May be my favorite major champtionship, as it's kind of like four consecutive days of Christmas morning, as a writer recently expressed.  Unpredictable conditions, golf courses that don't look like they've been fertilized...

I don't know if you noticed it last week, but actor Harrison Ford turned 70 last week. That's right....Han Solo is 70.  As is Indiana Jones, Jack Ryan, Rick Deckard (you know, from "Blade Runner") and all of his other characters. 70. I mentioned to someone last week when I read this that Ford so often played characters younger than he, owing to his good physical condition and apparently ageless appearance.  Last movie I saw him in was "Cowboys and Aliens," with Daniel Craig.  This picture opened last summer, and was fun, if not enduring, entertainment.  Ford looked a little closer to his actual age in that movie, but that didn't really bother me. And knowing that an evergreen favorite actor of mine from adolescence is now 70 years of age is simply an indication of my own advancing age, I suppose.  Think about it....I was in high school when "Star Wars" came out and turned Harrison Ford from a serviceable character actor into a box offic...

Back to work today after a week-plus staycation.  Nice to be off work. Writing this morning about things, particularly businesses, that appear to be here one day, and gone the next.  To wit: I went to a bakery in an adjacent neighborhood on Saturday, hadn't been there in about a month.  On my way out of the shopping center where it's located I noted that a dry cleaner that had been there seemingly forever was now gone, space vacant and a "for rent" sign prominently displayed on the front windows.  Just down the way another business, which was an eclectic mix of gift items, imported decorative things and a small bistro was having some sort of "house auction" and apparently going out of business. What I already knew was gone from this center was a high-volume discount gas station which has been located there for about twenty years.  This place was always open, and always busy, and because it was situated right on the corner of the intersection where this...

I'm on vacation from my job this week, but since I'm enjoying a "staycation," I have a few things I wanted to send into the ether for everyone to ponder: I think Tony LaRussa is a slimeball.  To pass over two obviously deserving members of my Cincinnati Reds simply because he CAN is, well, not at all unexpected.  And from what I just read, I think one of the snubs, Reds' pitching ace Johnny Cueto, will file a grievance, as the reason LaRussa stated for not choosing Cueto is a violation of the collective bargaining agreement between Major League Baseball and their players' association.  Worth noting that LaRussa is now an EMPLOYEE of the MLB hierarchy. Hmmm.... I think "Brave" will be Pixar's latest hit film for Disney.  That makes something like 13 in a row.  I took my granddaughter yesterday afternoon and have been muttering in a Scottish burr ever since.  Oh, and I noticed that the movie theater where we saw this is already selling tickets ...