Charlie St. Cloud

Marigold and I had a "girl's night" this weekend, and we went to see a movie called "Charlie St. Cloud", starring Zac Efron, Amanda Crew, and a young fellow named Charlie Tahan.  The movie is not meant to be anything but a sweet summer movie, based on the novel "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud".  It's sort of a cross between "A Summer Place", "A Walk to Remember" and "The Sixth Sense".  It's the story of how Charlie St. Cloud (Zac Efron) feels responsible for the death of his younger brother Sam (Charlie Tahan) in a gruesome car accident, and how he puts his life on hold, giving up a scholarship at Stanford University.

Charlie died in the accident as well, but he was revived, and from then on he is able to see people who are in the transition between this life and the next.  He spends the next five years meeting at every sunset with the spirit of his younger brother Sam, and they practice baseball pitches in a clearing in the forest.  But then -- Charlie meets Tess, whom he has admired from afar since high school.  The story at a that point takes a twist that even I didn't see coming.

The scenery in the movie is beyond spectacular.  It's really a cinematic postcard, and I recognized every scene because it was filmed here in Vancouver and the surrounding areas -- Deep Cove, Gibsons Landing, Steveston and the forests in North Vancouver.  Zac Efron stole every scene he was in.  He's a spectacularly good-looking young man, and I think that may be a hurdle he will have to overcome as a serious actor.  But he can act.  Who knew...!  His performance is authentic and nuanced, and he doesn't chew the scenery like a lot of young men his age.  James Dean was only 23 when he died, the same age as Zac Efron is now, and James Dean became a legend.  However, James Dean's over-emoting performances are almost painful to watch if you see his movies today.  I hope Zac Efron is careful not to venture over into that territory, because he really is talented, and I think he has a great future as a dramatic actor.

All through the movie I kept thinking, "Who does he look like ... who does he look like...?" And then it dawned on me. He looks like a young Tyrone Power, one of the famous actors from way back in the vintage years. I put the two pictures together and showed Marigold, and she laughed, "It's the same face...! That's weird...!"

If you have a teen or a tween, and you want to find a nice, cool air conditioned movie theatre where you can watch a summer movie for an hour and a half, I think you will enjoy this. Don't expect "Gone With the Wind" or "The Hurt Locker" ... but you might even be pleasantly surprised.

Idiosyncracies...

Silence
Odilon Redon
1912
Museum of Modern Art, New York

My mother always used to say, "No one is perfect except for me and thee, and I'm not so sure about thee." Well, I know I'm certainly not perfect -- I'm far from it, in fact.  But haven't you always noticed that the most interesting people are the ones who are slightly quirky?  I have met folks who seem to be perfect and flawless in every way, and they're intimidating.  However, once they reveal a quirk or an eccentricity, suddenly they become much more likeable and endearing.  A piece of the armor falls away, et voila, they are human after all.  By the same token, once I am able to see other folks' indiosyncracies, I don't feel quite so bad about mine.  We all have them, and more often than not our idiosyncracies are similar rather than strange.  We can identify with each other's quirks and foibles, and often they are a common thread that binds us together.

"You do that too?  Oh, gosh, so do I...!"

So here, just to make you feel good about yourself, are a few of my idiosyncracies.

1.  I love the sound of silence.  Unless a piece of music is really worth listening to, I can't bear having a radio or a television on for "background" noise.  I grew up in a noisy home, I work in a noisy office, and I cherish the sound of silence.  Silence is like a spa for my ears, it refreshes them.  Silence can make all the other senses feel heightened, especially the visual sense.

2.  When I come home from work at the end of the day, I always have a hot soapy shower to wash off the flotsam and jetsam of the day -- especially if I have had to use a "public facility".  I'm not exactly a germaphobe, but there is nothing more refreshing than feeling clean.

3.  This is beginning more and more to sound like a case description of someone with OCD ... but I love tidy cupboards.  When I was 12 years old, I got up one morning and looked at my messy bedroom.  There were clothes and books everywhere.  My mother had gone to a lot of trouble to create a pretty bedroom for me, and it was a mess.  At that moment I decided to tidy it up.  I hung up my clothes, straightened my books, made my bed, and realized it felt wonderful to have "a place for everything, and everything in its place..."

Nuttier than a fruitcake, you say?  Are you feeling better yet?

4.  I'm not superstitious about most things.  I find most superstitions are just silly.  What on earth can happen if you open an umbrella indoors?  Nothing.  Or if you step on a crack on the sidewalk?  It doesn't really break your mother's back.  But there is one superstition that I take very, very seriously.  When I am getting dressed in the morning, if I inadvertently put my underwear on inside out, it stays on -- inside out -- all day.  Don't ask me why.  What would happen if I changed it?  Oh, I don't know -- the earth would tilt on its axis, the sun would turn into a supernova -- I'm not willing to find out.

I have, oh , about a million other idiosyncracies, but this post would start to get too long if I listed them all here.  Besides, you folks are all exactly the same, right?  Nothing new here ... right?

I Want Hugh Laurie Back...!

Help...! My favorite comedian has been kidnapped and is being held hostage by an American television studio. I believe they're paying him staggering amounts of money -- he's the highest paid actor in a TV drama -- but they've turned him into someone completely unrecognizable.  They've taken away his sense of humor, his lovely British accent, his mischievous twinkle in his eyes, and they have turned him into a hopeless drug addict.

Nooooooo....

According to the folks at Wikipedia, "House is critically acclaimed and has high viewership ratings. It was among the top ten rated shows in the United States from its second through its fourth season; in the 2008–09 season, it fell to nineteenth overall. Distributed to 66 countries, House was the most watched television program in the world in 2008. The show has received several awards, including a People's Choice Award, a Peabody Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. The finale of the show's sixth season aired on May 21, 2010. House's seventh season will premiere September 2010."

When the show was first announced starring Hugh Laurie, I was looking forward, with great anticipation, to watching it. Hugh Laurie is amazing, and before "House", Hugh Laurie was known in Great Britain and Canada, and thoughout the rest of the world, as a brilliant comedian. He was wonderful.  So, I kept waiting to see some of his comedic brilliance in "House" ... but ... nothing. According to A.A. Gill of The Sunday Times "...the show had "lost its sense of humour". The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan wrote, "House used to be one of the best shows on TV, but it's gone seriously off the rails".

Apparently, in 2005 Hugh Laurie appeared on the cover of TV Guide as "TV's Sexiest Man". and in 2008 House was voted second sexiest television doctor ever, behind ER's Doug Ross.  Bertie Wooster...?  Sexy...?  Well, that depends on how you define sexy, I guess.  A hilariously funny, brilliant, charming, bumbling idiot, yes.

"Dr. House, please crack a smile occasionally -- even just a little one."

Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie as "Jeeves and Wooster" in their first trip to America.

True Love Ways...

My friend Lulu invited me over for dinner tonight, and she showed me an old vintage LP of Buddy Holly's that a friend had given her, called The Buddy Holly Story, Vol. 2. It had some beautiful songs on it, but my favorite was "True Love Ways". I love trivia, and I love six degrees of separation, and that song has both. Buddy Holly recorded the song with the Ray Ellis orchestra, and if you listen, there's a fabulous tenor saxophone solo by Abraham "Boomie" Richman, who played in the original recording of the iconic theme for The Godfather. "True Love Ways" was also successfully recorded by Mickey Gilley, whose cousins are Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Swaggart.

Ray Ellis used several pseudonyms as a composer, and composed the music for television shows and cartoon shows, including Spiderman and The Archie Show, and even the original theme for NBC's Today Show. He was also the backup orchestra for several singers, from Billie Holiday to Barbra Streisand. Now, if anyone should ever ask you how to connect The Archie Show or The Godfather to Buddy Holly, Barbra Streisand and Jimmy Swaggart, you can tell them. Interesting bit of trivia, hey?

Here is one of Buddy Holly's prettiest songs.  Listen for the wonderful saxophone. It's beautiful.

Chariots Of Fire On Empire Field...

Long before Vancouver hosted the Olympics, the city hosted the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Empire Stadium, which was originally built for the Games, held 32,375 people and a decade later was Vancouver's venue for both Elvis Presley and The Beatles. It was also the site of one of the most famous races in history, during the 1954 British Empire Games, between Roger Bannister and John Landy. Both men had beaten the four-minute mark previously. Bannister was the first man to break the four-minute mile on May 6, 1954 at Oxford University, and a month and a half later on June 21, 1954, John Landy also broke the four-minute mile.

And then on August 7, 1954, as 35,000 fans looked on in the stadium, and millions watched on television, the men competed against each other in what was known as "The Miracle Mile." John Landy had the lead, and with only 90 yards to go, Landy glanced over his left shoulder to look for Bannister. At that instant, Bannister streaked by on Landy's right to win in a time of 3:58:8. Landy's second place finish of 3:59.6 marked the first time the four-minute mile had been broken by two runners in the same race.  A statue of Roger Bannister and John Landy both breaking the four-minute mile stands outside Hastings Park a short distance from the stadium. On a visit to Vancouver years later, Roger Landy said, "While Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, I am probably the only one ever turned into bronze for looking back."

My father had been a runner when he was a young man, and he talked about that famous race all his life. “If only Landy had not looked over his left shoulder...”

Harold Abrahams, who was one of the runners featured in the movie Chariots of Fire, was the timekeeper for Roger Bannister’s historic four-minute mile at Oxford University on May 6, 1954. Sir Roger Bannister went on to become a physician and neurologist, and John Landy went on to become the Governor of Victoria, in Australia. Empire Stadium has been refurbished, is now called Empire Field, and is home to the BC Lions Football Team. Phinnaeus and his dad went to a game there the other night.  The Lions lost.  Again.  *sigh*

This old film of Roger Bannister beating the four-minute mile for the first time in history, at Oxford University, and set to the music of Chariots of Fire, is wonderful to watch. You can see the other runners tiring as Bannister runs past them effortlessly like an antelope.

Isn't It Better To Love Than To Hate...?

My good friend Russell has done a wonderful blog post this week about intolerance, and I thought, my goodness great minds think alike -- or perhaps fools seldom differ -- whichever way you happen to view it.  In any case, unless you have been living on the dark side of the moon, you know by now that California's Proposition 8 has been overturned for being unconstitutional.  I was shocked when Proposition 8 was passed during the last election, and I was pleased to hear it has been overturned.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Canada since July 2005, and it's no longer an issue here.  All of us in Canada have friends and acquaintances in same-sex marriages, and it is openly accepted.  Same-sex marriage in Canada has not caused the world to end, and has not destroyed the sanctity of heterosexual marriage, and in fact, same-sex marriage has a much lower divorce rate than heterosexual marriage.  In addition, a recent study reported in New Scientist has concluded that "The children of lesbian parents outscore their peers on academic and social tests, according to results from the longest-running study of same-sex families.  ... Compared with a group of control adolescents born to heterosexual parents with similar educational and financial backgrounds, the children of lesbian couples scored better on academic and social tests and lower on measures of rule-breaking and aggression." So what is everyone afraid of?  Why is there so much opposition to it?

Anyone who finds someone to love, and who loves them, should be counted as very fortunate.  Not everyone finds love like that, so who are we to tell those folks who they should love?  I don't think homosexuality is an anomaly of nature, and I don't think it's a choice.  I think it's the way a certain percentage of folks are created, and that percentage may be higher than we know.  I personally don't understand homosexuality because I am what is referred to as "straight".  But then again, I don't understand people who like rice pudding, although some folks think it's wonderful.  However, far be it from me to tell people they shouldn't like rice pudding, just because I personally don't care for it.

People often quote the Bible and say that gays and lesbians are breaking God's laws.  But the Bible also says it's okay to have slaves.  According to the Bible, it's even okay to sell your children into slavery, or to buy other people's children as slaves.  There are several rules and regulations set out in the Bible as to when and how to do this.  The Bible also sets out when people shall be stoned to death.

"A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them."  Leviticus 20:27  In fact, according to the Bible, a woman should be stoned to death for not being a virgin on her wedding night.

What the heck...!?

Okay, how many of you would be alive today if that practice were still in place. Can I see a show of hands?

I'm not a big fan of organized religion -- any religion.  It has caused so much trouble through the centuries, and continues to do so now in the 21st century.   However, I was raised to believe in God, and I would like to think that if He does exist, He prefers love of any type over hate -- of any type.  But, I have a problem understanding why people think it's okay to tell other people how to live, or whom to love.  Is it really anyone's business, especially if it's not hurting anyone else? What am I missing...?

Just don't get me started on rice pudding.  It's ghastly stuff.  There should be a law against it...

Dim Sum and Art In Chinatown...

One of my favorite places in Vancouver is Chinatown. It's the third largest Chinatown in North America, after New York and San Francisco, and this year Vancouver's Chinatown celebrated its 125th birthday. There are 17 historic buildings in Chinatown, including the Sam Kee Building, which is the narrowest building in the world at 4 ft. 11 in. wide. I love Chinatown for the shopping and the restaurants. The gate to Chinatown, seen here in this picture, was donated by The People's Republic of China in 1986. When you walk through the gate, you really do feel as if you are walking into another country. It's wonderful.

Vancouver's Chinatown offers everything from museums and cultural centres, to bike shops, jewelry stores, grocery stores, furniture and clothing stores, hair salons, clubs and bars, theatres, and even schools.  The restaurants are wonderful, not only in Chinatown, but throughout Vancouver, because of the excellent chefs who have come here from Hong Kong.  With the abundance of fresh seafood here, Vancouver has acquired a reputation as the home of the best Chinese food in the world.  Who knew!  And there is an open-air night market that runs from May to September every year.  Vancouver's Chinatown is also the home of the beautiful Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Garden & Park.

Today as I was strolling through Chinatown, I stumbled upon a man painting murals on the walls of one of the buildings. I stood and watched him paint for a while, and then I ask him if I could take some photographs of his work.  The figures were life-sized, and I almost felt as if they would speak to me at any moment.  Well, in a way they did speak to me, and I thought I would share them with you.

Vancouver's Chinatown has become mostly a tourist attraction now and was declared a historical area along with its next-door-neighbour, Gastown. But the area is currently being revitalized as a major business area in Vancouver, particularly due to its proximity to Yaletown, False Creek, and Downtown Vancouver.  It's really the heart and soul of Vancouver, so if you're ever here, be sure to visit Chinatown, and have some deep fried sesame dumplings.  Yum.  They're my favorite.

On Being 14...

Phinnaeus is a really great kid. He seems to have inherited the best of both his parents, and he's a very nice young man. He has a finely honed sense of what is right and wrong, and he has an in-born sense of honesty and decency. With Phinnaeus, what you see is what you get. He has an open face, and a wonderful grin, and the world's best sense of humor, a sense of the ridiculous, and best of all, a sense of irony.  He can see the absurdity in almost any situation, and I have a feeling that is a trait that will carry him through his life.  Phinnaeus was born with a curiosity about everything, and he's one of those people who, when he sets out to do something, he does it well.  He inherited that from his mother.  Right now Phinnaeus is taking an interest in cooking.  I think that's a hoot.  He told me the other day he made beef bourguignon, and it turned out really well.  He said it took him six hours to make it, but everyone loved  it.  Well, of course they did. He also makes the best ice cream root beer floats -- I mean, the best.

Phinnaeus loves to hop on his bike and go for long bike rides around the Lower Mainland.  He took a keen interest in the recent Tour de France, and informed me that a local fellow from Victoria came in 7th overall.  Well, I didn't know that.  Phinnaeus is just at that bridge between childhood and adulthood, known as the teenage years.  He is tall and can sometimes be mature looking, but he is still just a goofy kid inside.  The world is still pretty much a mystery to him, and that's good.  There is time enough to learn about the world.  A 14 year-old should be a 14 year-old as long as possible, and most of them are really are just goofy kids inside maturing bodies.  They're like puppies that still haven't grown into their feet, and like puppies they need the occasional discipline and a lot of sleep.  A lot.

Today it was announced that 14 year-old Laura Dekker is setting off from the Netherlands, to be the youngest person to sail solo around the world.  All I could think was "Oh, good Lord Almighty, not another one."  What on earth are her parents thinking?  According to Laura, she's not afraid of pirates, she's packed plenty of school books, and she's going to miss her family and her dog, Spot.  "I can be sailing now, and that's great!"

Oh good grief, will someone please tell me what I am missing? Am I missing something? I am a little bit familiar with 14 year-old kids. I was one myself -- once. I remember what it was like to be 14.  I had absolutely no sense of responsibility beyond what a 14 year-old should be expected to have.  My friends and I were experiencing the first brief taste of independence, but we had to be home at a certain time -- usually 9:00 -- or else.

I actually feel genuine concern that this girl is being allowed to sail solo on the world's oceans at the age of 14.  No matter how much they protest to the contrary, 14 year-old kids are not mature enough for such a venture, and there are some decisions that 14 year-olds are not mature enough to make on their own.  Please, someone put a stop to this nonsense.

The Burlington Coat Factory -- Hallowed Ground.

The American people are incredibly wonderful, forgiving people. It amazes me. Not many people would be so forgiving. Yesterday the New York City Landmarks Preservation commissioners unanimously denied landmark status to the 152-year-old Burlington Coat Factory building that currently stands on the site where the Islamic community plans to build a mosque, the Cordoba Initiative. The Burlington Coat Factory was a retail store until September 11, 2001, when landing gear from one of planes that brought down the World Trade Center crashed through the roof. Preserving the Burlington Coat Factory as a landmark building would have prevented any changes in its structure, and would have ended any controversy regarding the building of a mosque.  According to Debra Burlingame, whose brother died in the Pentagon on 9/11, "This is a place which is 600 feet from where almost 3,000 people were torn to pieces by Islamic extremists.” I sometimes struggle with the concept of forgiveness, but I do understand it. Forgiveness is more for the forgiver than for the forgiven. It helps us to move on, to release any ill feelings about whatever perceived slight has been done to us. It frees us. I admire people who can forgive so easily. It's a gift, a blessing.  But so is sensitivity to other people.

Ground Zero is a cemetery; it is hallowed ground. There are still the remains of people there who died on 9/11, and there is as yet no memorial built for them.  Regardless of how one views the building of a mosque at that particular location, to those folks who lost family members and friends there it can only serve as a painful reminder of the religious extremism that killed their loved ones.  It's not about "cultural racism" or bigotry, but rather it is about the fact that if it is going to cause pain to anyone at all, it should not go ahead.  And it has already generated enough controversy that it is causing pain and anguish for too many people. 

My philosophy is "When in doubt ... don't."  So, I am personally opposed to building a mosque at Ground Zero, simply because I think it is incredibly insensitive in the circumstances -- but that is just my opinion, and I am usually wrong.  However, I do admire and respect the forgiveness of the American people.  Perhaps that's the lesson to be learned here.

"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it."

--Mark Twain

Go Out And Frolic...!

There should be a law against anyone having to work during the summer months. All businesses should come to a complete halt, and everyone should have a two-month recess -- paid of course -- don't you agree?  I believe human beings were meant to play more and work less.  We are always so busy with our responsibilities, we have forgotten how to frolic.  Don't you love that word "frolic"?  If you look it up in Roget's Thesaurus, you will see "play, skip, leap, cavort, gambol, frisk, kick up on your heels, unbend, let down your hair, have fun…"

Frolic...!

The wind one morning sprang up from sleep,
Saying, “Now for a frolic! now for a leap!
Now for a madcap, galloping chase!
I’ll make a commotion in every place!”

... William Howitt

I hope you go out today and frolic...  Me...?  I have to get back to work.  *sigh*