I've followed a celeb who graduated from my high school for some years now. James Franco's been impressive. He was nominated for an Oscar in 2011, and has studied and shown promise as a filmmaker, writer, and painter.** These fields, except for acting, have been fields I've explored. And Franco's been involved with three universities I've attended - UCLA, Yale, and Columbia. Needless to say, he's intrigued me. But when he got into … [Read more...]
Thoughts about “Clarice,” spinoff from “The Silence of the Lambs.”
I managed to catch the 2nd episode of the "Clarice" series recently. It channeled the Waco cult situation, also known as the Waco, Texas massacre. That was the controversial law enforcement siege of a compound that belonged to the Branch Davidian religious cult. In the 2nd episode, Clarice deals with Novak, the leader of a secessionist militia group, hoping to avoid the debacle that happened when the Waco cult compound caught fire during the G-men's … [Read more...]
Adorable cleft-lipped boy adopts a cleft puppy—instant love.
Amid the 4 Ps confronting us Californians —pandemic, poverty, protests, and pyrotechnics* — comes a heartwarming story from Sydney Page at The Washington Post. Just what I needed, as a fellow cleft-affected person, to forget about the "plagues" which are depressing us in the San Francisco Bay Area. We've had to keep indoors (no outdoor masked activity) for twenty-something straight "unhealthy" Spare the Air days due to wildfires. Then a man who has a 2-year-old with a cleft … [Read more...]
Systemic Discrimination, the Catholic Church, and Cardinal Schonborn.
Of late, we've heard a great deal about systemic discrimination and racism in the US. Via the Black Lives Matter movement, we've been sensitized to systemic discrimination in police departments and other agencies of the criminal justice systems. But many have alleged there's systemic discrimination and institutional racism in corporations, universities, and religious institutions as well. I've written many blogs about discrimination, and one recent example is here. But I haven't written … [Read more...]
Ira Einhorn, the Unicorn Killer, dies, but lives on in my book.
One of the murderers in my Privileged Killers and the Psychopaths among us, just died. I've blogged about him from time to time - here for example and with photos here. Tho his death has been widely reported as due to natural causes, he died of longstanding cardiac problems. His death, allegedly, was unrelated to the current coronavirus pandemic. . Nick Arama, writes in NBC Philadelphia that one-time environmentalist: "Ira Einhorn, 79, has died in prison. Susan … [Read more...]
Rory Gilmore and Janie Junebug love books and share ’em.
Many of you remember The Gilmore Girls popular show which aired 2000- 2007. It created a book club for people to read all of the 339 books referenced on the show, esp by Rory Gilmore who loved reading books. She also loved the smell of books. Rory Gilmore loves books. Rory taught us important things that are now a part of many people's everyday life. First - always take a book with you. This tip has saved countless of us from complete boredom. Whether we're meeting up with a friend … [Read more...]
‘Bombshell,’ #MeToo, and Hollywood’s inability to portray its own villains.
As promised I will share your questions and comments and update mine now that I’ve seen Bombshell and thought about the #MeToo tie-in. First, I was dazzled by Theron's spot on depiction of Megyn Kelly. And the movie kept my interest and my companion's. Mostly, though, my concern in my prior blog - that Bombshell might gloss over institutional #MeToo issues - was unfortunately borne out. Additionally, I kept thinking, is Hollywood the best industry to lecture us about #MeToo behaviors, … [Read more...]