Friday, February 21, 2014
Botanical Gardens
This past weekend, I flew to Arizona to visit with my daughter (who was there on a business trip). The President's plane was mere yards from my departing plane, so I snapped a photo of Air Force One.
The first sculpture inside the gardens reminded me of the humongous fire cactus outside my livingroom window that grew so big I finally had to have it removed.
While in the Phoenix area, daughter and I also enjoyed an authentic Mexican dinner at an authentic barrio restaurant that featured an over-flow parking lot and at least 50 patrons sitting patiently outside the entrance, waiting for a table to become available. The food was delicious and well worth the time and effort to locate Commodore Guadalajara!
The brightness of the sun made this large red sculpture glow in the natural light. As a side note, the artist, Dale Chihuly, lives part-time in Palm Springs. His art and art installations are well-known around the world, and I've been told that small pieces of his work are available locally.
Daughter and I went to the Botanical Gardens and viewed an art installation that was breath-taking! The glass sculptures captured the indiginous plants perfectly and seemed to blend into the natural landscape--except for this one. I'm not sure of the reason behind the large Christmas balls hanging from a supporting beam.
The largest in height of the sculptures resembles an antler tree, such as is made in Wyoming (as well as other "hunting" states). It was beautiful as the sun shone through the many pieces of glass.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Sometimes the Obvious Answer is Unexpected
A Catholic priest decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon.
Four worms were placed into four separate jars. The first worm was put into a container of alcohol; the second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke; the third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup; and the fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil.
At the conclusion of the sermon, the priest reported the following results: The first worm in alcohol . . . dead. The second worm in cigarette smoke . . . dead. The third worm in chocolate syrup . . . dead. The fourth worm in good clean soil . . . alive!
The priest asked the congregation, "What did you learn from this demonstration?"
Maxine, who was sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said, "If you drink, smoke and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!"
_______________
Not exactly the response the priest was going for, but a familiar situation for those of us who teach and/or work with groups of people. We think our set-up and examples are perfectly clear and will lead the listener to exactly the conclusion desired, but all too often there is a thinker so far out of the box as to be in a class all by him/herself. If you don't take Maxine's response seriously, she will be offended and alienated because she obviously put the clues together to arrive at the riddle's answer.
It just wasn't the answer the priest expected, but that doesn't mean it's a wrong answer!
My daughter would have said something to the effect of "Disgusting," my son would have said, "Awesome," and my honorary grandson would ask me a series of clarifying questions as he analyzed the riddle and the worms and the jars, and then he would defend Maxine's response as the correct one. Or, at the least, not incorrect.
Shamelessly stolen (and then cleaned up for grammar, spelling, and punctuation) from one of those forwarded emails that clog up my mailbox.
Four worms were placed into four separate jars. The first worm was put into a container of alcohol; the second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke; the third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup; and the fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil.
At the conclusion of the sermon, the priest reported the following results: The first worm in alcohol . . . dead. The second worm in cigarette smoke . . . dead. The third worm in chocolate syrup . . . dead. The fourth worm in good clean soil . . . alive!
The priest asked the congregation, "What did you learn from this demonstration?"
Maxine, who was sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said, "If you drink, smoke and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!"
_______________
Not exactly the response the priest was going for, but a familiar situation for those of us who teach and/or work with groups of people. We think our set-up and examples are perfectly clear and will lead the listener to exactly the conclusion desired, but all too often there is a thinker so far out of the box as to be in a class all by him/herself. If you don't take Maxine's response seriously, she will be offended and alienated because she obviously put the clues together to arrive at the riddle's answer.
It just wasn't the answer the priest expected, but that doesn't mean it's a wrong answer!
My daughter would have said something to the effect of "Disgusting," my son would have said, "Awesome," and my honorary grandson would ask me a series of clarifying questions as he analyzed the riddle and the worms and the jars, and then he would defend Maxine's response as the correct one. Or, at the least, not incorrect.
Shamelessly stolen (and then cleaned up for grammar, spelling, and punctuation) from one of those forwarded emails that clog up my mailbox.
Monday, February 10, 2014
The Flatbush 4
What a fun movie! It's for the young at heart, but people in my demographic will get all the little touches that make Last Vegas such a hoot. Y understood some of the more overt humor and laughed aloud during the showing, but he missed some of the more generational references that totally sell the story to older generations.
Four consummate actors set up the comedy, as well as the serious moments, in a subtle way that adds depth to an otherwise fairly common story. Michael Douglas really shows his age in this film, but it's perfectly appropriate for the 60s man marrying a 30s girl, a role Douglas lives in his daily life. The posse is spot-on, nailing their parts perfectly, under-playing when it matters and allowing time for the laughter to build into a guffaw. So much can be said without a word spoken.
I don't know why this film didn't do better in its wide release, but at $1.25/ticket at the dollar movie theater, the seats were half-filled with laughing viewers -- not a bad showing for a Saturday matinee.
And about the Flatbush 4, you have to see it to get it and I don't want to spoil the moment if you decide to RedBox the film and enjoy it on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Four consummate actors set up the comedy, as well as the serious moments, in a subtle way that adds depth to an otherwise fairly common story. Michael Douglas really shows his age in this film, but it's perfectly appropriate for the 60s man marrying a 30s girl, a role Douglas lives in his daily life. The posse is spot-on, nailing their parts perfectly, under-playing when it matters and allowing time for the laughter to build into a guffaw. So much can be said without a word spoken.
I don't know why this film didn't do better in its wide release, but at $1.25/ticket at the dollar movie theater, the seats were half-filled with laughing viewers -- not a bad showing for a Saturday matinee.
And about the Flatbush 4, you have to see it to get it and I don't want to spoil the moment if you decide to RedBox the film and enjoy it on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
BroncoGate
If you ask me, someone turned over the Super Bowl playbook to the Seahawks! There is no way honestly for the Seahawks to know each and every play before the ball was hiked. It was as if they had the playbook and knew exactly how to counter each and every snap.
What a debacle.
What a debacle.
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