My fabulous vacation, Hitchcock and Rebecca

I took a 3 day vacation this weekend. I went to see my saintly grey haired mother in West Liberty, OH. We had a good deal of fun together. We watched old Gunsmoke reruns and tried to identify the old character actors. I am amazingly good at picking out people based on their voices, though I did call some incorrectly and totally blank on some others. I did recognize Shani Wallis, because of her voice, though she was affecting a southern drawl, and because she seemed to be wearing a dress stolen from the "Oliver" section of the costume department. We (Mom and I, not Shani and I) took some naps, ate pizza from Michael's pizza in West Liberty, (not affiliated with Michael's pizza in Bellefontaine, OH), and watched a couple of movies. I think I can tell a Gunsmoke from a Bonanza episode with certainty by viewing any 10 seconds of any episode even if I have never seen it and even if it displays none of the stars of either show. Too bad the episode with Festus's evil twin wasn't on.
Mom cooked too. I did a few chores that she had saved up for me when she found I was coming up. There are always lightbulbs burning out, and leaves that collect in the garage. Probably my major accomplishment was destined to be short lived. I spent a couple of hours all told, clearing her totally iced up side steps. Now that the warmer weather is here, most of the snow up there will soon be gone and the steps would have been cleared soon anyway. Such is the nature of work. Organization is temporary. Chaos and entropy will have their way unless restrained. All is vanity and striving after wind, as Solomon put it.
Mom is in her 70s and she had never seen "Rebecca" before. It has only been out since 1940. We watched a little of "Gone With the Wind" prior to "Rebecca" and it is amazing how much Joan Fontaine and Olivia DeHaviland resemble each other. Both play impossibly good women.
Hitchcock's camera work in the boathouse scene is amazingly well done. The camera is a major force in the scene with Olivier and Fontaine. A worse director would have told the story with a flashback. Ah genius!
That was the second Hitchcock movie we watched. On Saturday we saw "To Catch a Thief", and that is a pretty good movie. "Rebecca" is an amazing story, partially because it shows how two people can totally misread each other if they are entertaining the wrong assumptions about each other. I need to add Du Maurier to my reading list.

Stoic vs. Cynic

In case you have forgotten or never knew, my Dad used to say his favorite joke was, "You know what the difference is between a stoic and a cynic? The stoic brings the babies and a cynic is what you wash 'em in." I still think it is funny, and in a few years, I might make it my official favorite joke. But not today.

Attacked at lunch! Circa 1980.

What kind of sandwich is that?
Roast beef. Carl Buddig.
Roast beef? How many slices?
One.
One? My God, man, why don't you just buy meat flavored bread?

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

"When a lovely thing dies, smoke gets in your eyes."

That isn't the right words. But for at least thirty years, I have sung those words or thought them when I'm humming. The Coasters were a little mumbly, or the recording a little fuzzy or maybe my ears were not that good. I've never asked anybody what the words were or looked them up. I've always assumed that I was correct. Recently, I bought a CD of Jerome Kerns songs and listened to a vocalist sing the song and was shocked to find how much better the real words are. What else have I believed that simply isn't true? Bad philosophy? Other mondegreens? Misplaced faith? Bad goals?

"When a lovely flame dies, smoke gets in your eyes."

Haffely, Gaffely, Gaffely, Gonward!

My dreams for the future

I'm currently not married. I would like to be again, but it isn't in the plans.

I don't own a home. I hope to own one within the next year.

I have no pets other than my 7 office cats. I want that to change.

So, in summary, I want a wife and a house, and a dog and a cat, and a church. I'll settle for two girlfriends, one of whom is a crazy astronaut. Now that's living!

The Dog Whisperer

I like dogs and dogs generally like me, but I have never owned a dog. Most dogs are so poorly trained and not disciplined at all, that they are more annoying than noble. A well trained dog is a noble creature. God created dogs for his own reasons. Man bred and trained them to fill a number of niches.

I miss Emmy. Emmy was the cocker spaniel that lived downstairs when I lived in Burlington those six months. I miss her owner, Linda, too. We used to chat quite a bit and even shared the occasional beer on the front stoop. Linda had Emmy trained pretty well, but if you know cocker spaniels they are energetic. Emmy was very submissive, and eager for a belly rub, but she also is a jumper, and if she came out to greet me on my way out to the car, I know I would be going to work with a couple of dusty foot prints on my pants.

I liked Emmy. The jumping up is not a big deal, but it isn't my favorite part about Emmy. It is a flaw. Some dogs have issues that I wouldn't want to deal with. They bite. They destroy things. In the country, packs of semi-feral dogs kill livestock. They have to be destroyed. Or do they?

I been watching a TV program on the National Geographic channel. "The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan" is a show kind of in the vein of Barbara Woodhouse, ("No Bad Dogs"), Uncle Matty (Matthew Margolis, "Woof! It's a Dog's Life."). Cesar teaches people how to become pack leaders in order to lead their dogs to live happy fulfilled lives. In the show, Cesar takes dogs that most certainly would have to be destroyed and rehabilitates their owners to take calm confident control of the animal before something bad happens. He often uses his young children in training animals and they trust their dad completely. They lay on the ground and let dogs jump over them. They stand there and let dogs bark at them without crying or retreating. They completely trust their dad. Children are not dogs. Nor are dogs children. Cesar wants dogs to be able to live and thrive in their world. I know he wants the same for his children.

Cesar's formula for dogs is exercise, discipline, affection.

What is the formula for raising children? Many parents now use affection, affection, and affection. Some use the occassional method of screaming at them in the supermarket. Always fun for onlookers. How do those kids turn out? Will they be fit to live in a world with other people?

OK. Now, what if God was trying to make me and you fit into a world where other people can live with us without our creating heartache, trouble and sickness for them? What methods would he use on me? What do you want from Him?

Where do your ways and His ways conflict? I want to do no work, have no discipline and receive God's affection, affection, and affection. But, what if love is more than just affection? What if His love requires God to take me into his world through a program of exercise, discipline, and affection? Can I reject the first two, because I don't find them pleasant at the moment?

Cesar enters the world of dogs to become their pack-leader. He exercises them, he disciplines them, and he is affectionate with them. This holistic program leaps from the love that he has for dogs. Of course, Cesar is a man and has never become a dog.

What if God loved people so much that he decided to become a man? What if this God-man experienced God's exercise, discipline, and affection program from the inside? An interesting thought.

What if, there was a pit bull that had already killed two children? Say the dog was scheduled to die by lethal injection in the morning. If Cesar could become a dog, would he become one? Would he go into the cage with the condemned dog, and start to teach him how to be a perfect dog? Would he take his place when the sun came up and the sentence was executed?

(I just saw that my mood said "jealous". Ha. I was looking for joyful. I just corrected that.)