JUDGMENTAL? or M Y O B

No matter how good things are in our own lives, we fall prey to either envying or judging what is going on in the lives of others. This photo of Sophia Lauren and Jayne Mansfield taken decades ago when they were both very young is more revealing than Jayne's dress. Here is one of the best looking women ever staring at the attributes of another woman. Who knows what she is thinking. The only thing we can be sure of is that she is not neutral on the subject. In all likelihood, like the rest of us, she is either envious of something or has a negative opinion about the other person's fashion decision. Either way, if Sophia can suffer from insecurity or whatever other emotion she was feeling at this moment in time, who are we to think we are exempt?

YUMMY without the TUMMY

Working out is not for everyone, though it probably should be. The least we can do to maintain good health and not become one of the statistically OBESE is to take some care about our food choices. I regularly read the notablenibbler and her food reviews. They are mouthwateringly described. The spices and the exotic flavors are what make food worth eating. The part we can do without is the starch they pour it over... the white rice, white mashed potatoes, and white bread.

The science behind the starchy foods being less healthy for you than even a little oil is that when you eat sugars and starches they are very rapidly absorbed by your body and trigger an insulin response. Over time we become less efficient at managing this starch that turns rapidly into sugar and we become insulin resistant. The eventual result can be type 2 diabetes which is becoming epidemic in this country. And of course, obesity which is never healthy. This blog will continue with a series on health and fitness. Please check back.

What Would Bob Marley Do ?

Poets, songwriters, and philosophers entertain and instruct us. In addition to the words and music, many are known for an outlandish lifestyle and an untimely end. Like Jesus. To quote Paul Simon "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls, and tenement halls." This wisdom is available on music and Epose' shows but seldom on Cable News. On FOX or CNN for example, we must be satisfied with the rantings of politicians as they promise Change We can Believe In or some drivel about how the other side is going to shut down government. Their words are as dry and flavorless as a rice cake. The only background music is the bee-hive-like droning on of other members of the "House" expostulating on more legalisms and "Whereas's". Talking heads trying to drown out one another so that neither of their lyrics is intelligible. Everyone in a gray suit and a red tie "Cause it looks good on TV."

The simple message, oft repeated, put to music in a protest song or a patriotic jingle is so much more memorable. I can't remember the last time I was in the shower singing or humming the words of Queen Nancy or that Boner guy. I sing "Get Up, Stand Up" or "One World" all de Ras time. There are "Many Rivers to Cross" and "You can Get it if You Really Try." Now try to remember a political quote that makes you want to sing it out. Even the last famous presidential quote worth repeating "Ask not what your country can do for you..." just has no harmony. It would work better on one of those framed needlepoint pictures or a toilet seat cover.

P U R P O S E

I read a lot about the meaning of life, including things written by Wayne Dyer, Dan Millman, and Deepak Chopra. Their books have titles like "The 4 Purposes of Life," "Purpose Driven Life" and invariably, after a long rigamarole over how to decide what your true purpose is, it boils down to service to others. Every author seems to skip over the unrewarding nature of trying to help those who will not help themselves whether they are the drug and alcohol addled, the willfully ignorant, or the chronically unhealthy who make all the wrong lifestyle choices. Ask any doctor who has spent 40 years with a stethoscope draped around his neck.

Today I had a long discussion with my good friend about "calling" and I do not mean as in the 4 calling birds of 12 days of Christmas but rather what you are put on this earth to do which resonates with your inner self. It may or may not be the same as your career. You are lucky if it is. My career was something I was good at but never liked. I did it because my parents gave me no other "real" choice. Fortunately it was objectively a good decision economically and socially, but it CUT OFF all other options educationally, very early in life. Pre-med leaves very little opportunity at course selection time for art and music. I would have loved to have been an artist or musician but would probably have starved. Almost no medical doctors are poor or striving. Very few musicians make it to the big time. Medical career... a good decision...but not my calling.

So now I read books about purpose and calling and the real meaning of life. I have my chance, though late, to find my true calling and my passion for getting up in the morning. I may even have decades to pursue it, one never knows. The next time you see me I may be on stage, Stratocaster guitar in hand, performing "Play That Funky Music, White Boy" to an audience of 4 drunks in a roadhouse just outside of Myakka City.

ANT and the GRASSHOPPER

The fable concerns a grasshopper that has spent the warm months singing while the ant worked to store up food for winter. When that season arrives, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger and upon asking the ant for food is only rebuked for its idleness.

The story is used to teach the virtues of hard work and saving, and the perils of improvidence. Some versions of the fable state a moral at the end, along the lines of "Idleness brings want", "To work today is to eat tomorrow", "Beware of winter before it comes". The point of view is supportive of the ant and is also that expressed in the Book of Proverbs, a book of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament), which admonishes, "Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest"

Every day I read articles in the newspaper about people who can't afford gas, or food, or whatever. Sure, there are some very unfortunate people out there who through no fault of their own have been dealt a really bad hand. Who among us does not want to help and provide what we can? I am not talking about these folks.

Drive by a high school in your community and look at the kids standing outside or coming home from school. Some are carrying books and computers and others are not doing a damn thing for themselves. They spend their lives in idleness driving around, partying, and just plain goofing off. One day they grow up, and have a really crappy life and somehow it is everyone's fault but theirs. They can't afford gas. The newspaper, as ours did today, fails to look at what they did in the summer of their lives that makes this a reality now in their winter. MAYBE the proverb of the Ant and the Grasshopper should be mandatory in school every year until graduation. It could replace the BANNED Ten Commandments and sandwiched in between "Heather Has Two Mommies" and whatever other drivel the educational system feels is important.

One More Motion in Limine

College Birth Control

Maybe the illegitimacy rate in college would be greater if we did not have so many laptop computers. The heat from the LAPtop lowers sperm counts. Paradoxically, the Nantucket red pants can make that issue moot.

SOMETIMES YOU GOTTA STAND BACK AND LOOK

Sounds like a good idea for a Children's Book. Next year they should put just a little more space between the "P" and the "is" especially if the interior of the cup is yellow.

TORNADO DENIAL

For decades, the swath of real estate known as the midwest has "taken the hit" from thousands of tornadoes. They have not changed their building codes to strengthen construction requirements so that these wind storms don't blow away schools and homes as they spin their way through towns. Instead the theory is to build what is referred to as "safe rooms" so that when you learn that a tornado is about to arrive, everyone runs into the safe room so that when you emerge and your home is gone, you are at least "safe." Nice theory unless your kids are playing over their friend's house and instead of building a safe room their dad bought a new truck which is now flying like Toto and Dorothy. As for schools and shopping centers, they look like Godzilla walked through town and trampled them. They justify their decision to NOT demand better made buildings based upon the 1/5000 chance of being hit compared to the much greater chance that someone in Florida would experience a Hurricane. How's that working out for you in middle America?

When you get a building permit in Florida the requirements include glass windows that can withstand 150 mph winds and objects hurled at them, a roof that won't blow off, doors that withstand similar forces and you have to build UP on stilts if there is any chance a flood will come your way. If we were Kansas, our solution would be to build a safe room somewhere in the house which would save us in a Hurricane if we stayed at home when it hit and the rest of the house would blow down the road. Of course the talking heads on the NEWS would be whining about how rich people living near the water cost the rest of us SO MUCH money if a storm hits and their McMansion is damaged. They conveniently forget that the Castle pays about $50,000 real estate tax per year while their trailer's tax is $500. Anyhow, all things being equal, I would rather be in Florida during a Hurricane than in Indiana during a Tornado. Then again I would rather be in Florida on a bright sunny day.

I primitive Florida

CALL IT LIKE I SEE IT

This Blog has been about REALITY in the sense that unlike the New York Times who claims to be all about "All the news that's fit to print" while having the most obvious agenda possible, I don't claim to be fair and balanced at all. I see things the way I see them and report to you. Sometimes I get feedback that I was "too harsh" or "unfair"in my post about, for example, certain pompous windbag politicians. Sorry about that, but I calls 'em the way I sees 'em. A house-arrest ankle bracelet is NOT a fashion accessory, Linsey, it means you are a criminal, despite what VARIETY says.

This summer when I spend time in Nantucket, I will have my camera with me at all times. I will write about what I see and how I interpret it. If your Ox gets gored, I guess you will have to take it to the Vet along with your sacred COW. As for Sarasota and my other island Siesta Key, look for more reporting on windbags and smoke and mirrors which are everywhere and which appear in our local paper, a N Y Times mini-me. If you read both their account and mine, you can trust my version. At least when I give my over the top biassed opinion I don't make believe that I am writing the Gospel.

TIPPING THE SCALES of JUSTICE

About 20 years ago I answered a knock at my front door and encountered a man running for Congress. I am a Medical Doctor, he did not know that, and I asked him what his stance was on Tort Reform. I could see him sizing me up and trying to decide if I were a doctor or a lawyer as his answer would be different. He asked me if I were a Doctor. I slammed the door in his face. Tort reform for those who do not know, is about limiting the monetary damages (often to 250-750,000 dollars) for pain and suffering in lawsuits. It does not in anyway limit economic damages or medical payments. It is just about those intangible unquantifiable aspects of slips and falls and auto accidents, malpractice and the like. It is this number that can be in the stratosphere ($2.5 million for the lady who spilled hot coffee in her own lap) that leads to defensive medicine and malpractice premiums that are unaffordable (try to find an obstetrician).

If you are a doctor you probably like tort reform. If you are a lawyer, you probably don't. In any civilized society there are always rights and needs that have to be met. There is an old ethical saying "Your right to swing your fist ends at the tip of my nose." So, rights can be relative and situational. Of course tempers and BS are flying from both sides. As in everything else, there is a pendulum that swings in society. It is too far over toward the lawyer's side at present. Some limitation is needed or you may wind up having to take out your own appendix someday because there are no doctors willing to take the chance of being sued. On the other hand, lawyers have done a lot of good in society by making companies and individuals more responsible. It is telling which way the SCALES of JUSTICE have tipped when on the radio and TV half the advertisements are for law firms who are "for the people" or want to "get you justice", and the full page ads in the yellow pages for plaintiff firms could wallpaper a small room. Dial 1-800-sosueme.

IT AINT OVER 'TIL THE TALL LADY SINGS

The Sarasota Film Festival is over today after the showing of Christopher Plummer's movie "Beginnings." Historically, our festival began in 1999 after the demise of the original Sarasota FRENCH Film Festival. Since that time we have been graced with visits from many of Hollywood's best actors and as a sponsor in one form or another, I got to meet many of them personally. The oracle is not shy about giving his opinion on things and I wanted to share with you insider info on some of our stars.

IN PAST YEARS...Alan Alda came here during the election fight over the presidency when George Bush beat Al Gore. In a sign of liberal forgiveness and understanding, Alda refused to have his photo taken with Katherine Harris who was seated at the adjacent table. Kumbaya anyone? Billy Crystal was here to support a film his daughter had created. This very funny comic on TV could not have been more standoffish and unavailable, the EXACT opposite of William H. Macy and his charming wife, Desperate Housewives' Felicity Huffman, and other great actors ... Steve Buscemi, and Stanley Tucci who were at the peaks of their careers with major films showing. These folks were absolutely open and available, and never "too cool."

We have had other interesting folks come including the friendly but slightly shy Kevin Klein, bubbly and beautiful Jennifer Love Hewitt, Tom Selleck, Richard Dreyfus, Peter Falk, Charlize Therron, and Jon Voight who is a major film and TV actor (the show "24" at the time) and yet a regular guy. Woody Harrelson has been back several times and you couldn't meet a friendlier person.

I did not know what to expect from this years honorees, Geena Davis, Christoper Plummer, or producer Sarah Green (great producers and directors like Sidney Pollack, Paula Wagner, and Robert Altman have been here). Geena Davis and her Husband, plastic surgeon Reza Jarrahy, with whom she has twin boys, are warm and friendly. They were bright, fully engaged in the festival and available conversationalists. Aside from her being a great actress, they made a good choice to honor her for the person she is.

Christopher Plummer is in his 80s and has the spunk of a man half his age. Another great choice on several levels. Think aristocrat with a playful and funny streak. I did not get to spend any time with Sarah Green but others who did came away with a good impression.

The 2011 festival has been enjoyable for me, not only for the films but the people who make them. Despite their fame and fortune this years "stars" are real human beings with good hearts and social consciousness. Oh, and as for the title of this post... at a special President's dinner last night at the Opera House, Ms. Davis, call me Geena, faced toward the empty theater as if performing to a full house, and sang an operatic aria to the dinner guests behind her. It was beautifully done and signalled that it was time to go home. The Tall lady had sung.

FILM FEST FANTASY

One of the "special" nights of the Sarasota Film Festival is Night Under 1000 Stars. There was a major change this year. Instead of being held at Michael's on East where the food and drink are AMAZING, and the ambiance is generic, it was held at the RITZ Beach Club where the ambiance was AMAZING and the food and drink were generic. There was a difference in the attitude of the facility as well. At Michael's they "aim to please". At the Ritz it was "Please stop" so I can grab one of the few pieces of food as it zoomed by on itsy-bitsy trays. Notwithstanding the averageness of the food, the rest of the evening was incredibly memorable. Mark Famiglio, the visionary behind most of what is good about the SFF, trotted out his signature fireworks extravaganza for the entertainment of the beautiful people on the beach.

When I say beautiful people, I am not kidding. There is nowhere in Sarasota at any time of year where a person of the masculine persuasion can go and see more (a reference to the skimpy attire) beauty that at this event. The attractive young lady to the left was one of many females who looked as if they dieted and exercised for 11 months and 29 days to prepare for this night. The results were of Sistine Chapel magnitude. Even if they fed you bread and water it would be worth it to walk through the crowd to see the sights. The venue of poolside and beachfront at sunset in perfect Sarasota weather was a winner. Unfortunately, the Kitty and I had to stop off on the way home to eat dinner. Last year at Michael's we had to stop off for Pepto Bismol because we ate too much great food at the event. My eyes liked this year much better, My stomach harkens back to 2010.

CHOICES and CONSEQUENCES

Deepest sympathies to the parents whose children were killed in the vehicle shown in this photo. There were bad choices made here by many people... and this is a partial list of why this perfect storm occurred...

The car was going about 100 mph in a residential road with a speed limit of 30 mph. It was 5:30 in the morning after a night of partying in a town an hour away. The driver had two previous speeding tickets and a red-light ticket and was known for driving fast. The occupants were all teenagers, some as young as 14 or 15. Seat belts were not used by some of the passengers. It was Spring Break Week.

It seems that after the death of a teenager from a drug overdose, an accident, a drive by shooting, or many other causes, the newspaper reports that the teen is invariably on the cusp of turning his life around, is an "honor student" or "so unlike him" to do whatever caused the tragedy. The stupidity of the action that put them in the paper is overshadowed by the alleged surprise that something bad happened. "Who woulda thought?"

As a parent and a grandparent, there is one common denominator in many of these stories... selfishness and inconsiderate behavior and the choice that a moment's pleasure means more to the teen than his friends, loved ones, and the community at large. We hear all the time about how the young are concerned about inheriting an earth with clean air as they stand on the sidewalk across the street from the school smoking. About clean water as they ingest all manner of unknown substances into their young bodies to get a high. And about stewardship of the planet as they race through residential neighborhoods at 100 miles an hour with no concern for the early morning jogger, or someone's loved one going out to pick up the morning paper.

Hellen Keller could have seen this one coming. I am glad that the local paper did a followup story on this tragedy. Perhaps, but unlikely, the students and friends who survive either through luck or by making better choices might think twice. It is a goal of drug education to show similar stories and photos of teens who made a different kind of bad decision in the hopes of "shocking" others with the reality that "with bad decisions come bad outcomes". We who are older and lived through some of our bad decisions really want to help prevent tragedies like this one. Telling the truth, the whole truth about the events that lead up to the the loss of kids that were generally good citizens who just did not care about themselves or anyone else for a moment and they , their loved ones, and society paid the price. Stop look and listen. If your son has three traffic violations in his teens... take the car away... let him walk. And for God's sake don't let him pack his car full of kids and stay out all night. And teach your kids to wear their seat belts, maybe even, perish the thought, by example, although in this case based on the photo it might not have helped. Princess Diana died because she was not wearing a seat belt. She is immortalized. Your kid might make the paper one morning, become a forgotten face in a sea of statistics, and you are left to live a life of "If only I had...."

WHO AM I

A common theme in poetry, literature and the movies, the eternal confusion we share as to who we are in our civilization vs who is the real "me" and the concept of ever changing. Jackie Chan wrote this:

WHO AM I?

Mirror shows me
The mask that I've been wearing
Whose echo echo speaks after I speak?
And all this time
Whose lines have I been saying?
Whose footprints are these that
follow me ?
All I was ...Forgot.
Who I was...I'm not.
Try to be like idle idols I know I know
We are made of two
Which one is really you?
What should I say, or do,I don't know

Pretend to be, pretending not be
Whose shadow is this that is under me? Whose burden is this
The one that I'm carrying?
By Whose name do they call?
Are they calling me?
Who I was...Forgot.
All I am...I'm not
Try to be like idle idols I know I know
I am made of three
Which one is really me?
What should I see, or hear, or speak,
I don't know

THEN THERE IS THE LINE FROM OUR MOST RECENT MOVIE WATCHING EXPERIENCE "THE NEXT THREE DAYS";

John Brennan: So, the life in times of Don Quixote, what is it about?

Female College Student: Someone's belief in virtue is more important than virtue itself?

John Brennan: Yes, that's the name, but what is it about? Could it be how rational thought destroys your soul. Could it be about the triumph of rationality and the power that is in that. Now we spend alot of time trying to organize the world, we build clocks and calendars and we try to predict the weather but what part of our life is truly under our control. What if we choose to exist purely in our reality of our own making, does that render us insane. If that does, isn't that better than a life of despair?

The BEETLE is BACK

When I was a kid, my friend had a Volkswagen Beetle in red with a stick shift and enough engine to power a can opener. Nonetheless it was a wonderful soulful car. In those days, getting into the back seat was a possibility. Today I would have to use a large shoehorn. They released another version of the classic and called it the New Beetle. Last year was the end of its run. Beetles are made in Mexico and imported legally to the US. So if you want something Mexican in your driveway, other than your landscaper, consider this modern version of a piece of history.

Next week, VW is releasing their third version (fourth if you include the German Army vehicles that were precursors to the "People's car" which were named Kubelwagen and Schwimenwagen) of this cult classic and the Oracle will seriously consider owning one. If you look at the Spy photo above you will see that it looks as if it is the love child of a regular beetle and a Porsche 911. Lower to the ground yet with the unmistakable cuteness. As a bonus... it seems that it will get a bump in horsepower, at least as an option. The 2.0T corporate engine found in the GTI and the Audi A3 and A4 is rumored to be coming to America in what VW is calling the 21st Century Beetle. Never mind that the "New Beetle" was made during the first decade of the 21st century. Maybe they should call it the New New Beetle, or Herbie the 3rd, or let's hear what you think would be a better name.

THELMA and LOUISE

Sarasota Film Festival. honors Geena Davis this year. Her epic film Thelma and Louise is not only a Hollywood classic but is part of American Culture as much as Mac and Cheese, with which it even rhymes. I guess every family has it's wild ones... pals like Butch and Sundance, Crocket and Tubbs, Cagney and Lacey. Ours has Jennie and Kitty. Through thick and thin, neither snow nor sleet nor gloom of night shall deter these two from making that quick trip to the mall for a last minute frock for the upcoming event. Or to Babies R Us for a case of diapers. They go together like the keys on a piano. They are even wearing the right colors, black and white, in this photo from one of their adventures. Drive carefully.

ABOVE THE LAW

OK, so you are living in Florida and you are due to renew your Driver's License. You go the the Motor Vehicle Bureau closest to you and line up behind two hundred total strangers who are also there to renew their licenses. You are ALL there because some bright-bulb in Homeland Security has decided that everyone needs to prove they are here legally even though we don't really care about the 20 million Mexicans who do our lawns and raise our kids. Lou Dobbs cares, but nobody in government. Anyway, there's this law that mandates that every Motor Vehicle Bureau or whatever you call it in your state make every driver walk through fire to renew his or her license. You have to bring in an ORIGINAL birth certificate, passport, proof of residency like a deed, a real estate tax bill, or a utility bill and so on. Forget one thing and you go to the back of the line. BUT to be PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES, you apparently do not need to show any of these things. An SEIU Union card is apparently enough. Ay, caramba.

QUALITY v QUANTITY

Some of us are judgmental about the expression “quality time” and think it is a euphemism for “other things are more important to me.” I am not so sure. Everything in life can be voluminous without being good… witness the typical Amish restaurant. They serve buckets of mashed white potatoes and string beans, corn, and some unidentified beige meat, a loaf of bread with brown gravy and second and third helpings. What do you get from all this? Follow a few Pennsylvania Dutch women from behind and see for yourself. The same goes for McDonalds with their super-sized fries and gallons of high fructose corn syrup laden soda. Now I am not here to be critical of the yummy-ness of a single McDonald’s cheeseburger or even a McChicken sandwich. I am not fond of McNuggets as the anatomical parts of the chicken chosen for this delicacy are not completely clear to me. I am thinking that the part of the chicken that goes over the fence last may be in there somewhere. Just saying. It is after all, a “chicken product.”

Gastronomically speaking, I prefer a spicy perhaps “hot” morsel in lower volume, THE "PERFECT BITE" with more adventurous taste. I guess “quality time” can be that. The very busy father who comes home from work late and sits on the floor and plays with his kids and lets them jump on him is as good or better as the one who just sits there like a bowl of Amish white potatoes in the room for hours and does not interact. Worst of all is the “pretense” of quality time, which is both “very little time” and “no active involvement.” Ideally lots of involvement many hours per day is a good thing too but that kind of blows my Amish metaphor out of the water so I will just ignore that. Anyway, if you are employed full time, mom or dad, that option is off the table, or off the floor as the case may be.

The same goes for cars and houses. People in America are finally coming to their senses and have halved their average home size expectations. No more football field sized master bathrooms and kitchens, gyms, and 5 extra bedrooms in case the Lakers come to visit. Sure, we still love our SUVs but in the day of 5 dollar per gallon gas looming just over the next (capitol) hill we are looking more for “crossovers” that carry almost as much as an SUV but ride and get miles per gallon closer to cars. Is seems that Ms. soccer mom does not really need a 5,000 square foot house and a 6,000 pound truck as much as she thought.

We may never get down to the MINI-everything they have in England and Japan but if the economy does not turn around, it is more likely than not that everything but our rear-ends will get smaller in the next decade. The Amish family style buffet and a smaller car are a mismatch. Then there is air travel where sooner or later you may have to buy your ticket based on your body weight. You think checked baggage is expensive? We may be forced to eat less so we can fit into the things we can afford like smaller houses and cars, and airplane seats. Or, alternatively, maybe our cars and buildings will be Quantity and not Quality because it is hard to have both at an affordable price. Perhaps we can aspire to be like Eskimos except for our Igloos will be made of the plentiful and ubiquitous mashed white potatoes instead of snow. Two birds with one stone…now we’re talking.

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

More STYLE reviews from the Sarasota Film Festival....Crocket and Tubbs were fashion icons in the 80s on Miami Vice. The Unconstructed Blazer which cost twice as much as a fully lined one despite involving half as much labor and material to make still is ALIVE and WELL at film festivals like ours. They are perfect in our Hot Florida weather as they can cover your shoulder holster if you are Don Johnson, or allow you to have pockets to carry your wife's sunglasses, compact, cell phone, if you are The Oracle.

BLAZER with JEANS

In HOLLYWOOD, and by extension, at the Sarasota Film Festival, the dress code is a simple one. If the invitation says Casual, you wear jeans and a t-shirt. Cocktail... you wear Blazer, jeans, and t-shirt. There may be a formal event at the end and if there is, the proper attire is A tuxedo jacket, jeans, and a t-shirt. The whole thing reminds me of driving in Europe where everybody has the same size car... the rich just drive more expensive ones with logos on them like BMW or Mercedes. You can spot the A-listers at the after party because they have the 200 dollar plus Valentino jeans and the Affliction or Ed Hardy t-shirts while the staff wears the free t-shirt from last year's festival and Levis.

The above rules only apply to the men. The women trotted out some amazing frocks for last night's event. The Kitty was positively ravishing in her tiger colored but not animal print dress. There was more than one damsel "busting out" of her gownless evening strap. Just like last year, watching the people was better than watching the movie. I can't wait for "The Night Under 1000 Stars" when the beautiful people emerge once again to strut their stuff.

MORAL SUPERIORITY FILLS THE AIR on opening night

The opening night film of the 2011 Sarasota Film Festival was screened to a crowd of 1100 at the Sarasota Opera House. The venue was beautiful, the screen and sound were excellent and the name of the film was PAGE ONE, a Year Inside the New York Times. It was, not surprisingly, about the inner workings of the newspaper and mostly followed the journalistic life of David Carr who writes about media as it intersects with business culture and government. Though the question of whether the N Y Times would survive in an era where the internet and social media have become such powerful forces, one gets the impression that the Times feels that it is above the fray and though "They are no longer hurling lightning bolts down from the mountain top" they are going to, as the marines say, "Improvise, adapt, and overcome," and somehow outlast us all.

Though apparent in the Documentary movie, their Hubris and Holier-than-thou-ness really came out during the Q and A after the film. The stereotypical chain smoking former drug addict liberal hero, David Carr, is a funny guy and a good writer. The movie about him was well done. The movie could have been equally good had it been about an impending train wreck where the audience was aware it was going to happen but everyone on the train was oblivious. The usual "cheap shots" were taken at Glen Beck, a conservative hero, who has just lost his FOX News TV show. This was greeted with a round of cheering from the sycophants in the audience who"can't start their day without the New York Times" as the woman seated behind me opined loudly.

At the end of the evening, I was left with the feeling that The Columbia School of Journalism, The New York Times, and the Upper West Side of Manhattan were really all that mattered, and if you did not agree, you were a Barbarian and probably would not understand the articles in the Times anyway. I do understand them, and the Advocacy and Agenda-driven nature of their paper. Their Moral Superiority and insistence that they are pure, and factual, and true journalists while everyone else was NOT is an extension of the entirety of liberal thought. We are right, and if you don't agree, you are stupid, or racist, or Islamophobic, or a hick from a small town. At the risk of getting into a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel, The movie may make it, but the paper is living on borrowed Times.

GARDEN of EDEN

Spring has come

The bird is on the wing

But that's absurd

The wing is on the bird

Anyway, spring has arrived in full force in Sarasota and the rains came down and gave the plants in my garden what they have wanted for months... a good dousing. Even my Chia began to grow. Some plants refused to turn green despite the deluge and the warm weather. They are referred to in horticultural jargon as "sticks." They were removed by a central american gentleman with a shovel and replaced with new nursery stock. Of course if you don't want to pay out the wazoo for fully grown plants in 45 gallon containers you get the itsy-bitsy ones in the 7 gallon pots and wait for them to grow. Even with the small stature of the Indian Hawthornes and ixoras (the editorial)WE planted, the garden looks much better already. Thanks, Juan. The plants at our front entrance were particularly mummified. I had this very nice Paurotis palm with multiple trunks and fan-leaves. When one trunk died, another would grow up to take its place except for this year when all the tall trunks died and no new ones sprouted from the base... a clear sign of needing a new tree. We put in a Pigmy date palm which is beautiful but has thorns as long as Beyonce's fingernails and twice as likely to scratch you.

Hopefully the little ones wont attempt to climb this tree. I told my Kitty about the thorns and she said that the little cookie monsters have bougainvillea all over their own yard and are used to avoiding thorns. We installed lots of color and sought out hardy indigenous varieties. At least the plants come from Florida even if my gardener comes from Guatemala.

FLYING LIZARD?

No this is an ANOLE on my screen door on Siesta Key, not to be confused with A-holes which populate Congress. This little fella is on the outside of the screen but sometimes he is inside the screen and outside the glass door. He stays there for days eating the various bugs that get trapped. He has, you might say a "captive audience."

When I was ten years old and lived in New York, we took a trip to Bermuda and I saw my first lizard in the wild. I would catch them and and put them in a jar with holes on the top and then catch bugs and put them in the jar. Very amusing. Now that we live in Florida, they are commonplace and only occasionally a source or entertainment. Sometimes two lizards face off over territory and expand their necks and make threatening mouth gestures. Sometimes they get eaten by Herons.

My sister in law, who grew up in Jamaica, where lizards of all shapes sizes and colors run rampant, is deathly afraid of them. At their house in Miami, they leave the front porch light on which attracts bugs which attracts lizards. The lizards cling to the wall above the front door and potentially "could" fall on someone entering or leaving the house. Horror of Horrors, I think the only way my sister in law leaves the house is through the garage and by car. They are so cute... why the fear? It's not like they are Black Widow Spiders or anything. They are cute little Anoles.

Egads, Foiled again

I love cartoons. I use them for all sorts of examples and teaching lessons. The perennial Peanuts episode where Lucy holds the football so Charlie Brown can kick it is one of the best. Chuck has had years of experience with attempting to kick the ball while Lucy Van Pelt holds it and at the last minute she pulls the football away, he kicks thin air, and falls on his back. Every year he would ask her if she was going to hold it steady and not yank it away and she would assure him that he could depend on her. And every year she would pull it away.

Life can be like this in so many areas. One of the best examples is politics. Whether you are on the LEFT and are mad that your chosen President has not closed Guantanamo Bay as he promised or pulled out of war instead of getting into a third one...or...you are from the RIGHT and you had hoped your newly elected Republican majority in the House was actually going to save us money and cut the budget... you are just Charlie, counting on Lucy, and after putting your trust into the deal, they pull the football away.

The above cartoon is one of the few Conservative ones in America. Our paper begrudgingly puts it among the 27 Liberal comic strips for "balance." This one addresses the Head Start Program which has been studied every which way and found to be statistically useless. Yet we continue it because it feels good. There are other similar programs and at the end of the day their cumulative effect is a huge budget deficit and a horrendous Debt. No matter which Lucy we choose, we always end up on our backs looking up at the sky saying "Egads, foiled again."

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY?

I have been spending time and psychic energy trying to be helpful in the "War" against Prescription Drug Diversion. In Florida, we have a huge problem with prescription pain medications, especially OxyContin getting into the hands of people who take them recreationally rather than for their original purpose, the relief of severe pain. Some of the young people who "get HIGH" from this drug, become a statistic...7 people die every day in Florida from prescription drug overdose.

Yesterday I was in the doctor's lounge at our local hospital and joined an ongoing conversation among several doctors of various specialties. Most of them were against additional government interference and the formation of a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program at a state level. Their argument was two fold...1) too much government interference with our personal and professional lives already, and 2) personal responsibility... that is to say, if you are a teenager and you decide to do something illegal and dangerous, live with the consequences... "Why is it my problem?"

I suppose that if we take the stance that society has no role in helping those who don't care about their own health we could really extend "we are not going to care for you" to many other medical problems such as:

No treatment for obese people who get type two diabetes from overeating

No care for motorcyclists who get head injuries from riding without helmets

No treatment for AIDS patients who pick up their disease from unprotected sex

No treatment for auto accident victims who did not wear a seatbelt

No treatment for heart and lung diseases in smokers

No treatment for liver disease in alcoholics

The list is potentially endless. So where do we stand as a society in this era of economic collapse and explosive growth in health care particularly for disease related to poor lifestyle choices?

I have no answers on this but I remember being young and crazy and I am glad that there was something about society back in the 50s that allowed me to make it to an older age. The least we can do is work a little harder to protect those whose fantasy of immortality and indestructibility is unrealistic, at least until they get old enough to Legally buy beer.