Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
NOVEMBER 30, 2020 – Unless you’re Norwegian, you’ve probably never heard of Jan Baalsrud. I hadn’t until the Netflix movie, The 12th Man. As I later learned from a 2016 New York Times magazine article, the film accurately portrays actual events. (The scenery’s out-of-this-world . . . because it’s in Norway.) Baalsrud was part of …
NOVEMBER 18, 2020 – Despite our real-life struggles to avoid danger, eschew evil, and experience peace, we flock to entertainment that features terror, conflict, and villainy. I’m talking, for example, about the Xfinity series, Yellowstone, recommended to us by trusted friends. My wife and I are now deep into the show. It offers something for …
NOVEMBER 13, 2020 – To distract myself further from the news, yesterday evening I watched the 2001 German film, As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me. It’s based on an allegedly true story, later fully debunked, about a German POW sentenced to 25 years in a post-World War II gulag prison camp on the …
OCTOBER 30, 2020 – Wednesday evening I eschewed the news and watched a movie. (My wife worked away in her home office—in the light of a horror film called . . . BREAKING NEWS!) I scrolled through Netflix and settled on Destiny, a film in Arabic, directed by Youssef Chahine (winner of the Cannes 50th …
SEPTEMBER 27, 2020 – Netflix and competitors have produced quality TV entertainment in volumes unimaginable a generation ago. For many people isolated during the pandemic, Netflix is a godsend. Starting in March, I’ve watched 60 (!) episodes of Bolivar, dozens more of The Borgias, The Medicis, and Marco Polo. My wife, meanwhile, has watched This, …
AUGUST 28, 2020 – Last night my wife and I watched portions of the RNC. We wearied of the shameless fear-mongering and contemptuous disregard for truth. What put us over the top, however, was the dense, unmasked crowd on the South Lawn of the White House. Cable commentators (GoebbelsNews excepted) couldn’t hide their dismay. Rudy …
MAY 9, 2020 – I’m pleased to announce that I’ve now slogged through 59 installments of the 60-episode Netflix series, Bolívar. I’m saving the final segment for some special occasion—perhaps the return of democracy and economic prosperity to El Libertado’s homeland, Venezuela. Actually, I know how the story ends: Bolívar dies and all goes to …
APRIL 5, 2020 – A week ago while out for a walk, my wife and I encountered our neighbor Kent, who was himself out for a walk–his good wife Joan, a 3M health specialist, was working hard from home. At a distance of a lot more than twice the recommended gap, we carried on a …
JANUARY 12, 2020 – Several reasons existed for me not to watch The Two Popes. I’m not Catholic. Moreover, I have an extremely negative view of the history of Catholicism—and disgust for widespread pedophilia among parish priests and the coordinated coverup by church hierarchy. My family and I once for two seconds got within two …
DECEMBER 8, 2019 – Friday evening my wife and I binge-watched on Netflix, Martin Scorsese’s masterwork, The Irishman. I say “binge-watched,” because though the film is not a series, it runs for three-and-a-half-hours—the equivalent of several back-to-back episodes of a series. The title role, played by Robert De Niro, was the nickname of Frank Sheeran, …