Saturday, February 26, 2011

Last Film Review before Oscars

We finally watched the DVD of Toy Story 3 tonight, while we waited for the delayed showing of the Independent Spirit Awards (they are usually shown live -  why not this year?).  And we have to say that Toy Story 3 truly deserves its nomination as best film of the year.

This film has everything: pathos, suspense, terror, humor, cuteness, evil, triumph of good over evil, and a sad/happy ending.  It features an ensemble cast, led by veteran Woody and the reliably wooden yet wacky Buzz Lightyear.  The toys' person, Andy, is leaving for college and conflicted about what to do with his toys.  They are accidentally donated to a day care center whose toys are dominated by a psychologically twisted teddy bear.  The harrowing adventures Andy's toys experience in their efforts to get back to Andy's house wring every emotion from the audience, from fear and trepidation to joy and triumph.

And after it all, we get Randy Newman singing "Hay un amigo en mi."  If that's not the last word in viewing satisfaction, I don't know what it would be!

*&$%!* Christie

There was a demonstration against New Jersey governor Christie's attacks on state employees yesterday in Trenton.  According to Bloomberg (*&%*) News, about 3,000 attended, citing their solidarity with Wisconsin workers.  There have been periodic demos in New Jersey (April, May 2010) but nothing as dramatic as Wisconsin.  Yet Christie is the clearest opponent of his workers, blaming the desperate New Jersey financial situation on them.  He is SO full of it!

Part of the blame, no doubt, rests with former governor Jon Corzine, former head of Goldman Sachs and also, no doubt, partly responsible for the desperate financial situation of the country.

If the workers of New Jersey do not mount a successful fight against Christie, the workers of New York State will be up to the plate sometime soon.  When will people wake up?  The situation calls for a transliteration from Cousin Karl:  Workers of the World, Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!

Monday, February 21, 2011

The Quandries of Retirement

One of the problems with being retired is that you think you have all the time in the world.  Well, it turns out not to be true!  First of all, there are all those causes for which you want to volunteer.  It's hard to choose one or two and to limit the time you are willing to commit to each.  Then there are all those tasks you had planned to accomplish around the homestead, not so attractive when it comes to actually doing them.  Then there are all the things you want to do just for you -- they all cost money and take time -- sometimes in the middle of the day, effectively messing up the time you could spend doing an all-day activity.  Turns out, time management is one of the most crucial of retirement tasks!

Let's take the last problem first:  I pledged myself to take water aerobics and have, in fact, signed up for and attended classes since the week I retired.  Fortunately, these classes are held at the local New York City Parks and Recreation Department Recreation Center right here in Chelsea, only three blocks away from our apartment house.  Unfortunately, the classes are held from 12:30 to 1:30 on Mondays and Thursdays.  Now, swimming requires a vigorous shower immediately following any dip in the over-chlorinated pool. This, for me, includes a vigorous hair-washing, adding an additional thirty to forty-five minutes after the class concludes.  Together with getting ready to get in the pool and walking time,  door-to-door time for this activity totals, at a minimum, two hours -- right in the middle of the day!  Only if I get up early (i.e., before 8) and get moving fast can I accomplish anything before water aerobics.  Afterward, I need some recovery time (a water aerobics workout is a REAL workout!).  So it has developed that I don't take two days of water aerobics anymore -- one is enough, although I'm for sure sticking with it.

Tasks to be accomplished on our homefront may in general be summed up in one word -- declutter.  When you live in an apartment (no matter how large or small) for 15 plus years, you accumulate a hodgepodge of stuff.  It depends on what your tendencies are (ours tend towards books), but, no matter what, you just accumulate stuff.  Dan and I live in a two-bedroom apartment with a generous-size living/dining room plus a balcony that has been enclosed.  We have begun the decluttering process on the living/dining room and have pressed the balcony room into service as an overflow area, so it now needs serious attention.  Also, although Andrew has his own apartment and half of his belongings migrated there, unfortunately our "guest" room is still half-filled with his stuff.  I do fondly imagine that sooner or later he will come and weed out what he wants to keep and at least make that room a tad neater.  How soon?  Who knows....

Our bedroom is another story.  It has been the recipient of a great deal of clutter for which we couldn't find other spots.  A lot of it is clothing that needs to go to the church that gives it away to homeless persons, and that, unfortunately, requires time on my part.  Some of the rest includes the paperbacks I have read but haven't yet decided to give away -- these are more or less easy and I will deal with lots of them during this year.  More of it includes piles of paper.  A lot of this is paper accumulated at various of my jobs -- none of that is needed any longer.  It just requires sorting, and voila! Out!  Still, all this stuff requires time and attention.

Then there is the volunteer issue.  Warned by a neighbor who retired not too long before I did, I limited it to two, but even so, with all this other stuff to do, it's hard to work them into my schedule.  My first allegiance is to the New York City Labor Chorus, in which I have sung alto for almost 20 years.  I am working with the Treasurer and keeping the books.  This requires a minimum of three to four hours a week (a morning or an afternoon), though sometimes it requires a day and a half.  My second volunteer allegiance is to Project Reach, a nonprofit with which I have had a relationship for more than 25 years.  Hard to fit all this stuff into my schedule.

So here's my dilemma:  how can I fit in learning to quilt, restore antique furniture and speak Spanish, not to mention the demonstrations and other political work needing to be done?

Saturday, February 12, 2011

True Grit review

We finally saw True Grit, though I think it really should be called No Country for Anyone but Very Intrepid Young Women.  The Coen brothers are sure some strange dudes; and this example of their art is renewed proof of that fact.

I am somewhat hampered in being very erudite and drawing elegant comparisons and whatnot, because I never saw the John Wayne True Grit.  Nor have I read the book.  However, neither of those facts is going to hold me back from a critique of the current True Grit -- a film should stand or fall on its own.

And this film definitely stands.  It contains some tour de force acting by Jeff Bridges and especially by Hailee Steinfeld, the aforementioned intrepid young woman.  She was truly amazing, more than holding her own beside Bridges and Matt Damon (who seemed either miscast or misdirected).  Josh Brolin had virtually nothing to do; it was as though the Coen brothers said to themselves, "We really like Josh Brolin so let's have him in this film; but, umm, all the real parts are already cast.  What shall we do?  Oh! Let's make him the villain, even though he will have a really small part."  So we get to see Josh Brolin pick up Hailee Steinfeld, run with her, whine at some other bad guys, get shot and fall off a cliff.  That's his entire part.  Sometimes life just isn't fair.

All the minor players -- such as the boarding house landlady, the inscrutable Indian riding through Choctaw country, the evil Ned Pepper -- gave perfect little parody performances that were really wonderful in their nudge-nudge, wink-wink stereotypicality.

The scenery is interestingly Coenish.  In some cases it is relatively realistic, as in the town and the woods; and in some cases it clearly is unrealistically minimal, as in Bridges' dash across the prairie in an effort to save Hailee from a death from snakebite and in the graveyard scene at the end.

And the music is typically Coenish.  The music played almost throughout the film -- and certainly through most of the search for Tom Chaney -- is an instrumental version of the old evangelical hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms."  A particularly relevant version is sung during the credits by Iris DeMent.  Although a couple of other hymns (or near-hymns) were credited, I honestly heard nothing but the everlasting arms, over and over and over.  Surely an "Abide with Me" or "Lead Kindly Light" couldn't have come amiss!

In sum, it's not the worst Coen brothers film I've ever seen; neither is it the best.  I don't think either the film or the directors deserve an Oscar but Hailee Steinfeld seems a very strong contender.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

GRANTS MANAGERS NETWORK

After adventuring around a bit -- moving to Switzerland, returning to work at the Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee, moving to New York City, working at the (very poorly paid) United Methodist Church Board of Global Ministries, getting remarried and having a baby -- I decided to get more serious about life.  I took a job at the Aaron Diamond Foundation and became its grants administrator.  The Diamond Foundation was set to last for ten years - it was in Mr. Diamond's will; so another job was on my horizon.  Looking around at the field of philanthropy, with its leaps-and-bounds growth and its increasing professionalization, and realizing that I had learned everything I knew by necessity and the seat of my pants, I thought it would be great if there were a professional association of grants administrators.  I knew of one other, Margaret Egan, so I called her and suggested lunch.  We met and decided it was a good idea.  We milked the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers (now rebranded Philanthropy New York) membership list for other grants administrators and managers.  I invited them to a meeting the Diamond Foundation hosted, and ten or twelve showed up.

Long story short:  Now with more than 1,000 members across the US, Canada and a few in other countries, this organization is turning 20 this year.  It hosts its own conferences and is holding this year's in Seattle, WA.  Even though I'm now retired, Margaret and I are being reeled in to help celebrate this momentous occasion.   More on all this to come.....