CURRENT EVENTS

BOOK OF THE WEEK

I found this book to be a good story. I will let Amazon (below) tell you more about the book.

The Religion War

By Scott Adams

In this frenetically paced sequel to Adams’ best-selling “thought experiment,” God’s Debris, the smartest man in the world is on a mission to stop a cataclysmic war between Christian and Muslim forces and save civilization. The brilliantly crafted, thought-provoking fable raises questions about the nature of reality and just where our delusions are taking us.

Unlike God’s Debris, which was principally a dialogue between its two main characters, The Religion War is set several decades in the future when the smartest man in the world steps between international leaders to prevent a catastrophic confrontation between Christianiy and Islam. The parallels between where we are today and where we could be in the near future are clear.

According to Adams, The Religion War targets “bright readers with short attention spans-everyone from lazy students to busy book clubs.” But while the book may be a three-hour read, it’s packed with concepts that will be discussed long after, including a list of “Questions to Ponder in the Shower” that reinforce the story’s purpose of highlighting the most important-yet most ignored-questions in the world. (Source: Amazon)

MOVIES OF THE WEEK

I have recently seen four very good movies and I will post them in the order that represents their importance to me.

Please just watch the trailers for the films that interest you.

King Richard

I thought King Richard was the best movie I saw because Will Smith did some of the finest acting I have ever seen and I liked the film’s message about “Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail.” It is a simple concept and yet few people will go to the trouble and so their plans are merely wishes that are unlikely to come true.

House of Gucci 

What a story and much of it true behind this famous fashion brand. My gosh, Lady Gaga is a terrific actress. As for Adam Driver, he is Gucci.

Red Notice

This movie stars The Rock, so I had to see it.

Spencer

It was okay, I’m not sorry I saw it 

(However, I think the movie would have been better had Samuel L. Jackson been casted as Prince Charles)

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

King Tut

by Steve Martin

ART OF THE WEEK

It is amazing what people can do with old tires

  EXTRAORDINARY PERSON  OF THE WEEK

Sir J. M. Barrie

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet (9 May 1860 – 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan.

He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote a number of successful novels and plays. There he met the Llewelyn Davies boys, who inspired him to write about a baby boy who has magical adventures in Kensington Gardens (first included in Barrie’s 1902 adult novel The Little White Bird), then to write Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, a 1904 “fairy play” about an ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of Neverland.

Although he continued to write successfully, Peter Pan overshadowed his other work, and is credited with popularizing the name Wendy. Barrie unofficially adopted the Davies boys following the deaths of their parents. 

Before his death, he gave the rights to the Peter Pan works to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, which continues to benefit from them. (Source: Wikipedia)

  JOKE OF THE WEEK

PHYSICAL TRAITS

I’m wondering if critical thinking has become a lost art.

Or 

Perhaps it is simply laziness.

It is so much easier to take a pill or get a jab,

than it is to change your behavior. 

CHARACTER TRAITS

This Is The Problem With Hatred  

SOCIAL TRAITS

I Hope Everyone Had A Nice Thanksgiving

Here Are Some Photos From My Thanksgiving

LEARNING TRAITS

MISCELLANEOUS

 

CURRENT EVENTS

Aren’t Most of Us Guilty of This

The Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Brian Tracy writes a lot of what I call self-help books, which to me is a negative. However, I read this book back in 2014 and have reviewed the notes and highlights I have made in the book several times, including last week. I still think it is a helpful book.

Change Your Thinking Change Your Life

By Brian Tracy

This book provides a lot of solid advice. For example, “Everything you do that requires time represents a choice. … You must be adamant about not spending your time on activities of low value.”

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

If you are looking for an action film, this isn’t it. However, I thought it was very good film.

Belfast

Belfast is a 2021 coming of age comedy-drama film written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. The film stars Caitríona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciarán Hinds, Colin Morgan, and newcomer Jude Hill.

The film, which Branagh has described as his “most personal film”, centres on a young boy’s childhood amidst the tumult of Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the 1960s.

Belfast had its world premiere at the 48th Telluride Film Festival on 2 September 2021, and also won the People’s Choice Award at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released theatrically in the United States on 12 November 2021, and will be in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 21 January 2022. (Source: Wikipedia)

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

Rock N Roll is King

by Electric Light Orchestra

“Rock ‘n’ Roll Is King” is a song written and performed by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) released as a single from the 1983 album Secret Messages. With this song the band returned to their rock roots.

ART OF THE WEEK

Looks like the Sun can create art.

  EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE  OF THE WEEK

Flappers

Flappers were a generation of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee height was considered short during that time period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior.

Flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive makeup, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes in public, driving automobiles, treating sex in a casual manner, and otherwise flouting social and sexual norms. 

Flappers are icons of the Roaring Twenties, the social, political turbulence and increased transatlantic cultural exchange that followed the end of World War I, as well as the export of American jazz culture to Europe.

There was a reaction to this counterculture from more conservative people who belonged mostly to older generations. They claimed that the flappers’ dresses were ‘near nakedness’, and that flappers were ‘flippant’, ‘reckless’, and unintelligent.

 

The flapper lifestyle and look disappeared and the roaring ’20s era of glitz and glamour came to an end in America after the Wall Street Crash of 1929. (Source: Wikipedia)

A Flapper and Me

Although it is commonly believed that there are currently no Flappers in existence, I was fortunate to run into one during last week’s trip to Bay City, Michigan.

  JOKE OF THE WEEK

PHYSICAL TRAITS

CHARACTER TRAITS

SOCIAL TRAITS

Think about this

You need to put some distance between you and wrong people,

because they will do nothing but cause you problems.

LEARNING TRAITS

It Is Up To You

You can come up with a lot of reasons for whatever undesirable situation you find yourself in. When we look at probability, the majority of people will have a mix of fortunate and unfortunate circumstances. A very few will be blessed with much good fortune and a very few can’t seem to get a break

But for the vast majority of us, it is alway up to us regarding how we do in life.

MISCELLANEOUS

I’m reluctant to think of anyone as stupid.

I think intelligence is the only thing god distributed fairly.

You may be wondering why do I think that.

I think that because everyone believes they 

Received more than their fair share.

 

CURRENT EVENTS

The Search for Enlightenment

If you are like me and have been searching for enlightenment for decades, I have found something that has speeded up my search for enlightenment and hopefully yours also.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

I read a number of descriptions about this book and found none of them satisfying. However, I cannot provide a better description. So I will just suggest you read this short and very interesting book. 

If you are the kind of person that will give this book a try, I believe you will find it interesting. If you aren’t interested in this book, you made a good decision for you.

God’s Debris

By Scott Adams

ENTERTAINMENT OF THE WEEK

A friend of mine suggested last week that we all go and see Jon Lovitz at the Royal Oak Comedy Castle. Perhaps, you will recall him from his Saturday Night Live days, when the show was actually funny.

What a great entertainer, his material was fresh and he was as good as ever. It has been a while since I’ve been to a comedy club, but I think I am going to start going more often.

Jon Lovitz

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

Don’t Go Breaking My Heart

by Elton John with Kiki Dee

ART OF THE WEEK

Turtle House in Gobi Desert, Mongolia

  EXTRAORDINARY PERSON  OF THE WEEK

General William B. Rossen

(August 25, 1918 – December 12, 2004)

General Rosson fought in ten campaigns with the 3rd Infantry Division in World War II in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany. Wounded in Sicily, he went on to win the nation’s second highest decoration for valor, The Distinguished Service Cross, on the “Anzio Beachhead in Italy.”

He later served on the Army General Staff in the Pentagon, in General Eisenhower’s NATO headquarters in Paris, France, and on the staff of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, again in the Pentagon. Troop duty Included command of two Infantry regiments in Germany, and command of the European Airborne Brigade, also in Germany.

General Rosson served four tours in Vietnam covering six years. His assignments included:

When I was leaving Vietnam to head home to civilian life, I recall General Rosson asking me what I was going to do when I got home. I was 20 years old and had joined the Army when I was 17.

I said, “I think I am going to go to college.”

General Rosson said, “You are going to college.”

When this guy told you to do something you did it. I went to college until I was in my mid-50s.

People did what General Rosson told them to do, not out of fear, but out of respect. I think back and I don’t believe I ever knew a finer person.

  JOKE OF THE WEEK

PHYSICAL TRAITS

Advantage of Temporary Weight Loss

Over Permanent Weight Loss

It is something you might actually achieve.

But for Permanent Weight Loss

Just change one small thing and see how it works.

Once that change becomes a habit,

make another small change.

Little by little you will get to where you want to be.

CHARACTER TRAITS

SOCIAL TRAITS

There is always a reason

why you can’t stand up against or speak out against injustice.

But, I believe in your heart you know the real reason.

LEARNING TRAITS

It has been a while since we have heard from World Famous Chef Ronaldo.

However, he is back and this week is he going to teach us 

how to drink wine.

MISCELLANEOUS

I believe this is pretty much all the media, not just mainstream.

There is so little unbiased reporting today.

My fear is that Marcus Aurelius is correct.

 

CURRENT EVENTS

Here is a time change I thing we could all use.

Every precaution you take against evil,

you put yourself into the power of that evil.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

I think this is an important book to read, if you are interested in the Christian religion. It raises and discusses some serious questions regarding  the Christian religion.

The Religious Life of Thomas Jefferson

By Charles B. Sanford 

ENTERTAINMENT OF THE WEEK

This is a bit of a confusing film. I’m glad I saw it, but once was enough. It contains a great cast and any movie with Bill Murray in it is automatically cool.

If you are a writer, the film contains one piece of excellent writing advice. Bill Murray tells a writer, “Try to make it sound like you wrote it that way on purpose.”

The French Dispatch (2021)

The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun is a 2021 romantic comedy-drama anthology film written, directed, and produced by Wes Anderson.  

The film stars an ensemble cast, featuring Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Bill Murray, and Owen Wilson. 

Additional cast members in The French Dispatch include Liev Schreiber, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, Elisabeth Moss, Jason Schwartzman, and Anjelica Huston. 

Its plot follows three different storylines as the French foreign bureau of the fictional Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun newspaper creates its final issue.

Following a delay from 2020, The French Dispatch had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on July 12, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States by Searchlight Pictures on October 22, 2021. (Source: Wikipedia)

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

What other song could I use, given that we are turning back our clocks this week?

If I Could Turn Back Time

by Cher

The music video for “If I Could Turn Back Time”, takes place on board the battleship USS Missouri. It depicts Cher and her band performing a concert for the ship’s crew.

The video was filmed in Los Angeles on Friday night, June 30, 1989, while the ship was stationed at the former Long Beach Naval Shipyard at Pier D. In the video, the band plays on the foredeck, and the ship is rigged with spotlights, light racks and strobes.

Cher’s son, Elijah Blue Allman, 12 at the time, appears as one of the band’s guitarists wearing dark glasses and a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt. (Source: Wikipedia)

ART OF THE WEEK

Beetles Crossing Abby Road

Not what you thought, was it?

  EXTRAORDINARY PERSON  OF THE WEEK

Finally, someone who is not afraid to call out China.

Enes Kanter

  JOKE OF THE WEEK

PHYSICAL TRAITS

When It Comes To Your Physical Health

My Record Certificates Arrived

CHARACTER TRAITS

SOCIAL TRAITS

I saw this on le blog de Mademoiselle Mélie and thought it was interesting. Hopefully, you will also find it interesting

A Short Film About Love

LEARNING TRAITS

MISCELLANEOUS