"OJ Simpson . . .

not a Jew. But guess who is, Hall of Famer Rod Carew; he converted."

While I liked the previous radio station more, when a Lincoln station changed formats a few years back they played the Turkey Song, by Adam Sandler, continuously. The opening line is from another Sandler song, the Hanukkah Song. I had a happy turkey day. There were over twenty-five pies to choose from, this is a good thing. My favorite pie was my mother's raspberry pie, so delicious. And what I really liked about it was that it wasn't ashamed of being raspberry. There was some tart to it, which is what raspberries taste like. There is also some comfort in knowing the raspberries came from our own patch.

I watched a lot of football over the weekend. At one point on Saturday night, I was keeping fairly close tabs on three different games. I know I have a sickness. Most symptomatic of my illness is that I woke up at 6:50 am Sunday to leave SD so that I would be back in Lincoln for the Bears game.

The only travel drama came fifteen miles from home in Redfield where we got a flat tire. Then, of course, our limp-along tire also went flat. This was a very fortunate instance, all things considered, because we could have gotten stuck along the interstate somewhere; instead we just waited for Denny to pick us up. No big deal.

May the only things you consume this holiday season be conversation with friends, homemade food, and (some other good thing, suggestions welcome in the comments section). Don't worry about stimulating the economy; it's doing fine.

Latrobe, PA*

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine?

Michael Douglas worked for KQED in Pittsburgh, PA. He even worked on Mister Roger's Neighborhood and got to run the trolley. Later he changed his name to Michael Keaton. He was the host of a documentary on Fred Rogers that I rented from Netflix. Great stuff. What became quite apparent, aside from his mission to help children accept and express all their feelings, is the importance of and his dexterity with music and lyrics. A couple songs the documentary highlighted are "Everybody's Fancy" and "It's You I Like." Fred shared this song during congressional testimony that resulted in $20 million dollars for NET, a precursor to PBS.

*Fred was born there.

I hope each of you has a special Thanksgiving this year. Enjoy your time with friends and family and food.

It's such a good feeling to know you're alive. It's such a happy feeling: You're growing inside. And when you wake up ready to say, "I think I'll make a snappy new day," it's such a good feeling, a very good feeling, the feeling you know that I'll be back when the day is new, and I'll have more ideas for you. And you'll have things you want to talk about. I will too.

Vesper's

Tonight I went to Casino Royale. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will give it a 4.5 out of 5. I would watch it again in the theatre, Wendy. All the acting is spot on. The action is spot on too. Those who enjoyed Crash, with Matt Dillon, not James Spader, might appreciate that Paul Haggis contributed to the screenplay.

This is a wonderful beginning for Bond, and Daniel Craig as Bond. And as the end of the credits promises: JAMES BOND WILL RETURN. What a surprise! I was thinking they might settle with their second largest weekend opening in the franchise's history and call it a day, never to return.

One of my favorite finishing touches on the film is the casting of Jeffrey Wright. I first appreciated him in Syriana; however, I've also seen him in The Manchurian Candidate, Broken Flowers, and Lady in the Water. He reminds me a bit of Michael (take that as you will).

A quick update on my television watching for those who care: I like Bear Grylls. First, I like his name. Second, I like his TV show Man vs. Wild. The first episode I saw was in the Moab Desert, the second in the Costa Rican rainforest. In the first episode he urinated on his head dressing to keep his head cooler. I'm in the process of finishing the second episode and right now he has diarrhea and stomach cramps, probably from the river water he drank. He's "hoping it's not dysentery." (British pronounciation)

The second show I've picked up since my last monitor lizard update is Top Chef season 2. The first season had some really unwatchable participants, but this year is much, much better, with a better hostess and some seemingly very quality cheves. That is all for now.

Go Big Blue!

The Prestige

I saw this film Thursday afternoon after a seminar I attended for work. I think the reviews I read about it were accurate. The main characters are flat emotionally, but I don't think that is a bad thing, and actually fulfills the requirement of the role. One thing I liked even more as I was walking home was the layering of the story. This I attribute, not to Christopher Nolan and his brother, but to Christopher Priest who wrote the novel of the same name. I just want to say here that I think Scarlett Johansson is overrated. This is the sixth movie with her I've seen, and I haven't noticed improvement or versatility, only increased publicity.

One woman I have taken a liking to is the woman in the red striped shirt in the new Intel commercials. She's cute, and she can dance, and she can wink, something I've never been able to do. I probably have an official crush on her.

In other film watching news, I saw Layer Cake last night. This is one of Daniel Craig's many auditions to become the newest James Bond. He was also in a Tomb Raider and played a secret agent in Munich. In Layer Cake, he is the reluctant thug, having to do one last deal before getting out of the business. His role as jealous son of Paul Newman in Road to Perdition probably wasn't included when considering him for Bond. TTFN

Viva Sardinia!

Of the many sights I saw when I went to Virginia, the Sardinian flag was one of them. It was hanging from the corner of a house in the gated community of Lake Monticello, where my aunt and uncle live. It wasn't until yesterday evening that I found out what it was. According to my aunt, a couple of older women live in the home. From the road it looked like the heads were blindfolded, and it seemed like it could have been a fairly racist standard, but the explanation here places it as either religious or respectful. Corsica also uses the Moor's Head on their flag.

My other joy of the evening was watching Lincoln's No Coast Derby Girls' travelling team, the Mad Maxines, beat the Chi-Town Sirens 145-65. This also means new names from the registery of roller girl names. The Sirens brought Helsa Wayton, Donna D'Apocalypse, Celia Coffin, Psyche O'Sis, Shocka Conduit, and, my favorite, Beth Amphetamine.

"Vengeance is Mine," saith Chan-wook Park.

Last week I finished Mr. Park's Vengeance Trilogy. Lady Vengeance was the third. The first decision he made in creating the last film was to have a woman as the lead. He then intentionally cast against type a beautiful woman in that role. (He likened it to casting Audrey Hepburn in the role.) This "aggressive" act, confronting the audience with a beautiful woman committing these acts of vengeance, was sufficient for him, so he didn't have nearly as much violence on camera as his previous two in the trilogy (a man cutting off his own tongue, severed achille's tendons and the like). He felt that kind of violence would have been too much, too brash.

Once he decided on a female protagonist, this informed the rest of the film. He brought a more redemptive aspect to the film than the first two, and he had her share the retribution throughout, particularly in the end.

The three films are only linked by their director and theme, not plot. It works though; and while the first two are very violent, it would be best to watch them in order: Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Lady Vengeance. While the last is the most palatable for a general audience, the second is a very strong film that attacks the viewer with themes as much as images. The first is the director familiarizing himself with the material before really showing a mastery of it in the last two. Out of a possible ten, I give them 5, 7.5, and 8 respectively. Yeah, Korea!

The other film I watched last week was The Proposition. This is a "kangaroo Western." The director's genesis for this film was a camping trip in the Outback. He knew he wanted to use the landscape as a character in a film. He succeeded with this one. Writing-wise Hillcoat had Nick Cave on board to compose the music before the film was written, and ended up having Cave write it too.

My greatest joy from this film was the acting of Ray Winstone, Emily Watson, and Danny Huston. I previously enjoyed Winstone in Final Cut, Sexy Beast, Ripley's Game, King Arthur, and The Departed. However, this is probably his best performance. Watson I first saw in Hilary and Jackie, then Gosford Park, Punch-Drunk Love, Red Dragon, and Breaking the Waves. I've always been pleased with her, and she doesn't disappoint here.

Then there's Danny Huston, he upstages his brother in the film, Guy Pearce. I spent much of his time on camera trying to place where I'd seen him before. Finally after some research, I realized I'd seen him not too long ago in The Constant Gardner. Now is the time for six degrees of separation. Huston was in The Constant Gardner with Ralph Fiennes, who was in Red Dragon with Emily Watson, who was in The Propostion with Huston. Then of course is the revelation that Huston is the son of legendary director John Huston. Very nice.

Why Is T.O. Here?

That is the question that one of my favorite football columnist/authors addressed in a column a few weeks back. These are the books he suggested Terrell Owens, oft publicized wide receiver, read:

"Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl
"The Once and Future King" by T.H. White
"My Antonia" by Willa Cather
"Huckleberry Finn" by Samuel Clemens
"The Pursuit of Happiness" by David Myers
"I and Thou" by Martin Buber
"Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
"Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe
"Death Comes for the Archbishop" by Cather
"The Human Race" by Robert Antelme
"God in the Dock" by C.S. Lewis
"Omnipotence and Other Theological Mistakes" by Charles Hartshorne
"The Ghost Road" by Patricia Barker
"Our Town" by Thornton Wilder
"The House of Breath" by William Goyen

I've read two of these books and 'm familiar with a few others. Any books on this list my real friends can recommend?

Latest surname to catch my eye: DeBardelaben