Game of Thrones has the best opening to any TV show in years...YEARS.
Cat in Awe...the fist time watching the Empire Strikes Back
I host trivia for a side gig. This was one of the answers to a question that I was asking for four states that did something or other. I was asking for four STATES. America.
I don't really get any pleasure out of blazing one. It just never has really affected me. But to be fair, once you have enjoyed the sweet caress of morphine during a cancer battle, nothing really compares.
Still, the illegality of marijuana is a bit silly in today's America.
CLICK HERE to see things that ARE legal in the United States.
(crimiminimal is a new word, enjoy it... "your crime is minimal")
Many people feel the American Dream is to settle into the suburbs, work a job, raise kids, and retire into being grandparents in the cookie cutter fashion. However, there are some people that crave a road less traveled...with much different scenery along the way.
If you have never seen "Revolutionary Road" then you have missed an incredible movie. Though set in the 50s, it is a timeless tale of suburban shift in our America history.
Leonardo Dicaprio plays a man who has settled into suburban America's pod life not unlike his father before. Kate Winslet is the little wishful thinker that marries him and then sadly follows him into the suburbs and into the pod life. Unhappiness brews for both of them. Contentiousness. Pod life often seems to do that.
She comes to an inspired plan for them to re-set things and go back to a place where they both can dream and create their lives without all of the constructs of the American life that neither of them ever wanted to fall into. Off to Paris to begin anew. Scene One:
Leonardo's character wants to once again dream as Kate's character still does. The decision is made. Everyone they know is surprised. It is an inspiring time. And with that, enters a disturbed family friend, played by Michael Shannon, that brings insight regarding their intentions with utter admiration. Though emotionally unbalanced, this character brings a different narrative voice for the story and is pulling for this couple all the way. He is their number one fan...and he seems to be a mirror. I believe this is the character that reveals truth from the author, even if in but a couple of quick scenes.
Scene Two:
Later, the ultimate quick anchor to living a pod life, parenthood, changes their plans. Now comes the realization that the wonderful couple that everyone admires and places their own hopes with has decided to abandon their big dreams and fall right back into normalcy. Shannon's character quickly becomes rather bitter with visceral disappointment as to why they chose to walk away from their dreams. Then reading between the lines, he makes accusations. However, they are perhaps not such wild accusations.
Why do most people end up doing that? Do people even know the moment when their hopes fade and they have decided to just settle. To simply appreciate what is left when they know they are probably resigning to reach for a lower rung on that ladder? Intriguing questions. Disturbing too. And Shannon's character (remember, emotionally unstable) suddenly loathes them for what he thinks is their cowardice. And they loathe him back because...they know. His character is the mirror...and they just know. Scene Three:
Now, this abandoned plan to move to Paris was only one aspect to the plot of the movie. But it is key and Shannon's character is a vital device in the story. "Revolutionary Road" is set in 1950s suburban America but it could very well be a modern day story. Phenomenal Movie. The book upon which it was based, must be brilliant.
So Elmore Leonard seems to be as good as it gets with the hard-boiled crime fighters writing. My Ex Life was all about him. No surprise that he created Deputy Marshall Raylan Givens and the exploits of Harlan County.
Click Here to read the Leonard novella that was the origins of the best tv shows you are probably not watching.
And Hulu is the best and you can click here to catch up on episodes of the show starring Timothy Olyphant.
Years ago, there was a young man who was going into farming, and he majored in philosophy. And people would always say to him, “You’re going into farming; why would you major in philosophy?” The young man would always say, “So I will have something to think about while I’m farming.”
No, it is not in fact a turkey leg from the Georgia Renaissance Festival. Truth be told, I have been working with a faith-based community group here in Atlanta that is helping alleviate the homeless problems. We had a celebratory event recently. That is part of the thigh bone of a drunk hobo that I had disposed of earlier that morning. It was a glorious day.
I happen to like animals more than humans. This is true.
I like to think this little pup survived the wrath of the Almighty upon the heathen land of the rising sun without having been raised Southern Baptist.
But if so, then he needs to get back on his four feet and back to peeing on copies of the Qur'an...for Terry Jones...and for Jesus.
