This Is It Is Worth It

WOW!

Michael Jackson. This Is It. I really enjoyed this. I went to see it with no preconceived idea of what to really expect except a documentary. Open minded. Thrill me! I was mighty impressed.

While my feet kept tapping away, my mouth was half open half the time, in awe, once more, at the man’s ability to simply entertain as best as only he could.

He still had it! The beat, the steps, the moves and the voice.

The movie is a great celebration of a truly gifted performer’s art. Up close and personal, in rehearsal. It leaves a distinct after taste of “thank you for the music and the dancing.”

Michael Jackson RIP.

A Walk in a Park

One thing we are blessed with here in Kentucky is the beautiful, colorful sunsets. I am sure it has the same beautiful sunrises, but between all the usual suspects of life’s activities in the early morning I never get to see many of those sunrises.

Sometimes I will take my camera and cruise the park behind my property.

The scenery ain't much. There certainly is no dramatic scenery in the park.


It is visually a rather boring place for walking.
But then, it is first and foremost a recreational park.

But sometimes one can take the little scenery there is,

add a little atmosphere, light and a sense of tranquility,

and turn it into a moment of reflection and enjoyment.

It is just a walk in a park,

but it is a walk that one has to walk from time to time.

Semi's Shockers

The less said about the weekends semi finals of the Currie Cup, the better.

[You can obviously deduce that my team draw the shortest straw.]

But I saw this on another blog:

The Sharks are a group of brilliant "session" musicians that have joined up for a concert;

The Cheetahs and WP are good bands,

and the Blue Bulls are (sic) a rock group.

[Sure, but that doesn't mean I like the Bulls's heavy metal music.]

Where Are The Kangaroos?

Does anyone have a few brain cells they can do without to sell to Miss Kirsten Bell?

Don’t try to ring her bell because I don’t think anyone will answer.

Miss Bell, the starlet in the movie Couples Retreat, rated a dismal 15% only by the critics on Rotten Tomatoes, just returned to the US from a trip to Australia and in an interview she expressed her disappointment by the lack of kangaroos at the airport when she arrived in Australia.

Well Miss Bell, have you ever considered how disappointed Australians are when they arrive in America and find there are no grizzly bears at the airport to welcome them?

Damn! How inconsiderate can we Americans be by not ensuring foreigners are welcomed by our wild animals? Damnit twice!

Now I have to admit it is not just Miss Bell that holds these views of wild animals in public streets. I personally have been asked if there are still lions in the streets of Johannesburg, to which I usually answer: "Yes, in Johanannesburg there are many (referring to the Lions Rugby supporters), but not that many in Cape Town. I also recently read in an Internet forum where someone asked if visitors to South Africa for next year's Soccer World Cup will be safe against attacks from wild animals. To that I will also say: Yes, you are safe from the four legged animals, but watch out for the two legged kind.

Also see this article and what the Australian press think about Miss Bell's non-encounter with kangaroos.

What's that thing they say about blonds...

Conspiracy Theories

Do authors of suspense and espionage novels provide ideas to politicians, terrorists, and anyone else that would like to rule the world or are they just excellent at predicting what the bad guys will come up with in the near future or do they have special access to people in the know or secret information that is already available but on a restricted basis?

We all know of Tom Clancy’s 1994 novel, Debt of Honor and the sequel Executive Orders that was so prophetically reminiscent of the September 11, 2001 attack using planes to crash into American buildings.

When I heard last Friday of the new secret nuclear facility in Iran I immediately thought of Christopher Reich’s 2008 novel, Rules of Deception, which starts off with the discovery by an Iranian soldier that their secret facility was discovered by someone else. I just finished the book, barely a month ago, so it’s still fresh in my memory, and again, like in Clancy’s novel, one could draw comparisons between some of the side plots in the novel and the stories that are playing out on the front pages of the newspapers or on the 24 hour news networks.

Creepy!