![]() The month begins with a return - it was actually a few weeks ago, to building the set for Windsor Light’s Cinderella scheduled for early May. On the world stage, Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. Things (as of March 2nd) do not look good for Ukraine even though their resistance has exceeded Putin’s (and the West’s) expectations. There is something about this war that feels strange - like the last bastion of an old world - the defence of the criminal. Putin and the Russian oligarchs are rich because they stole the financial heritage of the Russian people. On another level, the players in this war have appeared at this time to show the way by dying for a cause - democracy. Trump supporters are looking more like dupes the longer his candidacy for President continues - another awakening. Truck drivers, who held Ottawa hostage for a month now look like spoiled children - faced with a real war they would run and hide - their excuse? Not my Canada as long as Justin is in charge. Oil companies have shown that they prefer to serve the shareholder and hold the world hostage to high-profit margins. Those who complain about government intervention and want unfettered capitalism, now want government controls because it costs too much to fill their pickup trucks. ![]() Maybe Covid was introduced by an alien inter-dimensional species to induce changes in human DNA - we need to break the cycle we are living or our world will not survive. Climate change is real. Fiscal deficits are real and will never be repaid. Insurance companies will begin to fail due to climate disasters (they will be propped up by governments - free money see AIG bailout 2008) There are now 3 million Ukrainian refugees, climate change is predicted to create 2 billion people fleeing from rising oceans, wildfires, and floods. You may think I’m just a worrywart. Time will tell. All Dressed Up and No Place to Go I looked in four stores at the Mall, then Walmart, Winners, and Marks Work Warehouse for a white dress shirt. Nope. Tomorrow Collins Tuxedo Rentals - yep got one. Paid dearly for a shirt someone had already worn. What can you do? Mar 3 Volunteered as an usher at the Capitol Theatre for the first time in about 2 years - things are opening up. This event was a WIFF (Windsor International Film Festival) film. I worked one movie - the Japanese film “Drive My Car”. Rotten Tomatoes has a 98% rating and the audience rating it 80%. It's 3 hours long!! subtitled, and to me - boring. Yes, it has a deep philosophical theme - but that theme seemed rather pedestrian, and we’ve seen it many times before. You might want to pay to see this because if it’s free on TV, you will probably fast forward a lot. ![]() The New Art of War We are learning a new lesson in the art of war - one that may bring an end to what we once believed was necessary. The world is waging both cyber and economic war, isolating Russia. Banks and credit card companies have closed, social media is down, western franchise stores are closed, no one is buying anything Russian, billionaires are trying to hide their yachts - and this will anger the average Russian to the point that Putin may be removed, one way or the other. After this conflict is over, more eastern European countries will request NATO inclusion and democracy will creep closer to Moscow. In time it will be engulfed, leaving only the Chinese and hardcore Muslim countries to the long failure. Not to say that democracy will not have its doomsday, just further out. One world government will prevail in the end. Well, perhaps not prevail, but be the last resort before the fall. Mar 4 The first day of gardening this year. Raked the lawn and washed windows. Next door neighbour washed his car. It was a nice warm day. I paid $5 to watch an old movie - "Donovans Reef" with John Wayne. So bad. Lesson learned - before watching one of these “pay for” movies, check Rotten Tomatoes. I later posted on the TCM (Turner Classic Movies) that I'd watched it and commented that it has not aged well. About 100 replies - split 50/50. (up/down) Ides of March The weather has been very nice and I’ve done a lot of the early gardening - lawns raked, beds cleaned, and ivy trimmed back. ![]() March 21 Final pack for two weeks in Puerto Vallarta Mexico. Loaded the car and headed up to London to see Dan Meeza, a professional bookbinder and restoration expert. I was taking the old cottage guest book as it was falling apart and was not usable - the pages were all torn and falling out. The first entry was from 1949 and the last from 1971. It’s a cottage treasure and keepsake so this was an attempt to rescue it. I think he lived alone with 3 budgies - which were in the room where we looked at the project - they chirped the entire time - except when he went to his workshop for a sample - then they all were quiet looking at me. Dan said he could fix it, it would not be cheap, somewhere between $800 - $1,000. He said once he fixed it, it would still be worthless. We agreed to proceed. I gassed the car and made my way back to the highway (401 west) and made my way to Mississauga, had a nap from 3 to 4. Next was dinner with James, John, Laurel, Anthea, and Mabel the dog. We ordered a nice meal from Pappa Peppi’s but I felt a little off after - it might have been the wine or the calamari. I got back in the car around 7:30 after saying our goodbyes and headed up to Brampton to my sister Holly’s for the night. We sat and talked for an hour, she and her husband Kim had recently returned from a two-week visit to the American west - San Diego, the Grand Canyon, and Flagstaff - where they visited some cousins. I set Alexa for 5:30. I stayed at Holly’s as they were having a car repaired and could use mine for the two weeks. Kim drove me to the airport where I did the departure shuffle - you check yourself in, create your own baggage claim, put the bag on the belt, then through the security check. Was very crowded for 6:00 am dozens of flights all heading south. Boarded around 7:45 and was still feeling off. And then there was the slap heard around the world. ![]() Read Bringers of the Dawn: Teachings from the Pleiadians by Barbara Marciniak, Tera Thomas (Editor) FTW: Compiled from more than four hundred hours of channelling by Barbara Marciniak, Bringers of the Dawn imparts to us the wisdom of the Pleiadians, a group of enlightened beings who have come to Earth to help us discover how to reach a new stage of evolution. Master storytellers and humorists, they advise us to become media free, to work in teams, and to eliminate the words "should" and "try" from our vocabularies. We learn how to go beyond fear, how the original human was a magnificent being with twelve strands of DNA and twelve chakra centers, and who our "gods" are. This stuff is very far out there. Goodreads link here Sunrise to Windward (1987) Miles Smeeton FTW “Miles and Beryl Smeeton journey in their sailboat Tzu Hang from France to Japan. Amongst the many exotic and fascinating countries visited en route were Malta, the Seychelles, Mozambique, and Ceylon. From their safari in East Africa to their encounter with a Bedouin Tribe, Miles Smeeton presents a delightful array of characters and experiences in his customary vivacious and humorous style.” Having read so many sailing adventure books, I might have this desire out of my system. Not sure I would like to do this (anymore). Goodreads link here ![]() Viewed Killing Eve - Crave 2018 series 4 seasons on Crave. An artistic spy drama that is over the top with silliness. A female hitwoman is tracked down by MI5 and works on both sides. The protagonist - Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) - falls in love with her and the fun ensues. Famous for the outfits of the killer - Villanelle (Jodie Comer). Enjoyable if you don’t mind some blood. Drive My Car 2021 FTW “Two years after his wife's unexpected death, Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a renowned stage actor and director, receives an offer to direct a production of Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There, he meets Misaki Watari (Toko Miura), a taciturn young woman assigned by the festival to chauffeur him in his beloved red Saab 900. As the production's premiere approaches, tensions mount among the cast and crew, not least between Yusuke and Koji Takatsuki, a handsome TV star who shares an unwelcome connection to Yusuke's late wife. Forced to confront painful truths raised from his past, Yusuke begins -- with the help of his driver -- to face the haunting mysteries his wife left behind. Adapted from Haruki Murakami's short story, Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Drive My Car is a haunting road movie traveling a path of love, loss, acceptance, and peace. Winner of three prizes at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, including Best Screenplay.” Already mentioned, I didn’t care for it. However, about 1/3 of the film is about auditions and then the rehearsals for the play “Uncle Vanya” by Anton Chekhov. So we are watching a movie that must obviously have had rehearsals about a film of rehearsals. In a few spots, we are an audience sitting in a theatre watching people sitting in a theatre watching the play. In the end, it’s about continuing on after loss and suffering - not giving up. There is a spot where the protagonist and the driver’s hands are shown holding cigarettes up through the sunroof as they drive along. This reminded me of the hands on the glass at the end of The Card Counter. Returned to Source William Hurt (1950) As I post this (at the end of the month), I’m still in Mexico - so will create a separate entry for a summary of the vacation when I return.
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AuthorI believe we are what we think. What we think depends on what we feed our brains. This is a partial record of what my brain has been eating. Archives
February 2023
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