Internetless tonight

I've been without internet connection for the past five hours (except my phone, but that doesn't really count). It was almost as bad as when the electricity goes out. <br /><br />I even tried to watch a Netflix movie through the box thing we have when it displayed "your internet isn't connected" message. Oh yeah, no internet, I forgot. So no Netflix. It makes me wonder how I ever lived without the internet.<br /><br />My husband finally fixed it about 20 minutes ago, but it's 10:30p .m. It's past time my bedtime so I'm not writing much. I've been working on a post of why I gained 100 pounds. I'm too tired now to proof it before I post it. Tomorrow.

Internetless tonight

I've been without internet connection for the past five hours (except my phone, but that doesn't really count). It was almost as bad...

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Envivo De Michoacan

Of course I am here to learn Spanish in the best way possible, I believe – several hours each day in class – so far my classes are one on one (I may have a classmate soon) -- living with a family that speaks Spanish, and negotiating life in a strange city where it seems no one speaks English at all. It is sink or swim, and since I cannot swim, I am immersed.<br /><br />But I am learning a lot more than irregular verbs. This is a psycho-spiritual experience and a socio-political eye-opener. The content of all of that is barely beginning to be revealed. So far I can say it changes my dreams. I rarely remember my dreams at home, but here I am dreaming a lot, suenos extranjos, strange dreams with camels and chimpanzees. Something is up deep in my psyche.<br /><br />On a more conscious level, it is a different experience to hear the word “foreigner” applied to oneself. At home we are citizens. Abroad we are, in our eyes, tourists or pilgrims. But to those around us, we are foreigners, sojourners. The identity of the “foreigner” is at the heart of Jewish spirituality and ethics. “Give shelter to the foreigner for remember you were once foreigners in Egypt.” It actually goes back further to Abram who was sent to wander “in a land you do not know.” As Christians, we inherit that identity. We are citizens of the Heavenly City, not the Worldly City (St. Augustine) “This world is not my home. I’m just a-passin’ through.” Those words caution us against attachment to or identification with worldly pursuits or undue anxiety about worldly problems. But they also remind us that we are never to claim a land as ours so as to say to another, “you are a foreigner while I belong here and (more insidiously) here belongs to me.” Our true rootlessness, our sojournerhood, is so easy to forget in a place where we have a paper that evidences our “right,” our “claim” to land, where we have a driver’s license, and a voter registration card – all to “identify” us and identify us with the place. But when one is called a “foreigner,” it changes the way we look at the sojourner in our midst when we are at that place where “we belong.”<br /><br />It is hard to be in a different culture, where you cannot assume anything, where nothing can be done by habit, but every step must be thought out so as not to offend or cause some debacle. It is hard to have to struggle to remember even the few words one knows in order to accomplish the simplest exchange like the purchase of a bagel. It is hard to use currency in which the numbers are way out of line with the values in the currency one knows. That is what it is like for the immigrant in the United States. Do they do right or do they do wrong to come to Nevada for work? All I can say is that they do not do it lightly.<br /><br />Most of our immigrants face larger challenges than these. Most come, not from the northern states, but from far to the South, near Guatemala. It is not an easy walk or a short one. They know that many die in the Arizona desert. Do they do right or wrong? I can only say it is not a choice that they make lightly.<br /><br />Again, I am receiving remarkable hospitality here. I say this as one who has lived nearly two decades in the cultural capital of the Old South, where hospitality is a matter of pride celebrated in Southern Living Magazine. But the South offers no welcome, no “mi casa es su casa” comparable to the warm hearted caring of the people here in Morelia.<br /><br />A little about the city: Morelia has been here since the 16th Century. Antiquity and Spanish elegance define the city, patently in the Center City square, but subtly even at the corner Farmacia. It is not a skyscraper city, but it is a huge college town. There are multiple institutions of higher learning including graduate schools in law, medicine, architecture, accounting, etc. There are 100,000 students in Morelia. Like students in the United States, their challenge is employment. They will soon have degrees to prepare them for jobs that do not exist in the present economy.<br /><br />However, I met an interesting man this morning at the coffee shop. Although from Morelia, he is either an American citizen or permanent resident alien. One way or another, he has a home in Sacramento and the legal right to work and pay taxes in California. But here he is. He came to Mexico from the United States to find work.

Envivo De Michoacan

Of course I am here to learn Spanish in the best way possible, I believe – several hours each day in class – so far my classes are one on on...

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1 Pound Down!

After a week of working out all 5 days, and eating just so-so, I am pleased to report a loss of one pound!  I hope to keep this momentum going next week as well.  My challenges were of the eating kind - fast food was an enticing option this weekend on more than 1 occasion.  Plus I failed on the water element as well.  But I did make it to the gym 2 weeks in a row for all 5 days!  And I lost a pound! Yay!  <br /><br /><a href="http://www.3fatchicks.net/index11.php"><img border="0" src="http://www.3fatchicks.net/img/tulip-bar/slider-scale/lb/0/95.2/1/.png"></a>

1 Pound Down!

After a week of working out all 5 days, and eating just so-so, I am pleased to report a loss of one pound!  I hope to keep this momentum goi...

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My story and my trigger

I read a really great post this morning written by Lynn at <a href="http://lynnsweigh.blogspot.com/">Lynn's Weigh</a> (love her, she's another one of my heroes). She tells the story about the one thing that triggered her start towards being a weight loss success story. She realized she was worthy of good health.<br /><br />Even though I'm not yet a weight loss success story, I will be one day. Here's the story of my one thing...<br /><br /><strong>Flash to February 2006</strong><br />After years of crash diets, Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, South Beach (the list goes on and on) I weighed 240 pounds. This was the heaviest I had ever weighed. In college I got up to 145 pounds and I remember how I thought I was such a fat pig. When I met my husband 25 years ago I was 132 (I'm 5' 6"). I was trying to starve myself to what I thought was my ideal weight of 125. <br /><br />How did I get to 240 pounds at the age of 51? More importantly, why? I had difficulty walking. I wouldn't even attempt to climb the two flights of stairs to my office, I'd take the elevator. I was uncomfortable and miserable. The clothes that did fit looked terrible on me. My self-loathing was at an all-time high.<br /><br />I remember when I ripped the seat out of two pairs of size 18 jeans trying to squeeze my very ample behind into too small clothing. Both times the ripped jeans incident happened while I was at work. Those were two of the most embarrassing moments of my life. The fabric simply couldn't stretch to fit my size 20 (probably more like size 22) bottom. I bought my first pair of size 20 slacks, and I was horrified. I was more depressed than at any other point in my life. Yet I still wouldn't or couldn't get motivated to do anything about my weight. It was like I was frozen in some sort of self-made hell.<br /><br />Then I starting having strange pains in my joints. They came on suddenly one night as I was sitting in my recliner watching TV (we no longer own recliners). The agony started as shooting, knife cutting pains in my left knee. It was excruciating. I could barely stand up. I had no idea what was wrong. The pains lasted for a few hours and then went away. It happened again the next night and the next. Then the pain just disappeared. <br /><br />A few days later the same type of pain started in my left elbow, again, at night while sitting in my recliner. It scared me. I thought I must have some horrible, life-threatening disease. The pain would move around to different joints every few days. Left knee, right knee, shoulders, elbows. Yet I refused to go to the doctor, because, well, you probably guessed, I was embarrassed about my weight gain of 60 pounds since the previous year. I know that sounds crazy, but it's the truth.<br /><br />One day around this time of the strange pains I was walking by the pharmacy in a drugstore. I stopped to take my blood pressure at one of those free machines. I'd always prided myself on my great blood pressure and low cholesterol levels, even during my fat phases in my life my blood pressure was always around 120/60. The reading on the machine:  <strong>180/110</strong>. Seriously? Could that even be possible and still stand upright? I thought the machine must be broken. I went to two different drugstores and used their blood pressure machines, all the readings were very close to 180/110. <br /><br />I was scared to death. This time I knew I really could die. I was 51. I called my doctor and she told me to get a free BP check at the fire station where they would use a regular blood pressure cuff (I never knew why she did this, I have medical insurance). She said maybe the machines were inaccurate. That was another really embarrassing moment when me, the fat, middle-aged woman asked the gorgeous, hunky firefighter to take my blood pressure. When he had to get the extra large sized cuff because of my fat upper arm, I wanted to die. The results were once again 180/110. He looked at the number and told me I needed to see my doctor immediately. <br /><br />This time I knew my life was in danger, and I saw my doctor. She immediately put me on blood pressure medicine. I'm off of the medication now, and I check on my own blood pressure all the time at home. Lately it's been a little on the high side, 128/73. I know it's the last 25 pounds I gained back.<br /><br />My doctor also talked to me about my weight. She held one of my hands in her hands, she looked me in the eye and said "Diana, you're a beautiful woman. Why are you doing this to yourself? You have to lose the weight or you are going to die." The "you are going to die" part really shook me up. I could see her concern, and knew she was saying this to help me. I knew I had to do something about my weight.<br /><br />I immediately started a diet. South Beach, a diet I'd done the year before and lost 40 pounds before giving up and gaining it all back, plus some. It was the first "diet" that I actually felt like I could probably live with the rest of my life.  However, after several months of South Beach, but still counting calories, I had only lost 20 pounds. I was stuck and finding myself slipping back to old habits.<br /><br />That's when a friend at work asked me to join the Weight Watcher "at work program". Reluctantly I joined with her since I was stalled on my own, but I secretly knew it wouldn't work for me. The first week I did everything perfectly, eating all my Points, my activity Points and my Weekly Points. I was sure this was too much food, and I'd gain even more weight. I lost seven pounds the first week following the plan exactly. I proceeded to lose a total of 60 pounds in seven months and then, I'm not sure why, I just quit. I gained it all back very quickly.<br /><strong>February 2008, this time it is for real</strong><br />There I was again, February of 2008, sitting at 240 pounds. I needed to lose 100 pounds. Why did I do this to myself over and over? I never once tried to answer this question and really thought I just didn't have any willpower. When in reality, I have willpower of steel. <br /><br />Once again I joined Weight Watchers because it felt like the right thing to do. I knew it worked. This time I did something different, I started using my gym membership, going almost every day. I'd had that membership since 1996 but had probably only been to the gym ten times in 12 years. Now I go almost every day for an hour or more, I really believe the exercise <u>and</u> Weight Watchers is what has changed my life.<br /><br />You're probably thinking, but Diana, it's been almost three years and you're still not at goal. You are correct. I've been struggling for months, in fact, pretty much for all of 2010. I'll call that my lost year. I started the year at 180 pounds and ended it at 180 pounds. I dropped down during the year to 162 but never got back to my 2009 low of 152. True, 2010 wasn't my greatest year, yet I take great pride in the little fact that I didn't go back up to 240 pounds. My goal was and still is 135 pounds.<br /><br />I still believe Weigh Watchers is the best plan for me. I know it doesn't work for everyone, and we each have to find the thing that works for us. Whether it's counting calories or even a surgical procedure, there's something out there that will work. In truth, they all work. <br /><br />What I'm finding out is that the real work is looking inside of ourselves and really finding out the "why" of our overeating. Why did we get overweight in the first place? That's the real question. <br /><br />To say "well, I just love food and I can't help it" is not the answer. I said that same thing for years. Nothing wrong with me, I just lov efood. The truth, most people love food yet they don't have the issues of overeating like the morbidly obese. Without self-examination we can still lose weight, but it's very questionable whether we can keep it off forever. You know how I know? Because I've been there, done that....more times than I can count. Now I'm working from the inside out, versus just focusing on the outside. <br /><br />Like Lynn asked, what was your one thing that triggered you into starting a weigh loss plan, and this time you know it's for good? Have you figured out what caused you to become overweight in the first place? I'll share with you in a later post what I think caused me to gain 100 pounds, lose it several times, and never keep it off in the past.<br /><br /><strong>Pictures</strong><br />A before picture, 240 pounds. This was right before the stange pains started. I didn't think I was a person worthy of good health. I just thought I was fat, ugly and stupid (I had just started a new job). When I saw this picture I was horrified but it still didn't make me try to lose weight. It took a death threat to make me take action.<br /><br />Now I'm working on learning to like myself, and acknowledging that I am worthy of being healthy.  It's not just about gaining the weight, it's about so much more.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3rfAgZcDoopldMJsitZflYyx9sag5IM9O-9GRhErH5e_6F_Z6x5csx5RLuoxZR_82vLY97GIvrbdJ0jRnxs7o-ZxCDY95kqHQ7AI7VeyHVpxnNBMTTJYaBXZ6qaqS8Uw72ttG4hPoqx4n/s1600/240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="373" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3rfAgZcDoopldMJsitZflYyx9sag5IM9O-9GRhErH5e_6F_Z6x5csx5RLuoxZR_82vLY97GIvrbdJ0jRnxs7o-ZxCDY95kqHQ7AI7VeyHVpxnNBMTTJYaBXZ6qaqS8Uw72ttG4hPoqx4n/s400/240.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />240, from the backside:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzSKQ_BR88qNMh_pcxa-QTQtq9Y8TLztLA7OJ2d7S2k5bY9smu1ZDKgQvKEHO8V6ENFj_dC2cYd7-Im2DGNbErmi0kIMu5L5WR8H-trWDbcg6GffaZS_aCR4HUtmDdrRkJ5Fr7ms9jOuzf/s1600/Wedding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzSKQ_BR88qNMh_pcxa-QTQtq9Y8TLztLA7OJ2d7S2k5bY9smu1ZDKgQvKEHO8V6ENFj_dC2cYd7-Im2DGNbErmi0kIMu5L5WR8H-trWDbcg6GffaZS_aCR4HUtmDdrRkJ5Fr7ms9jOuzf/s400/Wedding.jpg" width="233" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I don't have an after picture because I'm not at goal. Today I weigh 179, so I found this picture where I weighed 175 from 2008. My hair is different now, a little shorter, but I'm too lazy to put on makeup and take a picture today. I still have a lot of work to do on myself, inside and out, but I'm working on it. It's a multi-faceted project. :)<br /><br />2011 is going to be my year!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqmEr93bjOavHEJfRTgBMgy38uXa0G5cryTT_VCUQ8aL76glyPRPI_PpC1WJhdfaSOJVSGUQUjqVaKB6JsbIh1HnNMdCtW5XFuStLQoVzIuqe7ep5uCcLcYeZdcy8fkvOUNTLJwteGAtQO/s1600/Diana_170.8_cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqmEr93bjOavHEJfRTgBMgy38uXa0G5cryTT_VCUQ8aL76glyPRPI_PpC1WJhdfaSOJVSGUQUjqVaKB6JsbIh1HnNMdCtW5XFuStLQoVzIuqe7ep5uCcLcYeZdcy8fkvOUNTLJwteGAtQO/s400/Diana_170.8_cropped.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>

trigger My story and my trigger

I read a really great post this morning written by Lynn at Lynn's Weigh  (love her, she's another one of my heroes). She tells the s...

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CMBA Hitchcock Blogathon: THREE CLASSIC HITCHCOCK KILLERS

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1sTkNuLpILQBIYClxPzrA9BjkSWlfqci5ASygvGEhyphenhyphenSW5ewWXZipgP_YF8KEtnzopUtGT3MLNv5qTcpJDZWphKYCJZw5RkRj0kfzrB5s4E9azFqAAviCGE059MZhFBkzexGiIWnU9HD0Q/s1600/Hitchcock+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1sTkNuLpILQBIYClxPzrA9BjkSWlfqci5ASygvGEhyphenhyphenSW5ewWXZipgP_YF8KEtnzopUtGT3MLNv5qTcpJDZWphKYCJZw5RkRj0kfzrB5s4E9azFqAAviCGE059MZhFBkzexGiIWnU9HD0Q/s320/Hitchcock+cropped.jpg" width="292" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">Alfred Hitchcock once remarked that, “in the old days villains had moustaches and kicked the dog.”  He resisted such <span style="font-family: Arial;">clichés</span>, preferring a different kind of heavy, the sort he called “an ordinary human being with failings.”  The director also said, referring to his own work, “the more successful the villain, the more successful the picture,” and though this was not always the case, it held true for some of his best films. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Three villains who reflect his preferences and support his contention come quickly to mind:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Charles Oakley, the “Merry Widow” killer in <b>Shadow of a Doubt</b> (1943) </span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Bruno Anthony, the “Criss Cross” strangler of <b>Strangers on a Train</b> (1951)</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Norman Bates, the identity-challenged slayer in <b>Psycho</b> (1960)</span></li></ul></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxM8Wj_Dmmg0apMD83IJCJng6rBWAaYOCs1V9H3yp-WBKP8YHKCzYdDI45-qV4IbakSyy1_zth8sXDdP2BBRFs1CQ9YMdTrkWEtvMWIGnQsoU-cVr3YjokT0FC4bF_zUadYkbKKCePi6rL/s1600/shadow+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="273" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxM8Wj_Dmmg0apMD83IJCJng6rBWAaYOCs1V9H3yp-WBKP8YHKCzYdDI45-qV4IbakSyy1_zth8sXDdP2BBRFs1CQ9YMdTrkWEtvMWIGnQsoU-cVr3YjokT0FC4bF_zUadYkbKKCePi6rL/s320/shadow+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shadow of a Doubt: Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b></b></span><br /><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Shadow of a Doubt</b> is the film Hitchcock sometimes claimed </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">was his favorite. It was one in a string of hits he made during his first years in the U.S.; some call it his first truly "American" film. Joseph Cotten as Charles Oakley is spellbinding, beginning with the rich velvety rasp of his voice. Uncle Charlie’s suave veneer and practiced charm belie his homicidal impulses and he is welcomed with open arms into a wholesome small town.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Strangers on a Train</b> was a major hit and responsible for reviving Hitchcock’s career after a series of mid-century flops. Robert Walker’s hypnotic performance as the bizarrely unbalanced Bruno is so powerful he dominates the entire film. Bruno, glib and witty, smoothly finagles his way into the lives of the unwary.</span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG3cMcYGF4T630zTGo-XpaD00UWPM_OKHLbSdG13jG_oNuYyCjuWi7A4cpYjtP4diCIOWmryk7rB6YNAZj2jbaqwqbawGe_SVHI6uhWbBQAvjAmg_1_JzWhzaUt6NlUSHpFI1inZY_O7qc/s1600/psycho+3+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG3cMcYGF4T630zTGo-XpaD00UWPM_OKHLbSdG13jG_oNuYyCjuWi7A4cpYjtP4diCIOWmryk7rB6YNAZj2jbaqwqbawGe_SVHI6uhWbBQAvjAmg_1_JzWhzaUt6NlUSHpFI1inZY_O7qc/s320/psycho+3+cropped.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Psycho: Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Psycho</b> was a sensation, the great groundbreaking masterpiece of Hitchcock’s later career.  The personality of Norman Bates is the crux of the plot and Anthony Perkins’s portrayal is both riveting and far-reaching. An engaging young fellow, Norman appears harmless and accommodating to those who stay at the Bates Motel.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Hitchcock cleverly selected actors for these roles who were not known for playing heavies; each was immensely talented as well as cast soundly against type.</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Joseph Cotten, 37 when cast as Uncle Charlie, had made his screen debut in <b>Citizen Kane </b>(1941) as down-to-earth reporter Jedediah Leland. He had also portrayed the protagonist in Welles’s <b>The Magnificent Ambersons </b>(1942) and went on to play sympathetic leads in several films following <b>Shadow of a Doubt</b>.</span></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-0Cft2NZQQ-AwM2ykqyfSHXybe_1CNbjRFjbA5dlaCxAX1moe6TsWFemHkWQIPw6NFr7a6YWwmDqK5MKHpncKVtLAwwKfxLbz20YOGquULYRMSVOP3ToBSjR9YdAikjRZdvyvyMQL_XDO/s1600/strangers+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-0Cft2NZQQ-AwM2ykqyfSHXybe_1CNbjRFjbA5dlaCxAX1moe6TsWFemHkWQIPw6NFr7a6YWwmDqK5MKHpncKVtLAwwKfxLbz20YOGquULYRMSVOP3ToBSjR9YdAikjRZdvyvyMQL_XDO/s320/strangers+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strangers on a Train: Farley Granger and Robert Walker</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In his 2007 autobiography Farley Granger remembered that after he had been cast as Guy Haines, Hitchcock asked him what he would think if Robert Walker were to play Bruno Anthony in <b>Strangers on a Train</b>. Granger recalled Joseph Cotten in <b>Shadow of a Doubt</b> as “masterful surprise casting” and, thinking of Walker’s earlier roles, responded, “What a terrific idea!”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Walker, 31 when he portrayed Bruno, had been knocking around Hollywood for years, repeatedly cast in boy-next-door roles. He had played young servicemen throughout World War II – <b>Bataan </b>(1943), <b>Since You Went Away </b>(1944), <b>Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo </b>(1944), <b>The Clock </b>(1945) and in the Private Hargrove films. <b>Strangers on a Train</b>, a testament to his remarkable versatility, was the last film he completed before his sudden death.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXyiXgdEPS2ZFQZ0eZpgBLdVaLIx19UtzWG8JvIR58jwJNNv6FjHohmxkm91QWOawg587TV4LqoySUjuymEoF0T7nzztfzZMvz9CmQddd0cMpK43-oxCSjVUD4_GEcIoD3tDYF4AeLuHI9/s1600/psycho+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXyiXgdEPS2ZFQZ0eZpgBLdVaLIx19UtzWG8JvIR58jwJNNv6FjHohmxkm91QWOawg587TV4LqoySUjuymEoF0T7nzztfzZMvz9CmQddd0cMpK43-oxCSjVUD4_GEcIoD3tDYF4AeLuHI9/s320/psycho+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anthony Perkins in Psycho</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Anthony Perkins, 28 when he played Norman Bates, had been cast mostly as sensitive, sincere young men prior to becoming a Hitchcock killer:  <b>Friendly Persuasion </b>(1956), <b>Fear Strikes Out</b> (1957), <b>The Tin Star </b>(1957) <b>Green Mansions </b>(1959). Afterward, Perkins became synonymous with <b>Psycho</b> and critic Robin Wood spoke for many when he mused, “…the saddest casualty of Norman Bates’s murder spree was Perkins’s career.” </span></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">None of these three actors had been or would ever be a top star though David O. Selznick tried hard to make a leading man of Cotten.  It's no stretch to say that each actor’s greatest role was his turn as a Hitchcock killer.</span></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The relationship between these villainous characters is as interesting as the similarities the three actors share.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">  </span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1266WpbLr1JcXZl8QSQXQjZeVJYUMtWj6gtK-xarfkdkSxlIG-SJEdN2IIT1OQFHhfPLtQy4eL4Y3iJqGBB-g-teMO34WmGKIub_o0XivgO5g0BiXNDYfnpvV0-WQdEGsfCkJwjVCF0q/s1600/strangers+2+resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1266WpbLr1JcXZl8QSQXQjZeVJYUMtWj6gtK-xarfkdkSxlIG-SJEdN2IIT1OQFHhfPLtQy4eL4Y3iJqGBB-g-teMO34WmGKIub_o0XivgO5g0BiXNDYfnpvV0-WQdEGsfCkJwjVCF0q/s320/strangers+2+resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Walker in Strangers on a Train</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoBodyText" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In his <u>Hitchcock’s Films Revisited</u>, Robin Wood pondered Hitchcock’s avowed disinterest in actors with a grain of salt:  “…one needs to account for the numerous superb performances…” and specifically referenced Cotten, Walker and Perkins. Though he acknowledged that some actors, left to their own devices, might capably seize the moment, Wood believed there was “…more reason to deduce that there are certain performances – or more exactly, certain <i>roles </i>– which arouse in Hitchcock a particular creative interest.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">What these three personalities seem to most obviously have in common is a complex psychology rooted in family relationships. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> <br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv038Uiq0daookwCllsr0TcgdE91jpwYoSTUfVrDxI3xFKaxvLhCUqCBSByiA0TslIBymZ9NatC7OxDks4-c33nmKy7KLBGboZmDu3K9etNMo3K7VlmC2_PnWanlpokL2UJqcTbhKni_xP/s1600/shadow+2+cropped+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv038Uiq0daookwCllsr0TcgdE91jpwYoSTUfVrDxI3xFKaxvLhCUqCBSByiA0TslIBymZ9NatC7OxDks4-c33nmKy7KLBGboZmDu3K9etNMo3K7VlmC2_PnWanlpokL2UJqcTbhKni_xP/s320/shadow+2+cropped+a.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joseph Cotten in Shadow of a Doubt</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial;">Early in <b>Shadow of a Doubt</b> it is revealed that dapper Uncle Charlie was the youngest in his family, badly spoiled by mother and older sister. His attitude toward men suggests he is used to being top dog and his attentiveness to women implies his seductive powers. But Charlie, with his “spirit wounded and festering” (Lindsay Anderson), is deeply disdainful of everyone.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Dissipated playboy Bruno Anthony of <b>Strangers on a Train</b> still lives at home in the family mansion. He is an only child, coddled by an addled mother and dismissed by a powerful father. Bruno seems to have little interest in women though, like Charlie, he manipulates them easily. While his behavior hints at sexual identity issues, he desperately schemes to dethrone his hated father.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Norman Bates in <b>Psycho</b> is also an only child. Norman appears to be the hapless victim of a domineering mother. Whatever the actual dynamics of the mother/son relationship, Norman never matured or successfully transitioned to manhood. He is awkward and twitchy, if sometimes boyishly charming, as he navigates the dark and chaotic world he shares with his mother.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVksiMlvRbP16_pZHma46KkThCLHJgaM26FAwKrjX-rMkt6y9tux1S5ipdUxarMxWW2fcyny1YqPQHNnPvlfDq717JXl9t7EiIL-oPb4gt91vLbUnW6hwOlO_FdeQZQoEzlOnmdsAjnnw/s1600/shadow+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVksiMlvRbP16_pZHma46KkThCLHJgaM26FAwKrjX-rMkt6y9tux1S5ipdUxarMxWW2fcyny1YqPQHNnPvlfDq717JXl9t7EiIL-oPb4gt91vLbUnW6hwOlO_FdeQZQoEzlOnmdsAjnnw/s320/shadow+1.jpg" width="251" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncle Charlie visits Santa Rosa</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial;">Hitchcock additionally bestowed upon each of these villains one of his favorite motifs, a "double"…all three have one. Uncle Charlie and his namesake niece/twin, “Young Charlie,” engage in a fierce battle to the death. Bruno proposes to his less sinister double, Guy, that they “trade murders,” but later perceives a “double-cross”…and Norman, well, with Norman Hitchcock takes his fascination with alter-egos to the extreme; Norman has two personas.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In essence, each character is a progressive reworking of a character type and it strikes me how each also fits neatly into the era in which he "lives."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">On the surface, Uncle Charlie is the most civilized of the three killers. He is courtly and chivalrous, very polished – and entitled. <b>Shadow of a Doubt</b> is set during the early days of WWII. As eventually in the war, good triumphs over evil, but much innocence is lost in the fight. David Sterritt commented on the turbulence of the early 1940s and saw Uncle Charlie as a depiction of  “a seemingly genuine (albeit very evil) mortal who indeed personifies the worst tendencies of that moment.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZdnrkfIKyY486zTZlWqdpb8y_XvTAxzD4UG7vQUV5lqBB6f5Yb87H0GoW-BN-wdpb08BmDIrsJQHZYbqbK8qJP60nYj1504NTNQ_mInjV-5Xok5aThQQYCDa7tG9-BTcmX-5dsuOIRve_/s1600/strangers+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZdnrkfIKyY486zTZlWqdpb8y_XvTAxzD4UG7vQUV5lqBB6f5Yb87H0GoW-BN-wdpb08BmDIrsJQHZYbqbK8qJP60nYj1504NTNQ_mInjV-5Xok5aThQQYCDa7tG9-BTcmX-5dsuOIRve_/s320/strangers+1.jpg" width="286" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bruno in Washington, D.C.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">Like Charlie, Bruno is also entitled and fairly polished, but his behavior is more erratic, his inconsistencies more visible. <b>Strangers on a Train</b> takes place during the post-war era in Washington, D.C., seat of power of newly affluent and upwardly mobile America. Bruno and Guy both have aspirations - Guy desires a new well-connected wife and a political career and Bruno plots for his father’s money and clout. Guy’s dreams appear to be within reach by the end, but he also seems destined for the conformity of a “gray flannel suit" (something Bruno would never have worn).</span> <br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">Norman has a naive sort of charm and is not at all sophisticated or polished. But like Bruno, his psychological conflicts are obvious early on. In <b>Psycho</b> just about everyone is nervous and on edge – it’s the Cold War era - but no one is more agitated than Norman Bates with his split-like-an-atom personality. The climax is an A-bomb, the ending an interlude on a psychiatrist’s couch…</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDgeAsFRR0_J6hX2BuzI0H0WETR5j6Z5KXricMT1RqSZ6F50FuRnIpQUEYfhh2oxZo-qQXTFRbzv5VTsNlaesV5t6Oj3xIPwsE8POz2B5QpSkKV4b6n2FnW5ocSuMIT8cim7LxI8Xa_QK/s1600/psycho+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDgeAsFRR0_J6hX2BuzI0H0WETR5j6Z5KXricMT1RqSZ6F50FuRnIpQUEYfhh2oxZo-qQXTFRbzv5VTsNlaesV5t6Oj3xIPwsE8POz2B5QpSkKV4b6n2FnW5ocSuMIT8cim7LxI8Xa_QK/s320/psycho+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Norman Bates at home</td></tr></tbody></table> </div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Uncle Charlie was the original prototype. Updated and fine-tuned he became the more baroque Bruno Anthony who evolved into shattered nowhere-man Norman Bates. All three are singularly conjured variants of what David Thomson has called the "smiling psychopath" - and legendary among Alfred Hitchcock's "successful villains." <b>Strangers  on a Train</b>, <b>Shadow  of a Doubt </b>and<b> Psycho</b> are all regularly cited on "top ten Hitchcock" lists...</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial;"><b><i><span style="color: #660000;">For links to blogs participating in CMBA's HITCHCOCK BLOGATHON</span> <a href="http://clamba.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #cc0000;">click here</span></a><span style="color: #ffd966;">!</span> </i></b></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div></div>

Alfred Hitchcock Anthony Perkins CMBA Hitchcock Blogathon Joseph Cotten Psycho Robert Walker Shadow of a Doubt Strangers on a Train The Lady Eve (author) CMBA Hitchcock Blogathon: THREE CLASSIC HITCHCOCK KILLERS

Alfred Hitchcock once remarked that, “in the old days villains had moustaches and kicked the dog.”  He resisted such clichés , preferring a ...

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Thank you & finding peace

<strong>Thank you!</strong><br />Tonight I finally sat down and read all your sweet comments from my SOS post last Tuesday. Most of you can relate to my issues, and several of you feel like you're in the same boat. There were a lot of great ideas on how to beat my late night eating, things I'll be trying in the near future. You guys are very kind. Instead of just writing me off as a lunatic (which lately, I wouldn't blame you), you came to my rescue. I love you guys. You're the best. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">********</div><div style="text-align: left;"><strong>Figuring things out</strong></div>This past week I've been trying to figure things out, trying to understand what is wrong with me, or even if perhaps there really isn't anything that terribly wrong. Other than the fact I've been running around in a totally chaotic, frenzied state regarding my weight, I think I just may be okay after all. As sweet <a href="http://poundsforprom.blogspot.com/">Kelly!</a> said, I'm not really "broken".<br /><br />I've been totally obsessed with trying to find the perfect plan for me to lose weight. Count calories, count Points, count calories AND Points. Do Weight Watchers, don't do Weight Watchers, try a blogger's challenge. Exercise like a maniac, cut back on the exercise, more cardio, less cardio, heavier weights less reps, lighter weights more reps. <br /><br />Frankly, I'm tired of the insanity. Enough already.<br /><br />The people I admire the most are the ones that have made peace with food <u>and</u> with themselves. <a href="http://bbubblyb.blogspot.com/">Dawn</a>, <a href="http://notes-by-grace.blogspot.com/">Grace</a>, <a href="http://gravelandrust.blogspot.com/">Roxie</a>, <a href="http://doingaone-eighty.blogspot.com/">Helen</a>, <a href="http://mizfitonline.com/">Carla (Miz Fit)</a>, <a href="http://www.almostgastricbypass2.blogspot.com/">Lyn</a>, <a href="http://lynnsweigh.blogspot.com/">Lynn</a>, <a href="http://www.almostgastricbypass2.blogspot.com/">Loretta</a>, <a href="http://msbitchcakes.blogspot.com/">Sheryl (Ms. Bitch Cakes)</a>, <a href="http://losingweighteveryday.blogspot.com/">Sean</a>, <a href="http://www.almostgastricbypass2.blogspot.com/">Allan</a>, <a href="http://theantijared.com/">Tony</a> and many others just like them are my real heroes.<br /><br />These people have come to terms with who they are as a person, they've accepted themselves and find value in their very existence. This has dramatically changed their relationship with food. I want to follow in their footsteps.<br /><br />I haven't totally figured this all out for myself yet, but I have figured out that what I was doing wasn't working. Hating myself, putting myself down constantly, calling myself terrible names, not even liking myself a little bit, all of that has to stop.  I know my low self-esteem is a big reason why I try to comfort myself with food. My overeating is just a symptom of bigger issues.<br /><br />I've been reading Bob Greene's "The Life You Want. Get Motivated, Lose Weight and Be Happy". He lists the main obstacles that cause people to struggle with losing weight and maintaining the loss. I'm only about a third into the book but so far I really like it. It's not as "new agey" as the last book I read on this topic (Geneen Roth and I can't even remember the name of that book). <br /><br />This is what it says about body image (The Life You Want, Chapter 1, page 29):<br /><br />It's crucial to not only accept your body but also make taking care of it a priority, no matter what else is happening in your life. "You might worry, 'If I accept my body, then I will become complacent and just gain more weight, " says Ann Kearny-Cooke. "However, I have found that the opposite is true:  Beating yourself up about your appearance and putting yourself down is the last thing that motivates healthy lifestyle change." In fact, once you are able to improve your body image, you will choose to actively take care of your body (by, say, increasing your physical activity, and giving up fried foods and <strong>overeating at night</strong>).<br /><br />You can see why I'm hooked on this book.<br /><br /><strong>In the meantime, what am I doing to lose weight?</strong><br />Well, I've decided to just calm the hell down. No more jumping from one idea to another, trying to find the quick fix to a broken Diana. I'm slightly askew, certainly not perfect, but not broken either.<br /><br />I went to Weight Watchers on Saturday and for the first time ever I decided not to weigh in. I just didn't feel like facing the scale. Instead I checked in with the receptionist and stayed for the meeting. It was about Power Foods (a concept I really like...to read more about it, check out Sheryl's <a href="http://msbitchcakes.blogspot.com/2011/01/weekly-meeting-topic-power-foods.html">post on power foods</a>, much better than anything I could write).<br /><br />After the meeting I talked with Janis, my Weight Watcher leader. I was honest with her and told her I was struggling and felt hungry all the time. She suggested I eat mostly power foods to keep the hunger at bay. She also asked me if I was eating any of my 49 weekly Points. I told that actually, I hadn't really been following the plan, I had tried to cut way back and as a result had become ravenously hungry which usually led to a binge on an almost nightly basis. <br /><br />She suggested I track everything I eat this week, every day, every bite and to really focus on the power foods. I'm going to print it out to take with me to next Saturday's meeting. She told me to weigh in with her because she wants to see how I do. If I don't lose then she wants to talk to me after the meeting. She said "we'll figure this out together".  I love her.<br /><br />Janis is a Diamond Weight Watcher leader meaning she's in the top 20% of the leaders to have the most members make it to goal and has the most Lifetimers. I feel relieved that I finally talked to her and told her about my struggles. I also feel like I have to be extremely accountable this week because I made a promise to her. I've already printed off yesterday and today's food tracker (I have a pre-bedtime snack planned tonight...a Weight Watcher smoothie with milk and a frozen banana). I've also added these two days to my <a href="http://www.diana135-fooddiary.blogspot.com/">food diary blog</a>. No more calorie counting. That was making me even more crazy. <br /><br />On thing you'll notice if you look at my food diary is that I'm not eating all my Points. I don't know how to explain this because I've always been one to eat all my daily Points, all my Weekly Points AND all my Activity Points. I can honestly say since I've started focusing on power foods, I'm not hungry all the time.<br /><br />I also feel like I'm eating a massive volume of food. This has me a little concerned, and I can't possibly see how this can work for losing weight. I promised Janis I would give this my best effort, so that's what I'm doing. I'm not limiting my fruit intake, but I'm not eating large amounts of it. In fact, I'm eating a lot less than I use to eat on the old plan.<br /><br />Exercise has been really good for the last week. My husband even went with me today. It's become such a part of my life these last three years that I can't ever imagine stopping. I still have my mornings when I'd rather just stay in bed, but I don't give in very often. It's a necessary task that I have to complete every day, just like brushing my teeth. <br /><br />Again, I just want to thank you all so very much for your support. I really appreciate it. I'm not sure where I'd be without it, and I credit all of you for helping me stay afloat on this thing, even when I just want to give up. I thank God for you every day. I really do.

Thank you & finding peace

Thank you! Tonight I finally sat down and read all your sweet comments from my SOS post last Tuesday. Most of you can relate to my issues, a...

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Focus on Film Noir: Barbara Stanwyck

<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxTE1-w4a3YlAfZtqP4-bnSHnNccdXxq4o7UHLWF4QX5SRn3FgbwZ_QHkbUNniIGnADZaKJnqD1aE1Y2l-0gcypmHa09lPWR5kbId8stS-pCdCeXj9bhyphenhyphenrTcv5uohsx7VRWg0DQ-ZQdya/s1600/BS+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxTE1-w4a3YlAfZtqP4-bnSHnNccdXxq4o7UHLWF4QX5SRn3FgbwZ_QHkbUNniIGnADZaKJnqD1aE1Y2l-0gcypmHa09lPWR5kbId8stS-pCdCeXj9bhyphenhyphenrTcv5uohsx7VRWg0DQ-ZQdya/s320/BS+1.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Three films of legendary star to be screened at Noir City 9</span></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Her childhood has been called Dickensian and the rags-to-riches trajectory of her life could easily have provided material for one of her films… </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">She was the youngest of a hard-drinking Irish American bricklayer’s five children </span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">She lost her mother at age three when the woman was pushed, while pregnant, from a streetcar</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Her father abandoned his children (for the second time) and went to sea</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">She lived in a series of foster homes</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">She began working at age 13<a name='more'></a></span></li></ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Ruby Catherine Stevens, born in 1907 in Brooklyn, New York, grew up fast – and tough. There was one bright spot in an otherwise dreary life - her older sister Mildred was a dancer and, during the summer months, Mildred took Ruby on the road with her. Ruby loved to dance and began learning steps, determined to be a dancer herself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>While still in her early teens she got a job as a chorus girl at the Strand Theater on New York’s Times Square, moved on to the “Keep Kool” Revue and before long was in the Ziegfeld chorus.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Ruby’s big break came in 1926 when a friend introduced her to Willard Mack who was casting “The Noose,” a play headed for Broadway. Mack was impressed with her but felt that she needed a name that implied class and distinction. He found the right name on a playbill: “Barbara Frietchie” with Joan Stanwyck.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Barbara Stanwyck made her first film in 1927 with <b>Broadway Nights</b>. And though she became one of the legends of Hollywood, film success did not come overnight. It wasn’t until the early ‘30s, when she moved west with then-husband Frank Fay that she began to make her mark. Frank Capra saw a screen test and cast her in <b>Ladies of Leisure</b> (1930). A contract with Columbia Pictures followed and her career began to take off. It was during this period that some of her early classics were made and her image as a determined working girl evolved: <b>Night Nurse </b>(1931),<b> Baby Face</b> (1933) and <b>Ladies They Talk About</b>, (1933).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Stanwyck’s personal life remained rocky. Her romance with Broadway actor Rex Cherryman had been cut short when he died suddenly in 1928 at age 30. Her marriage to Fay collapsed in the mid-‘30s as her star rose and his fell. The pair had adopted a baby boy, but Stanwyck and the child developed a strained and then estranged relationship that never healed. She began living with Hollywood heartthrob Robert Taylor in the late ‘30s and her studio, wary of potential scandal, insisted that they marry in 1939.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbfBN1kqJnwLGk3XmXnjumIx-O4oEKfVAmVyZ3k4IpKQs_zT7sHkD-oQaRW1J6IV0uRXT62TFrDeZkyp51tcuFoaCG7BndirvLY4ka73eJ2bXQvDmTZ_buETe_6vbs1FS3PTDk7kWpn9o/s1600/BS+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbfBN1kqJnwLGk3XmXnjumIx-O4oEKfVAmVyZ3k4IpKQs_zT7sHkD-oQaRW1J6IV0uRXT62TFrDeZkyp51tcuFoaCG7BndirvLY4ka73eJ2bXQvDmTZ_buETe_6vbs1FS3PTDk7kWpn9o/s320/BS+3.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">In 1937 Stanwyck starred in <b>Stella Dallas</b>, a memorable melodrama for which she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. In 1938 she starred in <b>Golden Boy</b> with young William Holden, who years later declared he owed his career to her.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Stanwyck proved that she was a capable comedienne with two hit 1941 comedies, Preston Sturges’s <b>The Lady Eve</b> and Howard Hawks’s <b>Ball of Fire</b>. That same year she co-starred in the Capra classic <b>Meet John Doe</b> with Gary Cooper and earned her second Best Actress Oscar nomination.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">The 1940s would be the apex of Barbara Stanwyck’s movie career and included her crowning performance, femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson in Billy Wilder’s film noir supreme, <b>Double Indemnity </b>(1944). Stanwyck garnered her third Best Actress nod for the role.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">The decade contained several more popular Stanwyck films: <b>Christmas in Connecticut </b>(1945), <b>The Strange Love of Martha Ivers </b>(1946), <b>The Two Mrs. Carrolls </b>(1947), <b>B.F.’s Daughter</b> (1948) and <b>Sorry, Wrong Number </b>(1948), for which she received her final Best Actress nomination.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">It was at around this time that Stanwyck's marriage to Robert Taylor began to fall apart. Taylor had been dallying with some of the celebrated beauties of the time, Lana Turner and Ava Gardner, along with others of less stature, such as the bit actress on <b>Quo Vadis</b> (1951) who created a scandal when she went public with their affair. When Stanwyck gave Taylor an ultimatum he resisted and the pair soon divorced.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Stanwyck never remarried but continued, as she always had, to work hard. She went on to make several more popular films and starred on television in series and mini-series into the mid-1980s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>She was awarded an honorary Academy Award in 1982 for her career achievements.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Barbara Stanwyck died in 1990.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzMH9ypslO8Uj9LN7u_Rv4OwsmWxBrivz_Zyl9fAGnMnGty6WpEerpEMEOc0Ge-aOpTOX4bjsgEBnR_Qa49ptvo0e1qmvpeRNJuKTgwZ4XCMYFYcAyoBQcqm3uhmkzyHS2eg9nWw0PQPqb/s1600/BS+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzMH9ypslO8Uj9LN7u_Rv4OwsmWxBrivz_Zyl9fAGnMnGty6WpEerpEMEOc0Ge-aOpTOX4bjsgEBnR_Qa49ptvo0e1qmvpeRNJuKTgwZ4XCMYFYcAyoBQcqm3uhmkzyHS2eg9nWw0PQPqb/s320/BS+4.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">San Francisco’s Noir City 9 will screen three Stanwyck films at this year’s festival:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Sorry, Wrong Number</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"> (1948) and <b>The Lady Gambles</b> (1949) on Mon. Jan. 24</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">The Two Mrs. Carrolls </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">(1947) on Thurs. Jan. 27</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Also of note, <b>The High Wall </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1947) starring <b>Robert Taylor</b> (with Audrey Totter) will be shown on opening night, Fri. Jan. 21</span></div>

Barbara Stanwyck Billy Wilder Double Indemnity Film Noir Noir City 9 Robert Taylor Sorry Wrong Number The High Wall The Lady Eve (author) The Lady Gambles The Two Mrs. Carrolls Focus on Film Noir: Barbara Stanwyck

Three films of legendary star to be screened at Noir City 9 Her childhood has been called Dickensian and the rags-to-riches trajectory of he...

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Western Spirituality, Aelred, Special Loves and Honoring

What’s Western about Western Spirituality? The key figure, in my judgment, is today’s saint, Aelred of Rievaulx. <br /><br />Eastern Spirituality, for all its wisdom, troubles me with its tendency to flatten reality, to say things are “just thoughts,” that our preferences are bogus. It tends to dismiss experience and life.<br /><br />Western Spirituality sets everything in the context of agape, which roughly corresponds to the Sanskrit karuna, an unconditional compassion and appreciation for all reality just for being real. But beyond that “unconditional positive regard,” Western spirituality – at least the best of it – affirms life in its particularity. It says, to quote Fr. Rick Milsap, “things matter, people matter, life matters.”<br /><br />St. Aelred was a 12th Century Cistercian monk. In the monasteries, there was a ban on “special friendships.” Monks were to appreciate each other all equally and all the same. Very Eastern. Flat. Aelred, when he became abbot, rejected that rule and encouraged “spiritual friendships.” All were to hold each other in agape. But there was also room for particular bonds to particular persons – soul mates so to speak.<br /><br />Hundreds of years later, in his classic little book, The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis wrote about the spiritual value as well as the perils of romantic love, family love, and friendship all of which needed to be rooted in unconditional love of reality, agape. The point is he valued and affirmed particular exclusive loves as authentic human spirituality. And of course, those are just some broad categories of love. There are as many loves as there are lovers and beloveds.<br /><br />Western Spirituality does not extinguish desire, but teaches us to have desire without being consumed or controlled by it. Western Spirituality invites us to appreciate things in their own unique being. First Nations peoples call it “honoring.” Native poet Joy Harjo writes:<br /> <br /> “We matter to somebody . . . .<br /> I’d rather understand how to sing from a crow<br /> who was never good at singing or much of anything<br /> but finding gold in the trash of humans.”<br /><br />The trick is to find the gold in each other. The gold we find in another person is always their own unique gold. The joy lies in being the one to find it. A world where things shine is better. Living in such a world is a matter of paying attention to the good – a discipline of honoring.

Western Spirituality, Aelred, Special Loves and Honoring

What’s Western about Western Spirituality? The key figure, in my judgment, is today’s saint, Aelred of Rievaulx. Eastern Spirituality, for a...

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Tying The World Together

Today I have been involved in a mission that felt quite ordinary, humble. But an old friend put a grander label on it this week, a label that is actually true. I had called my friend, a priest in New England, to ask him about a priest who might apply for a job in Nevada. I called him because I trust his judgment. His good words about someone I don’t know allowed me to trust the stranger. My friend also talked about the duties of bishops. One of those duties, he said, is “tying the world together.”<br /><br />“Tying the world together.” That in fact was what I was doing when I called him on the phone. That is what I have been doing today in Los Angeles. Bishops from the West including the Pacific met here at the Cathedral Center. We spent half the day and some of the night telling each other about our lives and the lives of our dioceses. It was an exercise in knowing each other. We do this every January. Tomorrow, we will talk about loftier matters of polity, liturgy, and theology. But today was not lofty. It was humble (humble from the same root as humus – earthy). It was the ordinary life of Christians today.<br /><br />Last Saturday, the Deans of the Diocese of Nevada and I met on line and did the same thing. We talked of each other’s lives and the goings on in the parishes so far flung over our high desert. We groaned, laughed, and advised each other. But most importantly, we connected and in connecting, we were tying the world together.<br /><br />And isn’t that what we do when we eat from one loaf, drink from one cup, celebrate the Holy Communion, when we say “The Lord be with you” -- “And also with you.;” when we confess our sins and our faith alike saying not “I” but “we;” when we pray for each other and this earth we share? Are we not trying the world together?<br /><br />I exchanged messages tonight with a priest in Reno, a seminarian in Berkeley, a bishop and a community development worker in the Philippines – tying the world together. It isn’t gravity that keeps this orb from flying apart. It’s the act of knowing each other, caring for each other, wishing each other well.

Tying The World Together

Today I have been involved in a mission that felt quite ordinary, humble. But an old friend put a grander label on it this week, a label tha...

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SOS: I just don't care

Yesterday I was talking to a friend at work. She's someone I've known for over twenty years, in different jobs at the same company. I really like this person. She's funny,  kind, and sweet. She also struggles with her weight, just like me.<br /><br />About four years ago we did Weight Watchers together at work. It was my first time with WW and the weight fell off. I lost sixty pounds in seven months. The plan works if you work the plan (I know, a very trite but true saying). My friend also lost a lot of weight. When we both stopped Weight Watchers we both quickly gained the weight back. <br /><br />I went back to Weight Watchers almost three years ago, lost 80 pounds and then gained back 25. I still go to Weight Watchers but I'm sitting  at 180.2 today (I want to be 135). She never went back and has gained a few more pounds.<br /><br />As we were heating up our lunches in the lunchroom yesterday the topic of weight came up. It always does. She said she can be perfect all day every day until she gets home. Then she doesn't care anymore. She's a single mom, with a young teenager, her job is very stressful. Much more stressful than my own. As we talked she told me when she gets home she's totally exhausted, and at that point, she really just doesn't give a damn about her weight. If she wants white toast with butter on it she's going to have it. If she wants a glass of wine or cookies, well, she's going to have that too. She said at that point she just doesn't care. <br /><br />I totally feel the same way lately. When 10 p.m. rolls around, honestly, I just don't care. I'm tired, I've eaten healthy all day. I've even tracked my food all day, but at around 10 p.m., my husband is asleep and I'm struggling with sleep. I'm always feeling hungry. A small snack just doesn't cut it. I want volume. That's when I go off my plan and eat. <br /><br />I eat things like fruit (three bananas or a few pears), another chicken breast, maybe some almonds or pecans (those damn nuts are still on the counter--my husband's food--I have to do something about this). If there are any sugar-free ice cream bars (the only kind I buy now), I'll eat a couple of those (there was a box in the freezer that I found last night). If there's leftover dinner, I'll eat that too.<br /><br />I had some Pop Chips last night that I was going to try later. I ate a few of those, which by the way are totally gross. All these years I've been reading about them on blogs and people raving about how good they taste. Nasty food. They're made out of potato flakes and chemicals. I'll never buy them again and no chance I'd ever binge on them. <br /><br />I ate all of this last night and for kicks I added up the calories afterwards. It was over 700 calories. I may as well have eaten cake and I would have if there was any in the house (there never is stuff like that anymore, but if there was I would have eaten it).<br /><br />My point is that I just can't seem to change this pattern and it's making me crazy. Anyone watching me eat all day and evening, watching me carefully measure and weigh everything, put it all in the online tracker, would wonder what the hell was wrong with me when 10 p.m. rolls around. It's like there are two people living in one body. One that's really concerned about her health and weight and the other one that just doesn't give a damn.<br /><br />I've been doing this pattern since I came back from vacation and I just can't seem to break it. It's depressing and sad and I'm hating myself because of it. If I could padlock the kitchen and have my husband hold the key, I would do it. He has no idea what's going on with me (he sleeps like a rock). He only knows the woman that goes to the gym every day and works out like crazy, and who eats very carefully because she's on a diet. He's puzzled as to why I'm not losing weight. I know why.<br /><br />Any ideas on how to fix me?

SOS: I just don't care

Yesterday I was talking to a friend at work. She's someone I've known for over twenty years, in different jobs at the same company. ...

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Christian Speech And The Arizona Shootings

Having heard a lot of confessions, some as a priest, some as a lawyer, I am rarely shocked by words. But I was taken aback by something I head in my parents’ living room a few years ago. My background is what sensitized me to this particular statement.<br /><br />When I was in Junior Hi in Texas, in the early 1960’s, it was not at all unusual to hear the other kids talking about how somebody needed to kill John Kennedy. His murder was a popular fantasy, but one taken lightly – until Nov. 22, 1963. The following days, for those of us who lived them, can never be forgotten. The flag draped casket, the riderless horse, Mike Mansfield’s eulogy “And she took the ring from her finger and placed it in his hand.” It was the first wave of national grief, but not the last in that bloody decade. That time marked me in a way I had not fully grasped until a few years ago.<br /><br />I was in my parents’ living room when one of my young relatives began talking of how he wanted to assassinate President Clinton. He wasn’t planning it. He didn’t express the intent to actually do it. But he thought it would be highly satisfying. He wanted to do it and said so freely. That is one time, I was truly shocked. Despite all the years that had passed, I felt myself once again to be a Texan, to remember the shame that the President had been murdered in my state, and now to hear this young Texan, my kin, eager to relive that evil day was more than I could grasp. I was not polite.<br /><br />I don’t know what to make of the murders in Arizona. I don’t know whether there is any direct connection to any ideology or the political rhetoric of our time. But I do turn to my faith and what little I know of human nature to help me reflect.<br /><br />I start with the premise that God does not make murderers and does not send people out like Manchurian candidates to do evil. And I take to heart the message of Reinhold Niebuhr’s classic, Moral Man, Immoral Society in which he said we are each much better as individuals than we are as a society, that society, though necessary to fully human life, is fallen and makes us do things that are beneath us. Mobs commit atrocities few individuals do. The lone gunman is not lowered by a machine onto the human stage. The lone gunman is formed in a society. The most broken fall prey to our darkest passions and perform the darkest acts on behalf of the worst sentiments in our collective spirit.<br /><br />My young kinsmen never took at shot at President Clinton but he gave voice to something that we have neither owned nor extinguished. Sometimes a broken person is too weak to resist it and becomes its agent. Language is our best way to know what a society believes, feels, and values. My young kinsman said the murder of a leader is good. The rhetoric of our contemporary politics is violent, murderous – “the second amendment alternative.”<br /><br />Christianity is, in an important sense, a special language. It is the language we speak to suggest, to hint at, to point toward “things to deep for words.” It is a language of creation, appreciation, mercy, and reconciliation. That makes it a language quite at odds with most contemporary political language. Yet it is not anti-political. Politics is by definition the practice of a common life, a sharing of authority, a caring for each other. It is the so-called “political” rhetoric of our time that is actually anti-political. It is the language of faith that makes an authentic politics possible.<br /><br />This is why it is absolutely essential that Christians speak on matters of the common good, that we speak in the public square, that we articulate the demands of justice. Christianity is not a political ideology, as much as some on the left and the right alike, have claimed. Christians do not necessarily agree on matters of politics and economics. But Christians speak (or when they are true to Christianity should speak) of these things in a distinctively Christian way – a way that is non-violent, because Christians live in hope, and violence is always an act of despair. (Robert Cover, Violence & The Word, Yale Law Journal).<br /><br />The voices of violence are shouting in our time. The anger and contempt are in long supply. And we speak too little, far too little. Sometimes, I see people in the church behave as if they were at a town hall meeting spewing hate. I see the ways of the world informing the Body of Christ, while the Body of Christ muzzles itself rather than inform the ways of the world. If Christians speak, and Christians are obliged by our Baptismal Vows to speak, on matters of justice, we speak differently in two ways. First, we speak in prayer – prayer for guidance, prayer of intercession, and prayer of contrition. Second, we speak prophetically – but prophetic speech is not simple or easy.<br /><br />To speak prophetically is to say what we believe to be God’s will. To speak prophetically, we have to subordinate so much. We have to subordinate our pride, our ego, our self-interest. Above all we have to sacrifice our political and economic ideologies. This is particularly hard for leftists with secularist anti-religious ideologies and for rightist with Darwinian ideologies – both of which are challenged by Christianity. It is hard, hard, hard to resist the temptation to paint the face of Christ on whatever already fits our ideology.<br /><br />Then, having died to self that we may speak for God, it is incumbent upon us to speak reverently. That means refusing to claim we know God with greater certainty or precision than we really do. We must be able to say “Thus sayeth the Lord – I think.” (Niebuhr, On Christian Tolerance) If we subject all our other beliefs to God, and acknowledge our uncertainty of God’s will, then we will, of necessity, speak more gently and listen more attentively to one another.<br /><br />Clearly, not all Christians have spoken with the kind of non-violence and humility. We have the regrettable Battle Hymn of the Republic in with “He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword” etc. Christian violence is an oxymoron but one that has too often obscured the light of Christ. Our first duty is to repudiate evil spoken in the name of Jesus and to claim the truth of our tradition.<br /><br />If we add our voices, along with the voices of peace, wisdom, and hope from other faith traditions, we can, by grace, counter at least some of venomous voices that poison souls, especially the souls of broken, vulnerable people.<br /><br />In the wake of the Arizona shootings, I hope we will speak to God, to each other, and to the world in an authentically Christian way. I hope we will pray for the victims of violence and the perpetrators of violence who wound themselves most grievously. I hope we will repent of our own violence, our own intemperate words and deeds – knowing that every word and action ripples out into the world in good and evil ways greater than we intend or foresee. I hope we will rededicate ourselves to mercy and the mission to reconcile all people to each and to God in Christ.Dona nobis pacem.

Christian Speech And The Arizona Shootings

Having heard a lot of confessions, some as a priest, some as a lawyer, I am rarely shocked by words. But I was taken aback by something I he...

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Questions…Answered!

<p>Hello friends! Please don’t disown me for being a bad blogger! The past week has been nuts! I’m pretty sure I put in close to 60 hours at work last week. I know that is the norm for some people, but man it sure did take a toll on this momma-to-be! I’m proud to say even with the busy-ness and the fact that I didn’t blog my eats each day, I was still smart about my choices!  </p> <p align="center"><b>Vitamin C</b><img alt="DSC09673" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpuMG9M0bw6jZNjK1iqTLMFlrtP2i7H7Gb24CNlbFk5TcDlqXWRSifNYhTw5Mzmfw_Yk_yoTgimCCZousCFUAGeWbv-TXOYVMRdKL69F8t9x_l1S48jQaWm7TQNaRYoG6OlnWSghqMf-s4/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09673" width="404"><b></b></p> <p align="center"><b>Calcium </b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQfhOzFcUCYMwiraIGSR6ejngLig9T47bPkObIT-K-lIaxULPnFbiYk1-RZZISz_2zW_IfYoyyBxJfgk8Qj2o4b2v2ytsQToV1GBDEER9SjXmIzkseEiDIepnIm-T7rDuZhwbKzNlImqL/s1600-h/DSC09680%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09680" border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIwX6-QxMgmgv16yOxW3Z0RWLfhcyltTzAwEP1E5QggZLv5IetABGjH-EdsrsGWhECpiaGRsEIs3NKKQyhpVJY4-Z7eAhFro4kjQia33oXAOAvwZH6s6y6SgTwhzSloRnrwGdtC8CQtUg/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09680" width="304"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqY8zdVl7HqzCuYj5k2qMe_vzIG-a-vL4mnbS7RgpnfCOiE95E5rePccPMmXWZKq53grEMMzUMuFoA0I-Kse_iq89WfobSNksIc_uEkIDjWE4F14XuocOHocppn6aM1CGmRTJX41COhkdy/s1600-h/DSC09674%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09674" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu2J_8BHMmUXcSEmFZS25tL7V7JKPXxIHy7UM3795RADnbIVF5al1T5pwX66Zkv6O7fG0ImhyphenhyphenUTOtPBEOl19n7Fi0izKODZkoBTGYkC2Qr962bvz_FAIBkIgWV0uO4NFhrJG3gplpk1K5H/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09674" width="404"></a><b></b></p> <p align="center"><b>Yellow, Green and Leafy Veggies and Fruits</b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtSGfLCKy_e4CtLeNZypTzoLQTYo06J-1_gjDuPL6QXDhTAHIentN7kn7IImPAwZUZz-IULc9QnbzR-jiH0JLKu8ZsSSvCdgaKc5-A3ney3ct1fvnaQvy7Eu-vhLDAfj_up4cXq18OLCkT/s1600-h/DSC09678%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09678" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvREjjouYi9r7mVMaEmVUwFYMnwm4famhFm_SxZZN5ZxDgIYKIBkTVwsdfYCKc2OZEbOqKdQeNJB7yGC4UyqPi78foafx5Z7PQCQcgboidmAFi4V9NKHqeHZp_ToBvcvKVnrQPftqEHjm/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09678" width="404"></a><b></b></p> <p align="center"><b>Whole Grains, <b>Calcium, & Protein</b></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcMn1Xqr917ruSYey2mtEmzI8IeQAiKhihNtSIlbGCmt8r7RUXT4GIM7BXxZDdLIiqrNUXNgYNf-k2talPgJ_lWgx5QEYxWozHFpgs-DPO1-hHLq6VGjyPD3tkfwP8Aov9AdIyT7T4moDr/s1600-h/DSC09676%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09676" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-iu449lgWtg4XHOaunYjboxdw-GDtOVYGFl5Y6tvB4LtyFnddxh5cHPpg8zHmmr8JFIeiNmj2okk1R0b_loELSgLtIW3X5dfAbVK0dBd8SzsIDWWJ2PErcYOA1DeZl28ToHVumoGzVf2r/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09676" width="404"></a></p> <p align="left">Obviously I ate more than just those things, but I was conscious about my choices, making sure they were nutritious & not just empty calories. </p> <p>Luckily today we had an early out because of a snow storm! Btw, we are supposed to have 10 inches of snow by the time it’s over! Sheesh, but hey I’ll take the extra time off! My fingers are now crossed for a late start tomorrow!</p> <p>I thought I would take some time to answer the multitude of questions I’ve been getting about my pregnancy!</p> <ul> <li><strong><em>Are you going to find out the sex?</em></strong> YES!!! January 25^th is our ultrasound! <ul> <li>The next question we get is <em>“Don’t you want it to be a surprise?</em>” My response is that we’re going to be surprised 4 months early! ;) Come on people, I’m a planner!!</li></ul> <li><strong><em>Have you had morning sickness?</em></strong> None, which I am SSSOOO thankful for! :) <li><strong><em>Any weird food cravings yet?</em></strong> Nothing really. I eat a lot of Mexican, but I think that’s pretty normal! ;) <li><strong><em>When is your due date?</em></strong> June 16, 2011 <li><strong><em>Do you have any names picked out?</em></strong> Nothing set in stone yet. We have a few favorites, but will probably narrow those down once we find out what we’re having! <li><strong><em>Are you working out while pregnant?</em></strong> To be honest, I haven’t very much lately. And cancelling our gym membership to save $$ doesn’t help with that! I plan to do things at home, for example, I’ve found a few different specific pregnancy work out videos on You Tube that I want to try and I have a plethora of work out videos to do. <li><strong><em>Nursery plans? </em></strong>Oh yes!! Kyle & I got a great start when we were off over Christmas break, but I’ll save that for another post!</li></ul> <p>So far I really enjoy being pregnant & I hope that feeling continues! It’s hard to believe I’m almost half way, Thursday I will be 18 weeks!</p> <p align="center"><em>16 weeks, 1.3.2011</em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDSMVReUAg4hR4KMO7JomXK4rUFj1vvmmd10swUC7CZDgju8T4IAthGJo1BSHoO-9ygEwrmk6nb1_073dpIWhqNvCPYC-DZN_2YvEGyHJ6TlR9zBXla7DqmJbDafGIZEpbsJKubCE49I3I/s1600-h/16%20weeks%20-%201.3.11%5B3%5D.jpg"><em><img alt="16 weeks - 1.3.11" border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguubi1doy41PDJiyAOBpuzfI5gg9ujuBf3FWQE43-OV7FeRS0SP4U9k7TO1OyuOM17WKFfUOpE7GDb6CgivlQIkl1MnkmfmtNfPB5CYY7Yww1sKaw5W8v8HfHqVH0EDPgyx_TsPy4Akn6E/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="16 weeks - 1.3.11" width="304"></em></a> </p> <p>Usually Monday nights I spend solo, but because of the weather Kyle’s classes were cancelled! So I’m off to enjoy some extra time with my main man! Later peeps!</p>

Questions…Answered!

Hello friends! Please don’t disown me for being a bad blogger! The past week has been nuts! I’m pretty sure I put in close to 60 hours at wo...

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No Loss, But No Gain Either!

I'm not exactly SUPER thrilled to be reporting that I had no loss this week.  However, J & I did take a trip to Charlottesville, VA, and we did a lot of good eatin'! As a result, I'm happy to see that I managed to keep myself enough in check that I did not gain any weight.<br /><br />Some positives of this week: I managed to make it to the gym all 5 days, for <i>at least</i> 30 min each day!  So far this week, I can cross off Monday as a trip to the gym with at least 30 min of the elliptical.  Yay! <br /><br /><a href="http://www.3fatchicks.net/index11.php"><img border="0" src="http://www.3fatchicks.net/img/tulip-bar/slider-scale/lb/0/95.2/0/.png" /></a>

No Loss, But No Gain Either!

I'm not exactly SUPER thrilled to be reporting that I had no loss this week.  However, J & I did take a trip to Charlottesville, VA,...

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Focus on Film Noir: Warner Home Video's Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 5

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2cC8d544zbvgk3C5EChDBjeuqaqE2bn9oaS-n6UuHeBCOXKtaSSKhJl8jYJpyLn0XBgesGpAmmn3o61vQ9UPeOE6l4ekqb5LyVZYOBI7rSJucV7qa0z6ffH8ybmMLPdOXG9qlgY5fxBoN/s1600/film+noir+vol+5+box+art%255B1%255D%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2cC8d544zbvgk3C5EChDBjeuqaqE2bn9oaS-n6UuHeBCOXKtaSSKhJl8jYJpyLn0XBgesGpAmmn3o61vQ9UPeOE6l4ekqb5LyVZYOBI7rSJucV7qa0z6ffH8ybmMLPdOXG9qlgY5fxBoN/s1600/film+noir+vol+5+box+art%255B1%255D%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">Released by Warner Home Video in 2010, <i>Film Noir Classic Collection, Volume 5</i>  is a four-disc showcase of eight double-featured films, a sampling of thrillers ranging from the acclaimed to the all-but-forgotten.</span></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">Disc one is a strong pairing of Edward Dmytryk's <b>Cornered </b>(1945) with Anthony Mann's <b>Desperate</b> (1947). <b>Cornered </b>was the second hit teaming of star Dick Powell with director Dmytryk, and it followed their private-eye noir masterpiece, <b>Murder, My Sweet</b>, by a year. In this outing, Powell is a Royal Canadian Air Force vet doggedly tracking his wife's killer across the globe.</span><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RqBC_QarrhLp7aGGMcayoG43xHevM-oRuUii_YaujwhuVU-wgmPE0YdIF7nHbpoe54rec4XXnFCc2uk4pgAQieTLePx12Kmqq09pFuQjKcVe1GMsX41GY6BYUiMU0UVhSC0xcl-olT4f/s1600/desperate%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RqBC_QarrhLp7aGGMcayoG43xHevM-oRuUii_YaujwhuVU-wgmPE0YdIF7nHbpoe54rec4XXnFCc2uk4pgAQieTLePx12Kmqq09pFuQjKcVe1GMsX41GY6BYUiMU0UVhSC0xcl-olT4f/s1600/desperate%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steve Brodie in Desperate</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"><b>Desperate</b> was a breakout film for director Anthony Mann, the first in the series of late-'40s noirs that launched his career. Mann's signature is his strong visual style, and this fast-paced story of an innocent man on the run is boosted by stylish set-pieces (including the classic of a fierce back room beating that sets an overhead light swaying, see clip below), a smart script and George Diskant's cinematography. Steve Brodie, a powerhouse as the honest truck driver turned fall guy, delivers a stand-out performance. With creamy Audrey Long as his bride, menacing Raymond Burr as his nemesis and Jason Robards, Sr., as the cynical/genial police lieutenant. <b>Desperate</b>, a staple at noir festivals and Mann retrospectives, is one of the gems of this collection.</span></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">Disc two is more eclectic and opens with a fact-based crime expose, <b>The Phenix City Story</b> (1955), directed by Phil Karlson. Veteran LA newsman Clete Roberts kicks it off with a 13+ minute segment of news report/interviews. Then the dramatized story of the 1954 assassination of an Alabama politician begins. It's a brutal (with a capital 'B') piece of history. With John McIntyre, Richard Kiley and the future Mrs. Bing Crosby, Kathryn Grant. Next up, <b>Dial 1119</b> (1950), a mad-killer-on-the-loose tale directed by Gerald (Louis B's nephew) Mayer. The crazed killer (Marshall Thompson) holes up in a neighborhood bar and holds staff and patrons hostage during a police stand-off. Virginia Field takes a nifty turn as a barfly/seductress and William Conrad appears briefly as "Chuckles," the bartender. Otherwise, this one's mostly interesting for its depiction of the era's bar culture and attitudes toward the "insanity defense."</span></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSvaUkLyHbEv6vkzIxMEZ0geevFIaAPbR90ERk1h34sN7joV4KmjV_eB0XVFpe1_MK1-Jam4H8IMLPJc3Imx-uZZNjkZ4pbs3J1nvLb3bDn4a4JJoNkT5oQyZR_aetHVojauwSswFYqXsI/s1600/Armored_Car_Robbery_50_b%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSvaUkLyHbEv6vkzIxMEZ0geevFIaAPbR90ERk1h34sN7joV4KmjV_eB0XVFpe1_MK1-Jam4H8IMLPJc3Imx-uZZNjkZ4pbs3J1nvLb3bDn4a4JJoNkT5oQyZR_aetHVojauwSswFYqXsI/s320/Armored_Car_Robbery_50_b%255B1%255D.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Talman and Adele Jergans in Armored Car Robbery</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">Disc three features the formidable down-and-dirty <b>Armored Car Robbery</b> (1950). It runs a very fast and intense 68 minutes - that's no surpise with action/suspense master Richard Fleischer directing. Gravel-voiced noir stalwart Charles McGraw stars as a grimly determined LAPD lieutenant bent on avenging the murder of his partner during an armored car robbery. William Talman, a few years before he became D.A. Hamilton Burger on TV's "Perry Mason," is chillingly reptilian as the heist mastermind; hard-boiled, slightly worn femme fatale Adele Jergens isn't <i>quite </i>Virginia Mayo, but she's not bad at all. With solid Steve Brodie, this time as the getaway car driver. <b>Armored Car Robbery</b> is ferocious and works from start to finish; the film ends with buddy moment as the jaded lieutenant shares a cynical laugh with his new (and newly manned-up) partner. I imagine Jean-Pierre Melville must've watched this a couple of times before he made <b>Bob le flambeur</b> (1955).</span></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">Also included on disc three is <b>Crime in the Streets </b>(1956), a juvenile delinquent drama directed by Don Siegel, starring John Cassavetes. The story originally aired as a teleplay and the film looks, sounds and feels like Golden Age TV. Cassavetes' performance as an overheated teenage gang leader on the verge of mayhem is the main reason to watch this one. He's spellbinding. With Sal Mineo and James Whitmore. <i><span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>Crime in the Streets</b> airs today, Jan. 10, on TCM at 4:15pm Eastern/1:15 Pacific.</span></i></span></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">Disc four offers the final double feature, <b>Deadline at Dawn</b> (1946) and <b>Backfire </b>(1950).</span></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xPzynHSjzkyuiXDTbpZwNdgkxT_t9Mlsjzz4UkwrNADjD5X301ony6dyxCF2JzN41nX4clArCDiQ72IrvbNZ-uqcO02BFHeFt6HW5Ak2uiSeaNEpn9ewSSauY1O96p1vBWe9jOIK0nMc/s1600/deadline-at-dawn-poster%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xPzynHSjzkyuiXDTbpZwNdgkxT_t9Mlsjzz4UkwrNADjD5X301ony6dyxCF2JzN41nX4clArCDiQ72IrvbNZ-uqcO02BFHeFt6HW5Ak2uiSeaNEpn9ewSSauY1O96p1vBWe9jOIK0nMc/s1600/deadline-at-dawn-poster%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"><b>Deadline at Dawn</b>, adapted from a novel by Cornell Woolrich/aka/William Irish (<b>Rear Window</b>), boasts a screenplay by Clifford Odets and is the only film New York theater legend Harold Clurman ever directed. It got my attention with an opening shot of a sleeping woman's face...and the fly crawling over it...Bill Williams stars as a sailor on shore leave who may be guilty of murder and has only till dawn to clear himself. Susan Hayward plays the taxi dancer who helps him out and Paul Lukas is their cabbie sidekick. While quirky dialogue and various red herrings pique interest, it's primarily the evocative cinematography (Nicholas Musuraca) and Susan Hayward's vibrant performance that keep things moving.</span></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OAUztaqjb7GotgrYCIs6jOAeHbm_Ax4Djo60fYJPJaVGhQebwTPiDsI0bsnwENtQtKxIKsjyAXLGXhE-5uROSfFepvEBoezmkiP_m2Sohwy0Wi2V5gWoHsGw7aCt_QsQR5ZMvpVHhRt7/s1600/0+virginia-mayo-1948%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OAUztaqjb7GotgrYCIs6jOAeHbm_Ax4Djo60fYJPJaVGhQebwTPiDsI0bsnwENtQtKxIKsjyAXLGXhE-5uROSfFepvEBoezmkiP_m2Sohwy0Wi2V5gWoHsGw7aCt_QsQR5ZMvpVHhRt7/s200/0+virginia-mayo-1948%255B1%255D.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Virginia Mayo</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"><b>Backfire </b>stars Gordon MacRae before he rose to film stardom in a pair of Rogers and Hammerstein musicals. It features two future Oscar winners, Edmond O'Brien and Ed Begley, <i>plus</i> Virginia Mayo - this time as a good girl, MacRae's nurse. Vincent Sherman directed and, though the film is erratic, it's enjoyable...like a fun-house ride. MacRae is well-cast as a recovering war veteran who dreams of a farm of his own. When his Army buddy (O'Brien) disappears and is implicated in a murder, he sets out to clear his pal's name. The flashback-driven story twists and turns and, oddly, the final plot twist may be given away by images on the product package and DVD disc. Also starring Viveca Lindfors and Dane Clark. Noteworthy original music by Daniele Amfitheatrof who scored Max Ophuls' <b>Letter From an Unknown Woman </b>(1948). <i><span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>Backfire </b>will air Monday, Jan. 24, on TCM at 4:00pm Eastern/1:00pm Pacific.</span></i></span></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">From 2004 - 2007, Warner Home Video released a film noir collection every July, like clockwork. Then nothing...for three years. It's not surprising, then, that <i>Film Noir Classic Collection, Volume 5</i> was greeted with much fanfare.</span></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">The must-see films in this collection are Anthony Mann's <b>Desperate</b> and Richard Fleischer's <b>Armored Car Robbery</b>. Also worthwhile are Edward Dmytryk's <b>Cornered</b> and Harold Clurman's <b>Deadline at Dawn</b>. Vincent Sherman's <b>Backfire</b> goes off the rails but has enough B-star power and plot packed into it to keep it entertaining. Once the news story and interviews end, Phil Karlson's <b>The Phenix City Story</b> begins to build. It's violent, but fascinating. A historical footnote adds interest: After the candidate (John McIntyre) was murdered, his son (Richard Kiley) ran for Attorney General of Alabama in his place. The son, John Patterson, won and went on to become Alabama's youngest governor.</span><br /><br /></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"></div><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/s3wfy8ociHU?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/s3wfy8ociHU?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> <br /><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"> (<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">available on DVD and Blu-ray)</span></i></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">When <b>Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol 5 </b>was released,</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Warner Home Video provided me with a review copy of the DVD set</span></i></span></div>

Anthony Mann Armored Car Robbery Charles McGraw Desperate Film Noir Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 5 Richard Fleischer Steve Brodie The Lady Eve (author) The Phenix City Story Virginia Mayo Focus on Film Noir: Warner Home Video's Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 5

Released by Warner Home Video in 2010, Film Noir Classic Collection, Volume 5   is a four-disc showcase of eight double-featured films, a sa...

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Choosing your hard

<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Losing weight is hard. Being fat is hard. </span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Choose your hard.</span></strong></div><br />This isn't an original thought of mine, but I love it. Someone at my Weight Watcher meeting on Saturday said she read it on a blog on Sparkpeople. I Googled it and found the <a href="http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=3900130">Sparkpeople blog</a> that wrote it in Jan 2011, <a href="http://escapefromobesity.blogspot.com/2010/07/eating-is-easier.html">Lyn</a> wrote it in a July 2009 post, and someone else wrote it in a <a href="http://caloriecount.about.com/whats-weight-loss-mantra-ft145722-1">caloriecount message board</a> in 2008 (this was fun, it's weight loss mantras). I'm sure people have been saying this for a very long time. Regardless of who originally came up with the thought, it really hit home with me.<br /><br />Last week was hard. I was hungry, and complaining constantly to anyone that would listen that I was starving to death. Even increasing my calories to 1,500 a day on Thursday didn't help. I was still insanely hungry. In addition my workouts were terrible. I've gone to the gym every day since Jan. 2 for an hour to an hour and half, but until yesterday every day was a struggle. I did it, but not with joy in my heart. To say I was off my game is an understatement. <br /><br />I'm not really sure what was going on last week but thankfully by Saturday it was like my batteries had finally recharged. The extreme exhaustion, the insatiable hunger, even the depression, all lifted. I feel like my old self. Even my workout on Saturday was one of my best workouts ever (I rule on the StairMaster!). The day before I had written in my exercise journal "Worst workout ever. What is wrong with me?!". Saturday and today I feel happy and energized. It's good to feel like myself again. <br /><strong>Favorite song of the week</strong><br />It's sort of funny that the first song I downloaded in 2011 is P!nk's F**kin' Perfect. One of my New Year resolutions is to swear less. Notice I didn't say stop swearing totally, but to <u>not</u> make it part of my everyday conversation. Some things, like when you stub your toe on the bedpost, demand a bad word or two. Everyday conversations, not so much. <br /><br />When I first heard this song on the radio I totally loved it, it's by one of my favorite singers, P!nk (love her!). One of the best concerts I've ever seen was the P!nk Funhouse Tour in 2010. <br /><br />This song reminded me of one of my favorite posts that I read last week. It may be one of my all time-time favorite's, <a href="http://gravelandrust.blogspot.com/2011/01/perfect-parts.html">Roxie's Perfect Parts</a>. I love this post. It's one of my biggest struggles in life, stopping the negative voices in my head. I'm the queen of putting myself down.<br /><br />F**kin' Perfect by P!nk<br /><br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gKxnsY2dBaY?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gKxnsY2dBaY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><strong>Favorite recipe of the week </strong><br />This was in the Jan/Feb 2011 Weight Watcher Magazine.<br />This is excellent and the serving is huge (1 3/4 cups). <br /><br />1T canola oil <br />1 medium onion, chopped<br />3/4 lb ground chicken or turkey<br />1 1/2 tsp ground cumin <br />1(32oz) carton low sodium chicken broth <br />10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles (I used Rotel's)<br />1(3/4lb) sweet potato diced and cubed <br />1 large parsnip peeled and sliced <br />2 T chopped fresh cilantro<br /><br />Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cool, stirring frequently, until softened. Add chicken and cumin breaking up chicken until browned. Stir in broth, tomatoes, sweet potato, and parsnip, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potato is fork tender (about 15 minutes)<br />A serving is 1 3/4 cup and only serves 4.<br />PointsPlus value 7<br /><br />280 calories<br />8 g total fat<br />53 mg chol<br />24 mg sod<br />27 g total carbs <br />9 g total suger<br />5 g fiber <br />26 g protein<br />86 mg calc<br /><br /><strong>Favorite tea of the week</strong><br />This tea has been around for a long time, but I just discovered it. <a href="http://www.goodearthteas.com/products.html">Good Earth Original</a>. It's spicy and naturally sweet. It doesn't need sweetener. It only has 16 grams of caffeine (compared to coffee that has 100 grams), or you can get the decaf version. Delicious and calorie free.<br /><br /><strong>Plan for this week</strong><br />Continue my exercise streak. No days off since Jan. 2. I plan to keep with this trend. I'll throw in a few light workouts here in there, but for the most part I want to give it 110%. It's the only thing that keeps me sane. If I was able to drag myself to the gym last week when I really just wanted to crawl in a hole, curl up and die, I'm pretty sure I'll be exercising the rest of my life. <br /><br /><strong>Weight Watchers</strong><br />I want to give the new plan a fair chance but still track the calories.<em> </em>I have to keep up on my food journal. I slacked off for a couple of days, so it's time to get back at it. <br /><br />Also, a new year resolution, I must attend at least one meeting a week. It's a new rule for me.<br /><br />A word about the new PointsPlus. Be sure to recalculate your foods using the new calculator if it's something that's not in the Food Tracker, even brand names differ. I've gone back to eating Franz Thinwiches (even though Dave's Killer breads are much healthier but they're too hefty in Points). <br /><br />I had been using the Arnold's Sandwich Thins in the online food tracker, which use to be two Points (which is what Franz calculated out to be in the old plan). I just assumed when Arnold's said three Points on the new plan my Franz would also be three Points. This morning I recalculated Franz and it's only two Points based on the new plan. Don't cheat yourself. You need every Point you can get. :)<br /><br />I'm finding even with the fruit added in, in reasonable portions of course, 3 - 4 servings a day, the PointsPlus are calculating out to be roughly 50 calories each. It's very odd how this is working out but you can see it in my <a href="http://www.diana135-fooddiary.blogspot.com/">Food Diary</a>.<br /><br /><strong>Polar Heart Rate Monitor</strong><br />If you don't own a Polar Heart Rate Monitor you're missing out on one of the greatest exercise motivators that was ever invented. I totally love mine. Over the last three years I've purchased three. They keep improving them, adding more features. My favorite is still one I bought almost two years ago when I saw my personal trainer at the time had one, it's pink and much more feminine than the black bulky ones I own. <br /><br />A couple of times I've gone to the gym without my Polar HRM and my workouts really suffered. It's the best tool I've found for giving you an accurate heart rate and keeping track of how many calories you're burning. You can't trust the machines. From what I've seen their calories burned count are unusually high, often double from what the HRM displays.<br /><br />Tony posted a <a href="http://theantijared.com/2011/01/giving-away-a-polar-ft60-heart-rate-monitor-to-one-lucky-person.html">giveaway</a> for a Polar HRM, but even if you don't win, if you leave a comment you can get a <a href="http://theantijared.com/2011/01/discounts-from-polar.html">discount</a> on a Polar HRM.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">*****</div>Here's to a great week for all of us.<br /><br />And remember...<br /><br /><strong>Losing weight is hard. Being fat is hard. Choose your hard.</strong><br /><br />I'm choosing losing weight.

Choosing your hard

Losing weight is hard. Being fat is hard. Choose your hard. This isn't an original thought of mine, but I love it. Someone at my Weight ...

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