Take a look at this movie by Christine Rabette:
Merci! by Christine Rabette
It’s in French. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Except there are no words, only laughter.
(Thank you Phyllis!)
Tags: laughter
There are a lot of good comments on this announcement in the New York Times.
Here’s a couple:
boygabe Brooklyn, NY
If the USPS were a company, they wouldn’t have to adhere to an idiotic law requiring them to pay into future retiree benefits at such high amounts. No private company is subject to such financial burdens.
However, Republicans seek to destroy the USPS, so they enacted these laws specifically to bankrupt the USPS.
It’s working exactly as they wanted.
Yet another public service slowly being destroyed by Congress.
In reply to Eduardo Angel Feb. 6, 2013 at 9:46 a.m.
You recommended this 76
Rosa H……….. Tarrytown
This is just the beginning of what the Republicans would like to do to government. The idea that the richest country in the world can’t afford postal service is absurd. The problem the postal service faces is easily resolved. Congressional legislation forced it to fund its retiree pension shortfall within three years. (Private companies get 20-30 years). As a result of the billions that “reform” cost, the USPS is broke. If our so-called representatives took a tiny step out of their ideological straitjackets and used common sense, the USPS would not be running a deficit, and our postal service would not be slowly disappearing.
Just guess what will happen to prices and service when FedEx and UPS end up in control of the market. For starters, watch to see how much FedEx Saturday delivery prices go up.
Feb. 6, 2013 at 10:08 a.m. You recommended this 48
These comments say it better than I could. The bottom line is that if this country doesn’t wake up and vote the Republicans out of office, this country will become a third world country, and it may be this already! You can see that I’m mad….. Right?
Tags: new york times, postal service, private companies, saturdays, third world country, usps
Here it is, Pearl Harbor day again. I looked up Dec. 7 in my mother’s diary for 1941 and found this:
Sun. Dec 7th — WAR –
We turned on Kaltenborn on the radio at 3:15 and found that Honolulu and Pearl Harbor and the Philippines had been attacked by the Japanese. Right when Roosevelt was trying his best to bring about peace. It was an infamous and a dastardly attack, a blow in the dark. The whole nation will be behind the President now.
I was a mere lad of 12 at the time, going on 13, too young to go off to war. So, instead I started high school (Westford Academy) the next June.
Tags: kaltenborn, pearl harbor day, roosevelt
Next Tuesday is election day and we will see whether witches, demons, and ghosts arise from the land in a Romney victory, or whether there is still enough sense left in the country to keep Obama in office. Polls and pundits seem to say it’s a dead heat. Well, who knows? But the witches, demons, and ghosts are itching to rise up and are licking their chops in anticipation. Will the country stamp them down?
I’ve not been helping. I’ve ignored Cathy Newell’s requests to make calls for the Oxford County Democrats. I did put up a few Lee Goldsberry signs (six actually) mainly along East Main street. But I’ve made no calls for him either.
Why is my heart not in it this time? Not sure of the exact reasons but perhaps my personal needs are overriding. Four years ago Cynthia was still here and I did make calls at the time and was gung-ho for Obama. This time, while realizing Obama has many flaws, Romney and the right wing GOP scare me immensely and I dread the fact they may win. Still, I just can’t rise to the occasion.
I’m enjoying my new friendship with Phyllis, my explorations of many and varied philosophical issues, my watching of the great old movies of Bergman and others, my singing and involvement at the Norway UU church, my hobby of improving and maintaining the Norway UU church website I created, my friendships with Richard and Tony, my good fortune of having Kate next door,…… Have I left out anything? Probably, but I can’t think what at the moment.
Oh, I’ve been recycling Sara Teasdale’s little poem, “Let It Be Forgotten”, over and over in my mind. John Kelly sent it to me. It’s in memory of Cynthia. She would have liked the poem, maybe she did.
Tags: bergman, cathy newell, Cynthia, john kelly, norway UU church, Obama, philosophical issues, pundits, sara teasdale, witches, witching hour
Rarely do I sleep through the night. Most often I wake up at 1 or 2am and have trouble getting back to sleep. Well, Phyllis alerted me to this great article, Rethinking Sleep, on sleep in Sunday’s NYT. It says I don’t have to sleep through the night! Good. The most creative times could be those between 1 and 3am or another such wide awake period in the middle of the night. Even short naps during the day can help. Historic and cultural evidence for the effectiveness of interrupted sleep patterns is also given in the article. But a doctor warns in one of the many comments on the article not to get too carried away by this. Still, he says just resting in bed while awake cannot be bad. Well, read the article. It’s a good one. And I think it’s going to help me.
One of the people commenting on the article gave a link to Normal Sleep which gives more cultural and historical evidence that what we call “normal sleep” may be abnormal in many places and times.
Tags: creative times, interrupted sleep, normal sleep, sleep patterns
One year ago today, September 24, 2011, we had the burial service for Cynthia’s ashes at Fairview Cemetery in Westford, Mass.
If I should die (and die I must),
please let it be in spring,
when I, and life up-budding shall be one,
and green and lovely things shall blend with all I was
and all I hope to be.
The chemistry of miracle,
within the heart of love
and life abundant,
shall be mine.
And I shall pluck the star-dust,
and shall know the mystery within the blade,
and sing the wind’s song in the softness of the flowered glade.(from In Spring, George C. Whitney)
I keep neglecting this blog! A lot has been happening since September 6.
For one thing, Phyllis and I went to “The Birches” on Moosehead Lake on the 16th and came back on the 18th. We actually climbed Mt. Kineo which was a short launch ride across the lake from the Rockwood landing, about a 15 minute drive from The Birches. We took the Bridle Trail which was recommended to those who want to avoid the shorter but steeper Indian Trail. But what a challenge the Bridle Trail was! We made it to a nice plateau near the summit and had our lunches.
For another thing, I’ve been on a Bergman kick and have watched Wild Strawberries, Cries and Whispers, The Seventh Seal, and Persona. Also, Tony gave me his DVD copy of The Magic Flute by Mozart as directed by Bergman. I’m in the process of watching that in stages. I also watched several Bruñuel movies and have a Godard on my Netflix queue. But I’ll be getting Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage next.
What about books? Well, I’m reading two books by Joan Halifax on Buddhism which are very interesting, Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death, and with Stanislav Grof, The Human Encounter with Death. The latter describes the use of psychedelic therapy. But I’m also reading two other books at the moment, one by Thomas Nagel, Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False. Quite a title! Also, Tony lent me his book on interviews of Ingmar Bergman by students and faculty at SMU. Bergman speaks in English and you get a feeling for his childlike imagination and creativity, I think.
The last novel I read was “The Sea, The Sea” by Iris Murdoch, a fascinating read.
My Lymphocytic Colitis has been in remission for at least a couple months now, but I still take the Cholestyramine and Asacol two times daily. However, my sleeping is still ragged. I’ve been trying to use meditation by focusing on my breath, or counting breaths, and I think this may work sometimes.
I still enjoy maintaining the Norway UU church website which I created. I wish more church people would use it. I had to skip choir last week because of the trip to Moosehead, but tomorrow the Rev. Fayre Stephenson is giving her first service, so I’ll be there, in the choir.
Have I forgotten anything? Probably. It’s still unreal that Cynthia has died.
Tags: asacol, bridle trail, cholestyramine, cries and whispers, iris murdoch, joan halifax, lymphocytic colitis, magic flute, mt kineo, seventh seal, stanislav grof, thomas nagel, wild strawberries
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