Our Next Governor?

In the last televised debate in the New York Governor's race, Jimmy McMillan, running in the Rent is 2 Damn High party, made his case to New York voters. This is priceless.



"As a karate expert, I will not talk about anyone up here..." What? I'm still scratching my head about that one.

The Story of Nicole

*In my recent '100 things' post, I mentioned the fact that when I go to the cemetery for my dad, I also bring flowers to Nicole, someone that I in fact have never met. As promised, here's the story as to why.

All I've ever known about her is her name, and the year she was born and died. After my dad passed away, mom and I would visit his grave regularly. We'd go to bring flowers, clean up so everything looked nice and of course, say a few prayers. One day we happened to walk down a different aisle near my dad's graveside, and noticed that one grave only had the simple metal marker provided by the funeral home, yet it obviously wasn't a recently dug grave. I knelt to read what it said and that's how I found Nicole. Nicole was born in 1983 and died in 1984. Only the years of her birth and death are listed on the marker, so I don't know her actual birthday and whether she'd actually reached the age of 1, but I've always imagined that she had. After finding Nicole, whenever mom and I brought flowers to the cemetery for Dad we'd bring something for Nicole as well. I still do to this day, even now that mom's no longer with me.

As I said, Nicole's grave doesn't have a stone or fancy marker, I assume its because of her family's economic situation. Despite the fact that her grave doesn't have a stone, she's not forgotten. She always has some pretty little knick-knack or plant to show that someone still thinks of her. Last winter someone left a pretty little angel, but unfortunately exposure to the elements broke both of the angel's arms, so I bought her a new stone angel. The little broken angel is still there. I wouldn't dare touch it, since it was obviously brought there with love. I left my gift, as I've left others over the years, with the hope that her family isn't upset by my gifts and that instead they take heart in the knowledge that someone else in this world was touched by their little girl.

I wonder sometimes what she looked like, or what happened to take her from her family, but I never wonder if she was loved for that answer is obvious. I brought that new angel to Nicole shortly after mom passed away, and as I knelt to leave Nicole her stone angel, I wondered and hoped that mom and Nicole had gotten a chance to meet and that among all the people there to welcome mom to her eternal rest there was also a little girl with a beautiful smile.

Easy A

Last night I went to see "Easy A", directed by Will Gluck and starring Emma Stone. Emma portrays the main character, Olive, a clean cut student who as such is anonymous, invisible, a non-entity at her high school. That is until she's overheard telling her best friend a little white lie about losing her virginity and the school's rumor mill starts churning with word of her promiscuity. It all could've ended there, but Emma makes the decision to embrace her bad girl reputation in order to help out a friend who has been the object of ridicule and bullying due to the fact that he's gay. Things quickly spiral out of control for Emma, as one bad decision leads to another, and she becomes a social pariah to her classmates a la Hester Prynne in "The Scarlet Letter."

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. This has got to be one of the better teen comedies to come out in a while. Emma Stone was charming, witty and thoroughly likable in her role, and the supporting cast was phenomenal. Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson nearly stole the movie with their warm and hilarious portrayals as Olive's parents. I especially loved the little homage to two classic '80s teen movies which comes at the end of the film.

If I Stay

Thanks to a glowing review on NPR's site, I recently read "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman, eventhough it's a young adult book. The story centers around Mia, a talented 17-year old cellist, whose life changes in the blink of an eye. During an unexpected school snow day, Mia is enjoying time with her loving family when tragedy strikes in the form of a horrific car crash. The next thing she knows Mia is standing beside what's left of the family car and the bodies of her dead parents, watching as parademics work on her little brother and her own seemingly lifeless body. It is at the hospital, where her body lies in a coma, that she realizes that she can choose whether to fight for her life or to let go and be with the loved ones that she just lost. The story interweaves past and present, as Mia stays with her body in ICU all the while recollecting some of the recent events of her life, including being accepted to Julliard. It is through those recollections that the reader gains a better understanding of the scope of her loss but also how much she has to live for.

The book wasn't bad, but I never really felt any of the suspense which the author probably intended given the title. The ending seemed never in doubt and that's what makes it a bit of a letdown.

People of the Fall

I got a particular kick out of this picture, because seemingly everyone I know, both family and friends, have been apple and pumpkin picking as of late. At work, I've been reaping some of the benefits of that bounty because my friend brought in what seems like a bushel of apples to share with us. If the saying is true that 'an apple a day, keeps the doctor away', then I should be good until next year's annual physical. I've gotten my daily dose of fiber plus some.

The King's Speech

I can't wait to see this movie. If the preview or the rave reviews the film has garnered are any indication, Mr. Firth (he'll always be Mr. Darcy to me) may well be on his way to winning his first Oscar for the role. With a release date of November 26th, the movie is sure to be fresh in the mind of Academy voters once Oscar ballots reach their mailboxes.