The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
Marco Rubio shared a link to a National Review article about the U.N. report on the Catholic Church’s worldwide problem of child abuse. The report, not surprisingly seems to be in favor of said child abuse, and is indignant that the U.N. would have the gall to call out the Catholic Church on its many abuses. Since he’s provided the link on his Facebook page, I have to assume Marco supports that view.
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Without any doubt, my favorite series of books is the “Tales of The City” series written by Armistead Maupin, and there’s about to be a new and final book, The Days of Anna Madrigal. Tales of the City is a series of novels, the first portions of which were published initially as a newspaper serial starting on August 8, 1974, in a Marin County newspaper, The Pacific Sun, picked up in 1976 by the San Francisco Chronicle, and later reworked into the series of books published by HarperCollins.
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“NEBRASKA” is our choice for best movie of 2013. It’s about a father and son road trip, from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska that gets waylaid at a small town in central Nebraska, where the father grew up and has scores to settle. Told with deadpan humor and a unique visual style, it’s ultimately the story of a son trying to get through to a father he doesn’t understand.
Read moreHere’s a beautiful piece, again by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles with students from the Creative Planet School of the Arts performing a David Bowie song, “Peace on Earth.” Coincidentally, this performance took place the day after the Newtown Shooting in 2013, and the performance was dedicated to those who’s lives were touched by violence.
Read moreHere’s another video from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles performing “12 Rockin’s Days of Christmas. This will get your blood going as you head on the last weekend before Christmas. The choreography is amazing. I wanna go see them now. Happy Holidays everyone!
Read moreWhat a voice. This is Melissa Manchester singing Cradle in Bethlehem with the Gay Mens Chorus of Los Angeles. Worth the few minutes…trust me.
Read moreThis is a gorgeous rendition of Auld Lang Syne by Mary Lambert. Take 2 minutes and enjoy a moment of joy.
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The topic of the cognitive dissonance amongst far-right conservatives has been on my mind a lot lately, and was brought to a head a week or so ago in a discussion on Facebook with someone I went to high school with all those many years ago. The point of view of the tea-baggers seems to be that they are entitled to government benefits, but everyone else who ever gets help is a freeloader (a taker).
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Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone – tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. On the whole, the movie just didn’t come anywhere close to the hype.
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Captain Phillips is a multi-layered examination of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. It is – through director Paul Greengrass’s distinctive lens – simultaneously a pulse-pounding thriller, and a complex portrait of the myriad effects of globalization. The film focuses on the relationship between the Alabama’s commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (two time Academy Award®-winner Tom Hanks), and the Somali pirate captain, Muse (Barkhad Abdi), who takes him hostage. Phillips and Muse are set on an unstoppable collision course when Muse and his crew target Phillips’ unarmed ship; in the ensuing standoff, 145 miles off the Somali coast, both men will find themselves at the mercy of forces beyond their control.
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Princeton grad student Richie, believing he’s been swindled, travels to Costa Rica to confront online gambling tycoon Ivan Block. Richie is seduced by Block’s promise of immense wealth, until he learns the disturbing truth about his benefactor. When the FBI tries to coerce Richie to help bring down Block, Richie faces his biggest gamble ever: attempting to outmaneuver the two forces closing in on him.
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