The Nature of Things

The 74-year-old Dr. Siri has been trying to retire for years, but his country, 1978 Laos after the Pathet Lao revolution, just won't let him go. Now, though, it seems as if he might actually be able to achieve his long-held dream of retirement to spend his final years relaxing with his new wife and famous noodle shop owner, Madame Daeng. He shouldn't be counting the days, however, because his country has just one last assignment for him. In 1968, there was a helicopter crash somewhere in the northeast of the country. The pilot was never found and is listed as MIA. It was an American helicopter from Air America, a CIA operation. Ten years later, the Americans are still seeking those lost in their Southeast Asian wars and, for some reason, they now seem focused on this one pilot. Could it be because his father is now a powerful United States senator? At any rate, an American delegation, including another senator, arrives to conduct the search for the pilot and they must, of cours...

Whenever one turns on the television or radio these days or looks at a newspaper, one is hit in the face with stories of the "fiscal cliff," that totally phony fiscal crisis that was manufactured by Republicans during the last budget negotiations. They didn't want to face up to the work that needed to be done so they inserted a time bomb into the agreement. The time bomb would go off on January 1, 2013. Taxes would be raised on everybody and military and discretionary spending would be automatically cut by drastic amounts through a process called sequestration. This would be a forced austerity program. It would definitely cut the deficit, but it would probably also plunge the country's economy into a recession, because austerity at this particular time is the last thing we need. Of course, the Republicans never intended for any of this to actually take effect. They were confident that they would win big in this year's election and then they could just rescind ever...

I've written here before about my battles with restless leg syndrome and how I was persuaded to sleep with a bar of soap as a magical(?) cure for the problem. Much to my surprise, it actually worked. My twitchy legs stopped twitching at night and keeping me awake. I was able to sleep soundly. I still don't know why it worked. Psychological palliative? Placebo effect? Who knows? Who cares, really, as long as it worked. But then it stopped working. By this past summer, the problem had returned with a vengeance. My legs were no longer just restless at night - they ached. I spent my nights tossing and turning and my days frowning and snapping at people. Finally, I got so desperate that I actually discussed the problem with my doctor. "Well, duh," you might say, and you would be right. My doctor asked me several questions about my symptoms and then explained that there might be several causes. It could be a nerve problem which could be treated with a very low dosage of a ...

Like many of my generation, I first read  The Hobbit  as a college student many years ago. I confess I had reread it once or twice since, but it has been a very long time - probably at least thirty years - since I had last read it. I decided to reread it again in advance of the new Peter Jackson film which opens here next week.  When I first read the book, I loved it, even though it was technically a children's book and I was at an age when I was trying very hard to be an adult. It was a good story and had a character I could care about. What was there not to love? I wondered if I would feel the same all these many years later. I wanted to remind myself of the story in advance of seeing the film. I admit I'm feeling a lot of reservations about this film and Jackson's handling of it. After all, he's stretching out what is essentially a rather short novel with not a lot of action into three movies, which I feel sure will have an abundance of action.  I know, I know, he...

This is a short film by Louie Schwartzberg called "The Beauty of Pollination." I thought it was quite gorgeous. I hope you will, too.  That seems like a nice place to start our weekend. Happy weekend to you!