Invictus

Outof the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

Nelson Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) survives 27 years of imprisonment. His guide is the Victorian age poem Invictus. He emerges to lead a reconciliation of blacks and whites into a new South Africa. Matt Damon plays the captain of the countries white dominated and beloved rugby team. The team is also a symbol of white racism and despised by the nations blacks. Clint Eastwood finds just the right touch, avoiding an over the top sports movie and a deep psychological analyses of character motivations. The result is exciting action in a sport that most American wouldn't have a clue about, and a truly dramatic portrayal of real political leadership. It was also something that I found downright inspiring. I recall teaching world history to my senior high students and feeling that the apartheid state in South Africa was as intractible a problem as the issue of Palestine, the Arabs and the Jewish state. Sometimes it's nice to be wrong.

I highly recommend this movie.

Julie & Julia

Meryl Streep is Julia Child, and Amy Adams is Julie Powell in writer-director Nora Ephron's adaptation of two bestselling memoirs: Powell's Julie & Julia and Child’s My Life In France.

A movie about cooking. Well, probably not for my taste (bad bad). On the other hand, anything with the greatest actress of our generation in it, Meryl Streep, can’t be a total waste. So we went. In any case, we were meeting our good friends from the Twin Cities for the movie and dinner. Now, dinner is something that can get my attention anytime.

I did know who Julia Child was, having seen her on TV. Years ago, I used to watch her before "reality and garbage" took over the boob tube. Julie the blogger, I didn’t know at all, being somewhat of a late-comer to that genre myself.

Some of the critics were saying that Julie's story could have been left out. She, the blogger, apparently has some personal characteristics the reviewers didn't like. Streep, of course, wasn’t just doing a great job acting, the Julia part.... she WAS Julia Child. I agreed with that.

The story is simple enough. Two women of different generations turn to cooking and writing as a life fulfillment.

They, according to the film, were both happily married to supportive husbands. Julie idolizes Julia. Although for each, the focus is on a different era, their parallel lives overlap in the sense of the path they have chosen.

There is a scene at the end of the film that is somewhat shocking but I'm not going to reveal it here, so as not to spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet.

This movie is a pure joy. I’m still smiling as I write this. There were many laughs and a few tears along the way. Streep as Julia was amazing. Take the time to see this movie. You won’t be disappointed.

Fourth of July

A new American celebrating the Fourth Of July with her older brother in Colorado.Going to a play.

Canoeing and hiking in the mountains with Dad, Mom, Hercules and Spring. What fun!

Naval War Heroes

Evan Thomas takes us inside the naval war of 1941-1945 in the South Pacific in a way that tells personal stories, gives us cultural insights and explains this greatest of all naval wars. Four men provide the tableau upon which the tale is told.

Admiral Bull Halsey is well known to students of the Pacific War. He gave America a needed boost of confidence with his hard charging attitude in the dark days after Pearl Harbor. His courage, foibles and failings add depth to an understanding of his war hero image and racist attitudes before, during and after the war.

Admiral Matome Ugaki is in some respects Halsey's counterpart in the Japanese Navy. How Japanese culture of the early 20th century shaped this man into a suicidal fanatic, willing to sacrifice a whole nation for a bizarre conception of "honor," is hard to understand. Evans comes close to making sense out of it.

Commander Ernest Evans, a Cherokee Indian and Annapolis graduate who led his destroyer on the last great charge in the last great naval battle in history was somewhat known to me. A Medal of Honor recipient for his acts of bravery and leadership in the battle of Leyte Gulf, he overcame extreme poverty and prejudice to become a naval officer before the war. Knowing the story of his defense of the carriers of Taffy 3, I had always admired him as a great hero and still do.... and yet while all of his surviving crew, to this day speak highly of him, some will admit he may have gone too far. With his tiny destroyers ammunition all gone and the ship ablaze, he continued to attack the largest battleships ever built.

Admiral Takeo Kurita, the Japanese battleship commander charged with making what was, in essence, a suicidal fleet attack against the American invasion of the Philippines is the most intriguing of all. By means of a clever deception, which put Bull Halsey reputation at risk, Kurita's force of battleships fought and destroyed a portion of a smaller and outgunned American naval force in a night battle in Leyte Gulf. Then faced with the prospect of being annihilated by the power of Halsey's overwhelming carrier force, he choose a "mysterious retreat" in violation of his orders. In Evans words, he was later praised after the war as a "seaman of seamen," but never honored for "his humaneness, as a commander, who chose not to foolishly waste the lives of his men in a grand but empty act of bushido."

I don't think one has to be particularly interested in refighting old battles from WWII to learn something worthwhile from from Evan Thomas's latest book. The vagaries of courage and honor in the face of cultural imperatives are a subject for any era. Think of things like the "doctine of preemption" as a basis for a national foreign policy or "enhanced interrogation" as best means of protecting our national security.

Coming To America

A little over a year ago she arrived in Denver airport to her new home in America, She was malnourished and naturally looking a little apprehensive. The adoption agency said she was about 2 1/2 years old. She knew only a few words of English.

She has grown four inches in the year since and when I talk to her on the phone, if I didn't know better, you would think she had been speaking English all her life. "Hi grandpa. How you guys doing?" etc. She had several birthday parties this past year as her true age gradually became apparent. Amazingly, the experts and her preschool said she was ready for kindergarten next year.

During our recent visit we got to see her play soccer. Here she is getting some quick sideline pointers from her dad.
This girl can run like the wind. Based on what I saw, and being completely impartial, I am projecting her for the American Women's Olympic soccer team in 2028. Or maybe Miss Congeniality a few years earlier. In any case, welcome to America Tensae. We love you.