Up In Honey's Room

I finished "Up In Honey's Room" by Elmore Leonard

ABOUT THE BOOK

The odd thing about Walter Schoen, German born but now running a butcher shop in Detroit, he's a dead ringer for Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS and the Gestapo. They even share the same birthday. Honey Deal, Walter's American wife, doesn't know that Walter is a member of a spy ring that sends U.S. war production data to Germany and gives shelter to escaped German prisoners of war. But she's tired of telling him jokes he doesn't understand it's time to get a divorce. Along comes Carl Webster, the hot kid of the Marshals Service. He's looking for Jurgen Schrenk, a former Afrika Korps officer who escaped from a POW camp in Oklahoma. Carl's pretty sure Walter's involved with keeping Schrenk hidden, so Carl gets to know Honey, hoping she'll take him to Walter. Carl then meets Vera Mezwa, the nifty Ukrainian head of the spy ring who's better looking than Mata Hari, and her tricky lover Bohdan with the Buster Brown haircut and a sly way of killing. Honey's a free spirit; she likes the hot kid marshal and doesn't much care that he's married. But all Carl wants is to get Jurgen Schrenk without getting shot. And then there's Otto, the Waffen-SS major who runs away with a nice Jewish girl.

I'm pretty sure I've read every one of Elmore Leonard's books - one of my favorite authors. I have a few of his books autographed.

A Hug

"A hug is a great gift — one size fits all, and it's easy to exchange." — Anonymous

Hoot

I watched the DVD "Hoot" based on the book by one of my favorite authors - Carl Hiaasen.

Synopsis

Middle schooler Roy Eberhardt (Logan Lerman) is the perpetual new kid on the block. He's moved so many times because of his father's job that he's lost track of how many schools he's attended and how many towns he's lived in. This time, he's left the big sky country of Montana for the tropical sun belt of Florida and a sleepy Gulf Coast hamlet called Coconut Cove. Along with his new friends, he unearths a disturbing threat to a local population of endangered owls. He's determined to protect his new environment, taking on greedy land developers, corrupt politicians and clueless cops. The clueless cop (Luke Wilson) is in some of the funnier scenes in the movie. Roy's science teacher is Jimmy Buffett and the author Carl Hiaasen makes a brief apearance as Felix.

Advice

"All receive advice. Only the wise profit from it." - Syrus

Make Them True

"Talk happiness; talk faith; talk health. Say you are well, and all is well with you, and God shall hear your words and make them true." - Ella Wheeler-Wilcox

Snakes On A Plane

I watched the DVD "Snakes On A Plane."

Synopsis

When a young man (Nathan Phillips) witnesses a brutal mob murder, it falls to FBI agent Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) to escort his charge safely from Hawaii to Los Angeles to testify. But in an act of self-preservation, the crime boss facing prison smuggles hundreds of poisonous snakes onto the commercial aircraft in a crate timed to release its deadly cargo halfway over the Pacific. Flynn, along with a frightened flight crew and passengers, must then band together in a desperate attempt to survive.

The Great Pleasure In Life

"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." - Walter Bagehot

Be Yourself

"Be yourself. No one can ever tell you you're doing it wrong." - James Leo Herlihy

Change The Way You Look At Things

"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." - Wayne Dyer

St. Titleist

The Gospel According to St. Titleist Funny Golf Quotes

"May thy ball lie in green pastures - and not in still waters." - Author Unknown

"The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course." - Billy Graham

"Golf appeals to the idiot and the child in us. Just how childlike golfers become is proven by their frequent inability to count past five." - John Updike

"If profanity had an influence on the flight of the ball, the game of golf would be played far better than it is." - Horace G. Hutchinson

"If you drink, don't drive - Don't even putt." - Dean Martin

"If you are going to throw a club, it is important to throw it ahead of you, down the fairway, so you don't have to waste energy going back to pick it up." - Tommy Bolt

"Man blames fate for other accidents, but feels personally responsible when he makes a hole in one." - Author Unknown

"I don't say my golf game is bad, but if I grew tomatoes they'd come up sliced." - Bob Hope

"If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball." - Jack Lemmon

"It's good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling." - Mark Twain

"Golf and sex are the only things you can enjoy without being good at them." - Jimmy DeMaret

"Golf is a game invented by the same people who think music comes out of a bagpipe." - Author Unknown

AALTRA

I watched the DVD "AALTRA."

Synopsis

This irreverent road movie, comedians Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern, who wrote, directed, and co-star, show a distinct flair for understated physical comedy and defiantly non-politically correct humor. Rural neighbors who hate each other come to blows one day on a farm and get tangled up in an agricultural tractor, leaving them both paralyzed, wheelchair-bound, and simmering with spite. But rather than feel sorry for themselves, the embittered paraplegics decide to seek revenge against the tractor's manufacturer. They take to the road, redirecting their frustrations with their plights towards the people they meet on the way to Helsinki. Captured in sharp black-and-white Cinemascope photography that complements its exquisite sight gags, Aaltra undermines conventional attitudes toward the disabled with its dry wit and acerbic, vengeful characters.

There were a couple of scenes that really cracked me up. It's an excellent idea for a movie and it would be interesting to see an American version.

Expect Trouble

"Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high. Look it squarely in the eye, and say, "I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me."" - Ann Landers

No Greater Loan

"There is no greater loan than a sympathetic ear." - Frank Tyger

The More We Do

"The more we do, the more we can do; the more busy we are, the more leisure we have." - Dag Hammarskjold

The Tailor Of Panama

I watched the DVD "The Tailor Of Panama."

Synopsis

A British spy (Pierce Brosnan) is banished to Panama after having an affair with an ambassador's mistress. Once there he makes connection with a local tailor (Geoffrey Rush) with a nefarious past and connections to all of the top political and gangster figures in Panama. The tailor also has a wife (Jamie Lee Curtis), who works for the Panamanian president and a huge debt. The mission is to learn what the President intends to do with the Panama Canal. But what the two do is concoct a tremendous fictional tale about former mercenaries who are ready to topple the current government and are willing to work with Britain and the US to do so.

Final Track Meet

We had our final track meet at Benet High School in Lisle. My youngest son came in third place in the open shot put. He actually had the same distance as second place but his second best distance was a little shorter. We had a very successful Our Lady of Peace Track Season!

This year OLP took home four trophies in the first two meets including a Team Championship.

In the Division AA Championship Meet OLP added a Third Place Plaque for the Varsity Boys, a Second Place Plaque for the JV Girls and First Place Banner for the Varsity Girls!

In The SPL Finals last week OLP as a team came in Ninth Place out of twenty competing teams. The JV girls came in Fifth Place out of twenty and the Varsity Boys came in Fourth Place out of twenty.

Finals Champions were First Place in the 7th Grade Boys Open Shot Put, First Place in the 8th Grade Boys 100 Meter Dash, First Place in the 8th Grade Boys High Jump and First Place in the 8th Grade Boys Shot Put with a new League Record throw of 44 feet 1 inch!

These are in addition to the countless number of individual ribbons everyone took home throughout the season.

Shopgirl

We watched the DVD "Shopgirl."

Synopsis

"Shopgirl" catches a glimpse inside the lives of three very different people on diverse paths, but all in search of the same thing. Mirabelle (Claire Danes) is a “plain Jane” overseeing the rarely frequented glove counter at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills. An artist struggling to keep up with even the minimum payment on her credit card and student loans, she keeps to herself until a rich, handsome fifty-something named Ray Porter (Steve Martin) sweeps her off her feet. Simultaneously, Mirabelle is being pursued by Jeremy (Jason Schwarzman), a basic bachelor who’s not quite as cultured and successful as Ray.

Sports Award Pizza Party

We went to the final sports awards pizza party at Our Lady Of Peace. I got to announce our eighth grade basketball team and had each of the boys announce what high school they would be going to and what sports they played. Next year my youngest son will be in high school.

A House Without Books

“A house without books is like a room without windows.” - Horace Mann

So Much Has Been Given To Me

"So much has been given to me I have no time to ponder over that which has been denied." - Helen Keller

Practice Compassion

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” - Dalai Lama

Motherhood

5 ESSENTIAL THINGS ABOUT MOTHERHOOD

1. 25.2 - The average age of a first-time mother in the United States.

2. The percentage of U.S. women aged 40 to 44 who are mothers is 81%. In 1976, it was 90%.

3. Anna Marie Jarvis, whose efforts led to the creation of Mother's Day in 1914, came to detest the holiday because of its commercialization. She is said to have bankrupted herself campaigning against the holiday and died in poverty in 1948.

4. After finishing the iconic painting of his Mom that has come to be known as "Whistler's Mother," James McNeill Whistler is said to have remarked, "One does like to make one's mummy just as nice as possible." but Whistler was low on sentiment and named the portrait "Arrangement In Grey And Black." In 1878, Broke from suing art critic John Ruskin for libel, he pawned the painting for a few bucks. Today, it resides in Paris' Musee D'Orsay.

5. The Doors' song "The End," which is ranked 328 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs, is a profane homage to Oedipus, the guy who killed his father and married his mother. Lead singer Jim Morrison worked on a production of Sophocles' play "Oedipus the King" while in college.

Copyright © 2007, Jeff Lyon Chicago Tribune

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM!

Look At Things

"Normally, we do not so much look at things as overlook them." — Alan Watts.

Like Yourself

"It is of practical value to learn to like yourself. Since you must spend so much time with yourself you might as well get some satisfaction out of the relationship." - Norman Vincent Peale

The Door Of Opportunity

"The door of opportunity won't open unless you do some pushing." - Anonymous

Mistakes

"Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life." — Sophia Loren

A Hug

"A hug is a handshake from the heart." — Anonymous

Simple Genius

I finshed reading "Simple Genius" by David Baldacci

ABOUT THE BOOK

A three-hour drive from Washington, D.C., two clandestine institutions face each other across a heavily guarded river. One is the world's most unusual laboratory, whose goals and funding are a mystery. The other is an elite CIA training camp shrouded in secrecy. Now a man and a woman are about to run a gauntlet between these two puzzle factories, straight into a furious struggle to exploit a potentially world-shattering discovery and keep some other secrets under wraps forever. Former Secret Service agents turned private investigators Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have seen their lives splinter around them. Michelle lies unconscious in a hospital bed after a night of suicidal violence. And Sean is forced to take on a thankless investigation into the murder of a scientist just inside the CIA’s razor-wire fence near Williamsburg, Virginia. Soon he is uncovering layer after layer of disinformation that shields a stunning world filled with elite mathematicians, physicists, war heroes, spies, and deadly field agents. Amid more murder, a seemingly autistic girl’s extraordinary genius, and a powerful breakthrough in the realm of classified codes, Sean soon learns enough to put his life at risk. Now more than ever, he needs Michelle to help him catch a killer, save an innocent life and solve a stunning mystery that threatens the very soul of the nation.

Happiness

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." - Mahatma Gandhi

The Constant Gardener

I watched the DVD "The Constant Gardener."

Synopsis

In a remote area of Northern Kenya, the region's most dedicated activist, the brilliant and passionate Tessa Quayle (Rachel Weisz) has been found brutally murdered. Tessa's travelling companion, a local doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and the evidence points to a crime of passion. Sandy Woodrow (Danny Huston), Sir Bernard Pellegrin (Bill Nighy), and the other members of the British High Commission in Nairobi assume that Tessa's widower, their mild-mannered and unambitious colleague Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), will leave the matter to their discretion. They could not be more wrong. Haunted by remorse and jarred by rumors of his wife's infidelities, Justin surprises himself by plunging headlong into a dangerous odyssey. Determined to clear his wife's name and "finish what she started," Justin takes a crash course to learn about the pharmaceutical industry whose crimes Tessa was on the verge of uncovering, and journeys across two continents in search of the truth.

Based on the novel by John Le Carré.

Happy Change

"There is in the worst of fortune the best of chances for a happy change." - Euripides

Elizabethtown

I watched the DVD "Elizabethtown." I really enjoyed it. It made me want to visit the places in the movie. A very uplifting movie

Synopsis

After causing a loss of almost one billion dollars in his company, the shoe designer Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) decides to commit suicide. However, in the exact moment of his act of despair, he receives a phone call from his sister telling him that his beloved father had just died in Elizabethtown, Kentucky ( Near Louisville) and he should bring him back since his mother (Susan Sarandon) had problem with the relatives of his father. He travels in an empty red eye flight and meets the bubbly flight attendant Claire Colburn (Kirsten Dunst), who changes his view and perspective of life.

Timeline

I watched the DVD "Timeline."

Synopsis

In the heart of the beautiful and historically rich Dordogne Valley of France, a team of archeology students and their professor diligently work to uncover the ruins of a 14th-century castle. For Professor Edward Johnston, the project is the culmination of a lifelong dream. Aided by assistant professor Andre Marek, his son Chris and students Kate, Stern and François, Johnston has made major strides in unearthing not only La Roque Castle but also a monastery and structures from the surrounding village of Castlegard. But things are about to go haywire... Suspicious of the dig's benefactor, International Technology Corporation (ITC) and the man who runs it, Robert Doniger, Professor Johnston heads to ITC headquarters in New Mexico to get some answers, and while he's away, his students discover a chamber that has been sealed for more than 600 years. Marek and Kate descend into the unstable room, and just before a near disastrous cave-in, they make two startling discoveries a bifocal lens, which couldn't have been invented before the chamber was sealed, and even more intriguing, a handwritten plea for help dated April 2, 1357 from Professor Johnston! Determined to solve the mystery, the students head for ITC headquarters, where they are stunned to learn of Doniger's new invention a machine that can actually transmit three-dimensional objects through space. Although he meant for the device to revolutionize shipping, Doniger inadvertently opened a wormhole that leads directly to the 14th century, and Professor Johnston, who had insisted on experiencing the discovery himself, is now trapped in a vicious French vs. English feudal war! Can Johnston's loyal students survive one of the most violent battles in world history and make it back to the 21st century alive?

A Kiss

"A kiss is just a pleasant reminder that two heads are better than one." — Unknown

Your Expression

"Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important." — Janet Lane

Moments

"Life isn't a matter of milestones, but moments." - Rose Kennedy

Get Even

"The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you." — John E. Southard

V For Vendetta

I watched the DVD "V For Vendetta." An excellent movie for anyone concerned about too much government control.

Synopsis

Remember, remember
The Fifth of November
The gunpowder treason and plot
I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot

Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, "V For Vendetta" tells the story of a young working-class woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked man known only as “V.” Profoundly complex, V is at once literary, flamboyant, tender and intellectual, a man dedicated to freeing his fellow citizens from those who have terrorized them into compliance. He is also bitter, revenge-seeking, lonely and violent, driven by a personal vendetta. In his quest to free the people of England from the corruption and cruelty that have poisoned their government, V condemns the tyrannical nature of their appointed leaders and invites his fellow citizens to join him in the shadows of Parliament on November the 5th - Guy Fawkes Day. On that day in 1605, Guy Fawkes was discovered in a tunnel beneath Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder. He and his co-conspirators had engineered the treasonous “Gunpowder Plot” in response to the tyranny of their government under James I. Fawkes and his fellow saboteurs were hanged, drawn and quartered, and their plan to take down their government never came to pass. In the spirit of that rebellion, in remembrance of that day, V vows to carry out the plot that Fawkes was executed for attempting on November 5th in 1605: he will blow up Parliament. As Evey uncovers the truth about V’s mysterious past, she also discovers the truth about herself and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plan to ignite a revolution, bringing freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.

Heroes

"Without heroes, we are all plain people and don’t know how far we can go." - Bernard Malamud