I just don't know how these boys did it.
I just don't.
If you have ever watched the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan, you know what I am talking about.
The invasion of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944 is one of the bravest, most courageous, and jaw-dropping moments in world history. History's greatest and most savage war was about to turn for the better, but not without some grave sacrifices by our boys first.
I cannot imagine what it must have been like to have been a young lad of 19 or so, scared half to death, as you're about to land in dangerous and lethal German occupied territory at that time. I can vividly remember Tom Hanks' character as his hands shaked just as they were about to land on the beach.
We take so much for granted. We really do. Our homes, our cars, our jobs, our leisurely activities. If we stop to think about what these brave men risked and how many were lost just on that one D-Day alone, we would begin to appreciate how they literally saved the world from the horrors of Nazism, and gave us the life we still enjoy sixty years later.
To all those heroes, fallen and still standing, I salute thee.
Happy Memorial Day.
I want to dedicate this post to an incredible master of the stage and screen: the unique and charismatic Sir Ian McKellen.
Fitting really to discuss this man, since X-Men: The Last Stand opens in theaters across the country today, and he reprises his role as the magnificent Magneto. It's my favorite character in the whole film series really. Were it not for Magneto's awesome powers and McKellen's commanding performance, I don't think I'd care much for these films.
I first noticed this great actor (like most Americans) back in the late nineties, with the release of the superb Gods And Monsters. The film is acted beautifully, with McKellen doing an amazing job as Frankenstein director James Whale. The acting roles in films for McKellen increased tremendously after this, and he became a household name with the X-Men films and his role as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. He can also be currently seen in The Da Vinci Code too, where many say he nearly steals the picture. Another great, but lesser known McKellen film is the disturbing Apt Pupil, where he plays a former Nazi living in a small town. Ironic really, since Magneto is a Jewish character who survived the Holocaust. Coincidentally, Apt Pupil was directed by Bryan Singer in 1998, director of the future first two X-men films.
The episode Ian hosted of Saturday Night Live a few years ago is among the funniest and best written I have ever seen. If ya can get yourself a copy or find it somehow, please do yourself a favor and view it. He is a natural for skit comedy--with years of experience in the theater of course.
And if ya didn't know it by now, Sir Ian is openly gay. That's right kids. And he is not ashamed, nor does he hide the fact, which is way cool and refreshing in the very closeted world of Hollywood. Perhaps his cause is aided by the fact that he is an elder statesman, and is not expected to be in any love scenes at this point, but I still find it admirable that he is so genuine and honest about himself, while still commanding lots of respect. I believe Sir Ian himself once said that playing one of the X-Men was inspired by the fact that the story has many similarities with being gay and closeted. Interesting indeed!
A veteran of the stage, and now enjoying tremendous success on film, Sir Ian McKellen is one of-- if not the greatest thespian alive.
Bravo!
So I've been living in my house now for 24 years. 24 YEARS! A whole lifetime really. I practically grew up here, and decided to move, in order to have a piece of the so-called "American Dream." Besides, my old house is going to get torn down by the landlord in December anyway, so it was a good time to move now.
I'm almost moved in completely and slept for the first time in my brand new master bedroom last night. I gotta say though, I'm a little nervous and feel kinda weird. Out of place really. I'm so used to that old house to be honest. I really am. It's gonna take me a bit to get used to the new place, which really is not that far from the old one, but still. It's just odd. Really, really odd.
Anybody else know what I'm talking about? The new place is nice indeed. But it just doesn't feel like home quite yet. As I was leaving my old dwelling the other day to pick up stuff, I actually broke down and cried. So many freakin' memories in that house. Unreal. My dad, my mom, my brother, grandmother, countless friends/acquaintances, events, tragedies, fights, dysfunction, joys, etc. You name it, that house witnessed it all.
And I've left it. Forever.
It feels like one big giant strange dream...
Here we go with more Hollywood hype again!
The Da Vinci Code opens today--and as a book, it was a terrific bestseller--now as a film, it might just be mediocre, but will most likely be a blockbuster hit nonetheless. The film has a pretty impressive cast: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou (of Amélie fame), and Sir Ian McKellen, who is one of the world's finest actors alive, and one of my heroes! He practically steals the movie too, from what I've heard.
What's gonna fuel lots of people to go see it, is the controversy. Yes, the Catholic Church and other Christian churches have already (with expected precision) blasted the film as blasphemous, full of lies, offensive, and divisive. This due to the fact that the secret married life of Jesus is exposed! BIG WHOOP!
So what and who cares?! I mean really. I personally don't believe Jesus really ever got married or came of Earth to live as a most normal men, even though he was human. But so what if he did build a home with Mary Magdalene? That shouldn't change his overall message of love and tolerance while he was here.
So there goes the Church barking loudly, getting the film nothing but more exposure and media attention. Don't these people know by now that protesting something only makes it more popular to the curious who will flock to it like vultures to a carcass? Madonna's Sex book, Married With Children, Howard Stern, and Brokeback Mountain are prime examples of having benefitted from negative controversy.
The first reviews for the film are pretty awful though. But it won't matter. Many will go see it anyway--at least in its opening weekend.
Sounds like a DVD movie to me, to be quite honest.
What tha hell is going on with our beloved songwriting genius, Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou?! He is better known to you, me, and the rest of the world as: George Michael.
He was caught again, messed up on drugs in his car--this time he was asleep at the wheel, blocking traffic and listening to an IPOD! MY GOD MAN! Wasn't it back in February he was also found to be pretty high in his car, and then a few weeks later he hit about three parked cars as well?!
I dunno man. The man has had terrible issues with his sexuality, and is no longer the viable and relevant powerful musical force that he was back in the 1980s and early 90's. And this is quite sad to me. Very, very sad. As a member of WHAM!, Michael had three number one hit songs, and as a solo artist, he impressively racked up eight number one hits.
And now?
He must be feeling lost, confused, and terribly unimportant. A has-been really. There's constant bickering and feuding too, between him and Elton John apparently. I'd hate to see such talent go to waste due to drug abuse.
Reading all of this, I really think Keith Richards is doing great, when compared to George!
A little prayer for George Michael too please.
Keith Richards has done all kinds of drugs and alcohol under the sun, fried a couple of brain cells in the process, and has up to this point managed to still tour the world with his legendary band, The Rolling Stones.
Now comes the horrible news this past week, that his fall from a coconut tree while vacationing in Fiji late last month might have been more serious than previously thought. He may have already suffered irreversible brain damage according to the latest reports! This is all being disputed by his bandmates however, and they say he'll be just fine.
Now I know some of you may be chuckling out there, due to the fact that Richards already seems to behave like someone who's suffered brain damage due to all the abuse he's perpetrated upon himself, but this sounds really really fuckin' dreadful. How ironic that this man who has lived a glorious life of excess and has managed to still hang on may now be stopped by this ridiculous accident! Even more bizarre is that fellow Rolling Stoner Ron Wood was also picking coconuts with him! Oh boy.
I hope he comes out of this just fine, which in all likelihood he will. Nothing can stop or kill Keith it seems!
I mean, come on man! This is one of rock 'n' roll's great legends! The other half of the classic Jagger/Richards songwriting team!
Say a little prayer for Keith okay?
I'm sad to see this show go, but I think most would agree it was time.
Will & Grace has had a fantastic eight-year run, and made a difference for probably being the first prominent network sitcom with major gay characters. It has continuously performed very well in the Nielsen ratings, and is a testament to how well most of America received the show. It's pretty safe to say not just gay men watched the show--the ratings were always good enough to prove that the show was lovingly embraced by everyone. It ushered in an era of gay-themed and friendly shows, creating a long lasting and overdue mini-revolution.
And really, the success of this show is due to many factors. I remember watching the very first debut premiere episode back in the Fall of 1998, and being captivated by its tremendously sharp and witty writing. The jokes are very smart, quick, and genuinely very funny. It took a good three episodes to really develop all the characters as we know them today, but once the show took off, it did just that: take off. The director, the masterful James Burrows (a sitcom veteran with shows such as Cheers and Frasier under his belt) has done an outstanding job, as has of course the phenomenal team of writers.
The cast is nothing short of brilliant, and it is the actors who will forever benefit from the success of the program, for they were relative unknowns when the show first began. To see these actors play off each other, as one truly polished theater group is astounding:
-Eric McCormack playing the central character Will Truman. An adorable handsome lawyer who is in love with his best friend Grace, but is too gay to enjoy sex with her. We love Will because he is seemingly perfect, yet obviously flawed and man enough to always admit it.
-The lovable pretty and somewhat selfish Debra Messing as interior designer Grace Adler. A woman who is hopelessly into her best gay friend Will, who has one failed heterosexual relationship after another, is constantly worried about her body image, is gregarious, loves to party, and is the most emotionally sensitive of the whole group.
-Achingly annoying but good-hearted Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland. Many criticized this character at first for being too stereotypically gay, but who could resist laughing at Jack and his many many flaws? Horribly selfish, lazy, confused, lost, promiscuous, without goals, but caring in the end. Will's best gay male friend, and haven't we all had one of these boys in our lives? I know I have, and still do.
-The incomparable and amazing Megan Mullally as the high-pitched drugged out dipsomaniac affluent Karen Walker. She is probably every gay man's favorite character: a woman married into wealth, with a grossly obese husband Stan, who works for Grace just because she needs "something to do", insulting to her maids (especially the hilarious Salvadoran Rosario), bitterly cynical, sarcastic, caustic, rude, obnoxious, egotistical, but highly highly vulnerable and good-natured underneath the very heavy exterior/facade. The best lines always went to her, and to watch her and Sean Hayes in scenes together is one of the main reasons why the show became such an enormous hit. Many claimed, why call it Will & Grace, when it's really The Jack and Karen Show! Almost true, but not quite.
The rest of the supporting cast was always in top shape and many high profile celebrities made cameos or even became regular "regulars" of the show, including: Debbie Reynolds, Eileen Brennan, Harry Connick Jr., Woody Harrelson, Gene Wilder, the late great Gregory Hines, Sandra Bernhard, Rosie O'Donnell, Matt Damon, Michael Douglas, Elton John, Madonna, and countless others.
The show was justly rewarded with many Emmy Awards, and the entire main cast of four won their awards and deservedly so.
It will live forever in reruns and on the DVD box sets of course. The last truly great situation comedy of the late nineties, taking place at the very end of the buoyant open-minded Clinton administration when everything seemed possible, when America still had not suffered 9/11--the show itself shined best during its first four seasons, and kinda lost it thereafter, but nonetheless still had some juice from time to time.
At the risk of sounding divisive, there were many fans of that awful Friends show during the same era, but it is Will & Grace that I identified with, that I laughed at, that I enjoyed.
And the rest, is TV history...*The next-to-last episode of 'Will & Grace' airs this Thursday, May 11 at 8p.m. on NBC.
*The special two-hour finale airs next Thursday, May 18 at 8p.m. on NBC.
Mikey over on his blog has lovingly plastered my pic there on his May 7th post, and is wondering what's been wrong with me lately. Here goes:
I guess we all have a cross to bear, and in this life, I got dealt with anxiety disorder. It's always been there really, due to my parent's genes, the way I was raised, the treatment by other cruel kids in school, being gay, and having to face the real world in this adult life I now live in.
Whatever my past may have been, I had a serious case of food poisoning from McDonald's back in 1998 while working at my first official office job. The fact I felt vulnerable, and mortal as well, really really sacred me. It made me see how truly fragile I am, and how easily one can lose it all without good health.
Ever since then, my anxiety went up considerably. It has always been there, but didn't actually become an issue for me until the late 90's, and I paid for it dearly. I had frequent panic attacks, dizzy spells, and was starting to really avoid most social situations I found myself in. Having to go to work became a horrific struggle, and I really did not know what was going on with me. I had every major physical test known to man done, and time and time again, every doctor would say that there was nothing wrong with me.
I started seeing a therapist, and for years refused to take any medication for my problem. Finally, in 2001, with the death of my father and the 9/11 attacks, I decided I could handle no more of my condition, nor the stress I was being put through. The daily dizzy spells, and constant worrying had me beat, defeated, and truly on the verge of just wanting to die. Something had to be done. So, I went on Effexor, a powerful amazing miracle drug that calmed me down and let me breathe again.
And ever since 2001, I've been on this little drug, upping and lowering my dose as I go along on this strange ride, and my life has gotten considerably better than those dark awful late nineties. Dear God, how did I ever get through those awful late fuckin' nineties? It boggles my mind, but I'm pretty sure my boyfriend at the time was a big help. My little angel. I tear up just thinking about all the emotional distress I went through.
With the Effexor, I was able to be social again, to go and take trips, and to just let go of that awful horrific fear that sometimes invades my body insidiously. Mind you, on the drug, and now off it, I still struggle with having to go out of town (especially on a plane), be a passenger in a car for too long (since I prefer driving and to be under control), and other little issues. I'm weird like that, and many friends/family sometimes wonder why I say "No" a lot. Well, it helps to be assertive and not have to do everything they want you to, but sometimes I feel guilty missing out on potential good times, for being so fearful of my own fear. The symptoms of a panic attack are brutal and very humbling.
Just two months ago, I stopped the drug finally and have been handling it very well. Extremely well. But with me moving from my place soon, a possible career change, and other things going on, I've noticed my anxiety has been returning. Last Thursday and Friday were awful. I felt as I did at the beginning of this decade: terribly scared, confused, disoriented, sick, and ready to throw in the towel. At the root of this, my ultimate fear of illness and of death. So the psychotherapists say about all anxiety really--it is because of our inability to deal with our own mortality. And somehow, I believe that. At least with me, it's probably true.
I'm very lucky and fortunate. God has watched over me oh so caringly, even in my saddest scariest moments. I am blessed to have a job, decent close family, friends, and my hope/optimism still alive. I could be in worse shape I tell myself, but I never diminish the true struggle it has been to deal with my problem. To others, it may seem like nothing, but to me, it is a very real and terrible affliction.
We all have issues and problems that seem overwhelming to us, and meager to others, which is why compassion and empathy are so important. Lend an ear or help a friend when they tell you what is wrong. Never ridicule or judge them. Try to understand their pain. Lord knows I desperately tried for others to see what I was going through or still am at times, and so many don't care nor want to hear it. And that's too bad. We must develop the ability to hear others out. Their pain is just as real as yours.
Which brings me to my last option before having to take medication again. I'm trying to avoid having to go on a new drug, so back to the gym I must go.
I must. I'm lazy as hell. But I must.
It's the only way to burn away all this negative horror and find some hope and peace again.
Maybe I'm too biased, have too much of a heart and am not objective enough with this issue.
I'm trying to imagine if we shared a border with Iraq or any of the other Muslim countries right now. WHOA MAN! You think we got a problem now?!
I try and answer some of the most common questions and arguments in this undocumented immigrant debate:
"What part of illegal don’t these criminals understand?"
-Well, if you were Juan López--pretty poor, humble, with a wife and about three kids in Mexico and could barely make ends meet in your home country which you love, but sadly have to leave to due to the economic circumstances surrounding you, wouldn’t you risk it all to criminally break into the economic powerhouse that is the United States? To wait to come in legally, is to starve. The desperation is real, not imagined, nor patient.
"Well, why don’t they stay where they are from, and change their country, their government?"
-Yeah, Latin Americans have tried to revolt against their insidious corrupt regimes, and met with nothing but swift suppression, U.S. government intervention, torture, and murder. Some examples:
-Mexico:
The U.S. has intervened, from the rural rebellions of the 1840s through the 1910 revolution to the 1994 uprising in Chiapas.
-Guatemala, 1960s:
U.S. sends arms, advisors, and Green Berets to Guatemala to implement a counterinsurgency campaign.
"To eliminate a few hundred guerrillas, the government killed perhaps 10,000 Guatemalan peasants." --State Dept. report on the program
-Chile 1970s:
Salvador Allende Gossens elected in Chile. Suspends foreign loans, nationalizes foreign companies. For the phone system, pays ITT the company's minimized valuation for tax purposes. The CIA provides covert financial support for Allende's opponents, both during and after his election. U.S.-supported military coup kills Allende and brings Augusto Pinochet Ugarte to power. Pinochet imprisons well over a hundred thousand Chileans (torture and rape are the usual methods of interrogation), terminates civil liberties, abolishes unions, extends the work week to 48 hours, and reverses Allende's land reforms.
-El Salvador 1980s:
A right-wing junta takes over in El Salvador. U.S. begins massively supporting El Salvador, assisting the military in its fight against FMLN guerrillas. Death squads proliferate; Archbishop Romero is assassinated by right-wing terrorists; 35,000 civilians are killed in 1978-81. The rape and murder of four U.S. churchwomen results in the suspension of U.S. military aid for one month. The U.S. demands that the junta undertake land reform. Within 3 years, however, the reform program is halted by the oligarchy.
"The Soviet Union underlies all the unrest that is going on." --Ronald Reagan
-And there are plenty of other examples I could cite with Panama, Cuba, Nicaragua--you name it! So many have died trying to change their homelands, and the CIA comes in to quickly stop anyone that threatens American interests.
"They don’t want to learn English and expect us to learn Spanish. They need to assimilate!"
-But they do try and are assimilating. While their English might be poor, they do go out of their way to try and speak it. And their children, American-born and raised, grow up speaking English perfectly fine. If there’s a strong use of Spanish in the United States, it’s due to many Latinos still immigrating (obviously) and subsequent generations retaining the language (very brokenly I might add)--a language that is just as much a part of U.S. history as English. Spanish is official in Puerto Rico and New Mexico you know. But don’t worry, English is by no means threatened. It’s too powerful and useful a language.
I am in no way a leftist, a liberal looney, Communist/Marxist, or for illegal immigration. But we have to understand why, the reasons behind all of this, the bigger picture. When we point fingers, judge without knowing what is truly going on, we run the risk of forming closed-minded opinions. So many say that this emotional argument I'm making doesn’t hold in the reality of the world.
Aside from pedophiles and cold-blooded murderers, we must have a heart and stop pretending that only our own personal selfish interests matter. This is one world now more than ever before.
To not care, to look the other way, to not have a conscience about all of this, is to to lose one’s humanity.
Now that’s truly criminal.
Yeah, so I visit different blogs/websites and read these comments:
Comment from: CITIZEN Melissa MInuteman Spratlen--
the Spanish version is not recognised by the president or the citizens of the United States of America, only by invading coacroaches who are demanding we give our country to them without doing anything to deserve the honor of citizenship.- it will never happen, because we will never give up.
Comment from: VIVA LA MIGRE [Visitor]
Everyone on this site is not white. What say you now you breeder cockroach messycan
Comment from: Texas Proud [Visitor]
The illegal invader cockroaches and the hate America crew seem to think most Americans support their little boycott.
Comment from: ted [Visitor]
Mexico is a third world country. This should be enough proof to tell you that mexico is a uncivilized nation.
Comment from: Connie MCDC Media [Member] http://www.minutemanhq.com
Don't try to play the race card here. Your side are the racists, and America is finally waking up to the fact that we no longer have to fear that "racist" label. You've worn it out on so many false allegations that it no longer has any traction.
Comment from: evina [Visitor] http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/STOPILLEGALS
we dont need more scumbags latinos...everything they do just criminal!
Robbie Cooper on May 1, 2006 at 10:26 AM said:
A “Day without Immigrants”? Hell, can we make it a week? Or how about a month?
To counter today’s boycotts, on Friday I will be boycotting Cinco de Mayo. No Mexican food, no cold Coronas, and will have to mow my own yard and clean my own house this week.
The Floridian on May 1, 2006 at 6:21 PM said:
Listen all you illegals, If you want to violate our laws and sneak across our borders to do landscaping and lettuce picking, I’m OK with that. Most criminals keep a low profile because they’re smart. But when you try to come into our homes and demand that we re-arrange the furniture to accomodate your lawlessness, that’s the beginning of the end for you. Because you’re stupid. You have no idea of what you’re starting with these protests. When you were under the radar, I could live with the money I spend to send your kids to school, give you medical treatment, and financial benefits. But that’s over. Like the joke goes, what do you call a tiny Mexican? A SPEC. And you’re all just SPECs now. You’re OUTTA HERE! We don’t need you - never did. Thats why we’re Americans and you’re Mexicans.
Well, well! Kill 'em with kindness right? UGH. How ugly. How ugly. Mind you, I've heard some nasty comments and stuff said by leftist pro-Mexican groups too, but don't try to tell me that this anti-illegal side ain't just plain racist or hateful many times over. All they do is present the negative fanatical Hispanics--the dumb asses waving Mexican flags and being militant. But most of these are good people, and do not want conflict or hatred. Damnit I wish EL NORTE was out on DVD. That is one movie that says it better than I ever could as to why this is happening--as to why people flee to come here.
We need to be sensible, fair, dignified and secure our borders, make English our official language, and solve the status of our good noble ones already here. But without all this vicious name-calling. It's awful and very divisive. As if some of our own citizens are any better than these people, who are human too.
Shame on the American government for letting all of this get out of hand! And shame on the poor corrupt Hispanic countries and their rotten governments too! BASTARDS! You're ultimately responsible for what is going on here!
Makes me want to cry really...
I just don't know how these boys did it.
