Why would I watch a movie from 2007? I can't remember how I missed such an intriguing movie when it first emerged in the theaters. I didn't even know the movie existed until I ran across it at my gym. I go to a neat gym that has a "cardio theater". Eighteen cardio machines in front of a big movie screen, what's not to like? I'm not on cardio equipment long enough to see a feature length movie, but it is a fun way to exercise. If I find a movie I like well enough to want to see all of it, I can always see it at home on my Verizon On Demand which I did with Fracture.
I was hooked on following this intriguing plot to see where the contorted chess game between the prosecuting attorney and the accused murderer would finally reach a conclusion.
It's about an attempted murder by a brilliant, successful scientist who is determined to show that he can commit murder and get away with it. The district attorney put his most successful prosecutor on the case, but Willy, interesting choice of names, is ambitious and distracted by his impending move to a more lucrative job at a big-name law firm with a huge new salary. He thinks conviction will be a slam dunk because he has a signed confession so it should be easy to move on to his new job. He doesn't bother to do his homework or due diligence and should have been suspicious that it was just too easy.
It becomes clear that the murderer is playing him and the young prosecutor finds out that there are details he overlooked. He has to go back to basics and actually produce enough evidence to convict the murderer in order to put him away. The murderer has carefully planned his crime and has planned to get away with it. The murderer isn't a lawyer however, and Willy is determined to preserve his near-perfect record of convictions with his superior knowledge of the law. It is an interesting contest of wills in a legal drama.
The cast is filled with famous names, and some recognizable faces from the best of the acting world is on the job. It is good to finally cross paths with this movie because it was worth the time we spent watching it. I wish there were more movies of this variety. I will have to see what is playing in the cardio theater tomorrow, because they show a different film each day.
When our children are small, we parents sign up for many sports and activities to give them a chance to sample various skills until they find things they enjoy and want to continue. We took our son to gymnastics, skiing, swimming, t-ball, tennis, and so forth. Of the many lessons in which we participated when my son was young, one of the most useful turned out to be ice skating.
We had no grandiose goals and did not want to achieve high levels of performance on the ice. We never planned to become performers or even learn to do spins or any of the showy moves we see on television. Our son was six and it seemed like a good idea for him to learn some sense of balance on slippery surfaces. We also rented skates and tried to survive without any broken bones.
We had an instructor who taught about a dozen adults and children in class and he took us through some basics. Of course, staying on our feet was the most important thing. We knew how to snow ski, but the point of balance on skiis is different from ice skates. We were absolute beginners and needed to be able to stay vertical on ice. He explained how we were to put out our arms, somewhat forward about 45 degrees, with the palms open and down while imagining the palms of our open hands gliding over the ice. Those open hands would form two points of a triangle and our bodies would form the third point of an imaginary horizontal triangle which we would proceed to glide over the ice.
We were instructed to keep in mind that our weight was to be centered on the skate, somewhat under the ball of our foot, but not too far forward because the toe pick would catch and flip us on to the ice. Of course, weight too far back would result in the skates slipping forward and we would fall backward. We were to concentrate on moving our triangle over the ice and not think so much about balancing. The body would take care of balancing itself if we thought more about the horizontal triangle.
Amazingly, it worked as we pushed off while imagining that horizontal triangle that we had to keep level as we glided over the ice first on one foot, then the other. We would glide from one side of the rink to the other even if it was a bit shaky. We got stronger and more confident so that we could begin to circle the rink with the other skaters. Before the half dozen classes ended, I could even skate backwards. We didn't learn any spins or jumps, we just wanted to avoid falling while we moved over the ice.
He would point to various skaters on the ice around us and point out what they were doing right or wrong. When he saw someone with their hands at their sides, or even behind them, he would declare very strongly, "Too casual." When I watch ice skaters on TV today, I can still hear him saying "too casual" if their arms aren't out and away from their bodies. When I see their hands and arms out to the sides in a balanced position, I remember his triangle of balance concept.
We worked very hard to learn just a few concepts, but other things came along and we didn't continue it as a family recreational activity which I regret. However, I'm a little too old to risk my bones again. The idea of a triangle of balance has stuck with me all those years and anytime I cross an icy parking lot during the winter, I remember to put out my arms, form my triangle of balance to walk across icy patches on sidewalks, slippery floors or any place where I don't want to lose my balance and fall.
The Dunning-Kruger Effect abounds today in the Information Age. In a previous life, I was a librarian and most of my job was research. To those who claim "everything is on the Internet," I must respectfully disagree. The fact is that only a small portion of mankind's knowledge can be found on the free Internet according to assessments by academicians.
Much of mankind's accumulated information will never be available on what we know commonly as "the free Internet." The reality is that it would be too expensive to digitize everything, not to speak of time-consuming. Much of mankind's knowledge can only be found in archival libraries that will not be scanned into digitized versions. One must visit the source where the information is housed. "A significant amount of archival material held by The New York Public Library is not yet represented anywhere online." An essay written by a librarian at Harvard is also very revealing.
When I refer to the "free Internet," I mean those sites that can be searched through Dr. Google. When we consider the expensive subscription databases available through University libraries, Public Libraries and specialty medical, legal, scientific libraries, or government collections, they can't be searched through search engines. Anyone doing serious research must go to those specialty collections sources to find accurate, reliable, peer-reviewed, well-researched data. Joining a local public library gives patrons access to extensive, and expensive databases that have unique search tools. Access to University libraries often require membership fees if one isn't a student.
Some primary source databases are only available through the "Deep Web" or the invisible web unless you want to pay for a private subscription. We've all heard the axiom, "It's worth what you pay for it." That is a good maxim to keep in mind when we are looking at information. When we evaluate information, we need to consider from whence it came, especially in secondary sources, lest we get led down the garden path to wherever propagandists wish to lead us.
To make a long story short as we like to do in the information age, it is always useful to ask ourselves who wrote the information, what are their qualifications and what is their agenda? Primary source or secondary source? Sources, sources, sources--some are better than others.
As Dr. Samuel Johnson said,
"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information on it."
Samuel Johnson, quoted in Boswell's Life of Johnson
English author, critic, & lexicographer (1709 - 1784)
In January, 2012, I wrote an entry called "Doors Unopened" and I find it still applies today. I reject posting a great many ideas that come to mind for various reasons. So here is a list of the current rejects:
I won't write about the following subjects unless I get some great inspirations or queries to hear more about--
--My December cruise was outstanding. I'm a big fan of cruises and I could write endlessly about the things I enjoy about them. We meet legions of interesting people and see great places. We always take several Gigs of photos. People who love to cruise have those too. People who don't love to cruise don't care, or hate the whole concept. I could live on a ship and never get bored.
--My holiday with my family and grandchildren was superb. I never tire of talking to my grandchildren who are extra special to me. They light our lives in a million ways and I will always enjoy time spent with them. I think it is a great unspoken compliment to their parents that they can share their greatest contribution to the world with us. I think they can feel successful and accomplished as adults when they can leave the grandchildren to visit with us while they take some time off.
--The holiday display presented annually by Longwood Gardens always tops their previous efforts and makes the holidays extra special to set the stage for our celebrations. It too, produces tons of photos.
--The Terabyte hard drive that I needed to add to my desktop to store travel photos can be summed up in this sentence and one word--necessary.
--My new gym makes me feel good and gives my days structure. It centers me like nothing else.
--Religion and politics are still on my reject list. I just don't go there. People think what they think without my input. My opinions are in stone and I don't need to argue with anyone.
--My frustration with my constant quest to find "mature" slacks and workout pants will be restrained. See previous angst-- Venting on Vetting Jeans
--The number of books I read is numerous and anyone who wants to read book reviews can check Amazon. I try to keep up to date with a number of my favorite fiction authors and their current offerings such as John Grisham, Stuart Woods, Vince Flynn, Lee Child, Tess Gerritson and others. I'm too busy reading to write yet another review. Kudos to the public library, without whom I would go broke feeding my reading addiction.
The subject that I do find noteworthy is that of a gift that I received this year. I have a new Nook which is most interesting. Never having felt the need of an e-reader, I find that it has been a revelation. I thoroughly enjoy reading books with it and find that I can use the wireless connection to my local public library and check out epub books to my Nook without leaving my easy chair. When I finish reading it, I can return it wirelessly to the public library and delete it from my Nook. It automatically expires in 14 days so there are no overdue fees. It can store books, magazines, newspapers, music, photos, movies, and games like Sudoku and crossword puzzles. So I will have to load it with entertainment before I travel again.
I can purchase any number of things from Barnes and Noble online with their web connection as well as surf the web and check my e-mail. It is such a handy little toy that I never knew I needed. New paradigm.
Unique Christmas cards have always been a favorite for me and this one just arrived in the mail. It is hand-stitched by my daughter-in-law and my granddaughter. This is a keeper. The amount of time and effort that an item like this takes makes it very special to the person receiving it. I understand that each card they sent this year has a variation on this motif. The stitching is very meticulous.
The inside of the card is as neat as the outside. The green backing covers the back of the needlework that is on the face of the card.
It is an honor to receive such a special Christmas card, so it will have a special display spot in my house where we can see it daily throughout the season. It will also become part of my annual Christmas decorations display in my house.
Re-inventing ourselves is a life-long process; some times are more dramatic than other times. Ruts have a limited shelf life for me. I like to move on to new things and do a lot of stuff that change places I go and activities that appeal to me. Friends and acquaintances come and go, hobbies come and go, and life is as changing as waves on a shore. I love the ebb and flow of day-to-day events and seeing what is around the next corner.
Retirement is wonderful in the way that it opens so many doors, it is hard to choose the next door. Sometimes I like to sit myself down and have a chat with myself. Where am I going? What do I want to do next? I have a "meditation" chair where I sit and contemplate my future.
Recently I made a major change and we older people don't adjust to changes well as a rule. At least, that is what I heard someone near me say to another silver-haired gent with whom he was having a profound conversation. I was shamelessly eavesdropping. I have to agree, it takes a bit of assertive, maybe aggressive effort to decide what to do next and where to put my efforts. My major change was to move from one gym to another.
After two weeks of attending the new gym for two hours plus each morning, I find I am more than a little pleased with the decision for many reasons. I can already see the benefits of my efforts and it has almost become like reporting to work every morning. I try to follow a schedule and arrive at around the same time even though I don't pressure myself and I relax with it. It keeps me centered to have a routine to follow on weekdays. Three days a week, I work out on over 20 pieces of Life Fitness equipment, then I walk on a treadmill as fast as I can for three miles. On two days a week, I don't do the equipment, but I walk four miles and try to do that in one hour. It really works up a sweat so I can't forget to take along my towel.
I like the treadmills because they have individual TV screens and cable TV so I can watch CNN, or major networks, or movies, etc. Sometimes I set that on closed caption and watch the news channels in the morning while listening to my music on my own MP3 player. I am so occupied with my music and the headlines, I barely notice that I am exercising. My next change will probably be to expand into some new cardio machines like ellipticals, bikes or rowing machines. I like variety so I will try some new stuff again soon.
I don't know what it means, if anything, but I am seeing a lot of faces at the new gym that I used to see at my previous gym. How interesting.
I am meeting new people and I enjoy the conversations with other people who like to exercise. The early morning crowd includes many other retirees so I can relate to them and we have some things in common. However, it has a big age range which is good too. I don't want to exercise where there are only old people or even where there are only women. I think the decision to try a new location has been an exciting change and it inspires me to look for a lot of other new things to do.
I don't find it daunting as an older person to "change" things. I find it invigorating.
