Picture of the Day

Just some boat I saw out on San Francisco Bay this summer.

(photo by Alisa McLaughlin)

Movie Review -The Way Way Back

(The Way, Way Back 103 minutes. Rated PG-13 (profanity, sexual content) Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, AnnaSophia Robb, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Amanda Peet, Rob Corddry, and Liam James. Written and Directed by Nat Faxon, Jim Rash. 20th Century Fox)

Few films are capable of taking the over worked theme of painful adolescence and make it original or interesting. Ths film succeeds with the latter. We’ve seen this story before, what makes this version succeed is the cast and direction. This coming of age film details the angst of teenagers and cringe inducing antics of adults behaving badly with raw honesty.The camera doesn’t turn away from the uncomfortable moments by cutting the scene short or going for easy resolutions. The characters all strike the right tone with their reaction to a lot of heart ache. 

Shy, awkward 14 year Duncan (Liam James) spends the summer at the family beach house with his mother (Toni Collette), her obnxoious boyfriend Trent (Steve Carrell) and his surly  daughter (AnnaSophia Robb). Adding to the mix is the gossipy neighbor (Allison Janney) and her partying husband (Robb Corrdry). Duncan’s isolation is overworked in the first half hour but once he meets Owen, (Sam Rockwell) the fast talking hip manager at the local water park the story takes off. It’s his friendship with Owen that helps draw him out of his shell and gives him the confidence to stand up to the self absorbed adults.

The actors get their characters good and bad qualities just right. The surprise was casting Rockwell as the smart ass but likable Owen while Steve Carrell plays against type as the rotten boyfriend. Allison Janney was pitch perfect as the neighbor who is a bad influence. Writer/directors Naxon and Rush also do a great job in minor roles as Owen’s co-workers. The Way Way Back is a refreshing take on familar material right to the end.

Picture of the Day

At last a simple way to explain it all.

The Cost of Disasters

Hurricanes, earthquakes, forest fires, drought and floods cost a lot to recover from them. When a disaster occurs, help comes in the form of federal aid. But the costs are getting higher as Katrina, Sandy and the Colorado floods demonstrate and there are fewer resources available in a dwindling economy.

The country is slowly going bankrupt as bridges, roads and other infrastructures fall apart and become too expensive to repair or replace. Like an impoverished duke who still lives lavishly even as the estate falls into disrepair because he can’t afford the maintenance and ignores the problem by doing without.

Because of climate change, expect to see harsher weather further erode and compromise our daily life. The cost of food, transportation and labor will become prohibitive and cause more strain and stress on society as recovery takes longer.

It’s not pleasant to realize, but we need to adjust our perspective and brace ourselves for the reality that the outcome of disasters are going to be different from the past. We can’t automatically hold our hand out and expect our government to afford to fix things anymore. We will all have to share the burden and we will because unlike the poor duke, we can’t do without the basics and still call ourselves rich.

(photo UPI)

Like I said before. . .

Gun control, we hear a lot about it in the news. Every time there is yet another massacre we hear the cry for stricter control while on the other side there is resistance to any safeguards because it will compromise the right to own guns.  Once again, everybody falls for the simple emotional response instead of more nuanced reason. We’re missing the point.

Guns aren’t the issue, it’s the cultural attitude around them. It’s the attitude that if I, as an unarmed citizen ask that there be some boundaries to their use and ownership that I am immediately viewed as anti-gun and wish to take your’s away. No. I believe we have the right to have guns. Call me paranoid but they may be our only protection from an increasingly militarized police, and Orwellian government. 

People use them for hunting, sport and self defense; all fine with me. What is NOT fine is having anyone under 18 having easy access to guns. A minor should NEVER handle or use a gun without direct adult supervision. You wouldn’t let anyone under 18 drive a car without an adult present, right? There’s a reason why. Endless statistics and studies have shown why. Children including adolescents do not understand or process danger like adults. Add to this the easily prompted idea that a gun is simply another appliance like a lawn mower or toaster and it’s a deadly mix. As I have already pointed out in an earlier post, tragic accidents happen because people were irresponsible. 

Don’t accuse me of infringing on your rights when I ask that they be regulated like any other potential danger in our society. Don’t lump me in with the evil jack booted authorities trying to violate your 2nd amendment rights. Don’t turn my fears and concerns of the mentally ill, the deranged and the furious ex boyfriend / lover / husband having easy access to arms into a political  “us vs. them” argument. I’m not playing that game and neither should you. It’s not that simple. The media and the politicians want it to be, so the issue can be avoided all together. We’ll just put in some stopgap unrealistic banning of this and that and the problem is solved.

It’s fine to own guns, but I want to know that you own them responsibly. That means they are safely locked up, out of reach of minors, thieves and the malicious. That means you know how to safely handle them. I want to know that you took a NRA certified gun safety course before you even purchased that gun for personal protection. Especially if you’ve never handled one before in your life so that you don’t accidentally shoot a loved one in the middle of the night, because you mistook them for an intruder. I want to know that your kid, who goes to the same school as mine isn’t going to get hold of your assault rifle one day and come to class in a rage.  I want to know that your five year old can’t get hold of that pistol and shoot themselves or others out of curiosity. 

Gun owners claim that they need protection from an increasingly intrusive government, fair enough but I don’t want to have to depend on that same government to be protected from gun owners. Like the emotionally disturbed co worker who takes out his frustration on the innocent. Never mind the police or the law, it’s your responsibility to possess a gun properly and educate others of the virtues / dangers of them. We need to understand that it’s a gun owner’s job not only to protect their own safety but also the safety of those who don’t own one.