Seizing The Day

James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” still moves me every time I hear it. Doesn’t matter how many times I hear it, I just feel something. The music and JT’s voice and the words are all perfect together. The meaning behind the song makes it all the more special. There’ve been many false rumors surrounding the song, but Taylor finally set the record straight in an NPR interview in 2005. Here’s what he said about the inspiration for the song that had three different parts:

• The first part was about Taylor’s friend Suzanne, who died while Taylor was in London working on his first album after being signed to Apple Records. Friends at home, concerned that it may have distracted Taylor from his big break, kept the tragic news from him, and it was only some time later that Taylor found out.

• The second part details Taylor’s struggle to overcome drug addiction and depression.

• The third part deals with coming to grips with fame and fortune, looking back at the road that got him there. It includes a reference to James Taylor and The Flying Machine, a band he briefly worked with before his big break with Paul McCartney, Peter Asher and Apple Records. The lyric includes a reference to “sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground”; the reference is to the name of the band rather than a fatal plane crash in the rain that killed his friend, as was long rumored.

Here’s a special live performance of “Fire and Rain” by a young sweet baby James. It’s a timeless classic. I guess we can all relate to the song in our own way with our own experiences. Perhaps thinking of our own lost friends or dreams that crashed into a million pieces along the way. In any event, it’s a beautiful song.

Lyrics

Fire and Rain

Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Susanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just cant remember who to send it to
I’ve seen fire and Ive seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that Id see you again
Wont you look down upon me, Jesus
You’ve got to help me make a stand
You’ve just got to see me through another day
My body’s aching and my time is at hand
And I wont make it any other way
Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that Id see you again
Been walking my mind to an easy time my back turned towards the sun
Lord knows when the cold wind blows it’ll turn your head around
Well, there’s hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things
To come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground
Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that Id see you, baby, one more time again, now
Thought Id see you one more time again
There’s just a few things coming my way this time around, now
Thought Id see you, thought Id see you fire and rain, now

It’s been 25 years since “A Christmas Story” was released in 1983. Based on writing from the narrator, Jean Sheppard and directed by Bob Clark (from Porky’s fame!), it’s become a national Christmas classic. Much like “It’s a Wonderful Life” became a Christmas tradition thanks to reruns on television, A Christmas Story followed the same path to the hearts of American families.

Though it was set in a long ago era, every generation can appreciate its sentiment. Who doesn’t remember the extreme joy of Christmas as a kid and the anguish of longing for a gift that you knew you wouldn’t ever get. This is a timeless classic that people will watch every holiday season.

This anniversary will be sad because the director Bob Clark (67) was tragically killed in a head on automobile accident in 2007 along with his 22-year old son by a drunk driver. Jean Sheppard passed away at 78 in 1999 of natural causes. Darren McGavin who played the dad passed away in 2006 at 83.

Here are some clips from the movie including the first 10 minutes of the movie, the original trailer, movie review from Roger Ebert * Gene Siskel and a reunion of all the kids from the movie.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081129/ap_on_en_mo/christmas_story_celebration

One of my pet peeves about the Academy Awards (there are many!) is the ridiculous anti-comedy bias the members have towards movies that are comedies and the actors that star in them. It’s almost as if they believe it’s just harder to act in a drama. Any actor will tell you that performing in a comedy can be even more difficult than more serious of dramas. This theory has also been proven by a UCLA-Hardvard study which found that an actor in a drama is nine times more likely to get a nomination than an actor in a comedy.

It really is a shame too. There have been countless excellent performances dishonored by the Academy that has insisted on ignoring and snubbing them. Taking a look at the history of the Best Actor Oscar will reveal this anti-funny bone. In recent years, Italian Roberto Beignini won in 1998 for Life is beautiful but it was a comedy set in concentration camps. the previous year jack Nicholas won for “As Good As It Gets” but before that you’d have to go back to 1977 when Richard Dreyfus took the honor for his incredible turn in Neil Simon’s “The GoodBye Girl” (1977). Ironically enough, he beat out Woody Allen for his role in “Annie Hall” which incidentally won the Best Picture Oscar that year which is another extremely rare event at the Oscars!

Speaking of Best Pictures that were comedies, it’s been a decade since the last winner was considered a comedy. That was 1998 for “Shakespeare in Love” which was more of a romantic period piece with comedic moments. Forest Gump won in 1994. Driving Miss Daisy and Rain Man won and were funny but were they truly comedies? I’d say Woody’s “Annie Hall” is really the only TRUE comedy that has won the Best Picture Oscar in the last 30 days.

As for snubs, here are some of the ones that come to mind for me. Jim Carrey has done work a few times that deserved at least a nomination but for whatever reason he has always been given the cold shoulder. It’s a crime that Steve Martin has never been honored. Robin Williams has been snubbed many times but fortunately he’s been acknowledged for his “Serious” roles such as “Good Will Hunting” which he won for Best Supporting Actor and nominated for “The Fisher King”, “Dead Poet’s Society” and “Good Morning, Vietnam”. Tom Hanks was nominated for his great job in “Big” but lost. Dustin Hoffman was nominated for his awesome work in “Tootsie” but deservedly lost to “Gandhi” so that was forgivable.  The list of snubs is endless.

Anyway, I like the way the Golden Globes sets aside two different categories for Comedy and Drama. The Oscars could do the same thing or just stop all the anti-comedy bias and start honoring these brilliant actors. If they do, then there will be no doubt that Jack Black will be giving the best acceptance speech EVER!

Speaking of Jack and the Oscars, here’s one of the funniest bits ever on the show. Jack Black and Will Ferrell address this anti-comedy bias by the members of the Academy in song! Embedding disabled yet again for some reason. Here’s the link

I understand that being honest and truthful are important virtues that we must do out best to exhibit. However, I’ve learned that honesty is not always the best policy. Let’s face it, there are certain situations that would be much better off without the cold harsh truth. Sometimes telling little white lies isn’t just the smart thing to do but also the kindest thing to do.

For example, when a friend or relative has been kind enough to go to the trouble of cooking for you, why in the world would you be honest and say how awful you thought the meal was? No, most of us understand that it would be nicer not to share our true feelings in that situation. That’s not to say that you should exaggerate and turn into an Academy Award winner rubbing your belly and shouting “YUM!” You just bypass the truth and move on.

Another example is during an argument with someone you care about. You know you’re right and you can prove it but know that it would crush them and perhaps embarrass them in front of others so you decide to skirt the truth by pretending not to know what you know. Choosing to be kind is better than choosing to be right.

Obviously, the best thing to do is to avoid lying by somehow avoiding answering a question that would elicit an unpleasant but truthful response. Sometimes we can achieve this by honing the fine art of changing the subject or distraction. However, most of the time we cannot avoid providing our opinion and feedback.

Little white lies. We all tell them all the time and don’t even realize it and never think twice about it. Is it right? I think so. I know there will be those that will argue that point, without question. As a matter of act, one of my best friends is a devout Christian that firmly believes in telling the truth no matter what the results. If he reads this and tries to start an argument with me about this subject then I will just smile and probably invite him and the family over for dinner.

I love the movie “Liar Liar” starring Jim Carrey which places the spotlight on truth and honesty. He plays a man that has been “cursed” to tell the truth no matter what! Are you paying attention, John? (My friend). It’s a hilarious movie and also very touching as he struggles to become closer with his son. Here’s a scene (with some adult language so beware) that displays the awkwardness of always telling the truth. Ok, it worked out all right for him in this scene but it eventually catches up with him. Just as lying too often catches up with you, the same holds truth with the truth. Stick to being brutally honest too often and watch people run for the hills and your professional career suffer as well.

In this scene Jim’s character gets into even hotter water with a police officer that’s pulled him over for speeding.

p.s. I remember a Twilight Zone episode which had a car salesman get curses with the same spell to tell the truth. Obviously it destroyed his selling technique and his business.

One of my favorite movies and a vastly underrated one is “St. Elmo’s Fire” (1985). Yes, it featured what was then called the Brat Pack (under-handed slap in the face reference to the Rat Pack with Sinatra & Dean Martin). The Brat Pack consisted of young actors, i.e. Demi Moore, Alli Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe and others.

Anyway, this was their crowning achievement. Ok, that’s not saying much. Still, I really enjoy this movie. I think it’s because it brings back such great memories of the 80s. I also enjoyed the whole vibe of the movie. It was about a bunch of 20somethings right out of college full of hope and ready to conquer the world. I was a little younger than they were but I understood the whole feeling.

For example, one of the sweetest moments comes in the following scene. Mare Winningham portrays a rich young woman who refuses to take money from her dad and wants to make it on her own. She works at a shelter for practically no money and gets a tiny little apartment. In this scene she’s near tears describing how happy she was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the middle of the night because she realized it was her apartment and it was the best sandwich she ever had. Poignant scene. Monumental for everyone that finally moves out on their own in this life. In this clip, before this scene, Rob Lowe talks to Demi Moore and reveals what the title of the movie means.

I also love the music soundtrack for the movie. David Foster’s love theme is magnificent and I even enjoy John Parr’s St’. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion) rocker that was a big hit. The movie was set in Georgetown and around our nation’s capital.

Thanksgiving is almost here and the past several days online has had a common theme for me. Everywhere I turned, the subject matter of homelessness. It started when I shared a great article called “Famous People Who Have Been Homeless”. It was an inspirational piece because it showed how anybody, even powerful rich famous people can wind up destitute and on the streets. It also showed how they managed to get back on their feet and achieve greatness.

Well, the response to the share was great. A friend LilPecan and I had the following conversation about it:

LilPecan eventually reposted her homeless post along with new comments in an excellent piece called “Does My Homelessnes Bother You?”

Days later I shared this message and YouTube video about the 11 year old boy that died, Brenden Foster. His dying wish was to help the homeless and that wish came true as a bunch of people made sure of it.

Then another friend, @JillFoster posted this video on Utterli about Homelessness and a personal story.

That brings us to today as I think about Thanksgiving and how grateful I am about all the blessings in my life. My professional and personal life has been amazingly blissful. Still, my heart aches whenever I learn about the Brenden Fosters of the world and realize that despite all of the technological breakthroughs we’ve experience we still have not figured out a way to stamp out homelessness. Given the current state of the economy and escalating unemployment, increasing numbers of US—not THEM—will become homeless. The old adage is true, “There but for the grace of God go I”.

Please be thankful for all the blessings in your life. Also, try to help any of our fallen brothers and sisters as much as possible. Anything we do for one, benefits us all. Being home for the holidays means so much more to me now because I’m thankful to have a place called home. Too many of us don’t.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends. Here’s Josh Groban and “Thankful” followed by the beautiful lyrics

THANKFUL

Somedays We Forget
To Look Around Us
Somedays We Can’t See
The Joy That Surrounds Us
So Caught Up Inside Ourselves
We Take When We Should Give.
So For Tonight We Pray For
What We Know Can Be.
And On This Day We Hope For
What We Still Can’t See.
It’s Up To Us To Be The Change
And Even Though We All Can Still Do More
There’s So Much To Be Thankful For.
Look Beyond Ourselves
There’s So Much Sorrow
It’s Way Too Late To Say
I’ll Cry Tomorrow
Each Of Us Must Find Our Truth
It’s So Long Overdue
So For Tonight We Pray For
What We Know Can Be
And Every Day We Hope For
What We Still Can’t See
It’s Up To Us To Be The Change
And Even Though We All Can Still Do More
There’s So Much To Be Thankful For.
Even With Our Differences
There Is A Place We’re All Connected
Each Of Us Can Find Each Other’s Light
So For Tonight We Pray For
What We Know Can Be
And On This Day We Hope For
What We Still Can’t See
It’s Up To Us To Be The Change
And Even Though This World Needs So Much More
There’s So Much To Be Thankful For

I love this Statefarm commercial! It sums up the way parents feel perfectly. One day our kids are drinking from their  sippy cups and the next they’re asking for the car keys! Time does fly.

Watch the commercial all the way to the very end for the hilarious payoff! I really like the kid because he looks eerily like my 5 year old Matthew.

I took the boys to see “BOLT” last night and thoroughly enjoyed it as much as they did, perhaps even more. First, it was a visually stunning experience because we went to see the 3D version. Now, I’ve seen a lot of 3D movies in my time but nothing like this one. RealD 3D technology is the real deal folks. Yes, you still have to wear the glasses but it’s well worth it this time.

As for the movie itself, the story was very good. As you know from the trailer, it’s about a dog (John Travolta’s voice) that actually thinks he’s a super dog until he gets lost trying to find his “person”, the little girl that owns him, Penny (voice of Myley Cyrus). Along his adventures Bolt encounters all kinds of enchanting creatures such as a hilarious gerbil that steals the show with non-stop theatrics. Other funny characters are the alley cat and the pigeons from NYC (Italian-American sounding birds) and LA (Hollywood types always ready to pitch a movie).

Besides all the expected humorous scenes, there were also a few heart-touching moments that surprised me. Sure, there was the expected little girl and dog reunion scene that was very sweet but there were others that caught me off-guard. For example, during his trek across the country with his sidekick Gerbil and cat, Bolt has to learn to deal with heartbreak and accept the fact that he’s not a superdog. He also must re-learn how to become a real dog again. In a sweet sequence of scenes, we see Bolt discovering the joys of playing fetch, wrestling with other dogs and the sheer pleasure of sticking his face out the window of a moving vehicle (with tongue hanging out).

I might have read more into that sequence of events than was originally intended but I was moved by the whole thing. I kept thinking it was similar to the way we all try to be superdogs and sometimes feel disillusioned when we realize that we’re just regular folk. As for the sequence where Bolt re-discovers his true inner dog, I thought it was a good lesson for how we should try to re-discover our true selves again and remember all of the things that used to give us such pleasure and joy. Along the way to becoming super heroes we tend to forget who we really are and what makes us happy.

The beautiful song at the end of Bolt, “I Thought I Lost You”, also moved me tremendously. Sure, it was partly because it summarized a happy ending for the story as the dog and girl find each other again, but again I think it meant more than that to me. Because of the other things I felt during the movie, I think it lead to my feeling that much more when I heard the song. The lyrics to me could aptly apply to an adult speaking to their lost inner child that they’ve abandoned long ago. For example,

I turned around and you were gone and on and on the days went
but I kept the moments that we were in
‘Cause I hoped in my heart, that you would come back to me my friend
And now I got you, but I thought I lost you!

I think it’s vital that we keep that childlike innocence and sense of wonder no matter how old we get. Being a parent gives us the opportunity to rekindle that relationship with our true self. Watching the world through our children’s eyes forces us to fall in love with life all over again. Remember the joys of our own childhood and all those dreams we had. It’s never too late to make dreams come true. As Disney teaches us, “A dream is a wish your heart makes”.

Here’s the trailer

Here’s the short version of “I Thought I Lost You” with Myley Cyrus and John Travolta.

Here’s the full song

Here are the lyrics

I THOUGHT I LOST YOU

MILEY
Nobody listens to me, don’t hear a single thing I’ve said
Say anything to soothe me, anything to get you from my head
Don’t know how really I feel,
Cause it’s the faith that makes it like I don’t care
Don’t know how much it hurts to turn around like you were never there
Like somehow you could be the break and I could walk away from the promises we made
And swore we’d never break!!

MILEY AND TRAVOLTA CHORUS
I thought I lost you when you ran away to try to find me
I thought I’d never your sweet face again.
I turned around and you were gone and on and on the days went
but I kept the moments that we were in
‘Cause I hoped in my heart, that you would come back to me my friend
And now I got you, but I thought I lost you!

TRAVOLTA
I felt so empty out there, and there were days I had my doubts
but I knew I’d find you somewhere
because I knew I couldn’t live without you in my life for one more day
and I swore I’d never break a promise we made
MILEY AND TRAVOLTA CHORUS
I thought I lost you when you ran away to try to find me
I thought I’d never your sweet face again.
I turned around and you were gone and on and on the days went
but I kept the moments that we were in
‘Cause I hoped in my heart, that you would come back to me, my friend
And now I got you, but I thought I lost you!

TRAVOLTA
I told myself I wouldn’t sleep ’til I searched the world from sea to sea

MILEY
I made a wish upon a star, I turned around and there you were

MILEY AND TRAVOLTA
And now here we are, are

MILEY
here we are
I thought I lost you

TRAVOLTA
I thought I lost you too

MILEY
I thought I lost you

TRAVOLTA
I thought I lost you

MILEY
yeah

MILEY AND TRAVOLTA CHORUS
I thought I lost you when you ran away to try to find me
I thought I’d never your sweet face again.
I turned around and you were gone and on and on the days went
but I kept the moments that we were in
and I knew in my heart, that you would come back to me, my friend
And now I got you, I thought I lost you!

MILEY
but I thought I lost you

TRAVOLTA
I thought I lost you too

BOTH
so glad I got you, got you

MILEY
so glad I got you, yeah yeah
I thought I lost you

TRAVOLTA
I thought I lost you too

Can’t believe it’s been 23 years since this groundbreaking music video for the song “”CRY” by Godley & Creme came on the scene. They introduced the concept of morphing to the masses and it quickly became all the rage in other videos as well as TV commercials and even motion pictures.

By the way, Godley & Creme were once part of the popular group known as 10cc which did “I’m Not in Love”, “The Things We Do for Love” and more.

Everyone’s seen Shindler’s List (1993) by now and knows how incredible it is so I won’t go on and on about how important this movie is or how unforgettable it is. There’s no question that this is one of those rare cinematic experiences that you can consider a life changer because it stays with you forever.

Watch this scene near the end of the movie where Oscar Shindler finally realizes the magnitude of what he did and the anguish of knowing he could have done even more had he not been so selfish. It’s an emotionally gripping sequence. The entire movie is that way. It was Stephen Spielberg’s finest moment in a magnificent career. By the way, that very same year (1993) Spielberg had the summer’s biggest blockbuster with Jurrassic Park and then ended the year with the Academy Award winning Shindler’s List. No one’s ever had a better year as a director for commercial and artistic achievement and excellence.