0831 blowin' in the wind

My mother saw an ad for a leaf blower in the newspaper, so she told my father, “I see the store has a special on leaf blowers so why don’t you go and pick one up? Using a leaf blower will be easier than sweeping the leaves in the driveway!”

Sounds about right? Get an image in your mind? Good. Now substitute “leaf blower” with “blow dryer” and you’ll see what my mother actually said. Funny thing is, she knows what she said.

My father went to get the leaf blower, but put the ad in his pocket. He looked at me and said, “In case I ask for the wrong thing.”

0826 the president's plane

One of the movies I just saw again was “Air Force One” from 1997 with Harrison Ford. I listened to the commentary by director Wolfgang Peterson. He wanted authenticity so all the Russians were played by Eastern European actors ... except the guy playing the Russian president. He was an American actor, who had to learn Russian to speak the lines convincingly.

In the beginning sequence, a team of commandoes parachutes onto a rooftop in Kazakhstan. The scene and the surrounding area look real. It is. But the location is in Ohio.

0826 what's in a name?

One more thing about Bobby Darin. He was born Walden Robert Cassotto, but came up with the stage name when he saw a “MANDARIN” neon sign at a Chinese restaurant, with the “M-A-N” burned out. Interesting.

Reminds me of seeing a “BLACK ANGUS” sign with the “G” burned out. That was about twenty years ago.

0825 beyond the sea

A friend borrowed some DVDs and returned them a couple of days ago. One of them was “Beyond The Sea”, a 2004 biopic of the life of Bobby Darin, played by Kevin Spacey. Spacey also directed the film.

It had been a few years since I last saw it, so I watched it again, with the commentary turned on. Although the film was set in locations like Brooklyn (New York), Hollywood (California), and Las Vegas (Nevada), it was shot entirely in Berlin, Germany.

One of the comments said that because the film dealt with Darin’s film career in the 1950s, soundstages were needed that fit the period. Hollywood soundstages could’ve been used, but they’ve been renovated so much that the cost to redress them was exorbitant. But the soundstages in Berlin were built in the 1940s and haven’t changed since.

As for other locations, many American architectural features had European origins. So it was easy to make use of many sites in Berlin. There’s a scene that supposedly takes place in Darin’s backyard, complete with a pool. That location is the Jordanian embassy in Berlin.

The outdoors scenes looked like a nice summer day. But the film was made in January. It’s really cold in Berlin in January. One scene had a rowboat in a lake. The commentary said that they had to break apart the ice before shooting.

There’s also a part of the film that looks like it was shot on the California coast, presumably Big Sur. The commentary said that it was actually Great Britain.

In preparing for the film, the producers did a lot of research. One day, they met an avid fan of Bobby Darin. She collected his records and other memorabilia. She was thrilled that a movie was being made of Darin’s life.

The producers asked if it was appropriate that Darin was being portrayed by Kevin Spacey. She responded, “Kevin who?”

0819 a question

My lifegroup is reading the “One Year Bible”, in addition to our regular study. It divides the Bible into easy-to-read chunks, so that you can finish the whole Bible in just one calendar year. Each “day” has verses from the Old Testament, the New Testament, Psalm, and Proverbs.

The reading for Saturday, August 15th, was interesting and motivated me to read all of I Corinthians 9. I understand that one of the reasons for Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth was to instruct and restore the church in its areas of weakness.

The reading included I Corinthians 9:19-23, which I include here: “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

My question is .... as long as Christ’s teachings are followed, does the end justify the means? Comments are welcomed.

0813 sounds like ...

I was watching a sci-fi movie on DVD. It was about space vampires that fed on humans. While listening to the director’s commentary, the scene involved a human marine confronting one of the vampire leaders. The director mentioned that the actor playing the vampire had to wear a mouth appliance that featured pointed teeth. But the appliance interfered with the actor speaking his lines.

The director mentioned that the “fear” in the face of the actor playing the marine was actually concentration not to laugh, because the “vampire” sounded like Elmer Fudd. The dialogue had to be dubbed in afterwards.

Can you keep a straight face when the villain says, “My army will destwoy you”?

0809 food

Koinonia met for lunch at Heung Nam Myun OK in Torrance. I didn’t know what anything was, so it was good that Ed sat next to me and gave me tips on what to order.

The conversation was as good as the food and it was good to get together with the group at a place away from church.

0805 getting greased

One of the advantages of using Netflix is watching television episodes consecutively, instead of waiting a week to see how a cliffhanger was resolved. One of the series I’m watching now is the third season of Battlestar Galactica (which ran on the Sci-Fi channel). During a commentary by a producer, his wife would chime in with a question about what was being watched.

In one scene, seven actors were working in a building on a planet. All of them were wearing the same outfits: long pants and sleeveless shirts. Two of the male leads were talking in the foreground, their arms were glistening with sweat, showing off their muscles.

The wife asked, “Why are they sweating?” The producer answered that the building, although shaded from the sun, had less circulation than being outside. Plausible.

Then a female from the background moved forward to interact with the two males. The wife asked, “So why isn’t she sweating?” Sure enough, the female’s pale arms were dry.

The wife continued, “It looks like the men’s arms are oiled. Trying to appeal to female viewers, eh?”

The producer was speechless.

0801 dragon stuff

Ching picked me up around noon and then picked up her cousin, Anthony, and his wife, Remi. We then headed to the Dragonboat Festival, which was being held in the Long Beach Marine Stadium.

Getting there called for some creative navigation, as there was congestion and blockages on some of the local freeways. Let me put it this way ... I live in Long Beach and so does Ching’s cousin, but we passed by Cerritos College on the way.

When I was growing up, my parents would take me to the Marine Stadium to see drag racing boats. Later, in the 90s, I would kayak through the local waterways and watch dragonboat crews and outrigger crews doing exercises and practice paddles.

After parking the car, we made our way towards the southern end, where there were seating and concessions. It was interesting to watch the races, as five or six dragonboats were in each heat.

You could tell which were the experienced crews, the way all of the paddles hit the water at the same time. There was a pacesetter at the front of each boat (not the bow, but about six feet from the bow), marking a cadence with beats on a drum. The inexperienced crews were like watching a caterpillar walk.

We stayed for a few hours. The races were fun, but the conversation was very enjoyable. I found someone else who had “Ching” stories to tell and share. The food was good, too. Ching and I shared some lobster balls. Don’t ask.

After a sort pit stop at home, Ching gave me a ride to SBCC.