DIsh Network after one week!

I love it and wonder why I stuck with our local cable company (now owned by Charter) for over 40 years.  I am getting more for less cost.  The picture is great and rain does not degrade my picture. I switched so I could watch my Ducks on the Pac 12 Networks, which Charter refused to carry, but there is so much more that is good about the Dish Network.

It started when I went into a local store here in Medford named "No Wires Media" locally owned by a couple who's kids attend the same school as my children when they were young.  The wife runs the store and husband does the instillation. No calling someone in some far away call center and taking potluck as to who shows up to do the instillation. They were also able to get me a discount from Charter for the Internet and phone that I was keeping.

I ordered the 200 station package with one Hopper and three Joeys to connect four TVs in our house.

Last Wednesday the installer arrived at 10 AM and had the system installed by 2 PM.  For the most part he was able to use the old cable wiring to the 4 TVs but did have to run a new line to the master bedroom because we are keeping Charter's Internet and phone service. He installed the dish on the side of the house under a window so if it snows I can reach out the window to remove the snow collection with a brush without going outside; but, yet it is high enough to have a great unobstructed  view of the southern sky and so I can walk under it outside  and not hit my head .  He put the main unit called the Hopper in the living room and the Joeys in my wives's sewing room, the master bedroom and the "Man Cave" downstairs in our half basement.

The Hopper unit has 3 separate TV tuners so we can watch three separate stations in the house or record on one tuner and watch two stations on the other two tuners. If all 4 TV's are in use, one  TV will have to watch the same station as one of the other TVs or watch prerecorded programs recorded on the Hopper which is also a DVR.  Not much of a problem since there is only my wife and I since the Kids grew up and moved out. Each TV gets a remote that controls the Hopper/Joey and the TV.There is even a feature that allows me to find a "lost" remotes!



This is the first time we have had a DVR. It's nice to graduate from the old VCR! I can program it to record any program I want on a regular schedule.  For example I programed it to record Bret Baier's news show "Special Report" which is broadcast on Fox News Monday through Friday at 3 PM here on the west coast. Best program on politics on TV. It has a feature that will allow you to record all four major networks (FOX, ABC, NBC CBS) prime time lineups  every night of the week and keep it for a week automatically.
I now get a "slug" of new TV Channels that I love, again at less cost than Charter such as:

Fox Business Network, Turner Classic Movies, Hallmark Channel, Lifetime Movie Channel, Sundance Movie Channel, NFL Network, CBS Sports Network, 2 Comcast sports channels from California and the Pac 12 Networks!!! Also get NASA and Pentagon Channels.

Best yet,  Dish has "TV Anywhere" so I can watch LIVE, all my TV channels  on my computer at home,  at the office and on  my iPad. Anywhere I have  an Internet connection.  So for example, I can program and watch live TV from my home at  McDonald's in Washington D.C. This is not just a few channels but ALL my channels and at no additional cost.

If you are a cable subscriber and are afraid to switch DON"T BE!

Even if Charter should in the future get the Pac 12 Networks there is no going back for me unless there is a substantial improvement in their system and features.

 With apologies to Peter Paul and Mary:  Charter......where have all your subscribers gone....... gone to Dish everyone.... when will they ever learn, when will they ever learn.

"Violets Flowers"

A few years before my mother died we accompanied her to the Blackberry Festival in Coos Bay where she lived.  While there she bought this sign from a vendor and placed it in her flower garden.

After she died I rescued the sign from the estate sale and placed it here in our driveway with a plant that was given to me by some friends in recognition of my mother.

Over the years the sign has deteriorated due to the weather and so my wife repainted the sign this spring. I think she did a great job!

Thanks Janie! 

Birthday Weekend in Eugene for a Duck Basketball Game

And the Ducks won too!

The Holidays are Over

For most people the holidays were over a week ago. However, we were able to make them last almost  an entire month !

Our son arrived home on December 16th and I took him back to the airport here in Medford on Tuesday, January 7,2013.  Between those dates we celebrated the arrival of our daughter from Washington DC, Christmas, New Years, the Ducks winning the Fiesta Bowl, Oregon coach  Chip Kelly leaving for the NFL weekend (He stayed), watching all or part of 23 College Bowl games, at least 5 NFL football games, going to see the movies "Lincoln", and "What a Wonderful Life" at Tinseltown, Eating out at Bella Union in Jacksonville, a trip to Donut Country, Christmas shopping, numerous other meals out, the Oregon vs Oregon State "Civil War" basketball game, attended a South Medford Basketball game, and going to the bar at Red Robin for dinner New Years Eve.  We had small parties for the Fiesta Bowl and the National Championship game.

Both of our children are now  safely back in their homes "back east" as they used to say in the Westerns. Today, it's cold, rainy and snow is expected here in Medford and the house is quiet and empty and Christmas decoration free.

But, just think, the NFC/AFC playoff games are next Saturday and  Sunday, the Super Bowl is three  weeks, and  after that  college football "letter of intent" day is February 6th  and we have a Duck recruiting dinner that same day at the 7 Feathers Casino in Canyonville . . And I haven't even talked about movies, music, history and a possible trip to Eugene for a Duck Basketball game.

Merry Christmas

1. 

   
   

   
   

   As someone who is Agnostic and a lover of Christmas our son has posted a most thoughtful statement reconciling the two, and with his permission I repose it here:

   
   

   The recent events in Connecticut are challenging for the religious skeptic to contemplate: twenty children, barely having experienced existence, lost their lives. While this event has done much to shock the country, it is only a small scratch among troubling deaths that plague the earth every day. Whether it takes place in small events here and there, or mass genocides, ...death is a constant presence. The worst offender isn't even at the hands of fellow humans. Though it is by different means, and often different timing, nature is by far the most prolific killer of the human race; inevitably leaving no one untouched. The net effect is the same. We are given a relatively brief moment of existence only to have it snuffed away. Is the universe really that cruel and perverse?
   
   Suppose death is not the end of our spirit? Perhaps our souls are given life on earth to experience the travails of survival: hard work, management of finances, interactions with others, and pursuing our own means to contentment and happiness. In an otherley world of care free happiness and love, free will and the burdens of earth are the only ways for the soul to mature and grow. Suppose the children killed in Connecticut lost their lives, but are now in a happier place? Is any crime on earth thus too heinous for forgiveness? Would it not seem ideal that the killer, stripped of his human weaknesses, come to repent and be granted redemption for his hateful actions? Supposedly Jesus asked that his tormentors be forgiven as they knew not what they were doing. Whether real or symbolic, does this not sound right?
   
   As for life on earth during the Christmas season, perhaps there is a hidden gem. For all those parents across the nation who might normally be worrying about the mortgage, dealing with the in-laws, or worrying about the perfect Christmas present, perhaps they might hug their child a little harder and appreciate the love of family more. I think that’s the true reason for the season.
   
   This optimistic agnostic wants to wish everyone a Merry Christmas this Holiday season.

   
   I wish to echo that statement.  I don't know if a "God" existent but if he doesn't he should and even more so this day!  Real or symbolic the Christmas story is a wonderful tale. Merry Christmas!

TV Christmas Movies

I am a sucker for movies about Christmas. This time of year my wife is always watching those, non stop, Christmas movies made for TV on the Lifetime and ABC Family TV cable channels. I will be watching FOX NEWS on the TV in the room where I am and will walk by the TV my wife is watching and will watch a few minutes and I am hooked. It's fun to watch these TV movies because you see actresses and actors (Mostly from canceled TV shows) who you haven't seen for a while, because they are on the down hill slide in their careers, and will work cheep. Once in a while you will see a movie made before an actor became famous. I have gotten so I remember movies they showed last year and the year before. This is the first year my wife has a high definition TV set and we have our new recliner chairs facing it.  So like an "old couple" we sit there in our recliners watching these Christmas movies in our living room with it's "Christmas Overlay." Life is good!

A couple that I have seen this year are:

Love at the Christmas Table (2012)

Family friends Sam and Kat spend every Christmas Eve at the Children's Table. They grow up together, sharing the highs and lows of young adulthood. And at thirty, Sam realizes that Kat is the one...but he's afraid that the past will get in the way. I liked this movie because it follows the two main characters from age 6 or so till their early thirties.  It's a "same time next year" type of movie because you only see them once a year as they grow up on Christmas Eve at the Christmas party thrown by their parents .  The actress that played Winnie Cooper in the "Wonder Years" is the female lead.

Will You Merry Me (2008)

Very funny movie about two family's that get together at Christmas when their adult children meet in New Your and decide there families should meet  before they get married.

Rebecca, from an upper class Los Angeles Jewish family,(liberal) and Henry, from choir-singing, tradition-bound Midwestern roots,(conservative) are in love. Henry pops the question just before Christmas and the kids plan on gathering their families for the holidays in order to surprise them with the good news. The families collide-oops-meet the week of Hanukkah just before Christmas in a small Midwest town. It's a wild, wacky ride of good intentions and missteps as the two families try in vain to respect each others' traditions. It's not long before Rebecca and Henry learn the hardest part about being married might be dealing with each other's in-laws. Lots of Liberal vs Conservative issues such as Rebecca's revulsion that Henry has a "real" rifle in his childhood bedroom for hunting defenseless ducks.


However my favorite movies about Christmas are the classics that were originally shown in theaters. The following is my list of my favorite movies about Christmas. I decided the test for a movie to make the list is have I purchased it on DVD. Here is the list in order of preference in reverse order.

4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)

Stars Chevy Chase in a very funny movie. I see a lot of me and my family in this movie, trying to have the "perfect" Christmas. The scenes with the old folks who come over for Christmas eve dinner reminds me of Uncle Herman and Mrs Hills and others who my folks would invite over for Christmas. They are all gone now but the memories remain. I am sure my son has empathy for Russ who has to help his dad put up the outside Christmas lights.

3. Meet Me in St Louis (1944)

A Judy Garland classic. About an upper middle class family in turn of the century St Louis ( young folks the one in 1900). The movie focus in on a group of young people (They didn't call them teenagers then) who are excited about the coming of the Worlds Fair to St Louis and their trials and loves. The dad, who is a lawyer, gets a job at a prestigious firm in New York and causes a crisis that hits it's boiling point at Christmas. Garland sings "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas" that is a show stopper and is one of those moments you never forget.

2. White Christmas (1954)

What can I say, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney in a movie about two GI's from World War II that want to help out the general of their division who is now the owner of a lodge in New England that has fallen on tough times. Crosby and Kaye are Broadway writer and producers who decide to put on a Christmas show at the lodge and have it shown nationwide on TV on something like the Ed Sullivan Show. Rosemary Clooney has never looked better. A classic 1950's movie that says a lot about the times and in glorious color. of course, Bing sings "White Christmas."World War II was still fresh in the minds of most who saw this movie when it first came out in 1954.

1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

The Jimmy Stewart, Frank Capra classic about a guy who gives up his dream of college and travel to stay in his small home town and makes it a better place. I never tire of this movie. The Christmas decorations in this movie remind me of the decorations we had when I was a kid. Next to The Duke, Jimmy Stewart was and is my favorite.

The Spring Game and Goodbye Autzen

Tomorrow is the Oregon football Spring Game and today is the last day to renew season tickets for the 2012 football Season. I will be taking a charter bus to Eugene tomorrow for the Spring game but today  I will not be renewing my season tickets . All good things come to and end and this is one.  Our family has had season Oregon football tickets for 22 years but not next year.  I will still be going to games at Autzen  but just not as often. When we originally bought season tickets, the Ducks had just come of their first bowl game in a long time, the 1989 Independence Bowl in Shreveport La. We have had two tickets and the kids in their teenage years would take turns traveling to Eugene for the games.  Even when my son was a college student at Willamette University in Salem he would meet me at the games. However, both kids are now adults living in the Eastern time zone. My wife doesn't like crowds and we are both getting old and a three hour trip to Eugene, attending a 4 hour game and then driving three hours home is not as much fun as it once was. In addition, they have raised ticket prices to make purchasing season tickets a major investment.  One fan in our section, after the last price increase, kiddingly ask if we all gotten second mortgages on our homes to buy the tickets. Finally, after going to the Rose Bowl and winning it last season, the first time in 95 years for my Ducks, there aren't many more mountains to climb. Don't worry, I am still a crazy Duck fan but I will be watching more Duck games in front of my big screen high definition TV where there is a restroom just down the hall and the hot dogs are less expensive. I will miss interaction with fellow Duck fans but with my ipad and twitter there will still be lots of interaction. As usual, I will have the TV sound turned down and will be listening to the games with Jerry Allen and Jorge on the Duck Radio broadcasts.

I still plan on making at least one home  game per season at Autzen and  one road trip each year to an away game in the San Francisco bay area (Stanford or Cal) or a trip to Seattle for a game with the Washington State Cougars. ( The Cougs want to play one game in Seattle for their fans in the metropolitan area.

As far as tomorrow(Saturday) the University of Oregon Ducks will hold their Spring Football game at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. The Oregon Club of Southern Oregon is sponsoring a bus trip to Eugene for the football game and an Oregon baseball game after the football game. I am looking forward to the trip.

"Faster,Farther, Stronger"

I am one proud dad.  Last Sunday's Krispy Kreme 5K in Lexington, Kentucky.   For me, I would have gone for the Krispy Kreme Donuts ! Just looking at him makes me want some.

P.S. In 18.47 a 39 Second PR. ( 5 K =  3.125 miles)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

An "Oldie Goldie" post:

What better day to write about the soundtrack to Director John Ford's movie, The Quiet Man, which he made as a tribute to his ancestral home of Ireland.In some ways it was a "love letter." Of all the movies he made this is the one he loved and fought hardest to make. No one though it would be a hit and he had to agree to make another John Wayne western , Rio Grande,to compensate Republic Pictures Studios for the cost of the Quiet Man. Before production started on The Quiet Man he made Rio Grande with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara to test them out for their parts in The Quiet Man. They were magic together in both movies. In The Quiet Man, Wayne and O'Hara star in this movie of an American Boxer who returns to his family's home in Ireland and falls in love with an Irish lass.The soundtrack is available on CD and was recorded in Ireland by "The Dublin Screen Orchestra."A great soundtrack to a John Wayne movie.The movie was made in Ireland in the summer of 1951. John Ford won the Best Director Oscar for his direction and it also won a Best Cinematography Oscar.The Soundtrack was written by Victor Young. Ford insisted that the music aptly reflect the lush Irish locale and is full of Irish folk tunes.

If you watch Rio Grande, you will also note he tested some of the music for The Quiet Man in in that movie as well.

Now, we just need a restored copy of The Quiet Man on DVD, blu-ray would be great,because the present one is a poor transfer of the movie. In some ways the old VHS copy of the movie are better.

I can still remember watching this movie, for the first time, with my parent and sister, in the 1950's from the back seat of my parents car at a drive in theater. My dad liked the big fight at the end of the movie. I can still hear his laugh.

P.S. Director John Ford was in love with Maureen O'Hara and made Duke Wayne his "stand in" doing the things he wanted to do but was prevented because of his Catholic faith.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! SHOUT OUT !

Your not a kid anymore ! Have a great day. We love you.

"The Winter of our Ducks' Content"

(The Three Musketeers)

As usual Bob Welch of the Eugene Register-Guard writes it best:

And the Bard is right: UO’s 45-38 victory over the Badgers on Monday night promises to warm Duck fans with the balmy pleasantry of Pasadena through the dark, wintry months ahead.

Perhaps even beyond for those of us old enough to remember when pain wasn’t a last-second loss in a national championship game but a 14-game losing streak (1974-75) or shutting out Oregon State and still not winning (0-0 in 1983).

************

It’s Charlie Brown going to kick the football and, for once, Lucy not pulling it away at the last second.

With the exception of the 2002 Fiesta Bowl, that has happened in the four recent marquee bowl games the Ducks have played in: the 1995 Rose Bowl, the 2010 Rose Bowl and last year’s BCS Championship.

The hoopla. The hype. The game. The loss. The cold winters that followed each.

***********

Not now. Lucy’s reign is over.

************

What mattered was simply knowing that for one day, in a place that is to college football what Augusta is to golf, Oregon won the day.

Enabled some of us old-timers to check another item on our bucket list.

And staved off another winter of discontent.

To read the rest of his wonderful column click on the title for a link

OREGON DUCKS WIN ROSE BOWL 45 TO 38

At the end of a slug fest of a game, I looked around and after giving my two adult children hugs, told them to look around the Rose Bowl stadium as it would never be as good as this again (in being a sports fan of a team). It has been 95 loooong years since the Ducks last won a Rose Bowl. They did it in my lifetime. A day to remember and it was made very special because it was with my kids. Go Ducks..... you won the day!

With apologies to William Shakespeare:

From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of Oregon Ducks;
For to-day those that were at the Rose Bowl with me
Shall be my brother and sister; be they ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle their condition;
And gentlemen and ladies from Oregon now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not there,
And hold their being a Duck cheap whiles any speaks
That stood with us at the Rose Bowl on January 2, 2012.

Wickre Duck Bowl History

I was middle aged before I went to my first Oregon Duck Bowl. I was too young to go the 1958 Rose Bowl or the 1963 Sun Bowl. To be more precise, my parents were not football fans and thus as a kid we did not go to either of those bowls. I did watch them on TV. All through my college years and young adult years I "swore" that I would go to any bowl to which the Ducks were invited. In those years based upon Pac-8 or Pac 10 rules Oregon was mostly limited to going to the Rose Bowl and Oregon had terrible teams in those years and thus received no invitations. That all changed in 1989.


1989 Independence Bowl Oregon 27 Tulsa 24 Won
That all chanced in 1989 when Oregon Athletic Director, Bill Byrne, agreed to buy 14,000 tickets to the Independence Bowl in Shreveport Louisiana in return for a bowl invitation. My 6 year old son and I flew to Dallas Texas and I drove a rental car from there to the game. With a windchill temperate of below zero we watched the Ducks, led by QB Bill Musgrave, come from behind to win the game. During the game I kept worrying that my wife would "kill me" if our son got frost bite. He didn't and that game became a bonding experience we will never forget.

1990 Freedom Bowl Colorado State 32 Oregon 31 Lost
The next year the entire family drove down to the Freedom Bowl in Anaheim, California. We went to Disneyland and had a great time at the Disneyland Hotel. The Washington Huskies were in the Rose Bowl that year and the fans we ran into treated the Freedom Bowl as a Junior Varsity (JV) game. This is one of the reasons I learned to hate the Huskies.The loss was very disappointing but at both the Independence Bowl and the Freedom Bowl you could see the thirst of Oregon fans to go "bowling" after such a drought.

1992 Independence Bowl Wake Forest 39 Oregon 35 Lost
Fortunately we had a tailgate party at home and watched this turkey on TV. Oregon led big time at half time and managed to lose the game in the second half.This game reinforced this Duck fans fatalism that no Duck lead is ever enough.

1995 Rose Bowl(1994 Season)Penn State 38 Oregon 20 Lost
Again the entire family drove down I-5 to this game and stayed at a hotel near LAX as part of an UofO Alumni "ground package" trip. It was over priced but we did get a bus ride to the game. We had a great time driving down I-5 to the game and passing other Duck fans in their "Ducked out" cars and vans. We met Ducks at every stop on the way down and back. We loved the Pep Rally at Century City, the day before the game, and it was fun just being at the Rose Bowl. It was a disappointing loss but it was the first time Oregon had been to a "big time" bowl and the entire state of Oregon was excited about the event. When we got home a friend gave my wife a tee shirt that said "I survived the Rose Bowl." Unlike our kids my wife is not a big football fan and dislikes crowds.

1996 Cotton Bowl Colorado 38 Oregon 6 Lost
We stayed home and watched this game on TV. This is where we learned to hate then Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel when Colorado went for a fake punt late in the game when Colorado lead Oregon by a big margin.

1997 Las Vegas Bowl Oregon 41 Air Force 13 Won
The entire family drove to Las Vegas for this game. On the way through the Mojave Desert a radio station was giving away Berry Manilow tickets to a concert at the MGM Grand as part of a promotion. The radio station broadcaster said that if you were near a specific exit to stop and show the DJ in the radio station van some Christmas item and they would give you two tickets to the concert. We were near the exit in the middle of "nowhere" and saw the van on top of the overpass and stopped and showed the DJ our cassette tape of Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" and got the two Barry Manilow tickets. We loved the game and my wife and daughter went to the concert. We stayed at the team hotel, the MGM Grand, and enjoyed touring the Vegas Strip.

1998 Aloha Bowl Colorado 51 Oregon 43 Lost
We had a Hawaiian Luau in our family room and watched the game on TV

1999 Sun Bowl Oregon 24 Minnesota 20 Won
We welcomed in the Millennium by watching this game on TV on the morning of New Years Eve day.

2000 Holiday Bowl Oregon 35 Texas 30 Won
What a fine game this was. Watched it on TV. Wish I had gone ! I love the play where our QB Joey Harrington catces a pass and runs it in for a touchdown.

2002 Fiesta Bowl(2001 Season) Oregon 38 Colorado 16 Won
Our son and I and some friends drove all the way to Tempe, Arizona in our van to watch this game. Had a great time and enjoyed New Years Eve on Mill Street in Tempe near the stadium. It was good to finally win a big time BCS bowl and to beat Colorado.One of my favorite Oregon games of all time.

2002 Seattle Bowl Wake Forest 38 Oregon 17 Lost
Our son and I and the same friends drove to Seattle for this game and it was one of the few time I was ashamed to be a Duck. It was obvious the team did not want to be at this "lower tier" bowl and put in little effort and it showed. To top it off it rained very hard as we drove back to Portland after the game to my sisters home.The rain felt like the tears of Oregon fans. We stopped at a fast food restaurant on I-5 after the game 45 or so miles from Seattle. It was full of Oregon fans and it was so quiet!It was like we were at a funeral.

2003 Sun Bowl Minnesota 31 Oregon 30 Lost
Watched on TV New Year Eve Day.

2005 Holiday Bowl Oklahoma 17 Oregon 14 Lost
The entire family had plans to spend Christmas at Disneyland and so we extended our stay in Southern California to go to this game. Stayed at the team hotel in San Diego and had a great time. It was on the waterfront and we went to the Duck pep rally, the parade and a tour of the navy aircraft carrier Midway which is now a museum. The Ducks almost pulled out a win at the end but no luck. It was fun for the entire family to again go on a bowl trip together since our kids were now adults and living away from home.It was strange when my kids bought me a beer in the
Gas Light district of San Diego.

2006 Las Vegas Bowl Brigham Young 38 Oregon 8 Lost
Watched this on TV and was very disappointed in the Ducks. Looked like they didn't care. I cared and it hurt.

2007 Sun Bowl Oregon 56 South Florida 21 Won Watched on TV.
This win helped heal the pain of the loss of Dennis Dixon to an injury in the Arizona game and the loss of the "Civil War" to the Beavers on our own field.
Watched on TV. Little did we know this would be Coach Mike Bellott's last game.

2010 Rose Bowl (2009 season) Oregon 17 Ohio State 26 Lost
The four of us took another "Road Trip" to this game and had a good time. We went to Disneyland and marched up "Main Street" with the Oregon Marching Band" and spent time in Old Pasadena. We cruised the Sunset Strip" and Hollywood Blvd.We attended a wet/cold pep rally at the Santa Monica Pier. The weather on game day was perfect but the loss was a bitter pill.

2011 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP (2010 season) Oregon 19, Auburn 22 Lost
My son and I drive to Sacramento and took a flight to Phoenix for the game. Our daughter took a flight from Washington DC and met us there. We enjoyed the Pep rally in Scottsdale with 30,000 Duck fans. It was a lot of fun. Our daughter did not have a ticket to the game and was going to watch it at a nearby bar. However when we dropped her off to get a seat in the bar Stub Hub had a booth set up nearby and she was able to buy a last minute ticket. She has never told us how much she paid ! We all three then got together and celebrated her getting a ticket. We enjoyed the game but were disappointed when Auburn won it off a last second field goal.

2012 Rose Bowl (2011 Season)
Can you say "road trip"!Our son and I are driving down I-5 for the game and will meet our daughter in L.A. who will fly in from Washington D.C. This time we have tickets for all three of us. we are looking forward to the Oregon Duck pep rally at the Santa Monica Pier. Hopefully this time in sunshine. In my lifetime the Ducks have been to three Rose Bowls and lost all three. It's time they win the fourth... it's on my 'bucket list."

The Three Musketeers Return !

This time they meet at the Rose Bowl ! "One for all and all for fun ..... and a Duck win"

Movies and the Holidays

It's almost Thanksgiving so let's take a break from the "Civil War" and Politics and write about movies released during the Holidays.

One of the best parts of the Holidays, along with collage football bowl games, is taking the family to the movies at a local theater. Hollywood likes to release good movies for the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year Holiday period because people have more time for going to the movies and in most parts of the country outside activities are limited because of the weather. After spending lots of time inside with relatives at home it is liberating to get out of the house and go to a movie.This year we are particularly lucky because so many good movies are being released. The following is the release date and names of some movies I would like to see.

November 11, 2011

"J Edgar"

Directed by Clint Eastwood with Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI. Hoover was one of my hero's growing up. Some conservatives have given the movie bad reviews for liberal revisionism of history .... the screen writer is a noted liberal but Eastwood toned him down a bit.

November 18, 2011

"The Descendants"

George Clooney as a father living in Hawaii trying to reconnect with his daughters. I have watched the previews and it looks good. Clooney for all his politic is a good actor and this looks like a good drama/comedy for an adult family to watch.

November 23, 2011

"My Week with Marilyn"

Yes, Marilyn Monroe during the time she spent in London filming "The Prince and the Showgirl" in 1957 as told by a Brit who served as her escort.

December 8, 2011

"New Years Eve"

Intertwined story lines on New Year's Eve like the movie "Valentines Day" from last year.

"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"

Based upon John Le Carre's 1979 miniseries about Cold War espionage.Gary Oldman and Colin Firth. Saw the previews and it looks good if you like spy vs spy.

December 16, 2011

"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows"

Robert Downey Jr returns in a second movie about Sherlock Holmes. I like Holmes and I like Downey.

"The Iron Lady"

Meryl Streep as British Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher. Wild horses can't keep me from seeing this movie. I love the "Iron Lady" who along with Ronald Reagan won the Cold War. She was and is one of my hero's.

December 23, 2011

"We Bought a Zoo"

Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson in a movie about a family who moves to the countryside and buys a zoo. Directed by Cameron Crowe of "Elizabethtown" and "Almost Famous" fame. I will see almost anything directed by Cameron Crowe. He is on of my favorite of the current directors.

December 25, 2011 (Christmas Day)

"War Horse"

World War I drama directed by Steven Spielberg about a boy and his horse. This is a MUST see for me. Some say the battle scenes equal those of "Saving Private Ryan."

What with college football and basketball I may not be able to see all of these movies at the theater this Holiday season but those I don't get to see will make my Netflix Queue.

Republican Debate

50 years ago a nerdish kid in Junior High School (Middle School) was awarded the DAR Medal for "Excellence in History." 50 years later, last night, his adult children attended the Republican Debate held at the DAR Hall (Constitution Hall) in Washington DC. The nerd was me. I was not a very good student in Junior High but I did have a passion for history that continues to this day. Our children are together this Thanksgiving Holiday Week in Washington DC and were able to attend last nights Republican Debate. Their mother and I watched the debate on CNN intently trying to spot "the kids" but the camera shots of where they were sitting were just too distant and the picture too small. After the debate they called us with a "blow by blow" description of their adventure.

One proud Dad !


As to the debate I felt all the candidates looked good or better than their prior debate performances.There were no big winners or losers. Cain and Perry did OK but were out of their depth. Backmann and Santorum had their moments but in the end it was Romney and Gingrich who looked like they could lead this country as President.

I continue to support Mitt Romney as the best candidate to beat Obama and to lead a divided country in troubled times.

ESPN Gameday & Oregon vs Stanford (UPDATED)

I have been looking forward to a trip to Sanford University for the Stanford vs Oregon football game for some time. However,sometimes reality does not match your anticipation of an event. Not this time. We had a great trip to the San Francisco Bay Area this last weekend.

THE TRIP DOWN

On Veterans Day (Friday) my wife and I left Medford on a bus chartered by the Oregon Club of Southern Oregon with 42 other Duck fans for Stanford. We stopped at a gaming casino for an hour for lunch near Corning, California. We then worked our way through the heavy traffic in the Bay Area and arrived in Palo Alto, at Dinah's Garden Hotel. Our daughter met us there. She lives on the east coast and flew into SFO and got a rental car and was already at the hotel when we arrived.

My wife and daughter retired early and so I met some friends at the adjacent Trader Vic's for a late dinner.

ESPN GAMDAY







All the way from Medford I hauled a telescoping 13 foot painting pole to be used for a flag pole for use at ESPN Gameday. My daughter and I got up early about 5 AM to make the trip over to the Stanford Campus for the 6 AM national live broadcast of the ESPN Gameday show. Our daughter drove her rental car with myself and two other fans and we arrived just about 6 AM. We walked over to the show and I waved my Oregon Duck flag for the two hours of the live broadcast. Our son in Kentucky and my wife back at the hotel called us on our cell phones to let us know they saw the flag. I could also see it on the giant big screen they have at the show. My friend Bob brought us some hot chocolate and we had a GREAT time. The Stanford fans are a mellow bunch and their was a lot of good natured rivalry between the two groups of fans. Both schools bands were there and while it had rained the night before the weather was prefect for the live show. Lot's of Oregon fans were there with crazy signs ! Our daughter had a sign that said "The ducks don't need Luck!" (For non football fans the star QB for Stanford is Andrew Luck)




DINA'S GARDEN HOTEL




After the show we went back three or so miles to the hotel and got my wife and the three of us had breakfast at the hotel restaurant in a sea of green and yellow. A Stanford couple came into the restaurant and their eyes got very large looking at all the Duck fans.

Dinah's Garden Hotel is a very unique place and I would highly recommend it. It is not your cookie cutter hotel. The grounds are a very tropical with lush foliage and a meandering water pond between the buildings. There are Japanese bridges over the pond and lots of real ducks that populate the pond and walk right up to the slider from your room to your patio. One duck even wandered into our room. I kiddingly told the front desk crew it was a nice touch bringing in all of these live ducks for we Duck fans. After breakfast we went back to our room to rest up for the 5 PM game.




PRE GAME

The bus we came down in took us over to the Stanford campus about 2:30 pm . We got parked and my wife, our daughter and my friend Bob and I went on a tour of campus. We saw lots of Duck fans and were able go by the Hoover Tower of the Hoover Institute a conservative "think tank" on campus. The tower is named after President Herbert Hoover. Stanford has a beautiful large campus and must spend a fortune on landscape maintenance. All the building are in a early California style with red tile roofs.

We then walked by a lot of tailgate parties for both Oregon and Stanford fans. Stanford is known for their fancy wine and cheese tailgaters parked in a grove of trees.

THE GAME




The game was broadcast on ABC TV nationwide starting at 5 PM. Stanford the leader of the Pac 12 was favored and it was their time in the national spotlight. Their QB, Andrew Luck was the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy. The Oregon Ducks won the game 53 to 30 !!!!!! Games like this are the reason you go to games. There were a lot of Oregon fans that made the trip south and a lot of Duck fans from the Bay Area. Going to an away game creates a lot of camaraderie for the visiting teams fans. I have been going to games for many years and this was one of the most exciting of my lifetime. Games like this is the reason you go year after year. I yelled and yelled as did most other fans to support the team as the "12th man." I got the most excited when Oregon's defence would sack the Stanford QB. Our daughter got as excited as I did and even my wife, who is not a fan of crowds, had a good time.After the game I called our son in Kentucky who watched the game on TV.
When the bus got us back to the hotel we had a drink and late dinner at Trader Vick's to celebrate the victory.



Early Sunday morning I got up to say good by to our daughter who was taking an early flight out of SFO back to the east coast for work on Monday. I walked her to her rental car and waived good by. With her living on the east coast we don't get to see her as often as we would like and it was special that she could join us for he weekend. Fortunately it is not too long till Christmas when she will make a trip home to Medford. The only down side of the weekend was our son in Kentucky couldn't join us. However, he too will be home for Christmas and he and I have plans to go to an Oregon Basketball game in the new Matt Court in Eugene.


BUS TRIP HOME

Sunday on the way back a bus load of happy fans stoped at the In-N-Out in Redding California. This is the northern most In-N-Out restaurant in California. There are none in Oregon. They make some of the best burgers in the world and Oregonians whenever the go to California plan at least one stop at an In-N-Out. We got to the restaurant and there was a line of Duck fans out the door. It was like Eugene after a game.We got in line and got our burgers and the line still ran all across the parking lot. We saw some people from Medford we know and then the Oregon band drove up in two buses and the line got bigger. On the way back to the bus a local reporter from a Redding TV station interviewed my wife and I on the game and the reason so many Duck fans had converged on this fast food restaurant. This morning I got an email from someone I know in Chico, California, who said he saw the interview on the local TV station.

U$C UP NEXT

Next Saturday we play the U$C Trojans at Autzen. Time to put Stanford behind us and move on to the Trojans. Win the Day! Let's Go Ducks.

Weekend

Had a good weekend. Went to the South Medford vs. Grants Pass football game Friday night and watched South Medford run over the Cavemen from Grants Pass. Saturday morning woke up in time to watch ESPN Game Day live from the University of Oregon. Then, that afternoon took a charter bus from Medford to the Oregon vs Arizona State night game in Eugene. My friend Bob and I were the "Bus Captains" and had a good time keeping the other fans happy with food and games on the trip North. The game was on ESPN and started at 7:30 pm and so we didn't get back to Medford till 2:30 am Sunday morning. It was a roller coaster of a game but the Ducks won in the end. Had a record crowd at Autzen of over 60,000. Slept in on Sunday and talked to both kids on the phone. Watched the movie "Ghost Writer" which was a far leftist "we* dream" directed by fugitive from justice Roman Polanski. Technically it was Ok but our CIA was the villain. Had a happy ending in the same way Easy Rider had a happy ending. Ended the weekend by watching the TV show Pan Am.

The Rogue River 'Hellgate" Jetboat Lunch Excursion.

Yesterday, my wife and I played hooky from the the office and drove to Grants Pass for a jet boat lunch trip on the Rogue River. We got to Grants Pass and got our tickets and looked around the large gift store with home decoration items
We then got on the boat with about 50 other people and headed down the Rogue River to "Hellgate." It was a nice day but not too hot.

Once on the river and into the "wilderness" the Presidential campaign and recession seemed a million miles away. The boat captain kept up a constant commentary we had heard before.( We have taken this trip many times) At the start of the trip you see the "Million Dollar" homes that have river frontage in the Grants Pass area. At least at one time they were worth that much.You then head into the "wilderness" area and the captain does some "circles" with the boat to get everyone wet. I got very wet sitting on the outside seat. My shirt was drenched but dried by the time we go to the OK Corral for lunch.We saw an American Eagle and other birds.

We then sailed through "Hellgate" and saw where a number of movies have been made including John Wayne's "Roster Cogburn" with Katherine Hepburn. We then turned around and went back through "Hellgate" again and stopped at a lodge type building high above the river called the "OK Corral" for a lunch of BBQ chicken.

We then headed back to the boat for the trip to Grants Pass and of course got wet again as the boat captain caused the boat to stop quickly or turn on a dime. When we got back to Grants Pass we bought a picture of all of us on the boat taken by the Excursion Company.

Gettysburg & Gods & Generals on Blu- ray

This last weekend I did something I have been wanting to do for some time I watched in chronological order the movies Gods & Generals (2003) followed by Gettysburg (1993) both in blu-ray. The movies were actually made in reverse order. I have had Gods & Generals for some time in blu-ray but just recently bought Gettysburg in blu-ray as soon as it was released. I have owned it in VHS, DVD and now blu- ray. I never tire of watching it.

Both movies were financed by Ted Turner and if for nothing else America owes Ted a big thanks. The movies are based upon a three book trilogy of the American Civil War written by Michale Shaara. The three books are Gods and Generals, The Killer Angels (Gettysburg)and The Last Full Measure. Jeff Shaara, Michael's son, completed "The Last Full Measure" after his father died. The third book has not yet been made into a movie but the IMDB shows that it is "in production"; however, Jeff Shaara says it is not true on his web site!

The blu ray on Gettysburg is fantastic ! I loved it. The night scenes with the soldiers gathered around their campfires are fantastic. The campfires seem so real. You also see much more detail in the large battle scenes and see more expression in the faces of the actors. Blu-ray was made for these kinds of movies with casts of thousands.After watching both movies together I believe Gettysburg is the better movie.

BIG UPDATE:

After spending the weekend watching both of these movie the only disappointment I felt was the fact so much was cut out of "Gods & Generals" before it's theatrical release.
The movie was 6 hours long and had to be cut to 3 for release to theaters. The battle of Antietam was cut from the movie and left a big gap in the continuity of the movie. Other than Gettysburg, Antietam was the most important battle of the American Civil War. It was Lee's first invasion of the North (Gettysburg was the second) and was the single most bloody day of the war. Gettysburg was three days. Filming it and cutting it out left many civil war buffs heartbroken. There was also a plot line involving John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln and Shakespeare that was edited out of the movie. None of this was in my blu-ray I purchased several years ago.

Then, Monday night I had to drive to Shady Cove to preform a wedding ceremony and on my way back my wife and I stopped at my favorite Wall-Mart in Eagle Point. I always stop there to look at their blu-ray movies because they have a large selection at good prices. To my big surprise they had the "Extended Director's Cut" of Gods & Generals in blu-ray. It adds an entire HOUR to the movie including the battle of Antietam and the John Wikes Booth story line. I couldn't believe it..... I was holding it in my hand ! I didn't know it existed. I pointed it out to my wife but her enthusiasm was muted ! I bought it! It was only $15.00 but I would have paid twice that. The following is a description from Wikipedia on Gods & Generals Extended Directors Cut:

The Director's Cut was released for Blu-ray Disc on May 24, 2011. It runs 280 minutes. For the theatrical release, almost two and a half hours of footage were removed to get the length down to approximately 3 hours, 39 minutes.

Among the footage edited includes a sub-plot which follows John Wilkes Booth, the famous actor who would eventually become the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. One scene towards the end of the extended cut of the film features Chamberlain and his wife, Fanny, attending a production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in which Booth plays Brutus. Chamberlain and his wife have a conversation with Booth and his fellow actors following the end of the play. Another scene cut from the film features a performance in Washington, D.C. in which Booth plays the role of Macbeth, which is being seen by President Lincoln. When he gives the famous "dagger of the mind" soliloquy, he looks directly at Lincoln while reciting it. Later, when Booth is offered the chance to meet with Lincoln, he refuses.

One scene that historians were sad to see removed from the film was the sequence dealing with the Battle of Antietam. The battle was seen mostly from the perspectives of Jackson (who played a major strategic role in the battle) and Chamberlain (whose brigade was held in reserve). A few minutes of footage from this scene were available online, but since appears to have been removed. In the Director's Cut the entire sequence at Antietam is shown.

I hope now that the Shakespeare, Lincoln and Booth plot line has been added our son, the historian, will like the movie better. He has even published an article on Lincoln and Shakespeare and how Shakespeare influenced Lincoln. He hates the movie for it's sympathetic portrayal of the South. He even went so far as to time the segments allocated to the North and the South to prove his point. I must admit the "lost cause" sympathies are there. I can empathise with my son because for many years I refused to watch Gone With the Wind for the same reason. I hope this new cut of the movie will somewhat correct it. Now I need to find 5 hours to watch the new cut without interruption.

For a much more detailed review of the changes to the movie click on the title for a link.