Capturing Daily Life
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Candidate Insider
First Amendment Thriving
In City of Davis
June 26, 2004 (Saturday)
Well, I've been unwinding
for a couple of days - a very
good mental health protocol
after intense work -
and I saw a couple of
delightful movies.
Thursday evening I saw
"Around The World In 80 Days".
I saw the original movie
way back when I was a kid
and everyone was singing that theme song.
I remembered the original
as entertaining and I was ready
for some lighter fare.
I went to one of the
movie theaters in Davis,
and there were only five of us
watching it - a middle-aged white
couple, two Asian students, and me.
Well, y'all don't know what yer
missin' cause it's charming.
It was full of cliches but
left you begging for more.
If you like those funny martial
arts films with everyone flying
through the air and dragon ladies
and all, you'll love this.
I'd never seen Jackie Chan,
but my guess is he's related
to the great Charlie Chan,
or could be. Following the tradition
of the original master's movies,
this one pokes good-natured fun
at Chinese movie cliches throughout,
leaving one with the warm glow
and feeling of fellowship
that a shared laugh can do.
Like many remakes, this one
seemed to be making nods to
various classics - this one,
perhaps, to "Orient Express",
"Maltese Falcon" and more.
Several amusing cameos, including
Arnold providing comic relief
(if such a thing is possible in a comedy)
as an evil and bungling sultan
or governor or something.
It's funny and heartwarming
because we all know he is the opposite
of evil and bungling, in real life.
Best of all was the romance between
Phineas Fogg and the lovely, charming,
delightful, entrancing Parisian
coat check girl/artist.
In this one, our hero wins the race
AND gets the girl !
*******
*******
Well I felt I was on a roll,
or at least the good start of one,
so the next day
I took on The Terminator -
I mean, I took IN "The Terminal".
It was given four stars by Joe Baltake
of the Sacramento Bee during my "Dr. Risk"
week, so I just HAD to see it.
It was playing at the other theatre
in Davis (there are two theatres
in downtown Davis - one on the left
side and one on the right, depending
on how you're looking at it).
I've always thought that heaping praises
on actors was kind of ridiculous.
But Tom Hanks is changing my mind
about that. I saw him in "Cast Away".
He WAS that movie. And then
when I heard Karel cattily bitching
that "Cast Away" wasn't very good
and he didn't like it at all -
then I really liked Hanks.
According to Baltake's review,
"The Terminal" was something I could
relate to. It was about a man
whose life was in "A Holding Pattern"
because of war and politics and
a small-minded careerist,
the review seemed to say.
That and so much more.
It's about humanity, friendship,
love, loyalty, humor,
and a man living by his wits
and his faith in God and man.
It will make you laugh and cry.
*******
*******
Well, it so happens that Farenheit 9/11
opened the same day in the same theatre.
I didn't see it and I don't plan to pay
to see it because it is "one man's viewpoint"
that I don't agree with and I don't want to
support that cause. It "hardly provides
a balanced look at presidential politics.
Its suggestion that Bush's closeness
to the Saudi royal family has hampered
the hunt for Osama bin Laden is riduculous."
(Opinion by editor, USA Today,
June 25, 2004, page 8A)
As I exited the theatre after seeing
The Terminal, there was a long line
down the block of Davis baby boomers queuing
to participate in the see-in. Some wore
Beat Bush T-shirts.
But they didn't bother me and
I didn't bother them. Amazing, isn't it
that people of differing viewpoints
can share the same space and exercise
their First Amendment rights
without harassing one another ?
I was wearing a T-shirt that said
DAD
United States Air Force
I walked past them on my way
to the bookstore where I browsed
a book whose title suggested
that it held an opposing viewpoint
to mine. I wanted to see what it said,
and get to know the author
and how he wrote and how he felt
and what his background was.
I wanted to understand him.
But not everyone in Davis is
as respectful of others'
free speech rights
as I am and the Moore fans are.
For example, there is an
old white male
who has suddenly started
frequenting the Carl's Jr in Davis
where I have long been a regular.
He sits directly adjacent
to my regular table
and his behavior could be
characterized as unwanted stalking,
if I were a female.
In fact, it could be characterized
as unwanted stalking. Period.
The fact that he displays
clear signs of mental illness
is no excuse: people like him
and his crowd want to be feared
and considered dangerous.
This morning as I sat reading The Bee,
as is my custom, he walked by and said,
hello, comrade. i saw your card
on the bathroom wall in the library.
After processing the comment and the
manner of delivery, I decided to do
a reality check. I inquired whether
he meant to be satirical or friendly.
His hostile response left no doubt.
Now, in The Terminal, Hanks played
a Russian-speaking traveller. Now, if
this old white man and his crowd are STILL
fighting the cold war, they ARE mentally ill
and dangerous. Willful ignorance and
extreme stupidity are forms of mental illness.
As for me, I LOVE my Russian comrades
and friends and I bid them a hearty
WELCOME to this free speech country.
There are only two Russians with whom
I have a quarrel - Anna Kournikova
and Maria Sharapova. I think it is
outrageous that all they do is PRANCE
AROUND on the tennis courts. Just
who the hell do they think they are?
The tennis courts are certainly
no place for PRANCING, and I will do
all I can to keep them from PRANCING
here in Davis or in Sacramento.
If they do, it will be over my body.
So, could it be that the old white man
and his crowd have been watching me,
even to the point of spying what
movies I see ? Certainly the evidence
seems to support that. Why, just a
short while ago, a pickup with a
pot-bellied white male pulled up
next to my camper out here in the middle
of an empty parking lot where I write.
He pulled eyeball-to-eyeball,
several spaces away, and spoke
on his phone for a while, then
pulled away. So, there is evidence
that supports an allegation of
stalking and spying.
This is an old white man who had professed
to be deeply interested in my viewpoints.
When I replied that I could only talk
a moment, but that he could find my opinions
expounded in depth on my web site, I handed
him my card. He refused it and said
he didn't know anything about computers.
I offered to teach him a lesson
and told him it would only take seconds.
He said he was trying to get me
to read the Bible, a book I love
and respect and that
I am very familiar with.
I attended private Christian school
for over twelve years and we had
regular Bible study every year.
I, in turn, questioned him about his opinion
concerning the theory of evolution.
He didn't know what I was talking about,
which I found incredulous.
I said, "it's the theory that the universe
is 15 or 20 billion years old,
that the earth is about 5 billion years old,
and that life evolved on earth
during those five billion years
by the process of natural selection."
"But God had to infuse a soul into man,"
he said. "Yes, perhaps," I replied.
These are issues that we had been
discussing in elementary school.
I told him that I had to read The Bee
and he replied that he would never
read that piece of crap.
Clearly, he is mentally ill.
Not only doesn't he read The Bee,
but he professed to want to know
what I had to say, but refused
to get on my website to find out !
Proudly said he didn't know
a damn thing about computers.
I told him I could teach him a lesson
and it would only take a few seconds.
The offer still stands.
Old white men like him
make conservatives look bad.
*******
*******
From Opinion by Editor, USA Today,
June 25, 2004, page 8A
"They should chill out. The movie is
one man's viewpoint. As such,
it is everything that most politicians
are not: stimulating, thought-provoking
and willing to challenge conventional
thinking. Republicans...look afraid
of free expression...
"...By trying to keep him (Nader)
off the ballot, Democrats are showing
themselves just as willing to stifle
debate as Republicans are in trying
to shut down Moore...
"...Nader and Moore enliven a political
dialogue so dry that only half of those
Americans eligible to vote do. If
a little controversy can change that,
then as George W. Bush and John Kerry
might say: Bring it on."
*******
*******
I don't like labels too much,
but they are useful.
I'm more conservative than liberal.
For example, I love and respect
the military, and of course
I'm aware of its weaknesses.
Unlike Rush Limbaugh, I served
in the military -
U.S. Navy active,
U.S. Army Reserves,
U.S. Army Guard,
U.S. Air National Guard.
Though I didn't see combat,
I was on a carrier off the
coast of Viet Nam
at the end of the war.
But I have seen combat on the streets
of this country -
more than most of you.
And, unlike Rush Limbaugh,
I have a daughter, and she, too,
is in the military -
U.S. Air Force active.
I haven't heard from her in a week,
and I don't like that.
Sensei Urban taught us a lesson one day.
He had us stand with our backs
to the wall while an opponent
stood before us with a knife.
He began the lesson like this:
He said, "Do you know how you
would feel if your back was
to the wall and someone was
threatening you with a knife ?
You would be angry.
You would be very, very angry.
You would be so filled with anger
you would want to KILL THEM."
That is what Sensei Urban taught us.
I wrote the script for
the Rush Limbaugh Program
at Sac State in 1982.
My education career has been blacklisted
by the liberal education establishment
because of what I wrote
at Sac State in 1982.
That is the Truth now
and it will always be the Truth.
Bring it on.
*******
*******
I met a puppy at the bookstore yesterday.
We kissed.
Posted by dscully at 07:77 PM Top of Page
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David Scully
email
davidscully
@hotmail.com
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