Gambit from 1966

Gambit is a 1966 comedy film, starring  Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine...and might I add a very young Shirley and Michael! The story is about a a scheming career cat burglar Harry Dean (Michael Caine) and his elaborate plan to steal a priceless antiquity from millionaire Mr. Shahbandar, played by Herbert Lom. It was to be the perfect heist.  

Harry just needs one person to help him pull it off.  He seeks out the assistance of a showgirl Nicole Chang (Shirley MacLaine), who is living in Hong Kong and quite strangely looks identical to the rich man's dead wife.  The man is said to be a tycoon recluse, who never married after his beautiful wife died.  The recluse millionaire was only married to her for one year, but she was the love of his life. 

Harry believes that she will distract the man so much, that all his assumptions and careful planning will roll out perfectly so that he can pull off his perfect heist ever.  Though Harry's plan seems foolproof as he conveys the details to his partner, Ram (Roger C. Carmel), the execution proves to be what this movie is about --- unexpected--- and a wild ride!  

"Gambit" was directed by Ronald Neame from a screenplay by Jack Davies and Alvin Sargent from the original story of Sidney Carroll. This film was nominated for three Acadeny Awards.

For the guys, it is a twist and turn plot, and there are gadgets!  For the gals, Shirley wears some truly amazing outfits that are beautiful and eccentric looking.  I would say that this is easily so far, my favorite Michael Caine movie, and Shirley was fantastic as she played off the dialogue between herself and Michael.  Herbert Lom, who plays the eccentric millionaire, was wonderful and a solid supporting actor.  I give this film a thumbs up for anyone that loves to experience movies like they used to be...a true classic.  

Lessons From Hemmingway

"As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans." 

In Ernest Hemmingway's, 'A Moveable Feast', there are lessons that he shares through his writings of his experiences as a young man living in Paris. The book is one of his smaller sized works and really is more of a compilation and recollection of those young and influential years.  He acknowledges how his experiences in Paris, meetings with people, the exchanges of conversation, or moments shared over a meal, affected him, strengthened him in his thoughts about self, and his own pursuit of writing.  It was published in 1964, nearly 3 years following his death.  

There are many poignant excerpts I could have used for this post, but the above piece referring to oysters and their taste of the sea, somehow resonated with me.  I look at his thoughts of Paris, as what he knows built in him the qualities that he strived for, as husband, companion, friend, and writer, as opening up to learning through his own experiences, acknowledgement of moments he failed, or that failed him,  and that there is sometimes an opportunity for an individual to feel an emptiness.  

Some people have events shoved at them that carves away at their desire to hope, to feel happiness, even in the midst of the storm.  Adversity has a power like that....to try and defeat you...and your human spirit.  For others, there is a medical imbalance that can be just as heavy a contender to carve away hope, until diagnosis steps in and they can gain help in the form of medication and human support.  In 'A Moveable Feast', Hemmingway shared his thoughts of how life itself can create moments of self doubt, and hints of loneliness.  He did not, however, leave writings to reflect or parallel his current fight at that time, with sadness and emptiness.  But, maybe that is what makes this work so more the treasure.  We all know how his time on this earth ended...tragically...permanently.  The lesson in reading his works, is more so the clever brilliance of how pen meets paper.  I have always admired him, and separated how he left this earth with what his pen shared on paper and with us. 

Renewal...

"It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit."  ~Robert Louis Stevenson

There Lies Adventure...

When I was a little girl, I would pull up my old faded overalls, sometimes both legs at once.  You, see, there was an excitement that welled up in me every single time I saw that there was a yellow sun stretching its arms towards me.  I loved being outside.  I was mostly a solitary child, spending a good amount of time outside on my own, and fortunate enough to have a large front yard, backyard and big sloping hill to carve out the better part of a morning or afternoon.  Summers were glorious!  Living in the south, in NW Arkansas, perfect.  You have all 4 seasons, and a big wallop of a chance for many days of sunshine in the summer.

When I knew that I was to begin on one of the adventures, one that would keep me out of the house for a few hours, I strategized.  First, the comfortable t-shirt, the dependable overalls, the dusty tennis shoes, the smelly ones were best.  Second, an adventurer must have rations...to the kitchen I would go, and hoist myself up on the counter by the cabinet with the golden riches of peanut butter.  I would prepare my peanut butter and saltine crackers, and roll them in saran wrap for safe keeping in my overall side pocket.  No need for beverage, for where I was going I would surely discover a cool exotic stream called...garden hose.

As I left the safety of the house, I remember gingerly opening the screen door and looking left to right, in case there was danger...like a dog named Ginger.  I would try to escape out the screen door and slip to the right, to head in the backyard as quiet as I could.  As I turned my head looking backward, I would often have my leg met by fur.  Looking down, there would be Ginger, smiling up at me, as if to say...let's go.  I could never deny her big collie brown eyes..."aww...come on then", I would say.

In my time outside I would imagine going to different lands, discovering fossils, unknown minerals and rocks, strange plant life, or big monster fish.  It was a time that I cherish.  Having lived in a generation where outside play held only our imaginations, instead of real danger. Where a kid could run up and down a hill, roll around on a field of clover, or sneek around an old barn to catch a glimpse of yellow jackets.  Where a kid could stop and eat her peanut butter & crackers under a honeysuckle bush, looking up to blue sky, and wash it down with cold fresh water from a garden hose...all the while thinking....and believing...she was in the Amazon.

Here is where I stop my recollections, and start my present day adventures.  It is with a man, a biologist and angler from UK, that lives out adventures in his real life, in search for the unknown, the myth, the monsters in the night.  Jeremy Wade is my connection back to that time in my life where I could imagine unknown and strange things.  To that time of discovery, and ambition of seeing an adventure through from myth to reality.  I am in deep-like with this man that takes me along every episode, to a land that I only dreamed of before, and to waters that I imagined in my mind.  To see what lurks in the waters around the world, and not only to feel a shudder at the monstrous size or teeth, but to admire the creature that resides in our world.  Jeremy is a catch and release angler.  If he can give time to the fish to regain its strength from the catch, he releases it back into the water to remain in its hidden world. 

For me, April 6th will be a glorious day, when Jeremy shares new adventures with us on the television show, "River Monsters", seen on the channel, Animal Planet.  But, I best remember to have a supply of peanut butter & saltines, it might be a doozy of an adventure.  Well, and since the garden hose won't reach, I will settle for a civilized beverage.

Top 9 - Caleb Johnson "Dazed and Confused" - AMERICAN IDOL SEASON XIII

Day 6: Still Hope

"Firefighter Jeff McClelland uncovered a body on the moon-like surface that blankets what used to be the community of Oso.  Suddenly, he realized the dead man's son and brother were among the volunteers scouring the debris field.  The relatives sat beside the body as it was zipped into a bag.  McClelland found himself overcome with tears."  ~The Oregonian

Hope.  It is the thing that we humans have the capacity for.  Closure.  It is the thing that we need most, when we have to step into acceptance of something much bigger than ourselves. Wouldn't it seem wonderful if we all held absolute control over our own lives, without other human interactions, decisions, environmental factors, relationship conflicts, and random acts of nature. As we navigate life, we find out that the structure of living is not built that way.  

My heart and prayers goes out to the people impacted and affected by the devastating landslide, and I pray for strength for those families that find their hope fading, as another day begins for us, making it the 6th day since this tragic event happened.  When I find out about devastation, loss of life, and tragic events, it impacts me.  I am one of those sensitive souls that feels a layer of grief along with those that are directly affected.  I know there are many events surrounding us today, yesterday and all through the month of March. This one I post about, not only because it is close to home, but because I cannot imagine what it felt like minutes before the landslide occurred, or even more so,  as it happened --- barrelling down upon men, women, children, toddlers, infants, and beloved pets.  

With gratitude I write this post to the men and women that are donating their time for the rescue and recovery efforts.  Your time is a gift to the families, and as hope does seem to dim for those families, it is closure and their own core faith beliefs that will be the thing they need.  All efforts to assist the families and friends --- time, care, empathy, reaching out to connect, and love -- will be a comfort at this time.  

License To Ride

When I was younger, and who am I kidding....much younger days...I remember thinking that one day I wanted to ride a motorcycle.  Somehow, my little bicycle and its fru-fru butterfly seat was subpar.  I even added playing cards to the spokes with clothes pins in hopes of creating that groovy vroom-vroom sound.  Somehow, even as a young girl growing up in the south, with a caring and cautious momma who told me to stay away from motorcycles, I still wanted to ride one.  I wanted to throw off those Sunday duds of pink dress and white knee socks, and grab a pair of faded and torn bell bottoms with a cool navy knit shirt and ride a bike.  I always dreamed of being a strong and independent woman.  I just had one thing stopping me.  My social anxiety.  I was extremely shy, and socially naive, and robot-like....silent.  I just didn't date...and when I did, the very few infrequent in high school, I found myself running like a banshee from the car or truck as soon as it rolled up the driveway after returning from the date.  I loved the great escape.  The "thank you"...and now I must run...mode.

If life skills equates to having license to ride a motorcycle...then I was definitely not legal at that time in my life.  Life is the great master teacher, about many things.  One thing is that time and all the adversity, and resolutions, and healing in between...builds layers of wisdom, and hence, your strength skills set.  I find myself dabbling with the thought of that motorcycle.  For me, now I know that I can ride that thing, no fear, no worries.  I can imagine the wind in my face and my very short hair...and not care who's looking, or if my legs look wonky.  It is afterall, about the ride.  The freedom one feels when riding freely against the elements of wind or drizzle, or warm kissed sun.  It must be like a great session of therapy, and I can relate to what actor, Dan Aykroyd, once said...."You do not need a therapist if you own a motorcycle, any kind of motorcycle!"

Wisdom...

"A loving heart is the truest wisdom."
~Charles Dickens