Words & Pictures
Punishment does not fit the crime: A 28-year-old former Arizona teacher was sentenced to 20 years in prison for having sex multiple times with one of her students, a 13-year-old boy. Firing her and banning her from teaching for life would have been enough.
This headline at foxnews.com was music to my ears: “NYC Crowd Boos Clintons at Billy Joel Concert after Song Dedication.”…
Here’s another: “Elizabeth Warren is no more a capitalist than she is a Native American.”
From Yahoo Sports, edited by yours truly: Last night was the first home game for the Los Angeles Angels since the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, 27. All his teammates wore a replica of his jersey, name and number on the back. Incredibly, the staff combined for a no-hitter vs. the Mariners!
Despite flimsy packaging, it’s rare that a Netflix DVD arrives damaged. Such was the case last night. Fortunately, I had an option to feed my Friday movie fix, the adaptation of Bernhard Schlink’s international best seller, The Reader (2008), which came my way recently in a donation to the floating book shop. Kudos to screenwriter David Hare and director Stephen Daldry, who were each nominated for an Oscar, and were very faithful to the original source. As one would expect, Kate Winslet, who won an Academy Award for her performance, was outstanding. So was Michael Berg as the protagonist as a teen. Several Euro heavy hitters were in the cast: Bruno Ganz as the law professor, Lena Olin as the Holocaust victim, and Ralph Fiennes as the protagonist as a middle age man. I recognized Hannah Herzsprung, who played the protagonist’s daughter as a 20-year-old. She was in half of the 24 episodes of the excellent series about the final years of East Germany, Weissensee. 218,000+ users at IMDb have rated The Reader, forging to a consensus of 7.6 on a scale of ten. It did very well worldwide at the box office, bringing in $113 million on a budget of $32 million. It runs a shade over two hours. I’d be surprised if anyone who has read the novel would be disappointed. Those offended by nudity, both male and female — and sex between an adult and a teenager — should pass.
There’s a neat photo array at nypost.com of celebrities who ride the subway. I was completely unfamiliar with several. Several more were obvious. Here are two men I may not have recognized were I standing beside either on the train. Guess who. Answers below:
Kevin Bacon and Ron Howard.
The humidity was low and a nice breeze was blowing along Bay Parkway, making for a pleasant stay. It looked like today’s results would be very modest until the final half hour. My thanks to the gentleman who bought Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub, and to the young woman who purchased a large print edition of The Heir by Barbara Taylor Bradford; and to the young man who selected Lucky and The Lovely Bones, both by Anne Sebold,
The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging and Postponing by John Perry, and The Big Nowhere by James Elroy; and to the gentleman who went home with Jesus, a Life by by A. N. Wilson and The Way of Jesus: Living a Spiritual and Ethical Life by Jay Parini; and to Neil, one of the creators of wacky cable access channel show Dellapeppo Village, who hurried away with The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation by Quentin Reynolds and The Greatest Generation Speaks: Letters and Reflections by Tom Brokaw. He was hustling home to catch a live podcast of his daughter — chip off the old block — doing a one-minute stand up set at The Bitter End.
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