Abraham Lincoln et al

So I said to him, "Barack, I know Abe Lincoln, and you ain't no Abe Lincoln!"

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative

and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and

should do for themselves.

- Abraham Lincoln -

Movie Recommendation: Local Color

I just saw a beautiful & touching movie called Local Color. It's about a successful American artist who reflects back to 1974 when he spent the summer being tutored by a Russian master. The beautiful images and story carry the film. The performances by Armin Mueller-Stahl and Ron Perlman are brilliant.

But perhaps most important of all, this film should be mandatory viewing by everyone in the artistic community for it shows just how full of B.S. so many of them are, promoting absolutely nonsense that could be done by a 5 year-old. Watch the film, and you'll understand precisely what I mean!

Nighthawks, by Edward Hopper

I've always loved this 1942 painting:
It reminds me of days past, only seen by my eyes in glorious B&W movies, The Sting, and The Untouchables.

More on the painting and the artist can be found here.

Switched Plans Redux

I'm a firm believer that Life/God/The Universe presents lessons to each of us and it's up to us to learn from them lest they be repeated over & over again. This weekend the big lesson for me can succinctly be summed up in one line: "If life closes a door, always be aware that another important one may be opened for you!"

I was all set to go out for a belated lunch with a friend of mine when he called to tell me that the rear passenger window on his car had been smashed the night before. 90 minutes later he was still cleaning up the mess so we just canceled. This gave me the opportunity to help out a friend/colleague of mine, and her husband, paint her new office.

I was there over 7 hours but it was a lot of fun and provided a great sense of accomplishment. Plus, they bought me a terrific dinner at The Keg, the second time I was there this weekend!



Incidentally, according to Wikipedia, the paint roller was invented by Canadian Norman Breakey in 1940.