And He's Up Again...

Okay, got it. Okaaay-got it-I hear you! I know it's been tough, and quite a while since my last post. A long haul. Well, fine for you, then, but what about me? You see, I'm the one who notices everything-everything, I'm the one with the overly-active imagination. If you think this is easy, walk in my shoes. There's been a whole heckuva lot goin on in this world the last couple of months and I, for one, quite possibly the only one, haven't missed a thing; it is what makes it tough to keep up with my demanding and information hungry readers. In the meantime, I'm walking like an Egyptian.
So, let's "cover the cats", starting with.....

The Kings Speech
I loved this film. Colin Firth is an actor who is comfortable just seemingly playing himself. I don't mean he stammers offscreen (?) but he's just naturally...natural. Did you see him in "A Single Man"? Yeah, I thought not, but he could be George VI playing the single man the way he projects a "realness", a human accessibility that tells you he's a regular guy. The King's Speech could have been about Lionel Logue, the speech therapist who quite forces a friendship with the then Duke. Logue's personality and facial expression drive the film; Firth is nearly the "supporting" actor to Geoffrey Rush's Logue. A fascinating look at the world of the 30's and 40's, one that will be a pleasure to view again.

Cutting For Stone
Abraham Verghese is, according to my Wiki-pals, the Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Stanford University Medical School. Wow, and he also earned an MFA at the Iowa Writers Workshop. As titles go, that Stanford thing is large, huh? He's been a busy boy!
Cutting for Stone is a beautifully written story of twin boys, born in Ethiopia, whose mother, a nun, dies after giving birth. The other half of the illicit joining is the surgeon who freezes up in trying to save the mother and the twins at birth, and sort out his own mind in a time of chaos. The chaos continues for the boys long after birth, as the Government in Ethiopia falls in a coup in the 50's.
I tend to listen to Audiobooks-thank you Audible!-and the narration of the Audiobook is spot-on, highly recommended.

Lance's Mug 
I was checking out Lance's Mug today at the local hot beverage store. It was a perfect shape: sleek, pure   white, comfortable handle, generous size, a perfect half inch wide golden-yellow Livestrong band around the base, twelve bucks but at least some of it goes for a great cause. Then I imagined Lance's Mug at my garage sale. A year, two tears have gone by, the whole epo-dopo-Clen "The Clear" Kadiddlehopper thing did not go well. Lance has to plead the Michael Milken/Sherman McCoy evil wrongdoer plea and suddenly Lance is walking along an Austin freeway spearing Livestrong bracelets and other trash that was once cool and unimpeachable-like those damn bottles with the cap at each end so you can clean 'em easier, what's that all about?
I really hope, for Lance's sake, that this thing turns around for him but it does not look to be headed in a good direction. This hotshot investigator Jeff Novitzky is swinging a big bat, and I've wondered if maybe he was related to Dallas Mav Dirk Nowitzky, but I think it's spelled differently. If he was, well just give it up, Lance, because Dirk's bro will beat you-but he's not-so we're good, right? In the interest of pro cycling, we better hope Lance is extra clean; it sure doesn't feel like it will be good, though. Here comes the TDF, and Lance is about to go down as the backdrop story for three weeks...I hate to think it, and I really hate to type it, let's hope for the best.

Baseball?
It's not time yet-relax.