The Irish...

Watched Five Minutes of Heaven last night, an interesting and complex movie about "reconciliation", "forgiveness" and revenge.  Liam Neeson plays a Protestant killer in N. Ireland, and James Nesbitt (from Waking Ned Devine) plays the brother of one of his victims.

The movie doesn't go where you think it will, and you won't have "the answer" when you're done watching it.  I felt detached, almost clinical, watching it, but as Peg said, it's one I'll think about for some time.  It also is an interesting look at "reality TV" which, of course, is anything but.

"Weighty" matters

Got on the scale this morning; 205 lbs.  Weekend of eating too much and not getting enough exercise.  Here's a tip for weight loss - eat less and exercise more.  Think I can make a million with a weight loss book like that?

So, Peg got up and said "let's go for a walk".  Off we went, and once again I'm reminded of a) how lucky we are to live here and b) how often we don't take advantage of our luck.  It was pleasant out, after all the heat and humidity and rain - we went out a little before 7 am.  Walked back through the woods to test how our boots can handle wet.  Took some trails we haven't taken for awhile, and heard an oriole singing joyfully.  As we neared the end of our walk, I heard a Brown Thrasher singing, and stopped to look for it.  Peg spotted it, at the top of a bare tree by the wetlands.  We listened to its lovely song for awhile and as we listened I spotted an Eastern Bluebird!  Peg spotted the mate, so we enjoyed their bright colors for a bit and then started home.  Within 50 meters, we spotted a Kingfisher and a Great Blue Heron (which let us approach to within about 5 meters - something they never used to do).  There was a flock of Tree Swallows lined up on the wire running over the lake and we'd seen a pair of American Goldfinches just before the Brown Thrasher tuned up.  Within 100 meters we'd seen some remarkable things; and that doesn't even count all the stuff we'd seen in the woods (a "lek" of damselflies, a stand of wild onion, some blue fleabane, Green Frogs in the Wood Duck pond, etc.)

Once again, the lesson comes home: get off your butt and get outside!

Finished reading The Pacific - the companion book to the HBO series about WWII in the Pacific (duh!) as told via the experiences of Marines and Navy fliers. It was written by Hugh Ambrose, the son of Steven Ambrose (author of many works on WWII including D-Day, Citizen Soldiers, and Band of Brothers). I found the book interesting (I haven't see the HBO series yet, don't have cable), but I can't say I was enthralled.

I found Sledge's character most interesting. Here's a guy who was dying to join the Marines and get into combat, and then learns exactly what that means on Pelilu. His transformation from naive boot to embittered veteran is illuminating.

I wanted to join the Marines in 1967 and did so against the wishes of my parents, much as Gene Sledge. I'd like to think I wasn't as naive as Sledge, and I wouldn't characterize myself as embittered (though I certainly feel some bitterness at how most people perceive the Viet Nam war). My experiences in combat were undoubtedly less intense than Sledge's, but more prolonged. There wasn't a day when I was in 'Nam when I was "safe". I certainly don't blame the Marines for what happened there. If I knew then what I know now, I probably wouldn't join but I did gain some valuable experience and I became a better person because of that experience and because of the Marines.

Those of you who want a sense of what my war was like should read Dispatches and/or The Things They Carried. So far, there isn't a movie I'd recommend to help you on this score, though Full Metal Jacket is not bad. From the Vietnamese point of view, I'd recommend the movies Green Dragon and The Beautiful Country.

Pets, et al

Yesterday, our cat (Santosha - Tasha for short) went through her morning ritual of racing about the house and then becoming an "ambush predator". Peg named her "Pounce a de Leon"; because she rarely misses a meal or a chance to gangster yoghurt from Peg, I countered with "Paunch a de Leon". I'd post a picture, but I haven't uploaded it yet.

Pets acquire many names in the course of our association. Yoda - our beloved Shih Tzu - was "Meat Buh Hee" (after Frank Baum's characterization of Toto in Tiktok - the mechanical man as a "meat dog"), "Mr. B.", "Mitter B.", "the Boy", and "Yeehoda" among others. Tasha is normally called "KK", and I will call her "Stinkpot" at least once a day (though she doesn't stink!) Pets are quite the comfort; research has shown that people with pets have fewer illnesses and live longer than people without pets. And pets live longer than their wild counterparts. Evolution would favor such an association, but I prefer to just enjoy it.

What I don't enjoy is reading ignorant comments on the internet. I was reading an article in the Pantagraph this morning about Michael Gammon and his successful battle against schizophrenia. The comments by people who know nothing of this situation were absolutely astounding in their ignorance and viciousness. Here's a tip - if you don't know what you're talking about - STFU.

Unfortunately, the internet has certainly decreased civility in our society. Anybody can say anything they want without fear of retribution or exposure. It's a lot easier to say cruel and ignorant things when you can do it anonymously. One hopes we'll get through this period and regain some of the civility we've lost. Or perhaps I'm kidding myself; there's certainly a tendency to regard past times as "better" and there were certainly some glaring cases of incivility in times past. Regardless, it seems to me that nothing is gained by demonizing folks with differing opinions.

Movies - watched There Will be Blood last night. I was anticipating this event because this movie has received a lot of hype, and Daniel Day-Lewis is quite an actor. All I can say is eeeccchhh! I really didn't like this, and I don't think it's because I don't appreciate good cinema. I think Turan in the Los Angeles Times hit the nail on the head (though he clearly liked the film) when he said the weakness of this movie was in characterization. I would have thought more of this film if I'd seen some character development of Daniel Plainview - and that wasn't Day-Lewis' fault. None of the characters in this film had any redeeming features, but I can live with a dark film like this if I understand where the characters come from. I didn't for this. Of the nominees for Best Picture that year, the only one I haven't seen is Michael Clayton. My sentimental favorite for that year was Juno - a really remarkable film. But I thought No Country for Old Men was tremendous and am not disappointed it won "best picture". I would have been VERY disappointed if There Will be Blood had won!

We took a walk last evening to The Hill of the Mother Oak and in that rather brief time saw an Oriole and a baby Red-winged Blackbird, whose parent was quite upset that we were close to his baby (yes, it was the male scolding us - mom wasn't around). Also saw a small flock of Cedar Waxwings fly over as we lay back on the grass. Their yellow tail tips really stood out against the blue sky, even though they were about 100' up. It was a beautiful day yesterday, after all this rain and heat and humidity.

Animal cognition

While I was up in Wisconsin, I went to my favorite used bookstore (Wm. Caxton, Ltd. - Ellison Bay; check it out!) and bought a number of books. One of them was Animal Minds by Donald R. Griffin. Griffin is the guy who discovered echolocation by bats, a classic example of a scientist able to put himself in the world of the animal he's studying. In The Question of Animal Awareness - which I also have - Griffin made a case for animals having thoughts and emotions like humans. He carries that further in Animal Minds.

This sort of speculation used to be verboten in animal behavior, primarily because of the influence of behaviorists such as B. F. Skinner. Such thoughts were labeled "anthropomorphism" and as an ethologist, it was the worst crime one could be accused of. But behaviorists such as Skinner didn't pay much attention to evolution, and that oversight led to some huge errors. Humans, as products of evolution, should expect that other animals closely related to us should exhibit the same characteristics as we do. And if there's any selective value in consciousness (and it seems that there is) then we should not be surprised to find it in animals even rather distantly related to humans - even animals such as insects.

I haven't finished the book yet (I got distracted by The Pacific - the companion book to the HBO series, which gives the history of WWII through the eyes of Marines, among others), but I have to say I endorse this view. Another book, just out, is Alex and Me by Irene Pepperberg which makes a very strong case for animal cognition in birds. Alex was the famous African Grey Parrot adopted by Irene, who studied his behavior for years. He clearly showed signs of self-awareness and insight.

Think about this as you play with your pet cat or dog.

Mike

"blog" much?

I know a lot of people spend a lot of time on the computer. I do, too, but obviously not blogging! There have been some interesting studies recently on how computer "communication" is changing the way we think. One researcher thinks this type of communication (telegraphic, no sustained thought, etc.) is causing us to revert to our evolutionary roots. The presumption is that hunter-gatherers could not focus on one thing for a prolonged period because they needed to be aware of constantly changing aspects of their environment.

I'm not sure I buy that argument. Anyone who has attempted to track an animal for any distance knows something about "focus", and one couldn't be a successful hunter-gatherer without deep knowledge of one's "prey" - acquired only through long observation.

In any case, I do agree that our technological mode of communication does seem to change the way we think - or at least act. People post things on facebook, for example, that really don't need to be seen by the world - often things like "lol". Texting someone who is sitting right next to you is another example. I guess I'm an old foggie - but I really don't understand this.

I do understand the attraction of computers, since I've been using them since 1986 and I spend far too much time doing things like playing solitaire or "DooM". What I don't spend much time doing is posting on facebook or this blog! However, I think blogging does have some potential for sustained conversation, so I'll try and be more regular about posting.

See ya!