In the neighborhood

Thousands gather for 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour led by Sanders, AOC in Folsom

About 15 miles from here, near the small town of Folsom, Bernie and AOC appeared the other day. Didn't go, but it was interesting that they were so close and that they chose to appear at a rather upscale and conservative community.

Earthquake

Stronger together 🐘

Elephants have the unique ability to feel sounds through their feet and formed an "alert circle" during the 5.2 magnitude earthquake that shook Southern California this morning. This behavior is a natural response to perceived threats to protect the herd. pic.twitter.com/LqavOKHt6k

— San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (@sandiegozoo) April 14, 2025

Are we there yet?

Can we finally admit that we are now in a constitutional crisis?

:)

On SNL, a presidential-themed parady of the tv series The White Lotus ...

Palm Sunday

Here is a clip from the film The Gospel of John ...

The Gospel of John is a 2003 epic biblical drama film that recounts the life of Jesus according to the Gospel of John. The film is a word-for-word adaptation of the American Bible Society's Good News Bible and follows the Gospel of John precisely, without additions to the story from the other Gospels or omissions of the Gospel's complex passages. It stars Henry Ian Cusick as Jesus of Nazareth, Stuart Bunce as John and is narrated by Christopher Plummer.

This is one of my favorite Jesus movies, partly because of Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond of Lost) but also because it's a way to "read" the whole gospel of John.

That gospel has some disrurbing parts about Jews (it has been called the most Anti-Semitic of the gospels), but the film does try to mitigate that, including with a warning at the beginning. But it does have many of the stories of Jesus interacting with women, which I like. And it also has the interesting bit at the end of the gospel - the resurrected Jesus hanging out with the disciples, fishing and saying cryptic things about John and a possible Second Coming.

Why?

I don't know why, but I am entranced by this commercial :)

Olive

Got a photo of Olive yesterday. I realized that he is getting older. He was one of the first cats to show up here and then he was an adult. The earliest photo I have of him is from 2016, ...

So he must probably be older than 10. He's lost weight lately too, though it's hard to tell because of his fluffy hair. Worried about him :(

Val Kilmer: RIP

Val Kilmer, Film Star Who Played Batman and Jim Morrison, Dies at 65

Val Kilmer, a homegrown Hollywood actor who tasted leading-man stardom as Jim Morrison and Batman, but whose protean gifts and elusive personality also made him a high-profile supporting player, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 65. The cause was pneumonia, said his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer. Mr. Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered, she said ...

Sad. Many have mentioned his most popular movies, but here are some others that I liked too, that people might want to check out ...

- Thunderheart ...

a 1992 American Neo-Western mystery film directed by Michael Apted from a screenplay by John Fusco. The film is a loosely based fictional portrayal of events relating to the Wounded Knee incident in 1973 ...



- Heat ...

a 1995 American crime drama film written and directed by Michael Mann. It features an ensemble cast led by Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, with Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, and Val Kilmer in supporting roles.



- At First Sight ...

a 1999 American romantic drama film directed by Irwin Winkler and starring Val Kilmer and Mira Sorvino. It is based on the essay "To See and Not See" in neurologist Oliver Sacks's 1995 book An Anthropologist on Mars and inspired by the true life story of Shirl Jennings.



- Red Planet ...

a 2000 science fiction action film directed by Antony Hoffman. The film stars Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Tom Sizemore.

15 rescue workers

CNN: Video showing final moments of Gaza emergency workers casts doubt on Israeli account of killings

Here's the latest info on this from Emanuel Fabian of The Times of Israel ...

The IDF details the initial findings from its investigation into the killing of 15 rescue workers in southern Gaza's Rafah some two weeks ago, when soldiers opened fire on a convoy of ambulances after mistakenly identifying it as a threat and buried their bodies.

The incident in…

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 5, 2025

Devil's Advocate Unit

There's a story in Bloomberg today about the IDF's Devil's Advocate Unit ...

The October 7 Massacre happened because Israel succumbed to groupthink: we underestimated our enemy Hamas and overestimated our deterrence.

The IDF is now upgrading its "devil's advocate unit" to challenge conventional thinking. https://t.co/MuzIeIfP91

— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) April 2, 2025

But I'm not a subscriber so I couldn't read it. Wikipedia has a page on the unit, though.

What made me notice the story was actually a zombie movie. Remember World War Z starring Brad Pitt? I really liked it, enough to buy it, but hated the book.

But anyway, there was a part in the movie where Pitt's character, trying to discover the origins of the zombie apocalypse, visits Israel, the only country that seemed to anticipate the coming nightmare, and speaks with a high ranking member of the Mossad (played by Ludi Boeken). The Israeli tells him about "the 10th man theory". Until I saw the story about the Devil's Advocate Unit today, I thought that was a made-up thing. Apparently not. I think every country could use a unit like that.

Richard Chamberlain: RIP

- Richard Chamberlain as John Blackthorne (based on William Adams) and Damien Thomas as Jesuit Martin Alvito (based on João Rodrigues Tçuzu SJ) from the mini-series Shōgun

Sad to see that actor Richard Chamberlain has passed away.

I first noticed him when he was on tv as Dr. Kildare in the early 60s.

He went on to star in a number of mini-series. He was in films too. Here are a few of his tv series and movies that I remember and liked ...

- Julius Caesar (1970)

Yes, I was interested in ancient history back then in the college years, and I also liked Charlton Heston, who starred in the film, so I had to see it :) Based on Shakespeare's play, of course.

- The Three Musketeers (1972) and The Four Musketeers (1974)

I really likd these two films directed by Richard Lester. For those familiar with the novel on which they were based, Chamberlain played Aramis.

- The Count of Monte Cristo (1975)

Really liked this movie about the novel by Dumas. I can still remember him being a prisoner in the Château d'If .

- The Last Wave (1977)

This film was pretty interesting. Directed by Australian film maker Peter Weir, it was a mystery that included mystical Aboriginal religious beliefs.

- The Man in the Iron Mask (1977)

As you can see by now, I was a big fan of both Dumas and Chamberlain ;)

- Shōgun (1980)

- Hugely popular mini-series based on the novel by James Clavell. I had read the book, so looked forward to seeing this. The novlel had some icky parts ... you will never think of the slowly boiling frog metaphor the same way afterwards :( Also some interesting religious stuff ... the history of Japan at this time, the struggle between the Catholic chuch missionaries (Jesuits) and Protestants who visited Japan, all very fraught. Here Chamberlain's character explains the religious and political realities ...



- The Thorn Birds (1983)

A higely popular mini-series based on the novel of the same name. Read the book - both it and the tv series were ultimately pretty sad, and yet also compelling. A lot of good actors, interesting locasions, and it raised some questions about the Catholic priesthood.

- Dream West (1986)

Historical mini-series about John C. Frémont, from a novle by David Nevin. I liked it - Freemont is a pretty big figure in California history.

- The Bourne Identity (1988)

Yep, before Matt Damon starred in the Bourne films, there was this tv movie. I had read the book by Robert Ludlum and so had to see this tv adaptation.

He was a good actor. I will miss him.

A third term

Rufus Gifford

Rufus Gifford, former U.S. ambassador to Denmark, talks about VP Vance's remarks on Denmark and Greenland.

Pete

Pete Buttigieg weighs in on Signalgate with journalist Jim Acosta.

I Dreamed a Dream

Doing my chores. Sweeping the house. Listening to music makes it not so dreary. One song I listened to always makes me cry - I think because we are all so happy when the underdog succeeds ...

The pickup trucks

Stuff in the news about Israel stepping up operations in Gaza, targeting members of Hamas. They have also been targeting pickup trucks, like the one used to kidnap Shani Louk on October 7 and parade her dead body through the streets of Gaza to cheering crowds.

Wave of IDF strikes in Gaza targets pickup trucks used by Hamas terrorists

The IDF destroyed 100+ pickup trucks that Hamas used in its October 7 invasion. I hope this one was one of them. pic.twitter.com/O743iE41wA

— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) March 24, 2025

Old photos

Looking at old photos again. Most of them are not in the greatest of shape, but ...

Here's my grandfather on the far left, next to his father, and his two brothers, Claude and Verdier ...

Here's me, 25/26, sitting on a bench. I can remember that shirt - weird how I can remember clothes from decades ago, but not my email password ...

Me (L) and my sister (R) playing cowboys and indians at our gandparents' house. Lots of westerns on tv back then. We were always on the side of the Native Americans :) ...

This is one of the few photos we have of our dog Tony. Tony was half Collie, half German Shepherd, and she just showed up when we were kids living in Bermuda. When we came back here, we brought her with us. She lived with us for many years, and then, can't remember why, she went to live with my grandparents, only a few blocks away - we still saw her almost every day. She was a wonderful friend ...