Film Review: MELANIA

First of all, let me say I have not enjoyed a movie this much in a long, long time. Every cinematic aspect of Melania is compelling, including the imaginative directing by Brett Ratner (of the "Rush Hour" movies), the crisp and unexpected editing, and most of all the truly great musical score, a mix of pop hits and classical works. 

It is also informative, showing you things you've wondered about and always wanted to see. If you drop your politics at the door and think of it as an inside look at the life of a Princess in a fairy tale leading up to the day her Prince is crowned, you'll love it!

Of course it isn't fiction, it's a documentary about what a First Lady does all day, and this one in particular. You'll find out, and learn a little about fashion on the way, as Melania plans her outfits and gown for the big event and all the hoopla surrounding it. You'll also get a glimpse at the Trump's lavishly decorated New York apartment (definitely not for the faint of heart), a few stunning drone shots over Mar-A-Lago (as well as a look inside), and a romp through the White House, fancy invitation-only dinner and presidential residence included.

Besides the beautiful visuals, which are always interesting and often include random shots unrelated to the subject, there's Melania herself, telling us in a voiceover what's going on. There's lots of pomp and circumstance leading up to Trump's second Inauguration Day, much more than I ever realized. While the elaborate protocols and traditions seem a bit over the top, remember it's all been similarly scripted for every new past president. Every one of them did it, not just the Trumps, so leave your judge's robe at home and just take it all in. It's pretty much fun!

Good Things About Maine

Not much traffic

It snows in winter

Spectacular fall foliage

Eighty-8 Donut Cafe

Acadia National Park

Plenty of parking

The Wrong People Keep Dying

First it was Diane Keaton. 

Then it was Rob Reiner. 

Now it's Catherine O'Hara. 

Three talented actors who made us laugh and died far too soon, 

sooner than some people who make us hate. 

For example, Ilhan Omar still walks among us.

And how about Vladimir Putin? 

Death chooses randomly, that's all we know for sure.

Looking For the Silver Lining

The phrase "every cloud has a silver lining" means that even in difficult situations, there is always a positive aspect or hope for something better. It encourages optimism by suggesting that bad times may lead to good outcomes. To that I say, "Not always!" (See photo above.)

Terrible things happen all the time that never lead to anything good. I don't have to list them for you, you can think of many yourself. Yet the old saying persists, mostly because people don't know what to say when things are bad, so they say that things aren't so bad. Or that they'll get better.

Sometimes they do, but not for everyone involved. In this particular case, my cat. Lurch is 19 and has been on a downward slide for several months. A visit to the vet last week confirmed that he will likely not get better. This sad news is the cloud.

So what's the silver lining? Saving money on cat food (after we spend a ton more money on tests and treatment)? No more little dead critters brought as gifts from Lurch at my back door? Less dust in the house? My friend who is allergic to cats can finally come over? Big deal, we aren't even friends anymore.

Okay, finally I got one: We can travel on a whim without worrying who will watch the cat and paying a petsitter enormous sums of money. There, that's my silver lining.

Funny, I don't feel any better.

What To Do With the Body

One of the drearier aspects of aging is deciding what will happen to your body after its expiration date. While it's true people die at all ages, for those we gratingly call "seniors" it's coming up relatively soon. This fact must be reckoned with.

If you are childless or unmarried you really don't have to worry about it -- whatever happens will happen and you won't know. But surviving spouses and kids change everything. 

For example, my husband has become increasingly concerned over this issue, and he wants me clued in on what I might have to do. Suddenly he wants to be buried in the ground in a wooden box, worms and all. He's even taken to visiting a nearby cemetery where he might end up, behavior I find appalling since I consider burial a harsh end to what is basically the magical miracle of life. 

What am I saying? That I choose not to slowly disintegrate with worms in me, on me or even near me, although for extra bucks you can get a concrete-lined coffin to keep the critters out. Instead I prefer to be cremated. And unlike when Hitler did it, now you can have your ashes incorporated into a beautiful glass orb which can then be placed in a garden as a snow globe. How artful!

Enter my practical son, who thinks worm-eating sounds better than burning. He worries that future generations, i.e. his kids or his kid's kids (all yet to be born) will eventually consider the glass ball (a.k.a. Grandma) a piece of junk and confine it to a trunk in an attic, or even throw it in the trash.

Admittedly, dying is sometimes a drag, but death shouldn't be. After all, it's bad enough that you're dead, why make it worse? I say light me up and let my spirit soar. How can it if it's stuck in a box six feet underground?

I know this post is not funny at all, and for that I apologize. Death is many things but funny isn't one of them. To compensate I include the cartoon above, which is good enough for a laugh. (Yuck it up while you still can.)

I'm So Hungry I Could Eat A Horse

The most annoying thing in the world is hyperbole. I'm sick to death of it. It makes me crazy. 

President Trump eats hyperbole for breakfast. Everything he does, every move he makes, every thought he utters is the most it's ever been done in the history of our country, or possibly the world.

Around the time of the Academy Awards, every movie made is the best movie of the year, or in some cases, ever. They are all must-sees.

Average, run-of-the-mill restaurants have the best salad bar, serve the biggest steaks, make the world's greatest cheesecake.

Every pizza ever baked is the best in the city! (Or the state, or the country or the world.)

Ordinary people, like your friends and family, say they had the time of their life doing regular, everyday things: Their trip to Disney was incredible! Their weekend at the beach was awesome! Going bowling blew their minds.

Every single person on the planet has the most adorable grandchildren! They are the smartest, the cutest, the most amazing children who ever were born, anywhere.

Every book jacket proclaims that if you read one book this year, it has to be this one, it's life-changing!

Everybody loves everything. Except for when they hate it, and it's the absolute worst thing they ever saw, or did, or ate.

Everyone is the most handsome, the prettiest, the sexiest, the smartest, or else the fattest or the dumbest person anyone ever met in their entire life.

I could smother you with kisses. Or else I could kill you.

I'm telling you, it's terrifying. I can't stand it for another second.

GoFundMe, Please!

I've had a hard life. I was kidnapped when I was four, which left me with trust issues and anxiety. I had a great shrink but he died 27 years ago. 

My mother died in 1981. Then my father died in 1987 during the first trimester of pregnancy with my son, following a miscarriage I had suffered three months earlier. I was an orphan when I delivered my only child, who was born into a world with no grandparents and no siblings, through no fault of his own. In fact, after you GoFundMe you should consider GoFundingHim. 

My best friend was killed in a terrible car accident 39 months ago, a shock from which I may never recover. My only sibling died a year ago. And then my other best friend of almost 40 years died three months ago of a terrible disease. Now I no longer have a best friend.

I just learned through medical tests that I have osteopenia, which is one click better than osteoporosis and requires that I take calcium and Vitamin D supplements. I had a heart attack ten years ago and still am considered to have heart disease, which requires medication. And my cat, who is 17, may have cancer or hyperthyroidism, we are waiting to hear. (Our recent vet bill was $359.00.)

My point is this: GoFundMe! Why not? Why wait until I am dead and my husband and son make a GoFundMe page and reap all the rewards? I can use your help NOW, while I am still alive. I could die at any time, and let's face it, in today's political climate it could happen when I least expect it since I am a known Republican.

Give however much your conscience dictates, keeping in mind that more than $50 million is raised every week on GoFundMe. Compared to that I am asking a mere pittance of $100,000 to put in a backyard swimming pool which will help with my weakened bones. (Right now I have to swim in a public pool at the Y, and they keep it very cold, although on the plus side it is just two miles from my home.)

Also, I am Jewish and thus a potential victim of antisemitism. I am allergic to bees and possibly spider bites. Thank you.

Tampon Tim's Tall Tales

 

Tim in heels!

Just in case you haven't heard, "Tampon Tim" is a nickname given to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz by his critics after he signed a state law requiring public schools to stock menstrual products, i.e. tampons, in the bathrooms of boys as well as girls in grades 4 to 12. (Like so many boys get their periods, as we all know.)

Let that one sink in for a minute.

Okay, that was bad, but his latest dumb, insulting comment was worse, likening the situation in Minnesota to the Nazi regime during World War II. Walz said, "Children are now hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside. Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank."

Really, Tim?

Film Review: SKYSCRAPER LIVE

The 11th-tallest building on the planet is located in Taiwan and is called Taipei 101, named for its 101 floors. In this film, famed free-soloing rock climber Alex Honnold attempts to fulfill his lifelong dream of summiting it without the use of ropes or any other equipment. Will he make it or will he plummet 1,677 feet to his death?

When first aired, Skyscraper Live was live-streamed on Netflix, meaning the audience did not know whether Alex would live or die as they watched. In fact, there was a 10-second time delay built in because it's illegal to show someone die on TV. Now that he has survived, you can watch his breathtaking ascent without fear, in the comfort of your own home. 

Despite knowing that all ends well, watching Alex scale heights beyond one's imagination is still nerve-wracking, spine-tingling, blood-curdling, and in my case, somewhat nauseating. Still, in the end it's very inspirational, making one rethink their own fears and self-imposed limitations. I'd say it's a must-see, especially if you are an anxious scaredy-cat wimp.

The Vanishing American Doctor

I recently visited my cardiologist, someone I've seen only fleetingly and annually since my heart attack in 2016. Silly me, I thought that after a heart attack a person would rate more time with a doctor who specializes in keeping people from having heart attacks in the first place, and certainly from having another one. But no, I'm just another statistic: The American Heart Association’s update revealed that as of 2025, approximately 5% of adults had been diagnosed with coronary heart disease, meaning millions of Americans are living with this condition. 

Still, even though I have plenty of company, it's not nothing -- at least, to me. So I was annoyed when I received a text the day before my annual checkup saying I should prepare for my upcoming "20 minute appointment with Dr. Thomas."

It takes me half an hour to drive to the doctor's office, and that's with no traffic. I've waited a year to see her, and maybe I have some questions. But 20 minutes is all I get? I figured it was just an expression. But then, about ten minutes before the appointed time as I was pulling into a parking spot at the medical center, I got another text saying that my "20 minute appointment with Dr. Thomas" was nigh.

Beginning promptly at 11:00, the first eight minutes were spent with a nurse who took my blood pressure, performed an EKG and asked a lot of questions to update the information in my chart. Then the doctor arrived, listened to my heart and lungs with her stethoscope, and told me how I was doing according to the results of her examination. Glancing at her watch,  she slowly backed towards the door. At exactly 11:18 I said I had a question, and she said I should "make it quick." I did, and she was out the door at exactly 11:20, saying,"See you next year."

Fortunately I didn't have a heart attack right there, as she certainly had no time for that kind of nonsense.

Celebrity Owies, Beckham-Style

Yesterday, listening to the news on my car radio, I heard a little blurb about "something going on with the Beckham family."  Since I arrived at my destination and didn't even know who the Beckham family is, I never heard more. Then this morning on the TV news there was a mention about "what's going on inside the Beckham family." They promised to discuss it after the commercial, but I turned it off and went to the gym.

Later, while checking my email, I saw a headline from Vanity Fair magazine promising a "detailed timeline of the whole Beckham family drama." That did it! I had to know just who these people are and what is their problem.

So I googled it and found out that David Beckham is a retired soccer player married to Victoria Beckham, a dress designer. They have four children and their oldest, named Brooklyn, married a woman that Victoria doesn't like. So Brooklyn, who is 26, is crying all over the media that his mommy is very mean to his wife. That is it.

Give me a break with these celebrities who think their having a hangnail is like a non-celebrity getting a terminal cancer diagnosis.