Month: April 2006

A Movie Actually Worth Watching

I finally did my taxes this weekend and was shocked to discover that I’d paid more than $13,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses last year and even more shocked to discover how little difference that made in my taxes. The bad news was I owed another $1,000; the good news was that I figured I’d owe taxes, so I had the money in my checking account to pay for it.

To celebrate, finally getting them done, not the fact that I owed, we went out to a movie at Tacoma’s The Grand Cinema. Though it’s anything but GRAND now days, I feel lucky to have a theater run by volunteers that’s dedicated to showing “small,� artistic films, and even luckier that the movies are offered at a discount rate.

Though I’m not particularly fond of Anthony Hopkins and dragged my feet when Leslie suggested The World’s Fastest Indian, I ended up loving it even more than Roger Ebert did.

Hopkins portrays New Zealander Burt Munro, a life-long motorcycle enthusiast who has long dreamed of taking his Indian motorbike to Bonneville Flats to try to break the speed record. Considering the age of his bike, his lack of funds, and his anything-but-lovable personality, it seems like an impossible dream, the kind most of us harbor somewhere in our subconscious, afraid to admit to anyone but ourselves, and sometimes refuse to even admit to ourselves.

While it was nice to know that the story was based on actual events, I would have loved the movie just as much if it had been pure fiction because it embodied my favorite theme of man’s transcendence. It’s nice to know that even a not-so-lovable old coot can redeem himself by following his dream and accomplishing what he set out to do.

It doesn’t hurt that while fulfilling his dream he actually turns out to be more lovable than he seems at first glance. While it’s not clear whether the real Burt Monro befriended a transsexual clerk in Hollywood, or was befriended by an old Indian in Nevada, it was nice to think it could have happened, and should have happened even if it didn’t.

It’s nice to know that the American Dream of Success is still alive, even if it’s only in a New Zealander and Englishman.

The Classic of the Way and Its Virtue

Before Rick and I agreed to meet for breakfast this morning we agreed to read, or, in my case, to re-read the Tao Teh Ching, this time translated by John C.H. Wu. Of course, I tended to skim large parts of it, paying particular attention to passages I’d marked as liking in previous readings.

As I read, I was again struck by chapter:

53

If only I had the tiniest grain of wisdom
I should walk in the Great Way,
And my only fear would be to stray from it.

The Great Way is very smooth and straight;
And yet the people prefer devious paths.

The court is very clean and well garnished,
But the fields are very weedy and wild,
And the granaries are very empty!
They wear gorgeous clothes,
They carry sharp swords,
They surfeit themselves with food and drink,
They possess more riches than they can use!
They are the heralds of brigandage!
As for Tao, what do they know about it?

Know any politicians who seem to “prefer devious paths“? Any who wear “gorgeous clothes,” “carry sharp swords?” Any who “possess more riches than they can use?”

Is it any wonder that “brigandage” pervades the Republican party when party leaders are willing to sell themselves to the highest bidder in order to ensure their re-election?

Do you really think they’ve insisted on cutting taxes for the wealthiest one percent of the population without extracting some benefit from the betrayal of the democratic dream of equality? I’d love to hear an argument that tried to prove that the multi-millionaire executive who runs the company and a the laborer who earns $10, 712 a year, the amount working a full year at minimum wage for that company are EQUAL in any real sense of that word.

At the Farm

It’s the last day of Spring Break here, and Dawn and Rich took the kids to see a friend’s farm since they don’t get many chances to see livestock except at the zoo.

When we first entered the barn, it struck me that perhaps we were the ones being watched:

By the time we got to Rabbit hutches, though, the kids had finally gotten into the proper mood, perhaps because the Easter bunny isn’t too far away:

Though I enjoyed watching the kids with the animals, I couldn’t help but be attracted to the birds, particularly this Black-Capped Chickadee that appeared to be shopping for a nest:

I’ve managed to finish my taxes this week, haul in three truckloads of “potting soil� to fill up the new raised-garden beds and nearly finish the seats to finish off the back deck.

I think I’ll actually have time to get back to some poetry by Monday.

My Apologies

I’ve been somewhat remiss in reading poetry this week, though I have a couple of works awaiting my attention. Last week’s garden work still calls, it’s been exceptionally beautiful here, it’s Spring Break for school kids, and, despite the fact that I don’t teach anymore it still seems wrong to be reading over Spring break.

So, I spent the day walking Nisqually again, where I saw lots of things I’ve seen before, but also a number of new sights. For instance, when I revisted the Great Horned Owl nest I found that mother’s place had been claimed by this fuzzy little guy:

The most notable change, though was the return of the Wood Ducks, who could be seen in a number of areas:

And though I’ve noticed a considerable amount of scat in the past, I finally got a glimpse of my first live coyote:

However, I spent the most time watching these Horned Grebes:

and admiring their beautiful breeding colors. I still find it amazing that this is the same bird that I showed in an earlier entry.

I must admit, though, that my day ended on a slightly sour note when I read in the log that two Red Throated Loons had been spotted, and I had managed to miss them entirely, despite driving long distances recently in search of them.