Ups and downs

Every time I have sat down to write during the past couple of weeks, something has interrupted. The first attempt began “we saw two movies.” A few days later I picked it up and changed that to “three movies.” And now, during the past month, we have seen four movies!

The first was “Little Girl Blue,” a documentary about the life of Janis Joplin that received a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I cannot even imagine how much work it was to compile all those film clips and conduct all those interviews. After all, she lived a short (27 years) and turbulent life that seldom seemed anything even close to what we might call happy. I wondered at the end whether it was a suicide or an accident. There was no note left, so it is hard to say for sure. Clearly she was a troubled human being but maybe there could have been some chance to learn to live with her self. In choosing whether to be angry with her for depriving us of her talent and to feel sorry for her for her unhappiness, I want to choose the latter.

The second movie, “The Big Short,” which received a rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, was not one I expected to appreciate, knowing little as I do about high finance. True to expectations, I have to admit right up front that I did not fully understand what was going on, although I think the filmmaker did a very good job of having minor characters stepping out of their roles and speaking directly to the audience to explain some of the details of the financial goings on. But if asked I would still be unable to explain a credit default swap! Even without that level of understanding, what was clear was that during the early 2000s the top executives of major banks had figured out a seemingly clever, albeit ultimately immoral if not illegal, way to amass large amounts of money, until some clever colleagues beat them at their own game and brought the economy crashing down. Of course there was quite a bit of collateral damage, with millions of people losing most of their nest eggs, but those at the top seemed to remain largely unscathed.

Four characters were at the core of the story. Michael Barry (played by Christian Bale) was a sort of counterculture fund manager, a genius who listened to his own drummer, working long, irregular hours in shorts and t-shirts and flip-flops. Mark Baum (Steve Carell) was a Wall Streeter who had become disillusioned, even miserably angry, with pretty much everything while insisting that he still loved his job. Two lesser known actors played roles of a couple of young guys trying to break in to the financial world.

This is not a story to be taken lightly because although there was surely poetic license in the details, many people did lose significant portions of the sums they had worked hard to accumulate to allow them a comfortable retirement and perhaps leave some to their children and grandchildren.

The third movie was “Carol,” which received a 94% approval. Set in the early 1950s, Cate Blanchett plays a young wife and mother who is trying to juggle her seemingly charmed life as a well-off wife and mother. Her husband really does seem to love her, and in her way she loves him, but she is no longer able to deny something she probably knew even before they married, that she prefers being with women. Their situation is more complicated because they have a young daughter whom they both adore. Watching this film is a stark reminder of how much things have changed over the past fifty years, a relatively short period of time in the larger scheme of things. The movie makes no effort to sugar-coat the reality, and there is no grand happy ending here. We do not follow this couple and their young daughter into the future, but despite having two parents who truly did strive for her well-being, she has almost undoubtedly struggled.

One last movie was somewhat less well received, with an approval of only 73%: “Youth.” The story follows two retired men in their 70s, artists and long term friends who have moved into a beautiful resort in the Alps.  Fred (Michael Caine) is a classical composer while Mick (Harvey Keitel) is a filmmaker. Fred’s daughter Lena (Rachel Weisz) comes to stay with her father following the sudden breakup of her engagement. Mick is surrounded by a bunch of young screenwriters working on what he plans will be the highlight of his long career. Jane Fonda has a small role as the actress who is to play the lead in that film. Our initial scan of A.O. Scott’s review in the New York Times seemed positive, but I went back this morning and read the entire review to find he did note weaknesses, and I do not disagree with what he had to say. Having said that, I think it is worth seeing just to observe Michael Caine’s performance. He is an actor who has literally been all over the map with various types of roles over many years, and he has taken on this one with great skill and sensitivity. He was also featured in a charming and thoughtful piece on CBS Sunday Morning this week.

This past weekend was somewhat bittersweet. Our friend Hilary, whose husband died nearly two months ago, has a son and daughter-in-law who live in Riverdale and just welcomed their first child into the world. The Brit Mila (ritual circumcision) was on Thursday morning. Since the couple has a small apartment, we invited Hilary and another one of her sons along with his wife to stay here with us for the weekend. It turned out that the three of them ate most of their meals at the young couple’s apartment, but it was nice for them to have a comfortable place to sleep, and nice for us to have time to chat over breakfast. We look forward to seeing more of Hilary over the coming months.

When visiting mourners, many traditional Jewish people will say “we should only see each other for simchas (happy occasions),” or “you should know no more suffering.” Rabbi Weiss has often pointed out that these are unreasonable wishes, because every life has its ups and downs. This past weekend was an especially stark example. Barry (may he rest in peace) was certainly looking forward to this new grandchild, so although there was an awareness of his absence, I believe little Caleb had the joyful party he deserved!

We did make it over to the New York Botanical Garden for the annual Holiday Train Show. Every year this exhibit is more and more extensive. This year they had a replica of the main building of the Botanical Garden that was quite a sight.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you may remember that a couple of years ago we took our oldest grandchild to Disney World for five days at the happiest place in the world. Although we have had some delays and gotten a bit off schedule, we are getting back on track over the winter break with our second oldest, Eliana. After our Joshua trip, at the end of June, we decided not to go back there in the summer. We know it will be crowded there but this was a good time for her. Even in just these couple of years so many things have changed, with each visitor’s information stored in a wrist band. We were able to go on line many weeks ago and schedule some of the busiest rides, which should help us avoid trying to run (or, in my case, scooter) back and forth too many times.  

This warm weather makes it hard to think about winter holidays. Let us just stay healthy and enjoy the time off with families and friends.

Love,

Rebecca

Who knows where the time goes?

Can today really be the 9^th of December? My last post was on the 30^th of November, and that feels like it was just yesterday. I guess that is what being busy really means!

After our busy Thanksgiving weekend, we had planned to stay in New York this past weekend. Somehow, we had failed to realize that Maya had an important event at school on Friday, at which each of the 2^nd graders receive their Chumash (what is known as The Five Books of Moses). The hope is that this will plant the seeds for a lifetime of Jewish learning and community.

Maya had one of the lead roles in the play that the class put on, with quite a few lines that she delivered flawlessly. She is petite but she has a certain presence and no trouble making herself heard. Exhausting as it all was, we are glad we were able to be there and celebrate with her, her parents, and both sets of her grandparents together. A couple of pictures are here.

Here is a quick picture of our grandchildren taken the first night of Chanukah. Joshua bent down a bit so he wouldn't tower over the others!

So now this weekend will be a quieter one. I do have some other things I want to right about and hope I will get to them in the next few days.

Have a great week. Here in the east it looks like we are going to have a relatively warm weekend. No complaints from me!

Love,

Rebecca

Back to the movies

We had a wonderful, if a bit crazy, Thanksgiving. Our family has grown so much from just our two little girls to two big girls, two big boys, one not-so-little boy, and four little girls. There is simply not a quiet moment other than the first 5-10 minutes of dinner when they gobble up their food before running off to play some more. Unfortunately, little Julia was under the weather; turns out it was just a bad cold but nothing seems fun when you feel the way she looked.

As is often the case with our family, food rules the day. We had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in which everyone pitched in. Barry did the turkey, the brisket, and a zucchini chick pea stew. Simmie made her yummy mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallow fluff on top, as well as pumpkin pie and blondies. Dina made bread stuffing and cranberry sauce, and Evy (Ronen’s mother) brought along a big salad, a cranberry crunch, and two kugels, one potato and one broccoli. We rounded it out with some rice and some couscous. Then, as if she had not already done more than enough, Evy, who could not say “no” to Maya’s request, supplied her homemade challah for our Shabbat: one large one made of mini-challot shaped like a turkey, and three regular braided loaves. So to say we ate well is an understatement. Friday night was the one meal I cooked, including yellow split pea soup with little veggie sausages as a garnish, Wynelle’s pot pie (Moosewood), sweet lokshen (noodle) kugel and fish marinated and cooked in a teriyaki sauce that Barry makes. For Shabbat day we ate leftovers from Thursday evening, and there were still leftovers from that!

Saturday evening Barry and I took the four older children over to Menchie’s for frozen yogurt. It is really very close to us and the weather was mild, so we walked and I drove my scooter over. Barry and I are gradually coming to accept that the children are not little tots any more, and they can walk down the street in a group without running out in front of cars. Oh such silly grandparents we are!

At the end of my last post, I mentioned that we had seen two movies. Unfortunately, my poor memory is struggling but I will do my best.

The first movie was “Spotlight,” with Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams as Boston Globe reporters working under an editor played by Michael Keaton who uncovered the sexual abuse of young boys by priests in Massachusetts. It turned out that this had been going on for years and was largely covered up by the Boston Archdiocese using a practice of simply sending offending priests to new communities. After the initial story was published, the enormous scope of the damage became clear. Unfortunately, in recent years we have heard of such incidents in Jewish communities as well.

The movie was quite well done. Good wins out over evil but there is no hooting and hollering; no matter how you look at this it was a devastating experience for many young men and their families.

Continuing in the one-word film title genre, the second movie we saw is called “Brooklyn.”  This is a beautifully told story that is sweet without being sappy. The main character, Eilis, is played by the actress Saoirse Ronan. If you do not know any more about Irish names than I do, I looked up both of these, and include here some links that tell what they mean and how they are pronounced.

The Irish Name Saoirse

The Irish Name Eilis

Eilis is a young Irish woman who comes to the United States looking for a better education and a better life. Those of us who grew up here in nice suburban homes do not think much about how difficult it must have been for immigrants to settle here, as did many of our parents or grandparents, in the days before relatively easy travel and communication. After a bit of a rocky start, she begins to find her way and even a relationship with a charming young Italian fellow. But after being abroad for a while she receives notice that her sister, with whom she was close, has died, and decides to return to Ireland, promising the young man she will return, and secretly marrying him before a judge at City Hall. There is a period when the strings pulling her to stay in Ireland become quite strong, even involving another potential suitor.

Perhaps I should not give away the end here, because I highly recommend this charming film. It may simply be that we enjoyed it because the week before we saw it had been so filled with sadness. But in any mood, this is a beautifully made film and a beautifully told story. So enjoy if you have a chance.

Love,

Rebecca

Thanksgiving

I have tried numerous times to write over the past few days, but only today have I accepted the fact that there is simply no more I can say about the tragic death of young Ezra Schwartz, may he rest in peace. I have read many articles telling over and over what a nice, funny, sports-loving and overall terrific young man he was. My heart goes out to his parents, his sister and brothers, his grandparents, and the large numbers of friends who knew him.

But here we are at Thanksgiving, and although I am sure it is little comfort to those most close to him, we have to remember that there are still things for which we can be thankful. Even his parents are assuredly quite thankful for their four other children.

So in that spirit, we are here in our Riverdale home waiting for our children and grandchildren to arrive for the weekend. The last time we were all in this house together was when I was undergoing treatment more than three years ago, and I was not at all involved in the shopping, the set-up, preparation, or clean-up of meals. Even this time, I have accepted offers of assistance, so all the side dishes and desserts are being provided by our children and their families as well as by our son-in-law Ronen’s parents, who live on Long Island, and are joining us. We have not put all the boards in our dining room table for a very long time!

We have seen two very good movies, one just before the sad events of last week, and one this past Sunday afternoon. But I just heard a car pull into the driveway….

A happy and healthy Thanksgiving to all!

Love,

Rebecca

Righteous judge?

On hearing of a death, Jewish people traditionally say

ברך דין האמת

Blessed is the True Judge

I am having a very hard time understanding His judgement right now.

Love,

Rebecca

http://www.wcvb.com/news/massachusetts-teen-killed-in-israeli-terror-attack/36553644

A Thanksgiving tradition

For most of the years between 1991, when we moved to New York, and 2004, when our lives as grandparents began, our fall ritual was to see Arlo Guthrie at Carnegie Hall, where he has long performed on the Saturday night of Thanksgiving weekend. Until just a few years ago those performances included Pete Seeger and some of Arlo’s children who have grown to be musicians in their own rights.

Since 2004, we have spent Thanksgiving with our main reasons to be thankful – our children and grandchildren. But we have missed that annual Arlo fix, so when we saw that he was performing in mid-November in Tarrytown, a little bit north of New York City, we decided to buy tickets.

The show opened with Arlo’s daughter Sarah Lee Guthrie, a very good singer/songwriter in her own right. Arlo came on about midway through the first half and sang a variety of old and newer songs, some written by other artists, like “City of New Orleans” by the late Steve Goodman. 

There was an intermission, and Arlo came back on stage alone with a guitar, and sat down and sang the entire “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,” a long winding tale that recalls an incident that occurred on Thanksgiving many years ago. He updated the opening lyrics to say “It was fifty Thanksgivings ago, fifty years ago on Thanksgiving” and updated a few phrases to ones now considered more politically correct, but the spirit and humor remained entirely intact. I am sure he could sing the entire 18+ minute tale in his sleep, but he always manages to make it feel fresh.

I just learned that PBS will premiere "Alice's Restaurant 50th Anniversary Concert with Arlo Guthrie" on Thanksgiving Day (November 26) on TV stations across the country (8 pm - 9:30 pm EST, check your local listings). Definitely one to enjoy while you are trying to digest all that food!

On Sunday we saw the movie “Bridge of Spies.” It had been on our “list” but as I wrote a month ago, I was reluctant to see it because I do not like movies that involve danger and tension. I went into it saying that I would just close my eyes if it got to be too much.

The movie recounts events in the early 1960s. I was ten years old when these events took place, and can still remember the “red scare,” the drills we had in school in case of an attack. In 1962, the USSR had imprisoned two Americans: U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers, whose plane they had shot down, and Frederic L. Pryor, and American student who was in the wrong place at the wrong time just as the Berlin Wall was being built. Meanwhile, a Soviet double agent, Rudolf Abel (played by Mark Rylance), was being held in a US prison. Tom Hanks plays James B. Donovan, an American lawyer who is assigned as Abel’s attorney.

Because this film follows a historical event, the outcome is well known: a prisoner swap of Abel for the two Americans. I did close my eyes during a few scenes, but for the most part the film, although tense, was not excessively brutal.

It has been a sad week for the beautiful city of Paris. No matter how long I live I will never understand what motivates some people to do such heinous things. You would think by now, 2015, we could do better. When will the carnage end?

Love,

Rebecca

Odd Day

Somewhere along the line, perhaps during the years when I worked with many Europeans at Pfizer, I began writing dates as DD-MM-YYYY. When you think about it, this really makes sense, going from the particular (day) to the next level (month) to the highest level (year).

Here in the US, dates are usually written as MM-DD-YYYY. Hence the date today is 11-13-15, which consists of three consecutive odd numbers. That raises a question: how often does it occur that the date can be written as three consecutive odd numbers?

Every year has a maximum of 12 months, each month a maximum of 31 days, and each century consists of 100 years.

The odd months in each year are 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11

The odd days in each month are 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, …, 31

The odd years for each century are 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15,……99

So, we have six days in each century that follow the pattern:

1-3-5

3-5-7

5-7-9

7-9-11

9-11-13

11-13-15

In other words, this configuration will not appear again until the 22^nd Century, January 3^rd of 2105 (1-3-5) to be precise!

Just to have some fun, how does this work for even numbers?

The even months in each year are 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12

The even days in each month are 2, 4, 6, 8, …, 30

The even years for each century are 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, …

So we have

2-4-6

4-6-8

6-8-10

8-10-12

10-12-14

12-14-16

If I have gotten this correctly, December 14^th of next year is the very last time this can happen until we get to the 22^nd century, right? Barry just told me he does not expect us to be around to see it on January 3^rd of (210)5, so we should enjoy it now.

I am getting dizzy just thinking about this.

Thanks to my sister Wendy for sharing this with me.

Have a nice weekend,

Love,

Rebecca