The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams by Deepak Chopra

My review

In the introduction Deepak Chopra points out that the title could really be The Seven Spiritual Laws of Life. I got the impression that while the title is true, it was slanted to grab the eye of those of us wanting to find out how we missed out on material abundance. Throughout the book, though, Deepak Chopra stresses that embacing one’s spiritual side and understanding how the mystical universe works will bring abundance in all areas, material wealth being a by product. Throughout the book he explains everything in very down-to-earth language and at the end of every chapter there's a summary that's also a list of things to contemplate and practice to help know your spiritual side better.

My favorite part is where he relates how he told his children, from the age of 4 on, not to worry about grades or college or even making a living, but to find out what their unique talents were and how they could best serve humanity. And with that as their focus they ended up getting the best grades and into the best colleges and being financially self-sufficient at the same time.


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The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
What amazing storytelling! The author doesn't spending anytime analyzing situations; he just lets events speak for themselves. The whole effect is as if looking through stained glass at a beautifully told story. The book is so devastating; at several points I gasped out loud at things I didn't see coming. The ending is poignant and hopeful. Throughout the book I appreciated the personal point of view brought to events in the middle east. At about 2/3rds through I just stayed up all night and read through the next day. I've got A Thousand Splendid Suns but I'm reading other books in between until I'm ready for another rollercoaster. A beautiful book.


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Momma Mia!

It was 2 or 3 weeks ago on a Friday; I’d just gotten home from work and stretched out on the couch for a nap only to get a phone call from Skip wanting to know if I’d like to go see Momma Mia! He was being super nice because, as I found out later, he knew nothing about the film, only that it was currently the only movie on my A list. No longer in need of a nap I quickly fired up the laptop and found a place and time that we liked. Since I’m currently using a bus/trolley pass to get to work I decided to do something different and hurried out the door to catch the bus a block a way for a short ride down the hill to the trolley stop and a fast, fun ride to Mission Valley.

The movie, Momma Mia!, is like a Shakespeare play. And I mean that in a good way. If you’ve only been bored by Shakespeare, then you haven’t seen it done well. I’ve been lucky enough to see it performed by masterful actors who made the language seem everyday natural and were able to convey the meaning until we were rolling in the aisles at the comedy, crying at the tragedy, and wondering at the poignancy and the beauty of it all. And besides, Shakespeare’s plays are more like musicals than plays; the language is so gorgeous and the moments so crazy, or crazy beautiful, they’re more like musical numbers than spoken word in anyone else’s hands.

And Momma Mia! has all the bawdy, slapstick, ridiculous comedy and poignant illustration of the human condition found in Shakespeare’s best. The writers took songs by ABBA and tweaked the lyrics just enough so the characters can tell their story organically through the songs. For their part the actors treat the material as if it were Shakespeare, which it deserves, just instead of iambic pentameter or a Danish accent, they sing.

If you’re a Serious Music Queen with a Well Trained Ear you might catch a few jarring notes; the singing is really good, not flawless, but who cares when they’re having this much fun. Meryl Streep is just fabulous, totally committed to the role, hysterical (“I haven’t slept with hundreds of men”) with a nice, lilting voice she uses well, especially in The Winner Takes It All where she gets the screen to herself backlit by the sun setting over the Mediteranean. Pierce Brosnan, it turns out, has a nice rock voice, kind of like Kris Kristofferson. And it’s terrific to finally see Christine Baranski in a role that allows her to show everything she has; eating up the screen and the song and the moves in Does Your Mother Know on the beach with a chorus of male dancers.

All those georgeous guys dancing on the beach with their shirts off and the Mediteranean sun glistening off their muscles; I just got depressed.

While watching the movie it occurred to me that it’s the quintessential Baby Boomer musical; middle aged people who, after 20 years of just trying to make it through the day, look back at their youth and mistakes and take a chance to reclaim their passion, their sexuality, their dreams, and their loves. It gives us hope once again that anything is possible.

The plot is taken from the 1968 film Buono Sera, Mrs. Campbell starring Gina Lollobrigida as an Italian lady who entertained 3 American GIs in quick succession during WWII. Now, 20 years later they; Phil Silvers, Peter Lawford, and Telly Savalas are coming back for a reunion, bringing their wives: Janet Margolin, Lee Grant, and Shelley Winters. In this case the men each know about the daughter but not about each other and the daughter is clueless. Mrs. Campbell tries to keep everyone from knowing the whole story. And, by the way, she has quite the handsome Italian boyfriend in the movie, but I couldn't find out who the actor was. It’s a very fun comedy worth searching for on Netflix or TCM.

I had dinner with my dear friends Dan and Peter last weekend. We saw the stage production of Momma Mia! together a couple of years ago when it was here in San Diego. We’ve each seen the movie, but we’d all like to see it again. Hopefully, a group of us are going to get together next weekend. I can’t wait.

The Dark Knight

About a month ago (I’m behind on my blogging) my roommate, Keith, and I went to see the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight. While researching tickets online I found out that some of the movie was shot in IMAX, which lead me to look for tickets at an IMAX theater. There’s only one in San Diego and only the very early and the very late showings had tickets available: this was the 2nd weekend the movie was out. Then I checked for tickets at the Irvine Spectrum, a very nice out-door mall up in Orange County. It’s a much larger theater and I was able to get tickets for the next day.

So on a Sunday afternoon we piled into my car for the trip up to Orange County. It was overcast, but otherwise pleasant, so naturally I wanted to drive with the top down. Being a nice guy, Keith consented, but I felt bad when we got there because after and hour and a half in the car with the top down, he was quite sunburnt. I was spared because I wore a visor I keep stowed under my seat. I’d offered Keith a hat I keep handy for passengers, but he doesn’t like to wear them.

When we got there the mall was crowded, but not jammed packed. And I felt liked we’d arrived there for a special event because everyone was dressed really well. No one was in formal clothes, but if they wore a t-shirt or a sleeveless shirt it was clean, pressed, and looked new. The women all had cute tops or skirts and the cutest open-toed sandals and pedicures imaginable. I wouldn’t comment on it, except that in a large, crowded mall it was the case for every last person, except maybe the two interlopers from San Diego. I know Orange County has gained a reputation for pretentiousness and maybe they are, but in an age where no one dresses up to get on an airplane anymore, it was nice to be in a place where everyone was dressed well and looking their best.

The movie was really good, not great, and somewhat uneven. There were several scenes where they’re jumping off buildings that were shot in IMAX. They were fun scenes where the floor seemed to fall out from under you and suddenly you’re flying hundreds of feet above the ground. But not so fun for Keith who gets vertigo easily and had to turn away. The plot seems to bump along from one crisis to another without very good explanations as to what’s happening. While Christian Bale is handsome and every scene of the movie is gorgeous, the only thing really interesting to watch is The Joker. Heath Ledger is mesmorizing. To my mind he can act better strung up by his heels than anyone else standing up. Maggie Gyllenhaal added a nice spark and Michael Caine was terrific, but it was Heath Ledger who pored so much life into his character that he clearly stole the show.

Worth the price of the show: Heath Ledger as The Joker in bad nurse drag. Hilarious.