Your Night at the Oscars - How well do you know America?

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For one night a year politics, war, the economy, poverty and health care are set aside as the nation joins the jet setters of Tinsel Town in Hollywood's annual demonstration of self-indulgence and fantasy, the 86th Academy Awards.

 

Just to put things into perspective for the many readers of the Coltons Point Times from outside the USA, please don't think there is anything about Hollywood and the Oscars that reflects on the typical quality of life in the USA.

 

 

Here in the colonies we are masters at embracing fantasy and the film industry is one of the very privilege classes reflecting it.  We don't have royalty but we do have several classes of aristocrats like stars in the motion picture industry, professional baseball, football and basketball players, the wizards of Wall Street, the nouveau rich and of course the old, rich bluebloods.  All told they are about 3% of the people.

 

Accumulating wealth is their playground and this is the one night they share it with us, I guess to thank us for spending billions of dollars on box office tickets, buying their movies on DVD, and watching them on the Telly.

 

 

As a group the movie industry is far to the left in politics, yet the general public long ago adopted the Mark Twain philosophy that, "everyone is entitled to their silly ideas."  Thus Republicans, Independents and centrist Democrats can overlook the Hollywood forays into social issues although the sight of someone stepping out of a Ferrari to condemn the government for allowing poverty is a little odd.

 

Like most other institutions in America that have been around since the 1928 stock market crash and ensuing Great Depression, the Oscars and the movie industry are in the process of huge changes.  Gone are the days that a handful of major studios and studio moguls hand-picked everything we saw in movie theatres from the scripts to directors to stars.

 

Any economic-based institution in America is subject to radical change when the economy changes, and then the greed of industries to squeeze the last buck out of the people will run it's course.

 

 

Once upon a time only major studio productions were nominated for Oscars.  This year, only three of the nine nominees for Best Picture came from major studios.  Truly the Independent production has overwhelmed Hollywood just as the Independent vote is taking over the political agenda.

 

When institutions stop taking risks and morph to the formula, standard, vanilla, risk adverse strategy, well they will cease to exist.  In America our music, television, motion picture and book industries are all on life support so Independent films may be the salvation of the industry.

 

 

Following is an outstanding overview of the penetration of Independent films written by John Horn of the Los Angeles Times.  It shows the extent the industry has changed to meet the demands of the public for creativity and innovation.

 

After that you will find my picks for the winners in the major categories and a list of nominees for all the significant categories.  I urge you to make your own selections.  My picks are without seeing a single, nominated movie.  Not only is it easier because I have no time to watch the dozens of movies nominated let alone I cannot afford to see them all, but it also gives me an excuse should I be wrong.

Los Angeles Times
   

Oscars 2014: Nominations — and snubs — attest to the strong field

 

'American Hustle' and 'Gravity' lead deep field with 10 Oscar nominations each. Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson are left out, and 'Inside Llewyn Davis' gets scant interest.

 

By John Horn

January 17, 2014

Tom Hanks' starring role in "Captain Phillips" was one of his most acclaimed performances in a distinguished career. But the two-time Oscar winner, who is also a governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, took nothing for granted — working tirelessly to promote "Captain Phillips" and his other big film, "Saving Mr. Banks," in which he plays Walt Disney.

But when Academy Award nominations were read out before dawn Thursday, Hanks' name was never called.

Cold-blooded snub? Probably not. Instead, Hanks' double omission is more proof that 2013 was indeed a golden year for film, one in which there were so many strong (and commercially successful) films that academy members couldn't include all those worthy of recognition.

Oscars 2014: Play-at-home ballot

Emma Thompson wasn't nominated for her starring role in "Saving Mr. Banks," Robert Redford was cast adrift from his sinking sailboat tale "All Is Lost," and Paul Greengrass and Spike Jonze missed the cut for directing, respectively, the hijacking thriller "Captain Phillips" and the dystopian love story "Her."

The Coen brothers' critically lauded folk music movie "Inside Llewyn Davis" earned just two technical nominations; last summer, it won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

"There's incredible work being done by incredible filmmakers," said Michael De Luca, a producer on "Captain Phillips." "Not to over-inflate it, but it feels like it could be another renaissance" in movies.

Oscar voters had little trouble finding several movies to lavish with multiple nominations in top categories. The con man tale "American Hustle" and the space thriller "Gravity" tied with the most nominations with 10 apiece, as the slave drama "12 Years a Slave" collected nine. "Captain Phillips," the AIDS story "Dallas Buyers Club" and the road movie "Nebraska" all had six nominations.

TIMELINE: The Academy Awards through the years

Tellingly, many of these nominated films were financed independently. As major studios focus on superheroes and sequels, it's the independent financiers who bankroll the edgier, director-driven films whose merits are measured by reviews, not Happy Meals tie-ins.

Two of the best picture nominees — "American Hustle" and "Her" — were bankrolled by producer Megan Ellison, daughter of billionaire businessman Larry Ellison. She had more combined nominations with 17 than Paramount Pictures (13) and 20th Century Fox (11).

"I know we couldn't make this movie without Megan," said David O. Russell, who directed and co-wrote "American Hustle." "And 'Her' couldn't have gotten made without Megan."

The best picture finalists "The Dallas Buyers Club," the stock swindle film "The Wolf of Wall Street," lost-child drama "Philomena" and "12 Years a Slave" also were financed outside the studio system. Only three of the best-picture selections, "Gravity," "Nebraska" and "Captain Phillips," were made and distributed by major studios.

Oscars 2014 snubs and surprises

"The independent financiers are critical," said Rachel Winter, a producer of "The Dallas Buyers Club." "They are bucking the cycle that we are in — and we are in such a crazily specific one right now."

Her movie was underwritten by executives from a Texas fertilizer company after Hollywood studios turned the project down more than 120 times over the last 20 years.

The Academy Award nominations will help encourage others to take similar risks, noted Tracey Seaward, a producer of "Philomena" whose financing was pieced together from three European backers. "It's really a great boost and shows there's an audience for serious storytelling," she said.

Many film critics have called 2013 one of the best years for movies in memory. Happily for Hollywood, several of this year's top contenders also are box-office hits — unlike past years, in which major contenders never escaped the art house.

"Gravity" has grossed more than $256 million in domestic theaters, "American Hustle" has surpassed $104 million, "Captain Phillips" stands at $105 million and "The Wolf of Wall Street" just climbed past $81 million.

 

(end of article)

 

And the nominees are...

 

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

 

 

 

“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

     Columbia Pictures and Annapurna Pictures Production

“Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
    Columbia Pictures Production

“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features)
    Voltage Pictures, R2 Films, Evolution Independent Production

“Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
    A Warner Bros. UK Services Limited Production

“Her” (Warner Bros.)
   An Annapurna Production

“Nebraska” (Paramount)
   A Paramount Vantage Production

“Philomena” (The Weinstein Company)
   A Pathé, BBC Films, BFI, Canal+, Cine+ and Baby Cow/Magnolia Mae Production

“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)
     A River Road, Plan B, New Regency Production

“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount)
     A Red Granite Production

[Putnam's Pick - American Hustle because it has been a while since Hollywood gave an award to anything with "America" in the title.]

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Christian Bale in “American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Bruce Dern in “Nebraska” (Paramount)
Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount)
Chiwetel Ejiofor in “12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)
Matthew McConaughey in “Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features)

 

 

[Putnam's Pick - Christian Bale an upset maybe but part of a sweep by American Hustle.  Otherwise Matthew McConaughey.]

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Barkhad Abdi in “Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Bradley Cooper in “American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Michael Fassbender in “12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)
Jonah Hill in “The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount)
Jared Leto in “Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features)

[Putnam's Pick - Bradley Cooper again because of the American Hustle sweep.]

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Amy Adams in “American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Cate Blanchett in “Blue Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Sandra Bullock in “Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
Judi Dench in “Philomena” (The Weinstein Company)
Meryl Streep in “August: Osage County” (The Weinstein Company)

 

 

[Putnam's Pick - Amy Adams because she is very good, has never won and is in American Hustle.  If not her then Cate Blanchett whom I love.]

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Sally Hawkins in “Blue Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Jennifer Lawrence in “American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Lupita Nyong’o in “12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)
Julia Roberts in “August: Osage County” (The Weinstein Company)
June Squibb in “Nebraska” (Paramount)

[Putnam's Pick - Jennifer Lawrence because she is a rising star, Oscar winner, has not got caught up in the Hollywood rat packs and is from Kentucky.]

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING

“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) David O. Russell
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Alfonso Cuarón
“Nebraska” (Paramount) Alexander Payne
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Steve McQueen
“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount) Martin Scorsese

[Putnam's Pick - Martin Scorsese because he paid his dues but never won and they can't give everything to American Hustle.]

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR

“The Broken Circle Breakdown” (Tribeca Film)
    A Menuet Production
“The Great Beauty” (Janus Films)
    An Indigo Film Production
“The Hunt” (Magnolia Pictures)
    A Zentropa Entertainments 19 Production
“The Missing Picture” (Strand Releasing)
    A Bophana Production
    An Omar Production Company Production

[Putnam's Pick - The Great Beauty though I have no idea why.]

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR

“The Croods” (20th Century Fox)
     Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco and Kristine Belson
“Despicable Me 2” (Universal)
     Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin and Chris Meledandri
“Ernest & Celestine” (GKIDS)
     Benjamin Renner and Didier Brunner
“Frozen” (Walt Disney)
     Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho
“The Wind Rises” (Walt Disney)
     Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki

[Putnam's Picks - The Wind Rises because Disney combined with the Japanese is too good to pass up.]

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

“The Act of Killing” (Drafthouse Films)
     A Final Cut for Real Production
“Cutie and the Boxer” (RADiUS-TWC)
     An Ex Lion Tamer and Cine Mosaic Production
“Dirty Wars” (IFC Films)
“The Square” (Netflix in association with Worldview
     Entertainment and Participant Media)
     A Noujaim Films and Maktube Production
“20 Feet from Stardom” (RADiUS-TWC)
     A Gil Friesen Productions and Tremolo Production

[Putnam's Pick - 20 Feet from Stardom since it sounds like a Hollywood storyline.]

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“Before Midnight” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy,
“Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by Billy Ray
“Philomena” (The Weinstein Company) Screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by John Ridley
“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount) Screenplay by Terence Winter

[Putnam's Pick - 12 Years a Slave since it meets the liberal standard of the leftist elite.]

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written by Eric Warren Singer and David
    O . Russell
“Blue Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Woody Allen
“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features) Written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack
“Her” (Warner Bros.) Written by Spike Jonze
“Nebraska” (Paramount) Written by Bob Nelson

[Putnam's Pick - Her because Spike Jonze has done some interesting stories and I like the way he spells his last name.]

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY

“The Grandmaster” (The Weinstein Company) Philippe Le Sourd
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Emmanuel Lubezki
“Inside Llewyn Davis” (CBS Films) Bruno Delbonnel
“Nebraska” (Paramount) Phedon Papamichael
“Prisoners” (Warner Bros.) Roger A. Deakins

[Putnam's Pick - Gravity because Sandra Bullock looked great in a space suit.]

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN

“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Michael Wilkinson
“The Grandmaster” (The Weinstein Company) William Chang Suk Ping
“The Great Gatsby” (Warner Bros.) Catherine Martin
“The Invisible Woman” (Sony Pictures Classics) Michael O’Connor
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Patricia Norris

[Putnam's Pick - The Invisible Woman as I cannot imagine the difficulty of dressing an Invisible Woman.]

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)

“Alone Yet Not Alone” from “Alone Yet Not Alone” (Enthuse Entertainment)
“Happy” from “Despicable Me 2” (Universal)
“Let It Go” from “Frozen” (Walt Disney)
“The Moon Song” from “Her” (Warner Bros.)
“Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” (The Weinstein Company)

[Putnam's Pick - tie between The Moon Song and Let It Go as they are more creative titles than the others.]

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS

“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Warner Bros.) Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David
      Clayton
“Iron Man 3” (Walt Disney)
“The Lone Ranger” (Walt Disney) Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John
      Frazer
“Star Trek Into Darkness” (Paramount) Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and
     Burt Dalton

[Putnam's Picks - Gravity because after Lord of the Rings we are tired of wizards and

 hobnobs.]

 

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING

 

“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten

“Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Christopher Rouse
“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features) John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Joe Walker

[Putnam's Pick - Captain Phillips as an apology for not nominating Tom Hanks for Best Actor.]

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

“CaveDigger”
     A Karoffilms Production
“Facing Fear”
     A Jason Cohen Production
“Karama Has No Walls” (Mudhouse Films)
     A Hot Spot Films Production
“The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life”
     A Reed Entertainment Production
“Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall”
     A Prison Terminal LLC Production

[Putnam's Pick - The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life as it must have a happy ending and the others sound rather morbid or exploitive.]

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features) Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews
“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” (Paramount) Stephen Prouty
“The Lone Ranger” (Walt Disney) Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny
 
[Putnam's Pick - Dallas Buyers Club because I can't image how they took a hunk like Matthew McConaughey and made him look so weak.]

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)

“The Book Thief” (20th Century Fox) John Williams
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Steven Price
“Her” (Warner Bros.) William Butler and Owen Pallett
“Philomena” (The Weinstein Company) Alexandre Desplat
“Saving Mr. Banks” (Walt Disney) Thomas Newman

[Putnam's Pick - it is hard to bet against the genius John Williams but I pick Gravity because it is such a sweeping story.]

ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN

“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Production Design:
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Production Design:
“The Great Gatsby” (Warner Bros.) Production Design:
“Her” (Warner Bros.) Production Design:
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Production Design:

[Putnam's Pick - Gravity because anything with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney has to win a few awards.]

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

“Feral”
    A Daniel Sousa Production
“Get a Horse!” (Walt Disney)
    A Walt Disney Animation Production
“Mr. Hublot”
    A Zeilt Production
“Possessions”
    A Sunrise Production
“Room on the Broom”
    A Magic Light Pictures Production
 
[Putnam's Pick - this time I really have no idea why but I pick Feral.]

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

“Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)” (FREAK Independent Film Agency)
     A Producciones Africanauan Production
“Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything)”
     A KG Production
“Helium”
     An M & M Production
“Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)”
     A Tuffi Films Production
“The Voorman Problem”
     A Honlodge Production

[Putnam's Pick - Helium since it is the only one I can pronounce.]

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING

“All Is Lost” (Lionsgate & Roadside Attractions) Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns
“Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Oliver Tarney
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Glenn Freemantle
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Warner Bros.) Brent Burge
“Lone Survivor” (Universal) Wylie Stateman

[Putnam's Pick - All is Lost because one of the sound editors is named Hymns so it must be a sign from God.]

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING

"Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood
    Smith and Chris Munro
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Warner Bros.) Christopher Boyes, Michael
    Hedges,  Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson
“Inside Llewyn Davis” (CBS Films) Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
“Lone Survivor” (Universal) Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow

[Putnam's Pick - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug because I don't want Smaug's desolation to go unnoticed nor the Little People to be mad at me.]

That's All Folks!  See you March 2...
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President Obama pitches home run for Republicans

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The same week Obama gets a second major budget initiative bill from a bi-partisan Congress thanks to the tireless efforts of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray which provides a year of Congressional stability and avoids government shutdowns and other nonsense, Obama takes the bully pulpit once again.

 

 

Obama is quite the dichotomy, or is it trichotomy?  There is the ethereal, detached professor who lectures America as if we are stuck in stupid.  There is the frustrated and hypocritical Nobel Peace Prize winner still trying to end war five years after winning the coveted prize.  And there is the Chicago back room politician who seems to have forgotten thugs stopped being in vogue back in Richard Daley days.

 

 

No one in America should be more aware of the paralyzing effects of bitter partisan politics than Barack Obama.  Every year since elected he has invoked the finger pointing threat of condemning Congress for failing to say yes to everything he wants.  Then he moans and groans about the need for bi-partisan cooperation because he can't get what he wants.

 

 

Now, after five years of intellectual and Congressional constipation when Congress finally does start working together which Barack Obama shows his face, the same old Chicago thug from five years ago who basically said to Hell with Congress and the people, I'm going to use executive powers to do what I want!

 

At times it seems our president is more concerned with his legacy than his performance in office.  At times it seems he is resigned to doing nothing with Congress or the Supreme Court when the Constitution defines a clear role for all three branches of government.  Kind of makes you wonder what they taught him in his Constitutional Law courses at Harvard.

 

 

Be that as it may, did he also forget this is an election year?  A swing of just six Senate seats from Democrat to Republican would give the GOP control of both the House and Senate for the last two years of the Obama presidency.  If he thinks things have been tough so far, imagine what would happen if he lost control of the Senate.

 

 

Thanks to ObamaCare four Senate Democrats up for re-election have already said they will resign.  Senators don't resign without reason and there is no better reason than to think you can't win.  If such is the case, the GOP needs only two more seats to take control for the next two years.

 

 

So why does Obama condemn Congress and the GOP when they are working together for the first time in five years?  That is the home run ball he served up to the Republicans.  It also may be the lingering failure to get over politics Chicago style and a continuing failure to realize what worked in Chicago all those years ago is not relevant to the modern day and present needs.

 

 

His mastery of the teleprompter and triumphant speeches long ago lost their luster to the American people who are still trying to recover from an economic collapse caused by greed and prolonged by partisan bickering.  No matter how smooth you may be as a politician, eventually the people expect results.

 

No president has ever been successful because they were a partisan bully.  No president has ever been successful by condemning the two branches of government our Founding Fathers felt could protect us from an abuse of power and anarchy, the Legislative and Executive branches.

 

 

It just seems that Obama has never understood his is not an Imperial presidency but a democratic election to office by barely 50% of the vote.  Yet once elected, he is the president for all the people, not just those who like him.  Serving all the people all the time seems foreign to the Obama administration and that is a sad truth to ponder.

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The Crucifixion of Chris Christie

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Once upon a time a bunch of political partisans, special interests, defenders of the faith and powerful interests got together to decide what was in the best interest of the people without bothering to ask the people what they thought or wanted.

 

The media at the time did their best through the use of lies, deception, deceit and demagoguery to undermine the credibility of someone who just wanted to help the people and teach them the power of love.  So the media whipped up a frenzy in the people to destroy this person.

 

Unfortunately, for the hordes of special interests calling for his destruction, their success in winning public support was fleeting and the malicious and deceptive facade was exposed and crumbled before nightfall of the Crucifixion.

 

And then came the Resurrection - reinforcing that the people, not the media, not the radical special interests or the crooked politicians who tried to control the people's minds and will through corrupt government, financial institutions and a disregard for the truth, that the people would overcome.

 

This was proven by the test of time as billions of people today embrace the teaching of the lonely voice in the wilderness crucified over 2,000 years ago.

 

When the intent of the Crucifiers is to mislead, control or subvert the will of the people, they are destined to fail.

 

 

So what does this have to do with Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey?

 

First, before you get carried away with theological challenges and heretical demands from the Inquisition era to burn me at the stake, let me make it clear I am talking about a comparison of the act of crucifying, not the actual victim of the crucifixion.

 

 

I am talking about the highly visible and obvious attempts by some very special interests to destroy Chris Christie by using every obscure incident that comes along to smear him in the media.

 

The Ft. Lee bridge lane closure was a trigger that brought out the worst in our politicians, news media, radical left wing, radical right wing and presidential hopefuls in an attempt to destroy Christie's credibility with the people across America.

 

 

Why might that be?

 

Think about it.  Professional politicians and the political campaign machines behind them have effectively neutralized the voice of "We the people".  It has been accomplished through years of manipulation and collusion between the political demons and money changers, those who profit from the business of government or the subversion of government regulations.

 

As Obama has proven it no longer matters right now if our political leaders are a Democrat or Republican, they are all puppets and the puppet masters pulling the strings control the financial institutions of Wall Street and corporate America.  Main Street and rural America simply have no chance as long as the status quo remains.

 

 

Christie is an outsider, demonstrating over and over that he is not a professional politician under the control of the puppet masters, while his popularity in New Jersey and now throughout the nation have grown.

 

Like 2000 years ago, the political corruption and moral morass of the system is suddenly threatened by this brash outsider with no strings attached.  The most dangerous threat to the puppet masters is that of a populist movement to expose them and their practices.

 

 

Populist movements require a person to personify the nature, character and ethics of the movement.  For example, one third of all Americans reject the control of the two-party system and signed up as Independents.  The number grows every election cycle.

 

This huge block of people is leaderless and thus will remain disenfranchised until they get a standard bearer for their movement to rid our nation of the strangling control of the puppet masters.

 

Chris Christie is an outsider.  Look at the people who attacked him before they even knew the truth about the Ft. Lee situation, so desperate are they to derail his success at uniting people.  For Christie can unite the disenfranchised Democrats and Republicans with the Independents, as many polls have shown.

 

 

Supporters of Hillary Clinton and numerous other potential presidential candidates have led the charges against Christie along with their supporters in the news media.  Hard-line leftist liberals and radical, right wing conservatives have joined in the hatchet job.

 

Then there are the New Jersey politicians, the good old boys, from the high profile aspirants to the unknown, from potential candidates for governor to state senators.  Finally, there are the mayors, so many egos furious that Christie had become the darling of the media and not them.

 

 

I lived in New Jersey longer than anywhere I lived in my life.  Working for Governor Tom Kean I spent 8 years travelling every nook and cranny in Jersey and came to respect and appreciate the incredible diversity of the people, the strength of their convictions and their tolerance for other people's opinions.

 

 

Corruption has been prevalent for a long time in Jersey from the political corruption resulting from too many government entities to the Atlantic City casino and mob influence to the New York and Philadelphia La Casa Nostra.

 

Every year more and more corrupt officials are caught and more federal cases have greatly reduced the influence of organized crime in the state.  When he was US Attorney for New Jersey Chris Christie successfully prosecuted 130 corruption cases.

 

Any mayor in New Jersey who whimpers and wines about the rough and tumble politics of the Garden State needs to find a new garden to play in because they are oblivious to reality.  Of course it is rough and tough because that is what it takes to defy a culture of corruption and survive the temptations of office.

 

 

But tough politics is not corruption.

 

The greatest danger to those attempting to crucify Christie for something he denies doing is not that they fail to derail his place in the hearts of New Jersey and national voters, it is that the people will see through the political smoke screens and fog banks to the truth and that his resurrection will make him far stronger than the person he was before.

 

 

Ironic, isn't it, that the crucifiers might trigger a resurrection that destroys everything they are trying to protect.  People, people of all political persuasions who still possess the view that politics should be ethical, free of partisan control and built on integrity share a common ideal that transcends partisan politics.

 

 

New Jersey voters know the meaning of fair play and have no interest in letting the news media or outsiders tell them what is good for the State of New Jersey.  They know the value of a Chris Christie with no strings attached compared to the multitude of pampered, pandering political hypocrites and their puppet masters claiming to have the best interests of the people at heart.

 

Will the resurrection allow the rest of America to share in this dream with New Jersey people and trigger a populist revolution throughout our nation that will sweep into national office a new breed of people's politician and restore "We the people" to our Constitution?

 

 

Will the strings of the puppet masters be severed once and for all?

 

Stay tuned...

 

p.s.  I was raised in Iowa and can tell you straight shooting Chris Christie will be a breath of fresh air to the normally polluted presidential primaries of the Hawkeye State.

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Happy Holidays to all my friends around the world!

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OUR HOLIDAY GREETING FOR YOU

For all of the world we offer hope for world peace and wish you happy holidays for (Christian) Christmas, (African) Kwanzaa, (Hispanic) Las Posadad-Noche Buena-Navidad, (Jewish) Hanukkah-Rosh Hashanah, (Persian) Yalda, (Islamic) Eid al-Adha-Muharram, (Buddhist) Rohatsu, (Hindu) Sankranti, (Celtic) Winter Solstice and (Chinese) New Year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Feliz Navidad y Felices Fiestas

Joyeux Noël et joyeuses fêtes

Buon Natale e Buone Feste

Frohe Weihnachten und frohe Feiertage

Vrolijke Kerstmis en Gelukkige Vakantie

Καλα Χριστουγεννα και καλες διακοπες

Feliz Natal e Boas Festas

И Рождеством Христовым праздники

メリークリスマス休暇で幸せ

聖誕快樂，節日快樂

This is Rockefeller Center in NYC which could be seen from my office above it on 5th Avenue.

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From the Coltons Point Times -- have a great, safe and loving holidays....

Farewell To My Friend Patricia McGuire Rock

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Patricia McGuire - aka Pat Rock aka Sister Louis Marie

• Born in Rock Springs, Iowa
• A Sister of Humility (As in a Nun)
• A public school teacher
• A professor at the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study
• This Inspirational Gallatin professor was one of the first recipients of the School's Excellence in Teaching Awards

 

Hardly the kind of credentials that would make one like me, someone lost in the creative explosion of thought and world affairs, shed a tear.  But this Patricia McGuire was no ordinary teacher and I was no ordinary kid, or so she said.

 

Pat died last April 29, 2013 in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.  Our last conversation was just a few months earlier when she told me she was not feeling well but still wanted me to come up and see her.  I hoped to make the trip this past summer.  Her obit was impressive but grossly understated.  It went as follows:

 

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"Pat was a lifelong educator and held teaching positions from grade schools to professorships at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, N.Y., and New York University in New York City. She was a specialist in the works of Shakespeare and taught legions of students about his poetry and plays. She was the inventor of the Great Grammarian, a successful board game she developed to teach the nuances of grammar skills, a particular interest of Pat’s over many years.

She was born in Rock Rapids, Iowa, and grew up in a large, loving and joy-filled family.

Pat was an active member of her religious community, the Sisters of Humility, Davenport, Iowa, and served in many roles over the course of her life. She was a faith-filled and loving member of the church, a zealous proponent of peace and justice and an unflagging opponent of their absence in her world view. Above all else, she was a gentle woman whose legacy to her family and friends was in her modeling of the Christian ideals. She will be greatly missed but held forever in our hearts.

THE GREAT GRAMMARIAN(R) Home School Edition is a junior version of an adult educational game that has been used by many Fortune 500 companies to train their employees. These games were developed by Patricia Rock, who has taught English from elementary through graduate school. She currently teaches graduate and undergraduate courses at New York University, and has also been a national consultant in Written Communications for over twenty years. She has received numerous grants and awards and has been a speaker for a variety of national associations.

Longtime Gallatin faculty member Pat Rock died on April 29 in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. She was 83 years old and had taught at Gallatin for 25 years. She was one of the first recipients of Gallatin’s Excellence in Teaching Award just before her retirement in 2011. “Pat was one of our great teachers,” said Dean Susanne Wofford. “Year after year, her courses--Shakespeare and the Uses of this World, The Medieval Mind, The Meaning of Home, The Simple Life--filled to capacity, and in their evaluations students praised Pat not only for her knowledge and passion, but for her profound impact on their lives.”

She was born in Rock Rapids, Iowa, and over the years she was a grade school teacher as well as a professor at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, New York, and at Gallatin. A specialist in the works of Shakespeare, she also invented a board game called the Great Grammarian, to teach the fine points of grammar. She is survived by a brother, James McGuire, a sister, Kathleen McGuire Pareti, many nieces and nephews as well as friends and colleagues.

“Pat had such a special spirit,” said Gallatin Professor Steve Hutkins, “loving, caring, giving, selfless and sweet. She was always so there, so present. She truly loved teaching at Gallatin, and we are fortunate that she had such a long career here. We will miss her dearly, but her spirit will forever be a part of this place.”

“Pat loved teaching and loved her students,” said Professor June Foley, “and she inspired not only students but colleagues--especially me. Her Shakespeare courses and the courses she created, The Meaning of Home and The Simple Life, opened hearts and minds and changed lives. And she practiced what she preached: On retiring to her Pennsylvania home, she launched a passionate, full-time campaign against fracking. How many truly good people have any of us known? Pat was the rare real thing.”

“Pat and I spent two weeks in France,” recalled Professor Jean Graybeal, “exploring Paris, visiting friends, basking in a saltwater spa on the Mediterranean. Pat was happy to be wherever we found ourselves, thrilled with every meal, able to fall asleep in minutes on a futon, ready for changes of plan, changes of mind, changes of weather. Flexible, free, open, curious, communicative; when I asked her to be sure to say if she had some wishes or preferences her response was this: “I’m like the little three-year-old who had never talked. When they finally asked him why, he answered: ‘Everything has been fine so far.’” Something tells me that everything is still fine with her; it is only we who need time to adjust to this latest change.”
 

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ROCK RAPIDS - In 1871, Patrick and James McGuire were the first known Catholics of the original 13 families in central Lyon County.  I bet they were the ancestors of Patricia McGuire of Rock Rapids, Iowa.

 

Nice words were written about her but wholly inadequate for the contributions Pat made to us, those fortunate enough to have been taught by her.

 

I first was her pupil in 6th grade in Ottumwa, Iowa, St. Mary's School.  At the time I felt she targeted me for torture.  In time I came to understand she was doing it out of fear that we were not learning from her.

 

In my senior year in high school she came back and she pushed just as hard but with college and Viet Nam facing me I stopped fighting her and grew to really appreciate the knowledge, discipline and persistence she sought in us so we might understand and master such boring things like grammar, punctuation and spelling.

 

There was the explosion of creative thought she worked to instill in us and the appreciation for all the poets, writers, philosophers, musicians, playwrights and anyone who understood the sheer power of words and grammar.

 

Because of Pat words became my best friends and the proper care and feeding of words my passion in life.  Now most stories like this end with the former student coming out of the woodwork to say how much Pat had influenced their life back in high school.

 

For me, my second time having her as my teacher was only the beginning, not the end of an ongoing relationship that lasted over four decades.  About 20 years after being taught by her in high school I wound up in New Jersey working for the governor.

 

Destiny had an old classmate contact me to say she heard Sister Louis Marie left the nunhood and was a teacher at NYU in downtown Manhattan, just across the river from where I worked at the time.

 

 

So I tracked her down and found she was teaching all these fascinating courses at NYU under the name Pat Rock, and it seemed every class was filled long before open enrollment started.

 

One day we met for coffee in Greenwich Village to renew our friendship and about once a month I journeyed to Manhattan for tea, or wine, and an endless series of conversations on the world.

 

By 1991 I was working full time in New York City and we met often to discuss her concerns over the collapse of English comprehension and grammar in America and she never stopped pushing me to expand my mind, focus my creative energy, and do something to help people.

 

Many times Pat would bring other teachers or students to our sessions and they often were Broadway performers or television and movie producers.  She was surrounded by creative people attracted to her dynamic mind and heart warming personality.

 

There were books she wanted me to write.  Places she wanted me to see.  We even started to collaborate on a fiction story intertwining our respective experiences in life.  She laughed at my stories and prodded my imagination for more.  To Pat, life was a Big Chief Writing Tablet waiting to be filled with words.

 

In spite of her superstar status in the world of words one day I asked her if she would edit my first book, a mystical and spiritual adventure called The Joshua Chronicles.  She seemed pleasantly surprised that I might attempt to string together a couple hundred thousand words and still be coherent so she said she would at least read it.

 

 

A few days later we met and she said she would edit it, surprising even herself.  It needed a lot of work but she had to do it because I was the only person she ever taught who thought he was a speech writer for God.  The book was about the discovery of a missing journal of a scribe who spent 26 years following Jesus and recording his words first hand.

 

She loved the concept because she felt it was a worthy challenge to my abilities and spiritual messages needed help to reach people.  Perhaps she loved the concept but she was a ruthless editor as she convinced me to change the main character from a man to a woman, causing a rewrite of over one third of the book.

 

Pat always gave you a lesson when editing explaining why she suggested changes and how they would help the reader understand the depth of the message.  Her edits made the book far, far better than before and we were both pleased with the result.

 

She then edited a second, third and fourth book for me and said she enjoyed every minute and word because I was finally starting to get what she started trying to teach me in grade school, how to appreciate and use words and t0 respect and be aware of their consequences.

 

The first, The Joshua Chronicles, was a work of fiction about Jesus and the Prince of Darkness.  The second was a massive journal titled Dancing the Tightrope about kids growing up from birth through high school in the 1950's and 1960's.  Autobiographical as in Irish fiction.

 

The third was Take Me Now God!, a fun-filled semi-autobiographical story about the search for meaning in life and the pitfalls along the path.  I referred to it as enhanced non-fiction.

 

The final was a historical non-fiction work detailing the untold history of Communism, Nazism, Hitler and Stalin using recently declassified and missing documents from the American, English, French, and Russian archives and the Hitler SS  film footage that disappeared during Hitler's death and the fall of Berlin.  I called it Saviors of the 20th Century, Hitler & Stalin - the war of annihilation between the Communists and Nazis.

 

For the first time "teach" was happy grading my work.  We spent hours going over books, manuscripts, ideas for new works, world affairs, and her work as a National Consultant in Written Communications.

 

She was genuinely concerned that the kids of today were rapidly losing their English and communication skills.  Perhaps this is where Pat truly stood out from the pack.  Classroom teaching was never enough as I watched her teaching evolve from grade school to high school to university to Fortune 500 corporate boardrooms.

 

By 1979 Pat was a National Consultant in Written Communications and was employed by many Fortune 500 companies to teach Oral and Written Grammar, Business Writing and Introduction to Sales Writing.

 

 

Her desire to help people communicate was relentless as her workshops evolved and her games became far more popular.  She was a long time consultant to The New York Times writers, editors and executives.

 

So concerned was Pat about the disintegrating quality of education, especially in reading and writing, that she took the Great Grammarian game board she developed in 1985 to teach communication and grammar to corporate clients and then adapted it for kids in homes and home schooling.

 

We horse-traded services, her editing for my marketing help.  From the mid-1990's on I was her business consultant and she was my editor.  Ironically, neither of us liked to talk about ourselves so we worked together to help each other.

 

She wanted to pursue development of a game for homes so parents could learn along with their kids.  I pushed her to do it and over the years she did develop game boards for corporate, then home and finally home schooling use.

 

In 2003 the College Board, administrator of the SAT exams, finally acted on the continuing decline in English writing and grammar proficiency and revised the SAT to include "critical reading" and "writing" components.

 

When the SAT board announced they were reinstating Reading and Grammar into the SAT exam and giving it much greater weigh in the scoring she was elated and the need for her games became even greater.  They could be the difference in SAT scores and acceptance into the best schools.

 

 

The Great Grammarian Home Edition was the result and for generations to come America's youth will benefit from the tireless and lifelong effort of an Irish girl from Iowa who could never give up on her mission to help prepare kids to make a difference in our world.  A woman whose love of the arts drove her to encourage kids and adults to pursue careers in television, film and stage.

 

To me Pat will always be a Saint because she devoted her life to helping others find their potential.  When she didn't feel she was doing enough in the classroom she created workshops, then games, so that thousands more people could benefit from her genius.  She never gave up on believing with the right tools for effective communication America could lead the world.

 

Her contributions will be felt long after her death because of the thousands of lives she touched through teaching.  It will be felt in the books, movies, Broadway plays, writers, speakers and others she touched and influenced.  She was the epitome of selfless dedication and a model for humility.

 

Once when I was pushing her to give me more of her background in order to help establish the credentials behind her Game she wrote me, "This tooting my own horn sounds pretty offensive to me."  How could you not love someone like that?

 

For 2 years when I was young Patricia McGuire, the brilliant and demanding Irish lass from Rock Springs, Iowa was my teacher, and for 31 years after I grew up Patricia McGuire was my friend.

 

 

Soon, my friend, we will be seeing you again.  As your beloved Shakespeare would say, "If music be the food of love, play on."

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