On the other hand

I've been thinking about Sex and the City, and while I still think it appeals to those who love the series, there was something in it that stayed with me. A terrible thing happens to Carrie, and because it is terrible, she needs her friends and because this is TV/Movies they are there. And that's what stayed with me. It's rare to have friends who will rush to your side and stay there when terrible things happen. But this is the movies and in the movies Carrie's friends are there and have the financial means to make a bad situation somewhat better. That's what friends are for. And to have friends like that in real life is rare. I wish I had the facility to make and keep friends like that, but I am careless. Friendship, like a garden, needs constant maintenance and care. So, in the end, it's not the fabulous jobs or terrific apartments, or luscious men, or expensive shoes that stays with me, but the fact that when a terrible thing happened, Carrie has her friends, who cannot take the sting away, but who are there to apply balm and comfort. And who, in the throes of terror, do not need the warmth of a loving embrace? Occasionally, that's all that stands between us and the long dive off a high bridge. Boyfriends come and boyfriends go, jobs are lost, marriages disintegrate, but friendship remains. So, my babies, if you have friends, call them tonight and ask how they are, and really listen when they speak, and don't let them slip away. Because if you don't, if you are not a friend, than you will end up like me, old, alone, and broke. The alone part hurts the most and is the thing that is forever.

Indiana Moans and the Temple of Groom

Know from the get-go that I planned to like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, I hoped to love it, but I planned to like it. So when Indy appeared, first his hat and then his foot (did you ever notice that Harrison Ford had a small foot? Did I mention that I like small feet). And then his shadow and the music wells and there he is, looking every bit of his 65 years. Okay, here's the thing: I found all those references to every Lucas/Spielberg movie annoying (except I did miss Bruce the Shark) and distracting. Unless you know about Area 57, and not everybody does, you are lost, lost, lost. And then Cat Blanchett channeled Natasha (I truly expected someone to yell, "Stroke, stroke," to her "Bail, Bail"--and if you don't know what I'm talking about you're too young to remember Boris and Natasha). Anyway, I hated what she was doing. BUT, and this is my constant complaint with Spileberg: He does not know how to end a movie. What I wanted, at the end of the, the very last scene, was for Cate Blanchett, who now knows everything, locked-up in a nut house. The movie was fine, bloated, talky, but fine--no matter what the Russian government says (and who doesn't believe that Spielberg didn't bride the Russians to ban Indiana Jones etc). And, had this been a better world, instead of making those lame Star Wars prequels, Lucas would have done Indiana Jones ten years ago so we could have been on number 5 by now. Have you ever noticed how Indiana goes into a cave that has no one has seen for thousands of years and he finds a torch and it lights on the first try? And how everybody and everything gets sucked into the vortex but them? And no matter how lame the movie is, if it's Indiana Jones, I know I will have a good time (Ok, with number two I had to will myself to have a good time) even if the ending is lame.

$15 a gallon gas

This would be an excellent time to invest in oil because as gas prices increase so do profits, and I've seen estimates that gas will reach $15 a gallon come September. The oil companies insist that they are not price gouging and claim that their profits are so high because they are investing profits elsewhere. The problem, as I see it, is not  the price of gas but the refusal of our government to invest in alternate energy sources. Fossil fuels are finite. We can despoil every single protected wild life area and we will still run out of gas. That's the reality. Gas prices have increased 100% (and maybe more) since we occupied Iraq. We are told that prices are tied to increasing demands from China and India, which, I assume, will continue. Meanwhile, the current administration does nothing to improve supplies, to seek alternatives, or in any way to stop or slow down the predatory practices of oil companies. And good conservation gets us no where, because prices increase whether or not we use fossil fuel in our cars or to heat our homes. I don't see any end in sight unless people rise up and say, "Enough." Food shortages may be the catalyst we need to demand that someone in power place public good before private profit. There's no reason why we can't have affordable electric powered vehicles, if there is a will to do so. Maybe we can start by rationing gas, but we have to do something yesterday because it's already too late to save the economy. It seems that our government is tied to the oil industry and unless we, the people, do something to cut those ties, $15 a gallon will seem like a bargain. 

Sex and the City

Although I'm not a die-hard Sex and the City fan, I will go see the movie, but I have always been mystified by the story line. Here you have three with-it ladies living in New York and making enough money to buy every fashion victim style that came down the pike (not to mention all those shoes) and what do they obsess about? Men. Getting men. Keeping men. Marrying men. All that money and all those shoes and all our gals want is a wedding ring. So, the series ends with Sarah Jessica Parker being saved from her own mistake, and another bad boyfriend, by Big, who is wealthy, handsome, and willing to wed. The wedding, I guess from the coming attractions, is the point of the movie. I'm sure there are some booby traps into which Sarah will fall on her way up the aisle, but it seems she gets her man and closet space to die for. I haven't seen the movie yet, but  think I have a better idea than a rice filled ending. How about this: Sarah gets to the church on time but Big is a no show. Or, Big has a fatal heart attack as he runs up the church steps (it has to be him because we need her for the sequel). Or, they both decide at the last minute that marriage is not for them, well, not now anyway. You get my drift. In the real world, few people get the great job, the great guy, and the great closet space. Usually you get one, maybe two, but never all three. Some how I always felt a little cheated by the series, which seems to celebrate the single life, in which women mistake meaningless sex for a relationship, but really what the gals want is their guy with a ring on his finger and a kid in the oven (and great closet space). I suppose the sequel will be devoted to the trials and tribulations of getting their little off-spring into the right school.