The USO has and will continue to provide a touch of home to our Troops deployed in Afghanistan.  Here’s a quick recap of some of our most memorable moments there over the past few years!

after further perusal, i’ve come up with a couple additional favorites:

everyone else loves this one the mostest

effing amazing, i am.

I like this one the best because of all the crazy emotion going on - his face, Gary's face in the corner, the crowd exploding. it's beautiful

you can see the rest.. all eighty million.. on DVIDS of course.

Le Film: Never go full retard !

Synopsis:

Quelques décennies d’histoire américaine, des années 1940 à la fin du XXème siècle, à travers le regard et l’étrange odyssée d’un homme simple et pur, Forrest Gump.

Critique:

Est-il encore nécessaire de présenter ce film, déjà devenu un classique du cinéma, 15 ans après sa sortie. Vainqueur de 6 Oscars en 1995, dont Meilleur Film, Meilleur Acteur principal, Meilleur Réalisateur, Meilleur Scenario et Meilleurs effets spéciaux (si-si, a ce sujet, on ne peut que vous conseiller le documentaire consacré aux effets spéciaux : Benjamin Button avant l’heure), rien que ca !

Un Scenario parfait, une interprétation parfaite de Tom Hanks, et des second rôles nombreux par le scripts, mais tous très bons. La musique, aussi bien originale, que les nombreux morceaux connus accompagne très bien cette épopée et au final, on ne sent pas le temps passer.

95/100

L’image: Un transfert de cet âge, c’est comme une boite de chocolat : on sait jamais sur quoi on va tomber…

Attention Spoilers !

Beaucoup d’attente pour cette sortie en Blu-Ray d’un des plus grands films des années 90, hélas, déception ! Paramount aurait pu travailler à la restauration de l’image un mois de plus, et on aurait tenu la un excellent transfert ! Ce n’est cependant pas le cas, et on navigue entre une image très bonne a mauvaise.

Au rayon du bon, voir du très bon en général: Colorimétrie, contrastes, couleurs de peau sont très bien rendus et on ne constate pas de DNR ou Edge Enhancement excessifs.

Comme exemple de très bonnes scènes, viennent a l’idée : Scène au Vietnam ou Forrest va récupérer ses compagnons : profondeur de champ, pas de bruit, couleurs et contrastes magnifiques. Idem lorsque Forrest sort du studio de TV et rencontre son Gary Sinise, ou encore une scène en boite de nuit après que Forrest ai nommé son crevettier.

Au rayon du pas bon : Le ciel en général, particulièrement lors de la scène d’ouverture avec la plume : il apparaît bien trop gris avec beaucoup de bruit, et on a l’impression que celui-ci scintille.

Certaines scènes en intérieur : Forrest attend sa mère dans le couloir lorsqu’elle plaide pour qu’il aille dans une école normale, beaucoup de bruit sur les murs en arrière plan.

Forrest et Jenny se promènent de nuit dans Washington, juste avant qu’elle ne reparte en Bus : Flou et bruité.

Jenny part de la maison familiale Gump pour prendre un taxi, après avoir passé la nuit avec Forrest : Image très floue, pire qu’un dvd upscallé.

Au rayon du moyen : Forrest sur l’estrade a Washington en train de s’adresser a la foule : ciel toujours gris, pas ou peu de détails sur la foule, et eau dans le bassin paraît statique. Mais plans moyen sur lui et l’estrade ainsi que colorimétrie exempts de reproches.

D’une manière générale, pas mal de taches de pellicule, pas noires et disgracieuses ou énormes, mais plutôt blanches et fines, mais assez pour êtres remarquées et venir gâcher l’expérience de visionnage.

Au final, bien qu’étant une (grosse) déception, notamment avec une appellation qu’on peut dorénavant qualifier de purement commerciale (après Gladiator et ce Forrest Gump) de « Sapphire », on ne saurait quand même recommander l’achat de ce Blu-Ray, tant il représente une marche supplémentaire par rapport aux sorties DVD’s et a fortiori VHS de cet excellent film, qui a tout de même désormais 15 ans !

75/100

Le Son: Une piste DTS HD MA 5.1 qui colle au film.

Pas de déception ici, étant donne la nature du film : beaucoup de dialogues, de moments de vie, mais peu de scènes d’action se prêtant a un déchaînement de votre home cinéma. Les voix sont parfaitement intégrées a la scène frontale, ne profitant pas uniquement de la centrale. Quelques effets d’ambiance se font sentir ici et la, mais c’est lors de l’utilisation de musiques, mais surtout lors de deux-trois scènes que la différence entre anciennes versions et celle-ci ce fait entendre

L’arrivée en hélicoptère au Vietnam, la première escarmouche au Vietnam et lors de la tempête en mer à bord crevettier. A ces moments-la votre installation se réveillera et vos voisins aussi, tant le caisson de basse est allègrement utilisé, et on se retrouve alors en plein milieu de l’histoire, avec les rotors qui fusent dans l’appartement, ou en pleine mer déchaînée !

75/100

Genre: Comédie dramatique.

Durée: 2h22

Vidéo : 1080p AVC 2:35:1

Zone: All

Doublage: VFF

Langues: Anglais DTS-HD M A 5.1 / Français Dolby 5.1 /Espagnol Dolby 5.1

Sous-titres: Français / Anglais / Espagnol / Portugais (disponibles sur les bonus mais pas avec les commentaires audios)

Sarah Palin vs. Pit Bull

At last the American right and left have one issue they unequivocally agree on: You don’t actually have to read Sarah Palin’s book to have an opinion about it. Last Sunday Liz Cheney praised “Going Rogue” as “well-written” on Fox News even though, by her own account, she had sampled only “parts” of it. On Tuesday, Ana Marie Cox, a correspondent for Air America, belittled the book in The Washington Post while confessing that she couldn’t claim to have “completely” read it.

“Going Rogue” will hardly be the first best seller embraced by millions for talismanic rather than literary ends. And I am not recommending that others follow my example and slog through its 400-plus pages, especially since its supposed revelations have been picked through 24/7 for a week. But sometimes I wonder if anyone has read all of what Palin would call the “dang” thing. Some of the book’s most illuminating tics have been mentioned barely — if at all — by either its fans or foes. Palin is far and away the most important brand in American politics after Barack Obama, and attention must be paid. Those who wishfully think her 15 minutes are up are deluding themselves.

The book’s biggest surprise is Palin’s wide-eyed infatuation with show-business celebrities. You get nearly as much face time with Tina Fey and the cast of “Saturday Night Live” in “Going Rogue” as you do with John McCain. We learn how happy Palin was to receive calls from Bono and Warren Beatty “to share ideas and insights.” We wade through star-struck lists of campaign cameos by Robert Duvall, Jon Voight (who “blew us away”), Naomi Judd, Gary Sinise and Kelsey Grammer, among many others. Then there are the acknowledgments at the book’s end, where Palin reveals that her intimacy with media stars is such that she can air-kiss them on a first-name basis, from Greta to Laura to Rush.

Equally revealing is the one boldfaced name conspicuously left unmentioned in the book: Levi Johnston, the father of Palin’s grandchild. Though Palin and McCain milked him for photo ops at the , he is persona non grata now that he’s taking off his campaign wardrobe. Is Johnston’s fledgling porn career the problem, or is it his public threats to strip bare Palin family secrets as well? “She knows what I got on her” is how he put it. In Palin’s interview with Oprah last week, it was questioning about Johnston, not Katie Couric, that made her nervous.

The book’s most frequently dropped names, predictably enough, are the Lord and Ronald Reagan (though not necessarily in that order). Easily the most startling passage in “Going Rogue,” running more than two pages, collates extended excerpts from a prayerful letter Palin wrote to mark the birth of Trig, her child with Down syndrome. This missive’s understandable goal was to reassert Palin’s faith and trust in God. But Palin did not write her letter to God; she wrote the letter from God, assuming His role and voice herself and signing it “Trig’s Creator, Your Heavenly Father.” If I may say so — Oy!

Even by the standard of politicians, this is a woman with an outsized ego. Combine that with her performance skills and an insatiable hunger for the limelight, and you can see why she will not stay in Wasilla now that she’s seen 30 Rock. The question journalists repeatedly asked last week — What are Palin’s plans for 2012? — is a red herring. Palin has no obligation to answer it. She is the pit bull in the china shop of American politics, and she can do what she wants, on her own timeline, all the while raking in the big bucks she couldn’t as a sitting governor. No one, least of all her own political party, can control her.

The fact-checking siege of “Going Rogue” — by the media, Democrats and aggrieved McCain campaign operatives alike — is another fruitless sideshow. Palin’s political appeal has never had anything to do with facts — or coherent policy positions. The more she is attacked for not being in possession of pointy-headed erudition, the more powerful she becomes as an avatar of the anti-elite cause. As Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, has correctly observed, “She represents less a philosophical strain on the right than an affect and a demographic.”

That demographic is white and non-urban: Just look at the stops and the faces on her carefully calibrated book tour. The affect is emotional — the angry air of grievance that emerged first at her campaign rallies in 2008, with their shrieked threats to Obama, and that has since resurfaced in the Hitler-fixated “tea party” movement (which she endorses in her book). It’s a politics of victimization and sloganeering with no policy solutions required beyond the conservative mantra of No Taxes. Its standard-bearer can make stuff up with impunity: “Thanks, but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere”; Obama’s “palling around with terrorists”; health care “death panels.”

After the Palin-McCain ticket lost, conservative pundits admonished her to start studying the issues. If “Going Rogue” and its promotional interviews are any indication, she has ignored their entreaties during her months at liberty. Last week, Greta Van Susteren chastised Oprah for not asking Palin “one policy question,” but when Barbara Walters did ask some, Palin either recycled Dick Cheney verbatim (Obama is “dithering”) or ran aground. Her argument for why “Jewish settlements” should be expanded on the West Bank was that “more and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead.” It was unclear what she was talking about — unless it was the “rapture” theology that requires the mass return of Jews to settle the Holy Land as a precondition for the return of Christ.

The discredited neocon hacks who have latched on to Palin as a potential ticket back into power have their work cut out for them. But it’s better for Palin’s purposes to remain as blank a slate as possible anyway. Some of her most ardent supporters realize that she’ll drive still more independent voters away if she fills in too many details. And so Matthew Continetti, the author of the just-published “Persecution of Sarah Palin” and her most persistent cheerleader after William Kristol, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that her role model for 2012 should be Bob McDonnell, the new Republican governor-elect of Virginia, who won on “a bipartisan, center-right approach.”

What Continetti means is that Palin could still somehow fudge her history as McDonnell did; his campaign kept his career-long history as a political acolyte and financial beneficiary of Pat Robertson on the down-low. Even the far right has figured out that homophobia is a turnoff to swing voters, which is why Palin goes out of her way in “Going Rogue” to remind us she has her very own lesbian friend. (What’s left unsaid is that the book’s credited ghost writer, Lynn Vincent, labeled homosexuality as “deviance” in her own writings for World, the evangelical magazine.)

But no matter how much Palin tries to pass for “center-right,” she’s unlikely to fool that vast pool of voters left, right and center who have already written her off as unqualified for the White House. The G.O.P. establishment knows this, and is frightened. The demographic that Palin attracts is in decline; there’s no way the math of her fan base adds up to an Electoral College victory.

Yet among Republicans she still ties Mitt Romney in the latest USA Today/Gallup survey, with 65 percent giving her serious presidential consideration, just behind the 71 for her evangelical rival, Mike Huckabee. The crowds lining up in the cold for her book tour are likely to be the most motivated to line up at the polls in G.O.P. primaries. They don’t speak the same language as Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Michael Steele, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner or, for that matter, McCain. They are more likely to heed Palin salesmen like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh than baffled Bush administration grandees like Peter Wehner, who last week called Palin “a cultural figure much more than a political one” on the Web site of the establishment conservative organ Commentary.

Culture is politics. Palin is at the red-hot center of age-old American resentments that have boiled up both from the ascent of our first black president and from the intractability of the Great Recession for those Americans who haven’t benefited from bailouts. As Palin thrives on the ire of the left, so she does from the disdain of Republican leaders who, with a condescension rivaling the sexism they decry in liberals, belittle her as a lightweight or instruct her to eat think-tank spinach.

The only person who can derail Palin is Palin herself. Should she not self-destruct, she will doom G.O.P. hopes of a 2012 comeback. But the rest of the country cannot rest easy. The rage out there is larger than Palin and defies partisan labeling. Her ever-present booster Continetti, writing in The Weekly Standard, suggested that she recast the century-old populist outrage of William Jennings Bryan by adopting the message “You shall not crucify mankind upon the cross of Goldman Sachs.” If Obama can’t tamp down that rage across the political map, Palin will at the very least pave the way for a demagogue with less baggage to pick up her torch.

Frank Rich
The New York Times

I was eleven years old when Converse conjured up the brilliant idea to create denim uniforms for the ’95-96 Kentucky Wildcats, a team that ultimately won the National Championship and subsequently went down in history as one of the greatest teams college basketball fans the world over had ever seen.  I still own a # 40 Walter McCarty jersey from that (what most would call) aesthetically terrifying era – the same one Darius Miller, as a toddler, wore when he had his picture taken with Tony Delk (wrong player, Darius).

I remember the hoopla surrounding those uniforms in the media, in the streets…everywhere.  All my friends at school were talking about them.  We loved them; they were new and different, therefore awesome.  We were not yet the cynical twenty-somethings we soon would become, or the grumpy old curmudgeons we’re now becoming; and, perhaps in our innocent and childlike world, it never occurred to us to complain about something as insignificant as a particular shade of blue on a piece of apparel.  To us, or at least to me, the uniforms were just another thing regarding Kentucky basketball to be overjoyed about.  And so, even though it would probably fit a little snug these days, Walter’s denim jersey still hangs in my closet.  It reminds me of my younger days and my own history of being a Kentucky Basketball fan.  Those are days when I didn’t know what irony was. Today I call the denims a “brilliant idea” without being ironic. I still love those jerseys!

When I think of the history of my fandom, my mind never fails to drift toward thoughts of my childhood bedroom, which was completely decked out in Wildcat paraphernalia.  The memory of it even today is comparable to the nostalgia of Christmas.  I’m not sure when I decided to commit to such virtuous bedroom décor (it had to have been at some pivotal moment in the early ‘90s) but I will always recall those images.  I had UK bedding – sheets, pillowcases, comforter.  I had two windows and blinds with a huge Wildcat logo in the center.  I had a border at the top of the walls so that “Kentucky Wildcats” was written around the room.  I had street signs surrounding the outside of my doorway; one said “STOP: You’re entering Wildcat Country!” and the other said “Wildcat Way.”  I had a UK lamp where the bulb and the body both lit up.  I had Kentucky bumper stickers on each blade of my ceiling fan.  I had a tin Kentucky trashcan that sits in my bedroom still.  I fell asleep every night feeling surrounded by the tradition and mythology and spirit of Kentucky basketball, and I know I wasn’t the only one.

Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about the maroon carpet.

Through the years, there are some things that especially stick out to me:

-Being a huge Reggie Hanson fan.  I went to my first game when he was a player and will always have in my mind the image of him walking from the bench to the scorer’s table to enter the game.  It was surreal.

-Sean Woods’ bank shot high off the glass in the infamous ’92 UK/Duke game, and just knowing that God loved Kentucky basketball like everyone else and that we were going to win.  And of course the utter sadness and bitterness of that defeat.  In the immortal words of the Ghost of Christmas Past from Scrooged, I cried like “Niagara Falls.”  Though I hated Christian Laettner like every other UK fan, I remember hating Bobby Hurley more.

-Dale Brown and Jamal Mashburn tearing it up against Michigan and the “Fab Five” in the ’93 Final Four, only to lose the game in heartbreaking fashion in overtime.

-Feeling sick every time Travis Ford missed a free throw.  It just didn’t feel right.

-Coming back from 31 down against LSU in ’94 and watching Travis Ford jump around like he’d just…well, helped his team mount a massive 31-point comeback and emerge victorious.  For some reason I wasn’t able to watch this game live, but watched the highlights over and over on every newscast that night.  I remember being stoked that the performance was nominated for an ESPY award.

-Winning the 1996 National Championship.  It was simply elation.  Absolutely everyone in the state of Kentucky was insanely happy for months.  The image of Walter McCarty running to greet his teammates at center court is a lasting one.

-Listening to the ’97 comeback against Duke on the radio of a Greyhound bus on the way back from a school trip.  The entire bus was going nuts.  I loved reliving that moment again and again watching the highlights of the game when we arrived home.

-Anthony Epps throwing the ball up high after we defeated Minnesota in the 1997 Final Four, as if to say, “Repeat is impending.”  And then watching what ended up being an unanticipated defeat in the championship game against Mike Bibby and Arizona.  I was in a hotel room with my mom and dad.  We were either heading out for or coming back from vacation, and we stopped off somewhere just to watch the game.  I was heartbroken about the loss and watching players like Padgett and Epps cry on national TV, and about not being home in Lexington with a heartbroken fan base.

-Winning the 1998 National Title and not hearing (or caring) about how Tubby won with Pitino’s team.  I’ll always remember the picture on the front page of the Herald-Leader the next day, trophy hoisted high and everyone all smiles.  I’ve probably still got it stuffed away in a drawer somewhere.

-Teachers in high school letting us watch first-round games of the NCAA tournament against teams like Holy Cross and San Diego State.  And we didn’t have to ask.  Sometimes tests were postponed.

-Always looking forward to the challenge of playing Arkansas when they had the likes of Corliss Williamson, Corey Beck, and Clint McDaniel, with Nolan Richardson at the helm.  If he can get his players under control, maybe Pelphrey can have the good fortune to garner that kind of talent as well.

-Dwayne Wade’s breakout game in ’03 when Marquette beat top-ranked UK.  The media hyped him up as the gamechanger.  I’d never heard much about the guy so I thought it was all…well, hype.  Of course, I was wrong.  When Gillispie miraculously (as it now seems) lead the Cats to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and drew Marquette as a first-round game, all we heard about was how Dwayne Wade had dominated UK years earlier.

I’ve been a UK basketball fan through the tenure of three coaches; Cal will be my fourth.  My memories of the Sutton era are foggy, so I don’t count him.  My favorite of the bunch is Rick Pitino.  Yes, I’m one of those. Call him what you want: traitor, cheater, schmoozer, big-headed; I’m sure he’s heard it all.  But the guy can coach, and never was that fact more abundantly clear than when he was at UK.  He had that Michael Corleone swagger, and for that matter, even looked the part of Mafia big-shot.  He looked like a man who got what he wanted from his players.  The teams he coached are mythical in the minds of Kentucky fans, and at one point so was he.  I remember being confused as to why he would want to leave a place where he was universally loved; the lure of money and the desire to reach the pinnacle of coaching – to become one step closer to attaining the dream of becoming a bonafide NBA coaching legend – never entered my mind.  But when Pitino started drafting and trading for former Kentucky players I was sold — an instant Boston fan.  I thought success for him there was imminent; I never considered the egos and selfishness that run rampant in the pros, traits that many players wear like a badge these days.

I wasn’t necessarily offended by Pitino’s return to college basketball when he took over at Louisville.  Did I think it was smart?  No.  But I didn’t run around screaming “How could he!?”  If anything it made for good drama and, as RV:WT has already pointed out, the Louisville/UK – Pitino/Calipari drama doesn’t look like it’s dying anytime soon either.

Next was “OrLANdoohh ‘TUBBY’ SMITH!”  Tubby seemed universally loved and destined for greatness after winning the 1998 National Championship.  Sure, everyone likes to point out that he won the title with Pitino’s team, but Pitino didn’t coach the 17-point comeback against Duke that kept the title dream alive.  Tubby may have won with Pitino’s recruits, but he also coached his butt off.  You don’t win the National Championship and ultimately end up with a 35-4 record without a good coach.  Tubby didn’t stand idly by while the players just “did what they do.”  He channeled the massive amounts of talent on that roster into a cohesive unit, a well-oiled, smoothly-running machine.  One could perhaps even argue that the challenge to bring that team together was made even greater by the fact that they weren’t his players, not to mention the outstanding pressure he faced as a first-year coach at an elite program.  But this isn’t the place, and that person isn’t me.

I say all that to say that the way the Tubby era came to an end never has sat well with me.  It’s got nothing to do with where any kind of fault lies; the whole situation was just sad.  I will be the first to admit that I absolutely abhorred what came to be known as “Tubby ball.”  I mean, Tubby didn’t even play Tubby ball until his last few seasons!  I remember the descent into flat-footed madness being a sort of gradual process.  It was at first very subtle and nuanced – perhaps sneaky is a better word — like Robert Duvall’s acting in Lonesome Dove or a good Wendell Berry novel; you don’t realize the full effect of what you’ve just taken in until you think about it a little bit.  Likewise, I’m not sure UK fans realized what they were witnessing.  But suddenly the next thing you know, every game we were staring – no, glaring — at our TVs screaming, “WHY IS EVERYBODY JUST STANDING AROUND ON OFFENSE?  MOVE!”

As a current resident of Atlanta I can say with full assurance that the similarities between Kentucky Basketball and Georgia Football are tantamount.  An 8-4 season for the Bulldogs is cause for much concern, whereas an 8-4 season for Brooks’ Cats is certainly enough to keep him around (though it seems even UK football fans are getting spoiled as of late).  Georgia might not even make 8-4 this year and I can tell you that Bulldog Nation is none too happy.  Likewise, when a Kentucky basketball team starts losing more than ten games per season, the natives start getting restless; if anybody cared about Georgia basketball, losing only ten games in a season would be a milestone and enough reason to extend the coach’s contract into the unforeseeable future.

I don’t hear many people debate about whether Tubby was a good guy; the consensus seems to be the same wherever you go: he is an outstanding human being.  When he settled into his own coaching groove here, however, it started becoming clear that he and UK were not two peas in a pod.  I remember being excited for the future of UK basketball when Tubby left of his own accord; maybe we would find someone who could make the game fun to watch again while at the same time meeting the high competitive standards of UK fans.  I recall being excited for Tubby, too, because Minnesota seemed like a great fit for him, and he seemed genuinely happy about the opportunity available there.  But there was still a pit at the bottom of my stomach about the way the whole thing went down.  Perhaps Tubby was not meant to coach elite-level college basketball.  But perhaps that says more about elite-level college basketball than it does about Tubby Smith.

Enough has been written about the Gillispie era in recent months and, to be honest, the last two years seem to me not to have even happened, so I’ll waste no time on BCG in this already too long first post.  (Okay maybe a little: Let’s just say I defended him more ardently than he deserved because he was a bachelor, which to me meant that he could devote his life to Kentucky basketball 24/7; none of those pesky familial responsibilities to attend to.  Of course, I forgot the vices of the middle-aged bachelor are booze and college girls.  Lastly, I have to share that my old roommate’s brother called Gillispie “Gary Sinise on hotdogs,” which is hilariously spot-on.)

Now we find ourselves at the beginning of a new era in Kentucky basketball.  Excitement and hype surround this program the likes of which I’ve never seen, and it is all unequivocally because of John Calipari.  I remember DVRing his press conference when he was officially announced as coach.  It was hard to go to class that morning because I wanted to watch it live, but at the same time I wanted to be on campus and hear what everyone was saying. (Who says Calipari doesn’t care about academics?)  I think it was that press conference that won us fans over, heart and soul. It was just a taste of the charisma and good vibes that were to come.

But let’s be honest: I think there are a few things about Calipari’s history that make a good number of UK fans a tad nervous, and that doesn’t mean they aren’t just as die-hard as the fans who think Calipari is the perfect savior of Kentucky basketball.  It stands as fact that the two previous college programs on our coach’s resume, whether Cal was directly implicated by the NCAA or not, have each had a Final Four vacated from their records.  I’ve read and heard things from fans that resemble, “I don’t care if he cheats, I just want to be back on top.”  This isn’t the forum to discuss whether or not cheating is rampant in college basketball.  But there is something to be said for running a program with integrity, and when I hear comments like the one above, I grow queasy. Fans should not only want to get back on top, but get back on top the right way. As it stands, Calipari has done everything he can to alleviate fans’ concerns, and after Billy Gillispie, there is no doubt that all coaching candidates are thoroughly vetted by the university; if there was ever serious concern over whether or not to hire Cal because of some past blemish, I don’t think he would be our coach.

Beyond his inaugural press conference Calipari has won me over even further, and not just because of his super-inspirational tweets.  So when he says he is going to run the UK basketball program with integrity like is supposed to be done, I believe him.  So far, he has done just about everything right.  His PR acumen is second to none.  His charisma is palpable.  He has pierced the heart of Big Blue Nation with the arrow he shot himself. He is a man meant for the spotlight.  UK fans the world over hope he is a man meant to bring Kentucky basketball back into the national spotlight not just of the college basketball world, but of the sports world in general.  If the first few months of his tenure are any indication, he’s already succeeded.  And we haven’t even crushed Morehead State in his first real game yet.

And who knows?  Maybe he can convince Nike to conjure up some denims of their own.

G DeCandia holds a BFA in Acting from Emerson College. He is the Artistic Director of BCKSEET Productions and also one of its founding members. Currently, DeCandia plays as Prior Walter in BCKSEET’s production of “Angels in America” at Society Hill Playhouse in Philadelphia. For a full list of DeCandia’s directing and acting credits, visit BCKSEET’s homepage.

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Q: When did you first know that you wanted to be an actor and as a result, when and where did you get your first feel for acting? What was you first amateur and/or professional role?

A: My first dive into the craft was on a dare… I proclaimed, while watching TV, that acting was easy and I could do it and a friend said, “I dare you” and the rest as they say is history. I immediately enrolled in a summer acting program at Salem State College and that fall joined an acting class and the Middle School Drama Club.

My first show was called “The Three Sillies” and I played Throcmorton. My first paying gig was as a summer stck actor at Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth, NH and my first professional gig was with the First National Touring Company of Rent, understudying the role of Mark and Roger.

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Q: Where did you first get your acting training from? How was that and what did you get out of it the most? Were there any specific teachers or lessons that have affected your acting ability today?

I have had been blessed with many inspirational teachers. My high school

G DeCandia (Prior) ans James Ijames (Belize)photo by Dan Plehal

drama coach actually brought me to all of my college auditions and the director of ““Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes” (Andrew Borthwick-Leslie) was a professor of mine at Emerson, as well.

Q: When you enter an audition, what goes through your mind? Are you usually calm or nervous? Do you know what you’re going to say and do?

G DeCandia (Prior) ans James Ijames (Belize)photo by Dan Plehal

A: Having sat on the other side of the table (meaning casting shows with out casting director for BCKSEET I have come to realize how arbitrary casting is. Little has to do with your personal audition.

A casting director is responsible for the whole picture. You may have nailed the part of the male lead but you are two feet shorter than the female lead. There are just so many factors that need to be considered that I am usually calm. My goal at an audition is to showcase my talent and personality to the best of my ability in a very short amount of time.

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Q: When you look for roles, what types of roles do you go for or is it pretty diverse?

A: I like “meaty” roles, something I can sink my teeth into, that is a challenge. I prefer social provocative work, shows that make people think as well as feel.

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G DeCandia (Prior) and Kate Brennan (Harper)Photo by Dan Pleha

Q: What has been you most favorite role that you have ever played and why?

A: I was Alan Strang in Equus, which I played in high school. This is the part that made me want to act and was the first step in realizing I needed to be onstage.

I also had a blast playing the series of characters in Eric Bogosian’s “Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll” last season with BCKSEET.

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Q: What has always been your dream role to play and why?

Catherine Palfenier (The Angel) & G DeCandia (Prior)Photo by Dan Plehal

Q:You character in “Angels in America,” Prior was so believable and so heartfelt. What do you usually do to prepare for a role? How do you find a way to be able to emulate your character in such an effortless manner?

A: It is all about breath and listening. In this particularly, we have such a strong ensemble, that simply listening to what they have to say (and how they say it) allows me to fully realize the character. A strong connection to breath enables me to ride the emotion roller coaster that is Prior.

G DeCandia as Prior photo by Dan Plehal

Q: What was your favorite part, as a whole, of being a part of and working/acting in “Angels in America”?

A: It is the quintessential modern American play and we have with a truly gifted cast which makes it an honor to take the stage each night. So, I guess what I’m saying is that saying these words with these people has been a thrill.

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Q: How, when and where did BCKSEET Productions first get started and how did you end up becoming one of the founding members in addition to their artistic director? And as artistic director, what exactly are you in charge of?

(L to R) Brendan Norton (Louis), G DeCandia (Prior), Kate Brennan (Harper), Paul Felder (Joe). Photo by Dan Plehal

A: BCKSEET originated at Emerson College in 2000 out of the frustration of the college not choosing plays that truly inspired creatively and intellectually. We were theatre students by day and theatre artists by night, who were instructed  to focus on training and so we placed the company, like a precious cargo, in the “backseat.” Every hour outside of class was given to BCKSEET and as we graduated classes became the “day job.”

I have been BCKSEET’s only Artistic Director, but I have shared the responsibility with a Co-Artistic Director these last two years, which is currently Kate Brennan. Being a small company my responsibility is to make sure the company works. I, along with the other BCKSEET Company members, decide the programing each season, I obtain the performance rights, create the production budget, and both raise and contribute funds. I oversee casting, marketing, outreach and development as well as perform, direct and design.

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Q: You mentioned earlier that BCKSEET Productions started out in Boston, Massachusetts; went to Portsmouth, New Hampshire; then Brooklyn, New York; then Guatemala and now they’ve been in Philadelphia, PA  for the past five years. How has that been? How are the varying sites and environments been for you and as a result, why have you decided to stay in the Philadelphia area for the time being?

A: Each city has had its positive and negative qualities but the most invaluable

(LtoR) James Iajmes (Belize), Catherine Palfenier (the Angel) & G DeCandia (Prior) Photo by Dan Plehal

lesson learned is that of versatility. The ability to take the resources available and create a theatrical presentation can certainly be a feat. Over the years I have had the privilege to work with artists that have been able to make something out of nothing.

As we have grown, so has our budgets and funding, so it is not as extreme, but we still have a modest means and have been able to offer a strong end product. The main factor of our five years in Philly (the longest stop in our ten year history) has been our residency at the Society Hill Playhouse.

Seldom has there been a movie, or at least one not written by the Coen Brothers, that has as many memorable lines as Forrest Gump:

“I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is.”
“My mama always said, Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.”
“You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich.”
“Stupid is as stupid does.”

And on and on. Director Robert Zemeckis did a wonderful job turning what could have been another “disabled person overcomes handicaps” movie into a masterpiece of storytelling.

Uploaded by i467.photobucket.com.

Part of what made the movie such a spectacle was the way Forrest Gump interacted with actual history, from Presidents Kennedy and Johnson to Bear Bryant to a march for peace in Washington, DC. And while many of the supporting characters weren’t as strong as a film of this importance required, casting Gary Sinise as Lieutenant Dan was brilliant. He helped propel the film, and the film in turn helped propel his career.

Forrest Gump was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, and won 6, including Best Picture. It ranked 71st in the American Film Institute’s countdown of 100 Years…100 Movies.

One more thing…the soundtrack. It must have been the dream job to have picked the songs that accompanied Forrest’s lifetime. It’s essentially a Greatest Hits of the 1960s and 70s.

It was April,1970 and( old guy reference here) I was completing my sophomore year at Rockingham Community College in the small town of Wentworth , NC . I didn’t really follow the news much, what with college and work occupying most of my time. perhaps that is why I remember very little about the ill fated lunar mission of Apollo 13.

A mission that could have been called NASA’s most spectacular failure became one of its finest moments. Thanks to Tom Hanks and a host of others we remember it perhaps as much as if not more than any other manned space flight.

I happened to see the final 30 minutes of the  movie on television today and was a bit strangely affected by it. Knowing full well what and how things would transpire. I was rather overcome by emotion at several points in the movie. The use of actual events, news reports by Walter Cronkite and Jules  Bergman seemed to heighten the impact.

The emotions of the various characters had a big effect today as  I watched. James Lovell’s wife and children as  well as his mom being calmed by Wally Schirra and Neil Armstrong, the nail biting tension in Houston as well as on the spacecraft’ it came across very vividly today. And it seemed to be greater than at times past. I loved the calmness of  Gary Sinise(aka Ken Mattingly and our friend Lieutenant Dan ) and the  never say die attitude of flight director Gene Kranz as played by Ed  Harris. And there is our favorite FBI guy from NCIS, one Tobias Fornel.

The photography, i/e/ the heat shield a sit flamed on re-entry, splashdwon etc. Who can forget, “Houston, we have  a problem.”

For me, perhaps the most memorable scene was the almost interminable wait for re-entry, as the magic 3  minute came and went and then with a burst of static, they’re back. The eruption of emotion in the control room was one of my favorite movie scenes, almost rivaling the end of Homeward Bound 1. You  dog lovers remember. The screen is empty for what seemed like  an eternity and then the old heroic golden retriever, Shadow, limps painfully home. I have seen that countless times and never without emotion.

Ahh, if we could just figure out with some degree of accuracy why movies move us. But then it wouldn’t be quite  as moving would it?

According to an article from the Chicago Red Eye, Chicago actors are making their mark in film and TV in LA.  Want to know what actors are Chicago natives?  Scroll through the slideshow and find out!

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Photo credits by Chris Pizzello/AP, Chris Pizzello/AP, Jason DeCrow/AP, Dan Steinberg/AP, Chris Pizzello/AP and Evan Agostini/AP.

As someone who plans on moving to Los Angeles in May to pursue acting, it’s kind of comforting to know that Chicago actors are finding success in the City of Angels.

But even though LA is in the near future for me, I won’t forget my roots.  As actress and Chicago native Aimee Garcia says, “You can take the girl out of Chicago, but you can’t take the Chicago out of the girl.”

On October 24 will be Make a Difference Day. ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox with devote the whole week to airing messages about volunteering. USA Weekend Magazine and The Entertainment Industry Foundation are also working together get the message out about Make a Difference Day.

Everyone can participate. For example, I am a member of the Patriot Guard. We stand for those who have stood for us and given the ultimate sacrifice. We also go to military send offs and welcome home those military members who have been deployed. Sometimes it is very hard to go to funerals, but it means so much to family members to know that people appreciate the sacrifice of their loved one.

Gary Sinise is just one entertainer that I admire. He works tirelessly for the USO. He has been to Iraq four times and Afghanistan once entertaining the troops with his Lt. Dan Band. He also visits wounded troops and will return to Afghanistan over the Thanksgiving holiday. Gary Sinise does not have to do this. He wants to do it.

Now we cannot all do what Gary Sinise does but there are many ways to help. Sending a care package to deployed troops is very easy and much appriecated. Writing letters is another way to touch a military member serving so far away from home. Sending school supplies, toys and candy so the troops can hand these items out to the children.

Go to iparticipateusa.org to find out how you can help. You will find many other people just like Gary Sinise who have joined this cause. Be sure and watch for the messages on October 24. It only takes a little to make a big difference.

There are so many great charities helping our wounded military. I recently heard about IraqStar.org while listening to Dennis Miller on the radio. Mr. Miller is a great supporter of our military as well as a renowned comedian and outspoken political speaker.

 The military provides replacement of missing limbs with prosthetic devices. They also perform surgery to close wounds and graft skin to replace burned flesh. The military tries hard to help our military heal and return to a normal way of life but the military is not always able to return these heroes to fully functional people.

This is where IraqStar.org comes in. This non-profit foundation dedicated to providing our wounded military from not only Iraq but Afghanistan as well, with surgeries for scarring from wounds, shrapnel and burns and they are determined to help wounded military regain their lives, pre-war wounds, and help them to have fully functional lives.

Maggie Lockridge, R.N. founded Iraq Star. She joined the United States Air Force Nurse Corps in 1966. In 1987, she became the owner and administrator of Shanteque, a recovery retreat for patients of cosmetic surgery. She has also dedicated 100% of the proceeds from the sale of her book Facelift Hotel to IraqStar.org.

On October 4, 2009 a fundraiser, A Night of Honour, will be held to benefit the IraqStar Foundation. Dr. Phil McGraw will host the all-star event with appearances by Tom Selleck, Jon Voight, Gary Sinise, and Dennis Miller along with many more. This will be a major Red Carpet event. The event also includes an auction where a custom IraqStar chopper provided by Orange County Choppers is up for auction.

To find out more please visit IraqStar.org. I am never ceased to be amazed at the generosity of the American people towards our military. As a military mom, I am always touched each time I learn of a new charity or group going the extra mile to serve those who serve us.

Brian De Palma (born Brian Russell DePalma on September 11, 1942) is an American film director. In a career spanning over forty years, he is probably best known for his suspense and thriller films, including such box office successes as Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, Carlito’s Way, The Untouchables, and Mission: Impossible.

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, De Palma worked repeatedly with actors Jennifer Salt, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen (his wife from 1979 to 1983), William Finley, Charles Durning, Gerrit Graham, cinematographers Stephen H. Burum and Vilmos Zsigmond, set designer Jack Fisk, and composers Bernard Herrmann and Pino Donaggio. De Palma is credited with fostering the careers of or outright discovering Robert De Niro, Jill Clayburgh, John C. Reilly, John Leguizamo, and Margot Kidder.

Trade Mark:

[Split screen] Often uses split screens (created optically or using a split diopter while shooting) to build suspense and/or convey story information. This allows the audience to choose what to look at and engages them further in the story (Phantom of the Paradise (1974), Carrie (1976), _Dressed To Kill (1980)_, Blow Out (1981), Mission: Impossible (1996), Snake Eyes (1998), Femme Fatale (2002) and _The Black Dalhia (2006)_).

[Alfred Hitchcock Homage] Films frequently reference the work of Alfred Hitchcock, using similar locations, camera techniques/compositions, musical scores by Bernard Herrmann (a frequent Hitchcock collaborator), and blondes as leading ladies.

Frequently casts ‘Robert de Niro’, ‘William Finley’, John Lithgow, Gregg Henry, ‘Dennis Franz’, Gary Sinise, Al Pacino, ‘Sean Penn’ and ex-wife Nancy Allen.

The “LONG TAKE” which is usually complimented by a series of elaborate tracking shots or dolly movements

Dopplegangers (or evil twin), and femme fatales appear frequently in De Palma’s films.

Often shoots ‘tense’ moments without any widening lens or zoom. When coupled with his trademark extended shot, it creates a feeling the viewer is in the scene.

Safari Jacket

[Voyeurism] Films often feature a protagonist who is voyeuristic by nature (Dressed To Kill (1980)), profession (Blow Out (1981)), or circumstance (Body Double (1984)).

Trivia:

Won top prize in regional Science Fair in high school. Project was “An Analog Computer to Solve Differential Equations.” Cf. computer nerd in Dressed to Kill (1980).

De Palma graduated from Friends’ Central School, a small quaker school outside of Philadelphia

De Palma bases his most famous cinematic predilection, voyeurism, on a specific childhood incident. When he was a child, his parents split up, his mother accusing his father of infidelity. The young De Palma spent several days stalking his dad with recording equipment, hoping to find evidence to confirm his mother’s suspicions.

Uncle of actor Cameron De Palma.

In the 1970s, De Palma helped a close friend on a film project. He helped audition and interview actors. When the film was shot, DePalma did some uncredited writing on an opening “scrawl,” a device the friend thought of at the last minute to help explain events in the film, so the audience would not be confused. The friend was George Lucas and the film was Star Wars (1977).

First child with Gale Anne Hurd, Lolita, born September 19, 1991.

Second daughter, Piper De Palma, born October 21 1996 in Palo Alto, California.

Brother of photographer Bart DePalma.

Italian-American.

Is a Bruce Springsteen fan and directed him in the “Dancing In The Dark” music video.

Wrote the role of the hooker in Dressed to Kill (1980) specifically with his then wife Nancy Allen in mind.

Has never contributed an audio commentary track to his DVDs.

Step-father of The OC actress Willa Holland.

Received a special thanks credit in Mean Streets (1973) for introducing Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro to one another.

President Obama has declared today as Patriot Day and National Day of Service, and senior administration officials, including Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, cabinet secretaries, and the heads of the Corporation for National and Community Service and Peace Corps will take part in service projects.

In a proclamation issued yesterday, President Obama remembers the events of September 11th:

Through the twisted steel of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the scarred walls of the Pentagon, and the smoky wreckage in a field in southwest Pennsylvania, the patriotism and resiliency of the American people shone brightly on September 11, 2001. We stood as one people, united in our common humanity and shared sorrow. We grieved for those who perished and remembered what brought us together as Americans.

Today, we honor the lives we lost 8 years ago. On a bright September day, innocent men, women, and children boarded planes and set off for work as they had so many times before. Unthinkable acts of terrorism brought tragedy, destruction, pain, and loss for people across our Nation and the world.

In the same spirit of patriotism that united us after September 11th, 2001, President Obama asks us to “join in service and honor the lives we lost, the heroes who responded in our hour of need, and the brave men and women in uniform who continue to protect our country at home and abroad.”

In honor of the day of service, President Obama, members of his cabinet and others will participate in service projects. Below is a partial list — link here to read about all the administrative officials and what they are up to tomorrow. President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, AmeriCorps members and volunteers are painting a Habitat for Humanity home in Washington DC.

Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden will attend the New York City’s September 11th Commemoration Ceremony at Zuccotti Park. In honor of the new federal designation of September 11th as a National Day of Service and Remembrance, family members will be paired with volunteers from throughout the five boroughs to read the names of those who died at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2001.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has encouraged embassies around the world to foster partnerships with service and faith-based organizations. She will also keynote the commemoration of the first annual 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance at the Beacon Theatre in New York City — Idealist’s own Joanna Eng will attend and blog about the event (so look for it next week).

Sponsored by MyGoodDeed.org, Service Nation, and the Corporation for National and Community Service, the special event will pay tribute to victims and families of the victims of the September 11th attacks, and feature performances by Gavin DeGraw, the Harlem Boys and Girls Club Choir, Anjulie, and The Roots, with remarks by:

• New York Governor David Paterson
• New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
• Corporation Acting C.E.O. Nicola Goren
• Actor Gary Sinise
• Talk-show host Jimmy Fallon

Proving that she is extremely committed to service, Acting CEO Nicola Goren of the Corporation for National and Community Service will not only speak at the September 11th Day of Service and Remembrance commemoration event mentioned above, but she will also participate in two different service projects in New York City.

In the morning she and Corporation Board member Julie Fisher Cummings will join volunteers at P.S. 76, the A. Philip Randolph School in Harlem, to work with 3rd and 4th graders on a reading and essay project, and in the afternoon, she, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Trade Representative Paul Kirk Donovan will paint houses and visit with residents of the Supportive Housing Apartments for the Formerly Homeless in New York City.

Peace Corps Director RPCV Aaron S. Williams and Peace Corps staff will support the Washington D.C. Whitman Walker Clinic in its HIV/AIDS prevention efforts by organizing and boxing medical records for archiving.

Are you participating in a service project today? What are you doing?

If you are looking for a project to join, check out Serve.gov’s volunteer listing, and then let the folks at 911day.org know what you are up to!

SNAKE EYES

Nicolas Cage & Gary Sinise

Highly entertaining action thriller. Nicolas Cage is an Atlantic City cop who, along with an arena full of spectators at a championship prize-fight, is eyewitness to a political assassination.

Determined to quickly solve the crime, he immediately launches an intensive investigation…then learns that a search for answers will only uncover yet more questions in an ever-widening web of conspiracy, intrigue and danger.

Rated15

Desde primera hora sabes que no estás ante el peliculón de tus sueños. Sin embargo, la cosa tampoco echa para atrás. Parece que tenemos ante nosotros un cine comercial de cierta calidad, decente. Hay que decir en su favor (lo negativo viene en spoiler) que en todo momento te mantiene intrigado y expectante, pese a lo absurdo del guión.

‘Misteriosa obsesión’ por lo enrevesada que es, puede llegar a tener diversas lecturas. La primera es simplemente que todo es fruto de la locura de Julianne Moore. La tía está loca, ha perdido a su hijo y no hay manera de olvidarlo. Y que no lo olvida. No hay más. Ese seria el argumento de la peli, según esta lectura. El final lo corroboraría.

Luego está aquélla que reflexiona. Una reflexión acerca de lo manipulables que somos, cómo controlan nuestras vidas, y la importancia de los recuerdos en nuestras vidas. Algo así como Blade Runner en versión muy descafeinada.

Por último, nos podemos decantar por la tercera vía, con la que yo me quedo, la del absurdo. Es decir, que esto no es más que un truño made in USA que nos han plantado en la puerta de casa. Primero tendríamos a la Moore y a la humanidad entera recordando hasta en la sopa a su niñito. Luego, de repente, todo el mundo la toma por loca y le pregunta que quién es ese niño del que habla. Por último, y para rematar la faena, aparecen los golpes de viento cepillándose a la gente y los alienígenas atemorizando a los humanos. Cómo no, para finalizar nos deleitaran con un final feliz en el que la mamá y el niñito jugarán y sonreirán en el parque.

En conclusión, ¿alguien ha conseguido entender el por qué de esta gilipollez? y ¿por qué pronuncian la palabra “niño” hasta la saciedad?. Más importante aún, ¿por qué Julianne?.

A true once in a lifetime event, the winner of this celebrity auction will spend a memorable evening having dinner with former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her husband Todd. Sarah has graciously donated her time to help raise money for the Wounded Warriors Ride 2 Recovery program

Sarah whose son, Track, enlisted in the Army on September 11, 2007, is serving in Iraq. Sarah herself recently returned from a trip to Kosovo visiting her Alaska National Guard troops and Germany visiting wounded warriors.

Ride 2 Recovery is a program that helps wounded troops rehabilitate their injuries and rebuild their athletic ability. From their mission statement:

To improve the health and wellness of wounded warriors by providing a life changing experience that can impact their lives forever.

R2R supports Spinning® Recovery Labs and outdoor cycling programs at Military and VA locations around the U.S. to help injured veterans overcome obstacles they face. Cycling is an important part of the recovery and rehabilitation program for two reasons:

1. Cycling is an activity that almost all patients with mental and physical disabilities can participate.

2. Participation in the Ride 2 Recovery Program helps speed up the recovery and rehabilitation process.

The winner of the charity auction will be able to bring 4 friends along for what will be an incredible evening with the Palins. The winning bidder will be responsible for their airfare to Alaska and lodging. The bidding will open at $25,000.

The auction, which runs from September 8-18, will also feature other great experiences up for bid.

Former White House adviser Karl Rove, the “Architect”, as he is known, is offering, for the winning bidder and 2 friends, lunch at the famous 4-star restaurant, Bobby Van’s Steakhouse in Washington, D.C.

Rove, a Fox News contributor, and weekly op-ed columnist for The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek, will most certainly offer up an interesting and thoughtful lunch. The opening bid for lunch with “Bush’s Brain” is $7,500

Award winning conservative actor Gary Sinise, star of the CBS television series CSI: New York is offering up a set experience and wrap party to a lucky fan. Sinise is a well known supporter of the troops, giving generous amounts of his time to help. He also can be heard doing the voice overs for Army recruiting advertising. .

Gary also has a band, The Lt. Dan Band, named for his unforgettable character from the movie Forrest Gump. Sinese uses the band as a way to raise money for the troops, and also to entertain the troops on his many visits to see them in the field. You can learn more about his band here.

Other items up for auction include:

* Behind the Ropes at a PGA event with David Ferehty

* Lunch at the Capitol with Frank Luntz

* Meet and Greet at the Sean Hannity Show with Sean Hannity and Frank Luntz

* Meet, Greet and Dinner with Bret Baier of Fox Special Report and Steve Hayes

* Play’N'Stay at the World Golf Resort

* Phil Jackson Autographed Basketball

* Rob Lowe Autographed Hollywood Stars Dodger Jersey

To learn more about the Ride 2 Recovery program go here.

To learn more about the once of a lifetime all-star auction go here.

Even if you are unable to bid on these great events, please check out the Ride 2 Recovery website and make a donation on the behalf of a wounded warrior.

A true once in a lifetime event, the winner of this celebrity auction will spend a memorable evening having dinner with former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her husband Todd. Sarah has graciously donated her time to help raise money for the Wounded Warriors Ride 2 Recovery program

Sarah whose son, Track, enlisted in the Army on September 11, 2007, is serving in Iraq. Sarah herself recently returned from a trip to Kosovo visiting her Alaska National Guard troops and Germany visiting wounded warriors.

Ride 2 Recovery is a program that helps wounded troops rehabilitate their injuries and rebuild their athletic ability. From their mission statement:

To improve the health and wellness of wounded warriors by providing a life changing experience that can impact their lives forever.

R2R supports Spinning® Recovery Labs and outdoor cycling programs at Military and VA locations around the U.S. to help injured veterans overcome obstacles they face. Cycling is an important part of the recovery and rehabilitation program for two reasons:

1. Cycling is an activity that almost all patients with mental and physical disabilities can participate.

2. Participation in the Ride 2 Recovery Program helps speed up the recovery and rehabilitation process.

The winner of the charity auction will be able to bring 4 friends along for what will be an incredible evening with the Palins. The winning bidder will be responsible for their airfare to Alaska and lodging. The bidding will open at $25,000.

The auction, which runs from September 8-18, will also feature other great experiences up for bid.

Former White House adviser Karl Rove, the “Architect”, as he is known, is offering, for the winning bidder and 2 friends, lunch at the famous 4-star restaurant, Bobby Van’s Steakhouse in Washington, D.C.

Rove, a Fox News contributor, and weekly op-ed columnist for The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek, will most certainly offer up an interesting and thoughtful lunch. The opening bid for lunch with “Bush’s Brain” is $7,500

Award winning conservative actor Gary Sinise, star of the CBS television series CSI: New York is offering up a set experience and wrap party to a lucky fan. Sinise is a well known supporter of the troops, giving generous amounts of his time to help. He also can be heard doing the voice overs for Army recruiting advertising. .

Gary also has a band, The Lt. Dan Band, named for his unforgettable character from the movie Forrest Gump. Sinese uses the band as a way to raise money for the troops, and also to entertain the troops on his many visits to see them in the field. You can learn more about his band here.

Other items up for auction include:

* Behind the Ropes at a PGA event with David Ferehty

* Lunch at the Capitol with Frank Luntz

* Meet and Greet at the Sean Hannity Show with Sean Hannity and Frank Luntz

* Meet, Greet and Dinner with Bret Baier of Fox Special Report and Steve Hayes

* Play’N'Stay at the World Golf Resort

* Phil Jackson Autographed Basketball

* Rob Lowe Autographed Hollywood Stars Dodger Jersey

To learn more about the Ride 2 Recovery program go here.

To learn more about the once of a lifetime all-star auction go here.

Even if you are unable to bid on these great events, please check out the Ride 2 Recovery website and make a donation on the behalf of a wounded warrior.

Yesterday, I alluded to whether a celebrity’s viewpoints on political or social viewpoints should affect how I view or patronize his/her body of work. There are many individuals  that one could use to illustrate that. And, in the interest of full disclosure, I often choose whether or not  to watch a program or movie starring say, Julia Roberts or George Clooney as prima facie  examples, based on their political views. Silly, perhaps, childish, also possible and maybe even nonsensical. Both Mrs THT and my son think all of these things are not only possibly true but are more than likely facts. Admittedly, these principles are not inviolate since I like Forest Gump  quite a lot. Hey, at least Gary Sinise is in it. Just recently, I visited the website for CBS Channel 3 in Philadelphia and  they were thoughtful enough  to provide a slideshow with some of  the more hardcore liberal Democrat celebrities. Now, having said all that, if they choose to be outspoken liberals, that is their right and more power to them if they feel that way. Be a bit more  consistent  I  would ask and don’t resort so strongly to personal attacks that are (opinion, here) given  more credence than they  deserve just because a person is a celebrity.  Does this work both  ways, yep. But as my good friends at  CBS3 in Philadelphia say, “Hollywood stars are generally considered to be a liberal and Democratic-leaning community.” Take notes, Sean Penn and Woody Harrelson.

Now, on to  more specifics. ubercelebrity Brad Pitt or Mr  Brad Jolie has been rumoured to interested in maybe, perhaps being mayor of New Orleans. Got the name recognition part down already. Based on an interview he did with Bill Maher recently, he has his  Democrat creds well in order.

Among other things he is pro  gay marriage and in fact understands it better than religion which according to him doesn’t make sense and doesn’t make sense for him in in the long  Surprise, something we agree on, religion doesn’t always make sense to me either. Continuing…”like gay marriage…You have a group of people telling other people how to live their lives and you can’t do that.”  There is at least one law , probably more than one that you or I don’t like or agree with that is telling us  how to live some aspect of our lives. Gotta work on those political skills , Brad. Commenting further on the marriage issue he says…”Let’s stop the nonsense.”

One more issue he touched on was marijuana. Maher also asked him about his joint rolling skills. Pitt said that yes he was an artist at that.Why did he give it up? You will love this or I did. ” I’m a dad now. You want to be alert.” Well, there you go. telling your kids how to live, really.

Hey, if you run for mayor  of New Orleans, can you get your wife to make a campaign appearance in North Carolina? Just kidding, I think.

( Info was also in a Parade magazine article.) Boy if  I find out Mark Harmon’s politics are way different from mine, am I in trouble. I know, I just won’t find out!