Buenos Dias Fellow NikonGearettes,
Gary is in a mood to write ... consequently you NikonGearettes may be my victims. Gary takes a sip of Colombian Supremo, delish.
In the last week Mary Lou and Gary watched a few movies and shows. Alpha is a Netflix movie, a fantasy based upon man's initial domestication of the dog about 20,000 year ago. A fun watch. Miss Maggie, (our Wheaten), loved Alpha and she watch the entire movie. Maggie was quite amusing watching the Tv with her popcorn. Another Netflix we enjoyed last week was Woman Walking Ahead, a very interesting movie about the last days of Sitting Bull. For the theater, Gary highly recommend Border. A very very odd Swedish movie with subtitles (at least here there were subtitles). Gary could tell it was Swedish because of all the Volvos and Saabs.
Gary is back at the keyboard. It has been raining here and Gary just finished emptying the rain barrels, fishing out a ton of leaves from the koi pond and getting soaking wet. The rain has eased up a bit, Gary has to run off and walk the dog.
Back again from the morning walk with Maggie and a quick break to toss on some dry clothing. Yes, the movie Border ... it is a very very odd movie, but Gary highly recommend it despite the mediocre cinematography.
Gary discovered The Maverick Theater, a little theatre in Fullerton (next door to La Mirada). It has two stages, one stage seats about 60 people and the other maybe 100. The theatre is so small that no audio amplification is necessary for the actors. It is wonderful place with a bar (a plus) and a lot of the shows are all about fun and not serious topics. The first show we attended was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which was was not only quite well done but also made us fans of the venue. The next show in October was Night of the Living Dead. There were zombies coming out of every crevice, window and doorway. A cornucopia of flesh eating and severed limbs. The play was a ton of Halloween fun. Then there was Plan 9 From Outer Space, a marvelously stupid and funny play based on possibly the worst movie ever made. Lastly, Mary Lou and Gary watched Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, simply two hours of Christmas fun. On Tuesday, Mary Lou and Gary attended a play at The Mark Taper Forum, a theatre in the Music Center complex in downtown Los Angeles (DTLA). The play, written by a local playwright, was centered on a Mexican-American family and a Japanese-American family during WWII with special attention on the Japanese-American internment camps. OMG, it was knocked Gary completely flat it was soooo good. Gary could relate to the play on so many different levels. The play deeply touched Gary. Gary doubts if the show will ever play outside of California, but if you ever have the chance, it is a must see. The Mexican-Americans were sharecroppers for the Japanese owner, the two families working side-by-side in Cupertino, CA. When the war came, the Mexican-America family took care of the farm until the Japanese-Americans returned from the camps. The daughter of the Japanese-American family and the oldest son of the Mexican-American family fell in love. The only son of the Japanese-American family was killed in France with the 442nd Infantry Regiment and the youngest son of the Mexican-American family was with the 2nd Marine Division and died on the beaches of Tarawa. In spite of all the difference, the Mexican-Americans and the Japanese Americans found common ground to unite the families and prosper.
The play touched Gary because he grew up in a small agricultural community 20 miles east of Los Angeles. Some of my best friends in high school and college were of Japanese descent. Gary's father was in the first wave of Marines at Guadalcanal and my uncle, (mother's brother), also a Marine was severely wounded on Bougainville. (One of two survivors of an ambushed patrol.) Even though the Japanese were the enemy in a life-or-dead environment ... Gary's father and uncle never spoke badly of Japanese-Americans and welcomed them into our home as if they were family. In college Gary's Japanese-American friends and he would either go sushi hopping or discover new taco stands every week. A college photo professor of Gary was imprisoned at Manzanar. Gary's Japanese-Americans friends invite Gary to work on an oral history project composed of stories gleaned from internment camp survivors. The project turned into a book and was published. Gary can only thank his parents and also California for his liberal attitude towards races. Gary feels this attitude is pretty much pervasive throughout California. Out here, who you are, is more important than, what you are. In California we are not afraid of differences ... we celebrate them.
Later,
Gary
PS- Miss Maggie shot with an iPhone
