Organizing videos, dvds

The local video store is selling its inventory of video tapes. Fortunately for me, I didn't realize that until 3 weeks into the sale. It didn't make that much difference as my taste in movies is pretty low demand. Basically I've bought movies we've owned and loaned never to be returned, finished sets - usually we owned the first movie but were missing some sequels, and bought some chick flicks to achieve a bit of balance (the guys buy way more movies than the gals in this family plus they outnumber us). The first day, I looked for movies with interesting scenery - set in places that would be interesting to travel to if I were at all interested in travelling. The second day, I looked for movies that were about being in situations that require one to be a little more courageous, a little more noble than one might otherwise choose to be. And then I had to get busy figuring out the best way to organize things. So I thought, if I were going to pig out on movies, which would make sense to view as a group and then let my imagination run wild on all the various ways to do that - by subject, actor, genre, setting, movies I really hate, and movies I love but the men in the family hate. Think westerns/war movies for my hate pile and any human being having more emotional range than John Wayne for their hate pile.

Fiddler on the Roof

My oldest son thinks I'm Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. I have an ongoing dialogue with God where I Kvitch about every day stuff too boring for human ears. I suppose it's a sign of someone with existential aloneness. There's lots of really good, caring, involved people in my life but the closest relationship is the God/I one. It was that way as far back as I can possibly remember. My mom didn't like me bothering my dad because he had high blood pressure and she was terrified any stress might cause a heart attack or stroke and he was just as protective of her. My grandparents lived next door to us but they were more great-grandparent age and couldn't be upset about anything either. So basically I shared all my little girl problems with dogs and kittens and dolls and paperdolls. And, of course, there was always tv and sugary foods and dreaming to cheer oneself up. If everyone had to be protected from my little preschool problems, I suppose it's no wonder that when I need to talk, it's God I talk to. With all the big things happening in the world, nothing tragic is going to happen from anything I might say to God.

Learning from Movies

In response to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6260548.stm which basically says:
The four consultants, Francesco Bogliari, Sergio Di Giorgi, Marco Lombardi and Piero Trupia say that executives learn little from books.
High-quality films, though, can offer lessons about problem-solving and teamwork as well as focusing on issues such as globalisation and diversity, Mr Bogliari said.

So here are some movies I've learned from:

The Dish which is about broadcasting Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon from a relay station in Australia. Although I'll never be the head of a team, I hope I'd be like Sam Neill's part in this movie. No one in the movie is without his/her personality quirks but he just accepts everyone exactly as they are and somehow pulls off a great achievement without judging or hurting anyone. This is the opposite of an American action hero movie. I really liked every single person in this movie and how often can you say that?

Unconditional Love tells you pretty much all you need to know about where I stand on the homosexuality issue. Some people encourage you to be just a little braver and some people don't. Either I bloom or I fade around people and sexual orientation has nothing to do with who is an encourager and who is a discourager of the middle-aged (or past middle-aged) housewife.

Outbreak which starts with an ebola outbreak in Africa. The response team promised help and everyone was cheering when the planes approached and dropped medical supplies until they realized that the package wasn't medical supplies but an explosive device to eradicate the village. It doesn't matter how highly educated you are or how many resources are at your disposable or how great your personality is, it's no substitute for right actions.