On Chesil Beach Movie Review

Young love, as stories and songs have told us, is grand and wonderful.  But even young love can have it’s problems.

In the new film On Chesil Beach (based on the novel of the same name by Ian McEwan), Florence (Saoirse Ronan) and Edward (Billy Howle) are newlyweds in England in the early 1960’s. Married just hours before, they have arrived at the Bed and Breakfast where they will be honeymooning. The film flips between the present at the hotel and the relationship that led to Florence and Edward’s vows.  Both will quickly discover that the idealism of their pre-marriage relationship dissolves into an uncomfortable and life changing wedding night.

This movie is excellent. While some scenes could have been cut down for time, I very much appreciated the dichotomy between the main character’s pre-married life and post-married life. I also appreciated that this film showed the reality of romantic relationships, especially marriage. It takes work to maintain both and sometimes, it’s obvious that two people are not meant to be together, no matter how hard they try to make it work.

I recommend it.

On Chesil Beach is presently in theaters. 

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Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons from a Year Among the Oldest Old Book Review

If we are lucky enough, we will live to old age.

Old age, like anything in life, has it downsides. It’s just a question of how one views those downsides.

John Leland, a journalist by trade, spent time interviewing a group of elderly men and women in the New York City area. They ranged in age from mid 80’s to early 90’s. The  result of this experience is his new memoir, Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons from a Year Among the Oldest Old. Though there was a variety in life experiences, cultures, race, religions, marital status, etc, one thing is clear. You have to enjoy life and the experience of being alive, regardless of your age.

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed it because underneath all these stories was an undercurrent of choice. When one gets to a certain age, it’s easy to get down on oneself. Your body and mind don’t work like they used to, your family may be far away, your finances are limited to social security and retirement funds, etc. However, that does not mean that life is horrible. Life is what you make of it, it doesn’t matter if you are 8 or 80.

I recommend it.

New Randy Rainbow video-COMMANDER OF CHEESE! – A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

There is a line between saying one is patriotic and acting like one is patriotic.

You know who often claims to be patriotic, but the reality is that the only one he is patriotic to is himself. Randy Rainbow’s new video, entitled “Commander Of Cheese!-A Randy Rainbow Song Parody” not only hits the nail on the head, but forced a belly laugh out of me when it was released on Friday.

If satire can be considered a byproduct of freedom of speech, then Randy Rainbow has mastered the art of satire. If I may say so, Randy Rainbow has become a national treasure who has perfected the art of using song parodies to allow America to laugh at the absurdity that is happening in Washington D.C.