ART SHARE

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A TASTY DESSERT

The suspense was killing her like slow, drawn-out torture. Biting her nails and tapping her feet, she tried to remain positive as the judges were a few contestants away from where she stood. Heather had entered her lemon wedges into the town bake-off at the seasonal fair, which she wasn't looking forward to placing anything other than first. Lemon wedges as her entry had gotten a lot of comments: for the few previous years, it had pies that had come in first. Heather, looking to do something different, decided on lemon wedges having found her now-deceased grandmother's recipe and felt she could win with it. 

It indeed was a risk, but Heather was game enough to give it a shot. Many ladies entered in the bake-off were all of a more mature age than Heather having either raised a family or were rooted in the middle of building one, making experience key. 

The judges moved closer, tasting a berry pie; their expressions were always hard to read unless it was just awful, making the judges politely spitting out the bite out. It seemed the berry pie was in the clear as each judge made many notes on the entry. 

Next would be Heather. The judges sampled her entry and observed the wedges' unique geometric shapes before doing a taste test. Heather froze like a pillar of ice starring at each judge as they chewed, trying to decipher their thoughts on her lemony dessert. They seemed pleased, and no one spit out their bite, so she seemed she was in the clear. 

At the close, all the contestants stood by their dishes, each beaming with sunrays of accomplishments. The judges compared notes, and their cards for each contestant scored. The naming of the places for the bake-off was soon to come. In the minutes before, Heather found her boyfriend Andrew amongst the observers, and she found soils in his arms as her nerves were on edge. 

She felt her risk in baking lemon wedges in a sea of pies, and knowing how everyone loved her grandmother's cooking, she was at ease. Andrew swooped in for a kiss seeing the judges were making their way back to make the big announcement, and Heather would need to return to the stage. 

Feeling Andrew's hand smack her butt in encouragement as she left his side, she thought she had an excellent chance of winning. The roar of those enjoying other fair attractions filled the air as the head judge walked up to the podium to make the announcement. The judge first explained how close that year's bake-off had gone down and then proceeded to rattle the list of winners names, none of which came with Heather's name. 

Heather had so direly hoped to win that her spirits sank, as she did not hear her name called. The big winner of the day was a grandmother who had succeeded in previous years baking a lip-smacking apple pie, but this year she went with a delectable strawberry rhubarb pie. All was not at a loss as Heather received honorably mentioned for her lemon wedges, which people commended her for taking such a risk with her non-pie dessert. 

Taking it all in stride, Heather knew if she wanted to, she could participate next year, but who knew a year seemed so far away. She then scooped up her dish and took a bite out of one of the remaining lemon wedges and looked to find Andrew in the crowd. 

Feeling content with entry and trying not to let the loss take her down in the dumps too far, thinking the wedges could use a little updating from her grandmother's recipe, which may create a winning entry. Upon coming to that thought, Andrew walked upon her and drew her close, telling her how proud he was before kissing her lemony powder sugared lips, and the two went off to experience other elements of the fair.

Vlog #24 2020 STICKING TO THE SCRIPT

MY NETFLIX MOVIE REVIEWS #222

Governor George W. Bush of Texas picks Dick Cheney, the CEO of Halliburton Co, to be his Republican running mate in the 2000 presidential election. No stranger to politics, Cheney's impressive resume includes stints as White House chief of staff, House Minority Whip and defense secretary. When Bush wins by a narrow margin, Cheney begins to use his newfound power to help reshape the country and the world Written by Jwelch5742 (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database )

VICE (2018) is written & directed by Adam McKay and produced by Will Ferrell and Brad Pitt. I was low key expecting VICE based on the way the trailer was cut to be this vivacious uproar of a film. Upon watching, I found something different, knowing how the content of the film actually played out as I lived through it, I would consider this a modern-day political gangster film. 

As a person who, as I mentioned, lived through these events, my perspective was much different. This film gave a behind the scenes look at how the politics of that time worked. More specifically, how politics worked in the era of Dick Cheney, who was played marvelously by Christian Bale. At my first viewing, the pacing and unfolding of the story were a bit confusing, but by my second viewing, I better saw what the director Adam McKay was trying to get across. 

In the End: VICE delivered an animated film that gave the viewer another perspective on one of the key figures of an era in American history that we’ll never forget.

ART SHARE

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CAT & MOUSE

Ms. Davenport ejected the USB device, her nerves on end as she eyed both the surveillance screens in the room and the door to Mr. Saleuri's office. She was downloading files that would prove her innocence and point the finger at Mr. Saleuri, a Tech giant who had been selling top-secret information to the highest bidder. She just needed to get the info saved on that drive and into someone who could help her. First, it meant getting out of the building flooding with Federal and police patrols everywhere, having been tipped off by Mr. Saleuri himself. 

Ms. Davenport peeked out the office blinds into the hall it was clear, so she stepped out and with a brisk pace and not drawing too much attention to herself she walked the quiet hallway up to the receptionist desk. The girl there smiled as she walked up to the counter; the phone rang. Ms. Davenport walked on by as she could overhear the voice on the phone line, screaming not to allow Ms. Davenport to leave. The receptionist's alarmed eyes met with Ms. Davenport's. Hearing the urgent order over the phone, the receptionist began to rise out of her desk seat to slow Ms. Davenport down as she flew by and disappeared around the next corridor. 

Thinking about hitting the upcoming elevator Ms. Davenport knowing the feds were on her would begin sealing off exits. Hence, she hit the elevator button and triggered it for the lobby. As the doors closed on the empty elevator, the receptionist with building security in tow saw the elevator close, assuming Ms. Davenport was inside; they alerted the feds and other security she was heading to the lobby on a lift on the westside. This bulletin then ran along with all the radios on that frequency. The ranking officer of the feds Sergio Mangas walked into the building, getting himself into some boots on the ground type action headed directly to the westside elevator to intercept Ms. Davenport and the sensitive information she hacked. 

Watching the floors tick down on the elevator Sergio Mangas and his men drew their weapons. A bit of apprehension filled the first scene as each officer held an intense gaze at the elevator door yet to open. The level numbers slowly continued ticking down till reaching the last ten when another alert came across the radios that Ms. Davenport was not on the elevator but seen on the southwest parking garage. Hearing this, the feds and the police on the scene began to reposition. 

The building was swarming with feds, and Sergio Mangas led his team to the south side parking structure. By then, Mrs. Davenport had entered her parked Mercedes and fired it up and was now on the verge of escape. She then pulled onto the street, watching a sea of flashing lights moving back and forth, looking to decide which entrance and exit to block off till it was too late as Ms. Davenport had escaped their clutches and was now on her way to the rendezvous spot to meet with her handler. For once, her heart began to beat on its standard pace as she scanned the images that came up in her rearview mirror, making sure she wasn't being tailed and then disappeared.

Vlog #23 2020 ITS ALL ABOUT GROWTH

MY NETFLIX MOVIE REVIEWS #221

After a difficult struggle with fertility, Tori Breyer's dreams of motherhood come true with the arrival of a mysterious baby boy. Brandon appears to be everything Tori and her husband, Kyle, ever wanted -- bright, talented and curious about the world. But as Brandon nears puberty, powerful darkness manifests within him, and Tori becomes consumed by terrible doubts about her son. Once Brandon begins to act on his twisted urges, those closest to him find themselves in grave danger. Written by twiztedhollow60 (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)

BRIGHT BURN (2019) is directed by David Yarovesky, written by Brian & Mark Gunn, produced by James Gunn. From seeing the trailer, it left me a little confused, is it a superhero story or a horror movie? Upon watching, I got the sense that the film was a bit of both—a friend of mine calling it the Superman horror origin story. 

With that in my head, I watched this story unfold, and as I did, I could see the comparison, and that for me lowered the novelty of this story considerably. Furthermore, I found myself tuning out as the BRIGHTBURN character was reaching his height of power. 

In the End: BRIGHTBURN (2019) put a twist on a familiar origin story and hoped we’d want to see more hinting at a sequel. So for this film, I give it 2 of 5 stars.

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Vlog #22 2020 A NEW JOURNEY BEGINS

BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL

It was now 3:30 am, and Carlos firmly pushed his mouse aside at his desk, laid back into his leather chair, took in another breath, and released it. He had just fallen into a flow state that lasted him into the wee hours of the morning coming out on the other end with a rough cut for a film that still needed a little tweaking to be a polished draft that he could show producers to get the next project underway. 

He lay back into his chair, feeling accomplished. He liked working into the early morning hours as it was always so still not even a sound from his upstairs neighbors with two dogs was there to distract him. As he sat reclined, he thought over the actor's lines, almost speaking them word for word his ability to do this came from his closeness to the project having helped write the script with the writer and on set throughout the film's shooting. 

The glow of the early morning sun taking over the night was coming, but he felt energized. He got up from his black leather chair and walked to the kitchen for some refreshment. In his fridge, he found a few cans of soda and a pitcher of iced tea and a small selection of food items of the edible kind, letting him know he'd have to go shopping at some point. He grabbed a trail mix package instead out of his cabinet and downed a glass of water, feeling a bit under-hydrated. 

He was heading back to his studio and the rough cut of his film. He then slowed sipped the second glass of water he brought with him scrubbing the timeline over a scene in the movie he was looking to tighten up. He played it over and over like it was on a constant replay. Then feeling satisfied with the minor adjustments he had done better with the scene, he was ready for it to be seen by the director for her approval, as this was a pivotal part of the film. 

He then proceeded on to the next scene where the moment came with a great shot of a woman walking on the edge of a building to the building next door. Artistically the director intended to make it as dramatic as possible. So he scrubbed the timeline looking to make edits that made the scene that much more exciting. 

As that edit came to a close, he finished the remaining water in his glass and saw it was approaching 5 am and realizing that he was to be in a daily meeting at noon that day. Carlos looked to get a few hours of shut-eye, get back up, shower, eat something wholesome and arrive at the meeting ready to look over the film thus far with the directors, producers, cast, and crew. So he got up from his chair once more and moved to his bedroom, set the alarm for 9 am and drifted off into dreamland feeling accomplished.

MY NETFLIX MOVIE REVIEWS #220

Destroyer follows the moral and existential odyssey of LAPD detective Erin Bell who, as a young cop, was placed undercover with a gang in the California desert with tragic results. When the leader of that gang re-emerges many years later, she must work her way back through the remaining members and into her own history with them to finally reckon with the demons that destroyed her past. Written by Annapurna Pictures (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)

DESTROYER (2018) is directed by Karyn Kusama, written by Phil Hay & Matt Manfredi, and produced by Fred Berger. I faintly remember seeing the trailer to this film, but what do remember it seemed like an intense crime story with a bank robbery and several twists. 

Upon watching I did find the story to be quite intriguing and even the way the story developed and was presented to the viewer made it seem real gritty and the edge of your seat. I even felt the pacing of the film added to the seriousness of the subject matter.  My only serious question about this film was it’s casting being that the main character Erin Bell played by Nicole Kidman, who gave a commendable performance nothing like I’ve seen her in before, yet this role seemed to break my sense of disbelief making me wonder if another female actor like Charlize Theron could have played the role better just a question. 

In the End: DESTROYER was a film with a cop story with some intense gritty twists and turns which I enjoyed overall. So for this film, I give it 3.5 of 5 stars.

TRASH (2014) Film Review #1

A MATTER OF TASTE

No one would have predicted Mariah would have taken the criticism so hard. She had always seen herself as a right well-adjusted person, but sometimes life throws you a curveball, and you look silly, trying to hit it. The situation was this; Mariah was a single thirty-something when graduating with a degree in business. She had always been astute with her grades, and it was visible in her ability to transition from graduate to business owner. Her business was as an interior decorator building an agency catering to high paying clientele. 

When Mariah sought out this work, she had no idea so much would be involved, yet she persevered on developing an extreme sense of design for others and herself. One of her first projects was updating her parent's home and bringing it into the 21st century, to which her parents are still living today. 

On another project, Mariah was working with a stockbroker. They had first met at a mixer for young business types and entrepreneurs. They hit it off exchanging information and meeting up for drinks and conversation a few times upon which one of these times Marvin, the up and coming bright future stockbroker, requested she decorates his new apartment. Marvin shared some of the specifications he had of the place with Mariah, and by the sound of it and coming to know him, Mariah was already thinking up some ideas in her mind's eye, be it fabrics, metals, or stone. 

The day she was able to see the place in person, her jaw dropped from the fantastic view his apartment commanded over the city below. She'd have a field day decorating this place, seeing all that was involved thinking it may take a matter of a month, depending on the availability of the items selected. Mariah worked diligently, traveling back and forth to Marvin's place, making the final decisions independently as Marvin agreed till one day the apartment except for a set of pinstriped linen curtains got stuck overseas. 

Mariah marveled at her work, wondering how Marvin would react to the new look. So on her next visit, Mariah scheduled with Marvin, who had been out of town a great deal of the process for the big reveal. To his great surprise, Marvin was greatly pleased and excited about the overall changes so much that they popped open a bottle of champagne, and Mariah explained her choices and the vast list of materials and artwork she had used in making Marvin's apartment into a work of art. 

As the night rapidly cruised on, they ordered takeout. While they waited, Marvin wrote Mariah a generous check right there on the spot. It was her services that solidified what Mariah had thought all along about getting into this line of work.

Vlog #21 2020 PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

MY NETFLIX MOVIE REVIEWS #219

In Stockholm, Sweden, vigilante hacker Lisbeth Salander is hired by computer programmer Frans Balder to retrieve Firefall, a program capable of accessing the world's nuclear codes that he developed for the National Security Agency, as Balder believes it is too dangerous to exist. Lisbeth successfully retrieves Firefall from the NSA's servers, attracting the attention of agent Edwin Needham, but is unable to unlock it, and the program is later stolen from her by mercenaries led by Jan Holtser, who also attempt to kill Lisbeth. When she doesn't attend their scheduled rendezvous, Balder mistakenly believes Lisbeth decided to keep Firefall for herself and contacts Gabrielle Grane, the deputy director of the Swedish Security Service (Säpo), who moves Balder and his young son August to a safe-house. Meanwhile, Needham tracks the unauthorized login to Stockholm and arrives to seek Lisbeth and Firefall.. (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)

THE GIRL IN SPIDER’S WEB (2018) is directed by Fede Alvarez, a novel by David Lagercrantz, written by Jay Basu, Fede Alvarez & Steven Knight, produced by Scott Rudin & Eli Bush. Having seen the foreign trilogy of films this new U.S. story comes from I had some lofty expectations for this film. 

Upon watching and seeing they had replaced Noomi Pace who originally played Lisbeth there was some disappointment yet I pushed on. The film story is a continuance of the last film in the trilogy that being so I assumed this film would deal with similar subject matter which was always the draw. The pacing of the film seemed alright, but the character development was trumped by action sequences that held a cat and mouse kind of feel. 

In the End: GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB indeed held up to the previous films and answered some of the lingering questions yet to me it was not the most memorable film of the trilogy. So I give this film 3 of 5 stars.

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ANNA'S DILEMMA

Anna sat still on her living room sofa; it had been the first moments of a reprieve since coming home last night. Her mind though was a different story. All morning she was over every inch of her apartment looking for that business card from the record executive she had met the night before. It was still a bit of a fog, but as Anna sat again, she could recall moments coming back to her. As she recalled her steps to where that business card could have ended up, you'd have to understand the situation she was in. 

A boyhood friend of hers had let her know he was coming to town his name was Jake. He and the rest of the crew from Van Owen Street, where they all grew up, were scheduled to meet up for dinner. This would include Anna's brother Brian, her roommate Tim and two other male friends, Daniel and Bronson. Anna would be the only girl in the group to which would be fine with all of the fellas, but at some point in each of their coming of age, Anna had fulfilled in some manner a fantasy they had developed. Each of them had designs on reigniting that as they had all planned to meet up. Anna had thought twice about the event but rationalized that it had been eight years since they all had spent time together and she was sure things had changed. 

Anna racked her brain some more as she sat on the sofa. The morning light from the now quickly passing 

the day was pouring through her apartments partially drawn blinds. At that moment Tim walked out of their bathroom butt ass naked and sat next to her on the sofa and turned on the television. Without a word, Anna who barely even noticed as they had been a longtime couple, but now each deciding to be single for nearly two years they stayed roommates to save money. The walking around naked thing had come back with the change from winter to spring getting everyone a little rambunctious. That may be the case, but for Anna, she felt like it was the dead of Winter and her mind was still set on finding that business card. Then again she wasn't that wholly dressed either wearing a tank top without a bra and a pair expiring gym shorts. They found themselves forming quite the scene sitting next to each other as Tim watched a basketball game on TV. She dare not ask Tim where she put the business card seeing the green-eyed monster erupt in him as she took the card from the well-dressed man that met her at the bar.

The entire Van Owen street crew had shown up and ventured out to dinner and drinks finalized by a few drunken rounds of karaoke. Anna's dream was always to be a singer, yet with doubting parents and some bad choices on her own the vision she had for herself never really took off. As they were out that night, everyone reminisced about their time living on Van Owen Street together and how these memorable moments had shaped their lives. At one point she caught Jake looking at her with desire. Who could blame him, Anna, maybe gained a few pounds over the years but was wearing a black low cut top exposing a great deal of cleavage and a pair of high waisted light washed denim jeans that hugged her full curves rather well. Throughout the night, she caught lingering glances from each of the now men, which she ignored, knowing the flirtatious gazes she would send in return. She then began playing each guy against the other till taking the stage and belting out Madonna's song "Secret" which got the attention of the well-dressed man at the bar. 

Not recalling his name at the moment on her sofa she saw glimpses of him as he walked up to her at the bar getting another round and introduced himself and directly handed her his card claiming her karaoke performance had moved him and he would like her to audition. 

Anna was beside herself with a naked Tim still sitting next to her. So she asked him if he knew where she put that execs business card? Tim replied, "Oh, I took it out of your purse and threw it away, he was just some creep trying to get in your pants." Anna was appalled, yet it had been gestures just like this throughout her life by people around her that had kept her here stuck in a situation of convincing. She wondered if this was a good thing or a bad thing as she continued watching the game with her naked roommate.