Friday, May 23, 2014
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Interesting Interaction with a Homeless Man
Yesterday was my friend David's birthday and a big group of us were meeting at Alfredo's for dinner.
On the way there, I was stopped at a red light and like a lot of stop lights in Atlanta, there was a homeless man standing there with a sign. I didn't really read the sign and I never give money to the people standing there. Instead, I chose to give money to charities and homeless shelters and places where they can get the resources they need. In addition, I know there are so many scammers out there and I am not what you call gullible.
But something was urging me...give money to this man. I only had $4 in cash in my purse so I listened to the little voice urging me and rolled my window down. He walked over, he was thin and had long grey hair neatly pulled into a ponytail - he was very clean, clean shaven and while his clothes were worn, they looked clean. He was bright and cheery - came over and said "Hi, my name is Dave" (also the name of the friend I was meeting for dinner) - "Thanks for stopping, the patriots are usually nice and stop" - I handed him the money and said "Hi, I'm Debbie" and he shook my hand.
He said "I see you are a patriot because you have a Florida's Sheriff's tag on the front of your car, was that your dad's? It kind of took me by surprise because it WAS my dad's tag and I was driving my dad's car (which I have now). I said "Yes, it's my dad's". Now I am no spring chicken - why didn't he ask "Do you work for them? Have you worked for them? Is that your husband's or is that your son's/daughter's?" He didn't even say "IS that your dad's?" - he said "WAS that your dad's?"
So we chatted about how hot it had gotten the past couple of days but how nice it was outside and how the government doesn't treat our vets properly. He made a joke about how that is because they are all bureaucrats that can't get their act together and we both laughed it off. He said "Maybe the VA will get it together so the next time you drive by here, you won't see me" (Indicating to me that he was a vet, which I had already assumed).
Then he said "Was your dad military?" I said "Yes". He said "What branch? Army?" Again, this is taking me by surprise because again the answer was "Yes". He said "Me too!! We are a lot better than those Jarheads" - haha. He was just keeping the conversation light.
He then said "Has your dad passed?" I said "Yes, about 2 years ago" and he said "Oh, I'm sorry, my mom passed away 2 years ago - that's tough, I know" Then he said "Well the light is about to change - take care, have a good evening and God Bless You." and I said "God Bless You too!" and the light changed and I drove along to Alfredos.
I kept thinking about him though - he was so nice - not the usual homeless type I run into all the time (and I do almost daily) - He was so well spoken, friendly, didn't act like he was on something or had been on something, seemed like he cared about his appearance and didn't hassle me for more money or give me a sob story or anything like that" - he just seemed like the average Joe you'd meet at the coffee shop.
It was so surprising to me that he
I was telling my friend, Susan, this story today and she said "Maybe he is an angel and he knows all about your dad, you know they say angels walk among us". I thought...who knows....maybe he was an angel. He sure did touch my day. Who would have know that giving a stranger $ 4 would be such a blessing for me?
Last night after I got home from my wonderful evening with friends, a Bible verse popped into my head.
"And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'
~Matthew 25:40 (New Living Translation)
Maybe he was an angel and maybe by helping him, I was helping the Lord. It was a beautiful experience and I thank the Lord for putting Dave in my path. I will pray for him and pray that he gets the help he needs and deserves.
So if you ever feel that urging to do something - listen to it - maybe it is the Holy Spirit guiding you, who knows what God may want to show you?
On the way there, I was stopped at a red light and like a lot of stop lights in Atlanta, there was a homeless man standing there with a sign. I didn't really read the sign and I never give money to the people standing there. Instead, I chose to give money to charities and homeless shelters and places where they can get the resources they need. In addition, I know there are so many scammers out there and I am not what you call gullible.
But something was urging me...give money to this man. I only had $4 in cash in my purse so I listened to the little voice urging me and rolled my window down. He walked over, he was thin and had long grey hair neatly pulled into a ponytail - he was very clean, clean shaven and while his clothes were worn, they looked clean. He was bright and cheery - came over and said "Hi, my name is Dave" (also the name of the friend I was meeting for dinner) - "Thanks for stopping, the patriots are usually nice and stop" - I handed him the money and said "Hi, I'm Debbie" and he shook my hand.
He said "I see you are a patriot because you have a Florida's Sheriff's tag on the front of your car, was that your dad's? It kind of took me by surprise because it WAS my dad's tag and I was driving my dad's car (which I have now). I said "Yes, it's my dad's". Now I am no spring chicken - why didn't he ask "Do you work for them? Have you worked for them? Is that your husband's or is that your son's/daughter's?" He didn't even say "IS that your dad's?" - he said "WAS that your dad's?"
So we chatted about how hot it had gotten the past couple of days but how nice it was outside and how the government doesn't treat our vets properly. He made a joke about how that is because they are all bureaucrats that can't get their act together and we both laughed it off. He said "Maybe the VA will get it together so the next time you drive by here, you won't see me" (Indicating to me that he was a vet, which I had already assumed).
Then he said "Was your dad military?" I said "Yes". He said "What branch? Army?" Again, this is taking me by surprise because again the answer was "Yes". He said "Me too!! We are a lot better than those Jarheads" - haha. He was just keeping the conversation light.
He then said "Has your dad passed?" I said "Yes, about 2 years ago" and he said "Oh, I'm sorry, my mom passed away 2 years ago - that's tough, I know" Then he said "Well the light is about to change - take care, have a good evening and God Bless You." and I said "God Bless You too!" and the light changed and I drove along to Alfredos.
I kept thinking about him though - he was so nice - not the usual homeless type I run into all the time (and I do almost daily) - He was so well spoken, friendly, didn't act like he was on something or had been on something, seemed like he cared about his appearance and didn't hassle me for more money or give me a sob story or anything like that" - he just seemed like the average Joe you'd meet at the coffee shop.
It was so surprising to me that he
- Asked if the tag WAS my dad's
- Asked if my dad was in the Army
- Asked if my dad passed
I was telling my friend, Susan, this story today and she said "Maybe he is an angel and he knows all about your dad, you know they say angels walk among us". I thought...who knows....maybe he was an angel. He sure did touch my day. Who would have know that giving a stranger $ 4 would be such a blessing for me?
Last night after I got home from my wonderful evening with friends, a Bible verse popped into my head.
"And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'
~Matthew 25:40 (New Living Translation)
Maybe he was an angel and maybe by helping him, I was helping the Lord. It was a beautiful experience and I thank the Lord for putting Dave in my path. I will pray for him and pray that he gets the help he needs and deserves.
So if you ever feel that urging to do something - listen to it - maybe it is the Holy Spirit guiding you, who knows what God may want to show you?
Monday, May 19, 2014
Movie Monday - To Sir, With Love
As you know, I love, love, love the movies - I think I am in the wrong business and should have been in the movie industry in some form or fashion. I always thought I would be a good Continuity Editor/Director, since I am very good at spotting errors in movies. I often drive my movie-going partner(s) crazy pointing out such things but they really can stick out for me!
But...I digress.
I have decided to post about some of my favorite movies. The ones I have seen over and over and over again and can sit down and watch it today as if I have never watched it before.
Many of these movies include Tom Cruise :)
But today's feature is on my all-time favorite movie. This is the first "grown up" movie I remember seeing. I was quite young and watched it at my Grandma and Grandpa Mims house during Spring Break if I recall correctly.
It is a 1967 movie that deals with racial & social issues in an inner-city East-End London school. Mark Thackeray (played by the handsome Sidney Poitier) is a black, unemployed, single engineer who takes the job as a teacher since it is the only job he can find at the time. He teaches a senior class of students who don't come from the best homes and tend to be the troubled kids. They give him a rough time and he has a difficult time teaching them until he realizes they need to learn LIFE lessons more than they need to learn BOOK lessons - he tosses the books, teaches them how to cook, groom, look for jobs, take care of themselves, have respect for themselves and helps them become proper ladies and gents.
Mr. Thackeray insisted the students called him Mr
Here is a trailer for the movie:
And here is the movie poster:
Notice...there is not a "RATING" - but I love how it says "Not Suitable for Children" The MPAA rating system didn't start until November 1968, which was almost a year and a half after "To Sir, With Love" was released (June 14, 1967). If you were to rank it today, it would probably be rated PG-13.
There are so many reasons why I love this movie. Besides being the first "grown up" movie I remember seeing, I loved the music !! Oh my goodness - that great music from the late 1960s (I have the soundtrack by the way - on LP). I love the clothing, I love the accents, I love the scenery, I love the characters and I love the story. This is about as perfect as a movie can be - has all the elements that adore !!
There are several students but I immediately had a HUGE crush on Bert Denham (Christian Roberts). I didn't realize until after my 10th viewing or so that his first name was Bert - since they always refer to him as "Denham". He was the bad boy of the group and stirred up most of the trouble. I use to always say if I ever had a son, I would name him Denham and I would have too!
While she was female, I can't say I had a "crush" on her but I wanted to be like Pamela (Judy Geeson) - she was so glamorous to me. Her character had a bit of a crush on Sir. I loved her pink lipstick (which you can't see in this B & W photo) but trust me, it is there. Don't you love her crochet dress too??
Another major character was Pegg (sometimes referred to as "Babs"). She is very important because she is played by Lulu, and she sings the title song. I liked her red hair and sassy modern cut - it set her apart (it looks kind of brown in this photo though).
I love everything about the movie but my two favorite scenes are the museum scene and the funeral scene. In the museum scene, Sir takes the kids on a field trip and because of their improved discipline.
During the museum scene, the title song plays, while the students discover art.
The funeral scene is very special...Seales is the only black student and his mother dies. The students take up a collection to get flowers but Sir overhears them say they will have the flowers "sent around" - he asks why they don't take the flowers themselves and Pegg states it isn't proper, what with him being colored and all. Sir is disappointed.
But later, when Sir shows up - there all the kids are, dressed up and with the flowers. Makes me choke up every time.
Near the end of the movie, the students have a dance, with lots of "groovy" music and they even manage to get Sir to dance. They give him a gift, sing a song for him and he really gets choked up and can't even thank them entirely so he leaves the party and goes back to the classroom.
He has received an acceptance letter for an engineering job and has decided to take it until....students he will have next year come in and he sees the are just like his other students were at the beginning of the year. What will he do ?
I have seen this movie so many times, I have lost count. If you have never seen it, WATCH IT !!! Yes, it is dated but that is part of its charm.
But...I digress.
I have decided to post about some of my favorite movies. The ones I have seen over and over and over again and can sit down and watch it today as if I have never watched it before.
Many of these movies include Tom Cruise :)
But today's feature is on my all-time favorite movie. This is the first "grown up" movie I remember seeing. I was quite young and watched it at my Grandma and Grandpa Mims house during Spring Break if I recall correctly.
It is a 1967 movie that deals with racial & social issues in an inner-city East-End London school. Mark Thackeray (played by the handsome Sidney Poitier) is a black, unemployed, single engineer who takes the job as a teacher since it is the only job he can find at the time. He teaches a senior class of students who don't come from the best homes and tend to be the troubled kids. They give him a rough time and he has a difficult time teaching them until he realizes they need to learn LIFE lessons more than they need to learn BOOK lessons - he tosses the books, teaches them how to cook, groom, look for jobs, take care of themselves, have respect for themselves and helps them become proper ladies and gents.
Mr. Thackeray insisted the students called him Mr
And here is the movie poster:
Notice...there is not a "RATING" - but I love how it says "Not Suitable for Children" The MPAA rating system didn't start until November 1968, which was almost a year and a half after "To Sir, With Love" was released (June 14, 1967). If you were to rank it today, it would probably be rated PG-13.
There are so many reasons why I love this movie. Besides being the first "grown up" movie I remember seeing, I loved the music !! Oh my goodness - that great music from the late 1960s (I have the soundtrack by the way - on LP). I love the clothing, I love the accents, I love the scenery, I love the characters and I love the story. This is about as perfect as a movie can be - has all the elements that adore !!
There are several students but I immediately had a HUGE crush on Bert Denham (Christian Roberts). I didn't realize until after my 10th viewing or so that his first name was Bert - since they always refer to him as "Denham". He was the bad boy of the group and stirred up most of the trouble. I use to always say if I ever had a son, I would name him Denham and I would have too!
While she was female, I can't say I had a "crush" on her but I wanted to be like Pamela (Judy Geeson) - she was so glamorous to me. Her character had a bit of a crush on Sir. I loved her pink lipstick (which you can't see in this B & W photo) but trust me, it is there. Don't you love her crochet dress too??
See ??
Another major character was Pegg (sometimes referred to as "Babs"). She is very important because she is played by Lulu, and she sings the title song. I liked her red hair and sassy modern cut - it set her apart (it looks kind of brown in this photo though).
During the museum scene, the title song plays, while the students discover art.
The funeral scene is very special...Seales is the only black student and his mother dies. The students take up a collection to get flowers but Sir overhears them say they will have the flowers "sent around" - he asks why they don't take the flowers themselves and Pegg states it isn't proper, what with him being colored and all. Sir is disappointed.
But later, when Sir shows up - there all the kids are, dressed up and with the flowers. Makes me choke up every time.
Near the end of the movie, the students have a dance, with lots of "groovy" music and they even manage to get Sir to dance. They give him a gift, sing a song for him and he really gets choked up and can't even thank them entirely so he leaves the party and goes back to the classroom.
He has received an acceptance letter for an engineering job and has decided to take it until....students he will have next year come in and he sees the are just like his other students were at the beginning of the year. What will he do ?
I have seen this movie so many times, I have lost count. If you have never seen it, WATCH IT !!! Yes, it is dated but that is part of its charm.
Friday, May 16, 2014
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Australian Slang
For the past few months, I have been watching McLoud's Daughters on Netflix. I don't have a lot of free viewing time but I watch it mostly on the weekends when I am working and such. It is a great show - a drama that aired in Australia from 2001 - 2008. It is about a ranch, Drover's Run and their neighbors that own the ranch Kilarney. This series was when TV series were REAL TV series. There were 8 seasons and each season had about 32 one-hour episodes so that is approx 250 hours of shows (which is why you can see that I have been watching for months). At any rate.....
While watching the show, I have picked up some Australian terms and slang.
"Brumby" - a wild horse.
"I have been working hard all day training that brumby so I can sell it."
"Chook" - a chicken
"Look over there, a chook got out of its pen and is chasing that brumby"
"Cuppa" - a cup of hot tea
"I finally captured that chook and put it in the pen, let's sit down and chat over a cuppa"
"No Worries" - don't worry about it. It wasn't a problem
"Thank you for the cuppa, it was just what I needed"
"No worries"
"Petrol" - gasoline; fuel
"I'm running late because the ute was almost out of petrol"
"Reckon" - this word is used a lot in the southern United States too but much more in Australia. It is generally asked as a question.
"I think we need to bring the horses in, looks like rain."
"Reckon?" (meaning - hum...do you think so?)
It can also be used as a replacement for "think" (which is how we mostly use it in Georgia).
"I reckon I will bring the horses in before it rains"
"I reckon I will help you"
"Snap" - a sausage - like a hot dog.
"Does anyone want another snap before the barbie is over?" (Barbie of course is a barbeque)
"Stuff / Stuffed" - to mess something up.
"I forgot to bring the horses in before it started raining. I really stuffed up"
"I dropped the plate of snaps, I didn't mean to stuff up the party"
"Ute" - type of truck or utility vehicle
"Help, I need to get the horses in and my ute is stuck in the mud!"
"I'll help you but I need to fill up my ute with petrol before I can tow you out"
I am sure there are others that I am forgetting but those are the ones I can think of at the moment.
Reckon I forgot any?
Thursday, May 1, 2014
April 14 Movies
These are movies that were new (to me) that I saw in April 2014
The Heat - with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy - I heard this movie had a lot of horrible language so I avoided it for a long time, even though I really like both the leads. I finally watched it - the language was pretty bad...but the movie was pretty good, none-the-less.
Heaven is for Real - I was so excited when I heard they were turning this book into a movie - they really did a great job adapting this true story to the big screen - I truly believe this child went to Heaven. Great book and great movie.
700 Sundays - not a movie, per se, but it was a one-man Broadway show that aired on HBO (which was also a book), starring and all about Billy Crystal - it was so good! He has such an interesting family - I never knew a lot of that about his family - now I know why he loves Jazz and the Yankees so much. A must see, especially if you are a fan of his.
The Heat - with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy - I heard this movie had a lot of horrible language so I avoided it for a long time, even though I really like both the leads. I finally watched it - the language was pretty bad...but the movie was pretty good, none-the-less.
Heaven is for Real - I was so excited when I heard they were turning this book into a movie - they really did a great job adapting this true story to the big screen - I truly believe this child went to Heaven. Great book and great movie.
700 Sundays - not a movie, per se, but it was a one-man Broadway show that aired on HBO (which was also a book), starring and all about Billy Crystal - it was so good! He has such an interesting family - I never knew a lot of that about his family - now I know why he loves Jazz and the Yankees so much. A must see, especially if you are a fan of his.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Gloom...Despair...and Agony on Me!
My friend, Anita, was talking about how she felt like the Hee Haw guys. Most people I know don't even know what "Hee Haw" is anymore but we had to watch it every week - at the time, I protested (somewhat) - my dad LOVED "Hee Haw" and he only watched 2 shows and let us have the TV the whole rest of the week - "Hee Haw" was one of the shows and "60 Minutes" was the other one. Looking back, he didn't ask for much but we still rolled our eyes and thought we were treated unfair - (pretty dumb looking back at it now).
Now, I look back at "Hee Haw" with great fondness (still not a fan of "60 Minutes" though). It was actually pretty funny - in a corny kind of way.
The hosts were Buck Owens and Roy Clark and they were both really good singers. Buck Owens had a very cool and memorable guitar. Buck was "a-pickin" and Roy was "a-grinnin"
Buck Owens gave that guitar to Trace Adkins, and he proudly kept it in his family room. However, it was sadly destroyed in a house fire around 2011.
What was not to love about Hee Haw? They had a lot of memorable characters and sketches. Remember The Culhanes of Cornfield County?
That is Junior Samples there with the yellow trucker hat. People thought that he was really putting on an act but he wasn't - Junior lived close to us for a while, in Cumming, Georgia and he was really like that in real life - just a plain, simple guy with a quirky sense of humor. One of his most popular sketches was as a used car salesman - where he would kick tires and tell people to call BR-549.
Of course who could forget cute Cathy Baker...she was America's sweetheart.
I often wondered if she dated either of the Hagar Twins, even though they were a little bit older than her (about 6 years old). Even though they are identical twins, I thought John (below and on the right side of the photo) was cuter. Sadly, Jim collapsed (I think it was a heart attack but not sure if the cause of death was ever released) and passed away in 2008. In ill health and depressed after Jim's death, John followed him and died in his sleep just 8 months later. So sad.
Hee Haw was so popular - they had a lot of merchandising, including lunch boxes, coloring books and even overalls. I know because my cousins had a pair (this is NOT my cousin). I take it from the photo they were reversible. How cute!
Of course I remember the Gloom..Dispair...and Agony on me skit. The one my friend, Anita mentioned that represented her life at the moment...They would lip sync the song (not very well mind you - which was part of the joke) and tell sad but funny stories - usually about their woman leaving them. Here is the song but the stories were cut out of the video.
I also fondly recall the men-folk also laying about lazily and telling stories - also which was some kind of funny story.
Now, let's not forget the ladies of Hee Haw - often known as the Hee Haw Honeys. I couldn't find the clip I wanted - the Cornfield Girls would sing this song and were usually hanging up laundry on the line when they sang it but all I could find was this clip of them singing the song with Mel Tillis.
Of course a Hee-Haw episode was never complete without asking....
HEY GRANDPA - WHAT'S FOR SUPPER?
YUM - YUM !!!
Of course this blog post could go on forever, so I will just end it with a happy little diddy.
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