July 28, 2016

Obama: 4 More Years!

                                                                                                          Photo: Bonni Brodnick


"President Obama will go down in history with Abraham Lincoln as one of the presidents best able to articulate a nation's anguish as well as its promise. I don't think we'll see his equal for a while," writes my longtime friend, Jack Ewing, European Economics Correspondent for the International New York Times.

Here is part of Obama's speech at the DNC convention in Philadelphia. He is brilliant and should be knighted for his leadership and integrity.

"See, my grandparents, they came from the heartland. Their ancestors began settling there about 200 years ago. I don't know if they had their birth certificates, but they were there.
They were Scotch-Irish mostly, farmers, teachers, ranch hands, pharmacists, oil rig workers. Hardy, small-town folks. Some were Democrats, but a lot of them, maybe even most of them were Republicans, the party of Lincoln. And my grandparents explained that folks in these parts, they didn't like show-offs, they didn't admire braggarts or bullies.
They didn't respect mean-spiritedness or folks who were always looking for shortcuts in life. Instead, they valued traits like honesty and hard work, kindness, courtesy, humility, responsibility; helping each other out. That's what they believed in. True things, things that last, the things we try to teach our kids.
And what my grandparents understood was that these values weren't limited to Kansas. They weren't limited to small towns. These values could travel to Hawaii.
They could travel even the other side of the world, where my mother would end up working to help poor women get a better life trying to apply those values. My grandparents knew these values weren't reserved for one race; they could be passed down to a half- Kenyan grandson, or a half-Asian granddaughter; in fact, they were the same values Michelle's parents, the descendants of slaves, taught their own kids living in a bungalow on the south side of Chicago.
They knew these values were exactly what drew immigrants here, and they believed that the children of those immigrants were just as American as their own, whether they wore a cowboy hat or a yarmulke, a baseball cap or a hijab.
America has changed over the years. But these values that my grandparents taught me, they haven't gone anywhere. They're as strong as ever; still cherished by people of every party, every race, every faith. They live on in each of us. What makes us American, what makes us patriots is what's in here. That's what matters."
One more quote from Vice President Joe Biden's speech:
Ladies and gentlemen ... listen to me a second without booing or cheering. His [Donald Trump's] cynicism and undoubtedly his lack of empathy and compassion can be summed up in that phrase he is most proud of making famous: "You're fired." I'm not joking. Think about that. Think about that. Think about everything you learned as a child. No matter where you were raised, how can there be pleasure in saying, "You're fired?

July 27, 2016

HuffPost: Take the leap & lap it up


It's hot. It's humid. Stop the bitchin' and get in the swim! Whether mimicking Esther Williams in the aquamusical "Million Dollar Mermaid," or diving in just to lap it up, swimming pools are the elixir on a 94-degree day. 


July 25, 2016

Tranquil Float

Two of my good friends just finished Pacific Cup 2016, sailing high and confusing seas from San Francisco to Kaneohe, Oahu. Their crossing was anything but the calm of this tranquil clip.

July 17, 2016

"Ghostbusters" Theme Song: "Yes" to #1, "Meh" to #2

Today's temperature soared to 90. What cooler idea than to go to the movies in the late-afternoon after broiling poolside?
"Ghostbusters" was funny enough (thanks especially to Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Chris Hemsworth [who is hilarious] And no, I didn't leave out Kate McKinnon [who plays the same snark and expression in most everything she does. In "Ghostbusters" she is exactly like the Justin Bieber impersonation she does on SNL. Leslie Jones should have been cast as the scientist.]) I loved the cameos of original "Ghostbusters" Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Ernie Hudson and Sigourney Weaver. The bust and quick-frame tribute to the brilliant Harold Ramis was a great Hitchcockian twist.

The new theme song is nowhere near as bitchin' as the original "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr. When I saw the movie in 1984, the house rocked as credits rolled.

Click here for the original mix. When they ask, "Who ya gonna call?" you won't be able to constrain yourself from screaming back at the screen, "GHOSTBUSTERS!" (The song is so good, in fact, that it was nominated at the 57th Academy Awards for Best Original Song, but alas, lost to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You.")

And then there's the new mix to this summer's release. Click here.
I'm thinking, "Is the movie over? Can we go now?"

Apart from the anticipation of a lacking-in-spirit theme song, grab a sweater. Get out from the heat. Go sit in a freezing movie theater and welcome the shiver. "Ghostbusters" redux may make you long for the original, but these four chicks (and Hemsworth) will keep you smiling ... until the theme tries to fire up at the end. By then, though, you're on your way out. Keep walking.









July 16, 2016

Here's my rant in Huffington Post: "Concert Etiquette: Get With the Program"


Outdoor concerts abound this time of year. Time to bone up on the do's and don'ts of concert etiquette and get with the program. Don't be the nudnik in the next row.

Click here for my rant on the topic in Huffington Post.

July 12, 2016

Letters from Jackie, Bert and Ernie, & Princess Diana's Lady-in-Waiting


I am fond of letter writing. I am even fonder of the responses. I have a collection of letters (to ME!) from Princess Diana's Lady-in-Waiting Sarah Campden, Elizabeth Taylor, Jimmy Stewart, Robert Goulet ... and more.

When my son was a few years old, I wrote fan letters to his favorite television idols. (I must have done it while he was napping.) Here are two treasures from "The Brodnick Family Archives:"



My early inspiration and love for letter-writing was inspired by my father in 1960 when he wrote to the First Lady. A beautifully written thank you note came back. I love the closing, the spacing, the elegance of the signature. (Unfortunately, our housekeeper dripped coffee on the letter. Ah-hemm.)
 

My mother, too, is renowned for her notes. She's got boxes and boxes of personalized letterhead, note and gift cards. One of her first gifts to my son was stationery with sailboats floating across the top blue banner. Although I wrote his thank you notes (in an upside-down scrawl so that it looked like he wrote them), my son learned early the importance of personal communication.

In an effort to support the U.S. Postal Service, buy stamps and write letters. Not emails. For if Bert and Ernie, Mr. Rogers, and Mrs. Kennedy had simply sent me emails, I wouldn't be sharing them with you today.

When you've got a genuine sentiment to communicate, like
                          "You make each day a special day by just your being you."
                                                                                         ~Mr. Rogers


. . . grab a piece of paper and a pen. Get your thoughts together. Write it. Mail it and delight in the possible response you might be lucky enough to receive. You might also learn something you didn't know about your new penpal. 

Like who knew Bert and Ernie could even type?



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