Flirting With Forty...Fifty...Sixty

Flirting with Forty… Fifty… Sixty

Does age have a number? In the strictest sense, of course, but in a real sense it is a construct of society. We men have placed a value to the hours, days and weeks by which we mark our time. In a human sense it is nothing more than the changes that occur both biologically and emotionally to each of us as we walk through our lives.

The molding of our bodies and faces changes over time. This indicator is the outright manifestation, yes. If time is meant to provide a learning ground---a stage on which to gain wisdom, then why do we fight the physical signs of the passage of such? If our growth as human beings is contingent upon experience, then shouldn’t wrinkles and lines be sexy?

Ah, you say. Smooth as porcelain skin is true beauty. A finely toned body and mind set strong against a backdrop of timeless nature—that’s desirability.

Can you really have it both ways?

There is someone I love who is turning forty in a few day. He’s in an industry that is very unforgiving of age. (Aren’t we all?) He wonders how many more years it will be before he is viewed as a has-been washed up by the manifestations of the passage of time.

To him and all the others that have that twinge of regret gnawing at the back of their minds— another year closer to that line---the one that separates the desired from the old---I say reflect. Not on the increasing difficulty in maintaining youth. Even if each year does take more work to keep a trim waistline and spring in one’s step, it is a challenge well worth the effort because it allows you to…

Reflect upon the places and people your time has allowed you to meet, learn about and appreciate. It is the rare individual that is capable of giving back legacy until he has been steeped in challenge, sorrow and joy. There is nothing guaranteed but change. It is in this fact that there is hope and joy. Leave to youth the window dressing. It is those of us who have seen the passage of one generation to the next that have the internal resources to deal with anything life throws at us. We are the glue that holds the world of human concerns together. We are also the lens through which the richness and diversity of the world can be viewed. We have the scars. If they have healed in a way to make us stronger, if we have chosen the path of growth and maturity, then we are the individuals upon which lies the mantel of the future. To us, those who come after look for the meaning of life. Even if we have not got the answer to that question as of yet, it is the way we walk that shows the youth how it is supposed to look.

I can’t count the number of forty year olds that look thirty---at least the world’s definition of thirty from generations past. Now that people live into their nineties and past the century mark with increasing frequency middle age does not commence in a biological sense until fifty for many. It is in the paradigm through which we view the world that our true age is measured. These middle years are those in which we are blessed to have the physical dynamism to meet any challenge and the experience to do it well. We are the frame upon which future generations shall build. We are the here and now---what mankind has produced, nurtured and grown representative of the best the planet has to offer. We are the decision makers, the teachers, and the creators of what it is to be human. We have at our fingertips more information than any past generation could ever have dreamed and yet we focus on the plasticity of youth with inordinate fervor.

It is with great wit and character that we of an age press onward. The creases at the corner of our eyes reflects not just time, but the number of times we have smiled and cried, squinted into the brightness of a new day and strained to make sense of situations that seem beyond explanation.

This is the time. This is the place to make our mark on the world. We are not just the actors, but have grown into the maturity of being producers/directors of the future. All those years spent looking to those more knowledgeable and experienced than we are behind and we are the strength upon which the future is built.

.. And there is nothing sexier than that.

Of Scots and Scotland

Many of you know that I travelled to the Scottish Isle of Skye last spring to be immersed in the setting of my upcoming work. For those who may never have the priveledge, I thought I'd share a scene from Isles Of The Sea. For those who know a Scot, wonder no more at the connection he has to this place....

Frosted heather painted with an icy brush, the earth crunching softly beneath trodden boot. The sun had only been up half an hour and already they were scaling the steep incline of the northernmost slope.

“It’ll take us a further couple hours at this rate.” Graeme’s breath steamed from his mouth, cheek turned over his shoulder towards her.

“Don’t slow down on my account,” Tess replied.

“No worries.” He scrambled up a slippery embankment sending a small avalanche of pebbles down the hillside.

Tess launched her body up the slope in challenged, surpassing him by a good ten feet. Extending a hand to him she whispered, “No worries,” then jumbled on ahead, heart pounding in her ears as she fought to make way toward a narrow landing. Hoisting her body ever upward, she moved as though fleeing the boogeyman.

“Lord, Tess, if you fall--”

“Afraid I’m gonna beat you?” With that she pressed ever further, taking the next incline in five valiant strides only to be knocked to the ground by a panting Scotsman with an ax to grind.

“You best know it’s not safe to tease one of MacLeod blood.” He threw his arms about her tickling her midsection.

“Stop,” she laughed helplessly. Sending an elbow into his side.

He rolled off her sputtering for air.

“No fair using self defense techniques on a friend.”

“I thought we were mortal enemies.” She stumbled to her feet and ran across the grass plain, now thawing under the ministrations of a breakthrough sun.

Up a short rise and she came upon a squat little house the likes of which she’d seen only in photographs. Thatched roof tumbling over walls that appeared to discount the height they would require to sustain a normal sized individual, whitewash long since gone, the stone dwelling looked age old.

Tess stood, hands on hip, trying to catch her breath.

“It’s a wee crofter’s hut.” His voice was at her shoulder but she didn’t turn. “Auntie said to expect to find one taking the steep route.”

“Oh, so you admit to setting out to torture me?”

“You said you wanted to get here in good time and to actually find something.”

The mystical quality of the cottage set its spell. “Your Aunt Elsa thought this would be the place?”

“She did indeed. Seems she knew the gentleman who once occupied this dwelling. Had to have been back in the twenties as she said she was quite young at the time but distinctly remembers there being a herdsman that lived the isolate life up here.”

“And how does that pertain to finding a clue to your family’s past?” She allowed her gaze to lift now, scanning the slope. Woolen gray of cloud cover was pierced through a crack, a fanning of rays spearing downwards, the picture of God in his heaven.

“Lord this is beautiful.” All thought of their mission fleeing her conscience, she gasped.

“It is indeed.” The warmth of his body now radiated at her back. “And I never tire of it.”

“I can see why.” A chain of three sheep silhouetted against the horizon appeared as a paper cutout in motion, scurrying along the ridge beyond. Their right plump bodies sported thick fleece for the coming winter, legs a stubby curiosity looking none too sturdy under the burden.

“Do you come here often?”

“Not since I was a lad….sixteen perhaps.” His hands now at her shoulders, he turned her to face in the direction they had just climbed.

The breadth of his shoulders obscured the view for a moment. He shifted out of the way. A thousand feet below lay a carpet of green as far as the eye could see, broken only by Loch’s crystalline splendor winking in the sun. A steady breeze pressed past her, on it carried the fresh scrubbed scent of heather and loam, a pungent undertone of some distant fire burning in the hearth of a cottage unseen.

She took a few steps forward as though drawn by a magnet. If she’d dreamed of a vista in the most ardent scenario of childhood, what lay before her far surpassed. Lone far-flung square of white, topped with slate roof nestled in a blanket of greens so soft, not even a mare’s nose could compare. If she should reach out and touch it, the finest velvet would pale. The sky painted brush strokes of gray shades from charcoal to dove; the blue of their backdrop water colored with purples and pinks.

Her lungs filled with the crisp splendor of earth and sea. “How do you do it, Graeme?”

“Do what, darlin’?”

“Live in such a place without it killing you? If I looked upon the likes of that everyday I’d fear the rapture was at hand.”

He chuckled. “You sound like a Scot. We of this land never take it for granted, nor can we thrive long apart from it without it calling us back. Like an addict in need of his drug, we Scots must return to the homeland or suffer the mediocrity most poor bastard do when industrial society has separate them from their true roots.”

She slipped her hand into his. “That sounds like the mantra of a Native American.”

“We are of a kind.”

“And do you ever wish to live elsewhere?” She looked into his eyes as he gazed over the landscape before them.

“Not in this lifetime.” He lowered his eyes to connect with hers.

His eyes were filled with power, not that of men and their politics but of love of land, of being in just the right place and time as integral a part of the landscape as loch or gorse. The usual vitality of the man was amplified as though his seaside dwelling-self were a dry sponge sturdy and tough in resistance to the rigors of everyday life, but this Highlander self now filled with the visceral well each moment of such panorama provides.

They both looked out over the landscape in silence; the energy between them resonant with the hum of earth and sky and sea.

Yes...It Was Fun!!

As many have asked... The booksigning at Barnes and Noble in the San Fernado Valley (Encino) on Sunday was well received and attended. Many thanks are due to the organizers, participants and readers. If you've never been to one, you really ought. It's a great place to meet some pretty wonderful people---those who love books, just like you.

Huge Multi Author Event- Sunday Oct. 18th in Los Angeles

Fifteen authors (to include CHRISTINE and a possible special celebrity guest) will gather at the Encino Barnes & Noble book store for the annual Los Angeles Romance Authors book fair. Immediately following the regular meeting, which runs from 10:00am to 12:00 noon, these authors will sign their newest works for you. This is a fantastic opportunity to do some early Holiday shopping and to have fun while you're at it! Edible treats will help hold off the lunch time hungries 'til 2:00pm. This event is free to attend, but bring cash, checkbook or credit card as you will certainly want to acquire several of these published works. See you there!


10:00 am - Coffee and Chat begins
10:30 until noon - General Meeting


Noon- 2p.m. MULTI-AUTHOR BOOKSIGNING

The location is as follows:
Barnes and Noble Booksellers
16461 Ventura Boulevard
Encino, CA 91436


Directions

From the east: Take the 101 Freeway North to the Hayvenhurst Ave. exit. Make a left onto Hayvenhurst Ave. Proceed to Ventura Blvd. Barnes & Noble is on the northeast corner of Hayvenhurst Ave and Ventura Blvd.
From the west: Take the 101 Freeway south to the Balboa Blvd. exit. Turn right on Balboa Blvd. Proceed to Ventura Blvd. Make a left onto Ventura Blvd. and go to Hayvenhurst Ave. Barnes & Noble is on the northeast corner of Hayvenhurst Ave and Ventura Blvd.

Law Abiding Citizen Premieres in L.A.

The blinding lights of Hollywood focused on Gerard Butler and Jamie Fox tonight as F Gary Gray's newest directorial effort premiered at Grauman's Theater.

Fans packed Hollywood Boulevard six deep waiting for a chance to get a glimpse of some of the magic surrounding this big opening.





Law Abiding Citizen will fill screens nationwide on Friday October 16th. The Thriller is sure to keep even the hard core genre jaded glued to their seats as Gerard Butler's new production company, Evil Twins launches its first project. The storyline is enough to send a chill down anyone's spine definitely not caused by the autumn wind.



Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) is a regular guy and family man. When his wife and daughter are brutally murdered during a home invasion, Clyde turns into something no one dare think possible. What does a man who has lost everything have to lose?

Nick Rice (Jamie Fox) is the hotshot Philadelphia prosecutor who is assigned the case of the home invasion murders. Plea bargining resulting in a light sentence for the one of the murderers births a crimanl mastermind. Ten years later, Clyde admits to the murder of his family's murderer issuing the warning: either fix the flawed justice system or key players in the trail of his family's killers will die. Orchestrated from his jail cell, Clyde sees to the assisinations that virtually control the city in his rein of terror. Nick finds himself in a desperate race against time facing a deadly adversary that seems always one step ahead.

Indie Film Premiere

What is Thor, the mythical Norse God of lightning doing in a Spielbergian suburban neighbourhood? Why spending his last day on earth pissed off that no one has noticed all he’s done to save the world. THOR AT THE BUS STOP, the directorial feature film debut of brother team Jerry and Mike Thompson had its premiere at the Brendan Theater in Las Vegas Friday night. The brothers have written and directed over a dozen multi-award winning short films together, this one being a compilation of two and an effort of their production company Light Forge Studios.


Jerry Thompson
The storyline is an interweaving of various day-in-the life scenarios catalyzed by the title character, whose angst over being the unsung savior of the world, sets off a string of random lightning strikes. Vignettes by comedian/magician Teller of Penn and Teller add a dash of wry humor (http://www.pennandteller.com/). If you’ve never heard him speak…here’s your chance.

THOR is packed with screwball characters and themes about goodness, apathy in the modern world and the power of cool. Subtle comedic antics are the superglue that holds this camp pop culture flick together. The brand of silly comedy will appeal to those who like SNL humor. This directing team is one to watch as they grow.

Mike and Jerry Thompson and non-directing brother Scott (actor in the film)
Produced by veteran internationally recognized feature film and television writer/director David Schmoeller, this newest offering is yet another addition to his impressive list of work. Schmoeller is currently an Associate Professor of film production at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and runs the Film Department’s UNLV Short Film Archive.

Coming to DVD October 31^st, an amusing look at a side of Vegas seldom seen can be pre-ordered through the film’s website http://thoratthebusstop.com

http://thoratthebusstop.com/products-page/items-for-sale/thor-at-the-bus-stop-full-length-dvd/

Gamer Explodes On Screens Nationwide

A modern day gladiator, the principal heroic character in the newly released Gamer is one of many participants controlled by other humans who play to experience their deepest fantasies fulfilled. One ruthless megalomaniac controls a new and dangerous technology allowing the rich to experience the most violent of games vicariously through the blood of death row inmates. Nanotechnology has allowed a reclusive billionaire to create this frightening world, all played out in front of a global audience.

The motivation behind the central “slayer”, Kable is strong, if not cliché. He wishes to regain his identity, rejoin his wife and child and ultimately save the world from this evil twist of technology and its number one pundit. The fast cut frenetic film making ramps up the tension as well as the audience blood pressure. Although this technique was used brilliantly in the 2006 film Crank (also directed and written by Neveldine and Taylor) it becomes a bit exhausting, taking up a good portion of the one hour four-five minutes. The element of humor so pervasive in the two Crank films is sadly missing form Gamer, thus binding it to an overfilled genre of action films relying on violence, profanity and explosions to keep the viewers riveted. Still one of the better permutations, Gamer non the less could have risen above had it taken a fresher approach.

The bright spot of the film, Gerard Butler as Kable, added layers to what could have been a very flat character indeed. While all the other players were predictably one dimensional, each portraying singularly minded driven individuals; Mr. Butler brought humanity to his role. He has a talent for conveying a well of emotion through his eyes as has been his strength in previous work. A man of few words, Kable moves through the insane world in which he is forced to participate with intelligence and pro-activity. More powerful than all the profane speeches given by others, Butler transmits an intensity and strength lacking in some of the more cookie cutter characters.

Moments of brilliance, including the way Kable figures to steal a disabled vehicle and a near Michael Jackson-esque dance scene pepper Gamer providing just enough spice to make this film stand out.