A Philosophical Comment About Critical Thinking, Political Candidates, Entertainment, Free Speech and Narrative Vividness by Gary S. Smolker

“The more critical reason dominates, the more impoverished life becomes….Overvalued reason has this in common with political absolutism: under its dominion, the individual is pauperized.” – Carl Gustav Jung

Donald Trump and Ben Carson are characters.

Characters are entertaining.

People love to be entertained.

By the way, Lyndon Johnson had a way with words when it came to summing up people he distrusted, including a Kennedy aide (“He wouldn’t know how to pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were printed on the heel.”)

J. Edgar Hoover also had a way with words (“I’d rather have him inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in.”)

Language is a weapon.

People should be mindful of where to aim it and when to fire.

Free Speech is the bedrock of democracy.

Currently, the Republican Presidential Primary campaigns and debates are the best show on television.

Copyright © 2015 Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved

THE SOUND OF SILENCE IN THE EASTERN SIERRA – Nature Does Not Have to Make A Noise to Be Seen, Heard or Felt by Gary Smolker

    

The Sound of Silence

You can feel and see and hear “silence” by looking at the absolute stillness in these pictures.

You can see and feel and hear the “absolute” stillness of the air and sky above the pond and see and feel and hear the absolute stillness of the water in a pond in the three pictures above.

Each of the above pictures is a photograph of the reflections in a still pond of the sky and clouds and mountain above the pond.

Each one of those four pictures was taken by me while I was in Mono County, California during a long weekend that began late in the afternoon on October 16, 2015, when I flew out of LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) to the Mammoth/Yosemite Airport in the Eastern Sierra.

Each photograph shows the reflections I observed as I walked along land adjacent to one side of a pond.

Each of those four pictures was taken before dawn.

There was no movement in the air.

There was no movement of the the water or in the water.

The still pond water acted as a mirror — reflecting the clouds in the sky above the pond, flora (bushes, shrubs, trees, etc.) next to the pond and a mountain range located far away from the pond.

Grass and part of a plant growing in front of the pond and the top of a rock in the pond is shown in the photograph below.

The photograph below shows the bushes, trees and other plants growing on the far side of the pond, as well as the bottom of a mountain range reflected in the pond.

Parts of a mountain and of a mountain range is shown in each of those four photographs.

 

Someone asked me if the above picture was taken by me while I was looking out the mouth of a cave.

Another Pitch of The Sound of Silence is Heard Felt and Seen in the Photographs Below

The next set of photographs were taken by me in the Town of Mammoth Lake, in the Eastern Sierra, on October 19, 2015.

  

Another Sound, Another Timber of the Sound of Silence is Felt, Seen and Heard in the Following Photographs

Below is a photograph taken by me on October 19, 2015 from a bridge over looking a lake in the Town of Mammoth Lakes, California, in the Eastern Sierra.

Below is a photograph of the same lake taken from a different place on the same bridge.

Below is a photograph of a doe, taken by me on Monday, October 19, 2015.

I stopped to photograph that doe, when I saw that doe from an SUV I was riding in.

The doe was standing on the path I was driving on.

The doe is standing near a growth of woods just outside the commercialized part of the Town of Mammoth Lakes.

 

  Daydreaming Aside A Slowly Flowing Creek

The poetic beauty of the brilliant groves of trees lining the banks of the slowly flowing waters in creeks I walked by kept me in a constant hypnotic state of wonderment.

Above and below are photographs of groves of trees which line many of the flowing creeks in Mono County, California.

I took last each of those photographs last weekend.

I was so far away from “civilization” when I took those photographs that even the sound – if any – of water flowing in those those creeks was inaudible to me.

 

Think Poetic Thoughts

I think it is impossible not to think poetic thoughts while you are in the environment shown in the three pictures below.

I took each of those three pictures as I was walking along a stream early in the morning on Saturday, October 17, 2015.

A Beaver Pond

Below are two photographs I took of a Beaver Pond on Saturday, October 17, 2015.

The Beaver Pond is to the right.

The first photograph below shows one of two dams beavers built in a slowly flowing stream to form a pond for them to use in that stream.

The second photograph (below) shows a dam at the top of the pond created by beavers and also shows the dam at the bottom of the pond built by beavers.

 

A Few Minutes Away from the Lake Mammoth/Yosemite Airport

I took the above photograph at McGee Creek, which is a few miles from the Mammoth Lakes/Yosemite Airport.

I immediately drove to McGee Creek after I arrived at Mammoth Lakes/Yosemite Airport.

The above photograph was taken by me in the early evening on Friday, October 16, 2015.

McGee Creek is lined with brilliant aspen groves and surrounded by massive peaks.

All the photographs in this post were taken by me with the camera in my smart phone, which is an iPhone.

Leaves Changing From Green to Other  Colors Make No Audible Noise

For two weeks during the year, in October each year, leaves on trees in the Eastern Sierra change color without making a sound.

 

Nature Doesn’t Have to Make Noise to Be Heard

The picture below was taken on October 19, 2015 when I stopped on a road I was on while going to the Mammoth Lakes/Yosemite Airport from the Town of Mammoth Lakes.

The bottom two pictures above were taken at Mono Lake, California, in the Eastern Sierra last weekend.

Tufa is the name of a rock that grows under the salty water of Mono Lake.

Tufa is created when fresh water from the many underground springs which lay under Mono Lake come up from under Mono Lake and hit the salty lake water.

That entire Tufa rock formation shown in the above photo was under the Mono Lake until the elevation of the lake dropped.

Over the past few years the water level in Mono Lake has receded dramatically.

Mono Lake is mired in drought.

Four dry years have depressed Mono Lake five feet in elevation and the lake is expected to lose around two feet this year.

The retreating lake (declining lake level) has exposed Tufa shoals, one of which is pictured above.

Expansive views from almost any vantage point in the Mono Basin tell a stark and undeniable story of four consecutive years of drought, above average temperatures, and the combined effects on Mono Lake.

Honesty

 

 

 

While hiking in the natural landscape of the Eastern Sierra, last weekend, I saw spectacular arrays of golden, crimson and orange aspen and cottonwood groves as well as free standing pine trees.

The above photographs say honestly and sincerely, without adornment, that the beauty of nature doesn’t have to make noise to be seen, felt or heard.

A Sense of Humor

The Eastern Sierra, especially in the area around June Lake, is a big fishing area.

The people in the areas around the fishing lakes are friendly and have a great sense of humor, which is expressed in signs sold in local stores.

Below are photographs taken by me of some of those signs.

 

 

 

Regarding Nature

“There is pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is rapture in the lonely shore,

There is society where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and music in its roar:

I love not man the less, but Nature more.”

The photographs below were taken by me several months ago, in March, 2015, along the shore of the Pacific Ocean in Marin County, California.

The poem quoted above and the poem quoted below was written by Lord Byron.

“She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes:

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.”

Copyright © Gary S. Smolker 2015, All Rights Reserved

A Commentary on the Political Campaigns of Donald Trump and Ben Carson, An Analysis of Why Donald Trump’s Political Campaign Has Been So Successful and Ben Carson’s Campaign Is Becoming More Successful, Modest “Proposed Common Sense Gun Control Legislation”, A Movie Review of “Our Brand Is Crisis” and A Comment on Narrative Vividness and Free Speech – by Gary Smolker

In the United States, political campaigns for elective office are about fear.

Political candidates for elective office tell the electorate they will protect the electorate from what they fear most.

Successful politicians define what people are most afraid of, sympathize with them about what they are most afraid about, and tell everyone they understand their problems, they have a solution to prevent what people are most afraid of happening and they will implement that solution.

That is why the “strongest candidate” gets elected.

There are two other factors in politics: love of underdogs and love of rebels with a cause.

The “right” rebel and underdog with a cause and charisma can and will go far in politics in the United States.

An Analysis of Why Donald Trump’s Political Campaign Has Been So Successful

Donald Trump’s political campaign has been successful because:

1. Donald Trump has made himself known as the bold man who takes everything to the next level.
2. Donald Trump promotes the image that he understands power, he is a super-shark who will keep the other sharks away.
3. Donald Trump promotes that image by telling everyone that what he has learned from real world experience gives him a unique businessman’s brass-tacks-real-world understanding of people.
4. He speaks to other people as equals and as partners with self-confidence.
5. He has no off-switch.
6. Everyone can see that he loves being different and making a difference.
7. Everyone can see he has a gleefully pugnacious style.
8. Everyone can see that he has no stomach or patience to play by any rules but his own.
9. He is overbearingly maniacal about selling himself.

My answer to pundit critics and political analysts who say Trump’s comments, speeches and proposals are absurd is: Who cares? Most people prefer wrong and strong to weak and right.

Trump is not trying to win a spelling bee.

Trump is not trying to appeal to a tribe of overly toilet trained fusspots.

Trump refuses to be politically correct and tells everyone he is proud of refusing to be politically correct.

Trump is not trying to win the approval of fussy overly toilet trained political analysts, newscasters, reporters, thin-skinned people or intellectuals.

Trump claims he will not change who he is to win an election or change who he is if he wins the election.

Trump’s campaign is about Trump.

Trump’s campaign is about the fact that Trump is a different kind of candidate.

People like that and people believe him.

However, Donald Trump has two Achilles Heels – (1) Donald Trump was born very rich and is a lifetime member of the “rich man’s club”; (2) What Donald Trump says doesn’t make sense to “thinking people.”

Donald Trump is not seen as someone who rose above the obstacles in everyday life nor does he claim to have done so.

 

Common Sense Gun Control Legislation proposed by Gary S. Smolker

Safety is a big issue in the present political campaign of every candidate from “gun control” to “abortion.”

Below is a modest proposal by me for how to handle the issue of gun control:

Everyone over the age of 18 may purchase a gun and have a gun carry permit provided:

1. They pass a background check
2. They pass a written test
3. They pass a shooting range test
4. They carry a specified amount of liability insurance
5. They are legally liable for damages caused by use of their firearm and/or any firearm they use subject to the right of self-defense and a good-Samaritan exception.
6. Gun permits must be renewed and a gun permit license fee paid yearly.
7. Getting a gun permit should be like getting a license to drive a motor vehicle.

By the way, in the State of California: driving on public roadways is not a right – it is a privilege granted by the state.  A driver’s license shows that you have been given permission to drive by the state.

You must have your driver’s license with you whenever you drive.  You must show it to any police officer who asks to see it.  You must also show it to other drivers if you are in an accident.

You may be given a driver’s license after you:

1. Have properly answered questions about the law and safety rules.
2. Show that your physical and mental condition is satisfactory.
3. Have no outstanding actions on your driving record.
4. Provide your true full name.
5. Provide your social security number
6. Provide your thumbprint or fingerprint.
7. Provide proof that you are in the Untied States legally.
8. Pay the current fee, unless you paid it within 12 months for an Instruction Permit.
9. For your first license you must successfully drive a vehicle while an examiner grades you, and have your picture taken.

Regarding the so-called “right to bear arms”, see Daniel Cheren’s comments below regarding the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

Concerning the issue of safety, consider how safe we are in the United States compared to how safe people are in other parts of the world.

Safety

The United States vs. Sweden

This afternoon (Saturday, October 10, 2015), I spoke to two young women (ages 25 and 27) who are visiting the United States who are Swedish citizens and who live full time in Sweden, while I was sipping coffee at my local Starbucks in Van Nuys, California.

They told me they feel safer being here in the United States than they feel where they live in Sweden.

They told me girls are constantly getting raped in their town.  In one case, a girl they know got raped twice in the same day:  Once by one gang.  The second time by a second gang.

They told me they are all in favor of accepting refugees from Syria but Syrian refugees continue fighting their ongoing ethnic fights in Syria once they become settled in Sweden.

*American Servicemen in Iraq and Afghanistan vs College Students in the United States

After speaking to those two women, I asked a man sitting next to me whether it was safer to go to college in the United States or to be an American Serviceman in Iraq or Afghanistan.

He then asked Siri, on his smartphone, what were the number of American casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan so far this month (in October 2015) and what were the number of American casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan last month (in September 2015).

He reported back to me:

1. American causalities in Iraq in September 2015: two.
2. American causalities in Afghanistan in September 2015: zero.
3. American causalities in Iraq so far in October 2015: zero.
4. American causalities in Afghanistan so far in October 2015: zero.

Ben Carson’s Bravado Statement Regarding We Should Be Armed and What He Would Have Done [Attack the Shooter] If He Had Been in the Recent Oregon Community College Shoot-out

I then asked what he thought of Ben Carson’s comment that if he [Ben Carson] had been there in Oregon and armed he would have done something.

The man I was speaking with at Starbucks this afternoon replied: Several people in the college during the shootout said they were armed but were afraid that if they drew their weapon to shoot the shooter, the police would shoot them.  That is why they didn’t shoot the shooter.

Comparison of Donald Trump’s and Ben Carson’s Political Hate Speech to Adolf Hitler’s Hate Speech

A lady sitting nearby interrupted our conversation by making the following comments comparing Donald Trump and Ben Carson to Adolph Hitler.

1. Trump and Carson feed people’s fear.
2. Trump and Carson are telling people that someone else is responsible for the “horrible situation” they think they are suffering.
3. The best way to get people to follow you is to make them fear something.
4. That is what Hitler did.
5. Trump and Carson are doing the same thing.

This woman said she was ex-military (U.S. Air Force), was certified as a marksman by the military and had served on the ground setting up and defending communication systems during military operations in Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan.

Her greatest fear about an armed American citizenry is that people who don’t know how to handle guns will accidentally shoot themselves or someone else.

Therefore she wants people to be required to pass a written test and field tests before they are allowed to own and/or carry guns.

Regarding hate speech: See Daniel Cheren’s comments and opinions below regarding the Muslim world, the mind set of Islam, President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas, Fatah, the Temple Mount, the “core” underlying issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and who is propagating “hate speech.”

Reframing the Abortion Issue

Ben Carson has reframed the “abortion issue.”

Ben Carson has said whether “abortion” should be legal or not legal is not a question of being pro-life or being pro-choice.

Ben Carson has said

1. A mother’s love of her child is paramount.
2. The mother is the child’s protector.
3. The child is NOT the mother’s enemy.
4. Whether your mother was raped or not raped does not determine how you turn out.
5. People who are born as a consequence of their mother being raped have turned out to be very productive people.

The Ben Carson Is A Political Naif Issue

A few days ago (on October 25, 2015) a friend of mine, who lives in North Carolina, told me the following about Ben Carson:

Daniel Henninger in the Wall Street Journal this week, called Ben Carson a naif when it comes to politics.  I suspect Henninger is wrong about that. The administration of a large hospital like John Hopkins is one of the most intensely political and competitive environments one can imagine.  It is not called “MDeity complex” for nothing!  Carson mastered it.

Whether A Muslim Can Be President of the United States

That friend also told me the following.

Carson did not say that a Muslim cannot be President of the United because all Muslims believe Allah is Supreme.  That wasn’t what Carson said.  His point was that a Muslim, or anyone else, who is willing to submit to the US Constitution could be president.  Anyone who is not willing as president to submit to the US Constitution should not be president.

Rightly or wrongly, that is one of the complaints against President Obama, that he is not willing to submit to the US Constitution.

AN ADDITIONAL STATEMENT ON THE ISSUE OF WHETHER A MUSLIM CAN BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

Under the reasoning of the blanket statement [generalization] that a Muslim cannot be president because all Muslims believe Allah is Supreme, Christian Fundamentalists couldn’t be President of the United States either.

 

The Most Quotable Film I Saw at 2015 Toronto International Film Festival

I saw the world premier of “Our Brand is Crisis”, in September 2015,  at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival (2015 TIFF); this film was the film with the most quotable comments I saw at 2015 TIFF.

The subject of this movie is lack of character of politicians, their lack of scruples and the “fact” that political candidates do deceitful things while striving to get elected.

In this movie, political consultant (“Calamity” Jane Bodine played by Sandra Bullock) is hired to bolster the prospects of an unpopular Bolivian presidential candidate (Pedro Castillo played by Joaquim De Almeida).

When I first saw this movie it had no impact on me, albeit I predicted I would be using statements made in this movie in the future:

• Once idealism is gone there is no way of getting it back.
• If voting changed anything they would make it illegal.
• There is only one wrong: Losing.
• In a political campaign: You don’t change the man to fit the narrative.  You should change the narrative to fit the man.
• If you don’t like the road you are on, pave your own.

As time went on, this movie grew on me.

As I reflected on what political strategist Calamity Jane told obnoxious Bolivian presidential candidate Pedro Castillo to do in order to win the Presidency it became clear to me that Donald Trump has masterfully done what Calamity Jane (Sandra Bullock) told presidential candidate Pedro Castillo to do.

In my opinion, Republican political candidate Ben Carson is also following the advice Calamity Jane gave Bolivian Presidential candidate Pedro Castillo by emphasizing he is a strong energetic person and a deep moralistic thinking person with experience calmly handling delicate situations with intelligent precision under extreme pressure who is not afraid to speak out and stand up for what he believes in.

The script of the movie “Crisis Is Our Brand” is an accurate portrayal of the political culture in the United States today.

Screenwriter Peter Straughan [the man who wrote the screenplay for “Our Brand Is Crisis”] was on the pulse of what was going to happen in the race to be the Republican candidate for President of the United States in 2016 when Straughan wrote the script for “Our Brand Is Crisis.”

In the film, “Our Brand Is Crisis”, Calamity Jane had her work cut out for her: Her candidate for President of Bolivia, Presidential Candidate Pedro Castillo, before she came on board, came off as being an obnoxious pugnacious elitist in a country whose population is predominantly poor and indigenous.

Calamity Jane successfully dealt with her candidate Pedro Castillo socking a prankster in the face, in front of cameras.

Calamity Jane’s Recipe for Victory: “Don’t change the man to fit the narrative.  Change the narrative to fit the man.”

Calamity Jane turned Castillo socking a prankster in the face into a political asset.

After socking the prankster in the face the theme of Costillo’s campaign became” Bolivia is in crisis, and in crisis you need authority and an iron fist, not broad smiles and glad-handling. 

In “Our Brand Is Crisis”, “Calamity Jane” lives up to her role: She finds a way to sculpt Presidential Candidate Castillo into the right man [at Bolivia’s moment of crisis] for the people of Bolivia.

As time goes on and people learn more about Ben Carson, Ben Carson comes across as being an alert and open minded person and as being a strong humane energetic thinking person.

Great Moving Making: Great Script, Great Acting, Great Message and Great Directing Working Seamlessly Together

In my mind, Billy Bob Thornton steals the show in this movie.

Billy Bob Thornton plays the part of political consultant Pat Candy, who is masterminding the campaign for the contender set to win the election by a landslide.

Pat Candy is Calamity Jane’s arch enemy: Pat Candy’s candidates have won the last four political contests in which Pat and Jane went head to head strategizing the political campaigns of rival political candidates.

The tricks Jane and Candy play on each other are wonderful to watch.

It was Candy’s man, a man sent to be a prankster at the rally at which Castillo punched this man in the face in front of the news media’s cameras covering the rally.

The personal interactions of Pat and Jane with each other are wonderful to watch.

The energy that flows between Pat and Jane when they interact is electrifying.

It is obvious to me that everyone involved in making this film was (and still is) emotionally committed to promoting the message this film delivers.

This is an underdog movie with a twist, masterfully directed by David Gordon Green.

Responsibility

It is the responsibility of writers and film makers to to give a just and lively image of human nature.

The screenwriter, actresses and the actors did a superb job of doing that in “Our Brand Is Crisis.”

A Philosophical Comment About Critical Reason, Characters, Entertainment and Narrative Vividness

“The more critical reason dominates, the more impoverished life becomes….Overvalued reason has this in common with political absolutism: under its dominion, the individual is pauperized.” – Carl Gustav Jung

Donald Trump and Ben Carson are characters.

Characters are entertaining.

People want to be entertained and love being entertained.

Currently, the United States Republican Party Presidential Primary campaigns and debates are the best shows on television.

By the way, Lyndon Johnson had a way with words when it came to summing up people he distrusted, including a Kennedy aide (“He wouldn’t know how to pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were printed on the heel.”) and so did J. Edgar Hoover (“I’d rather have him inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in.”)

Language has often been called a weapon.

People should be mindful of where to aim it and when to fire.

Free speech is the bedrock of democracy.

Copyright © 2015 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved

Poetic Soulful Gracefulness Practices of Graceful People, Being In Tune with Nature and As One with the Poetic Panache of the Dance of Nature and My Love Affair with Passionately Expressive Signs which Make Me Smile and Give Me Joy – by Gary Smolker

Poetic Soulful Gracefulness

I appreciate human gracefulness.

I also appreciate the poetic beauty of nature.

Below are stories of human gracefulness and photos of nature’s beauty (the dance of nature) I recently experienced.

I took the photos below of the fall change of colors of the leaves of trees from green to yellow, orange and red during a recent long weekend (October 16 through October 19, 2015) I spent in the Eastern Sierra in Northern California.

They are photos of romantic and enchanting spots I visited in the Eastern Sierra during change of the color of leaves from green to yellow, orange and red as the days get shorter and colder.

The series of three e-mail letters below (a call for help and the answer to that call) were exchanged on October 9, 2015.

I extracted/deleted the personal phone numbers of the correspondents in those emails.

Tami, the person who called out for help, lives in Los Angeles.

Sidney, who answered Tami’s call for help, lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

I live and “work” in Los Angeles, California.

The letters below demonstrate that there is beauty in the human spirit, the correspondents are some of the many caring people in the world, despite news reports to the contrary, “people are beautiful.”

 

Call for Help Letter No. One

Sidney, 

Meet Tami.

I am sending Tami this note so that she can contact you directly by email with a brief overview of the situation of her daughter Sabrina’s boyfriend Chris.

Sabrina is taking care of Chris.

Tami is concerned.

RECAP OF CHRIS’ SITUATION RELATED TO ME BY TAMI

Chris has excruciating pain in nerves behind his eyes.  He can see if the light is slowly increased from total darkness with 20:20 vision but when there is light needs eye drops every six minutes.

About 1.5 months ago, Chris began to have excruciating pain in his ears whenever there was sound, even the sound of chewing his food.  He wears ear plugs and gun range ear muffs to block out sound.

Chris has had a neurologist.  The neurologist has told Chris that he (the neurologist) can’t diagnose what is wrong.

Chris has had a pain manager doctor.  Chris’ pain management doctor has notified Chris that he (the pain management doctor) will stop treating Chris in 30 days.

Chris’ bun/cretin level is 4.  Tami understands this means Chris has kidney problems.

Chris and Sabrina have been boyfriend and girlfriend for 7 years.

They are both 25 years old.

Sabrina is spending full time taking care of Chris.

Tami (Sabrina’s mother) is a good women.

Help Tami/Sabrina/Chris if you can.

Thanks.

Gary

Cry for Help Letter No. 2

Hello Sidney,

I am a paralegal that works in the same office where Gary leases an office.  He tells me you are a brilliant individual.  Gary has heard what is happening in my life with my 25 year old daughter, and her boyfriend Chris.  I’m not sure how you can help.  But if you can help, or know someone that can help, I will accept any help I can get at this point.  This is a very sad situation where a 25 year old male who was perfectly healthy last Christmas (as I spent last Christmas with them), and was in his 3rd year of chiropractic college, went from a normal person to a non-functioning human being with extreme nerve pain in his eyes and now has such severe hearing pain that he has to eat soft foods or even baby foods because he cannot stand the sound of the chewing in his head.

If you can offer any insight, please let me know.  Please reply to this email or call me at PHONE NUMBER DELETED BY GSS.    Again, I’m not sure why Gary thought you might be able to help.

Tamara

Prompt Unstinting Help

Hi Tamara,

It is probably a good idea for Chris to be seen by a neuro-ophthalmologist, which is a specialist who deals with the neurology of the eye.

UCLA Medical Center is nationally ranked in the specialties of (1) Adult Ear, Nose and Throat, (2) Adult Ophthalmology and (3) Adult Neurology.

See the U.S. News Rankings below.

Does Chris have medical insurance that can cover the cost of a diagnostic work-up?

You can search the UCLA Medical Center web site for (a) a neuro-ophthalmologist and for (b) an otologist (ear doctor).  When you have come up with some doctors who seem very qualified, we can brainstorm the choices.  If you are having any difficulty accessing the specialists, let me know and we can talk by cell as we simultaneously access the UCLA website. Please feel free to contact me at any time by cell phone.

Talk soon,

Sidney
[PHONE NUMBER DELETED BY GSS]

 

U.S. News Rankings — deleted by GSS

Cucumber Salad with Smashed Garlic and Ginger

On Thursday, October 8, 2015, while I was reading Yotam Ottolenghi’s book “PLENTY – Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London’s Ottolenghi” and looking at the pictures at Toast Cafe on Ventura Blvd, in Sherman Oaks, California I showed the owner a picture of the Cucumber Salad (picture below).

The owner of “Toast Cafe” proved to me that he is a beautiful person, by what he did after he looked at that picture.

 While looking at the above picture, he called over his chief chef to look at the book with me.

While she was looking at the above picture, he  told me and her that she would prepare any dish shown in that book for me.

The Toast Cafe serves Kosher food and provides its guests with a sink in the dinning area, near the kitchen, to to wash their hands in order to a observe a religious ceremony of washing their hands before eating bread.

Below is a picture of the sink which is against the west wall of the dinning room, just before the entry to the kitchen.

 

My Love Affair with Coffee Shops, Life, Lively People and Lively Places

I love life, lively people, lively places and coffee shops full of life owned by people who express their love of life with the signs they post.

I love the way enthusiastic people who own coffee shops I have visited have expressed themselves through the signs they have posted in their cafes.

Below are photos of signs in my favorite coffee shop, in San Francisco, taken by me.

 

.

 

Below are a photos of signs posted in a coffee shop I took in a cafe I visited in June Lake, California on October 20, 2015.

The City of June Lake is in the Eastern Sierra.

Below is a photo I took of a magnet I saw on a coffee machine in a coffee shop I was in the day before.  That coffee shop is located in Lee Vining, California.

The City of Lee Vining is in the Eastern Sierra.

The Eastern Sierra Is Lively Exciting Place

I invite you to enjoy the following signs I saw during my long weekend (October 16 – October 19 2014) while in the Eastern Sierra.

 

Observing the Dance of Nature

I found peace of mind last weekend (October 16 through October 19, 2015) by looking at the fall colors of trees growing along the side of streams in California’s Eastern Sierra and by looking at the sky, clouds and a mountain reflected in a still pool of water in the high sierra.

Below is a picture of one of those streams.

Below is another picture of that stream.

 

The reason we see fall colors is part of an annual cycle that begins in spring and summer, when green chlorophyll pigments are active in cells that make food for the tree to grow.  It’s during this time that leaves also contain lesser amounts of yellow, orange and red pigments that are masked by the chlorophyll.  The appearance of fall colors is actually the disappearance of green chlorophyll.

Below is a picture of trees whose leaves have changed color from green to yellow, orange and red.

I hope you enjoy looking at mountains and trees from the bridge I was on while taking the picture below, while I was hiking around one of the many lakes at Mammoth Lakes, California.

Imagine what it was like for me to be on a bridge, in the City of Mammoth Lake, away from urban distraction, away from the frustrations I feel whenever I find myself caught in a traffic jam going to my office in Encino, California in the morning.

Below is a picture I took while on a bridge which crosses over the still waters of a lake in the City of Mammoth Lake on October 19, 2015.

You too can personally experience a momentous wonderment while looking at mountains and trees reflected in the still water while looking at the still lake while you are looking out from a perch on this bridge to the horizon.

When I took the above photo, yesterday (October 19, 2015), it was a clear day, the visibility was about 20 miles.

A few days before I took the following two pictures of sky, clouds and mountain reflected in the still waters of a pond in another part of the Eastern Sierra.

The sky and clouds in the sky you see in the above photos are reflected in still waters of a pond in that peaceful place.

The change of color of leaves in the fall color season goes on and on and on in the Eastern Sierra.

The trees peak in color change at different times depending on the elevation.

The Eastern Sierra has varied elevations – from approximately 5,000 to 10,000 feet.

The intensity of a leaf’s color is determined by the air’s temperature and moisture and amount of daylight.

The trees peak in color at different times.

I was truly be at one with nature during the change of color of the leaves of trees while l was in the Eastern Sierra for a long weekend, October 16 through October 19, 2015.

By the way, the High Sierra is rated No. 2 for Fall Colors in the U.S.A.

“The Intern” – a study of human beings in their raw habit – a movie review by Gary S. Smolker

Overview

There is something wrong with you if you don’t cry while you are watching this movie.

On the surface it is a story about a hard driving young career driven woman, a  CEO/founder of an on-line clothing design company (played by Ann Hathaway), who is “forced” to have an intern (played by Robert De Niro).

But there are deeper layers to this story.

• The benefits of having a personal assistant
• The impact of living a hard driving exhausting life on your own life and on your relationships with your family and others
• Why stay-at-home spouses have affairs
• Issues that arise when the venture capital investors become fearful that you will not be capable of running the giant company that you have started because it is growing so big and very fast
• The boring life of a retired widower
• The sex life and dating life of people over 60 years old
• The fear of being alone and single when you die

The Hard Driving Life of A Striver

Jules Ostin (played by Anne Hathaway) started a company in her kitchen that was successful that grew by leaps and bounds.

The story in this movie begins a few years later when that company – under her leadership and due to her personal attention – has grown to have hundreds of employees.

Jules works non-stop at her company until she drops, without any breaks.

She loves her company, she loves what her company’s products and how her company’s product are produced and marketed.

Jules puts her heart and soul into her work.

When Jules comes home Jules either falls asleep or does more work Jules took home.

Jules’ stay-at-home-husband is staying at home to raise their preschool daughter.

He gave up a successful career to give Jules the opportunity to make her company flourish.

He is at home instead of at an office pursing his own career.

Jules’ husband is home by himself and their young daughter with little or no help from Jules and gets no sex and no companionship from Jules.

Jules is either too tired to have sex with husband after Jules comes home or Jules is too preoccupied doing work related to her company to show any interest in sex or in her husband.

Jules husband rightfully feels that Jules is indifferent to him.

Jules is too exhausted from “putting out” fires at work to be a wife.

But, he is wrong.  Jules cares about him very much.  She loves him with all her heart.

The Senior Intern

Ben Whittaker (played by Robert De Niro) is a 70 year old widower, who had a successful 40 year marriage and is now a retired successful business owner who ran his own large company in many executive positions.

Ben is getting no satisfaction from retired life.

Ben has traveled the world.

Ben spends his time playing golf and doing  Chi Tia with a lot of other people in a local park.  Ben is bored.

Senior Intern Meets Hard-Driving Young-Female Career-Driven CEO

One day, as Ben is leaving a local neighborhood grocery store holding a bag of grocery in one hand, Ben sees a help-wanted flyer posted on the wall of the store that catches his attention.

The posted flyer is from an on-line fashion company seeking a senior intern.

Job applicants are advised to submit/upload a video resume on YouTube.

Ben has no idea how to operate a smart phone or any electronic device.

Ben doesn’t know how to start (or, even how to turn on) a computer.

Ben doesn’t know what YouTube is or what it means to “upload” something.

Ben’s son or one of Ben’s grandchildren takes care of making a video of Ben and uploading it.

Ben is invited to an interview.

At the interview, seventy year old Ben is interviewed by people in their twenties and/or in their thirties.

They realize the question What do you envision yourself doing in ten years? is inappropriate.

Ben is hired.

Ben is assigned to be Jules’ intern.

Jules is horrified.

Jules didn’t find out her company had hired a senior intern until  Ben was assigned to her.

Jules doesn’t want the senior intern to be assigned to her.

Jules is a “control freak.”

Meeting Ben turns out to be an experience beyond Jules’ control.

Jules is about to find herself trying something she has none done before and to experience things she has never experienced or thought of or imaged before.

 

The Benefits of Having A Personal Assistant

Jules learns that Ben knows many valuable things that Jules does not know.

Ben is an energetic self-starting sophisticated and grounded individual.

Ben takes the initiative to fix anything Ben sees that needs fixing.

Ben takes the initiative to do anything he thinks ought to be done.

Everything Ben does is done in a pleasant way hat is helpful and offends no-one

Everyone at Jules’ company comes to love Ben.

Ben has experience.

Ben is 70 years old.

Ben was actively involved in the business world for more than 50 years before he retired.

Ben has a perspective that Jules doesn’t have.

After a while, Jules realizes Ben is the most “mature”, “grounded”, well-informed person she knows.

He is discrete, is old school and always has a hankie in the top pocket of a coat which he wears each day.

In one scene, Ben tells a co-worker that men carry hankies to give to women when they cry.

During the film the co-worker uses Ben’s hankie for that purpose, as does Ben.

The Benefit of Having A Personal Assistant Part Two

I can tell you from personal experience that having the right personal assistant will make a world of difference in your life.

The Stay At Home Husband

In order to have female companionship, Jules’ stay-at-home-husband has an affair with one of the women he sees everyday at their children’s “mommy and me” class.

It is clear that Jules has made her husband become a sex starved lonely male. by putting all her time and energy, and by channeling all her interests and attention into her company.

Infidelity

Jules is aware that her husband is having an affair.

Fear and Loathing

Jules is afraid that they will get divorced, that her husband will take their daughter, and that she will be single for the rest of her life and die alone.

Nervous Venture Capitalists

Venture capitalists are afraid that something bad will happen because Jules’ is an inexperienced housewife running a very successful fast company.

Venture capitalist investors put pressure on Jules to hire an experienced businessman to run Jules’ company, to be the CEO of Jules’ company.

Jules considers whether stepping aside will give her more time with her husband and more energy when she is with her husband and that would save her marriage.

Jules totally loves her husband.

Jules’ Noble Husband

When Jules’ husband finds out Jules is considering letting someone else be in charge of running her company, Jules’ husband tells her not to give up running her company.

He tells Jules that she loves her company, it is Jules’ creation and Jules needs to run it.

He also tells Jules he is ashamed of himself and he totally supports Jules.

If you don’t cry while you are watching this movie there is something wrong with you.

The Sex Life of People Over Seventy

Seventy year old widower Ben meets a charming mature divorcee at work.

Their first date is at a funeral.

They had set a date to have their first date before the need to go to the funeral came up.

After the funeral, this mature and charming woman tells Ben: You are the first man I’ve met since I’ve been divorced who I’ve wanted to hang-out with.

Nancy Meyers

Nancy Meyers is the writer-director of this film.

She handles explosive hot-button relationship issues with good taste and charm, including the issue of creating limits for yourself.

In this movie, Nancy Meyers shows

• We all live within our rules.
• The people you meet change you.
• There is a reason you are the way you are.
• There are a lot of decisions to be made and a lot of cool things one can do.

That is what this entire film is about.

Stating the Obvious

This movie is about the ascendancy of women in the workplace.

We are in the midst of a gigantic cultural shift, the shift to recognizing the potential greatness of women.

I think of this movie as a scientific document, a study of human beings in their raw habitats.

Copyright © 2015 by Gary Smolker, All Rights Reserves