Movie Recommendations from my Mom

After my post about wanting movie recommendations, my Mom came through and typed me up some ideas she had. And when I say "typed" I actually mean typed. As in, on a typewriter. My Mom is not comfortable with my Dad's computer and so uses her own typewriter. She is a mean typist too--very fast hands.

She suggested some Woody Allen, some foreign films, some Fellini. She thought I'd like Persepolis, an Iranian animated film. Did she also suggest period romance movies, something like Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth (oh my God--that stare...*faint*), or a film Noir like Laura? My parents love the song Laura and named me that...OK, so I'm not sophisticated like that character and not mysterious and my husband is not like Dana Andrews and we don't know anyone who is like Vincent Price. No. In fact, her other two suggestions weren't like that at all.

What did my rockin' 74 year old jazz piano playing Mom suggest that I watch? Not surprisingly, they both involve music.

First, she highly recommends the recent Martin Scorsese film, Shine a Light, which is a documentary about the Rolling Stones. My Mom is not a Stones fan. But, she now gets the Stones. She loved that film. It's in queue now Mom. She also recommends a movie called, Young at Heart, which is about a bunch of 80 year old singers whose repertoire is comprised of rock and roll and punk...They are young at heart.

In light of all of this rockin' out exuberance, lets hear some music. Thanks for the movie ideas Mom. How did you get so cool? No, seriously.

Here's some Stones for you. Check out John Lennon and Pete Townsend in the audience too...

Lust for Life

The kids were watching the Olympics and finding the interviews with the athletes interesting. They also liked certain commercials. My kids haven't been exposed to a lot of TV other than public TV stations and whatever DVDs we get from the library or from Netflix. They're not brand conscious. They don't care about clothes or toys or electronic gizmos of a certain manufacturer. There is no cool associated with things other than if the thing is inherently cool, like a cicada shell, or kittens or Wii. They've visited their cousin's Wii and they are hooked. Things seep in very quickly.

After seeing a commercial, the kids want us to change over to Comcast, even though they don't know what Comcast is, in order to get the free Wii that is offered. They don't know that there will be entrapping details like a certain mandatory length of time with them or a certain rate that then goes up after a few months--stuff like that. Now the kids are saying, "Comcast Mom! A free Wii!! Come on!" Uh, no. Nice try sucked in kids, but I'm stronger than that. There may be a Wii in your future, but it will be when we are ready and on our terms, not theirs. In the mean time, you'll just have to visit Wiis.

Another commercial I noticed was one for Royal Caribbean cruise line. It features Iggy Pop's energetic quiting heroin rock anthem, Lust for Life. Do the Royal Caribbean folks know it's a song about being screwed over and being seduced by drugs, but rejecting them because you've now got a lust for life? It's not really about climbing a small rock wall set up on the ledo deck of a Royal Carribbean giant cruise ship. It's not about going for it on a jet ski! It's about not puking any more and being able to keep a little weight on and remembering to take care of the baby...maybe later there'd be room for a jet ski or two, but it's really about kicking the white horse's ass and saying goodbye to all of that.

Do they know that, or do they just dig how catchy the song is? I love the song and know the song and think of the new found energy that the reformed addict has to shower and eat and look for a job and get their shit together. That's the lust for life. That's what it means. I don't really think about mixed drinks and a tiny pool and food buffets filled with institutional food. Sorry Royal Caribbean.

Here's Iggy Pop singing it. Catch this Royal Caribbean executives. Enjoy.

New Purchase Confessions

We find that it's not too difficult to forgo purchasing new things. It's not, at least not for most things. But, we have purchased a couple of new things recently. I confess.

After the hey-we're-all-in-this-together celebratory 4th of July bike helmet rip off, I had to get a new helmet and I did--it's grey and willow. Willow is a lovely green, isn't it? I can go biking with the kids again. Well, now I can go with a helmet on and exhibit a good example of safety consciousness for them. Husband... When they're ready, I'm ready.

Yesterday, a giant box was on the front step. Finally, my husband's Father's Day gift arrived. A reel mower. We do already have a gas powered mower, yes, but my husband wanted to stop wasting gas to cut a lawn we really don't have much affection for, and felt he could enjoy the mechanical/manual nature of a reel mower.


I bought it new...I didn't even look for one online. We haven't done that much. This computer I'm typing this post at was bought from Craig's List as a Christmas gift for me by my husband. All of our drinking glasses are from Goodwill. The kids clothes are from e-bay or Goodwill. My clothes are from Goodwill. We've been diligent.

But, I wanted a brand new mower for my husband and I wanted it now, damn it! I didn't know which one to get him. So, I harangued him, and harangued him, and he looked up from what he was reading and said, "Huh?" My haranguing skills aren't up to snuff, clearly. I can't tell you how often I feel like Charlie Brown's indistinct, muffled teacher speaking around here. If you can hear me talking, but you don't know what I said, you have to say to me, "What did you say Mom?" or "What did you say beautiful wife of mine?" Why don't they get that?!

We went online just last week to pick out the mower and get it from a company in Indiana. Fantastic! We would be supporting an American company from just next door--not a big carbon footprint on our carbon reducing manual reel mower. It's already green and we haven't even used it yet!

Guess where it's manufactured? Yes, China...

Honey--What I Just Learned

UPDATE: Yesterday, Tuesday Aug. 5th, my son went to see a doctor at our group of family doctors, to have his wound checked. The doctor who was here, at home, for my son's birth so many years ago was on vacation, so we saw another doctor. Guess what! My son's injury is healing perfectly--no infection, no discoloration, no inflammation, no ooze of any kind. It's almost as if something is helping it to heal...hmmmm...

It's looking good for the honey treatment, isn't it?

UPDATE II: Yesterday, Tuesday Aug. 12, my son got his stitches out. His wound is perfectly healed and he's fine. He didn't take any antibiotics, just loads of Vitamin C every day, to support his own body's ability to fight infection, and raw honey topically on his wound every time we changed his bandage--twice a day.

I would say that the honey treatment was a huge success. It's also nice to know we didn't contribute to the support of any superbugs by needlessly administering an antibiotic to my son that he didn't need. There was no infection--why prescribe a strong antibiotic when that would knock out my son's healthy gut flora, which would therefore increase the risk of future infections and sickness, and would possibly kill off some bacteria, but give the stronger ones a niche to grow in and multiply and flourish and cause some real problems down the road?

Do doctors not know about this stuff? The Mayo Clinic does. The mainstream medical literature does. The alternative medical literature does.

I'm glad we questioned and researched and made a decision for my son that helped him have such a healthy outcome.
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My son had a bike accident yesterday (Fri. Aug. 1st) He plowed into a fire hydrant and the fire hydrant won. His cut on his leg wasn't too bad, but it still did require a trip to the emergency room and 6 stitches. He was brave, but it's never fun going to the emergency room. Poor kid. Well, he did get to watch Bonanza and Leave it to Beaver on a retro TV station and he liked that. Also, the nurse let him bring home the giant syringe that she used to irrigate the wound. My son has discovered that he can shoot water across the yard with this thing. He's mightily impressed with its power, and can't wait to try it out at the pool.

My friend Unnamed took my daughter for a playdate so I could help my son. Her daughters made my son very sweet get well cards. He was very touched by their concern.

After we got home from the hospital, as is my way, I got online to investigate and do some research. What was the recommended prescribed antibiotic? What are the side effects? What is the risk of infection for this very clean, well cared for wound? Does my son really need to take a very strong antibiotic prophylactically? Are there other options? What are they? What is their efficacy? What is their risk?

I found out a lot about honey. I had some idea, but didn't realize fully the healing powers of honey, raw especially. Honey cures wounds and fights infection, internally and topically. I didn't realize that honey on a wound could help heal it.

Sure, alternative medicine sites were singing the praises of honey for wound care, but so were a couple of mainstream sites. OK. It's known across the board. Sounds reasonable.

Here's a quote from one of the articles I read,

Using honey to treat wounds is nothing new; even ancient civilizations used it in this manner. However, this is the sort of thing that usually gets relegated to "folk healing". It seems scientifically obvious: honey is very acidic (antibacterial), and it produces its own hydrogen peroxide when combined with the fluid which drains from a wound! The extremely high sugar content of honey means it contains very little water. So, it draws the pus and fluid from the wound, thereby speeding the healing process. Furthermore, the honey contains powerful germ-fighting phytochemicals from the plants that produced the pollen harvested by the honeybees. Having already been accepted by the overseas mainstream medical community for some time, North America finally caught on.

And,

Honey has a number of properties that make it effective against bacterial growth, including its high sugar content, low moisture content, gluconic acid - which creates an acidic environment - and hydrogen peroxide. It has also been shown to reduce inflammation and swelling.

And,

Honey has been used for centuries to aid in the healing of persistent wounds and burns. Documentation regarding its use dates as far back as 1700 BC. Several characteristics are likely to contribute to honey’s effectiveness as a wound-healer: it is rich in sugar, which allows it to draw infection and fluid from wounds by a process called osmosis; its acidic pH, and the presence of an enzyme that stimulates small amounts of hydrogen peroxide to form, prevent bacterial infections; and, it can promote healing by maintaining a protective barrier and by holding in moisture. Furthermore, antibacterial and wound-healing components from the plants used by the bees in the production of honey might contribute to its effectiveness. To date, more than 500 reports, including several controlled trials, of successful wound healing with honey have been published.


That sounds good to me and much better than antibiotics whose overuse have increased germ resistance to the point of creating scary superbugs like MRSA.

I'll let you know how our honey treatment works for my son.

We'll bee seeing you!