Bohemian Rhapsody: A Review (#bohemianrhapsody is #wonderful)

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See how easy that was? You read the headline and you know what the review says. (Warning: for the closed minded, Freddy was gay. Not just a little. He kisses guys in the movie. If you can’t live with that, you’re missing out on a great flick.)

Bohemian Rhapsody tells a story about Freddy Mercury and the band Queen.

Is it perfectly accurate? Nope! I actually prefer it that way. Watch the trailer and then resume below.

Neat, eh? Well the whole movie is a series of deftly knit scenes that bring back the music that every kid who listened to top-40 music in the period 1970-1990 knew all the words to without a karaoke screen. Frankly, it’s still some of the best stuff on the “oldies” stations. I am old. Such is life. It’s what we used to call a “popcorn movie.”

The cast is wondeful! Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joseph Mazzello, Aidan Gillen, Tom Hollander, Allen Leech, and Mike Myers. Each and every performance is entertaining. Not a clinker in the bunch.

For those of you who hadn’t yet been born, or who predate the music of Queen, it’s still a good movie. I am fairly sure the reviews have been horrible because the SJW (Social Justice Warriors) despise the fact that the sexuality of Mercury wasn’t the main focus. For my money, sometimes less is more. If you missed the fact that Freddy died after a long struggle with the fact that he was gay, and the world was terrified of AIDS at that time, you weren’t watching the same movie I was. Not that it’s a direct comparison, but it’s kind of like JAWS. A little shark is better than a lot of shark for getting the point across.

It is safe to say that everyone I know who has seen, and commented on, this movie loved it. I will watch it again when it comes to the internet. But if you’re a Queen fan, get out to the theater now and enjoy it on the big screen. But buy your tickets in advance if you’re smart, as the theater was sold out on the day I went.

Now, get out there and vote.

Oh, and a bonus. It stands (in my mind) as the greatest concert appearance I’ve ever seen. I don’t think I caught it at the time, but it’s something I’ve watched on the tube many times. I present for your viewing enjoyment, Queen at Live Aid in 1985:

NEW BOOK COMING THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

My second novel, Nicholas of Haiti, will be available Thanksgiving weekend. Details will be forthcoming, including the cover and synopsis, shortly. Put aside your money for the Kindle, print, and audio book versions. This is not a sequel to Assault on Saint Agnes, but a unique book in the speculative Christian fiction world.
Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits! Oh yeah – grab a copy of Assault on Saint Agnes if you’re of a mind.

Pastoral Advice For Pastors Regarding Politics During Pastor Appreciation Month

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One week from today there will be an election. According to the pundits, this will be the most important election – ever!!1!1!11!!

I get it completely: it is important to voice your opinion and vote. Except stupid people. Not everyone should vote. People who go and vote without knowing any of the issues, or anything beyond what party they are supposed to vote for, are a danger to the Republic and should stay home eating fatty foods and taking drugs. We’d all be better off that way, IMLTHO (In My Less Than Humble Opinion.)

But for those of us voting, I should like to submit that the last thing I want to/need to hear is a religious leader telling me how to vote. Any religious leader. (This rant is not directed at my pastor – want to make that clear.)

Here are some of the problems I have with that whole deal based on attending dozens of different services with different preachers over the last 14 years:

You can’t stand in the pulpit every week and tell me God has it covered and then tell me that the boogeyman from the other party will ruin everything.

You can’t ask me to pray for our leaders during one administration and then tell me to oust them during the next.

No sermon should ever have the terms “Jug-eared Fool” “That Horrible Orange Man In The White House” “That Racist, Misogynist” or any other derogatory term toward the President of the United States.

Period.

For 8 years there was a man in the White House that I didn’t agree with in any way, and I didn’t say a word to my fellow congregants. Nor, for that matter, did I hear any pastors speak out against him. But now it’s just fine, almost expected, to criticize the man in that office because – well it’s a long list very short on specifics. I marvel at how Donald Trump went from being a hero for his race relations and philanthropy in 2014 to being a demon who hates everyone that doesn’t look like him in 2015. Funny that. And when I ask for specific examples, people either stop talking or come back with something the media said he said. Donald ain’t perfect, but he’s not a racist. (I’m still waiting on Omorosa’s tape.)

In the highly-paraphrased words of Michael Jordan, Republicans go to church as well. And they listen to the preacher’s message every week.

I know some of you will grind your teeth and tell me what an awful person I am for this blog today.

I don’t care.

For me it comes down to the same set of goals you should have when creating good writing/movies/music. How is that? If you can make me suspend my disbelief and buy your story, you’re doing a good job. If you keep putting jet airplanes in a story about 1936, I’m calling shenanigans on you, and thinking about Googling that thing I was pondering before the service. Same goes for interjecting your political opinion into a sermon. Praising any president for a job well done is nice, but not appropriate from the pulpit. Same for condemnation. If you’d like to do that, take to another platform. If you serve communion there, it should be a politics free zone. It’s that simple.

Recently I was listening to a young preacher really bringing the word. He was doing a great job of energizing the crowd, telling his story, lifting us up. Scripture right at the front, scripture all throughout the first part of the message. About 10 minutes into the sermon, he took a few seconds to slap at President Trump with name calling. It didn’t even fit in the message. I got really busy thinking about other things while he went on talking. Truly a shame, as he’d been doing pretty well until that moment.

But he had to go there for some reason. Maybe because the preacher thought the audience needed to hear it to cement the speaker’s bond with the audience. Maybe he’s got Trump Derangement Syndrome. Maybe he’s just too immature to realize that Republicans go to church as well.

In the end, you get a choice as a pastor: you can be a political activist with a clerical collar, or you can be a pastor to a flock. Doesn’t mean you can’t have an opinion, but if God is really sovereign, what does your opinion have to do with His message in his house?

So with one Sunday to go, how about all of you in the pulpit just talk about Jesus? You can encourage your flock to vote, but don’t tell them how to do it. That includes eye rolls, hand gestures, and snotty remarks about the President.

That is all.

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NEW BOOK COMING THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

My second novel, Nicholas of Haiti, will be available Thanksgiving weekend. Details will be forthcoming, including the cover and synopsis, shortly. Put aside your money for the Kindle, print, and audio book versions. This is not a sequel to Assault on Saint Agnes, but a unique book in the speculative Christian fiction world.
Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits! Oh yeah – grab a copy of Assault on Saint Agnes if you’re of a mind.

Personal Promotion Time.

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It’s about to become my busy season writ large. Mainly because I’ve got a book coming out: Nicholas of Haiti. More details to follow, but save your shekels for a Thanksgiving release.

Before that, however, I’m inviting my friends in the Twin Cities to splurge a bit on their children and grandchildren this year. I’ve teamed up with an amazing photographer, J Renee Images. Janet, my photographic whiz, is offering private sessions in a relaxed setting for small ones. We’ll take family photos as well, but this is an informal Santa setting. I’m going to put a bunch of photos below the fold, and the link to the page. But the long story short is that this is a great opportunity to get your Christmas photos done the 3rd and 10th of November. Beat the rush, skip the mall, and call Janet to make it happen at 319-457-0191.

Thanks for letting me boost a business that’s keeping me in ink. I had a blast shooting the photos below, and I’m really looking forward to the sessions in just two weeks. Sign up now, I suspect they’ll fill up pretty darned fast.

Book now! More pictures below the fold: Continue reading →

Gosnell: A Review

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This past weekend my wife accepted my invite to go see a movie. I’ve got to tell you, Gosnell isn’t a date movie for most people. It made me think of the infamous Seinfeld where Jerry is making out during Schindler’s List.

With that out of the way, I really have to admire the movie. I wrote about the case back in 2013 when the press was ignoring it, and am very familiar with what happened. But most of America has no clue what a gruesome killer Kermit Gosnell actually is when the facts are examined.

This movie, without doing anything graphic (it rates a PG-13), tells the story of the most prolific mass-murderer in modern America. The acting is superb, the story is well told and taut. It should win awards, but will vanish as the press refuses to even carry reviews.

Gosnell’s trailer is here:

So, my usual movie review follows:

Well shot. The quality of the film is strong. I had only one moment where the reality was suspended, and I won’t give it away except to say that it didn’t matter to the plot.

Characters were well developed.

I wanted to beat Nick Searcy to a pulp. Yeah, he’s that good in his role as Mike Cohan. Knocking the smile right off of his face was an urge that overtook me during the movie. That’s ironic, because I really like the real Nick Searcy. He’s a gifted actor, and a comedic genius. To see him in this role was amazing. He directed the film as well, and did an excellent job.

Earl Billings is a very brave man to play Kermit Gosnell. Not only does he risk the ostracism of the left in Hollywood, but everyone who walks out of the theater is bound to hate his face. Yes, he portrays evil perfectly.

All of the other major players were not just good, but believable. I didn’t find a performance that wasn’t spot-on for tone.

The sound on the movie is enough to give you the jitters – perfect for a horror movie.

Look, I’m not going to apologize for saying that I find abortion to be a physical manifestation of Satan in our land. I think that guys like Gosnell are demonic in their bloodlust. But that also applies to any doctor who performs an abortion. I have enough friends that are doctors that I truly believe that there is no such thing as a medically necessary abortion. In every case, or so they tell me, that baby will either not hurt the mother, or could live outside the womb if given a chance.

Abortion is a sin. It’s that simple. And this excellent movie brings home the evil in a thundering manner.

Don’t take your kids. I’m as tough as nails and it upset me to watch the movie. But if you’re a person who believes in God, a person who complains that there’s not enough “good” entertainment out there, you need to support this movie. Use it as an outing for your church. Talk about it afterward. Pray for those lost souls who continue to kill babies. And pray that they change their hearts and abandon this horrible form of infanticide.

Now, go see it before the movie is out of the theaters. Then tell a friend. Why? Because Gosnell will be a seminal moment for you in many cases. You will either find outrage and grief in your heart, or be on the side of a mass-murderer. It’s that simple.

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NEW BOOK COMING THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

My second novel, Nicholas of Haiti, will be available Thanksgiving weekend. Details will be forthcoming, including the cover and synopsis, shortly. Put aside your money for the Kindle, print, and audio book versions. This is not a sequel to Assault on Saint Agnes, but a unique book in the speculative Christian fiction world.
Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits! Oh yeah – grab a copy of Assault on Saint Agnes if you’re of a mind.

Nagging Not Needed. Husband Completes Project In Under Quarter Century!

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Sorry for no blog last week, but my wife and I took a trip to Seattle. I took lots of cool pictures. Some day I’ll show them to you. My thanks to Kathleen for the use of her house while we visited – the most beautiful place you could stay on Pudget Sound.

But the point of the blog today is that wonderful sense of accomplishment you get when you finish a project. In this case, a project I began in 1998. Yes, in under 1/4 of a century I managed to do what I should have done during the Clinton presidency.

While we were in Seattle, my mother graciously flew in to take care of Stormy. Stormy, being a delicate sort, is not the kind of dog you put in a kennel. She would probably be so freaked by being abandoned again that she’d never recover. Thus we provide dog-sitters. My mother is an expert on the subject, and she graciously agreed to come and take care of her Sheltie grand-dog while we wandered about in the rain on the left-coast.

During our absence, my mom cleaned out the cupboards in our dry pantry. For those of you who don’t have 100 year old houses on the prairie, that’s an unheated room where you stored the flour, dry goods, linen, etc., and saved on the heating bill. Adjacent to our kitchen, it is – unrefinished. Just like the kitchen. The only two rooms in the house that are still craptacular after 25 years of home-ownership.

My mom was very proud of organizing that mess. I think she was inspired because I warned her about the glass door that wasn’t actually properly fastened, but if she was careful it would be okay. Yeah, 20 years ago I just gave up on making it work and walked away. But after seeing a ray of hope, I resolved to actually fix it. So that first night back I worked on it for about 30 minutes and threw in the towel. It needed some contemplation to make it work.

Saturday, armed with the appropriate tools (a drill, a Swiss Army knife (official toolkit of Cryptologic Direct Support Operators everywhere), a hammer, a vise grip, and a can of PAM) I did some cogitating, and with my wife’s help, got the old hinge pins out. After about 20 minutes of mentally working over what went wrong, it dawned on me that the hinge pieces on the doors themselves were installed backwards. I may/may not be responsible for this, as once the wood had been stripped by a friend, and I have taken to blaming them for everything that is wrong in that room.

The proper tools are crucial to doing good work.

After flipping the pieces, and moving the doors to the appropriate locations, they closed on hinge pins for the first time in a long time. Now I was inspired, and told my wife that soon (Meaning months, or years) I would install the locks. Still had to buy them.

I was putting a few scattered things away in the newly safe cupboards and what should I find but the hardware purchased at the time the wood was stripped. Now I had no excuses.

For the next 1.5 hours I installed cupboard pulls, door locks, and some self esteem. When I was done I realized that I might be married to a saint: never once during those 20 years did she nag me about getting this done.

Why did it take so long? Because life. The things were good enough, and there was the daily grind of cooking, writing, laundry, illness, tragedy, warm days outside, and the other million things that keep you from finishing something so easy.

Now, in a shocking move, I installed a security brace to an unused exterior door that would frustrate most SWAT teams with a battering ram. That only took 3 years, and I did it the following day. Look for more things I keep forgetting in the near future. Except the paper towel rack. I remember to buy one every time I get home from a store that sells them. That’s going on about 4 years.

Thank you, Kip Courtemanche, for letting me get away with not finishing the projects I start until my mother shames me into doing so.

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NEW BOOK COMING THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

My second novel, Nicholas of Haiti, will be available Thanksgiving weekend. Details will be forthcoming, including the cover and synopsis, shortly. Put aside your money for the Kindle, print, and audio book versions. This is not a sequel to Assault on Saint Agnes, but a unique book in the speculative Christian fiction world.
Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits! Oh yeah – grab a copy of Assault on Saint Agnes if you’re of a mind.