I’m pretty much a lone voice in the wilderness here, as I feel differently about The Town than many, if not most people do. Moreover, I read Chuck Hogan’s novel, Prince of Thieves, on which The Town was based, and I liked the book far better than the movie, which seemed like an extended made-for-TV feature and a very cartoon-like film. The Town had the potential for being a very good film, or one of the all-time greats regarding movies, but fell woefully short of that potential for the following reasons:

 There has been much debate (albeit often shrill and heated) between Gun Rights Advocates and Gun Control Advocates.  As a gun control advocate myself, here are my reasons for being in favor of gun control.  The Gun Control advocates are not trying to deprive hunters and target shooters of their sports, nor are they trying to deprive people who simply collect guns as others would collect stamps. coins, or whatever, nor am I referring to Security personnel, cops, or people serving in our military, and who therefore, are authorized to carry guns.

Hey there, folks!   Much discussion has been taking place about the late "Liberal Lion" Senator Edward M. (Ted or Teddy) Kennedy in the wake of his recent passing due to brain cancer that, after a long, tough fight against, eventually took the Senator's life.

 I recently found this particular article when I was perusing on another website.  This article, while it might spark people's interest and yet frighten many people at the same time, is worth reading, imho.

Read this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090322/ap_on_us_mentally_ill_nursing_homes;...

and knock your socks off.

Hey there, folks!  Here's a completely different diary about the great, golden oldie-but-goody movie/musical classic, West Side Story that's about something that I've recently begun to observe and think about in regards to the music of WSS, whether I'm listening to it or not.

Movies:

Today, I’ve decided to take a break from the rough-and-tumble world of domestic and international politics and write different kind of essay; on movies.

Here's another question:

Though it's been awhile since I've written an essay, I've decided that i'm going to write about something a bit different; the meanings of music. This is something that's been on my mind for some time, after listening to a number of older songs that I don't have available to play on my CD stereo, but have been listening to on youtube Although it's taken me quite a while to recognize the meaning of certain songs, especially favorites of mine, I can appreciate them even more.

Untitled: (
I decided to name this thread "Untitled", because it was the only name I could think of at this moment.
I have written here on SwordsCrossed on numerous occasions about my favorite movies, including my alltime favorite movie, West Side Story.

Hey there, folks!! Can you stand yet another diary about my alltime favorite film, West Side Story? Anyway, here goes:

I am me...my own person, and I live for the life that I was cut for and educated to lead; my silversmithing, piano tuning, and many other things I do in life. Admittedly, I'm not someone who takes setbacks and adversity with a lot of aplomb and grace, and never have been.

A spoiled brat, imo, is a person, who, regardless of his/her walk of life, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnic or cultural background, has a tendency to demand what they cannot or should not have or do, be given to tantrums when their desires are thwarted, or even to manipulate, trick or even be nasty to people who refuse to accede to what they wish. I've always been taught that the spoiled brat who got everything s/he wanted only came from a background with money or whatever, and not from a lower-class background.

Hey, folks:

It's the holiday time again, and I figured I'd share my favorite recipe with you all for anyone who'e into baking. If others are willing to put in their favorite recipes for the holidays, no matter what it may be, you're more than welcome. Here goes:

Chocolate Pound Cake with Rich Chocolate Glaze:

Cake:

2 cups all-purpose white flour
2 cups of sugar
2 sticks of unsalted butter (I always melt the butter first)
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder

Loosely based on the Shakespeare play, "Romeo & Juliet", West Side Story is a beautiful movie musical classic set on the pulsating, finger-snapping West Side of 1960's Manhattan. It entails the development of love and romance amid conflict between two warrning street gangs: the Euro-American Jets and the newly-arrived Puerto Rican Sharks.

The Jets claim their turf with a tough, macho bravado, determined to drive off the Sharks, who're also vying for a small piece of the turf that both gangs must share. A melee breaks out on the playground, which is broken up by Schrank and Krupke.

Important topic. - Promoted by Specter

Although I don't normally watch the TV program, "Dr. Phil", today's program about the school shootings, especially the more recent ones in Cleveland and in Crandon, WI, sounded interesting, so I decided to tune in today's "Dr. Phil" program for the heck of it.

Among the guests on today's program were a criminal profiler/author and the authors of a couple of books about the supposed psychology of the shooters and so on. Now for the points of my essay:

Much has been noted, and said about the force(s) of nature kicking back when people have shown little to no respect for it.

Nature, I believe, is a very strange, if not intense and exciting phenomenom that frequently works in various, if quirky ways. Nature can be beautiful, yet ugly. It can be gentle and yet harsh. Nature can also be calm, and yet it can also be tempestous, wreaking much havoc and destruction towards anything and/or everything in its path.

This diary is a great non-political diary (though it has the potential of fostering political discussions) that showcases my favored style of transportation. - Promoted by Specter

As I've mentioned on several other occasions, I own two bicycles: A ten year old 21-speed mountain bike for biking around town to do errands, go on appointments, etc around the city, and a 5 year old 27-speed Fuji Touring bicycle, which is used exclusively for long-distance rides out in the country. My long-distance country bike rides are mainly done on the weekends, in the good weather, but, on occasion, I do them on weekday mornings, too. In t h e winger, and when the weather's rainy, or too hot or too cold, however, I have my stationary bike, which I try to use for at least a half hour during seasons/days when I don't ride on the road.