Another Opinion on Exotic Marigold Hotel

Check out this blogsite. Everybody gets to have his or her own opinion. I think this guy is a little too serious.

Grave Stones Stand At Attention

Borrowed this picture from Holger Awakens, an interesting blogsite that I recommend.

"Everything Will Come Out All Right In The End . . . ."

Just saw The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (For The Elderly and Beautiful), a movie about changes in old folks and old societies. The old folks are English character actors like Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson and others equally good. The old society, of course, is India, or at least parts of that bewildering, chaotic, amazingly rich and incredibly poor country, which owes at least some of its variety to several hundred years under British colonial rule. My guess is that there were allusions to many parts of British society that are changing as well. One of the ideas made fun of was the idea of out-sourcing from rich Western countries to poor third world countries, even such stuff as medical care and taking care of the elderly.

There are many ironies in the fire in this surprisingly cheap movie.There are a lot of good Indian actors too. Including Dev Patel and others too numerous to mention. Much of this movie must have been filmed on location in India as the sensory input could only be found in the major cities.

Lots of old jokes, visual and auditory: "if she dies, she dies" referring to geriatric sex; many caricatures of course because after all they are British and Indian aren't they. So the uncomfortable trains of India, and the inevitable head wobbles, saying whatever is necessary, and the Brits putting down their Indian caretakers, and yet deciding to stick it out with stiff upper lip in the end. The story lines are fairly predictable but even so, it was an enjoyable afternoon for us old folks.

 ". . . And if it's not all right, then it is obviously not the end." Repeated several times so we wouldn't miss the significance.

I couldn't resist digging out a few old photographs of the splendid five days I spent in Chennai and on the train to Kerala and back a few years ago. If you are going, watch out for the little cabs and the scams they will inevitably try.

[Added later to the title "in the end" Sorry]

Why Haven't These Been Seen in Montana?

Heinz puts out ketchup in a new container. I'm not talking about the upside down container which was, of course, absolutely brilliant. No, I am talking about a container similar to those they use for jellies and jams at a lot of restaurants, where the ketchup is dippable for your French fries and thus you are less likely to mess up your shirt. According to this blogsite it has been available since 2010, a couple of years ago according to my calculations.

Another Ice Age To Come? When?

Russ Steele at The Next Grand Minimum may be a prophet crying in the wilderness. They say that the generals are always prepared to fight the last war. It seems our politicians are preparing to fight a non-existent enemy. I suppose the global climate change is a part of the modern day equivalent of bread and circuses. The graph above is not terribly convincing, just worrying.

Getting Closer to Home

Dinner at Washington state's Kennewick City Grill on April 30. A pleasant stop on the way home from Ashland OR. We drove up the center of Oregon until we hit the Columbia River. There are a lot of windmills on the hills on either side of the river.

Then on to Butte the next day, skipping over Missoula, our usual stopping place, because we got an early start from Kennewick. Very windy at the latter place by the way. Montana Club was magnificent.

Short trip from Butte to Billings on 2 May 2012. Naturally had to include a stop for lunch in Big Timber at the Grand Hotel. We like the table just beneath the lead steer of the 1989 Big Cattle Drive. The food and drink here are very good.

Joke For Tuesday Morning

Go to Intangible Soul. We must thank our friends on the Left for making everything political.

Dog Humor

It's hard to resist copying things like this. Every time The One gets a microphone he becomes even more of a jerk than we knew. I think things will get worse, but I am hoping for the best.

Forward. Really?

I wonder what the next 5 Year Plan will be about?

A Lose-Lose Proposition For Us Oldsters

Last week, Medicare’s trustees released their annual report on the program’s finances. The results aren’t pretty.

The new report “reinforces the need for serious reform,” The Heritage Foundation’s Bob Moffit explains.

Leaving the program unchanged requires either dramatic tax hikes or harsh cuts–immediately. “The 2012 report states that bringing Medicare Part A into actuarial balance would require an immediate 47 percent increase in the payroll tax or a 26 percent cut in Part A benefits,” he explains.

The Obama administration’s Medicare plans are a lose-lose for seniors, Moffit continues. “If the Administration’s crude strategy of payment cuts is successful, reduced access to care for seniors is virtually guaranteed. If the provider cuts are reversed, the Medicare financial condition simply worsens.”

From The Heritage Foundation.