I'm Still Here

 I'm Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui in  Portuguese) is a 2024 political biographical drama film directed by Walter Salles based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva's 2015 memoir of the same name. It stars Fernanda Torres as Eunice Paiva, a mother and activist coping with the forced disappearance of her husband, the dissident politician Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), during the military dictatorship in Brazil.

At the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, Torres won the Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama category.  At the 97th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Actress (Torres), Best Picture and won Best International Feature Film, becoming the first-ever Brazilian produced film to win an Academy Award.

In the film, in December 1970, Rubens Paiva lives in an idyllic house near Leblon beach in Rio de Janeiro with his wife Eunice and their five children. He continues to support political expatriates without discussing his activities with his family.

A military raid takes place in Paiva's house, resulting in his arrest and disappearance in January 1971. 

Eunice's public inquiries on Rubens' whereabouts result in her arrest and torture for 12 days. She is questioned about whether her husband is involved with pro-democracy movements, which she denies.

A journalist and family friend informs Eunice that Rubens was killed, but the military authorities refuse to confirm it officially. Left to care for her children alone, Eunice sells their home and moves to São Paulo, anticipating a new start close to her maternal family.

Twenty-six years ago, Torres's mother, Fernanda Montenegro, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress (Central Station).  She didn't win.  All of Brazil was hoping Torres would win this time.  But, she didn't.  Que pena!

Paladin, Chapter 5

 EXT. MAIN STREET OF WINDFALL, NEVADA - DAY

PALADIN and POLLYANNA ride into Windfall, a small town with the usual assortment of businesses: a saloon, a hotel, a general store, a blacksmith shop, a sheriff's office, etc.  They ride to the front of the general store and dismount.  They enter the store.

INT. GENERAL STORE - DAY

The store is busy with a number of customers.  There two people assisting them, a handicapped man and a woman.  POLLYANNA, with PALADIN following approach the man, CHARLES, a slender, older, serious looking man.

POLLYANNA:  CHARLES, I'm back.  This is PALADIN.  I brought him from San Francisco.

CHARLES extends his left hand.  PALADIN takes it with his left. 

CHARLES:  PALADIN.  Welcome to Windfall and welcome to our store.  What can I do for you?

PALADIN:  Perhaps we can speak privately.

CHARLES:  Okay.  My private office is this way.

While walking away with CHARLES, PALADIN notices POLLYANNA and the woman clerk eyeballing each other suspiciously.

INT. CHARLES PRIVATE OFFICE - DAY

CHARLES sits in chair by a desk.  PALADIN remains standing.  He hands CHARLES his business card.  CHARLES reads it.

PALADIN:  Your girlfriend POLLYANNA says you're in need of help from a bully because of your right hand.  If you want, I can teach you to defend yourself with your left.

CHARLES:  I don't understand.  I'm afraid you've been misled.  First, I've learned to be very proficient using a knife with my left hand.  And second, the so-called bully is POLLYANNA's husband, BIG DAN.  And I am certainly not her boyfriend.  GRACE is my wife and partner here at the store.  Perhaps you noticed her.

PALADIN is surprised and feels taken advantage of.

PALADIN:  I beg your pardon.  She paid me $1,000 to help protect her boyfriend...you.  Why would she lie like that?

PALADIN and CHARLES hear two women shouting in the store.  They both leave the office and return to store.

Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry was born on his family farm in Hanover County in the British Colony of Virginia, on May 29, 1736.  Religion played a key role in his life; his father and namesake uncle were both devout and were both major influences.

In 1760 Henry applied for a lawyer's license. He passed in April, and opened a practice, appearing in the courts of Hanover and nearby counties.  Henry became a skilled lawyer because he displayed quick wit, knowledge of human nature, and forensic gifts.

Patrick Henry was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1765.  In the 1770s, many in the British North American colonies started to feel anger towards their government in faraway London and thought the solution was independence.  

On March 22, 1775, Patrick Henry spoke before the Virginia House of Burgesses thus:

"If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

Forty seven years later in Brazil, Dom Pedro Segundo stated "independencia ou morte" - independence or death in English.  Was that a coincidence?

Both Patrick Henry and Dom Pedro Segundo were spared death and achieved independence for their countries from their European colonizers.

My Poor Right Knee, Part Two

As I mentioned last month, I had two surgeries in the 1970s to remove torn cartilage from my right knee.  In the 1980s, I took up running which built up the muscles around my knees.

However, over the years, my right knee started to weaken as a result of bone rubbing against bone with little or no cartilage to protect it.  I noticed this especially during the period after I moved to Brazil in 2013 at age 67.

At the beginning of my period in Brazil, I walked a lot to the homes of my English language students.  I experienced no difficulty because of my right knee.

As time passed, I noticed, not pain, but weakness in my right knee.  It got progressively worse.

I started thinking about knee replacement surgery as an option.  However, to me, the cons outweighed the pros.

In May 2023, at my son Bret's wedding in St. Augustine, Florida, my niece Cindy strongly suggested I would wind up in a wheelchair the way my right knee was progressing.  That influenced my thinking.  Now the pros were in the lead.

I decided that 2024 would be the year for my knee.  I started with my health insurance company (Prevent Senior), but they were very slow to react.

Then I went private.  Through a recommendation by my student Jose, I found Dr. Arnaldo, one of the best knee replacement surgeons in Brazil.

I liked him right away.  He spoke English and answered all our questions in a kind and patient manner.  Dr. Arnaldo would give me a new right knee.

The date was July 19, 2024.  The place was Hospital Nove de Julho in Sao Paulo.  I was not nervous; I was eager for the surgery to happen.

The surgery was the easy part, at least from my point of view.  What came next was difficult, at least for the first month of the recuperation process.

I started physical therapy almost immediately after I had a new right knee (made of steel, titanium and plastic) plus a great big scar.  I started off walking with a walker in the hospital where I stayed for five days.

I was happy to return home, but my leg ached.  Everywhere I needed to go, the walker led the way.

But, the good news was Paula, my therapist.  She was great.

Eventually, the ache went away and I graduated to a cane.  A few months more and I didn't need the cane either.  

After 5 months, I didn't need therapy any more.  My new right knee was perfect.  Thanks to Dr. Arnaldo and his team and Paula.

Special praise and many thanks go to my wife Cristina.  I could not have done it without her.  She put up with a patient who was not patient.  

   

Daylight Savings

Daylight saving time, also referred to as daylight saving(s), daylight savings time, daylight time, or summer time, is the practice of advancing clocks to make better use of the longer daylight available during summer so that darkness falls at a later clock time.

Around 34 percent of the world's countries use Daylight Savings Time. Some countries observe it only in some regions.

The first implementation of Daylight Savings Time was by Port Arthur, in Ontario, Canada, in 1908, but only locally, not nationally.  The first nation-wide implementations were by the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires, both starting on 30 April 1916. Since then, many countries have adopted it at various times, particularly since the 1970s energy crisis.

Industrialized societies usually follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year.  In contrast, an agrarian society's daily routines for work and personal conduct are more likely governed by the length of daylight hours and by solar time, which change seasonally.

Regarding agrarian society, there's an old joke about farmers.  They don't like Daylight Savings because their crops get too much sunshine.

I don't like Daylight Savings for a different reason.  Back when I wore a watch, I would have to change the time twice a year.  It required too much technology on my part.

Luckily, former President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil banned Daylight Savings.  Today, when the USA goes on Daylight Savings I am only one hour ahead of my family in New York and Florida, which I like.

   

Knox Goes Away

Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor.  He had to change his name since Michael Douglas, the son of Kirk Douglas, already had it.  

I first noticed Keaton for his portrayal of Beetlejuice in the 1988 film of the same name.  Beetlejuice is a charismatic, cynical and womanizing ghost. He also gets a little crazy at times due to his dramatic antics.  Keaton is wonderful in the role.

In 2023, Keaton starred in, directed and co-produced the American crime thriller film, Knox Goes Away.   It follows a contract killer (Keaton as John Knox) with a rapidly evolving form of dementia who vows to spend his final days attempting to find redemption by saving the life of his estranged adult son, portrayed by James Marsden.

Knox's friend, Xavier, a professional thief, is portrayed by the great Academy Award winner Al Pacino.

John Knox works a day job as a contract killer. He is estranged from his wife and son, and lives alone, interacting only with other members of his industry and a sex worker who visits him once a week, and who shares his love for books.

Knox is diagnosed with an aggressive form of dementia called Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, and quickly makes arrangements to retire from the business. Before he retires, however, he undertakes one last job with his partner.

During the job, after successfully killing his target, Knox accidentally kills his partner in his dementia-fueled confusion. He quickly stages the scene and leaves. 

That night, he is unexpectedly visited by his estranged son Miles, who tearfully admits to killing a man for raping his daughter, Knox's granddaughter. Knox instructs his son to remain quiet regarding the authorities as he goes to the crime scene and meticulously removes evidence that may incriminate Miles, while mysteriously storing them for later use. 

Knox visits his friend Xavier. Together, they devise a plan to set up Knox's family for life while leaving the business behind, all while Knox battles his fading mental state.

Knox plants the evidence that he had previously stored away around his son Miles's home, seemingly betraying him. Miles is arrested for the murder of his daughter's rapist, and is confronted by Knox in prison, where Knox accuses Miles of turning him in.

After getting lost in the woods after digging up his stash of diamonds at a cabin that his family used to own, Knox is picked up by Xavier and driven home. On arriving, he is confronted by a group of burglars and the sex worker, who had become aware of Knox's dementia and the fact that he had been cashing out and had ratted him out as a result. Knox kills all the burglars, but spars the sex worker.

Knox calls Xavier to ask him to inform the police of part of their plan, after which he is arrested. The police soon discover signs that the evidence found at Miles Knox's house may have been tampered with and planted by Knox, leading to the conclusion that Knox might have framed his son for the murder. Miles is released.

Several weeks later, Miles visits his father in prison. Knox, having now fully lost his mental faculties, does not recognize his son and is soon moved from prison to a medical facility with only weeks to live. 

Miles and his mother receive equal shares of Knox's fortune, ensuring the completion of his retirement plan.  The sex worker, who he spared, receives Knox's library, opens the cover of A Tale of Two Cities, which is my favorite book written by my favorite author, Charles Dickens ("It was the best of times; it was the worst of times").

Paladin, Chapter 4

EXT. SAME CAMPSITE - LATER THAT NIGHT

PALADIN and POLLYANNA are asleep.  The two cowboys quietly return.  FIRST COWBOY silently approaches POLLYANNA, while SECOND COWBOY approaches PALADIN.  FIRST COWBOY gets on top of POLLYANNA awakening her.

POLLYANNA:  What the...  (she screams)

PALADIN awakes as well.  SECOND COWBOY has already pointed his gun in PALADIN's face.

POLLYANNA:  (screams)  Don't!  Get the fuck offa me.

PALADIN waits for moment when SECOND COWBOY is distracted by what FIRST COWBOY is doing.   PALADIN then pulls out his derringer hidden in his belt and fires at SECOND COWBOY's temple killing him instantly.  Hearing the gun's noise, FIRST COWBOY turns toward PALADIN and tries to reach for his gun, but PALADIN jumps up and kills him first with the second shot from the derringer.  The danger gone, he then approaches the shaken POLLYANNA. 

PALADIN:  You all right?

POLLYANNA:  They're dead?

PALADIN:  Yeah...thanks in part to you.

POLLYANNA:  What do you mean?

PALADIN:  These men are what I was talking about when I said, "wild and dangerous."  These men don't see hardly any women in this country.  And then you start flirting as if you were in San Francisco or Windfall.  You can't do that.  Actions have consequences.    

POLLYANNA:  Bullshit.  I did nothing wrong.  But, I'm glad they're dead.

POLLYANNA stands up and kicks the dead body of the man who tried to rape her.

POLLYANNA:  Why did it take so long for you to kill them?

PALADIN:  (with emphasis) I killed them as soon as I could, lady, but I regret I had to do that.  Each life is precious and I'm sure if you had been demure instead of flirtatious they would still be alive.  Don't do that again in my company.  You hear me?

She nods, a little bit frightened by PALADIN's tone.

PALADIN:  Now, I'm going to have to bury these two.