Day 1 of 40 Day Abundance Meditations

So this is day 1 of the 40 Day Abundance Plan from John Randolph Price's wonderful little book The Abundance Book.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, scroll down to see the full text of the program.  You can start this on any day.  Since it's Day 1 though, that means that before you start, you need to write the statement show below in your spiritual journal:

This day, December 13, 2012,  I cease believing in visible money as my supply and my support, and I view the world of effect as it truly is … simply an outpicturing of my former beliefs.  I believed in the power of money, therefore I surrendered my God-given power and authority to an objectified belief.  I believed in the possibility of lack, thus causing a separation in my consciousness from the Source of my supply.  I believed in mortal man and carnal conditions, and through this faith gave man and conditions power over me.  I believed in the mortal illusion created by the collective consciousness of error thoughts, and in doing so, I have limited the Unlimited.  No more!  This day I renounced my so-called humanhood and claim my divine inheritance as a Be-ing of God.  This day I acknowledge god and only god as my substance, my supply and my support.

Today's meditation is:

1.    God is lavish, unfailing Abundance, the rich omnipresent substance of the Universe.  This all-providing Source of infinite prosperity is individualized as me—the Reality of me.

Okay I have just recorded myself reading you today's meditation so you can click on that and listen to me say it as well.  Why I picked the first day I upload my face and voice on this blog to be before I've brushed my hair and put on makeup I'll never know.

I usually write this in my journal and then I sit for 15 minutes and do some combination of repeating  it to myself, sitting and contemplating it and writing about it.  Different days I do more or less of different things.  

Here's what I think about this meditation:  it means that the very stuff we're swimming in, the very stuff of the universe is God.  I don't have to call it that.  I can call it energy.  I can call it light.  I can call it the quantum field.  It doesn't matter.  The fact is that it is lavish.  It is unfailing.  It forms itself into chairs and tables and mountains and rivers and Hello Kitties.  And it also forms itself into me.  The same inexhaustible Source that makes the sun rise every morning no matter what Fox News said the night before is making up my skin, my bones and most of all my consciousness. It is me.  

Text of 40 Day Plan:

Note from Sara Nichols:  This is my typed excerpt of the total  40-Day Prosperity Plan from The Abundance Book by John Randolph Price--$7.00 from Hay House publishers.  If you use this program, please start with it right away, but please commit to purchasing this wonderful and inexpensive little book.  It contains lots of background information and testimonials that are essential to a thorough understanding and reaping of the benefits of this plan.

The rest is verbatim John Randolph Price’s words, not mine:

“Here is a program for realizing abundant prosperity in your life and affairs.  It takes 40 days for consciousness to realize a truth.  A break during the 40 day period releases the energy being built up around the idea.  Therefore, there must be a definite commitment to faithfully follow this program each and every day for 40 days—and if you miss even one day, to start over again and continue until you can go the full period with perfect continuity.  Here is the course of action:

àEstablish a specific date to start your program, such as the beginning of a particular week.  Count out 40 days on your calendar and mark the completion date.

àOn the first day of the program write the statement shown below in your spiritual journal:

This day (show actual date) I cease believing in visible money as my supply and my support, and I view the world of effect as it truly is … simply an outpicturing of my former beliefs.  I believed in the power of money, therefore I surrendered my God-given power and authority to an objectified belief.  I believed in the possibility of lack, thus causing a separation in my consciousness from the Source of my supply.  I believed in mortal man and carnal conditions, and through this faith gave man and conditions power over me.  I believed in the mortal illusion created by the collective consciousness of error thoughts, and in doing so, I have limited the Unlimited.  No more!  This day I renounced my so-called humanhood and claim my divine inheritance as a Be-ing of God.  This day I acknowledge god and only god as my substance, my supply and my support.

àThere are ten statements of Principle below.  Read one statement each day.  This means that you will go through the entire list four times during the 40-day period.

àAfter reading the daily statement—either upon arising or before going to bed in the evening—meditate on it for at least 15 minutes, focusing on each idea in the statement with great thoughtfulness and feeling—letting the ideas fill your consciousness.

àFollowing each meditation period, write down in your Journal the thoughts that come to you.  Be sure to do this daily.

àSince you have already received an all-sufficiency of supply (all that the Infinite Mind has is yours now), you can prove this Truth to your deeper mind by sharing your supply on a regular basis while you are working with the Plan.  Giving is an esoteric science that never fails to produce results if it is done with love and joy, because the Law will shower you with a pressed down and multiplied return.  But if you tithe (and I really prefer the word “sharing” to tithing) as a mechanical and calculated method to please god, unload guilt, meet a sense of obligation and play a bartering game with the Law, no one benefits—not even the receiver.  Give with love, joy, and a sense of fun and windows of heaven will be thrown open with a blast!

àThe Statements of Principle:

1.    God is lavish, unfailing Abundance, the rich omnipresent substance of the Universe.  This all-providing Source of infinite prosperity is individualized as me—the Reality of me.

2.    I lift up my mind and heart to be aware, to understand, and to know that the Divine Presence, I AM is the Source and Substance of all my good.

3.    I am conscious of the Inner Presence as my lavish Abundance.  I am conscious of the constant activity of this Mind of infinite Prosperity.  Therefore, my consciousness is filled with the Light of Truth.

4.    Through my consciousness of my Godself, the Christ within, as my Source, I draw into my mind and feeling nature the very substance of Spirit.  This substance is my supply, thus my consciousness of the Presence of God within me is my supply.

5.    Money is not my supply.  No person, place or condition is my supply.  My knowledge of the all-providing activity of the Divine Mind within me is my supply.  My consciousness of this Truth is unlimited; therefore, my supply is unlimited.

6.    My inner supply instantly and constantly takes on form and experience according to my needs and desires, and as the Principle of Supply in action, it is impossible for me to have any needs or unfulfilled desires.

7.    The Divine Consciousness that I am is forever expressing its true nature of Abundance.  This is its responsibility, not mine.  My only responsibility is to be aware of this Truth.  Therefore, I am totally confident in letting go and letting God appear as the abundant all-sufficiency in my life and affairs.

8.    My consciousness of the Spirit within me as my unlimited Source is the Divine Power to restore the years the locusts have eaten, to make all things new, to lift me up to the High Road of abundant prosperity.  This awareness, understanding and knowledge of Spirit appears as every visible form and experience that I could possibly desire.

9.    When I am aware of the God-Self within me as my total fulfillment, I am totally fulfilled.  I am now aware of this Truth, I have found the secret of life, and I relax in the knowledge that the Activity of Divine Abundance is eternally operating in my life.  I simply have to be aware of the flow, the radiation, of that Creative Energy, which is continuously, easily and effortlessly pouring forth from my Divine Consciousness.  I am now aware.  I am now in the flow.

10.I keep my mind and thoughts off “this world” and I place my entire focus on God within as the only cause of my prosperity.  I acknowledge the Inner Presence as the only activity in my financial affairs, as the substance of all things visible.  I place my faith in the Principle of Abundance in action within me.”

Getting ready to start 40 days of abundance meditations with me

So gratified at the number of people who responded that they want to meditate on abundance with me for the next 40 days.  See yesterday's post for details.

In order to prepare, please set aside 30 minutes for tomorrow, a pad of paper and a pen and a computer.  On subsequent days you only need 15 but realistically the first day needs a full 30 with signing the first day pledge and everything.

Warning: unsolicited advice:
My experience is that I will not NOT set aside 30 minutes for anything short of meeting Bill Clinton alone in a hotel room without an appointment with myself (which I've yet to do by the way, this is how rumors get started).  If I tell myself, oh, I'll do it at some point or I'll do it in the evening I might as well be saying I'll do it when Republicans vote for national health insurance paid for by a tax on the wealthy.  No.  I have to look at my schedule the night before and put into my calendar precisely when I'm going to do it.  More than that, for me, if I don't do it when I first wake up it doesn't happen.  So if I have to wake up 30 minutes earlier to start abundance meditations, that's what I do, whether I'm getting up at 4am anyway or skipping yoga that morning or whatever.  Otherwise my day slips away and I keep putting it off and bam it's bed time and I'm trying to do it while I'm really sleepy.  But that's just me...

Start 40 days of meditation with me

This Thursday, December 13, 2012, I will be starting a 40 day series of meditations on abundance.  I do this series periodically, basically whenever I feel constricted, especially financially but in any area of my life.  When I begin to be under the illusion that my job or my husband or the government is my Source, or when I feel a lack of love, a lack of peace, a lack of health, I start these meditations.  See below for the full text of the meditations and the program.  You can, of course, start this any time, but I'd like it if you'd do it with me.  Starting Thursday I will post the day's meditation that I'm on and some thoughts about it.

If you're new to my blog, this is not me, it's someone much more serene and you don't have to sit like this to meditate.  I sit in a chair.

This is my typed excerpt of the total  40-Day Prosperity Plan from The Abundance Book by John Randolph Price--$7.00 from Hay House publishers.  If you use this program, please start with it right away, but please commit to purchasing this wonderful and inexpensive little book.  It contains lots of background information and testimonials that are essential to a thorough understanding and reaping of the benefits of this plan.

The rest is verbatim John Randolph Price’s words, not mine:

“Here is a program for realizing abundant prosperity in your life and affairs.  It takes 40 days for consciousness to realize a truth.  A break during the 40 day period releases the energy being built up around the idea.  Therefore, there must be a definite commitment to faithfully follow this program each and every day for 40 days—and if you miss even one day, to start over again and continue until you can go the full period with perfect continuity.  Here is the course of action:

àEstablish a specific date to start your program, such as the beginning of a particular week.  Count out 40 days on your calendar and mark the completion date.

àOn the first day of the program write the statement shown below in your spiritual journal:

This day (show actual date) I cease believing in visible money as my supply and my support, and I view the world of effect as it truly is … simply an outpicturing of my former beliefs.  I believed in the power of money, therefore I surrendered my God-given power and authority to an objectified belief.  I believed in the possibility of lack, thus causing a separation in my consciousness from the Source of my supply.  I believed in mortal man and carnal conditions, and through this faith gave man and conditions power over me.  I believed in the mortal illusion created by the collective consciousness of error thoughts, and in doing so, I have limited the Unlimited.  No more!  This day I renounced my so-called humanhood and claim my divine inheritance as a Be-ing of God.  This day I acknowledge god and only god as my substance, my supply and my support.

àThere are ten statements of Principle below.  Read one statement each day.  This means that you will go through the entire list four times during the 40-day period.

àAfter reading the daily statement—either upon arising or before going to bed in the evening—meditate on it for at least 15 minutes, focusing on each idea in the statement with great thoughtfulness and feeling—letting the ideas fill your consciousness.

àFollowing each meditation period, write down in your Journal the thoughts that come to you.  Be sure to do this daily.

àSince you have already received an all-sufficiency of supply (all that the Infinite Mind has is yours now), you can prove this Truth to your deeper mind by sharing your supply on a regular basis while you are working with the Plan.  Giving is an esoteric science that never fails to produce results if it is done with love and joy, because the Law will shower you with a pressed down and multiplied return.  But if you tithe (and I really prefer the word “sharing” to tithing) as a mechanical and calculated method to please god, unload guilt, meet a sense of obligation and play a bartering game with the Law, no one benefits—not even the receiver.  Give with love, joy, and a sense of fun and windows of heaven will be thrown open with a blast. 

àThe Statements of Principle:

1.    God is lavish, unfailing Abundance, the rich omnipresent substance of the Universe.  This all-providing Source of infinite prosperity is individualized as me—the Reality of me.

2.    I lift up my mind and heart to be aware, to understand, and to know that the Divine Presence, I AM is the Source and Substance of all my good.

3.    I am conscious of the Inner Presence as my lavish Abundance.  I am conscious of the constant activity of this Mind of infinite Prosperity.  Therefore, my consciousness is filled with the Light of Truth.

4.    Through my consciousness of my Godself, the Christ within, as my Source, I draw into my mind and feeling nature the very substance of Spirit.  This substance is my supply, thus my consciousness of the Presence of God within me is my supply.

5.    Money is not my supply.  No person, place or condition is my supply.  My knowledge of the all-providing activity of the Divine Mind within me is my supply.  My consciousness of this Truth is unlimited; therefore, my supply is unlimited.

6.    My inner supply instantly and constantly takes on form and experience according to my needs and desires, and as the Principle of Supply in action, it is impossible for me to have any needs or unfulfilled desires.

7.    The Divine Consciousness that I am is forever expressing its true nature of Abundance.  This is its responsibility, not mine.  My only responsibility is to be aware of this Truth.  Therefore, I am totally confident in letting go and letting God appear as the abundant all-sufficiency in my life and affairs.

8.    My consciousness of the Spirit within me as my unlimited Source is the Divine Power to restore the years the locusts have eaten, to make all things new, to lift me up to the High Road of abundant prosperity.  This awareness, understanding and knowledge of Spirit appears as every visible form and experience that I could possibly desire.

9.    When I am aware of the God-Self within me as my total fulfillment, I am totally fulfilled.  I am now aware of this Truth.   I have found the secret of life, and I relax in the knowledge that the Activity of Divine Abundance is eternally operating in my life.  I simply have to be aware of the flow, the radiation, of that Creative Energy, which is continuously, easily and effortlessly pouring forth from my Divine Consciousness.  I am now aware.  I am now in the flow.

10.I keep my mind and thoughts off “this world” and I place my entire focus on God within as the only cause of my prosperity.  I acknowledge the Inner Presence as the only activity in my financial affairs, as the substance of all things visible.  I place my faith in the Principle of Abundance in action within me.”

5 Snouts Up for Silver Linings Playbook

I love this movie but hate this poster

(:)(:)(:)(:)(:) for Silver Linings Playbook in theaters everywhere.  Listen, it's been almost a year since I issued a belated 5 snouts up for Black Swan which I only saw on DVD.  I think this is the first time I have seen a 5 snouts movie in a theater since American Beauty (which I loved so much I turned around, walked in and saw it again).  The fifth snout is reserved for films that are in the category of best films of all time: amazing writing, amazing directing, amazing acting and enduring story.

This movie shattered all my expectations and meets those criteria.  On the surface (and how it's marketed) is as an intense rom-com. In a way this is true.  It is romantic.  It is funny.  It is intense.  There are ways in which it follows the rom-com formula.  Yet, the characters played by Bradley (Hangover) Cooper and Jennifer (Hunger Games) Lawrence are an order of magnitude more interesting than any you'd find in a traditional romantic comedy.  Their performances are so stellar, and the movie has so much more intensity, craziness and angst than others, that you have to think of it as just a genre unto itself.

Because the characters they play are fucking crazy (like, literally), there's a part of me that feels that they shouldn't be so unbelievably gorgeous.  I tend to really hate the American movie industry's need to have every single romantic lead be from the same planet of unreal beings with perfect facial features and piercing eyes.  Yet, Lawrence (we knew) and Cooper  (who knew?) are such gifted actors that you forgive them their looks and then cycle back and fall in love with them in spite and because of how gorgeous they are.

The screenplay is breathtakingly well-written.  Somehow every phrase seems acutely observed and staggeringly articulate at the same time.  The casting is impeccable.  Not just the leads, but the secondary characters are complete gems.  Robert DeNiro as Cooper's father gives his best performance in years--I'd be disappointed if he didn't get a nomination for best supporting actor.  And everyone else too, the best friend, the therapist, the mother--wonderful!

My final word in my over-the-top rave about this movie is that its existence as a mainstream Hollywood pic signals that we're well into a new era of story-telling in America: honesty.  In the past few decades, the heroes of stories were usually relatively close to perfect.  Whatever flaws those people had were minor and perhaps perfectionistic (think of Meg Ryan's character Sally in When Harry Met Sally--she's quirky and weird because she orders her salad dressing on the side, or Bill Murray in Groundhog Day who starts out as shallow).

Without giving anything away, Silver Linings gives us heroes whose foibles go far beyond salad dressing and ego, yet we root for them and adore them.  This follows on a trend perhaps started by the edgier television shows such as the Sopranos or Breaking Bad where we come to love (as we wince) at  killers and drug dealers.  In Silver Linings, the shadow of America's families, the sister and brother we don't talk about, breaks through into the spotlight of love and we are all better for it.

"Fresh Face Friday" is Refreshing

Highschool junior Shea Backes won a national contest sponsored by Miss Representation.org by creating a concept for middle and highschool girls to give each permission to go without makeup by creating "Fresh Face Friday"-- where every Friday girls where no makeup to school.  By making it a thing, it creates an invitation to experiment and see how beautiful all these girls are just with their normal faces.  Not that I woulda been caught dead at my highschool without makeup (but that's kinda the point, as these girls so aptly explain).  Please make this go viral now.

See Enron at Capital Stage--extended thru Oct 28

Smash Hit ENRON Extended Through October 28  More Raves for ENRON   -Marcus Crowder, The Sacramento Bee Read Full Review     "This rollicking show delivers sonic zingers and stunning visuals."   "...an audacious, energetic show..."   "ENRON hits the bull's eye."  -Jeff Hudson, Capital Public Radio Read Full Review   "(Jonathan Rhys) Williams is mesmerizing...Shannon Mahoney is the seductive Claudia Roe..."   "...a very strong, informative and entertaining production." -Bev Sykes, Davis Enterprise Jonathan Rhys Williams* & Shannon Mahoney in ENRON The Sacramento Premiere of ENRON by Lucy Prebble EXTENDED through Oct 28 Click for more info TICKETS 916-995-5464   Directed by Stephanie Gularte 2215 CAPITAL STAGE Located in Midtown 2215 J Street Sacramento, CA 916-995-5464 www.capstage.org   *Members of Actors' Equity Association Photos by Charr Crail   ENRON is sponsored by

SEIU'S COMPELLING YES ON 30 VIDEO

Menopausal Moments in Obamacare

This week a consultant stood up in the California Health Benefit Exchange Board (the governance structure charged with implementing a key piece of Obamacare in California) and joked about her hot flashes before a crowded room of health care policy professionals.   This instance set off Dr. Bob Ross one of the board members who revealed that his wife had chastised him for joking about such moments in the past.  He said that if the consultant could educate him, he'd be open to it.

Then the Executive Director Peter Lee lit up his own mike as if to add to the commentary and the 3 women over 60 on the board glared at him, with chair Diana Dooley saying, "don't you dare." This set off gales of laughter in the room packed with middle-aged women.   Lee blushed, stammered and said something else entirely.  When the chair took the mike again, she informed the consultant that it does get better later on and moved the agenda along.

I was struck by how rare a moment in public proceedings this might be.  Health care is one policy area which is heavily dominated by women.   California is a state where we appoint a lot of women to statewide boards.  With baby boomers mostly in their 60s, the number of post menopausal women is on the rise.  This is a demographic that in previous generations was consigned to cackle in kitchens and neighborhood stoops, not on a public dias, less still being in charge of what is or is not okay to say.

Perhaps this is really the nightmare Republicans envision playing out: women being women in public without apology.

Apples and Cackling in Sebastopol Today

5 enthusiastic snouts up for my trip to visit my friends in Sebastopol.  Despite trying to fill every minute of my weekend with purposeful activity, the fates conspired to ground me at my friends' extraordinary estate in Sebastopol with "nothing to do" today and without my husband and children.  It was, as you would expect, terrible.

I spent the morning vigorously shaking the branches of the endangered Gravenstein Apple trees, liberating dried oregano from copious stalks, and chasing cats and dogs from sunny perches, in a spectacular spread on the edge of Sebastopol.

This followed by removing leaves from the swimming pool, 20 minutes of exercise swimming, and lounging in the sun eating salad.

The afternoon brought a long nap and an hour's walk into town followed by an attempt to boost the local economy in several small shops.

Evening was shopping and fighting about food and laughter with my mom--that's fighting about laughter, by the way, which I've never fought about before--she hates how loud I cackle.  It sets off some sort of PTSD.

(:)(:)(:)(:)(:) for The Rock in San Diego

5 snouts up for The Rock, a mega church in San Diego, CA.
Now I hesitate to do this.  What does it say about me that my first post in months (on my birthday, no less) is to rave about a gigantic Christian church?  Well you can draw your own conclusions.

As a requirement for ministerial school, I have to visit 10 churches that are different from mine and report out.*  When I am travelling to other cities on a Sunday, I usually try to take the opportunity to visit a church or two.  While in San Diego to support our daughter in the San Diego Crew Classic, I decided to visit my first Christian megachurch--The Rock.

To my immense surprise, I loved it.  I really really really did not expect to.  To call this place a "mega-church" is almost an understatement by the way.  To get there, I drove pretty far out on Pt. Loma--a trip down memory lane because it's where I went to high school over 30 years ago.  Up the street from where I was almost fired at the Loma Theater for telling customers the true mark-up for popcorn ("Is tax included?"  "Yes sir," says the smart alec college kid.  "Tax, and a 250% profit margin has been added to the price of each and every item."), a former navy base has been converted to peace time use--Trader Joe's and a mall of popular chain stores, give forth to the Rock's gigantic campus--huge church next to 3 separate buildings and attendant play yards, an elementary school, a middle school and a highschool all owned and operated by The Rock.

Driving past thousands of men, women and children streaming in for the 10am Sunday service, I park blocks away, grateful for my sprained ankle and "knee caddy" so that I scoot rather than walk up to the massive structure that is the sanctuary.

I notice the crowd contains many young families and is very diverse.  My "disabled" status earns me a special seat much closer than I could have reasonably expected entering the service after it is in full swing.

And swing it does--on the stage, a young, attractive, African American man in jeans warms up the crowd with jokes backed up by a rockin' band and gospel choir.  Nary a cross is in sight.  The stage could be the Grammies Award ceremony easily, instead of a church.  I settle in and wait for the real minister to appear.

Minutes later, putting together the words and images on brochures in a darkened auditorium, I learn that this man, Miles McPherson, a former NFL football player, is the real, main pastor.  He is so warm, so likeable, so accessible.  And he has barely referenced Jesus, God or the Bible.   How can this be?  Instead, he's talking about their mission.  And this is what blew me away.

Their mission, as they express it, is not to save souls, or bring people to Christ Jesus.  Their mission is to transform the City of San Diego--to feed every single hungry person, to give a home to every single homeless person, to provide rehab to every single drug addicted person and to offer a new life to every single prostitute.  They play clips with person after person telling how The Rock came into their neighborhood and changed their life.  I didn't hear them talk about Jesus.  I heard them talk about the same things we talk about my church, changing their lives, the ability to transform, to change to be new.
They showed vids of 100s of people going out into neighborhoods, clearing garbage, painting buildings, creating parks, playing fields.

In other words, what I rely on government to do, they are doing.  They are enrolling people by the thousands in this vision, in this mission, investing in people's lives.  This minister is very convincing that that's where the money goes.  That they are changing lives, and changing San Diego.

Now, as I scour their website today, I of course find numerous references to Christ and numerous references to saving souls, so that is definitely what they are up to.  But I didn't hear any of that in what they talked about.  I heard amazing music, inspiration, humor and mostly love.  I tell you I was ready to give away practically everything I owned to this church.  And this was a "first fruits" service too, one of two a year (they say) where they focus on fundraising.  It was about how you give your first, not your last, dollar to your Source.  To what feeds and sustains you.  They were explicitly raising millions, and explicitly admitting that some huge amount of it would go to retire the debt they incurred (millions) building their amazing physical plant) but they were focussed on the ministry in San Diego and their vision.  As I heard it, I really wanted my church to have a vision that big and that well articulated.  I wanted to be part of something that was systematically making a difference in the material conditions of people's lives.

There is a church called The Rock in Elk Grove that I hope to check out, but I don't know if they are affiliated.

*Most of you know that I am studying to be a minister through the Holmes Institute of Consciousness Studies at the Centers for Spiritual Living.   CSL is a fast-growing "new thought" church that fairly recently changed its name from Church of Religious Science.  There are now around 1000 such churches mostly in the United States but some scattered around the globe.  The mission statement of the Center for Spiritual Awareness in West Sacramento, which I attend, is "The Center for Spiritual Awareness is a diverse and caring community in which we share spiritual nourishment and celebrate all paths to God through the principles of science of mind."

To become a minister, I have to take 3 years worth of academic religious instruction and practical church administration classes, plus complete a number of other requirements such as demonstrating competency through several internships.  One of those internships is to visit and report on 10 churches that are very different from mine.

My Weekend with Marilyn and The Artist

(:)(:)(:) for The Artist

(:)(:)(:)(:) for My Week with Marilyn  

This weekend I saw The Artist and My Week With Marilyn.   I was eager to see one of the films.  The other I was willing to see but had zero expectations--guess which one was better?  Read on...

(:)(:(:) for The Artist seen at the Piedmont Theater in Oakland, California Saturday.  Wow, what a disappointment.  I was all hyped up for this.  So many critics.  So much attention.  I shoulda known that I needed to psych myself down.  My first clue should have been that my husband was only moderately interested in seeing it.  He figures these things out in advance.  I have to experience them.

That having been said, as a movie-going experience, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  If I had just wandered in off the streets to see this film, I probably would have loved it.  But it wasn't as good as Singin' in the Rain, it's obvious cinematic ancestor which covered the same ground: transition from silent to talking pictures.

Judging from the expressions on the faces of the Golden-Globe-winning French team that made this film, they essentially knew it wasn't as big a deal as people were making it.  This is a sweet story, well-acted and compelling with a gimmick that makes you especially interested: it's silent and it's about silents.  That's it.

See it, but don't expect Citizen Kane.

(:)(:)(:)(:) for  My Week with Marilyn at the Shadduck Theater in Bezerkeley.   This was one of those movie choices predominantly driven by schedule.  We were looking for something to fill time in a sleepy Sunday in the east bay before we went to see a play at the Berkeley Rep (see review of A Doctor in Spite of Himself).    We almost saw this movie another time and I wasn't particularly sorry that it hadn't come together.

Wow.  I loved this story and how they did it.  Michelle Williams totally became Marilyn for this.  In fact, she is so Marilyn that I can't imagine it could have been easy to play.    But as compellingly sexy, vulnerable and messed up as she is, this movie is not about her.  It's about Colin Clark--after all it's his week with Marilyn, not Marilyn's, not ours and not not Sir Lawrence Olivier's (played oddly by Kenneth Branagh).

 

 Colin Clark, played by Eddie Redmayne, is the real engenue of the film.  He's the virginal, wide-eyed innocent, working hard as the "third" (director/gopher) in the fraught production of a film within a film where classically trained actor Olivier and movie star Monroe don't see eye to eye on how to approach their work.

This boy is perfectly cast and gorgeous to watch.  Through him, we experience Marilyn as a near school-boy's fantasy juxtaposed against her f***ed up reality.  Yet, at some point, with his full-lips and wondrous big-eyed looks, one becomes conscious that Eddie the actor may be working the same screen magic on us that Marilyn worked on everyone. How conscious this is for the director and writer I don't know, but it interests me.

The rest of the cast and story is strong.  Emma Watson (aka Hermione Granger) plays the small part of a costume girl whom Colin works his magic on while he's fantasizing about Marilyn.  Branagh's choice to play Olivier as if he were an affected actor of German origins must be defensible (knowing Branagh's discipline and sensibilities) but it didn't work for me.

My advice:  see both movies with minimal expectations and you'll (probably) have a good time!

See In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play Now!

(:)(:)(:)(:) for In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play at Capital Stage in Sacramento Now!

I haven't had much time to blog lately, but this play only runs through February 26th so I want you have an opportunity to see it.  It's a funny, sexy, romp of a play, well-acted, well-staged.  It's set at the turn of the last century in a time when ladies were ladies and gentlemen were gentlemen.  If you try to kiss someone, it's a scandal.  Yet, what's going on above board "in the next room" in the doctor's "surgery" (or treatment office) is hilarious and sexy by our standards and by theirs, is it?

The New Yorker would have us believe that this is historically accurate.  Women in this era routinely went for this particular type of treatment for their "hysteria."

See it, but maybe if you take your mother, don't sit next to her.

Whither the Tower Theater?

My recent experience of watching Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy in a freezing Tower Theater made me wonder what's up with Tower these days.  A few years ago, I was sympathetic to a push to save Tower Theater because the City Council was proposing to spend millions fixing up the downtown plaza multiplex (which is part of a big chain) while the scrappy, independent, architecturally beautiful and historically unique Tower was languishing.  Leaving aside the amusing thought of a city spending money on something (those were the days!), whatever happened to the promises that the Tower's management made at that time?

As I recall they said they'd paint it, refurbish it, perhaps even put in heat and make it suitable for all viewing audiences not just the current dwindling audience which seems to consist of highly educated able-bodied movie goers with heavy coats, no fear of steep stairs in the complete dark or shabby carpet with places to trip all of whom live within 3 miles of the theater.    For years this place has been a fire trap and they don't even have any lights to show you the exits.  It is an ADA lawsuit waiting to happen.

Until my recent experience of watching a movie virtually unprotected from the elements, I would defend this theater.  It shows great stuff.  It's in my neighborhood.  It's got the Tower Cafe next door and those plants.  What's not to like?

But it's impossible not to draw comparisons to the Crest Theater which some 15 years ago invested in a complete restoration of its gorgeous single screen space and then put in smaller screens downstairs.  Attracting parties, large events, speakers, and musicians as well as showing foreign and independent films, the investment seems to have paid off.

The Tower's owners seem to be cut from a different cloth.  Perhaps the city can't support two fully renovated gorgeous old theaters (I think it probably could, but what do I know whether it would pencil out), but surely some paint, some lights, new carpet, a few exit signs and some heat could do a lot to attract a wider audience.

What do you think?