Psalm 27:4

Posted on March 24, 2021 by smkelly8

www.bible.com/72/psa.27.4.hcsb

Which Way Challenge

Posted on October 11, 2020 by smkelly8

The Which Way Challenge , that Cee began, has been picked up by the Alive and Trekking blogger. The beauty of it is that it’s free form.

You can include images of doors, gates, roads, streets, exits, signs, paths, waterways, canals, railroad tracks, you name it.

See more Which Way photos by clicking here. You’ll be amazed at where people are going.

Vintage Mother’s Day Cards

Posted on May 10, 2020 by smkelly8

birds

I looked around and found some vintage Mother’s Day cards.

Mothers-Day-15

Wishing everyone’s mother a wonderful Mother’s Day in spite of the quarantine.

mothers day vintage card

grandma

The Hustler (1961)

Posted on April 3, 2020 by smkelly8

With Paul Newman playing Fast Eddie Felson, a young, swaggering hot shot, The Hustler is more about character than competition. At the start of the film, Eddie strolls into a dive pool hall looking for Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason). Fats is the champ of champs in pool. He agrees to play Eddie who in a marathon session has won $18,000. Fats is ready to call it a night, but Eddie, who’s been guzzling whiskey, insists on continuing the game. By the next morning, Fats has defeated intemperate Eddie, who leaves in shame. Observing all this is Bert Gordon, gambler and manager who knows it all. Before Eddie’s out the door, Bert imparts some pearls of wisdom about character. As Bert sees it Eddie’s got talent, but that doesn’t make you a winner, strong character does.

The Hustler isn’t so much about pool as it is about character. We don’t see as many great shots as I expected and often the score isn’t clearly stated. What we’re to watch for is Eddie’s character.

The middle of the film centers on Eddie meeting the equally melancholy drifter Sarah (Piper Laurie), who drinks too much and hangs out at the bus station where she isn’t judges and where she can get a drink at all hours. Sarah is pretty but sad. She’s a habitual liar without direction. She’s lame, but has pride. She’s very hurt and damaged by life and so is Eddie. Water seeks its own level and their love is based on sharing the pains that come with getting kicked around and lacking the wisdom from a mentor, parent or worldview that helps a person weather life’s storms and accept responsibility.

After a kind of honeymoon period, Eddie returns to the pool halls where his talent gets him victory and his bravado gets his thumbs broken. He heals under Sarah’s care, but is drawn back to hustling. Burt lures him to Louisville where Eddie believes he can win big. Burt offers wisdom, but he’s essentially a serpent whose main concern is his own wallet.

The Hustler is a dark film full of melancholy, but gripped me. Newman, Laurie, Scott and Gleason all put in excellent performances, which garnered four of the film’s nine Oscar nominations. While it’s a dark film, it wasn’t too depressing. Still you might like some lighter fare during the quarantine.