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 Holabird AdvocateProviding all the news we see fit to print since 2002!Tuesday, September 27, 2011 I went to he Luxury last night, armed with a free movie pass. The flick I saw was "Dolphin Tale". The story about a boy and his dolphin. This was nothing like the "Flipper" that I grew up with. The movie was in 3D, which meant that I had to don Buddy Holly glasses to see the thing clearly. Here is my perception! This was my second 3D experience, so I was expecting the same cheesy special effects that usually come into play. They were there, alright, but there was a 2 dimensional quality in some of the acting mostly by actors I've never seen before. For instance, the boy in this movie who was sent to Summer School because he had all D's and F's on his report card. If you followed the movie close, you noticed that the teacher spent two separate class periods trying to teach this kid the basics of prepositional phrases. I was glad the mother, played by Ashley Judd, when the director felt like it, arranged to have him home-schooled along with the daughter of the Vet at the animal hospital where the whale is convalescing . There are several plot points that need to be followed in order to make sense of this movie. If pay attention, it'll be OK. Morgan Freeman was very low key in his role as a designer of a prosthetic tail for the Dolphin named Winter who lost her own tail in a crab trap. Harry Connick Jr as the vet at the animal hospital lent support as well. It was nice to see Frances Sternhagen as administrator. She is still remembered fondly by me in the role of Ma Clavin on "Cheers". Kris Kristofferson had some good scenes as Connick's father, churning up a well of emotion designed to tug at the old heartstrings. The real kicker for me was finding out that this seemingly impossible plot-line was in actuallity a true story and that Winter the Dolphin has her own website, give it a look if you are so inclined! http://seewinter.com/ Monday, September 26, 2011 Mitchell Fusion held it's first service yesterday at the DWU Sherman Center. There was a respectable turnout for this contemporary service of the Methodist faith. The service itself was energetic, very uplifting and informative. The problem with any event being held at the Sherman center is parking. I had to park in the LBW parking lot and walk over to the center. Once there, I was handed a bulletin (they call it a program, which I guess is what it was). As it happens, I was 4 minutes late (my fault) but was greeted by the lively music that usually starts out a service of this type. Because I was worried about being late for work, I sat on the edge of the row. When we were compelled to group up, I moved in closer to some other people. We were told to say something we were glad about, something we were concerned about, and choose someone to pray over all of those things when the discussion was over. It was difficult for me to talk freely, being shy, but that can be overcome. Pastor Brandon Vetter had some interesting statistics. The average American is 35 years (which made me feel old) The average Methodist is 57 ( which made me feel young) and the average Methodist pastor is 52 (which made me feel middle aged). Fusion, as I understand it, is taking two different things, having them come together and making something totally new come about. This sort of brought to mind what Paul told the Colossians concerning that in Christ we are all One. We may be male and female, young and old, rich and poor, red, yellow, black, and white, but Jesus sees us all the same and loves us and there's not a thing we can do about it. That may not have been the message he wanted to bring about, but it's still a good thing to know. Satan seeks to divide us because of there differences, but Jesus wants us to come together to make something wonderful happen. Wouldn't it be amazing if that caught on? After it was all said and done. I was 7 minutes late for work, but I got a lot done, so it's all good. Fusion is going to be once a month. The next service is scheduled for October 30. If you're in the neighborhood, drop by! Sunday, September 11, 2011 It's hard to believe that 10 years ago, I woke up to see that an airplane had crashed into one of the World Trade Towers, a few minutes later a second plane crashed into the other one while I was looking down at my bowl of Cheerios! That Tuesday Morning started out as any other day, but it ended one era, and began another. Every year since then, a sort of involuntary recall of those events take place, even without the media prompting those same memories. I remember the NYC Red Cross putting out a call for blood donations and in just a few hours time they were turning donors away. I also remember reports of people on those ill fated planes calling loved ones to say their final "I love you" I remember this sense of dread as the Pentagon was crashed into. I started wondering what was next. Was this some sort of invasion? How many planes were there? Was one headed for Mt. Rushmore? What else could happen? It was a completely different world back then. That event was one of the things that prompted the creation of the whole Holabird Advocate/Jerry Hinkle Program. The war on terrorism had started, so I made fun of it by declaring war on ignorance with this website. I gotta tell you that both wars are far from over. Saddam is dead, the war is still going on. Osama is dead, the war is still going on. we even have a different President in the White House of the opposition party, and the war is still going on. I gave up my fight against ignorance, both my own, and that of others. It may be time for us, you the Reader, and I the Publisher, to take up the fight again. Both on this website and off. I didn't want to publish anything about this day, I anyone does read this I hope I made the right choice. I'm sick of the media coverage of this day, it's the same old stuff all the time every year. This year, it's getting real old quick, yet here I am joining in the rehash. I guess it's just because I'm not sure how to feel. I'm glad we aren't turning this into a holiday just yet. If it becomes one, I hope it's a working holiday. Not a day to stay home and watch TV all day like we did 10 years ago. And I hope people stop calling it Patriots Day! I'm sure if this day needs a name, we can come up with something less lame than that! Some good things came out of that horrible time. People turned to God and each other for healing. They started respecting this country and it's flag just a little more than before. As British Prime Minister at the time, Tony Blair, declared, "We are all Americans today!" The Brits even played "The Star Spangled Banner" during their changing of the guard. When Broadway came back they closed each performance with "God Bless America", and the ACLU let it happen! It was an interesting time to be sure! And that should do it for this year! I hope I didn't go to far with this post. By the same respect, I hope I went far enough as well! Let me know what you think, one way or the other, please! 
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