Jims of Wyzdom for November 30, 2018

The Magic Flute: will be playing an encore at the Regal Hollywood Cinema & Opera House on Saturday, December 1 at 12:55 PM. This is the gorgeous Julie Taymor production with puppets and a fine cast, so if you haven’t seen it, GO! If you’ve seen it, GO! Bonnie and I have seen it 3 times and have the DVD and we’ll be going—it’s that good.

To get it right, be born with luck or else make it. Never give up. Get the knack of getting people to help you, and also pitch in yourself. A little money helps, but what really gets it right is never—I repeat—never under any condition face the facts. [Actress/Writer Ruth Gordon]

Bon Hiver! I know…it’s not officially winter yet but it sure does feel like it, no? The winter solstice falls on December 21, so until then, we’ll just have to make sure we have enough wood for the stove and warm places for the cats to curl up and make sure there is plenty of hot chocolate in the kitchen. I recently tried the sugar-free Nestles and it is quite good, so less guilt, eh?

Men have one fatal flaw. It’s the yearning for love and romance. And that longing for love outlasts the capacity for sex; it persists to old age. [Writer Joseph Heller]

Ah, love! As a 25 year-old social worker in Los Angeles, many moons ago, I had to write a marriage handbook for court-ordered counseling for teens that wanted to marry. Even then, married only two years myself, I realized that the secret to a long happy marriage is to make sure your mate is your best friend…above all else. S/he should be the one person you would rather be with than any other; the one you can tell anything to and get a wise answer or discussion. Sexual intimacy is part of the recipe, but only as it naturally proceeds from that best friendship. If/when it wanes the devoted couple still give and receive love in simple cuddling, hand-holding, dancing, cooking together or whatever you want to share with your best friend.

I don’t know what I may seem to the world, but, as to myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me. [Scientist Isaac Newton]

Spring Film Forum: One last item…if you would like to vote on our up-coming spring series, there are ballots in the office that can be filled out and left in my box. You can choose TEN films from the list of 25 of the greatest pictures from the best year ever, 1939. I will announce the titles you have voted the most for in a future column. Some ask me, “Why 1939?” So get on your Internet and look up the film titles for 1939. I rest my case. I could have added 25-50 more and there would still be plenty to choose from. It just happened. Maybe it was the threat of that big war pounding on Europe’s doors…

If old age means a crown of thorns, the trick is to wear it jauntily. [Writer Clare Booth Luce]

Just Jim