The Shining by Stanley Kubrick, writer and director of Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/09/dr-strangelove-aka-red-alert-by-peter.html - 9 out of 10

 

The Shining by Stanley Kubrick, writer and director of Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/09/dr-strangelove-aka-red-alert-by-peter.html

 

9 out of 10

 

Stanley Kubrick was one of the greatest, and films like A Clockwork Orange https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/a-clockwork-orange-by-anthony-burgess.html are on my Top 100 Favorite list

 

Indeed, some are on the top 20, the issue I have with The Shinning though is that it is not my favorite genre, on the contrary, I avoid horror films, ever since I had some unhappy experience about forty years ago…

Ergo, this note is not about The Shining, this being a motion picture directed by Kubrick, and furthermore, with the glorious Jack Nicholson in the leading role, there is a lot to see there, but that is about all I have to say on the film

 

From here on, it is not interesting, worse, unrelated, although we could say that, even I were to try very hard and stay on topic, make my best to offer a ‘review’, what would that bring to the table, ultimately, will it change anything?

Hence, freedom, I will just run wild and talk about…running, I have taken part in my own Horror Show, yesterday, when I run ten kilometers, in the Cross of the Arenas, and it was exhilarating at times, and tormenting in some ways

 

The Shining could have had a replica there, for at my age, sixty-one in February, it does not come naturally, some use a cane – while others are in top form – and then I used to swim, for the last thirty years…

That was my regular exercise, even if in the pandemic, I did run some 6 kilometers daily, when the club, gyms were closed down, to avoid spreading the virus, so there is some background here, but not serious training

 

About sixteen months ago, I came to the pool, only to find it has no water, and this was the Zen Master moment https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/06/charlie-wilsons-war-written-by-aaron.html the story is told in Charlie Wilson’s War

This Zen Master has a horse that runs away, the villagers express their sympathy, and the Master says we shall see, then the horse comes back with wild stallions, and the community is happy for the Master, who has the same replica…

 

We shall see, and indeed, his son breaks a leg, trying to tame the wild animals, prompting compassion, only the Zen Master shows equanimity with ‘we shall see’, and he is vindicated when recruiters for the emperor’s army arrive

Bref, the missing water in the pool turned to be a boon, the apparent misfortune from the Zen Master Story, turning into a positive turn (until we see it changing for the next time) for I have started a different workout

 

This Master Zen from out club, The Dragon aka Balaur, saw me doing some exercises and he told me I should try another system, pushing for more running, alternated with the rowing machine, Monday, Wednesday and Friday run

The other days get rowing, and when he saw a progress, up to passing 14 kilometers, now the limit is 14.5, done in one and a half hours, he said I should take part in competitions, such as the Cross of Yesterday

 

I though, with such grand modesty, that this is just a joke, or a good ruse from a coach – he used to be a professional footballer in Sweden, then owned a team, trained it, he is now the owner of an excellent restaurant The Hearth aka Vatra

We kept pushing back and forth, so he even became my sponsor, took me to a sports shop and paid for Hoka running shoes, shirt, pants, even socks! And he paid for the tax of 200 lei, needed to register for the run

 

Because I have two macaws, and they keep me home for most of the time, I do exit at five in the morning, cycle to the downtown club, run or row, as mentioned before, then jacuzzi, sauna, social interchange…

Then hurry back hope, to take the boys at about noon from the spouse – we do not really have much, if anything in common any more (if we ever had) but the care for the birds is somewhat shared, and respects some rules

 

So, I said, I could get out of my schedule for the run, but how do I get the bag with the competition number, the device that tracks the moves and all the rest, so my sponsor and Sensei took care of that too, blessed be his name

He sent a driver to get the kit, then an Uber fellow up to my house – the latter was a bit of a Shining moment, because the Uber man…stole my shirt, so I had to wait yesterday, after the end of the competition, to see if they have any left for me, to replace the stolen, precious memorabilia and bragging device – I took it along today and told all and sunder what a champion I am…and now I am even posting this on the internet…

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”