'Take a cup of kindness yet..'

1. Ah, the end is almost near old friends. Year of the Horse is barreling down the stretch towards the finish line, and the Ram (some say Sheep, or Goat) is about to hurdle into 2015. Two friends of mine retired this year. One divorced. Another slipped through Germany on a barge. Arthroscopic surgeries. Walking canes. Unabashed Tesla coveting. Market up. Market down. Protests. Drought.

2. Hashtag and Emoji. Vocabulary phenoms of the year.

3. Noteworthy reads. 'The Boys in the Boat,' by Daniel James Brown. 'Unbroken,' by Laura Hillenbrand. 'The Price of Salt sometimes published under 'Carol,' by Patricia Highsmith. 'The Burning Room,' by Michael Connelly. 'American Sniper,' by Chris Kyle. All publications by Gillian Flynn. 'Prune,' by the great chef, Gabrielle Hamilton. 'Wildlife' by Richard Ford. 'L.A.Son' by the maverick chef, Roy Choi. '1Q84' by Haruki Murakami. Ok, I confess, I haven't finished the Murakami book, but one does recognize greatness.

4. Films that tripped the light fantastic. Boyhood. Only Lovers Left Alive. Birdman. Guardians of the Galaxy (I kid you not). Snowpiercer. Wild. The Grand Budapest Hotel. Fincher's Gone Girl. A shaky nod to Interstellar. And sight unseen, J.C. Chandor's, A Most Violent Year, with Jessica Chastain.

5. The Telly. Where we learn it all, baby. True Detective in a romp. Homeland, resurrected. Transparent, holy S.  Outlander, who knew? Banshee: it is what it is. Orphan Black. More group bopping, please. Game of Thrones because it's still the shizz. And The Good Wife. The series with the worse title on the face of the planet that keeps on giving.

6. On the clock: White House gender change in 2016.

Be safe out there. Black eyed peas on January 1st.

"If the Fates allow..."

1. A line from one of the greatest Christmas lyrics ever penned and which always elicits a tear from me. The great Judy Garland sings the definite version of 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,' in the 1944 film, Meet me in St. Louis, directed by Vincente Minnelli. The music was composed by Hugh Martin, and the lyrics by Ralph Blane.

2. The rains returned with a vengeance, and walloped California with a left, right and an upper cut. On the ropes, the population, dumb grateful smiles plastered across their drought stricken faces, floundered under the deluge. Wet roadways were challenging. Underpasses flooded. Trees toppled.
Power cut out just as season finales, and the NFL lurched towards the finish line.Wtf? Don't be messing with 'The Walkers' or 'SONS!' Jesus H. After 2 weeks, I was done. Whine. Whine. Whine. I wanted sunshine, but more than that, I wanted the fucking hordes of ants looking for dry land (ho) to quit invading my personal space and ride out on the horse they rode in on.

3. The New York Yankees. Yankee haters. Listen up: The baseball franchise through their foundation, Silver Shield, will pay for the education of the children of police officers killed in the line of duty in New York city. An emotionally moving gesture for Rafael Ramos' two young sons. A benevolent, generous act, by one of the great sports organizations.

4. The Interview. Personally, I was looking forward to this movie. True, everything we know, we learn from the industry...telly, or film. But, threat or no, the suits at Sony collectively fell on their swords and capitulated. Whaaat? The morale of this bizarre affair is that 'saving face' is a weird and strange bedfellow. In some cultures it is 'Everything.' Sleeping dragons awake. Old Asian proverb.

5. Have a Merry Holiday. Be safe if you're traveling.

Post script: Someone at Sony grew a pair. The Interview is being released selectively at various theaters across the country on Christmas day. Free speech, baby. Own it.