Time Moves Fast Fast Enough - Let's Not Push It

 

It's no secret that the calendar moves faster as we age, or at least it seems like it to many of us. You're welcoming the New Year one day and then it seems you're bidding it farewell soon thereafter.

I've noticed a few objective points of reference recently that make me think the accelerated movement of the calendar isn't all in the mind of this old man. I submit them here for your consideration.

I visited a local outlet of a national retailer about two weeks before Christmas Day and was surprised to see a display of St. Valentine's Day merchandise, a commercial event celebrated on Feb. 14.  I appreciate that many like to plan ahead and prepare for annual celebrations, but this seemed hurried and unnecessary, even for those individuals. 

A couple of days after celebrating Christmas, I visited the local outlet a second national retailer and observed a display of St. Patrick's Day merchandise, which will be celebrated March 17, three months away.  Time flies when you have merchandise to move, apparently, not just when you age.

I attributed both observations to aggressive marketing, but I was surprised and disappointed by a third observation, one that I haven't noticed before in my neighborhood. Many of my friends and neighbors took down their Christmas decorations, indoor and outdoor, immediately after the holiday. My neighborhood went from resembling a traditional Christmas village to just a regular streetscape in less than 48-hours. 

Most disappointing to me was a decision by the operators of a nearby pre-school to take down their holiday decorations immediately after Christmas. The school is locally known for its seasonal outdoor decorations, particularly at Halloween and Christmas. Oh, you should see them.  I always enjoy viewing their displays.  The school's operators kept their Christmas display up through early January years past, but not this year, and their abrupt departure from their practice, stunned and disappointed me.

My parents observed the 12 days of Christmas during my childhood, and we kept our holiday decorations, including our natural Christmas tree up and decorated through Jan. 5, leading up the Epiphany on Jan. 6.  Some years this meant are decorations, particularly the outdoor lights, were not down and packed away until nearly the middle of January, depending on schedules and weather conditions. 

We never put away the decorations with the excitement and enthusiasm we showed while putting them up in early December, but Dad always reminded us that storing them neatly would make it easier to unpack them for the next holiday season.  One way or another the lights, the ornaments, the accessories and even the family naivety set, which I still own today, got packed away in the front attic of our house. 

So, while our neighbors have tucked away their decorations and local businesses look ahead to February and March, my wife and I will wait until Sunday, Jan. 4 to take down our lights, our ornaments, and our tree. Then and only then, will we say farewell to Christmas 2005. We will then move ahead with 2026 at our own pace.

-- Happy New Year, and thank you for reading. Please offer comments or questions here, or send an email to kbotterman@gmail.com. 

Film favorites from long ago: 1985

 

Continuing with my practice of ending one year with looking back at the films of an earlier year, I'm featuring my favorite movies from 1985, 40 years ago, a very good year in Hollywood history, in my opinion. 

It was a long time ago, but I have many warm memories from 1985, an exceptionally good year for movies, so this list is longer than ones I typically present. Here's my list of favorites presented in no particular order:

"Back to the Future"

"Blood Simple"

"The Breakfast Club"

"Desperately Seeking Susan"

"The Goonies"

"The Falcon and the Snowman"

"Into the Night"

"The Purple Rose of Cairo"

"Out of Africa"

"The Sure Thing"

"Lost in America"

"Pale Rider"

"Silverado"

"The Coca-Cola Kid"

"Fright Night"

"Year of the Dragon"

"Gremlins"

"Jagged Edge"

"To Live and Die in L.A."

"Witness"

-- Thanks for reading. Did I miss any that you would have included?  I welcome your comments and questions.  Post them here, or send an email to kbotterman@gmail.com.

Film favorites from long ago: My picks from 1975

 

Continuing a favorite practice of mine at this time of year, I'm looking back over the years and considering my favorite films from a particular year - this time it's 1975, the year I completed junior high school and moved on to my freshman year in high school.  Gerald Ford was president, and South Vietnam was about to fall to communist North Vietnam, ending the long Vietnam War.

Coincidentally, Netflix (a streaming service that my wife enjoys, but I rarely watch) offers "Breakdown: 1975," a documentary directed by Morgan Neville (maybe best known for "Won't You Be My Neighbor," a nice film salute to Fred Rogers) and narrated by Jodie Foster.  The work's premise is that 1975 was the year that reshaped Hollywood, influenced mostly by Watergate and the collapse of South Vietnam. Others, of course, contend 1967 was the pivotal year of change.  Their argument has merit and I tend to agree with them.  However, "Breakdown" makes a strong argument for '75 and its many contributors include Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Albert Brooks, and Frank Rich.  It's worth viewing, I think. 

My list includes personal favorites, a few that general audiences also liked, and one or two that did well at the Oscars.  The list also includes a few that didn't do well at the box office, but that I've enjoyed again and again.  Here's my list, in no particular order:

The year offered a large number of great film hits - "Breakdown touches on many of them, and a few that missed the mark ("Nashville"), but still resonate with critics more than viewers.

Here's my list of memorable movies from 1975, presented in no particular order:

Jaws

"Three Days of the Condor"

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

"Dog Day Afternoon"

"Shampoo"

"The Great Waldo Pepper"

"Monty Python and the Holy Grail"

"The Wind and the Lion"

"Posse"

"Night Moves"

"Rollerball"

"The Drowning Pool"

"Mahogany"

"Operation Daybreak"

"The Man Who Would Be King"

"Barry Lyndon"

-- Thank you for reading. Please feel free to comment here or send an email to kbotterman@gmail.com 

A few thoughts about holiday air travel

 

My wife and I encountered the US commercial air travel industry during the holiday week, and I made a few observations. I offer them here in no particular order.

Many American adults have no sense of what it means to dress for stepping out in public, and have even less sense of how to conduct themselves. I work in a middle school and have grown accustomed to seeing young people dress in sweatpants and pajamas. It's the style of their age group. 

It set me back to see adults in their 40s and older dressed in a similar style, at an airport. Many looked as though they had just left their bedrooms for a short walk to their kitchens and then back again. I saw adult men and women dressed in pajamas and sleepers, others were dressed in torn and tattered bottoms, and a few walked about the terminal clutching bedroom pillows. 

It might explain why Sean Duffy, the U.S. secretary of transportation, recently urged Americans to follow some basic standards when dressing for air travel during the holiday season. Apparently, few paid any attention to him. 

I saw this attire both at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, not some back-water, stopover locations.  When I mentioned my thoughts about the attire to another frequent air traveler, he shrugged and noted it's part of today's culture.  He told me he and his wife recently attended a symphony performance in a major city and observed another couple in attendance wearing bedroom slippers. 

"We live in a Tik-Tok culture and everyone thinks they're at home, even when in public," he said.

It's behavior, not just attire:

It's a familiar story and each of us has a story - people behaving poorly in public, everything from ignoring simple courtesies to poor parenting, and flat-out rude conduct. It's all on display at an airport.  On this trip I saw a mother play with her under-dressed child in an open doorway, while 30-degree air rushed in and hit others waiting for car rides. I saw a young woman consume a foul-smelling fish dish in-flight, and saw a man peel off his dirty white sox and leave them on his seat. Who does this sort of thing? 

Pay the extra fee:

My wife and I paid an extra $40 for additional leg room (I'm 6'2"), and it was worth it, in my opinion. Yes, I know the commercial air industry once gave us that extra space for no charge, but those days are gone. If you're tall and need the extra space, pay for it.  You'll be glad you did.  I saw how many of the others were packed in, and I was grateful my wife urged me to spend the extra money.

But here's the main point:

My wife and flew roughly 2,000 miles (roundtrip), spent several days with her sister and her family, enjoyed a wonderful time together, including a delicious holiday meal, and did it all in relative comfort and safety. Yes, there is a lot I could complain about. There was much that I found unusual and disappointing. However, I must note and applaud the air industry for getting my wife and I to our destination and home again safely and on time. 

-- Thanks for reading. Your comments are always welcome. Post them here or send an email to kbotterman@gmail.com. 

A few film favorites from long ago: My hits from 1965

 

A favorite practice of mine at this time of year is look back over the years and consider the my favorite films a given year, and today I'm looking at the year 1965, simply because it's 2025, and I wanted to review what Hollywood offered 60 years ago.

My list includes personal favorites, a few that genera audiences also liked, and one or two that did well at the Oscars. The list also includes a few that didn't do well at the box office, but that I've enjoyed again and again.  Here's my list, in no particular order:

"Doctor Zhivago"

"Cat Ballou"

"The Great Race"

"The Sound of Music"

"In Harm's Way"

"Von Ryan's Express

"The Greatest Story Ever Told"

"Shenandoah"

"The Sons of Katie Elder"

"Major Dundee"

And one other: A personal favorite, that appears here as sentimental favorite from my childhood - "Beach Blanket Bingo." 

Those are my favorites. I'm always interested in learning what my readers think. Please post a comment a or question. 

Massive school debt: It's Chicago's problem today, but it will likely be our trouble before too long

 

Chicago's public schools are in a serious financial situation, according to Macquline King, the school system's interim superintendent.

The school system is facing a budget short fall of nearly $734M, or more than $201M in debt than previously reported, King announced June 26. In addition to that debt, the school district is carrying more than $8.6B in long-term debt, in the form of bonds, mostly for building construction and improvements. And there's more.

The school system also has a significantly under-funded pension program. As of late 2024, the pension system was funded at 47.2%.

In announcing the new numbers, King promised to make addressing the debt a top priority, but offered no details. The Chicago Public School Board approved a four-year, $1.5B contract with the Chicago Teachers Union in May. The union represents more than 25,000 teachers.

There's significant debt before the school board and firm commitments on the table. The school board needs to address both.

The state's 2026 fiscal year begins July 1. The state's new $55B budget includes $11.2B for the Illinois State Board of Education (up from $10.8B), according to Chalkbeat.org, which covers public education in Illinois. 

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker just announced that he intends to seek election to a third term next year, but he's also made it clear that he's considering a run for president in 2028. As a Democrat, JB thinks taxpayers throughout Illinois should help Chicago residents address their financial challenges - which not only the school system, but the city's transit system, the city's pension system for the police and fire departments, and the city's government. In other words, the pain must be shared, and "we're all in this together," as elected officials often say just before they screw the taxpayers. 

And while the budget shortfall facing the Chicago school board appears at first glance to be a Chicago problem, it is in reality an Illinois problem, and possibly, in time, a national problem, one requiring federal tax dollars. 

That's how I see it. 

-- Thank you for reading. Your comments and questions are always welcome.

Riding the rails still fascinates me

 

My adult daughter reminded this week that traveling by railroad remains a fascinating means of transportation.

She works with developmentally challenged adults. She and a few of her coworkers are leading a group of the adults they work with on a summer vacation that includes travel by Amtrak from Chicago to Colorado and then to Utah, before returning back to Chicago. My daughter emails me regular updates and photos from the journey, and these reports indicate everyone is enjoying a wonderful time.

Amtrak, I know, has its critics and much of their criticism of the rail service is accurate and well-founded, I think, but none of that is important to my daughter and the individuals she is supervising on the trip. 

They're too busy enjoying the views from Amtrak's touring cars, the unique experience of dining on a train, and the deep sleep they enjoy from being rocked to sleep by the motions of a moving train. That's what my daughter reports, and her pictures capture images that support every detail.

Her email reports make me happy. I've always enjoyed trains, and everything about them. I grew up near multiple rail lines that carried both commuter and freight traffic. 

My dad frequently took me and my younger siblings to sit and watch the trains travel through town. It always interested me to see the passing trains and wonder where they were headed, what freight they carried, and who were the people riding in those commuter cars? 

Several of my neighbors at that time were businessmen who rode the commuter trains to Chicago during the business week, and their routine fascinated me as I child. Going back and forth to the big city by train seemed exciting, and I thought each day must have held the promise of thrilling new adventure on the rails.

I can still recall my first ride on that commuter train, and my first ride on Chicago subway. I've always enjoyed reading the history of railroads in this country and elsewhere. 

I suppose Hollywood's depiction of railroads and what is widely considered the "golden era" of rail travel (the late 19^th century through the mid-1950s) fuels some of my interest. Wouldn't it be nice to travel in the luxury of the Orient Express or something similar, particularly after enduring modern air travel? 

I seldom need to ride a commuter train today, but still try to enjoy the experience when I do. It's been more than 40 years since I've traveled by Amtrak. What I recall most is that the seating was comfortable, the train departed on time, arrived on time, and delivered us all safely. All of that was important to be me then, and remains a top priority to me today. 

In her most recent note to me, my daughter encouraged me to plan a trip by Amtrak. I'll discuss that with Mrs. B. We might look at that for next summer. In the meantime, I'm glad my daughter and her travel companions are enjoying their time riding the rails across America.

And that's the way I see it. 

-- Thank you for reading, You comments and questions are always welcome.