'Boat Drinks' and other ways to survive February

February in northern Illinois demands patience, and for those with patience impairment, like myself, coping with the calendar’s shortest month can require some creative self-deception.

Snow is charming in December, particularly in the lead up to Christmas Day. We welcome snow’s arrival here in December and consider it part of the region's Christmas decorations.

We can endure January’s brutal cold temperatures because it’s January and this is the upper Midwest, and we know it’s suppose frozen and harsh. This awareness allows us to be mentally prepared to accept days of limited daylight and long nights that breed a sense of desperate isolation. 

Despite our familiarity with January’s cruel realities, most of us have had enough of the snow and cold temperatures by the end of January. We are ready to say farewell to winter. That’s why February can be so challenging for the patient and the impatient alike.

By the first of February I am ready for temperatures that are climbing steadily warmer with each passing week. I’m not talking about temperatures in the 70s. Northern Illinois is cold in February; I get that. If it was 78 degrees here every Valentine’s Day we could give the place a new name, perhaps Northern Miami Beach.

No, I’d be fine if we were enjoying temperatures in the low 40s in mid-February. That's just not the way things are going to be here, and that’s why a reservoir of patience is so valuable. Those blessed with an abundance of patience have little trouble waiting until May for warmth to arrive.

The chronically impatient must spend February distracting themselves from the hard weather realities they see and feel.

I myself count down the days to when major league pitchers and catchers report for spring training camps, usually in late February. Perhaps this will be the year I join them In Arizona or Florida.

I fantasize about ways to celebrate the Spring Equinox (March 20). I’m considering a pig roast for this year’s event.

I make up possible brackets for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament weeks before the team selections are announced for March Madness.

I listen to hours of Beach Boys music. Yes, “I love the “colorful clothes she wears, and the way the sunlight plays upon her hair.” I dream of a “surfin’ safari”. Jimmy Buffett’s “Boat Drinks” is something of an anthem at my house, and I often catch myself chanting, “I have to go where it’s warm.”

All the distractions and self-deception are a bit sad, but they work for me. They sustain me from one day to the next, and help move me steadily closer to warmer days in northern Illinois.



— Post a comment here, or send an email to kbotterman@gmail.com.

Enjoy some long films during 2015's shortest month

      February is the shortest month with just 28 days, but you can make each one count by viewing this collection featuring some of Hollywood’s longest films. Pour yourself a tall drink, prepare an extra large serving of popcorn and enjoy these gems. 

The Best Years of Our Lives: (1946)  Running Time: 172 minutes. Director William Wilder’s classic film follows three World War II veterans as they adjust to post-war life. The film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Fredric March) and Best Supporting Actor (Harold Russell, an actual World War II veteran). The cast also includes Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright and Virginia Mayo. While the male characters take center stage, the female actresses all deliver fine performances. The film is near the top on my list of favorite films. Wyler’s direction moves the nearly three-hour production along at steady pace.
                                                                         
The Bridge on the River Kwai: (1957) Running time: 161 minutes. Director David Lean’s epic set in a Japanese POW camp during World War II, featuring Alec Guinness as Col. Nicholson, the senior British officer, Sessue Hayakawa as Col. Saito, the Japanese commander, and William Holden as Shears, an American POW who escapes the camp only to be sent back to help destroy a bridge being built by British POWs. The film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best  Actor (Guinness) and Best Director. The soundtrack includes Mitch Miller’s catchy “Colonel Bogey March”. Memorable line: "What have I done."

The Godfather: (1972) Running time: 175 minutes. Francis Ford Coppola’s brilliant work about an aging crime boss and his family won three Academy Awards in 1972, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Marlon Brando). Coppola presents a near-seamless story, featuring outstanding cinematography. The terrific cast includes James Caan, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Richard S. Castellano, John Cazale, Richard Conte, Sterling Hayden and Abe Vigoda. It tops my list of favorite films. It’s one I can watch again and again. Memorable line: “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”

How The West Was Won: (1962) Running time: 164 minutes. John Ford and three other directors collaborated on this episodic epic that follows the Prescott and Rawlings families through several decades as they move across the country, from Ohio to Arizona. The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Writing and Best Film Editing. The ensemble cast includes James Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck and John Wayne. Memorable line: “They went west in search of beaver.” (Clumsy, but an accurate summary of westward expansion.)

Lawrence of Arabia: (1962) Running time: 216 minutes. Director David Lean delivers another Academy Award winning film. This time Lean tells the story of T. E. Lawrence, a controversial British Army officer and his efforts in the Middle East during World War I. The cast includes Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quinn and Jose Ferrer. As with most Lean productions, the scenery in the film is impressive. The film received 10 Academy Award nominations and won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Editing and Best Director.

The Longest Day: (1962) Running time: 172 minutes. The film adaptation of Cornelius Ryan’s book delivers a comprehensive presentation of the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. The film features an all-star cast, including John Wayne, Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Curd Jurgens, Jeffrey Hunter, and Robert Wagner. While not historically accurate in every detail, the film gets the main points right. I think the screenplay spends too much time on the story leading up to the invasion. That aside, it’s still an entertaining movie. Memorable line: “They’ll be talking about this day long after we are dead and gone.”

Reds: (1981) Running time: 195 minutes. Warren Beatty stars, directs and shares writing credits in this epic tale of American journalist Jack Reed and his involvement in the Communist revolution in Russia. The cast includes Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson (Best Supporting Actor nomination), E. Emmet Walsh, Edward Herrmann and Gene Hackman. The film received 12 Academy Award nominations. It won three Oscars, including Best Director for Beatty and Best Supporting Actress for Maureen Stapleton. Memorable line: “You and Jack have a lot of middle class dreams for two radicals.”

The Right Stuff: (1983) Running time: 193 minutes. Director Philip Kaufman presents an engaging and highly entertaining adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s bestseller about the Mercury Project and America’s early days in the space race with the Soviet Union. Sam Shepard’s portrayal of Chuck Yeager dominates the show, but Dennis Quaid and Fred Ward deliver fine performances as astronauts Gordon Cooper and Gus Grissom, respectively. Also watch for Donald Moffat as Lyndon Baines Johnson. The cast also includes Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Pamela Reed, Barbara Hershey, Veronica Cartwright, and Levon Helm. The film received 11 Academy Award nominations and won four, mostly for technical achievement. It also features Bill Conti's great musical soundtrack. Memorable line: Ambulance driver: “Is that a man over there? Ridley: “You’re damn right it is.”

The Sand Pebbles: (1966) Running time: 182 minutes. Steve McQueen perfected the role of the quiet (almost sullen) loner, and he’s in top form here as Jake Holman, a misfit sailor sent to serve in the U.S.S. San Pablo, a Navy gunboat patrolling the Yangtze River in China in 1926. The film received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor (McQueen), Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing. Richard Crenna delivers a strong performance as the ship’s captain and Candice Bergen is first-rate as a missionary worker. The cast includes Richard Attenborough, Simon Oakland, Mako, Joe Turkel and Gavin MacLeod. Memorable line: “What the hell happened?”

Spartacus: (1960) Running time: 197 minutes. Director Stanley Kubrick’s sprawling tale of the slave Spartacus and the revolt he leads against Rome. Kubrick presents a nice mix of action, drama and scenery. The cast includes Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Peter Ustinov, Woody Strode and Tony Curtis. Produced long before computer-generated images became available, “Spartacus” includes thousands of extras. The climatic battle between the Romans and Spartacus’ army included 8,500 extras. Memorable line: “I am Spartacus.” 

— Submit a comment here or send an email to kbotterman@gmail.com.

Warm your January with these fiery films

With temperatures near zero in northern Illinois today, I offer these film suggestions for keeping you entertained and to help warm your imagination.

The Guns of Navarone: (1961) Gregory Peck, Davin Niven and Anthony Quinn star in this yarn about a commando team sent to destroy a large German gun emplacement in Nazi-occupied Greece. The movie has a run time of 158 minutes, but director J. Lee Thompson keeps the story moving with a nice balance of action and plot twists. Novelist Alistair MacLean penned the screenplay from his novel.

Kelly's Heroes: (1970) Clint Eastwood stars in a wildly entertaining movie about U.S. soldiers World War II who go behind enemy lines to grab Nazi gold. Donald Sutherland steals the show as Oddball, but the supporting cast delivers fine performances and includes Telly Savalas, Carroll O’Connor, Harry Dean Stanton, Stuart Margolin and Jeff Morris. There’s plenty of action, including depictions of the U.S. Sherman tank at work. Turn up the volume, sit back and enjoy.

Pork Chop Hill: (1959) Gregory Peck stars in director Lewis Milestone’ oft-overlooked yarn about one of the last major battles of the Korean War. It’s a gritty and entertaining tale about a U.S. unit’s effort to take and hold a hilltop while an end to the war is being negotiated. The action is supported by a talented cast, including Harry Guardino, Robert Blake, Norman Fell, Woody Strode and George Peppard. Watch for Rip Torn as Lt. Water Russel. If you’ve never seen this one, put it on your watch list.

The Professionals: (1966) Here’s another frequently overlooked gem. Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Woody Strode and Robert Ryan play four mercenaries hired by a rich Texan to enter Mexico and rescue his kidnapped wife. Marvin and Lancaster are fantastic here. The supporting cast includes Ralph Bellamy, Jack Palance and a sultry Claudia Cardinale. The film received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Director (Richard Brooks) and Best Cinematography (Conrad L. Hall).

Rambo: First Blood Part II: (1985) Sylvester Stallone reprises his John Rambo character from 1982‘s “First Blood” for this action vehicle about a Vietnam vet who is released from prison to return to Vietnam on a secret government mission to locate American POWs. The movie is light on story and heavy on action. Directed by George P. Cosmatos, the movie was nominated for an Academy Award for best sound editing. Watch this and you’ll understand why.

The Siege at Firebase Gloria: (1989) As an action movie, it’s entertaining, but it is also an uneven movie. The action scenes are good, but the dialogue and some of the acting fall short. However, Vietnam veterans praise it as a highly accurate depiction of the war. R. Lee Ermey and Wings Hauser star as recon Marines who arrive at Firebase Gloria just in time to fight off the Vietcong at the start of the 1968 Tet Offensive.

The Thing: (1982) Director John Carpenter delivers some intense thrills with this sci-fi horror story about scientists at an Antarctic facility battling a shape-shifting alien that assumes the physical appearance of the individuals it kills.  The cast includes Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David and David Clennon. The movie is a loose remake of director Howard Hawks’ "The Thing from Another World" (1952).
the thing (’82)

Where Eagles Dare: (1968) Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton star in director Brian Hutton’s tale about a commando raid on a German castle to rescue an American general — and a lot more. There’s enough action in this production for two movies. Film trivia: British novelist Alistair MacLean wrote the book “Where Eagles Dare” and the screenplay for the movie simultaneously.

The Wild Bunch: (1969) Director Sam Peckinpah presents a stunning, frenetic homage to the American western with this tale of an outlaw band looking to make a final score. William Holden and Ernest Borgnine lead the impressive cast, which includes Ben Johnson, Warren Oates, Edmond O’Brien and Robert Ryan. Emilio Fernandez is terrific as the sinister, sadistic Mexican general. The American Film Institute ranks “The Wild Bunch” at No. 79 on its list of 100 Greatest American Films of All Time.

— Comment here or send email to kbotterman@gmail.com. Thanks for visiting. Follow Fireside Notes on Twitter.

Hanging Christmas lights with Dad

My dad would have us dig out the family Christmas decorations two weeks before Christmas arrived.

Dad wasn’t the type to rush in to the Christmas spirit, particularly when it came to putting up holiday decorations. I can remember one Christmas in the early 1970s, when he put off buying a Christmas tree, the natural kind, until just a few days before Christmas.

Dad would lose his mind at the way today’s retailers hawk Christmas merchandise in October and some homeowners display outdoor Christmas decorations in November.

Dad seemed to take pride in pulling his children out to the mid-December chill to hang Christmas lights we could have put up in late November, when temperatures were still above freezing. Perhaps he believed cold air, snow and biting winds developed character in young people.

I can recall working with each of my seven siblings — five brothers and two sisters — in hanging the decorations over the years, and I have distinct memories about the projects we conducted from the early 1970s through the 1990s.

We frequently put the lights up on the Sunday that arrived two weeks before Christmas, but sometimes they went up on a weeknight, just a few days before the holiday. We always puts the outdoor lights up after dark. We told ourselves this allowed us to get the full effect of the lights glowing in the darkness, but really it was because we dreaded going outside to work and always found something else to do earlier in the day.

Even Dad seemed to procrastinate and would put off tackling the task until Mom reached the limits of her patience. At that point, her frequent requests for the lights to be put in place became a demand for the job to be completed without further delay. That’s when Dad would find the determination to push aside all the distractions and commence work on hanging the lights.

Dad never replaced anything simply because a newer model or version was available. With eight children to feed and cloth he never had much in the way of disposable income. Most items in our house were replaced only after they reached the end of their useful lives. This meant most of our belongings, including our Christmas decorations were several years older than me by the time I was added to the work detail at age 8.

Our outdoor lights were an assortment of strings of lights we collected over the years. Some consisted of multi-colored light bulbs as big as a man’s thumb and were mounted to heavy-gauge electrician’s wire, some of it more than half an inch thick. I think some of these dated to the 1950s. Other strings were a bit more contemporary but often contained only small, clear lights. 

The front door of our house was located in the center of the front wall. We displayed the lights on evergreen shrubs planted to the left and right of the front door.

We usually employed a loopy, layering of lights upon the tops of the bushes, sort of a sophisticated, but casual look. It wasn’t original, but it did the trick. Dad was a hands-on supervisor, but spare with his directions. His comments during these projects usually were limited to “cut the crap” and “you’re doing it wrong, dumb ass.”

The entire process, from pulling boxes crammed full of lights from the attic to making  final adjustments to the display, took a few hours, depending on how tightly we had balled the strings of light before shoving them into boxes the previous January and tossing those into the attic. Every project would include the kind of the humor, frustration, teamwork and insults commonly aired during moments of shared misery. Dad always contributed his special brand of refined cursing.

Dad’s style was to make sure we did not complete more than one decorating chore at a time. If we spent a few hours putting up outdoor lights, that was enough. The interior decorations could wait for another day. I figured out later, when decorating my own house for the holidays, that Dad limited the number of hours we spent working together to keep us from harming each other. He was a smart man.

Dad passed away in February 1995, creating a void in my life that will never be filled. I think of him often throughout the year, but particularly when my wife starts decorating the house for Christmas. He gave his children so many gifts at Christmas over the years and created many priceless memories.

My favorite memory from our decorating projects dates from 1978. My younger brothers, Patrick and Michael, my sister, Kate, and I were standing with Dad in the mid-December darkness on the sidewalk in front of our house, admiring our work on a nearly completed display. “Hell, that looks better than it did last year,” Dad said. “Let’s call it done for this year and go back inside. It’s cold.”

—Kevin Botterman can be reached at kbotterman@gmail.com. Follow Fireside Notes on Twitter.

Politcs, elections and Hollywood's conspiracy films

Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford in "All the President's Men".

The post-election process of analysis, commentary and spin started me thinking about Hollywood's films about politics, elections and the dark side of these activities that fuel conspiracy fears and theories. The elements usually combine to make for fine entertainment. 

Here’s an alphabetical list of my some of my favorite conspiracy films. Click on a film title to learn more about that movie. I also have included links to video clips when I could find excerpts worth sharing. I hope you enjoy my selections.

All the President’s Men —  (1976) Director Alan J. Pakula's movie about reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and their efforts to cover the Watergate scandal is the only film on this list to be based on true events. Pakula manages to deliver an entertaining and suspenseful yarn even though we know the story’s outcome. Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Robards, Jack Warden and Martin Balsam star.

The China Syndrome — (1979) Jane Fonda stars as a feature reporter for a local TV station who witnesses an accident at a nuclear power plant and discovers a conspiracy to cover up the incident. James Bridges directs, and the cast includes Jack Lemon, Michael Douglas and Wilford Brimley.

Conspiracy Theory — (1997) Mel Gibson stars as man who sees government conspiracies everywhere and then finds a real one. Julia Roberts and Patrick Stewart are along for the ride, but it’s Mel’s movie. It’s not a great one, but director Richard Donner knows how to entertain an audience.

L.A. Confidential — (1997) Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey and Guy Pearce head up director Curtis Hanson’s robust story about three LA police officers in the 1950s who stumble upon a crime network within the department. The cast includes Kim Basinger,  James Cromwell, Danny DeVito and David Strathairn.

Marathon Man — (1976) Dustin Hoffman stars as a graduate student who gets pulled in to a conspiracy involving a fugitive Nazi war criminal, a fortune in diamonds and some shady government agents. John Schlesinger directs this nifty story, and Laurence Oliver and William Devane deliver as the bad guys.

The Manchurian Candidate — Frank Sinatra stars as a Korean War soldier who suspects something sinister happened while he and other members of his squad were prisoners of the Chinese and that the soldier credited with saving them all is not what he appears to be to everyone at home. Sinatra is the star, but Angela Lansbury owns this movie.


The Parallax View — (1974) Warren Beatty stars in director Alan J. Pakula’s tale about an ambitious reporter who learns things aren’t always what they appear to be while investigating a senator’s assassination. Paula Prentiss, Hume Cronyn and William Daniels also star.

RoboCop —  (1987) Director Paul Verhoeven weaves a violent tale about a terminally wounded police officer who is reconstructed as part man, part machine and sent back to the streets of Detroit to fight crime. The story is a hybrid of entertaining action, science fiction, dark humor and corporate conspiracy. Peter Weller and Nancy Allen star, but Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith and Miguel Ferrer deliver great supporting performances.

Three Days of the Condor —  (1975) Robert Redford stars as Joseph Turner, code named Condor, the lone survivor of an attack on an obscure little division within the Central Intelligence Agency tasked with reading books. Turner has three days to learn who killed his coworkers and why. Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, John Houseman and Max von Sydow also star.

Witness — (1985) When an Amish boy witnesses a murder tied to police corruption, the detective leading the murder investigation must flee to the boy’s family farm to evade corrupt cops. Harrison Ford stars as the honest cop in director’s Peter Weir’s story that is as much about bridging cultural differences as it is about a criminal conspiracy. The cast includes Danny Glover Josef Sommer, Alexander Godunov and Viggo Mortensen.

Remembering the anti-heroes at the 'Animal House'

A friend reminded me this morning that today marks the 36th anniversary of the release of “Animal House”, director John Landis’ raucous tale about college life in the early 1960s and the men of the Delta House fraternity at the fictional Faber College. 

The movie was released a few weeks before I started my senior year at Arlington High School. I immediately connected with the fun-loving, anti-authoritarian men of Delta House, and so did audiences across the nation. “Animal House” became an instant classic. 

The film’s script, penned by Harold Ramis, Doug Kenney, and Chris Miller, includes dozens of memorable lines, many of which I can still recite today. While the film’s content is tame compared to recent movies about college life, longtime fans of “Animal House” know it set a high standard for outrageous over-indulgence. 

However, it is the film’s anti-authority spirit that resonates with me today, more than three decades after I first watched John Belushi scream “no prisoners”. Of course, Belushi’s “Bluto Blutarsky” remains the most recognized character from the movie, but I think the supporting characters, the other men of Delta, reinforce the film’s rebellious nature and contribute to the film’s lasting popularity. 

Those characters include D-Day (Bruce McGill), Boone (Peter Riegert), Larry Kroger (Tom Hulce), Kent Dorfman (Stephen Furst), and Hoover (James Widdoes). The men of Delta House turned the status quo at Faber College upside down, destroyed a homecoming parade and knocked Faber’s elites from their pedestals.  

The “anti-hero” heroes accomplished quite a lot, and that’s worth remembering, I think.

— Send emails to kbotterman@gmail.com.

A quirky habit passed from one generation to the next

Doughnuts from Kuipers Family Farm near Maple Park.

I have many habits, but can honestly say most are harmless and not too strange.

A few of my habits are adopted from friends and relatives, including my father. I recently caught myself practicing one of dad’s quirkier habits.

I visited Kuipers Family Farm, a favorite site in Maple Park. Kuipers offers an apple orchard, a corn maze, a variety of autumn attractions, natural Christmas tress and other items. They also have a country store, where the merchandise includes baked goods, including cinnamon doughnuts.

Lori, my wife, sent me to Kuipers to buy a bag of honeycrisp apples and ordered me to stay away from the bakery counter. I forgot Lori’s ban on baked goods the moment I stepped through the store’s front door, and I purchased a dozen cinnamon doughnuts without hesitation. 

I felt guilty about ignoring Lori’s ban, and she scolded me later that night. I had consumed two of the delicious doughnuts by then and was planning a schedule for consuming the remaining ones, so I guess I didn’t feel too guilty about ignoring Lori. Besides, I shared some of the doughnuts with her.

It was that night when I realized what I had done was similar to what my dad frequently.

Dad came home with tasty treats. His work took him throughout Chicago and northern Illinois, and dad became familiar with bakeries, restaurants and farm stands in the area. 

Dad carried home pies, cookies, coffeecakes, fruit, vegetables, fresh meats and ice cream. It was all great stuff to a child, and my siblings and I enjoyed every bite.

There was little regularity to dad’s food presentations. He’d return home with fruits and vegetables at the end of a work day one week and present a rich-tasting coffeecake on the weekend. He then might reverse the order of presentations the next week. Some weeks didn’t include any treats, but other weeks might involve several items. 

Some of Dad’s food purchases became annual traditions. He would bring home boxes of holiday cookies from Chicago’s renown Maurice Lenell bakery. The pinwheels and the raspberry jellies were my favorites. The bakery closed its doors in 2008, but it lives on in my Christmas memories.

Dad passed away in 1995, but I still miss him and think about him nearly every day.  He was a wonderful dad for many reasons, and I cherish my memories of his quirky habits.

I suppose Lori and the rest of my family will just have to endure me bringing home tasty treats. I wonder if I can build an annual tradition around cinnamon doughnuts.