There are a number of truly wonderful movies out there that are forgotten.  Every once in a while, I pull out certain films to watch, and tonight I showed my sons FEARLESS.  It is a film directed by Peter Weir, a director of whom I am quite fond.  This movie is extraordinary, and my son Mark commented that it changed the way he looked at life and death.  He’s twelve.  And, if you don’t mind my saying so, that is a very very good thing.  Mr. Weir has made some of my favorite films:  THE LAST WAVE, GALIPOLI, WITNESS.  I am even a fan of MASTER AND COMMANDER, despite the fact that it does not come close to capturing the genius of Patrick O’Brian.  I liked THE TRUMAN SHOW, and am quite fond of THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY.  The music for that film is big fun.  Mr. Weir has also made a number of what I consider truly terrible movies:  PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK is unwatchable, as far as I’m concerned.  GREEN CARD is worth nothing more than a shrug.   But when he is good, he is astonishing.  FEARLESS has moments that will take your breath away. 

Anyone who has noticed that Mr. Weir includes an underwater scene (even in landbound WITNESS with the death in the silo) in every movie he makes, feel free to write and begin a discussion. 

I struggle to find topics about which to blog.  Perhaps choosing unloved movies will become one of my topics while I write the next novel, as I am unlikely to share information about the work I am doing before it is ready.  So tune in next time for under-watched movies which are truly worthy. 

Well, as long as the new cover is on Amazon, I guess that means it’s been finalized and released, as it were.  So I will include it here.

Let me know what you think.

We snuck one last game in, a scrimmage I suppose, playing the American League 11 year olds.  We threw guys who hadn’t had a chance to pitch in the tournament, and they pitched very well, surprisingly, delightfully well.  When we ran out of those guys, we put in a couple of our regular pitchers, and they didn’t do as well as expected, but were fine.  Our guys were loose and having fun.  Their guys were tense, wanting very much to prove something.  So guess who won?  The loose team.  It was 8 to 5, but it wasn’t that close.  

Fun, though.  Nice to get a chance to wear the uniforms again.  

These are the dog days, when ain’t nobody buyin’ the book, the dull time when we’re a couple of months from the paperback version.  Here and there I read that people who got the book in early review copies are just now picking it up.  And you wonder why I keep writing about little league.  Ah well. 

We are finally knocked out of the All Star Tournament.  It was quite a run.  We needed to play better defense, in fact, our loss on Sunday was all about our defense.  It was heartbreaking, but, as parents say all over the world when their kids finally get knocked out after months of nothing but sports, “The bad news is that we lost.  The good news is that we lost.  Finally.” 

A little more time to ourselves, no more practices EVERY evening (for weeks).  Unwind. 

A new cover will adorn the paperback of SWEETSMOKE, coming September 8th.  It is very different, but also compelling.  Watch for it.  I will post it when I get a final version. 

We played well in the TOC, but lost to the Ladera Braves.  I will withhold my comments about certain things that happened in that game regarding sportsmanship.  I will say that Tom threw out a runner at first (from catcher), the runner was called out.  The opposing manager spoke to the umpires and got the kid put BACK on first with the out reversed.  When our coach asked the first base umpire, he said he was overruled by the home plate umpire.  When he asked the home plate umpire, he said he was overruled by the first base umpire… the man who had made the call in the first place.  Our coach said, But he said you overruled him.  The home plate ump said, We made the decision together.  That runner eventually scored.  In my opinion, it would have been a different game if that call had not been reversed, but that’s baseball.  It was 3 to 3 through 4 innings.  I was proud of my sons, who played fantastically, and never, never gave up even when we were down by a bunch of runs at the bitter end.  Tom hit his first home run ever, a shot to deepest center field, and beyond.  He did not utilize a home run cut, but swung with that sweet, compact swing he has worked so hard on, and it just went.  The umpire made the home run signal, and the opposing coach complained — yes, complained — that the ump made the call before the ball left the yard.  Hey, fellah, if the ball happens to hit a low flying aircraft and drops down into your center fielder’s glove, maybe they’ll reverse the call.  I mean, they did it before in this game…

Oh wait.  I promised not to complain about bad sportsmanship.  Okay, I will say that our kids can hold their heads high.  What you witnessed was excellent sportsmanship in defeat.  I’m sorry that our defense got all squidgy at the end, but again… that’s baseball. 

We’re in the TOC game tomorrow, Tournament of Champions.  We won’t win district, I suspect, not in Santa Monica, as our league is somewhat diluted with so many kids playing at different skill levels.  But we have good pitching and good batting, and we might win a game or two.  It’s one and done.  If we win, we play again on Sunday.  Wish the boys luck. 

We managed to score one on a passed ball steal of home and held a tenuous 1 to 0 lead through most of the game.  Eli, who pitched brilliantly, ran out of pitches in the last inning, bottom of the sixth, and we brought in a new pitcher.  With two out and men on 2nd and 3rd, two balls, one strike, we told the pitcher to walk the hitter, knowing the next hitter was very likely an out.  But the pitcher, wanting to offer him a high pitch to get him to swing, got it down, the hitter sent it deep into center field, our center fielder would have gone through the fence if he could have, and it was gone. 

I am preternaturally incapable of judging the size of crowds.  Were there fifty?  Sixty?  One hundred people in the auditorium of Lincoln Middle School last night?  They were there for SWEETSMOKE, although some were there only for the extra credit, as one young man approached Susan Stivers before the event began and asked her to sign his slip so he could leave.  I was amused.  I told my tale, perhaps a touch rusty as demand has decreased in this quiet time awaiting the release of the paperback.  But once I read aloud the passage on page 270, when the battle of Antietam begins, things went smoothly.  The talk turned to Historical Fiction versus Nonfiction (a very inclusive term indeed) using the research I had done about the battle as a leaping off point.  Then to Q & A.  I happen to enjoy question and answer, as that format allows this writer to escape the fascism of monologue.  The writer (that third person fellow) is there to discuss his or her book, but also there to entertain.  Hopefully, both things were accomplished. 

It ran a touch longer than anticipated, but the Lakers were accommodating, tied after one quarter, tied at halftime, and tied again after three.  Everyone was home for the fourth quarter when the home team took control.  Hopefully no one in the audience got caught in Obama traffic on the way home. 

Let me apologize again to Aliza Abarbanel and Alex Sepulveda, as I mispronounced one name and was accidentally given incorrect information on the other.  I will do better next time.