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#691 Gingerbread House Competition Display at the Grove Park Inn . . . that's us in the lobby:
B. We got there just in time to catch the daily concert that features employees singing Christmas carols . . . below is my Leadership Asheville classmate, John Beatty, along with his son:
C. It was also the week for lots of gatherings with friends and neighbors . . . I went to a nice Holiday party at my accountant's office . . . you've heard me mention his name before, but here it is again: Glenn Gleghorn, CPA . . . I recommend both him and his staff highly . . . for more information, please visit:
http://gleghorncpa.com/services.html
We then both went to Julia, our next door neighbor, for Christmas dinner with her son Conner and some other neighbors.
She is a most gracious hostess who makes a terrific lasagna . . . afterward, we decided she could have us back any time . . . and she did, along with some other neighbors, when we got together for dessert the very next night.
And during the week, a bunch of us (we have a very friendly neighborhood) got together for lunch at Modesto (828.225.4133) in Asheville . . . I liked the spinach pizza; it had a thin yet tasty crust . . . Cynthia said her Caesar salad was good.
D. Like many others, we used the week to catch several of the movies that are currently out . . . we very much enjoyed UP IN THE AIR (see also Section 4A) and as reported previously, we both liked and recommend you see THE BLIND SIDE and INVICTUS.
We recently saw ME AND ORSON WELLES . . . catch it, if just for Christian McKay's portrayal of Welles . . . NINE was watchable, though overall, disappointing (especially because of the way it butchered "Unusual Way," one of my favorite songs) . . . whatever you do, miss DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS?
Next up: IT'S COMPLICATED.
For some reason, I'm still up in the air about seeing AVATAR, as well as SHERLOCK HOLMES.
MR. CURIOUS HERE:
As always, I'm interested in your reaction to any and/or all of the above films . . . plus any others that come along . . . thanks in advance! we now get service for both our cars.
I first heard about this business from Paul Anderson, president/CEO and a neighbor . . . being impressed with what he had to say, I checked it out recently and was convinced that these fine folks do things right.
How often do you see a waiting room that is both airy and spotlessly clean? In addition, they serve fresh popcorn, coffee and green tea on a daily basis, and women are given a rose on each visit.
We were helped by Glenn Lewis, story manager, and enjoyed his friendly manner . . . also, we appreciated how Neil Spieler, service manager, kept in touch with us about the status of repairs that we needed done.
Lastly, we liked the buy 4, get 1 free promotion on oil changes, along with the preferred customer discount card that we were given.
For more information, call 828.253.4818 or please click:
NOTE:
Glenn and Neil are at the Patton Ave. location . . . that's the one we go to because it is closest to us . . . other Mountain View locations are on Tunnel Road in Asheville, as well as in Arden, Hendersonville and Waynesville.
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Do you always fully listen when somebody is speaking to you? Methinks that I don't do this nearly enough, and that too often I resemble the character in the story below from Mitch Albom's HAVE A LITTLE FAITH (see also Sections 4C, 10 and 11):
A little girl came home from school with a drawing she'd made in class. She danced into the kitchen where her mother was preparing dinner.
"Mom, guess what?" she squealed, waving the drawing.
Her mother never looked up, "What?’ she said, tending to the pots.
"Guess what?" The child repeated, waving the drawing.
"What!" the mother said, tending to the plates.
"Mom, you're not listening."
"Sweetie, yes I am."
"Mom," the child said, "you're not listening with your eyes."
* Jim in Pennsylvania asked me to please forward the following:
Hello Lab Supporters and Friends!
This week, I am working with an amazing team of rescue folks in North Carolina to help get these labs out of the horrid County Shelter in Gaston, NC, which is a high kill gassing shelter I am in urgent need for temporary housing for these dogs; they need foster homes in our area. These are gorgeous lab & lab mixes, very adoptable dogs. They will get adopted quickly.
Can you help foster a dog or recruit a friend/ family member? It truly is a matter of life or death for each of the dogs on this list! They MUST get out by Monday, Jan. 4.
Thanks so much for your help!
Jane 215.429.7746
* Terri in Pennsylvania:
3 bedroom Condo sleeps 8 in Ocean City, New Jersey. 7787 at:
* Pat in Pennsylvania:
Check out my web site. Click on the video page, scroll down to the bottom and click the Youtube link to watch the movie I made for OFT labs. We even paid actors for this one. Be sure your sound is on. Hope you enjoy!
You may even see some people you know in the other pictures.
WHAT PAT IS REFERRING TO:
Under "weddings," you'll see a picture of my daughter Risa . . . under "portraits, you'll see a picture of Cynthia with her sister Joyce at our wedding . . . Pat took the pictures at both these events and did an absolutely super job.
* Nick in Vermont:
I wish more people would think this way! [He was commenting on my review of Tony Dungy's book, UNCOMMON, in which I wrote that Dungy is a devout evangelical Christian . . . that fact should not defer you from appreciating the book, even if you are not that particular religion.] Thanks, Blaine!
* Kathy in Florida:
My daughter has been a long-time fan of Celia Rievenbank, and I've read some of her stuff. Kelly even orders the books online before they are printed.
* Marty in New Jersey:
You're so effective [as a hypnotist] that just reading your newsletter has made me smoke free.
OK, so maybe I never did get started to begin with--but I'm sure that I was a smoker, I would've stopped by now thanks to your efforts!
* Diane in Pennsylvania:
I saw the funniest sign yesterday: If you need a shoulder to cry on, pull off to the side of the road!
A. I very much liked UP IN THE AIR; in fact, it's one of my favorite films from this past year . . . it's a comedy of sorts (with some serious parts) about a guy who travels the country, telling workers they've been let go . . . his one goal in life is to reach the five million frequent flyer plateau; however things change when he encounters another fellow frequent traveler . . . she is well-played by Vera Farmiga (also so fine in THE DEPARTED, THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS, etc.) . . . look for something different, too, in the man-on-the-street interviews throughout the proceedings . . . they were conducted with real people who had actually just lost their jobs . . . rated R.
B. FOUR CHRISTMASES is now out in DVD format . . . my review from
If Vince Vaughn is in a film, I'm usually going to laugh . . . that
For a far better rental, look for FIVE PENNIES . . . based on the life of trumpeter Red Nichols, this sentimental biopic stars Danny Kaye as a musician with grand ambitions . . . just when he is to hit it big, his daughter (Tuesday Weld) develops polio . . . so he quits the entertainment business, only to make a comeback years later when the Weld character convinces him to give it another shot . . . there are some great numbers, including a few featuring Louie Armstrong, along with a bunch of funny bits . . . it did not get rated at the time of release, though I do believe it would be appropriate for any child over 6.
C. Mitch Albom wrote one of my favorite books of the past 15 years, TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE . . . I don't know if his latest effort, HAVE A LITTLE FAITH (see also Sections 2, 4C, 10 and 11), tops it . . . but it is definitely up there with any list of current books that I'd strongly recommend.
FAITH begins when Albom is summoned to deliver the eulogy of the rabbi from his New Jersey hometown . . . though the rabbi is still living, he has chosen the author as the man to do the job in the future . . . Albom accepts, but only on the condition that he gets to conduct a series of interviews with the rabbi to get to know him better.
Around the same, Albom also becomes involved with a Detroit pastor who also happens to be a reformed drug dealer and convict . . . his church has its own problems; i.e., it is decaying and there's a hole in its roof.
The writing repeatedly moved me . . . to cite one such passage where that was the case:
* . . . and I am in my religious high school. The subject is the parting of the Red Sea. I yawn. What is left to learn about this? I've heard it a million times. I look across the room to a girl I like and contemplate how hard it would be to get her attention.
“There is a Talmudic commentary here,” the teacher says.
Oh, great I figure. This means translation, which is slow and painful. But as the story unfolds, I begin to pay attention.
After the Israelites safely crossed the Red Sea, the Egyptians chased after them and were drowned. God’s angels wanted to celebrate the enemy’s demise.
According to the commentary, God saw this and grew angry. He said, in essence: “Stop celebrating. For those were my children, too.”
Those were my children, too.
“What do you think of that?” the teacher asks us.
Someone else answers. But I know what I think. I think it is the first time I've heard that God might love the “enemy” as well as us.
Years later, I will forget the class, forget the teacher’s name, forget the girl across the room. But I will remember that story.
In addition, I liked the several stories that were interspersed throughout, including this one:
* A man buried his wife. At the gravesite he stood by the Reb, tears falling down his face. “I loved her,” he whispered.
The Reb nodded.
“I mean . . . I really loved her.” The man broke down.
“And…I almost told her once.”
The Reb looked at me sadly. “Nothing haunts like the things we don't say.”
Lastly, the book got me viewing life through a different framework--something I like to do from time to time . . . here Albom describes a realization that he came to while driving home one night:
* That I am neither better nor smarter, only luckier. And I should be ashamed of thinking I knew everything, because you can know the whole world and still feel lost in it. So many people are in pain—no matter how smart or accomplished—they cry, they yearn, they hurt. But instead of looking down on things, they look up, which is where I should have been looking, too. Because when the world quiets to the sound of your own breathing, we all want the same things: comfort, love, and a peaceful heart.
Even though the holiday gift-giving season will have passed by the time you read this review, I still recommend you purchase HAVE A LITTLE FAITH . . . not just for you; it also makes the ideal gift for any man or woman of the cloth that you know.
D. Heard the CD version of YOUR POWER TO CREATE, written and
OOOPS, my part:
Last week's issue contained the some interesting TV shows--but they were for this week . . . sorry 'bout that . . . however, since they have not yet aired, here they are . . . again: A. THREE STOOGES MARATHON begins at 7 a.m. on Thursday and continues for the next 23 hours on AMC . . . what a great opportunity to have your kids and grandkids discover the performers you may well have loved as a kid. (Guilty pleasure admission: I did!) B. DOG TOWN has its season premiere on Friday at 10 p.m. on NATIONAL GEORGRAPHIC with an episode about the pit bulls rescued from Michael Vick's dog-fighting ring.
C. TAYLOR SWIFT WORLD DOMINATION: A CMT INSIDER SPECIAL will, hopefully, help me understand why the singer is so popular . . . Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on CMT.
D. Finally, a show for me: WORST COOKS IN AMERICA . . . 12 people who have no business being in the kitchen compete for the chance to cook for a panel of food critics . . . season premiere on Sunday at 10 p.m. on FOOD NETWORK.
And as a special bonus, one more that I didn't mention last week:
E. IRON CHEF AMERICA: SUPER CHEF BATTLE . . . the Iron Chefs make a special stop to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue . . . MIchelle Obama invites Bobby Flay and Mario Batali, along with Emeril Lagasse and White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford, to take part in a challenge to create a meal using "special ingredients" culled from the First Family's vegetable garden . . . Sunday at 8 p.m. on FOOD NETWORK.
_________________________________________________________ A. For a great new website to check out Asheville's cultural scene, please click: For discount coupons in general (including restaurants), please click: B. On how to turn disappointment around, please click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGODurRfVv4 You'll want to share this, I'm sure with anybody you know who owns dogs and/or is into surfing. It is very inspirational. MANY THANKS to Lori Hansen for upgrading the archives for this website with respect to past issues of BLAINESWORLD . . . so if you go to Newsletter on the left, then Past issues, you'll be able to find out what you seek if it came out over the past few years . . . a helpful search engine tool at the very top makes it possible to find information on such specific topics as "pregnancy weight" . . . using it I came up with the following from #513: Social skills http://www.PreyProject.com http://blogs.bnet.com/businesstips/?p=3979 The Reb was lucky to have such a love with Sarah. It had endured hardships by relying on cooperation—and selflessness. The Reb was fond of telling young couples, “Remember, the only difference between ‘marital’ and ‘martial’ is where you put the ‘I.' "--Mitch Albom in HAVE A LITTLE FAITH (see also Sections 2, 4C and 11)
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What if you only get five minutes with God?
“Five minutes?” he said.
Five minutes, I said. God is a busy God. Here’s your slice of heaven. Five minutes alone with the Lord and then, poof, on you go to whatever happens next.
“And in those five minutes?” he asks, intrigued.
In those five minutes, you can ask anything you want.
“Ah. Okay”
He pushed back into the chair, as if consulting the air around him. “First I would say, ‘Do me a favor, God in heaven, if you can, members of my family who need help, please show them the way on earth. Guide them a little.’ ”
Okay, that’s a minute.
“The next three minutes, I’d say, ‘Lord, give this to someone who is suffering and requires your love and counsel.’ ”
You'd give up three minutes?
“If someone truly needs, yes.”
Okay, I said, That still leaves you a minute.
“All right. In that final minute, I would say, ‘Look, Lord, I've done X amount of good stuff on earth. I have tried to follow your teaching and to pass them on. I have loved my family. I've been part of a community. And I have been, I think, fairly good to people. So, Heavenly Father, for all this, what is my reward?’ ”
And what do you think God will say?
He smiled.
“He'll say, ‘Reward? That’s what you were supposed to do!' "
SOURCE:
HAVE A LITTLE FAITH (see also Sections 2, 4C and 10), a book by Mitch Albom that I REALLY liked as evidenced by the fact that the above was the fourth time cited it in this week's missive.
A. Cynthia (see also Section 1A) will be conducting two JourneyDance/ center in Asheville) . . . if you'd like to attend either and/or both sessions, just send an email to bginbc@aol.com and put JourneyDance in the subject line.
B. Yours truly remains available to hypnotize you . . . or as I like to say, let me help you lose your baggage before you get to the airport . . . I specialize in helping folks become smoke-free, but can also help you lose weight, stop nail-biting, develop confidence, reduce stress, etc. . . to contact me, send an email to bginbc@aol.com and put HYPNOISIS in the subject line.
Keep in mind that I'm now having some fantastic results via the telephone (yes, it does work!) . . . so even if you're not in my immediate area, let's talk about whether I can help you.
C. OLD MAN TRAPS DEATH IN TREE AS ACTORS’ NET STAGES FANTASY with Dramatists Play Service, Inc. Rated PG.
For more information, please click:
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