A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Hello, everyone! It's Friday, January 3, 2020, and the first weekend of the new year (and new decade) is nearly upon us. In my corner of Florida, it's almost noon, and it's another cool early winter day. Right now the temperature outside is 78℉ (26℃) under mostly cloudy skies, so the light that strains to stream through the window is dim and gray. The high for today is expected to reach 83℉ (28℃) when the clouds recede later, and the forecast says the afternoon weather is going to be almost summer-like. Well, for those of you who are wondering whatever happened to Happy Days Are Here Again, a screenplay I wrote last year for Popcorn Sky Productions, I have an update. My friend Juan Carlos Hernandez, who I met when I signed up for Drama I at South Miami High School in my senior year there, texted me earlier this week and said that he and his team (actress-producer Adria K. Woomer-Hernandez and their son Anthony "A.J." Hernandez) started filming Happy Days Are

© 2013 Great Voices Film Company and CDK Films/CDK Productions Well, hello and welcome once again to another installment of Bloggin' On. It's Thursday, January 2, 2020, and as I write this it's still morning in my corner of Florida. It's a cool, wintry day here, at least by the standards of the subtropics; the temperature outside is 67℉ (20℃) under sunny skies; the forecast calls for a high of 80℉ (26℃), with the nighttime low expected to drop back down to 67℉ (20℃) again. I recently ordered a few new items from Amazon and another website, all of which are connected to the musical legacy of the late singer/songwriter/activist John Denver. Two are albums: An Evening with John Denver (1975) and John Denver: Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits (2004), one of which is a collection of live performances from two 1970s-era concert gigs, and the other is a "greatest hits" compilation released seven years after his death in October of 1997. ©,℗ 1975, 2001 Sony

A view of man-made East Wind Lake, taken before I moved out of my former home in 2016. Photo Credit: © 2015 Alex Diaz-Granados (own work)  Hi there, Dear Reader, and welcome once more to Bloggin' On, the feature section where I take off my hats of product reviewer and/or political commentator and just talk about things that are on my mind. It's early morning on Monday, December 30, 2019, at least in my corner of Florida, and the sky is beginning to lighten as the sun rises ever so steadily over the horizon. Outside, the temperature is 71℉ (22℃) under cloudy skies; per the forecast on my PC's weather app, the high temperature is expected to reach 76℉ (25℃), it will remain mostly cloudy, and we may even see some rain. I haven't watched any weather updates on TV today, but just by looking at the forecast trends on my computer, it looks as though a weak cold front is passing through, as the high for tomorrow is only expected to reach 65℉ (19℃). Tomorrow, of cours

Photo Credit: Pixabay Hello and welcome to another edition of Bloggin' On, the "random thoughts and personal observation" section of my A Certain Point of View blog. It's Wednesday, December 25, 2019. my fifth Christmas Day since Mom passed away and my fourth one living far from my hometown of Miami, Florida. Right now, it's late morning in my corner of Florida; it's cloudy and chilly outside, with the temperature at 69℉ (21℃) it is definitely a stay-indoors day for me. As the day progresses, it will warm up to around 77℉ (25℃) with just a bit more sun in the sky than there is now.  I'm still feeling the last lingering effects of the cold that laid me low last week and prevented me from going to see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on Opening Weekend; I don't have aches, pains, or even a fever, but I still have occasional fits of coughing. Thus, right now I feel more annoyed and enervated than I feel sick, especially since I really want to go s

Hi, there, Constant Reader. Today is Monday, December 23, 2019, and it's a cool but sunny winter morning in my corner of Florida. Right now the temperature is 65℉ (18℃) under mostly sunny skies; the forecast high is expected to reach 69℉ (21℃) and rain is expected to affect the area in the evening hours. I had hoped to report that I watched Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on Opening Day (Friday), or at the least on Opening Weekend, but I've been confined to the house by the flu (or a very bad cold) since last Monday. My significant other caught a respiratory bug from a co-worker, and in turn two of us here have caught that bug from her. I'm over the worst of it and no longer have a headache or a low-grade fever, but I still have a nagging dry cough that comes and goes at random. This, of course, has put the kibosh on any plans related to going to public venues; I don't want to bother any other moviegoers with my hacking and wheezing, and I definitely do not want to

Recently, novelist Harry Turtledove, the acclaimed author of Ruled Britannia, The Guns of the South, and many other alternate history stories, shared a whimsical Tweet with his followers which he titled #70sChristmasList: Harvest gold refrigerator Avocado stove Betamax Quadraphonic sound system English Leather, or maybe Brut Cargo pants for the guys Hot pants for the women Platform shoes A leisure suit A case of Miller Lite Or of US-brewed (aka ruined) Löwenbräu Taking inspiration from Mr. Turtledove and his amusing Tweet, I decided that I'd revisit the past four decades' worth of Christmases past and share my typical wish lists for each, starting with the 1970s and ending with the 2010s.  As I've pointed out in my previous posts in this series, these aren't real Christmas lists that I wrote and passed around. Indeed, I often bought most of the items herein, although on occasion I did get a few of them as presents during the holidays or for my birthday. 

A few days ago, Harry Turtledove, one of the authors I follow on Twitter (and the only one with whom I interact regularly on that social media platform), posted this whimsical Christmas wish list from the 1970s: #70sChristmasList Harvest gold refrigerator Avocado stove Betamax Quadraphonic sound system English Leather, or maybe Brut Cargo pants for the guys Hot pants for the women Platform shoes A leisure suit A case of Miller Lite Or of US-brewed (aka ruined) Löwenbräu I thought this was clever, amusing, and cool, so I replied with a #70sChristmasList of my own: #70s ChristmasList Stereo system with LP/8-track/AM-FM radio Brut, or English Leather Wacky Packages Star Wars figures (by Kenner) Billy Joel albums Star Wars OST 2-LP set Superman OST 2-LP set Classical music LPs A Bridge Too Far book Over the past few days, I've been going through the decades (the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s) and thinking of typical Christmas wish lists based on the trends of the