Thinking About

Be The Light: Of Lost Sharks & Viable Solutions

/ Ally Bean / 56 Comments

INTRODUCTION:

You probably remember that I’ve joined We Are The World Blogfest, a yearlong monthly event.  

Again let me remind you that the purpose of this event is to highlight positive news stories, presenting these stories on your blog on the last Friday of the month.

This being the last Friday of October, I have an easily overlooked news story to share with you, my gentle readers & fellow #WATWB participants.

THE NEWS STORY:

On a beach in Australia a woman, Melissa Hatheier, 50, saw a stranded shark that seemed to be disoriented, swimming too close to the sandy beach, not out in the ocean.

She waded into the shallow water, dived on him, and grabbed the shark in such a was as to not hurt herself, while relocating him farther away from the beach.

That is, putting him back in the deeper part of the ocean where he belonged.

[Complete story with video: Australian Woman Picks Up Shark In Pool Rescue]

MY COMMENTARY:

~ ~ • ~ ~

Do we not all love this woman?

[Did we not all immediately think of Mack the Knife when we read this article?]

Are we not inspired to be better people because of her?

~ ~ • ~ ~

I’m going to say YES! to all three questions because this is a news story unlike any other that I’ve read lately.

I like that Hatheier saw a problem [shark in wrong place];  sized up the situation [I can capture this critter who is “kind of like a toddler”];  and then went on to solve the problem [put shark in better place].

Granted I’d be scared to try to hug a shark, but I say kudos to Melissa Hatheier for doing so.  And to any and all women out there who unceremoniously make their immediate world a safer place.

What could be more positive than that?

~ ~ • ~ ~

~ ~ • ~ ~

Be The Light: Of Hurricanes & Happy Hellos

/ Ally Bean / 48 Comments

• • + • •

• • + • •

INTRODUCTION

As you may remember, starting last March I joined a yearlong monthly event called We Are The World Blogfest.  

The purpose of this event is to highlight positive news stories, presenting these stories on your blog on the last Friday of the month.

This being the last Friday of September, I’ve a news story to share with you, my gentle readers & fellow #WATWB participants.

• • + • •

• • + • •

THE NEWS STORY

Earlier this month when Hurricane Irma made landfall in the USA, Key West was hard hit.  After the hurricane moved farther north, for those people who didn’t evacuate Key West, there was no running water, no electric power– and no cell phone service.

One of the people who didn’t evacuate was Buco, a mechanic at The Green Parrot, a famous bar and Key West icon.

In the aftermath of the hurricane, Buco figured out that the closed restaurant next door had a landline connection that was still working.  Using an old hand set, Buco was able to get a landline telephone working and accessible to people at the side door of The Green Parrot.

The bar then allowed anyone to make a free two-minute call using the phone so that the residents still in Key West could assure their friends and family that they were ok.

[Full story here: A Key West Dive Bar Closed For The Hurricane, But Let 500 People In To Phone Loved Ones]

• • + • •

• • + • •

MY COMMENTARY

Overlooking the fact that what Buco did, pirating a phone line, is technically illegal, this story is a feel good one in which human ingenuity and kindness comes together to help everyone.

I especially liked Buco’s observation about the people who stood in line to use the phone.  He said: “it’s always their mother’s number that they remember.”

While The Green Parrot [“a sunny place for shady people”] is famous in and of itself, the latest mention of it in the news, under the circumstances, makes me smile about the bar and the people who work there.

[Click here to view Bar Cam].

I can’t help thinking… road trip, anyone?  ‘Cause I know a place I’d like to visit. 🍻

• • + • •

{ photo images via Pixabay |1||2| }

Because All The Cool Kids Are Doing This: Opining About The 69th Primetime Emmy Awards

/ Ally Bean / 76 Comments

I didn’t watch the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards the other night.

I never watch award shows anymore because they get me all riled up.  I either disagree with who/what gets the awards, or I disagree with the lengthy opinions expressed by some recipients.

I want my favorite shows to win because I know what is best.  And I want the award recipients to say “thank you” then mosey off the stage directly.

We get it, you’re great.  Now move on.

Also, I despise the red carpet “reporters” with their judgemental chatter/stupid interviews as the stars walk the red carpet.  Didn’t your mothers teach you that if you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all?

Be polite or shut up. That’s the deal in my world view of how the Primetime Emmy Awards, or any award show, should be.

~ ~ 🏆 ~ ~

However, even though I didn’t watch the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards, I got opinions– and I know how to use ’em. 

• First of all, the best comedy show is The Good Place with Kristen Bell and Ted Danson.  It’s smart, quirky, and hilarious.  With cheerful sets and a snappy pace.  And it’s funny, in a non-mocking way.

You’ll notice it wasn’t part of the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards which just goes to show you how wrong the whole Emmy thing was.

• Second of all, This is Us is a wonderful, genuine drama that kept me engaged [difficult to do] and made me, an introvert with a low opinion of people, want to know more about these people [extremely difficult to do].

The show moves seamlessly between past and present while never losing sight of the relationships that form the core of the storyline.  I like the actors. I like the writing. I like the sets. I like the costumes.

So where are the plethora of awards that it deserved?

• Thirdly, The Crown is brilliant. No other word for that TV show.  I read that John Lithgow received an Emmy for his portrayal of Winston Churchill and that’s good because he was spectacular in that role.  But again, how about everyone else in the show?  Where are their awards?

[And don’t try to downplay this show as only a costume drama, because that just makes you look ignorant about how necessary it is for us to understand history– and it gripes my grits when people say that.  So don’t do it.]  

~ ~ 🏆 ~ ~

And on that note I’ll end this post with a short summation of what I’ve written here about the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards.

I’ve given you, my gentle readers, a fast review of three decent, returning this season, TV shows* that you may want to watch in the upcoming months.  You may thank me in the comments below.

And I’ve vented about how stupid I think award shows are– a sentiment that many other people agree with, if Sunday’s low ratings are to be believed.

* I didn’t realize that Veep was a comedy until I read the list of the winners. I might like it and will consider watching it.  Also, Big Little Lies looks promising, but we don’t get HBO, so until these shows hit Netflix or Hulu I won’t be seeing them. 

Be The Light: The Art Of Turning Hate Into Great

/ Ally Bean / 40 Comments

INTRODUCTION:

I’ve joined in a yearlong monthly event called We Are The World Blogfest.  

The purpose of this event is to highlight positive news stories, presenting these stories on your blog on the last Friday of the month.

This being the last Friday of August, in a month that’s been like no other, I have a small news story, albeit political, to share with you, my gentle readers.

THE NEWS STORY:

Early in August I saw this news story, Berlin street artist group cleverly undo swastika graffiti.

The artists featured in this news story have collaborated, voluntarily, to make their city “100% swastika-free” by responding “with humour and love” to the unwelcome swastika graffiti.  They are doing this by modifying the swastika graffiti, turning it into benign, rather cute, images.

MY COMMENTARY:

Considering the recent violent neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, VA, this article is more timely than I expected it to be when I first read it and saved it for this project.

I liked the story because I thought these artists had found an inspired + simple way to handle hate.  By defacing that which was defaced, they have created something not morally reprehensible.

Something that shows a bit of style and, dare I suggest, angelic grace.

Something that quickly and quietly has effectively turned hate into great.