About Me
- Michael White
- Nashville, TN, United States
- Well everyone else seems to be blogging ( is that a word?)so I thought I'd give it a shot. Just musings about something that happened to me...life. Happens to the best of us though, right?
Thursday, May 23, 2024
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Friday, August 15, 2014
Remember Everything
Just this week, we, society as a whole may have lost one of the most is not the most inspiring
comedian/actor during my lifetime. Robin Williams committed suicide shocking us all. As most of
know I have some personal experience with this as both my sister and then my father have taken
their own lives. It is a tragedy for anyone to take their life and seems to us as a society that this
act was especially egregious because of his talent and that millions loved him. I'm not going to
try to explain my beliefs on suicide or defend your belief but what I want to do is tell you what Robin
Williams meant to me.
Robin will always be T.S. Garp to me. If you'v never seen the movie "The World According to Garp"
then it's a must see movie in my opinion. Any movie with Glenn Close, Robin Williams, Mary Beth
Hurt and John Lithgow is a must see. Let me tell you that it wan't the movie that inspired me it was
Robin's amazing performance that inspired me. I'm a book snob, the books are always better than
the movies and I mean always. Except in the case of Garp. The book is written by John Irving and
won several awards. Despite this I could hardly stay interested in it. I tried, goodness I tried but
I just couldn't do it. For starters the book is about 6,000 pages long. No joke it's a long book. Two;
being from such a small town I couldn't really relate to the characters and the story lines in any
way. I finally gave up and went to see the movie. It was magical. Really and truly it was weird
it was funny and eye opening all at the same time. Robin gives his best performance in this movie
of all the movies he starred in during his life. However, here's the reason why I consider Robin to be
one of the greatest actors of our time.
He made the book come alive for me. After I saw the movie I immediately went back to read the
book and it was magical. Every line from Garp in the movie was Robin's voice. Now please
think about this, Robin made a book come alive for me. Not the movie, he was fantastic in the
movie but the book! It came alive in my hands and it still resides in a my bookcase to this day.
I will owe Robin for making me realize what an effect an actor can have on a person moving
his mind and heart with his performance. In the book John Irving ends it with "In the world
according to Garp we are all terminal cases". I prefer the movie ending. Garp is dying and his
wife is riding with him and then come his final words to his wife Helen:
T. S. Garp: Remember, Helen.
Helen Holm: What, my love?
T. S. Garp: Everything.
Helen Holm: Yes, my love.
Yes Robin we'll remember. We promise.
comedian/actor during my lifetime. Robin Williams committed suicide shocking us all. As most of
know I have some personal experience with this as both my sister and then my father have taken
their own lives. It is a tragedy for anyone to take their life and seems to us as a society that this
act was especially egregious because of his talent and that millions loved him. I'm not going to
try to explain my beliefs on suicide or defend your belief but what I want to do is tell you what Robin
Williams meant to me.
Robin will always be T.S. Garp to me. If you'v never seen the movie "The World According to Garp"
then it's a must see movie in my opinion. Any movie with Glenn Close, Robin Williams, Mary Beth
Hurt and John Lithgow is a must see. Let me tell you that it wan't the movie that inspired me it was
Robin's amazing performance that inspired me. I'm a book snob, the books are always better than
the movies and I mean always. Except in the case of Garp. The book is written by John Irving and
won several awards. Despite this I could hardly stay interested in it. I tried, goodness I tried but
I just couldn't do it. For starters the book is about 6,000 pages long. No joke it's a long book. Two;
being from such a small town I couldn't really relate to the characters and the story lines in any
way. I finally gave up and went to see the movie. It was magical. Really and truly it was weird
it was funny and eye opening all at the same time. Robin gives his best performance in this movie
of all the movies he starred in during his life. However, here's the reason why I consider Robin to be
one of the greatest actors of our time.
He made the book come alive for me. After I saw the movie I immediately went back to read the
book and it was magical. Every line from Garp in the movie was Robin's voice. Now please
think about this, Robin made a book come alive for me. Not the movie, he was fantastic in the
movie but the book! It came alive in my hands and it still resides in a my bookcase to this day.
I will owe Robin for making me realize what an effect an actor can have on a person moving
his mind and heart with his performance. In the book John Irving ends it with "In the world
according to Garp we are all terminal cases". I prefer the movie ending. Garp is dying and his
wife is riding with him and then come his final words to his wife Helen:
T. S. Garp: Remember, Helen.
Helen Holm: What, my love?
T. S. Garp: Everything.
Helen Holm: Yes, my love.
Yes Robin we'll remember. We promise.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Leave no man behind......
I've struggled with writing this blog for the past week. I've read most likely a hundred articles with
various view points about Bowe Berghdahl. I've tried to put myself in the position of being a father, a
brother/sister-in-arms and a civilian. I've been angry, outraged and sad all at the same time, yet still I
struggled with my thoughts and feelings. Many of you know, if not all of you that I served a brief
stint in the Marines. I'm more than familiar with the concept of leave no man behind. Both the Marines
and the Army Rangers have a history of never leaving a man behind under no circumstances, Chesty
Puller did it in the frozen Chosin (Korean War) and the Rangers most recently in Somalia. There are
other great examples as well among the other services but those ring specific in my mind. I know the
Marines felt strongly about this and apparently Bowe's unit did as well considering they lost 6 soldiers
trying to bring him home. You can read about them here. The President ultimately traded 5 terrorists,
men so dangerous that they had spent the last 6 years locked at Guantanamo Bay prison. You can read
about them here if you like.
His father and mother were distraught and never gave up hope. His father growing a beard and
learning a language to try to help bring Bowe home. I would hope that most parents would be as
dedicated in trying to bring their son home. All in all we'll see eventually where this leads and
what the overall trade nets us both as a country and as a society. I personally have to speak against it.
It seems based on his fellow soldiers testimony, accounts of his final days before capture that Bowe
simply walked away from his post, he took no weapon and walked into enemy territory.
Bowe left .... Do you see where I'm headed with this? Bowe left us, his country, his fellow soldiers
and his family. He wasn't captured he walked into enemy hands. There is no disputing this. He
WALKED AWAY, why he did we may never know. They'll be an investigation and he might be
punished although I suspect the 5 years in captivity and the weight of 6 deaths on his conscious may
be the worst punishment most men could bear. I doubt it'll be much more although I think many
Americans would like to see him severely punished. America says "Leave no man behind" and we left
no man behind. I hope we don't come to regret it more than we already have.....
various view points about Bowe Berghdahl. I've tried to put myself in the position of being a father, a
brother/sister-in-arms and a civilian. I've been angry, outraged and sad all at the same time, yet still I
struggled with my thoughts and feelings. Many of you know, if not all of you that I served a brief
stint in the Marines. I'm more than familiar with the concept of leave no man behind. Both the Marines
and the Army Rangers have a history of never leaving a man behind under no circumstances, Chesty
Puller did it in the frozen Chosin (Korean War) and the Rangers most recently in Somalia. There are
other great examples as well among the other services but those ring specific in my mind. I know the
Marines felt strongly about this and apparently Bowe's unit did as well considering they lost 6 soldiers
trying to bring him home. You can read about them here. The President ultimately traded 5 terrorists,
men so dangerous that they had spent the last 6 years locked at Guantanamo Bay prison. You can read
about them here if you like.
His father and mother were distraught and never gave up hope. His father growing a beard and
learning a language to try to help bring Bowe home. I would hope that most parents would be as
dedicated in trying to bring their son home. All in all we'll see eventually where this leads and
what the overall trade nets us both as a country and as a society. I personally have to speak against it.
It seems based on his fellow soldiers testimony, accounts of his final days before capture that Bowe
simply walked away from his post, he took no weapon and walked into enemy territory.
Bowe left .... Do you see where I'm headed with this? Bowe left us, his country, his fellow soldiers
and his family. He wasn't captured he walked into enemy hands. There is no disputing this. He
WALKED AWAY, why he did we may never know. They'll be an investigation and he might be
punished although I suspect the 5 years in captivity and the weight of 6 deaths on his conscious may
be the worst punishment most men could bear. I doubt it'll be much more although I think many
Americans would like to see him severely punished. America says "Leave no man behind" and we left
no man behind. I hope we don't come to regret it more than we already have.....
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