Foxcatcher Review

I was alone for most of the winter holiday period -- with one, significant, and wonderful, exception at Christmas, wherein I even ended up being photographed by The New York Times -- and it gave me a chance to see several of the "Oscar race" films in theaters. Most recently, on Friday (1/2), I finally saw director Bennett Miller's (of Capote fame's) brilliant 2014 film, Foxcatcher--the film was released in Nov. 2014, but I saw it 2 months after it came out.

Don't "Hate On" Fitness Resolutioners

From the age of approximately 12 years old, through my late 20s, I went from being a "skinny kid" to morbidly obese, with my weight topping out at, undoubtedly, around 300lbs. (I never weighed myself at the time, but I was 275 when I finally checked my weight after having gone down 3 pant sizes, so 300lbs. is my estimate.) I was around my highest weight on the right in the photo above.

December 2014 Movie Reviews - Recap

A lot of friends asked for reviews of the films, new for 2014, that I saw in theaters in December. I posted these reviews on Facebook, but I'm going to begin now, in 2015 -- as part of my overall set of life changes this year -- to convert to providing content that I write that is more substantive to my blog instead of directly to Social Media channels.

2015 - A Year of Renewal

I look forward to a 2015 of significant change--for me, personally, to reboot many important components of my own life.

This includes my overall physical and emotional health; my relationships with family, friends, acquaintances, business associates, social media connections and more; my creativity; my business/work and my potential for increased long-term financial security; and, in relation to all of the above, to my overall use of time.

Luise Rainer - Happy Advance 102nd Birthday

Luise Rainer, the German-born, Hollywood legend who was the first to win two Academy Awards(r) for Best Actress, and to win them consecutively (1936 and 1937), will turn 102 tomorrow--she was born in Dusseldorf, Germany on January 12, 1910.

Happy Birthday, great lady!

Dear Anthony Amato 1920 - 2011 Rest in Peace

(Photo Copyright © 2013 Harald Schrader. All Rights Reserved.)

On a very busy work day, I have to pause for one moment to acknowledge personally devastating news. I just learned of the passing of the one-and-only, Anthony "Tony" Amato, of his now legendary New York opera company, AMATO OPERA. Founded in New York by Tony, and his late, beyond-beloved wife, Sally, Amato in 1948, the "small, but oh, so grand" company -- which was first housed in the basement theater of Our Lady of Pompeii Church on Bleecker Street, followed by other locations, then a long-term home at 159 Bleecker Street, then its longer, final home at 319 Bowery -- gave thousands of performances over nearly 60 years, and an equal amount of aspiring singers (some who ended up at the MET and other great companies) the opportunity to learn operatic roles, stage craft, and the magic that was Tony and Sally.

Frank Ufert World Trade Center Survivor

 

The photo above depicts the hard hat given to my late father, Frank Ufert, by his final employer, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), of the U.S. Department of Labor, following the 9-11 Tragedy. All of us in the United States and throughout the globe have personal recollections of that world-changing day. However, only a few of us, and by "few," I mean tens of thousands out of billions of humans on Earth, lost someone or were, or knew, a survivor to whom we were related or were and are connected first-hand. My dad was one of those survivors.