Once again, I had that dream about living in a former motel room, this time number 13 (in which I spent less than a year).  I don't remember if it had been a fear or a hope, which would show up as greyed or colored.

I went into Job Circle this morning, because I once again went to bed early and arose early.  It did give me time to read the newspaper and to find my first Bodek and Rhodes shirt for the month.  I pplied for an MBA entrance with Robert Half.  It pays only $50-65,000 yearly, which should lessen competition, even in a recession.

 

Sun 5 Oct  17:56

I decided to visit on Friday evening after I went for groceries and produce.  I did think of going to the Bensalem Pride Day, but after the visit, I came home a different way on 95.  I began cleaning windows and putting down the storm windows for winter.  The livingroom and Tim's bedroom are done.  Next weekend, I'll do the kitchen and Mom's bedroom.

Over the weekend, I've spent much time on MIT's biology.  I sometimes become angry at my biology professor back at the Wilkes-Barre Campus of Penn State.  The best and only intensive course I've ever had in biology was at Bishop Hoban.  My pseudoyear at Penn State gave me a few pieces of information, but it hardly gave me a solid foundation.  Perhaps the lack of a biology course in college contributed to my problems in organic chemistry.  I'm up to the fourth lecture.

 

Fri 10 Oct  15:27

Unbelievably I received both memorabilia of Terry Fox in the mail today.  Both the coin and the movie were in the box.  Now I don't have to wit for either, although both came from different places, almost the opposite ends of the country.

 

Sun 12 Oct  Matthew Wayne Shepard  10th Jahrzeit

I spent each day off on Block courses and managed to grab two credits each day.  I figure I have sixteen more to advance another level.

I ran into confusion on the molecular and cellular portion of MIT biology.  Apparently, I met my limit on basic biology, so the learning begins.

I've really fallen into "Terry".  However, I have three objections: no captions, no French version, and no length beyond ninety minutes.  Besides these objections, I found the movie very uplifting.  Of course, I soon looked for maps of Newfoundland and New Brunswick to find the towns Terry Fox passed.  The two emotional speeches with Greg Scott and the end were less so in the movie.  Still, I could place myself there, like "Anatomy of a Hate Crime" with Matt Shepard.  As Jean-Paul Sartre noted in "La Nausée",  there really is no way to portray someone's biography without distortions, so I'd rather put myself into the portrayal.   The ending showing the real Terry Fox was SO right.

 

Tue 14 Oct  15:25   My father's 44th Jahrzeit

An idea rolled around in my mind for a comic.  I should try it out, for it's way to show these ideas on the internet.  I just have to know when they become lucrative enough to patent.

I went to bed early last night after visiting.  I had a persistent headache.  Nonetheless, my attention ran back to Terry".  This time I noted the maps they showed.  I discovered Charlottetown is in Prince Edward Island.  Shawn Ashmore simply looks so handsome, especially with the azure eyes.  Terry Fox had cerulean eyes.

 

Wed 15 Oct  8:23

Once again I retired early, after bathing.  Despite my pulling down the last of the stormwindows last weekend, temperatures reached the upper 20's.  I walked home last evening, because the bus came too early.  I passed my cousin-in-law on the bridge over 95.

I went through "Terry" once again, and the feeling I have at the ending as a pale Shawn Ashmore/Grant Darby runs into the distance, then disaapears into scenes with the real Terry Fox, a real sense of existential nausea, which I last had at the end o9f "Anatomy of a Hate Crime" as Cy Carter walks away as Matthew Wayne Shepard.

15:12

I was up early this morning at 5:15 with the full moon outside my window.  I should have gone running for my lastest mass sits just under 105 kg.  Speaking of physical measurement, I found out information about Steve Fonyo.  Besides his birth two days before one of my former friends, I discovered that the trans-Canada highway is a megameter shorter than I'd thought.  Apparently, his accomplishment of crossing the entire way has long ago faded away, whereas Terry Fox lives in immortality.

21:30

BusinessWeek had an article on "freegans". who shop in dumpsters.  I immediately thought of the vendor's expired food.  So far, I am eating less in the evening, which is causing the food to back up in the refrigerator!

I am going to class at Block tomorrow night and maybe next Thursday.  It may be a chance to peek into financial planning.

 

 

I awoke just past 4 AM to check on the results of the final presidential debate.  It appears that Reaganism will finally ebb away after twentyeight years.  One day in 1981 continues to be worth a week now.

 

Fri 17 Oct  14:38

This weekend may be the first one when I didn't put out garbage nor go for groceries.  I think a trip for produce will be sufficient today.

I still can't seem to get enough of "Terry".  I watched it again as I tried to fall asleep last night.  I placed it on the computer, but I could not save nor copy any of the scenes.

I just noticed the dollar on the backside reads "Terry Fox, 1958-1981", not "Terry Fox Marathon".  Obviously the coin relates to him, not the marathon.  His place among the alltime greatest Canadians has its merits as well.  Pierre Trudeau is among them, as I'd expected.  

 

Mon 20 Oct  8:22

I realized that I have not yet written a review of "Terry", which I've seen about ten times since its arrival on Friday the Tenth.

When I first heard that there was going to be another movie about Terry Fox, I was curious about who was going to play him.  I had hoped in 2005 that "Terry" would broadcast on the television (in the United States) , but it was to no avail.  I did look up on the internet about Shawn Ashmore.  This morning I discovered his twin Aaron is identical, although taller and more muscular.

Anyway, I wondered how an actor with both legs could play Terry Fox.  Then I thought that today -- unlike 1983 when Home Box made "The Terry Fox Story" (aka "Heart of a Champion") -- computer generation could image a prosthesis on his right leg.  I did not consider a "double", which Grant Darby played to ease the transition.  Also, how could Shawn know how to walk and jog convincingly?   I think they used a walking prosthesis as well.  Obviously Grant, who porved a deceptive double, trained Shawn well.  I had difficulty trying to distinguish them in the scenes.

As far as other aspects of playing Terry Fox, I'd think the actor would have to be Canadian, average-height, handsome, and lentigenous.  Shawn was actually born near where Terry Fox lived in suburban Vancouver right before the Marathon of Hope.  He's 180 cm vs Terry's 178, and quite lentigenous. Shawn does have the azure eyes, versus Terry's cerulean ones.  One difference is where each has a wen: Terry's was more prominent and right below his left cheek, while Shawn's is roughly the same place on his right one.  That "beauty mark" helped distinguish him from Grant.  As expected, they covered up Shawn's facial freckles at the beginning and the end of the movie. Shawn was very pale as the dying Terry Fox in May 1981.  However, Shawn has quite the naturally cute freckles in the rest of the film.  I realized they were real in the shower scene (They don't wash off!) and looked for freckles on other parts of his body (which also proved they were real). 

In the movie proper, there were several subtile pictures of the real Terry Fox, besides the ending.  Terry had on a teshirt with smaller and thicker letters, which manifested in part of the scene in Toronto on television and through a bottle of water at the motelroom the night before the last run.

19:50 Tue 21 Oct  19:50

The quickness of the shooting over one month showed in the scenes where Shawn plays Terry before the operation.  Terry had very stright hair, which Shawn did not.  Any ugly scenes, even those from Homebox's version in 1983, are quite absent.  Even young children may watch this movie.  It has many fine intimate scenes of children with cancer.  A different version of Manfred Mann's "Runner" and Stan Rogers "Turnaround" led the great music.  It covers almost every major quote from the run such as "If I die right now, I did happy, because I'm doing what I want to do" and "Somewhere the hurting must stop." 

A few ironies are that Shawn speaks fluent French, but did not as Terry in Québec, the great interview at Corner Brook in the CBC archives wasn't mentioned, and Shawn could not match Terry's speeches (but who could?) in Toronto, after meeting Greg Scott, and when he had to return home.  Nonetheless, I highly recommend "Terry".

 

Tue 21 Oct  21:07

I sent my sister an update, and I finally wrote my review on the website.  I uploaded my first comic, but little else.  I feel tired, and I just uploaded my diary about Terry Fox on my Heroes site.

 

Thu 23 Oct  15:01

Our Canadian MIS team asked to see my review of "Terry" yesterday, after I showed them the coin.  They are not here today, so I hailed them the right time, for I did not see them earlier this week.  I am taking off tomorrow after a long day.  I am going to Block tonight for another seminar on education credits.  ITIN still hasn't come up.

I spent much of last evening on the internet just checking what I uploaded.  I walked both ways yesterday and bathed as well.

 

Mon 27 Oct  14:45

I gave up early Saturday morning trying to find any proof of income.  I sent what I could, but their postoffice was supposedly closed, so I had to send it gound.

I indulged in MIT's "Solid State Chemistry", which has been a visit to Chem 12 in the fall of 1975.  I suppose I should start at such an introductory level not only to refresh my memory after thirtythree years, but also to latch onto any advances since 1975.

I did a little sketching.  Most of Friday disappeared into a multipurpose of maintenance and inspection of the van.  It cost $436.29 to pass through, but the problem of weak heater and air conditioning disappeared as well.  The alternator belt was cracked, so new belts run the heater much better.  I could have used them back on 12 February.  It might have been when the belts cracked in the cold, although no one noticed when I had the plugs fixed last spring.

 

Tue 28 Oct  22:26

It was 28 years ago tonight that Jimmy Carter finally debated Ronald Reagan and lost the election.  The slight lead evaporated as five percent of the electorate switched to Reagan.  No one knew it at the time.  I remember the Tonight Show had a joke where someone disguised as John B. Anderson knocked on the door on Halloween and asked to debate.  The evening of the election, Ray Chromie and I broadcasted  the results of the election of 1968, then twelve years previous.

In my latest view of "Terry", I find myself further analyzing my hero amid the existential nausea I feel.  Did Terry ever feel that his life was so short that he had to attempt such a run?  Did this wonderous and magnificient goal become such a driving force that nothing else mattered?  Once again, I am reminded how little I've accomplished in my life as well.  When am I going to write that autobiography?  When am I going to find my life's work?  I've been living alone over two months, and I still don't get much progress.

I have yet another night with Block, this time in Bensalem.  The bad weather will probably force me to drive anyway.  I should pick up another box for delivery to my sister, given I will have the van.

 

Thu 30 Oct  8:12

'Twas 19i70 and a Friday when I went to school as a drunkard, and I plucked two Gibbons (beer) cans off Kirby Avenue (Mountain Top PA) along my paperroute.

'Twas 1999 when we had the last day of our Extravaganza at the Radisson.  I still have pictures at https://buddybest.tripod.com/alopexianalbum/id1.html 

The big news today remains the win in the World Series of the Philadelphia Phillies in game five.  Two nights ago, the game stopped in a rained suspension.  Tonight we'll be plunging into a killing frost.

Last night I spent at Block in Bensalem.  The instructor was nearly late as I waited outside the mall in the cold.  The third meeting about Build Your Business really provides an incentive to set goals and to write them down, then send them in.  When I came home, I went online and took the test, passing it on the first try.

 

Fri 31 Oct  8:22

Ugh!  The sunrise is almost 7:30, making it difficult to get up.  Daylight time has passed any usefulness.  i decided to wear my last teshirt to round off the month, instead of camouflage for Halloween.

I am visting tonight with coats and heavy clothes.  I'll be sending clothes to my sister for Mom this weekend.  I suppose I'll have to begin bringing home my brother's summer clothes.

I brought my radioshow  from Halloween 1981 to work.  It still puts me in a wonderful mood.  Now if the political ads would cease.