Kennedy Center’s annual calendar on display

Celebrating the successful debut of the 2015 Unique Perspective Kennedy Center Calendar were area dignitaries, from left, Martin Schwartz, president and CEO of The Kennedy Center, Jack Barnes, president and CEO of People’s United Bank, Vince Santilli, executive director of the People’s United Community Foundation and Armando Goncalves, senior vice president and division president of People’s United Bank.

More than 200 guests recently attended the debut of the Kennedy Center’s Annual Calendar at Gallery@999, located in the Margaret E. Morton Government Center in Bridgeport.

The reception has been called “one of the most cherished holiday traditions in the region” and this year’s turnout was one of the largest to date. Artists with disabilities affiliated with The Kennedy Center were acknowledged, cheered and presented with a commemorative t-shirt depicting their artwork.

The 2015 Kennedy Center Calendar, Unique Perspective chronicles a monthly show of talent and creativity that organizers say is “bursting with color and vitality.” Gallery@999 has been transformed into an art gallery representing more than 70 Kennedy Center artists and more than 75 paintings. The artwork will be on display for public viewing until the end of January.

For more than 30 years, People’s United Bank and, more recently, the People’s United Community Foundation, have underwritten the calendar as its major sponsor. People’s United Community Foundation was the underwriter of this beautiful, four-color calendar that raises needed funds for The Kennedy Center’s Expressive Arts Program.   lick here to read more.

American Sniper—Movie Review

by Peter J. O'Connell

American Sniper. Runtime: 132 mins. Wide release: Jan. 16, 2015. Rating: R for strong and disturbing war violence, and language throughout, including some sexual references.

“The essential American soul is hard, stoic, isolate, and a killer.” --D.H. Lawrence, Studies in Classic American Literature (1923)

If Chris Kyle ever read this famous statement by the British author, he might have retorted something like this “You got a problem with that? I don't, when the killing is in defense of family and friends,

country and comrades.” Just a few years after his death, Chris Kyle has become an “essential American,” or as we say today, an “iconic figure.” He is the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history, with 160 “confirmed kills.”

Kyle's autobiography, American Sniper (written with Scott McEwan and Jim DeFelice), now has been made into a movie of the same name, produced and directed by Clint Eastwood. Eastwood is, of course, somewhat of an American icon himself because of his numerous roles as a “hard, stoic, isolate killer” in Westerns, cop dramas, and war movies. And Eastwood, on the evidence of his film, would agree—almost, but not quite—with Kyle's retort.

American Sniper alternates scenes of combat in Iraq with stateside scenes of Kyle's youth and then his married life. The youngest scene of Kyle is when he, like the hero of James Fenimore Cooper's classic The Deerslayer, goes hunting in the woods. (The scene is also a nod to the 1970s film about the Vietnam war, The Deer Hunter, as well as to Cooper.) Kyle's patriotic and churchgoing father, who teaches the boy about hunting and guns, also emphasizes to him the need to be protective of his family at all times and never to tolerate attacks either on them or on him.

Kyle takes up the archetypal American occupation of cowboy (and rodeo rider), but after U.S. embassies are attacked in 1998, he decides that the cowboy life is not what it used to be, and his job now is to fight those attacking America. Seeing his country as his extended family, Kyle becomes a sniper in the Navy SEALs and serves four deployments in Iraq.

The film's war scenes are grittily realistic as U.S. troops fight their way through the twisting alleyways and hallways of Iraq's dusty, rubble-strewn cities and towns, which seem like labyrinths where danger lurks around every corner and death may strike from any rooftop. The rooftops are, of course, the preferred perches of snipers, and it is while on them that Chris Kyle complies his ever-lengthening list of “kills” by means of stunning marksmanship—including one kill at a distance of a mile—and his ability to make the often-tough decision to shoot or not to shoot. Is the child or the woman in the burqa

 an enemy or an innocent? These moments of decision are grippingly depicted.

Actually, Kyle sees the war and his role in it as protecting the innocent as well as his comrades in combat and his country and family. As time goes on, though, other soldiers, including Kyle's own brother, start to question the war. Is it really helping America? Iraq? Anybody? At one point, a sandstorm  envelops the troops, and we feel that it is, in effect, an equivalent to the “fog of war.” And we sense Eastwood's “almost, but not quite” attitude mentioned above.

Bradley Cooper plays Chris Kyle to laconic perfection, projecting the American sniper's simultaneous      

mix of affability and intensity. Sienna Miller plays Taya, Kyle's wife. As the war grinds on, Taya becomes increasingly concerned both for Kyle's safety—particularly when he has cell phone conversations with her while engaged in combat—and about the fact that his commitment to the military may be leading him to neglect her and their children. The role of waiting, worried, weeping war wife often comes across in movies in a stereotypical way, but Miller is able to add an edginess to it that makes it her own. Both Cooper and Miller bear a striking physical resemblance to their real-life counterparts.

Eventually, Taya persuades Kyle to leave the military and return home. It is in Texas, however, rather than Iraq, that, with wrenching irony, the war hero meets his end—at the hands of a traumatized vet Kyle was attempting to help by means of shooting guns as therapy.

If you see American Sniper—and you should, for it is very well directed, produced and acted—be sure to stay for the closing credits, which superimpose actual footage of the quite moving tributes paid Chris Kyle by his fellow Texans as his funeral procession traveled across the Lone Star State for 200 miles.

“Footnote” to the film: Other films about snipers include Enemy at the Gates (2001), which centers around a “duel” between a Russian sniper and a German one at the siege of Stalingrad, and The Sniper (1952), a classic film noir that is a visually striking and psychologically astute attempt (one of the first in film) to explore the phenomenon of sexually motivated serial killings.

8 facts and myths about warming your car up in winter

Old habits die hard, and one of the oldest-still rigorously enforced by many drivers-is that "warming up" the car for a few minutes is necessary to avoid some kind of unspecified damage.

But idling is totally unnecessary, which is why many communities have enacted ordinances against the practice. Don't take my word about idling being ineffective, but do listen to my mechanic, Rob Maier, who runs Maier's Garage in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He says, "You don't really need to idle your car, because of the efficiency of modern fuel injection, which eliminated carburetors and chokes. The only reason to let the car idle at all is to get the oil circulating, but after 30 seconds that's a done deal. My truck has 150,000 miles on it, and I just throw it into gear and go."

Here are some quick facts and tips that should put the idling question to rest:

1. Driving Warms the Car Faster than Idling.
If your concern is not the health of the car, but simply your own creature comforts, energy experty Bob Aldrich points out that "idling is not actually an effective way to warm up a car - it warms up faster if you just drive it." The coming electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, will incorporate a wonderful feature that allows the owner to use a cellphone to tell the car (which is plugged into the grid) to pre-warm or pre-cool the interior. No idling necessary.

2. Ten Seconds Is All You Need.
The Environmental Defense Fund, which produced the Idling Gets You Nowhere campaign, advises motorists to turn off their ignition if they're sitting stopped for more than 10 seconds. "After about ten seconds, you waste more money running the engine than restarting it, said Andy Darrell, deputy director of the EDF Energy Program. "Switch the car off at the curb and you'll be leaving money in your wallet and protecting the air in your community."

3. Idling Hurts the Car.
According to the Hinkle Charitable Foundation's Anti-Idling Primer, idling forces an engine "to operate in a very inefficient and gasoline-rich mode that, over time, can degrade the engine's performance and reduce mileage."

4. Idling Costs Money.
Over a year of five minutes of daily idling (which causes incomplete combustion of fuel), the "Anti-Idling Primer" estimates that the operator of a V-8-engined car will waste 20 gallons of gasoline, which not only produces 440 pounds of carbon dioxide but costs at least $60. lick here to read more.

After the Storm: Hire the Right Contractor for the Job

After the Storm: Hire the Right Contractor for the Job HARTFORD, January 28 -- Anyone who needs home services or suffers damage to their property as a result of a storm or other natural disaster no doubt wants to get the job done as soon as possible, but hiring someone who comes calling uninvited could lead to more problems, Consumer Protection Commissioner Jonathan A. Harris said today. “A serious storm or natural disaster could require quick home repairs that you weren’t expecting, but it’s important to act, and not react,” Harris said. “Hiring unqualified, unregistered, unverified workers could put you and your home in a deeper mess. These 12 points will help consumers get the work done without opening themselves up for more trouble.” ·         Snow removal is not considered home improvement work -- even removal of snow from roofs.  But it’s best to have someone who is qualified in roof work to remove snow from roofs; someone unfamiliar with certain types of roofs could cause damage and void the warranty. If your roof is damaged and needs repair, hire a registered home improvement contractor; roof repair is covered under the Home Improvement Act. ·         When hiring anyone to clear snow and ice from your driveways and walkways, be sure to negotiate the price upfront and know the scope of the work. ·         Anytime there is damage to your property, notify your insurance carrier as soon as possible. ·         Don’t hire home repair contractors who go door-to-door, who call, or who post notices on bulletin boards or telephone poles or online, such as Craigslist before checking them out thoroughly. ·         Verify the registration, insurance, and if appropriate, the professional license of any worker before agreeing to let them work on your property.  Find out how to verify a contractor's license at this link: http://www.ct.gov/dcp/cwp/view.asp?a=4308HYPERLINK "http://www.ct.gov/dcp/cwp/view.asp?a=4308&q=507962%20"&HYPERLINK "http://www.ct.gov/dcp/cwp/view.asp?a=4308&q=507962%20"q=507962 ·         All home improvement contractors -- including persons who install and repair gutters, roofs, fences, siding, insulation, windows, masonry and underground fuel storage tanks -- must be registered with the Department of Consumer Protection. ·         Also, plumbers, electricians, heating and ventilation workers, sheet metal workers, electricians and many other professionals require a separate, current Connecticut professional license in order to practice their craft. You may call the Department of Consumer Protection to learn what licenses are needed, or go to this web page. ·         To protect consumers, contracts are required for most jobs over $200. No matter how urgent the situation, it’s best to get a detailed contract. Check all the terms and conditions, materials, start date, end date and costs, and if necessary, insist that any changes be written in. Both the consumer and contractor must sign and date the contract, and the consumer should get a completed copy for safekeeping. ·         Don't be rushed into a contract! Take your time; this is a legal, binding document. However, you have three days to cancel the home improvement contract after you sign it. The 3-day cancellation notice should be part of your written contract.  ·         Contractors must print their Connecticut license number on their contracts, business cards, on their vehicles, and in all advertising. Contractors should carry their own liability insurance and must be able to produce an insurance certificate as proof.  If the contractor has employees, that contractor should carry worker’s compensation insurance and must be able to provide proof. The certificate of insurance should carry the name of the insurance company and the homeowner is urged to call the insurance agency on the certificate to confirm that coverage.  To verify if an insurance agent or agency is licensed in Connecticut, please contact the Connecticut Insurance Department. ·         The homeowner has final responsibility for making sure that any required building permit is in place before the work starts. This is for your protection, to make sure the final job complies with all local and state building codes and requirements. ·         You should NEVER pay in advance for any work, especially in an emergency situation. Depending on the length of the job, you may need to pay some upfront, some half-way through the job, and the final payment once the job is complete to your satisfaction.  Payment should be made by credit card or check, rather than cash. Anyone with home improvement questions or concerns about a contractor or suspected price gouging is encouraged to contact the Department of Consumer Protection at dcp.fraudsHYPERLINK "mailto:dcp.tradepractices@ct.gov" @ct.gov or call us at 1-800-842-2649.  Visit our Home Improvement web pages for additional guidance.  -end- Media Contact: Claudette Carveth                  Claudette.carveth@ct.gov                 860-713-6022               860-670-4552 (cell)

The Truth Behind Senior Moments

If you've ever experienced senior moments — a nonmedical term for mental glitches — you're not alone. A few years ago, I was buying groceries and had just swiped my debit card. The machine asked me for my PIN, which I had entered hundreds of times before, and I froze. I couldn't remember it for the life of me. As the cashier peered at me as if I was a possible identify thief, I quickly canceled the transaction and switched to a credit card that required no PIN.

My grandmother died of Alzheimer's disease. So did her mother. My father is 70 and shows no signs of the disease, but his mother and grandmother didn't develop it until their late 80s. We don't know yet whether the disease will strike three or more generations in a row.

Click here to read more.

Selma—Movie Review

by Peter J. O'Connell

Selma. Opened: Jan. 2, 2015. Running time: 128 mins. Rated: PG-13 for disturbing thematic material, including violence, a suggestive moment, and brief strong language.

Selma is a movie about a march, a man, a movement, and a moment. The march is the epochal one in Alabama in 1965 from Selma to Montgomery. The man is the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The movement is, of course, the civil rights movement. The moment is the turning point in history that made the right to vote a reality for millions of black citizens.

For generations Alabama's law and policies, like those of other Southern states, had left virtually its entire black population disenfranchised. In early 1965 grassroots activists in the small city of Selma asked Dr. King and the Atlanta-based Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which he led, to assist them in their attempt to secure voting rights. The attempt promised to be difficult indeed, for County Sheriff Jim Clark's force of racist deputies was backed up by wily segregationist Governor George Wallace (Tim Roth) and his state police. 

                                                                                                                                                                                     Dr. King (David Oyelowo) arrived in Selma and immediately found himself having to make tough choices among various strategies and tactics that contended within the civil rights movement.

Some in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), already on the scene in Selma, resented SCLC's involvement. Malcolm X (Nigel Thatch) put in an appearance, with an approach very different from that of Dr. King's profound commitment to nonviolence. In Washington, President Lyndon Baines Johnson (Tom Wilkinson), who had pushed through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, now wanted emphasis placed on his War on Poverty rather than voting rights legislation. Matters were complicated further for Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King (Carmen Ejogo), by an ugly campaign of harassment against the couple, orchestrated by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Dylan Baker) and aimed at exacerbating problems in their marriage.

Eventually, SCLC and SNCC agreed to organize a march from Selma to the state capitol steps in Montgomery to focus national attention on the voting rights issue and put pressure on both Governor Wallace and President Johnson. Two attempts at the march were aborted. The first attempt was halted by the infamous attack by sheriff's deputies and state police, some on horseback, who brutally beat, teargassed and whipped the marchers, shocking the nation, and even the world, and leading President Johnson to give high priority to a voting rights bill. (This attack is stunningly depicted in the film.) The second attempt at a march was halted by Dr. King himself, who decided to wait for a judge (Martin Sheen) to lift his order against the march. The third attempt was successful. National figures joined the march, and tens of thousands entered Montgomery.

Director Ava DuVernay has crafted a moving recreation of the key moment in history that the Selma events represented. However, as the closing credits say, the film “is emphatically not a documentary” and has taken some dramatic license. The license is most evident in the depiction of President Johnson. LBJ was much more collaborative in the voting rights effort than the film has it. We know this from, among other things, Oval Office tapes. (Nixon was not the first to tape there!)

DuVernay, though, is notably successful in her casting. The leads, both Afro-British actors, give impressive portrayals of impressive personages. DuVernay and David Oyelowo understand that it is not enough simply to deliver Dr. King's inherently powerful public rhetoric. The power of his personality has to be projected also in quiet and intimate moments. Oyelowo's facial expressions and “body English” do this very effectively in those moments, particularly those involving the problems in the King marriage—problems that the film neither sensationalizes nor ignores. Carmen Ejogo's performance movingly conveys Coretta King's sense of dignity, inner as well as outer, and the mix of joy and sorrow that she felt in her eventful life. Despite the problems in their marriage, the movie leaves no doubt that the Kings deeply loved each other.

“Footnote” to the film: Oyelowo and Ejogo bear a striking physical resemblance to their historical counterparts, as do many in the cast. Exceptions are Tim Roth, who doesn't look much like George Wallace, and Dylan Baker, who doesn't look anything like J. Edgar Hoover. Also, it's somewhat surprising that DuVernay in her film does not use much of the wonderful music associated with the civil rights movement and the black church, opting instead for a more current sound.       

Check for Safety: A Home Fall Prevention Checklist for Older Adults

FALLS AT HOME

Each year, thousands of older Americans fall at home. Many of them are seriously injured, and some are disabled. In 2002, more than 12,800 people over age 65 died and 1.6 million were treated in emergency departments because of falls.

Falls are often due to hazards that are easy to overlook but easy to fix. This checklist will help you find and fix those hazards in your home.

The checklist asks about hazards found in each room of your home. For each hazard, the checklist tells you how to fix the problem. At the end of the checklist, you’ll find other tips for preventing falls.

FLOORS: Look at the floor in each room.

Q: When you walk through a room, do you have to walk around furniture?
Ask someone to move the furniture so your path is clear.

Q: Do you have throw rugs on the floor?
Remove the rugs or use double-sided tape or a non-slip backing so the rugs won’t slip.

Q: Are there papers, books, towels, shoes, magazines, boxes, blankets, or other objects on the floor?
Pick up things that are on the floor. Always keep objects off the floor.

Q: Do you have to walk over or around wires or cords (like lamp, telephone, or extension cords)?
Coil or tape cords and wires next to the wall so you can’t trip over them. If needed, have an electrician put in another outlet.

STAIRS AND STEPS: Look at the stairs you use both inside and outside your home.

Q: Are there papers, shoes, books,  or other objects on the stairs?
Pick up things on the stairs. Always keep objects off stairs.

Q: Are some steps broken or uneven?
Fix loose or uneven steps.

Q: Are you missing a light over the stairway?
Have an electrician put in an overhead light at the top and bottom of the stairs.

Q: Do you have only one light switch for your stairs (only at the top or at the bottom of the stairs)?
Have an electrician put in a light switch at the top and bottom of the stairs. You can get light switches that glow.

Q: Has the stairway light bulb burned out?
Have a friend or family member change the light bulb.

Q: Is the carpet on the steps loose or torn?
Make sure the carpet is firmly attached to every step, or remove the carpet and attach non-slip rubber treads to the stairs.

Q: Are the handrails loose or broken? Is there a handrail on only one side of the stairs?
Fix loose handrails or put in new ones. Make sure handrails are on both sides of the stairs and are as long as the stairs.

KITCHEN: Look at your kitchen and eating area.

Q: Are the things you use often on high shelves?
Move items in your cabinets. Keep things you use often on the lower shelves (about waist level).

Q: Is your step stool unsteady?
If you must use a step stool, get one with a bar to hold on to. Never use a chair as a step stool.

Click here to read more on preventing falls in bathrooms

Big Eyes—Movie Review

by Peter J. O'Connell

Big Eyes. Released: Dec. 25, 2014. Running time: 106 mins. Rated: PG-13 for thematic elements and brief strong language.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the “eyes” had it. Wherever you went, you were likely to encounter a painting, print or poster of sad-looking waifs in dark settings gazing out at you with enormous eyes. These works were signed “KEANE.” Now a delightful movie, Big Eyes, tells the story behind these works of art (?) emblematic of an era—and who was “KEANE.” The film has just the right director, Tim Burton, who helmed such brilliantly eccentric works as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The story begins when Margaret Ulrich (Amy Adams), a recently divorced suburban housewife, moves into San Francisco. Margaret works during the week painting designs on furniture, but on weekends she sells her own paintings (signed ULRICH) at sidewalk art fairs. These paintings are of the big-eyed urchins. Margaret is drawn to such images because as a child she was deaf for a time and had to experience the world primarily by means of her eyes. Her daughter (played first Delaney Raye, then by Madeleine Arthur) also has big eyes.

On the sidewalk one weekend, Margaret encounters Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz), who sells banal street scenes of Paris. Walter is a smarmy, hyperkinetic real estate agent but fancies himself to be a fine artist. He romances Margaret, and they marry. Walter is not a master of the art of painting, but he is a master of what we might call the “American hustle.”   

                                                                                                                                                              Selling his and Margaret's works in a “gallery” (actually a hallway to the restrooms) of a nightclub, he notices that although his paintings are ignored, Margaret's attract some interest. He decides to promote the big-eyed works and claim them as his creations. Margaret will paint them; Walter will sign them. His promotional campaigns work, and the big-eyed paintings become enormously popular, though excoriated by art critics, such as John Canady of The New York Times, played with glacial hauteur by Terence Stamp.

Eventually, Margaret becomes restive under the regimen that Walter has imposed on her and with his deceptions, which are deeper than just claiming her work as his own. And Walter begins to show characteristics darker than just smarminess and twitchiness. Events move toward a climax at a trial more striking even than anything in a Perry Mason episode.

Christoph Waltz, who won Oscars twice in recent years for his work in Quentin Tarantino films, is even better here—obnoxious but compelling. Amy Adams once more gives a fine, convincing performance and once more displays her amazing (Amy-zing?) ability to look different from film to film—whether the young nun in Proof, the tough Boston broad in The Fighter, the coldly manipulative cult official in The Master, the con artist in American Hustle or Margaret Ulrich Keane.

Ultimately, Big Eyes, in effect, asks us to consider the question: “What is art?” The answer, perhaps, is—wait for it--”In the eyes of the beholder.” In any case, Big Eyes is a work of cinematic art, amusing but thought-provoking, with clear and colorful cinematography and spot-on details of period and place. As a final “brushstroke,” we learn that Margaret Ulrich Keane is still alive, paints every day, owns a gallery—and that Tim Burton is a collector of her work.