Copyright © 1999 by Michael Segers, All rights reserved
"So," a friend asked me, "when do you think the new millennium begins? After all, you wrote two columns about calendars." I have not understood the confusion about the beginning or end of a millennium. There is one simple, logical, obvious answer. Then, there is the other answer, which has nothing going for it except that it satisfies us. It looks right. More importantly, it feels right.
When I used to teach high school, some of the teachers who took a great deal of interest in the social lives of the students would express amazement at some of the couples. "How could she go with him? Doesn't she know that--?" was the way the conversation usually began. Of course the thing is, we are human beings, not some coldly logical interplanetary hybrids out of Star Trek. Yes, she knew whatever it was that bothered the commentator, but what she knew was not as important as what she felt. It just may be that the most important decisions in our lives, not just when to celebrate the new millennium but with whom to spend the years on either side of that celebration, are not based on--
Oops. I almost came out on the side of-- Well, not a side that I was comfortable being on. Once a week, I rave about movies (usually in a review of a current release), and once a week, I rove around the Internet or some other level of reality. Both columns involve a choice: what to write about. Since most weeks, more than one movie opens (and I always have the option of writing something other than a movie review, say, a review of the behavior of movie audiences), I have a choice there.
If you look at any list of the best films of 1999, you'll see several titles that never showed up here. Many films have opened in limited showings at the end of the year to qualify for nominations for various awards. But, there are other factors. I choose films that I think I can write a favorable review of, and I usually choose films that I think are somehow appropriate to our Peanut.org community. (That did not stop me from reviewing Eyes Wide Shut and Dogma.) I have found that having the focus of writing for Peanut.org gives me a distinctive point of view, which has put me on the wrong side of many critical fences.
I like to use this forum to call your attention to little films that might get overlooked. To me, it was simply a waste of space to review the latest Star Wars (although I did have a friend review the publicity) or James Bond installment. I would much rather get one person to watch Playing by Heart or Cookie's Fortune than to keep anyone from seeing any film.
So, there are many film reviews that I never wrote, even for some films that I saw. I have made myself a rule simply to review no Robin Williams film, although in some ways he is a favorite of mine. From his brilliant, troubling portrayals in Good Morning, Vietnam and The Fisher King, he took a strange turn into rather maudlin roles in films such as What Dreams May Come, Jakob the Liar and Patch Adams. So, I am not writing a review of Bicentennial Man.
This was a column that I did begin: Alzheimer's disease is just that: a disease. It does no good to demonize it. It is simply an inevitable progression of certain degenerative processes that…
And that is as far as I got. To be honest, I want to demonize Alzheimer's. A member of my family has followed a course almost paralleling that of President Reagan. In other words, my family has followed a course almost paralleling that of Reagan family. And, as Forrest Gump would say, that is all I am going to say about that.
Perhaps you roved with me as I raved about my trip to Las Vegas, and so, this is the last unwritten column I shall share with you: Winning seven millions dollars in the lottery has not…
Although I am not wishing you a happy new millennium, at least not this year, I am aware that many spiritual traditions have celebrations in these darkest days of the year, celebrations that involve light, stars, candles. Here, in politically correct alphabetical order, and with my warmest greetings for you for whichever you celebrate, are links for various winter holidays--
And finally, let’s remember a saint whose day even those who may not usually commemorate saints’ days may want to remember, on the last day of the year. Again, whether that is also the last day of the century and the millennium… Oh, well, through whatever period of time you rove, thanks for joining me in my ravin’s this past year. Keep your feet dry, your heart full of noble thoughts, and your browser full of Peanut.org. And fill your eyes with these photos of the brightest full moon of the century, the night of the winter solstice, 1999:
To enlarge photo just click on the image.
