Speaker
Our speaker today was Stan Harris. Stan wrote a screen play called Fat Rose and Squeaky that was recently made into a film. Shot on location here in San Jose, the film stars two exceptional actresses, Cicely Tyson and Louise Fletcher. Stan shared with us some very interesting history on filmmakers.
Fat Rose and Squeaky is an all female, five-
character story revolving around the Irish-
willed, eighty-something Bonnie Ash Fitzpatrick
and her only friend, the seventy-something
Together these women have strength, hope, and a
.32 caliber pistol strapped to the leg of Bonnie's
walker cane. As a pair they have power against
the creations of a haunted mind, a mind that
protects itself from the inevitability of aging.
The women, along with Bonnie's railroad-trash housemates, the caustic Fat Rose and the manic Squeaky are just fine until a long-lost, grand niece appears and, for suspicious reasons of her own, tries to manipulate her great Aunt Bonnie into moving out of her San Jose, California house of fifty years and into an elderly care facility.
Bonnie's railroad trash housemates see through the scam, but they are not sure they want to help. After all, Bonnie doesn't allow them to drive her car, drink her beer, or bring men back to the house.
As more is revealed to the viewer about Christine's true intentions, Celine falls prey to Christine's logic and unknowingly plays a part in uprooting her friend from her beloved home. Through tragic circumstances of the real world and a desperate situation involving her best friend, Celine, Bonnie has to face up to the responsibilities of friendship, her own history, and an uncertain future that involves her making a lifetime commitment.
This is an unusual movie that deals with the dignity of aging. In life, a little friendship, poetry, tofu casserole and a common front against those who threaten our ability to choose for ourselves is all one needs to find the beauty, humor and poetry rooted within each new day.
Guests
Doc Brown payed another visit today.
Joker - Joker
Lucky Kristin, drew an Ace and took $25 from the pot.
Twas The (Politically Correct) Night Before Christmas
'Twas the night before Christmas and Santa's a wreck...
How to live in a world that's politically correct?
His workers no longer would answer to "Elves".
"Vertically Challenged" they were calling themselves.
And labor conditions at the north pole
Were alleged by the union to stifle the soul.
Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety,
Released to the wilds by the Humane Society.
And equal employment had made it quite clear
That Santa had better not use just reindeer.
So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid,
Were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid!
Second-hand pipe smoke had his workers quite frightened.
His fur trimmed red suit was called "Unenlightened."
And to show you the strangeness of life's ebbs and flows,
Rudolf was suing over unauthorized use of his nose
And had gone on Geraldo, in front of the nation,
Demanding millions in compensation.
So, half of the reindeer were gone; and his wife,
Who suddenly said she'd enough of this life,
Joined a self-help group, packed, and left in a whiz,
Demanding from now on her title was Ms.
And as for the gifts, why, he'd ne'er had a notion
That making a choice could cause so much commotion.
Nothing of leather, nothing of fur,
Which meant nothing for him. And nothing for her.
Nothing that might be construed to pollute.
Nothing to aim. Nothing to shoot.
Nothing that clamored or made lots of noise.
Nothing for just girls. Or just for the boys.
Nothing that claimed to be gender specific.
Nothing that's warlike; nothing terrific.
No baseball, no football...someone could get hurt;
Besides, playing sports exposed kids to dirt.
Dolls were said to be sexist, and should be passe;
And Nintendo would rot your entire brain away.
So Santa just stood there, disheveled, perplexed;
He just could not figure out what to do next.
He tried to be merry, tried to be gay,
you've got to be careful with that word today.
His sack was quite empty, limp to the ground;
Nothing fully acceptable was to be found.
Something special was needed, a gift that he might
Give to all without angering the left or the right.
A gift that would satisfy, with no indecision,
Each group of people, every religion;
Every ethnicity, every hue,
Everyone, everywhere...even you.
So here is that gift, it's price beyond worth...
"May you and your loved ones enjoy peace on earth."
Upcoming Events
December 19 - Sacred Hearts Christmas Toy Box Volunteer Event
December 25 - MERRY CHRISTMAS!
December 27 - Interclub with Los Altos
January 1 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!
January 12 - Board Meeting
Look Who's Coming
December 20 - Tryphine Puckett-Bier on Health & Nutrition
December 27 - No Meeting
January 3 - Hal Messimer
January 10 - Scott & Teresa Sopers' African Adventure
January 17 - Michael Rugg, The Bigfoot Discovery Project
January 24 - Larry Dean
January 31 - Gloria Chacon
Club Actions
We gave our wait-staff, Fernando and Bert each a $100 cash Christmas gift to say thank you for all the hard work they do serving our mottley group every week.
Happy/Sad Dollars
Doug put in a happy dollar to say he's off the Warriors and on to the Sharks.
Kristin had a happy dollar because her youngest son was in a program at school. He and a couple of his friends performed Abbott & Costello's "Who's On First."
Mr. Kristin paid $2 to share that his son's soccer team did very well and although they didn't make it to the finals, they came close and did win a medal.
Ray Crump Presents Certificate of Appreciation
to Robyn Brushett of Monta Vista HS for her years of work as faculty advisor to our Key Club. Pictured along with Ray and Robyn is this years Key Club President, Cindy Chen.
Have You Heard The One About.......?????
Rudolph's Operation
Christmas was over. Santa and his reindeer finally had a chance to
rest. And they deserved it. They had done a good job.
Rudolph had a chance to do something he had wanted to do for a
long time. He made an appointment with a plastic surgeon because
he was so sensitive about his looks.
However, it wasn't his glowing proboscis that he wanted changed.
He was proud of his nose and the help he had given Santa because
of it. No, he was sensitive about his long ears which were much
more prominent than the ears of the average reindeer, or bear, for
that matter.
So one week after Christmas, he let the good doctor do the
reconstructive surgical procedure, and since that time, January
1st has been celebrated as... (sorry about this....)
New Ears Day.
