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A glutton for guavas

I'm a big fan of Clint Eastwood movies, especially the films he directs. I always go see them, even though I know the movie will not have a happy ending. I thought he might depart from that with Flags of Our Fathers. It is about World War II after all, "The Good War" as Studs Turkel called it, a war we fought for all the right reasons. No such luck. While the ending wasn't as devastating as Mystic River or as sad as Million Dollar Baby, it was still not the warm, fuzzy finale we've come to expect from WWII flicks. As usual with a Eastwood film, "Flags" is a reflection of both the best and the worst in human nature.
Flags of our Fathers is about the guys who raised the flag on a mountaintop at Iwo Jima. They were just young soldiers, doing their job, following orders, under extraordinary circumstances. The photo of their efforts to raise the flag became instantly famous and the guys were dubbed heroes, against their own wishes. "Flags" tells the story of how they were exploited for the war effort and how they were treated by the citizens of the country for which they fought. It's an exceptional film, worth full ticket price at the theater.
We saw Flags of Our Fathers on Saturday afternoon. Saturday night, we watched The Sentinel, with Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria and Kim Bassinger. Pretty good. Not epic, like Flags, but good enough to keep our attention throughout. It's about a secret service agent who is framed and subsequently blamed for an inside plot to kill the president. It's definitely worth renting.
Yes, it was a movie weekend. We also mowed the lawn, hung out at the Maku'u Farmers' Market and ate huevos at Luquin's Mexican Restaurant on Sunday morning, cut down some bananas (which turned out to be not quite ready for harvest) and generally puttered around.
I've become addicted to the tiny, strawberry guava fruits now ripening on our invasive trees. They are so sweet and tasty. They're actually better than the large, commercially grown guavas, the ones with the pink flesh.
I sent out three more resumes. The phone is not exactly ringing off the hook with job offers. Go figgah!
A hui hou. Aloha!

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