Plus you also get to know a whole lot more about pelicans than you would ever know otherwise. I am now a fan of these fine birds, although I knew very little about them other than having watched them dive for fish along the Florida beach when I was visiting my sister. I highly recommend it.
We are very fortunate here in Bellingham to have an independent theater in town that gives us what it calls "Doctober" showing lots of documentaries during the month, with only a single screening, or sometimes more than one (like this one, which sold out last night and was shown one more time today). I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more wonderful documentaries this month.
And the book? One of my blogging friends (I don't remember who it was) suggested a book, and I went immediately to the local library website and put a hold on it. Once it came, I delved into it and was completely floored by the historical information that is covered in the book. It's called The Burglary: J. Edgar Hoover's Secret F.B.I. written by Betty Medsger. It tells the story of eight regular people who broke into the FBI's office in Media, Pennsylvania in 1971 and stole all the files. They not only burgled the place, but they were never caught. At the beginning of this year, Medsger released the book that outed six of the eight, for the first time. There is a fascinating article on the New York Times, Burglars Who Took on the F.B.I. Abandon Shadows, which pretty much tells the whole story.
The book is long, and covers some other similar events that just amazed me, mostly because I never knew about all this. I must have been busy raising kids and dealing with my own personal drama not to have known much of this history. Whoever it was that pointed me toward that book, thank you! And now I'm returning the favor.
:-)
I adore pelicans and would love to see the documentary.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you (so much) for the book recommendation. When things calm down I will track it down.
The photo on the poster looks so like St James's Park in London. There are pelicans living there - a gift from the Russians. I can't remember the full story so I looked it up.. . 'The first pelican to grace the Royal Parks was a gift from the Russian Ambassador to King Charles II in 1664 and the colony has thrived ever since.'
ReplyDeleteglad you enjoyed both!
ReplyDeleteit all sounds very special and very good.
ReplyDeletethank you for sharing.
I like pelicans as the are a very majestic bird. I also like books that have a strong speculative side to them.
ReplyDeleteBoth sounds quite interesting. I love that your theater shows documentaries for a month. I hope that catches on around here. Oh wait.. the closest theater is an hour and a half away. Never mind. I'll just focus on the books. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe Pelican documentary sounds so good. Unfortunately we live in the suburbs of Atlanta and all our theatres usually show exactly, or almost, the same movies – thrillers, horrors, cartoons and such. I have never seen a documentary listed on any of them, and no foreign movies, so we do not go often. The book does sound very interesting. I am trying to read books I already have because we have so many and need to give them away. I hate to give books away that I’d like to read and have not yet. Right now I resurrected an old book I bought years ago – it is all the speeches of Lincoln. I have been very surprised by many things he said – showing a different side of him, not a known one, and as FDR, the type of things that are not usually known or talked about.
ReplyDeleteI think it was troutbirder
ReplyDeletehttp://baron-troutbirder.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-burglary.html
I recall he wrote about the same book.
You are the movie goer! We hardly ever go, we just wait til they come on TV or now Netflix...we are really getting with the times now! :)
Thank you, DJan. I hadn't heard of either. They sound very interesting. I sure don't know much about pelicans, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteThank you Djan. Both sound interesting. I don't know very much about Pelicans - yet! We are going to get the epistle about Rooseveldt next week, here in England on the Pbs Channel. I've been looking out for it. Larry will be interested in the Fbi thingy.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the more I know about anything natural the more I appreciate it, so Pelican Dreams sounds appealing to me.
ReplyDeleteHoover, the bad old FBI . . . not so much of a draw to me. The other day somebody said to me that in the old days, people were so honest . . . and I thought: Don't kid yourself.
DJan, if you like pelicans, you will enjoy the one who appears often in the movie Dolphins II. It's a fun side story. Glad you enjoyed the movie. Have a blessed Sunday.
ReplyDeleteI love pelicans, too. Magnificent creatures!
ReplyDeleteAs for the book, thanks for the tip. It reminds me of the Watergate scandal.
The documentary sounds right up my alley. I have it saved on Netflix now. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe book--goodness! I don't remember hearing anything about that break-in, but Watergate was in 72, I think. There was so much going on back then. Would be fascinating to read, I think. :)
We have a movie house like that near us, too. Don't know what we'd do without it. Heard of that Media, Pa., break-in -- it was an anti-Vietnam war thing, wasn't it? -- but I really don't know anything about it. Maybe I'll get the book.
ReplyDeleteI have always been a fan of those big clumsy birds that crash into the ocean. I'll look for that documentary.
ReplyDeleteI think that is the same book Troutbirder recently did a review on. Two reliable reviews make it a must read. Thanks.
Great! Two new recommendations! Onto my list the movie and book go.
ReplyDeleteA marvellous bird is the Pelican;
ReplyDeleteHIs bill can hold more than his bellycan.
He can keep in his beak
Enough food for a week
But I don't know how the hellhecan.
Blessings and Bear hugs, DJan!
interesting...i have neither heard of the book or the movie...i think i will check out the movie first...
ReplyDeleteyou make me wonder what happened to those that were outed by the book though....
I love pelicans...they're such a fascinating bird. The book sounds interesting....the subject would be something Bud would enjoy reading, I'm sure. I'll text him the title.
ReplyDeleteYou welcome DJan. I'm so glad you enjoyed the book. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth the effort to write up book reviews.
ReplyDeleteYou welcome DJan. I'm so glad you enjoyed the book. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth the effort to write up book reviews.
ReplyDeleteFellow bloggers have become my most valuable resource for book and entertainment recommendation, thank you for these, DJan!
ReplyDeleteI wish we had an old theater like yours. Living as remote-rural as we do, we lack a lot of the community groups & entertainment variety I admire about other places.
BUT - our nearby town has a fantastic performing arts theater, and a musician I'm fond of came way up off the beaten touring path and performed there this weekend.. a special treat. Normally one would have to travel a few hours to the city for that. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
I always love seeing pelicans around. That means I'm on the beach! My favorite place.
ReplyDeleteDear DJan, thanks for the documentary recommendation as well as the book. Right now I'm reading "Game Change," which is about the 2008 election. It's fascinating. Peace.
ReplyDelete