And he lives forever

Sidney Poitier, who died last week at age 94, was a luminous actor. Throughout his career, he stole scenes of all stripes by radiating intelligence and power. He gave us so much over the years.

I will always love this scene in Sneakers, when the hackers negotiate with James Earl Jones’ CIA guy over what they want in exchange for turning over the secret decrypter device, with River Phoenix setting Jones straight over Poitier’s request:

I guess, however, that I still have imprinted in my brain the film that earned Poitier his Best Actor Oscar, The Lilies of the Field. Watching him converse in scripture with the Eastern European nun is just classic. So here's today's earworm. Crank up the volume.

 

Not so sharp

Okay, not everything around here has lethal weapons. I do not know what type of tree this is, but I quite liked it:

And I got a kick out of this guy; attitude is everything:

 

Sharp objects

Walking around the ‘hood here in Sedona, I’m struck by how prickly things are in this ecosystem. I mean, the cacti are a given, no?

But also, things that technically aren’t (maybe?) cactus.

It’s frankly not an environment I enjoy for more than a few days, but it does have its lessons to teach.