Home to Rome

One of our favorite people, a truly holy man and an extraordinary friend and human being, Raymond Leo Burke, until noon today Archbishop of Saint Louis, and formerly Bishop of La Crosse, is off to Rome to head the highest court of the Catholic Church, the Apostolic Signatura, as its Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal.

We know how much he loves Rome, both literally and figuratively.

May he go with God. He will be missed.

The Strange Case of Edouard Cortes

In the lobby of the Drake Hotel in downtown Chicago, a few blocks from Lake Michigan, is a little corner art gallery with some of the most amazing pieces of Salon and impressionist art I've seen publicly displayed.

A few years ago, my husband and I were invited over for dinner at the home of one of his former secretaries. As we were sitting in her livingroom having coffee, I happened to glance up to the wall at the top of her stairs and gasped.

"You have an Edouard Cortes!" I exclaimed.

"A what?" she asked.

"An Edouard Cortes. Do you have any idea how valuable those are?"

"No," she replied. I think I only paid a couple of dollars for it at a garage sale.

"Well, you could get a lot more than that for it now," I informed her, knowing that the Parisian street scene on her wall could well fetch $30,000-40,000 or more.

I had been an admirer of Cortes' work for some time. I'd seen it in little glass showcases in the Drake, and in the art gallery there. I'd lusted after it like a schoolgirl lusts after a dress she'll never have. "If I ever win the lottery," I thought.

So it caught my attention when one of the lead news stories yesterday featured an obscure painting that the owner had left at a Goodwill store in Maryland. It might have gotten a $2 tag placed out on it on the floor, were it not for the sharp eye of a Goodwill employee, who had it investigated.

The painting was an authentic Edouard Cortes, and was recently sold at action, with proceeds benefitting Goodwill, for $40,600.



This would be an interesting story in itself without the marvelous intrigue regarding the apparently unsuspecting donor, who is never named in the news articles.

A couple of years ago my husband's former secretary, who had long since moved up the corporate ladder, took a job with the U.S. State Department, and moved her household.

To Washington, D.C.

Get Smarter

If you liked the remake of Charlie's Angels and are a fan of Austin Powers, you'll have a rollicking good time with the new film version of Get Smart.

Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway reprise the roles of Agents 86 and 99, respectively (Maxwell Smart and, well, Agent 99) made famous by Don Adams and Barbara Feldon four decades ago in what was one of the funniest and most award-winning comedy spoofs of the '60's.

Mel Brooks and Buck Henry created the original. Both consulted on the film.

If you're expecting the film version to pick up where the series left off, guess again--it's really more of a "prequel" to introduce the characters and set up a relationship, and set them in the present day, than a recreation of the series. Carell is well cast in the role made famous by Adams, and brings his usual dry charm; Hathaway makes great counterpoint as a Barbara Feldon wannabe. Alan Arkin is a nimble "Chief," and there are plenty of other nice casting touches, including James Caan as a bumbling President of the United States who can't pronounce "nuclear" and Bill Murray as a former agent stuck in a tree. Terence Stamp and Borat funnyman Ken Davitian (whose backside is probably as well known as his face by Borat fans) lend a hand as arch villains. Bernie Kopell, "Doc" from the television series "The Love Boat" and an original cast member of the television "Get Smart," has a cameo.

If you follow the action closely enough, you'll notice several nods to elements of other films, including scenes practically ripped off the pages of scripts for Austin Powers, James Bond, The Island, Charlie's Angels, Foul Play and goodness knows how many other films. I'd have to see it again more than once to catalogue them; no doubt someone else will.

Again, take note. Mel Brooks consulted.

The aerial stunt work alone makes seeing the film worth the price of the ticket. I marvel at how the filmmakers managed to transform a '60's spy comedy spoof into an action adventure film, but that they did.

Most of the audience bellylaughed throughout, as did I. It was a much needed and much appreciated comedy/adventure escape on a Friday night. I chose to see this over Mike Myers' The Love Guru, which also opened yesterday, because the latter was roundly panned by critics. (Austin Powers fans, take note.)

I think I made the right choice. If you're a fan of Maxwell Smart anyway, go see Steve Carell's version.

The ending is nicely set up for a sequel, and even a continuing franchise of the characters, which I will expect if this one does as well as I think it will.

Oh, and spoiler alert. There's a cute puppy at the end.

A Beefy Irish Cop on a Corner Called America

"I don't think there's any point in being Irish if you don't think the world is going to break your heart eventually."--Daniel Patrick Moynahan

It's Over, But What Does that Mean?

Joe Scarborough, former congressman from Florida and host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," has an insightful take on this historic moment at the end of a long and hard fought Democratic primary season in this morning's Pensacola News-Journal, and says what needs to be said as well as anyone could.