Michal and I wanted to take a moment to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We hope you all have a wonderful time with your loved ones this holiday season. Be safe and we’ll see you in 2009. 
Stef & Michal
Ben attended the Los Angeles premiere of “The Wrestler” at the Academy Of Motion Arts & Sciences on December 16, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.
The Wrestler Premiere in Los Angeles, CA – December 16, 2008
Have you ever sat in a movie theater staring at a blank screen after the credits had completed their roll? Stunned silence. You You look around and people are staring straight ahead. Among a crowd, they are alone with their thoughts. No one gets up to leave when the lights come on. I look to my right and Rosie is staring straight ahead with tears coming down her face. On my left Pat is sobbing. Two seats down Ron sits staring forward, perhaps engaged in a losing bout to control his anger. I don’t know. Finally the surreal daze is broken when the director of Johnny Got His Gun, Rowan Joseph, goes to the head of the theater and asks if anyone has any questions.
Johnny Got His Gun is not a movie. It’s an experience. I confess I didn’t know what to expect when friends Ron and Rosie (CS2 Single-Payer Healthcare Advocates) invited my wife and me to join them at the GoggleWorks in downtown Reading to see this picture. When I read that the star of the show was Ben McKenzie from the Fox TV show The O.C., my level of expectation was lower still. The O.C. is one of those titillating prime time smash series that enables TV to earn the reputation as the veritable wasteland that it is. Totally vacuous characters, one more slimy than the next. So what could I expect from an actor who dishes up this kind of fare on a regular basis? Not much. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
