So, my birthday is this week, and I will be 34 years of age. That’s right. 34. Charlie Parker died when he was 34. By the time Charlie Parker was 34, he had knocked the world right on its ass. By the time I turn 34, I would have…well…hmm. And that is what depresses me. I know, I know. Each man is in charge of his own life. Our destinies are all different. We can not base our importance or measure the success of our lives against the successes of others. Still, if I were Bird I’d be dead soon. But in my mind perhaps I would be relieved by the knowledge that I would never be forgotten. Perhaps Bird knew that when he left this world. Perhaps not. Either way, his 34 years were not lived in vain.

Anyway, I don’t believe that one should devote his life to morbid self-attention. I believe that someone should become a person like other people. If you know Scorcese, you know that I just quoted a line from “Taxi Driver”. I use that to bridge myself from the birthday blues to the movie I saw yesterday, “The Departed”.  Let me preface my next few statements with this — I love Scorcese films. “Taxi Driver”, one of my all-time favorites. “GoodFellas”, one of the greatest movies ever made, in my opinion. “Raging Bull”, best boxing movie ever. “Casino”, loved it. “King Of Comedy”, “After Hours”, “Mean Streets” — I could go on and on. “The Departed” is just another addition to the long list of great Scorcese pictures. I do wonder, though. When Scorcese gets a script, is it a requirement that the n-word shows up at least once in the script before he will consider making the picture? To be fair, “The Departed” pretty much disparages every ethnic group involved in the movie. But “Taxi Driver”, “Goodfellas”, “Raging Bull”. If it isn’t the n-word, it is some other derivation. It has probably always disturbed me a bit, but for some reason I found myself squirming in my seat a little yesterday while I watched Scorcese’s latest flick. Either I’m getting old or I’m getting tired.