The tears and joys of life remind us why Xmas is very special. After the Wedding helps define who we are and why we are here.

I have another Brad Pitt blog for everyone, but something important came up and I need to think about the meaning of Xmas at this time. I hope all of you will follow my lead and rent the movie “After the Wedding” by Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier. Watch it with someone you love. Anytime is a good time for reflection, yet Xmas is always the best time to reflect.

May I be so banal as to remember what is important in each of our lives? Can I be so trite as to recall that no one ever spent his last breath on earth wishing he had worked one more day? Our relationships, our time together, our compassion for each other, and our expressions of empathy though they come all too infrequently define the quality of our lives. Most of you know the blessings I have experienced yet you may not know that sometimes I forget to be grateful, and sometimes I forget to care. Not as much as I used to. Still too often.

After the Wedding has too many plot twists to give away the story, and if allowing yourself to feel emotions is not your thing then this movie will not be for you. However, I think as I have met virtually each of you who may read this blog, you have shared with me a moment in time, the most precious commodity that God has granted each of us. I am grateful to have shared that moment and though I trust you will shed many tears as you watch the movie unfold, it is one of the most perceptive explorations of love that I remember having seen.

I wish you all the most loving of moments and the blessings of health as we celebrate the Xmas season.

What Does Brad Pitt See in Angelina Jolie that is the same as Jennifer Aniston

For all of us who have loved and lost and loved again it is axiomatic that without active interference we are attracted to the same characteristics as our last love whether they be appearance or personality. For better, I chose active interference in my life and married the woman who is my soul-mate. Enough of that until a later time.
So, looking at appearance only, one would have to guess that Brad Pitt saw something in Angelina Jolie that he also saw in Jennifer Anniston. Both are beautiful. One is a bit whimsical and one somewhat sultry and sensuous. One exhibits some shyness in public, the other a rather dominating persona. One is the girl next door who made it. The other maybe grew up in Lake Forest (they were both parented by famous actors) on the northern lakefront. (Remember this is my fantasy so I can infer what I please - I am going on appearance only). Yet he saw sameness in the two. Otherwise he would not have been twice smitten.
The answer is "Phi". He saw "Phi". Phi is a numerical ratio of one line versus another and is expressed as 1:1.618, also known as the golden ratio. It turns out that this mathematical constant can be used to compare lines in two dimensions, or the aggregate of lines in 3 dimensions. Dr. Stephan Marquardt used this ratio to create three dimensional models of the human face in computer simulations. And he found that when he looked at ancient Greek statues, Egyptian figures, 18th century paintings of robust female subjects, or ethnic variations between genetically different facial groups, the relationship of cosmetic units of the face of each of these depictions held to the golden ratio.

So it turns out that beauty is predictable and comparable between generations, between racial groups, and between individuals. Rather than an argument between arbitrary opinions of who is beautiful and why, there is a mathematical formula that we can assess subjectively and almost instantaneously to describe our evaluation of and response to beauty.

This is more than enough of a wonder for me. Yet it goes even further to explain why "the liquid face lift" which is the new designation of the combination of fillers and botox to achieve facial rejuvenation, works. As we age we lose the golden ratio because each of our cosmetic units deflates and then sags. It is the restoration of fullness of each unit that connotes youth, health, and beauty. As with all of our discoveries since Fleming discovered Penicillin in his moldy sandwich, this accidental realization came about as much from serendipity as from purposeful study.

Back to Brad (who is incidentally one of my best friends- we talk almost daily), I think he lucks out on both counts. One day I vote for Angela, the next day for Jennifer. My conclusion is fie on those who would ignore phi. It is their loss.

Edward Lack MD wwww.metropolitanmds.com