Happy Late Saturday Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope you had a nice day, today and yesterday. This afternoon I had a very nice hike out at Santa Susana. The day was cold and overcast. It was the first time I've had to hike anywhere with my heaviest down jacket, but anyhow I concentrated on the Waterfall Trail once again, as the water is a temporary phenomenon, and this time I discovered that there is still a little bit of Water Falling. When I got to the top of the main trail, there were several people up there, and a lady showed me a little side trail that led up to the waterfall, or at least where it starts before it falls down the sandstone rock face. This side trail was very steep and canted at all kinds of angles, and would not have been traversable (by me, at least) if it were not for the two factors of rain-softened ground, which allowed for good footing, and also lots of turf - grass and other undergrowth that builds such a skinny trail up on the sides. In the middle of a blazing Summer this same trail would be a bald, grainy, slippery, skinny noodle of a trail but with the same steepness and canted angles, and there would be no chance I would climb it. But today the conditions were fortuitous, and it was awesome.
I am gonna keep going back to the Waterfall Trail section of the park (a place I never usually go - I always go to The Devil's Slide trail) just because we probably won't have a Winter like this too often, with this much water and this much green growth. The park just looks amazing. I only took a couple pics today but neither was that great, just because of crummy light. I went to Aliso yesterday afternoon, and it was sunny at that time, but no pics worth posting.
Tonight's movie was "Hacksaw Ridge", directed by Mel Gibson, the story of a conscientious objector who served as a medic at Okinawa in one of the most horrific battles of WW2. I was floored by this movie, and my immediate opinion as it ended was that it was one of the greatest war movies I've ever seen, but it's even more than that. It's really a profound anti-war statement about a man who refused to carry a gun into battle, or to even touch a gun, so strong were his Christian beliefs. These are the true Christian beliefs, as "Thou shalt not kill", and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself", and this man went all the way with his beliefs. It is a true story, and the man was able to save 75 wounded soldiers all by himself, during a battle so unrelenting that onscreen it just looks like a meat grinder.
It may be presumptuous of me to call it a "man's movie", and I know certain men who would not want to see it because of it's vivid and realistic portrayal of what war actually looks like - lightning fast violence and chaos, with guys running one moment and getting blown to smithereens the next. Mel Gibson is known as a director who does not flinch from horror, and he more than demonstrates it here. The violence is not gratuitous, however, because this is the way war looks. It's a straight horror show, gory beyond belief. This is why I say it's a "man's movie" (probably a stupid qualification) but it's just that I can't imagine any woman wanting to sit through such violence. Still, the first hour of the film does deal with romance, and how the man met his wife, and all of that is beautifully done.
To sum up - an exceptionally moving film, really tremendous on every level. If I were an Oscar voter I would give it Best Picture. It is also a story of commitment and convictions that people need to see and hear in today's world. An astounding movie, with the highest possible Thumbs Up I can give. But decidedly not for the squeamish.
I saw a few posts today, all for bands and music. One was for Sarah's t-shirts, which look really cool! I hope the show went well on Thursday night. I also saw another post of a band sitting on top of their tour bus, but it only came up once and then I didn't see it again. It had something to do with "working" ( a key word in the text) so I figured that you are working as always.
Tomorrow morning, church and choir. A fairly easy song - though with a lot of words and breaths - called "Go Out With Joy". Sung "full on" in the pop style.......
That's all I know for tonight. I'll be back from choir practice at 1pm, and then tomorrow night I'll be here at Pearl's watching the Oscars. I haven't seen many of the films, but I am guessing that "La La Land" (which I haven't seen) will win big, just because The Academy loves movies about show business, and they also love musicals. My own pics would be "Hacksaw Ridge" for Best Picture, Andrew Garfield for best actor and Natalie Portman for best actress for "Jackie". I don't follow it as closely as I used to, but it will be fun to watch as always. And I will be around most of the evening, online, as I watch.
See you in the morning. I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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