Not much to report today as usual. Just gotta wing it, cause I have to write something. I did have a nice leisurely stroll through Aliso Canyon this afternoon, specifically looking for spider webs to photograph. It was 95 degrees, not quite hot enough for my liking but enough to keep the crowd away, so I had the place to myself. Found a few good webs, too, one of which I posted on Facebook. I haven't seen any of the monster-sized webs like I found last Summer, however, the ones that had vortex funnels in the center that led to holes in the ground. Those were made by big 'ol black spiders, even bigger than a Black Widow, and I know this because I got a pic of one who just happened to be Out For A Walk on his web, and who scurried back into his hole in the ground right after I took the pic. You can see it in my 2016 photo album on FB.
Got a really good watermelon at Super King. Dontcha love it when you pick a good one? The last one I got at Trader Joe's was supposed to be seedless but had a ton of little black seeds. Now, I don't mind seeds because a watermelon with seeds brings back memories of being a kid, and eating a slice of melon out in the backyard - isolating the seeds in your mouth and spitting them out. It was a hassle, but the memory of it makes it tolerable to get some seeds in your watermelon, though the Age Of Seedless has been with us for decades now. But I don't have a backyard anymore, and I don't wanna spit seeds into the sink or the trash can. It's only fun if it's Out Back. But anyway, I was glad to get the very sweet and 100% seedless watermelon today. I already ate about a third of it. :)
Speaking of backyards, here at Pearl's I am literally cattycorner to the backyard of the home I was born into (when I came home from the hospital of course), and where I lived until I was 7 years and 8 months old. This tract was known as Meadowlark Park when it was new, and the homes were all designed by an architect named Edward Fickett. You can Google him if you wish, to see the designs of his houses. They are in the style of what has come to be known as Mid Century Modern. Dad bought a cool looking one on Hatton Street in 1953 for 13,000 bucks. Yep, you read that right. And Pearl and her husband Roy bought one just south of ours - cattycorner south - that same year. And here I am, almost 65 years later, writing to you from the living room of that house - Pearl's house - and close by the backyard where I first ate watermelon as a kid, and spit out the seeds. I can hear Dad's voice now, as he is handing me the slice - "Take it out in the backyard". That's the kind of memory that rules. :)
This is how Winging It works, when you have nothing to report on a particular day. You just pick up on any mundane thing you may have done, such as buying a watermelon and then extrapolate on it.
Dad was not a Watermelon Guy himself. He preferred cantaloupes or Crenshaw melons.
Tonight I watched a movie called "The Young Philadephians" (1959), starring Paul Newman, Barbara Rush and Robert Vaughn. Man, what a great movie! I suppose you would call it a Saga, as it encompasses years of Newman's life - really his whole life - from his birth to a Woman Of Society, to his rise through law school and emergence in a prominent firm, where he makes an immediate impression. But this is not exactly what the film is about. To tell you what is about would take more energy than I have at present - the story, like the road of life, is long and varied, with many twists and turns. The main thrusts are twofold : Status (and by extension Social Stature, slightly different from Status) and Love. Those two forces power the story. Newman, as he enters law school, has a girl he loves (Barbara Rush). They are ready to elope, and are gonna do it that very night. But of course the screenwriter intervenes and has Barbara's Dad talk Newman into postponing the marriage. He is a lawyer from a high powered firm, and he offers Paul a position, if he will finish school and defer marrying his daughter. Paul Newman, being ambitious, agrees to this, though in his heart he is crushed. The daughter, Barbara Rush, is despondent at the news. She runs away to Europe and ends up marrying someone else, a Society Lad who is a friend of the family. She does not love him, but everything looks good For Appearances Sake. Thus she and Paul go separate ways, for a while.
Now, so much happens after that, that I have gotta just give a few snippets or I will be here all night. This is an Epic, remember. A Saga.
Newman has a Best Friend - Robert Vaughn, in an outstanding performance - who is also a Scion Of High Society but who is an alcoholic. He has his reasons for being so, which will unfold the plot later on. Both of them wind up in Korea, fighting in the war.
I freaked out when the movie threw this curveball at me, due to The Current World Situation. I won't waste time commenting about the incredibly stupid and dangerous remarks of The Nutjob In Chief, but anyway - in the movie - there they were in Korea. Out of the blue. Such are the plot twists in this film. Another has him Almost Falling For The Young Wife of his Elderly Boss. That theme is short lived, however, and only serves to demonstrate Newman's desire for a real relationship rather than a fling.
The major curveball of the movie is that the last 40 minutes are spent as a Whodunit, in a nail biting Murder Trial. Holy Smokes, this movie is all over the map! But it's great. It runs for 2hrs 16 minutes, and you know that I prefer shorter films, but this one didn't lag for a second.
You know how I often go on Tirades about how great the screenwriters were, in those days, to be able to Pack As Much Story as they often do into a 90 minute film? Well, you can triple that for "The Young Philadelphians". Though it is, at times, a bit soap opera-ish, it has enough story for a modern miniseries, with many surprises. And through it all, the Two Themes hold : Ambition vs. Love. And the secrets of High Society, the skeletons in the closets of the wealthy families.
Paul Newman was young here, just 34 (and looking younger), and he wasn't as great as he would become, but the flashes are there, and he is very good for the most part.
Because of the length, and the melodrama, I could not watch a whole bunch of these types of films in a row, as I can with 90 minute Noirs or Westerns, but for a Once In A While viewing, this movie (in black and white!) is a Must See, and therefore I give it five stars. An Epic where you truly don't know what is gonna happen next, except for the fact that I just told you. :)
So, that's all the news for today. Spider Webs, Watermelon & Paul Newman.
Google Edward Fickett, too, if you get the chance. /////
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