I usually steer clear of writing about politics, but tonight I wanna give a big High Five to the people of Alabama for electing Doug Jones over the execrable Roy Moore, of whom I think it is safe to say that most Americans are not only sick of hearing about but are also glad to see him go away. I am enthused tonight, not only because Moore lost, but because it was Alabamans who showed him the door. Alabama is often looked down upon as a backwards state (probably unfairly in most regards), and it surely has it's problems like all states do, but I must take a stand here and remind anyone who reads this that I have always argued against the type of cultural condescension that liberals, from say......certain coastal cities......engage in. I have written about my extreme displeasure with the name calling and - yes, bullying - by supposedly "sophisticated" Americans, who look down on folks from the South and automatically lump everyone into one big barrel. It's one of the main reasons I am not a liberal; simply because so-called liberals are often just as mean spirited as the people they name-call and rail against.
But tonight Alabama showed everybody. The one state that everybody expected to do the worst, instead did the best. And I feel good, because I feel like the tide is now turning. In fact, make that The Crimson Tide! I feel like, if Alabama can do it, America can do it.
America can reject Trump and all of his stooges and subordinates, and all of his racist, mysogynist backwards thinking phony-Christian candidates, with Alabama leading the charge.
So, "way to go Alabama"! You guys rule. This proves what we should have already known : that there are good people all over America, be they Democrat, Republican, Independent, non-political or whatever. And you guys in 'Bama showed us tonight that all we've gotta do to defeat these Trumpians is to show up and vote. And if we keep doing it, then soon this National Nightmare will be over. And maybe one day we won't think of each other as Red or Blue, but just Red, White and Blue, and in the best way, not in the jingoistic, fist-pumping fake-patriotic sense.
I am excited tonight, and I say hooray for Alabama. :)
Now for tonight's movie : "Easy To Wed" (1946), starring Van Johnson and Esther Williams. You already know about Esther, but Johnson at the time was her box-office counterpart. In the late-40s, he was known as MGM's Golden Boy because of his ability to bring in the crowds. The studio then paired them together for this film, which was more of an ensemble farce than an Esther Williams Swimming Pool Spectacular. Very briefly - cause I'm tired, haha - Williams is the daughter of a wealthy tycoon. Tabloid newspapers in those days were more mainstream, and would engage in libelous "yellow journalism", concocting stories about the rich and famous in order to sell lots of copies. The paparzzi is nothing new. Anyhow, Ms. Williams is followed around in an effort to make her look like a homewrecker, a woman out to break up a marriage, when in reality she is nothing like that.
Her father winds up suing the paper after one such headline, and the story proceeds from there, in which the editor of the paper enlists a Hansome Cad (Van Johnson), a womaniser, to entrap Williams, so that her reputation will be destroyed and her Dad's lawsuit will fail.
It's not as serious as all that - the story and plot is based on an older movie from the 30s called "Libeled Lady" (with Jean Harlow) - and it is played as a fast paced farce. A pre-'Lucy' Lucille Ball steals the show as a hussy who is enlisted in the scheme to defraud Williams and her wealthy father. Keenan Wynn is also exceptional in his role as the unscrupulous newspaper editor and lawyer who sets up the whole fiasco. Wynn is interesting to see as a young man, because he was one of those actors that people of my generation only remember from television, when he was much older. And in his case, in his older TV years he always seemed dissolute, mustachioed and blowsy, a tad unkempt.
But in his early roles in motion pictures, he was razor sharp, in looks and ability, and his talent for farce was top notch. That he was matched in the film with Lucille Ball is testimony of that.
Well anyhow, another Esther Williams movie in the books, even though this one was more of a group effort.
Not much else to report. The wind has started back up. Temps are in the low 80s. I'm reading a book about the Reverend Jim Jones, of Peoples Temple and Guyana fame. Talk about a Weird Dude. What's really weird is that, according to the book, he and his followers actually did a lot of good in the early years of their church, helping poor people in Indiana and Northern California. But then, Jones' megalomania began to take hold. The author Jeff Guinn, who also wrote a book about another megalomaniac named Charles Manson, is very skillful in describing how this psychosis in Jim Jones developed over a thirty year period. But it is clear that he was born that way, and it is important to understand what makes such people tick.
Elizabeth, I saw your post - via Sarah again - about "Christmas presents that bark". It made me think of The Doberman Pinscher. Man, I wish he was all wrapped up in a box in Pearl's living room. I sure do miss that guy, but I know he is with me invisibly, so I can't complain.
Hope your day was good. See you in the morn. :):)
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