I'm back. Sorry I missed you last night, but it was one of those nights where I hadn't watched a movie and was drawing a blank on what I could write about. It was Sunday, and you already could've guessed about "good singin' in church" and the supertired factor, and nowdays, because I am at Pearl's for approximately 17 out of every 24 hours, there ain't much new stuff that I can tell ya. Hence the movie reviews and the stream-of-consciousness jabbering that sometimes springs forth as I write them. A good night is a jabbering night, but last night was unfortunately not one of them.
If you - including the General You as well as the Individual You - were here in person, then the jabbering would probably run nonstop and perhaps even out of control, because I love to talk about stuff, even when I am tired. But because General & Individual You are not here, typing must suffice, and typing - no matter how skilled the typist - can no more compete with the speech process than can a computer compete with human thought. Most nights, typing works and I think of things to say, but once in a while I miss a night.
Man, I wish I had somebody to talk to in real life. I don't mean "The Boys" because as you know I do not want to be One Of The Boys at this stage of my life. Ergo, by the process of elimination we can determine that I wish I had someone to talk to who is not a man, and who is someone who "gets it".
You know what I mean. Someone who instinctively understands the gargantuan magic and mystery of life and who can share that knowledge without a word being said.......but who also likes to jabber incessantly on occasion about any topic at all. :)
Well anyway, I did watch a movie tonight : "In The Good Old Summertime" (1949) starring Judy
Garland and Van Johnson. I was hoping to continue the theme of Summer and Judy that I inadvertently started by watching the musical "Summer Stock" a couple of weeks ago. That was a Judy Garland movie I'd never seen and I was pleasantly surprised by it; it was really good, and moreover it was set on a farm, in the Summer as promised by it's title.
"Good Old Summertime", on the other hand, is Summer in name only. In fact, I can think of no other movie with such an incongruous title, because almost the entire story is set in Winter, at Christmastime.
What it is, is a remake of the very famous Jimmy Stewart (whose name must be pronounced as he himself would say it, ala "Jimmae Schtoo-art") classic "The Shop Around The Corner", which was remade yet again in the early 90s at the start of the Internet Age as "You've Got Mail".
"The Shop Around The Corner" is a more developed story than "Summertime", and focuses more on Jimmy Stewart's tenuous relationship with his boss at the music shop where he and his secret pen pal both work. They write long, philosophical letters to each other that slowly turn into love letters, and they have no idea that they work in the same shop. Yeah sure, you say......but that's how you get to be a great screenwriter, by making such a setup work.
It works great in both movies, in nearly identical fashion as far as the romantic angle is concerned (and I haven't seen "You've Got Mail", the Hanks/Ryan remake, but there is no way it could compare, trust me).
Anyhow, the main difference is that the original "Shop Around The Corner" plays up Jimmy Stewart's role and "Summertime" focuses on Judy Garland as the star, doing her thing as she does best, which was the selling point of the movie, meaning that she is gonna get to perform some Set Piece musical numbers of the type that made her a Hollywood legend. With a Star as big as Judy, she is going to be photographed a certain way, lit a certain way, and she is going to be guaranteed to have her star charisma - i.e. what she does on a movie screen - be the centerpiece of the movie. This doesn't mean that the whole film is about her character, because Van Johnson gets as much screen time. But this is clearly a Judy Garland formula picture, even though it is almost note for note the same story as "The Shop Around The Corner".
If you were to take that movie away, and say that it didn't exist, you would very likely consider "In The Good Old Summertime" a near classic, just because of the slowly building romance between Johnson and Garland, which is mostly successful on an emotional level because of her portrayal. What is a love story without emotion, right? And at the end, they nail it and you really feel it.
If it was the only version of the story it would be a 7.5 out of 10 Judy Garland Classic, because that's how great she was. But because it cannot help but be compared with the original "Shop Around The Corner", in which the Judy role was played to great effect by the tragic Margaret Sullavan, I will have to dock it a half point and call it a 7/10 (whereas "Summer Stock" would be an 8/10).
Still, even though it has nothing to do with Summer, "In The Good Old Summertime" gets Two Big Thumbs Up from me, because the cast is solid, the Technicolor is glorious, and Judy is Judy. She was one of the handful of greatest Movie Stars who ever lived.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Sunday, July 29, 2018
"The Spoilers" with John Wayne, Marlene Dietrich and Randolph Scott
Tonight's movie was "The Spoilers" (1942), the eighth movie from my seemingly never ending 10 Pack of Westerns. John Wayne leads an all-star cast in this tale of gold mining and claim jumping way up in Nome, Alaska in 1900. Wayne plays a local prospector who has staked a claim and established his own gold mining company, complete with an office and a safe inside where he stores his gold. He has a crusty old partner, because in Westerns, it is mandatory that a percentage of the characters be crusty and/or crotchety, and elderly but feisty.
Not long after the movie opens, Wayne is returning to Nome by ship (from an unknown locale), eager to begin working his gold mine. Waiting to greet him is the legendary Marlene Dietrich, his one time paramour who runs the local saloon. However, when she sees Wayne disembark with the lovely Margaret Lindsay, she is none too happy. Wayne explains to Marlene that this is just the way he is, and that declaration sets the stage for the romantic part of the story; a competition for Wayne's affections between the two women, one sweet and pampered (Lindsay) and one self-supporting and worldly (Dietrich).
The main angle is the organised attempt at swindling gold miners out of their claims. Prior to watching this film, the only thing I knew about claim jumping was going to Claim Jumper's restaurant out by Northridge Mall. I used to go there with Mom and Dad on occasion in the early 2000s. We always liked it because the food was good and they gave you humongous portions, so much that you always took home a large doggie bag. I also liked the Western motif, but anyhow, that was the extent of my knowledge on claim jumping, which apparently was more of a phony legal process than an outright outlaw act of gunning a man down and taking his gold. Claim jumping involved filing an affidavit stating that you found the claim first, even though you didn't. Because the mining operations were out in the boondocks, it was one man's word against another's. Many claims were stolen in this way, and in the movie - which is based on a historical novel of actual events - John Wayne is not only up against a claim jumper but against a group of organised gold and land thieves comprised of the local mining official, played by Randolph Scott, and the local circuit judge and his flunky lawyer. Margaret Lindsay, who has half of John Wayne's heart, is the niece of the corrupt judge, and is in on the plot to "legally" steal Wayne's gold claim. She is torn by her love for him, but too scared of her uncle the judge to tell Wayne the truth.
Marlene Dietrich, however, sees through the scheme. She is tough as nails and dressed to kill throughout. Her character in this movie has got to be the inspiration for the famous Lily Von Schtupp character in "Blazing Saddles", played by Madeline Kahn. See it for yourself if you are a "Saddles" fan.
Once again, as the movie was made during the age of great screenwriting there is enough story to fill the book that it was based on to begin with. In the first half, a light comedy element is present while the romantic tensions are building up. Marlene Dietrich does her thing and plays up the strutting yet sophisticated sexuality, while John Freakin' Wayne grins, shrugs and responds with his "maybe baby" macho male retorts. He doesn't need her (or does he)?
He's got the other gal hooked too, Margaret Lindsay, who thinks she loves him but is too beholden to her crooked Uncle, the judge, and his crooked buddy the mining official Randolph Scott (which, when you say his name you have to do it with the "Blazing Saddles" chorus behind you. See Youtube for details.)
I hope you can figure out what is going on from what I have told you, because it is late and I have to be up at the crack of dawn for church.
One last thing I will mention is that there is a major league Western Movie Punchout between John Wayne and Randolph Scott at the end of the movie that goes on way too long and was far too brutal for my liking. In those days, it was supposed to be a form of sensationalised "man vs. man showdown", pure Hollywood schtick. But this one went way too far and it grossed me out, it was even brutal by today's standards, and I thought it took away from the movie, especially coming at the end. I don't want to see that kind of violence, it's not entertaining.
I was tempted to dock One Thumb from my review for that ending, and only give "The Spoilers" a single Thumb Up, but I have relented because of the great 85 minute story preceding the grotesque ending, and because the movie, overall, is a classic Western, with elements of crime story and comedy, and great locations at Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains, and it was filmed in black and white.
Two Thumbs Up are therefore extended. Just cover your eyes during the last three minutes. There was no reason to end the movie that way.
See you in church tomorrow morning, we've got a great one to sing : "Shall We Gather At The River".
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Not long after the movie opens, Wayne is returning to Nome by ship (from an unknown locale), eager to begin working his gold mine. Waiting to greet him is the legendary Marlene Dietrich, his one time paramour who runs the local saloon. However, when she sees Wayne disembark with the lovely Margaret Lindsay, she is none too happy. Wayne explains to Marlene that this is just the way he is, and that declaration sets the stage for the romantic part of the story; a competition for Wayne's affections between the two women, one sweet and pampered (Lindsay) and one self-supporting and worldly (Dietrich).
The main angle is the organised attempt at swindling gold miners out of their claims. Prior to watching this film, the only thing I knew about claim jumping was going to Claim Jumper's restaurant out by Northridge Mall. I used to go there with Mom and Dad on occasion in the early 2000s. We always liked it because the food was good and they gave you humongous portions, so much that you always took home a large doggie bag. I also liked the Western motif, but anyhow, that was the extent of my knowledge on claim jumping, which apparently was more of a phony legal process than an outright outlaw act of gunning a man down and taking his gold. Claim jumping involved filing an affidavit stating that you found the claim first, even though you didn't. Because the mining operations were out in the boondocks, it was one man's word against another's. Many claims were stolen in this way, and in the movie - which is based on a historical novel of actual events - John Wayne is not only up against a claim jumper but against a group of organised gold and land thieves comprised of the local mining official, played by Randolph Scott, and the local circuit judge and his flunky lawyer. Margaret Lindsay, who has half of John Wayne's heart, is the niece of the corrupt judge, and is in on the plot to "legally" steal Wayne's gold claim. She is torn by her love for him, but too scared of her uncle the judge to tell Wayne the truth.
Marlene Dietrich, however, sees through the scheme. She is tough as nails and dressed to kill throughout. Her character in this movie has got to be the inspiration for the famous Lily Von Schtupp character in "Blazing Saddles", played by Madeline Kahn. See it for yourself if you are a "Saddles" fan.
Once again, as the movie was made during the age of great screenwriting there is enough story to fill the book that it was based on to begin with. In the first half, a light comedy element is present while the romantic tensions are building up. Marlene Dietrich does her thing and plays up the strutting yet sophisticated sexuality, while John Freakin' Wayne grins, shrugs and responds with his "maybe baby" macho male retorts. He doesn't need her (or does he)?
He's got the other gal hooked too, Margaret Lindsay, who thinks she loves him but is too beholden to her crooked Uncle, the judge, and his crooked buddy the mining official Randolph Scott (which, when you say his name you have to do it with the "Blazing Saddles" chorus behind you. See Youtube for details.)
I hope you can figure out what is going on from what I have told you, because it is late and I have to be up at the crack of dawn for church.
One last thing I will mention is that there is a major league Western Movie Punchout between John Wayne and Randolph Scott at the end of the movie that goes on way too long and was far too brutal for my liking. In those days, it was supposed to be a form of sensationalised "man vs. man showdown", pure Hollywood schtick. But this one went way too far and it grossed me out, it was even brutal by today's standards, and I thought it took away from the movie, especially coming at the end. I don't want to see that kind of violence, it's not entertaining.
I was tempted to dock One Thumb from my review for that ending, and only give "The Spoilers" a single Thumb Up, but I have relented because of the great 85 minute story preceding the grotesque ending, and because the movie, overall, is a classic Western, with elements of crime story and comedy, and great locations at Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains, and it was filmed in black and white.
Two Thumbs Up are therefore extended. Just cover your eyes during the last three minutes. There was no reason to end the movie that way.
See you in church tomorrow morning, we've got a great one to sing : "Shall We Gather At The River".
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, July 28, 2018
Great Poem + Cities
Hey Elizabeth, I really liked your poem! A very evocative portrait of city life and a nice use of words to contrast the natural world with the man made. I gather that you live in the city, rather than the suburbs? In Los Angeles, it's different because our Downtown is only about 2 by 3 miles, and not that many people live there, and we don't have near as many skyscrapers as Chicago or New York because of earthquake restrictions and the general topography. Here, everybody lives in the suburbs, or even close to L.A. in Hollywood and the areas surrounding Downtown, but almost all of the towns throughout all of the suburbs are part of the city of Los Angeles. So I live in Northridge, but Northridge is not a city, just a town, and a town that is part of L.A., even though it is 27 miles from Downtown.
I suppose Chicago has a similar sprawl, a city center with surrounding towns spread out for miles. Concrete everywhere, as you say, and the same is true here, though we in the Valley are lucky to be near the mountains. For us, the deal is cars. Cars are like rivers here. The riverbeds are the streets and the cars are the water, ever flowing in every possible direction at all times, never stopping. Except at the doggone red lights, lol.
But yeah : Big Cities with too many people jammed into 'em. Developers paving over everything.
Still, you can find the good spots. That's what I stick to, my good places. I enjoy the city when I go down for a concert, or take the train for an occasional walkaround, but I am glad I'm a Valley Boy.
And one day I might wind up in the desert. I mean, I probably won't, but then again.....
One thing that I could do in the desert would be to see the stars every night, as you mentioned. I have only seen a full sky of stars perhaps ten nights of my life. The last time would have been in 1994 during the three day power outage after the quake. Here in the Valley, we do see the brightest stars and planets every night, and we have a low skyline, so we can see things like Venus and the Red Star or Planet that I wrote about a few nights ago. But it would be nice to see more.
The only bummer about the desert would be that it is 100 to 150 miles away from everything.
Well anyway, that was a great poem, though I don't know if you meant it in a positive/negative way or just in a detached observational way.
And don't tell me, for that is the magic of poetry.
But write more! :)
I liked your posts today, and I am glad that you went to see the Ryuichi Sakamoto documentary tonight. I remember him from way back in the 80s, when he composed the score for a movie called "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence", a war story about POWs in Japan that starred David Bowie, at the time when he was taking a sojourn into acting. Sakamoto was in it too, as an actor, and if I remember correctly he won an Oscar for his soundtrack. I hope you enjoyed the documentary, and I very much enjoyed your posts today (though I am glad you were not affected by the fire across the street. Maybe Mrs. O'Leary's Cow was acting up again....yeah, bad joke I know). :)
My day was per usual, though I did have a nice evening walk at Aliso Canyon. It was Bunny City in there at 7:30pm. They were hopping every which way and then some. I didn't watch a movie tonight, but I did watch an episode of "Kolchak : The Night Stalker", which was filmed in Chicago, so I get a small glimpse of the city that way.
Keep posting and writing. You are very creative and have a lot of insight.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I suppose Chicago has a similar sprawl, a city center with surrounding towns spread out for miles. Concrete everywhere, as you say, and the same is true here, though we in the Valley are lucky to be near the mountains. For us, the deal is cars. Cars are like rivers here. The riverbeds are the streets and the cars are the water, ever flowing in every possible direction at all times, never stopping. Except at the doggone red lights, lol.
But yeah : Big Cities with too many people jammed into 'em. Developers paving over everything.
Still, you can find the good spots. That's what I stick to, my good places. I enjoy the city when I go down for a concert, or take the train for an occasional walkaround, but I am glad I'm a Valley Boy.
And one day I might wind up in the desert. I mean, I probably won't, but then again.....
One thing that I could do in the desert would be to see the stars every night, as you mentioned. I have only seen a full sky of stars perhaps ten nights of my life. The last time would have been in 1994 during the three day power outage after the quake. Here in the Valley, we do see the brightest stars and planets every night, and we have a low skyline, so we can see things like Venus and the Red Star or Planet that I wrote about a few nights ago. But it would be nice to see more.
The only bummer about the desert would be that it is 100 to 150 miles away from everything.
Well anyway, that was a great poem, though I don't know if you meant it in a positive/negative way or just in a detached observational way.
And don't tell me, for that is the magic of poetry.
But write more! :)
I liked your posts today, and I am glad that you went to see the Ryuichi Sakamoto documentary tonight. I remember him from way back in the 80s, when he composed the score for a movie called "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence", a war story about POWs in Japan that starred David Bowie, at the time when he was taking a sojourn into acting. Sakamoto was in it too, as an actor, and if I remember correctly he won an Oscar for his soundtrack. I hope you enjoyed the documentary, and I very much enjoyed your posts today (though I am glad you were not affected by the fire across the street. Maybe Mrs. O'Leary's Cow was acting up again....yeah, bad joke I know). :)
My day was per usual, though I did have a nice evening walk at Aliso Canyon. It was Bunny City in there at 7:30pm. They were hopping every which way and then some. I didn't watch a movie tonight, but I did watch an episode of "Kolchak : The Night Stalker", which was filmed in Chicago, so I get a small glimpse of the city that way.
Keep posting and writing. You are very creative and have a lot of insight.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, July 27, 2018
"Hostiles"
Tonight's movie was "Hostiles" (2017), a recent Western that came up during a search of the Library database. It must have had a theater release (unlike many movies available on dvd, ala Redbox), because the director is a guy named Scott Cooper, who also made the Oscar-winning "Crazy Heart" and also "Black Mass", the movie about that fugitive hoodlum whose name I can't remember right now. Johnny Depp gave his best performance in that movie, and both of these previous efforts by Cooper were major theatrical releases. So "Hostiles" must have been, too. I don't remember hearing of it, but then I don't pay total attention to current motion picture releases.
The year is 1892. Christian Bale stars as a war weary U.S. Cavalry Captain, a career soldier who is nearing retirement. He fought in the Civil War and has been fighting Indians ever since, out West. The violence has sapped his spirit, but not his determination to do his job as he finishes out the last weeks of his service.
He is given one last commission : to transport a family of freed Apache prisoners from an Army fort in New Mexico all the way up to their tribal home in Montana. The Apache family has been imprisoned for seven years because of the war crimes of the father, Yellow Hawk (played by famous Indian actor Wes Studi), who is also a Chief. But President Benjamin Harrison has ordered their release and repatriation to their sacred homeland, as part of a program to end the centuries-long tension between the United States and the Indian peoples.
Bale's character, Captain Blocker, at first wants nothing to do with transporting these "savages", as he sees them. He has fought in many Indian conflicts, and against this particular Chief, and according to him, Yellow Hawk has committed unspeakable violence against Cavalry soldiers. However, Captain Blocker is reminded by his Colonel that he, too, has killed many Indians - men, women and children - in equally terrible ways. Blocker still refuses to take the Indian family home, until the Colonel threatens to cancel his military pension. With that threat hanging over his head, he reluctantly agrees to carry out the mission. It is to be his last before retirement. He chooses a team of trusted Troopers to accompany him and the prisoners, and they are off on their journey to Montana. Not long after departing, they come across a young white woman (Rosamond Pike) in a burned out homestead. She is half crazy, cradling a dead baby in her arms as if it were alive. Her whole family, husband included, has been massacred by Comanche Indians at the start of the movie. Comanches were known as a truly savage tribe, even by other Indians. In the film they are portrayed as psychopaths, and from what I have read in books and seen in movies, that is the way they have always been portrayed, so it may be legit. I trust the testimony of other tribes because they would have no reason to lie.
At any rate, this slaughter at the start of the film sets the tone for the entire movie. "Hostiles" lives up to it's title in that it is relentlessly grim and foreboding. Something bad is always waiting ahead, because of Comanches, or white landowners, or an extra prisoner who is added to the load, a white soldier who also must be taken on the journey because he has been convicted of killing an Indian family by himself.
Does this sound grim enough for you yet?
If you recall a book I reported on last month, called "An Indigenous People's History Of The United States", well.....this is like somebody made a movie out of that book.
It is grim, slow, and brutal. The acting is excellent throughout, but the problem is that "we get it".
The amount of story does not justify a 134 minute excursion into violence.
I can read a book to understand the full story. Don't try to depict it on screen without adding some redeeming quality.
To be fair, there is quite a bridge of friendship that develops between Bale and his Indian prisoners, and between Rosamond Pike and the young children of the Indian family. The director Cooper gets his point across, of necessary peace and cooperation. But for me, raised on Old Westerns, I found the violence to be over the top. Also the language. I am not certain that soldiers in 1892 would use the F-Word in the same way it is used now. Not that the word didn't exist then, but it just seems out of place in the context of the dialogue.
"Hostiles" still gets two thumbs up from me, just because it is so well made and acted, and because the story of American violence against Indians needs to be told. It actually has been told in many Westerns from the 1950s, and told much better, without the gruesomeness.
And though I give "Hostiles" a positive review, I cannot recommend it to any but the most hardened viewers, because it is not a pleasant experience.
I am glad I saw it, but I prefer the old Westerns myself. They seemed to have a better grasp on the situation and were much more entertaining.
See you in the morn. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
The year is 1892. Christian Bale stars as a war weary U.S. Cavalry Captain, a career soldier who is nearing retirement. He fought in the Civil War and has been fighting Indians ever since, out West. The violence has sapped his spirit, but not his determination to do his job as he finishes out the last weeks of his service.
He is given one last commission : to transport a family of freed Apache prisoners from an Army fort in New Mexico all the way up to their tribal home in Montana. The Apache family has been imprisoned for seven years because of the war crimes of the father, Yellow Hawk (played by famous Indian actor Wes Studi), who is also a Chief. But President Benjamin Harrison has ordered their release and repatriation to their sacred homeland, as part of a program to end the centuries-long tension between the United States and the Indian peoples.
Bale's character, Captain Blocker, at first wants nothing to do with transporting these "savages", as he sees them. He has fought in many Indian conflicts, and against this particular Chief, and according to him, Yellow Hawk has committed unspeakable violence against Cavalry soldiers. However, Captain Blocker is reminded by his Colonel that he, too, has killed many Indians - men, women and children - in equally terrible ways. Blocker still refuses to take the Indian family home, until the Colonel threatens to cancel his military pension. With that threat hanging over his head, he reluctantly agrees to carry out the mission. It is to be his last before retirement. He chooses a team of trusted Troopers to accompany him and the prisoners, and they are off on their journey to Montana. Not long after departing, they come across a young white woman (Rosamond Pike) in a burned out homestead. She is half crazy, cradling a dead baby in her arms as if it were alive. Her whole family, husband included, has been massacred by Comanche Indians at the start of the movie. Comanches were known as a truly savage tribe, even by other Indians. In the film they are portrayed as psychopaths, and from what I have read in books and seen in movies, that is the way they have always been portrayed, so it may be legit. I trust the testimony of other tribes because they would have no reason to lie.
At any rate, this slaughter at the start of the film sets the tone for the entire movie. "Hostiles" lives up to it's title in that it is relentlessly grim and foreboding. Something bad is always waiting ahead, because of Comanches, or white landowners, or an extra prisoner who is added to the load, a white soldier who also must be taken on the journey because he has been convicted of killing an Indian family by himself.
Does this sound grim enough for you yet?
If you recall a book I reported on last month, called "An Indigenous People's History Of The United States", well.....this is like somebody made a movie out of that book.
It is grim, slow, and brutal. The acting is excellent throughout, but the problem is that "we get it".
The amount of story does not justify a 134 minute excursion into violence.
I can read a book to understand the full story. Don't try to depict it on screen without adding some redeeming quality.
To be fair, there is quite a bridge of friendship that develops between Bale and his Indian prisoners, and between Rosamond Pike and the young children of the Indian family. The director Cooper gets his point across, of necessary peace and cooperation. But for me, raised on Old Westerns, I found the violence to be over the top. Also the language. I am not certain that soldiers in 1892 would use the F-Word in the same way it is used now. Not that the word didn't exist then, but it just seems out of place in the context of the dialogue.
"Hostiles" still gets two thumbs up from me, just because it is so well made and acted, and because the story of American violence against Indians needs to be told. It actually has been told in many Westerns from the 1950s, and told much better, without the gruesomeness.
And though I give "Hostiles" a positive review, I cannot recommend it to any but the most hardened viewers, because it is not a pleasant experience.
I am glad I saw it, but I prefer the old Westerns myself. They seemed to have a better grasp on the situation and were much more entertaining.
See you in the morn. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, July 26, 2018
"The Car" from 1977
Tonight's movie was another B-Grade Classic, "The Car" (1977). "The Car" was the kind of movie you watched in your car, on a double bill at the local drive-in. It was well promoted when it came out, with lots of TV ads, and you'd think with my affection for 1970s horror films that I'd have seen it, maybe even many times, since it's release over forty years ago. But no, strangely enough, I had never seen "The Car" until tonight.
If I remember correctly, it was because my friends and I (and probably me especially) were into hardcore horror at that time, stuff like "Texas Chainsaw" and "The Hills Have Eyes". In fact, it may have been the TV trailer that put us off, because I remember making fun of it. When you are 17 you've got to be on top of everything and in charge. You've got to know definitively what is cool and what is not. I just remember that the trailer for "The Car" looked cheesy; a Satanic Car that terrorizes a small desert town in Utah. The "Car" is deadly and unstoppable, and the main thing is that it has no driver.
In fact, that was the tag line of the trailer : "There was no driver in......The Car".
It was the trailer, as seen on television, that put me off. I just thought, "this is not the real deal", and I never saw it until tonight (it came up in a recent Library Search for horror films).
After viewing it, I will give it a break and even some praise. What the heck, the fans at Amazon, and there are many, have collectively awarded it a near-five star rating. And as I discovered, it's not really cheesy, per se, just thin on story. Very thin in fact, but it makes up for this lack of depth by pumping up the revs on the engine of it's star vehicle, a big, flat black and low to the ground ugly Lincoln Continental lookin' thing. "The Car" is for sure the Star. And it is pretty scary, too, thanks to the expert cinematography that accentuates it's menace. Much of the terror takes place on precipitous mountain highways or dusty desert roads. The Car usually appears out of nowhere, having anticipated it's victims movements. It knows where you are and there is nothing you can do about it.
No reason is ever given for why it has picked on this little town, or for why it even exists, other than a small nod to The Devil near film's end. No one, though, has any explanation for why The Devil would drive a car around an anonymous small town and run over it's residents.
The director (or maybe the screenwriter) must have figured this is just The Way It Is. There is a Car; it is Demonic; it is gonna run people over; that's it, no reason is necessary.
In a small town, though, there is always gonna be a Sheriff. In this case he is James Brolin, who was handsome and famous before his son became slightly less handsome and famous, though probably the better actor. Dad Brolin married Barbra Streisand, though, so he very likely wins the overall Celebrity Competition in this case, and though he was not a major league thespian, James Brolin was good at what he did, which was to give credibility to his macho characters and to be super handsome in the process. I just Googled him, and I can testify that he is still handsome at 78 years of age! And he is still married to Barbra. I wonder if they ever pop "The Car" into the dvd player at Babs' enormous Malibu estate.......?
I'll bet they have at least once.
I finally popped it into my own player at my own slightly less enormous Northridge estate, and even though I shunned it 40 years ago, for Teenaged Reasons stated above (which were mostly legit), I am glad I finally saw "The Car".
I'm glad because it is the kind of movie you could only have seen in the late 70s. You might have expected it to come out of Samuel Z. Arkoff's American International Pictures studio, from where many other classic drive-in flicks emerged, but it was from Universal, and so has the look of a well photographed and edited studio production.
If you expect no story, you won't be disappointed, and will likely enjoy "The Car" as I did, for it's '70s nostalgia and sometime suspense.
While it's no "Christine" and not as scary as "The Hearse" from 1980, "The Car" nonetheless deserves Two Thumbs Up, just because it is So 70s, and because it tries so hard, and because so many fans now consider it a minor classic. Me, I give it a wink and a nod and say "see it". ///
That was really all the news for today except for Still Super Hot And Humid. This is one of the all time July's. Had to put the apostrophe because there is no plural for "July", and to type "Julys" as a plural just looks weird, like a Spanish word. So I had to write "July's" to get my meaning across. Sorry about the apostrophe.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
If I remember correctly, it was because my friends and I (and probably me especially) were into hardcore horror at that time, stuff like "Texas Chainsaw" and "The Hills Have Eyes". In fact, it may have been the TV trailer that put us off, because I remember making fun of it. When you are 17 you've got to be on top of everything and in charge. You've got to know definitively what is cool and what is not. I just remember that the trailer for "The Car" looked cheesy; a Satanic Car that terrorizes a small desert town in Utah. The "Car" is deadly and unstoppable, and the main thing is that it has no driver.
In fact, that was the tag line of the trailer : "There was no driver in......The Car".
It was the trailer, as seen on television, that put me off. I just thought, "this is not the real deal", and I never saw it until tonight (it came up in a recent Library Search for horror films).
After viewing it, I will give it a break and even some praise. What the heck, the fans at Amazon, and there are many, have collectively awarded it a near-five star rating. And as I discovered, it's not really cheesy, per se, just thin on story. Very thin in fact, but it makes up for this lack of depth by pumping up the revs on the engine of it's star vehicle, a big, flat black and low to the ground ugly Lincoln Continental lookin' thing. "The Car" is for sure the Star. And it is pretty scary, too, thanks to the expert cinematography that accentuates it's menace. Much of the terror takes place on precipitous mountain highways or dusty desert roads. The Car usually appears out of nowhere, having anticipated it's victims movements. It knows where you are and there is nothing you can do about it.
No reason is ever given for why it has picked on this little town, or for why it even exists, other than a small nod to The Devil near film's end. No one, though, has any explanation for why The Devil would drive a car around an anonymous small town and run over it's residents.
The director (or maybe the screenwriter) must have figured this is just The Way It Is. There is a Car; it is Demonic; it is gonna run people over; that's it, no reason is necessary.
In a small town, though, there is always gonna be a Sheriff. In this case he is James Brolin, who was handsome and famous before his son became slightly less handsome and famous, though probably the better actor. Dad Brolin married Barbra Streisand, though, so he very likely wins the overall Celebrity Competition in this case, and though he was not a major league thespian, James Brolin was good at what he did, which was to give credibility to his macho characters and to be super handsome in the process. I just Googled him, and I can testify that he is still handsome at 78 years of age! And he is still married to Barbra. I wonder if they ever pop "The Car" into the dvd player at Babs' enormous Malibu estate.......?
I'll bet they have at least once.
I finally popped it into my own player at my own slightly less enormous Northridge estate, and even though I shunned it 40 years ago, for Teenaged Reasons stated above (which were mostly legit), I am glad I finally saw "The Car".
I'm glad because it is the kind of movie you could only have seen in the late 70s. You might have expected it to come out of Samuel Z. Arkoff's American International Pictures studio, from where many other classic drive-in flicks emerged, but it was from Universal, and so has the look of a well photographed and edited studio production.
If you expect no story, you won't be disappointed, and will likely enjoy "The Car" as I did, for it's '70s nostalgia and sometime suspense.
While it's no "Christine" and not as scary as "The Hearse" from 1980, "The Car" nonetheless deserves Two Thumbs Up, just because it is So 70s, and because it tries so hard, and because so many fans now consider it a minor classic. Me, I give it a wink and a nod and say "see it". ///
That was really all the news for today except for Still Super Hot And Humid. This is one of the all time July's. Had to put the apostrophe because there is no plural for "July", and to type "Julys" as a plural just looks weird, like a Spanish word. So I had to write "July's" to get my meaning across. Sorry about the apostrophe.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
"High School Confidential" + Frog & Leaf
Tonight's movie was "High School Confidential" (1958), the Beat Era classic - some might say "camp classic" - about Hepcat Teenagers falling prey to the menace of marijuana at the local high school. Russ Tamblyn of "West Side Story" fame stars as the New Kid in school, who quickly establishes himself as cooler and more badass than the other BMOCs (big men on campus), because he can talk the teen lingo nonstop. He's no shrinking violet, and he stands up to the school's reigning tough guys right away, and even hits on his attractive, conservative teacher. He has an unusual home life, too. He lives with his aunt (Mamie Van Doren), who is constantly hitting on him. Whoa!, right?
Yeah, it's pretty weird, haha, but it isn't played too Over The Top. It just seems a bit outre because they had Mamie Van Doren play the "aunt"....
Well anyway (ahem, cough cough), so Russ Tamblyn is now established at the school as a #1 Cool Cat and Tough Guy, but he isn't much of a student, which leads The Attractive Teacher to offer him academic guidance, only that's not the kind of guidance Tamblyn has in mind.
He has no problem with Chicks, and he mostly puts them on the back burner because he has a higher priority in mind : he wants to sell marijuana to the student body and get 'em all hooked. He is a businessman first and foremost, money is his thing. Therefore, the more users, the better.
He gets involved with the school's most Hep Cat (played by John Drew Barrymore of the famous Barrymore Clan), and this guy is also a low level dealer. He can get Tamblyn some "grass".
But Tamblyn wants more. He has been to a local jazz club and seen a chick strung out on heroin. Now, that is what he wants to sell, because of it's addictive power.
So, with the help of Barrymore, he works his way up the ladder until he is allowed to meet "Mr. A", the big time dealer who has the Junk for sale in quantity.
And as you might guess by this point, that's all I can tell you about the plot.
Lest you take it too seriously, I might point out that it's almost - but not quite - the type of movie John Waters might have been influenced by, because of it's 1950s straight-laced but rebellious and unconventional morality and innuendo. It's almost campy, but not quite because of the straight arrow element. The 1950s teen lingo is so thick in the first 30 minutes that you'll probably want a translator. You really have to pay attention to understand what these kids are saying, haha.
There are some great moments, as in one scene in the jazz club, where a Beat Poetess (Philippa Fallon) recites an acerbic poem, with flourish. Rocker Jerry Lee Lewis is also featured, rocking a street concert at the beginning of the film and again later on, for a reprise.
"High School Confidential" was shot in black and white by director Jack Arnold, a craftsman of the time who had many credits to his name, including a majority of the "Gilligan's Island" episodes, so you know he rules in my book. :)
It is a movie, made in 1958, about the onrushing Teenage Culture that had never before existed in the commercial sense. This was the pop culture of Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N Roll that was to completely dominate the 60s and 70s, and then diverge in other directions in the 80s, mostly into further commericalism, including the commercialism of drugs, which as we know was not a good thing.
Despite it's "cult film" feel, I give "High School Confidential" Two Thumbs Up, especially because of an important twist that keeps things on the level. You will see what I mean when you watch it. :)
Elizabeth, I saw your post about the frog a little while ago. Yeah, he can climb because of those little suction cups on his feet. He probably just wanted to check in, see what was going on. Be glad that he didn't bring a zillion of his buddies along, in a Rain Of Frogs or some such. :)
I liked your picture of Leaf Art, too. At first I wasn't sure if it was a photograph or a painting or drawing, but after several looks I am gonna go with.....photograph.
The frog probably saw it too, and headed for his new home.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Yeah, it's pretty weird, haha, but it isn't played too Over The Top. It just seems a bit outre because they had Mamie Van Doren play the "aunt"....
Well anyway (ahem, cough cough), so Russ Tamblyn is now established at the school as a #1 Cool Cat and Tough Guy, but he isn't much of a student, which leads The Attractive Teacher to offer him academic guidance, only that's not the kind of guidance Tamblyn has in mind.
He has no problem with Chicks, and he mostly puts them on the back burner because he has a higher priority in mind : he wants to sell marijuana to the student body and get 'em all hooked. He is a businessman first and foremost, money is his thing. Therefore, the more users, the better.
He gets involved with the school's most Hep Cat (played by John Drew Barrymore of the famous Barrymore Clan), and this guy is also a low level dealer. He can get Tamblyn some "grass".
But Tamblyn wants more. He has been to a local jazz club and seen a chick strung out on heroin. Now, that is what he wants to sell, because of it's addictive power.
So, with the help of Barrymore, he works his way up the ladder until he is allowed to meet "Mr. A", the big time dealer who has the Junk for sale in quantity.
And as you might guess by this point, that's all I can tell you about the plot.
Lest you take it too seriously, I might point out that it's almost - but not quite - the type of movie John Waters might have been influenced by, because of it's 1950s straight-laced but rebellious and unconventional morality and innuendo. It's almost campy, but not quite because of the straight arrow element. The 1950s teen lingo is so thick in the first 30 minutes that you'll probably want a translator. You really have to pay attention to understand what these kids are saying, haha.
There are some great moments, as in one scene in the jazz club, where a Beat Poetess (Philippa Fallon) recites an acerbic poem, with flourish. Rocker Jerry Lee Lewis is also featured, rocking a street concert at the beginning of the film and again later on, for a reprise.
"High School Confidential" was shot in black and white by director Jack Arnold, a craftsman of the time who had many credits to his name, including a majority of the "Gilligan's Island" episodes, so you know he rules in my book. :)
It is a movie, made in 1958, about the onrushing Teenage Culture that had never before existed in the commercial sense. This was the pop culture of Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N Roll that was to completely dominate the 60s and 70s, and then diverge in other directions in the 80s, mostly into further commericalism, including the commercialism of drugs, which as we know was not a good thing.
Despite it's "cult film" feel, I give "High School Confidential" Two Thumbs Up, especially because of an important twist that keeps things on the level. You will see what I mean when you watch it. :)
Elizabeth, I saw your post about the frog a little while ago. Yeah, he can climb because of those little suction cups on his feet. He probably just wanted to check in, see what was going on. Be glad that he didn't bring a zillion of his buddies along, in a Rain Of Frogs or some such. :)
I liked your picture of Leaf Art, too. At first I wasn't sure if it was a photograph or a painting or drawing, but after several looks I am gonna go with.....photograph.
The frog probably saw it too, and headed for his new home.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
"Love Letters" with Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten
Today was an official Charbroiler, 107 degrees, with accompanying 30% humidity that made the air feel like a swamp. In other words, it was a nice Summer day, haha. What wasn't nice is that it was still 94 degrees at 10pm! Good Lordy Moses!, as Dad would say. I don't mind the daytime heat but I do like it to cool down to at least 80 degrees at night. :)
Tonight's movie was an absolute classic called "Love Letters" (1945), created by the same team who brought you "Portrait Of Jennie" : director William Dieterle and stars Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten.
"Jennie" is one of my favorite movies, as you may know, and "Love Letters" could be considered a companion piece to it, as it also deals with the subjects of mysterious love, and destiny, and amnesia.
In "Jennie", Jennifer Jones plays a young girl who seems to be just a Spirit, although she is very real to Joseph Cotten, who meets her in a park. In "Love Letters", Jones is a young woman with no past, because she has no memory of her past. So in that way, she is ephemeral, just as her character was in "Portrait Of Jennie". With her looks and wide-eyed facial expressions, Jones was born to play these types of innocent but haunted characters. Since I first saw her in "The Song Of Bernadette", she has been one of my most favorite and iconic actresses, and the tall, understated and gentlemanly Joseph Cotten was the perfect male lead with whom to pair her in romantic mysteries. "Jennie" and "Love Letters" are the kinds of movies it would be difficult if not impossible to pull off today, because we live in an Age Of Irony. As such, the quality of innocence has been pushed back. It still exists of course, but we don't pay it much attention because hardness and/or jadedness are now the qualities that are called for.
Therefore, these movies are treasures and must be viewed as such. Don't bother watching unless you believe.
As the story begins, Joseph Cotten (a Lieutenant) and a fellow soldier are sitting in a restaurant in Italy. It is wartime (WW2), and Cotten is writing a letter to a girl back in England. Only, she isn't his girl. He is writing the letter for his friend, the other soldier, who has Cotten write his love letters for him, because he is not very eloquent himself. In fact, the other soldier is facile and dishonest. He flirts with the Italian waitress while Cotten is writing a letter to his supposed love. But the love letters do their trick. Victoria, the girl to whom the letters are addressed, falls in love with this soldier, whose name is Roger.
She has never met Roger, however, and has only fallen in love with him because of his words to her, in the letters which were written not by him but by Joseph Cotten.
From there, so much story unfolds that anything I could tell you would be a spoiler, so I will say nothing further.
Huge credit, however, must go to director Dieterle, who was expert in bringing out the mystical and intangible qualities in a burgeoning love affair, to demonstrate the unseen spiritual connections that lead to love. He would use Jennifer Jones in close ups, and have her recite philosophical dialogue that was related to the story but could almost have been pulled out and set apart from the movie as poetic soliloquies. If you watched "Love Letters" you would know which scenes and close ups I am talking about. She is photographed in classic gauzy Hollywood Glamour Lighting and appears as if she is from a dream.
In these movies, "Portrait Of Jennie" and "Love Letters", this creative team set out to tackle the subject of love from it's root.
Where does love come from? Does it exist through time, through separation, through loss of memory, and even through death?
The process of the recovery of memory is instrumental in both movies to answering these questions.
Only through the recovery of memory can the depersonalized spirit become whole again, and love - naturally - is the force that overcomes the fear of the past that is blocking the reintegration of self and soul.
"Love Letters" is shot in expressionistic B&W, with sets and backdrops that give it the feel of a play, though it is certainly cinematic and not claustrophobic. It looks like a movie, in other words, not a stage production.
Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten knock it out of the park in the lead roles. She was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. The supporting cast loom large in the background, and there may be a twist or two in the works, though I cannot give even the merest hint.
I loved "Love Letters" because it hits so close to home for me. Therefore, I not only give it my Two Biggest Possible Thumbs Up, but I also say that if you only see one older movie all year, make it this one. And then watch "Portrait Of Jennie", too.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tonight's movie was an absolute classic called "Love Letters" (1945), created by the same team who brought you "Portrait Of Jennie" : director William Dieterle and stars Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten.
"Jennie" is one of my favorite movies, as you may know, and "Love Letters" could be considered a companion piece to it, as it also deals with the subjects of mysterious love, and destiny, and amnesia.
In "Jennie", Jennifer Jones plays a young girl who seems to be just a Spirit, although she is very real to Joseph Cotten, who meets her in a park. In "Love Letters", Jones is a young woman with no past, because she has no memory of her past. So in that way, she is ephemeral, just as her character was in "Portrait Of Jennie". With her looks and wide-eyed facial expressions, Jones was born to play these types of innocent but haunted characters. Since I first saw her in "The Song Of Bernadette", she has been one of my most favorite and iconic actresses, and the tall, understated and gentlemanly Joseph Cotten was the perfect male lead with whom to pair her in romantic mysteries. "Jennie" and "Love Letters" are the kinds of movies it would be difficult if not impossible to pull off today, because we live in an Age Of Irony. As such, the quality of innocence has been pushed back. It still exists of course, but we don't pay it much attention because hardness and/or jadedness are now the qualities that are called for.
Therefore, these movies are treasures and must be viewed as such. Don't bother watching unless you believe.
As the story begins, Joseph Cotten (a Lieutenant) and a fellow soldier are sitting in a restaurant in Italy. It is wartime (WW2), and Cotten is writing a letter to a girl back in England. Only, she isn't his girl. He is writing the letter for his friend, the other soldier, who has Cotten write his love letters for him, because he is not very eloquent himself. In fact, the other soldier is facile and dishonest. He flirts with the Italian waitress while Cotten is writing a letter to his supposed love. But the love letters do their trick. Victoria, the girl to whom the letters are addressed, falls in love with this soldier, whose name is Roger.
She has never met Roger, however, and has only fallen in love with him because of his words to her, in the letters which were written not by him but by Joseph Cotten.
From there, so much story unfolds that anything I could tell you would be a spoiler, so I will say nothing further.
Huge credit, however, must go to director Dieterle, who was expert in bringing out the mystical and intangible qualities in a burgeoning love affair, to demonstrate the unseen spiritual connections that lead to love. He would use Jennifer Jones in close ups, and have her recite philosophical dialogue that was related to the story but could almost have been pulled out and set apart from the movie as poetic soliloquies. If you watched "Love Letters" you would know which scenes and close ups I am talking about. She is photographed in classic gauzy Hollywood Glamour Lighting and appears as if she is from a dream.
In these movies, "Portrait Of Jennie" and "Love Letters", this creative team set out to tackle the subject of love from it's root.
Where does love come from? Does it exist through time, through separation, through loss of memory, and even through death?
The process of the recovery of memory is instrumental in both movies to answering these questions.
Only through the recovery of memory can the depersonalized spirit become whole again, and love - naturally - is the force that overcomes the fear of the past that is blocking the reintegration of self and soul.
"Love Letters" is shot in expressionistic B&W, with sets and backdrops that give it the feel of a play, though it is certainly cinematic and not claustrophobic. It looks like a movie, in other words, not a stage production.
Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten knock it out of the park in the lead roles. She was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. The supporting cast loom large in the background, and there may be a twist or two in the works, though I cannot give even the merest hint.
I loved "Love Letters" because it hits so close to home for me. Therefore, I not only give it my Two Biggest Possible Thumbs Up, but I also say that if you only see one older movie all year, make it this one. And then watch "Portrait Of Jennie", too.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, July 23, 2018
Venus + "The Virginian"
I forgot to mention that on my evening walks for the past week or so, I have been enjoying the sight of Venus playing tag with the Moon. Have you seen it? It's been all lit up like a diamond, and several days ago when the Moon was crescent, Venus was situated very close. I think it was just beneath it, and it looked really beautiful, like something you'd see in a Biblical epic. I had to Google it to discover that it was Venus. I had figured on Mars or Jupiter since they are the planets most often visible to the naked eye. By tonight, Venus was farther away from the Moon, so the configuration wasn't as mystical, but it's still shining brightly. Also, there is a very red star or planet in the southeastern sky, maybe 35 degrees above the horizon. Have you seen that one? I figure it's gotta be Mars. Whatever it is, it looks awesome, so be sure to check out the night sky this Summer. Maybe Venus will catch up to the Moon again. :)
It's Sunday Night and therefore You Know The Drill. You know that the singing was good in church. After choir practice I drove to Burbank to take Sophie shopping. Perhaps you did not know that but now you do.
Tonight I watched an excellent Western from my 10 Pack dvd set. It was called "The Virginian" (1946), and it is not to be confused with the popular 1960s television show of the same name, which I referenced in my "Rawhide" blog from last night. This "Virginian" was based on the original book from 1905, and stars Joel McCrea as a Cattle Boss who plies his trade in the town of Medicine Bow, Wyoming. I know I just wrote about Cattle Drovers last night, but I swear this is just a coincidence. It's a Western, so it's practically got to have a cattle drive. And there will be a stampede, too, except it won't come til later. :)
Anyway, the main theme of the movie is romance. The film opens back East in Vermont, where a young schoolteacher (the beautiful Barbara Britton) awaits the train that will take her to her new job, all the way across the country in Wyoming. They need teachers out West and she is up for the challenge. What she isn't up for, at least at first, is the roughneck approach of the local cowpokes. No sooner does she step off the train in Medicine Bow then she is accosted by the handsome and friendly but not too bright Sonny Tufts, who has an easy but pushy charm. She fends him off, but only to be taken in hand by the more formidable straight arrow McCrea, who was the star of many a Western in his day.
He tells her from the start that they are meant to be. This provides a slight comedic element in the typical love/hate relationship that usually precedes a love affair in the movies, Western or otherwise. In Westerns it goes like this : Cowpoke comes on macho but friendly, respectful and with a light touch, slightly humorous. Pretty woman, usually independent, resists his advances and chafes at his forwardness, accusing him of making assumptions. She is feisty and always wins Round One. The cowpoke backs off because he is a gentleman and because chivalry is the order of the day.
That is the romantic formula for these types of Westerns, and many other movies of the era, and it works. It always plays out for maximum effect because the couple, mismatched at first but ignited by a mutual spark, find themselves in a conflict with a Villainous Third Party, who provides the cowpoke a chance to protect his girl and thereby become The Hero.
This is the formula for many a script, and it works in real life because the viewer can feel him or her self in the respective roles. In fact, this is how it works in any romantic movie and you can trust me because.........well, let's just say you can trust me. :)
In "The Virginian", the Villain is a Cattle Rustler played by Classic Bad Guy Brian Donleavy. He had a face, which though handsome, had a chisel and a smirk that was made for such roles, and he played them to the hilt.
In the end, he has to square up against fast gun Joel McCrea in a showdown, and this one takes place at the Ultimate Western Setting of "Sundown". In this case the Bad Guy (Donleavy) actually tells the Good Guy (McCrea) to "get out of town by Sundown".
This may be the origin of that well known bit of Western mythology.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Virginian", a classic Western shot in Thousand Oaks, California (just outside the Valley) in gorgeous Technicolor. The print on this dvd looks as good as when it was shown in theaters in 1946.
I am running out of Westerns and am gonna need more soon.
Thankfully I have some more Horror Movies to hold me over.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
It's Sunday Night and therefore You Know The Drill. You know that the singing was good in church. After choir practice I drove to Burbank to take Sophie shopping. Perhaps you did not know that but now you do.
Tonight I watched an excellent Western from my 10 Pack dvd set. It was called "The Virginian" (1946), and it is not to be confused with the popular 1960s television show of the same name, which I referenced in my "Rawhide" blog from last night. This "Virginian" was based on the original book from 1905, and stars Joel McCrea as a Cattle Boss who plies his trade in the town of Medicine Bow, Wyoming. I know I just wrote about Cattle Drovers last night, but I swear this is just a coincidence. It's a Western, so it's practically got to have a cattle drive. And there will be a stampede, too, except it won't come til later. :)
Anyway, the main theme of the movie is romance. The film opens back East in Vermont, where a young schoolteacher (the beautiful Barbara Britton) awaits the train that will take her to her new job, all the way across the country in Wyoming. They need teachers out West and she is up for the challenge. What she isn't up for, at least at first, is the roughneck approach of the local cowpokes. No sooner does she step off the train in Medicine Bow then she is accosted by the handsome and friendly but not too bright Sonny Tufts, who has an easy but pushy charm. She fends him off, but only to be taken in hand by the more formidable straight arrow McCrea, who was the star of many a Western in his day.
He tells her from the start that they are meant to be. This provides a slight comedic element in the typical love/hate relationship that usually precedes a love affair in the movies, Western or otherwise. In Westerns it goes like this : Cowpoke comes on macho but friendly, respectful and with a light touch, slightly humorous. Pretty woman, usually independent, resists his advances and chafes at his forwardness, accusing him of making assumptions. She is feisty and always wins Round One. The cowpoke backs off because he is a gentleman and because chivalry is the order of the day.
That is the romantic formula for these types of Westerns, and many other movies of the era, and it works. It always plays out for maximum effect because the couple, mismatched at first but ignited by a mutual spark, find themselves in a conflict with a Villainous Third Party, who provides the cowpoke a chance to protect his girl and thereby become The Hero.
This is the formula for many a script, and it works in real life because the viewer can feel him or her self in the respective roles. In fact, this is how it works in any romantic movie and you can trust me because.........well, let's just say you can trust me. :)
In "The Virginian", the Villain is a Cattle Rustler played by Classic Bad Guy Brian Donleavy. He had a face, which though handsome, had a chisel and a smirk that was made for such roles, and he played them to the hilt.
In the end, he has to square up against fast gun Joel McCrea in a showdown, and this one takes place at the Ultimate Western Setting of "Sundown". In this case the Bad Guy (Donleavy) actually tells the Good Guy (McCrea) to "get out of town by Sundown".
This may be the origin of that well known bit of Western mythology.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Virginian", a classic Western shot in Thousand Oaks, California (just outside the Valley) in gorgeous Technicolor. The print on this dvd looks as good as when it was shown in theaters in 1946.
I am running out of Westerns and am gonna need more soon.
Thankfully I have some more Horror Movies to hold me over.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, July 22, 2018
"Rawhide" and Eric Fleming
No movie tonight, so I'm not sure what I can tell ya. I did watch an episode of "Rawhide", and it was excellent as that show always is. There were a lot of great Western shows back in that genre's television heyday in the '50s and early '60s, and some fans would probably say "Gunsmoke" was the best, or "Bonanza, or "The Virginian", but I'll take "Rawhide". It has such an authentic look, but even more than that, the writing is so good that it turns each 50 minute episode (one hour minus commercials) into a mini-movie. The dialogue feels right for the way these men would talk in that time period, and best of all is the casting, because they chose exactly the right actors to pull it off. They look, sound and act like characters from the 1870s, in this case cattle drovers. Why they are not called cattle "drivers" is a question you will have to ask someone from the 19th century, preferably someone in the cattle business, and you will need to use your Time Machine once again if you are to make contact.
I will go out on a limb here, but the bastardization of the term could possibly be compared to the way in which - referring to grape soda - the phrase "Purple Drink" was changed into "Purple Drank" among segments of the population.
In other words, you would think that the workers on a cattle drive would be called cattle "drivers".
But somehow it got changed to "drovers", and it stuck. So "drovers" it is.
What if a cop asked to see your "Drovers License"? You'd think you were driving your Time Machine and had landed back in the Old West.
Hey listen - don't ever say that I won't go to any length to try and find something to write about. :)
But really, "Rawhide" is a great show, they tackle all kinds of social issues in the Western setting, including women's issues, Indian rights, and many other topics where moral and legal justice are at stake.
The best thing about the show is it's cast, and of course it was "Rawhide" that made Clint Eastwood a big enough star that he could make the jump to movies, which he did right after the series ended in 1965. By '67, he was a legit movie star with "A Fistful Of Dollars".
But the real star of "Rawhide" was Eric Fleming, who was even taller and more macho than Eastwood. In the show, Clint looks like a kid next to him. Fleming was blonde and handsome, but he had a terrible accident while in the Navy while working with heavy machinery that left his jaw broken and his face smashed. It required a lot of plastic surgery to repair, and he was left with limited mobility in his jaw and facial expressions. It also affected his voice to an extent that is noticeable in the way he delivers his lines. His voice seems deeper and more stilted than it should be, but the thing is, as far as his character on the show is concerned - all of these handicaps make his acting performance seem more real.
On the show, Eric Fleming has charisma to burn. He is the Trail Boss in charge of moving the cattle, and he has to deal with all his men and all of the dramatic situations they encounter every episode.
"Rawhide" revolves around him, he is the central character in almost every show, and it is a testimony to his acting and charisma that the show was a big hit in it's day and is now considered a classic.
Clint Eastwood went on to become a Hollywood legend, and rightly so, even though on "Rawhide" he plays second fiddle to Eric Fleming.
Mr. Fleming was not so fortunate, and he had a second terrible accident that cost him his life in 1966. "Rawhide" had ended and he was filming a TV movie for ABC in Peru, called "High Jungle". It was an adventure story, and part of the plot called for shooting on a river known for dangerous rapids.
If you Google "Eric Fleming Death", you will find a story that is harrowing and really awful because it didn't have to happen.
He drowned in a river in Peru during the filming of "High Jungle". It was the type of reckless movie stunt that would not take place today because the production would be sued out of existence.
I have read the full story, because I am a fan of Eric Fleming and "Rawhide".
He was only 41 when he died, and he had not had an easy life.
But he was the star of a great show, and he was even bigger than Clint Eastwood at that time, and his memory and work are preserved for all fans to see, and he should be remembered.
That's all I know for tonight. See you in church in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I will go out on a limb here, but the bastardization of the term could possibly be compared to the way in which - referring to grape soda - the phrase "Purple Drink" was changed into "Purple Drank" among segments of the population.
In other words, you would think that the workers on a cattle drive would be called cattle "drivers".
But somehow it got changed to "drovers", and it stuck. So "drovers" it is.
What if a cop asked to see your "Drovers License"? You'd think you were driving your Time Machine and had landed back in the Old West.
Hey listen - don't ever say that I won't go to any length to try and find something to write about. :)
But really, "Rawhide" is a great show, they tackle all kinds of social issues in the Western setting, including women's issues, Indian rights, and many other topics where moral and legal justice are at stake.
The best thing about the show is it's cast, and of course it was "Rawhide" that made Clint Eastwood a big enough star that he could make the jump to movies, which he did right after the series ended in 1965. By '67, he was a legit movie star with "A Fistful Of Dollars".
But the real star of "Rawhide" was Eric Fleming, who was even taller and more macho than Eastwood. In the show, Clint looks like a kid next to him. Fleming was blonde and handsome, but he had a terrible accident while in the Navy while working with heavy machinery that left his jaw broken and his face smashed. It required a lot of plastic surgery to repair, and he was left with limited mobility in his jaw and facial expressions. It also affected his voice to an extent that is noticeable in the way he delivers his lines. His voice seems deeper and more stilted than it should be, but the thing is, as far as his character on the show is concerned - all of these handicaps make his acting performance seem more real.
On the show, Eric Fleming has charisma to burn. He is the Trail Boss in charge of moving the cattle, and he has to deal with all his men and all of the dramatic situations they encounter every episode.
"Rawhide" revolves around him, he is the central character in almost every show, and it is a testimony to his acting and charisma that the show was a big hit in it's day and is now considered a classic.
Clint Eastwood went on to become a Hollywood legend, and rightly so, even though on "Rawhide" he plays second fiddle to Eric Fleming.
Mr. Fleming was not so fortunate, and he had a second terrible accident that cost him his life in 1966. "Rawhide" had ended and he was filming a TV movie for ABC in Peru, called "High Jungle". It was an adventure story, and part of the plot called for shooting on a river known for dangerous rapids.
If you Google "Eric Fleming Death", you will find a story that is harrowing and really awful because it didn't have to happen.
He drowned in a river in Peru during the filming of "High Jungle". It was the type of reckless movie stunt that would not take place today because the production would be sued out of existence.
I have read the full story, because I am a fan of Eric Fleming and "Rawhide".
He was only 41 when he died, and he had not had an easy life.
But he was the star of a great show, and he was even bigger than Clint Eastwood at that time, and his memory and work are preserved for all fans to see, and he should be remembered.
That's all I know for tonight. See you in church in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, July 21, 2018
High Five, Elizabeth! + Intent + "Along Came Jones"
Tonight, first things first : Elizabeth, I saw your post on FB Stories, and I've gotta give you a High Five after seeing Solomon's video clip of "Elemental" playing on the StandardVision screen in DTLA.
That is totally awesome, SB. It rocks, and I am super happy for you!
Once again, just take a minute to reflect upon the time that has passed since "Autre Temps" in 2012, and the chain of events, direct and indirect, that have led to your own film being shown to the public at large on a gigantic screen on the side of a high rise hotel in Los Angeles.
You certainly have done all the work that led to it, and all of the studying at art school, and beside that, you just plain have a ton of talent, both creatively and technically.
But what I want you to think about is the intangible ingredient we have long talked about : Intent.
Remember how I used to say that Life Is Magic? There was always a reason I said that. It was never said as just some feel-good phrase. I always meant it in the very real sense that you can envision and then design and project your own life into the world, if you believe you can.
That is Intent, and it is very, very powerful. Intent is between you and God, and it is a connection that must be maintained at all times. It doesn't have to be religious, but it must be spiritual, and it must be projected, quietly, but with great and wholesome desire.
It is about carrying the Quiet Confidence within yourself that I used to talk about. It is about knowing your own spirit.
I could go on, but you know what I am talking about.
As an aside, I am reading this very technical book "Energy From The Vacuum", in which is described the processes that bring about an effect called "broken symmetry" in the electromagnetic intake in any electrical system. Broken symmetry happens when an organised, mechanical system (like any man made machine), starts to pull in more of one charge than another. This happens because of the mechanical action of machines, because of spin and torsion, and the extra charges come from the "vacuum" of localised space. A small hole is torn open, and extra electrons come through.
I mention this because the mind is, in part, an electrical circuit, and an incredibly complex one. Even the most powerful computers can't do a fraction of what the mind can do.
And then, even beside the Mind, there is the Spirit. The Spirit is, in the case of Intent, the go-between.
The Mind projects and the Spirit delivers the projection.
Perhaps electrons are involved, and a transfer through the so-called "vacuum" of space. I feel that there is a physical process involved, though it is light; ethereal.
But it is very real, and you are now seeing it for yourself, with the reality of your film being shown here.
So again, a big High Five, and I will go see it for myself, hopefully in August. I was glad to see that it plays during daylight hours, cause I was worried it would only be at night, when it would be hard for me to go. So hooray for day! And thanks to Solomon for making the video clip.
Big success in the future for all of you guys, Aaron too. ////
I did watch a movie tonight, a Western I had never before heard of called "Along Came Jones" (1945), starring Gary Cooper and Loretta Young, with crusty old William Demarest riding shotgun for comic relief. According to the restoration company (ClassicFlix, never heard of 'em before), the existing celluloid elements, the original negative or remaining prints or whatever, were in such poor condition that a 4K restoration was in order, and whatever they did, it looked great.
The main thing for me was that the movie was shot in black and white, and at Iverson Ranch, which was where Rocky Peak trail is now, and Garden Of The Gods, and all of the area that is just half a mile north of Santa Susana. Iverson Ranch was a huge Western movie lot, and for this movie Gary Cooper - who also produced - paid for an Old West Town to be built, and the town was used in many productions thereafter.
As the movie began, I just knew "they've gotta be out there near Santa Su". :)
The plot is based on mistaken identity. Gary Cooper has the same initials as Dan Duryea, a killer who just robbed a Wells Fargo stage. Cooper has his monogram stamped onto his horse saddle ("M.J."), and so everybody in the small town he enters into assumes he is Duryea, who is on Wanted posters that are posted all over the joint. Enter the beautiful Loretta Young, who has reason to promote the deception of Cooper as the Wanted Man. She is Duryea's girlfriend, and wants to help him escape.
Except that this is a romantic Western, and Dan Duryea always played crazy remorseless bad guys, whereas Gary Cooper - though taciturn - parlayed that "Aww Shucks" persona to great success, which made him appealing to women while retaining his stoicism that appealed to men.
So, as the movie plays out, and as you enjoy the restoration of the b&w photography of the Iverson Ranch sets and the awesome sandstone rocks, you can kind of anticipate what is going to eventually happen between Cooper and Young, though a lot of turmoil will take place in the meantime.
I love it when I find a Western that I haven't seen, but to have it be one that I had never heard of was a bonus, and then to discover that it was filmed at Iverson Ranch and presented on dvd in an excellent restoration was supremely cool as well.
That is all for tonight. See you in the morning. xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxo :):)
That is totally awesome, SB. It rocks, and I am super happy for you!
Once again, just take a minute to reflect upon the time that has passed since "Autre Temps" in 2012, and the chain of events, direct and indirect, that have led to your own film being shown to the public at large on a gigantic screen on the side of a high rise hotel in Los Angeles.
You certainly have done all the work that led to it, and all of the studying at art school, and beside that, you just plain have a ton of talent, both creatively and technically.
But what I want you to think about is the intangible ingredient we have long talked about : Intent.
Remember how I used to say that Life Is Magic? There was always a reason I said that. It was never said as just some feel-good phrase. I always meant it in the very real sense that you can envision and then design and project your own life into the world, if you believe you can.
That is Intent, and it is very, very powerful. Intent is between you and God, and it is a connection that must be maintained at all times. It doesn't have to be religious, but it must be spiritual, and it must be projected, quietly, but with great and wholesome desire.
It is about carrying the Quiet Confidence within yourself that I used to talk about. It is about knowing your own spirit.
I could go on, but you know what I am talking about.
As an aside, I am reading this very technical book "Energy From The Vacuum", in which is described the processes that bring about an effect called "broken symmetry" in the electromagnetic intake in any electrical system. Broken symmetry happens when an organised, mechanical system (like any man made machine), starts to pull in more of one charge than another. This happens because of the mechanical action of machines, because of spin and torsion, and the extra charges come from the "vacuum" of localised space. A small hole is torn open, and extra electrons come through.
I mention this because the mind is, in part, an electrical circuit, and an incredibly complex one. Even the most powerful computers can't do a fraction of what the mind can do.
And then, even beside the Mind, there is the Spirit. The Spirit is, in the case of Intent, the go-between.
The Mind projects and the Spirit delivers the projection.
Perhaps electrons are involved, and a transfer through the so-called "vacuum" of space. I feel that there is a physical process involved, though it is light; ethereal.
But it is very real, and you are now seeing it for yourself, with the reality of your film being shown here.
So again, a big High Five, and I will go see it for myself, hopefully in August. I was glad to see that it plays during daylight hours, cause I was worried it would only be at night, when it would be hard for me to go. So hooray for day! And thanks to Solomon for making the video clip.
Big success in the future for all of you guys, Aaron too. ////
I did watch a movie tonight, a Western I had never before heard of called "Along Came Jones" (1945), starring Gary Cooper and Loretta Young, with crusty old William Demarest riding shotgun for comic relief. According to the restoration company (ClassicFlix, never heard of 'em before), the existing celluloid elements, the original negative or remaining prints or whatever, were in such poor condition that a 4K restoration was in order, and whatever they did, it looked great.
The main thing for me was that the movie was shot in black and white, and at Iverson Ranch, which was where Rocky Peak trail is now, and Garden Of The Gods, and all of the area that is just half a mile north of Santa Susana. Iverson Ranch was a huge Western movie lot, and for this movie Gary Cooper - who also produced - paid for an Old West Town to be built, and the town was used in many productions thereafter.
As the movie began, I just knew "they've gotta be out there near Santa Su". :)
The plot is based on mistaken identity. Gary Cooper has the same initials as Dan Duryea, a killer who just robbed a Wells Fargo stage. Cooper has his monogram stamped onto his horse saddle ("M.J."), and so everybody in the small town he enters into assumes he is Duryea, who is on Wanted posters that are posted all over the joint. Enter the beautiful Loretta Young, who has reason to promote the deception of Cooper as the Wanted Man. She is Duryea's girlfriend, and wants to help him escape.
Except that this is a romantic Western, and Dan Duryea always played crazy remorseless bad guys, whereas Gary Cooper - though taciturn - parlayed that "Aww Shucks" persona to great success, which made him appealing to women while retaining his stoicism that appealed to men.
So, as the movie plays out, and as you enjoy the restoration of the b&w photography of the Iverson Ranch sets and the awesome sandstone rocks, you can kind of anticipate what is going to eventually happen between Cooper and Young, though a lot of turmoil will take place in the meantime.
I love it when I find a Western that I haven't seen, but to have it be one that I had never heard of was a bonus, and then to discover that it was filmed at Iverson Ranch and presented on dvd in an excellent restoration was supremely cool as well.
That is all for tonight. See you in the morning. xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, July 20, 2018
"The Devil Doll"
Tonight I watched yet another one of the weirdest Horror Movies I have ever seen : "The Devil Doll" (1936), directed by the legendary Tod Browning of "Dracula" fame. As the film opens, two escaped prisoners from Devil's Island have eluded pursuing lawmen and are landing their small boat upriver on the outskirts of a jungle (I had to Google "Devil's Island" and it was a real prison in French Guyana). From their brief conversation, we are able to discern that one prisoner, Marcel (played by an actor named Henry Walthall) wants to continue his life's work that was interrupted by his incarceration, while the other prisoner (the great Lionel Barrymore), has a more malign goal. He seeks revenge on the three men who framed him for a murder he did not commit. He had been a banking executive, but has spent the past 17 years in prison. He wants to find his former business partners and pay them back.
So these two escapees park their boat and make their way to Marcel's house, where his Bride Of Frankenstein lookalike wife has been carrying on his "work" while he was away. She is a Mad Scientist who keeps a half dozen dogs on her property. Her newly returned husband Marcel is an even Madder Scientist (he's got long grey hair in 1936, and he's gaunt), and he is eager to know if the couple's experiments have borne any fruit while he was in prison.
His crazy wife is happy to show him that her solo experiments have been quite successful, thank you and God Bless.
You see, she has been shrinking dogs while her husband Marcel was away in prison. She has a 1930s Lab-bor-a-tory with lots of bubbling glass tubes and beakers, and she has perfected the miniaturizing techniques Marcel was working on before he went to prison.....
Poor Marcel is nuts. In his mind, he means well, and he believes that - if only we could shrink the creatures of this Earth, that they would need less food, and so, if all animals and humans were made small, the great crisis of hunger would be ended.
So while he has been in prison the last 17 years, sharing a cell with framed banker Lionel Barrymore, his dedicated wife has been practicing on the family brood of dogs, shrinking them down to size, and she's been doing a damned good job of it. The said pooches could now fit in the palm of your hand and are very obidient and very docile, because during the shrinking process they have lost their doggy memories and no longer have a sense of self.
Listen folks, all of what I have described happens in the first 15-20 minutes. You've still got an hour to go. I will tell you just a little bit more.
Well, good old Lionel Barrymore, he can't believe what he is seeing. He may be an innocent man wrongly framed, who now wants to indeed get his revenge, but he draws the line at being a part of a Dog Shrinking Operation, because he thinks it is pretty doggone twisted.
But then, crazy Marcel and his Bride Of Frankenstein wife take things a step further.
They give their half-witted young maid a mickey, and.......they shrink her too.
And - being the scientists that they are - they demonstrate how the tiny maid, with her new blank slate of a mind, can now be used as a puppet.
All of a sudden, Lionel Barrymore is on board with the project.
He sees that the technology to shrink humans can have great advantages for his revenge plan.
And my goodness people........that is really all I can tell you about "The Devil Doll".
That's only the first 30 minutes.
What would you say if I told you that Barrymore and the Bride Of Frankenstein then took the technology to Paris, and good old Lionel spent the remainder of the film in drag, dressed as an elderly woman, to avoid Paris police?
Think Mrs. Doubtfire, only not as Robin Williams-y.
Listen - I am absolutely not gonna tell you any more about "The Devil Doll", but I am going to insist that you see it, just as I insisted you see "Mad Love" a couple of weeks ago.
Both of these films came from my dvd set entitled "Legends Of Hollywood Horror".
I thought I knew all the horror films, but I see that I didn't. And I am blowing my mind on how truly weird these little known movies are. And they aren't thrown together B or C grade flicks, either. We are talking top notch productions with solid budgets. The special effects in "Devil Doll" are way ahead of their time, and that is just one aspect.
Most of the movie involves Lionel Barrymore seeking revenge in Mrs. Doubtfire mode, but without being campy.
I have been talking about How Weird Hollywood Was, back in the 1930s.
"Devil Doll" is a prime example, and you absolutely have to see it.
Tons of story? Fuggettabbouddit. The first 10 minutes has more story than most complete movies.
They used to be open to getting really weird in Early Hollywood because a lot of the directors and actors were free thinking creative people......artists.....and weirdness didn't faze them.
In fact, they thrived on it.
That's what acting and directing and storytelling and filmmaking are all about. Getting creative.
Not being formulaic and churning out Marvel Comics Franchise Movie #10. (and I know I'm a curmudgeon about that stuff, sorry). :)
This is why I urge you to watch certain things. Not because you have to like them, or even be interested in them (though you might do both), but because movies like the ones I occasionally suggest offer a glimpse into a creative process that does not currently exist, but when it did exist, you can see how inspired it was. That's why I tell you to watch movies like "The Devil Doll". ////
Elizabeth, I liked the clip you posted on FB Stories. That is a beautiful duck pond (or lake), and you got a great mirror effect on the clouds in the sky and on the lake. That pond looks like one of the Peaceful Places that I was talking about in my blog from a couple of nights ago. I am glad you have it to enjoy. :)
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
So these two escapees park their boat and make their way to Marcel's house, where his Bride Of Frankenstein lookalike wife has been carrying on his "work" while he was away. She is a Mad Scientist who keeps a half dozen dogs on her property. Her newly returned husband Marcel is an even Madder Scientist (he's got long grey hair in 1936, and he's gaunt), and he is eager to know if the couple's experiments have borne any fruit while he was in prison.
His crazy wife is happy to show him that her solo experiments have been quite successful, thank you and God Bless.
You see, she has been shrinking dogs while her husband Marcel was away in prison. She has a 1930s Lab-bor-a-tory with lots of bubbling glass tubes and beakers, and she has perfected the miniaturizing techniques Marcel was working on before he went to prison.....
Poor Marcel is nuts. In his mind, he means well, and he believes that - if only we could shrink the creatures of this Earth, that they would need less food, and so, if all animals and humans were made small, the great crisis of hunger would be ended.
So while he has been in prison the last 17 years, sharing a cell with framed banker Lionel Barrymore, his dedicated wife has been practicing on the family brood of dogs, shrinking them down to size, and she's been doing a damned good job of it. The said pooches could now fit in the palm of your hand and are very obidient and very docile, because during the shrinking process they have lost their doggy memories and no longer have a sense of self.
Listen folks, all of what I have described happens in the first 15-20 minutes. You've still got an hour to go. I will tell you just a little bit more.
Well, good old Lionel Barrymore, he can't believe what he is seeing. He may be an innocent man wrongly framed, who now wants to indeed get his revenge, but he draws the line at being a part of a Dog Shrinking Operation, because he thinks it is pretty doggone twisted.
But then, crazy Marcel and his Bride Of Frankenstein wife take things a step further.
They give their half-witted young maid a mickey, and.......they shrink her too.
And - being the scientists that they are - they demonstrate how the tiny maid, with her new blank slate of a mind, can now be used as a puppet.
All of a sudden, Lionel Barrymore is on board with the project.
He sees that the technology to shrink humans can have great advantages for his revenge plan.
And my goodness people........that is really all I can tell you about "The Devil Doll".
That's only the first 30 minutes.
What would you say if I told you that Barrymore and the Bride Of Frankenstein then took the technology to Paris, and good old Lionel spent the remainder of the film in drag, dressed as an elderly woman, to avoid Paris police?
Think Mrs. Doubtfire, only not as Robin Williams-y.
Listen - I am absolutely not gonna tell you any more about "The Devil Doll", but I am going to insist that you see it, just as I insisted you see "Mad Love" a couple of weeks ago.
Both of these films came from my dvd set entitled "Legends Of Hollywood Horror".
I thought I knew all the horror films, but I see that I didn't. And I am blowing my mind on how truly weird these little known movies are. And they aren't thrown together B or C grade flicks, either. We are talking top notch productions with solid budgets. The special effects in "Devil Doll" are way ahead of their time, and that is just one aspect.
Most of the movie involves Lionel Barrymore seeking revenge in Mrs. Doubtfire mode, but without being campy.
I have been talking about How Weird Hollywood Was, back in the 1930s.
"Devil Doll" is a prime example, and you absolutely have to see it.
Tons of story? Fuggettabbouddit. The first 10 minutes has more story than most complete movies.
They used to be open to getting really weird in Early Hollywood because a lot of the directors and actors were free thinking creative people......artists.....and weirdness didn't faze them.
In fact, they thrived on it.
That's what acting and directing and storytelling and filmmaking are all about. Getting creative.
Not being formulaic and churning out Marvel Comics Franchise Movie #10. (and I know I'm a curmudgeon about that stuff, sorry). :)
This is why I urge you to watch certain things. Not because you have to like them, or even be interested in them (though you might do both), but because movies like the ones I occasionally suggest offer a glimpse into a creative process that does not currently exist, but when it did exist, you can see how inspired it was. That's why I tell you to watch movies like "The Devil Doll". ////
Elizabeth, I liked the clip you posted on FB Stories. That is a beautiful duck pond (or lake), and you got a great mirror effect on the clouds in the sky and on the lake. That pond looks like one of the Peaceful Places that I was talking about in my blog from a couple of nights ago. I am glad you have it to enjoy. :)
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Ants Are Everywhere + What Do You Think We Should Do?
I am back at work at Pearl's, and Good Lordy Moses has the ant problem ever gotten out of hand since I left. I thought I had it pretty much under control last Saturday, but after four days away, when I came back they were everywhere. I'd had them stopped at the one electrical socket they were using as a point of entry, but now they were coming in from under the kitchen cabinets, and had formed lines going into the laundry room where we keep the cat food. Fortunately, one bag of dry cat food was sealed, so I brushed a few ants off of the outside, and......I had to put the bag in the car overnight. It is sitting in there now, in the car in the driveway. I didn't know what else to do, because the open bag of cat food that we had in the laundry room was toast. Ants all over it.
Ants!, I tell you. So don't make a nice little animated movie about them and tell me how beneficial they are to the scheme of things. They aren't "Antz"; they're ants. And in the house, they are one of the great nuisances of the human experience. Ants get all over everything, and they get inside everything, and they are a big fat hassle to get rid of, and when there are a jillion of them, you have to use poison.
And using poison in the kitchen sucks, because then you have to wash the living you-know-what out of every doggone surface and every dish, and the floor, to make sure you don't ingest any of that poison.
I'll tell you what, though. I am super vigilant on ants and other pests like crickets. Remember the Horrible Cricket Infestation Of October 2013 inside The Tiny Apartment? Well, even if you do remember it, forget about it now because we are talking about ants. Those crickets were weird and gross, but we dealt with them....
And now that I am back at Pearl's, we will deal with the ants, haha. They will be toast by tomorrow night, with no possible entryway, and by next week we will once again be making our meals in peace.
My theory on bugs is simple, and it's probably the same as yours :
1) Bugs outside = no problem. Live and let live, and even try not to step on 'em.
2) Bugs inside = depends which bugs and how many. I will remove a spider if he cooperates. Trap him under a cup and take him outside. Tiny moths or other miniscule flying creatures, no biggie. Roaches? God forbid. Just keep your house clean and you probably won't have them. If on occasion you see the odd one or two, just sweep them out with a broom. You likely won't have more.
3) But Ants? (or crickets)? = Kill.
And be relentless about it. Or your living space will soon be taken over because ants are fast and they manufacture millions of themselves, and they spread themselves far and wide. So do not monkey around, just get the job done. ////
End of freakin' ant story.
No movie tonight because Grimsley came over. We hung out at CSUN at an outdoor table. He wanted to tell me about his concert experiences during the recent heat wave. I hadn't seen Grim for a few weeks, because he has a hard time in Summer. The hot weather is very difficult for him, and each Spring he always says he is gonna move to Ventura where the temps are in the mid-70s during Summer. But he always ends up staying here in the Valley, one of the hottest places on Earth. I was thinking of Grim just after the 4th of July, because that was when the heat cranked up to 115, and the humidity came on strong a day or two later. For Grimsley, this scenario would have been a killer, but I knew he had a concert he wanted to see on one of those super hot evenings : "Dead & Company", which is the remaining members of The Grateful Dead, with John Mayer on guitar. Not my thing, but The Dead is Grim's favorite band; Jerry Garcia was his hero.
So he went out to Dodger Stadium that day, when it was record temperature and high humidity, and tonight he wanted to tell me about that concert, and others.
He also went to see Primus and Mastodon at The Greek Theater. Hated Mastodon, thought Primus was one of the greatest bands he has ever seen.
Me, I saw Mastodon open for Opeth in 2012. Thought they were really good. Never became a huge fan though.
Primus? Don't get me started.
Sorry, but if there is one thing I can't stand, it's Funk Slappin' Bass. And I can't deal with Les Claypool, though I'm sure he is a nice guy in real life.
So as you can see, Grimsley and I don't have a lot in common musically. 50% of my listening is classical music anyway, but the heck with it....
We also talked about Trump, and on that subject we agreed. He has got to go, and now.
I predict that Trump will no longer be the President Of The United States of America by December 31, 2018.
What do you think?
What is it that this man has, what personality trait, that has caused such temerity in so many men in positions of great power? People talk about impeachment, as if it were a worthy punishment for Donald Trump. Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about getting a you-know-what from Monica Lewinsky.
Clinton was impeached for that, by Republicans, though he was not removed from office.
So to talk about impeachment concerning Trump is a half baked, wimpy and watered down idea.
This is a man who is a Major League Criminal.
He is an International Mafioso, through his decades long criminal business dealings.
He got in over his head because the Russian Mafia played him for a sucker, and then Putin made a tape of him with hookers. That's what the Steele Dossier refers to, and it is the straight up truth. If you wonder why Donald Trump will not say one bad word about the criminal dictator Putin, it is because Putin has a tape of Trump, with hookers......and etc, etc, etc.
You can fill in the blanks. And you can be sure that Trump never wants to see that tape come to light.
It never will (though maybe 50 years from now) because a guy like Putin knows that you always want to keep some of your cards under the table.
But Trump knows about it, because he was in it. He knows that he is on that videotape. And he knows that Putin has it.
Hey, don't take my word for it. I didn't even make it up. It comes from the Steele Dossier, which is what got this whole thing going. Google it if you wish.
Trump not only has proclivities with Russian hookers, but he also has monetary investments with the Russian Mafia, who of course answer to Capitalist Mafioso Vladimir Putin himself.
These are the major criminals of the world, folks.
Trump is not just a guy who misspeaks, and lies, and sides with Putin.
What he is, is one of the biggest criminals in American History.
To talk of mere impeachment of this man is not enough.
He belongs in prison for the rest of his life.
End Of Story. ////
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Ants!, I tell you. So don't make a nice little animated movie about them and tell me how beneficial they are to the scheme of things. They aren't "Antz"; they're ants. And in the house, they are one of the great nuisances of the human experience. Ants get all over everything, and they get inside everything, and they are a big fat hassle to get rid of, and when there are a jillion of them, you have to use poison.
And using poison in the kitchen sucks, because then you have to wash the living you-know-what out of every doggone surface and every dish, and the floor, to make sure you don't ingest any of that poison.
I'll tell you what, though. I am super vigilant on ants and other pests like crickets. Remember the Horrible Cricket Infestation Of October 2013 inside The Tiny Apartment? Well, even if you do remember it, forget about it now because we are talking about ants. Those crickets were weird and gross, but we dealt with them....
And now that I am back at Pearl's, we will deal with the ants, haha. They will be toast by tomorrow night, with no possible entryway, and by next week we will once again be making our meals in peace.
My theory on bugs is simple, and it's probably the same as yours :
1) Bugs outside = no problem. Live and let live, and even try not to step on 'em.
2) Bugs inside = depends which bugs and how many. I will remove a spider if he cooperates. Trap him under a cup and take him outside. Tiny moths or other miniscule flying creatures, no biggie. Roaches? God forbid. Just keep your house clean and you probably won't have them. If on occasion you see the odd one or two, just sweep them out with a broom. You likely won't have more.
3) But Ants? (or crickets)? = Kill.
And be relentless about it. Or your living space will soon be taken over because ants are fast and they manufacture millions of themselves, and they spread themselves far and wide. So do not monkey around, just get the job done. ////
End of freakin' ant story.
No movie tonight because Grimsley came over. We hung out at CSUN at an outdoor table. He wanted to tell me about his concert experiences during the recent heat wave. I hadn't seen Grim for a few weeks, because he has a hard time in Summer. The hot weather is very difficult for him, and each Spring he always says he is gonna move to Ventura where the temps are in the mid-70s during Summer. But he always ends up staying here in the Valley, one of the hottest places on Earth. I was thinking of Grim just after the 4th of July, because that was when the heat cranked up to 115, and the humidity came on strong a day or two later. For Grimsley, this scenario would have been a killer, but I knew he had a concert he wanted to see on one of those super hot evenings : "Dead & Company", which is the remaining members of The Grateful Dead, with John Mayer on guitar. Not my thing, but The Dead is Grim's favorite band; Jerry Garcia was his hero.
So he went out to Dodger Stadium that day, when it was record temperature and high humidity, and tonight he wanted to tell me about that concert, and others.
He also went to see Primus and Mastodon at The Greek Theater. Hated Mastodon, thought Primus was one of the greatest bands he has ever seen.
Me, I saw Mastodon open for Opeth in 2012. Thought they were really good. Never became a huge fan though.
Primus? Don't get me started.
Sorry, but if there is one thing I can't stand, it's Funk Slappin' Bass. And I can't deal with Les Claypool, though I'm sure he is a nice guy in real life.
So as you can see, Grimsley and I don't have a lot in common musically. 50% of my listening is classical music anyway, but the heck with it....
We also talked about Trump, and on that subject we agreed. He has got to go, and now.
I predict that Trump will no longer be the President Of The United States of America by December 31, 2018.
What do you think?
What is it that this man has, what personality trait, that has caused such temerity in so many men in positions of great power? People talk about impeachment, as if it were a worthy punishment for Donald Trump. Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about getting a you-know-what from Monica Lewinsky.
Clinton was impeached for that, by Republicans, though he was not removed from office.
So to talk about impeachment concerning Trump is a half baked, wimpy and watered down idea.
This is a man who is a Major League Criminal.
He is an International Mafioso, through his decades long criminal business dealings.
He got in over his head because the Russian Mafia played him for a sucker, and then Putin made a tape of him with hookers. That's what the Steele Dossier refers to, and it is the straight up truth. If you wonder why Donald Trump will not say one bad word about the criminal dictator Putin, it is because Putin has a tape of Trump, with hookers......and etc, etc, etc.
You can fill in the blanks. And you can be sure that Trump never wants to see that tape come to light.
It never will (though maybe 50 years from now) because a guy like Putin knows that you always want to keep some of your cards under the table.
But Trump knows about it, because he was in it. He knows that he is on that videotape. And he knows that Putin has it.
Hey, don't take my word for it. I didn't even make it up. It comes from the Steele Dossier, which is what got this whole thing going. Google it if you wish.
Trump not only has proclivities with Russian hookers, but he also has monetary investments with the Russian Mafia, who of course answer to Capitalist Mafioso Vladimir Putin himself.
These are the major criminals of the world, folks.
Trump is not just a guy who misspeaks, and lies, and sides with Putin.
What he is, is one of the biggest criminals in American History.
To talk of mere impeachment of this man is not enough.
He belongs in prison for the rest of his life.
End Of Story. ////
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Corriganville and Special Places
I was just reading back last night's blog to check for typos, and I see that I neglected to add my Nightly Signature at the end, so I will now add it retroactively if that's okay. Here it is :
That's all for tonight. See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Use your Time Machine to apply it. Thanks.
I don't know why I forgot to add it. I mean, I've written close to a trillion blogs and I don't think I've ever before left it out. Well, at any rate it's there now, not on last night's blog where it belongs, but we've already discussed a way to remedy that, so all is well. And it won't happen again. :)
Today was my last day off for this month, so I went out to Corriganville to continue the hiking trend I've been on for the past few days. Corriganville is one of my favorite places, as you know, because it exudes such a good feeling of peacefulness. All of my parks and trails are peaceful places, naturally, but each one has it's special vibe as I've mentioned. At Corriganville, I think it has something to do with all the oak trees on site, and the Interpretive Trail that was set up by a local Scout Troop ten years ago, that has signs pointing out things like a Wood Rat's Nest, or an area where Indian Artifacts were once found, or a place where lichens have always grown on the sandstone boulders, which are huge at Corriganville. The signs point out all sorts of natural phenomena, and admonish you not to mess with the Wood Rat's Nest, or eat the bark of the Willow as the Chumash did to relieve tooth pain.
Hey, the Chumash knew what they were doing. For you - just use an ibuprofen or go see your dentist. But stay away from the Willow Tree.
So yeah, I love all the signs on the Interpretive Trail, and reading them as you walk along is just one of those things that gives you a good feeling. I think, though, that it goes deeper than that, and I think that it's really the spirit of a place that welcomes you and makes you feel good, and that good feeling has a quality to it that varies from place to place.
The good feeling at Corriganville also comes from the fact that it was once a famous movie set for Westerns and even some other classics like "Creature From The Black Lagoon". In the middle of the park is an empty concrete lake, where underwater shots were taken for "Lagoon", and the lake also doubled as a river for a few shots from "The African Queen" with Bogart. Mostly though, Corriganville was used as a set for a lot of Westerns, many of the "B" variety, starring Ken Maynard and Bob Steele.
There are also signs throughout the park denoting the former locations of various movie sets, and specific rock formations that were used again and again as backdrops.
One sign named a movie that I know I will have to see : "Billy The Kid vs. Dracula".
I looked it up on IMDB and it had a 3.2 rating, so to call it a B-Movie might be generous, but still....
You just know it has to be a classic.
Why? Because it was shot at Corriganville. That would be the main reason I would have to see it.
The other reason is because it has Billy The Kid going up against Dracula. You know that's gotta be a good match up (though to be honest, my money is on The Count).
But yeah, the thing about Corriganville is that it speaks to you as A Place. A Special Place because of it's entirety as a peaceful nature paark and it's past history as a movie set.
The great thing about nature is that it never changes. I mean, yeah trees grow and fall, mountains rise and erode, lakes fill and dry up, but all of those processes take a lot of time, and then they come around again. Nature is a cycle, and the cycle never changes or maybe it changes very slowly over millions of years, but to us humans it seems very stable. And that is beautiful because this planet is our home.
The other special thing about Corriganville is that is has all the memories of it's many years as a movie set. Those memories are soaked into the place, and you can feel them as you hike around. Memories of good times are like nature; both nature and memories have a past, and both are unchanging.
And so a spiritual enrichment takes place in certain environments. You could call it an enchantment. It requires that the place be empty much of the time, so that the natural and memorial vibrations can settle in, and then resonate and come to the forefront without a lot of human interference. Such places need for the birds to take over, and the Wood Rats, because they understand. So do the Boy Scouts, who put up all those signs.
Certain places just want to talk to you in their own way. That's why I love Corriganville.
I didn't watch a movie tonight cause I was a little tired and got caught up reading Those Books again, and I was also watching the local news about a bear that had wandered down out of the mountains and was found hanging out in Bee Canyon, just off Balboa and Sesnon Boulevards, which is about half a mile from where I was yesterday at the De Campos Trail. He was a pretty good sized black bear; the animal control guys eventually tranquilized him and took him back to the mountains.
Maybe he read my blog last night and heard about the two coyotes looking for food on Neon Street, and figured he'd give it a try himself. :)
That's all for tonight. See you in the morn. Tomorrow I am back at work. xoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
That's all for tonight. See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Use your Time Machine to apply it. Thanks.
I don't know why I forgot to add it. I mean, I've written close to a trillion blogs and I don't think I've ever before left it out. Well, at any rate it's there now, not on last night's blog where it belongs, but we've already discussed a way to remedy that, so all is well. And it won't happen again. :)
Today was my last day off for this month, so I went out to Corriganville to continue the hiking trend I've been on for the past few days. Corriganville is one of my favorite places, as you know, because it exudes such a good feeling of peacefulness. All of my parks and trails are peaceful places, naturally, but each one has it's special vibe as I've mentioned. At Corriganville, I think it has something to do with all the oak trees on site, and the Interpretive Trail that was set up by a local Scout Troop ten years ago, that has signs pointing out things like a Wood Rat's Nest, or an area where Indian Artifacts were once found, or a place where lichens have always grown on the sandstone boulders, which are huge at Corriganville. The signs point out all sorts of natural phenomena, and admonish you not to mess with the Wood Rat's Nest, or eat the bark of the Willow as the Chumash did to relieve tooth pain.
Hey, the Chumash knew what they were doing. For you - just use an ibuprofen or go see your dentist. But stay away from the Willow Tree.
So yeah, I love all the signs on the Interpretive Trail, and reading them as you walk along is just one of those things that gives you a good feeling. I think, though, that it goes deeper than that, and I think that it's really the spirit of a place that welcomes you and makes you feel good, and that good feeling has a quality to it that varies from place to place.
The good feeling at Corriganville also comes from the fact that it was once a famous movie set for Westerns and even some other classics like "Creature From The Black Lagoon". In the middle of the park is an empty concrete lake, where underwater shots were taken for "Lagoon", and the lake also doubled as a river for a few shots from "The African Queen" with Bogart. Mostly though, Corriganville was used as a set for a lot of Westerns, many of the "B" variety, starring Ken Maynard and Bob Steele.
There are also signs throughout the park denoting the former locations of various movie sets, and specific rock formations that were used again and again as backdrops.
One sign named a movie that I know I will have to see : "Billy The Kid vs. Dracula".
I looked it up on IMDB and it had a 3.2 rating, so to call it a B-Movie might be generous, but still....
You just know it has to be a classic.
Why? Because it was shot at Corriganville. That would be the main reason I would have to see it.
The other reason is because it has Billy The Kid going up against Dracula. You know that's gotta be a good match up (though to be honest, my money is on The Count).
But yeah, the thing about Corriganville is that it speaks to you as A Place. A Special Place because of it's entirety as a peaceful nature paark and it's past history as a movie set.
The great thing about nature is that it never changes. I mean, yeah trees grow and fall, mountains rise and erode, lakes fill and dry up, but all of those processes take a lot of time, and then they come around again. Nature is a cycle, and the cycle never changes or maybe it changes very slowly over millions of years, but to us humans it seems very stable. And that is beautiful because this planet is our home.
The other special thing about Corriganville is that is has all the memories of it's many years as a movie set. Those memories are soaked into the place, and you can feel them as you hike around. Memories of good times are like nature; both nature and memories have a past, and both are unchanging.
And so a spiritual enrichment takes place in certain environments. You could call it an enchantment. It requires that the place be empty much of the time, so that the natural and memorial vibrations can settle in, and then resonate and come to the forefront without a lot of human interference. Such places need for the birds to take over, and the Wood Rats, because they understand. So do the Boy Scouts, who put up all those signs.
Certain places just want to talk to you in their own way. That's why I love Corriganville.
I didn't watch a movie tonight cause I was a little tired and got caught up reading Those Books again, and I was also watching the local news about a bear that had wandered down out of the mountains and was found hanging out in Bee Canyon, just off Balboa and Sesnon Boulevards, which is about half a mile from where I was yesterday at the De Campos Trail. He was a pretty good sized black bear; the animal control guys eventually tranquilized him and took him back to the mountains.
Maybe he read my blog last night and heard about the two coyotes looking for food on Neon Street, and figured he'd give it a try himself. :)
That's all for tonight. See you in the morn. Tomorrow I am back at work. xoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Two Books + Two Coyotes + "Summer Stock" with Judy Garland
Had a good sleep-in this morning, as promised, til 11:15am. Yippee! It sure makes a difference, and it was just about 8 hours sleep, since I didn't get to bed until 3am last night. But even 8 hours counts as a sleep-in for me, and it restored my energy, along with a couple of cups of coffee that I leisurely sipped as I tried to conquer a few more pages of "Energy From The Vacuum". Because it is slow going, I figured I'd need a second book to go along with it. Sometimes I read books concurrently, especially if one is academic like a textbook. Obviously, I read books like this to try and learn something, but I also read for enjoyment because reading has been such a major part of my life, but the problem with books written by scientists is that most of 'em are "dry" as toast. Scientists and mathematicians use a lot of jargon, and if you aren't familiar with that jargon it reallly slllowwwws dowwnnn your reading process because you have to go back over sentences to make sure you are understanding what the writer is trying to say. You sometimes have to Google certain terms as well. The payoff is that you can learn something fascinating, but it's reading-as-work instead of enjoyment.
So I needed a second book to take a break with, and I chose "Regular Polytopes" by H.S.M. Coxeter, who was a Canadian mathematician and geometry wizard, born in 1907. He wrote "Regular Polytopes" in 1940. I have the third edition from 1973, and I bought it used from Amazon about three years ago because Dr. Farrell highly recommended it, in one of his own books, as essential for understanding higher dimensions. Like many math groupie/nerds, I have long wished I could visualize four dimensional time-space, and Dr. Joe suggested that this was the book to read if you wanted to get a mathematical concept of it, since it is beyond human comprehension to picture anything in one's mind other than three dimensional space. So I ordered the book, and......I tried to read it.
But then I put it aside for three years because.........I mean, holy smokes man. It wasn't the jargon this time, but the equations. Again, it's really just a matter of learning the language, but if I were going to do that I'd have done it in high school. Instead, I gave up on math after 8th grade geometry, because the teacher was boring as heck. I had been an advance placement algebra student just a year earlier, in 7th grade, and I loved that class. But one year later I lost interest, and now more than 40 years later I have regained it. And though the interest is easy enough to regain, the acumen is not, and so - I bought "Regular Polytopes" in 2015 and had to shelve it because I didn't then have the patience. And I really don't have it now, either, but - and here's the kicker - I figured I needed a second book to read, an easier book, to go along with the very hard "Energy From The Vacuum". I looked around, though, and I had nothing. No LBJ books or 9/11 books. I'd just finished the latest Stephen King, and I had no books forthcoming from The Libe. So I had to grab something on hand. And I figured that "Polytopes" would not only be the "easier" book to read, haha, but it would also allow me to kill two birds, because if I am gonna be in math and science mode, I might as well stay there until I finish everything that has been sitting around.
You are looking at 1100 pages total for both books, and if I am lucky I can do twenty per day (ten for each book), so we are looking at around September 1st for a completion date.
It's good to read something you don't fully understand, because if you read it - and obviously you will only wish to do so if you have an interest in the subject - you will come to understand it better.
I can liken it to reading music, which four years ago I had no ability to read, but because of choir I now have a fair understanding, if not a total recall of notes. I read music by following the form and pattern of the notes on the staff, and what happens is you come to learn it as a language, little by little.
Anyhow, with the addition of "Regular Polytopes", the daily reading will be twice as much of a slog, but we will come out of it with, at the very least, a reduced chance of Alzheimer's. :)
I went on a hike later in the afternoon, at 4:30pm, up the DeCampos Trail to the top of Mission Point. It is my third time up there since April, so it is becoming very "doable" and thus less headline worthy. It is still a heck of a hike, though, and today I was the only one on the top when I got up there. Coming down is when you recognize just how far and how steep you've come, because it's a lot easier and you are more able to take in the 2 1/4 mile distance. On the way up, you are dealing entirely with the elevation gain, and so you tune out and just get into "step step step" meditation mode, stopping occasionally to let your heart and lungs rest. It ain't Everest as I've said before; it's only one tenth the height and without sheer rock faces to scale, and no snow, ice or thin air. But for us locals who like to hike, it's a good one, and for me it's good to push myself. I also saw something really cool on my way down - two coyotes! Wow, it was awesome. As I was coming around the final switchback that curves around and down toward Neon Steet, where the trail begins, I saw a coyote come running down the back of a small hill. He had been up in the area of the fenced backyards of the houses on the hillside of Neon St. He was looking for food, and maybe something or someone had scared him off. When I saw him running, he was about 50 yards away, and further down below me. I got my camera out of it's pouch, and then I noticed motion on my left side. It was another coyote, who was waiting on the main trail for the first one! I didn't realize this right off the bat because I was hoping to get a photo. But these doggone coyotes never stand still, and once the running coyote got back to the trail, him and likely Mrs. Coyote hightailed it back into the bushes.
But man, it was awesome to see two coyotes for the first time, and in action to boot. ///
Finally this evening I watched a classic Judy Garland musical, "Summer Stock" (1950), also starring Gene Kelly as her singing and dancing partner and love interest. The story takes place on a farm. Judy is the proprietor, but the crops are failing, she is broke and her hired hands have quit. Unbeknownst to Judy, her actress sister (Gloria De Haven) comes to the rescue, bringing the entire cast and crew of her New York stage production to the family farm for rehearsals. Judy is dedicated to the her life and to her townspeople, and is upset. She wants nothing to with Showbiz People....until she meets Gene Kelly and observes just how much fun it is to Put On A Show. From there, as we say, the plot takes off, and if you are a Judy Garland fan, and who isn't, you owe it to yourself to see this movie, which is the last one she ever made for MGM. You can see she has gained a little weight by now, but it is a good thing because of her ups and downs with her overall health, and the episodes of drugs and depression she went through. Judy Garland did not have an easy life, which is why her talent is all that more amazing.
She gave everything she had to the screen, to her performance. In reading about her, later in her career she often had little energy to perform because of pills and exhaustion from relentless shooting schedules. But you'd never know it, watching her movies. Even though she was fragile, she gave it everything she had, and because of her incredible talent she created her immortality on screen.
Two Giant Thumbs Up for "Summer Stock", one of the very best Judy Garland movies you can see.
So I needed a second book to take a break with, and I chose "Regular Polytopes" by H.S.M. Coxeter, who was a Canadian mathematician and geometry wizard, born in 1907. He wrote "Regular Polytopes" in 1940. I have the third edition from 1973, and I bought it used from Amazon about three years ago because Dr. Farrell highly recommended it, in one of his own books, as essential for understanding higher dimensions. Like many math groupie/nerds, I have long wished I could visualize four dimensional time-space, and Dr. Joe suggested that this was the book to read if you wanted to get a mathematical concept of it, since it is beyond human comprehension to picture anything in one's mind other than three dimensional space. So I ordered the book, and......I tried to read it.
But then I put it aside for three years because.........I mean, holy smokes man. It wasn't the jargon this time, but the equations. Again, it's really just a matter of learning the language, but if I were going to do that I'd have done it in high school. Instead, I gave up on math after 8th grade geometry, because the teacher was boring as heck. I had been an advance placement algebra student just a year earlier, in 7th grade, and I loved that class. But one year later I lost interest, and now more than 40 years later I have regained it. And though the interest is easy enough to regain, the acumen is not, and so - I bought "Regular Polytopes" in 2015 and had to shelve it because I didn't then have the patience. And I really don't have it now, either, but - and here's the kicker - I figured I needed a second book to read, an easier book, to go along with the very hard "Energy From The Vacuum". I looked around, though, and I had nothing. No LBJ books or 9/11 books. I'd just finished the latest Stephen King, and I had no books forthcoming from The Libe. So I had to grab something on hand. And I figured that "Polytopes" would not only be the "easier" book to read, haha, but it would also allow me to kill two birds, because if I am gonna be in math and science mode, I might as well stay there until I finish everything that has been sitting around.
You are looking at 1100 pages total for both books, and if I am lucky I can do twenty per day (ten for each book), so we are looking at around September 1st for a completion date.
It's good to read something you don't fully understand, because if you read it - and obviously you will only wish to do so if you have an interest in the subject - you will come to understand it better.
I can liken it to reading music, which four years ago I had no ability to read, but because of choir I now have a fair understanding, if not a total recall of notes. I read music by following the form and pattern of the notes on the staff, and what happens is you come to learn it as a language, little by little.
Anyhow, with the addition of "Regular Polytopes", the daily reading will be twice as much of a slog, but we will come out of it with, at the very least, a reduced chance of Alzheimer's. :)
I went on a hike later in the afternoon, at 4:30pm, up the DeCampos Trail to the top of Mission Point. It is my third time up there since April, so it is becoming very "doable" and thus less headline worthy. It is still a heck of a hike, though, and today I was the only one on the top when I got up there. Coming down is when you recognize just how far and how steep you've come, because it's a lot easier and you are more able to take in the 2 1/4 mile distance. On the way up, you are dealing entirely with the elevation gain, and so you tune out and just get into "step step step" meditation mode, stopping occasionally to let your heart and lungs rest. It ain't Everest as I've said before; it's only one tenth the height and without sheer rock faces to scale, and no snow, ice or thin air. But for us locals who like to hike, it's a good one, and for me it's good to push myself. I also saw something really cool on my way down - two coyotes! Wow, it was awesome. As I was coming around the final switchback that curves around and down toward Neon Steet, where the trail begins, I saw a coyote come running down the back of a small hill. He had been up in the area of the fenced backyards of the houses on the hillside of Neon St. He was looking for food, and maybe something or someone had scared him off. When I saw him running, he was about 50 yards away, and further down below me. I got my camera out of it's pouch, and then I noticed motion on my left side. It was another coyote, who was waiting on the main trail for the first one! I didn't realize this right off the bat because I was hoping to get a photo. But these doggone coyotes never stand still, and once the running coyote got back to the trail, him and likely Mrs. Coyote hightailed it back into the bushes.
But man, it was awesome to see two coyotes for the first time, and in action to boot. ///
Finally this evening I watched a classic Judy Garland musical, "Summer Stock" (1950), also starring Gene Kelly as her singing and dancing partner and love interest. The story takes place on a farm. Judy is the proprietor, but the crops are failing, she is broke and her hired hands have quit. Unbeknownst to Judy, her actress sister (Gloria De Haven) comes to the rescue, bringing the entire cast and crew of her New York stage production to the family farm for rehearsals. Judy is dedicated to the her life and to her townspeople, and is upset. She wants nothing to with Showbiz People....until she meets Gene Kelly and observes just how much fun it is to Put On A Show. From there, as we say, the plot takes off, and if you are a Judy Garland fan, and who isn't, you owe it to yourself to see this movie, which is the last one she ever made for MGM. You can see she has gained a little weight by now, but it is a good thing because of her ups and downs with her overall health, and the episodes of drugs and depression she went through. Judy Garland did not have an easy life, which is why her talent is all that more amazing.
She gave everything she had to the screen, to her performance. In reading about her, later in her career she often had little energy to perform because of pills and exhaustion from relentless shooting schedules. But you'd never know it, watching her movies. Even though she was fragile, she gave it everything she had, and because of her incredible talent she created her immortality on screen.
Two Giant Thumbs Up for "Summer Stock", one of the very best Judy Garland movies you can see.
Monday, July 16, 2018
Church + Hike + Science Slog + "A Quiet Place" & Pissed Off Lizards
Happy Sunday night. I trust that you are tired, as you should be after getting up early for church and then going for a hike this afternoon. I did both of those things too, so I know the feeling. :)
The singing was good this morn, though our new pastor uses a different format, so we got a couple of curveballs, one of which was a hymn with Spanish lyrics that she wanted us to sing. I don't speak Spanish, so I just went through it phonetically and tried to put the accents in what I hoped were the right places. The other surprise was that she had us sing our anthem (our weekly song) right off the bat at the start of the service. Usually we do it about fifteen minutes in, after we have sung a couple of hymns, which gives a choir member a chance to warm a choir member's voice up (ahem). All things considered, everything came off all right, but it was perhaps not an A+ day, at least for me. This will entail much Car Singing this week, as a method of self-flagellation and also because I like to sing in the car.
This afternoon I managed a few more pages of the Bearden book, and I wound up finishing another ten by nightfall, but man-oh-man, the technical jargon in this one is gonna make "Forbidden Archaeology" look like a page turner. It's gonna be a hard slog and I may not finish until mid-to-late September, but it will be well worth the effort because I will absorb enough of the lessons to at least have the knowledge entered into my brain. It doesn't matter if I understand every last detail right away. Just reading the words, and paying attention while I read will yield results "by osmosis", as Mom used to say.
Thanks, Mom. :)
As mentioned above, like you I did get out for a late afternoon hike. I myself went to Santa Susana, just for a "wander around" type of deal. Didn't have the energy on a Sunday for any climbing, so I'll save that for tomorrow or Tuesday, when I have had a couple of sleep-ins and have pulled Energy From The Vacuum in the process.
I also need to vacuum my apartment, now that I think of it.
I did watch a movie tonight : "A Quiet Place", which you have almost certainly seen yourself, as it has grossed 330 Million Dollars and has been one of The Most Humongous Horror Films In Recent Years.
So I probably don't need to tell ya the plot. Just in case you didn't see it, think M.Night Shyamalan's "Signs" combined with "Cloverfield" and you have a semblance of the style, if not the specific story, which utilizes Silence with a Capital S as a plot device, and in fact "Quiet Place" is really a silent movie. The silence is extremely effective as it is combined by high tension horror photography, and some of the best lighting I have seen in a horror flick for quite some time. Kudos to the lighting director.
Also, kudos to the young actress who played the smart but frustrated daughter of John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. I think she stole the show, and I see on IMDB that she is in fact deaf herself, which makes her performance all that more amazing.
Whoever thought of the "silence" idea was a genius, and I am sure Paramount is ready to offer him a hefty contract. I wonder why no one in cinema history had ever thought of it before, but there you have it - there are probably many story ideas staring us right in the face if we only would brainstorm them.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "A Quiet Place". It wasn't totally original, and it did take it's cues from "Signs" and "Cloverfield", but it added a new element to the Large Pissed Off Reptilian Alien motif, which is an accomplishment.
I'd like to make a movie to try and find out what these lizards are so angry about. I mean, if it was just hunger, that's one thing. Eat a few humans and be on your way, right? But in these movies, they always seem to be Royally Upset on top of it.
But what about? Why are these dudes so pissed?
Well, I don't know and I hope I never find out. But I mean, c'mon dude, chill out already.
That's what I would've said to the one in the movie. Take a break already. ////
Elizabeth, I liked your photo on FB Stories today, and it was funny because it reminded me of Standing Behind Giants At Concerts, which I wrote about recently haha.
See you in the morning after a major league sleep-in. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
The singing was good this morn, though our new pastor uses a different format, so we got a couple of curveballs, one of which was a hymn with Spanish lyrics that she wanted us to sing. I don't speak Spanish, so I just went through it phonetically and tried to put the accents in what I hoped were the right places. The other surprise was that she had us sing our anthem (our weekly song) right off the bat at the start of the service. Usually we do it about fifteen minutes in, after we have sung a couple of hymns, which gives a choir member a chance to warm a choir member's voice up (ahem). All things considered, everything came off all right, but it was perhaps not an A+ day, at least for me. This will entail much Car Singing this week, as a method of self-flagellation and also because I like to sing in the car.
This afternoon I managed a few more pages of the Bearden book, and I wound up finishing another ten by nightfall, but man-oh-man, the technical jargon in this one is gonna make "Forbidden Archaeology" look like a page turner. It's gonna be a hard slog and I may not finish until mid-to-late September, but it will be well worth the effort because I will absorb enough of the lessons to at least have the knowledge entered into my brain. It doesn't matter if I understand every last detail right away. Just reading the words, and paying attention while I read will yield results "by osmosis", as Mom used to say.
Thanks, Mom. :)
As mentioned above, like you I did get out for a late afternoon hike. I myself went to Santa Susana, just for a "wander around" type of deal. Didn't have the energy on a Sunday for any climbing, so I'll save that for tomorrow or Tuesday, when I have had a couple of sleep-ins and have pulled Energy From The Vacuum in the process.
I also need to vacuum my apartment, now that I think of it.
I did watch a movie tonight : "A Quiet Place", which you have almost certainly seen yourself, as it has grossed 330 Million Dollars and has been one of The Most Humongous Horror Films In Recent Years.
So I probably don't need to tell ya the plot. Just in case you didn't see it, think M.Night Shyamalan's "Signs" combined with "Cloverfield" and you have a semblance of the style, if not the specific story, which utilizes Silence with a Capital S as a plot device, and in fact "Quiet Place" is really a silent movie. The silence is extremely effective as it is combined by high tension horror photography, and some of the best lighting I have seen in a horror flick for quite some time. Kudos to the lighting director.
Also, kudos to the young actress who played the smart but frustrated daughter of John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. I think she stole the show, and I see on IMDB that she is in fact deaf herself, which makes her performance all that more amazing.
Whoever thought of the "silence" idea was a genius, and I am sure Paramount is ready to offer him a hefty contract. I wonder why no one in cinema history had ever thought of it before, but there you have it - there are probably many story ideas staring us right in the face if we only would brainstorm them.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "A Quiet Place". It wasn't totally original, and it did take it's cues from "Signs" and "Cloverfield", but it added a new element to the Large Pissed Off Reptilian Alien motif, which is an accomplishment.
I'd like to make a movie to try and find out what these lizards are so angry about. I mean, if it was just hunger, that's one thing. Eat a few humans and be on your way, right? But in these movies, they always seem to be Royally Upset on top of it.
But what about? Why are these dudes so pissed?
Well, I don't know and I hope I never find out. But I mean, c'mon dude, chill out already.
That's what I would've said to the one in the movie. Take a break already. ////
Elizabeth, I liked your photo on FB Stories today, and it was funny because it reminded me of Standing Behind Giants At Concerts, which I wrote about recently haha.
See you in the morning after a major league sleep-in. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sunday, July 15, 2018
Aliso Bunnies + X+15 & Lynch + "Energy From The Vacuum" by Tom Bearden
I am writing from home tonight, off work until Wednesday afternoon. I had a nice evening, and had a chance to get up to Aliso Canyon at dusk, for a full walk up the trail and back. Bunnies were hopping all over the place. That is their time to come out and play, and to sit frozen in place and stare at you sideways. I always try to take a Bunny Photo every time I see them, even though I have a million of such photos and they all look the same ; "bunny in profile, sitting on haunches, staring sideways with ears sticking straight up".
Either it's the same bunny over and over again, or all the bunnies got the same memo as to how to pose for pictures. They are also funny because when they hear you coming, they don't stay hidden. Instead, they hop across the trail a few feet in front of you, then they do their "sit and pause" thing for about 15 seconds, and then they go hide again in the bushes on the other side of the trail. That's why I sometimes think they're playing. Like the Aliso Coyote, they don't seem to be very afraid of humans.
I didn't watch a movie, but I did watch some more Awesome Footage from my "X-15" dvd set from Spacecraft Films. I also watched another of the half hour David Lynch documentaries that were included in the "Twin Peaks" bonus material. It's funny - you may recall that I remarked on what I thought was the excessive use of the F-Word in the 18 hour series. Watching Lynch direct, I now know where it came from, lol. Boy can he use it himself! The reason it is funny is because in the past, we only had a "publicity" image of David Lynch, where he was presented as Jimmy Stewart from Mars, as Mel Brooks once called him. In other words, weird, but polite. Genteel.
And of course he is like that. He is a gentleman of the first order, and nice to his actors. But....when things aren't going right on the set, or when he wants to make a point in his stage directions, then you hear the language come out. I only mention this because of his folksy image and because it's funny when you hear him burst out all of a sudden. As previously noted, my own language is not perfect. I can cuss up a storm too, though usually only to myself or under my breath. I'd prefer to speak like Shakespeare, but as we know it isn't always possible. :)
I also started a new book tonight, called "Energy From The Vacuum" by Tom Bearden, who was a Colonel in the U.S. Army. His 942 page book is about what is more commonly known as "zero point" energy, extracted from the seeming nothingness of empty space, but as some ingenious electrical engineers in the past have discovered, space is not empty and in fact is a four dimensional conductor of energy and specifically electricity.
Now, don't get the idea that I know what I'm talking about. haha. I am only able to get the gist of what I am reading (and I made it to page ten tonight). But I have been interested in the subject ever since I read Nick Cook's classic book, "The Hunt For Zero Point", which is a history of free energy theory and a seeking by Cook for his own "truth" on the subject. That book was written for the layman and anyone can understand it. The Bearden book is not so far out in the aether that only an advanced student of Maxwell can understand it, but neither is it an easy read. I bought it from Amazon a few weeks ago just on a whim, and now that I am into it I think will be an interesting scientific diversion from the historical stuff I have most recently been working on.
On the positive side, you won't get any tirades out of me about Quaternion Equations.
On the negative side, anything I write about this book will stand a chance of being gibberish. :)
But as I say, I get the gist of what Bearden is talking about, and it has to do with the potential for electricity to be conducted through space and without wires, because whenever an electrical system is in operation, and energy is being transduced through that system, it is also pulling in energy from the outer vacuum (i.e. "space", which is all around us), and it is pulling that energy in because of an asymmetry in the conduction that is caused by breaking into the energy potential of the fourth dimension of space-time.
Sounds like a bunch of baloney as explained by me, I realize. But it all has to do with the rotation that is involved in electrical mechanical systems (machines). When things spin at high rates of speed, lines of conduction are opened up, and there are geometrical connections in space that are tapped into.
I will leave it at that so that I don't get too far out on the branch and can't crawl back. :)
Just think of a sewing machine running on it's table in your living room. The wheels are spinning, and the motor is running. It is a "closed circuit" as far as electromagnetic theory goes. But in reality, the wheels and gears that are spinning are opening up a small hole into the geometry of space-time, and the electricity that is flowing in the closed circuit has developed a small imbalance of power, because of the added photons it is pulling in from the opening that has been created by the spinning machinery.
Google a man named Gabriel Kron for more information. He was an electrical genius like Tesla.
See you in the morning in church. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Either it's the same bunny over and over again, or all the bunnies got the same memo as to how to pose for pictures. They are also funny because when they hear you coming, they don't stay hidden. Instead, they hop across the trail a few feet in front of you, then they do their "sit and pause" thing for about 15 seconds, and then they go hide again in the bushes on the other side of the trail. That's why I sometimes think they're playing. Like the Aliso Coyote, they don't seem to be very afraid of humans.
I didn't watch a movie, but I did watch some more Awesome Footage from my "X-15" dvd set from Spacecraft Films. I also watched another of the half hour David Lynch documentaries that were included in the "Twin Peaks" bonus material. It's funny - you may recall that I remarked on what I thought was the excessive use of the F-Word in the 18 hour series. Watching Lynch direct, I now know where it came from, lol. Boy can he use it himself! The reason it is funny is because in the past, we only had a "publicity" image of David Lynch, where he was presented as Jimmy Stewart from Mars, as Mel Brooks once called him. In other words, weird, but polite. Genteel.
And of course he is like that. He is a gentleman of the first order, and nice to his actors. But....when things aren't going right on the set, or when he wants to make a point in his stage directions, then you hear the language come out. I only mention this because of his folksy image and because it's funny when you hear him burst out all of a sudden. As previously noted, my own language is not perfect. I can cuss up a storm too, though usually only to myself or under my breath. I'd prefer to speak like Shakespeare, but as we know it isn't always possible. :)
I also started a new book tonight, called "Energy From The Vacuum" by Tom Bearden, who was a Colonel in the U.S. Army. His 942 page book is about what is more commonly known as "zero point" energy, extracted from the seeming nothingness of empty space, but as some ingenious electrical engineers in the past have discovered, space is not empty and in fact is a four dimensional conductor of energy and specifically electricity.
Now, don't get the idea that I know what I'm talking about. haha. I am only able to get the gist of what I am reading (and I made it to page ten tonight). But I have been interested in the subject ever since I read Nick Cook's classic book, "The Hunt For Zero Point", which is a history of free energy theory and a seeking by Cook for his own "truth" on the subject. That book was written for the layman and anyone can understand it. The Bearden book is not so far out in the aether that only an advanced student of Maxwell can understand it, but neither is it an easy read. I bought it from Amazon a few weeks ago just on a whim, and now that I am into it I think will be an interesting scientific diversion from the historical stuff I have most recently been working on.
On the positive side, you won't get any tirades out of me about Quaternion Equations.
On the negative side, anything I write about this book will stand a chance of being gibberish. :)
But as I say, I get the gist of what Bearden is talking about, and it has to do with the potential for electricity to be conducted through space and without wires, because whenever an electrical system is in operation, and energy is being transduced through that system, it is also pulling in energy from the outer vacuum (i.e. "space", which is all around us), and it is pulling that energy in because of an asymmetry in the conduction that is caused by breaking into the energy potential of the fourth dimension of space-time.
Sounds like a bunch of baloney as explained by me, I realize. But it all has to do with the rotation that is involved in electrical mechanical systems (machines). When things spin at high rates of speed, lines of conduction are opened up, and there are geometrical connections in space that are tapped into.
I will leave it at that so that I don't get too far out on the branch and can't crawl back. :)
Just think of a sewing machine running on it's table in your living room. The wheels are spinning, and the motor is running. It is a "closed circuit" as far as electromagnetic theory goes. But in reality, the wheels and gears that are spinning are opening up a small hole into the geometry of space-time, and the electricity that is flowing in the closed circuit has developed a small imbalance of power, because of the added photons it is pulling in from the opening that has been created by the spinning machinery.
Google a man named Gabriel Kron for more information. He was an electrical genius like Tesla.
See you in the morning in church. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, July 14, 2018
"Mr. Moto's Last Warning" (the final Moto) + "Who Really Killed Martin Luther King"? (the truth matters)
Tonight's movie was "Mr. Moto's Last Warning" (1939), in which we find Moto in Port Said, Egypt, trying to foil a terror plot to mine the harbor there. The terrorists are led by a ventriloquist named Fabian, who performs nightly at a local theater. Only in a Moto film would you have a ventriloquist as a terrorist. But yeah, this guy (played by an actor named Ricardo Cortez) is disgruntled, and he intends to place mines in the harbor in order to blow up some ships that belong to the French naval fleet, which will soon be arriving in port to perform joint military exercises with ships of the British fleet, which are already stationed in Port Said due to British oversight of the fledgling Egyptian government . Fabian's intent is to blow up French ships as they arrive, and make the British look like the culprits. In doing so, he hopes to break up the French/British alliance and start a war.
It is never stated which country Fabian is from, but his scheme includes a nationalistic British ship captain, and a British spy - played by John Carradine - who is actually an undercover agent trying to stop the terror plot.
Moto is in disguise (as always) as a local shopkeeper who sells ancient Egyptian relics and souvenirs. He's got his eye on the whole thing, and he recruits Carradine to lead him closer to the ventriloquist's inner circle so that he can infiltrate the gang and put a stop to their dastardly scheme.
In the meantime he has a few chances to use judo on various bad guys. After finishing one such fight, he politely explains to an associate that "bystanders" often assume he is using ju-jitsu, but it is really judo.
I think he means me, cause I was saying in earlier Moto movie reviews that it was indeed ju-jitsu. And I think I said that because I read it somewhere. Or maybe Mr. Moto said it himself!
I mean : think about it. Being deceptive is part of his job. He uses disguises; he uses aliases; he uses doubles.....
So maybe he is trying to play me with the ju-jitsu/judo thing, because he knows I'd never know the difference, even though I took a years' worth of Judo lessons myself when I was ten years old.
That was at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, under Judo Master George Damon. I didn't really love my Judo lessons cause I don't like fighting, but I did learn to "throw" an opponent just like Moto does, and I learned a Judo hold that is virtually impossible to get out of. Back in the late 60s and early 70s, there was Judo and there was Karate, which was all about throwing Karate Chops at someone. :)
Then all of a sudden there was Ju-Jitsu, and then a few years later there was all this really weird stuff like Hapkido, and then.....(drumroll please).......Kung Fu!
Kung Fu was Chinese, not Japanese, and it also became a hit TV show.
So much for Judo, which was seen as old hat.
But I think Judo may have made a comeback due to the Olympics, which after all does not include karate or kung fu. Mr. Moto would be proud.
"Mr. Moto's Last Warning" was a great movie, of course, and one of the best Motos, but there is a tinge of sadness in my heart tonight, because.....it was the last Moto Movie available from The Libe.
What am I gonna do? Yes, there are two more Motos available on Amazon. Eight films were made in total; I have seen the six that you can get from the Libe. But the two other Amazon Motos are high priced, and it seems that they are rare, and perhaps that is why they are not part of the Library collection. I love Moto, but I can't pay 90 bucks for a film.......
Sigh.
Well, I think that remonstration tells you how much I enjoyed these films. It was Peter Lorre's performance as Mr. Moto that gave every film in this series it's personality, and he knocked it out of the park. I read that Lorre was addicted to morphine while he was making these movies from 1937 to 39. He had health problems related to the addiction, and his biographer said that he was basically not well and even sick during that time period, and was in and out of sanitariums, now known as rehab. This makes his performances as Mr. Moto even more extraordinary, as you would never suspect anything was wrong when you see him on screen and in character.
Man, what a great actor he was, and with so much personality and screen charisma. The Moto Movies made a big Peter Lorre fan out of me. :) ////
This afternoon I also finished Phillip Nelson's blunt force truth book, "Who Really Killed Martin Luther King"? I could go on tirade after tirade about what I read, and Mr. Nelson's research and credentials are impeccable, so it's not a question of if he's got it right.
The only remaining question is this : What is the United States of America going to do to right this wrong, and to right all the other wrongs that it has held secret for so many decades, and even centuries? I am only concerning myself with the period from 1963 onward as I ask this specific question, but really folks : what are we going to do?
We can tell the truth about what has gone on in our country. That is one option.
Or we can continue to ride down the same path we've been going down for 55 years. This is the path that has resulted in a completely dumbed-down and angry populace, with a criminal as president.
What should we do about telling the truth in America? What do you think?
We are gonna have to do it someday, just like the Germans and Russians had to.
Because if we don't, if we don't lay out the truth about what happened to Martin Luther King, and to John F. Kennedy, and to his brother Robert, then we are hiding their murderers, who were the highest level officials of our government, LBJ and J. Edgar Hoover and others.
Other countries have had dictators. These were ours.
We have to come clean to the world about them, especially because we have a madman as our president right now, a guy whose whole objective is to start trouble.
I know that you probably won't read a book like the one I am talking about, but you should.
You should because America is not invincible, and that means that your freedom and your American lifestyle is not invincible. You should care about the truth, and as you know I speak from personal experience.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
It is never stated which country Fabian is from, but his scheme includes a nationalistic British ship captain, and a British spy - played by John Carradine - who is actually an undercover agent trying to stop the terror plot.
Moto is in disguise (as always) as a local shopkeeper who sells ancient Egyptian relics and souvenirs. He's got his eye on the whole thing, and he recruits Carradine to lead him closer to the ventriloquist's inner circle so that he can infiltrate the gang and put a stop to their dastardly scheme.
In the meantime he has a few chances to use judo on various bad guys. After finishing one such fight, he politely explains to an associate that "bystanders" often assume he is using ju-jitsu, but it is really judo.
I think he means me, cause I was saying in earlier Moto movie reviews that it was indeed ju-jitsu. And I think I said that because I read it somewhere. Or maybe Mr. Moto said it himself!
I mean : think about it. Being deceptive is part of his job. He uses disguises; he uses aliases; he uses doubles.....
So maybe he is trying to play me with the ju-jitsu/judo thing, because he knows I'd never know the difference, even though I took a years' worth of Judo lessons myself when I was ten years old.
That was at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, under Judo Master George Damon. I didn't really love my Judo lessons cause I don't like fighting, but I did learn to "throw" an opponent just like Moto does, and I learned a Judo hold that is virtually impossible to get out of. Back in the late 60s and early 70s, there was Judo and there was Karate, which was all about throwing Karate Chops at someone. :)
Then all of a sudden there was Ju-Jitsu, and then a few years later there was all this really weird stuff like Hapkido, and then.....(drumroll please).......Kung Fu!
Kung Fu was Chinese, not Japanese, and it also became a hit TV show.
So much for Judo, which was seen as old hat.
But I think Judo may have made a comeback due to the Olympics, which after all does not include karate or kung fu. Mr. Moto would be proud.
"Mr. Moto's Last Warning" was a great movie, of course, and one of the best Motos, but there is a tinge of sadness in my heart tonight, because.....it was the last Moto Movie available from The Libe.
What am I gonna do? Yes, there are two more Motos available on Amazon. Eight films were made in total; I have seen the six that you can get from the Libe. But the two other Amazon Motos are high priced, and it seems that they are rare, and perhaps that is why they are not part of the Library collection. I love Moto, but I can't pay 90 bucks for a film.......
Sigh.
Well, I think that remonstration tells you how much I enjoyed these films. It was Peter Lorre's performance as Mr. Moto that gave every film in this series it's personality, and he knocked it out of the park. I read that Lorre was addicted to morphine while he was making these movies from 1937 to 39. He had health problems related to the addiction, and his biographer said that he was basically not well and even sick during that time period, and was in and out of sanitariums, now known as rehab. This makes his performances as Mr. Moto even more extraordinary, as you would never suspect anything was wrong when you see him on screen and in character.
Man, what a great actor he was, and with so much personality and screen charisma. The Moto Movies made a big Peter Lorre fan out of me. :) ////
This afternoon I also finished Phillip Nelson's blunt force truth book, "Who Really Killed Martin Luther King"? I could go on tirade after tirade about what I read, and Mr. Nelson's research and credentials are impeccable, so it's not a question of if he's got it right.
The only remaining question is this : What is the United States of America going to do to right this wrong, and to right all the other wrongs that it has held secret for so many decades, and even centuries? I am only concerning myself with the period from 1963 onward as I ask this specific question, but really folks : what are we going to do?
We can tell the truth about what has gone on in our country. That is one option.
Or we can continue to ride down the same path we've been going down for 55 years. This is the path that has resulted in a completely dumbed-down and angry populace, with a criminal as president.
What should we do about telling the truth in America? What do you think?
We are gonna have to do it someday, just like the Germans and Russians had to.
Because if we don't, if we don't lay out the truth about what happened to Martin Luther King, and to John F. Kennedy, and to his brother Robert, then we are hiding their murderers, who were the highest level officials of our government, LBJ and J. Edgar Hoover and others.
Other countries have had dictators. These were ours.
We have to come clean to the world about them, especially because we have a madman as our president right now, a guy whose whole objective is to start trouble.
I know that you probably won't read a book like the one I am talking about, but you should.
You should because America is not invincible, and that means that your freedom and your American lifestyle is not invincible. You should care about the truth, and as you know I speak from personal experience.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, July 13, 2018
Ants + "Red Headed Woman"
Oh, brother......we had a major league Ant Problem in Pearl's kitchen today. Don't you hate it when that happens? Aw, man : I can't stand ants, cause there's no such thing as one or two of 'em, or even a dozen of 'em. If you're lucky, you only get a hundred of 'em, and if you aren't lucky?
Well, then you are in a situation like we had today. I was doing the dishes when I saw one crawling along the countertop. Then I saw two more. Okay fine, it's that time of year. Ants come inside looking for water. But then I noticed motion out of the corner of my eye, and I saw a bunch of them coming out of the nearby electrical outlet, which is on the wall just above the counter. It would be the one where you plug your coffeemaker in. The ants were coming out of the sockets. I don't know how they do that without getting electrocuted. Maybe it energizes them, I dunno. Little bastards.
Well anyway, I had to work fast because we have a ton of stuff stored in the cabinets below the kitchen counter, including opened cereal boxes, a bag of sugar, cooking oils, chips and a ton of other stuff. Had to transfer all those dry goods to a central counter that the ants can't get to without an extra day to figure out the deception. With the cupboards cleared, I went about wiping everything down with a bleach and water solution. I hate using a caustic substance in the kitchen, but it does kill ants and stop them from coming in.........except that this time it didn't. This time they were like "bleach? - ho hum". They just kept on coming.
I tried cayenne pepper. Didn't work. I tried the old reliable Vinegar & Water. Didn't work. I put Vaseline all around the electrical outlet, because petroleum jelly supposedly makes a barrier that ants can't cross, except that somehow they did.
I hate using caustic substances in the kitchen, for obvious reasons. But I even more hate spraying Raid or any type of poison anywhere inside the house, because that stuff is extra toxic.
But this time I had no choice. I used a liquid version that does not turn to mist, so that I wouldn't have to breathe it in, and I only sprayed just the immediate area around the outlet. In years past I have had to use this stuff in The Tiny Apartment, and it has worked. Hopefully it will work here, too.
Since the heatwave hit last week, it is Ant City out on the front porch too. I have to keep moving the cat food bowls around, because the ants find them and then they are swarming. When that happens, I stick the bowl right out in the direct 100 degree sunshine. That does the trick. The ants scatter, but only til nightfall.
No food prep anywhere near the kitchen counter until it is determined that the Ant Invasion has been stopped, and until the residue of the ant spray has been washed down about ten or fifteen times or maybe twenty five more times after that. Until the coast is clear, it will be In-N-Out or Mickey D's or Taco Bell or pizza or El Indio or The Habit or Five Guys or........a packaged salad from Trader Joes so that I don't get fat. I have almost lost that ten pounds I gained earlier in the year and I don't wanna gain it back.
Aww, hell. Tomorrow will be the one year anniversary of The Passing Of The Pinsch (i.e. The Doberman, The Kobedog, The Koberdober, The Pinscherian Candidate, et al). If he were here, it would be In-N-Out all the way. He didn't care if he gained a pound or two because he wasn't a wimp. I need to be more like him.
Doggone ants.
Long Live Kobi. :) /////
I did watch a movie tonight, the last one from my pre-Code "Forbidden Hollywood" collection. It was called "Red Headed Woman" (1932) starring the great Jean Harlow. If you remember my review of "Baby Face" - another movie from this set that I wrote about a couple weeks ago - then you can apply that review to "Red Headed" as well. They are very similar stories, about driven young women from underprivileged backgrounds who use their looks and hypersexuality to sleep their way to the top, in order to gain wealth, and power over men. "Baby Face" was played by Barbara Stanwyck. Her portrayal was coy and sophisticated. She was smarter in a lot of ways than the banking executives she used to climb the ladder. "Red Head", on the other hand, was purely aggressive. Harlow played her as tricky and pushy, demanding to have her way with the man she had first cornered by pretending to be a lost girl just looking for love. Jean Harlow played her as unbalanced, and then psychotic, and finally a stalker. Early screen star Chester Morris did a great job as the married man she captivated and then tried to destroy as she moved higher into the world of wealth.
"Red Headed Woman" was as shocking (for 1932, and for today also) as "Baby Face". All of these pre-Code films use innuendo and confrontational dialogue that was very frank for it's time, and in a way they are even more "up front" about the situations of the main characters than are the movies of today. If you are a fan of early Hollywood I can't recommend them highly enough. They aren't just racy or prurient, but tell tales about the human condition as we all experience it, in the avenues of love and lust and the moral consequences involved in such gambles.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "Red Headed Woman". See it especially for Jean Harlow's performance.
That's all I know for tonight. Hoping for an Ant Free tomorrow.
Cross your fingers for me. See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Well, then you are in a situation like we had today. I was doing the dishes when I saw one crawling along the countertop. Then I saw two more. Okay fine, it's that time of year. Ants come inside looking for water. But then I noticed motion out of the corner of my eye, and I saw a bunch of them coming out of the nearby electrical outlet, which is on the wall just above the counter. It would be the one where you plug your coffeemaker in. The ants were coming out of the sockets. I don't know how they do that without getting electrocuted. Maybe it energizes them, I dunno. Little bastards.
Well anyway, I had to work fast because we have a ton of stuff stored in the cabinets below the kitchen counter, including opened cereal boxes, a bag of sugar, cooking oils, chips and a ton of other stuff. Had to transfer all those dry goods to a central counter that the ants can't get to without an extra day to figure out the deception. With the cupboards cleared, I went about wiping everything down with a bleach and water solution. I hate using a caustic substance in the kitchen, but it does kill ants and stop them from coming in.........except that this time it didn't. This time they were like "bleach? - ho hum". They just kept on coming.
I tried cayenne pepper. Didn't work. I tried the old reliable Vinegar & Water. Didn't work. I put Vaseline all around the electrical outlet, because petroleum jelly supposedly makes a barrier that ants can't cross, except that somehow they did.
I hate using caustic substances in the kitchen, for obvious reasons. But I even more hate spraying Raid or any type of poison anywhere inside the house, because that stuff is extra toxic.
But this time I had no choice. I used a liquid version that does not turn to mist, so that I wouldn't have to breathe it in, and I only sprayed just the immediate area around the outlet. In years past I have had to use this stuff in The Tiny Apartment, and it has worked. Hopefully it will work here, too.
Since the heatwave hit last week, it is Ant City out on the front porch too. I have to keep moving the cat food bowls around, because the ants find them and then they are swarming. When that happens, I stick the bowl right out in the direct 100 degree sunshine. That does the trick. The ants scatter, but only til nightfall.
No food prep anywhere near the kitchen counter until it is determined that the Ant Invasion has been stopped, and until the residue of the ant spray has been washed down about ten or fifteen times or maybe twenty five more times after that. Until the coast is clear, it will be In-N-Out or Mickey D's or Taco Bell or pizza or El Indio or The Habit or Five Guys or........a packaged salad from Trader Joes so that I don't get fat. I have almost lost that ten pounds I gained earlier in the year and I don't wanna gain it back.
Aww, hell. Tomorrow will be the one year anniversary of The Passing Of The Pinsch (i.e. The Doberman, The Kobedog, The Koberdober, The Pinscherian Candidate, et al). If he were here, it would be In-N-Out all the way. He didn't care if he gained a pound or two because he wasn't a wimp. I need to be more like him.
Doggone ants.
Long Live Kobi. :) /////
I did watch a movie tonight, the last one from my pre-Code "Forbidden Hollywood" collection. It was called "Red Headed Woman" (1932) starring the great Jean Harlow. If you remember my review of "Baby Face" - another movie from this set that I wrote about a couple weeks ago - then you can apply that review to "Red Headed" as well. They are very similar stories, about driven young women from underprivileged backgrounds who use their looks and hypersexuality to sleep their way to the top, in order to gain wealth, and power over men. "Baby Face" was played by Barbara Stanwyck. Her portrayal was coy and sophisticated. She was smarter in a lot of ways than the banking executives she used to climb the ladder. "Red Head", on the other hand, was purely aggressive. Harlow played her as tricky and pushy, demanding to have her way with the man she had first cornered by pretending to be a lost girl just looking for love. Jean Harlow played her as unbalanced, and then psychotic, and finally a stalker. Early screen star Chester Morris did a great job as the married man she captivated and then tried to destroy as she moved higher into the world of wealth.
"Red Headed Woman" was as shocking (for 1932, and for today also) as "Baby Face". All of these pre-Code films use innuendo and confrontational dialogue that was very frank for it's time, and in a way they are even more "up front" about the situations of the main characters than are the movies of today. If you are a fan of early Hollywood I can't recommend them highly enough. They aren't just racy or prurient, but tell tales about the human condition as we all experience it, in the avenues of love and lust and the moral consequences involved in such gambles.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "Red Headed Woman". See it especially for Jean Harlow's performance.
That's all I know for tonight. Hoping for an Ant Free tomorrow.
Cross your fingers for me. See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, July 12, 2018
Eric Johnson at The Rose in Pasadena (and a little Pasadena concert history, too)
Tonight I went to see Eric Johnson at a venue called The Rose, located in Pasadena. The Rose is a supper club, owned by the same people who own The Canyon out in Agoura Hills, where I have seen EJ many times. The Canyon is also a supper club, where most of the patrons sit at tables and have dinner (or supper, depending on what you wanna call it) before the show starts. There is also standing room behind the tables for general admission patrons like myself, and it's kinda cool because everyone in front of you is sitting down and you have an unobstructed sightline. You don't have to worry about the Usual Giants who Always Seem To Be In Front Of You at club shows.
The Rose looks almost exactly like The Canyon on the inside, a very similar layout (and there is a third venue in Santa Clarita, also called The Canyon, which I haven't been to). I was thinking back over my 44 year concert history, and I am pretty sure I have only been to a couple of concerts in Pasadena, most recently to see Linda Perhacs at a free concert at the Levitt Pavillion in a city park, in July 2013. I also saw perhaps the greatest concert I have ever been to, which was Pink Floyd at The Rose Bowl in April 1994, on the legendary "Pulse" tour. And way back in about 1984, my friends and I saw a band called Alcatrazz at a former movie theater called Perkins Palace. Alcatrazz was formed by Graham Bonnet, who had been Rainbow's lead singer in 1980, and he had hired a 21 year old kid named Yngwie Malmsteen to play guitar for the band. We had already seen them play a year earlier at The Country Club right here in Reseda, but at Perkins Palace we walked out of the show and asked for our money back because Yngwie wasn't there when the band went onstage. Instead, there was some dark haired dude, a real show off who didn't play like Yngwie.
As it turned out, he was Steve Vai. But we didn't know that when we walked out. Or did we?
I can't remember. Maybe we did know it was Vai, and we walked because of a combination of being pissed at Yngwie's absence (we didn't know he had quit the band) and the fact that Vai was hamming it up big time as his replacement. If there was one thing I couldn't stand, it was a guitar showoff. I mean, it was okay to be a guitar showoff as long as you were a guitar showoff that I approved of. And being surprised to see Vai on stage that night, I definitely did not approve of his posturing. I was a lot more opinionated then, at 24 years of age. Things had to be "this way" or "that way" and there wasn't a lot of leeway. Now, though I am not a huge fan of either guitarist anymore, I would go to see Steve Vai instead of Yngwie, who was great when he burst onto the scene, but never became a great songwriter, in my opinion. He just kept playing the same speed-of-light guitar runs. And Vai is an incredible player, of course, but as far as I am concerned can't write a song to save his life. But at least he plays different.
Well, there is a digression for you. If there is one thing you can count on me to do, it's to go "off subject". But I had to give you a little bit of my Pasadena concert history, which is negligible but somewhat memorable, especially in the cases of Pink Floyd at The Rose Bowl and Alcatrazz at Perkins Palace. Aww, heck - and Linda Perhacs at Levitt Pavillion, too. It was she, after all, who got me and Grimsley into the sold-out Opeth show at (lo and behold)....The Canyon, back in May 2013, just a couple of months before we saw her play at The Levitt.
Ergo, we can say that Pasadena Concerts - though few in 44 years - are nonetheless memorable. And tonight's Eric Johnson concert at The Rose will prove to be no exception as the years roll by. EJ was playing a solo acoustic set tonight, just him and no band. He played two guitars, steel string and nylon, and a grand piano. His set was short, just 70 minutes, but in that time he must have played at least 20 songs, in just about every style that he is known for.
The thing about Eric is that he is so musical. He is not only one of the great guitarists, but he is a great songwriter, and this is what comes home to you as you watch and listen to him in an acoustic setting. He is also an accomplished pianist, with a style that compliments his guitar playing. Many of the great songwriters play both guitar and piano, and use piano to write with, because the musical options are greater when writing on that instrument. Of course, when you know the neck of a guitar as well as Eric Johnson does, you can write just as melodically on either instrument, and he does.
On top of that, he is a fine singer who sings with emotion and phrasing, and though his voice is light, it once again fits exactly in the style of his music, combining with his instrumental abilities on guitar and piano to make beautiful songs.
And this is what creating music is all about. The art of the song. The art of melody and harmony and feeling. In popular music, this is the format that has produced much of the most beautiful music of our time.
With Eric Johnson, yes he is one of the great "shredders" of all time. And if you go see him with his full band in an electric setting, you will hear why he is considered a "guitarist's guitarist". But for me, a huge fan of guitar and of music in general, I have always liked Eric because of his music.
Music.
It takes musicality to make music. Playing an instrument or instruments is only part of it. Musicality comes from your soul. Your fingers are just the transmitters.
I have seen Eric somewhere between 12 and 20 times by now. I am gonna have to do some Googling to try and narrow it down. Only two of the shows have been acoustic, and tonight was very special because his music means more to me than I can put into words. He always plays a lot of songs that have never been recorded, and so you always get something you've never heard before as well. His songs have been part of the soundtrack of my life, and I was very glad to be able to see him play tonight.
Finally, concerning The Rose, it is right across the street from the Pasadena Civic Center. I was unfamiliar with the area, but had a little time to walk around before the show started, and I was curious about the "temple" looking building across Green Street. I crossed to check it out, and it was indeed the Pasadena Civic, the legendary launching pad of local Pasadena boys Van Halen, who played sold-out shows there back in 1976 through '78, just before they hit it big.
That made this night extra special, and I had to walk up and touch the stone wall around the entrance, just to get the vibe and honor the legacy of the Mighty VH.
It was a good night, and another memorable experience in Pasadena. ////
Elizabeth, if you are reading, that was a beautiful picture of yourself that you posted this morning. I also saw that you posted a pic of your keyboard on FB Stories, so maybe you are working on some music of your own? I hope so. :)
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
The Rose looks almost exactly like The Canyon on the inside, a very similar layout (and there is a third venue in Santa Clarita, also called The Canyon, which I haven't been to). I was thinking back over my 44 year concert history, and I am pretty sure I have only been to a couple of concerts in Pasadena, most recently to see Linda Perhacs at a free concert at the Levitt Pavillion in a city park, in July 2013. I also saw perhaps the greatest concert I have ever been to, which was Pink Floyd at The Rose Bowl in April 1994, on the legendary "Pulse" tour. And way back in about 1984, my friends and I saw a band called Alcatrazz at a former movie theater called Perkins Palace. Alcatrazz was formed by Graham Bonnet, who had been Rainbow's lead singer in 1980, and he had hired a 21 year old kid named Yngwie Malmsteen to play guitar for the band. We had already seen them play a year earlier at The Country Club right here in Reseda, but at Perkins Palace we walked out of the show and asked for our money back because Yngwie wasn't there when the band went onstage. Instead, there was some dark haired dude, a real show off who didn't play like Yngwie.
As it turned out, he was Steve Vai. But we didn't know that when we walked out. Or did we?
I can't remember. Maybe we did know it was Vai, and we walked because of a combination of being pissed at Yngwie's absence (we didn't know he had quit the band) and the fact that Vai was hamming it up big time as his replacement. If there was one thing I couldn't stand, it was a guitar showoff. I mean, it was okay to be a guitar showoff as long as you were a guitar showoff that I approved of. And being surprised to see Vai on stage that night, I definitely did not approve of his posturing. I was a lot more opinionated then, at 24 years of age. Things had to be "this way" or "that way" and there wasn't a lot of leeway. Now, though I am not a huge fan of either guitarist anymore, I would go to see Steve Vai instead of Yngwie, who was great when he burst onto the scene, but never became a great songwriter, in my opinion. He just kept playing the same speed-of-light guitar runs. And Vai is an incredible player, of course, but as far as I am concerned can't write a song to save his life. But at least he plays different.
Well, there is a digression for you. If there is one thing you can count on me to do, it's to go "off subject". But I had to give you a little bit of my Pasadena concert history, which is negligible but somewhat memorable, especially in the cases of Pink Floyd at The Rose Bowl and Alcatrazz at Perkins Palace. Aww, heck - and Linda Perhacs at Levitt Pavillion, too. It was she, after all, who got me and Grimsley into the sold-out Opeth show at (lo and behold)....The Canyon, back in May 2013, just a couple of months before we saw her play at The Levitt.
Ergo, we can say that Pasadena Concerts - though few in 44 years - are nonetheless memorable. And tonight's Eric Johnson concert at The Rose will prove to be no exception as the years roll by. EJ was playing a solo acoustic set tonight, just him and no band. He played two guitars, steel string and nylon, and a grand piano. His set was short, just 70 minutes, but in that time he must have played at least 20 songs, in just about every style that he is known for.
The thing about Eric is that he is so musical. He is not only one of the great guitarists, but he is a great songwriter, and this is what comes home to you as you watch and listen to him in an acoustic setting. He is also an accomplished pianist, with a style that compliments his guitar playing. Many of the great songwriters play both guitar and piano, and use piano to write with, because the musical options are greater when writing on that instrument. Of course, when you know the neck of a guitar as well as Eric Johnson does, you can write just as melodically on either instrument, and he does.
On top of that, he is a fine singer who sings with emotion and phrasing, and though his voice is light, it once again fits exactly in the style of his music, combining with his instrumental abilities on guitar and piano to make beautiful songs.
And this is what creating music is all about. The art of the song. The art of melody and harmony and feeling. In popular music, this is the format that has produced much of the most beautiful music of our time.
With Eric Johnson, yes he is one of the great "shredders" of all time. And if you go see him with his full band in an electric setting, you will hear why he is considered a "guitarist's guitarist". But for me, a huge fan of guitar and of music in general, I have always liked Eric because of his music.
Music.
It takes musicality to make music. Playing an instrument or instruments is only part of it. Musicality comes from your soul. Your fingers are just the transmitters.
I have seen Eric somewhere between 12 and 20 times by now. I am gonna have to do some Googling to try and narrow it down. Only two of the shows have been acoustic, and tonight was very special because his music means more to me than I can put into words. He always plays a lot of songs that have never been recorded, and so you always get something you've never heard before as well. His songs have been part of the soundtrack of my life, and I was very glad to be able to see him play tonight.
Finally, concerning The Rose, it is right across the street from the Pasadena Civic Center. I was unfamiliar with the area, but had a little time to walk around before the show started, and I was curious about the "temple" looking building across Green Street. I crossed to check it out, and it was indeed the Pasadena Civic, the legendary launching pad of local Pasadena boys Van Halen, who played sold-out shows there back in 1976 through '78, just before they hit it big.
That made this night extra special, and I had to walk up and touch the stone wall around the entrance, just to get the vibe and honor the legacy of the Mighty VH.
It was a good night, and another memorable experience in Pasadena. ////
Elizabeth, if you are reading, that was a beautiful picture of yourself that you posted this morning. I also saw that you posted a pic of your keyboard on FB Stories, so maybe you are working on some music of your own? I hope so. :)
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)