I had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving day and I hope you did too. I went over to Pearl's for an early dinner prepared by her daughter Helen and shared with my sister Vickie, her husband and their sons - my nephews who are now 32 and 23 years old. Our two-family Thanksgiving is a tradition that has been going on for many years, going back to when my parents were still alive. Today we had a lot of fun; much wine was consumed which prompted loquacious conversation on all kinds of topics (including politics), we ate a lot of good food and later found room for pie and coffee. It was a beautiful day outside so we even went for a walk around the block (which can be sung to the tune of "Rock Around The Clock" if you like, i.e. "We're gonna walk, around, the block tonight, we're gonna walk walk walk till broad daylight".....well, you get the idea).
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, so we went for our walk, and when we got back the men made it a point to watch football, too. I got home at about 6:30 and more or less took it easy the rest of the evening, though I did go for one full CSUN walk before metaphorically putting my feet up. One CSUN lap is 3 miles, two short of my daily average, but the tryptophan must've kicked in at some point to curtail me, which is why I found myself nodding off, or going unconscious haha, while reading about the Vedic idea of how consciousness comes into being, in Michael Cremo's "Human Devolution". The Vedic civilization never knew of post-Thanksgiving food comas. :)
I did recover enough to watch a movie, "The Man From Colorado" (1949) from my seven movie Western Showdown collection. Like "Texas" (1941), reviewed earlier and from the same dvd set, this one also stars the team of Glenn Ford and William Holden. In "Texas" they were pals. In "Colorado" they become mortal enemies. Glenn Ford plays a Union Army Colonel leading a company of troops in the last days of the Civil War. They come upon a depleted band of Confederate soldiers who are pinned down in some rocks out at Corriganville.......um, I mean.....well, the actual state is never specified but I don't think it's Colorado because Colorado (a territory then) was not heavily involved in the Civil War.
So let's just say that the Rebs are pinned down at Corriganville, which is awesome because it's a prime Western Movie location, but what happens is not awesome. The Rebs fly a white flag of surrender, but Colonel Ford ignores it. He calls in his artillery in the form of canons, and blows the Confederate troops away. The scene is pretty horrifying even by 1949 standards, and is depicted this way to show that Ford has lost his mind due to the emotional numbing of years of battle. His Captain, played by Holden, witnesses the white flag slaughter, but at first tries to cover up for his Colonel by feigning ignorance.
But then the war is declared over a few days later, and Glenn Ford and his troops return to Colorado, which as a territory did supply the Union with soldiers. These men are from that territory. All had been gold miners before the war, each with legally staked claims. But during the years of their service in the Army, a local tycoon had used loopholes in Federal law to have the soldiers' gold claims voided. They return home to find that he now owns the land and their gold. On top of that, the tycoon and his wealthy accomplices make Colonel Glenn Ford the new Federal Judge in town. And he has already shown himself on the battlefield to be a ruthless psychopath with no remorse for the downtrodden. Is it any wonder, then, that he sides with the amoral, land-usurping tycoon over his own former troops, who are now civilians and are bereft of the gold that should be rightfully theirs.
"The Man From Colorado" is a big budget psychological Western, a character study of Glenn Ford's Colonel-turned-Judge, as he hides from his war crimes in his newfound judicial power, but begins to crumble on the inside as his secrets come to light.
Which causes him not to fall apart but to act out in even more violent ways.
In the last scene, only his former Captain William Holden stands between Ford and the total destruction of the town, and this is a rare instance of the writer and director carrying a character's psychosis to it's ultimate end in a genre (Westerns) that usually seeks redemption for it's heroes fallen from grace.
Two Thumbs Up for "The Man From Colorado", a costume drama shot in Technicolor, featuring Ellen Drew as the woman torn between Ford and Holden. Her presence provides the emotional center of the film, as was usually designated to the female romantic role in these types of Westerns (and in crime movies as well). ////
I didn't post last night because I went to Los Angeles, to Historic Filipinotown, to see Jesika von Rabbit play at The Bootleg Theater on Beverly Boulevard near Alvarado Street. I have been a fan of JVR since 2006, when she led Gram Rabbit with her then-partner Todd Rutherford. Gram Rabbit broke up in 2016, and Jesika had begun a solo career as far back as 2012. Now she is a solo act full time. Back in 2006 through 2011, I used to go to a million Gram Rabbit shows. Since I've been working for Pearl, starting in 2010, I have tapered off on my attendance and haven't seen Jesika but every couple of years because she plays clubs with set times that are close to midnight. I can't attend a show that late, but last night I was off work, and it was a double bonus because she and her band went on at 9:15, an early set for the night before Thanksgiving. So I had a blast, and Grimsley showed up at the last minute as well. He introduced me to Jes and Gram Rabbit in 2006. Jesika and her band have a lot of power, and she comes across with even more creative presence and assertiveness on her own, playing her own music. It was very loud, which seems to be the standard nowdays. Grim spent most of the set standing in a small room off to the side and away from the stage. But he does that at most concerts now. He walked out on Sparks last week as reported, because it was Heavy Metal volume.
Me, I hang in there. I've got my one Tinnitus Ear, but it already has tinnitus and it's not gonna get any better (and hasn't gotten worse), and my other ear hears just fine and seems to be able to withstand any level of sonic bombardment, except for Iron Maiden, the one band I shall not see again without earplugs. :)
Jesika and band surprised me, and I think everyone in attendance, with an awesome cover of "Tom Sawyer" to close out her set. They say that everyone likes Rush, whether you are punk or metal or whatever genre a person might feel slotted into nowdays. Rush seem to be the unifying band, and JVR proved it because I never would have expected such a cover song from her.
But she and her band nailed it, and it was pretty awesome.
I drove home deaf, with no traffic. Then today was today, and here we are.
I hope you had a very happy Thanksgiving and tomorrow I will be back at work at Pearl's.
See you in the morning. Huge love until then. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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