I am back at Pearl's, settling in for another work cycle. I had a nice week off though, and went on some very pleasant hikes, with all the wildflowers and overgrown scenery at each park to enjoy. Right now I am listening to Mahler's 8th Symphony on Youtube. Man, he wrote some major league symphonies! Some, like the 8th, are 90 minutes or even longer, and I think that even the shortest of the ten he wrote runs at least an hour. I got into Mahler because of Wagner. Mahler listed him as a huge influence, and I must say that this symphony is very majestic stuff, profound even. Mahler's symphonies often feature vocalists, so in that sense they are like operas, another sign of the Wagnerian influence.
My recent interest in Wagner began, you will recall, when I heard the "Tannhauser Overture" on KUSC for the umpteenth time. This was around last January or February, and I was so blown away by this version of the piece that a question occurred to me, and I have already mentioned it : How could a man who was said to be so full of hate write music so unspeakably beautiful and filled with human emotion? That question led me to search the library database for books on Wagner. I found the book by Bryan Magee and read it, as reported, and because it was so thoroughly explanatory about Wagner's life, music and philosophy, I was encouraged to proceed further and order two of his operas from Amazon : "Parsifal" and "Tristan und Isolde". I already had "The Ring" from years ago.
At any rate, Wagner and his author Magee led me to Schopenhauer, and I am sorry to report that I was not able to finish Magee's biography of the dour philosopher. I mean, if you've been reading recently you know that I have poked gentle fun at Old Schopenhauer just because of what I read about him in the Wagner book, and even more so because of his portraits that pop up when you Google Image him. I had developed a soft spot for the old guy, but when I tried to read Magee's book about his life and philosophy, it was just too ponderous to get through. Early in the first chapter we learn that Schopenhauer's mother rejected him as a small boy, and her rejection had an enormous effect on his life. No wonder he was so pessimistic. I tried to continue the book but tuned out entirely when author Magee, normally an excellent writer, went on a subjective tirade about Schopenhauer's atheism. Ordinarily this would not bother me as I do not care what a person believes or disbelieves. But Magee took it upon himself to equate Schopenhauer's disbelief in God as a standard by which to measure all other belief systems, and he concluded, because of his admiration for Schopenhauer, that anyone who believes in God, by sheer logic, is an idiot. He put his conclusion in softer terms, but the message was the same.
So I thought, "hmmm, guess I don't need to keep reading this" and I took it back to the libe.
I was never all that interested in philosophy anyway, because it is always one man telling you his version of the world, and doing so in a hair-splitting and usually tedious manner.
Music works better for me, and so I switched from thinking about Wagner and Schopenhauer to wanting to hear all of the Mahler Symphonies, because of his reverence for Richard Wagner. So I am working my way through them on Youtube. I think the 8th might be the best one I've heard so far.
Man, these guys wrote some incredible stuff. /////
I also watched a movie, called "Swing Your Lady" (1938) starring Humphrey Bogart. The title is a bit misleading, because it sounds like a Fred & Ginger musical, and while there are a few song and dance routines included, the story and the cast could not be more different from an Astaire flick. Bogart is the manager of a professional wrestler played by Nat Pendleton, an early screen actor who specialized in Big Dumb Guy roles. He often played Big Dumb Cops, but here he is a wrestler with a low double digit IQ. Bogie, his two trainers and Pendleton are traveling through the Ozarks looking for a bout. Pendleton is a low stakes palooka. No one knows him, he will be lucky to get any match at all.
Bogart stumbles upon a lady Blacksmith in the hills of Missouri. She is played by Louise Fazenda, who I knew I had seen somewhere before (turns out she was in a Buster Keaton movie). Anyway, she is built like a tank, so Humphrey gets the idea that she could be an opponent for Nat Pendleton. He figures that the Hillbillies in town would eat it up to see one of their own in a big time wrasslin' match that will also be played up in the press. Future President of The United States Ronald Reagan, only 27 years old here, has a small role as the newspaper writer sent to promote the match. What a hoot, eh? This is proof that you never know what will happen in life.
'Swing Your Lady", at first glance, would seem to be low brow comedy, because for a 2019 audience it might come across as making fun of Hillbilly culture. We live in bullshit PC times, and sorry for the expletive, but we do, and it distorts things. In truth, half the actors in the movie are from the Ozark theater environment - like songstress June Weaver, who along with her family and Penny Singleton of "Blondie" fame provide the musical entertainment in the film. This is Ozark Culture helping to poke fun at itself, joining with show biz Hollywood to do so.
As I watched, I thought, "they're all Show Biz people, no matter where they come from". If you are ready to get up and sing and dance, or act, or perform in any way, you are a Show Biz Person.
I was surprised at the 4.8 rating for this movie on IMDB, and as I read some of the reviews, I saw that the negativity resulted from the context of the film rather than it's laugh quotient, which I found to be quite high. I thought the movie was hilarious, and a lot of fun, and was performed with screwball fast timing by an excellent cast. Hillbillies are people too. Let 'em show their stuff. ////
Two Thumbs Up for "Swing Your Lady", a highly entertaining Depression-era comedy.
That's all for tonight, see you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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