Today after church I went with my sister Vickie to see "Mary Poppins Returns" at the Northridge Pacific Theater. Oh man.......where should I start? We absolutely loved this movie. It's really just perfect in every respect, so let's start right at the top with Emily Blunt. If you are my age, that means you were a little kid when the original "Mary Poppins" was released (I was four years old), and it also means that you fell in love with Julie Andrews as "Mary" and have regarded her as an icon in that role ever since.
So how could any filmmaker or production company ever even think of making a sequel to such a magical film? How could they get anyone who could even approximate Julie Andrews' performance?
The answer is Emily Blunt, who wisely did not try to emulate Julie Andrews but instead created a "Mary Poppins" of her own, not far from the original and just as fastidious, but a bit more tart and firm, perhaps. A bit more Blunt, if a pun may be permitted.
OMG, she is perfect as "Mary Poppins" for a new generation, while keeping Mary's character intact right down to her posture and proper diction. The whole deal with the original "Mary Poppins" phenomenon was that it came at a time when English culture was being celebrated in the United States and around the world. "Mary Poppins" hit American theaters at the height of Beatlemania, so you had this massive infusion of Englishness (not British or UKishness) in the Summer of 1964, and as Vickie said this afternoon, "we all wanted to be English then", meaning the older kids who knew what was going on. I knew what was going on, too, even at age four, but I just thought the whole world was that way, full of the magic of movies and music created by these people with funny but beautiful accents.
Emily Blunt recreates all of the magic and charm you associate with Mary, and I think hers is a performance (and this is a rare sequel) that can hold it's own with the original. There are now two Mary Poppins, and both are fantastic, or even........shall I say it? (Supercalifrigilisticexpialidocious).
I had been aware of Lin-Manuel Miranda since he became famous with "Hamilton", but I had never seen him prior to this movie. Chalk up another Oscar worthy performance with Miranda co-starring in the chimney sweep slot, taking over where Dick Van Dyke left off and leading several show-stopping musical numbers that will have your heart leaping even as you hold back a tear or two of nostalgia.
I confess I had to deliberately think of what today's NFL playoff scores might be, at certain points in the film, to avoid the need of a handkerchief.
Miranda seems to be a legit Big Time Star, and he puts a smudgepot Cockney smile and spark into the picture that provides a contrast to Mary's clean perfectionism.
For a third Oscar nod, I nominate Ben Whishaw as "Michael Banks", the head of the household at 17 Cherry Tree Lane. The character of Michael was a child in the first "Mary Poppins". Now he has a brood of his own, and though he is a widower, he gets by with the help of his sister (Emily Mortimer), his maid (Julie Walters), his children (all perfectly cast), and of course Mary Poppins, who arrives just as you might expect, at the moment she is most needed. Whishaw gives an affecting performance as the harried father who is on the verge of losing his house to an unscrupulous banker (Colin Firth) to whom he is indebted for a second mortgage.
The repossession of the Banks family home is the main plot thread of the movie, and to the credit of director Rob Marshall, he never lets loose that tension, even while all forms of fantasy are developing and breaking out around the talents of Mary Poppins. She is a Nanny but also a magician, with one foot in the real world of learning and discipline and the other in metaphysical impossibility, which to her makes anything entirely possible.
Every cast member is exactly right for his or her role, right down to David Warner as a crusty old Veddy Brrittish Admiral, slightly kooky, who lives across the way from the Banks. There are also several cameos, each in amazing scenes, from Meryl Streep and Angela Lansbury, and one more guy who I cannot reveal but who I am sure you can guess.
I just recently wrote about having seen parts of "Cleopatra" here at Pearl's a week or two ago. I wrote about having never seen it before, though I knew of it's history and reputation, but what I was left with, having watched only about an hour onscreen (and on a television set), was that "Cleopatra" was the greatest looking movie I had ever seen, with color the likes of which I didn't believe had been equaled and sets that were akin to ancient temples and courts.
This is why I need to mention the art direction and production design for "Mary Poppins Returns", because the job these artists have done, in conjunction with the costumers, has resulted in a look so colorful and mindblowing, that it will take you a day or two to absorb everything you see and hear.
It just may be the best looking movie you have ever seen.
There is so much going on, and so much music, that when each fantasy sequence takes place you are swept again away, still processing what you had just seen beforehand.
Vickie summed it up briefly at film's end, as the credits were rolling.
"I am blown away.......maybe better than the original....I mean, nothing is better than the original, but....".
And these are my thoughts exactly. For me, "Mary Poppins Returns" is already the Movie Of The Year, and it is even bigger than that, because it is pure Disney Magic. In fact, it is the Disneyest movie I have seen since I can remember, certainly since the 1960s. There is amazing old style Disney animation, and a title sequence made of oil paintings that sets the stage for what is to come.
I too was blown away by "Mary Poppins Returns". I knew it was going to be good, and I had been following it's press releases since Spring of last year, and I was especially excited when Disney released the first snippet of trailer several months ago. Like most fans, I knew Emily Blunt would be perfect in the new role.
My advice : run, don't walk, to the theater to see "Mary Poppins Returns". Better yet, use an umbrella or a balloon as your means of transportation. It is an unmissable film, worth 20 Stars and Ten Thumbs Up, and that indeed is my review. /////
We had good singin' in church, I hope you had a great day, and I will see you in the morning.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Monday, January 7, 2019
Sunday, January 6, 2019
"Deadline USA" starring Humphrey Bogart
Tonight I watched another Bogey Starrer : "Deadline USA" (1952). This role was a little bit different for Bogart. He plays the hard charging editor of a big city newspaper, one with a longstanding loyal readership. It's publisher, who is no longer living, founded his paper on the journalistic principals of facts over speculation and sensationalism, and the overall mission of The Fourth Estate to keep government in line and expose corruption wherever it is found, no matter how high into the power structure it may reach. It's an honest paper in other words, dedicated to truth, but as the movie opens it is just about to go out of business. Another more sensational paper, one that prints lurid crime stories complete with graphic photos, has been approached by the late publisher's heirs (his widow and two daughters) for a buyout offer. The rival publisher has agreed to the buyout, and he plans to quash the legit paper, known as "The Day", just as soon as he assumes ownership. Thus everyone is happy. The widow and her daughters receive a big payday for the sale, and the rival publisher, having snuffed out the honest paper he has just bought, no longer has to worry about his main competitor.
But Bogey is not happy. He and his staff have just been working on a potential blockbuster of a story; the expose of a powerful city gangster who may have influenced the recent mayoral election.
(Hmmm......it seems to me that we've heard this story in another more recent form). So if we have - and we have - then think of Bogart as a newsman version of Robert Mueller, a guy who really cares about the truth. He knows that gangsters, criminals and their associates count on the idea that the general public doesn't really care about organised crime, so long as it doesn't negatively affect their lives.
Bogey sees that this creeping cynicism has extended to the rival paper that has bought out "The Day". Their publisher doesn't care about exposing corruption and leaves the gang bosses alone, preferring to increase circulation with semi-nude photos of the gang's murder victims instead. A distraction rather than a search for truth.
So Bogart decides to go for broke, in his last week on the job. He orders all of his principal reporters, who will soon be unemployed themselves, to dig up everything they can on the wealthy gang boss, who masquerades as a "legitimate businessman". The Boss claims he is a "cement contractor" who earns 30,000 a year, but he has vacation homes in Florida and New England. He owns luxury cars and boats. Many past district attorneys have tried and failed to convict him because they can't find anything on him that will stick. He is good at covering his tracks.
Now that I think of it, you could do a mash-up of last night's "The Enforcer" with Humphrey Bogart as the District Attorney trying to shut down a Mob Boss, and tonight's "Deadline USA", where Bogey is running down a Boss from his position as the editor of a major newspaper. In the mash-up, District Attorney Bogey would work with newspaper editor Bogey. Both movies would play simultaneously in a double screen theater, and the audience would be issued special 4D glasses, different from 3D in that they allowed the viewer to see inside The Mash-Up, to see the combined motion pictures as one.
I am probably losing my marbles, but I will find them again (just give me a few minutes, or wait until morning).
It's also possible that I am All Humphrey Bogarted Out, having seen him play a Crusading Role Against Crime in two successive pictures. This is a good thing, of course, but it also makes for mixing your Bogarts up.
Though I give Two Big Thumbs Up to "Deadline USA", which has another crystal clear b&w picture, I think I may recommend that you go back to "Action In The North Atlantic", the WW2 naval picture that we watched the other night, and use that as a starting point for your own Humphrey Bogart marathon. That way you won't get confused as to which role he is playing night-to-night, as I seem to have done........... :)
It sure is great to have a bunch of previously unseen Bogey movies, though. Right?
He is one of the greatest of the greats, just by being himself, and he is also a great actor on top of that.
I think we still have one or two more Bogart movies coming, to continue our mini marathon. Tune in next week to make sure.
Meanwhile, it was freezing cold and raining here today. We watched playoff football at Pearl's. Colts won over Texans, as expected, and 'Boys eked out a win over Seahawks.
That means Rams, who have a bye week, will either play the Cowboys next week, or Da Bearss, if Bearss beat Philly tomorrow. Either way, Rams win.
I will see you in church in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
But Bogey is not happy. He and his staff have just been working on a potential blockbuster of a story; the expose of a powerful city gangster who may have influenced the recent mayoral election.
(Hmmm......it seems to me that we've heard this story in another more recent form). So if we have - and we have - then think of Bogart as a newsman version of Robert Mueller, a guy who really cares about the truth. He knows that gangsters, criminals and their associates count on the idea that the general public doesn't really care about organised crime, so long as it doesn't negatively affect their lives.
Bogey sees that this creeping cynicism has extended to the rival paper that has bought out "The Day". Their publisher doesn't care about exposing corruption and leaves the gang bosses alone, preferring to increase circulation with semi-nude photos of the gang's murder victims instead. A distraction rather than a search for truth.
So Bogart decides to go for broke, in his last week on the job. He orders all of his principal reporters, who will soon be unemployed themselves, to dig up everything they can on the wealthy gang boss, who masquerades as a "legitimate businessman". The Boss claims he is a "cement contractor" who earns 30,000 a year, but he has vacation homes in Florida and New England. He owns luxury cars and boats. Many past district attorneys have tried and failed to convict him because they can't find anything on him that will stick. He is good at covering his tracks.
Now that I think of it, you could do a mash-up of last night's "The Enforcer" with Humphrey Bogart as the District Attorney trying to shut down a Mob Boss, and tonight's "Deadline USA", where Bogey is running down a Boss from his position as the editor of a major newspaper. In the mash-up, District Attorney Bogey would work with newspaper editor Bogey. Both movies would play simultaneously in a double screen theater, and the audience would be issued special 4D glasses, different from 3D in that they allowed the viewer to see inside The Mash-Up, to see the combined motion pictures as one.
I am probably losing my marbles, but I will find them again (just give me a few minutes, or wait until morning).
It's also possible that I am All Humphrey Bogarted Out, having seen him play a Crusading Role Against Crime in two successive pictures. This is a good thing, of course, but it also makes for mixing your Bogarts up.
Though I give Two Big Thumbs Up to "Deadline USA", which has another crystal clear b&w picture, I think I may recommend that you go back to "Action In The North Atlantic", the WW2 naval picture that we watched the other night, and use that as a starting point for your own Humphrey Bogart marathon. That way you won't get confused as to which role he is playing night-to-night, as I seem to have done........... :)
It sure is great to have a bunch of previously unseen Bogey movies, though. Right?
He is one of the greatest of the greats, just by being himself, and he is also a great actor on top of that.
I think we still have one or two more Bogart movies coming, to continue our mini marathon. Tune in next week to make sure.
Meanwhile, it was freezing cold and raining here today. We watched playoff football at Pearl's. Colts won over Texans, as expected, and 'Boys eked out a win over Seahawks.
That means Rams, who have a bye week, will either play the Cowboys next week, or Da Bearss, if Bearss beat Philly tomorrow. Either way, Rams win.
I will see you in church in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Saturday, January 5, 2019
"The Enforcer" starring Humphrey Bogart + Democratic Imbeciles Elected To Congress (Oy!)
Tonight I watched another Humphrey Bogart movie, "The Enforcer" (1950), a hard boiled crime thriller in which Bogey plays a District Attorney out to shut down an organization of hired contract killers, who in the film were modeled after the real life gang "Murder Inc". As the film begins, he has a lone witness - the #2 man in the gang - set to testify the next morning at a trial that will put the bossman in the electric chair. They didn't mess around in those days. Think about that for a minute; they used to put guys in the electric chair. Not to say that some of these guys didn't have it coming, but man what a horrible way to go out. Well anyhow, in crime movies from the Golden Era, it's always The Chair that the killers end up sitting in, and here, at the beginning of "The Enforcer", the only way Bogey is gonna be able to convict the Gang Boss and put him in The Chair is through the testimony of his #2 man. But now, that man is scared and having second thoughts, even though DA Bogart has assured him the full protection of the city government.
The night before the trial, the cops have #2 sequestered, locked down tight in the DA's office. A dozen guards stand watch to ensure he testifies in the morning.
From there the plot begins, and I really can't tell you any more without giving away spoilers and the details of some great detective work. "The Enforcer" is hard as nails, and doesn't qualify as a Noir, in my opinion, because there isn't the melodrama, or a tortured romance, or the cynicism of a doomed protagonist. The script is all procedural police work, though the story is told mostly via the Noir device of flashback sequences and the sterling black and white photography does exhibit Noirish characteristics of long shadowing and sharp angles. But overall, it's a crime film about murderous psychopaths, a four decade precursor to movies like "Mean Streets" and "Goodfellas. The criminals may have gotten more suave and stylish as 1950 passed to 1990, but at their core they were ever the same, just as brutal and sociopathic. The cops and DAs who have to deal with them know what they are like - men without conscience - and this awareness is made very clear by the steadfast drive on the part of Bogey to stamp out this gang who murder people for money, for they are the Devil Incarnate.
Two Very Big Thumbs Up for "The Enforcer", a film I had never heard of until I did my recent Humphrey Bogart search in the Libe database that turned up several new titles, a few of which, like "Enforcer" have recently been remastered by Olive Films, a small label in the film restoration effort, of which Criterion is king. Olive did an expert job with "The Enforcer", and probably had a crisp print to begin with because the dvd is as clear as if you were in the theater seeing the movie on opening night in 1950. /////
We have more Bogart movies lined up, so stay tuned. ///
I have to unfortunately mention politics, and this time I am talking about the party I am registered to, which is the Democratic party. I don't feel beholden to Democrats, because I don't feel beholden to politics, and in lots of ways I cannot stand politics, but I do vote Democratic, and I must say I was very disheartened today to hear a newly elected representative from Michigan use the worst profanity to refer to her desire to impeach Trump. This woman actually used the MF word on an open microphone, knowing exactly what she was saying, doing it deliberately, and I just thought, "what have we become"?
Is this the best that we've got to elect? What happened to the examples of yore? Isn't Government supposed to be serious business?
And on that score, we seem to have also elected someone on the Democratic side who, to my estimation, is just as unqualified as Donald Trump, albeit in an entirely different way. This person is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who in her short time as a member of Congress has been featured preening, acting like a high school kid in the tunnels beneath the buildings, and - after a very juvenile dance video surfaced of her - instead of growing up and distancing herself from her college years, she "owned" it as they say, and recreated a little bit of dance for the cameras, so in love with herself is she, instead of acting like a legislator who has just been elected to the United States House Of Representatives.
I am sorry, and this might offend some, but she is a first class Idiot, a no-brainer, and so is that woman from Michigan who used the MF word against Trump. Between the two of these nitwits, we might be able to scrape together a half dozen brain cells.
Look folks, you know how I feel about Trump, and I know how you feel. We know we've gotta get rid of him before he destroys our beloved country. But is these are the people we have elected to do it, imbeciles like Miss Octavio Cortez and the Michigan Foul Mouth, then we Democrats are in big trouble.
Where are the Statesmen and Stateswomen? Or is Congress just a free for all now, open to anyone?
What say you? ////
See you in the morning with tons of love sent until then. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
The night before the trial, the cops have #2 sequestered, locked down tight in the DA's office. A dozen guards stand watch to ensure he testifies in the morning.
From there the plot begins, and I really can't tell you any more without giving away spoilers and the details of some great detective work. "The Enforcer" is hard as nails, and doesn't qualify as a Noir, in my opinion, because there isn't the melodrama, or a tortured romance, or the cynicism of a doomed protagonist. The script is all procedural police work, though the story is told mostly via the Noir device of flashback sequences and the sterling black and white photography does exhibit Noirish characteristics of long shadowing and sharp angles. But overall, it's a crime film about murderous psychopaths, a four decade precursor to movies like "Mean Streets" and "Goodfellas. The criminals may have gotten more suave and stylish as 1950 passed to 1990, but at their core they were ever the same, just as brutal and sociopathic. The cops and DAs who have to deal with them know what they are like - men without conscience - and this awareness is made very clear by the steadfast drive on the part of Bogey to stamp out this gang who murder people for money, for they are the Devil Incarnate.
Two Very Big Thumbs Up for "The Enforcer", a film I had never heard of until I did my recent Humphrey Bogart search in the Libe database that turned up several new titles, a few of which, like "Enforcer" have recently been remastered by Olive Films, a small label in the film restoration effort, of which Criterion is king. Olive did an expert job with "The Enforcer", and probably had a crisp print to begin with because the dvd is as clear as if you were in the theater seeing the movie on opening night in 1950. /////
We have more Bogart movies lined up, so stay tuned. ///
I have to unfortunately mention politics, and this time I am talking about the party I am registered to, which is the Democratic party. I don't feel beholden to Democrats, because I don't feel beholden to politics, and in lots of ways I cannot stand politics, but I do vote Democratic, and I must say I was very disheartened today to hear a newly elected representative from Michigan use the worst profanity to refer to her desire to impeach Trump. This woman actually used the MF word on an open microphone, knowing exactly what she was saying, doing it deliberately, and I just thought, "what have we become"?
Is this the best that we've got to elect? What happened to the examples of yore? Isn't Government supposed to be serious business?
And on that score, we seem to have also elected someone on the Democratic side who, to my estimation, is just as unqualified as Donald Trump, albeit in an entirely different way. This person is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who in her short time as a member of Congress has been featured preening, acting like a high school kid in the tunnels beneath the buildings, and - after a very juvenile dance video surfaced of her - instead of growing up and distancing herself from her college years, she "owned" it as they say, and recreated a little bit of dance for the cameras, so in love with herself is she, instead of acting like a legislator who has just been elected to the United States House Of Representatives.
I am sorry, and this might offend some, but she is a first class Idiot, a no-brainer, and so is that woman from Michigan who used the MF word against Trump. Between the two of these nitwits, we might be able to scrape together a half dozen brain cells.
Look folks, you know how I feel about Trump, and I know how you feel. We know we've gotta get rid of him before he destroys our beloved country. But is these are the people we have elected to do it, imbeciles like Miss Octavio Cortez and the Michigan Foul Mouth, then we Democrats are in big trouble.
Where are the Statesmen and Stateswomen? Or is Congress just a free for all now, open to anyone?
What say you? ////
See you in the morning with tons of love sent until then. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Friday, January 4, 2019
"For Heaven's Sake" starring Clifton Webb and Gigi Perreau + Watch the Zakk Wylde Solo
Tonight's movie was a light comedy-with-a-message called "For Heaven's Sake" (1950), starring Clifton Webb (of "Laura" fame), Robert Cummings and Joan Bennett. I found it in a Library search for films by director George Seaton, who helmed the classic "Miracle On 34th Street", which we recently saw and reviewed. In "Miracle", Seaton proposed that not only was Santa Claus real, but that he was right down here among us, working in a department store in New York. This time, in "For Heaven's Sake", he is asking us to accept the reality of Angels. Clifton Webb stars as Charles, an Angel paired with Edmund Gwenn (who played Santa in "Miracle"). Both Angels are tasked with watching over and assisting two children who are waiting to be born.
I had never seen this concept portrayed before, and it was very sweet
The children-in-waiting are played by Tommy Rettig, who would go on to fame as "Lassie's" pal, and the child actress Gigi Perreau, who has the larger part of the two children and who basically steals the show throughout the movie. She is great, and on par with a major child star like Margaret O'Brien. I don't know why her star did not shine as brightly, career wise, but she deserves to be noted. Without her, Clifton Webb - who has 70% of the screentime - would not have had any inspiration to play off of.
Bob Cummings and his wife Joan Bennett are creative artists of The Thee-a-tah. That's "theatre" for all of us regular folks, but if you are actually in the profession, and a snob, you pronounce it "ThEE-a-tuhh".
He writes plays, she is his lead actress. He has an idea for a new hit, it will feature her greatest role yet. But she is bored. Surely there must be something more to life beyond the next starring role. He can't imagine what that could be. She seems to want a child; he easily talks her out of it.
Enter Clifton Webb, who as an Angel represents child-soul Gigi, who is waiting in the wings. She has already chosen Bennett and Cummings as her prospective parents (another concept I've heard discussed before but have never seen in a film, the idea of children "choosing" their parents), and she watches over them, hopeful but unseen, as they go about their lives, self absorbed in their theatrical plans.
She really wants to be born into this world. Her friend Tommy Rettig has chosen his parents, too, and seems to have a good chance to be born, with the reliable Edmund Gwenn at his side. Gigi has Clifton Webb, who has a good plan to become mortal for a short while, so that he can come to Earth, involve himself in the lives of Bennet and Cummings, and directly affect their marital priorities. He manifests as a wealthy Texas cowboy and ingratiates himself with the couple as a prospective financial backer of their new play. But before he will give them any money, he tries to plant a seed in their minds about what they are missing in their lives, namely a child.
The message is very wholesome and sweet, because the child is shown, "In Heaven" but also in the couple's living room watching them, only desiring to be born to them, the parents whom she has chosen. You couldn't find a child actress any more earnest than Gigi Perreau, and it is her chemistry with the whimsical, by turns serious, comically adept Webb that carries the film, gives it emotional weight. The various elements play off one another - the ambitious theatre couple, an entity unto themselves. The child-souls yet to be born but all knowing of the pitfalls. Will their chosen parents make the right moves? Who knows; free will is involved.
But Angels can influence free will. That is another message of the movie, that unborn souls have free will and desires too, and not only that but they have Angels right at their sides.
I, of course, believe in Angels, and not only believe in them but can feel them. You probably can, too.
Do you ever think about where you were before you were born, or have you ever gotten a feeling about it? Perhaps you have.
"For Heaven's Sake" is the only movie I have ever seen that proposes these concepts in such a direct way, using heartfelt child actors to play off of the lead of veterans like Webb and Gwenn, to create a fantasy/reality that, as we watch, we all know in our hearts to be true.
That is the audacity of this movie. It states, in a playful way, what we all know spiritually to be true but that we never talk about, because the idea of souls before birth is such a private and intuitive concept.
The film could never have been pulled off without the talented and inspired cast, which also includes the legendary Joan Blondell as a producer who tries to seduce the mortal Clifton Webb away from his Angelic mission.
Though just a slight touch slow in places, "For Heaven's Sake" nevertheless generates Two Big Thumbs Up, and almost Two Giant Thumbs, just because of it's message and the way that important message is presented in the writing and portrayed by the cast, most especially Perreau and Webb. I think we need more movies of this kind, though I don't think we could pull it off in the same way now......
I hope you had a good day and that your year is off to a good start.
I am working most of the time and reading in the afternoons. My first book of the year is Bearden's "Excalibur Briefing", written in the late 80s, about the physics behind paranormal phenomena. I will try to go on a hike and take some pics very soon.
Much Love and God Bless, make sure and watch the ridiculous Zakk Wylde solo I posted on Facebook today. You can laugh, cry, or turn it off midway through....
See you in the morn. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
I had never seen this concept portrayed before, and it was very sweet
The children-in-waiting are played by Tommy Rettig, who would go on to fame as "Lassie's" pal, and the child actress Gigi Perreau, who has the larger part of the two children and who basically steals the show throughout the movie. She is great, and on par with a major child star like Margaret O'Brien. I don't know why her star did not shine as brightly, career wise, but she deserves to be noted. Without her, Clifton Webb - who has 70% of the screentime - would not have had any inspiration to play off of.
Bob Cummings and his wife Joan Bennett are creative artists of The Thee-a-tah. That's "theatre" for all of us regular folks, but if you are actually in the profession, and a snob, you pronounce it "ThEE-a-tuhh".
He writes plays, she is his lead actress. He has an idea for a new hit, it will feature her greatest role yet. But she is bored. Surely there must be something more to life beyond the next starring role. He can't imagine what that could be. She seems to want a child; he easily talks her out of it.
Enter Clifton Webb, who as an Angel represents child-soul Gigi, who is waiting in the wings. She has already chosen Bennett and Cummings as her prospective parents (another concept I've heard discussed before but have never seen in a film, the idea of children "choosing" their parents), and she watches over them, hopeful but unseen, as they go about their lives, self absorbed in their theatrical plans.
She really wants to be born into this world. Her friend Tommy Rettig has chosen his parents, too, and seems to have a good chance to be born, with the reliable Edmund Gwenn at his side. Gigi has Clifton Webb, who has a good plan to become mortal for a short while, so that he can come to Earth, involve himself in the lives of Bennet and Cummings, and directly affect their marital priorities. He manifests as a wealthy Texas cowboy and ingratiates himself with the couple as a prospective financial backer of their new play. But before he will give them any money, he tries to plant a seed in their minds about what they are missing in their lives, namely a child.
The message is very wholesome and sweet, because the child is shown, "In Heaven" but also in the couple's living room watching them, only desiring to be born to them, the parents whom she has chosen. You couldn't find a child actress any more earnest than Gigi Perreau, and it is her chemistry with the whimsical, by turns serious, comically adept Webb that carries the film, gives it emotional weight. The various elements play off one another - the ambitious theatre couple, an entity unto themselves. The child-souls yet to be born but all knowing of the pitfalls. Will their chosen parents make the right moves? Who knows; free will is involved.
But Angels can influence free will. That is another message of the movie, that unborn souls have free will and desires too, and not only that but they have Angels right at their sides.
I, of course, believe in Angels, and not only believe in them but can feel them. You probably can, too.
Do you ever think about where you were before you were born, or have you ever gotten a feeling about it? Perhaps you have.
"For Heaven's Sake" is the only movie I have ever seen that proposes these concepts in such a direct way, using heartfelt child actors to play off of the lead of veterans like Webb and Gwenn, to create a fantasy/reality that, as we watch, we all know in our hearts to be true.
That is the audacity of this movie. It states, in a playful way, what we all know spiritually to be true but that we never talk about, because the idea of souls before birth is such a private and intuitive concept.
The film could never have been pulled off without the talented and inspired cast, which also includes the legendary Joan Blondell as a producer who tries to seduce the mortal Clifton Webb away from his Angelic mission.
Though just a slight touch slow in places, "For Heaven's Sake" nevertheless generates Two Big Thumbs Up, and almost Two Giant Thumbs, just because of it's message and the way that important message is presented in the writing and portrayed by the cast, most especially Perreau and Webb. I think we need more movies of this kind, though I don't think we could pull it off in the same way now......
I hope you had a good day and that your year is off to a good start.
I am working most of the time and reading in the afternoons. My first book of the year is Bearden's "Excalibur Briefing", written in the late 80s, about the physics behind paranormal phenomena. I will try to go on a hike and take some pics very soon.
Much Love and God Bless, make sure and watch the ridiculous Zakk Wylde solo I posted on Facebook today. You can laugh, cry, or turn it off midway through....
See you in the morn. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Thursday, January 3, 2019
"Action In The North Atlantic" with Bogey + Will Wimpy Dems Stand Up To The Monster Trump?
Tonight I watched one of the Humphrey Bogart movies I had on order from the Libe. It was called "Action In The North Atlantic" (1943), and as the title and year indicate it is a WW2 film, though not about the Navy but rather the Merchant Marine. The MM is not a branch of the armed forces but a civilian outfit comprised of seamen and ships that run supplies to battle theaters in times of war. The film begins with a tense 25 minute sequence that erupts into action as the merchant ship Bogart is sailing on as First Officer is targeted then torpedoed by a German U-Boat. This entire segment is one of the most realistic looking I have seen in all the many WW2 submarine movies I've watched over the years. The torpedoing of a ship is brutal, with all of the immediate calamities that ensue, the oil fires and inrushing sea water, the collapsing infrastructure of the ship, heavy pieces falling and trapping sailors, the ship beginning to list and tilt upward in the water, the remaining men scrambling to launch the lifeboats, then attempting to jump down into them amidst the flames on the ocean.
Sorry to be so graphic but I had to give you an accurate description of the film's opening. It is The Real McCoy, as they used to say. The Nazis are ruthless as usual, trying to machine gun the survivors, and when that doesn't work, they ram the tiny lifeboat with their 250 ton U-Boat.
Bogey and Captain Raymond Massey survive, along with a few other sailors like Alan Hale Sr. and great 40s charater actor Dane Cook. Each man vows to sail again. They take great pride in their work as civilians supplying the armed forces against Hitler. Back at port, their Admiral tells them they are doing one of the most important jobs in the war. After a half hour interlude with each main character recovering back in the States with wives and family, the men are back at sea in a new ship, modern and fully equipped with the latest gunnery and even depth charges. The ship is loaded to the gills with cargo. Tanks, artillery, shells, gasoline, etc. This time their destination is Vladivostok, to supply our Russian allies with much needed machinery.
Can you imagine that the Russians were once our allies, albeit for a short period of time? One thing is for sure, if it had not been for them, Hitler might well have won the war. The Russians lost 20 million people (civilian and military) in the effort to stop Naziism, a mind bending and staggering number, a number that was one third of all war dead.
"Action In The North Atlantic" is also what was called a Propaganda Film, made during the war years and full of dialogue about how important it was for a sailor (or any soldier) to keep his mouth shut, follow orders and do his duty.
Thank God we had FDR running the show then, and the Greatest Generation leading the charge. There was no such thing as fake news or phoney leaders. America was really great back then, before some clown vowed insincerely to make it great again.
A new congress will seat tomorrow morning, and though I have little faith in the Democrats (see their championing of ineffective Elizabeth Warren as a potential candidate), I hope that maybe some of those wimps will finally stand up to this monster who has degraded our great country to the point where it is unrecognizable from where it once stood.
Democrats are namby-pamby and generally do not have what it takes to face off with Republicans, who by their very nature are akin to Nazis. This is not to say that they are Nazis, just to say that they have that element and those desires within them, exemplified by the criminal Trump, who would be in prison in a just world.
Here's hoping, though not expecting, that the Democrats will stand up to this maniac and finally shut him down, starting tomorrow.
Prayers to God and fingers crossed. Two Thumbs Up for "Action Across The Atlantic".
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Sorry to be so graphic but I had to give you an accurate description of the film's opening. It is The Real McCoy, as they used to say. The Nazis are ruthless as usual, trying to machine gun the survivors, and when that doesn't work, they ram the tiny lifeboat with their 250 ton U-Boat.
Bogey and Captain Raymond Massey survive, along with a few other sailors like Alan Hale Sr. and great 40s charater actor Dane Cook. Each man vows to sail again. They take great pride in their work as civilians supplying the armed forces against Hitler. Back at port, their Admiral tells them they are doing one of the most important jobs in the war. After a half hour interlude with each main character recovering back in the States with wives and family, the men are back at sea in a new ship, modern and fully equipped with the latest gunnery and even depth charges. The ship is loaded to the gills with cargo. Tanks, artillery, shells, gasoline, etc. This time their destination is Vladivostok, to supply our Russian allies with much needed machinery.
Can you imagine that the Russians were once our allies, albeit for a short period of time? One thing is for sure, if it had not been for them, Hitler might well have won the war. The Russians lost 20 million people (civilian and military) in the effort to stop Naziism, a mind bending and staggering number, a number that was one third of all war dead.
"Action In The North Atlantic" is also what was called a Propaganda Film, made during the war years and full of dialogue about how important it was for a sailor (or any soldier) to keep his mouth shut, follow orders and do his duty.
Thank God we had FDR running the show then, and the Greatest Generation leading the charge. There was no such thing as fake news or phoney leaders. America was really great back then, before some clown vowed insincerely to make it great again.
A new congress will seat tomorrow morning, and though I have little faith in the Democrats (see their championing of ineffective Elizabeth Warren as a potential candidate), I hope that maybe some of those wimps will finally stand up to this monster who has degraded our great country to the point where it is unrecognizable from where it once stood.
Democrats are namby-pamby and generally do not have what it takes to face off with Republicans, who by their very nature are akin to Nazis. This is not to say that they are Nazis, just to say that they have that element and those desires within them, exemplified by the criminal Trump, who would be in prison in a just world.
Here's hoping, though not expecting, that the Democrats will stand up to this maniac and finally shut him down, starting tomorrow.
Prayers to God and fingers crossed. Two Thumbs Up for "Action Across The Atlantic".
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Happy New Year + January 2nd + Rose Parade + "13 Demon Street" + It's Freezing
Happy New Year once again. I hope you had a nice New Year's Day, and since it is after Midnight as I write, that means it's actually January 2nd, which means that it's time for my annual observation:
"Can you believe it's January 2nd already? Man........(you can fill in the blanks)".
Or, on the off-but-nearly-impossible chance you've never heard my little joke before, I shall repeat it in full. We'll consider it a New Year's tradition.
"Can you believe it's January 2nd already? Man, the year is just flying by".
Now is that the funniest thing you've ever heard or what? I can hear your laughter through my computer speakers. By tomorrow night at 11:59 and 59 seconds, the joke will be back under mothballs for 365 days, so repeat it all you can until then, for maximum yucks. :)
Didn't do much today but watch the Rose Parade, which was on repeat all afternoon on KTLA Channel 5. Pearl loves to watch it, so I left it on until 4:30, when I had to watch at least some of the Rose Bowl. Washington made a game out of it in the fourth quarter but had too big a hole to crawl out of, so Ohio State, one of college football's legendary teams, hung on to win.
No movie tonight, but I did watch the final episode of "Kolchak" from my complete series dvd set that I bought around Fall 2017. There were 20 episodes in this excellent but short lived series, which was an inspiration for "The X-Files", and every episode was a classic. Long live Darren McGavin, a great actor who had a varied career, but who was Carl Kolchak, the character he became most known for. I also watched two short episodes of a very demented and even shorter lived series from 1959 called "13 Demon Street". It was a horror anthology series hosted by Lon Chaney Jr. who, in his introductions, portrayed a criminal so evil that he was said to have committed the worst sins in human history, and so was condemned to live in a dungeon below "13 Demon Street" until he could find a criminal worse than he. If he could do that, Satan would release him. So in the two episodes I saw, which were included as bonus material in my Boris Karloff "The Veil" complete series dvd set, Lon Chaney Jr. began each episode in the dungeon, looking particularly debased, and attempting to persuade the audience that the story they are about to see was perpetrated by a Man More Evil, and thus he Lon Chaney Jr. should finally be freed.
There were just two episodes of "13 Demon Street" included on my "Veil" set, and from what I see on IMDB, only 13 episodes were made (how fitting, right?) But the whole production is downright weird. It seems to have been made for Swedish TV, of all places, and the actors are mostly American but with one or two Swedes, speaking English, per episode. Lon Chaney looks like he didn't need any makeup to play his role of the guy in the dungeon, and beyond all of that, the two shows I saw were just plain weird and super creepy. Both episodes starred the same girl, an actress named Pat Clavin, whose IMDB bio reveals little because her career must have come and gone.
But it is the Swedish stiffness combined with conventional American acting that makes this truly unusual series so weird. I mean, who the hell ever heard of a Swedish/American TV show, and a horror show at that, that starred Lon Chaney Jr. as the World's Worst Person living in a dungeon below a house owned by The Devil.....I mean, surely you jest though I know that you don't.
I'd like to see the full thirteen episodes but I don't think they are available, so two will have to suffice.
You might be able to Youtube them, but if you want them in better quality you'll have to order "The Veil" complete series starring our old buddy Boris Karloff, no stranger to creepiness himself.
Me, I am tired from last night's revelry and today's early rise, but more than that it is absolutely fruhHeezing tonight. Felt like low 40s, no fun. I did my full walk but only because I am programmed to do so. Supposed to go down to 34 tomorrow night.
Midwesterners say "surely you jest". I say "L.A. Cold".
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
"Can you believe it's January 2nd already? Man........(you can fill in the blanks)".
Or, on the off-but-nearly-impossible chance you've never heard my little joke before, I shall repeat it in full. We'll consider it a New Year's tradition.
"Can you believe it's January 2nd already? Man, the year is just flying by".
Now is that the funniest thing you've ever heard or what? I can hear your laughter through my computer speakers. By tomorrow night at 11:59 and 59 seconds, the joke will be back under mothballs for 365 days, so repeat it all you can until then, for maximum yucks. :)
Didn't do much today but watch the Rose Parade, which was on repeat all afternoon on KTLA Channel 5. Pearl loves to watch it, so I left it on until 4:30, when I had to watch at least some of the Rose Bowl. Washington made a game out of it in the fourth quarter but had too big a hole to crawl out of, so Ohio State, one of college football's legendary teams, hung on to win.
No movie tonight, but I did watch the final episode of "Kolchak" from my complete series dvd set that I bought around Fall 2017. There were 20 episodes in this excellent but short lived series, which was an inspiration for "The X-Files", and every episode was a classic. Long live Darren McGavin, a great actor who had a varied career, but who was Carl Kolchak, the character he became most known for. I also watched two short episodes of a very demented and even shorter lived series from 1959 called "13 Demon Street". It was a horror anthology series hosted by Lon Chaney Jr. who, in his introductions, portrayed a criminal so evil that he was said to have committed the worst sins in human history, and so was condemned to live in a dungeon below "13 Demon Street" until he could find a criminal worse than he. If he could do that, Satan would release him. So in the two episodes I saw, which were included as bonus material in my Boris Karloff "The Veil" complete series dvd set, Lon Chaney Jr. began each episode in the dungeon, looking particularly debased, and attempting to persuade the audience that the story they are about to see was perpetrated by a Man More Evil, and thus he Lon Chaney Jr. should finally be freed.
There were just two episodes of "13 Demon Street" included on my "Veil" set, and from what I see on IMDB, only 13 episodes were made (how fitting, right?) But the whole production is downright weird. It seems to have been made for Swedish TV, of all places, and the actors are mostly American but with one or two Swedes, speaking English, per episode. Lon Chaney looks like he didn't need any makeup to play his role of the guy in the dungeon, and beyond all of that, the two shows I saw were just plain weird and super creepy. Both episodes starred the same girl, an actress named Pat Clavin, whose IMDB bio reveals little because her career must have come and gone.
But it is the Swedish stiffness combined with conventional American acting that makes this truly unusual series so weird. I mean, who the hell ever heard of a Swedish/American TV show, and a horror show at that, that starred Lon Chaney Jr. as the World's Worst Person living in a dungeon below a house owned by The Devil.....I mean, surely you jest though I know that you don't.
I'd like to see the full thirteen episodes but I don't think they are available, so two will have to suffice.
You might be able to Youtube them, but if you want them in better quality you'll have to order "The Veil" complete series starring our old buddy Boris Karloff, no stranger to creepiness himself.
Me, I am tired from last night's revelry and today's early rise, but more than that it is absolutely fruhHeezing tonight. Felt like low 40s, no fun. I did my full walk but only because I am programmed to do so. Supposed to go down to 34 tomorrow night.
Midwesterners say "surely you jest". I say "L.A. Cold".
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
Happy New Year! + 2018 "Best Of"
Happy New Year! I hope you are looking forward to 2019 with anticipation and optimism. For myself, while I can't say that 2018 was all that different from years of the recent past, I am nevertheless the Eternal Optimist who hopes for exceptional occurrences in the coming year, and I wish for the same in your life too, and all good blessings. We had fun tonight here at Pearl's. She is 94, but managed to stay up until just a little while ago. We watched the ball drop in Times Square with Anderson Cooper on CNN. Pearl had a blast and was excited. In years past she has always been asleep at Midnight on New Year's Eve, but back in January I read an article about the benefits of liquid vitamin B1 for the elderly, and especially for dementia patients. We started using it with Pearl and it's done wonders for her energy level and alertness. So right there, that's something exceptional that happened in 2018.
As I said above, my routine did not vary much from years past, simply because of my job requirements, but I did watch a lot of movies, read a fair amount of books, and went to a few concerts, too. It's worth doing a "best of" in each category, I think, just for the heck of it.
I write down all my movies in my journal notebook, and wouldja believe it - I just tallied them up and I watched 225 flicks this year. Holy Smokes. That's not even close to my record, though. One year, when I lived with my Mom, we watched 400 movies, which meant double features on some nights. But of all the movies I watched in 2018, one stood out as not just a great film but an experience to be remembered for life. That was the screening I attended, in June, of Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. They were showing the movie in 70mm, projected on film, not digital, just as it had been shown when it opened in 1968, fifty years earlier.
What made this screening extra special was that I had been taken by my Dad to see "2001", in 70mm, when it opened in April 1968. We saw it at the Cinerama Dome. I had just turned eight years old.
I never again saw the movie in the intervening years, so it was quite an experience and really something to contemplate, seeing the film when it opened, at the Dome with my Dad, and then not seeing it for fifty years (a half century), and then seeing it for a second time, fifty years later, at the same theater and projected once again in 70mm. Dad was with me in spirit this time. It was The Movie Of The Year. ////
As for books, I read about 30 in 2018, everything from JFK and RFK assassination theories, to a history of native American genocide, to a story of missing Russian hikers, to Richard Hoagland's "Monuments Of Mars". I read true crime books and crime fiction. Two Stephen Kings and three Paul Tremblays. I read a lot this year, so much that it affected by drawing output, which I will devote more attention to in 2019. For my book of the year, it came down to three choices. Two were biographies I absolutely loved, one about the ultra genius physicist Paul Dirac, who discovered antimatter and who, in a way, was even more brilliant than Einstein. But more than that, he was a very interesting person, one with a lot of quirks, and incredibly shy. As a shy person myself (though not to the extent of Dirac), I could relate. Moreover, I learned a lot about his work in quantum theory.
I also thoroughly enjoyed David Lynch's biography. He is one of my favorite filmmakers and probably my favorite overall artist, and his life has been as unique and interesting as his art. It was amazing to learn of all the people he has met and the situations he has found himself in.
But I think the very best book I read all year - or let's say the most important - was Tom Bearden's "Energy From The Vacuum", a 900 page tome that took me four months to complete. In the process, I felt like a earned an honorary degree in electrodynamics, so elucidating was Bearden's comprehensive explanations about the way in which electrons and photons are cycled in and out of "4space" and 3space", 4space including the time dimension and 3space being our visible world. Far better to allow Col. Bearden explain how dipoles are formed and how "negentropy" recycles energy through systems open to the vacuum. I had to learn a new language to read this book, though it did not include impossible equations ala Coxeter's "Regular Polytopes", thank goodness. Still, "Energy From The Vacuum" took a good deal of concentration to get through. It was made easier by Bearden's use of repetition of his theories and their terminology, and by his talent for explaining these concepts to the layman. It is a revolutionary book, I think, and it really extended my knowledge of the way things work. If you ever want to challenge yourself (unless you are already a phD electrodynamicist) you might give this book a try. It will flat out blow your mind, and that it why it is my book of the year.
As for concerts, I only went to 13, and I saw some great shows including Eric Johnson, Alcest, Alice Cooper and Hilary Hahn. But the show of the year has to go to Todd Rundgren's Utopia, who had reunited for the first time since.....(when?)......sometime in the 1980s? Well anyway, they came out with most of the classic lineup intact, Todd on guitar and vocals, Kasim Sulton on bass and vocals, and Willie Wilcox on drums and vocals. They had a new keyboardist who also sang, completing the four part harmonies that were reproduced flawlessly in concert. They opened with the 18 minute "Utopia Theme" from the first album, a work from 1974 that rivals the best of English progressive rock. These are men in their 70s or mid 60s. They played a 2 hour 15 minute set almost without a break, of some of the greatest progressive and pop music of the 70s and 80s. As we all know, Todd is Godd all by himself as a solo act, but he is a Supreme Being as the leader of Utopia as well. We fans never thought we'd see them again, as they had called it quits eons ago and never a word was spoken since. But for whatever reason, Todd pulled them all together again for one last go round (or maybe there will be more, please!), and not only was the playing and singing incredible, and the energy level that of 35 year olds, but the colorful lighting took us fans back to a more psychedelic time when the music was new, and provided a perfect backdrop for the reemergence of our long lost band, who never lost a step in all those missing years.
So Todd Rundgren gets Concert Of The Year for the third year in a row. He is off the charts good. And so was everybody else I saw.
The only other thing I do besides work, is hike. I didn't hike anywhere near as much as I did in, say, 2015, but I still did a few good ones. Two or three were even farther and more intense than anything I've ever done, so very briefly I will say that my hike of the year was at Rocky Peak in June, when I did an almost 8 mile round tripper, going nearly four miles into the sandstone wilderness of the Santa Susana mountains. It was mega, and made me feel that I could still do it, still get out there and really explore. ////
So those were some highlights of 2018. I am the eternal optimist as reported earlier, and so in 2019 I hope for two things, companionship (non-male, thanks) - or even a relationship - and I hope to learn about what happened to me in 1989, nearly 30 years ago now, the event that forever changed my life.
Nothing means as much as those two things : to have someone I can share life with, and for myself, to know What Happened. I will hope and pray for these things as I do at the start of every year, and I will believe that they will happen. They are all I've got. ////
See you in the morning. Happy New Year! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
As I said above, my routine did not vary much from years past, simply because of my job requirements, but I did watch a lot of movies, read a fair amount of books, and went to a few concerts, too. It's worth doing a "best of" in each category, I think, just for the heck of it.
I write down all my movies in my journal notebook, and wouldja believe it - I just tallied them up and I watched 225 flicks this year. Holy Smokes. That's not even close to my record, though. One year, when I lived with my Mom, we watched 400 movies, which meant double features on some nights. But of all the movies I watched in 2018, one stood out as not just a great film but an experience to be remembered for life. That was the screening I attended, in June, of Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. They were showing the movie in 70mm, projected on film, not digital, just as it had been shown when it opened in 1968, fifty years earlier.
What made this screening extra special was that I had been taken by my Dad to see "2001", in 70mm, when it opened in April 1968. We saw it at the Cinerama Dome. I had just turned eight years old.
I never again saw the movie in the intervening years, so it was quite an experience and really something to contemplate, seeing the film when it opened, at the Dome with my Dad, and then not seeing it for fifty years (a half century), and then seeing it for a second time, fifty years later, at the same theater and projected once again in 70mm. Dad was with me in spirit this time. It was The Movie Of The Year. ////
As for books, I read about 30 in 2018, everything from JFK and RFK assassination theories, to a history of native American genocide, to a story of missing Russian hikers, to Richard Hoagland's "Monuments Of Mars". I read true crime books and crime fiction. Two Stephen Kings and three Paul Tremblays. I read a lot this year, so much that it affected by drawing output, which I will devote more attention to in 2019. For my book of the year, it came down to three choices. Two were biographies I absolutely loved, one about the ultra genius physicist Paul Dirac, who discovered antimatter and who, in a way, was even more brilliant than Einstein. But more than that, he was a very interesting person, one with a lot of quirks, and incredibly shy. As a shy person myself (though not to the extent of Dirac), I could relate. Moreover, I learned a lot about his work in quantum theory.
I also thoroughly enjoyed David Lynch's biography. He is one of my favorite filmmakers and probably my favorite overall artist, and his life has been as unique and interesting as his art. It was amazing to learn of all the people he has met and the situations he has found himself in.
But I think the very best book I read all year - or let's say the most important - was Tom Bearden's "Energy From The Vacuum", a 900 page tome that took me four months to complete. In the process, I felt like a earned an honorary degree in electrodynamics, so elucidating was Bearden's comprehensive explanations about the way in which electrons and photons are cycled in and out of "4space" and 3space", 4space including the time dimension and 3space being our visible world. Far better to allow Col. Bearden explain how dipoles are formed and how "negentropy" recycles energy through systems open to the vacuum. I had to learn a new language to read this book, though it did not include impossible equations ala Coxeter's "Regular Polytopes", thank goodness. Still, "Energy From The Vacuum" took a good deal of concentration to get through. It was made easier by Bearden's use of repetition of his theories and their terminology, and by his talent for explaining these concepts to the layman. It is a revolutionary book, I think, and it really extended my knowledge of the way things work. If you ever want to challenge yourself (unless you are already a phD electrodynamicist) you might give this book a try. It will flat out blow your mind, and that it why it is my book of the year.
As for concerts, I only went to 13, and I saw some great shows including Eric Johnson, Alcest, Alice Cooper and Hilary Hahn. But the show of the year has to go to Todd Rundgren's Utopia, who had reunited for the first time since.....(when?)......sometime in the 1980s? Well anyway, they came out with most of the classic lineup intact, Todd on guitar and vocals, Kasim Sulton on bass and vocals, and Willie Wilcox on drums and vocals. They had a new keyboardist who also sang, completing the four part harmonies that were reproduced flawlessly in concert. They opened with the 18 minute "Utopia Theme" from the first album, a work from 1974 that rivals the best of English progressive rock. These are men in their 70s or mid 60s. They played a 2 hour 15 minute set almost without a break, of some of the greatest progressive and pop music of the 70s and 80s. As we all know, Todd is Godd all by himself as a solo act, but he is a Supreme Being as the leader of Utopia as well. We fans never thought we'd see them again, as they had called it quits eons ago and never a word was spoken since. But for whatever reason, Todd pulled them all together again for one last go round (or maybe there will be more, please!), and not only was the playing and singing incredible, and the energy level that of 35 year olds, but the colorful lighting took us fans back to a more psychedelic time when the music was new, and provided a perfect backdrop for the reemergence of our long lost band, who never lost a step in all those missing years.
So Todd Rundgren gets Concert Of The Year for the third year in a row. He is off the charts good. And so was everybody else I saw.
The only other thing I do besides work, is hike. I didn't hike anywhere near as much as I did in, say, 2015, but I still did a few good ones. Two or three were even farther and more intense than anything I've ever done, so very briefly I will say that my hike of the year was at Rocky Peak in June, when I did an almost 8 mile round tripper, going nearly four miles into the sandstone wilderness of the Santa Susana mountains. It was mega, and made me feel that I could still do it, still get out there and really explore. ////
So those were some highlights of 2018. I am the eternal optimist as reported earlier, and so in 2019 I hope for two things, companionship (non-male, thanks) - or even a relationship - and I hope to learn about what happened to me in 1989, nearly 30 years ago now, the event that forever changed my life.
Nothing means as much as those two things : to have someone I can share life with, and for myself, to know What Happened. I will hope and pray for these things as I do at the start of every year, and I will believe that they will happen. They are all I've got. ////
See you in the morning. Happy New Year! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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