#I think Ben is like ... 1955? Something around that

[breitzbachbea]

Honestly, kind of fascinating of Paddy seeing himself in Charlie and Harry and getting how Ben felt with him ("YE TOE-RAG") and sometimes does act like the old man ("No one is fucking anyone here until the deal is through!") and sometimes he simply can't. Partially also because he's not queer so he can't offer something from the same place, a similiar understanding that he and Ben had. The other part is because Paddy just wants the boys to be happy and doesn't believe in tough love. ("So, butterflies, huh?")

[mitigatedchaos]

Alright, so it's a magic program that's added on to an American public high school by a lone philanthropist. That gives you a lot of options, since the program would be so heavily influenced by one guy.

Presumably this means that magic isn't common (or it would be a standard subject), and also it isn't so useful militarily that it's a central pillar of most countries' warmaking doctrines (or the late 20th-century United States wouldn't be relying on a "stapled-on" program).

[ * checks pinned post * ]

Alright. Melanie is the character from a favorable background. Marksteppers are "spirit magic shamans," in contrast to Wardens, who are "rules-magic engineers." Florentino, who had a great deal of influence on the town, is a Warden.

Florida's population went from about 1.8% of the USA's in 1943, to about 6.8% in 2023. There's commentary out there that the US south couldn't develop until widespread air conditioning (sometimes applied to hot, humid areas more generally, such as LKY's comment on aircon in Singapore).

...which leaves me wondering how much you set this location selection up on purpose.

Florida is new. You can treat whatever was built there as having arrived after Disneyland (1955), allowing you to draw out the traits of late 20th-century America in specific.

New Orleans is well-known for having been colonized by the French, and being somewhat culturally distinctive from the rest of the United States.

Switzerland is 22-28% French-speaking. Then of course, that's just if you want to create some distance from actual France.

For "the East Coast," the obvious play is New England, which is more Anglo (or Dutch) in contrast to French if you want to increase the contrast with New Orleans. Within New England, in or near New York City would provide a footing that's more diverse and global, while in or near Boston could be used to imply a more elitist school (either via connections (Harvard) or testing (MIT)). Someplace like Maine or Connecticut could be used to emphasize more classical colonial-era-descended Americans.

(If you want a school more focused on espionage or government contracting, then you could skip New England and put it near Washington, D.C. I don't think you want to emphasize either aerospace or information technology, or you would've picked the west coast instead.)

Anyhow, that kind of sets it up right there, doesn't it?

There is an English school of magic that was imported to America during the colonial era and began diverging around that time. It has a very light sprinkling in of some Native American elements, and it's more adapted to the sunny and broad frontier of the United States rather than the claustrophobic and rainy British Isles. (Why, didn't you know? Ben Franklin himself was a magician!)

There is a French school of magic that was popular shortly before or around the time of the French Revolution, which was then integrated with other magic from the various French colonies (and other migrants) and from Native Americans, and showed up in New Orleans as this rather blended variety of magic.

There is another French school of magic that reflects the development of France since French Revolution - here you have the option to go with a high modernist magic, a postmodernist magic, or have the pre-revolutionary magic users flee to Switzerland if you want something more traditional, or even have a revival. There may also be, as a joke, an Academie Francaise which regulates the French use of magic in order to keep it distinctively French.

Florida magic then represents the Post-WW2 US that we're more familiar with.

The idea of spirit-magic shamans suggests working with spirits, and this presents an opportunity - whether people are making contracts with spirits, or whether spirits are just helping them out, the spirits themselves might prefer to stick to some particular geography. To be a true practitioner of some schools, it may be necessary to journey to a particular place. The benefits available, and associated learning paths, and associated development from generations of magic users, might be fairly different from place to place.

That could provide the students with plenty to talk about.

As for a specific topic: little is more post-1955 America than cars.

Floridians take it as a given that you can ward a car, as an enclosed space. This is actually not trivial, and is the result of a great deal of work.

Euros have spells related to trains.

East Coasters still have spells for sailing and cycling and maybe also sports.

In New Orleans, people use magic to summon a horse.

So I'm about 60% done with the draft of this manuscript, and have more or less figured out how the endgame is gonna go. At this point, Melanie is attending, with several teammates (and several others, including Tabby and Lynd, staying home) a spring-break gathering for magic users and supernaturalists at the country house of a veteran Warden family in east Tennessee. There, she'll learn a lot more about her family history and what Marksteppers really are--that I've got pretty much planned out. What I wouldn't mind some ideas on is that there are going to be three other student delegations, all from private academies devoted to the magical arts, one in the New Orleans area, one somewhere on the East Coast, and one in Switzerland or maybe France.

These other schools are, metatextually, the sort of blueblooded, centuries-old, gothic institutions that normally take center stage in books like mine, whereas the Lost Kids are stapled onto a normie-ass American public high school founded by the very new-money and future-focused Florentino Cervantes, and I'm not sure how I want the culture clash to work there. I want to avoid the sort of 'ew, commoners' reaction, because I think that's hacky and predictable (although it will probably bubble up at some point), and I think it would be more interesting just for the groups to be curious about each other. In a "Wait, you don't do x? Our school does that all the time" way. Part of my purposes with setting this book in the late 90s was to evoke the bigness of a world without Google or smartphones, so I wanna get this right.

Anyway, if any of you have any ideas I'd love to hear them, particularly of the 'I always wanted to see someone take the piss out of such-and-such Magic School trope' kind.

[feralnumberfive]

The Rewatch Academy: Episode 6 of Season 1

“The Day That Wasn’t”

I am in no way a good analyst so my little analysis and speculations probably sound a bit goofy or pretty wild and probably mean nothing at all. Everything I put into this post about each episode is purely what I noticed or thought, whether it’s funny or serious. I will be making jokes, so please just leave it at that (in no way am I trying to make fun of an actor and or character!) I am also in no way saying I noticed this stuff first. This is just what I noticed while rewatching these episodes

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

| 1x01 | 1x02 | 1x03 | 1x04 | 1x05 |

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

☂ Klaus is lucky that he never got the briefcase shot up

☂ *Hears Klaus flush the toilet and talk* Luther: Oh good, you’re up

☂ Also Luther gave Klaus about two seconds to get up before hounding him again on getting downstairs

☂ Sounds like Tom’s accent slipped a little bit when he said “three days”

☂ Yeah they needed to have a family meeting right away and yet they took the time to go get coffee or at least order it and have it delivered

☂ “Old bastard” and “Our little psycho” 

☂ I still don’t get at this point how they wouldn’t believe Five. Look at him, he himself is evidence of his time traveling! He was gone for 45 years, but to them it was only 17. Either way they try to grasp at that, Five would look older if he made it back without messing up. He knew about their father’s death without anyone telling him. I really think all the mistrust comes from the way he looks and the way he acts (they obviously believe he’s just crazy right now)

☂ “What did Five even see?”

☂ Also throw back to 1x02 and I didn’t realized this until now but Five doesn’t have his tie

☂ I know it’s for the title card gag but no one questions the random umbrella falling and popping open

☂ I aspire to be as sarcastic as Hazel

☂ So where exactly is The Commission HQ at? Is it a random location in the real world? If so then wouldn’t normal people happen to stumble upon it? What about their location in space in the comics? Is this in space?? All we know is that it’s in/based off of the year 1955

☂ “I’d like to discuss the logistics of my family’s safety at your earliest convenience.” He cuts right to what’s most important to him. No “How will you stop the apocalypse?” or “What’s my job?” and even “How will my body replacement work?”

☂ Five sounds almost like he’s snapped back into a work mindset. He's suddenly polite and calm with The Handler. Maybe being back in a work environment has made his brain automatically switch into being more professional. However he might also be acting this way to try to throw her off of him being antsy with a plan

☂ Here's some Commission posters shown throughout 1x06

☂ One of us, one of us, one of us-

☂ So basically The Commission makes up history? How do they know what to do and when to make something happen? How do they know it’s right? And what’s The Commission supposed to do when the world ends? Haven't they already fixed stuff in the past or are there just continuous time loops so they need to make sure things happen over and over again? If multiple historical events happen with multiple ways they are made, then which one gets to be in the original timeline??

☂ Dot: No hard feelings! 😁

Ma’am does it look like he’s going to accept that

☂ Wait why are Hazel and Cha-Cha considered the best Temporal Assassins if Five was/is the best?

☂ Well Five has the job of taking down the Hindenburg again but this time from behind a desk. So it’s possible to accomplish “corrections” without actually having assassins do the work. So I guess there’s just so many timelines that they need to fix every single one of them over and over? That sounds like a pain in the ass

☂ TUA portraits!

☂ Y’know I have to agree with Allison on this one. Vanya was left out, however she’s offering to talk with her about the important family matter and Vanya is just denying it. I get she’s upset, but her sister is offering to include her. After Vanya leaves Allison immediately wants to go after her to talk with her. On the other hand Allison should have told her it was an emergency meeting and that they didn’t have the time to ask Vanya to join them

☂ Klaus seems genuinely concerned/upset for Vanya

☂ “We need to figure out what causes the apocalypse. Now, there are loads of possibilities. Nuclear war, asteroids.” Wow spot on, Luther! I can’t believe they actually included foreshadowing for both apocalypses (even though technically it was a chunk of the moon, not an asteroid.) I wonder how much foreshadowing for S3 was put into S2.......

☂ I know it’s big joke about Luther and the moon, but the poor guy just really believes that he was on the moon for an important reason. I mean if I were in his shoes I would believe him too since he had to send a lot of daily updates and samples

☂ “Klaus shockingly has a point. What gives us a win this time?” Shhhh careful Diego, he’s right behind you

☂ Luther is initially the only one onboard with Five on trying to stop the apocalypse. All the others want to go off and do their own thing before the world ends. He tries to get The Umbrella Academy back together to work as a team, but his leadership skills are now severely lacking. Do people *cough cough* mainly people who hate him *cough cough* overlook Luther wanting to also get his family together to stop the apocalypse with his family? Definitely. 

☂ “We need the full force of the Academy to stand a chance.” Well golly gee, Allison, what did did Luther just try to do? Was that not him trying to round up all of The Umbrella Academy to stop the apocalypse? 

☂ Even though Vanya is ranting, how does she not hear all the creaking metal and shaking cars?

☂ *it’s sunny around them but just the block they’re walking on is rainy until she calms down* “ThAt’S a CoInCiDeNcE.” 

☂ The hall floor and Diego’s floor are so dusty

☂ It’s sweet that Diego wants Klaus to get clean in a safe way instead of going cold turkey 

☂ Dot, what does “utter silence” mean to you?

☂ “Look at you, deadly little thing.” You’re not wrong, but I don’t think he appreciates being called “thing”

☂ Such a smug smile

☂ So how does Five know all of this about Karl and his son? Does it talk about Otto never washing his hands in the file? That seems like an oddly specific detail but I guess in a case file it gives as many details as possible for the worker to figure out who needs to get assassinated

☂ There are a few cog references all relating to The Commission, so I wonder if this is a nod to “Teenagers” or if they’re just using this terminology

☂ Odd tattoos (sorry for the super blurry pic)

☂ “Can I ask you a cuckoo bananas question?” Hazel is such a fun guy

☂ “Wouldn’t it be nice to kill who you want for a change?” You mean like straight up unhinged murder? 

☂ The first time I watched this Hazel and Cha-Cha scene I for sure thought that Hazel was a dead man

☂ This scene just absolutely breaks my heart 💔

☂ *skips 25:24-27:42*

☂ Diego is just so accepting to everything Klaus is saying

☂ I’m sorry, are we suddenly on the set of The Phantom of the Opera?

☂ Diego, I think you’re forgetting a very important person in your life who you let down too who is also dead......(poor Ben can’t believe what his brother just said so he leaves)

☂ “Ordinary is not a word I’d use to describe you.” You’re right, it’s “Extra Ordinary” ha! Sorry Vanya, I had to use that joke

☂ Well at least we know Five ate a sandwich 

☂ How exciting! The same division that made a simple candy taste like a candy from the past, but technically it’s not the past since The Commission HQ is based in 1955, is building a human body! That sounds so promising 

☂ Sooooo whatever happened to Five’s new body? Is it just sitting in a lab somewhere?? Or is The Handler just lying about it to try to get Five to stay at The Commission?

☂ With the amount of time Five was staring at the suit, it obviously hurt him to know that while he has a new body within reach, he’s not going to get it because he’s about to leave

☂ “Course it’s a bit easier to see from 30,000 feet.” What is she talking about Reconnaissance aircraft? There was no mention of aircraft though so why would she bring that up? My closest guess is that she’s referring to strategic bombing in general, or even the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

☂ It sounds like Five suddenly has a New York accent when he says “operator” when talking to The Handler about Gloria

☂ Fuck you, Veggie Tales Hargreeves

☂ *skips 36:47-39:48*

☂ Well there’s your hit, Klaus

☂ I love the camera moving with Klaus as he falls and the transition into Vietnam

☂ “Lock and load, Charlie’s away!” Wikipedia’s definition of a “Charlie” is  an American military slang referring to the Viiet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers

☂ Klaus desperately calling out for a medic hurts my heart

☂ Well Luther if you had left then your body wouldn’t be the way it is now

☂ *fucking skips 45:41-50:00* 

☂ Ooooh I just really love the entirety of the “Kill Of The Night” scene! If you listen to the lyrics it’s about someone luring someone into a trap to get revenge because they messed with the wrong person (it’s also about love but we’re going to ignore that part). I personally believe it’s aimed at The Commission from Five because the entire time it plays he’s messing things up for them and in some way it’s like a little bit of revenge from him

☂ Why is Gloria confused on who Hazel and Cha-Cha are? Hasn’t she heard their names a ton of times especially since they’re some of the best assassins?

☂ How did Five know which tubes to put the messages in? 

☂ You can see at this part how Five immediately gets anxious and antsy. He has a wild look in his eyes. From this point onwards he’s constantly moving, shaking with energy, anticipation, and probably a little bit of anger

☂ “You’re a great disappointment to me.” That’s definitely not the first time he’s heard that

☂ “I don’t belong anywhere thanks to you. You made me a killer!” The first part of that stings. Obviously he feels like he doesn’t belong anywhere, but again I think has to do with the whole “good” and “bad” thing that’s going on. He feels like he doesn’t belong at home because he’s “bad” and has done a lot of dark stuff to get home (it doesn’t help that Luther voiced his acknowledgment of this  to Five and now he has that in his mind that Luther knows and somewhat views him as “bad”). Five 100% feels shame in what he has done, and definitely has an issue of coming back to his family with blood on his hands form what he has done. He doesn’t belong in The Commission anymore because he doesn’t want to stay there to do their dirty work to kill or give out kill orders. He’s done with that or at least wants to be done with that life.

The last statement though is Five taking his anger and guilt about being becoming an assassin out on The Handler. She brought him into The Commission, which in turn he became the best assassin across The Space-Time Continuum. It’s not something he’s proud of, and he never enjoyed killing (as much as I want it to be the DNA alteration I just don’t think it exists in the show or at least not yet). However The Handler replies with “You were always a killer. I just pointed you in a direction.” which you can immediately tell has struck a chord with Five. For the briefest second he looks taken aback and his eyes ever so slightly open wider in shock, whether he took that as the truth or just a terrible accusation isn’t exactly clear. Either way he doesn’t like being accused or hearing the truth out loud of always being able to be murderous, a killer. 

I believe it’s a mixture of The Handler just trying to get into his head and a combination of the truth. Reginald trained The Umbrella Academy to use brute force, but that doesn’t mean Five had killed anyone but he was definitely violent when it came to stopping bad guys (not to mention in the pilot script he was called a “Ruthless little war machine” after violently attacking and decapitating a bunch of mannequins)

☂ Diego: I’m going to go kill Hazel and Cha-Cha!........Riiiiight after I get done walking with my mom in the park

☂ He’s so happy to see Klaus again 

☂ ✨Gremlin✨

☂ Who exactly does Five owe a debt to? Maybe his family after accidentally leaving them and now he wants to save them? Or is it a singular person?  

☂ Ouch! Now that’s what I call a problem later!

☂ 

☂ Five using “Ya’ll” is weird to hear

☂ Five is talking to his siblings like he knows what’s been happening but in reality he’s rarely been at home so how would he know

☂ I love that Five doesn't even answer Diego at the end and instead just stares at his siblings 

☂☂☂☂☂☂☂

Feel free to comment or reblog with things you have noticed too!

[dweemeister]

The Phenix City Story (1955)

Southeastern Alabama and southwestern Georgia are separated by the Chattahoochee River. Along the Alabamian banks of this river is Phenix City which, for over a century, became known as, “Sin City, USA”. Organized crime in league with the police department dealt in illicit drugs, fraud, rigged gambling operations, prostitution, and violence. These syndicates flourished on and around Phenix City’s 14th Street, and many of 14th Street’s patrons were Army soldiers visiting from nearby Fort Benning, Georgia (during the Civil War, deserting Confederate soldiers frequented Phenix City). So entrenched was Phenix City’s lawlessness that the city, state, and federal governments declined to do much to combat the organized crime. But in 1954, lawyer and Phenix City resident Albert Patterson ran for Attorney General of Alabama – campaigning partly on a platform to reform his hometown – and won. The Attorney General-elect’s assassination shortly before his swearing-in meant that Sin City, USA’s days were numbered.

With the events in Phenix City still in the news, Hollywood came knocking. Poverty Row studio Allied Artists envisioned an idea for a new movie – fast-tracking The Phenix City Story, directed by Phil Karlson (best known for his ‘50s film noirs) and a screenplay from Daniel Mainwaring (1947’s Out of the Past, 1956’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and Crane Wilbur (best known for acting alongside Pearl White in the 1914 serial The Perils of Pauline). Barely a year had passed since Albert Patterson’s assassination by the time of The Phenix City Story’s controversial release: this is a shockingly violent film for ‘50s Hollywood, and the film’s thirteen-minute documentary prologue was censored in the American South. Given Allied Artists’ lack of resources compared to the major Hollywood studios, The Phenix City Story is roughly acted, edited, and shot on occasion. But the film, shot on location and sometimes resembling a documentary, pulsates in its violent immediacy. Over time, it has shed its modest background to become a solid film noir.

Local lawyer Albert “Pat” Patterson (John McIntire) has lived in Phenix City for much of his life, privately despising the immorality plaguing downtown. Rhett Tanner (Edward Andrews) is the owner of Tanner’s Poppy Club – a den of booze and gambling where a bloody fistfight is shrugged off. Despite their disagreements, Pat and Tanner are friends and when the latter asks Pat to be part of a new citizens’ safety committee, he declines. Too many such committees have been created over the decades, sometimes masquerading as fronts for aiding criminal operations. However, Pat remarks, he is looking forward to something special. His son, John (Richard Kiley), is returning home from Germany after several years of prosecuting Nazi war criminals with wife Mary Jo (Lenka Peterson) and their children. When John, Mary Jo, and the children arrive, John is disappointed and Mary Jo is distraught at how Phenix City’s red-light district continues to be a hive of scum and villainy. A rapid turn of events involving the Patterson family’s friends and acquaintances – Ellie Rhodes (Kathryn Grant), Zeke Ward (James Edwards), and Ed Gage (Truman Smith) – will precipitate into a wave of assaults, bombings, and homicides that force Pat to run for Attorney General of Alabama.

Preceding most prints of The Phenix City Story is an introduction by journalist Clete Roberts, famous for his radio news reports, by then working for KNXT-TV (later KCBS) in Los Angeles, and is today best remembered for his role in two memorable episodes of M*A*S*H. Roberts, in the highly formal yet folksy journalistic style of mid-century America, interviews people who were close to the Patterson family or witnessed Phenix City’s violence leading up to Albert Patterson’s assassination. Roberts’ reporting is not as polished as it would eventually become. This makes the on-location prologue difficult to sit through, as Roberts asks too many leading questions and undeveloped questions that can be answered in one or a few words. The interviews do not flow smoothly between subjects. While these thirteen minutes make the rest of the film feel like a cinéma verité (generally, observational cinema) documentary within the mold of moody film noir, it can be grating to sit through. This review is based on a print of the film with the prologue included.

According to Ben Mankiewicz’s outro to the film on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in January 2020, the prologue was placed into The Phenix City Story to allow the film’s violence – the film is not beyond brutal brawls and hoodlums murdering children – to bypass the Hays Code (which censored what could be shown in American movies until 1968, when it was replaced by the present-day MPA ratings system). If the film’s violence could be framed like a documentary, the censors agreed to allow depictions of bloodied characters, sultry women baring their legs, and a casual use of the epithet “nigger” by police officers on the syndicates’ payroll. The prologue – however flawed it is – allows The Phenix City Story to be as brutal as it is. Some theaters in the American South, noting that there was no requirement to show the longer version of the film (the one containing the prologue) they were provided, refused to show the prints with the prologue, deeming the Roberts interviews as inflammatory and impugning the South’s reputation.

Perhaps Allied Artists executives did not think the American moviegoing audience was ready for a diatribe on race relations, but one can see the United States’ historic racial violence at the film’s extremities, waiting to burst alongside the film’s general depiction of Phenix City’s criminal corruption. The film’s most horrifying moment is when Zeke Ward’s child is murdered by Tanner’s hitmen. Zeke, a black employee at Tanner’s Poppy Club who abandons his job after being barely involved on John Patterson’s side of a vicious clash, is targeted for being sympathetic to the Pattersons. That Tanner chose a black person as his first victim is no coincidence; when the police receive word of his murdered child, the officer on the line hangs up the phone and tells his colleagues: “Somebody just threw a dead nigger kid on Patterson’s lawn. Go out and have a look.” There is no urgent inflection in the officer’s voice, as if that call is considered less important because the victim is not white. As a partial aside, those few seconds make me wonder what the censors thought in that moment, as the Hays Code forbade “vulgarity and suggestiveness”, and recommended “good taste” in the depiction of law enforcement; nevertheless, enforcement over the use of “nigger” and other racial epithets did not have a consistently-enforced standard or discernible pattern of contextual exceptions. The Phenix City Story does not concentrate on race for the purposes of telling its story, but the white gangsters and their enablers imply – through their behavior, and if I may appropriate and slightly alter this contemporary line – that black lives could not matter any less.

The Phenix City Story is filled with unfamiliar faces; only those fluent in classic television (and I am not) might squint in half-recognition of the actors involved. There are no bravura performances here, but John McIntire and Edward Andrews – as the elders of this tale, Albert Patterson and Rhett Tanner – stand out from an otherwise lackluster crowd. George White’s (1946’s The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1947’s Green Dolphins Street) editing is consistent. To his credit, The Phenix City Story, outside of the prologue, is never dull as it blasts away at a rocket’s pace. But during the film’s most violent moments, White’s editing fails to hide some of Allied Artists’ low-budget limitations. In the moment where Zeke’s murdered child is tossed out of a car, White fails to hide the fact that the child is a dummy. On my first viewing, I found myself confused about what the dummy was supposed to be. Was it a plastic alligator, a wooden log? Whatever it was, it looked so terribly phony that I couldn’t contain my laughter. Cut to a close-up of the child’s lifeless face. I realize my laughter arrived at the worst possible time. Good thing I watched this film alone. Nevertheless, a better attempt at editing or an alternative angle could have deemphasized the artifice here and spared me (and probably many others) the mortification of laughing at the worst possible time.

The collaboration between director Phil Karlson and screenwriter Daniel Mainwaring led The Phenix City Story down the path of film noir. Karlson’s experience with film noir and Mainwaring’s expertise in tackling material taking place in small-town America gift this film its lurid, sweltering Southern atmosphere. The Southern hospitality disguising traces of malevolence, the notion that residential Phenix City is supposedly far away – geographically and culturally – from 14th Street, and the familiar banter between acquaintances who know each other’s names and families help The Phenix City Story feel authentic to the audience. It makes the film’s violence personal, even when the Pattersons are nowhere near the camera. Karlson, with journeyman Allied Artists cinematographer Harry Neumann (1940’s Midnight Limited, 1959’s The Wasp Woman), implement the chiaroscuro lighting characteristic in film noir to chilling effect – most notably as John Patterson walks into 14th Street on his first night back to visit the drugstore.

Alabamians who lived through or close to the times of The Phenix City Story say that the film achieves the atmosphere of what life in Alabama was like in the mid-1950s, even though the film contains numerous fabrications to dramatize the narrative. The real John Patterson became Governor of Alabama in 1959 and, ironically in comparison to his depiction here, was a segregationist politician. But Patterson, who later renounced those segregationist views, was considered a liberal figure in Alabama, and he was immediately followed by George Wallace. Following its prologue, The Phenix City Story convulses in rage. It denounces fully the criminal skullduggery that made possible a century of ill repute, though not the white racism that it barely brushes. And despite its technical hiccups and occasional dubious acting, it is a prime example of Southern-set film noir.

My rating: 7.5/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here.

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, click here.

[spacetimewraithwrites-archive]

Temporal Displacement

“Hey, Benny, c’mere.”

Ben raised his eyes from his music book and let out an impatient sigh through his flared nostrils upon coming into immediate visual contact with the cardboard boxes strewn about Reagan’s kitchen, labeled and neatly organized as was his way of doing things. “I’m not fallin’ for that one again, pal.”

The sound of Reagan also sighing, wistfully, almost sadly, sent another bolt of pure anguish through Ben’s heart. The days grew longer but their time together grew shorter, and while Reagan was especially adept at hiding his suffering from his lifelong best friend, he wasn’t an expert at it.

Ben stood from the stool at the large kitchen island and closed the hardback sheet music journal, brushing his fingers over the leather cover, staring at the doorway before deciding to cross the threshold into the living room, where Reagan stood amongst a couple of photo albums perched on the couch and the coffee table.

He glanced up from the open album in his hands, turned halfway through, his crystalline blue eyes just missing portraying the sly smile creeping onto his face. “I found a goldmine.”

Ben’s shoulders slumped. “Listen, I know I was a prepubescent freak of nature—”

“It’s the day I bought the Capri.”

Ben paused mid-gesticulation and raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”

Reagan coyly beckoned him with a hand and turned the book as he approached. “1955. Think it was June. The first big purchase I ever made with the money from the act.”

Ben’s brow furrowed as he took a distracted gander at the pages. “Money from the act? The hell you mean, where else would it come from?”

Reagan swallowed, lightly cleared his throat, and pointed to one of the grainy photos. “...Nowhere. Look, you got a big stupid grin on your face."

“I think Faye might’ve just told me we were havin��� a baby.”

They fell quiet and Ben pulled the album closer to his face to get a better look. Several black and white moments captured for an eternity of himself and Reagan standing in front of the powder blue ‘55 Lincoln Capri, hair blowing haphazardly in the breezy Los Angeles wind. It was taken only five years ago but it felt like forever, what with Abigail joining the Gilmore and Murray family, finding a new manager for Reagan, becoming worldwide phenomenons separately as their worst nightmares dictated when they were kids....

Ben squinted to stave off the swell of emotion threatening to show itself as he latched onto one photo in particular; the sight of Reagan with his hand in his pocket, giving the lens that devilish grin he’d perfected, practically trademarked, using Ben’s shoulder as an elbow rest. They were so happy, so professionally divided, but it didn’t bother them in that exact second because they rode high, provided for their families, doing what they did best and making time for each other.

Ben snapped the album shut and threw Reagan a somewhat desperate grimace.

Taking the album from him, Reagan, having deciphered exactly what that expression meant, turned back to the purposeful chaos of the room and pulled out a framed photo of Ben when he was fifteen. Gangly and awkward, but finally growing into his looks, brown hair smoothed down within an inch of its life thanks to his mother.

“No!” Ben shouted. “You put that back—why...why the fuck do you have that?!”

“Oh, I can’t tell you that,” Reagan said, the tiniest breach of his natural Irish brogue seeping through the false Jersey accent he’d adopted decades ago. He flashed a gorgeous smile and tucked the photo under his arm. “Might take this on the plane with me.”

“How’s that gonna look, fella?”

Reagan laughed. “Not good.”

“Ya fuckin’ think?”

“It’s gonna be okay,” Reagan said suddenly. At Ben’s smile fading, he nodded. “You’re gonna be okay.”

Ben looked around, taking in the sight of all the boxes again, the various things Reagan had to bring with him overseas. The past, their past, their lives coming to an abrupt halt for something that couldn’t be avoided, for potential tragedy.

“I don’t think I am, Reg.”

Reagan pinned him with a very distant stare and Ben did nothing to return it.

[therealkn]

David’s Resolution: Day -2

Day -2 (December 30, 2018)

The Night of the Hunter (1955)

“And then the good Lord went on to say, ‘Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly, they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Wherefore by their fruits, ye shall know them.’”

There have been plenty of actors who’ve tried their hand at directing films, with varying degrees of success. A big example is Ron Howard, who started out acting in The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days, then went on to become an accomplished filmmaker with a lot of good films like Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind. Clint Eastwood’s had a pretty solid career as a director, with films like Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby. Same with Rob Reiner, who went from being known as Michael “Meathead” Stivic on All in the Family to being known as the director of This is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride and Misery (and also North, much as we’d like to forget that film exists).

Mel Gibson took on directing Braveheart himself, and that film was also a big success commercially and critically (also has a great soundtrack by James Horner); same thing with Tom Hanks and That Thing You Do!. But not every actor who goes into directing met big success, at least initially, and one such example is Charles Laughton.

Charles Laughton was a great actor whose more memorable roles include William Porterhouse in 1932′s The Old Dark House, Dr. Moreau in 1932′s Island of Lost Souls (a really good old horror movie where he is the best thing in it), and Quasimodo in the 1939 adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which portrayed Claude Frollo as a judge over 50 years before Disney’s animated adaptation of the story. He was a fantastic actor who sadly directed only one film, but at least the film he made is fucking incredible and one of the best thrillers of all time.

The Night of the Hunter is the story of one Rev. Harry Powell, played by Robert Mitchum. Powell is a traveling preacher who also happens to be a serial killer operating in the same vein as Bluebeard: he finds wealthy widows, marries them, kills them, takes their money, rinse, repeat. And his latest target is Willa Harper (played by Shelley Winters), a widow living in Depression-era rural West Virginia. Willa’s husband Ben (played by Peter Graves) was arrested, sent to prison, and executed for bank robbery and killing two men during the robbery, but it just so happens that Ben’s cellmate was Rev. Powell himself, who was serving time for car theft. And Powell learns that Ben, before his arrest, gave the money to his two children - his son John and his daughter Pearl - for them to hide, meaning that not only is Powell going to go after Willa, he’s going to go after her kids.

So after Powell is released from prison, he goes to Willa’s town and begins charming his way into the town and endearing himself to the townsfolk, which does two things. One is to show Robert Mitchum’s talents as an actor: he is legitimately charming and charismatic as he tells the now-famous story of why the words “hate” and “love” are tattooed on his knuckles, and he quickly endears himself to the town and to Willa and Pearl, even to the viewer in some degree. And that’s where the other thing comes in, and that is that it shows how goddamn terrifying Robert Mitchum can be.

I ended the It Happened One Night review saying “Robert Mitchum is a scary motherfucker”, and this movie shows why. There’s a reason the American Film Institute put Powell on their list of the 50 greatest movie villains of all time. The way Mitchum plays Powell is captivating not only in how charismatic he is, but also in how sinister he is. At all times, even when he’s singing hymns with the townsfolk at an outdoor picnic, there is always this sense that something doesn’t feel right. Even when he is played a little more for comedy, like when he’s peeking upside-down at Ben in prison like he’s Kilroy, or when he’s hollering like Daffy Duck after getting shot in the arm (we’ll get to that later), there’s still this feeling of unease around him. If anything, the fact he can be more comedic makes him scarier because it makes him feel more like an actual person. It makes him more grounded and fleshed out and all the more disturbing.

Powell soon marries Willa and kills her, but not before convincing her that she has been a wicked woman - their honeymoon is him making her feel ashamed for wanting sex in a marriage, and she soon adapts herself to her beliefs. This leads to what I feel is the most disturbing and terrifying scene in the movie, where Willa is preaching to the townsfolk about her “formerly wicked” ways, surrounded by torches as she preaches her rhetoric. It’s legitimately terrifying to see her indoctrinated into these beliefs and speaking these words in this way.

Willa dies at Powell’s hands, and it eventually leads to John and Pearl striking out on their own, travelling downriver to avoid the pursuing Powell. This eventually brings them to Rachel Cooper, an old woman played by Lillian Gish who takes care of stray children, and who takes them in to live with her. Rachel is established as a badass old lady who does have a very kind and understanding side. The film reaches its peak when Powell tracks the children to Rachel, who doesn’t buy his sob story about Willa’s death for one moment and, when Powell goes after John, immediately goes for her shotgun to force Powell off, leading into a tense nighttime standoff between the reverend and Rachel. And how it ends... yeah, not spoiling this one. You’ll have to see it for yourself.

Put simply, it’s really depressing that Laughton didn’t direct another film. This is one of those movies that took some time to be seen as a classic. When it first came out, it did not do very well with critics or audiences, and it really got to Laughton to where he didn’t direct another film. It sucks because I’d have loved to have seen him direct more films, because if The Night of the Hunter is anything to go by, he’d have given us more great classics like it. This makes me wonder if after his death, he saw the film’s reception even today and how so many see it as a classic.

All the acting in the film is great, from Mitchum and Gish and Winters to the child actors, even to the Spoons, an old couple who are friends with the Harper family and whom the wife Icey (yes, her name is Icey Spoon) I absolutely fucking hate as a character. That’s not a bad thing, I think she was designed to be a character you hate, and if that is the case then it’s done very well. The music by Walter Schumann is excellent at conveying mood, especially when things get dark. But then you get to the cinematography and the lighting, and that’s the really good shit.

That screenshot I used for the film is the perfect example of that. The use of lighting in this film is god-tier and there are few films before or since that have used light like The Night of the Hunter. The symbolism behind it is very simple - light and dark, good and evil - but it’s absolutely striking. There are shots that are beautiful to look at and haunting at the same time: the ethereal depiction of Willa’s body in her car at the bottom of the river, the whole thing framed like a painting; the shot of John and Pearl sleeping in a barn when John sees Powell on horseback in the distance, searching for the kids; and the scenes with John and Pearl floating downriver, with the night sky above and the animals watching on the ground. There’s some really beautiful imagery in the film and it’s worth watching just for that.

I highly recommend this movie. Just the cinematography and lightning’s enough to make you want to see this movie for how great it looks, but it’s also a top-notch thriller with one of cinema’s greatest and most terrifying villains. Also, this is the first movie that I’d recommend you watch in the dark, preferably in the evening or in the early morning before the sun rises.

Next time: a Joan of Arc film, but not the kind you’re thinking of.

[frvnklbottom]

                                                            INTRODUCING FRANK LONGBOTTOM…

son. husband. soon to be father.

FRANK LONGBOTTOM is AN ORDER MEMBER in the war, even though HIS official job is as AN AUROR. the TWENTY-FOUR year old PUREBLOOD is known to be COMPASSIONATE and DEDICATED but also SHORT-TEMPERED and IMPULSIVE. some might label them as THE FERVOUR.

character inspo: william magnusson ( skam ), jake peralta ( brooklyn-nine-nine ), ben wyatt ( parks and recreation ), archie andrews ( riverdale ), steve harrington ( stranger things )

                                                                                                                   BACKGROUND

franklin augusta longbottom was born to franklin sr. & augusta longbottom ( née macmillan ) on the 26th of june 1955, in a time where the longbottoms were still a major part of pureblood society. 

frank grew up surrounded by parties and purists, perfect little children and strict parents who had drilled certain beliefs into those frank called friend. the longbottom’s had been a prominent name in this society for generations, and augusta and frank sr. had always been far too quiet to say anything to the contrary. 

behind closed doors, however, they would pull frank aside and remind him that that wasn’t the way to think. they would teach him about the importance of acceptance and recognising that some people are going to be different than you and that that’s okay.

occasionally frank would try and talk about this with his pureblood friends, but they never wanted to listen --- they’d been taught something completely different and that was what they believed. that was that.

as frank grew up and tensions started to rise, it became clear to frank sr. and augusta that they couldn’t just let this slide anymore --- there were sides to this debate now drawn with a clear line and they knew now what they believed. and so just after frank had turned eleven, two months before he was set to go to hogwarts, the longbottom’s announced their allegiance with the muggleborns and split themselves from pureblood society.

at first, frank was devastated. he was too young to really understand how serious things were getting, and all he could see was his parents pulling him away from his childhood friends and telling him not to even talk to them anymore. he protested for weeks before they finally sat him down and explained to him the gravitas of the situation.

knowing that he was about to start at hogwarts with all those he had just turned his back on, frank decided it would be best to just completely ignore them rather than acknowledge that they were now on different sides. this was helped when the sorting hat landed him in gryffindor, the complete opposite to where most of his ex-friends ended up in slytherin.

to put it simply, frank had the time of his life at hogwarts. 

with a great understanding of magic and magical society as he was taught in his younger years, other students flocked to him and he soon became one of the most popular kids in his grade. 

it wasn’t just that he was intelligent, either --- he was fun. he knew how to let loose and how to bend rules so that he could really enjoy his time at hogwarts to the fullest. he was definitely known to get into trouble sometimes, occasionally taking this rulebending too far and ending up in the middle of the black lake or watching as the slytherin change rooms beneath the quidditch pitch went up in flames ( an accident, he swears ) and despite the numerous detentions he received over the years, he still ended up with the head boy badge pinned to his chest in his final year.

it was also during his hogwarts years that he met alice fortescue --- and from the moment he lay eyes on her, he knew she was the woman he was going to end up with. after a lot of fluffing around ( frank dating other girls, ignoring his feelings as they deepened and deepened ) they finally confessed their love in sixth year and they’ve been together ever since. 

i love love.

frank is also credited for being the president of the what would marlene do club in his last few years. he took his job very seriously.

after graduating with o’s and e’s in nearly every class, frank immediately signed on to join the auror program.

he always knew that he wanted to be an auror. as soon as his parents tugged him away from the purists and opened his eyes to the fracture in magical society between purebloods and muggleborns, he knew that he wanted to help the cause ( for the right side, that is ). he didn’t out about the ootp until a year after his graduating and obviously he joined immediately, but without that knowledge he assumed that being an auror was the best possible way to help people.

from the moment he started training, it was clear that he was set to be one of the best auror’s the program had ever seen. he topped all of his classes during the training program and was moved quickly to work with one of the top aurors ( alastor moody ) once he was fully trained. now fully certified, he is already working amongst the high-ranking officials at just twenty-four years of age and is set to receive a promotion to senior auror very soon.

                                                                                                                                      MISCELLANEOUS

parents & childhood

apart from the rocky periods in which they were involved in pureblood society, frank’s childhood was relatively normal. he was spoiled rotten, absolutely adored by his parents, and felt an especially tight bond with his father. frank sr. would often go out and try to teach frank quidditch in their spacious back garden, but frank would always flop --- he was never set to be a quidditch player ( but he’d be damned if he wasn’t the best damn cheerleader in the stands ).

although he is now retired, frank sr. used to work as an employee at the ministry for the department of international magical cooperation. this often meant he was travelling a lot, but this never created a sever between the family. frank sr. would always make up for it, anyway, by bringing back little trinkets from all the places he visited. frank now has a collection sitting on his nightstand in his and alice’s home.

growing up, augusta was fairly soft on frank --- after all, he was truly the apple of her eye, her only son and the most perfect one she could ask for. it was when he started at hogwarts that she started to get a bit strict on him. she only ever wanted what was best for him, and when it kept coming back to her that he had once again landed in detention, she sent howlers lecturing him on the importance of school. she would never reach the sort of strict harshness that she did with neville, though --- that sort of treatment came out of a reaction of grief from losing her son.

frank’s full name is franklin augusta longbottom --- but he will kill you if you call him franklin, and only few know that his middle name is augusta. as a kid he was incredibly embarrassed of his name, and while he now appreciates the sentiment he still is a bit resentful. i mean augusta ?  really ?

his wardrobe consists of tattered leather jackets and lots of flannels. honestly, he really thinks he’s about the Coolest kid on the Block, but his dad friend side trumps this bad-boy persona for sure. he at least tries to dress the part and he’s been known to look intimidating to those who don’t actually know him.

he could not be more excited about becoming a dad. he’s been waiting on alice’s hand and foot, all but clearing a path for her if they ever leave the house, and he’s been so excited about preparing the house for the baby. he tells everyone about it too --- ‘ hi, my name’s frank, my wife is pregnant, how are you ? ’

an awful, awful smoker. smokes like a steam train. it started when he was just seventeen and he hasn’t been able to stop since. plenty of people have tried everything to get him to quit, but the only thing that has really motivated him is alice’s pregnancy. he doesn’t want to put the baby at risk by bringing that into the house, so he’s trying his best right now to quit but... it’s definitely not been easy.

                                                                                                                       PERSONALITY

he is one of the most loyal people you will ever meet. he would protect his friends and family until the ends of the earth, and he is definitely known to be the dad friend of the group. he wants his friends to be happy but most of all he wants them to be safe, and he’s been known to lecture people on occasion if he thinks they’re stepping out of line.

definitely dads marlene mckinnon the most.

that fun-loving, slightly troublesome streak he had as a student never really went away. even as an auror, he’s been known to bend rules on occasion if he believes it will help the greater cause. he knows how to have fun, and is definitely the type of person that just lights up the room when he walks in. he knows how to make people happy, how to make them smile, and is nearly universally loved.

growing up surrounded by the kind that he was, however, has certainly had some lasting effects. the most obvious of these is his short-temper --- if someone does him wrong, even just slightly, he blows up immediately with a rather harsh temper. this has come in handy on occasion in his job, as criminals sort of know him for this and are a bit scared of him, but it has also come in between many of his friends in the past. he’s trying his best to cool it, especially with a child on the way, but it’s hard. ouch.

very very very impulsive. a lot of ‘do before you think’. some think this is why he’s such a brilliant auror, others think it’s reckless and endangering. he’s never really tried to cool this one because he’s one of the few who thinks it’s a good thing, but it’s definitely put him in harms way more than once.

                                                                                                                    WANTED PLOTS

ex-friends: purebloods who he grew up with, who he was best friends with before he left it all behind and pretended they didn’t even exist. this could go a lot of different ways ( maybe they’re friends now and got over it, maybe they’re enemies, perhaps they’ve seen each other on opposite sides of the battlefield ) i just love angst. 

ex-girlfriend(s): again, could go a lot of different ways, but i do love a good exes plot.

smoking buddy: maybe they were friends before, maybe they only ever meet to smoke, either way i’d love to see someone that frank can just kick back with, have a smoke and maybe even talk through some issues with. more recently frank has probably been ditching them as he’s trying his best to quit, but they would be one of the few who know that he hasn’t completely quit yet.

friends: all of them. please. thanks.

[gadgetgirl71]

Top Ten Tuesday 23 February 2021

Welcome to this weeks Top Ten Tuesday. Originally created by The Broke & The Bookish, which is now hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week it features a book or literary themed category. This weeks prompt is:

Books That Made Me Laugh Out Loud

(Claire @ Book Lovers Pizza)

Rachel’s Holiday 

Synopsis: Here’s Rachel Walsh, twenty-seven and the miserable owner of size 8 feet. She has regular congress with Luke Costello, a man who wears his leather trousers tight. And she’s fond – some might say too fond – of recreational drugs. Until she finds herself being frogmarched to the Cloisters – Dublin’s answer to the Betty Ford Clinic. She’s outraged. Surely she’s not thin enough to be an addict? Heartsick and Luke-sick, she seeks redemption in the shape of Chris, a Man with a Past. A man who might be more trouble than he’s worth.

Can You Keep a Secret?

Synopsis: Emma is like every girl in the world. She has a few little secrets.

Secrets from her mother: 1. I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom to Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben Hur.

…From her boyfriend: 2. I’m a size twelve. Not a size eight, like Connor thinks. 3. I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.

…From her colleagues: 4. When Artemis really annoys me, I feed her plant orange juice. (Which is pretty much every day) 5. It was me who jammed the copier that time. In fact, all the times.

…Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world: 6. My G string is hurting me. 7. I faked my Maths GCSE grade on my CV. 8. I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is…

…until she spills them all to a stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger…

Get You Kit Off

Synopsis: Formerly Sex, Lies & Llamas From the author of the Number 1 bestseller – No Bra Required & Guess Who I Pulled Last Night? I’ve read Nikki’s previous books and loved them so I was expecting great things from her again. Guess what? She’s delivered!! The combination of humour, thrills and classic girl might- or might not-get her man is a real winner. If chick-lit is your thing Nikki is the author you need to read. Just brilliant!! – Amazon Reviewer WOW!! I loved this book. I have to be honest and say I put off reading it after I’d bought it, I loved the other 2 books by this author but football is not my thing and I thought the football theme running through it may have spoilt it for me … how wrong was I !! I can’t recommend this book or this author highly enough, I couldn’t put my Kindle down – can’t wait for more stuff from Nikki Ashton!!! – Amazon Reviewer Molly Pearson doesn’t have children, but as the Player Liaison Manager for a premiership football club, she does have twenty-two professional footballers and one jealous fiance to take care of – which as far as she can see is quite similar. With having to deal with problems from players buying zoo animals as pets, to losing their false teeth and a whole lot more, Molly can’t wait for the season to end. But, her life becomes even more complicated, when the man who broke her heart six years earlier, comes back into her life. Hail the returning hero, Joe Bennett, now one of the best footballers in the world and the club’s most expensive signing. Every woman wants him, every man wants to be him, and he’s returned for one reason only – he wants Molly back. With engaging characters, Sex, Lies & Llamas, is a humorous, yet sometimes sad romance depicting the difficulty in always doing the right thing, especially when love is involved.

Someone Else’s Fairytale

Synopsis: Jason Vanderholt, Hollywood’s hottest actor, falls head over heels for every girl, Chloe Winters, who hasn’t gotten around to watching most of his movies. It’s the ideal fairytale… for most people. The last thing Chloe needs is public attention. It brings back dangers from the past that she’s worked her whole life to escape.

The Single Girl’s To-Do List

Synopsis: Rachel Summers loves a to-do list: • Boyfriend • Flat • Great job

NOT on the list: • Being dumped

Best friends Emelie and Matthew ride to her rescue with an entirely new kind of list – The Single Girl’s To-Do List. Rachel doesn’t know it, but it will take her on all kinds of wild adventures – and get her in some romantic pickles too. And then it won’t be a case of what but who she decides to tick off…

• Mr. bendy yoga instructor • Mr. teenage sweetheart • Mr. persistent ex • Mr. deeply unsuitable

The Single Girl’s To-Do List gives Rachel the perfect heartbreak cure – and proves love is out there if you’re willing to take a chance.

Wedding Tiers

Synopsis: The path of true love never runs smooth. But for some, it’s one seriously bumpy ride! A heartwarming new romantic comedy from the bestselling author of A WINTER’S TALE. Growing up in the beautiful Lancashire village of Neatslake, Josie Gray and her childhood sweetheart, Ben Richards, always dreamt of living a life of rural bliss. And when Josie inherits her beloved Grandmother’s cottage, it seems they might just have got what they wished for. Josie throws herself into her wedding cake business, whilst Ben gains increasing acclaim as an artist. But the tranquil village turns into a hive of activity when Josie’s childhood friend, Libby Martin – now a wealthy widow – returns to the village, planning a lavish wedding to rival any celeb bash. The day goes with a bang, and soon Libby and Josie are hard at work at their fledgling wedding business, hiring out Libby’s beautiful Elizabethan home for ceremonies, with Josie creating all manner of wonderful cakes. But amidst all this romance, Josie’s fairytale relationship with Ben turns into a nightmare, and she quickly becomes Love’s number one cynic – until charming wedding photographer Noah Sephton arrives in Neatslake with a very different outlook on love! Can this hopeless romantic persuade pessimistic Josie to give romance another try? Or will it be a case of always the cake maker, never the bride!? A charming, witty and feelgood novel, ideal for fans of Katie Fforde and Harriet Evans.

The Bette Davis Club

Synopsis: The morning of her niece’s wedding, Margo Just drinks a double martini and contemplates the many mistakes she’s made in her fifty-odd years of life. Spending three decades in love with a wonderful but unattainable man is pretty high up on her list of missteps, as is a long line of unsuccessful love affairs accompanied by a seemingly endless supply of delicious cocktails.

When the young bride flees—taking with her a family heirloom and leaving behind six hundred bewildered guests—her mother offers Margo fifty grand to retrieve her spoiled brat of a daughter and the invaluable property she stole. So, together with the bride’s jilted and justifiably crabby fiancé, Margo sets out in a borrowed 1955 red MG on a cross-country chase. Along the way, none of what she discovers will be quite what she expected. But it might be exactly what she’s been seeking all along.

From acclaimed humor writer Jane Lotter comes this madcap, laugh-out-loud adventure, The Bette Davis Club.

Revised edition: This edition of The Bette Davis Club includes editorial revisions.

13 Dates

Synopsis: When Noah Wilson first encounters the quirky, opinionated and very beautiful Angel Fallon, his world is turned upside down. It’s clear she’s not his normal type, but Noah can’t stop thinking about her—which doesn’t bode well for the blind date he’s already late for.

Convinced by his friend (and self-professed dating expert) Marlon that thirteen dates is all you need to fall in love, Noah decides to give it a try with Angel. They should be incompatible: she’s impulsive and he’s a planner; he wants to settle down and she doesn’t ‘do’ relationships—or anything, for that matter—the way Noah is used to. But there’s something about Angel, and Noah can’t shake the idea that all they need is twelve more dates.

Despite some near-disasters involving rock climbing, saddle sores and jellied eels, it seems his plan may actually work. But even if they do reach the magic number, can that really mean they’ll just fall into their happily-ever-after?

The Shelf

Synopsis: Everyone in Amy’s life seems to be getting married (or so Instagram tells her), and she feels like she’s falling behind.

So, when her boyfriend surprises her with a dream holiday to a mystery destination, she thinks this is it – he’s going to finally pop the Big Question. But the dream turns into a nightmare when she finds herself on the set of a Big Brother-style reality television show, The Shelf.

Along with five other women, Amy is dumped live on TV and must compete in a series of humiliating and obnoxious tasks in the hope of being crowned ‘The Keeper’. Will Amy’s time on the show make her realise there are worse things in life than being left on the shelf?

A funny, feminist and all-too-relatable novel about our obsession with coupling up, settling down and the battle we all have with accepting ourselves, The Shelf introduces the freshest new voice in women’s fiction.

The Wish List

Synopsis: Be careful what you wish for… Florence Fairfax isn’t lonely. She loves her job at the little bookshop in Chelsea and her cat, Marmalade, keeps her company at night. But everything changes when her stepsister, Mia, announces that she’s engaged to her boring golf-playing boyfriend. That’s when Florence meets Irish love coach, Gwendolyn. …because you just might get it! When Gwendolyn makes Florence write a wish list describing her perfect man, Florence refuses to take it seriously. Finding someone who likes cats, doesn’t wear pointy shoes and can overlook her ‘counting habit’? Impossible! Until, later that week, a handsome blond man asks for help in the bookshop… But is Rory the one, or is he simply too good to be true? Florence is about to find out that her criteria for finding Mr Right aren’t as important as she thought – and that perhaps her perfect man has been right there all along…

Until next week.

#JustForFun, #Top Ten Tuesday, #TopTenTuesday, #TTT

[sinophonicjazz]

Bird Lore:  Why Charlie Parker Matters

            Coltrane himself recalled  the exact day – June 5, 1945 – when he saw Charlie (“Yardbird” or “Bird”) Parker perform for the first time.  In a DownBeat article in 1960 he recalled: “the first time I heard Bird play, it hit me right between the eyes.”  Coltrane idolized Parker, and they would play together on occasion in the late 1940s.

            Aside from Louis Armstrong and Coltrane himself, Charlie Parker’s stardom in the jazz firmament is eternal and unchanging.  Parker’s body of work as a unique jazz performer and composer remains widely imitated and studied.  His life was marred by severe drug and alcohol addictions that contributed to his death from lobar pneumonia and cirrhosis of the liver at age 35 in the New York flat of the “Jazz Baroness” Pannonica de Koenigswarter on March 12, 1955.  Although the excesses of his lifestyle comprised the archetype of the junkie jazz musician of the 1940s and 1950s, none of those stories can overshadow his unique artistry and the profound influence Parker exerted on jazz and popular music from the 1940s to this day.

            Born on August 29, 1920, in Kansas City, Missouri, Parker began playing the saxophone at age 11.  He honed his craft as an alto saxophonist as a teenage member of the Jay McShann big band in the late 1930s.  During his tenure with McShann’s territorial band, Parker played throughout the southwester USA, as well as Chicago and New York City.  He acquired the nickname Yardbird (later abbreviated to “Bird”) because he supposedly ordered a car full of fellow musicians to stop so he could pick up a dead chicken that the car had struck while driving to a job.

           Parker moved to New York in 1939, and worked with the big bands of Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine.  However, Parker was developing musical ideas that did not fit into the orchestrated big band arrangements of the Swing Era.   He soon became famous playing at jam sessions held at after-hours nightclubs such Clark Monroe’s Uptown House and Minton’s Playhouse.  These New York clubs served as the incubator and experimental theater for the early players of the modern jazz that would later be called “bebop,” including Don Byas, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Christian.  Part of the atmosphere created at jam sessions like the ones found at Minton’s was an air of exclusivity:  the “regular” musicians would often re-harmonize the standard songs in order to exclude those whom they considered outsiders or simply weaker players.

The Epiphany

            This unprecedented harmonic development which took place in bebop is often traced back to a transcendent moment experienced by Charlie Parker while performing “Cherokee” at Monroe’s in early 1942.  As described by Parker in an interview:

“I’d been getting bored with the stereotyped changes that were being used, … and I kept thinking there’s bound to be something else. I could hear it sometimes. I couldn’t play it…. I was working over “Cherokee”, and, as I did, I found that by using the higher intervals of a chord as a melody line and backing them with appropriately related changes, I could play the thing I’d been hearing. It came alive.”

[A 1947 sample of Parker playing his tune “Ko Ko” based on the chord progressions of the standard song, “Cherokee,” can be heard here:  http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDI5MzE5MDAw.html

or here:  http://sinophonicjazz.tumblr.com/post/9534966470/charles-bird-parker-alto-sax-born-august-29 ]

           Parker brought to bebop a new manner of rhythmic and harmonic organization.  Stated simply, where the alto saxophonists of the ‘20s and '30s (such as Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges), played phrases that closely corresponded to the rhythmic nature of the tune, Parker sped up his phrasing considerably, cramming twice as many shorter notes into the same space.  He played the new ideas with such flair and virtuosity that he almost single-handedly transformed the music that followed for the next half century.

            A wartime ban on recording meant that the public would not hear studio records of Parker’s work until 1945, when he recorded with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie band, 78-rpm recordings of tunes such as “Shaw ‘Nuff,” “Salt Peanuts,” and “Hot House.”

[Here’s Parker and Gillespie playing “Hot House”:  http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjUwOTM5NjY4.html]

            In the fall of 1945, Parker and Gillespie landed a job at the Three Deuces. Shortly thereafter, Parker’s irresponsibility and disregard for promptness caused Gillespie to quit the group. Parker subsequently hired trumpeter Miles Davis to perform in a quintet which included drummer Max Roach.

Parker and Miles Davis at the Three Deuces.  © Wm. Gottlieb

As Davis enthusiastically recounted in his memoir Miles, “I was nineteen years old and playing with the baddest alto saxophone player in the history of music.”  A month after opening at the Three Deuces, Parker debuted on the Savoy label. Under the name “Charlie Parker’s Reboppers,” Parker, Gillespie, Davis, Russell, and Roach recorded the classics “Ko Ko” and “Now’s the Time.”  As writer Gary Giddins stressed in his book, Celebrating Bird, “Ko Ko’ was the seminal point of departure for jazz in the postwar era.  Its effect paralleled that of [Louis] Armstrong’s ‘West End Blues’ in 1928.”

Bebop Comes to California

            As a member of the Dizzy Gillespie sextet, Parker traveled to Hollywood in December of 1945 to perform at Billy Berg’s, a one-story stucco building on Vine Street. “That little band was very skillfully assembled, recalled Gillespie in the book, To Be or Not to Bop, “Charlie Parker I hired, because he was undeniably a genius, musically, the other side of my heartbeat.”  Billed with the popular acts Slim Gillard and Henry “The Hipster” Gibson, the sextet played to packed houses.  With the exception of a small circle of followers, however, the reaction to the sextet’s modern sound was met with indifference.

            After finishing their stint at Berg’s, Parker and Gillespie recorded several sessions for Hollywood record store owner Ross Russell.  As a result of poor organization and personnel problems, these first sessions for Russell’s newly-formed Dial label yielded little material.   When Gillespie’s band returned to New York, Parker stayed behind in Los Angeles and continued to record for Dial.  Parker then took a job playing in Howard McGhee’s group at the Club Finale.  He also attended several Dial recording sessions which produced a wealth of music including “Yardbird Suite,” “Moose the Mooche,” and “A Night in Tunisia.”  As Ted Gioia noted in West Coast Jazz, these sides “rank among the landmarks of jazz music.  On a level with Louis Armstrong’s Hot Fives and Hot Sevens and Ellington’s work from the early 1940s, the Parker Dial sessions stand out as monumental achievements.”

            Despite the fine musicianship Parker displayed on the Dial recordings, his personal life was in shambles.  He was living in poverty and suffering from drug withdrawal.  On July 29, 1946, Parker attended a Dial recording session.  Later that night a fire, presumably caused by careless smoking, destroyed his room at the Civic Hotel.  Earlier that evening, Parker was seen wandering around the hotel lobby wearing only his socks.  He was arrested and held in the psychiatric ward of the East Los Angeles Jail.  Charged with arson, indecent exposure, and resisting arrest, Parker served a six-month term at the Camarillo State Hospital. He was released in January of 1947 and periodically experienced episodes of good health, only to succumb to eating binges and further drug abuse.  Before returning to New York, Parker participated in recording sessions for Dial with pianist Erroll Garner, Howard McGhee and Wardell Gray.

Blues and Latin Recordings

            Between 1947 and 1948 Parker led a quintet which included, at various times, Miles Davis, pianists Duke Jordan and Al Haig, and Max Roach. Also, extended engagements at New York nightclubs such as the Three Deuces and the Royal Roost provided Parker with a relatively stable period of work. In September of 1948, Parker cut the classic Savoy side “Parker’s Mood.” Acclaimed as one of Parker’s finest blues numbers, “Parker’s Mood,” as Thomas Owens noted in Bebop: The Music and Its Players, “contains a number of [Parker’s] standard melodic figures, but the slow tempo gives him more time than usual to reshape and combine them, and to think of new phrases. In the process he creates a beautiful and poignant picture of the poetic meaning of the blues—he ‘tells his story’ as though he was a great blues singer.”  A sample of “Parker’s Mood” (as remastered for the movie “Bird”) can be heard here:  http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNzE3MDc0NzM2.html

European Debut

            In May of 1949, Parker made his European debut at the Paris International Festival of Jazz. That same year, Parker hired trumpeter Red Rodney. Rodney told Ben Sidran in Talking Jazz, “Charlie Parker was very much like he played.  He was beautiful.  He was so proficient that the instrument was like a toy.” In November of 1949, Parker recorded with a string section conducted by Mitch Miller.  The session yielded the smash hit, “Just Friends.” In 1950 and 1952, he continued to perform and record with string quartets and other small groups.  In March of 1951 and January of 1952, Parker recorded his Latin-inspired album, South of the Border. T his album, released on the Verve label, contained his popular number “My Little Suede Shoes.”

            In 1953, Parker joined Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, bassist Charles Mingus, and pianist Bud Powell for a performance at Toronto’s Massey Hall.   Around this time, Parker’s constant drug use began to take its toll.  Although he was still capable of delivering fine performances, his reputation for showing up in mid-performance or missing entire shows often forced club owners to hire Parker on a per set basis.  After being admitted twice to Bellevue psychiatric hospital in 1954, Parker attempted suicide.  On March 4, 1955, he made his final appearance at Birdland—the club named in his honor.  During the performance, he exchanged harsh words onstage with pianist Bud Powell and left the nightclub.  Five days later, Parker traveled to New York City to visit his close friend and benefactor, Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter.  Parker suffered an ulcer attack while visiting the baroness, but refused to be hospitalized. He died on March 12, 1955, while watching television.

            During his brief life, Charlie Parker inspired a school of jazz, a legion of followers, and helped to define a generation of post-war poets and writers.  A few months after Parker’s death, Beat writer Jack Kerouac hailed him in his book of poems Mexico City Blues, as “the perfect musician … and a great creator of forms.”   As one of America’s greatest artists, Charlie Parker has become the subject of books, film documentaries, and a feature motion picture (“Bird”).  His music remains a source of musical inspiration for musicians in China and around the world.

Selected discography

Charlie Parker, The Verve Years (1952–54), Verve, 1977.

Charlie Parker at Storyville, Blue Note, (recorded 1953) 1988.

Charlie Parker The Legendary Dial Masters Vol. I, Stash, 1989.

Charlie Parker Swedish Schnapps+, The Great Quintet Sessions 1919–1951, Verve, 1991.

Charlie Parker, “Round Midnight and Other Gems,” Tel-Star, 1991.

Bird at St. Nick’s, Original Jazz Classics, (recorded 1950) 1992.

Charlie Parker, Jazz at the Philharmonic 1949, Verve, 1993.

Bird on 52nd Street, Original Jazz Classics, (recorded 1948) 1994.

Charlie Parker Plays Standards, Jazz Masters 28, Verve, 1994.

Charlie Parker, South of the Border, (recorded 1951–1952), 1995.

Charlie Parker, The Complete Dial Recordings, Rhino, 1996.

Bird and Diz, (recorded 1948) Verve, 1997.

Yardbird Suite, The Ultimate Charlie Parker, Rhino, 1997.

Sources

Books

Davis, Miles with Quincy Troupe. Miles, The Autobiography, Simon & Schuster, 1990.

Giddins, Gary. Celebrating Bird, The Triumph of Charlie Parker, Beech Tree Books, 1987.

Gillespie, Dizzy with Al Fraser. To Be, or not …To Bop, Memoirs, Doubleday &Co., 1979.

Gioa, Ted. West Coast Jazz: Modern Jazz in California 1945–1960, Oxford University Press, 1992.

Gitler, Ira. Jazz Masters of the Forties, Collier Books, 1966.

Green, Benny. The Reluctant Art: Five Studies in the Growth of Jazz, Da Capo, expanded edition, 1991.

Hennessey, Mike. Klook: The Story of Kenny Clarke, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1990.

Kerouac, Jack. Mexico City Blues (242) Choruses, Grove Press, 1959.

Owens, Thomas. Bebop: The Music and Its Players, Oxford University Press, 1995.

Reisner, Robert, ed. Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker, Da Capo, 1962.

Schuller, Gunther. The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz 1930–1945, Oxford University Press, 1989.

Sidran, Ben. Talking Jazz: An Oral History, expanded edition, Da Capo, 1995.

Stokes, Royal W. The Jazz Scene: An Informal History From New Orleans to 1990, Oxford

[beatriceinmessina]

Thoughts on the Dear Evan Hansen b**t

I finished Act I yesterday so it might be a little rusty, but I just finished Act II, so here goes Act I:

First off: BEN PLATT.  HOLY SHIT BEN PLATT.  This man is freaking amazing.  Give him the Tony.  The range of emotions he goes through, especially at the end...my gods, what a talented man.

“Anybody Have a Map?” is fantastic.  The harmonies.  THE HARMONIES.

“Waving Through a Window” is fabulous.  I relate to it.  That’s really all I have to say on it.

I wish Connor wasn’t such a plot device.  I also wish that the five minutes he’s on stage alive he wasn’t so awful.  But that’s probably a part of many underlying mental health issues.  When he tells Evan “You’re the fucking freak” it seems to me that HE’S the one who feels like a “freak” and is trying to pin it on someone else.

The.  Insanely.  Cool. Jared.  Kleinman.  Favorite character.  FAVORITE.

I think Alana might not have the best social skills.  The story she tells Evan about her grandmother dying isn’t exactly something you tell someone you don’t know very well on the first day of school.  I do like that, though.  Adds a little more to her character.

Evan’s letter to himself HURTS.  The way he wonders what would happen if he disappeared HURTS.  This poor guy...

I honestly don’t really get why Connor gets so mad at the mention of Zoe in the letter.  It’s not like he’s some protective older brother at this point.  Maybe it’s just that he resents her or something.  I don’t know.

Can we just appreciate Jennifer Laura Thompson’s Cynthia?  She is very good at looking miserable.

“For Forever” is gorgeous.  SUPPORT MALE FRIENDSHIPS NOT BASED ON TOXIC MASCULINITY 2K17.

Evan saying that Connor came to get him when he broke his arm is heartbreaking.  He just wants to believe that he really fell by accident so badly.

“Sincerely, Me” is one of my favorites on the recording but onstage it is just the best.  Mike Faist’s expressions on “I rub my nipples and start moaning with delight”, “If I stop smoking crack”, and “If I stop smoking pot” are PRICELESS.  Also, how is he making his voice so smooth on the last one?  I want to find out how to do that.

Jared’s interjections into the song are hilarious, and so are Will Roland’s facial expressions.  He doesn’t say “Kinky” after “rough” like he does on the recording but I think this b**t is from a preview.

There’s actually a lot of chemistry between Ben, Mike, and Will.  Such a shame they’re not playing real friends.  

When Zoe arrives home before “Requiem” and Cynthia offers her the emails, she says something like “Just because Connor’s not here pounding on my door screaming that he’s going to kill me for no reason doesn’t mean we’re the fucking Brady Bunch.”  And WHAM.  We are immediately reminded of the real Connor, not the one we just saw.  Kind of shaking.

“Requiem” is also gorgeous.  Laura Dreyfuss’s voice is beautiful.  The song is a great exploration of grief (or rather, non-grief).  Go listen to it.  Also, those harmonies.  Holy shit.

“If I Could Tell Her.”  Ben is adorably awkward.  I want to hug him.  I’m not an Evan/Zoe shipper but everything in this song made me think it was kind of cute.  Also, Laura Dreyfuss is one of the most adorable people on this planet.  Protect her.

“Disappear” has a great message, though I feel that “You Will Be Found” is the better song.  Still, nice to see Connor back (or whatever this version of Connor is--a voice in Evan’s head, I guess).

So Evan apparently knows how to tie a tie?  He doesn’t seem like the type who would.

In “You Will Be Found” Evan has index cards but drops them and only starts the song when he starts improvising.  Interesting.

I’m honestly not sure what the message about social media is here.  What is the point?  Is it good?  Bad?  Both?

On to Act II!

Why isn’t “Sincerely, Me (Reprise)” on the soundtrack?  It’s hilarious!  After the “sucking dick for meth” line the light comes up on Jared and he laughs rather evilly.  I love it.

“Dad, are you torturing him?  Evan, is he torturing you?”  I love Zoe.

Larry turns to Evan and says “Women...”  What year are you in, sir, 1955?

I love how “To Break in a Glove” starts with Evan trying to distract Larry from Zoe’s interruption.  

The idea of Connor never using the glove makes me wonder just how bad his relationship with his parents was, especially how young he probably was when it went downhill.  Then again, maybe he just doesn’t like baseball.

Larry’s philosophy of “do the right thing, even when it’s hard” does not take his son into account and reminds me of Ned Stark.

“Only Us” is okay but a little bland.  There’s nothing very interesting about it.

Jared confirming that he is Jewish (”The liquor cabinet hasn’t been opened since Rosh Hashannah 1997″ or something like it) and his Fiddler on the Roof reference (”People want to talk to you now!  That’s a wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles!”) made me so happy.  He’s a gay Jewish musical theatre geek and you can’t convince me otherwise.  (This might be out of order, I’m not sure.)

Rachel.  Bay.  Jones.  In the scene where the Murphys offer to pay for Evan’s college tuition.  Her mannerisms and facial expressions are just perfect.  Her constant smiling, grimacing, and cringing are fantastic.

“Good for You.”  Oh gods, this song.  It is ELECTRIC.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard a song this passive-aggressive and sarcastic.  Alana’s lines about how she knows what it feels like to be suicidal and Jared’s “Fuck you, Evan, you asshole!” hit the mark, and that trio is fantastic.  And “Stop it, stop it!  Just let me off!”  And when Evan turns around to see them singing into his face. PERFECT.

Connor appearing to Evan after “Good for You” is really interesting.  He confronts Evan as to why he broke his arm--even the voice in Evan’s head is telling him to confront the truth, even if it is also telling him to continue with the lie.  

The “Words Fail” scene.  My gods.  I think Ben Platt is actually crying.  The way Zoe and Cynthia run past him and Larry just gives him a glare before exiting is beautiful--he’s being abandoned by everyone, and somewhat rightfully so.  And the rest of the song.  Now I’m pretty sure he’s crying.

Evan’s “If you knew what I did, you’d hate me” line (or something like it) to Heidi.  Oh my gods.  This guy is a massive liar and I still want to hug him.

“So Big/So Small.”  Give Rachel Bay Jones a Tony nomination.  And maybe a Tony.  The emotion in her voice towards the end is so raw, and how is Ben not sobbing his eyes out?

I like how Evan and Zoe’s relationship is left hanging--we don’t know if they’re still a couple.  It makes sense to me.  While I do think Zoe wants to continue the relationship, I also think she’s a little cautious about it.

Overall, a wonderful show, but not without its problems in the story and character department.  Sorry for the long post!

[vincejonesuniverse]

I was born in 1955. Way back then there were basically 3 types of “kids”: just the regular let’s play hide-an-seek, build a fort, throw rocks, ride bikes, ring doorbells and run, make random calls and ask if “Ben Dover” was home (caller ID ruined that), get muddy, mercurochromed bloody knees and elbows, be home by dinner time kind. Then there were the “weird” kids. Now, this class broke down into the “weird” in an eccentric kinda way which made you kinda cool and then there were the “stay away from little Johnny” kinda weird which wasn’t so good, and everybody had at least one friend who fit the former and knew one of the latter. Today the latter generally hold elective office or work at the DMV.

Finally, there were the “special” kids (special being the term used in polite company). Now, I know a lot about this class, for you see, I’m a member. As a child I struggled to “fit in,” be “just one of the kids” and I lived in terror (strong word but completely accurate) of the “short bus” which transported them to school and home again. My generation pretty much walked to and from school. The only time a parent picked up their child was if they were injured beyond the school nurse’s ability to patch them up or they were sick, projectile vomiting kinda sick or did something REALLY BAD, like invade Poland. So, every day when the short bus would pass me, twice, I would freeze up inside, deathly afraid of being found out. I was seven when I first began considering suicide.

I was adopted at six weeks of age and unbeknownst to my new parents, I was “special” as well as being a sickly child; my heart stopping more than once before I was 9. As a result, my father felt cheated out of the son he envisioned having, and though I supposed he tried, it was abundantly clear he would have traded me in for a different model if given the chance. Mom was Mom. I could have been on death row, guilty as sin, and she would have been there patting me on the arm saying, “its OK honey, the Governor will call since I know in my heart you are a good boy.” But I couldn’t talk her or anyone about what I was feeling and experiencing, hell, I couldn’t even put it into words for myself.

I didn’t know why I was different, but it was clear I was. I would watch the interactions of my playmates, confounded as to the ways they related and responded to each other, and they did it so effortlessly. I’d hang in the background, try to be a part of without really being noticed, especially for the wrong reasons. And I watched a lot of TV looking for clues.

I had a hard time making and keeping eye contact and would often look off to the side when talking to someone. I would say “inappropriate” things (not like bad language or such, well, OK, sometimes, my mind just makes connections which make perfect sense to me, others, not so much) and had no clue as to why they were inappropriate. I would get that hated scrunched up nose narrowed eyed “say what” look and know I had somehow messed up.

In the early 60’s IQ tests were the rage. When the sealed envelopes with the results were handed out in my class, everyone got a white envelope, well almost everyone, mine was manila in color. That day’s walk home was filled with thoughts of suicide and ways to do it because I knew this was it. I left the envelope on the kitchen table (the thought never crossed my mind to disappear it) and waited in my room resigned to my fate. When Mom opened it all it said was the school wanted them to make an appointment to come in for a conference. My Dad was pissed (yep, that is the word he used) because he would have to take off work and was sure I had done something I was covering up. I maintained ignorance, thankful for the reprieve, dreading what I thought I KNEW was coming. The day came and I attended the meeting with the Vice-Principal as well. They were told I was, wait for it, ABNORMALLY intelligent. I don’t know what else was said after that, for I had shut down and blanked out. It was in the car driving home when I came back around to my father saying, “that was a huge waste of time.” I waited for “the” talk I had been dreading, but it never materialized. I went to school the next day as if nothing had happened and it was never brought up again. I really don’t know why they had my parents come in, this was before GATE or programs for gifted students existed, I think they were just as perplexed at what to do with me as I was.

At a very early age I decided the best course of action was to try to “fit in,” so I dedicated myself to mimicry. I would surreptitiously watch you: your facial expressions, the tone of your voice, the words you chose, how others reacted to you and how you reciprocated. And I practiced and practiced. You know how people say they have done something a “thousand” times? From that point (around 7) through High School I spent thousands of hours in front of the bathroom mirror rehearsing the things that came so naturally to you, until it became second nature. I taught myself to “fit in,” to act as if, even though I didn’t understand the underlying why’s.

And life went on. I looked at what generally qualified as “normal” (not surprisingly a lot of that came from TV) and started checking off the boxes. In time my fear of being “found out” diminished, but I was still a little “weird” which was kinda OK in High School. I played sports, got a girlfriend (relationships took my acting to a whole new level, and I still sucked at them), had a small circle of friends and was bored out of my mind. I drove my teachers to distraction by rarely turning in homework but acing tests. My poor mother on numerous occasions had to fight with instructors to pass me. I wouldn’t have graduated High School if not for her. She was 5’1 & ¾" as she would often proudly state and maybe 110 pounds soaking wet. One her favorite momisims was “dynamite and poison come in small packages,” she was a force to be reckoned with.

What really made High School tolerable though were the drugs and alcohol. See, if you were loaded or drunk you were expected to say and do inappropriate things. It would be forgiven with the blanket, “oh, he is just f#%ked up.” Talk about a get out of jail free card. As you can well imagine, drugs and alcohol became constant companions and close personal friends. Time passed and I kept checking off boxes: I got married (poor girl), bought a house, became a father and had the beginnings of a career in business management, because that is what “normal” life looked like, right? Things were good, at least I thought so, right up until they weren’t. My reliance on intoxicants turned on me and I ended up out of control, alone, broke, in dire straits physically and mentally. Then at 30 years of age I sought help and have been free of active addiction since 1985.

When I first I entered the community of recovery I was amazed. They talked about secrets and being “the actor,” of hidden feelings and motivations, lies and destructive behaviors. I felt like I was home at last and I let my guard down a little. Though I am still a part of this community, this feeling lasted only a couple of years until I had to face the truth, though I had much in common, I was still “special” and proceeded to work to “fit in” once again.

You see, I’m Autistic and all that implies. Hyper focus, given to routine, poor socialization skills, difficulty in forming and maintaining relationships, the whole eye contact thing (I have been practicing that for over 55 years and I still get it wrong) and so on. I am “high functioning” with (if you believe the tests) a high IQ. Sounds good, but to me it’s like being the car in the junkyard with the best paint job and good tires. I know, I know, just stop it. You must admit though it is a pretty good line. Shhh…just between you and me, the whole IQ testing thing, today I am pretty sure all it really denotes is someone who takes IQ tests well. Just sayin.

There used to be a thing called Asperger Syndrome, which pretty much described me. It is not a thing anymore though, which kinda sucks cause Asperger sounds like you’re having a burger made from snake and only real men eat snake burgers, I could see John Wayne or Errol Flynn eating a snake burger and liking it (remember, born in 55).

It wasn’t until President Kennedy came to office that the approach to mental health and how we address and work with children who are “special” began to change. In the ensuing decades a new world of resources and understanding has emerged, and had I been born a decade or so later, my life probably would have had a very different trajectory.

There are myriad of ways we can be defined, if we allow it. I am not DISabled; I am just other abled. I see the world through a prism of colors, sounds and textures different than you, not a good thing or a bad thing, it just is what it is. On the upside, having studied people’s expressions (micro and macro), vocal inflections, body language, etc. since I was a small child, I have an uncanny ability for “reading” people and predicting behavior, especially those who suffer from addiction.

Today, maybe it has to do with getting older, but I don’t care anymore about “fitting in,” I want to spend the rest of my days free of the fear-based restrictions I placed on myself and be honest. I met a young man recently who was Autistic, I asked him how he was coping with life and fitting in. You know what he said? “Screw’em. If they don’t like me for who I am, I don’t want them in my life.” I cried.

We all have gifts and talents, are part of the grand fabric of life, the tapestry of colors truly a wonder. All here to teach and be taught, no one without or lacking value. Today I see the world through a new pair of glasses and though the music in my mind is somewhat different from yours, it is all part of the great symphony, every note of value, even those off key for they provide the impetus for change and growth. The key is, and always has been, love, and from love acceptance and respect.

So, if we ever meet in the “real” world, whatever that is, I may say something a little off key or be a little too blunt, but don’t take it personally. Oh, and I am told I can be a little intense so there is that. It is just me, being me, no longer in hiding, and chances are excellent I will probably say something that will make you laugh and though I don’t own a 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible I am an excellent driver.

[jaouad2d]

Meet the People Keeping Mold-A-Rama Alive

In 1971, sick of working in middle management in Chicago, William Jones purchased a number of Mold-A-Rama vending machines on a whim. He knew nothing about the technology, which produces injection molded plastic figures, and didn’t understand its appeal, but saw the purchase as an opportunity to do something new for a living. Little did he realize that almost 50 years later, his family would still be in the business, maintaining a collection of the beloved machines, which are as popular as ever at zoos, museums, and other attractions across the United States.

When Mold-A-Rama debuted at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, the molds of the Space Needle, a monorail, and other fair-related designs drew as much attention as the unique production process, which remains the same to this day. After inserting payment, customers watch two sides of an aluminum mold close as it is injected with heated polyethylene pellets. In less than a minute, the mold opens, releasing the plastic object. The signature “waxy” smell hangs in the air as the hollow figurine slowly cools.

It’s not only nostalgia for the molds but this same, seemingly outdated process that keeps Jones in business. In an age when technology allows souvenirs to be more personalized than ever (see Japan’s purikura machines), the Mold-A-Rama’s simplicity is appealing both for those who grew up with the machines and new fans.

The Mold-A-Rama was the result of decades of work by J.H. “Tike” Miller of Quincy, Illinois, according to a history of the company in Mental Floss. Miller began experimenting with miniatures in the late 1930s. It wasn’t until World War II that he found a lucrative niche in plaster nativity models when imports from Germany—the largest supplier of these religious figures—were blocked. In 1955, he switched to producing figurines through plastic injection molding. An eccentric, he became known for molds of dinosaurs, aliens, and even a Purple People Eater.

“[Miller] was one of the pioneers in the plastic era and stands out from all the rest with his unique way of molding plastic and the unique composition of the plastic material that he used,” says Ken Glennon, a Mold-A-Rama collector who is writing a book about Miller.

During the mid-20th century, after Miller licensed the technology to Automatic Retailers of America, the memorabilia took off at national and international fairs with about 300 molds in use. What set Mold-A-Rama apart from other toys and souvenirs at the time was that it gave customers insight into the products’ manufacturing, as it was happening, decades before 3D-printing.

William’s son Paul Jones now runs the company, which was known as the William A. Jones Co. until 2011, when the name changed to Mold-A-Rama Inc. He remembers helping his father service Mold-A-Rama machines at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry and Brookfield Zoo. By 14, he was getting to the zoo by 6 a.m., which he says “was like heaven. You get to run around. You get the whole zoo to yourself.”

Now in his 50s, Jones travels the Midwest maintaining 62 machines at nine locations, including the Willis Tower, the Field Museum, and the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. Much of the machine’s appeal is the retro look; in 2006, William estimated that one in 10 people who pass a machine buy a toy. In addition to regular cleanings and occasional paint jobs, a major challenge is ensuring that the Mold-A-Rama produces a perfect mold almost every time.

Although some people assume the Mold-A-Rama is as simple as a vending machine, dispensing pre-made molds, “it actually holds a gallon of hot liquid plastic all day long at 250 degrees [Fahrenheit],” Jones says. Small changes in temperature or the number of molds produced can affect quality. On a popular day, one machine makes 100 to 150 molds.

Only minutes from the Brookfield Zoo, the Mold-A-Rama warehouse is packed with out-of-commission machines and parts. Rows of repurposed Cheese Ball jars are full of clear plastic pellets mixed with dyes that melt together to create the vibrantly colored molds. Jones estimates he goes through 640 55-pound bags of pellets a year.

Jones also has an archive of more than 200 cast aluminum molds, including the 62 currently out in the field. He even owns some of the original molds, which were on display at the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962. His collection ranges from cute animals, such as a cartoon dolphin and piggy bank, to geographic-specific memorabilia, such as a San Francisco streetcar and the Houston Astrodome. During the holidays, he offers seasonal designs, including Santa Claus and a Christmas tree. He also has busts of all of the U.S. Presidents, up to John F. Kennedy. As Jones says, almost anything can be made in miniature.

Glennon says the internet has played an important role in Mold-A-Rama’s continued popularity, with rare molds selling for hundreds of dollars online. Molds that are difficult to produce, such as a replica of Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle at the Museum of Science and Industry, are some of the most sought after.

“[Miller] was the mass production master,” Glennon says. “He was like what Ford was to the automobile.... He marketed them by the millions. So they're all over the place. Years ago, before eBay, they were really hard to come by.”

Despite its retro appeal, Mold-A-Rama is far from a dead art form. In fact, new designs are still being commissioned, at the rate of roughly two per year. For the past 25 years, Lois Mihok, an industrial model maker with 60 years of experience, has crafted numerous molds for Jones, including a bison, Oscar Mayer Weinermobile, and an Edison light bulb.

Mihok says Mold-A-Ramas are more complicated than some of her other projects because she has to ensure the plastic will easily separate from the cast once formed. Removing the mold becomes more difficult if it includes an extremity—a tail or a leg, for example. But at the same time, designs with more detail and texture can counterintuitively be simpler to conceive because it’s easier to hide the mold line that connects the two sides.

Although the 83-year-old says she’s never seen a Mold-A-Rama machine in person, she is excited that people across generations appreciate her work.

“For some reason or another, everybody loves miniatures,” says Mihok. “For the kids to put money into a machine and press a button and have something come out like that, they have an interest in it because they feel like they made it.”

Jones isn’t the only Mold-A-Rama operator who continues the family business in plastic toy vending machines. Tim Striggow runs the Florida-based Replication Devices, which operates Mold-A-Matic (Jones has the Mold-A-Rama copyright) machines in the South and Midwest. Like many of the “handshake deals” in their businesses, Jones and Striggow divided the country into territories, with Mold-A-Rama machines currently in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Texas, and Mold-A-Matic machines in Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Ohio. While the companies operate independently, Jones and Striggow send new molds to each other and regularly talk through challenges in maintaining the decades-old machines.

In the late 1960s, after visiting a state fair and realizing the machines’ business potential, Striggow’s grandfather Eldin Irwin first leased and later bought several from Automatic Retailers of America, which owned all of Mold-A-Rama until it divested in the early 1970s. Around that time, as a pre-teen, Striggow had begun helping monitor his grandfather’s collection. He remembers meeting Mold-A-Rama fans as he traveled to summer fairs with the machines. Some of those people came to the same events every year looking for the latest molds.

Striggow never thought the business would continue, even when his mom and stepdad took over in the 1990s. Now some of his contracts are over 30 years old, and he employs his son-in-law. He says he has the largest collection of machines—around 120—with about half in operation, including one at Jack White’s Third Man Records storefront in Nashville.

White saw a Mold-A-Rama when he visited Chicago in 2005 and wanted one for the Third Man Records Novelty Lounge. The Nashville machine produces a “cherry red” model of White’s 1964 Airline guitar. Third Man added a second machine at its Detroit location with a yellow replica of the label’s mobile Rolling Record Store.

“We like presenting people with these forgotten, cast-off processes and machines and giving them life,” says Third Man co-founder Ben Blackwell. “I imagine anyone who made these machines back in the day or was involved in their creation or maintenance would never expect that now—we're talking the year 2018—they're still working and people are still engaging with them. That's beautiful. You can't predict that.”

Despite Mold-A-Matic being somewhat of a competitor, Jones keeps a model of the Jack White guitar in his office display case, which also houses original Miller molds and the stick his dad used to mix melting plastic. Although he’s not opposed to modernizing his business, adding credit card slots to machines and staying open to unconventionally colored molds like the Lincoln Park Zoo’s green gorilla, he credits Mold-A-Rama’s longevity to the old-school, vintage style.

“It's a true form of American manufacturing,” he says. “All of the machines were made in America, made here in Chicago actually. There's a niche that they maintain. I think it helps that we have never tried to change it. We leave it right where it's at and pay honor to it and try to let it survive. It seems to be just doing that on its own at times.”

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[heliosfinance]

16 Investing Lessons from a Superinvestor the World Forgot

What do you call an investor who earned 16% per annum on average over a 47 year period – that’s a 1,070-bagger – and is not called Warren Buffett?

What if I told you that this investor…

Did not care about corporate earnings

Rarely spoke to managements and analysts

Did not watch the stock market during the day

Never owned a computer, and

Did not even go to college

…you would not say anything but just ask me to reveal his name fast, so as to re-confirm whether such a super-investor has ever existed in the investment circles.

Well, before I tell you this man’s name, you must read what Buffett had to say about him…

…He doesn’t worry about whether it it’s January, he doesn’t worry about whether it’s Monday, he doesn’t worry about whether it’s an election year. He simply says, if a business is worth a dollar and I can buy it for 40 cents, something good may happen to me. And he does it over and over and over again. He owns many more stocks than I do — and is far less interested in the underlying nature of the business; I don’t seem to have very much influence on him. That’s one of his strengths; no one has much influence on him.

Now, if you haven’t already read below to find out who I am talking about, let me now disclose the name of this man, whom Buffett termed a Super Investor in his famous essay, The Superinvestors of Graham-And-Doddsville.

The Name is Schloss…Walter Schloss “Walter who?” you may wonder if you have not read much about the world’s best-ever investors.

Walter Schloss was an outlier among outliers, and yet you’ve probably never heard of him. Even I didn’t hear about him until a few years back, while I was in the process of discovering about value investing.

Schloss graduated high school in 1934 during the Great Depression and got a job as a “runner” at a small brokerage firm. As a runner, his job was to run and deliver securities and paperwork by hand to various brokers on Wall Street.

The next year, in a stroke of luck, when he asked his senior for a better profile at the brokerage, he was asked to read a book called Security Analysis by Ben Graham.

After Schloss read Security Analysis, he wanted more, so he convinced his employer to pay for him to attend Graham’s classes. Subsequently, he started working during the daytime while studying at Ben Graham’s classes at night.

Schloss became an ardent follower of Graham, and even helped him write part of The Intelligent Investor. Anyways, this was when World War II broke out and Schloss enlisted in the army for four years.

He, however, stayed in contact with Graham, which paid off when he got an offer to work for Graham’s partnership upon returning from the war in 1946…under the man who had once rejected Warren Buffett for a job.

So, if you wish to become a successful value investor yourself (who doesn’t?), and wonder which MBA to do or which brokerage to start your career with, you can take a leaf from Schloss’ books.

As he showed, you don’t need a prestigious degree or a great pedigree to start your work towards becoming a sensible, successful value investor.

Of course, Schloss had his stars extremely well-aligned in terms of getting to work alongside Graham and Buffett, but then remember that he started as just a ‘paperboy’ without a college degree, before working his way through investing stardom.

As a matter of fact, Schloss left Graham-Newman in 1955 and, with US$ 100,000 from a few investors, began buying stocks on his own.

But Where is Schloss Hiding? You may wonder why there’s not much ever written about Schloss, despite the fact that his investment track record almost compares to Buffett’s and Graham’s?

Perhaps the reason is that Schloss’ investment philosophy was so simple that there isn’t much to say about it.

Schloss, as his friends including Buffett reveal, hated stress and tried to avoid it by keeping things simple.

“Investing should be fun and challenging, not stressful and worrying,” he once said.

His son Edwin, who worked for him for many years, said this in a memoir after Schloss died in 2012 at the age of 95…

A lot of money managers today worry about quarterly comparisons in earnings. They’re up biting their fingernails until 5 in the morning. My dad never worried about quarterly comparisons. He slept well.

Investing Lessons from Schloss Keeping things simple and keeping stress away while investing are two of the several big lessons that Schloss has to teach us investors.

When it comes to analyzing stocks/businesses, a lot of people get stressed trying to perfect their analyses, and thus work extremely hard to seek a lot of information, most of which is useless.

But as Schloss’ life and experience teaches, unless complexity can improve the explanation of something, it is better to proceed toward simpler theories.

While fund managers and other stock experts were breaking their heads with complex financial models and theories, Schloss stuck with the simple application of value investing that had been around for decades…at least since the time Graham was teaching. He multiplied his original capital 1,070 times over 47 years while handsomely beating the S&P 500 by simply comparing price to value.

Warren Buffett wrote this in his 2006 letter to shareholders…

When Walter and Edwin (his son) were asked in 1989 by Outstanding Investors Digest, “How would you summarize your approach?” Edwin replied, “We try to buy stocks cheap.”

So much for Modern Portfolio Theory, technical analysis, macroeconomic thoughts and complex algorithms.

Another big lesson Schloss taught was the importance of paying right prices for stocks. He perfectly mastered Graham’s teaching that you must buy stocks like you buy groceries (you want them cheap), not the way you buy perfumes (expensive is better).

He also laid importance on buying good businesses when their stock prices fell from where he bought them the first time.

As he said in one of the very few conference speeches he gave…

…you have to have a stomach and be willing to take an unrealized loss. Don’t sell it but be willing to buy more when it goes down, which is contrary, really, to what people do in this business.

Schloss also stressed about the importance of independent thinking. When asked at the same conference that given the market sometimes knows more than the investors, how can one justify whether buying a falling stock would be a right decision or not, Schloss replied…

You have to use your judgment and have the guts to follow it through and the fact that the market doesn’t like it doesn’t mean you are wrong. But, again, everybody has to make their own judgments on this. And that’s what makes the stock market very interesting because they don’t tell you what’s going to happen later.

Staying true to your own self and knowing our strengths and weaknesses was also what Schloss was great at.

He told this to students at a lecture in Columbia Business School in 1993…

Ben Graham didn’t visit managements because he thought the figures told the story. Peter Lynch visited literally thousands of companies and did a superb job in his picking. I never felt that we could do this kind of work and would either have to quit after a few years or I’d be dead.

I didn’t like the alternatives and therefore, went with a more passive approach to investing which may not be as profitable but if practiced long enough would allow the compounding to offset the fellow who was running around visiting managements.

I also liked the idea of owning a number of stocks. Warren Buffett is happy with owning a few stocks and he is right if he’s Warren but when you aren’t, you have to do it the way that’s comfortable for you and I like to sleep nights.

Revisiting Schloss’ Legacy Schloss stuck to a strict set of rules when he was making his investment decisions, and invested purely on balance sheet analysis and valuation metrics that he knew and understood. Also, as I mentioned earlier, he never visited the company managements and if he couldn’t understand something, he would just stay away.

As a matter of fact, both these factors – not meeting managements and avoiding things I don’t understand – have also worked very well for me in my personal capacity as an investor.

Anyways, Schloss’ developed his investment wisdom through his closeness to Graham and Buffett and decades of practicing what really worked in the stock market.

But as a readymade guide for us, he put together a list of 16 timeless principles for becoming a better investor. These principles were published by Schloss on a one-page note in March 1994 titled – Factors needed to make money in the stock market.

Click here to download the original note, or click on the image below.

Here is a summary of Schloss’ investment approach as he practiced over 47 long years…

Source: The American Association of Individual Investors; * ‘Campbell Soup Companies’ meant those with a long history and that Schloss considered stable and well known Overall, Schloss screened for companies ideally trading at discounts to book value, with no or low debt, and managements that owned enough company stock to make them want to do the right thing by shareholders.

If he liked what he saw, he bought a little and called the company for financial statements. He read these documents, paying special attention to footnotes.

One question he tried to answer from the numbers was: Was the management honest (meaning not overly greedy)?

All this paid Schloss and his investors very well, especially because he stayed true to this philosophy for a long-long time.

Before I close, here is Buffett again on what Schloss was all about, as he wrote in his 1986 letter…

Tens of thousands of students (who were taught Efficient Market Theory) were therefore sent out into life believing that on every day the price of every stock was “right” (or, more accurately, not demonstrably wrong) and that attempts to evaluate businesses – that is, stocks – were useless. Walter meanwhile went on overperforming, his job made easier by the misguided instructions that had been given to those young minds. After all, if you are in the shipping business, it’s helpful to have all of your potential competitors be taught that the earth is flat.

Maybe it was a good thing for his investors that Walter didn’t go to college.

While it might be difficult to practice Schloss’ approach (especially of buying things very cheap) in the current times of most quality businesses lacking margin of safety, there still are many lessons that we can learn from this master of deep value approach to investing.

Schloss was truly a Super Investor, who deserved a greater limelight than he received.

But then, thanks to being in the shadows, he was and still must be sleeping peacefully.

More on Walter Schloss:

Sixty Five Years on Wall Street

Walter Schloss’ Lecture at Columbia Business School

The Superinvestors of Graham-And-Doddsville

The post 16 Investing Lessons from a Superinvestor the World Forgot appeared first on Safal Niveshak.

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[hottytoddynews]

Coach Ben Jones

For 32 years Ben Jones’ name was synonymous with winning in Mississippi high school football. With stops at seven high schools and a junior college, Jones led his teams to state titles, conference championships, earned coach-of-the-year honors and more. His legacy has been cemented as one of the best to ever walk the sidelines in the state, and now the nation. Last week he was inducted into the prestigious National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame (NHSACA).

While his record of 152-48-8 is impressive at a quick glance, it doesn’t even begin to tell Coach Jones’ story. A demanding but fair coach according to some of his former players, Jones worked tirelessly at his craft. Growing up, Jones’ daughter Becky Jones West never realized just how extensive her father’s body of work truly was, but she remembers his prolonged film study sessions at home as she would drift off to sleep.

“He was constantly preparing,” Becky said. “Back then, we had the old-timey film projectors, and I will always remember falling asleep to the sound of the film going backward and forward.”

Jones’ career began in 1952 as a basketball coach at Hatley High School. He spent just one year at Hatley before joining West Junior High in 1955. One year later, Jones was on the move once again. It was at Gulfport High where Jones captured his first state title for basketball in 1961. Jones spent a short stint at Tupelo High School in 1961-62 as a basketball coach and assistant football coach before getting the chance to be a head coach at his next destination.

Jones became the head coach at Itawamba Agricultural High School in 1963, the fifth stop in his career. Out of coaching at the time, Jones was asked if he would be interested in a temporary position in Fulton at the high school.  The head coach had suffered a serious pre-season injury. Jones signed a three-week contract, his first game was in six days, and by the end of the 1963 season, the Indians were Tombigbee Conference Champions. The winning didn’t stop there, as Jones led Itawamba to conference titles in seven of the 10 seasons he spent at the helm.

While there may not be a trophy for it, the most enduring legacy that Jones left across the state came in 1967 when he became the first coach to field a fully integrated team in Mississippi. Jones spoke personally to all of the African-American families, and 18 players joined the team. While controversy persisted, Jones kept his focus on his team, which went on to win the conference title that year.

Ben Jones with one of his players at New Albany High

 Becky remembers the conversation swirling around town, and to this day recalls the pride that she had for her father for standing up for what he believed to be the right thing to do; even if it was unpopular at the time.

“Daddy thought it was about equal opportunity for everyone. I think that it speaks to the kind of man and the kind of coach he is,” Becky said.

Regardless of race, skill-set or social status, Jones was only interested in putting the best team possible on the field, and that was reflected throughout his career with what he called “the fairness principle.” If at any point a player wanted the chance to start, they could challenge another player in practice for their position. While some coaches may play favorites, Jones did not –something that his players remember fondly. While Mike Mills admittedly didn’t play much, he was able to learn an immense lesson about life playing for Coach Jones. Mills, now a District Federal Judge in Oxford, credits Jones for teaching him what fairness was all about.

“There was no measure of who played other than who was the best player, and that taught me and everyone else to be fair in life and give everyone a fair chance,” Mills said.

“I’ve been around coaching long enough to know that most coaches have favorites, but not Daddy,” Becky added. “Kids knew that they always had a chance to prove that they could play. He’s just a good person.”

In 1967, Jones was selected as an assistant coach for the North Team in the Mississippi High School All-Star Game. Coach Jones’ team played Greenwood in a bowl game and he prepared by watching game film of Greenwood and Drew.  While the North Team already had a quarterback, Jones wanted to extend an offer to the relatively unknown Drew quarterback Archie Manning to play in the game.

“After watching Archie practice, Daddy said ‘it’s really a shame that there’s a kid here that’s this good and he’s not going to get to play much,’” Becky recalls.

After the team’s starter got hurt early in the game, Manning stepped in, threw six touchdowns, and the rest is history.

Jones and Archie Manning

Jones’ second time coaching in the Mississippi All-Star game came in 1970, when the first African-American player was extended an invitation to play. When the committee needed a coach to help the situation along, they chose Jones to head up the North Squad, and Walter Payton decided to play on the South Team.

Michael Watts, an attorney at Holcomb Dunbar, played for Jones at Itawamba AHS, and while the wins and losses were teaching points in the moment, Jones had a lasting impact on Watts, even if he didn’t know it at the time.

“We were just teenagers playing football, but as you grow up and look back, you realize that you were very fortunate to have had the opportunity to play for him,” Watts said. “It meant something to play for Coach Jones.”

Before leaving Itawamba High, Jones was an integral part of developing the tie-breaker rule in 1972, which helped pave the way for a state-wide playoff system in Mississippi.

After Jones left Itawamba High, he didn’t travel too far for his next job as he accepted the coaching position at Itawamba Junior College. Itawamba hadn’t had a winning season in 40 years before his arrival, and Jones led the team to the North Mississippi state title in just his second season, and the overall state title in 1975. The 1975 season is still the only undefeated season in the school’s history.

Before his coaching career ended in 1986, Jones coached at Meridian High School and New Albany High. Upon arrival at New Albany, Jones inherited a winless team, which he was able to transform into state champions in 1982. Mills summed up his coach’s career with a simple fact.

“You could drop him in any town in Mississippi, and he would start winning games.”

Off the field, Jones worked with the same tenacity to get things done. As the president of the Mississippi Association of Coaches in 1971-72, he chartered the MAC Hall of Fame. The MAC held its induction ceremony last week, and due to his health, Jones missed the ceremony for the first time since its creation.

Jones also missed his NHSACA induction ceremony in East Peoria, Illinois last week. While they wanted nothing more than for their father to be there with them, Becky and her sister, Traci Clegg, accepted the honor on his behalf and were overwhelmed by the amount of support shown for Coach Jones.

Coach Jones and daughter’s Becky (left) and Traci (right)

“It was a flood of emotions, because when we were young we’d go to these national meetings, and to see how far the organization has come was amazing, and to see him honored alongside a lot of his friends was really touching,” Becky said.

Bubba Davis was a high school player when he first saw Coach Jones on the opposing sideline, and as he began his own coaching career, he held Jones in high regard. Now serving on the board of the MAC, he and the other members were tasked with nominating someone for the NHSACA Hall of Fame and could think of no one better than Coach Jones.

“He’s one of those guys who blazed the way for the rest of us, and we’re so proud of him to be honored at this level,” Davis said. “He’s always been there, and we nominated him because of how much he has done for others. He meant a lot to all of us because we watched him, and he helped us realize that there are other things that are important in coaching, and that it’s not all about winning.”

Becky knows that her dad has been there for so many others over the years. To see her father honored means the world to her.

“Daddy only had two girls, and all of the players really thought of him as their dad,” she said.  “He’s been a father figure to so many young men. He deserves this.”

Steven Gagliano is the managing editor for HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at steven.gagliano@hottytoddy.com. 

All photos provided by Becky West Jones

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The post 32 Years Of Success Culminates With Induction To NHSACA Hall Of Fame For Mississippi’s Ben Jones appeared first on HottyToddy.com.

[soft-demon-bitch]

Painting and drawing aren’t mediums I tend to practice as often as writing and music, but nevertheless, I enjoy them and they are apart of my time at the moment. I only recently decided to get back into them since I’ve had the time and since my sister also wanted to dabble in painting, the opportunity just kinda arose. This post will only focus on painting and I will make a new post about my drawings later.

Armed with some episodes of Bob Ross and the plethora of paintbrushes which we bought last time we went through a painting phase, we started doing some landscapes. While my sister went for the scenic mountains and happy little trees approach – and she did well on them, they are very lovely – I decided to try out a seascape after finding a couple episodes of the Joy of Painting which took a break from the forest and mountain formula. I love the ocean, lakes, ponds, I just love water, the way it flows, the life that it holds, so if I was gonna paint nature, I was gonna make the ocean the star of the show. Here’s the first seascape I made about a month ago:

There are some water droplets in the clouds, the trees are a bit rough and the pelicans are kinda awkward, but I decided to start off with a pacific kind of scene. I don’t care for how the waves in the water turned out, but I still just love the colour and how it gets lighter towards the bottom edge. Not bad for a first painting though. Next I went on to make these:

I attempted another seascape with a more tropical theme, and decided to mix with the colours a bit more, adding multiple colours to one line – this shows most in the clouds. I came upon an episode of the Joy of Painting in which Bob hosted artist Ben Stahl, who painted a beautiful portrait which I absolutely loved. Watching this episode is what got me interested in mixing colours around and layering up colours instead of going the realism route.

After those, I found an old painting that I had started and never finished. I had attempted to do a kind of geometric abstract piece, so I decided to try using oil paints for the first time. I felt like oil paints might create a certain richness to what might otherwise be a boring painting. I enjoy painting abstracts, but I never know how I feel about them when I am finished. It’s hard to tell if they are good or not, but if richness is what I was going for, I think I accomplished that.

Lastly, we had a big canvas hanging around the house and I really wanted to paint another seascape with vibrant colours and a tropical feel, and so I went ahead and painted this next:

It is definitely the piece I am most proud of. It has everything I love in a painting. This picture doesn’t display it in the best lighting, but I love the contrast between the colourful sky and the black shadowed palm trees, the reflections in the water, the sea turtles swimming at the bottom showing a hint of life. I love this piece a lot and I’m going to be hanging it up in my room in the near future.

So, this was the last piece I made. Now for inspirations:

I have long been inspired by the pop art, eye-catchiness and personalities surrounding the inimitable Andy Warhol. I think it is his work which has given me such a strong love of vibrancy, blocked colours, and a slight abstractism. Here are some works which I feel inspired some of my paintings.

“Mick Jagger” (ca 1975)

“Untitled (Pink Rose)” (ca 1955)

“Heart” (ca 1982)

I think I related to Warhol because of the way celebrity culture inspired him. Though I’m not particularly fond of mainstream celebrity culture, something about idolizing someone and being inspired by their essence, their style, their beliefs – even if they are created or exaggerated as a persona –  can be so intoxicating. Especially when it comes to musicians, which Andy was no stranger to, because you begin to feel as if you know someone through their music. Sure, you may not know them personally but a lot of a person comes out in their art: their vibe, their way of thinking, of putting chords and notes together, the tone in the voice of a singer singing a sad song, or a happy, or angry song. It’s the perfect reference for art because it creates images in your head without showing you what to see.

It’s different with Warhol: it’s about being iconic. It’s about taking that recognizable face and letting it speak for itself. He doesn’t try to interpret anything, he just shows us the person as they are. It can seem superficial at first glance, but I think the superficiality is just to draw people in. It’s what the person represents and means to someone that will keep someone interested.

Anyways, I’d like to move on to another artist whose style broke the mold: Frida Kahlo. I think a lot of artists, of all sorts, relate so well to Frida’s art because, at its root, it is about loneliness. It is about the self, and about pain, but also loneliness. Often, Kahlo herself is the subject of her paintings and often they show her seemingly in the middle of nowhere, perhaps in a vast, empty desert of sorts. I think that alone demonstrates an immense solitude.

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“The Two Fridas” (ca 1939)

Kahlo painting “The Two Fridas” in her studio

“Henry Ford Hospital” (ca 1932)

“The Broken Column” (ca 1944)

Kahlo’s paintings speak for themselves, and they do so very loudly – fitting for a woman who lived so unapologetically as herself. These paintings don’t just show you the pain in her life, they grab you and make you feel it. Though the paintings are very surreal, there is something very realistic about them. The pain is real. The loneliness is real. And those are the things illustrated. In a way, I find her paintings more real than even painters who spend a lifetime trying to paint photo-realistically.

I feel like her art is something I aspire to, to make others feel so strongly that they are nearly feeling the emotion in the art. It’s a long term goal for me, and I have no smaller steps to get there and achieve it really aside from just keep creating. Just keep making things. I don’t know how much painting I will do in the near future, but this is something I aspire to in all mediums I dabble in. This is a goal I have in my music and writing as well. I truly believe that this is the height of art and creativity: using our loneliness to help make others feel, perhaps, a little less lonely.

Happy Little (Palm) Trees Painting and drawing aren't mediums I tend to practice as often as writing and music, but nevertheless, I enjoy them and they are apart of my time at the moment.

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10 Surprising Behind-The-Scenes Facts From The Classic Western Bonanza

The 1960s were a very exciting time for television and the folks wholoved to gather around their sets with family members. Shows were just starting to be filmed in color, and as technology advanced, so did the story lines.

There were two competing westerns that aired at just aboutthe same time:BonanzaandGunsmoke.Gunsmokeholds the record for the longest running television Western in TV history. It also eventually led to the demise of Gilligan’s Island, with an impressive run from 1955 to 1975. However,Bonanzaclocks in at a close second, running from 1959 to 1973 for an impressive 14 seasons.

You could debate which one is the best based on ratings and fan base, but for those whoside with Michael Landon andBonanza,these facts were especially researched for you.

I bet that even someof the biggest fans out there don’t knowall these 10 things about this classic that aired for so many years. Do you have good memories of watching the characters with your family and friends back in the day?

Please SHARE these fun facts with your loved oneson Facebook!

[H/T: IMDb,Wikipedia]

Thumbnail Sources: Wikimedia Commons 1, 2

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1. Ben Cartwright Was Voted TV’s #2 Favorite Dad

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In 2007,TV Guide listedBen as one of their favorite TV dads of all time, although Lorne Greene was only 13 years older than the two actors playing his sons.

2. Michael Landon Was A Bit Too Particular At Times

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Michael, who played youngest son Joseph, also wrote and directed many of the episodes during the 14-season run. During the last five seasons, Michael would stop filming in nearly every scene to discuss the story or the characters, according to producer David Dortort. It grewvery tiresome for the crew to stop and start so often.

3. A Saturday Night Time Slot Almost Killed The Show Early On

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Apparently, no one’s idea of a good Saturday night was to watch a new Western on television. However, when the show was moved to Sundays at 9 p.m., the ratings rose and made the show number one in 1964. So, if you ever plan on green-lighting a new network series, make sure you get yourself the perfect time slot!

4. The Characters Wore The Same Clothes All The Time For A Reason

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Of course, that reason was money. It would have cost an extravagant amount to shoot B roll of the characters riding on their horses in different clothing. If they all wore the same costumes for just about every episode, the same B-roll footage could be used to cut between scenes, as well as for action scenes. Ah, the magic of Hollywood.

5. Michael Landon Wore Heels

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Well, kind of. He wore 4-inch lifts in his shoes to make him appear much taller than he actually was.

6. The Show Was Partially A Ploy To Sell Color TVs

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Bonanzawas the first network television show to be filmed fully in color. Producersknew that this could drive profits for the newfangled color TV sets, and this was another reason that the network worked so hard to save the show in its early days.

7. The Crew Loved Dan Blocker

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According to the crew, Dan, who played Hoss, was the most agreeable actor on set. In fact, some went so far as to say that he was the least actor-like of the whole bunch, which really says something about the dynamic between the cast and the crew on just about any film or movie, don’t you think?

8. Hoss Was The First Young Male Lead To Be Killed Off A Network Show

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When Dan unexpectedly passed away after gallbladder surgery, the producers knew that no one could take his place and play Hoss the way that hehad. So, they did what no show had ever done before, and they killed off one of their young male leads, explaining that he’d drowned trying to save a woman.

9. Pernell Roberts Left The Show For The Stage

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Pernell, who played older brother Adam, was unhappy with the simplicity with which his character was written. He thought that the writers needed to break free from the tried and true archetypes of serial television and give Adam more independence, instead of making him so dependent on his father. When he felt unfulfilled, he left the show to return to the stage, despiteBonanza‘ssuccess.

10. The Show Was A Wild West Version Of The Legend Of King Arthur

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Producer Dortort envisioned Ben Cartwright as a representation of King Arthur, and his three sons as his knights, except set in America’s Wild West rather than 5th- and 6th-century Europe.

Did you know any of these things about the highly popular western? Please SHARE with your family and friends on Facebook!

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