For many years a favorite thing at Long Beach
was to have a campfire.
A campfire, of course, is one of the joys of ‘getting out’.
No secret there.
And at one time (seems long ago) you could go out to Long Beach
and have a campfire pretty well anywhere.
Nobody cared.
Those were sweet times.
And what could be sweeter?? It’s magic.
You have 4 primal elements:
A Fire, the Ocean, the Stars.
And Friends.
A simple joy on a Summer night.
Then …
‘the predictable’ happened:
Too many people, too many fires, too many idiots.
Things got out of control.
The pristine wonder of the area was being destroyed.
It only takes a few idiots to screw things for everybody.
Now most beaches along the strand don’t permit any fires at all.
Those that do so have to monitor things and impose conditions.
Firstly … Thanks Sid.
For a lot of great entertainment over many years.
And for being a great person that added something to us all.
“I think about death, but I’m not fearful of it,” the star said on Master Class. “I’ve reduced the concept of my existence by saying, ‘I truly, truly try to be better tomorrow than I was today.’ And I mean ‘better’ as simply a better human being, not a better actor, not a better anything, but just a better human being. That will please me well. And when I die, I will not be afraid of having lived.”
– Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier
“I think luck is akin to serendipity. It implies that out of nowhere, serendipity dips down and kisses us on the cheek,” he said. “These forces are influential in our lives. They help to mold us and to shape us. I believe that we have free will. I believe, too, that free will operates within this frame of nature and God,
if you will.” – Sidney Poitier
Sid acted in four Westerns.
And Directed one: Buck and the Preacher.
It’s fair to say he liked Westerns.
Duel at Diablo
His first Western wasDuel at Diabloin 1966.
Headlined with James Garner.
(Garner was fresh out of iconic MaverickTV Western (’57 – ’62)
and went on to become of the greatest Western Film Actors of all time.)
Pretty good company for Sid.
“We need to keep an eye on the other human experiences to give ourselves the fullness and the breadth of our own humanity.” Our humanity is served back to us through the eyes of those who have diminished us. And they serve back to us a view of ourselves that is incomplete. If we don’t look to the bigger picture,
our view will narrow to that which is constantly fed to us.”
It’s always a question of how to portray a Blackman in a Western?
A dudeish gunslinger?
Some credulity may be required.
But it’s Sid, so he’s good.
“I’ve learned that I must find positive outlets for anger or it will destroy me …
I have to try to find a way to channel that anger to the positive,
and the highest positive is forgiveness.”
Children of the Dust
1995
Wikipedia says: Children of the Dust (also billed as A Good Day to Die) is an American Western television miniseries, based on Clancy Carlile’s 1995 novel of the same name. Featuring an ensemble cast led by Sidney Poitier.
Filmed in Calgary, Alberta.
Frontiersman.
“You don’t have to become something you’re not to be better than you were. A person doesn’t have to change who he is to become better.”
Favorable reviews …
Yet now almost forgotten.
“Though history will accurately acknowledge my presence in those proceedings, my contribution was no more important than being at the right place at the right time, one in that series of perfect accidents from which fate fashions her grand designs. History will pinpoint me as merely a minor element in an ongoing major event, a small if necessary energy.”
Fully watchable on Youtube.
Children of the Dust by Clancy Carlile
“Then there’s the core self … That’s where all our goodness and capacity for kindness lives. … Our best comes from there, and we know how courageous and honorable we are. The core self is who we are.”
Buck and the Preacher
1972
My Review:
Directed by Sidney.
I found this to be an entertaining and enjoyable Western.
Watchable on YouTube.
“Forgiveness works two ways, in most instances. People have to forgive themselves too. The powerful have to forgive themselves for their behavior. That should be a sacred process.”
Quotes and Images borrowed from Oprah Daily:
https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/g38696433/sidney-poitier-quotes/
“I was born with an urge to understand the mysteries of life.”
Ever been watching a Movie and you recognize somebody in the Movie, but you can’t remember who he/she is? – or where you saw them before? Happens to me all the time. I usually remember before the Movies’s over, but not always – and this will nag at me (like a Gila Monster chewing on a scorpion) for the whole Movie.
That might happen to you in Old Henry.
Yeah … I knew I’d seen Nelson recently. But where??? Couldn’t place him. See if you can figure it out before this post is finished.
(Bet you won’t get it.)
Tim Blake Nelson … sorta like Clint Eastwood … without the good looks.
Did you figure it out?
Tim Blake Nelson in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs / 2018
Tofino used to be a sleepy isolated fishing village.
To get there, first you had to get to Vancouver Island
– then out to the Pacific Rim.
It was a far drive and the road was gravel.
This discouraged a lot of people.
But progressively things opened up.
It’s now a bustling Tourist town whose visitors greatly exceeds it’s said population of 2000 people.
In fact, if you’re coming here and plan to stick around, you better book accommodations or you’ll be sleeping in your car.
This place is booming – year ’round.
Surfing has become a huge thing and Tofino is now being called the
The Surf Capital of Canada.
It’s exploding.
Net PhotoNet Photo
Cox Bay viewpoint – looks like Hawaii or something.
Grahm knelt in the snow and stroked the Sheltie’s back.
“Twill be coold one tonite Jock.”
3 sheep still missing from the storm. He’d not return home till found.”Christmas Eve. I’d ruther be home with Marnie by the fyre .”
Then …
Far away … far away … he thought he heard something … ??
Jock pricked his ears.
Was it just a wind on the crest?
No .. NO! He heard it again … !
“TIS that the pipes Jock ??”
It was ! IT WAS !!
Down the glen someone was proclaiming Christmas …
O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
The angels’ voices singing
Proclaim the early morn’
And children pure and happy
A-wait the break of dawn
While charity stands watching
And faithfuls wipe the door
The dark night wakes the glory breaks
And Christmas comes once more
(April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the “First Lady of Song”, “Queen of Jazz”, and “Lady Ella”. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a “horn-like” improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.
After a tumultuous adolescence, Fitzgerald found stability in musical success with the Chick Webb Orchestra, performing across the country but most often associated with the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Her rendition of the nursery rhyme “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” helped boost both her and Webb to national fame. After taking over the band when Webb died, Fitzgerald left it behind in 1942 to start her solo career.
Her manager was Moe Gale, co-founder of the Savoy,[1] until she turned the rest of her career over to Norman Granz, who founded Verve Records to produce new records by Fitzgerald. With Verve she recorded some of her more widely noted works, particularly her interpretations of the Great American Songbook.
In 1993, after a career of nearly 60 years, she gave her last public performance. Three years later, she died at the age of 79 after years of declining health. Her accolades included fourteen Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog!” – The Bible / English Standard Version
The Power of the Dog / the Book.
This is not a Western.
Yeah it’s got cowboy hats and horses and such …
but as I said in my preview, this appears to be more a
psychological drama than a Western.
I was right.
The Setting could be anywhere really.
And I understand what is being said …
and performances are great.
It’s a tough and lonely world when you’re isolated by your sexuality.
But I found this to be very uncomfortable movie to watch.
And I didn’t feel this Movie was adding anything to me.
And I am responsible for whatever I permit into my consciousness.
If I had been in a Theatre I would have walked out.
And it’s loooong ……… 2 and a half hours.
Whew …
I know this will get a lot of great reviews from Critics.
But … don’t say I didn’t tell you.
Below is an excerpt from the 1951 Film Scrooge starring Alastair Sim –
my favorite version of Charles Dickens Masterpiece, A Christmas Carol.
I consider this film a Masterpiece as well.
I watch every year and marvel at it. And I always cry. It is a Classic.
For Sim is the perfect Scrooge and immortalized himself
with his wonderful portrayal.
There is colorized version as well.
A few cards I’ve created over the years.
These times are tough for many.
But Christmas … like anything … is still what we make it.
The Cratchits’ knew it well. It’s about Love.
Not presents.
Just who’s present.
Best to You and Yours.
Home, Home on the Range
– The Sons of the Pioneers with Roy Rogers
Gary Larson of Farside cartoons has done quite a few
Western cartoons over the years.
I’m posting a few favorites
whilst I’m workin’ on other projects.
This is my favorite:
No discouragin’ words ’round here.
Thanks to Brother Richard for sendin’
a couple of cartoons over.
Bringing together their affinity for a great popular song with outstanding live performances, Irishmen Damian McGinty, Keith Harkin, Paul Byrom, Ryan Kelly and Scotsman George Donaldson of Celtic Thunder pay homage to cherished holiday favorites on their DVD Celtic Thunder – Christmas. Offering a holiday celebration for all the family, Celtic Thunder Christmas features all-time favorites such as ‘Winter Wonderland”, “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas” and “Let It Snow”, original compositions such as “Christmas Morning Donegal”, “Christmas Overture” and of course the Celtic Thunder fan favorites the a cappella “Amazing Grace” the poignant “Christmas 1915” and the Gaelic version of “Silent Night” amongst others. Celtic Thunder – Christmas is a diverse mix of international and Celtic holiday classics performed as always with the Celtic Thunder magic.
Then they sadly went back to killing each other.
Everybody could have just put their guns down and gone home and said
“We aren’t going to do this anymore. Why should I leave my family
and home to go kill people I don’t even know?”
But it never stops. And never will.
Tom Mix was the greatest of the silent-era movie cowboys, and a cowboy in real-life as well. He reportedly could knock a button off of a shirt with a rifle shot, and jump a horse into a railroad box car. He was married seven times to six different women. (MFW: Don’t try this at home folks. This is only for REAL Cowboys.)
But Tom was 60 years old on October 12, 1940, and behind the wheel of a V8 convertible, not in a saddle, when he decided to race north across the Arizona desert to visit his son-in-law. No one knows how fast he was going when he saw the road repair crew, but some say that he was standing straight up on the brakes, trying to stop, when his car flew into the washed-out gully. Tom’s aluminum suitcase was thrown out of the back seat and into the back of Tom’s head (He was wearing his trademark 10-gallon white Stetson at the time). Mix emerged apparently unscathed from the car — which was not badly damaged — took one step, and crumpled, dead of a broken neck.
The gully was renamed Tom Mix Wash as a makeshift memorial. Seven years later the Pinal County Historical Society erected a monument at the remote site. It’s a mortared, cobblestone pile topped with a two-foot-tall black iron silhouette of a saddled but riderless horse, its head bowed. The horse has several holes in it. At first you may think it’s rust — but then you remember that you’re in a desert, and there is no rust, and the holes are in fact bullet holes.
The monument was restored in 1990 when the horse, which had been stolen ten years earlier, was returned and had its first batch of bullet holes repaired. In the early 21st century a single, sheltered picnic bench was built just behind the monument, for those who want to eat lunch in the middle of a desert where Tom Mix died.
I didn’t just randomly pick this Tom Mix image for my Blog Icon.
I genuinely admire Mix as a real Cowboy who became a Film Star.
He really was an amazing character who did many of his own stunts.
The were a few Western Stars in those days – the 20’s –
who were genuine Cowboys.
This kind of Casting stopped after a while – possibly the reason being demonstrated by this famous quote from the
Great Western Film Director John Ford:
It is easier to get an actor to be a cowboy than to get a cowboy to be an actor. – John Ford
Yet later on we still found a few Cowboys that became BIG Stars:
Ben Johnson the 1971 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
and the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor for the movie The Last Picture Show.
The great irony here is that Johnson’s career was started
by John Ford who had originally hired him as a wrangler
to manage the horses for his Movies.
Also Slim Pickens who had an astounding film career
started as rodeo cowboy.
Then appeared in nearly 90 Films
and 60 TV appearances
over 40 years.
Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I’ve looked at clouds that way
But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all
Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I’ve looked at love that way
But now it’s just another show
You leave ’em laughing when you go
And if you care, don’t let them know
Don’t give yourself away
I’ve looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know love at all
Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say “I love you” right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I’ve looked at life that way
But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I’ve changed
Well something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living every day
I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all
I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all
“Both Sides, Now” was written By Joni Mitchell
some time before November 17, 1966.
It was released in 1969 on her Album “Clouds”.
But before such Clouds even brushed our ears Joni had paid a legion of dues.
Fame and recognition did not happen overnight.
Joni left home to attend the Alberta College of Art in Calgary 1963.
She was 20.
I found her bio and pic in the College Library Yearbook for that year.
I should have stole it.
I left home to attend the Alberta College of Art in Calgary in 1969.
I was 20.
I knew nothing.
I truly was a blank canvas.
And didn’t even know it.
OH how I wish I could re-win and rewind those lost days.
Long past.
“It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all”
It seems that there are so few true Artists these days – music or otherwise.
But Joni has truly been one of them.
Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I’ve looked at clouds that way
But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all
Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I’ve looked at love that way
But now it’s just another show
You leave ’em laughing when you go
And if you care, don’t let them know
Don’t give yourself away
I’ve looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know love at all
Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say “I love you” right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I’ve looked at life that way
But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I’ve changed
Well something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living every day
I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all
I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all
“Both Sides, Now” was written By Joni Mitchell
some time before November 17, 1966.
It was released in 1969 on her Album “Clouds”.
But before such Clouds even brushed our ears Joni had paid a legion of dues.
Fame and recognition did not happen overnight.
Joni left home to attend the Alberta College of Art in Calgary 1963.
She was 20.
I found her bio and pic in the College Library Yearbook for that year.
I should have stole it.
I left home to attend the Alberta College of Art in Calgary in 1969.
I was 20.
I knew nothing.
I truly was a blank canvas.
And didn’t even know it.
OH how I wish I could re-win and rewind those lost days.
Long past.
“It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all”
It seems that there are so few true Artists these days – music or otherwise.
But Joni has truly been one of them.
It’s either in the chalice from the palace or the vessel with the pestle — or possibly, the flagon with the dragon. One of them has the brew that is true, but if you drink the wrong one? You’ve consumed the pellet with the poison and your goose is cooked.Some of the funniest movie dialogue ever. This particular “bit” has been going through my head since yesterday. Enjoy. Have a laugh. You probably need one.
“The best surfer out there is the one having the most fun.” – Unknown
Sign says …
My Favorite Westerns Surf Theory
So what makes the surf at Cox Bay so good for Surfing?
Cox Bay is a really a Cove.
So when the waves sweep in from the ocean water is compressed
which raises the surf.
That’s my theory anyway.
I tried hard to get some decent images,
but my equipment and skills weren’t really up to the task.
But the Surfers just kept on smiling.
They love what they do.
5.7 out of 10Critics 88% / Audience 9.3%Critics 71 / Audience 6.2
So much for Reviews – they seem to span quite a range.
My Impression from the Trailer:
This Movie appears to be so stylized that I’m wondering if I will
even qualify it as a Western? We’ll see.
Not really a criticism. I feel that way about many so-called Westerns
that are made these days.
Also, it appears to be aimed at an audience of Black American Culture?
No? Rap music?
That’s not a criticism either –
Because I relate very little with most Movies that are made
by anybody these days.
So I don’t watch ’em.
BUT since this claims to be a Western,
I’ll give it a fair trial.
When I spotted somebody out in the water.
What the heck was he doing?? Swimming? Drowning?
I looked closer.
He was wearing a black wetsuit.
And he had a surfboard!!
Good Grief! He was trying to surf!!!
I was astonished.
Nobody can Surf here! (thot I)
It’s too damn cold and the surf isn’t good enough!
This guy must be crazy?
I dismissed it all as a subzero anomy.
Figured I’d never see that again.
How WRONG I was.
Flash forward to September 20, 2021.
We arrive at Pacific Sands Resort on Cox Bay –
the exact location of the 3 day Canadian Surfing Championships.
(Another one of those crazy coincidences?)
I went down to the beach.
and took a video.
You can hear the Surfing commentator in the background.
We knew it was raining ‘up Island’.
We’d been watching the weather forecasts for a week.
But rain or shine, we were going to have a good time.
Guaranteed.
Snapping pics out the window on the way up.
We were running about 3 hours late – trying to find another car rental.
Didn’t happen.
I used to travel ‘on the cheap’.
Rose doesn’t do that.
And at one time (seems long ago) you could go out to Long Beach
A simple joy on a Summer night.
Then …
The pristine wonder of the area was being destroyed.
It only takes a few idiots to screw things for everybody.
I believe these (below) will also be permitted?
Frontiersman.
My Review:
In fact, if you’re coming here and plan to stick around, you better book accommodations or you’ll be sleeping in your car.
These times are tough for many.
No discouragin’ words ’round here.
The ocean’s flotsam is nature’s artwork.
Yet …
As with any outdoor event weather can be a factor.
The rain probably doesn’t affect them much.
But the extra cold might ??
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Never forget.
Sign says …
But the Surfers just kept on smiling.
I went down to the beach.
Snapping pics out the window on the way up.
