Love Song / Elton John / 1970

That’s What Friends are For / Jack Jones / Written by Paul Williams / 1974
Love this song.

Van Gogh Socks … ??

Yup

Portrait of my Love / Matt Monro / 1960

Earlier this year, a traveling exhibit of Michelangelo‘s amazing
artwork on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome
came to town.

This presented the life-size images brought down to earth.
The thing is, that if you go to Rome to see this in person
you can’t really see it very well
up there on the ceiling.

Of course, we still don’t get the experience the
of being in the setting of the Sistine Chapel,
but it’s still worthy idea.

This way to the Exhibition …
… said the hand of Man.

No No  …it’s this WAY …
says the Hand of GOD …

I don’t think so …
… says the hand of Man.

Okay … Okay …
I’ll offer a compromise?
… said God.

You do know this isn’t a democracy right?
… said GOD.

Next: Part 2

Musings on a Showdown …

In most any Action Movie – particularly Westerns – the story concludes  with a Climactic Showdown between the Hero and the Badguy.
Thus does end Quigley Down Under (1990)
(one of My Favorite Westerns)
starring Tom Selleck and Alan Rickman.

In this scene I can certainly see why Steven Spielberg wanted
Selleck for the role of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. (1981)
No knock on Harrison Ford, I just think that
would have been pretty good Casting.

IMDB Trivia: says
“Ford had been offered the role of Quigley, but turned it down
because he considered it too visibly similar to Indiana Jones”.
The irony does not escape me.

More IMDB Trivia:
“Both Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood were considered for the lead role of Matthew Quigley which in the end was cast with Tom Selleck”.
Personally I think Selleck suited the role better.

But Eastwood could have pulled it off.

In the showdown scene we see Alan Rickman (1946 – 2016) at his best.
And I still wonder if some of his dialogue isn’t adlibbed?

Adlibbing dialogue is something Rickman became famous for.
Very few Actors would take – or be permitted – such liberties,
but Rickman was so brilliant at it they usually let it go.

In Robin Hood – Prince of Thieves (1991), we see Rickman
as the Sheriff of Nottingham make these famous quips:

Clint as Will Munny:
“It’s a hell of a thing, killing a man.
Take away all he’s got and all he’s ever gonna have.”
The Schofield Kid:
“Yeah, well, I guess they had it coming.”
Will Munny :
“We all got it coming, kid.”

Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye / Leonard Cohen / 1967

“Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality.”
― Emily Dickinson

Marilyn of Serendipity blog
gave me a likely heads up on finding my mysterious poem
– that it might be by famed poetess:
Emily Dickenson

It surely sounded like one of her works.
Thought I.
And still does.

Yet an exhaustive search though all her poetry,
did not discover it.

I conclude that it was not one of her poems.

My search continues,
and may have no happy resolution.

I thank those who have tried to help,
but I don’t expect – or ask – anyone to spend
any time or effort to do so.
I just hoped someone might have an insight
would reveal what it was …

Onward.
Say I.

Colour My World / Chicago / 1970

I’m looking for a poem.
I don’t recall the name of the Poem –
or it’s Author.
That’s not going to help.
(It was a long time ago OK?!)
I do recall most of the words …
Though some are surely incorrect.
And a stanza or two could be missing as well?

Here’s what I remember:

When I, with bitter tongue, denounce those crimes
which man commits toward his fellow men,
Cry that is cruel, and greedy, and unwise, 
That he betrays his honour and his friends.
At my own door the accusation lies.

For I am part of the body of Man,  
And in my breast there lodges all I blame,
Diminished merely in it’s scope and span, 
In it’s essential qualities the same.

Between the world’s own faults and mine,
I find the difference of degree, 
Not kind.

That’s it.
Unwhole and incorrect.

If you can assist I would be grateful.
Thank You.

Star Trek: Picard

SkyBird / Neil Diamond

After the sensational disappointment of Star Trek Discovery
we all need one last ride from perhaps the best (?)
Star Trek series of all: Star Trek: The Next Generation.

And what a ride it’s been!!! These many years !!
The new Trailer looks spectacular
Enjoy …
and Remember.

Amen.

Heroes / written by David Bowie / Icehouse Band

I know, I know …

I haven’t posted nothin’ in fortnight (whatever that is?)
But I’m workin’ on stuff. Always working on stuff.
About 5 different stuffs right now actually.
BUT i  get stuck. Things jump up in the middle … that i hadn’t counted on.
Outta nowhere.
‘Spoze, I could ignore them,
but they might be there for some reason?

Hang tuff.

“You always have two choices: your commitment versus your fear.”
– Sammy Davis Jr.

Mr. Bojangles / Sammy Davis Jr. / written by Jerry Jeff Walker / 1972

Nobody does this song better.

I’m sure a few people were surprised to see Sammy Davis Jr. listed as one of the Actors that Sam Peckinpah had considered for the role of Dutch Engstrom in The Wild Bunch, which was eventually
played by Ernest Borgnine.

But I’ll tell you something – I bet Sammy would have done a great job.
Firstly Sammy Davis Jr. was one of the greatest Entertainers who ever lived. He could do anything:
Stage and Screen, Stand up, Impressionist, Dance, Sing, Recording Artist, played several musical instruments … ???
Immensely talented – the consummate performer.
Also like many American kids of his era, it appears that Sammy loved Westerns – that probably dreamed of being Cowboy like many of us did.
I have plenty of evidence to support my claim:

Sammy’s Gunhandling / Twirling talents were legendary in Hollywood
and he showcased them often.

And he had all the best gear.

Sammy … truly ONE of a kind.

Check this out.

Sammy and the King of Westerns.
What more can you say?

Ratpack Cowboys / Sargeants 3 (1962)

The “Rat Pack“??
I used to watch these movies and think:
“That Sammy has more talent in his little finger
than the rest of these guys put together.

The Rifleman: Season 4, Episode 21 
Two Ounces of Tin (19 Feb. 1962)

Yep … Sammy could do it all … 

Adios Sammy.

Watching the River Run / Loggins And Messina / 1973

Beaver Dam or Beaverdam?
*shrug*

Misidentifying birds is a common feat among amateur Bird Watchers.
Like me.

I really wanted to see a Golden Eagle …
But I guess I still haven’t.

You see … Golden Eagles and juvenile Bald Eagles
look almost exactly the same – identical.
And are therefore often Misidentified:

How to Tell a Juvenile Golden Eagle from
a Juvenile Bald Eagle

By Alfredo Begazo / 02/24/2021
https://avianreport.com/how-to-tell-a-juvenile-golden-eagle-from-a-juvenile-bald-eagle/

(Below) Juvenile Golden Eagle

The bright yellow part (cere) on the upper beak
of the Golden Eagle is really about the only
way to tell them apart from a Bald Eagle.

(Below) Juvenile Bald Eagles

You can see how easy it would be to Misidentify
a Juvenile Bald Eagle as Golden Eagle.
And I did.

In my defense however, it’s recently been noted that
Golden Eagles seem to be hanging out now
instead of passing though to Mongolia?
or wherever they go.

Ravens like to antagonize Birds of Prey.

I’ll keep looking.

Migrate? Who? me?

Winterlude / Bob Dylan / from album New Morning / 1970

Rose and I have visited most every Park in the Calgary area
over the last few years.
Some of the parks are large and uncrowded with lots of Wildlife.
Others are pretty crowded.
Carburn Park gets plenty of people.

The pond was active.

How times have changed.
When I was a kid most boys used to lean on a hockey stick
to learn how to skate.

See what I mean?
But while everybody else in North America was being
assaulted by bad Weather we were having a party.

In Calgary we get those warm winds we call Chinooks.
These make a winter palatable.

The Deer have become pretty tame around here.

Even a Beaver showed up.

Rose brought some birdseed with us this time.

It’s good to get out.

Four swans do a ‘fly by’ …

Next:
Golden Eagles at Beaver Dam Flats.

House of the Rising Sun / Waylon Jennings / 1964

Covid / Again

I’ve been sick for nearly 3 weeks.
That must almost be a record for me.
I’ve finally gotten over whatever was lodged in my sinus.
My headache and fever are also gone now too.
My last symptom?: tiredness. I’m tired all the time.
Initially, I thought this thing was Flu.
Now I’m sure it was Covid. Again.
But the Home Test Kit was inconclusive.

I paid the price for not getting another Covid shot.

Sunstroke / Avoid it

How long can you go without sleep?

“It’s the writing. It’s always the writing.”
– MFW

If you haven’t watched Andor yet,
you’ve missed the best Mini Series that was on TV this year.

But it’s not too late.
It’s on Disney. (believe it or not)

Also hard to believe that this guy has the Star Power to carry this thing.

Do you even know who he is?

Reviews:

I had a good feeling about the series before it started
– tempered by previous … things.

But as I watched I could not believe that THIS was really Star Wars??
No Ewoks, Light Sabres, or Yoda babies?
Dialogue and Characters that weren’t cartoons?
WoW!

Thanks for restoring my faith …

A Star is born …

Connor Bedard
MVP World Juniors 2023

IIHF Records set by Connor Bedard:

– Canadian record for points in a single tournament:
23 points (9 goals, 14 assists) in seven games.

– Single tournament Canadian record for Assists: 14 assists

– At just 17 years old, 23 points at a tournament
by a player aged 18 or younger.

– Canada’s record: 36 points over 16 tournament games.
Bedard broke the record in just 14 games.

– New record for Goals (16) at the World Juniors.

Pressure? 
Bring it on.

Somebody was asking me about this Post recently … so I’m reposting it.
It’s about John Wayne’s incredible smoking habit
and his death from cancer.

sunday morning coming down / kristofferson

“Where’s there’s smoke, there’s fire”, the old saying goes.
And sometimes death.

Smoking is a lot like Russian Roulette.
You know there’s a bullet in there.
But you’re gambling that it doesn’t have your name on it.

It’s a hell of a gamble.
A gamble that John Wayne lost.

       John Wayne’s smoking exploits are as Legendary as he is. I’ve seen several different claims as to how much he smoked: 4, 5, 6 and 7 pack of cigarettes a day! Most claim 6 packs a day. I refuse to believe 7 because 7 packs of cigarettes a day is 7 x 20 cigarettes = 140 cigarettes in a 16 hour day (8 hours for sleep) – or 8.75 cigarettes an hour – which would be smoking
1 cigarette about every 7 minutes. That seems impossible.
Even for John Wayne.

I was a heavy smoker myself for quite a while – 2 packs of Canadian cigarettes a day – 25 cigs per pack. So I have some experience with this thing. When I finally quit, I coughed up tar for 6 months. Smoking is an extremely insidious addiction. Before I started smoking I very rarely caught flu or even a cold. After I started, I caught everything. Smoking seriously damages and devitalizes your whole immune system.
Don’t do it.

So lets’ see …
John smoked 6 packs a day x 20 cigarettes per pack = 120 cigarettes a day.

Could you smoke this many cigarettes a day?

Assuming John Wayne couldn’t smoke while he was asleep (?) and assuming he slept about 8 hours a day, that’s 120 cigarettes divided by 16 hours = he smoked about 7.5 cigs an hour. That’s a lot. But possible.

These are all Guesstimates, of course, but you get the picture:
John was an outright addict.

And even though John grew up in an era where smoking was portrayed as being debonair, sophisticated, suave and ‘cool’, it must have been very difficult to be around him due to this excessive smoking
– even if you were a smoker yourself.
And I’d guess it would pretty well be impossible for a non-smoker.

Strangely however, in most of his Westerns, John seems to smoke very little. ? Guns and Booze are plainly evident. But not cigs. ??? Though it surely wasn’t hard to catch him smoking ‘off camera’,  he rarely brought it to film. And even then, it didn’t seem overdone.

In advertising, John, of course, wasn’t the only celebrity who endorsed smoking. Dozens of Actors, Actresses – and even Athletes and Doctors endorsed smoking in that era. Magazine ads, TV commercials, radio ads, billboards … you name it.

There’s controversy over how John came down with Cancer –
due to an urban legend about the 1956 film The Conqueror
that had been shot near an Atomic Bomb testing site.

But John wasn’t falling for that and openly confessed his cancer
was due to his excessive smoking habit.

Just say NO.

Recently, I was saying to Rose that people
don’t send Christmas cards anymore.
So naturally we got a quite a few.
Not as many as we used to, but …
Of course, getting cards requires
that you send them as well.

I attended 3 Christmas feasts / dinners.
I know I put on a couple of pounds for sure.
Lucky me, lucky days.

Christmas.
It sweeps in so swiftly …
then like a snowflake …
It’s gone.

I try to cherish each moment
and count my Blessings.
There are many.

Into the New Year my friends …
I wish you well.

Oh Holy Night / unknown

Oh Holy Night / Manheim Steamroller

Angels.
It’s not just fantasy.

It came upon a Midnight Clear / Piano Winterlude

“It came upon a midnight clear
That glorious song of old
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold”

We Three Kings / Manheim Steamroller

“O star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy perfect light”

Must be Santa / Raffi

Had my annual computer meltdown.
An annual event. Just like Christmas.
So I was ‘out of commission’ … for a bit.
And I was considering staying that way …

But it’s
CHRISTMAS!

And the only known benefit of getting old …
You get to be SANTA !

And I got all the gals to sit on my lap.

Love ya all.
Thanks for sticking around.

Christmas …
What we make it.