birthdays | dual personalities

July 23, 2015

“Knights had no meaning in this game. It wasn’t a game for knights.”*

by chuckofish

Happy birthday to Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959)–great writer and keen social commentator!

“Man has always been a venal animal. The growth of populations, the huge costs of war, the incessant pressure of confiscatory taxation – all these things make him more and more venal. The average man is tired and scared, and a tired, scared man can’t afford ideals. He has to buy food for his family. In our time we have seen a shocking decline in both public and private morals. You can’t expect quality from people whose lives are a subjection to a lack of quality. You can’t have quality with mass production. You don’t want it because it lasts too long. So you substitute styling, which is a commercial swindle intended to produce artificial obsolescence. Mass production couldn’t sell its goods next year unless it made what is sold this year look unfashionable a year from now. We have the whitest kitchens and the most shining bathrooms in the world. But in the lovely white kitchen the average [person] can’t produce a meal fit to eat, and the lovely shining bathroom is mostly a receptacle for deodorants, laxatives, sleeping pills, and the products of that confidence racket called the cosmetic industry. We make the finest packages in the world, Mr Marlowe. The stuff inside is mostly junk.”
—The Long Goodbye (written in 1953)

Haven’t I been saying this for years?

Have a good Thursday. Read some Chandler or watch Double Indemnity (1944). Drink a gimlet.

*The Big Sleep

4 Comments

July 21, 2015

One thing I don’t worry about

by chuckofish

“Don’t you ever get the feeling that all your life is going by and you’re not taking advantage of it? Do you realize you’ve lived nearly half the time you have to live already?”
“Yes, every once in a while.”
“Do you know that in about thirty- five more years we’ll be dead?”
“What the hell, Robert,” I said. “What the hell.”
“I’m serious.”
“It’s one thing I don’t worry about,” I said.
“You ought to.”
“I’ve had plenty to worry about one time or other. I’m through worrying.”
“Well, I want to go to South America.”
“Listen, Robert, going to another country doesn’t make any difference. I’ve tried all that. You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another. There’s nothing to that.”
“But you’ve never been to South America.”
“South America hell! If you went there the way you feel now it would be exactly the same. This is a good town. Why don’t you start living your life in Paris?”

Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961), American author and journalist, was born on this day 116 years ago in Oak Park, Illinois.

This flyover son sometimes reminds me of another midwestern fisherman.

Don’t you think?

I haven’t read any Hemingway for quite a while. Perhaps it is time to dust something off. Needless to say, it is definitely time to toast old Ernesto.

And did you read this? I think ABInBev should sue!

6 Comments

July 17, 2015

For he’s a jolly good fellow 2015

by chuckofish

Not a mug shot

Well, the OM turns the Big 6-0 today. Booyah. He probably still has that seersucker suit (above) and it probably still fits him.

His daughters sent him cards.

Inside: And by stud I mean dork

and

As you may infer from the choice of cards, the OM is not a party dude, so we will have a quiet celebration. It will involve eating with the boy and daughter #3 in some restaurant where the OM can order a pork steak, a flyover delicacy (?). Hopefully there will be a margarita for me in the bargain.

There is…this consolation to the most way-worn traveler, upon the dustiest road, that the path his feet describe is so perfectly symbolical of human life,–now climbing the hills, now descending into the vales. From the summits he beholds the heavens and the horizon, from the vales he looks up to the heights again. He is treading his old lessons still, and though he may be very weary and travel-worn, it is yet sincere experience.

Henry David Thoreau, A Walk to Wachusett

6 Comments

July 3, 2015

I hear America singing*

by chuckofish

Chris party

Well, tomorrow is my big brother’s birthday. Here are some pictures of him celebrating his birthday in the olden days. Time was when he was usually off fishing somewhere. When he found himself in flyover country we would celebrate in fine fashion.

Last year my dual personality and our better halves visited our bro in Michigan. We couldn’t do it this year. I will miss them.

Our fourth of July at home will definitely be low-key. We’ll toast our forefathers and listen to some Sousa marches. Perhaps we will light some sparklers. Yes, it will be pretty lame.

But don’t feel too sorry for me. I plan to binge-watch John Ford’s cavalry trilogy: For Apache (1948 ), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950).

You could do worse, but hardly much better.

And here’s good news: Shirley Temple is Star of the Month on TCM! Here’s a list of the movies they’re showing. Time to set your DVR.

Have a great weekend!

*The first edition of Walt Whitman’s book of poems, Leaves of Grass, is published in Brooklyn, New York on July 4, 1855.

4 Comments

July 1, 2015

“It’s 80% script and 20% you get great actors. There’s nothing else to it.”*

by chuckofish

Today is film director William Wyler’s (July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) birthday.

Kirk-Douglas-visiting-Charlton-Heston-director-William-Wyler-and-Jack-Hawkins-on-the-set-of-Ben-Hur

Kirk Douglas clowning on the set of Ben Hur with Charleton Heston, Wyler and Jack Hawkins

Wyler, you will recall, is the most nominated director in Academy Awards history with 12 nominations. In addition to that, Wyler has the distinction of having won the Academy Award for Best Direction on three occasions, for his direction of Ben Hur, The Best Years of Our Lives, and Mrs. Miniver. Only John Ford, who won four Oscars in this category, has won more.

Wyler also has the distinction of having directed more actors to Oscar-nominated performances than any other director in history: thirty-six. Out of these nominees, fourteen went on to win Oscars.

The list of his films is truly impressive. He made romantic comedies and religious epics and westerns and war movies and even a musical with Barbra Streisand!

My favorites are: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946),

Roman Holiday (1953),

The Big Country (1958),

Dead End (1937),

and, of course, Ben Hur (1959).

There are a lot of other great ones to choose from, but these are my favorites.

I will raise a glass to old William Wyler and watch The Big Country tonight. This film is marred, mostly by the presence of Carol Baker and the annoying character she plays, but I can overlook this, because Gregory Peck is at his most dreamy and he is ably supported by Charlton Heston at his smoldering best. And the music is great.

Which reminds me…of this. Sacrilegious, but funny. Can you spot the OM’s doppelganger (twice)?

*William Wyler

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June 9, 2015

“I want to ride to the ridge where the West commences And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses”*

by chuckofish

Today is Cole Porter’s birthday.

This makes me want to SING!

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above
Don’t fence me in
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love
Don’t fence me in

Let me be by myself in the evenin’ breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please
Don’t fence me in

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies
On my cayuse, let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise

I want to ride to the ridge where the West commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences
Don’t fence me in

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies
Don’t fence me in
Let me ride through the wide country that I love
Don’t fence me in

Why this song comes to mind and not one of a dozen more sophisticated ones–well, that’s just moi I guess. Love those internal rhymes!

It also makes me want to roadtrip to Peru, Indiana!

Seven Pillars natural rock formation in Miami County

Peru, you will recall, is where Porter was born and raised. It is the county seat of Miami County and is located on the Wabash River. Among its ~~many~~ claims to fame is the fact that Public Enemy John Dillinger robbed the Peru police department armory in 1933. And did you know that Peru was the winter headquarters for several famous circuses, including Ringling Brothers, Hagenbeck-Wallace, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and others? That is why for years it was called “The Circus Capital of the World.”

But you know Cole Porter is definitely the most famous son of Peru. His maternal grandfather was James Omar “J. O.” Cole, “the richest man in Indiana,” and he had plans for his grandson. Young Cole was sent to Worcester Academy, funnily enough, and it is reported that he brought an upright piano with him. This helped him win friends; he was always the life of the party. Although he seldom returned to Peru after going off to school, he is buried there in the Cole/Porter family plot.

Are these the strangest headstones ever?

So a toast to Cole Porter! And you can listen to old blue eyes while you do.

*Cole Porter, who else?

2 Comments

June 3, 2015

Good reading light

by chuckofish

“The eastern sky was red as coals in a forge, lighting up the flats along the river. Dew had wet the million needles of the chaparral, and when the rim of the sun edged over the horizon the chaparral seemed to be spotted with diamonds. A bush in the backyard was filled with little rainbows as the sun touched the dew.

It was tribute enough to sunup that it could make even chaparral bushes look beautiful, Augustus thought, and he watched the process happily, knowing it would only last a few minutes. The sun spread reddish-gold light through the shining bushes, among which a few goats wandered, bleating. Even when the sun rose above the low bluffs to the south, a layer of light lingered for a bit at the level of the chaparral, as if independent of its source. The the sun lifted clear, like an immense coin. The dew quickly died, and the light that filled the bushes like red dirt dispersed, leaving clear, slightly bluish air.

It was good reading light by then, so Augustus applied himself for a few minutes to the Prophets. He was not overly religious, but he did consider himself a fair prophet and liked to study the styles of his predecessors. They were mostly too long-winded, in his view, and he made no effort to read them verse for verse—he just had a look here and there, while the biscuits were browning.”

–Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove

Today is the birthday of novelist Larry McMurtry (born June 3, 1936). May I suggest a toast with some good sipping whiskey and a peak at Isaiah or Jeremiah. Or red wine which is my libation of choice.

(The painting is “Big Bend Sunrise” by Chase Almond)

3 Comments

May 29, 2015

” I’ll buy the drinks when it’s over.”*

by chuckofish

I have been in social overload this week with a huge work event finally coming to fruition. So this exhausted introvert will be taking it easy this weekend. For sure.

Since Saturday is the birthday of film director Howard Hawks (1896–1977), I suggest we watch one of his many good movies. There are a lot to choose from.

You could go the screwball comedy route: Twentieth Century (1934) or His Girl Friday (1940) or Ball of Fire (1948).

Barbara Stanwyk and Gary Cooper in “Ball of Fire”

Or you could go with Bogart and Bacall: To Have and Have Not (1944) or The Big Sleep (1946).

Le grand sommeil The big sleep 1946 ral. : Howard Hawks Humphrey Bogart Lauren Bacall Collection Christophel

Bogart and Bacall in “The Big Sleep”

And then there’s always his legendary collaborations with John Wayne: Red River, (1948), Rio Bravo (1959), Hatari (1962) or El Dorado (1967).

John Wayne and Montgomery Clift in “Red River”

John Wayne, Ricky Nelson and Walter Brennan in “Rio Bravo”

The best crew ever: James Caan, Robert Mitchum, Arthur Hunnicutt, and John Wayne in “El Dorado”

See what I mean about excellent movies? It may be time for a Howard Hawks Marathon.

For a whole list of possibilities go here. Hawks, who was born in Goshen, Indiana by the way, was only nominated once for an Academy Award for Best Director–for Sergeant York (1941)–not one of my favorites. He didn’t win. Typical.

*Mr. Melville in Red River (1948)

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May 13, 2015

Well said, Daphne

by chuckofish

“There was something rather blousy about roses in full bloom, something shallow and raucous, like women with untidy hair”
–Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

Vincent Van Gogh, Still Life with Pink Roses

Roses by Henri Fantin-Latour

Roses in a Vase by Childe Hassam

Happy birthday to Daphne du Maurier (13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989). Let’s toast her tonight and read from one of her great books. Jamaica Inn is my favorite. When she is in top form, there is no one better than Daphne du Maurier. Sadly, none of the movies made from her books are (in my opinion) all that great except, of course, for The Birds (1963).

Have a great Wednesday!

6 Comments

May 5, 2015

Positing the paradox

by chuckofish

Today is Soren Kierkegaard’s birthday (May 5, 1813 – November 11, 1855). Old Soren has always been a favorite of mine.

It is the duty of the human understanding to understand that there are things which it cannot understand, and what those things are. Human understanding has vulgarly occupied itself with nothing but understanding, but if it would only take the trouble to understand itself at the same time it would simply have to posit the paradox.

–Journals, 1847

Kierkegaard is like Thoreau or Emerson in that people take quotes out of context and think he is great (and that they are great for thinking so).

I have no doubt that he would hate that. Let’s try reading one of his books–the whole thing.

“Then faith’s paradox is this: that the single individual is higher than the universal, that the single individual determines his relation to the universal through his relation to God, not his relation to God through his relation through the universal…Unless this is how it is, faith has no place in existence; and faith is then a temptation.”

Well, at the very least I will toast him tonight. Join me, won’t you?

P.S. Why is Kierkegaard not listed on the Episcopal calendar of saints? If it were up to me, he would be.

5 Comments

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