Horrible photo of 70s goddess Laurie Prange, there’s just nothing there of a young woman with such a heavenly body (the Barnaby Jones episode: The Inside Man)
I was going up channel, and here’s what I saw: Barney Miller, CHiPs, “Best of the Week” (some goofy video show where people get hurt), Last Man Standing, Bulletproof with idiot Adam Sandler, Law and Order… KCCI early morning shows a couple of great programs from the 70s, Cannon and Barnaby Jones. Yesterday I wasn’t sure what happened with Cannon. They were closing in on the crooks at 7 till the hour, on schedule, they go to commercial, then its the happy last minute wrap-up-! What the hell happened?? I’d been watching the whole show to get the viewer satisfaction of handcuffs being slapped on those bastards, and poof! KCCI misses the climax! The whole point of the damn show!
This morning I was watching for it on Barnaby Jones. They go to commercial and comeback at 12 minutes after the hour. Barnaby is sitting in the office getting the details of the heist from the owner when, poof! 5 seconds back from commercial, and GD KCCI is off on 5 minutes of station promos and weather promos! You literally just got back, and you go again?? Why even bother to run the damn show? We can not be seeing even half the show. Its ridiculous. When they aren’t showing crap shows you can’t watch, they’re cutting 12 minutes from the show you could watch!
[Saturday morning update: the weekend crew at the station didn’t seem to have the mission of the wrecking crew I mean regular crew to cut out half the show. I actually saw it all on the weekend morning, 46 minutes of an hour show. Yes, I put a timer to it.]
The movie Doctor Zhivago has recently become a favorite of mine. Yes I tend to discover things long after their prime. In this case its been 55 years since the release of this landmark movie. God knows I never read the book, reading the Wikipedia article on it took long enough. Some absolutely fascinating tidbits were in the write-up. One of the films stars, Omar Sharif died 5 years ago. The other, Julie Christie, is now 80. Alec Guinness died 20 years ago, Rod Steiger 18. Film died about 40 years ago, but that’s another post.
For me the performance of Sharif was one of the Top 10 ever accomplished in film. My esteem of Steiger? Tops. Christie? Immense. Guinness? Who didn’t like the old boy. Perhaps the funniest aspect of Omar’s performance, the rest of his work I am only a so-so fan of. To me this was simply his seminal performance. That can be guessed from the photos below from the movie. I’m just glad Wikipedia explained the plot to me, I never would have divined it on my own. I’m not saying the entire 3 hours keeps me riveted, but the scenes pictured below do.
Director David Lean (who died 29 years ago) seems to have been a director of note, but I would argue Zhivago being his most beautiful, if not his most important. He has been described as a student of “pictorialism”, a camera technique of not just recording an image, but creating one. As a photographer myself, that would explain what captured me about this movie. It is truly a visual feast. I remember hearing later Omar’s description of what the director told him he wanted before filming. To the effect: “I want nothing. I don’t want you to act. I just want you to feel what you are seeing.”
This is seen especially in the scenes where Omar is contemplating the yellow flowers, and the frost patterns on the glass. It all came together, the skill of the director, the actor, the cameraman, and the emotional manipulation of the film’s score. The song “Somewhere My Love” (Lara’s Theme) was French composer Maurice Jarre’s biggest hit. Easily one of the most recognizable of the 20th century, and definitely one of the most beautiful. I suppose that’s a key point of the film. Yuri Zhivago (Sharif) is surrounded by this unfathomable beauty (the landscape, the flowers, Julie Christie, his children, life, the music) against the harsh realities and ugliness of the war.
The 1957 novel was of course banned in the Soviet Union. So most of the filming took place in Spain, Canada and Finland. The director thought sure they could do the winter scenes in this one location in Spain where they “always” had snow, but that winter of 1964 was the warmest on record. Necessitating Canada and Finland. My standard of a noteworthy film is that it has to have either superb cinematography, acting or script. I would say Zhivago had all 3.
Omar Sharif in one of his signature roles, the revolutionary poet Doctor Zhivago in the film of the same name.
So much is possible if you have 50 years to do it in. Young people always think they are going to be young forever. It don’t work that way. One minute you’re struggling to make it through high school and the next minute you’re retired. Say I had bought a 1 ounce silver bullion coin a week starting when I was 21. I could have sold them for $62,400 this past week (2,080 coins at $30 ea.). Say I had just bought 1 a month, at the average cost of $5.75. That would be $14,400, for $5.75 a month! Precious metals of course just being 10% of your investing. And that’s just silver. What if you had also bought 1 ounce of gold a year for those 40 years? 40 ounces of gold at $2,000 an ounce is $80,000 for a really modest investment. Gold for many, many of those years was at $250 – $600 an ounce. Only in this past year did it shoot up to $2,200.
And that’s for just precious metals you only put in the price of a Starbucks for. True our own government has screwed us when it comes to savings accounts (we used to get 4.5% risk free), but other safe investments do exist. Probably the 2 best being S&P 500 index ETFs, or a dividend reinvestment plan monthly contributed to that is paying 4%. Just $300 a month is a million bucks. With employer match you’re looking at 2 million. Part of the thing with the coins when it really kicks in, is with that longer time frame of a child, 60 years. Yeah, imagine if you start buying bullion coins when your kids are born?
[Man, some things never change. Having dealt with both coins and guns, I can tell you there are a lot of shady characters in both businesses. The first thing I realized today, coin shops don’t post their prices! An honest business if it was built on spot pricing (prices that go up or down according to the commodity reference point) would post the spread for each item. It wouldn’t be all this verbal shit that changes depending on what mood they’re in, or who you are, or what day it is. So there were no changes, no bait and switch. Buffalo’s were this, Maple’s were that, American Silver Eagle’s were this much, bars had this spread, etc. An honest business would post the spread. Chester’s in Ames changed the spread between when I called on Wednesday, to when I went to the store on Saturday. I hadn’t been there for a dozen years specifically for that reason. And even with new management they’re still doing the same shit. So I’ll never go back there. It never seems to occur to them, “You know, if I was honest with people, I’d have repeat business!” That has to be better than just gouging someone once. The best prices from what I can see in central Iowa is at Coins Stamps & Stuff on Hickman in Des Moines. On the gun side the one you want to stay away from is that shyster in downtown Boone called Lindy’s.]
What an amazing story Cory has. Born on February 5, 1941 in Buffalo, New York. His mother marries another guy not his father. Abusive stepfather, hardscrabble upbringing. Joins the Air Force right out of high school. So if he did 2 years he would of got out in 1961, if he did 4 years 1963. Returned to Buffalo. Started up a group called the Vibratos. Was told that if he was serious about music that California was the place he ought to be, so they loaded up the truck and moved to LA. Played there and in San Diego. Met Danny Hutton (the second of Three Dog Night’s lead singers).
They formed 3DN in 1968 and the rest is history as they say. I wish I knew more. He’d purposely formed an interracial band while in the Air Force, and did it again with 3DN obviously. Another unique part of his story was he abstained from drugs and alcohol and led a modest lifestyle. Which for the late 60s and early 70s, that’s saying something. A lot. Probably a result of his upbringing. Watching a live clip of him from 1975 singing Shambala on Soundstage, I was taken by his incredible mechanics of singing. Not sure where he learned the ropes. Very personable and charismatic.
This live version of ‘Shambala‘ from 1975 really crystalizes so much about him. The joy he has in singing. You can see some of the “white soul” that comes out in a lot of his singing. The technical ability. His charisma. As he said in an interview what 3DN’s forte was was remaking existing songs, it was a sort of homage to the previous singer and the song. Regrettably the times being what they were, the songs didn’t always have the “deepest” lyrics, but they were fun! [Great interview here with Cory]
When he and Hutton restarted the band in the 80s they had a falling out with Chuck Negron (of course). I’d always caught the vibe that Negron was a little full of himself. I don’t know what the real story was. So those 2 were left with the “name” of the band. [“Wells died in his sleep on October 20, 2015, at Brooks Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk, New York at the age of 74. His family later confirmed he was fighting multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer. His survivors include his wife, daughters, five grandchildren and siblings.”] – Wikipedia
“Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
― Frederick Douglass
I always liked that quote. It seems particularly appropriate at this stage of our nation’s history as the country is ripped apart because our forefathers thought it was a good idea to own other people. We are reaping the most horrible harvest.
50 years ago you’d listen to Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven‘ with your buddies sipping a beer down by the river and you’d go, “That’s really deep man!” The song, not the river. And they’d all nod knowingly. Now in your sixties you’re going, “That didn’t age well.” But then who does? TCM was playing rock movies last night and I caught the “exit music” for ‘The Song Remains the Same‘, Led Zeppelin’s attempt at moviemaking. Before them was The Who, after them was Jimi Hendrix. All that stuff now comes across as rather melodramatic and bellicose. Robert Plant who sang it said he thought it was about a privileged young woman who got everything she wanted and didn’t appreciate it.
Other people think it’s, “The most important rock song of all time!” Good grief. I read that and what popped into my head was a little ditty from Peter Frampton called, ‘Baby I Love Your Way‘. Just a nice little melody with great guitar about love and stuff. That aged well. It wasn’t Robert Plant gyrating wildly around a stage screaming his head off, in very serious tones. When you’re under the influence of various drugs and alcohol, certain things take on a greater meaning that just isn’t there when you’re sober. When I was a kid I thought meaningful rock was Guess Who, BTO, Eagles, Foghat, Kiss (I had to type in: “rock group with painted faces” to get the name, turns out there is also a group called ‘The Painted Faces’).
The Beatles didn’t even age well for me. Chicago, Doobies, some Moody Blues, some Three Dog Night, and a few others did. As I got older I realized it was beautiful voices and beautiful music I really liked. Dan Hamilton, B.J. Thomas, Dan Fogelberg, Dennis Yost, Eric Carmen, Frankie Valli, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Gordan Lightfoot. Singers like that. I suppose when you’re young you’re full of testosterone and have to have music with some ‘edge’. Its funny how important some things or some people were to you at one time, and years later its only some things and some people that are still important.
There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold
And she’s buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she’s buying a stairway to heaven.
There’s a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
‘Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there’s a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
There’s a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking.
And it’s whispered that soon, if we all call the tune,
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long,
And the forests will echo with laughter.
If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow, don’t be alarmed now,
It’s just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There’s still time to change the road you’re on.
And it makes me wonder.
Your head is humming and it won’t go, in case you don’t know,
The piper’s calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind?
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.
On this date in 1976, Rick Monday of the Chicago Cubs saved an American Flag from being burned by two protesters at Dodger Stadium. If that happened today, ESPN would have invited the two protesters on SportsCenter and allowed them to describe how Monday’s aggressive act triggered them. Wasn’t no goddamn kneelers back then.
I was going through old Gab posts the other day when I ran across this piece. I’ve always loved winter scenes and this one was done really well. The tension in it, will the little girl’s dad get there in time with the axe? Will he be able to slay the beast even if he does get there in time? I’ve found I like art with a little bit of creepy in them sometimes. The next two with the clowns are prime examples.
Sometimes I think gun owners have shit for brains. They seem to have no concept of how tenuous the 2nd Amendment is. None. Their talk is full of bravado, “They’ll never get my gun!” Why would you let it get to that point? Where you are fighting a superior force that has superior weaponry? Does that make any sense? Why not take a few steps now so it never gets to that point? The NRA has 5 million members. With about 30% of the adult population owning a gun, that’s close to 95 million not paying a dime (GOA and others being figured in). And I’m not talking about the national organization, your rights are going to live or die by what happens in your state. That drops to minuscule numbers.
Which is a shame, because the closer you are to those representing you, the greater impact you have. Every state has an association fighting for their rights. In Iowa its called the IFC. If every gun owner in Iowa gave them $10, that would easily be $5 million dollars more than they have now. If every gunowner in Iowa gave $10 dollars top their State House race, that would be $5 million more dollars to spend on House races then are spent now. I’m not talking about your US Representative, I’m talking about your State Representative. Your rights will live or die at the State Capitol.
Then it comes to the gunowners behavior at the shooting range. The Iowa landscape is dotted with outdoor shooting ranges operating usually surrounded by cornfields, with varying degrees of volunteer and a paid staffer or two thrown in. The paid guy is usually the groundskeeper. I wouldn’t be surprised if the officers of the club get free membership, but probably not too much other compensation. The groundskeeper is there to mow the grass, grade the parking lot, maybe paint the trap house, plow the drive in the winter, those sorts of things.
No one is “paid” to cleanup after shooters. I don’t get it. The range I go to has one of the best groundskeepers in the business. If the shooters did their part we’d have a topnotch facility. Instead they go out of their way to make a mess. Everybody knows where the broom and dustpan are to be hung up. Put them there. But with all the brass lying around, its clear you didn’t use them, why did you get them down? Is your mother coming later to cleanup after you? We ain’t. Why do you choose to shoot in a pigsty? They really need to see the one in Story County, that poor club is getting ripped off by their groundskeeper. Its a shoddy looking facility with even lazier shooters. A bad combination.
Every range I know has neighbors that don’t want them there. Every range I know has officers that have been doing it for 20 years because no one else wants to. It wouldn’t take much for these ranges to close down. The only reason they are allowed to exist is because they were grandfathered in. You telling me the local environmental whackos wouldn’t love to close them down over the lead? You bet your ass they would. There’s nothing that says these ranges have to be here for you to come and shit in. Grow up punk.
The other day I was watching some movie and I started to wonder, “Yeah she’s good looking, but what would she look like without makeup?” It made me start to wonder, what did they look like when they rolled out of bed? Walked out of the shower? This afternoon TCM is playing ‘Sex and the Single Girl‘ (1964) with Natalie Wood. She is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful women of all time. She lead off my post, ’10 Most Beautiful Women of the 60’s’. I did a search, “Natalie Wood without makeup”. I found a couple of when she was younger, but none I don’t think of when she was famous.
If you look on Facebook much you’ll see that women are masters of knowing what side or what angle they look best at. I’m not kidding. The photo they’ll use for their account photo often bears no resemblance to their other photos. They know how to use a soft focus or other slightly altered photo that takes 15 or 20 years off them. I really saw it 12 or so years ago with Jennifer Love Hewitt. I watched her in The Ghost Whisperer and thought she was the cats meow. Then the Enquirer and others started printing photos of her without makeup and took a lot of the bloom off the rose. I guess the question I’m trying to answer is what makes a woman beautiful? And why to one person and not another?
In Natalie’s case I have to think she had a good amount of natural beauty, or else any woman could look topnotch by simply having a good makeup artist and a cute hairstyle. And that’s clearly not the case. So there must be something there. Some fundamental quality about her bone structure that makes her stand out. I suppose it reminds me of photographing a young woman years ago. The first time was in the winter when she wore a good deal of makeup. As she explained for a summer shoot, it was too warm so of course she wouldn’t be wearing the makeup. It was a completely different look. Less the ravishing beauty without the makeup, but just as attractive nonetheless.
Stage and Screen, Personalities, pic: circa 1960’s, American actress Natalie Wood,(1938-198), star of such films as “Rebel Without A Cause” 1955, “West Side Story” 1961, and “Splendor In The Grass” 1961 (Photo by Rolls Press/Popperfoto/Getty Images)
[Using another example from Hanne Nabintu Herland on how women know how to use the best photo, you wouldn’t even know the 2 photos below were the same person!]
Iowa life 