Toonerville Thursday

Poor Skipper-- he has to endure more trials than most of us can imagine, and yet he just keeps plugging along.

Thursday's Thoughts

Here's an idea worth keeping in mind, from the noted linguist and activist Noam Chomsky:

"If you believe in freedom of speech, you believe in
freedom of speech for views you don't like. Goebbels
was in favor of freedom of speech for views he liked.
So was Stalin. If you're in favor of freedom of speech,
that means you're in favor of freedom of speech
precisely for views you despise."

Classic Motown Sound

Jr. Walker and the All-Stars were not the biggest stars in the Motown stable, but they put out some great music nonetheless. Here's a bunch of mostly random (to me) pictures set to what I think was their greatest hit:

More Bannack in Black & White

Let's call this sequence "variations on a theme." These are among the shots I took last week in Bannack. My primary goal was to keep testing the new fixed length lens I recently bought, but each of these also represent some experiments I've been doing in converting color shots to black and white.

So, despite the content and compositional similarities, I'm mostly pleased that I'm getting better at making details somewhat crisper, and capturing some midtones without losing rich black features and mostly true whites (like in the cloud above). I may not be totally there yet, but I think I'm getting closer.

Also, I'm captivated by doorways and windows. After quite a few visits to Bannack (I was actually there again yesterday with one of my classes), it's only been since I started seriously taking pictures there that such features started jumping out at me as some of the most unique characteristics of the town. So you may be seeing more of this kind of shot posted here in the future.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

I would call this a very astute observation from the famous journalist Franklin Pierce Adams (1881-1960):

"When a man you like switches from what
he said a year ago, or four years ago, he is
a broad-minded person who has courage
enough to change his mind with changing
conditions. When a man you don't like
does it, he is a liar who has broken
his promises."

Power Pop Classic

Blue Ash were never as big as the Raspberries or as respected as Big Star, but they made music nearly as good as either of those contemporary groups. Here's an example from way back in 1973:

More Pictures of the Pioneers

It snowed up in the mountains last weekend, so I once again headed up with my camera. My goal was the Coolidge ghost town, and I'll probably post some pictures from there in the next few days. But before and after I got some good shots of the area on the cusp between autumn and winter-- some nice colors augmented by the white of snow.

Actually, but the time I got up there, the snow was already starting to melt, so walking through the woods was kind of a spooky experience, as I would periodically hear clumps of snow smacking into the ground as it dropped from the tree branches.

Personally, I'm hoping that winter is still a few weeks-- make that months-- away. I prefer the sunshine and warmth. But I have to admit that the snow adds a nice highlight to the scenery.

The final picture was taken a bit later in the afternoon, and a bit further north in the Mount Haggin Wildlife Refuge. It almost looks summery, if it weren't for the multi-colored leaves dotting the gully.

This Week's Top Five

This is actually a "classic" edition of the Top Five List, from an episode of Dr. John's Record Shelf back in 2008. But I think you'll find the topic fairly timeless in nature...

Tuesday's Quotation

Speaking as a historian, I see nothing but great value in this comment from the eminent Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616):

"For historians ought to be precise, truthful, and quite unprejudiced, and neither interest nor fear, hatred nor affection, should cause them to swerve from the path of truth, whose mother is history, the rival of time, the depository of great actions, the witness of what is past, the example and instruction of the present, the monitor of the future."

Cool Eighties Tune

Here's a live rendition of the great Lloyd Cole and the Commotions' song "Rattlesnakes" from way back in 1984 (it seems like only yesterday...). You gotta love any song that namechecks Eva Marie Saint, don't you?

Sunday Funnies

From the I Love Comix Archive, here are four classic examples of the Blondie strip drawn by creator Chic Young from 1951. I can't think of another strip that has lasted as long and continued to be entertaining, all without drifting too far from a handful of recurring set-ups that have been evident almost from the start (and the strip was about 25 years old when these were first published!).

Sunday's Quote

There's something reassuring in this comment from the humorist Finley Peter Dunne (1867-1936):

"The world is not growing worse and
it is not growing better - it is just
turning around as usual."

A True Classic

So "Louie Louie" was written by Richard Berry back in the late fifties, and has been recorded hundreds of times by now, by hundreds of different performers. This version, by Iggy Pop, must be near the top of the list of greatest covers, and it seems especially relevant in relation to the current protests occurring on Wall Street and elsewhere:

Saturday Morning Cartoon

I'm teaching the History of the American West this block, so naturally I've been thinking quite a bit about Quick Draw McGraw. Well, not really, but as long as I need something to fill the cartoon slot this week, why not post an example of the greatest of western-themed animated features? Here it is:

A Quote for Saturday

Daniel Boorstin (1914-2004) was a very astute historian and social observer, probably best known for his book The Image. Here's a comment he made with which I agree:

"I have observed that the world has suffered far less from ignorance than from pretensions to knowledge. It is not skeptics or explorers but fanatics and ideologues who menace decency and progress. No agnostic ever burned anyone at the stake or tortured a pagan, a heretic, or an unbeliever."

Classic Jazz

I always considered Cannonball Adderley as one of the most accessible of boppers, performing with an immense amount of swing. Here's a good example on one of his signature tunes (actually written by his brother Nat, who plays trumpet in the group). Also, that's Joe Zawinul on piano, who wrote the group's other great hit, "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy."

Friday Family Blogging Quiz

You can tell that Helen was really doing a job on that ice cream cone (or was it vice-versa?), but who was beside her (on the right, her left) matching her lick by lick? For extra credit, who was on the other side (her right, your left)? Put your guesses in the comments section.

Last week, I asked who was cropped out of a picture of Lizzie, and Mom eventually got it right, guessing her Mom, my Gramma, as you can see in the full picture below. Congratulations to Mom!

Bannack Black & White

Bannack was the original territorial capitol of Montana, a gold boom town that slowly died out over the next eighty or so years. It became a state park some years ago, and their goal is basically to preserve the remnants of those buildings and equipment that remain at the site. As such, it's a great place to take pictures.

My goal when I'm out there is to focus on interesting details of the buildings and landscape, such as the back door of the house above, or the barrel below. I decided to go with black and white to try and approximate the old-timey feel of the place.

The window decoration below is one of the prettiest features I've come across, and I'm guessing it goes back to maybe the 1940s or a bit earlier.

More Friday Family Blogging

I'm receiving reports that Emma loves to run. No surprise to me-- look at her go way back when (well, a couple years ago). Even Ben can't catch her!

Friday Family Blogging

Don't you hope that cousins Helen and Natalie will always be such good friends? This was taken back in the summer of 2009.

Friday Philosophy

Ever the skeptic's skeptic, Ambrose Bierce (1842-c1913) was surely on to something with this observation:

"Doubt, indulged and cherished, is in danger
of becoming denial; but if honest, and bent
on thorough investigation, it may soon lead
to full establishment of the truth."

Great Soul Music

How's this for a dream team collaboration: Booker T. Jones (of Booker T. and the M.G's) on organ with Jim James (of My Morning Jacket) on vocals, and the Roots (of the Roots, house band for the Jimmy Fallon Show) providing backup. This is really good...

Toonerville Thursday

On this week's visit to Toonerville, let's check in on that all around rapscallion "Tomboy" Taylor. Look out if she ever teams up with Mickey "Himself" McGuire!

Thursday's Thought

This is a great line from the English poet Robert Browning (1812-1889), worthy of a few moments of consideration:

"Truth lies within ourselves: it takes no rise from outward things, whatever you may believe. There is an inmost center in us all, where truth abides in fullness and to Know rather consists in opening out a way whence the imprisoned splendor may escape than in effecting entry for light supposed to be without."

Cool Song

The Avett Brothers have a great traditional kind of sound, which you can hear on this, the title cut from their last album. It may take a few minutes to load, but I promise, it'll be worth the wait.

The Last Movie I Saw

Have you ever played that game where you try to match current movie stars with their golden age counterparts? You know, like Tom Hanks is today's Jimmy Stewart (the goofy everyman), or Harrison Ford is Clark Gable (equally adept at adventure, comedy and romantic roles). Of course, it really doesn't work all that well because the biggest stars, almost by definition, are so unique that they defy any easy comparisons. I mean, as easy as it is to imagine Hanks doing quite well in a remake of Harvey, there's no way he could pull off the Stewart role in Winchester '73 (and by the same token there's no way I can imagine Stewart in Philadelphia). Of course every now and then a movie comes along and you're halfway convinced that you are watching an actor completely channel someone else. This was my experience watching Moneyball starring Brad Pitt in a performance that was practically indistinguishable from several given by Robert Redford at a similar point in his career (I'm thinking of Sneakers, Legal Eagles, and maybe especially Brubaker). I sure don't mean that as a knock on Pitt at all, who is a great actor in his own right. It's just that the resemblance was so striking that it threatened to overwhelm all the other estimable aspects of the film for me. For one director Bennett Miller and writers Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin deserve an immense amount of credit for translating what I would have thought to be an unfilmable book into a truly engrossing moviegoing experience. Who would have thought that watching a baseball general manager construct a competitive team on a tight budget could be made so visually compelling? But they pull it off, aided not only by Pitt's fine performance as Oakland A's GM Billy Beane, but equally strong work from Jonah Hill (has he ever before undertaken a non-comedic role?) and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (though I have to say I remember the real Art Howe as a tall, slender figure, while Hoffman plays him short and dumpy-- but that's nitpicking). This is definitely one of the best movies I've seen in awhile, and a near perfect blend of Hollywood style and idiosyncratic material. I think it'll deserve to be mentioned alongside Bull Durham and Bang the Drum Slowly (now that I think of it, a film with much in common with Moneyball besides baseball) as great movies about the national pastime.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Noted historian and author Henry Brooks Adams (1838-1918) was the grandson and also the great grandson of presidents, and an admitted pessimist. That may account in part for the following quote, though hardly renders it false:

"In practice, such trifles as contradictions
in principle are easily set aside; the faculty
of ignoring them makes the practical man."

New Wilco Music!

Wilco released their latest album last week, and-- no surprise here-- its darn good. Here's one of the cuts from the album called The Whole Love:

Happy Birthday Joseph!

I want to send my nephew Joseph all kinds of good wishes today on his birthday! I hope you get great presents, good cake, no homework and everything else goes your way-- maybe you can even find some salamanders!

This Week's Top Five

From last Sunday's edition of Dr. John's Record Shelf, here's the Top Five List-- in fact, a record-setter, as you will hear...

Quote of the Day

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) was a well known minister and public intellectual in his day, admired for comments such as this:

"Greatness lies, not in being strong, but in
the right using of strength; and strength is
not used rightly when it serves only to carry
a man above his fellows for his own solitary
glory. He is the greatest whose strength
carries up the most hearts by the
attraction of his own."

Cool Duet

I'm pretty sure I posted a version of Billy Bragg doing this song, one of his best known compositions (yep, just confirmed by using the search function in the left margin). Kirsty MacColl (daughter of Scottish folk legend Ewan MacColl) had a big hit with the song in the mid-eighties, turning it into more of a dance number. Here though is a collaboration between the two, in a version that I certainly enjoyed hearing and I hope you do too:

Autumn in the Pioneers

This past Saturday I took the long way on a drive up to Butte and went along the Scenic Byway through the Pioneer Mountains, stopping here and there to snap some pictures. These are a few that turned out particularly good. Abovwe is a view looking down toward Grasshopper Creek.

Obviously, Fall colors were of special appeal, though I wish I'd been there a bit later in the day. Above is a view of the Wise River which flows down to the Big Hole River.

I spotted this guy wandering around the Crystal Park with a bunch of his buddies. I was able to snap off a few pictures before they spotted me and took off, and this one was about the best.

Last is another view of the Wise River a little ways further upstream from the other picture. I'm hoping to head back up here next weekend to check out some other spots. Keep your fingers crossed that the weather remains cooperative.

Monday's Quote

I wish some of today's major figures would make an admission like this one, but I doubt any would would have the guts to do so, as did the actress Tallulah Bankhead (1902-1968):

"I'm not at my best when I moralize or
philosophize. Logic is elusive, especially
to one who so rarely uses it."

Classic Brother Harmony

Starting in the 1930s and lasting for several decades, brother teams were very popular in hillbilly music circles. There were the Allen Brothers, the Stanley Brothers, the Monroe Brothers, the Louvin Brothers, heck, even the Everly Brothers qualify given country roots. All featured a style of harmony singing that no doubt benefited from the genetic connection between the vocalists. One of my favorite brother teams was the Delmore Brothers, and "Big River Blues" is a great example of their sound:

Sunday Funnies

In the interest of helping Griffy spread the word of Ernie Bushmiller's genius, as conveyed in his classic strip Nancy, here are a few examples of that paneled masterpiece:

These first two examples are from the early 1940s, while the next three are from the late 1950s. Part of the genius of Bushmiller can be found in the profound consistency that marked his work over more than four decades of output.

Something to Think About

Reckoning by this statement, I'd say that the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180) was indeed a wise man:

"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."

My New Favorite Band

I posted a video by Wild Flag a couple weeks ago, and finally got their album a couple days ago. Every song on it clicked immediately with me (which doesn't happen very often)-- hence the title of this post. Here's another example of their work (and even the video portion is pretty funny):

Good Article

Yesterday I showed my history class The Searchers, the classic John Ford/John Wayne western, with the goal of having a discussion of how the mythology of the west grew out of actual circumstances. I had the impression, as the movie started, that they were a bit dubious that a film that's almost sixty years old could be any good, but at the end they actually gave it a round of applause, and we had a great conversation about the different elements that made it so special. To be honest, that wasn't a typical response-- it seems like college students today have no interest in the movies made before they were born (which is radically different from when I was an undergrad and Humphrey Bogart posters adorned many a student's wall). I've never quite figured out why they are so hesitant to give a black and white film a chance, or God forbid, a silent film (luckily The Searchers has neither handicap). It seems like if they'd just give those classics a look and a little bit of consideration (I get that acting styles, for example, have evolved over time to something more naturalistic), they'd discover a whole new world of entertainment. Anyway, in a bit of coincidence, I came across this article last night at the TCM Blog, and it kind of addresses the same question. It's worth a read if you too are interested in that question.

Saturday Morning Cartoon

Time to watch another classic Bugs Bunny cartoon. Here he tangles with Muggsy and Rocky, the notorious criminals:

A Quote for Saturday

Elihu Root (1845-1937) was an influential lawyer and thinker in his time, and I think he was on to something with this idea:

"There is so much of good in human nature
that men grow to like each other upon better
acquaintance, and this points to another way
in which we may strive to promote the
peace of the world."