To thine own self be true

In Alberta, Family Day.
In the States, President’s Day. (Does T really need to have a holiday given all his executive time?)
The concept of having a family day makes a lot more sense. Family is more basic than some dopey political leader.

This beats the limits of contact lenses. And shouldn’t go blind now or down the road.
The wonders of modern medical technology.
As my female doctor said, “I’m not sure I understand it all, but it is pretty amazing.”
And so no glasses (except for sunglasses and glasses for up-close reading).
More widescreen, more Technicolor, more detail.
An unexpected, added vividness for a poet approaching his 70th year. Perhaps, yes, a new lease of life, more perceived beauty, and a clearer mind and emotions to go with the clearer vision as my spiritual quest continues.

of consciousness and the very basic importance of it in individual life. That and its timeless warnings about totalitarian control of individuals and their freedom. Very basic stuff today; still true now all over the world.

now toast! Causes air pollution apparently, especially burnt toast.

for kids under 14 strikes me as common sense and sane.

A unique, memorable film that my father took me to see when I was about 6 or 7. I quite enjoyed and was drawn to Glenn Ford as the genial blue-denim-jacketed Sam (Glen Ford) who takes three Brahma bulls to South America for a fee of 20 thousand dollars. He was always smiling and had a kind face and reminded me of the genial grandfather who only visited me occasionally with the first tins of Planter’s cashews I’d ever encountered. Ford’s giving presents to his brother’s kids and giving a stick of gum to the first South American boy he meets reminded me of my grandfather from the get-go.

There were also some disturbing moments and scenes which negatively influenced my young mind: moving boa constrictors and two piranha scenes (one in which a bad guy was tortured). There was also a scene in which the crazy, but likable bandit El Gato (played memorably by Cesar Romero–his best role) apparently shoots off his finger. Let’s just say that some of this stuff would have been handled better by teens of the day than younger kids my age. BTW/My first impressions of snakes and jungles evolved from this occasionally garish movie.

Absolutely nothing is what it appears to be in the movie with respect to the murder of the rancher who was to pay Sam, the stealing of one of the bulls, the killing of another, the abrupt hanging of a farmer, the friendliness and abundant generosity of Hermany (Frank Lovejoy’s best role), and the loyalty of Teresa (sexy, singer-dancer Abbe Lane). A nice exotic musical soundtrack by Lane’s collaborator Xavier Cugat and beautiful scenery round out the low-budget-melodrama of William Castle’s untypically large-budgeted film.

Grace under pressure amidst the confusion and violence of the South American setting is exactly what Glenn Ford personifies as the likable, unflappable Sam–the simple, decent Americano who just wants to mind his own business and take back the 20 thou to his brother back home in the States.

The Americano is definitely a strange artifact from the ’50s era of popular men’s magazines and adventure magazines of the day This exotic ‘cowboy’ movie captures all that kind of romantic, lurid violence and passionate male-female relationships which were once considered politically-correct in the otherwise buttoned-down Eisenhower-grey-flannel-suit years. Strangely enough, though, there are truths and values here that once ‘turned on’ moviegoers, and which appealed to the imagination, passing muster, uncriticized, for general audiences of the mid-1950s.

A feast for ears and eyes. The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra is one of most interesting classical music groups of all time. They are a Canadian ensemble which plays on authentic antique instruments to produce their intense unique sound. This DVD/CD package features baroque music by Bach, Handel, Marais, Telemann, and Vivaldi along with paintings by Vermeer, Canaletto, and Watteau.

The 1 1/2 hr. DVD program moves seamlessly between the group playing dynamically on a simple set and scenes from meeting places of the aforementioned composers and painters’ works with a likable male narrator/chorus figure to hold the process together. The execution of the overall concept works really well and is both entertaining and spiritually moving. Jeanne Lamon’s overall musical direction is aesthetically-geared for maximum emotional effects on the viewer.

Highly recommended for Tafelmusik fans. An engaging performance and film, in particular.