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Back among the... posting!
Jun. 16th, 2014 12:02 pmSaturday's post was short because despite the computers being off all day, I didn't want to risk letting Bad Day at Black Rock sink back into that stew of bubbly goodness I often refer to as "my mind." Although the film itself is dated 1955, that would not have been the time frame in which I saw it as (a) my parents were, generally speaking, simply not movie-goers, (b) I saw it on a black-and-white television, and (c) I was way too young in 1955. So try as I might, I cannot pinpoint the first time I saw the movie (the first and only time, as it turns out, until... pretty much the time my stepfather passed away six or so years ago, and I found a home-brew VHS tape of the film among the stuff in the den).
What in particular made this film stand out for me at the time—aside from the tale of the seemingly easy-going but determined underdog who manages to outwit the forces of fear and prejudice (which describes a lot of westerns, BTW)—was the utter confidence of the the main character, John Macready (played by Spencer Tracy) and the way he handled the tough played by Ernest Borgnine. I recall how the Asian flavor of Macready's fighting style was something—along with kicking—that would have been dismissed in our neck of the schoolyard as "dirty fighting."
I did not post yesterday at all because the computers remained off, and there was nothing to compel me to fire one up, not even a tablet to make a one-line post. The fact that it was Father's Day was purely a coincidence, but a nice one, as it turned out.
Yesterday morning, Galina, her sister, and I went to the Houston Zoo. I cannot recall the last time I went to a zoo. There is this fuzzy recollection of having gone to the famous Bronx Zoo in New York City a few times when I was a kid, but nothing since then. (I'm not counting the "wildlife park" in Pagosa, which in my opinion is to a zoo as military music is to music.)
Despite the heat and the sun, I managed to come away impressed with the design of the place, which manages to pack quite a bit of animal variety, along with the behind-the-scenes animal care areas, inside a fairly limited piece of real estate. That said, it was hot, and the sun did beat down, and the whole situation made me feel sad for the animals. I'd like to go back, I think, when the weather is a bit more accommodating, which will allow me to pay better attention, and perhaps the animals will be in a better mood as well.
After the zoo, we piled back into the car and eventually landed at the Downtown Aquarium, which is also part of the 5-ticket "CityPass" package. That said, I'm not quite sure why that is, because the exhibit, which comes in two parts—several rooms with aquatic specimen exhibits and a pool where you can pet and feed sting rays—is pretty lightweight. Or maybe that's just the fatigue talking. In any event, I came away thinking the corresponding aquatic exhibits at the zoo were better.
After coming home, we sat around for a bit and watched the second film of the Hobbit cycle, dubbed in Russian. My overall opinion of the film is one of amazement at the existence of a sufficient number of people who find such a glacially slow story exposition attractive enough to pay to see, and not once but several times (at least, if they want to see the whole story). Hell's bells, people: Tolkien's The Hobbit is just not that long a book, y'dig?
After the movie, we hied ourselves back into the car with the intention of going out to eat, but apparently, this was a pretty popular idea yesterday evening, and most of the places we swung past were full to overflowing. After driving around for a bit, we stopped at a park near San Leon, just to sit and look out over Galveston Bay and breathe the salt air. It was relaxing.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a couple of what turned out—upon closer inspection—to be mylar balloons that had already lost most of their helium. They expressed best wishes for Father's Day as they flapped around in the stiff breeze, tied to a cross made of heavy wire that was embedded among the rocks piled along the shore. A small pinwheel planted in the ground a few inches from the cross turned merrily in the breeze, and a small bottle of what appeared to be beer nestled in a crack in the rocks near the base of the cross. Obviously an offering made in remembrance.
The little scene made me think, and I blinked back a few tears of my own.
We stopped at a sushi place on the way home, for a bite, and arrived home totally exhausted.
What in particular made this film stand out for me at the time—aside from the tale of the seemingly easy-going but determined underdog who manages to outwit the forces of fear and prejudice (which describes a lot of westerns, BTW)—was the utter confidence of the the main character, John Macready (played by Spencer Tracy) and the way he handled the tough played by Ernest Borgnine. I recall how the Asian flavor of Macready's fighting style was something—along with kicking—that would have been dismissed in our neck of the schoolyard as "dirty fighting."
I did not post yesterday at all because the computers remained off, and there was nothing to compel me to fire one up, not even a tablet to make a one-line post. The fact that it was Father's Day was purely a coincidence, but a nice one, as it turned out.
Yesterday morning, Galina, her sister, and I went to the Houston Zoo. I cannot recall the last time I went to a zoo. There is this fuzzy recollection of having gone to the famous Bronx Zoo in New York City a few times when I was a kid, but nothing since then. (I'm not counting the "wildlife park" in Pagosa, which in my opinion is to a zoo as military music is to music.)
Despite the heat and the sun, I managed to come away impressed with the design of the place, which manages to pack quite a bit of animal variety, along with the behind-the-scenes animal care areas, inside a fairly limited piece of real estate. That said, it was hot, and the sun did beat down, and the whole situation made me feel sad for the animals. I'd like to go back, I think, when the weather is a bit more accommodating, which will allow me to pay better attention, and perhaps the animals will be in a better mood as well.
After the zoo, we piled back into the car and eventually landed at the Downtown Aquarium, which is also part of the 5-ticket "CityPass" package. That said, I'm not quite sure why that is, because the exhibit, which comes in two parts—several rooms with aquatic specimen exhibits and a pool where you can pet and feed sting rays—is pretty lightweight. Or maybe that's just the fatigue talking. In any event, I came away thinking the corresponding aquatic exhibits at the zoo were better.
After coming home, we sat around for a bit and watched the second film of the Hobbit cycle, dubbed in Russian. My overall opinion of the film is one of amazement at the existence of a sufficient number of people who find such a glacially slow story exposition attractive enough to pay to see, and not once but several times (at least, if they want to see the whole story). Hell's bells, people: Tolkien's The Hobbit is just not that long a book, y'dig?
After the movie, we hied ourselves back into the car with the intention of going out to eat, but apparently, this was a pretty popular idea yesterday evening, and most of the places we swung past were full to overflowing. After driving around for a bit, we stopped at a park near San Leon, just to sit and look out over Galveston Bay and breathe the salt air. It was relaxing.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a couple of what turned out—upon closer inspection—to be mylar balloons that had already lost most of their helium. They expressed best wishes for Father's Day as they flapped around in the stiff breeze, tied to a cross made of heavy wire that was embedded among the rocks piled along the shore. A small pinwheel planted in the ground a few inches from the cross turned merrily in the breeze, and a small bottle of what appeared to be beer nestled in a crack in the rocks near the base of the cross. Obviously an offering made in remembrance.
The little scene made me think, and I blinked back a few tears of my own.
We stopped at a sushi place on the way home, for a bite, and arrived home totally exhausted.
