The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    barefooted's picture

    Breathe

    By barefooted on Wed, 07/09/2014 - 4:37pm |

    Sometimes it feels like the whole world is in turmoil. There's no end to the bad news, no rest for the weariest information Googler or cable news addict. The constant bombardment of brightly colored linkiness is just enough to keep us hooked. Funnily enough, once we check the TV for breaking news, our handheld whatevers for in-depth website analysis and favorite blogs for our opinions, we're kinda let down. Deflated balloons in need of someone else's hot air. How fortunate that it's always abundantly available.

    I enjoy TCM quite a bit. Not all the time, mind you, but there's something nice about old movies. Especially ones you haven't seen in forever ... and the ones older than you, full of dearly departed stars. Some of them were great, some not so much, but they were all bigger than life. The stories suck you in, and before you know it you're part of a time gone by. Sometimes, when I change the channel back to today, I get a jolt. I guess I just forget for awhile.

    I do love the rain. All sorts of rain. Well, drizzle tends to be annoying but that's really not rain. The soft, steady kind with drops that fall straight down is quite soothing on a stressful day. It doesn't ask for attention, which is good because it doesn't get much. But it's a divine backdrop for more important things. And if you don't mind getting wet, it makes a lovely companion on a summer stroll. Then there's the good old-fashioned thunderstorm! The very thought of it makes my skin tingle. It's an angry, defiant rain that grabs your body and shakes you silly. Truth is, though, it's just a bully that uses loud noise and flashy light to cover up the fact that it's still rain. Oh, don't forget to smile at a puddle when it's all over. It's a wet kiss goodbye.

    I was thinking about childhood games the other day, for some reason or the other. Do you remember jacks and pick-up-sticks? When I was a kid I'd play them on the kitchen floor (everybody knows they don't work on carpet). I got pretty good at building card houses, but that passed quickly. Getting mad over an errant breath is not attractive. When "Operation" came along it was the coolest thing ever! Much, much later Atari changed the world ... and in a way, games weren't games anymore.

    In the days before electricity ... just kidding. Still, there's alot to be said for candlelight. The power goes out, the flashlight's dead and you're immediately pissed off. Right? Somehow, the moment I light the first half melted candle I feel better. The very act of searching for more while walking around in a little gold halo makes me different. I don't know what that means. But I do know that a dimly-lit, glowing room is a mature woman's best friend. (Note to self - buy more candles.)

    The next time it's quietly raining on a busy day and you're lucky enough to lose power, take a walk with someone you love. When you get home, put on some comfy robes, towel off your wet heads, light a few candles and play a game. You choose ... you're the only ones who matter. When the electricity returns you to 2014, just watch an old movie. The world will wait.

    Comments

    Nice piece, barefooted.  

    I watch TCM a lot.  I love old movies.  It is a nice window into the past.   Lately, I have also been watching a cable channel called MeTV.  They show old ... err, "vintage" TV shows, and on Sunday nights have a late-night "Sunday Night Noir" slate of dramas like the Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Peter Gunn, Naked City, Mr. Lucky and Route 66.   

    These TV shows portray a very different America.  Their serious storylines feel a bit quaint in this day and age;  they deal with issues that were important in America in the early to mid-1960's, also known as the America I thought, as a child, that I was going to live in as an adult.  Boy was that a huge miscalculation. The world of my adulthood is such a far cry from the adult world I imagined for myself, that it is almost unrecognizable.

    I guess most of us grow up believing we are going to inhabit the world we learned about through the TV and movies of our youth and then have to deal with the annoying fact that we become adults in a world that has completely changed ... On the other hand, that's also the fun and the mystery of not knowing what comes next. 
     


    by MrSmith1 on Wed, 07/09/2014 - 10:04pm

    Thank you kindly, Mr. Smith. I've learned alot about films and the history of different genres through places like TCM. And I've been surprised by much of it.

    I think conventional wisdom has it that women's roles in the early years of motion pictures were sweet, demure, subservient parts. But while often frowned upon, there was a whole period when strong ladies having sex, getting divorced or having affairs, etc. were all the rage in Hollywood. The times portrayed in many films seem light years away from us now ... but human beings at their core haven't changed that much.

    Now, television is very different, as you say. Especially in the way families and society are depicted. Who would have guessed there'd be such a thing as "reality television" - and it would be so bad? I so hope that if those shows are replayed 40 years from now noone will believe that's how we really were!


    by barefooted on Thu, 07/10/2014 - 1:26am

    I think the history of motion pictures, from the silent era and the pre-code sound era shows a surprisingly wide variety of women's roles; not just the subservient, demure parts or the sex-goddess roles on which popular media often focuses.   Independent, strong and capable women were featured in motion pictures long before they were accepted as the norm in society.  

    I have seen many silent films that have touched me deeply because once you get past the idiosyncrasies of the silent format, the films hit on a basic human truth, which has not, and will not, change.


    by MrSmith1 on Thu, 07/10/2014 - 5:56am

    I am so glad you post here!

    Poetry is available at Mr. Smith's site (creative corner)

    I just recall 1968 when all hell broke loose, the end of the world is nigh.

    Well it was not.

    Then I spent five years at the Education Library at the UOM and read all New York mags from the early 30's and in every single issue there was a cartoon warning us of the end of the world.

    The world shall continue.

    Forget politics for awhile, there are great Americans doing great things every single day.

    Wondrous things, really!

    Smile.

    I never really met you, but I truly love your smile!

    the end


    by Richard Day on Thu, 07/10/2014 - 1:57am

    You know, Dick, you're right (as you often are). Wouldn't it be nice to have a site or network news show devoted entirely to the good stuff? People do outstanding and heartwarming things all the time - but all the attention is paid to that which shocks and tends to harden us. Folks like to be uplifted, to know that there's balance. There's a reason cute animal videos are so darned popular!

    Thanks for making me smile ... it's all yours.


    by barefooted on Thu, 07/10/2014 - 2:04pm

    Wouldn't it be nice to have a site or network news show devoted entirely to the good stuff?

    Of course, "good" is a hard thing to define, but this site isn't bad: http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/


    by Verified Atheist on Thu, 07/10/2014 - 4:22pm

    We take what pleasure we can from the beauty of nature or we get lost in wonderful stories in films or books. There's nothing wrong with that. I've chosen a life where I'm surrounded by the beauty of nature. I live in a ghost town in the middle of a national forest on all sides I see the beauty of the Arizona rocky mountain desert. The reality is that we here in America have it better than many if not most people in the world.  My fate has allowed me to escape the suffering that so many live, and die, with. I don't have to be consumed by that.

    Yet I can't be unaware of it. I often don't post on the "good news" threads. I don't want to rain on anyone's parade. But most often when I read about the good news it all seems like...band-aids for amputated limbs. We, our society, our political class, seem incapable of making any serious attempt to deal with the problems we, as a nation, as a world community, face. Some concerned citizens step into the breach and do some good but so little compared to the extent of the problem.

    I'm reminded of a recent post about homeless mothers and their children and a group that distributes tens of thousands of  care packages to homeless children. A blanket, a book, and a stuffed animal. Yes its a beautiful heartwarming story and I can be moved as, "her son repeatedly hugged his new stuffed animal, a yellow polka-dot giraffe, while her daughter held her smaller giraffe “lovey” and didn’t let it go."

    But how impoverished are the children's lives that this small gesture means so much and how insufficient that response as these children often spend years living on the street. Its like handing out band-aids in a war zone to people who have lost an arm. Most often the "good news" seems like that to me. Handing out band-aids for amputated limbs.


    by ocean-kat on Fri, 07/11/2014 - 3:53pm

    A blanket gives warmth and comfort, a book inspires thought and imagination, a stuffed giraffe is a hug. By no means a solution to the overwhelming issue of poverty, yet still a powerful way to inject humanity into the suffering.

    Your points are well made and true. Large problems require large answers to a multitude of questions. But while we all wait and hope that those in positions powerful enough to make the big differences do so, we can make small ones.

    One bandage will not mend a lost limb, but enough of them combined might save a life. It is absolutely imperative that we be aware of the world around us - "good news" reminds us that we're part of it.


    by barefooted on Fri, 07/11/2014 - 4:55pm

    Lovely, barefooted.  I'm breathing easier already.  Thank you.


    by Ramona on Fri, 07/11/2014 - 1:22pm

    This was a joy to read.  Thanks for posting it. 


    by trkingmomoe on Fri, 07/11/2014 - 2:45pm