Crossroads of life

 

Walking on some streets and sidewalks, I have found myself totally lost. At an intersection where nothing is at all familiar has dropped me in a confusion hell. Where is North or South? East or west? God, please help me. And, that was me in Walgreen's store.

 
Facing decisions like that are scary and I always wondered about all those crossroads humanity has faced and abilities challenged..

Ralph Macchio vs. Steve Via

Cy Cooder plays for Macchio who is admired for his mime skill.

The final battle, about 5 minutes long. Watch the final minutes if you don't want to see the whole thing.

 

This movie is Crossroads, a loose story telling of the legendary Robert Johnson where he supposedly sold his soul to the devil in order to have success as a musician. This movie follows the journey of Willie Brown who has done such with his friend Eugene Martone, a classical guitarist at Julliard. Martone saves Willie Brown by offering to play against lead guitarist played by Steve Vai.

Steve Vai practiced for a year to learn how to play badly at the last scene. It was awesome. Macchio spent months training with Alan Roth, a gifted guitarist. While Macchio was not a proficient guitarist, he could sure mime one.  It is so convincing that I had to wonder about it.

And just for the heck of it, here are two other Devil Gets Your Soul music performances:

Charlie Daniel's epic violin and Devil Went Down to Georgia

about 3 minutes long.

Talented musician

Mick Jagger, Sympathy for the Devil

About 8 minutes long

Rolling Stones have put their stamp on this.

No one can beat it.

These performances hang about in my mind even though I am lost at intersections sometimes. My husband usually rescues me, and God provides for me. God holds my soul and heart. Devil does not hang around at my intersections.

Please let me know about crossroads you have had.

In the dark, sounds and lights

 

close encounters of the third kind

 No respectable newspaper as we all know by now would write this.  Nothing else had happened 1968, except for the wedding of Elvis Presley and Priscilla something, and the birth of their only child (Lisa Marie—exactly nine months after the wedding!!) on Feb. 1, 1968

1969 rolled in with an endless winter.  When spring and then summer arrived, we gladly opened the windows and put in the screens.

NOW this is what happened:

I was woken after midnight by a whirring sound and flashing lights outside my bedroom window.  I sat straight up and curled up into the corner of my bed against the wall, watching the lights and hearing the strange sound.  The sound and lights lasted maybe three minutes.  Then suddenly the show ended, and I forced myself to look out the window at the total darkness.

Somehow I fell asleep and had a strange dream in which the aliens took out two of my brothers, Robert and Bill.  For some reason that gave me a  degree of pleasure.

I told my mom about the incident.  Oddly enough, Mom had heard the same sounds, but saw no lights because her room was on the north side of the house.  My room was on the south side.

Is there something to be fathomed from this experience?  I do not know.

HOWEVER,  if this appeals to you, go to this On the edge of my Bed.

This really happened to me...hard to explain...

Illinois was apparently UFO ridden. Illinois was a hot spot.

 

 

Don't Look Up

 

 YouTube. Politics at play:  President  expects the audience to agree. Meryl Streep is Madame President, who is scales down the danger, eyes on the numbers, hopes for good numbers in the re-election. Don't look up!  is an oft-repeated command. If she said that often and loudly enough, her nation would believe it.  She is one darn crazy, devious president.

Telling someone, "Don't look up!" almost always makes that someone look up. In fact, everyone around that person will also look up.

Would you? Sure, and I would, too. ONCE. 

This movie is "Don't Look Up!"

Here is a synopsis, which says everything I would want to say, but can't:

Astronomy student Kate discovers the existence of an unidentified comet. Her professor, Dr Mindy, calculates that the trajectory of the asteroid crosses that of the Earth and that an impact will take place in about six months, killing all life in the process. They travel to the White House to present their findings. However The White House has other plans and are trying to silence Dr Mindy and Kate. In their attempt to inform the population through a television program, nothing really changes. Nobody seems interested and they will soon find out why.
—Frank Liesenborgs <frank.liesenborgs@gmail.com>

Each YouTube video is between 3 to 5 minutes.

This film is chock a block with some really top-notch actors. Each is particularly gifted in improvisation and the film has some comedic acting and improv.  The video above is well-done synopsis. Those who are upset at a spoiler need to know: it is all predictable with a whole lot of funny.

 

Time is the Fire is which we burn

from Pinterest

Time always propels us all, shoving us forward when we would be quite comfortable going backward. Because growing old(er) is so gradual at first, one day it is a bit of shock to find an old photo of ourselves and gasp.

Malcolm McDowell and Patrick Stewart confronted the issue in a Star Trek: Generations, one of Star Trek movies. Dr. Tolian Soran is seeking to connect with the Nexus, a spatial ribbon that would send him to the time to find his late wife (?). The rest of the plot can be expanded on plot summary

This movie unites Capt. James T. Kirk and Jean Luc to confront and prevent Soran from launching a rocket int this phenomena. 

The source of this exquisite quote is J.M. Willard, a pseudonym for a prolific brilliant writer, Jeanne Kalogridis. Her list of writings is varied, ranging from books, through a huge amount of tech, movies, and more.  You can find her on Wikipedia source.

She is the one who wrote the phrase Time is the fire in which we burn. If nothing else, this phrase resonates with its simplicity and honesty.

What do you see in this simple phrase? How would you respond if this was said to you?

YouTube, Key moment

Little Shop of Horrors

Musical on Broadway

This movie has always been a favorite of ours.  In 1987, we were in London with my husband's parents and sister, killing time until we could catch a flight when we saw a movie theater advertising this movie.  The place was full and we had to sit in the front row. We knew nothing about Little Shop of Horrors at that point.

It turned out that this movie was brilliant.  It was a musical redendition of an old movie of the same title with Jack Nicholson. It was a hit Broadway musical. Music, performance, interpretation, and staging was amazing to us, especially since it felt like a true stage play.

When it ended, we stood up and applauded.  The rest of the audience, being English, filed out quietly with a few tsk, tsk aimed in our direction.

Recently we shared this with our granddaughters who had seen a local presentation of this.  While they carved pumpkins (no help needed from me, thank you very much), we watched the movie. We kept glancing at them, seeing if they shared our enthusiasm.  Uh huh, Grandma.  We saw this on stage.

When the ending came, we were shocked, as it was different from the one from our precious movie. Our girls said We saw this already!  This is how it ends!

Here is an excerpt of OUR movie:

This is the opening song, great staging, lots of great voices.

This is an intro to the alien plant from outerspace

Lasts about 3 minutes, not needed to watch all

to get the idea that this is not going well.

And then, there is this.  Glad we did not see this in London.

This is the original ending (which apparently cost big bucks.

It is about 5 minutes long, but no one has to see it all. Just the beginning where world is eaten by this plant creature.

The movie version is happy-ending where plant is destroyed, true love conquers all, and then a twist at the very ending.

We expected the happy ending, got the horror instead.  But isn't that the way on Halloween?

The Man who Killed Liberty Valance...

Source

Certainly this week has again brought home how quickly violence, related mental illness, and carnage collide.  In Oregon, a young man loaded up with guns and bullets, brought horror and death to a small college community.

Not much else needs to be said about this horror, since the media are sucking this massacre to the bone.

This sentence will surely seem unrelated, but has anyone seen “The Man who Shot Liberty Valance”?

 

Do you remember John Wayne in the role of Tom Doniphon and Jimmy Stewart in the role of Ransom Stoddard?  Lee Marvin as Liberty Valance?

Do you recall the conflict of justice through the law and justice through immediate confrontation of evil and good?

This is an excellent movie, filmed in 1962, directed by John Ford.

In an article by Michael Shermer quoting Steven Pinker cites this as: 

“…the (fictional town of) Shinbone embodies any small community in transition from an informal (law code/cowboy code) to a formal moral code and system of justice.  When everyone takes the law into their own hands there is no law…”

Basically, what I want to say is that this tragedy in Oregon (Sandy Hood, Columbine…) is not a gun issue.  It is a moral issue. The idea of more gun control laws, and more and more will not be the solution.

The solution is in the enforcement of moral right vs. wrong in the home by the parent(s), and then reinforced in churches and schools. Only then will mental illness, sociopathic behavior, and obsessive devotion to broken ideology  be recognized early and intervention taken. 

If that doesn’t happen, guns can be sucked up by a big vacuum and yet nothing will change. 

Absolutely nothing.

Source

Question:  If I were trained is in firearms, had a gun, and was confronted by such a person, would I shoot to kill.  Yes. 

The Night Has a Thousand Eyes

Source

Penny had been practicing with five other girls, hours and hours after school.  The contest is tomorrow...all the way to Jacksonville in a bus...we'll sing for a judge and everything! As she carried the slop bucket to the pig pen, Penny practiced her alto part all the way there and back. Tomorrow!


Penny was quiet after their presentation, "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes".  Her head was heavy and she put it down on a fellow alto's shoulder. I just need to close my eyes...

Source

"Penny?  You feel okay?" 

Then the talk turned to the drama club and going to see the movie "Romeo and Juliet".

  A movie!  I will see Romeo and Juliet after we finish!  I can't believe Dad let me see this... On the return bus from seeing the movie, Penny stretched out on a empty seat.  Her head...the pain!  My head!  Cold and hot, she was cold and hot at the same time.  When they arrived at school where parents waited, Penny remembered nothing.

Source

At the hospital, her mother's face faded in and out of focus.  Mama, we did so well at the contest!....my head hurts, Mama..

The following day all the students were called to the auditorium where 
Principal Roberts announced a horrible truth.  

That Penny had died in the night, spinal meningitis.  Anyone who had been in close contact had to get examined with a prescription of antibiotic.  All the students were dismissed for the rest of the day.


My folks took me to Dr. Goodman for antibiotic, for I had been the second alto. I still see Penny's freckles, red blonde hair, and big smile as we sang that song.  She had been so thrilled when we won second place.  Sweet sweet girl, Penny, forever 13.

Source

The night has a thousand eyes,

And the Day but one;

Yet the light of the bright world dies

with the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes,

And the heart but one;

Yet the light of the whole life dies

When love is done.

Frances William Bourdillon