That Was Then, This Is Now

    

Tucson Weather Today

____________________

I read somewhere that Samuel Goldwyn once said, "Pictures are for entertainment, messages should be delivered by Western Union." That statement seems, to me, to be contrary to the very concept  of art or intellectual insights existing within literature and cinema. Perhaps Mr. Goldwyn meant motion pictures intended for the entertainment of the masses. Or maybe he was referring to the maximization of profit... 'the bottom line.'

_____

The old Boy Scout cabin in my hometown is going to be destroyed, reports the Rensselaer Adventures blog.

Boy Scout Cabin

Rensselaer, Indiana
(Photo courtesy of Rensselaer Adventures)

Here is the comment I posted to that blog:

What a shame. I have many memories of weekly evening meetings in that cabin when I was a Boy Scout in the early to middle 1950s, when Ed Hudson was Scoutmaster and Bill Hudson his assistant. I remember when Max Henry went to the big Scout Jamboree and got to see President Truman. And Herbie Arihood often got sick to his stomach during activities, like the Compass competition. I was in the "Silver Fox Patrol" and we were ALWAYS the winners and got to keep the Compass trophy in our corner (Northeast Corner) of the cabin.

"Oh well... there is always conflict between Destroyers and Preservationists.

Rensselaer Adventures

_____

 

Here is an amazing video. Title:The Power of Concentration. Please watch it to the end.

Miyoko Shida Rigolo's Amazing Concentration

_____

TRIVIA

No piece of paper can be folded in half consecutively more than 7 times.

_____

HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day, June 1 in 1965 a coal mine explosion killed 236 workers at the Yamano mine near Fukuoka, Japan. The tragic disaster might have been avoided if the operators of the mine had taken even the most basic safety precautions. Yoshio Sakarauchi, the trade and industries minister of Japan, resigned in the aftermath of the disaster.

Note: Fukuoka has long been known internationally in WWII histories as the location of the most infamous, savage, and barbaric of atrocities.

WWII Prisoner Of War Atrocities

_____

WORD FOR TODAY

reconnoiter [ree-kuh-NOY-tuhr]
verb
-  to inspect, observe, or survey.
-  to examine or survey a region, area.
-  an exploration of an area in order to gather information.

_____

 

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

 

 

Marilyn Monroe
(June 1, 1926 - August 5, 1962)

Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson) was an American actress, model, and singer, who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s and early 1960s.After spending much of her childhood in foster homes, Monroe began a career as a model, which led to a film contract in 1946 with Twentieth Century-Fox.

Her early film appearances were minor, but her performances in The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve (both 1950), drew attention. By 1952 she had her first leading role in Don't Bother to Knock and 1953 brought a lead in Niagara, a melodramatic film noir that dwelt on her seductiveness. Her "dumb blonde" persona was used to comic effect in subsequent films such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and The Seven Year Itch (1955). Her dramatic performance in Bus Stop (1956) was hailed by critics and garnered a Golden Globe nomination. Her production company, Marilyn Monroe Productions, released The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), for which she received a BAFTA Award nomination and won a David di Donatello award. She received a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Some Like It Hot (1959). Monroe's last completed film was The Misfits (1961), co-starring Clark Gable with screenplay by her then-husband, Arthur Miller.

On August 5, 1962, at 4:25 am, LAPD sergeant Jack Clemmons received a call from Dr. Ralph Greenson, Monroe's psychiatrist, saying that Monroe was found dead at her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. She was 36 years old.

Morgan Freeman
(born June 1, 1937)

Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, and narrator. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby. He has also won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Freeman has appeared in many other box office hits, including Unforgiven, Glory, Seven, Deep Impact, The Sum of All Fears, Bruce Almighty, The Dark Knight Trilogy, and March of the Penguins.

Theresa Elizabeth "Teri" Polo
(born June 1, 1969)

Teri Polo is an American actress known for her role of Pam Focker in the film Meet the Parents (2000) and its two sequels, Meet the Fockers (2004) and Little Fockers (2010). She was one of the stars in the sitcom I'm with Her, as well as the political drama series The West Wing.

Andy Samuel Griffith

(June 1, 1926 - July 3, 2012)

Andy Griffith was an American actor, television producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He was a Tony Award nominee for two roles, and gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead characters in the 1960–1968 situation comedy The Andy Griffith Show and in the 1986–1995 legal drama Matlock.

__________

Not necessity, not desire -- no, 'the love of power' is the demon of men. Let them have everything - health, food, a place to live, entertainment -- they are and remain unhappy and low-spirited: for the demon waits and waits and will be satisfied.
--Friedrich Nietzsche
    

Pursuit Of The Trivial

Tucson Weather Today


____________________

While walking past the Emeritus Assisted Living and Retirement Home on Speedway Boulevard near Pantano, I couldn't help noticing how young, vibrant, and alive was the greenery surrounding the facility. All except for one tree, way to the back of the building. It stood alone, as close to death as could be but somehow still clinging to a shred of life.

It's weird, isn't it, how an ancient leafless tree, bent, gnarled, and dry, reaching for the lifegiving light of the limitless sky outside an Old Folks Home can be a visual metaphor picturing the last days of a human life.

And how one old man, observing such a thing, can feel a kind of kinship -- with an ugly old tree.

_____

I have been watching the television show Jeopardy ever since it began. And while playing along I have demonstrated again and again, both to myself and to whomsoever watched with me, that I possessed a nearly eidetic memory. But as I have aged, I find myself unable to retrieve the answers swiftly enough to beat the contestants. And it's getting worse as the years fly by. It won't be long, I fear, before I will have to stop watching that show. For the sake of my ever failing self-image, my fading feelings of self-worth.

Slowly dying is a sorrowful thing to experience.

_____

Why Is Trivia Good For You?

Your brain is like a muscle. If you don't use it, you lose it. Taking tests, especially those on topics with which you are unfamiliar, forces you to use your brain. The television show, Jeopardy is a good example of trivia tests. It's a fact that people who remain mentally active are less likely to have dementia and will have better memory into old age, Searching for answers is more active than simply reading a book

Here is an easy trivia question:

In which year did Japan attack the United States, leading to American entry into World War II?

_____

HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day, May 15 in 1942, gasoline rationing began in 17 Eastern states as an attempt to help the American war effort during World War II. By the end of the year, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had ensured that mandatory gasoline rationing was in effect in all 50 states.

Ration stamps for gasoline were issued by local boards and pasted to the windshield of a family or individual's automobile. The type of stamp determined the gasoline allotment for that automobile. Black stamps, for example, signified non-essential travel and mandated no more than three gallons per week, while red stamps were for workers who needed more gas, including policemen and mail carriers. As a result of the restrictions, gasoline became a hot commodity on the black market, while legal measures of conserving gas--such as carpooling--also flourished. In a separate attempt to reduce gas consumption, the government passed a mandatory wartime speed limit of 35 mph, known as the "Victory Speed."

_____

WORD FOR TODAY

eidetic
adjective
of, pertaining to, or constituting visual imagery vividly experienced and readily reproducible with great accuracy and in great detail.

Eidetic memory, commonly but erroneously referred to as photographic memory or total recall, is a psychological or medical term, popularly defined as the ability to recall images, sounds or objects in memory with extreme precision. The distinction between photographic memory and eidetic memory is simple. Perfect visual recall is photographic memory such as reading a newspaper once and remembering it 10 years later as mentioned above, while eidetic memory is recalling more than just the visual information.

_____

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


James Neville Mason 

(15 May 1909 - 27 July 1984)

James Mason was an English actor. After achieving stardom in his native Great Britain, he made the transition to the United States and became one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, starring in iconic films such as A Star Is Born, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Lolita, North by Northwest, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Bigger Than Life and Julius Caesar.

Jamie-Lynn Sigler
(born May 15, 1981)

Jamie-Lynn Sigler is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as young Meadow Soprano on the HBO television series The Sopranos.

Joseph Cheshire Cotten
(May 15, 1905 - February 6, 1994)

Joseph Cotten was an American film, stage and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair. He first gained worldwide fame in the Orson Welles films Citizen Kane (1941), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), and Journey into Fear (1943), for which Cotten was also credited with the screenplay. He went on to star in such popular films as Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Duel in the Sun (which remains one of the top 100 highest grossing films of all time when adjusted for inflation), Love Letters (1945), Portrait of Jennie (1948) and The Third Man (1949).

Madeleine Korbelová Albright
(born May 15, 1937)

Madeleine Albright was the first woman to become the United States Secretary of State. She was nominated by US President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, and was unanimously confirmed by a U.S. Senate vote of 99–0. She was sworn in on January 23, 1997.

__________

Why is it trivia? People call it trivia because they know nothing and they are embarrassed about it.
--Robbie Coltrane

Answer to Trivia Question:
The year was 1941

Change For The Sake Of Change

Tucson Weather Today

_____

Well, Blogger has suddenly changed its method of formatting my blog. So now I have to get used to a whole new process.

DAMN!

Why can't they leave things alone. There is nothing improved by the change that I can see. And now some of the new things do not work as well as did the old ones.

DAMN!

_____

I am having a problem coming up with meaningful content for this blog. It might just be that I an tired of writing it day after day after day. Or, perhaps my cognitive abilities are growing weaker with  advancing age. Or maybe it's both.

Time will tell, I suppose.

_____

WORDS FOR TODAY

portentous [pawr-TEN-tuhs]
 adj.
1.   of momentous or ominous significance
2.   miraculous, amazing, or awe-inspiring; prodigious
3.   self-important or pompous

Often confused with:

pretentious [pri-ten-shuhs]
adj.
1.
full of pretense  or pretension.
2.
characterized by assumption of dignity or importance.
3.
making an exaggerated outward show; ostentatious.

_____

BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Guglielmo Marconi

 

April 25, 1874 - July 20, 1937

This Italian scientist's discoveries led to the invention of radio

Edward R. Murrow

 

April 25, 1908 - April 27, 1965

Radio and TV journalist during WWII, I can remember (just barely though) when I was about five years old and lying curled up on the carpet listening to the radio and nodding off to sleep while listening to the war news. Not that I knew what was going on. My dad knew all about it, though, and I was listening to the news with him.

Al Pacino

 

Born April 25, 1940

Intense actor in "The Godfather" and "Dog Day Afternoon"

_____

__________

“Originality is the art of concealing your sources”
--Benjamin Franklin