Over the holidays I had the opportunity to house and dog sit for three days for some friends who headed to the mountains and snow, just me, a warm blanket in an unheated house, and their Netflix. I do not own a TV, have not in years, and it's been a long time since I binged on film.
I brought a book with me, Joyce Carol Oates "The Falls," but once I realized that (at last!) I'd encountered a remote that I could manipulate without frustration, I decided to sit in a wonderful easy chair with the dogs on my lap and watch a few films. This turned into a three day personal film fest with no human to consider except myself. Sweet aloneness!
I got up between films only to bake; pumpkin flax seed dog treats, pumpkin oatmeal cherry bread, applesauce oatmeal raisin bread, a pork roast with sour kraut and yams. The later being something reminiscent of my upbringing. Pork and kraut was supposed to be "good luck" if eaten on New Years Day. The dogs loved it. I became their new best friend. Even the cat begged for some, followed me room to room. I later discovered she had propelled herself onto the bed in a swirl of blankets and sweaters, sleeping as if she had not in weeks.
I made some New Years Resolutions that all have to do with diet. To drink at least one tall glass of pure water every morning. I'm well hydrated but... To reduce the amount of sugar and hidden sugars. Hidden sugars, in case you're interested include breads, corn, carrots, rice, and many "vegetarian" foods. To also continue to read labels to look for hidden soy. I eat a lot of beans and legumes... Frightening possible consequences to too much soy intake in new vegetarian burgers includes, according to one news article, the feminization of men. To eat more animal protein. I've learned about myself that the best way to avoid eating something is to not bring it home in the first place. Temptation is, however, everywhere.
There I sat, eating more than enough, just for the taste, and including a bag of gum drops that had turned up in a gift someone gave me. They were unlabeled but were moist and good.
I watched "The Irishman," the film about the murder of Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa, that's all the rage and the short discussion by the actors of the film. It was cool to hear Buddy Knox's recording of "A White Sports Coat and a Pink Carnation" early in the sound track. (Wes loved Buddy as a human being and this was one of his favorite Buddy Knox rendered songs.)
Rolling Thunder Review : Bob Dylan tour long ago with Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith; a question of song lyrics as poetics and poets who are song writers. (Dylan's song She Belongs To Me was a private theme song of mine, before Elvis Costello's I Write The Book.)
Above Us Only Sky about John Ono Lennon and Yoko Ono Lennon. The film seemed to be an advert for Yoko. OK, she did not break up the Beatles. I just kept thinking how YOUNG John was, how I have lived past the age of Elvis Presley or John Lennon were when they departed. I was a kid Beatles fan but then I let all fandom go. That quality, of not being overly impressed by "stars," has been a good thing for me personally and my writing.
Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives. Gee, I can't recall anything about this film. Maybe I went to take something out of the oven.
Amy (about Amy Winehouse) : A documentary that made me cry. I've posted in this blog about Amy and mental illness before.
27 Gone Too Soon about the "27 club" musicians who died about then - Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Mama Cass. Amy Winehouse. I did not cry. I wasn't that impressed with this film as it was so tied in with drug use and seemed to have one book authors opinion most expressed, even if drug use was the reason why these stars died, even if they turned to drugs unable to handle stardom. I have an alternative theory tied into astrology and reincarnation theory. I think these people lived only till their Saturn Return, that they came to do what they did and went.
A film about Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones in which he seemed to be happy and laughing about everything, including what he just said. The Rolling Stones seem to be taking credit for crediting Black musicians who came before them. I sure hope they have forked some money over to these Black musicians.
Echoes In The Canyon. I loved this documentary, especially seeing Michelle Phillips thrilled with a Mama's and Papa's cover. However Bob Dylan's son, the musician, seemed to not have a full range of human emotions. He didn't quite disappear in the film, not with his gathering of present day singers and musicians to do good covers of some of the hits of the 1960's that were not his fathers. It was a relief to hear him sing and know that he does not sound like dad Bob and isn't trying to. He was just there otherwise, hearing testimonies without asking too many questions. Maybe he had asked and the film was cut to the testimonials. I kept wishing someone would get a rise out of him.
Bombshell. A surprise and delight. Learned that actress Hedy Lamarr, whose film work I do not know, was not only a beautiful and sexy woman, but also an inventor whose inventions may include technology that is used today in Internet and Cell Phones. She never got paid while others made a fortune. A too common story for women, including me. Again I wonder, sometimes believe, that people are born to do something for society as a whole and in her case, perhaps she was doing her part to help the United States or the Allies win World War II and stop Nazism.
Bikram. Excellent. The yoga guru who has fled prosecution, perhaps a megalomaniac, who apparently was also a sexual harasser and rapist but has devoted yoginis all over the word. He has set up teaching elsewhere in the world. I've wondered about how he managed to copyright the athletic moves in yoga that have been part of Hindu/Indian culture for centuries. His attitude towards women in particular seems to be despicable. Women need to stop giving their all in exchange for a pat on the head, back or rump, so to speak. He gives Hinduism (yoga) a bad reputation, the guru fear that so many Fundamentalist Christians have.
And so the New Year begins, a new cycle we hope if not a new opportunity for hope.
Christine Trzyna
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