Category Archives: Blogging Community

Drums Along the Mohawk

I love movies and have a special love for classic films. Even though they do not have the special effects of modern films they often make up for it with the writing, acting, and cinematography. The film makers of those days had to work harder to create the effects with set decoration, lighting, music, and the acting itself. There are times when I watch a modern film with all the bells and whistles of computer generated effects and feel that that is all that is carrying the picture. Like “where’s the beef? ”

Via Jack T You Tube:

A classic film I just watched again is Drums Along the Mohawk, (in color), based on the novel by Walter D. Edmonds, starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert about the first pioneer American settlers of the Mohawk Valley in New York State. William Faulkner was an uncredited contributor to the screen play. It takes place during American Revolutionary War times. I was reminded about this film by the blog Cinematically Insane. The restored film was chosen to be among those shown at the 53rd Annual New York Film Festival this year. The settlers have a beef with the British (The Revolutionary War) and some of the Native Americans the British have convinced to fight with them. John Ford is the director. I am a big fan of John Ford movies and the cast is made up of some of his regulars like Ward Bond, Chief John Big Tree, Francis Ford, and Arthur Shields. Edna May Oliver is very funny as the widow Mrs. Mc Klennar. There is a scene where two Seneca braves raid her house and she orders them to carry her bed downstairs before burning down her house. The film is not historically correct in that the Seneca did not raid with the British in the Mohawk Valley. But the British did send in a small force. There is a battle that the local militia men are involved in in the movie which is based on the Battle of Oriskany (1777) which was one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War. I love the performances of many of these great character actors. I have wanted a copy of the film for a while. After seeing the post about the film’s screening at the festival I decided to order it, and I did.

This is the original trailer for the film and I do not know why it is in black and white via retrotrailer on You Tube:

Stream of Consciousness Saturday hosted by Linda G Hill.

Still Looking for Intelligent Life in the Universe

39 Replies

Has anyone else been following this story? A star has been spotted between the constellations of Cygnus and Lyra during a joint survey of 150,000 stars by the Kepler Space Telescope and amateur astronomers. They have been looking for signs of planets circling these stars. What is unusual about this star according to an article in the Atlantic, The Most Mysterious Star in Our Galaxy, is that there was a strange light blocking pattern seen that may indicate not a planet but a very large alien made structure or structures that are blocking the light of the star as it orbits around it. The SETI Research Center at UC Berkeley is planning on pointing a very large radio dish toward the star in January to see if they can pick up any electronic transmissions. This is scary to me because what if it is an alien structure and they get wind of us pointing our listening devices toward them. And then decide to see who is listening. Dr. Michio Kaku says that if this is an alien structure, it may be as big as our planet Jupiter, and they are far advanced to our civilization. I think I am going to start wearing an aluminum foil hat.

I was still hoping to see another form of intelligent life here on earth close up last weekend, whales. I was a bit disappointed in my whale watching expedition. I went out on a whale watching boat this past Sunday with my daughter. It was a beautiful sunny day off Monterey for the most part. We did hit some fog out at sea on the way back to Monterey Bay harbor. I had high expectations and I think that was the problem. I expected to see huge whales breaching right near the boat. I wanted to get fantastically exciting photos. I realize now that you do not get to see breaching whales close up every day and that taking a photo, from a boat that is moving up and down, of whales and other sea life who are also moving up and down and various other directions requires luck and probably the talent of a professional photographer and at least a camera with a telescopic lens. Our whale watching was originally planned for Saturday but was canceled by the tour company due to rough weather at sea. So on Saturday I attempted to find the Monarch butterflies and found some at the Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary. There were not many near ground level and I had to look through a telescope, assisted by a sanctuary worker, at the top of a eucalyptus tree. She helped me get a nice photo through the telescope as well.

One of the things I learned on the whale watching boat is when the guide sights a whale or other interesting sea life and calls it out, all the people go to that side of the boat and, unless you are fast, it is hard to get a good view. Like when he sighted a pod of orcas and a dolphin stampede. That’s right, I said a dolphin stampede. The dolphins were in the hundreds and were stampeding because they knew the orcas were around. The stampede caused a large patch of turbulence and some of the dolphins were leaping out of the water. Unfortunately some of them swam straight to the orca pod. Next the orca pod is chasing a dolphin and it did not end well for the dolphin. I am glad I did not see it all close up. Then we went out quite a distance in the ocean to off of Moss Landing. We saw some Humpback Whales, dolphins and sea lions there. We saw a whale in the distance do a partial breach, saw others spouting and some flukes. A dolphin popped up doing a partial breach, called spy-hopping, as well. Later we went to a different location and saw the orca pod again. The guide called the large male orca “Fat Fin.” This orca had already been identified by scientists. The whole trip was about 4 hours. This is a video from the Monterey Bay Whale Watch website. We did not have the owner or her dogs on our tour. Their research vessel was near us at the different viewing locations.

And here are a few of my photos:

Monarch Sanctuary

A few monarchs here

View through telescope at Pacific Grove Butterfly Sanctuary

Beautiful Daughter

Hike along beach at Point Lobos

Research vessel

Dolphins off Moss Landing

Guide with Telescopic Lens taking photo of Orcas

This is my contribution to Stream of Consciousness Saturday hosted by the intelligent Linda G Hill.

California Dreaming Route 66

34 Replies

Road trips are the best. When gas was cheap, people were able to travel all over by car. It still one of the best ways to see California. Get lost in your day dreams while looking out the window at the beautiful scenery passing by. Maybe some good music playing.

California Dreaming

All the leaves are brown

And the sky is grey

I’ve been for a walk on a winter’s day

I’d be safe and warm if I was in L.A.

California dreamin’ on such a winter’s day.

(Gilliam, Michelle/Phillips, John Edmund Andrew)

Get your kicks on Route 66.

“Well if you ever plan to motor west

Just take my way

it’s the highway that’s the best

Get your kicks on Route 66

Well it winds from Chicago to L.A.

More than 2000 miles all the way

Get your kicks on Route 66..”( Bobby Troop)

Route 66 song via accebernosam on You Tube:

Ahoy Mateys and shiver me timbers! Dave Barry reminded me that Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. So…

What do you do with a drunken sailor

Early in the morning….

You’re guess is as good as mine. Harrr!

My contribution for Stream of Conciousness Saturday

SOCS-Tempus Desolationis

7 Replies

“Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil.”

Times of desolation. This describes so much of what is going on in the Middle East right now. The extremists may think their cause justifies what they do but it does not and never will. There can never be a justification for all their atrocities. Kayla Mueller was working with aid organizations to help Syrian refugees in Turkey when she was captured by ISIS.

President Assad has dropped bombs and poison gas on his own people. Now there is talk to let him remain in power in order to “stabilize” Syria. Russia is sending in troops and weapons to try to prop him up as well.

It seems the forces of evil are very strong. I hope the forces of good can prevail in the end.

Via Powerful Scenes on You Tube:

Mordor must be defeated.

This is my contribution to : Stream of Consciousness Saturday

SOCS-Light in the Darkness

16 Replies

I could not write about something all light and airy. I did not feel like writing at all. The world has been too heavy and dark this week. I hope there can be light after seeing the images of the continuing humanitarian crisis from the Middle East into Europe. People desperate to escape, with their families, from all the war and terrible oppression. The terrible image of a dead child washed up on a beach in Turkey. Scenes of people trapped in a Hungarian train station blocked from traveling on into Europe. The hope is that maybe now the world will start to work on better solutions. A glimmer of light is that Germany and Austria have opened their boarders. Hungary has allowed the refugees to take the bus out of their country. I don’t get the distinction from taking a train but it is better than the refugees being held in some camp or prison. I noticed that Huffington Post Canada has a list of organizations that people can donate to for the refugees. I looked for a similar list for the US and found one on Today.com . Hillary Clinton, during a recent interview, called this a global crisis and “the entire world now sees doesn’t just affect the Syrian people; it affects all of us.”

It does affect all of us and we can not close our eyes. The Washington Post has several articles on this topic. One is a story about a Syrian family making their way to Austria with the help of smugglers, called The Black Route.

Sometimes I don’t think things can’t get any worse.

SOCS-Love is Just a Four Letter Word

18 Replies

I am not so pessimistic or cynical as this title, or the song it is based on, suggests. But reading the news lately about Ashley Madison ( and I hate that name and it does sound like it should be the name of a porn site), almost made me feel that way. Even more disillusioned with the state of humanity. Now I read that most of the women on the site either never used it or were faked. Then I thought some more about it and realized that the men who signed up for it could have done it because of…well I am not sure why they signed up for it…loneliness, sex addiction, pornography? I don’t want to make assumptions. Are they living evidence that confirms that “love is just a four letter word ?”

The angel voice of Joan Baez via CARLSFOLKCLUB:

But I do know that love means more than just a four letter word to many men. The men in my family and the husbands and partners of my friends for a start. So I want to put the other stuff out of my mind. I think I like the lyrics of this song better via countvonferson:

My contribution for: Stream of Consciosness Saturday

SOCS-Mind Meld

25 Replies

I love Star Trek and all the alien species who populate the series. Some of the aliens are the Klingons, the Vulcans and the Ferengi. I suspect some of our corporations and Wall Street may be run by Ferengi. The Ferengi think profit is supreme and they have several rules they live by called The Rules of Acquisition. One of these rules is never put family before business. Even though the Ferengi are pretty funny they are not my favorite characters.

One of my favorite characters is the Vulcan Mr. Spock. I was sad when the original actor,Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock recently passed. He was so great in the role I was skeptical, when the new Star Trek movies were coming out, that a new actor could fill the part as well. I think Zachary Quinto has done it. Something Spock was known for was “the Vulcan Mind Meld.” He employed it when other forms of communication failed or when he wanted to have a meeting of the minds with humans or other species.

Here are a few Mild Meld scenes via Russ Hany on You Tube entitled Don’t Forget Mind Meld:

Spock and another character Dr. McCoy were often at odds with each other. Dr. McCoy did not like that Spock was so unemotional and stubbornly logical. In the new Star Trek films the relationship continues the same.

Via Lostzilla 847 on You Tube:

And I can’t leave out the Klingons via Beau S :

This is my contribution to Stream of Consciousness Saturday

SOCS-Older Women Are Invisable

27 Replies

Most older women are not visible in modern media. Women who are aging naturally that is. We don’t see many older actresses and models. Women drop off the radar and start to disappear as they get older. Wouldn’t you like to know more about them? Wouldn’t you like to hear their stories? Who are they? According to Beauty Redefined , in their great post, they have been shunned by main stream media. They have been “symbolically annihilated.”

That sounds like science fiction. Something The Borg would say. “We are The Borg. You have been symbolically annihilated. Resistance is futile!” But looks like it is not science fiction. If you are an older woman you will not see yourself in popular magazine ads, in Hollywood films or on TV. Unless you have had a lot of “work done” to make you look much younger. There may be a few token older women on display but they are in the minority. Kind of like endangered species in the zoo.

Then there are all the negative messages for women about letting yourself look your natural age. Messages bombarding us about anti-wrinkle creams, botox, hair color, diets, and plastic surgery.

“What would happen if confident, happy, beautiful women decided to forego painful and expensive anti-aging procedures, breast lifts and enhancements, liposuction, all-over hair removal or tanning regimens? How could that change the way their daughters, students, friends, nieces and coworkers perceived themselves and their own “flawed,” lined, real faces? How could simply owning (and treating kindly and speaking nicely about) our so-called “imperfect” bodies affect not only our own lives, but those over whom we have influence? Is it possible to slowly but deliberately change the perception of these “flaws” as something to shame, hide and fix at any cost to something acceptable and embraceable in all their human, womanly real-ness?” (Beauty Redefined)

Yes what would happen? The “beauty” industry would self-destruct. I do like to be optimistic, enthusiastic, and hopeful about change. I think I can imagine the change beginning. I think I hear it. Robotic voice in background, “The self-destruct sequence is initiated….”

This is my contribution to Stream of Consciousness Saturday.

SOCS-Ready

25 Replies

Are you ready for this? I am ready as I’ll ever be. I answer this way when I am thinking of doing something pretty far outside of my comfort zone. It means I am ready to throw myself into something however not ready I may be. Things aren’t going to get any better so I may as well forge ahead. Face the fear and uncertainty and step out onto the stage.

One thing I am never ready for is being in a high place. Things like bungee jumping, sky diving or hiking along the edge of a high cliff. I know I could work on overcoming these fears but I am not ready yet.

A recurrent bad dream I have (thankfully not too often) is that I am walking along or toward the edge of a very, very high cliff and suddenly I am pulled to the edge and over it. I have this horrible feeling in my stomach and, oh no! , here I go over the edge and have the sensation of falling a long way down until….I end up in the ocean below.

I know I would not like going to the Grand Canyon and looking over the edge or riding one of those little donkeys down those narrow little, slippery paths to the floor of the canyon either. There is this Sky Walk platform that loops out from the edge of the canyon. It is clear plastic so you can see through your feet to all the way down below. Hey if we were meant to “sky walk” we would have wings right?

I think the trouble is I have a good imagination and I can imagine the donkey coming across a rattlesnake on the path ….or my donkey being kicked by another donkey ….or losing it’s footing and….if I ever rode one down I would have to look at that skinny little path and see how high up I was. You know how they tell you when you are climbing up a high mountain, “Don’t look down.” I could imagine that Sky Walk coming loose from its cantilevers or whatever is bolting it to the cliff and…or the walkway starts to crack under the weight of so many people…or someone bumps me over the rail and ….you get the idea.

Dangerous Cliff Edge

Sky Walk Grand Canyon

Sky Walk Aerial View

Me Calling for Help?

Notice that loose rock wall along the edge?

Pretty view

This outlook doesn’t look too scarey

This post is my contribution to Stream of Consciousness Saturday.

One Year Anniversary

22 Replies

Dear Readers,

I received notification today that this is my One Year Anniversary with WordPress. I have learned a few things since I started and still have more things to learn. It has been great to meet other bloggers who have stayed my readers. I really appreciate it! I hope to continue to inspire you all to continue reading my posts and welcome others who may want to join in. 🙂

Love,

Deborah Drucker

Notes Tied On The Sagebrush