Daily Entries for the week of
Sunday, January 31, 2021
through
Saturday, February 06, 2021
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It’s Saturday, February 6, 2021
Welcome to the 1021st consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Familiars
A late 16th-century English illustration of a witch feeding her familiars
Unknown author - Reproduced in various books regarding withcraft.
An image of a witch and her familiar spirits taken from a publication that dealt with the witch trials of Elizabeth Stile, Mother Dutten, Mother Devell and Mother Margaret in Windsor, 1579.
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2.0 Commentary
Despite the absence of reported measurable gains in the daily vaccination rate,
something I personally have been anticipating,
I remain optimistic that strong gains to the infrastructure of a delivery system are being made;
that soon these gains will translate into routinely reported gains in vaccinations.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten.
~George Carlin
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Sally C:
Dear Dom,
Agreed with Colleen about the movie “Glory.”
Phillip and I were invited to attend the premier in Boston in 1991.
Quite a number of blacks attended as well, of various levels of authority and expertise, and they began to sing when (in the film) the soldiers of the 54th Mass Regiment sang around the campfire the night before they went into battle, to boost their courage for what they knew would be a bloody day.
Quite moving!
Sally
Blog meister responds: Sounds lovely. Thanks for sharing, Sally.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
My first dinner alone in a handful of weeks.
I slow-roasted a dry-aged steak and brushed it with Harissa.
I finished a potpourri of vegetables leftover from the last couple of dinners.
Loved it.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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11.0 Thumbnail
My daughter’s question of the week:
“Are you a regular at any of your local restaurants or cafes? What is that relationship like?”
I do not care for surprises.
I hate surprises.
“Hello! I have a surprise for you.”
“Surprise. You’ve never met but you’re going to be perfect for each other.”
“Hey, I invited so and so. I knew you wouldn’t mind.”
“Where are we going?”
“Wow! It’s a …”
Thanks but no thanks.
Why I return again and again to the same places is that they all deliver on these qualities:
They’re consistent.
They always deliver the essentials:
Good food
Good service
At least decent ambience
Fair prices
Easy accessibility
Cafes
Thinking Cup, either Newbury St or the North End.
Coffee is very good, as are the pastries
Easy banter with baristas and cashiers
Fair, market prices
Remained open during height of pandemic; in an otherwise bleak city, providing me a touch-point
for my daily jaunts
The Newbury St. location has a very attractive Newbury St-sidewalk café
Three French Bistros
La Voile
Rochambeaux
Ma Maison
At each of these restaurants,
Food is very good
Service very good
Prices are fair
And they each serve traditional French bistro food I rarely cook at home
Two Japanese restaurants
Fugakyu
Great selection of sushi
Fair, mid-range prices
Familiarity
Douzo
Great ambience
Great food
A varied menu
Abe and Louie’s
Great ambience
Excellent food
Great service
Best martini service in city
Bristol Lounge @ Four Seasons
Covid-closed for the moment
Best ambience including a most generous distancing of tables
Elegant
Superb service
Good food
Very expensive
Worth it if the experience lifts you as it does me
465 Bar and Restaurant @ the MFA
Pandemic-closed at the moment
A uniquely terrific dining experience within the framework of a visit to the museum
Well-spaced tables
Lovely ambience
Full bar
Excellent food
Craigie on Main
They are pandemic- closed not open for dining in yet
But I love this place and is reasonably accessible by the Red Line, Central Square.
As good as food gets
Two Italian Restaurants
Limoncello
Food is excellent
Service from one of Boston’s most easy-going, welcoming, knowledgeable staffs is excellent
Prices are fair
Bricco
Food is very good
Service very good
Prices are fair although more expensive than competition
And they serve Osso Bucco
Take out
Flour Bakery
Ranks with the best baked goods in the city
Petsi Pies
Of course the pies
And a full range of baked goods
Must stretch Boston to include Somerville
So accessibility: not so much without a car
Tatte
For the best baguette in the city
Pastries are also very good
Whole Foods
Got to love Whole foods commitment to the humane treatment of the animals it buys
And their excellent, since-Amazon prices make it very attractive.
A supermarket but their modest size makes navigation easy
$6.00 Friday cheese pizza: great value
Often featuring terrific sales on meat
Honorable Mention
Roche Bros
Notable for their meat department’s willingness to hunt down specialty items like quail or pheasant
Vast size; a true supermarket
My apologies for the brief and inconsistent writing style.
I’d need four more weeks to flesh these out.
Hope the work is of some value.
Love.
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It’s Friday, February 5, 2021
Welcome to the 1020th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Science
Follow the science.
The Biden mantra.
The Universe represented as multiple disk-shaped slices across time, which passes from left to right
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2.0 Commentary
A most busy day for me.
Up at 4.00am to breakfast and pub;ish the blog.
Until 10.00am I made breakfast and lunch for Kat, the lunch for her six-hour car trip to school in Swarthmore, Pa.
We loaded the car and said a tearful goodbye.
I went to the club and lifted.
I shopped at Roche Bros downtown Boston.
Did some banking.
Went for a haircut.
And made it into the café at 2.00pm.
Pretty good.
Planet Fitness opened Monday.
For half an hour I was alone, three people coming into the weight area while I lifted.
Wednesday was my second go-round.
With two more sessions I will be at 66% of my pre-pandemic level.
Who knows how long it will take me to return to the place?
Not I.
But as long as I make it part of my routine I will garner the healthfulness of it.
The response to the covid by the newly-installed White House has been impressive.
Most wonderful to me is the admirable openness of all involved.
Politicians, doctors, PR people, CEOs of Walgreens and others have all been eager to hold press conferences during which they answer any and all questions.
All in harmony: follow the science.
Kudos.
Of course, the actual planning and execution has been brilliant.
Resulting in numbers you now look forward to.
Metaphorically speaking,
Vaccines: 87
Deaths and serious conditions: 86.
As the weeks tick off these numbers will become more and more lopsided in favor of vaccinations.
God bless us, everyone.
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3.1 Sacco and Vanzetti
Did a tiny bit of work, expanding the reach of the Memorial to Sacco and Vanzetti, Inc..
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
“Just when I discovered the meaning of life, they changed it.”
~George Carlin
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Sally C:
Hopalong Cassidy, huh? Although I watched Westerns as a child, I watched them only because they had horses in them, and I was horse-crazy (a typical girl thing). Since Hoppy and his friends were all in black-&-white, I never knew if he was white-blond or if he had white hair because he was old. He didn’t appeal to me much as a hero, but not many other cowboy heroes did, either, because they weren’t horses, ha, ha! I did watch Roy Rogers pretty avidly, but didn’t care one whit for Dale Evans’ Jeep “Nellie Belle.” It wasn’t a horse. Looks like I was firm about what I liked early on.
For many years our family had a Hopalong Cassidy metal lunch box with a matching thermos bottle, which we used as kids, and it was in the pantry cupboard for many years after we were all well beyond our school days. It disappeared some time ago – Mother likely found a home for it with a collector or a fan. It was probably of some value, as a collector’s item, but probably not a whole lot of value because it showed signs of a lot of use – dings and dents, rust here and there. I think the cup on the thermos bottle was missing (plastics survive only just so long), but the rubber stopper was still there, although hardened with age.
The other evening there was a Hopalong Cassidy marathon on one of the cable channels. Phillip and I watched a number of these – they are pretty corny, but no different from most of the movie fare of those days – 1930s and 1940s. Even if they are “culturally obsolete depictions” (as identified on most of these Western reruns these days), at least they are clean, which can’t be said for most of the current fare on the television. It is amusing to see the very same stories and plots repeated on different shows, as well as the very same character actors – the bad guy on “Death Valley Days” showing up on “Maverick” an hour later, and again on “Cheyenne” airing next. It was paying work, but I wonder if they were frustrated at being type-cast. I’ve only seen Jack Elam (of the crazy left eye) play a good guy once (a Russian count, very noble and brave!). It is funny to see him usually playing the ace gun-hand or sharp shooter, with that eye looking off in another direction all the time.
Sally
Blog meister responds: I love Sally’s remembrances.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
For her last dinner at home before her return to Swarthmore, PA (recently voted the country’s top small liberal arts college) Kat wanted a Marinara Sauce.
So I made that (See Recipe in this blog: Pages then Recipes) but decided it was too simple a meal for the occasion.
So I bought clams.
I opened six of them and served them to her on the half-shell, and then I steamed eighteen more in the Marinara Sauce.
I cooked some spaghetti, drained it, let it finish cooking in the Marinara Sauce where it sucked in some of the delicious flavors, and served two plates of Spaghetti with Little Necks Clams, the clams still in their shells.
A stunning and easy meal.
The Marinara Sauce is easy to make, even the slightly more complex version that I use.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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11.0 Thumbnail
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
The earliest roots of science can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in around 3500 to 3000 BCE.
Their contributions to mathematics, astronomy, and medicine entered and shaped Greek natural philosophy of classical antiquity, whereby formal attempts were made to provide explanations of events in the physical world based on natural causes.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, knowledge of Greek conceptions of the world deteriorated in Western Europe during the early centuries (400 to 1000 CE) of the Middle Ages, but was preserved in the Muslim world during the Islamic Golden Age.
The recovery and assimilation of Greek works and Islamic inquiries into Western Europe from the 10th to 13th century revived "natural philosophy", which was later transformed by the Scientific Revolution that began in the 16th century as new ideas and discoveries departed from previous Greek conceptions and traditions.
The scientific method soon played a greater role in knowledge creation and it was not until the 19th century that many of the institutional and professional features of science began to take shape;along with the changing of "natural philosophy" to "natural science."
Modern science is typically divided into three major branches that consist of the natural sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, and physics), which study nature in the broadest sense; the social sciences (e.g., economics, psychology, and sociology), which study individuals and societies; and the formal sciences (e.g., logic, mathematics, and theoretical computer science), which study abstract concepts. There is disagreement, however, on whether the formal sciences actually constitute a science as they do not rely on empirical evidence. Disciplines that use existing scientific knowledge for practical purposes, such as engineering and medicine, are described as applied sciences.
Science is based on research, which is commonly conducted by scientists working in academic and research institutions, government agencies, and companies. The practical impact of scientific research has led to the emergence of science policies that seek to influence the scientific enterprise by prioritizing the development of commercial products, armaments, health care, public infrastructure, and environmental protection.
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It’s Thursday, February 4, 2021
Welcome to the 1019th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky, Russian writer
Published by Russian Information Bureau, NY, 1918 - https://archive.org/details/birthrussiandemo00sack (page 38)
For 11.0 Thumbnail see Notes from the Underground
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2.0 Commentary
Aging roulette.
Unlike roulette, player must win.
‘Goodnight’ spins the wheel.
‘Good morning’ lands the ball.
Randomly.
Thumb joint aches.
Ankle wobbly.
Finger cut, a small one, source unknown.
Hamstring tight.
Low-grade, annoying headache.
Foot aches when walking.
Heel delivers sharp pain when set down.
Urine burn.
Aging roulette.
‘Goodnight’ spins the wheel.
‘Good morning’ lands the ball.
Randomly.
Unlike roulette, player must win.
Considerate older people when asked,
“How are you feeling?”
Answer,
“Fine, thank you.”
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3.1 Sacco and Vanzetti
Discussed with board the upcoming All-In Meeting.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
Growth is not merely a harmonious increase in size,
but a transformation.
~Maria Montessori
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Colleen G:
Hi Dom,
A person I always wonder about is a different Robert--not E. Lee--but Gould Shaw. I am not a history buff--just a movie lover and he is a lead character in one of my all-time favorite movies: Glory. He led the 54th regiment and is from Boston.
Anyway, I saw the movie mentioned in the Boston Globe yesterday as part of their movie discussion series they are doing.
If you haven't seen it, it is truly one of the best movies and based on a true story. Amazing actors: Denzel, Matthew Broderick . . . beautiful soundtrack--one of the first I owned--score by Jame Horner.
If you haven't seen it take it in during this Black History month.
Anyway, just a thought on all your talk of monuments.
There is a beautiful one dedicated to the 54th regiment on the Common. I'm sure you've seen it. And, I'm sure there's some sort of controversy that I don't know about--but to my limited knowledge it's well done.
For my part, I think we could take a break from any monuments and just allow public art to flourish.
Yes, I know monuments are art--but I mean more interpretive art. After all, artists are always starving and could use more appreciation from the communities they live in.
Let's take them out of the museums and get them into the streets where everybody can enjoy all art has to offer and they won't be hidden away if there's another reason to shudder the museums like this pandemic.
They will be out there for all the world to see as they take a walk in our downtowns, etc.
Just an idea. Art rules!:)
Cheers,
Colleen:)
Blog meister responds: Major cities agree with you: so many extraordinary statues in Florence, Rome, and any city that calls itself civilized.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Monday night Kat and I shared a dry-aged sirloin.
Simply slow-roasted and then simultaneously Seared/Broiled (Recipe in Recipe Pages in this Blog.)
Tuesday night will be our last meal together in months.
She asked for Marinara Sauce.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky (24 July, 1828 – 17 October 1889) was a Russian literary and social critic, journalist, novelist, and socialist philosopher, often identified as an utopian socialist and leading theoretician of Russian nihilism.
He was the dominant intellectual figure of the 1860s revolutionary movement in Russia, despite spending much of his later life in exile to Siberia, and was later highly praised by Karl Marx, Georgi Plekhanov, and Vladimir Lenin.
Chernyshevsky was a founder of Narodism, Russian socialism, and agitated for the revolutionary overthrow of the Tsar and the creation of a socialist society based on the old peasant commune. He exercised the greatest influence upon populist youth of the 1860s and 1870s.
Chernyshevsky believed that American democracy was the best aspect of American life. He welcomed the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, which he believed marked a new period for "the great North American people" and that America would progress to heights "not attained since Jefferson's time." He praised these developments: "The good repute of the North American nation is important for all nations with the rapidly growing significance of the North American states in the life of all humanity."
Chernyshevsky's ideas were heavily influenced by Alexander Herzen, Vissarion Belinsky, and Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach. He saw class struggle as the means of society's forward movement and advocated for the interests of the working people. In his view, the masses were the chief maker of history. He is reputed to have used the phrase “the worse the better”, to indicate that the worse the social conditions became for the poor, the more inclined they would be to launch a revolution (though he did not originate the phrase, which predates his birth; for example, in an 1814 letter John Adams used it when discussing the lead-up to the American revolution
There are those arguing, in the words of Professor Joseph Frank, that “Chernyshevsky’s novel What Is to Be Done?, far more than Marx’s Das Kapital, supplied the emotional dynamic that eventually went to make the Russian Revolution”.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky was enraged by the demagoguery of the political and psychological ideas expressed in the book, and wrote Notes from Underground largely as a reaction against it.
Russian bolshevik Vladimir Ilyich Lenin praised Chernyshevsky: "..he approached all the political events of his times in a revolutionary spirit and was able to exercise a revolutionary influence by advocating, in spite of all the barriers and obstacles placed in his way by the censorship, the idea of a peasant revolution, the idea of the struggle of the masses for the overthrow of all the old authorities”
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels studied Chernyshevsky's works and called him a "great Russian scholar and critic".
A number of scholars have contended that Ayn Rand, who grew up in Russia when Chernyshevsky's novel was still influential and ubiquitous, was influenced by the book.
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It’s Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Welcome to the 1018th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Adam Kinzinger
official portrait 115th Congress
US House Office of Photography - https://kinzinger.house.gov/uploadedphotos/highresolution/ceb14195-0db7-4635-88ac-7b3c918bf341.jpg
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2.0 Commentary
Don’t normally subscribe to ghoulish but,
Am wondering if the Social Security Administrators note that the pandemic has lightened the length of their recipient rolls?
Of course they have, and are not talking publicly.
Ghoulish.
Am I hearing, “What a relief?”
Ghoulish.
While predicted here some time ago, the Republican blood-letting has begun, a lot sooner than we anticipated.
A good thing for the party’s center.
For those wanting more information on Congressman Kinzinger’s creation of a pro-traditional Republican Pac, use this link:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gop-rep-kinzinger-to-start-new-pac-to-challenge-party-s-trump-supporters/ar-BB1dg7xF?ocid=msedgdhp
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3.1 Sacco and Vanzetti
Thanks to Doodle and our Secretary’s master of all things technical, we’ve arranged a Board of Directors meeting on Friday, the 5th.
Preliminary to the all-in meeting to be held withing the next ten days.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
The needs of mankind are universal.
Our means of meeting them create the richness and diversity of the planet.
The Montessori child should come to relish the texture of that diversity.
~Maria Montessori
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Tommy D:
Dom,
I have to share this story with you!
My Nonno loved Hopa long Cassidy and he use to always say HOPALONG CASSADICE!
He turned his name into Italian!
In fact, for some reason, I heard other older relatives use the same expression.
(They too were Italian and from the old country.
Did you ever experience this?
Anyone?
Also, my Nonno loved the Saturday afternoon wrestling matches and
he used to scream at the 10" B & W TV by yelling Bastardo! if he didn't like him.
Your story triggered these childhood memories from 65 years ago.
Thanks,
Tommy D
Blog meister responds: My grandfather the same! And Saturday afternoons he often took me for the duration to the Paramount for Saturday all-western matinees.
This from the guy who hated guns.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Last night Kat and I had a terrific dinner at Alden and Harlow.
They have a “3 for $30.00” – pick three from an attractive list at a set price.
Each of the offerings is unique to A and H and, coming out of an excellent kitchen, each promises to be and is, indeed, terrific.
String beans, cauliflower, yams and many others are given their own moment to shine.
And they do.
The three for thirty is enough for a light supper for two people.
The atmosphere is Harvard Square at its most alluring.
A lovely and reasonably priced evening.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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11.0 Thumbnail
Adam Daniel Kinzinger, born February 27, 1978, is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Illinois's 16th congressional district.
He is a member of the Republican Party. He was first elected to Congress in 2010, winning election to represent Illinois's 11th congressional district.
Since 2011, he has represented Illinois's 16th congressional district, which covers eastern Rockford, most of Rockford's suburbs, and a swath of exurban territory around Chicago.
Kinzinger voted in line with President Donald Trump about 90% of the time, and voted against Trump's first impeachment, but subsequently became a critic of Trump and made headlines as a rare Republican office holder willing to criticize him.
In summer 2020, Kinzinger denounced QAnon and other baseless conspiracy theories that gained currency among large proportions of far-right Republican voters
After the 2020 presidential election, in which Trump was defeated by Joe Biden, Kinzinger denounced Trump's false claims that the election was "stolen" and criticized Trump's attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
In December 2020, after Trump repeated his baseless claims of fraud on Twitter, Kinzinger tweeted that it was time for Trump to delete his Twitter account.
He also criticized the Texas Republican Party, and called for the firing of its chairman Allen West, after the party floating the idea of secession after the Supreme Court rejected Texas v. Pennsylvania, a bid by the state of Texas to overturn the presidential election outcome.
On January 7, 2021, the day after the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a violent pro-Trump mob, Kinzinger became the first Republican member of the House to call for Trump's removal from office via the 25th Amendment.
In a video message, Kinzinger said that Trump had "abdicated his duty to protect the American people and the people's house," and his behavior made it clear that he had become "unmoored" from both his duties as president and "reality itself."
He urged Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, saying that Trump was "unfit" and "unwell."
Five days later, Kinzinger announced that he would vote in favor of the Trump's second impeachment.
He stated that there was "no doubt" that Trump "broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection."
He also accused Trump of using the power of his office to launch a direct attack on Congress. He asked, "If these actions–the Article II branch inciting a deadly insurrection against the Article I branch–are not worthy of impeachment, then what is an impeachable offense?"
On January 13, he joined nine other Republicans in voting for impeachment.
In response, some Republicans have vowed to support a primary challenge to Kinzinger.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Sunday announced the formation of a new PAC aimed at challenging the Republican Party's acceptance of former President Trump.
"This is no time for silence, not after the last month, not after the past few years. Someone needs to tell the truth. Someone needs to say what history needs to hear. So here I am. The Republican Party has lost its way," Kinzinger said in a video posted on country1st.com, the website for his new PAC.
"Today's Republican Party, it's not the one I joined. The GOP I signed up for was built on a foundation of principle, and it was filled with hope. We believed a brighter future was just around the bend, and we fought tirelessly to get there," Kinzinger continued.
"My goal in launching country1st.com with the number one is just to say, look, let's take a look at the last four years, how far we have come in a bad way, how backwards looking we are, how much we peddle darkness and division. And that's not the party I ever signed up for. And I think most Republicans didn't sign up for that," Kinzinger told Chuck Todd while appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.
Kinzinger said the website would serve as a "landing place" for fellow conservatives who feel like him regarding the state of the GOP. He characterized his new PAC as a return to "conservative principles" and opined that his party had "los
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It’s Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Welcome to the 1017th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Hopalong Cassidy 1935
Employee(s) of Paramount Pictures - http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Summaries/E/Eagle%27s%20Brood,%20The.htm
Film poster for 1935 Hopalong Cassidy film The Eagle's Brood
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2.0 Commentary
Wondering if the Social Security Administrators note that the pandemic has lightened the length of their recipient rolls?
Am I hearing, “What a relief?”
A few popular slogans reiterating that the vaccines are coming:
The Russians are coming. The Russians are coming.
Round her neck, she wore a yellow ribbon.
Jim Dandy to the rescue.
Along came Jones.
Bond. James Bond.
Ohhh Poncho! Ohhh Cisco!
A comment on memorializing significant contributors to the betterment of mankind.
This thought generated by today’s posting in 5.0 Mail.
We can probably find unsavory attributes in the personal lives of every person we esteem.
If we want role models, where do we draw the line?
We can go on forever in defining parameters for monuments but here are a couple of thoughts.
Yes! to statues of US Grant for his role in ending the Civil War; and if he was a less competent President, who cares? He brought the war and slavery in America to an end.
No! to statues of Robert E Lee for his role in fighting to preserve a way of life based on the enslavement of human beings; and if he was a saint in every other aspect of his life, who cares?
You take it from there.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
The adult ought never to mold the child after himself, but
should leave him alone and
work always from the deepest comprehension of the child himself.
~Maria Montessori
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
A friend sent us this article: “Gandhi statue toppled, defaced and removed” with this link:
Gandhi statue vandalized in Central Park (davisenterprise.com)
The perpetrators objected to Gandhi’s personal life that included unusual sexual practices, racist views, and sexism. My knowledgeable friend asked if I was aware of any such strangenesses that might be discovered re: Sacco or Vanzetti.
Blog meister responds: A couple of thoughts militating against such crimes or even peccadillos are that Sacco and Vanzetti have been in the news for a hundred years. Something would have turned up by now. Nothing has. And their pre-fame lives were not in the public realm and didn’t draw the same scrutiny as did the Mahatma.
See the note in 2.0 Commentary of today’s post.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Saturday night Kat and I had the most extraordinary beef soup I’ve ever tasted.
And my mother made a mean beef soup.
Delicious, satisfying, and warming.
We also had a great gin drink made with the recipe for it posted yesterday (below).
Also find in the Recipe Pages in this Blog.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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11.0 Thumbnail
In his early writings, Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking.
He had a wooden leg which caused him to walk with a little "hop", hence the nickname.
The character was played by movie actor William Boyd starting in 1935.
The Cassidy character in films was adapted from Mulford's books and transformed into a clean-cut, sarsaparilla-drinking hero.
Sixty-six popular films appeared, only a few of which were loosely based on Mulford's stories.
As portrayed on the screen, white-haired Bill "Hopalong" Cassidy was usually clad strikingly in black (including his hat, an exception to the Western film stereotype that only villains wore black hats). He was reserved and well spoken, with a sense of fair play. He was often called upon to intercede when dishonest characters took advantage of honest citizens. "Hoppy" and his white horse, Topper, usually traveled through the West with two companions—one young and trouble-prone with a weakness for damsels in distress, the other older, comically awkward and outspoken.
The juvenile lead was successively played by James Ellison, Russell Hayden, George Reeves, Rand Brooks, and Jimmy Rogers.
George Hayes (later to become known as "Gabby" Hayes) originally played Cassidy's grizzled sidekick, Windy Halliday.
After Hayes left the series because of a salary dispute with producer Harry Sherman, he was replaced by the comedian Britt Wood as Speedy McGinnis and finally by the veteran movie comedian Andy Clyde as California Carlson. Clyde, the most durable of the sidekicks, remained with the series until it ended.
A few actors of future prominence appeared in Cassidy films, notably Robert Mitchum, who appeared in seven films at the beginning of his career.
The 66 Hopalong Cassidy pictures were filmed by independent producers who released the films through the studios. The first "Hoppies", as the films were known, were distributed by Paramount Pictures to favorable returns, and United Artists was the distributor after Paramount. They were noted for fast action and outdoor photography (usually by Russell Harlan). Harry Sherman wanted to make more ambitious movies and tried to cancel the Cassidy series, but popular demand forced Sherman back into production, this time for United Artists.
Sherman gave up the series in 1944, but William Boyd wanted to keep it going. To do this, he gambled his future on Hopalong Cassidy, mortgaging most of what he owned to buy the character rights from Mulford and the backlog of movies from Sherman.
In the first film, Hopalong Cassidy (then spelled "Hop-along") got his name after being shot in the leg. Hopalong's "drink of choice" was the nonalcoholic sarsaparilla.
Boyd resumed production in 1946, on lower budgets, and continued through 1948, when "B" westerns were being phased out. Boyd thought Hopalong Cassidy might have a future in television, spent $350,000 to obtain the rights to his old films, and approached the fledgling NBC network. The initial broadcasts were so successful that NBC could not wait for a television series to be produced and edited the feature films to broadcast length.
On June 24, 1949, Hopalong Cassidy became the first network Western television series.
The series and character were so popular that Hopalong Cassidy was featured on the cover of national magazines such as Look, Life, and Time.
Boyd earned millions as Hopalong ($800,000 in 1950 alone), mostly from merchandise licensing and endorsement deals. In 1950, Hopalong Cassidy was featured on the first lunchbox to bear an image, causing sales of Aladdin Industries lunch boxes to jump from 50,000 units to 600,000 units per year.
In 1950, more than 100 companies manufactured $70 million of Hopalong Cassidy products, including children's dinnerware, pillows, roller skates, soap, wristwatches (made by Timex), and jackknives.
There was a new demand for Hopalong Cassidy features in movie theaters, and Boyd licensed reissue distributor Film Classics to make new film prints and advertising accessories. Another 1950 enterprise saw the home-movie company Castle Films manufacturing condensed versions of the Paramount films for 16 mm and 8 mm film projectors; they were sold through 1966. Also, in January 1950 Dan Spiegel began to draw a syndicated comic strip with scripts by Royal King Cole; the strip lasted until 1955.
Thanks to the earlier series which showed edited versions of his films, Boyd began work on a separate series of half-hour westerns made especially for television; Edgar Buchanan was his new sidekick, Red Connors (a character from the original stories and a few of the early films). The theme music for the television show was written by Nacio Herb Brown (music) and L. Wolfe Gilbert (lyrics).
The show ranked number 7 in the 1949 Nielsen ratings, number 9 in the 1950-1951 season and number 28 in 1951-1952. The success of the show and tie-ins inspired juvenile television westerns such as The Range Rider, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Annie Oakley, The Gene Autry Show, and The Roy Rogers Show.
After Boyd's death, his company devoted to Hopalong Cassidy, U.S. Television Office, retained control of Cassidy films but, by the mid-1960s, had withdrawn them from television and sales in home movie markets. This remained the situation until the mid-1990s, after many Cassidy fans had died, when the company made available to The Western Channel a package series of restored and cleaned negative-based prints of the films to cable TV. These remained available on that channel until 2000, when they were again withdrawn. Minimal effort was made at that time, nor has it been made since, to offer the films for home video, excepting two packages of compressed, multi-title Hopalong Cassidy anthology DVDs, the first requiring purchase of the entire TV series to obtain copies of about a dozen films and then, in 2014, a reissue of the remaining stock of these same DVD pressings combined with the remaining titles in a first-time pressing.
The TV series can be currently seen on Cozi TV.
And on Encore's western channels in 2018.
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It’s Monday, February 1, 2021
Welcome to the 1016th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Day at the beach
in Broadstairs, Kent, UK
Diliff - Own work
A sunny August day at the beach at Joss Bay,
a rural beach not far from Broadstairs in Kent, England.
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2.0 Commentary
February is here.
Countdowns can begin.
Fourteen days to Valentine’s Day.
That winter watershed.
Remember that come Friday, temperatures reach into the forties.
Come Friday, Valentine’s Day will be only ten days away.
Restaurants in NYC will open.
In 6.0 Dinner section, just below, we publish our first cocktail recipe.
Show me the way to go home.
And here is me getting the shot.
We were actually laughing and joking a moment before the crazed photographer snapped this eyes-closed, pained expression.
Truly painless.
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3.1 Sacco and Vanzetti
Spent time discussing the upcoming first all-interested meeting.
If you are interested, contact me here: domcapossela@hotmail.com
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
A vital force is active in every individual and
leads it towards its own evolution.
~Maria Montessori
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This one from my daughter Kat through an app called Storyworth.
Dad, what was your first big trip?
Blog meister responds: My response below in 11.0 Thumbnail.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Friday night we had a delicious salmon with an herb sauce.
Delicious.
Daughter Kat and I collaborated to create Kat Gin Cocktail.
The result was splendid.
Kat’s Gin Cocktail
for 2
The Simple Syrup
1 TB hot water
1 TB honey
Stir
Steep a sprig of rosemary in it, removing it when the syrup is needed for the cocktail shaker
Prepare:
2 lime slices
2 cucumber slices
1 small bowl with crushed ice
The muddle:
2 slices cucumber, skin removed
2 sprigs rosemary, leaves only
Apply pestle gently, just crushing the outer layer of the leaves and getting the cucumbers a bit juicy
The main event:
Fill shaker with a combo of small ice cubes and crushed ice
Add:
4 oz Gin
2 TB lime juice
All of the rosemary-honey simple syrup prepared above
The cucumber-rosemary muddle
Shake until contents very cold
Pour 1 oz of club soda into each glass
Spoon 1 TB of crushed ice into glass
Strain the liquid contents of the cocktail shaker [not the rosemary leaves] into the two glasses.
Garnish the glasses with a slice of lime and a slice of cucumber
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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11.0 Thumbnail
What was your first big trip?
As teeny boppers we did a lot of overnights on Cape Cod, often sleeping on the beaches.
But I didn’t take my first suitcase trip (I used a shopping bag) lasting more than a night or two until my rising junior year in high school.
After my freshman year at Christopher Columbus, a Franciscan-run high school I transferred to the Franciscan seminary in No. Andover to train for the priesthood. St. Francis Seminary was a Catholic clone of Boston-area prep schools for boarders, except that we all felt a calling.
Despite a rigorous curriculum, including both Latin and Greek, I found myself effortlessly becoming the academic leader of my class. Although I was always a class leader, my pre-seminary erratic childhood prevented my developing reasonable study habits: I never studied.
The seminary imposed methodical study habits on me, a schedule that included two daily study hall stints presided over by a priest who walked up and down the aisles observing oir engagements.
Academic leader, and captain of all the intramural (we only had intramural) sports teams.
And troublemaker par excellence.
The Franciscan seminary drew students from all over America, choosing from among those with defined parameters: inner city kids taught or ministered by priests belonging to the Franciscan Order.
I grew very friendly with a gang of tough Italian boys from Brooklyn. During the school year they invited me to stay a few summer days with them. And as the school closed and we packed our stuff into our automobiles, we exchanged information, including a five-day stint in New York.
Brooklyn.
So far away.
One of the native North End Franciscan priests offered to drive me and another there and back again.
So I went.
Parochial doesn’t describe me then.
Ignorant comes a little closer.
With a soupcon of the misanthrope.
And a splash of hostility.
And a dollop of aggression.
And a raging chauvinism for my Boston’s North End Nation.
Sixty-five years ago I remembered their names.
Now, Nicky Mauro the only one that stayed with me,
he a tough, fearless thirteen-year-old, always by my side.
And I remember his tough Brooklyn gang,
although not their names.
But goodness, names or no names, they were great kids.
And waiting for us in front of their buildings, with their families jamming the sidewalk.
I felt like Ike in a ticker-tape parade.
And the entire week was like that.
I was a celebrity of first rank.
I wonder now if I appreciated them.
If I did, they would have been the first.
But let’s assume I did.
They didn’t send me home early, anyway.
And we were even better friends when we returned to the seminary in the fall.
So my behavior couldn’t have been too bad.
But as a human being then I did suck.
I remember how similar their families were to our own in the North End.
How loud.
Cheerful.
Exuberant.
The smells in their buildings from the food they were cooking, how familiar.
They were proud of the neighborhood and it was very nice; very Italian.
Comparing?
No comparison.
Theirs much bigger.
Ours, much more compact.
They had more food shops.
We had many more food shops per square foot.
And more bookies.
Their food?
Was very good. But really?
My mother was a great cook.
And I made no effort to conceal it.
They took it well: a boy should be praising his mother.
It is likely I complimented the several mammas involved.
One night we ate in a restaurant.
It was the first restaurant I had ever been to.
In my life.
And on that occasion, it is safe to say, I was rude.
The food sucked and I made them know it.
They who were paying for it.
They were kind.
I am mightily embarrassed looking back.
I did learn something.
At that stage of my life, only rock and roll would do.
But these more-Italian-than-Americans loved Italian pop music and introduced it to me.
Their big love was Honeymoon in Rome, by Renato Carosone.
“E la barca torno sola. Sola. Sola.”
And the boat returned alone.
Listening to this album with them, my Italian-American peers, and observing their enjoyment proved contagious.
I love it and because of it I made room in my life for Italian pop music and even for the plethora of famous and successful Italian-American crooners.
Growing up in the North End could lead to identity confusion.
Many of us resented the old Italian ways as being obstacles on our development as Americans.
Like absorbing Italian culture would preclude us from being integrated into American society.
I was wrong.
It was possible to do both.
Many of my friends did.
I didn’t, at least not well.
And not many years later, 1958, at age sixteen, I could come to enjoy, to revel in Domenico Modugno’s phenomenal success with his song, Nel blu di pinto di blu, popularly known as Volare, a foreign language song that hit #8 on the pop charts, and covered by a battalion of other singers.
Brooklyn was eye-opening for me.
I loved the trip and, in later years, I came to appreciate what I learned.
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It’s Sunday, January 31, 2021
Welcome to the 1015th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Dua Lipa
at the 2019 American Music Awards
Cosmopolitan UK
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2.0 Commentary
Wicked cold spell for those lacking warm clothing or warm apartments.
But hang in.
We jump up a few degrees on Feb 1 and Feb 5 will find us into the 40s.
I got my first shot (Pfizer) on Friday.
Second shot scheduled for Feb 18.
Out of respect for our fellow citizens I will continue all the good practices we’ve been taught.
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3.1 Sacco and Vanzetti
The BPL collection dates from 1914-1967 (bulk 1920-1927) and documents the efforts of the Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee to free Nicola Sacco (1891-1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (1888-1927) from prison after they were found guilty of the murders of Frederick Parmenter and Alessandro Berardelli on July 14, 1920. In particular, the collection documents the committee's fundraising and propaganda campaigns and Fred Moore's investigation and defense strategies. In addition, the roles of Elizabeth Glendower Evans and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn had in the defense and Aldino Felicani’s creation of the Sacco and Vanzetti Memorial Committee are also documented. Moreover, such subjects as anarchy and anarchists, Italian immigrant radicalism, and political activism are included. The collection contains correspondence, meeting minutes, trial notebooks, financial records, legal documents, photographs, and scrapbooks. Broadsides, the armbands mourners wore at the funeral, Sacco and Vanzetti’s commingled ashes and their death masks are also included.
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4.0 Chuckles/Thoughts
There should be music in the child's environment,
just as there does exist in the child's environment spoken speech.
In the social environment the child should be considered and
music should be provided.
~Maria Montessori
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
This from a friend when hearing of my freedom from discomfort after my first vaccination:
Awesome.
I hear from nurse/doctor friends who have gotten both doses that the second dose causes 24 to 36 hours of a rough ride… sweats, flu-like symptoms, etc. so you might want to clear your calendar and plan for some real down time on that date (and have lots of fluids on hand like Pedialyte and easy access to simple food you make ahead of time that you can just heat up if/when you are weak).
Love you!
Blog Meister responds: Timely advice which I shall follow to the letter.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Thursday night we ate leftover lamb and casserole.
We focused on making a good martini.
We drank it.
We’ll try again tomorrow.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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11.0 Thumbnails
Dua Lipa born 22 August 1995 is an English singer and songwriter.
After working as a model, she signed with Warner Music Group in 2015 and released her eponymous debut album in 2017.
The album peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart, and yielded nine singles, including "Be the One" and "IDGAF", and the UK number-one single "New Rules", which also peaked at number six in the US.
In 2018, Lipa won the Brit Awards for best British Female Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act.
Released in April 2018, the single "One Kiss" with Calvin Harris peaked at number one in the UK and became the longest-running number-one single for a female artist in 2018.
It won her the 2019 Brit Award for Song of the Year. In 2019, she was also awarded the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and "Electricity", a collaboration with Silk City, won her the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.
The success of the singles helped her self-titled album become one of the most-streamed albums on Spotify and achieve platinum status worldwide.
Her second studio album, Future Nostalgia, was released in March 2020 to critical acclaim, earning Lipa six Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year.
It became her first UK number-one album, spending four weeks at number one with four top-ten singles including "Physical" and "Break My Heart"; its lead single "Don't Start Now" became one of the most commercially successful songs of 2020.
It peaked at number two on both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100, and number four on the Hot 100 year-ender chart, becoming the most successful 2020 song by a female artist in the US. It also yielded "Levitating", which peaked in the top ten in the US and UK.
Lipa has received various accolades, including two Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, one MTV Video Music Award, and an American Music Award. In 2020, Billboard honoured Lipa with the Powerhouse Award, awarded to the act whose music dominated in their respective year through streaming, sales, and radio.
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