Bobcat in search of Xanadu .... or wherever

As April slowly drifts off to meld within the mist of memory ....

.... not too long ago, photographs of a mountain lion feasting on a dead buck in the middle of the night were featured here. Today, we have a photograph of a bobcat on a mid-afternoon stroll taken by the same inexpensive trail camera about ten feet from where the mountain lion posed with the deer.

From Wikipedia: Bobcats range from Canada to Mexico. They prefer rabbits and hares, but will hunt insects, chickens, geese and other birds, small rodents and deer. Prey selection depends on location and habitat, season and abundance. Like most cats, the bobcat is territorial and largely solitary. An adult stands about 12 to 24 inches at the shoulders. Adult males range in weight from 14 to 40 pounds, with an average of 21 pounds. There are unverified reports of them reaching 60 pounds. Females average around 15 pounds.

One dictionary definition of a neighbor is a person, place or thing located near another. I guess that makes Lonnie Lion and Bobby Bobcat (or should that be Lori Lion and Bonnie Bobcat) sort of my neighbors. Both photographs were taken about forty yards away from the house in which I formerly was a fulltime resident and one in which my son now lives and I am a periodic accomplice.

For obvious reasons, we shall hope that the paths of these two "kitty kats" never cross ....

Just for fun, we have three videos here. The first is Piano Concerto No 1, B Flat Minor, Op 23, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The second is "Alone at Last," a song written by Johnny Lehmann and performed by Jackie Wilson. Notice any similarity? I think it falls under the category of imitation being the sincerest form of flattery -- or something like that. For those unfamiliar with the players in this game, Tchaikovsky's piece came nearly a century before "alone."

The third is the Rolling Stones performing "Love in Vain," in 1972 somewhere in Texas. The guitar solo work is by Mick Taylor, whose face first appears about 2:51 and who many would argue is among the best -- if not the actual best -- guitar player ever to set foot on a stage. To each, his/her own ....

 

What is and where is reality?

Texas welder and Vietnam War veteran Llewelyn Moss (played by Josh Brolin) stumbles across the proverbial "drug deal gone bad" in the West Texas desert. He grabs a suitcase containing two million cash and the chase begins in the 2007 film, "No Country for Old Men."

Ready / Set / Go

The Coen brothers -- Joel and Ethan -- many are aware are "products" of Minnesota -- the metropolitan suburb of St. Louis Park, to be more precise. They also are the "makers" of many (shall we say) unique films: "Fargo," staring Joel's wife, Frances McDormand, and "No Country for Old Men," to select just two.

I recently watched a video titled, "Ending Explained: No Country for Old Men," and have included it here. The purpose of this post, however, is not to specifically center on the brothers or on the film, but sort of on a state of mind in terms of what is real and what is not in the film. Here for examination is a conversation between "no country" Sheriff Ed Tom Bell and his wife, Loretta, in which Bell is telling her about two of his dreams:

Second one, it was like we was both back in older times.

And I was a-horseback, going through the mountains of a night.

Going through this pass in the mountains.

It was cold, and there was snow on the ground.

And he rode past me and kept on going......never said nothing going by, just rode on past.

He had his blanket wrapped around him and his head down.

When he rode past, I seen he was carrying fire in a horn......the way people used to do, and I......I could see the horn from the light inside of it......'bout the color of the moon.

And, in the dream, I knew that he was......going on ahead.

He was fixin' to make a fire somewhere out there in all that dark and cold.

And then I woke up.

The dream scene video also is included here, with Tommy Lee Jones portraying Ed Tom Bell and Tess Harper playing Loretta.

My immediate question was whether the dream is a creation of the imagination or one that actually occurred to the author of the novel, Charles "Cormac" McCarthy, or to one of his acquaintances. I have not read any of McCarthy’s works so really have no idea of the who, what, when, where, why and how of his books or his writing habits / styles / characteristics.

On the surface, the scene seems to illustrate a belief in an afterlife and to demonstrate great love and confidence on the part of Ed Tom Bell toward his father. I suppose it could be as simple as that, but in our complex world I generally am thinking nothing is plain and clear-cut .... rather, that anything and everything must be part of a puzzle and a mystery.

I have seen the film twice in its entirety and portions of it a few times. I have a copy of the film script, which is where I obtained the quote. I have a copy of the novel on order and, theoretically, will read it and possibly find a few answers to that scene and other questions I have about the story.

Actually, I cannot recall being aware of McCarthy before the appearance of the film based on his novel .... so much out there to read and never enough time. I can identify with him in the sense that he was raised and educated in Knoxville, Tennessee, and I have personal linkage to the city and to the university and have spent a number of weeks there. From the little I have read about him, he seems to be sort of weird .... hmmmm, like who is not ....

If this post seems somewhat dazed and confused, it probably is because I am pretty much thinking / wondering / speculating with my fingers on the keyboard .... in the meanwhile, any thoughts / comments / opinions?

More than just another Wōdnesdæg

Ordinarily I do not "advertise" a particular event until the day it arrives. This means I assume most people know Memorial Day / Decoration Day is the last Monday in May and Veterans Day / Armistice Day / Remembrance Day  is November 11 and that no one much other than Marines and former Marines know or care that November 10 is the Marine Corps birthday.

But, in the instance of Earth Day, I am mentioning it early so no one has an excuse for not knowing Wednesday, April 22, is Earth Day and this year –- 2020 -- is the fiftieth anniversary of the event.

The idea of a global holiday called Earth Day was introduced in 1969 at a conference on the environment. It was to be celebrated on March 21 with the advent of spring, and it was in some places. A separate Earth Day focused on the United States was founded by then-Senator Gaylord Nelson on April 22, 1970. Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations.

Any further background about Earth Day is there for you to research. It would be "nice" if more people did just that. We all need to be part of the Earth Day movement ....

One of the videos here is "Paradise" by Coldplay. It should be self-explanatory. The other might be mistaken for a celebration of the American Indian Movement, a militant civil rights organization founded in Minneapolis in 1968 by Dennis Banks, Clyde Bellecourt, Eddie Benton Banai and George Mitchell. Russell Means, who became a prominent film actor ("Last of the Mohicans," for instance) later was a major spokesman for the group. Some of those guys are in the video and the reason it is here is because Native Americans are primary among activists fighting for a clean environment. Think about it .... and, it is another chance to hear Joan Baez sing "Brothers in Arms" ....

"Keep looking .... keep watching the skies"

"And now before giving you the details of the battle, I bring you a warning: Every one of you listening to my voice, tell the world, tell this to everybody wherever they are. Watch the skies. Everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies."

Words spoken by reporter

Ned "Scotty" Scott

played by Douglas Spencer

in the science fiction film

"The Thing from Another World"

A cable television station was running a string of science fiction films a few days ago and I caught the last 30 minutes or so of "The Thing from Another World."  James Arness portrays "The Thing," which is discovered frozen in a spacecraft buried in the ice near an Arctic research station. When the creature is accidently thawed out, it terrorizes the scientists at the station. Never fear, the wise and brave earthlings eventually kill the creature and all ends well -- for now, anyway. That is when Scotty issues his warning.

It was sort of fun to watch the fearless and always honorable marshal of Dodge City acting like an evil monster from outer space. He performed his growls flawlessly.

With this film in my mind and the Earth in the grip of a coronavirus pandemic, my thoughts immediately went to Murphy’s Law: "If something can go wrong, it will .... and usually at the worst time."

What if the Romulans and the Borg and the Klingons decided to battle it out for control of the Earth while the planet is in the throes of the pandemic?

Too horrible even to think about .... right?

Lucky thing for us those guys are the fictional products of over-active imaginations .... right?

Then again, when Orson Welles and his Martians invaded Earth back in 1938, you might recall (or have heard stories) how the murderous invaders from Mars were wiped out by earth-borne bacteria, of which their immune systems could not cope due to having destroyed diseases on their home world. Those pesky "bugs" thereby saving us for yet more ruthless wars amongst ourselves in which we could / we did / we still do kill each other with impunity ad infinitum.

Sort of poetic justice, in more ways than one ....

I wish you a joyous Easter ....

What day did you say this is ....

Bobby Dylan wrote "All Along the Watchtower;" Jimi Hendrix made it famous; any number of bands and vocalists have performed it according to their style and talent; a few critics and armchair shrinks even have tried to analyze the song and the composer; here is the rendition performed by The Classic Rock Show live at Gateshead, England, on the 23rd of February 2018. It is as well done and enjoyable to listen to as any effort I have heard and I have listened to many/many/many variations .... actually, I think this is among the best ....

The sketch is by Paul Taylor, an illustrator and an Englander. The lyrics of the song are below. Read them, sing them, whatever them and try to figure out what they mean to you -- if anything -- as an individual.

[Verse 1]

"There must be some way out of here"
Said the joker to the thief
"There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief
Businessmen, they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None of them along the line
Know what any of it is worth"

[Verse 2]

"No reason to get excited"
The thief, he kindly spoke
"There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I, we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
The hour is getting late"

[Verse 3]

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants too
Outside, in the distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
The wind began to howl