Mystery Train

One of the few things I ever won in my life was a Lionel Train set at the Inglewood Theater back in 1951. I still have the old engine, tender, and a couple of the green passenger cars in the set.

I got hooked on real trains earlier than that, back in 1945 when Mom took me on a long train ride to visit Dad when he was in basic training for the Army Air Corps. He was stationed in Paris, TX, so we took the whole round trip from Nashville on a train.

These memories surfaced again last week when Big Ed sent some me some great train pics.

Then last night we watched a fairly poor independent movie called "Mystery Train," which is set in Memphis and features a few scenes on board an Amtrak. Time for a train post.

So, while you listen to Little Junior and Elvis do their versions of a great song, take a gander at the great train pics below the video. Thanks Ed.

It's a Beautiful Day and a Beautiful Country

Happy Independence Day y'all.

According to John Nolte at Big Hollywood, Ray Charles sang this song on the Dick Cavett Show in 1971. That was at the height of the hippie anti-war movement. Rock on Ray.

Independence and Freedom

John Hancock, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and all the others who later signed the document that was first approved on July 4, 1776. Think for a minute about the risk the signers of the Declaration of Independence took. They knew that the English would view this act as treason. They knew that if caught they would be hanged. They knew that this document would plunge the nation into war and that soldiers and other Americans would die. These risks had to be a heavy psychological burden, and yet they found the courage within themselves to take this momentous step.

They signed.

As John Adams said, "I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy."

On this day of barbeque, burgers, baked beans, slaw, chips, cokes, and beer, on this day of fellowship with friends and family, on this day of firework displays and celebration, on this day of Independence, on this day of freedom, we should all remember what the Declaration meant then and now and how much human courage it took to sign it.

When I started thinking about this post, I also remembered American Poet Walt Whitman who said, "The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislatures, nor in its ambassadors or authors or colleges, or churches, or parlors, nor even in its newspapers or inventors, but always most in the common people."

Ordinarily, my fellow bloggers might not take too kindly to being called "common," but in the sense that Whitman meant, and in the sense of the Declaration, we are "common citizens." (But we are not subjects. Don't tread on us!) 

Adams challenged Americans to use their freedom to "dare to read, think, speak, and write." Thanks to the risk that he and the other founders took, bloggers are free to do that every day. July 4th is no exception.

To celebrate this great holiday, Barry the Barbarian posts an excellent article which posits that the American Declaration of Independence was a "profoundly American" and spiritual document.

Andy has a beautiful picture of a silhouetted cross on the American flag created by light shining through.

Buck posts the complete Declaration of Independence.

Paul at mean ol' meany points out that the original Declaration "declared our independence from an oppressive regime in England," but that today we seem hellbent on letting our government enslave us. He also has lots and lots of good links.

My own contribution today is a video remembering and honoring our military. Once the Declaration of Independence was signed and sent to England, the founders knew war with England would follow.

Adopting the Declaring of Independence on July 4, 1776, meant immediately building an army to protect the fledgling independent and free country from the invading British.

Keeping that independence and freedom over the years has required the use of military force. So as we celebrate today, July 4, 2010, and remember that precious document and those courageous founders, let's also remember the soldiers, airmen, and sailors who put their lives on the line today to protect that freedom and independence that we cherish and exercise daily.

Nude Friday Classic Hottie: Brigitte Bardot

Because she's French, many Americans forget about Brigitte Bardot, the former actress, animal rights activist, fashion model, and singer. Bardot was certainly the equal of Marilyn Monroe and was an international example of "hotness" and female sexuality in films of the 1950s and 1960s.


According to Wiki, "In her early life Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer. She started her acting career in 1952 and after appearing in 16 films became world-famous due to her role in the controversial film And God Created Woman. During her career in show business Bardot starred in 48 films, performed in numerous musical shows, and recorded 80 songs. After her retirement from the entertainment industry in 1973, Bardot established herself as an animal rights activist. During the 1990s she became outspoken due to her criticism of immigration, race-mixing, some aspects of homosexuality and Islam in France, and has been fined five times for 'inciting racial hatred'."

I admire her courage in speaking out against those "aspects" of Islam but I'm not in a political mood today so I won't go further with it.

Bardot may not be your cup of tea. But to me her sexuality always had substance. Even though quite young, when she first appeared in films, she wasn't a girl (even in the earliest film clips below). She was a woman.

Attention Contemporary Actresses as well as interested males: If you want to see how it was done (and done right) way back when, check out the following video clips illustrating Bardot's film career:




Some interesting things Bardot has said over the years:

I know what sin is.

I started out as a lousy actress and have remained one.

Only idiots refuse to change their minds

If only every man who sees my films did not get the impression he can make love to me, I would be a lot happier.

Louisiana Poll Shows Residents Think Bush Handled Katrina Better than Obama Is Handling the Oil Spill

A recent Louisiana poll (Public Policy Polling) shows that

a majority of voters there think George W. Bush did a better job with Katrina than Obama's done dealing with the spill.

50% of voters in the state, even including 31% of Democrats, give Bush higher marks on that question compared to 35% who pick Obama.

Overall only 32% of Louisianans approve of how Obama has handled the spill to 62% who disapprove. 34% of those polled say they approved of how Bush dealt with Katrina to 58% who disapproved.

Of course, some of the commenters on the poll say that it shows people in Louisiana are racist and still others say "southerners are stupid anyway."

Don't you love that? That Beverly Hillbillies, Dukes of Hazzard stereotyping crap? This is one bigotry that's still quite widespread in the US. It's no wonder that "rednecks" are the only ones people can openly make "politically incorrect" statements about anymore.

Who Gives A S? WGAS 1

I'm introducing a new type of dump post today, and most of you will probably say WGAS. That's right. WGAS. Who. Gives. A. Sh-t.

You know the type of stuff I'm talking about. That stuff that somebody thinks is soooo important but which registers a minus 5 or lower on your personal GAS (give a sh-t) meter.

I know all of my readers are busy people who don't want to waste their time reading a lot of BS; therefore, you can think of what I'm doing as a public service. A quick glace at the WGAS list and you can ignore these little tidbits elswhere on the internet and go on about your bizniz.

So here goes.

A raccoon has shut down part of a state building in downtown Nashville. The writer doesn't identify the building but at the very least I hope it involves some state Democrat legislators.  Maybe the coon is a pissed off descendant of the animal that gave his skin and tail to make the famous hat worn by Tennessee senator Estes Kefauver during his political campaigns in the 40's and 50's. Let's hope the coon will head to Washington, D.C. after he's through here in TN. He might even join a tea party.

The brilliant genius Sheryl Crow has called Tea Party people "uneducated," "angry," and "potentially dangerous." She then retrieved a single sheet of toilet paper and asked interviewer Katy Couric to excuse her while she went to the bathroom. Wait a minute. Katy Couric? Geez, two geniuses on the same stage at the same time. There was probably enough brainpower there to change a lightbulb in the ladies room if necessary. Oh yeah. I almost forgot. Here's a pic of a relaxing, high IQ Crow during the interview. Speaking of IQ, men are sometimes accused of thinking with their p... Wonder what Crow's thinking with here? Wonder what Couric was thinking with? Hey. I lied about that pic. It wasn't made during the interview. But you know what, I don't GAS!

A bunch of "artists" are on record as opposing the Arizona law that cracks down on illegal immigration. They include such high visibility celebs as Gaia, Goldrat, and Oilhead. ??? Maybe I'm culturally illiterate, but who the hell are these people? Why aren't they locked up somewhere? Here's a pic of Oilhead. They look like a politically intelligent looking group don't they? I think that's a female with the pink hair. I think. Would you buy a used cellphone from these people? WGAS!

Twilight Eclipse has opened. It's about teen age vampires. There's a lot of sexual angst. I wish these people would just bite something. Bite me, for example. What a waste of celluloid. Take a look at this pic of the three principals. Do you really care if these people are sucking each other's blood? I say, WGAS!

This is Dapper Dan, your humble WGAS correspondent signing off till next time.

Invasion of the Nation Snatchers

In the cold month of February, I wrote a post about the great 50's "B" movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The film's message still resonates today. In my opinion, that message is that we must remain eternally vigilant against stealthy utopian Marxists because their goal now is subversion from within. These people look like us and talk like us so they're hard to recognize. They will use or subvert our own political, legal, and education systems to establish what they perceive as the ideal: a communist/socialist state.

Stanford scholar Victor Davis Hanson suggests that with the Obama administration we are already on that road to ruin. His excellent article is entitled "The Law, How Quaint." Please read it in its entirety.

Hanson cites numerous recent examples of the Obama administration's pattern of disregarding the law and governing by fiat and decree:

• demonizing and bringing a lawsuit against the state of Arizona for passing their recent illegal immigration law,
• guaranteeing illegal workers protection if they report shorted wages,
• making a mockery of "one man, one vote" to ensure "diversity,"
• ignoring past legal precedent (which capped liability) and bullying BP without a court order or congressional legislation into agreeing to a $20 billion liability settlement,
• using an executive order to overturn the legally determined order of creditors in the Chrysler Corporation bailout, 
• and initiating speculation about another executive decree to implement features of cap and trade legislation that congress won't pass.

Hanson says,

Federal officials determine a supposed good and then find the necessary way to achieve it. The law be damned. “Diversity,” unions, environmentalism — any of these anointed causes trumps the staid idea of simply following the letter of the law.

And Dorothy Rabinowitz says Obama is so much an academic ideologue and so far out of touch with ordinary Americans, he seems like a foreigner or an alien. From her article, "The Alien in the White House,"

A great part of America now understands that this president's sense of identification lies elsewhere, and is in profound ways unlike theirs. He is hard put to sound convincingly like the leader of the nation, because he is, at heart and by instinct, the voice mainly of his ideological class. He is the alien in the White House, a matter having nothing to do with delusions about his birthplace cherished by the demented fringe.

These ideological "aliens" and their leader Obama are "snatching" away the nation that we know and love, the nation of free enterprise, equality of opportunity (not outcomes), limited government, enforced borders, and a strong military for defense of our freedoms.

So if we feel a little paranoid these days and very much like those characters in Invasion of the Body Snatchers who have not yet been taken over by the alien pods, maybe it's because the Obama White House is "snatching" away or "changing" everything most Americans believe in. Perhaps that old 1956 film can serve as both a warning to us and a call to action.

My February post on that prescient film follows this introductory one.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

This post was originally published here on Februrary 9, 2010.

Another blogger (Pat Conlon) recently compared Oregon Democrats to the Pod People in the classic SF movie, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."  I don't know any Oregon Democrats but I trust Mr. Conlon's assessment. And this allusion to the famous 1956 film got me thinking about it again. I've viewed "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" over thirty-five times. I can still see the look of horror on Kevin McCarthy's face (in the role of Dr. Miles Bennell) when he kisses his girl friend (played by Dana Wynter). She's fallen asleep and has been taken over by an alien consciousness.

Thirty five times, you say? No, I'm not crazy. I frequently used "Body Snatchers" in a college class I taught on Science Fiction. Even though it's a cheaply and quickly made "B" film, it transcends those "B" limitations because it was based on a solid script and directed by Don Siegel ("Flaming Star," "Dirty Harry," "The Shootist," etc.) with great care and skill.

"Body Snatchers," which took only 23 days to shoot, was successful when it was released and is still highly regarded today. Wikipedia says the film cost only $380,000 to make, but earned over a million dollars in its first month. In 2008, the American Film Institute ranked it the 9th best SF film of all time.

Although many leftists spin the film as critical of McCarthy era fear and paranoia, the film itself  makes much more sense when viewed from an actual anti-communist perspective. Those involved in the production of the movie, however, say they were just interested in making a good thriller. Wikipedia says:

In his autobiography, "I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History," Walter Mirisch writes: "People began to read meanings into pictures that were never intended. The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is an example of that. I remember reading a magazine article arguing that the picture was intended as an allegory about the communist infiltration of America. From personal knowledge, neither Walter Wanger nor Don Siegel, who directed it, nor Dan Mainwaring, who wrote the script nor the original author Jack Finney, nor myself saw it as anything other than a thriller, pure and simple."

That being said, any work of art once it's released into the public is open to interpretation. At that point, the artists who created it join the many who offer insights into the work. Their insights are valuable, but so are other viewers. And the "Body Snatchers" seems to invite interpretation of its subtext, political or otherwise. And that contributes to its effectiveness in generating horror.There are no bug eyed monsters, no tentacles, no blood spattered clothing, and yet, lurking just below the surface of the dialogue and the minimal action, is real socio-political terror. What makes "Body Snatchers" scary?

First, the hero is a man of science, a Doctor, Miles Bennell (played by Kevin McCarthy). He's very skeptical of the initial hysterical reports from people who say their loved ones are imposters, that they have been taken over by an alien consciousness. When he finally realizes the horrible truth, we do too.

Second, those who have been taken over by the alien pods, the ones to fear, look just like us. You can't tell the enemy just by looking at the surface. You have to pay attention to what they say, what they do. Can you trust your colleagues, your patients, your aquaintances, or even your girl friend?

Third, in the film the take over occurs when we literally fall asleep. And who can do without sleep? We can resist it, but it will eventually come. Figuratively, the take over occurs when we let our guard down. When we stop being vigilant.

Trust is the thread that knits a society's disparate parts together, keeps it whole and functioning. When that goes, social dissolution begins. If we are not vigilant, if we don't watch our leaders carefully, if we don't question and challenge the messages being presented in the media and in schools and universities, we are in grave danger. That's why the film struck a chord in the Cold War fifties (people in general were truly opposed to and fearful of an external Marxist/Communist/Socialist attack or the possibility of an interal takeover via secret communist cells).

For example, one of the most popular TV shows of the fifties was "I Led Three Lives," about a man who (1) lived an ordinary working man's life as a family man and good neighbor, (2) who was secretly a member of a communist cell, plotting sabotage, etc., but (3) who also was an undercover agent for the FBI, bent on infiltrating and exposing Communist activity in the US. 

The film's message of eternal vigilance is also why I think the film still speaks powerfully to us today. The threats are still there. And they're even more insidious in that they are made to appear so glamorous and attractive in popular entertainment, and so caring and sensitive to the plight of social victims in the news media, and so urgently and logically necessary in classrooms and curricula in academia.  As the film suggests, the people who spread the pod poison look just like the rest of us. 

In a memorable scene near the end of the film, a frightened Dr. Bennell (McCarthy) is on the highway screaming at passengers in passing cars and in a close up that breaks the so called "fourth wall" shouts his warning directly to the audience with the words, "You're next!" It's true I think. We could be next.

Some other reasons to watch the movie: the performances of McCarthy, and Dana Wynter (who plays Becky Driscoll), King Donovan (Jack Belicec), and Carolyn Jones (who plays Becky's friend), plus some wonderful noir camera work. 

This post was originally published February 9, 2010.

Here's to Girls Who Do!

More Cowboys: Don Edwards' "Little Joe the Wrangler"

Doesn't old Don sound a lot like Marty Robbins? He admits to being greatly influenced by Robbins.

This Oughta Do It

Don't Worry 'Bout Me

1961. A good year. We were one year married, living in a cramped 1 BR apartment in Vet Village at MTSU. In September of that year, our son was born. The Fiat Bianciana was gone by then and we were bumming rides. Our student neighbor across the way took us to the Hospital for the birth. Joyce was calm, I was in a state of total panic.

We had a limited income. Joyce had worked through the previous fall and winter, but stopped in August because of the pregnancy. I was taking 21 credit hours at old MTSU so I could finish all my requirements and graduate in January of 1962. That fall, I somehow managed to work 40 hours a week at a local drugstore, from 2 till 10 PM. I was either in a sleep deprived haze or a no-doz frenzy most of the time. I do remember listening to this song on our radio (we didn't have a TV). Joyce and I loved it. It reached #3 on the Hot 100 that year. Marty wrote it and sang it. The fuzz guitar got most of the publicity though. Great song...