Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Gunsmoke
With 20 Seasons in the can CBS will be issuing half-season volumes of
this show for a considerable time to come. Back in those days there
weren't any reruns and a season stretched to 40 episodes. After the
first six years the show converted to an hour-long format; it switched
to colour beginning with Season 11. That opening gunfight on the same
set as High Noon was shot against the man who taught Arness how to
handle a gun, a famous quick-draw artist.
It strikes me that men walk around the streets of Dodge wearing six
shooters in much the same fashion as people drive around the streets of
Austin with guns in the glove compartments. The murder rate equates
fairly closely as well.
The longest standing guessing game on television was the eternal
platonic relationship between Dillon and Miss Kitty, why didn't Matt
ever propose and did they ever get beyond a rather chaste courtship. The
answer, of course is that millions of lovesick female fans would have
been mortified had their idol become unavailable. He just couldn't do
that to all his fans. As Miss Kitty says during a meal with Matt in
Season 4, if Matt is learning about woman he's so slow on the uptake
that she'll be in her grave before he gets out of grade one.
A seemingly straight-shooting, uncomplicated guy the appearance of any
inner conflict is best displayed by those pre-show walks on boot hill
and the inner-voice commentary as he stands brooding over the graves of
the men he placed there.
this show for a considerable time to come. Back in those days there
weren't any reruns and a season stretched to 40 episodes. After the
first six years the show converted to an hour-long format; it switched
to colour beginning with Season 11. That opening gunfight on the same
set as High Noon was shot against the man who taught Arness how to
handle a gun, a famous quick-draw artist.
It strikes me that men walk around the streets of Dodge wearing six
shooters in much the same fashion as people drive around the streets of
Austin with guns in the glove compartments. The murder rate equates
fairly closely as well.
The longest standing guessing game on television was the eternal
platonic relationship between Dillon and Miss Kitty, why didn't Matt
ever propose and did they ever get beyond a rather chaste courtship. The
answer, of course is that millions of lovesick female fans would have
been mortified had their idol become unavailable. He just couldn't do
that to all his fans. As Miss Kitty says during a meal with Matt in
Season 4, if Matt is learning about woman he's so slow on the uptake
that she'll be in her grave before he gets out of grade one.
A seemingly straight-shooting, uncomplicated guy the appearance of any
inner conflict is best displayed by those pre-show walks on boot hill
and the inner-voice commentary as he stands brooding over the graves of
the men he placed there.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog
The "Ah Shucks" factor here overwhelms. A boy and his dog become
marooned in some of the wildest territory on Canada's West Coast.
Trained by his father in the arts of wilderness survival the two endure
for over a month while traversing some of the most forbidding terrain on
earth. Whenever the boy gets discouraged the dog nuzzles up to him and
provides warmth and comfort.
While crossing a deep canyon on a moss-covered log the boy is rescued
but the dog falls miraculously missing a rock pile below. At the then
cost of $200,000/week the search for the dog is continued for three
weeks without success. The tear-jerker ending sees the dog against all
odds having traversed hundreds of miles of terrain find its way home to
its master's island home. As the title suggests this is all about the
dog, the boy Angus being supporting cast; the adults props.
The story may have a happy ending but alas shortly after the movie
opened its director died of leukemia.
marooned in some of the wildest territory on Canada's West Coast.
Trained by his father in the arts of wilderness survival the two endure
for over a month while traversing some of the most forbidding terrain on
earth. Whenever the boy gets discouraged the dog nuzzles up to him and
provides warmth and comfort.
While crossing a deep canyon on a moss-covered log the boy is rescued
but the dog falls miraculously missing a rock pile below. At the then
cost of $200,000/week the search for the dog is continued for three
weeks without success. The tear-jerker ending sees the dog against all
odds having traversed hundreds of miles of terrain find its way home to
its master's island home. As the title suggests this is all about the
dog, the boy Angus being supporting cast; the adults props.
The story may have a happy ending but alas shortly after the movie
opened its director died of leukemia.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
The War
The War
Ken Burns
The more I learn about war the more confirmed I become in my conviction
as to its utter futility. The War in question is WW# II and the title of
episode 5 says it all FUBAR--Fucked up beyond all recognition. The
disregard for men's lives shown by their leaders is beyond
comprehension. Tens of thousands of men's lives were squandered
meaninglessly during this campaign by Gererals who had no knowledge of
the terrain they were sending men into, no idea of the forces arrayed
against them, no concept of its strategic importance, and no idea what
resources would be necessary to take those objectives. Men were sent to
capture targets that did nothing to advance the cause often against
impregnable defenses when going around the target would have served just
as well. Generals failed to cancel campaigns even after they knew their
orders were of no importance. Men were deployed against fields of battle
about which their leaders had little or no knowledge and no
understanding of the forces they would be pitted against. More
particularly officers failed to listen to the advice of lower ranking
men in the field whose knowledge of the situation was far greater than
their own. Famously a lieutenant told his major that gathering men in
large groups for a turkey dinner was a bad idea but the major felt
compelled to follow higher orders resulting in the deaths of hundreds of
men when the Germans zeroed in with artillery on those groups. Troops
who had already seen too much battle were sent to Ardenne Forest for
relief only to become embroiled in what was to become the Battle of the
Bulge--little wonder they broke.
The series tells the story of both the European and Asian Theatres of
War from the perspective of Soldiers and Residents from 4 diverse
American Communities. Unlike Band of Brothers it does not follow any
particular regiment or section of the military. To a greater degree it
makes the experience of war personal by concentrating on the effects
upon individuals in the field and their families back home. Highlighted
is the plight of black soldiers trained as specialists but deployed in
the field as little better than slave labourers. Or ethnic Japanese
trained as soldiers and sent to fight the Germans while their families
pined away behind barbed wire in concentration camps as enemy aliens
stripped of their homes and their livelihoods. Well might one wonder
what allegiance they owed their country.
Interesting that in Band of Brothers the Death of the
Commander-in-Chief, (Roosevelt), gets only passing mention in one of
Nixon's monologues and the name of his successor is never mentioned.
Here we see scenes of his funeral and burial plus the reactions of the
troops in both theatres of war.
After showing us 10 hours of bodies mangled, bloodied, bloated, and
crawling with maggots; gunfire and explosions; plus graphic images of
the horrors of the concentration camps; I find it almost laughable that
it was felt necessary to excuse the fact that men who were describing
the experience might swear. What this says about American morays is more
telling than the fact that it engages in war.
Ken Burns
The more I learn about war the more confirmed I become in my conviction
as to its utter futility. The War in question is WW# II and the title of
episode 5 says it all FUBAR--Fucked up beyond all recognition. The
disregard for men's lives shown by their leaders is beyond
comprehension. Tens of thousands of men's lives were squandered
meaninglessly during this campaign by Gererals who had no knowledge of
the terrain they were sending men into, no idea of the forces arrayed
against them, no concept of its strategic importance, and no idea what
resources would be necessary to take those objectives. Men were sent to
capture targets that did nothing to advance the cause often against
impregnable defenses when going around the target would have served just
as well. Generals failed to cancel campaigns even after they knew their
orders were of no importance. Men were deployed against fields of battle
about which their leaders had little or no knowledge and no
understanding of the forces they would be pitted against. More
particularly officers failed to listen to the advice of lower ranking
men in the field whose knowledge of the situation was far greater than
their own. Famously a lieutenant told his major that gathering men in
large groups for a turkey dinner was a bad idea but the major felt
compelled to follow higher orders resulting in the deaths of hundreds of
men when the Germans zeroed in with artillery on those groups. Troops
who had already seen too much battle were sent to Ardenne Forest for
relief only to become embroiled in what was to become the Battle of the
Bulge--little wonder they broke.
The series tells the story of both the European and Asian Theatres of
War from the perspective of Soldiers and Residents from 4 diverse
American Communities. Unlike Band of Brothers it does not follow any
particular regiment or section of the military. To a greater degree it
makes the experience of war personal by concentrating on the effects
upon individuals in the field and their families back home. Highlighted
is the plight of black soldiers trained as specialists but deployed in
the field as little better than slave labourers. Or ethnic Japanese
trained as soldiers and sent to fight the Germans while their families
pined away behind barbed wire in concentration camps as enemy aliens
stripped of their homes and their livelihoods. Well might one wonder
what allegiance they owed their country.
Interesting that in Band of Brothers the Death of the
Commander-in-Chief, (Roosevelt), gets only passing mention in one of
Nixon's monologues and the name of his successor is never mentioned.
Here we see scenes of his funeral and burial plus the reactions of the
troops in both theatres of war.
After showing us 10 hours of bodies mangled, bloodied, bloated, and
crawling with maggots; gunfire and explosions; plus graphic images of
the horrors of the concentration camps; I find it almost laughable that
it was felt necessary to excuse the fact that men who were describing
the experience might swear. What this says about American morays is more
telling than the fact that it engages in war.
