POSSIBILITIES ONCE, MAY NOT BE LIKELY NOW

I don't recall my age or the year I realized and accepted that some activities I had always imagined I would experience some day, that I never would, such as visiting Paris, Scotland to name a couple foreign locations.  I have always had an appetite not even remotely fulfilled for travel to sites and continents away from my own.

I did fly to South America's Ecuador where I had never even thought about going or imagined I would visit, but leaped when the opportunity was presented.  Taking advantage of such situations when they occur is wise even if sudden schedule and life adjustments may be necessary.  I had to borrow money for the trip from the bank where I was then working in the loan department. 

An unscheduled stop occurred in Jamaica on the flight there.  I made a quick deplane just to say I'd been there before re-boarding to continue the flight.  My return flight had an unexpected stop in Peru where the most strikingly handsome and beautiful golden-skinned couple I have ever seen in my life boarded our plane.  I'll always wonder who they were.

Years later after I wed, I learned my husband was much more enamored with traveling in the U.S.   He said there was so much here that we had never seen.   So, we stayed primarily on this continent, did go to Hawaii but didn't get to Alaska and enjoyed only a limited Niagara Falls trip into Canada.  An anticipated further exploration north of our border never materialized, regrettably.  

Mexico visits were few, but simply walking across the border, except for once when I convinced my husband to drive over.  Thoughts of driving the Pan American Highway intrigued me.  I learned later the highway was incomplete in many places and little more than a dirt road in others as I rode on in Ecuador. 

This trip with my husband was a very brief intrusion into Mexico.  He was  unfamiliar with the Spanish language so turned on to a street with a sign that probably had said the street was closed to traffic for repairs.  I had studied French so was no help.  A workman running toward us, shouting, frantically waving his arms, conveyed our presence was a mistake. His behavior quickly convinced my husband to turn the car around and drive back across the border to the U.S. before we had an accident or got arrested.  The workman probably muttered to his colleagues, "Those loco gringos don't know how to drive!"

Early years before our children were born, we took a few short cross-country flights he privately piloted that were compensating pleasures to foreign travel for me then.  Many scenic drives through numerous states, plus visits to our U.S. national park system and monuments offered a bounty of attractions.   We were unable to visit as many Parks as we had hoped, especially when his declining health in later years altered those expectations.  Lengthy cross country scenic train trips in the U.S. and Canada about which we mused never could become a reality.

All of this came to mind when I recently checked my KCET Public Television Station's (PBS) weekly Friday night movie.  I always wanted to visit Scotland which I learned was the evening's 1983's movie's setting.  I was in the mood for a movie with some beautiful scenery and a light entertaining story line.  No record of Scottish ancestors had been found among those of mine so efficiently researched a few years ago by blogger/researcher Judy at "Onward and Upward -- Ever Forward".   I remain convinced there may be some forefathers preceding those whose identity was named in my English/European background.  

"Local Hero was filmed in several locations around Scotland.   Most of the Ferness village scenes were filmed in Pennan on the Aberdeenshire coast and most of the beach scenes at Morar and Arisaig on the west coast" reported by Wikipedia.

Here's the original 1983 "Local Hero" movie trailer:

Here's a more extensive current link to sites with color photos of film locations offered at "Almost Ginger" by blogger Rebecca Sharp "twenty-something avid cinephile and traveller, as well as a minimalist, optimist, Hufflepuff and proud ginger."  Corrected link to "Almost Ginger".

So, I viewed "Local Hero" -- lovely country and beach scenes, subtle ideas and all that you might enjoy from a Criterion Collection of films I recommend.  Here's some of what Criterion said about the film:

"Bill Forsyth put Scottish cinema on the map with this delightfully eccentric culture-clash comedy.  Riffing on popular representations of Scottish life and folklore, Local Hero follows the Texas oil executive Mac (Peter Riegert), who is dispatched by his crackpot boss (Burt Lancaster) to a remote seaside village in Scotland with orders to buy out the town and develop the region for an oil refinery.  But as business mixes with pleasure, Mac finds himself enchanted by both the picturesque community and its oddball denizens---and Texas starts to feel awfully far away.  Packed with a near nonstop stream of droll one-liners and deadpan gags, this enchanting cult hit finds Forsyth surveying the idiosyncrasies of small-town life with the satirical verve of a latter-day Preston Sturges, arriving at a sly commentary on conservation, corporate greed, and the legacies we leave behind."

An interesting 2019 essay by Jonathan Murray includes:

"Bill Forsyth is Scotland's most famous filmmaker, and Local Hero (1983) is his most famous film---for many, the true subject of Local Hero's title is the Glasgow-born writer-director himself."

Perhaps you have also concluded some once anticipated activities are no longer likely to occur for you during your lifetime.

WETNESS -- TESTIMONY -- MADNESS

A strange experience occurred here a few days ago.  That wet stuff that falls out of the sky we’ve had for days suddenly ceased.  There has been this golden glow --  blindingly bright yellow rays from the sky during the day,  causing me to feel warmth on my body when I’m outdoors -- though the air is still colder than our typical 69 degree average temperature this time of year.    

This weather situation continued a whole week before more of that soggy wet stuff descended.   I learned it’s called rain.   Some home owners are experiencing hillsides threateningly sliding away from their house foundation.    In the past two months Santa Anita Racetrack, down the freeway in Arcadia, reports twenty horses have died, or had to be put down, raising concern that the rain's effects may be a causative factor.  They refurbished the race track, but news reports as I write this are that another horse was injured in such a way it had to be be put down after the most recent race. 

The good news is so much rain has fallen our drought is officially over, but at least two more strong storm systems are coming.   So those of you living east of Southern California get prepared, more “chilly wetness” of one kind or another may soon be coming your way. 

* * *

What a surprise ... to learn in recent Congressional testimony our Prez is alleged to be a cheat, liar and con man ... would never have guessed.   Isn’t he just a real estate developer, trying to make a buck?   He wouldn’t .....

-- give priority to his personal business interests over that of our nation, would he?

-- compromise our national interests with autocratic dictators of countries dedicated to undermining our form of government, would he?

-- attempt to alter our democratic system to become a dictatorial-type leader, would he? 

--  lie profusely to confuse people, would he? 

--  try to disparage our journalistic free press to undermine this system check designed to protect our democracy, would he?

--  be guilty of committing all the reprehensible behavior he accuses everyone else of doing, would he?  

* * *

If the madness is getting to you, just turn off thoughts of the world and tune into this classic Criterion Collection movie I laughed through the other night to release a few of my mind/body healing endorphins:

“It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” – a madcap movie that elicited gut-wrenching laughter when I first saw it years ago and still elicits laughs from me today.   Some of the funniest most prominent comedians with other celebrities of the day appeared in cameos and slapstick sketches that defied common sense, with a plot revealing how greed can creep into some lives -- even those in respected positions.   That could never happen today .... could it?  

Blogging Wisdom and Movie Moments

I believe the wisdom of aging allows for indulging some personal needs and whims. That attitude has informed a change in my approach to blogging for the past month or so. Sitting at my desk top hasn't been particularly pleasurable, so I've chosen to spend little time exerting much effort at my keyboard daily. I've been focusing on some personal medical health needs, now mostly resolved, other matters, and placed even my part-time work on hold. I have, however, pondered thoughts and some memories of my favorite season, autumn, including Indian Summer, becoming the subject of several short posts. So it is that I have been catering to myself to the exclusion of some blogging activities. I find I like this current approach and will likely do more of the same in the future.

Movie DVDs have recently provided a pleasurable respite to an unexpected degree. I selected the films with little knowledge of their content. I had seen no trailers, or been exposed to other promotional materials about these movies. I was not influenced by movies based on a specific book, having long ago learned that any resemblance between a book I had enjoyed reading and a movie by the same title was all too often purely coincidental. In fact, using that criteria for a film's selection could be disappointing.

Generally, I attend to the directors, actors and select movie collections i.e. Criterion when I consider movies for viewing, especially if they are known to be selective about the projects with which they associate themselves. Often, films nominated for various film festival awards can also be potential candidates attracting my consideration.

One such movie I selected from The Criterion Collection is titled "Dead Ringers" starring actors, Jeremy Irons and Genevieve Bujold whose talents I appreciate. Irons plays both rolls of identical twin gynecologists known for their innovative treatments who operate an exclusive clinic. This psychological medical drama thriller is purported in the New York Times review by Janet Maslin to be a "loosely fact-based tale...the film's most disturbing moments coming mostly through suggestion."

I find "suggestion" a much more powerful stimulate for my feelings than most literal special effects film creations. Director David Cronenberg's movie certainly impacted me beyond expectation in that regard. I think I was likely overly-sensitive for at least two reasons. One had to do with the movie's medical anatomical focus and visual effects. The other reason was due to a real life experience I had as a pre-teen. In the latter instance, I and others, independent of each other, were subjected to dental treatment from a dentist later determined to have been descending into psychological madness for which he was eventually institutionalized.

This movie is an intriguing idea likely appealing to many of stronger fortitude than I. The shower scene in "Psycho" haunted me for many years, partly due to the scene's music. Selected visual scenes in "Dead Ringers" could readily surpass my reaction to that shower scene -- but I looked away.

I'll recap a few other movies later that I find to be much more pleasing visually, psychologically satisfying, and emotionally gratifying. They portray more frequent realistic life experiences with which we can all identify or, at least, recognize.