A Place In The Sun

I watched this 1951 movie for the first time on Kanopy recently and I have to say it was hard for me to finish because it’s so dark and depressing (and a little melodramatic). Montgomery Clift is unhappy and brooding for most of the film, as is Shelly Winters, who plays one of his girlfriends, and who is also his coworker at a factory. Elizabeth Taylor plays his other girlfriend, a happy go lucky socialite. The love triangle is bound to collapse and ultimately it does, leaving one character dead, one on the way to the electric chair and the third heartbroken. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, with both Marlon Brando and Charlie Chaplin giving it high praise. As for me I was glad to see the main actors again as it had been years since I had seen any of them perform, while at the same time it made me want to re-watch other movies they had been in that I liked better than A Place In The Sun. I could start with The Misfits (Clift), The Taming of the Shrew (Taylor) and The Poseidon Adventure (Winters).

Specific

Accrued By David Jacobi

Some months later

the fires of passion

recalled European music

observed in the night air

in no uncertain terms

Observing the sacrifice of God

As a living spectacle of antiquity

In the infinite blue night

Of a blind nightingale

I began to understand

the attraction that affected me

a chill, you have it or you don’t

the wellspring of exact definition

To be more specific

there are roots dug deep

in the very ancient culture

that no philosopher can explain

2011 By David Jacobi

The Runaways

Colt

For the last few weeks we have been engaged in the usual spring ritual of raking, stick picking and sawing up branches around the place. Between the ice storm last November, winter blizzards and windy days we have probably the most tree debris to clean up since we moved out here. One of the first times we walked around the acreage we counted 130 trees, most of them graceful, beautiful but frail white willows. Not the ideal tree for a windy environment. During Easter weekend we had both kids and their families out to celebrate, and our daughter brought her little Jackshund, Colt, not yet a year old. Our oldest dog, Marley, at 13 years old, has lost most of her will to play so was not very interested. Steve, our other dog, at 10 still has a little gas in the tank and so he and Colt went around the acreage together. After some time we realized we had not seen the two for awhile, and called and called for them. They had disappeared. Several of us got into two separate cars and went in opposite directions looking for them. During a pause in the search a van drove up and out hopped Steve. The driver said he found him in the grassy median of four lane Highway 20 looking scared and confused. When he opened the side door Steve jumped right in. He drove around asking neighbors if they knew the dog and someone said he belonged to us. We asked about Colt but he said only Steve was in the median. Now we had an idea what area to search and we did so, scanning the empty farm fields, driving Hwy 20, looking in culverts and ditches. No sign of him. We agreed that the young and inexperienced Colt was the one to wander off the acreage, with Steve following, because neither of our dogs will leave without one of us. For a few days after Steve stayed by our sides, lost his appetite and was spooked and skittish. There is still no sign of poor little Colt.

Obscure America: Joshua L. Cowen

Joshua L. Cowen

Joshua L. Cowen (1877-1965) began inventing things while still a child, and as an adult he patented the photography flash-lamp then secured a contract to produce mine fuses for the U.S. Navy. Another invention was a metal tube containing batteries with a light bulb on one end. His idea was to sell them to business owners to stick in their flowerpots to light up the plants in a store window or restaurant. He ended up selling his rights to a business associate who went on to mass produce the lights for people, not plants, as the American EverReady Company. Joshua then turned his attention to toy trains, which he had been interested in since boyhood. He began selling model trains as displays for shop windows, which proved wildly popular with customers who kept buying the displays. Joshua began manufacturing and selling the trains full time and built the company into the most successful model train company in the country. By 1953 it was the largest toy manufacturer in the world. And if you are wondering why you have never heard of the Cowen Train it’s because Joshua used his middle name for the company, Lionel.

Cheesy Beef And Noodles

We don’t make this recipe often, which might be why it is so delicious when it does arrive on the weekly menu.

Ingredients:

Ground beef – 1 pound

Egg noodles – I package

Small onion – diced

Diced tomatoes – 1 can

Whole kernel corn – ½ can

Onion soup mix – 1 package

Garlic – to taste

Water – 1 cup

Your favorite shredded cheese – a handful (or two!)

Instructions:

Cook ground beef in large skillet or pan until done then drain. Add all other ingredients except cheese and simmer around 20 minutes or until noodles are done. Sprinkle with cheese, and let stand until it is melted.

Assassination

Destroyed But Not Defeated By David Jacobi

The ritual slaying of the attraction

Is not easy to explain

Like the spirit of the Earth

In the most ample sense of the word

The intuitive part of consciousness

Jumps to a religious enthusiasm

Assuming, maybe too cavalierly

To understand the poetic magic

But the final ephemeral flicker

Blazed and burnt out

Like a brilliant comet

In his assassination

They are all dead

I have examined the bodies

They never heard the shot

That drained the vials and stood in silence

2011 By David Jacobi

An Outdoors Family

Our kids outside

Most every weekend when the weather was nice would find us outside. When our children were babies and toddlers we would take them to the local neighborhood park or drive to one of the Des Moines reservoirs and lay out a blanket on the grass and dump a box of toys in the middle. After a little parental encouragement they would usually understand that their boundaries were the blanket, and happily play away the afternoon. Sometimes they would fall asleep while playing, giving us a nice break for awhile. Once they had grown to full mobility the focus became more playground oriented. After that, at around age 6 or 7, we would explore the woods and streams around us (we always had a dog or two to tag along) and that led to road trips and camping, which we all loved. We would wade through streams, collect rocks, skip rocks, fish, hike trails. I usually tried to slip in a visit to a local landmark or museum, but the kids were always anxious to get back to the beach or their bikes. Our son went on to become an Eagle Scout and was a canoe guide for the Scouts in The Boundary Waters for several years. Our daughter and her family get out as often as possible and own both a camper and a boat. Shelly and I have really grown to enjoy the convenience of cabin camping…which reminds me it’s about time to plan our next getaway.