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MY FAVORITE MOVIES: WELL first of all ~ the greatest movie ever made is relative to the sensitivities of the perceiver. If I were to say~KING KONG ~ well I am sure I would get a few snickers ~ but ~ I probably saw that movie more than any other movie ~ the charm of 'true love' from one kingdom to another is quite appealing to me....
Seriously though, the greatest movies I have seen, seem to be revolving around the NAZI era ~ of true evil: THE SOUND OF MUSIC ~ LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL ~ CABARET ~ THE PAWN BROKER--to name a few....Then there is the high adventure classics like MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY [the original with Charles Laughton & Clark Gable]~ MOBY DICK [where Gregory Peck almost lost his life strapped to a mechanical whale--WHAT A WAY TO GO!] ~ THE AFRICAN QUEEN [simply because of the utter charm of Bogy & Kate]...Then on a secondary level, there is THE LAST OF THE MOHIGANS [with Daniel Day Lewis] which towers over the original piece of garbage, just like Branagh's version of HENRY V towered over Lawence Olivier's version....
Then there is the STUPID CHARM movies like ~ THE PRINCESS BRIDE where true love conquers (one of my favorite themes even though the hero doesn't always win...ask KONG!?!)...or the charming movies like ~BROTHER SUN~SISTER MOON about Francis & Clare of Assisi] or the dated FRIENDLY PERSWASION with the incomparable Gary Cooper where the singing of Pat Boone just makes you feel warm ALL OVER!!!
Then there were the great acting performances like Dustin Hoffman in THE GRADUATE and 'Mrs Robinson' wasn't too shabby either[Anne Bancroft]....Paul Newman [Mr. Smooth] teaming up with Robert Redford in one of the most 'life-like' movies ~ THE STING!
The happiest movie I ever saw was THE WIZARD OF OZ while the saddest was ANY version of TALE OF TWO CITIES: I cannot sit through this movie w/o crying~SOBBING LIKE A BABY!!!~~~It's sad the shape I'm in...
SO WHAT'S THE GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME????WHY OF COURSE.........IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE >>HANDS DOWN<<...the reason is very simple: When life has completely turned against you ~ and you have given up all hope ~ SOMEBODY STILL LOVES YOU VERY VERY MUCH! ~~ PRICELESS ~~ very much like the theme of my poem: "THE SALT OF THE EARTH"
MY FAVORITE MOVIE SCENES: >>ACTION<< In the movie, "JAWS" ~ when Robert Shaw wanted to get everybody's attention: He takes his massive fingernails and scratches the blackboard very very slowly~~~When everybody stops yakkin' he says: DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION?
>>QUOTE<< In UNFORGIVEN ~my favorite Western ~ after Clint Eastwood killed the bartender in 'COLD BLOOD' and well after that same bartender had 'DECORATED' Clint's best now-dead friend in the front of the bartender's salooon, when asked: How could you kill an unarmed man {?} Eastwood's only reply was:"WELL HE SHOULD HAVE ARMED HIMSELF IF HE DOCORATES HIS SALOON WITH MY FRIEND!"
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OF COURSE I DRAW THE LINE BETWEEN MY 'FAVORITE' QUOTE & "THE GREATEST QUOTE IN MOVIE HISTORY": THIS BELONGS TO THE WORDS OF "COOL HAND LUKE" WHEN AT THE END OF THE MOVIE ~ WITH LUKE (PLAYED BY PAUL NEWMAN) SURROUNDED BY 'THE LAW' SAID: "WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE!"~~~~THAT'S WHEN THE BULLET STARTED TO FLY TOWARD HIS BODY. IN REAL LIFE, THE SAME THING HAPPENS TO ANYONE WHO MAY STAND FOR A "TRUTH" ~ LIKE GANDHI ~ OR MARTIN LUTHER KING ~ OR EVEN JOHN F. KENNEDY ~ WITH SOME BEING MORE 'IMPECCABLE' THAN OTHERS ~BUT IN ANY EVENT, CONSIDERED A "DANGER" TO THE STATUS QUO!
THIS, OF COURSE, TRANSCENDS JUST THE MOVIES....AS SOON AS ONE PERCEIVES HIMSELF AS "NOT ABLE TO FIT IN" MAY EVEN OPT FOR SUICIDE~THE GREATEST OF ALL TRAGEDIES~AS BEAUTIFLLY REFLECTED IN THE SONG: VINCENT [STARRY~STARRY NIGHT...] about the tragic life of the painter, VINCENT VAN GOGH.
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WHAT ABOUT SCI/FI MOVIES: ok! This is the brutal scoop! Most of them S#$%! There was really only one great movie in this genre:THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL~~~speaking as a Ufologist; however, I distinguish betwen GREAT & MY FAVORITE....My favorite sci/fi was~FORBIDDEN PLANET with Walter Pidgeon, Ann Francis & introducing Leslie Nielson in a semi-serious romantic role-if you can imagine that....and also introducing ROBBY THE ROBOT~the coolest mechanical character until STAR WARS came along. What made the movie so fascinating [AND STILL FASCINATING] is how the mind can be used to create ~ REAL LIVE MONSTERS (of the ID) but monsters, nevertheless~that can HURT PEOPLE!?!
Other movies that I liked were WAR OF THE WORLDS ~CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE 3RD KIND [I kind of identify with Richard Dreyfus in this role with a smattering of Molder thrown in too) and an HBO special called, OFFICIAL DENIAL. As far as fiction goes, these were all pretty good>>>but pales in comparison to the true phenomenon>yet to be fully told.
There were other interesting movies, but they were not great-just interesting. FOR INSTANCE, a scary movie was certainly INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS [the original only] as well as EYES BEHIND THE STARS ~ where a ufologist actually gets killed for doing 'his job!' The nerve of these thugs who think they can do whatever they want to whomever!?! The ufologist is treated 'slightly' better in the TV movie: INTRUDERS, loosely based on Budd Hopkins book by the same title. I could mention others, but certainly the WORST was PLAN B FROM OUTER SPACE>>>AVOID AT ALL COST>>.THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!
The last movie of interest (already mentioned above) was put out by HBO:OFFICIAL DENIAL. It had an interesting plot & concept. It is worth watching and does address some real elements in ufology~even though the time theory may be suspect! WHAT DO I KNOW!!!IT'S A CRAZY & BIZARRE UNIVERSE WHERE WHAT WE KNOW TODAY IS THROWN OUT IN TOMORROW'S TRASH~~~GONE WITH THE WIND! Now there is another great movie, but I must move on, or I will run out of 'time & space'.
What about the movie~ "CONTACT"[?]: Yes, it was very very good ~ and Jody Foster was also very very good in presenting an interesting theme about 'contact' from one vibration to another where it would have been hard for any scientist 'in the box' to BELIEVE HER ~ just as it is hard for me to explain about my 'spirit lover' ANASTASIA! So yes ~ it is another one of those SCI/FI movies that may be inviting us into the realm of true reality ~ just like the book: WE DON'T DIE ~ or the film THE SIXTH SENSE ~ which both may be starting to make SOME of us a little bit MORE aware of other intelligences who may 'live' no further away than "the thickness of a maple leaf!"
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COCOON: [Science Fiction?!?] Another 'not so great' movie that needs some comment is THIS ONE! 'SPACE BROTHERS' is a very big theme ~ especially in the "NEW-AGE-LITERATURE" ~~ and since this movie deals with a group of "LIGHT BEINGS" from the star system 'ANTARES'~~ we need to see how this could ~ PERHAPS ~ be a part of TOTAL REALITY -IN FACT!!!
There are more negative beings "allegedly" 'OUT THERE' then you can 'shake a stick at'...but people tend to 'CLING TO' the notion that we have 'SPACE BROTHERS' who have "Made it" sort of speak ~ overcoming the violence & hatred & wars & famines ~ in short, the very things that constantly embroil our world TODAY!!!
Besides the ANTARIANS, there are other 'alleged' positive or at least neutral groups who are standing in the background ~ either urging on or 'cheering' the progress of "their distant cousins" ~ home sapiens-sapiens ~ US!!! Certain groups that come to mind are THE ARCTURIANS that are in the books of Patricia Pereira and like the ANTARIANS ~ OCCUPY HIGHER 'DIMENSIONS' such as the 5th & the 6th as 'advanced' "LIGHT BEINGS!" THE ANDROMADANS ~ WHO 'ALLEGEDLY' ARE SHORTER & DARKER ~ ALSO SEEM TO HAVE AN AFFINITY TOWARD US.
THE PLEIADIANS also get a good deal of ink iN "THE NEW AGE LITERATURE"
WHAT ABOUT INSPIRATIONAL MOVIES???~~~: Well this is one of my favorite things~THANKS FOR ASKIN'?...First of all, the greatest inspirational movie, to me, and what I use to 'charge me Irish batteries' every single year is JESUS OF NAZARATH..w/o question, the best! [There is nothing more to say~~~EXCEPT FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE] In my documentary~"BEHIND THE ILLUSION" I have stated publically that David Icke {THE BIIGEST SECRET] may not have gotten it right about Jesus being a myth because there is a historical reference to "Christus" as being executed by none other than Pontius Pilate: HIS name was TACITUS~a ROMAN historian of the 2nd century. [cf. also THE MARRING OF THE NAG HAMMADI, an essay I wrote about this very thing on Eve Lorgen's website-see links.] Even THE SHROUD OF TURIN shows a remarkable reflection that a man was BRUTALLY CRUCIFIED in the first century~wrapped in a 'cloth' that had real blood on it~and seeds & flowers that were identified to the "1st century AD"[cf. the 1998 THE LEARNING CHANNEL~"In Pursuit of the Shoud"]...But regardless of any 'PROOFS' ~~~it's an intuitive thing with me~~~YES I SOBBED~~~A SURE SIGN THAT JESUS MAY BRING OUT THE BEST IN US IF WE DO NOT FIGHT IT~~~[cf. the site:"SPIRITUAL JOB OPPROTUNITY"]
Then there is GANDHI where Ben Kingsley did an academy award winning performance (whether he won it or not makes no difference) showing how a man can ~ like the silly old ant who thought he could move a rubber tree plant ~ could change things with peace & love and bring an EMPIRE to its knees ~ THUSLY!!! My favorite quote in the movie ~ which I use in "my own struggles against the TYRANNY of THE IRS" ~ is the beautiful quote:[paraphrasing from the movie]:::>>NON COOPERATION WITH EVIL IS NOT A RIGHT OR A PRIVILEGE, BUT RATHER A DUTY!
AND IF YOU THINK FOR ONE MINUTE THAT YOU ARE TOOOOOO PUNY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THIS WORLD OF BIG BULLIES WHO RULE BY FEAR & BRUTAL CONTROL ~~~ WELL YOU ARE JUST WRONG...no question about it....LOOK AT THE MOVIE ~"ERIN BROCKOVICH" ~ a true story brilliantly portrayed by Julie Roberts!!! Ms. Brockovich ~ similar to Karen 'SILKWOOD' (WHICH WAS ALSO MAGNIFICENTLY PLAYED BY ANOTHER GREAT ACTRESS-Meryl Strrep) showed via dogged research (like a BULLdog) that she could overcome the shenanigans of a large power firm in California and won the largest suit against this firm for polluting the area and trying to get away with it since they had "SO MUCH MONEY"/...go away fly!!!...but Erin [Ireland] would not relinquish because 'TRUTH WAS ON HER SIDE' and she did prevail>>>>>THIS IS A TRUE STORY>>>SO TAKE HEART!!!
[[STATEMENT MOVIES!!!]]: THERE ARE AT LEAST SEVEN MOVIES SINCE MY YOUTH THAT HAVE MADE A TREMENDOUS IMPRESSION ON ME IN TRYING TO UNDERSTAND ~ NOT ONLY THE WAY HUMAN NATURE 'TICKS' BUT HOW IT CAN BE "ENNOBLED" TO BE "THE BEST THAT IT CAN BE ~ OR ONE STEP DOWN FROM 'DIVINE'!!! THEY ARE IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
(1) THE SORROW & THE PITY ~~~ A DOCUMENTARY DONE IN THE 1960S [?] WHICH WAS A CONDEMNATION OF 'NATIONALISM' WHICH ONLY LEADS TO A 'DISEASED' FORM OF XENOPHAOBIA WHICH ONLY SPAWNS MORE DIVISION & FIGHTING & KILLING & IDIOTIC BEHAVIOR THAT WILL KEEP MAN EVER-BOUND TO THE EARTH!!! [[ONE HAS TO LOOK NO FURTHER THAN THE WRITINGS OF ADOLPH HITLER IN ~ HIS STRUGGLE ~ MEIN KAMPH ~ A SO-CALLED CLASSIC OF AN IMBECILIC GENIUS WHO SAW NO FURTHER THAN HIS OWN ARYAN NOSE.]]
(2) Close on the heels of this movie was one which starred Rod Steiger who played a very depressed man coming out of the horror of the holocaust ~ coincidentally caused by the very things stated in #1 ABOVE! The movie was mentioned before as one of my favorites: THE PAWN BROKER ~ which, even as a boy, was very critical of my then church for condemning this movie simply because you saw a woman's naked body in the movie...(I SAID TO MYSELF - RIGHT THERE - "What is wrong with this church's thinking ~ in throwing the baby out with the bathwater"??!?? The movie was a CLASIC in every sense of the word in showing how a man who had "GIVEN UP ON LIFE" (like the hero in "IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE" had his hope RESTORED by a boy who stepped in front of a bullet to save THE PAWN BROKER'S LIFE ~ played by Rod Steiger....Steiger had been in a concentration camp during WWII and his mind was just about shot. When the boy saved his life, he again saw that there was something to live for ~~~ and then THE CHURCH put it on the FORBIDDEN LIST OF MOVIES TO SEE!??! {{Needless to say, I saw the movie anyway ~ and I was glad I did BECAUSE it helped to shape my attitudes of more than just the evils of 'NAZI-ISM' ~ since I was finding out that there was more than ONE BLINDSPOT sitting in judgement of things!!!}}
(3)& (4) Then there were two powerful movies in different eras that spoke to the 'FUTILITY' OF KILLING PEOPLE: one was one of my favorite movies ~ FRIENDLY PERSWASION ~ & the other was a more recent movie [BRILLIANTLY DONE WITH FANTASTIC ACTING BY ROBERT DINERO & SYMBOLISM IN KILLING & THEN NOT KILLING A DEAR]...YES ~ THE DEER HUNTER.
(5) & (6) SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS MOVIES: The best in the early days was the CLASSIC acted superbly by Gregory Peck as Aticus Finch [?] in "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" and how he tried -as a lawyer-to stand up to PREJUDICE-a disease all to common in today's society....Later came a another brilliant movie called simply, POWDER which took on an "alien" flavor to drive home the point that things have not changed too much from the end of WWII to the present...[[ALL THESE MOVIES ARE WORTH SEEING AGAIN & AGAIN!!!]]
THE SEVENTH MOVIE WAS not A CLASSIC in the classical sense, but it must have been powerful because it was the only movie heretofore that had BEEN BANNED in this country....I was so taken by this New Mexican set movie, that I named my published poem after it: THE SALT OF THE EARTH....{{Danny Peary of Cult Movies II said: "No American film is more inspiring and emotionally satisfying than this remarkable 1954 film." YOU CAN STILL GET THE MOVIE AT THE LOCAL LIBRARY....}} IT IS REALLY A CLASSIC BECAUSE IT FOCUSED ON ONE OF THE GREATEST THEMES A PEOPLE CAN LEARN AS THEY FIGHT INJUSTICE ~ NO MATTER WHAT FORM IT TAKES OR HOW BIG IT IS ARRAYED AGAINST YOU: IF YOU STICK TOGETHER ~ YOU CAN DEFEAT A LARGE CORPORATION WHICH THEY DID IN THIS FILM [AS WELL AS IN THE FILM ~ ERIN BROCKAVICH ~ OR IF YOU ARE FIGHTING A 'BIG-BULLY' government agency as the people of MONTANA did as outlined in the book' DO UNTO THE IRS AS THEY WOULD DO ONTO YOU! [PERIOD!]
SO WHAT'S THE GREATEST SONG OF ALL TIME? That's simple too! "TRUE LOVE"[Cole Porter] as sung by Bing Crosby with Louis Armstrong's IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD coming in quite close to that....There is no question about this, so there is no need to argue! Arguably, Porter may have been the best song writer too, but with such geniuses writng songs in the 20th century, HEY!~~~"ANYTHING GOES!"
Sure, we all have our favorite songs ~ because that's what gets us through the day: MUSIC! I personally think that the old song writers were the best but whoever wrote "YOU ALWAYS HURT THE ONE YOU LOVE" really understood human nature ~ and knew how to put words to music!>>I FINALLY 'DUG-UP' THAT THE SONG WAS WRITTEN & COMPOSED BY DORIS FISHER & ALLAN ROBERTS<< [There's no question about this either, so there is no need to argue~~~SO NO EMAILS, PLEASE!
I HAVE BOILED GREAT SONGS DOWN TO ONE THEME: THE FEELING OF BEING WANTED OR NEEDED...and as usual, there is no question about this, too!~~~I am sure you will agree, that the heart start thumpin' and the feet start jumpin' when you hear songs like~ YOU'RE NOBODY TILL SOMEBODY LOVES YOU [Dean Martin] or FLYING BACK TO YOU, SWEETHEART [Dave & Chas, who were both beloved by the Beatles]
Other than TRUE LOVE, WHAT IS THE NEXT greatest song of all time~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER~~~~~~~~~AND YOU GUESSED IT, BECAUSE I SOB WHEN I HEAR IT. I also 'SOB' when I hear the haunting song sung by Ms. Jo Stafford ~ NO OTHER LOVE-----------simply magnificent ~ No question about it!!! As for the 3rd greatest song ~ those who became blind SAW & SOARED THE HIGHEST~NO QUESTION ABOUT IT; therefore, after much "agony" over this, being fair to one & all...it is with the greatest pleasure to announce that there ~~ IS A TIE between STEVY WONDER & THE INCOMPARABLE RAY CHARLES...but if I am forced to pick a song ~ it would be a song that I must replay again & again when I hear it (a sure sign of its greatness) ~ SO WITH ALL DUE RESPECT TO MR. CHARLES ~ WHO AFTER ALL was "Born to 'Lose'" ~ I have selected ~~~>>> I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU <<< BECAUSE >>> that's what this world of crass materialism needs more & more of as THE KINGDOM OF GOD continues its process of "OVERSHADDOWING" The Kingdom of Man....HEY!~~~"THAT'S AMORE" which could very well become someday THE 4TH GREATEST SONG OF ALL TIME....with very little question about it from all my good Italian friends out there...and then some....
[IF YOU THOUGHT THAT ENDS THE 'SONG THING' YOU ARE CRAZY!]
First of all there's THE PRETTIES SONGS of all time~~songs like "THE 12TH OF NEVER" & even a haunting song like The Beatles' "MICHELLE":::[I remember playing this tune on the piano one night~~~and I must have played it over & over & over again until I was almost in TRANCE!!!~~~~Yes, as a quasi-pseudo-fabricator of music>>>IT DIDN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS-NO HOW-NO WAY!!!]
Then there are just other GREAT SONGS that fit no particular category OTHER THAN that certain feeling you get when a song hits a very sensitive & raw nerve in the core of your being~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THAT'S AMORE!!!
SONGS LIKE...LET IT BE ME...FOR BABY(FOR BOBBIE) by the great John Denver...YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE by Joe Brooks...THE SWEETEST THING by Otha Young...MAME written & composed by Jerry Herman...and that certain song that went to the CORE of my very soul:::~~~I'LL NEVER FIND ANOTHER YOU~~~::: simply the best ~ NO QUESTION ABOUT IT ~ BECAUSE Tom Springfield REALLY knows how to write a song!!!
FOR SHEER INSPIRATION, well that's simple: THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND~~~and let's hope it STAYS that way!?!
When I was young, I could not understand why I was the only one in my crowd that liked really sad songs ~ I mean REALLY SAD like "TEEN ANGEL"....Even my mother thought it was peculiar. [Now, having found out that I lost my 'true love' two lifetimes' ago right before we were to be married MUST HAVE LEFT a profound effect on my 'psychy':SOME THINGS YOU JUST DON'T FORGET FROM ONE VIBRATION TO ANOTHER ~ and perhaps ~ that is what is driving ANASTASIA - 'My Little Poltergeist' [???]
So anyway, SAD SONGS make up a very short but precious list of my favorite things: songs like ~~~ 500 miles ~~~ OH HOW I MISS YOU TONIGHT by the incomparable Benny Davis who also wrote HAPPY SONGS like BABY FACE -another great song ~~~and especially ~~~ WHERE OR WHEN by Lorenz Hart, probably because of its 'REINCARNATION' implications!?!
ROUNDING OUT THE 'sad song' list are three of my favorite piano pieces I play: FOR ALL WE KNOW ~~~ TILL WE MEET AGAIN ~~~ AND THE IRISH TEAR-JERKER (A REAL SOBBY-SONG) ~~~I'LL TAKE YOU HOME AGAIN KATHLEEN. [I am a 'basket case' every time my fingers tickle the ivory by the end of this song. It's very sad the shape I'm in....]OF COURSE, NO LIST WOULD BE COMPLETE WITHOUT AN IRISH LADY SINGING A VERY SAD BUT TOUCHING SONG:Some fine fine day when you are feelin' very sensitive, listen to Mary O'Dowd sing "THE DUTCHMAN": If you really listen to the words, I guarantee you will not only cry, but yes, SOB!!VERY VERY HARD!>>There is a very sad IRISH song~sung by Ms. O'Dowd in an album called, AT THE END OF AN IRISH DAY which includes one of my favorite Irish tunes: "The Town I Love So Well" ~ A LAMENT by a very brave man who goes back to the town that the 'BLOODY ENGLISH' have campletely DESCIMATED! ~ SO SAD! ~ SO TRAGIC! WHAT CAN I SAY . IT WAS THE VERY KIND OF "SIGHT" THAT LED THE GREAT BRIAN BORU 'to change things!<<' {I MADE A MISTATEMENT: THE REALLY SADDEST SONG IS ~~ "SOFTLY AS I LEAVE YOU" ~~ but I can't even begin to analyze why...so why not just discuss 'NOSTALGIA'....)
THEN THERE IS PURE NOSTALGIA SONGS:::~~~My favorite sentimental song when I was young was "THE THREE BELLS" by ironically The Browns; the 'hero' in the song was a person by the name of Jimmy BROWN which succinctly summed up his life with 3 bells ringing at his ~ birth ~ wedding ~ & death where "Just a lonely bell was ringing..." ~~~how sad~~~but, as one hardened New Yorker would say:THAT'S LIFE IN THE BIG CITY!...The Browns even sung another great song called: "THE OLD LAMP LIGHTER" but that is just too sad to talk about....
THE GREATEST SINGERS OF THE 20TH CENTURY???~~~Well, you forced me into it: NAT KING COLE~~~NO QUESTION ABOUT IT; however, Louis Armstrong, although Nat was 'UNFORGETTABLE',LOUIS was not too shabby when it came to singin' his heart out which he left (not in San Francisco) but in the hearts of almost every one who was privileged to hear his VOICE~~so I guess if we had to send just two singers to wooo the hearts of ALIEN BEINGS so they would not "eat us up" I guess we could send Nat & Louis: THEN THEY MIGHT LET US LIVE "IN PEACE!"...AS FAR AS THE GREATEST FEMALE VOICES~~~well that's a wee bit trickier to analyse~~but I will give it a shot, knowing that whatever I say:I WILL HAVE FORGOTTEN SOME GREAT SET OF 'PIPETTES!'
THIS IS HOW I CATEGORIZE THE BEST OF THE FEMALE BEST:
(A) THE PUREST VOICE=KAREN CARPENTER OR JULIE ANDREWS....
(B) THE BEST ALL-AROUND TALENT FOR PRODUCING ALBUMS: ~~~and the winner is ~~~CAROLE KING whose "TAPESTRY" album was a thing of extraordinary poetic beauty-AND I~ as a poet~ will not argue with anyone on this touchy subject....Even Carole is saying:"YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND...in me...and...WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW???....{OF COURCE, BABY!)...AND even if I could mention a second album ~ it would only be because it "ALMOST MOVED ME AS MUCH AS KING..." ~ and yes, there is another album that was recently put out by Maire Brennan, called "PERFECT TIME"....It is simply beautiful and is right up there with other great albums from THE BEATLES~JOHN DENVER~ AND, OF COURSE, SIMON & GARFUNKEL: The only difference is>>well "Brennen has a haunting type of voice...."
(C) THE HARDEST SONG TO SING: "THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER" song by countless extraordinary people~~~but the best was WHITNEY HOUSTON at the SUPERBOWL halftime show>>which I could kick myself for for not taping! HOW SAD!
(D)THE SWEETEST MOST HAUNTING SONG EXECUTED: My inital reaction is ROBERTA FLACK ~~for "THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW YOUR FACE" ~~~ but recently I heard Ms. Jo Stafford sing "NO OTHER LOVE" so like the BIG THREE HOTSY-TOTSY NAT-LOUIS & PATSY[cf.'E']>>we have another two extraordinary female vocalists going well beyond the extraordinary....Hey:WHAT ELSE CAN I SAY???
(E)THE BEST FEMALE VOCALIST WHO LEFT HER HEART & HER SIGNATURE IN EVERYTHING THAT SHE SUNG: That's simple: PATSY CLINE................NO OTHER WORDS ARE NECESSARY!!!
So ending on a HAPPY NOTE ~ my four most happy songs that I play & sing are simply ~~~ LET ME CALL YOU SWEETHEART ~~~WHEN YOU WORE A TULIP ~~~ and we'll get by SIDE BY SIDE...(I TOLD YOU THAT THE OLD SONG WERE THE BEST WRITTEN SONGS-No question about it!)~~~SO~~~PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES IN YOUR OLD KITBAG AND SMILE-SMILE-SMILE....
OF COURSE, GREAT SONGS KEEP GOING ON & ON...so I will end by just mentioning two songs that really make me feel good when I hear them>>>DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME sung by Mama Cass [?] of THE MOMAS & THE PAPAS...& I'D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING [IN PERFECT HARMONY]~~~Song writers are a gift from God just like people who take the human voice to another level~~like Armstrong~Cole & Cline. Yes sir!
BEFORE WE GO TO GREAT PEOPLE ~~ WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG TO DANCE TO? As far as "real slow" dancing, I never had a better time with someone than dancing to ~ THE 12TH OF NEVER...It was simply the best with the best memories....NOW FAST DANCING IS ANOTHER BALLGAME...."I CAN'T GET NO SATISFACTION" by "The Stones" had a beat & a rhythm that also could & did bring my friends & I to another level ~ long before we had to worry about BIG BROTHER & ALL HIS FRIENDS....It was part of THE HALCYON DAYS OF YESTERYEAR...but don't start me "CRYING" AGAIN by thinking of "YESTERDAY"....It's all too sad how quickly the good times slowly drift away like so many spectres in the dark...
THE GREATEST PEOPLE OF THE 20TH CENTURY: and the answer is~~TWO!
(1) The first is physicist [not Einstein] but David Bohm and the reason is because he made us understand why SYNCHRONICITY is a viable phenomenon DESPITE THE FACT IT ALLEGEDLY BREAKS EINSTEIN'S SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY! Now that is impressive ~ and you will have to read the now deceased Michael Talbot's book, THE HOLOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE to understand what I mean. I mean it!
(2) The second is Mahatma Gandhi because as a 90 lb. 'weakling' he brought the mighty BRITISH EMPIRE to its collective knees ~ and he did it with LOVE!
SOME OF MY OTHER FAVORITE THINGS ARE ~ALMONDS ~ DARK CHOCOLATE ~ JUNIPER BERRIES ~ AND WHEN I FEEL VERY VERY NAUGHTY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ YOU GUESSED IT~~~~~~~~~~~~~A BANANA SPLIT! [My other favorite things are very very secret!]
LASTLY, if you were to ask me which book said the most in a very few words ~ and did it with pizzaz ~ there is no question in my mind that the answer would be Hemmingway's THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. I loved that book, and yes, it made me SOB!
THE BEST OF THE BEST!!!
And as long as we are discussin' my favorite this or that ~ or the best this or that ~ I feel COMPELLED to end this section with my favorite & best SPORTS 'PERSONALITY' of the 20TH CENTURY!
If I were in charge of starting a SPORTS FRANCHISE in the 21ST CENTURY ~ and could only pick ONE PERSONALITY to best exemplify the all-around skill & character that could meet ANY challenge ~ or overcome ANY obstacle ~ vanquish ANY 'foe' ~ and do it all with a certain GRACE ~ a certain FLAIR ~ and in short: TO BE A BULLdog BEAMING WITH BOUNDLESS BUNDLES OF TALENT ~~~ that person would be Jackie Robinson ~~~ NO QUESTION ABOUT IT!!!
When I was growing up in THE HALCYON DAYS of the 50s & 60s in Queens, New York, my TWO favorite players were Mickey Mantle & Willie Mays. As a baseball 'slugger' myself, I both idolized & imitated Mantle because I thought "he was the best" even though I was 'IN AWE' of what Willie could do....I had seen many sights & heard many sounds...BUT THE THE GREATEST SIGHT I SAW was NOT in the spacious Polo Grounds of Mays ~ or ~ the shaddows of Mantle's Yankee Stadium ~ but rather in the noise & excitement of the charming & quaint EBBETS FIELD!!! THERE WAS NO OTHER FIELD LIKE IT...NO QUESTION ABOUT IT!
There, right before an anticipated game with the 'hated' GIANTS ~ my eyes would spy both Jackie Robinson & his sidekick-Roy Campanella ~ throwing used baseballs into the stands in left-center field so the kids could 'GET SOME MAGIC' before the game started---AWESOME! AS A KID MYSELF ~ this was my ALL-TIME memory of my youth....It TOUCHED ME! I didn't know why then ~ but I do now.
SURE - Robby could 'do it all' ~ the things any great athlete could do: he could hit~field & run with the best of them. When he played in college, he excelled in many sports as a football & track & field star. 'Duke' Snider, great teammate of Jackie in those HALCYON DAYS, was interviewed in a recent documentary called, DEM BUMS, and he said in the interview that while they were playing a basegame somewhere in California, Jackie would go 'in between innings' over to the TRACK & FIELD events to win a long jump competion as a 'favor' for his coach. (Who else did this type of thing?!?)EVEN ROBINSON'S 'RUNNING GAME' was designed to 'upset' the dreaded 'foe'!!! AND UPSET THEM HE DID ~ WITH STYLE ~ WITH GRACE ~ WITH PIZZAZ!!! THAT'S WHY HE WAS THE GREATEST ~~~ No question about it!
The more I think of those HALCYON DAYS & JACKIE ROBINSON, a tear starts to come to me eye-then a SOB! I didn't realize then what AWE-INSPIRING GREATNESS I ws lookin' at. ~ After all, I was just a KID! And that's my story.... |
