Sunday Reads: Shadow Boxing
Posted: March 12, 2017 Filed under: just because, open thread | Tags: classic films 14 CommentsGood Afternoon.
Like many of you, I try to find escape in things away from the daily…or should I say, hourly destruction of our Democracy.
I can countless time looking at pictures on Pinterest. Which is what I was doing last night and early morning when I got the idea of working it into a thread. So…take some time and enjoy the images, that comprise of movie stills, production shots, and publicity stills of various movies. I’ve picked images that create shadows, or are silhouettes of actors, some are the bright overexposed contrast of an actor’s face against the black back of the scene.
I used to remember what all the terms and phrases of these “shots” were called back in the day. The names have become out of my grasp. Yes, I know I could look them up…but that would mean having to do more research. You know what? My brain just can’t function like it used to. I would blame it on the pain pills, depression and all that but it must be something more.
Here are a few news items to pepper this thread.
This was the highlights from SNL: I didn’t watch these yet. I bring myself to after this week’s actual press conference where Spicer pointed to the two stacks of papers as a “visual aid” for explaining the difference between the Obamacare bill and the Trumpcare bill.
SNL Mocks Ivanka Trump with ‘Complicit’ Fragrance Ad | Mediaite
SNL’s Trump Has Everything Under Control During an Alien Invasion | Mediaite
SNL Assures Us We’ll Be Screwed If Aliens Invade Under Trump
As you can see from the headlines, even SNL has to expand its storyline to a more unrealistic basis. I mean, everything else they have made fun of, in terms of the ludicrous connections and outrageous way tRump is getting away with everything…all that shit is true! And still nothing is happening. The traitor is still there.
Donald Trump Jr says he has ‘zero contact’ with father as he runs business | US news | The Guardian
Yeah, Right.
On to the next shit business.
Hospitals worry about caring for newly uninsured in GOP plan | Tampa Bay Times
Now that headline reminds me of a movie:
Watch out all of you in the New England!
Figure rises for second consecutive year, says Massachusetts’ top shark expert, warning of ‘public safety issue’ despite no deaths in state’s waters since 1936
Oh oh…I see a pattern here.
Can y’all believe it has been 6 years?
Six years after Fukushima, much of Japan has lost faith in nuclear power – Salon.com
With all this going on, I think we may have found the answer to our problems.
We need to look back, if we are going backward in time…lets go backward in medicine.
The Fart Jars of 17th Century Europe | Mental Floss
When a mysterious illness is busy killing a significant percentage of the world’s population and medical knowledge is at a bit of a standstill, weird things can happen. Case in point: In the 1600s, some doctors recommended their patients fart in jars to help treat exposure to the bubonic plague.
Their very suspect logic went something like this: The Great Plague of London that devastated the city between 1665 and 1666 was believed to be a miasma, or a deadly air vapor spread through breathing in the atmosphere. Doctors felt that if a patient could somehow dilute the polluted air with something equally potent, it might reduce the chances of contracting the illness. So they advised their patients to have something foul-smelling at the ready.
To have some kind of putrid stench on standby, some homeowners retained a goat and let it stink up the place. Others took to the practice of farting into a jar and quickly sealing it, then would rush to inhale the stench when they suspected that they may have been exposed to the deadly germs.
While it’s unknown how many people were saved by such a method, it’s fair to assume that the likely answer is none. There is, however, no telling how those saved farts may have acted as a kind of methane placebo, calming the rattled nerves of those who were alarmed by the piles of dead bodies collecting in the streets.
The article ends with stating that of course this tip won’t save you from the bubonic plague…and that farts mean your digestive system is working. Perhaps we can start a campaign to send turds in a bottle to tRump?
Last two links.
Why Movies Now Look Like Colorless, Lifeless Crap
Ah..ha. I got a tie in there. Didn’t I! (Get it, turds and the headline “lifeless crap.”)
And, finally…one of the movie stills I am featuring today:
C&L’s Sat Nite Chiller Theater: The Big Combo (1955) | Crooks and Liars
So give that a looksee and see y’all later.
This is an open thread.
Lot’s more film images here:
This is horrible:
At least 35 killed in Ethiopia garbage dump landslide – NY Daily News
I know there is some depressing stuff there. I still need to go and add a few more names and movie titles to the images. Will do that before the night is over. I found many of those photos here:
(2) Pinterest • The world’s catalog of ideas
I don’t know how to use Pinterest. Is it easy to find things?
Yeah. You just set up an account. Start looking up subjects of images you like and then follow those boards. When you follow boards it will suggest other similar pictures. When you like a picture you can ❤️ It or pin it to your own board. You can make different boards like files to save the pins in.
Here is my Pinterest boards:
JJ – thank you for the post and pictures. I hope you are doing OK – it’s a chilly wet day here in ATL. I actually like moody rainy days when that is how I’m feeling.
I love the article about colorless movies. Saw the latest “Kong” last night which was about as colorless as they come. The commentators at that link are funny. One of them citing the plethora of “live-action” cartoons Hollywood spews out, which Kong is definitely one.
Those movie stills are great. Some of those movies I have seen multiple times. Cat People, Rebecca, Harvey, The Haunting.
Thanks JJ. Love the beautiful B&W stills. Too bad so much of the artistry of the B&W films has been lost.
and here I come with some real film noire story line. Love the pics. I’ve been trying to stay a T-Free Zone this weekend.
Oy. I agree with Bill Kristol
and here’s my contribution to the post:
Brilliant compilation of photos and stories. Hope you enjoy the SNL segments. Humor helps, if only for a moment.
Yup. Thank goodness for a few good shows and a lot of places on the web for escape!
Here’s an example: The dictionary the trolls the usurper: