Ummagumma

When I reviewed The Tree of Life  (2011), I had no idea that Terrence Malick's career was moving in a radical new direction.  After a rather traditional, though stylized, approach to Badlands (1973), Malick has demonstrated a preference for visual affect and sparse dialog rather than sticking to accustomed modes of narrative film-making. Days of Heaven (1978) featured extended shots of vast fields of grain in all kinds of wind and weather conditions.   Thin Red Line (1998) treats the viewer to lush, lingering shots of Pacific islands with palm trees rustling in the wind.  There is a clear narrative structure in each of Malick’s first four films but silence and nature are major aspects to them as well.   The same can be said for The New World (2005), only the narrative is becoming more minimal in that work and, but for the historical underpinnings of the story, it might have vanished altogether, giving way the force of the many moments of artsy natural cinematography.  All th

A double rainbow at Swan Cabin.  It rained several times during our four day stay.  This was taken on Thursday evening when nature gave us a rare treat after the thunderstorm. Clint, me, and Brian in the wildflower field near the cabin. Phlox and Black-Eyed Susans were prolific as always in the high summer. Brian's doberman. Carma, can be seen with us. Mountain-laurel was also in full bloom everywhere in the woods near the waterfall and the creek banks. This is a page from a journal left in the cabin for visitors to record their experiences and memories at the cabin.  This particular entry was from a member of the Swan family. For many years the Cumberland Island Armadillos traveled annually to Swan Cabin near the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in North Carolina.  We had already gone in 2008 before I began this blog. Our trips there in 2009 and 2010 can be read in past posts.  After 2010, however, we decided to do other things, mostly go to Dreamlake instead.

I pre-ordered Neil Young’s latest CD, Earth , from amazon and it arrived in the mail the last Monday following its June 24 release.  I have now listened to it 5-6 times.  Neil often requires repeated listenings before the music begins to fully speak to you.  Sometimes the music is instantaneously accessible like with 2012’s Psychedelic Pill . Sometimes, the music really never grips you like 2009’s Fork in the Road . The cover of Earth comes with a label on it warning of "modified content" on the CD.  This is partly a joke, playing off the GMO-theme of last year's The Monsanto Years .  But it also accurately signals that Earth is not a purely "live" album.   This   is an experimental artistic effort for Neil, so I had to come to grips with that initially.  It is filled with sounds of nature (bees, thunder, geese, water flowing, etc.) mixed between the two CD set’s 13 tracks.  That is nothing remarkable in and of itself. It has been done before. But, Neil al

My library contains three books by military historian Robert Leckie .  One deals with all of the wars involving America (there were several) before the American Revolution. Another deals with the revolution itself and is really an outstanding read.  The third is my only book covering the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, areas of America history I have otherwise neglected.  Leckie is highly accessible and is considered a mainstream (as opposed to academic) historian.  He enjoys telling and good tale and makes history interesting and entertaining in the process. One fascinating story which Leckie tells in From Sea to Shining Sea begins with Dr. William Beanes , a elderly, wealthy and respected member of American society.  People all around Maryland knew him or of him and admired the man.  During the War of 1812 , his house was confiscated by the British for use as a headquarters.  That particular campaign ended successfully for the British but nevertheless resulted in numerous stra