A message I dropped under a snowscene in Russia was:
“Irini … let us enjoy our Tramvai “Zhelaniye” this Sunday.”
But what can the expression mean?
Transliterated, it means “tram of dreams”, “of wishes, hopes”, not so much “of desire”. I feel that about trams (or trolleybuses, streetcars) as a mode of transport … forever rattling and squeaking with reassurance through leafy tunnels or through nights of promise.
Trains are wunnerful too in their own way, when not at the mercy of stalkers or thugs (attackers of Iryna, Charles Bronson) but for me, the soul is stirred each time I’ve jumped on a tram, which seems also to be the case with Chris Isaak and drummer:
And then there is Moosh @mongsley:
And so to today’s main feature:
Two Oz friends might also be interested, though they’re from Syd-en-ai … @KobieThatcher @ellymelly .
Don’t wish to ruin the post and bring you down, dear reader, but did you notice the demographics throughout?
By the way, Chris Isaak makes reference to the N8 tram and “Chapel”. This is the tram connecting Chapel Street, a more upmarket inner-city shopping street … boutiques etc. … with the city centre … I had a place nearby for a few years … lovely route to town.
(0954) Well, there goes most of Sunday morning … posted the music 0538, crashed, just awoke … so that’s a solid four hours of sleep! Wow. Sad that at our age, we count that as a win … and no aching bones? (1050)
15. Think this was part of Andrew Torba’s article … on X
14. Students actually marching for a good cause for once
13. The university (college) games we played
I’m afraid I must admit to readers that I was at four tertiary institutions, graduated at two of em, kicked out of the other two … ended up professoring at a fifth. At one of em, the tutor decided to play a little game she’d devised … it was all about buying and selling, a la Monopoly, and I’m pleased or not to say that I was not arf bad at it.
However, certain things were noticeable. For a start, the girls, who were half the group roll, were over-represented among the “winners” still standing (don’t forget that this was a woke left game decades ago) and the “losers”, meaning those who refused to lie and cheat their mates out of their portion of the spoils, were overwhelmingly male … idea was that if they dropped below a certain “poverty line”, they were made to go into a “jail” and just sit there, twiddling thumbs.
I was still out there in the corridors and dealing rooms, with a tidy pile, was approached by one girl, I remember, who took me for a fellow headkicker and step-over-your-dead-grandmother type. Suddenly, I said, “Here,” and gave her all my chips. This was not unlike decades later during lockdown, as an unvaxxed Untermensch, whilst the later-to-die-in-droves Vaxxed were free to go anywhere, including to the cafe/canteen for sustenance.
It was an interesting game … give the lady tutor that. The girl I gave the chips to was utterly shocked and mystified … what was the trick? How had I gypped her? I hadn’t … I may have looked like a swindler type to many, too fast talking by arf, but I’d had enough of living like an animal of no morals, so I walked into jail before the stasi even got to me. It was rough in some ways in there but they left me alone after awhile … miserable, glaring sod I was … went into solitary … theory was that any in there would become a mental wreck, being a pariah, no one speaking to the poor sod.
You know where this is going … it was blessed relief, peaceful in my solitary cell, a bit open to the elements but otherwise fine.
12. Tale of Andrew van Swol (on X)
11. Noticing a strange change at X
They seem to be giving blue ribbon Xers the facility to write lengthy blogposts such as this below … I’ve reposted a few so far, thinking hmmmm, they seem quite lengthy, these pieces. Nothing wrong with that of course, whilst we ordure-kickers get curtailed, reach-suppressed etc. … I’m fine with that … going to tell you a little tale in Sun 13.
a) In 2017, the football club in this town in the Hauts-de-Seine department partially closed to curb the influence exerted by coaches with ties to the nearby Salafist mosque. A few years later, radical figures returned and now control of the club is abandoned to religious sectarianism.
b) On New Year’s Eve in Toulouse, a 21-year-old man was arrested and subsequently sentenced after using an impressive firework mortar, described as a “bazooka” approximately one meter long, in front of police officers.
c) Meulan-en-Yvelines (78): Laurent and his daughter Ève, whose skirt was deemed “too short,” were beaten by a couple dressed in Islamic clothing. Mohamed, on welfare, and his wife Cassandra, already known to the police, were convicted on appeal.
d) DAD loves graphs. There are plenty in this article; includinf, 61% of French people distrust the medias.
e) And, finally, for all those French born non-France lovers. Here is something that you can support. Today is the African Cup of Nations. It does not matter who will win, you can still riot in Paris, but not in the Champs-Elysees….
3. Ivermectin
2. Steve at 1266
National Guard Troops Mobilized in Minneapolis as Trump Threatens to Invoke Insurrection Act
Trump Announces Tariffs on 8 NATO Countries Until Deal is Reached for “Complete and Total purchase of Greenland”
Carney Warns Trump To Keep off Greenland
Nigeria Massacre of Christians
Britain Cannot Protect [The] Ukraine With £200 Million But Will Strengthen Its Military Industry Instead
President Trump Unveils ‘The Great Healthcare Plan’
Under the Poisoned Sky: The terrifying truth behind geoengineering
Much more.
1. Albertan independence?
THIS IS HISTORIC. Edmonton turnout is unreal — thousands and thousands of people waiting to sign the Independence petition to choose a new path and protect the next generation from Canada’s downward spiral. pic.twitter.com/DW3tbjzLAK
(1515) Afternoon all, almost evening. Been a busy one, ticking off the jobs one by one, back in to put up some politics etc.
15. Do we really need such things?
14. Who cares for the babies?
13. Natural medicine?
12. Farage and the WEF
11. The weasel words and phrases
10. Moosh corner
9. The horror of halal
8. Steve at 1266
Erik Prince: Venezuela Should Hire Their Own Private Security. If The United States Tries To Hire The Capacity They Need In Venezuela, It Will Be Another Afghanistan/Iraq Type Debacle
Mary Holland: Pharma Is Up In Arms That Bobby Kennedy Would Have The Temerity To Suggest That Vaccines Should Be Treated Like Every Other Drug. They Know Their Profits Are At Risk
Jack Posobiec: They Might Not Admit It To A Pollster But You Know What? Deep Down The American People Love These Raids, The American People Can’t Get Enough Of Them
Joseph Robertson: the question now is who will be the next senior Tory MP to defect to Nigel Farage?
Too much going on today, chaps and chapesses … was due for more politics but ran out of time … long phone call … so film now, final polit post following that.
“Watching On The Waterfront nowadays, two scenes stand out head and shoulders above the rest.
First is the impassioned speech by Father Barry (Karl Malden) to the gathered dock workers in the hull of a ship where he tries to rally them against the mobsters running their lives.
Second is the confrontation between Terry and Charlie Malloy (Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger) in the back of a taxi which ends in one brother pointing a gun at the other and Brando’s now legendary “contender speech.”
Both of them are sequences where the characters do nothing but talk but each is a fine example of what makes On The Waterfront the undeniable classic it is; acting, scripting, cinematography, music, everything fits into one cohesive whole and the end result is a welcome addition to any film collection.
The story here concerns Terry Malloy, a New York shipyard worker who finds his conscience bothering him when one of his friends is murdered. Terry at first is a tough guy with a grim outlook (“you know my philosophy on life, give it to ’em before they give to you”) who despite his inner turmoil refuses to confess anything to the Police as it would make him a “rat.”
However, the arrival of Malden’s headstrong Preacher and the victim’s innocent sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint in her debut appearance) throws his deaf and dumb world into chaos. Soon, Terry finds himself falling for Edie and the Preacher’s words hit home, leaving the angry young dockworker to question what’s really right.
The mob meanwhile aren’t too happy about Terry’s UNHEALTHY RELATIONSHIP and begin to pile on the pressure, especially his older brother Charlie who’s torn between loyalty to his boss and looking out for his younger sibling. Before anyone can put a lid on things, the dockyard becomes a very tense place to be.
Brando of course puts his heart and soul into his performance. Terry by his very nature isn’t one to carry his heart on his sleeve and so the great Method Actor is left to convey his turmoil through body language alone. It is a testament to how good he is that you can tell exactly what Terry is feeling even though he hardly ever expresses it verbally. Instead his shoulders hunch with resigned indignation and his eyes spark with anger, Brando playing the part so well he more or less disappears into the character completely.
While he may have taken a lot of the credit however, he is far from the only strong presence in the film as Karl Malden’s rock hard Preacher is just as compelling, his depiction of the dignified man of Christ who isn’t afraid to drink beer and smoke cigarettes with the Wharf rats being a refreshingly positive portrayal of a Catholic leader.
Eva Marie Saint meanwhile puts in a convincing portrayal of Edie, but she is hamstrung a little by some old fashioned writing. Her pursuit of her brother’s murderers give her some powerful moments but there are a couple of instances where it becomes all too clear that the part was written by a man. However, she still gives us one of the most touching moments in the film, a confrontation with Terry where most of their chat is disrupted by a tug horn that is achingly sad despite the absence of dialogue.
Acting is only one half of the equation of course and needless to say, the story remains constantly gripping. The murder that opens the film leaves an instant grip on the viewer’s attention and as Terry spirals further into an intricate web of half truths, things get incredibly dark. The New York tenement blocks that tower over the proceedings provide an imposing sense of claustrophobia while the rooftops are a smoke laden jungle of chimney stacks and TV aerials.
However, if you look closely it becomes apparent that the crew still had some fun with the material and there is some subtle humour to be had – a wedding party degenerating into a brawl and a bar full of panicked customers emptying into the streets followed by a shot of one isolated individual desperately jumping into the bathroom.
All in all therefore, On The Waterfront is a film that is thoroughly deserving of its reputation. Brando excels in his role and heads up a highly talented cast giving it their all. Most of all though, it’s an engaging and captivating story of urban paranoia, filled with tough guys spitting out slang in barking New York accents.
“Think you’re a big shot, do ya? Huh? Well do us all a favour and check this one out. Ah enough a youse guys, ged outta here.”
Difficult to define a musical idea if you’ve not done so before with any success and are not a musician.
“Driving drone” is my limited attempt at defining a song construction which does not vary its rhythm throughout, except for a few bars of repetition, minus melody, at one point. That melody is actually a series of melodic interludes overlaying the core driving rhythm … not unlike baroque basso continuo … and it takes skill to blend them.
It’s also a style where the lyrical content is secondary to the rhythm and melodies … yes, the lyrics make short statements of seeming wisdom but you’re essentially in there for that life rhythm, for that soul.
And that becomes apparent when reactors to the songs try to make sense of them, especially young Millennial and Gen Z reactors looking back at these 70s and 80s ventures, realising how much better they were, musically, compared to anything else since in popular music.
Here are three examples of this “driving drone” idea:
So much to say about that … someone wrote that it was elements of funk, soul, jazz, pop, all thrown in together. And the young lady … always a buzz when a student “gets” something and there’s a link established between past and present. Now this one in which the musical break comes at the 4 minute mark:
Now I can quite understand those who think “repetitious mumbo jumbo” … the whole thing again is the driving rhythm which underlays and transcends any lyrical content, also any overlaid melodies until, at 4 minutes, some sort of break is needed.
In the last one below, that needed break or interlude comes at 06:56 and goes for almost exactly a minute, then returning to the original phrasing for the the outro:
Granted … it’s not everyone’s cuppa cha but it’s a distinct genre, most rhythmic, and some of us need that now and then. The closest I can get in RL to that was WN2 and I when, once the rhythm was started by her, I overlaid melodies afap, working off one another … a marriage of rhythm and aesthetics perhaps?
(0723) Late start today … bad in that it sets back the programme, good in that it allows me to at least do the programme. Ditto with your sleep and eating pattern, exercise. (0950)
5. Deep corruption in Texas. DJT has decided not to endorse Paxton to stop this. Juss sayin’.
4. Steve corner
🇮🇷Martial Law In Action.
Video showing heavy military forces taking over civilian areas in Iran to stop protests. pic.twitter.com/BJDdjheJtV
Buying Greenland Could Cost the US $700 billion (JH: But that’s worthwhile money for both parties)
President Trump Confirms he Canceled Strikes on Iran – “Iran Canceled the Hanging of Over 800 People”
After Shutting All Internet in the Country, Iranian Forces Are Now Jamming Starlink Service, While Users on the Ground Try to Bypass This New Censorship
Merz folds to Russia. EU ditching Trump. Dark Macron. Zelensky v Klitschko. Trump gets Nobel prize (JH: That last one is the kiss of death)
BritCard was a smokescreen; UK government has not shelved plans for compulsory digital IDs
Civil Unrest Is One Of The Core Elements Of “The Perfect Storm”, And It Is Starting To Spiral Out Of Control On The Streets Of Minneapolis
Much more.
3. And so it continues
2. DAD at 1265
Anti-EU day.
a) The European Parliament wants to grant the European Commission the power to control arms exports from EU member states to third countries. This initiative, introduced through an amendment, reignites an institutional standoff….
b) Leaked documents suggest that an Hungarian EU Official worked on organizing “Resistance” against Orbán “Regime”.
c) US technology companies that do not like the fines imposed under European digital rules can leave the European market, France’s economy minister said.
d) Censorship backfires: Germany’s assault on Press Freedom.
There is a direct link between our establishment’s struggle against social media and ‘fake news’ and the growing perception of politicians as dishonest.
1. How to win friends and influence people
a. Don’t write a post item like this.
b. We’re not just up against bad players, we’re first of all up against people who:
(i) Are historically and politically naive, without knowledge, plus self-satisfied with the little they do know;
(ii) Are therefore susceptible to the bad players and their highly organised brainwashing, which includes accusing those who resist of the very thing the bad players and ignorati themselves are guilty of.
Gladstone it was who said, of Disraeli: “I absorb the vapour and return it as a flood.” Not interested in what is or what is not but only in the game of parliamentary accusation and eloquent counter-accusation. Meanwhile little children die of starvation in the East End and other neglected slums.
c. These people somehow have the vote, which therefore perpetuates the horror ad infinitum.
d. The moment someone proposes meritocracy, two immediate problems rear their heads:
(i) Who exactly is going to set the test, the exam, the accreditation requirements?
(ii) Who is then going to forcibly introduce and then police those requirements?
How political naivety perpetuates bad policy, esp. if pushed by someone thinking he’s a Great Statesman … an example is the question of China on the US/Canadian border:
From Vancouver Island to Chinese bases above the northern border with Quebec etc., this is an existential threat to the US, just as the US letter agencies in the Ukraine, plus the EU globopsychos, inc. Meloni, are a threat to Russia … and the Iran Regime is a threat to its own area, plus around the world.
(1723) An interesting thing happened this afternoon … more in Fri 16.
19. Moosh corner
18. Steve at 1265 with war room
Bannon: What You See In Minnesota Is Hatred For America, Hatred For American Citizens, And Dare I Say, Hatred For White People. They’re Adamant About Protecting Illegal Alien Invaders! They Invaded Our Country, And They Are Going To Leave
Rep. Chip Roy (R): We Are At War, And The Islamification Of Texas Is The Goal Of The Enemy. The Muslim Brotherhood Has Set Their Sights On Dallas, And They’re Already Entrenched
David Hoch: You Have To Go To The Source Of The Funding For This Fraud In Minnesota And That Is The Minnesota Department Of Human Services! They’re In My Sights Now. They Better Be Shaking In Their Boots Because I Know Exactly What They’re Doing
Terry Schilling: Back In The 60s And 70s, Politicians And Experts Built An Entire Apparatus Of “Family Planning Services,” Which Is A Euphemism For Sterilization, Birth Control, And Abortion That’s Still In Place Today
Frank Gaffney: What We’re Dealing With Here Is Not A Religion. We’re Dealing With A Toxic, Demonic, And Anti-Constitutional Ideology
Pastor Matt Shea: I Believe The Constitution Bans Sharia Law Because The Constitution Says It’s The Supreme Law Of The Land, Yet Sharia Law Claims To Be Not Just The Law Of The Land That It’s In, But The Whole World
17. The importance of foreigners
16. X was down for me this afternoon
About an hour. Asked three people: “Asking a question here of, randomly @Xenosmilus4 or @DerylLynn or maybe @mongsley … this p.m., I lost X on all devices, could not log in … blank screen. Thought X was down. Was it maybe just me?”
Moosh liked my comment, no actual reply. Girls are interesting creatures. Ok, I’m assuming it was just me, which leads to: “Why?” Gab was fine, the sites were fine. There was also this:
Girls are interesting, cute in fact … obviously not going to get a reply, did get this:
Right, I’ll leave it for now … was already planning how to run HQ without X. Wait a mo:
