on this day in 2009

One of the few cool things that fb does is remind me of posts from years ago.

Someone I knew on the site was passing along a "get to know you" routine and I had played along, on that end of January, fifteen years ago.

What I've just realized is that Daddy and Sam Johnson have both been gone that long.

Wow.

So, back to my story before Paul and Cathy call from California, yes?

Yes.

When I was notified on fb that I "have memories to share from this day", I did what I normally do in such instances: I began deleting them from my page there.

However, I saved this one to notepad first, for later perusal.

I wondered if I might have any addendums to these "things about me".

So, let's see, shall we?

 

25 Things about Me: thoughts from myself at age 50
 

1.  I had looked forward to turning half-a-century for a long time before I finally did last year.  I think I'm going to enjoy 51 better.

[Every year certainly has its highlights. At that time, I knew Daddy was dying, but I was enjoying being able to spend so much time with him and his family. That was a blessing.]

2.  I miss Mama.  Still.

[Always. That had been 8 years after her death. It's now been 23 years.]

3.  I love to travel. Anywhere. Any time.

[Absolutely still true, though I don't have quite the freedom to do so now. I no longer have the Diamond Resorts properties, but that's a good thing; it just means more planning on where to stay. Also, atrial fibrillation has slowed me down some, but hasn't stopped me... and that's good!]

4.  I love music and see it as therapy for my soul.

[Absolutely still true.]

5.  I love teaching.  Seeing that lightbulb go off in someone's eyes makes the hours of grading lab reports more bearable.

[I think I might very well still be teaching had not the merger eliminated my position, as well as Armstrong. I tried to continue at Savannah Technical College, but that was just a half-step up from teaching at a high school, with lots of extra paperwork and little support. It's good to be retired.]

6.  I was in the United States Navy for 7 years and three months.  I really miss the travel and living in a different country for an extended period of time.

[I do miss the immersion into different cultures. The closest I've come to that was the ten-day trip to Italy with the nursing students. That was in 2012.]

7.  I married my first husband when I was not quite 20.  Our marriage lasted for not quite three years.

[In retrospect, neither of us really knew what we were doing and neither of us wanted to go to our first duty station alone. I was 19, but he was 27. That was a definite learning experience for both of us. We were together in Panama, but divorced in Pensacola, going into 1981 free to figure out what we wanted from life. The last I heard, he had remarried and had several children, just like his mom wanted.]

8.  For my 24th birthday, I had a tubal ligation.  I finally found a doctor who believed me when I said I wanted no children.  I still waited for my period every month to make sure.

[I continued to welcome my menstrual cycle every month as a marker that I was not pregnant, up until the hysterectomy in 2010.]

9.  I'll take the beach over the mountains or the desert any day.

[Amen!!! I like pictures of mountains and deserts... but I love beaches!]

10.  I even have my own beach, of sorts.  I call my blog "beach of faustina".  It'll do for those times I can't get to the real thing.

[That was my first blog, which I wrote in through 2016. By that time, I'd started two other blogs, one for doing good in the world and one for delights in 2015. Since then, I've branched out even more, including one for my invented Period Table For the Blind.]

11.  I would lose my mind if not for the love of, and for, my friends and family

[Amen.]

12.  I can think of few things better than a double-header at the cinema.

[... especially for those occasions when I can tie them to a theme!]

13.  I love to watch sports - IN PERSON.  I rarely watch televised sports, and then it's only if I'm somewhere and a game is on.  I especially love to watch my "boys of summer," the Savannah Sand Gnats, who will finally come back on April 9th.

[I sure do miss them! Baseball remains my favorite, but that's not quite what the Bananas and Party Animals do at Grayson Stadium.]

14.  I used to be very active with theatre, when I was in the Navy and again when I went to Armstrong State College.  I tried to be at Florida State University, but they only wanted drama majors, so I got out of the habit.  Last Sunday afternoon, I was pulled on stage... and found I've really missed being part of a show.

[I still love theatre and being part of the audience... but I also find myself loving those works that pull me in and encourage me to interact with the cast. Yes, please!]

15.  I once thought I would like to play the drums.  I truly did not realize how INVOLVED a task that would be.  Kudos to all the drummers out there!

[It was fun to try, but rather interfered with my dancing... lol!]

16.  I have lots of fun singing karaoke - and I don't even have to be drunk to do so.

[The pandemic put a crimp in that, but not with my cousins in Augusta!]

17.  I love to dance.

[I do, I really do! Even apropos of nothing!]

18.  I was married for 15 years to a wonderful, giving man who I had thought would be with me forever. "Twas not to be.

[Well, that's not quite right. We are not a couple, but we are family, and that's a blessing. The photo is of Easter Soup, a recipe that belonged to his mom and won a 4th place award in 2015 at Dawn's Annual Soup Party. That was dinner tonight!]

19.  I have always considered myself one of the most sociable unsociables I have ever known.

[In short, that means I do well on my own, mostly. Though I do love a good party!]

20.  I'm a "hopeful" romantic, as presented by Kathleen Turner's character in "Romancing The Stone."

[That's certainly the reason for some of the dreams I have, and certainly explains why I so enjoy those kinds of movies.]

21.  My favorite drink is Cabo Wabo Reposado tequila.  The best sippin' stuff out there.

[Not anymore. A-fib has eliminated stimulants and depressants from my intake.]

22.  I didn't get a driver's license until I was almost 20.

[This link isn't about that, but about the DMV in India. See the movie!]

23.  I miss pizza and macaroni & cheese.  My birthday present last year from my body, and my paternal side, was lactose-intolerance.  

[Thanks to Lactaid, I have pizza at will!!! Hallelujah!]

24.  I want a dog.  I had a series of dogs while I was growing up.  I even brought one back from Panama with me.  I think, once my life gets a schedule, I want a nice, medium-sized mutt.

[My life has yet to "get a schedule" and, since Christa's death, I'm sure that having a dog would be a wrong move. I get petsitting perks, so that's good.]

25.  I REALLY love to travel. 

[I do, I really do! This summer is to feature a week in Florida with cousins, and will begin a series of such visits with other cousins. More on that to come!]

last tina tuesday of january

"Peanut butter jelly time!

Peanut butter jelly time!!

Peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat!!!"

hahahaha!

Seriously, there's one in the 'gift' closet.

No, silly, the baseball bat, from a Savannah Sand Gnats game.

The sandwich was breakfast today! 

See the cup of coffee?

(smile!)

 

I've been on a peanut butter jelly kick for most of the month, having one as a snack, as breakfast, as dinner, but, oddly, not for lunch.

I wonder: when February arrives, will the craze fade?

Who knows?

Oh, look!!!

Squirrel!!!

Hahahaha!

No, really, just look at that gorgeous tree!

The Japanese magnolia has recovered so nicely!

It was in bloom for Christina on January 9th.

Then that horrible, horrid, hard freeze came...

and everything became crunchy and brown.

I really feared for this harbinger of spring...

but, no need!

It's busting out all over in pink and purple!

(smile!)

What a happy relief to see it dressed up so brightly!

I was on my way to the AMC to finish off my A*List with a last viewing of "Wonka".

I do so enjoy that musical!

As good fortune would have it, I was the only one in the screening room, so I stood up and danced several times - hooray!!!

What an excellent movie.

So was "Godzilla Minus One Minus Color", seen on Friday with Barbara.

As she said, "Godzilla has to be seen on the Big-D"... and it was!!!

Somehow, the black-and-white version made it even more poignant and I found myself crying several times while watching those valiant men take on such a monumental task...

like saving Tokyo from a creature capable of nuclear blasts...

all while dealing with a "war that was not yet over" for them.

Wow.

Barbara was there with me on Monday, too, for that one in the middle.

Genie Lawson, an HVJ alum like me, was in the movie and we had arranged for us to see it that day, but then she had to back out.

So, what do I have to say about "Origin"?

Well, the scene with the husband's funeral was filmed at Asbury Memorial Church.

There's another scene, a party, that took place at the Rotunda in the Telfair Museum.

There are other scenes that I recognized the place, but not the name of it.

And was Genie in it?

Yes, she was, though I didn't realize it was her; she was one of a group of "Jewish" women getting their heads shaved by the Nazis.

What about the meat of the movie, the story weaving these bits together?

Let me just say this: for a movie that was not supposed to be about race, it sure did have a lot of incendiary racist events along the way.

This was meant to be a semi-documentary - i.e., biographical drama - about how Isabel Wilkerson, the author of "Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents", developed her hypothesis and wrote her book.

I have to believe the book is better.

Barbara was taken with the movie, but she buys into the whole "white guilt" thing.

She was taken aback that I not only never intend to see the movie again but that I would not have seen it this time had I realized what it was about.

Perhaps the emphasis on race, rather than caste, is the fault of Ava DuVernay, who wrote the screenplay and directed "Origin".

I had a very good discussion with Carolyn a few minutes ago about that.

She had just seen it and wanted my take on it.

We talked for over an hour.

Some of the talk was about the scenes of Savannah in the movie.

Some of our talk was on the overly-long, overwrought, emotional scenes that held back the motion of the film and simply added to the time stamp.

However, most of our discussion was about the race-on-race issues overlooked by the movie, issues such as whites on Jews, whites on Catholics, whites on Irish, whites on Chinese, whites on Asians, et cetera - and that's just in this country.

I'm not even including the black-on-black issues, such as dark-skinned versus high yellow or high yellow versus red.

The movie didn't go into any of that; did the book?

I don't know.

Here's what I do know: caste didn't come into existence until people started living in social groups that included strangers.

That system to differentiate arose when ancient peoples changed their lifestyle from hunter-gatherer, consisting of roaming families intent on staying alive, to farmer-animal husbandry in a fixed locale with other, nonfamilial, groups of people.

That fixed-place lifestyle gave people more time to develop artistic items and to notice what each of them had... and to covet those items.

That began "the haves" and "the have nots" classes.

Amazingly, by coincidence, I had just read an article written for Smithsonian magazine and published last summer.

Right place, right time.

Had I read the magazine when I received it, I might not have remembered the article.

"When Did Humans Start Settling Down?" was the title, and it was all about a years-long archaeological dig in a 12,000-year old village near the Sea of Galilee.

It's interesting to me that it took two hikers - one a self-taught archaeologist, the other a scholar - to find the village remains and to realize the importance of the artifacts. 

That was in 1963.

It would mostly wait until 2010 before anyone would take up the excavation of the site.

That person was a woman, Leore Grosman, of Hebrew University.

Here's the intriguing basis: the people who settled there stayed for 200 years.

There's evidence that they practiced animal husbandry and grew some plants.

There's evidence that they developed tools for making yarn and made artistic items.

There's even evidence that they had housing subdivisions with a model layout, as well as a nearby cemetery for their dead.

Then, all of a sudden, they were gone.

And all of that transpired 2,000 years before evidence of such social behavior and settlements were found anywhere else in the world.

Wow, right?

But Matti Friedman, the author of the piece, had some ideas that centered on one concept: the trade of egalitarianism (with everyone in the family having the same status as part of the band working for the sustaining of the others) for inequality (with others in the settlement not taking care of the whole population, just the ones in their family).

Ah, there's the rub.

As found in this ancient village, when people are in a large social group outside their family, they see a need to differentiate themselves and to signal their status.

That's why some of the houses had fancy, hard to make, white tiles, while most did not.

Some of the graves also had those same white tiles, but most did not.

What had been the reason for that differentiation?

That will be a hard puzzle to solve.

This village greatly predates humans recording their history.

However, it does make me wonder: are we inherently flawed, jealous, covetous, animals, or is that behavior a reflection of our living in close quarters with strangers and forced into competing for the same limited resources?

How are we influenced by the artificial families we adopt in society, such as sports teams, religious beliefs, alma maters, fraternities and sororities and clubs?

That's definitely a discussion for a fresher mind, not one for this late time of evening.

12th annual dawn of soup!

And guess how many wonderful women had turned out for it?

Go ahead, take a wild chance at the number...

never mind, I can't take the suspense!

There were twelve of us!!!

That's Dawn at the head of the table, naturally.

Then, going clockwise, that's Elaine (down from Chicago, as usual!); Jennifer; a space for her daughter, Dora, who took the photo; Cindy, a newbie with cool glasses; me; Arlet, who came from Tybee; Sheryl, one of the chef-testants tonight; Susan, a familiar friend; Lisa, a new friend and a chef-testant; then Debbie, the mother of Cara, who is Dawn's niece and a chef-testant tonight.

Woohoo!!!

Right place, right time!!!

I had missed the party last year because of the weather.

Not this time!

The weather was so nice we even opened up the dining room windows!

 

That means I was right there for the game of making soup by using chopsticks to pick up the ingredients.

That was so much fun!

I was on the 'blue' team and was tasked with picking up 33 pieces of digitali pasta.

I ended up with 75 of those teensy bits!

(smile!)

We all got a can of soup as a participation prize.

Mine is cream of potato!

And I was right there for the game of "What would you do?"

The question for me was "the bread is down to only one roll. You want it. Do you ask the others first if they want it or just take it?"

I answered that I'd take it!!!

Hahahaha!

Like there would ever be a dearth of bread or salad at these events...

never hap'nin', captain!

Then I was right there for the "what's under your dining room chair?" game...

and fortunate enough to have an orange card!!!

That made me the winner of this book by Kevin Hart!

"I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons" may even be part of the birthday16 package for one of my Alabama nephews in March.

Shhhh... don't tell him yet...

'cause I just may have to read it first...

you know, to make sure it's appropriate...

so it will be a "used" book (inside joke for stepdad Frank!)!

(smile!)

Plus, I was right there to sample those four delectable creations and serve as a tasting judge.

This was my favorite: Lasagna Soup, served with the tiny pasta bowties and the spritz of parmesan added right before serving.

This was my favorite soup!!!

It was also the only one cooked by someone there!

Lisa's "Sausage and Lentil" was prepared by her husband, as was Cara's "Herira Moroccan".

Sheryl, herself, cooked this entry.

Her daughter, Briana, also made a soup - 

"Green Chile Chicken Enchilada" - 

but she wasn't there.

So, in my book, the only true winner had to be Sheryl, and that's how I voted.

The others made the daughter's soup the big winner.

(smile!)

Not that it truly mattered who won, right?

All four took home goody bags.

Heck, we all did!

It was just nice that this time I was right there to receive it in person!

I'm not sure what to do with the mermaid facial mask, but I bet my first niece would like to have it!

Those packages of flower seeds?

Those will be fun for the four little blondes, methinks!

Maybe I'll separate them into little jars for each girl, so they can be surprised when the plants grow and bloom... yes, that sounds like a very nice spring project!

I'll let Dawn know...

she loves those kinds of kid things!

What a wonderful night it's been!

Thanks, Dawn...

and i thank You, God, for the lovely weather!

maybe there's a pattern?

So, anyone who knows me knows I've become a bit fixated on the weather, right?

You know, 'cause my warm heart doesn't do temperatures below 50?

Right.

This month, in particular, I've been very active with checking the weather song.

Like, daily in many cases, with screen shots of the WSAV predictions every few days.

And something started tugging at the scientist in my brain.

Curious, I pulled up all the screenshots I've taken.

 

Here's the one for the first seven days, i.e., the first week, of January.

Monday was in the low 60's and Saturday hit 70, both with rain in the forecast.

The other five days had highs in the upper 50's (though I forgot to align the "songs").

 

The second week of January again had Monday in the low 60's, as well as Thursday.

Tuesday and Friday, both rainy, still hit 70 for a high.

Wednesday wasn't bad, but the weekend was pretty horrid, with lows in the 30's.

 

Monday of the third week was in the 60's - see a pattern?

Tuesday was close, but Thursday and Friday nailed it.

Wednesday was horrid, as was the entire weekend, not even making it up to 50 any of those days from the basement temperatures in the 20's and 30's.

 

How about the fourth week of this month?

Monday very nearly hit 60!

In fact, every day was at least 60, with 70's for Wednesday through Saturday!!!

Sunday looks to be a little cooler, but it still hit the low 60's.

 

Now for the last few days of January, leading up to February.

As for each week this month, Monday will hit at least 60.

How about that?

That will be wonderful, as I have an outing planned for that afternoon.

But here's more good news: every day will be a cookie cutter of the day before.

All in the 60's for the day, all in the 40's for the early morning/late night hours.

Hallelujah!

Even Groundhog Day is to be partly cloudy with a high in the mid-60's.

Only six more weeks to the spring equinox!!!

(smile!)

Right?

Well, yes, that's true as far as the calendar is concerned.

But what can be said about the weather itself?

For that, I checked on Pat Prokop's forecast.

This coming week is to be slightly above normal, with the next two weeks registering as being "normal" for this area.

Good!

The fourth week looks like a bit of winter still, but I'm going to hope that bite of cold is in early morning hours, as I have the Savannah Jewish Cultural Arts Festival those days.

The first week of March, which is Week 6 on his chart, is forecast as a bit low, too.

What's that adage about that month?

Oh, yeah, here it is:

"March comes in like a lion

and goes out like a lamb."

Here's hoping!

(smile!)

things learned at the jepson

1. Don't ask a literal-minded fish jokes.

 

Remember Big Mouth Billy Bass?

Now, imagine him enhanced with an Artificial Intelligence so he can respond to questions.

I hit him with a knock knock routine.

me: Knock, knock!

 

him: (after a pause) Who's there?

me: Orange...

 

him: (following a longer pause) Orange who?

 

me: Orange you tired of being up on that wall?

 

him: Well, as an animatronic fish, I don't really have the ability to get tired. But I must say, being on the wall is quite a comfortable spot for me. It allows me to interact with folks like yourself and provide assistance. Is there something else I can help you with?

Silly fish... but it did understand my use of "orange" for "aren't", so that was pretty amazing.

2. How to make a personalized light-up pin.

 

First, I used a sharp quill-like tool to etch a design -

one of my scribble flowers! -

onto a square of acrylic tile.

 

Then I taped a piece of black paper on the same side as the etched design.

 

I chose a green LED, folding one leg of the electrode to the back of the pin, with hot glue to hold it in place between the back and a disc battery.

 

The other leg of the electrode was then folded to the back, but not touching the battery until the design was to be lit up.

 

A tiny magnet served double duty, to attach the pin to my sweater and to keep the pin lit.

 

(Thanks, Rachel, for your help with this craft!)

 

3. Kids today have every bit as much imagination as kids in the past.

 

This wall was covered with creatures that were part of the "Making Marks" exhibit, modeled after the Ulysses Davis "Created Beasts" sculptures which I'd seen in the fall while waiting for the librarian.

 

Such a range of colors and materials used!

 

I especially liked these with the feather boa flourishes.

 

The fanciful names were fun, too!

 

I'm glad I had time to admire all of these while I was waiting for the AI-inspired movie to start.

 

4. Sometimes movies have the same names, but differ.

 

I was so sure that I had seen "Metropolis" some years back, but I assuredly had never watched this 2001 anime before.

 

It rather reminded me of "Wizards" with its interspersing of war and sweet moments.

 

What I most enjoyed, though, were the vocals from the Japanese students in the audience!

 

They were clearly familiar with the story and had no qualms about cheering and booing the various characters - very nice!!!

 

5. Never miss the opportunity to act like a kid.

 

One of the reasons I so enjoy the annual PULSE celebration of technology and art are all of the interactive exhibits that draw out the inner child of the viewer.

 

I had not realized that I was reflected on the mirrored wall until I recognized my jacket on my arm!

 

Then, I saw multicolored geometric shapes appear whenever I moved!!!

 

I bet I spent at least ten minutes trying to capture them on my phone as I sashayed back and forth!

Analog to AI: what a treat to quicken my pulse!

sandal weather!!! here in Savannah!!!

I could feel every muscle in my body relax as I slipped those shoes on!

Then I breathed in all that lovely warm air and felt every nerve relax, too.

I had opened up the house so that mid-70 natural heat could permeate every room.

Hallelujah!!!

i thank You, God!

Then I went out into that blue sky full of heat and sunshine, first to take care of that last movie on my A*List for the week (though I didn't stay to watch it), then to bounce over to Applebee's for three meals.

This was the first to be eaten: the Tex-Mex Shrimp Bowl.

I very much like it!

Nice to have the hot side hot and the cold side cold this time!

(smile!)

And while I dined, I watched one of my favorite "Poker Face" episodes.

Guess what Joseph Gordon-Levitt is doing?

He's getting a "Speedy Meal" delivery.

Why didn't he go pick it up himself, like I did?

Because he's on house arrest and has an ankle alarm that keeps him home!

Well, until a storm comes through and cuts the power and lets him wreak havoc.

Seriously!

This is called "Escape From Shit Mountain" for a reason.

Now, I'm going to finish off my second meal - the Grilled Oriental Chicken Salad - and go back to watching the new episode of "Press Your Luck"!!!

So glad it's out of reruns!

change of plans, for the better!

"What are you doing?", she asked.

 

"Having breakfast," I replied.

 

"Breakfast? It's almost lunch time!"

 

When she phoned, she was on her way to an appointment with her doctor.

Would I be available in an hour?

Of course I would be.

That movie will wait for a later time.

After all, how often do I get to dance in the rain with my first niece?

(smile!)

 

Not that it was still raining by the time we met at the restaurant.

The intermittent sprinkle had ceased.

And just where did we go?

Cancun?

Olive Garden?

Nope, not those.

The appointment had been with her gyn doc.

Those visits mean it's time for crab stew at Barnes for her.

Truly.

I opted for the Wednesday pork chop special.

One of those grilled beauties went home with me, as well my toast and most of her fries.

That means dinner tonight is done!

We were still chatting in the parking lot, after our two-hour luncheon, and I decided to take a photo...

when, suddenly, the rain started back up...

going from a light sprinkle to big heavy drops...

so we had to hurry up and get the shot and be on our way!

(smile!)

She went back to Hinesville; I went to the movie I'd postponed.

"The Book Of Clarence" is about to start now, so... later!

(mostly) dead people acting

Dead woman preaching -

 

Kathleen Freeman, 57 years old in the 1980 movie.

 

She died in 2001, at 78.

 

 

Dead man preaching -

 

James Brown, 47 years old in the movie.

 

He died in 2006, at 73.

 

 

Dead woman bombing -

 

Carrie Fisher, 24 years old in the movie.

 

She died in 2016, at 60.

 

"No, ma'am, we're musicians.

 

We're on a mission from God.

 

We're putting the band back together."

- spoken by Elwood and Jake Blues

 

Dead men talking -

 

John Belushi, 31 years old in the movie.

Paul Reubens, 27 years old in the movie.

 

Belushi died in 1982, at 33.

Reubens died in 2023, at 70.

 

(This is the scene that got me started on this path of telling the tale this way.)

 

 

Dead man berating -

 

Henry Gibson, 54 years old in the movie.

 

He died in 2009, at 73.

 

 

Dead man singing -

 

John Lee Hooker, 62 or 67 years old in the movie.

 

He died in 2001, at 83 or 88 (birth date estimated).

Dead woman singing and dancing -

 

Aretha Franklin, 38 years old in the movie.

 

She died in 2018, at 76 (38 years older).

 

 

 

Dead man playing piano -

 

Ray Charles, 49 years old in the movie.

 

He died in 2004, at 73.

 

 

 

 

Dead man scatting -

 

Cab Calloway, 72 years old in the movie.

 

He died in 1994, at 86.

 

 

Dead man strumming -

 

Matt "Guitar" Murphy, 50 years old in the movie.

 

He died in 2018, at 88.

 

 

Dead man waving -

 

John Candy, 29 years old in the movie.

 

He died in 1994, at 43.

 

 

 

Mission complete!

 

(Steven Spielberg as the county clerk.)

 

 

  - THE END -

 

just another 24 hours to go

I'm trying to stay positive, I really am, but...

I do so loathe this cold weather.

This is as good as it got yesterday.

Now, it's about 24 hours later...

and worse than it was yesterday.

Sunny Sunday or no, the temperatures are not even going to try to crawl out of the 30's.

That just isn't supposed to happen at this latitude.

I keep telling myself to hang in there...

tomorrow's gonna be a brighter day...

that's what Jim Croce would say.

He's right, too.

By this time tomorrow, the high will be twenty degrees warmer.

Yes, twenty degrees warmer, in the mid-50's.

By Wednesday, the highs will be in the low 70's.

i thank You, God.

I just need to think warm thoughts until then.

I'm so glad I planned ahead and have pizza.

This morning, I finished off the last two slices of the pepperoni pie - and I didn't even heat it up, I ate it straight out of the fridge.

As I did yesterday, I accompanied it with an episode of "Monk" on Peacock.

Good choice!

He was on vacation with Sharona  and her son, at a beach resort somewhere.

Heard that?

A beach resort...

allowing me to vicariously soak up warmth on that sandy shore with them...

ahhhh...

that was quite nice.

Now, I have a $1 Weekend Movie Night reward to cash in.

Somewhere warm would be the perfect destination!

I even have popcorn to enjoy the experience even more.

Just another 24 hours to go...

mountainfilm onTour, take 2

Since I was seeing it for free (albeit on a tiny laptop screen), I decided to go ahead and take in the night-time short films, too!

By and large, these are longer, or deal with older people, or have much wilder and rougher storylines that aren't suitable for elementary-aged kids.

 

A Baffin Vacation (2022), 13 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g8U9iehhA8
 

Erik Boomer and Sarah McNair-Landry set off on a 45-day expedition in the Canadian Arctic, crossing ice sheets and granite faces.

Beyond The Summit (2022), 33 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KToPCh77ZM
 

This explores Kit DesLauriers' two weeks of traversing the arctic on skis, in one of the most pristine wilderness areas in the world—the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

 

To Be Frank (2023),  11 mins

https://www.newyonder.earth/asset/frank
 

Surfing via Frank Paine, a 73-year-old South Bay icon and humble local legend whose life orbits around a two-block stretch of beach.
 

 

High Road (2022), 12 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdF1-xJa1G8
 

Though they have each lost a leg in their own challenging stories, Meg Fisher and Jack Berry show us there is always a reason to keep pushing – to keep riding. 

Walking On Clouds (2021), 7 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQbtLazZiCw
 

This time, Rafael Bridi took his record-breaking balloon crossing tightrope project back to his hometown of Florianópolis, Brazil. Enjoy the immersive experience from Rafael’s perspective, via 360 video.

Tear Down The City (2023), 5 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai57iU-9POw
 

Tear down the city is a mountain bike video filmed and created in the city of Montreal. It's a mix of classic mountain bike terrain in the forest with a touch of urban and street riding by Xavier Massicotte.

 

Most definitely a thrilling way to end this session, and a nice way to warm up my day.

(smile!)