Irving Stone, deceased in 1989 on this day, August 26, became known for his richly detailed biographies that pleased readers who sought "livelier" reads on their favorite artists, politicians, and intellectuals.
Enjoy a reader book review of Lust for Life, about the life of Vincent van Gogh, by Edith LaGraziana.
Movie available on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and Google Play
Maybe a person need be from Texas to fully appreciate the richly cinematographic experience of this story of corruption told in Texas Cotton (2018), a regional-perspective movie that features George Hardy as Travis Delmore—lawman dedicated to upholding law, no matter the consequences.
Or, maybe they only need a greater sense of appreciation for the arts, or Texas, or both, than one limited by an apparently inherent disdain for Texans as that hidden in the entertainment section of the LA Times, within a collection of independent movie reviews which all condemn their targets via author negatively disposed. Also, most experienced moviegoers wouldn't come away from this film thinking
of it as a "dramedy"; although, it does have comedic elements. The
prominent sensation throughout is one of suspense.
The film is set in the rural county of Medina, in the real city of La Coste in southern Texas where, interestingly, approximately 7% of the population reports Alsatian ancestry (Alsace being a region in eastern France, next to Germany and Switzerland). This happens to be the highest-reported population of Alsatians in the United States, which has little to do with the plot of the story of Texas Cotton, but nonetheless adds a note of interest to the experience if you realize the fact.
Texas Cotton delivers a sense of the remote nature characteristic to outlying areas of the more metropolitan centers of Texas. Southwest of San Antonio, La Coste sits along a farm road among a group of like-named towns denoting a regional commonality.
First, we meet La Coste's indispensable main character in Sargent Delmore as we (especially Texans) begin to appreciate the long-sight scenes of Texas's outspread landscapes. Through this first scene, we get an inkling of creeping issues that threaten subsistence in La Coste . . . and the movie begins.
A distinctly dark western soundtrack soon accompanies the action on screen as the content of struggle intensifies, solidifying our sense of what our expectations should be throughout the remainder of the film. Much less a comedic affair than it is criticism of the politics of some types of business, there are likely to be no laughs despite indications of other reviews. Instead, audiences are likely to pick up on dramatic, sometimes frustrating notes of discord that indicate the script's political plot mechanisms. Before long, a watcher is embroiled in concern for Delmore as well as any turnout.
There are shades of typification of what certain certain Texas characters must be. For your information, from the perspective of a Texan, these tinges mustn't always be. However, they do exist, and we meet them in Texas Cotton.
Character-driven, dramatic, and—in the end—somewhat improbable, Texas Cotton investigates small-town redress of important, frequently-discussed political and economic issues.
That Texas geography and personality is used as the backdrop for this forward-thinking film signifies the respect with which the manuscript was devised and subsequent movie made. Thus, using the magnificent impressions of Texas nature, film players deliver a unique, entertaining movie experience.
Our Throwback Thursday search this morning dredged up some classic gems in music and advertising that are a treat to share.
Truckers and those who love them will no doubt remember, as well as many of us may, the "Convoy" country classic that rolled out in 1975 and rested for six weeks at number one on the Billboard Top 40 Country Hits. The song did almost as well around the world.
CW McCall, seen above performing Convoy in the video, enjoyed great success for his country-western sound and style, releasing Convoy only after gaining an initial notoriety via commercials.
This may seem a familiar dynamic, as it is similar to the way in which many of our famous actors got their start in the commercial industry.
Birth of CW McCall
Well-known country music producers Don Sears and Chip Davis worked with an ad executive named William Fries on an advertising project for Old Home Bread in 1973, which turned out the new-found country music artist CW McCall. The Old Home brand needed a country-western soundtrack for its commercials, and CW was the man for the job.
While the music—which could be considered some kind of country rap of the 70s—is superb in rhythm and soul, the braided twist here is in the fact that CW McCall was actually born (by Bill Fries) as an ad character for the Old Home Bread brand. So, while CW wasn't a real person, the character did represent several real people in a project to sell bread, and then to extend that successful enterprise for as long as it could live.
It turned out that the commercials were such a success (having won the "top Clio award") that Fries and company had
opportunity to capitalize on the recognition through the production of a
string of novelty music. In addition to Convoy, Fries/McCall released nine other songs on MGM Records studio album Black Bear Road, followed by several other albums.
As McCall, Fries and team made music that sold bread and made dough!
Applied to bread commercials, the CW McCall style of music was practicable on a nostalgic note, whereas applied to the music of popular culture it took on a more comedic element, however slight, especially with the help of video. What's more significant—the creators used the opportunity to call out some of the politics
affecting the trucking industry, such allusion to current events of the
time being part indication to the art's novelty music categorization. Although, it is more widely regarded simply as country and western music.
It is particularly interesting to read the Wikipedia article referenced below, entitled "Convoy (song)." The article details the political references made, as well as much of the trucking industry dialectal content of the song.
REFERENCES
"Convoy Creators Roll On To Success". Nash Country Daily. Country Weekly. 12 Dec. 1995. Web. 15 Aug. 2019.
"Convoy (song)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 25 Jul. 2019. Web. 15 Aug. 2019.
We want to take a moment to acknowledge the power of rhetoric, especially in a room that teeters on the edge of an information vacuum.
We all live in an information universe, where (more than ever before) almost anyone is able
to make use of free space. We have an entirely new economy based on this
information age—largely a positive in a world that otherwise is at a
loss for new free space available to those in need of basic survival. But, we're in the midst of a push against it.
As it's been throughout time, it is rare for a people to
continue to freely, mutually and equally, enjoy shared space. The inescapable politics of life occur as
easily as sharing a simple, small room, and it's no different in a bigger one. Without responsible rhetoric that leads to equitable solutions and progress, there is risk that can lead to disastrous endings. Further, in order to survive harmful rhetoric, means to redirect it must be developed.
How rhetoric matters to the room, weighted against goals of the speaker, should be the first consideration of any audience. Second? How these things will matter to those outside the room. Inclusion must be forefront in the minds of a successful organization.
You could use the exact same verbiage in one kind of atmosphere and feel it hit the floor with the screaming-silent thud of mutual rejection. The same choice of words in another kind of space can effect a completely different outcome. Therefore, it's important to implement a viable solution of positive progress through an approach of empathy, not of challenge—unless you're willing to admit to yourself that you only care about one perspective and that you will resort to division of the otherwise whole community solely to that end.
