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.
Saturday night at the movies was spent at home this week, scanning Hulu for content that fit the occasion. Recently-added When Jeff Tried to Save the World seemed to promise an entertaining, comedic ensemble film. Read on for the no-spoiler scoop, and add it to your watch list!
The choice was not a disappointment, starting straight off with scenes that feature the incomparable Jon Heder. Those who remember Heder's remarkable performance in Napoleon Dynamite (2004) will understand the expectation for focus. While Heder has been busy since then, he's likely dropped out of site for most popular moviegoers who are most likely to remember him opposite Will Ferrell in Blades of Glory, but not so much his other work, which has remained steady . . . yet fairly niche.
"Comedic Ensemble" - Yes!
When Jeff Tried to Save the World is popularly-listed as a comedy-drama; however, with elements of both romantic comedy and subversive film, it would be best described to movie buffs as a light, comedic art film.
Its subversive quality is fairly evident in its most basic plot description, being a movie that deals with a dying local business, the biggest fans of which naturally wish it to survive. The writers' keen character traits, paired with fundamental storylines, help to deliver thematic messaging of a political context without directly approaching divisive dialog or [much] argumentation.
Romantic elements involve not only the more predictable situational meetup and progression of events, but as well address our most typical and fondest notions of familial relations, while hardly focusing on this aspect of the film. So, while the movie as designed is a slow burn (as many filmgoers love to see) there's quite a lot happening to keep a watcher focused.
There are familiar faces, as well as engaging less-familiars. Fans are likely to recognize and will be happy to see Jim O'Heir, whose lengthy career in comedy entertainment has set him before us in one thing or another for at least the last twenty years. Fans will also recognize a familiar female duo, appearing together again as friends. Overall, it's an admirable cast of characters that lend credence to otherwise nostalgic elements of the movie: bowling lanes, arcade games, snack bar fare and good times, all in the neighborhood. Modern elements add contemporary interest.
While When Jeff Tried to Save the World is well worth the time, don't expect it to be as exciting as Napoleon Dynamite. (Much tongue-in-cheek happening here.)
However, in vaguely the same way, When Jeff Tried to Save the World should be just as enjoyable for fans of Heder and other cast members, as well as anyone simply chasing a bit of nostalgia that hearkens to days and venues largely gone by in terms of modern entertainment.
Desktop users of Microsoft (MS) Office 365 Outlook Mail may have noticed that they have the option to adjust the software's "Display Density" between full, medium, and compact ("compact" being the way to show the most text, with everything being condensed).
The differences among the three display options may seem negligible, especially when you realize the most obvious changes . . . which are not all that obvious. However, a user's perception and ease of viewing may be significantly impacted.
Although actual character counts and visibility hardly seem changed, the way a user's eye takes in information will likely be keenest to one of the three options.
Which Outlook Display Density setting should you use?
It's important to make this decision while you have a few moments free to relax, being that it's a bit like sighting the mysterious visage in an autostereogram. But, let's not digress.
First, you'll open your Outlook in a desktop tab, and click on the settings wheel at top right.
You should be able to see the option to adjust your "Display Density" after clicking the wheel, as shown above.
To fully view the result of each selection, first expand your desktop window to full screen via your keyboard. (This isn't necessary, however, especially if you don't normally do this often enough to know how. In that case, just continue to refer to Outlook's Display Density options in the right-hand pane.)
As stated above in our first paragraph, you'll find display options labeled full, medium, and compact. Short descriptions of each option are as follows:
Full - In the full display setting, user profile icons are visible to the left of each incoming message (as under "inbox" in the image above); subsequently, fewer messages are visible because the icons themselves take up more space in the pane. The display setting affects all panes, so there will be fewer folders visible as well. Also, there will be somewhat fewer characters per line.
Medium - In the medium display setting, user icons disappear, and more folders and messages are visible.
Compact - In compact, the setting shown above, several more of your folders will show in visible screen, along with more messages in the inbox pane. Overall, there will be more text content on-screen.
Again, differences between the three Outlook display options seem to be barely noticeable! Still, the result is perceptible, and users at attention will realize that they prefer one of the three options.
Perhaps the most noticeable difference is in the presence or absence of the MS user profile icons. While some users will prefer to see these icons (full mode), others will prefer to have the most possible text (including folders) condensed into the viewable screen (compact mode).
You likely have hundreds, if not thousands, of emails in backlog on any given day, and can surely benefit from making every visit to your inbox as pleasing as possible. If we've helped you today, or you have another idea for easing the inbox experience, leave us a comment. We'd love to know. Or, comment with one of your personal preference inbox tricks.
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The modern political landscape encompasses an ever-morphing progression of issue-related events, with both positive and negative interpretations—and reactions to—various difficulties brought to light in efforts to redress grievances or quality of life. Among these concerns are the implications of disability.
Disability occurs in many forms, with the condition that one has a "reality to be accommodated", or possesses "a form of human variation", and there exists a long history of persons with disability, who have undergone life-affecting struggles to coexist in within their communities. This includes a relatively recent foray into the politics of bringing about significant change that positively impacts the lives of those who would benefit from improvements in the approach of whole communities.
While perceptions of (and treatments for) disability have continuously improved over the years, it's important to realize the reason for the shift: the activism of those with, and who care for those with, disabilities. There are several key references to historic political activities designed to bring needs of the disabled to light, from which we can begin to learn more about the process.
Recent progress includes the primary benefit of social media: its capacity to assist in reaching the public with pertinent information designed to boost and forward such efforts. For example, the National Association of Democratic Disability Caucuses works through its Facebook page to enlighten activists as to the breadth of options available in developing and sustaining both organized and individual efforts for the cause.
There are a number of things anyone can do in the interest of creating a continually civilized culture that is not only accepting of, but as favorable to the environmentally disabled as anyone. One of the most effective strategies to change the landscape for the better rests on our ability to communicate effectively in a manner that does not diminish the disabled through ableist language.
ableism - discrimination in favor of able-bodied people
A person can use damaging ableist language in a couple of ways. When subconsciously used, ableist language is a learned habit that inhibits our capacity for complete understanding. When consciously used, ableist language is designed to inhibit progress that might be considered costly to detractors.
Perhaps one of the most critical environments for the importance of language use is the workplace. When working with, or speaking about, a person with a disability for any reason, we can effect communication that equalizes the environment that person must navigate in order to meet their needs. By putting the person first in our perceptions and interpretations of circumstances, we avoid becoming the dreaded ableist in the lives of those with circumstantial disabilities.
Avoiding ableist language in regard to wheelchair users
In order to better understand the relationship between ableism and
language, dedicate some time to learn about all the intricacies involved
in disability awareness communication. Resources today are many.
