Beauty Amidst America

Three hitchhikers in Oregon who graciously appeased my camera's eye on Saturday. 

Coherent confusion weaves the fabric of imagination and creativity into moments of reality. Their smiles caress my ego. Various ladies have been throned on beauties shrine. When allowed to photograph their exquisite charm, the resurrection of harmony feeds my soul.  

"This is weird," she (above) said as I took her picture in Golden Gate Park. Too weird to live to unique to die. (Hunter S. Thompson) 

For now, and ever more, I look forward to roaming the vast lands of inner space behind the eye of the camera. 

 Both pictures; Schurr Shot, April, 2020 

To be honest, when I first got the idea to roam around busy city parks and streets to ask pretty ladies if I could take their pictures, I was expecting resounding no’s and harsh rejection. Pleasantly surprised, reciprocate smiles from appealing women wasn't as rare as expected. 

Schurr Shot, April, 2020

The first day I set out to take pictures of gorgeous women, I was too shy to ask a single woman for her picture. The second day I tried, it took me almost two hours to ask the first woman for her picture and she let me take three pictures of her, thank you Kate! 

Kate, 2020

Yes, I’m weird, but innocuously strange, and the fact I’m not scary to all women is comforting.

Mark (Izzy) Schurr

The chaotic confines of society will one day become a vast ruin of decayed insanity. We yearn for peace, yet cater to war. We thirst for love, yet imbibe in hate.

The current race of humanity seems to be nothing more then compost for a glorious future world. A world void of war, hate, greed and poverty. To dwell in a place abundant with love and laughter, to live with no leaders or followers.        

A world that sans money and creativity is currency. Lands governed on peace and harmony. Delicious dreams reign in my thoughts.                                  

Mark (Izzy) Schurr

New "Pet Sematary" Explores New Realms Of Death

The new screen-play adaption of Stephen King’s 1983 book “Pet Sematary"  detours from the original story-line, and it works!

The new “Pet Sematary,” like the book is about a married couple who move from Boston to a rural area of Maine. Unlike the book, in this month’s movie, the couple, Mr. and Mrs. Jason and Rachel Creed have two children, not just their 2-year-old boy, Gage. In the new “Pet Sematary,” the Creed’s also have an older daughter, Ellie, marvelously portrayed by Jete’ Laurence.


The theme for both the 1989 “Pet Sematary” and this year’s movie, along with the book remain the same. Death, would it be a good thing if we had the power to revive the recently deceased?


In the new “Pet Sematary,” the Creeds also have a cat named Church, short for Winston Churchill, and the burial ground for pets, the Pet Sematary is in their very large back yard which resides in the woods. The added character Ellie, who is still in elementary school, is the one who points out that sematary is spelled cemetery.


“Pet Sematary” is a great movie to watch for any fan of horror flicks. Spoiler alerts coming in the next few sentences, so if you want to see “Pet Sematary,” with complete surprise, don’t read the following paragraph. No spoilers in the last paragraph.


Like all the other “Pet Sematary’s,” the cat Church is the first to die and be buried in the grounds of the pet sematary and come back to life meaner and less attractive. Ellie is the next to die in a horrible accident, and her father Jason buries her in the sacred sematary while his wife and son Gage are out of town. Before Ellie’s death, she was a cute intelligent girl. Upon being risen from death, her beauty transforms into an ominous, yet OK appearance. Her mother is not pleased to have her daughter back in this manner of twisted reality. I got chills when the new Ellie said to her father, that her mommy doesn’t like her anymore and concludes to herself it’s OK, I don’t like her either.


When the dead come back to life in this movie, they are not mindless zombies craving the flesh of the living. The dead speak and their minds work, but to what extent of good or evil?  This month’s release of “Pet Sematary” has a very broad ending, leaving much to be determined.  


 A solid three stars for this year’s “Pet Sematary.”


Mark (Izzy) Schurr  

A child’s laughter and acceptance fuel the flames of purpose. Innocent eyes explore the realms of imagination and feed into creative sensations. The sanctuary of satisfaction is a constant journey into the heart of time itself.

Mark Schurr, aka, Izzy Schurr

Bible Blitz, "Revelation" Violent, Bizarre & Sexual

Be forewarned, the beginning of the end looms large and devasting for the entire human race, synagogues of Satan will open the shaft of the abyss. (Bible; “Revelation”)


A war in heaven will break out and Michael and his angles will battle the Devil and his angels, but the Devil will lose and be cast down to Earth to menace humans. (Bible; “Revelation)


When the angels of atrocity come forth to wreak havoc upon humanity, a wild beast with a leopard’s body, seven heads, 10 horns, bears feet, and a lion’s mouth will come out of the sea. This seven headed, 10 horned beast is the Devil. A prostitute dressed in purple, adorned in gold, precious stones and pearls will ride the beast. (Bible; “Revelation”)


The great prostitute will provide passions of wine and sexual immorality. Merchants and kings of the Earth will become rich and powerful from her shameless luxuries, and a voice from heaven will be heard to say;


“Get out of her my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins or receive part of her plagues.”  (Bible; “Revelation”)  


The great prostitutes’ plagues will include death, mourning and famine which is already abundant on this planet. God will burn the great prostitute, and when He does, all the delicacies we desire to purchase; slaves, fruit, wheat, cattle, carriages, wine, frankincense, olive oil, wood, copper, iron and marble will never be found again. (Bible; “Revelation)


Once God has taken care of the great prostitute, an angel will come down from heaven with a great chain and bound the seven headed, 10 horned dragon, the Devil, and cast him into the abyss for 1,000 years, then the Devil will be re-leased for a little while. Upon the second return of the Devil, he will again lose his war with the angles of God and be cast into hells eternal fiery. (Bible, “Revelation”)


The sea will bring back all the dead, and each person on Earth will be judged individually, and those not listed in the book of life will be cast into a lake of fire and sulfur to be tormented day and night forever. (Bible; “Revelation”)  


According to the Christians, separating the sinners from the saints is a timely and complex process. The Bible was written well more than 2,000 years ago, and the human race has been around for more then 90,000 years, while documentation of our history only goes back 5,000-7,000 years, approximately. (“The Grand Design” Stephen Hawking / Leonard Mlodinow)


Mark Schurr, aka, Izzy Schurr

Over Due Movie Review

Not too shabby, “Dumbo” illustrates the heartlessness of big business while mixing in fantasy with facts.

Friday’s, March 29, release of the new “Dumbo” is based on Disney’s cartoon feature of “Dumbo” in 1941. Shortly after World War I has ended, Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) returns to his children and the circus. His daughter Milly (Nico Parker) and son Joe (Finley Hobbins) care for the newborn elephant Dumbo because the mother was sold back to the original owner.

Circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) begins to experience the woes of losing money and keeping his employees happy. Farrier’s young children Milly and joe quickly learn that Dumbo can fly, but Dumbo does not fly upon command, so convincing their dad and Medici becomes a challenge.

When financial futility seems eminent, and the circus soon to be a memory, Dumbo’s ability to fly lifts the circus to unimagined heights of success. I laughed out loud when the circus owner asked the dad why he didn’t tell him the baby elephant could fly. Farrier, the father said he didn’t know either, and Medici said he should listen to his children more.

Even with the circus’s new-found success, the conflicts commence, because Dumbo still wants its mother. The circus is relocated to Dreamland, run by V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton) and for insane money reasons, Vandevere gives the orders to have Dumbo’s mother killed.

I watched this movie earlier today at Airport Stadium `12 cinemas with my soon to be 2-year-old nephew and his father, and I was pleasantly surprised how entertaining “Dumbo” was for both adults and children. A solid three stars for the “Dumbo.”
Mark Schurr, aka, Izzy Schurr

Two Reel

In the days before digital, Two-reelers were a major form of entertainment in the movie industry in the 1920s and 30s.

A single 35 mm film reel is approximately 10-13 minutes in running-time. Many dramas or comedies were 10-23 minutes long during this era. Most of Laurel and Hardy films lasted between 18-22 minutes, hence, Two-reel shorts, or as I prefer, their Two-reelers.

Laurel and Hardy officially became a comedy team in 1926. By 1929, the comedy team starred in more than 29 silent Two-reelers. Their first sound movie, (All-talking), a Two-reeler, "Unaccustomed As We Are" was released in 1929. From 1930 on, all their movies were sound.

Many of Laurel and Hardy's short films began with an opening title, including their debut sound film, "Unaccustomed As We Are." The opening title in their talkie debut read; "The world over-a wife loves to have her husband bring a friend home to dinner-as a surprise."

In "Unaccustomed As We Are," Oliver is married to Mae Busch, and Stanley is the single friend Ollie brings over for dinner without notice. While Stan and Ollie's debut sound movie is not a classic, it still holds up to the test of time. The time-less humor of a husband hanging out with one of his single friends on a regular basis is a good receipt for comedy.

This year's movie, "Stan & Ollie," starring Steve Coogan (Stan Laurel) and John C. Reilly (Oliver Hardy) is geared for the devote fans of Laurel and Hardy. In the 1930s, Hardy was going through a costly divorce, and in the movie, "Stan & Ollie," Stan, (Coogan) jokes to Ollie (Reilly), I'm going to find a woman I hate and give her my house and half my money.

Laurel and Hardy movies are funny, and even laugh out hilarious to this day. The comedic chemistry between the two will never be matched. Both actors possessed the sagacious skill of non-dialog gestures. I think a lot of that came from making dozens of silent movies together and alone.

"Two Tars," a 1928 Two-reel silent film is arguably their best silent movie, if not one of their best all-time shorts. In the 1920s, decades before TV was mainstream, the standard for movie patrons was the showing of a news-reel, or cartoon, depending on the audience, a short One or Two-reel comedy /drama, and then, the  feature film.

When "Two Tars" was first released, audiences across the globe cheered and laughed so much, that the Two-reeler was re-ran back to back for its theater patrons. 

Despite being nearly a 100-years-old, "Two Tars" is indeed a laugh fest. In this film, Stan and Ollie portray two sailors on leave driving around in a Model T in a down town area.  While at a stop sign, Hardy notices a couple of cute women walking on the side-walk. One of the women looks at him. Hardy smiles in a way no other man on the planet is able too, and he and the woman begin flirting.

The smiles and the gestures by Stan and Ollie while their admiring the two women is hilarious. As my dad said laughing many moons ago, their (Laurel and Hardy) the only two on the planet who can get away with this.

The two women get in the car with Laurel and Hardy, and the foursome encounter a massive traffic jam on the free-way. Cars are at a dead stop, and soon everyone is getting out of their cars and into a comical fight. The drivers, including Laurel and Hardy begin to vandalize other peoples cars, tearing off bumpers, breaking head lights and par taking in a slew of other comical shenanigans.

There's five other Laurel and Hardy silent Two-reelers from the mid 20s that can compete with any comedy sitcom currently being aired. I won't review all five, but 1928s "The Finishing Touch" really needs to be digitally remastered with carpentry sound affects.

"The Finishing Touch" has Laurel and Hardy portraying two carpenters who build a house, and the house looks fantastic when it's all finished. At the end of this short, a bird lands on the chimney and the whole house collapses.

There are more then 30 other Laurel and Hardy Two-reelers I deem comedy classics by American actor Oliver Hardy and English icon Stan Laurel. If vintage black and white film comedy arouses your funny bone, I highly recommend watching 1932s "Helpmates."

Opening title" "When the cats away, mice start looking up telephone numbers." "Helpmates" begins with cartoonish music and the camera floating across the inside of a completely trashed house littered with empty bottles of booze. 

While Hardy's wife was out of town, he catered a raucous party. He is awakened by his door-bell and the mail man delivering him a telegram which states his wife is coming home later that day. He convinces Stan to help him clean up the house before his wife gets home.

A married man drinking excessively with friends at his house while his wife is in another state visiting her family is A plus comedy, especially when it's Laurel and Hardy administering the entertainment.

Laurel and Hardy were true friends on and off the screen and the two shared a marvelous penchant to entertain other people. In the early 1900s, when Stan Laurel was just a school boy in England, many of his teachers / Headmasters would drink whiskey after classes, and Stan Laurel would entertain them with various monologues and skits he wrote. ("Laurel and Hardy," a 1975 book by John McCabe and Al Kilgore.)

The Boys, Stan (left) & Oliver

Oliver Hardy enjoyed golfing and the camaraderie outside of Hollywood. Stan Laurel was the consistent professional, writing and giving his in-put on set designs. In between shooting movie scenes and working on other aspects of their movies, Oliver would sometimes leave the set to go golfing or be with other friends.

In one of the duos Two-reelers, all but the last scene had been filmed and Oliver Hardy was out golfing. Stan Laurel and the rest of the crew decided not to bring Ollie back until they had an ending. In this one particular film, Stan could not come up with a way to end the movie, but he took Oliver away from his golf game and simply told Ollie to look into the camera and react naturally to what he's told. With the camera rolling and a close-up of Hardy, Stan told Oliver; we don't know how to end this movie! The look on Hardy's face was priceless and a fitting end to one of over a 100 movies they made together. ("Laurel and Hardy"  text by McCabe / complied by Kilgore)
Mark Schurr

Mixing My Wisdom With Silver Surfer Knowledge

I have no destination, I go where the winds of change carry me. I have tasted the exquisite ecstasy of victory and have known the gnawing pain of defeat, yet I shall never stop searching for an oasis of sanity upon this world of madness the human race calls Earth.       

                                                                          Stan Lee / Mark Schurr