Cool Country, A Modern Moron Music Review

 

Musician, Dwight Yoakam is the only person I know who can extrapolate the math of how 14 days in March can conclude in August.

“This song came to me when 14 days in March turned into the middle of August,” Dwight Yoakam said.

Yoakam humanized himself at the casinos ball room on Saturday night with his personal stories, and intriguing sense of humor.

I like old school country music fused with pleasant punches of 1970s rock ‘n’ roll tunes, so Saturday nights performance by Yoakam and the band was anything, but disappointing.

Extremely little room to dance at Graton Resort and Casino’s ball room, and that was more the OK for myself. Personally, I was seated in the second row from the main aisle, which many patrons used to sway on their feet, and at certain moments, I was persuaded off me seat.

The opening band, Willy D possessed a rock ‘n’ roll flare with a harmonious hard country sound, thus creating an ambiance of paradisiacal live music.  

“Guitars, Cadillacs,” was the only song I knew Yoakam performed and wrote, and the tune more then pleased. His quote unquote money song was not the concluding song last night, and the encore was too short.

 Leave the audience wanting more was Yoakam and the bands’ theme on Saturday night, and the only thing that disappointed me was not being allowed to bring in my Sony Cyber Shot camera. Then again, it was great to kick back and relax amidst the ecstasy of live music. Three and a half stars for Yoakam’s October show at Graton Resort & Casino.

Mark Izzy Schurr

Mind journey

 

Journey to unknown realms where our sorrows and joys gleefully joust amidst the vast cosmos of the human spirit. Reach into the borderland of eternity and oblivion and imbibe the celestial nectar of wisdom and folly.

As sophisticated savages, we seek to free the mystic essence of our ethereal egos.

Mark Izzy Schurr

Another Modern Moron Movie Review

 

This DVD has no special features, but the picture and sound quality are good and even though Joan Blondell has a small part, she alone makes 1931s “My Past” worth watching multiple times. (Above picture, Joan Blondell, "My Past")

The story-line is a timeless tale of a free-loving man and woman who have no shame when it comes to fornication, or adultery.

Bebe Daniels portrays Doree Macy, a showgirl juggling a relationship with two men who are business partners and friends. Both men fall hard for Doree, (Daniels) and she falls for one of them, and the infinite web of love and lust manages to complicate things.

Joan Blondell, "My Past" 

“My Past” rewards adultery, and is considered racy, even by today’s standards. In one scene, Doree (Daniels) takes off her swimsuit while in the ocean and says to Bob (Ben Lyon), I bet you can’t catch me. Bob immediately jumps in the ocean and swims toward her.

Joan Blondell did a great job of portraying Bebe Daniels best friend, especially when giving her advice about dating a married man.   

“I know these young married men. When there wife’s away, the play. They’ll tell you anything, make all sorts of promises. They’ll even kid themselves into thinking they’re not married, but just as soon as the well-known ball and chain gets back, they creep home on their hands and knees,” Joan Blondell said.

Daniels shows some cleavage and a lot of leg in “My Past,” and this illustrates the fact how much less skin was shown in mainstream movies from 1935 to the mid-1960s. Anybody who is knowledgeable fan of the Pre-Code Hollywood era between 1930-1934, will want to view this pre-coder, or at least I think so.

Mark Izzy Schurr  

Sin and Sensation in 1933

 

“Professional Sweetheart” is a true Pre-Code Hollywood classic well worth owning. Screen-writer Maurine Watkins dabbled in the debauchery of free-love and spousal abuse. Theresa Harris had a small role in this 1933 film, and she was a talented beauty who showed off her acting and singing prowess while portraying the maid of Ginger Rodgers. Rodgers stars as Glory Eden, a radio singer for the Ippsie-Wippsie Wash Cloth company. (Above picture is Ginger Rodgers from 1933s, "Professional Sweetheart.") 

Theresa Harris, 1933

The Ippsie-Wippsie company wants Eden to be known a squeaky-clean virgin, an innocent to the masses to promote their washcloths, and Eden (Rodgers) has very different plans for herself and the $1,000 the Ippsie-Wippsie company is offering her, if she signs their contract.  

Ginger Rodgers & Norman Foster 

Rodgers delivers some racy dialogue to her fake fiancé, Jim Davey (Norman Foster) when she tells him she smokes, drinks and has been with 100s of men. “Professional Sweetheart” is a true Warner Brothers ‘Archive Collection.’

Mark Izzy Schurr

Andrew Yang's New Book Review

 

Andrew Yang’s presidential run was laughable to some, but many will agree, he quixotically put his 2019-2020, Universal Basic Income platform on the political radar and in his October book, Forward," Yang put four day work weeks on the employment map. 

Even under Trump’s nefarious and insane leadership, many Americans, including myself received an extra $600 in a stimulus payment. In less than a year under President Joe Biden, many U.S. citizens including myself received an extra $1,400. 

As of April 1, dozens of companies have already implemented a four day a week pilot program for their workers in the U.S. and Canada. (www.cnbc.com) Yang talks about the importance of four day work weeks in this book.  

In “Forward Notes on the Future of Our Democracy.” Yang also displays his wisdom about America’s current democracy crisis, police brutality, the pandemic, and the punitive economy.  

Also, in “Forward,” Yang said all congress members have a 90 percent chance of getting re-elected. He details the process of how too many members of congress remain in power for decades too long, and emphasis how Americans need a lot more youth in congress, including the presidency itself.

“I’m under 70-years-old, I’m not an asshole, nor a raging lunatic,” Yang joked during his 2020 presidential run.

The average age of people in congress is more then 57-years-old, and for senators the average age is more than 62-years-old, and more than half of them are millionaires. Twenty-five-years-old is the youngest a senator or congress person can be.

In "Forward," Yang details all the qualifications a person needs to have to run for president of the United States, and to also run for congress. It's surprisingly not much. Read this book if you want all the information or do your own research.  

“Forward” consists of only 347 pages, a quick and easy read, and should be read by all Americans in my opinion.

Yang illustrated his solid qualification to be a more than competent U.S. President in "Forward."

Yang passed the Bar examination on his first try, so he knows law. He ran a private company that became number one in its category in the country, so he knows business. He worked in the health care software department for four years, including on site in at least two states, including New York and Florida, hence he understands healthcare. He’s worked in technology for more than a decade, so yes, he knows tech stuff.

"Forward" illustrates how thousands, if not 100s of thousands of lives could have been saved from Covid-19, had Trump not completely ignored a worldwide and deadly disease.

America is not even in the top 30 countries in the world for quality education, clean drinking water access, and 34 other countries have a lower murder rate then the U.S. 

Trump is not the cause of our problems, but the symptom of the disease that has been building for years, Yang said. 

On February 28, 2020, our then sub-moronic Fascist in Chief said the world wide Coronavirus was the Democrats new hoax, their (Democrats) politicizing Covid-19, Trump said to his warped worshipers at one of his many racist rallies in North Charleston, South Carolina on the last day of February, 2020. By April, 2020, the weather will warm up and the Coronavirus will be gone, Trump said. (Lauren Egan, nbcnews.com & CNN News) 

Police mistreatment of black Americans is a reality and a moral stain that threatens to tear our county apart Yang said in “Forward.”

Yang has no problem or issues with Americans who own guns, and he said gun owners could make use of an implemented technology that would enable firearms that could only be discharged by their owners.

“Forward,” mentions the weaponizing of social media and the spread of hate and violence evolving because of our gadgets and use of the World Wide Web.

“It’s clear, false information outperforms real information,” Yang said.

Yang didn't specify the news networks that focus more on profit then actual news, but he did point out that both the left and the right are guilty of spreading misinformation, and he praised the BBC News for being a mirror of what is going on in the world as opposed to unsubstantiated opinions.   

I simply scratched the surface of the many things Yang wrote about in his latest book. It’s a four-star read, and it’s great to learn about politics without mental rage. MATH; Make America Think Harder.   

Mark Izzy Schurr

Beauty & Vice

Blatant references to prostitution and hard drug use are just some of the vices depicted in this 1933 Pre-Code Hollywood classic.

From a Busby Berkeley number, "Shanghai Lil" 
First picture is from Berkeley's, "By a Waterfall"

Excellent sound and picture quality along with a great story-line in “Footlight Parade” gave this Blue Ray DVD a solid four-star rating. James Cagney and Joan Blondell, the two headlining actors in this film displayed great chemistry together.

Cagney & Blondell 

Cagney sings and dances extremely well in this movie.

James Cagney & Ruby Keeler

The swimming choreography and execution by the highly talented Busby Berkeley babes is still a cinematic sensation. “Footlight Parade” showcases a lot of low garbed women.   

The Warner Brothers, Merry Melodies cartoons had things they wouldn’t be allowed to show in today’s children’s programming. A cartoon bug in one of the animated shows is seen reading a book on how to make love. In the 1934 cartoon, “Honeymoon Hotel,” a man and woman get in bed together and wink at the audience, and the calendars shows nine months pass, and a then a baby winking at the audience.

I’m not a fan of musicals, but “Footlight Parade” more then worked for me. An awesome Blue Ray to own.

Mark Izzy Schurr    

 

Soft Focus Sin From 1934

 

Historic sexuality and violence was displayed upon the masses more than 86-years ago. Film buffs and Claudette Colbert fans will want this Blue-Ray flick in their collection of vintage favorites. The picture and sound clarity is marvelously restored in this remastered classic of 1934s “Cleopatra.”

The bonus features were nothing to jump up and down about, but “Claudette Colbert: Queen of the Silver Screen,” had some enlightening details about the censorship in Hollywood during the antiquated era of movie making. I also learned three fascinating facts about Colbert as a movie actress from watching this bonus feature. This bonus feature also included a scantly clad photo of Colbert in a publicity photo from “Cleopatra.” (Above picture; Claudette Colbert, 1934) 

Colbert, 1934s "Cleopatra." 

The movie itself was nothing spectacular for myself, but I did like the fact of the movies depiction as Julius Caesar as a greedy tyrant, and his murder was justice served in my opinion, and Colbert’s version of “Cleopatra” satisfied my knowledge of the mass murdering Julius Caesar.

Three and a half stars for this movie.

Mark Izzy Schurr