Sunday Overnight Open Thread – 11/21/2021

DISASTER MOVIES

When I was a kid in the 1970s, Disaster Movies were all the rage. And boy did they have some star-studded casts, often reviving past-their-prime stars of yore whose names still had a little cachet. For other big Hollywood names, their appearances in these disaster flicks turned out to be the end of the road for their movie stardom.

As I recall, Airport was actually a good movie (Moviegique might need to weigh in on this) but after that, the genre became cliched. We meet average people living a variety of average lives before being thrown together in a desperate bid for survival. Here are a few memorable posters, with more at the link.

MATING RITUALS

I’m a big fan of the male Bower Bird’s mating rituals. And if I’m being honest, I was a little nervous when first asking the future Mrs. Throckmorton out. She might tell you that my moves were not much different than those of the Bower Bird.

After building and decorating a “bower” to which he wants to bring a female, the male Bower Bird shows his game:

“First he expands his pupils alternately, an oddly mesmerizing display.”

“It’s all going so well, it’s time to get physical with a few head butts to her chest.”

This is very funny. Sadly, the Bower Bird we’re cheering for in this video has a competitor show up and spoil his plans in the end.

We can’t all have the game of a Bower Bird, but we’ve all done some crazy things to attract or be with a potential mate. Do y’all have any embarrassing stories you’re willing to share? Maybe a dad who really wanted you (or your boyfriend) gone from his house? A suave pickup move that ended in slapstick comedy?

SPEAKING OF BOWERS

“Will You Come To The Bower” is an Irish folk tune written by Thomas Moore in the early 1800s.Thanks to Irish immigrants, it had become a popular fiddle tune on the American frontier. It was to this tune that Sam Houston’s Texians marched into battle and whipped Santa Anna’s Mexican army at San Jacinto in 1836.

The lyrics are not typical of martial music, but you can’t argue with success and how the battle turned out.

Will you come to the bower I have shaded for you?
Your bed shall be of roses, bespangled with dew.
Will you, will you, will you, will you come to the bower?
Will you, will you, will you, will you come to the bower?

There under the bower on soft roses you lie
With a blush on your cheek, but a smile in your eye.
Will you, will you, will you, will you smile, my beloved?
Will you, will you, will you, will you smile my beloved?

THE ORIGINAL YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS

And still speaking of bowers…and Santa Anna…

The woman revered in Texas as The Yellow Rose of Texas was a young mixed-race woman, Emily West (aka Emily Morgan), who came from Connecticut to Texas with Col James Morgan.

From the 1842 journal of William Bollaert, an Englishman who traveled throughout Texas from 1842–1844:

“The Battle of San Jacinto was probably lost to the Mexicans, owing to the influence of a Mulatto Girl Emily [in the employ of] Colonel Morgan, who was closeted in the tent with General Santana, at the time the cry was made “the enemy! they come! they come!” and detained Santana so long, that order could not be restored readily again.”

She likely wasn’t alone with Santa Anna by choice. On the other hand, some Texans still claim that she patriotically put herself in that position to keep Santa Anna distracted while Sam Houston’s army made its charge.

Emily West was employed as a housekeeper at the New Washington Association’s hotel in Morgan’s Point, Texas and was there on April 16, 1836 when Colonel Almonte swept through the town in pursuit of Texas President David G. Burnet. Emily and a number of other servants and residents of Morgan’s Point were apprehended and forced to accompany Santa Anna’s army when it departed a few days later. Emily and her fellow captives were in the Mexican camp on April 21, 1836 during the Battle of San Jacinto.

Emily likely moved back to New York or Connecticut soon thereafter, but she is still the most beloved of all yellow roses.

The song “The Yellow Rose Of Texas” was spread far and wide in the 1860s and 1870s. It was sung by homesick troops during the Civil War and it went up the trail with cowboys in the 1870s.

Michael Martin Murphy recorded a very good version of the song on his “Cowboy Songs” album.

WATER IS RACIST

REC ROOM RECOLLECTIONS

Are these things still around?

When I was a child, a lot of my friends’ families had these awesome combo bumper-pool / poker tables. I rarely saw a real pool table as a kid – just these contraptions. Childhood bumper-pool left me woefully unprepared for barroom billiards when I hit college.

The natural setting for this table was in either a rec room or a basement. In either case, the room likely had walls covered with fake-wood paneling.

And of course, it had a bean bag chair in it.

Tell me about your rec room. How did you break the Ping Pong table? (If there were boys involved, the Ping Pong table always ended up broken, and the ping pong balls had a very short life expectancy.)

RAIDERS OF THE LOST APPLE ORCHARD

Meet the Appalachian Apple Hunter Who Rescued 1,000 'Lost' Varieties

What’s more, hundreds of lost apples could likely be reclaimed at similar sites throughout Appalachia. “That part stayed with me,” says Brown. “I kept thinking: ‘How neat would it be to find an apple nobody’s tasted in 50 or 100 years?’”

To date, he has reclaimed about 1,200 varieties, and his two-acre orchard, Heritage Apples, contains 700 of the rarest. Most haven’t been sold commercially for a century or more; some were cloned from the last known trees of their kind.

THE WISDOM OF JAMES GARFIELD

James Garfield served as President for less than a year in 1881 before being shot down by a would-be civil servant who was bitter about not getting a consular appointment. I don’t know much about his brief Presidency, but he had some good words of wisdom.

Poverty is uncomfortable; but nine times out of ten the best thing that can happen to a young man is to be tossed overboard and compelled to sink or swim.

There are men and women who make the world better just by being the kind of people they are. They have the gift of kindness or courage or loyalty or integrity. It really matters very little whether they are behind the wheel of a truck or running a business or bringing up a family. The teach the truth by living it.

I love agitation and investigation and glory in defending unpopular truth against popular error.

A brave man is a man who dares to look the Devil in the face and tell him he is a Devil.

“Whoever controls the volume of money in our country is absolute master of all industry and commerce...when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate.”

WHEN IT HAD TO BE THERE THREE WEEKS AGO, CALL JIFFY

Like many other stars of Saturday Night Live’s previous eras, Rob Schneider is now quite openly conservative. This fake commercial of his always gave me a chuckle:

When you’ve got no one else to blame, call us.

THROCKMORTON’S FIRST LAW OF LIVE MUSIC: IF THERE’S AN UPRIGHT BASS IN THE BAND, IT’S PROBABLY GOING TO BE GOOD

I miss bands like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band that could rock with the rest of their generation, but also put on some boots, grab some acoustic instruments, and play some authentic hard-country music.

In this version of “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” NGDB is joined by a cavalcade of stars ranging from John Hiatt to Vince Gill to Roy Acuff. And if all that doesn’t appeal to you, the amazing late 80’s hairdos are worth a look.

By the way, I’m often asked if the upright bass is my favorite instrument. It’s not. It’s just a signifier that good music is going to be played. My favorite instrument is probably the dobro (a slide guitar with a resonator that looks like a hubcab.) Jerry Douglas makes some beautiful sounds with his dobro in this video. His solo is at 2:33.

Tonight’s overnight thread has been brought to you by shampooed and blow-dried cattle.

Thanks again to the horde for letting me play host tonight. Please feel free to offer any helpful feedback, insults, or tips at buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 09:53 PM

| Access Comments