G.W.T.W F.T.W.!!!

Hello all!  I hope all is well and good in the lives of my fellow Bloggonians this fine morning.  I've been getting more and more slack lately about keeping up with my little blog, things are fine in my world, just got lots going on and crazy work hours make it hard to keep up with the days.  I looked at my last post and realized that it was ten days ago, I couldn't believe that many days had passed so quickly!!

We are T-minus 8 weeks and counting on the arrival of baby Ila and we've been making preparations for that and moving our oldest into his new room and making room for the baby and what-not.  It's been eight years since we  had our youngest and this is almost going to be like starting from scratch!  We've got two older siblings now though that can help, so this should be a piece of cake.

The topic I want to ramble about today is one that is near and dear to my heart.  It won't win me any points on my "man" card, and I've been given a hard time by some of my friends and peers over the years about it.  The fact that I believe "Gone With the Wind" is the greatest movie ever to hit the silver screen!

Although I have mentioned "Gone With the Wind" on a couple of occasions, I have avoided seriously discussing it on my blog because I thought, and still think,  I wouldn't be able to do this epic tale justice with my babbling about it.  Nonetheless I'm going to give it a shot.

"Gone With the Wind" is based on the book with the same title by Margaret Mitchell, which sadly I've never read in it's entirety.  I attempted once when I was young, but it was just too overwhelming for my age, I mean, for real, the paper back version has almost 1,000 pages and the hardback is well over 1,000.  That's just too much for a 13-14 year old boy to tackle at one time.

The movie, however was a different story.  I can't really remember how old I was the first time I saw it, but they used to play it on regular television every so often a couple of times a year when I was a kid.  I recall sitting glued to the screen for the entirety of the approximately four hours of cinematic wonder.  I talked my brother-in-law into watching it once and he has a severe issue with his attention span, to put it mildly, but he watched it from beginning  to end and didn't get up once except during the intermission when we had to change video tapes.

The story begins in Georgia in 1861, pre-Civil War, or as we Southerners like to say sometimes, "the War of Northern Aggression", and illustrates the Old South for better or worse in all its former glory, and takes us through the horrors of war and the pain of defeat and all that comes along with it, and then finally the Reconstruction, and the sacrifices and turmoils endured by the characters to try to get back on their feet. I personally think that this is one of the most accurate historical depictions of that era on film then or now.  The Civil War was barely 70 years past when this movie was being made and a lot of history hadn't been manipulated and misrepresented as it often is these days.

So many genres are represented in this movie, and are intermingled to perfection to keep you entertained throughout no matter what your liking.  There's definitely drama, some romance, plenty of action, even touches of comedy to lighten the story from time-to-time.  A little something for everyone, as I like to say, and put together in a story that moves along flawlessly from the beginning where Scarlett O'Hara toys with two suitors on her porch and gets fussed at by Mammy for not having "no more manners than a field hand", to the ending scene where Scarlett realized she's lost Rhett Butler possibly for good and after breaking down, pulls her self together and says "...I'll think of some way to get him back.  After all, tomorrow is another day."

Now, I know my macho-manliness is being scrutinized right about now, but if you are a dude and you haven't seen this movie, you are missing one of the greatest cinematic achievements of it's time, quite possibley ever.  You have to remember, the movie was released in 1939 and over 4 million dollars were spent making it, which was an unheard of amount at that time.  Some of the scenes where Sherman is taking Atlanta, and the make shift hospital on the rail road tracks in Atlanta when the camera pans out to an ocean of wounded and dying Confederate soldiers, it just makes you appreciate the amount of extras alone that it took to shoot scenes like that.  There are several good action scenes to appease the manly side of any red-blooded male.  The scenes where Scarlett, Rhett, Melanie and Prissy flee Atlanta, another where Scarlett gets attacked in a shanty town, and one of my favorites when Scarlett defends Tara from a straggling Union soldier there to pillage the remains of the plantation. There are others, but those come to mind the quickest for me.

For anyone who appreciates a comical relief in a drama, this one has plenty stashed here and there during the whole movie.  From Rhetts first meeting with Scarlett in the parlor after she threw a vase and smashed it in a tantrum, or Mammy's constant nagging, one of my favorite examples being when she tells Scarlett that she doesn't need to go to Atlanta where Ashley Wilkes is going to be coming home and her "waiting there for him, just like a spider!!"   Hilarious! Then there's  Aunt Pitty Patt and her fainting spells every time Scarlett  does something scandalous, or Mammy again when Rhett Butler gives her the fancy red petticoat, and of course the line immortalized by Prissy when Melanie Hamilton is about to give birth..."Lawzy, we gonna' have to have a doctor, I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin babies" and then says " I don't know what would make me tell such a lie", classic!

Basically the heroine, Scarlett, overcomes tragedy, loss of epic proportions, (I would mention ALL of her losses, but I'm afraid someone may decide to watch it that hasn't seen it and I would be a "spoiler"), the destruction of her entire way of life, and despite all of her character flaws of which there are a few, she never lets herself be defeated.  She always manages to pick herself up and by any means necessary get her life back in order. You always hear people say "it's a tale of the triumph of the human spirit", well this is indeed the case here.  The spirit is nearly broken on several occasions but it always triumphs in the end.  This is certainly something that everyone can get some inspiration from in these tough times.

I hope that folks don't take anything out of context and assume that I approve of slavery and all that crap, it's just a part of our history that we can't ignore and can learn from.  As George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember their past are condemned to repeat it". I'll leave you with this bit of scripting that scrolled up on the beginning of the movie after the credits right before the first scene, that I've always liked:

There was a land of
Cavaliers and Cotton Fields
called the Old South...
Here in this pretty world
Gallantry took its last bow...
Here was the last ever to
be seen of Knights and their
Ladies Fair, of Master and of
Slave.
Look for it only in books,
for it is no more than a
dream remembered.
A Civilization gone with
the wind...



As an added bonus here's roughly 6 minutes of the opening scenes that I found on Google search to lure you in...hehehe!!

Gone With The Wind (1939) -- movie clip part 1 | Facebook

Friendship

friend  (frɛnd)
— n
1.	a person known well to another and regarded with liking,affection, and loyalty; an intimate
2.	an acquaintance or associate
3.	an ally in a fight or cause; supporter
4.	a fellow member of a party, society, etc
5.	a patron or supporter: a friend of the opera
6.	be friends  to be friendly (with)
7.	make friends  to become friendly (with) Hola bloggonia!!  Happy Friday the 13th...watch your backs!! I kid, I kid!  I've been away a little longer than normal, but maybe I can make up for it tonight to you guys with a little something from my heart!  I thought tonight that I'd delve into the realm of friendship and all that comes along with it.  As anyone who knows me personally can tell you, friends are the most important thing to me in the WORLD next to my wife and kids.  In fact my friends were all I had for the first 29 years of my life before I started my little tribe. Those that know me can attest that I am fiercely loyal to my friends, as I am my family.  I have a small core of "real" friends that I would fight for, die for and if necessary kill for.  I know to lots of folks that may seem extreme, but to me it's the natural order of things. For most of my life, I've not had what you would call a good 'family support network'.  With the exception of my older brother Bryan Hanks, I haven't had a constant family presence in my life in 20 + years.  But I digress, because this is not a pity party for my life, but a tribute to one of the true blessings in our mortal roamings on this earth.  That being friendship. I should probably start with one of my first true friends, although I'd had several buddies growing up that I hung with at school, church or VERY occasionally would slip over to my house when the parents weren't around, he was the one that opened my eyes to the real world and showed me that I didn't have to live in a hostile environment, that I could change my destiny, and for that I am FOREVER grateful!  We haven't been as close as I'd like over the last 15 years or so, because of mutual differences, he went into law enforcement, and after my Army stint, I went in the totally other direction, but we've as late talked and I think all is well, but we're still not as close as I'd like.  I'm an outlaw at heart, and honestly, he helped plant that seed!  But the past is the past, and hopefully we'll embark on a whole new journey in our friendship.  Detective Eric Byrd, you will always have a special place in my heart!! The next friend that I absolutely cannot omit is my only long lasting Army buddy that I retained over the years.  To an 18 year old homesick Wilkes County, North Carolina boy, he was always there when I needed a swift kick in the ass or a friendly ear to whine to.  We got into more crap, (well I did, he always managed to dodge the bullet, even though we were ALWAYS together), had more laughs, and messed with more people than two people should be allowed!! From fighting off the skin head infantrymen in the Dragon Club, downtown Tongduchon, to drinking every available Korean alcoholic beverage within reach, to kicking it with the Korean soldiers augmented to the U.S. Army, we ran our little corner of Camp Casey, Korea for a good 18 months at LEAST!!   Jamie Wynder was my rock in Korea and for a while after I got out.  We both have different lives and families now, but we manage to stay in contact and still have what I would consider a very healthy friendship. After I was discharged from our glorious military, I took up residence in Greensboro, North Carolina in a boarding house with one of the most singular characters of my 42 years.  He was from my home county of Wilkes, and had been introduced to me by my step-brother, who I used to count as a dear friend, but for some reason has disappeared off the face of the earth.  Anyhoooo...I don't know if I've ever immediately connected to ANYONE the way I did this fellow.  The first night we roomed together, we stayed up telling one another all the sorted crap from each others lives until the sun came up.  We ended up getting a job together, and would ride back to our old stomping ground, along with his brother, every weekend in search of hotties in the greater Surry/Wilkes County area.  We were literally inseparable, I am pretty sure most of that was due to the fact that he took pity on me and dragged me along with him, and I am eternally grateful for that!  I would've been lost without him and his friendship in Greensboro all by myself.  He and his family would end up being the center of my friend base up until this day, with a few breaks in between, but pretty much for the last 20 years, he's been my constant homey.  Chris Sykes was my ticket out of a depressed, alcohol soaked, downward spiral that I was headed into after I hit the "real world" after the Army.  I have nothing but love for him and all of his family!! It would be a sin for me to not mention the friends that didn't make it along the way.  If you've read any of my blogs so far, then you're certainly aware of Mike Holyfield, the funniest little fat man that ever lived!!  He brought so much joy to everyone that ever knew him, and to me for over 10 years.  He was definitely one of a kind who will never be replaced in my mind by anyone.  I can't even begin to relate the impact his death had on me and our group of friends!  There are others that didn't make it in this journey of life that I have to at least recognize...A dear friend that I parted ways with that fell on bad days with addiction, and I was not there like I should've been because of a past meaningless squabble.  He turned me on to a lot of the music that I still rock to, and taught me that life is about now, that we're never promised tomorrow years before his untimely death.  His is the one friendship that I wish I would've had a chance to recultivate.  We saw each other a couple of times over the years, but the relationship wasn't as honest and pure as it was in the beginning.  He is the reason that I tell my kids to this day not to go to bed mad at someone, because you never know what tomorrow holds!  Bo Roberts, you were one of my true friends, and I'll go to my grave wishing that I'd made things right between us.  Another passing that I regret, although I regret them all this one maybe the worst, is because he was SUCH a young man that idolized me and Mike Holyfield and wanted to spend every waking hour with us, and considered me his "brother", as he told me more times than I can count.  The thing you don't count on is being awakened at 4am by his father telling you that he's been thrown through his sunroof and killed after leaving your house and wanting to know if you'll be a pallbearer.  Ricky Newman, at 19 years old, you truly died MUCH too soon and I would give ANYTHING to be able to rewind and make you hang with us the night you decided to leave abruptly for whatever reason.  I have visited all of your graves regularly and wept openly and begged for all of your forgiveness for being a shitty friend. I see kids and their friends these days and as soon as they're out of earshot they're cutting each other up, and putting each other down.  Friendship is precious, possibly one of the most precious gifts that is given to us by God, or whatever deity you choose to believe in.  In a time when "families" are a thing of the past and marriages last as long as a high school dating  experience, true friendship should be valued above all else, except your own personal immediate family infrastructure.  I know I've left out many buddies and homeys along the way in my hurry to wrap this up, but you are all immortalized in my heart!  I honestly think I've represented the ones that impacted my life the most over the longest period of time, and the ones that I wanted to bring to the forefront because of my past failings as a friend.  Much too late for some, I might add. To all my friends that remain that I've mentioned, and a lot that I haven't, I love each and every one of you and my life is enriched by every tiny experience that each of you have introduced me to.  I wouldn't nearly be the well-rounded person that I am if it weren't for the influences that all of you have opened me up to.   The most special of all in my recent years  of struggling and strife, in the years when I didn't have anything but the clothes on my back when we first met, and they opened up a door to self-improvement and a better life would be the Miller family in Dobson, North Carolina.  I know they have no idea of the gratitude and loyalty and love I have for them, but they were more of a family to me over the last 20 years, (good or bad), than my own.  They are a special breed of people that are selfless and are willing to give a dead-end drunk, wannabe-thug, a second chance, and make him feel like he really belongs somewhere.  I love all you guys for that!! That concludes my rambling and ranting for tonight, I hope I reminded you guys, and maybe enlightened some of you as to what is really important and real in this crazy mixed up world.  Until next time Fellow Bloggonians here's a little tune that was one of mine and my buddy Mike's favorites that to me speaks about the briefness of life and the illumination of it's temporary stars.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gjiBwF0K64 I can't confirm it, but to me it sounds a whole lot like he's singing to his deceased old pal Kurt Cobain, at least in my mind that's what I get out of it.  I hope each and every one of you, and all of your true friends have a long, memorable, and truly unforgettable life together!!

Musical Memories

Welcome back peoples of Bloggonia!  Here's hoping the world is treating you and yours well.  Short summary of current events:  My Tarheels are out of the NCAA tournament, so I no longer care who wins, tick season is early this year, so check those little 'uns heads when they come in, gas prices are expected to go to an all time high over the summer, so I hope wherever you take your vacation, it's not too far away and finally we as a nation get one step closer to being a socialist system if Obamas universal health care "reform" is signed into the law of the land.

When I think of this administration, as well as the last I can't help but think of the song by NOFX, "the Idiots
Are Taking Over"!  Which brings me to what I'd like to rant on tonight, no, not politics, but music.

If you've read even one of my blogs, you've probably notice I usually make some reference to some era of music or group, or leave you with a nugget of musical goodness via youtube.com.  Music is something that I am very passionate about, I have always said, as much as I love music it's amazing that I've never learned to play an instrument.  I used to love to sing when I was younger, and still do from time-to-time, especially when someone breaks out the Rock Band video game!  At one time when I was a youngster, I could actually read both shaped notes, like they had in our church hymnals, and the regular music they taught us in school.  Like anything else though, if you don't use it, you loose it.  I did, however, buy myself a Fender Starcaster to try and learn guitar on last year, but somehow or another, I never seem to find the time to try anymore.

Like everyone else in the world, I can literally think of a song for any and all of the major experiences, instances and events in my life.  There are the old standby hanging out, partying songs, the break-up songs, the celebrating a small victory in life songs, songs that make you want to fight, and from time-to-time even dance, (very rarely for me, because I can't dance at ALL!).  There is music to worship with, music to meditate and get lost in, even music to make love to.  It can be peaceful enough to calm the savage beast or charged with enough energy to incite a riot in a stadium, and pandemonium in the streets. 

I personally believe in having a broad range of musical interests to truly appreciate all that music can bring to someones life.  My iPod currently has 90's music of course, and lots of it, rap, metal, bluegrass, classic rock, a little bit of country, mainly Johnny Cash, and a healthy dose of punk.

It amazes me how that now sometimes I can hear a song and it will instantly take me back to a place in time, so completely sometimes that I find myself almost lost in the moment.  There are so many good memories I can associate with a song, from using shoe boxes to play "drums" along with my dads 8-track of Creedence Clearwater  Revival singing "Bad Moon Rising", or taking turns with my brother and step-brother, using an old acoustic junior guitar with no strings and lip singing to the Purple Rain album, writing short stories in my childhood bedroom while listening to the Miami Vice soundtrack, or cruising downtown Elkin, North Carolina, when it was still permitted, with so many car stereos blaring everything from Motley Crue, to Wu Tang, to the point that they all  blended together, or finding out that I was going to be a father with Creeds "With Arms Wide Open" playing, or most recently just riding around with some friends in the rain for hours singing along with the radio.

Music is one of the greatest gifts that God ever gave us mere mortals, and the ability to make music is an even more amazing gift.  I would love to have that talent that some make look so effortless, and be able to pass it on to my children.  Both of my kids love music now, but I hope that my kids are more musically inclined than I was, and are able to learn to play an instrument.  I saw a bumper sticker the other day that pretty much sums it all up and puts it into perspective and it's what I'll leave you with, it simply said "Music is what feelings sound like".  Words of wisdom indeed!

As a final note, I'd like to mention the passing of a musical pioneer Earl Scruggs, who helped found and bring to national prominence the bluegrass genre.  I came to listen to bluegrass through my wife, who grew up listening to it her whole life.  I was reluctant at first because I had never really been exposed to it a great deal even though I grew up in an area that was famous for it.  I remember I swiped one of my wifes cd's and kept it for like a year before I finally admitted that I liked bluegrass.  I wouldn't say that I listen to it exclusively by any means, but I take spells where I'll listen to it for a week or two at a time.  There's also a local radio station that plays Knee Deep In Bluegrass with Cindy Baucom after 6pm, and I'll tune into it while driving from time-to-time.  For all the haters and skeptics, give it shot, what could it hurt?  You may just find a new type of musical interest, even if you have to hide it from your wife and friends!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Y3mnj-8lA  I'll let Mr. Scruggs and Mr. Flatts take it home with a little Foggy Mountain Breakdown.  You're welcome!!