03:05 pm - A Hopeful Sign, But Also Complaining
I have the most amazing backache this morn-
uh, afternoon. And after reading
an article that
![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
metahacker
linked
to, I'm experiencng nausea as well. (Bad enough knowing that
members of my species are capable of such things; that it's
my government, my country ... )
( how the last few days have gone, if you want the
details or just want to listen in on me venting complaints about
my health )
I've been called an optimist and a pessimist enough times,
and confused enough about which direction the half-full/empty
glass is supposed to be interpreted, that I'm not really sure
which I am, but I'm starting to think that maybe my continued
planning based on the idea that however long this bad spell
has been going on, "it's gotta be nearly over by now" and "my
body has to get back to a more functional state eventually"
means either that I'm an optimist after all (or that it's just
plain old denial). Anyhow, I'm counting the ability to get out
of the house Friday (however unwise that decision may have been)
as a hopeful sign.
Hmm. I think I'll put the other thing I was going to
mention into a separate entry, so LJ folks don't have to
read all of this to get to that. (Readers clicking over
here from the fake cut-tag on LJ won't have the most-complainy
part hidden under a real cut-tag when they get here, the
way anyone reading this journal's recent-entries page or
via their friendspage did.)
03:10 pm - I Finally See A Magnificent Movie
I haven't been watching as much television as folks
might expect, what with my spending so much time in bed
being frustrated about not feeling well enough to do
much else. When I'm sleep-deprived and horribly
uncomfortable, the range of types of shows I have the
patience and attention span for narrows quite a bit.
But I did sit through a movie worth commenting on.
Although I'm not a huge fan of the western, for years
and years,I've heard references to
The
Magnificent Seven and
its
Japanese premake (no, no, I know that's unfair;
I just really, really wanted an excuse to use the
word "premake" -- I am of course referring to 1954's
Seven Samurai), so when I saw that the classic
movies channel one of the local Sinclair stations tacked
on when it went digital was showing four Magnificent
Seven movies, I decided to try to catch at least the
first one.
Wow, I'm glad I did. I now see why folks keep talking
about that film's importance, why it's considered a
classic, and why so many people just plain like it
so much. Now I really want to watch Seven Samurai
as well. (And I want sheet music for the main theme from
the Magnificent Seven soundtrack.) Although I
recognized a lot of actors' names, the only actor I
recognized by face and voice was Yul Brynner -- in my
defense, I point to my earlier comment about not having
been a big fan of westerns, and it was interesting to
see that role interpreted by someone else in a sequel.
There's probably not much I can say that isn't already
familiar to most of you and/or said more coherently at
Wikipedia and IMDB, but I did want to take a few minutes
just just say, "Wow. I get it." And that now I can be
more aware of the tropes introduced or perfected in this
story when I find them used or referenced in other works.
(One pattern that I would have guessed was much older,
Wikipedia says was really introduced by Seven Samurai.)
I'm not quite as blown away by The Magnificent
Seven as I was when I finally saw Citizen Kane
after similarly having heard what an important work it
was for so long, but I'm impressed enough. And as I
said, now I realy must find an opportunity to watch
Seven Samurai.