Film, sport, radio, painting, fitness, writing

Thursday 4/11/24

One interesting aspect about that film, The Werewolf, was the camera perspective in quite a few shots in which the ceiling was visible. Like they were going for a Citizen Kane thing. Remember this about Kane: If someone didn't know the movie and you started playing it for them and said it was a horror film, they would think it was a horror film with a great opening for a horror film. They would think they were watching a horror film with that first part (the dissolves, our entrance into the house, the trippy snow globe, the death).

The coming apart of the 2024 Red Sox is already at hand, I fear. There was the Fenway opener debacle, and they followed that up last night with an effort in which they were up 5-0 and lost. As I'd written, Chris Martin's success of last year was not sustainable at his age and going by his track record. I wonder if Alex Cora will last the season. It's so clear he doesn't want to be there. It's a bad recipe all around if you're looking for anything positive to come out of this season. We're twelve games in, though, and you can already tell where it's headed.

I'm now listening to many episodes of The Six Shooter, which was a radio program starring Jimmy Stewart that ran for thirty-nine episodes September 20 1953 to June 24, 1954, so this is Rear Window-era Jimmy Stewart.

It's about the mellowest Western you'll encounter in any medium. Stewart really has the drawl stretched out. Nothing is in a hurry to go anywhere. Someone today might call it a "chill" Western.

Earlier image was a detail from the foreground of Delacroix's mural, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, which is at the Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. Part of the work's power is that we're uncertain why Jacob is wrestling with this angel, but it's notable that we see that he dispensed with his spear and shield before doing so. He is battling this supernatural being as only himself, with no additional weaponry or defense. Even in what we assume would not be a fair fight--it's an immortal against a mortal--he is committed to his standards of fairness. And as we can see, he is holding his own in the match.

Ran 3000 stairs, did 100 push-ups. The other day a park ranger with whom I'm friendly flagged me down as I got near the Bunker Hill Monument and he was leaving. The hours of the winter remain in effect. I asked him if he knew when they might be changing and he said possibly late May. That's why I'm not over there that much. The 1-4 hours are not convenient for me. I prefer to do stairs in the morning. Doesn't have to be that way and I should change things around because the Monument is better than City Hall.

Today I read an article saying that green tea is the best tea for blood pressure. I had read long ago, during my early researches on the subject, that it was hibiscus. I drink a lot of both anyway, but I'll up my green tea intake.

WAR is a misleading stat. It should only be used by those who have a clue about other things. Unfortunately, that's not the case with most who use and cite it. Gary Carter has the second most WAR of all-time among catchers behind only Johnny Bench? That's interesting. But it's also misleading. Given that both of those numbers are fairly low, too, so far as all-time great WAR goes, tells you something about how WAR undervalues catchers, and people who understand baseball best know that you should never undervalue that position.

Watched 1958's I Bury the Living, which is a great title considering what the film is about. It stars Richard Boone, who would go on to play Paladin in the TV version of Have Gun, Will Travel (John Dehner plays the character in the radio version). The movie has some similarities with W.F. Harvey's 1910 short story, "August Heat," one of my favorite ghost stories because it simply could be about coincidences.