Author: DOuG pRATt

Jimmy regarding Jimmy

This week’s Arlo & Janis storyline is about Arlo being a Parrot Head.

https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2023/09/18

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArloandJanisFans/permalink/10159834026155334/

Jimmy Johnson – I hope you have been enjoying “Arlo & Janis” this week, featuring memories of Jimmy Buffett. Not everyone is a Buffett fan although you might not think it at the moment. Since his death, the outpouring of admiration, of appreciation and of personal sadness has been, frankly, astonishing. Given all this, I debated whether an entire week of A&J almost a month after his passing would be relevant, but I felt as if I owe it to Jimmy Buffett.

Like Arlo in the strip, I am a fan of Mr. Buffett, a longtime fan. I particularly enjoyed his earlier work, not coincidentally because it coincided with my “salad days.” Because of this, I repeatedly mentioned him in “Arlo & Janis,” and fellow Buffett fans noticed. Fortunately for me, the mentions were a benign dog whistle heard by fellow travelers who might never have known of my work otherwise. I know for a fact Mr. Buffett garnered me attention and fans in years when I needed them most.

I always have been attracted to the stories of people who led singular lives: Marquis de LaFayette, Bill Mauldin, Julia Child. I think Jimmy Buffett was one of those people. So much more than a beach bum, Mr. Buffett was optimistic, whimsical, intelligent, adventurous, thoughtful. He was ambitious. He literally made a fortune singing for a cult of fans, whom he made very happy. As a fellow Alabamian who also came from materially unprepossessing circumstances, I don’t see anything wrong with that at all. I think a lot of people now sense there was much more to the man than “a silly beach song,” as he has described it. I think that is why he has left an unexpectedly large hole.

A Nun Catfight and America on Trial

A copyrighted film that I expect won’t be on YouTube forever is Black Narcissus, a sort of pessimistic answer to Lost Horizon. Like many Powell and Pressburger productions it’s unusual and not to everyone’s taste. The climatic scene where Deborah Kerr confronts Kathleen Byron, who is going mad with sexual desire, is truly remarkable, being both hilarious and terrifying. The influence of Powell on Hitchcock is apparent here, especially in Vertigo.

https://youtu.be/iL8FpRgLeu0

What the heck, here’s another favorite that’s even stranger. A Matter of Life and Death is known in America as Stairway to Heaven. It starts with an emotionally devastating radio chat between David Niven and Kim Hunter. He quotes Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress,” indicating his dying words are intended to seduce the girl he can hear but not see. Which he succeeds in doing.

Rock (of Ages) Music

I try to sustain a mostly buoyant tone in my posts, but I’ve been grappling with a difficult and stressful personal situation. Fifty years ago, during the craziness of adjusting to college life, I bought a record of Gregorian Chants. Listening to it on headphones helped to calm my nerves, so I’m going to give it a try today. Track 9, “College Runt”, is a favorite. 😉

When fully restored, I’ll follow that up with this musical meditation. See? Buoyancy!