The Cullin Hills and Ben Nevis mountain, long valleys and rolling
landscapes characterize the highlands as it falls toward Glencoe.
Portions of the James Bond Skyfall were filmed here.
Loch Leven borders much of the view as you transverse this splendid area of the highlands.
Just over the bridge in Broadfort stands what could be the setting for an Agatha Christie novel. The proud Ballaculish Hotel has offered hospitality since 1877, and that time is captured here.
Imagine a scene on the squeaky stair case.
The resplendent parlor evokes an earlier era. I found bound editions of Town and Country from 1911 on the grand piano.
Night descending on Loch Linhe enables one to imagine how guests might be ensnared in a Christie plot.
The Ballaculish straddles an area between Loch Linhe and Loch Levan.
The Glencoe area of the highlands is rich in lochs, including the special Lomond, the largest fresh water lake in the UK.
3 miles long, 1-4 miles wide, with 52 miles of coastline. It reaches depths beyond 623 feet.
23 Islands stand in Loch Lomond. It was a strong hold of the McFarland clan.
A great creative effort occurred here. William Wordsworth a poet and founder of the Romantic Age in English literature penned To A Highland Girl while staying at this hotel on Loch Lomond. The waterfall was memorialized in the 1807 poem.
"...this fall of water that doth make a murmur near the silent lake;
From the Highlands back to the Lowlands. Destination Glasgow.
See you down the trail.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
THE CONSEQUENCE
"The voice of the intellect is a soft one,
but it does not rest until it has gained a
hearing. Ultimately, after endlessly
repeated rebuffs, it succeeds.
This is one of the few points in which
to be optimistic about the
future of mankind."
Sigmund Freud
Analysts of the social scene, sociologists, psychologists, theologians and others have noted the apocalyptic nature
and almost obsession of film, games, literature and other
cultural symbols designed for and sought by people 18-35.
To mine the deep implications and causes can fill books. But a shorthand version is an attitude about the future that is not all sunshine and roses. Some of those reasons may smack us in the face if we look closely.
Think of the impact on younger minds of just these events:
THE MEDIA COVERAGE OF KATRINA
WITNESSING THE WORST ECONOMIC COLLAPSE SINCE
THE DEPRESSION
FUKISHIMA
I chose those three because they are linked by a seemingly helpless situations played out large and in detail in a media saturation. But there are multiple such examples and other complexities of modern life that also work to destroy optimism.
Bringing it back to Freud then, is the soft voice of intellect being heard? Or is it being drowned out in a world of social media where Kim Kardashian has 9 to 10 million "followers?"
REEL THOUGHTS
THE HUNGER GAMES
We became two of the most recent of the millions who are making this film a box office smash. Talk about dystopian! The Suzzane Collins young adult novel which was a sensation, is even more so in the hands of Director Gary Ross who wrote and directed Pleasantville, Seabiscuit and Big. Ross is a very good film maker and his screenplay with Collins is of a world that is a continuation of the bleak future theme.
Lana is more enthusiastic about the film than I am. It is an entertaining, big budget action adventure thriller focused on kids surviving a decadent societies' game. She sees the hope expressed in the story line. I see a clever portrayal of a society that becomes increasingly self indulgent, hooked on cheap thrills and riven with a wealthy elite controlling poor, working masses.
And it is probably just me, but the brilliance in the film
is the parody of our obsession with "reality game shows." How far will we go? When I was ceo of a television production company we'd joke about how outrageous game shows could become. This film is a punctuation point.
Stanley Tucci as the television host, Caesar Flickerman
is delightful. Jennifer Lawrence as the heroine continues to show remarkable talent, first seen in Winter Bone. Elizabeth Banks as vacuous Effie Trinkle is superb. She captures the empty values and superficiality of a society that can enjoy watching children kill each other. Woody Harrelson as the burned out former hero provides a nice nuanced and textured performance. And Donald Southerland as the contemptible president Snow is a poster boy for legalizing assassination.
I'm struck by how this is a film for and about youth and even in a kind of victory there is an uncertainty and looming shadow.
"Have I not reason
to lament what man has made of man?"
William Wordsworth
REALITY CHECK NOW
MORE OF THE SAME
A new public awareness campaign has been launched.
It is the most recent voice in the escalating fight over
fracking.
There may be places where fracking has not done harm.
But clearly, there are places where it is doing severe harm.
"A simple child,
That lightly draws its breath.
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?"
William Wordsworth
I've been accused of looking on the bright side of things. Not sure about that, rather I'm a pragmatist who understands the value of doing something. In engagement is opportunity, and hope. That attitude was honed in Paul Hamori's class on Hegelian dialectics.
