AT THE MOVIES: "MAGIC TOWN"

I just finished a B&W movie with James Stewart and Jane Wyman called Magic Town. I have always been a Jimmy Stewart fan but have never watched this one in it's entirety. I decided to make myself finish it this time, and I am glad I did. Before I write my review I want to recommend you watch it, too. ALL OF IT! If you don’t wade through the slow stuff at the beginning you wont give yourself the opportunity to see the parallels to our society today. So before you read the rest of this blog, watch it. NOTE: It's available on Netflix or online at  http://youtu.be/lr-FbTLfOds (let me know how this link works)

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Stewart plays Rip smith a statistician who makes his living selling opinion polls. Finding this tedious and time consuming work he searches for, and finds, a town statistically identical to the USA as a whole. With the same percentages of groups i.e. ?0% women over 25, ?2% annual earnings under 15k a year, and so forth. This mathematically perfect town and Smith can save time and provide marketing research to high paying clients in a fraction of the time and expense of "scientific" polls. Smith dreams that he can accumulate his fortune and finally have what he has always wanted: security. Yeah right!

In contrast, Jane Wyman plays Mary Peterman the editor of the newspaper, who wants to carry on her father’s dream of bringing progress to Grandview by building new schools and making room for cultural pursuits. Smith knows this would attract new people changing the opinions and socioeconomic values of current residents ergo changing the statistical perfection he has bet on to sustain his future security.

When the truth comes out the town goes crazy thinking they are special. With swelled heads and greedy hearts they begin to change. Almost overnight they begin to make promises they cannot fulfill without the new citizens and economic growth, but as the town changes the first poll proves to be ridiculously off of the grid for the rest of the nation. After becoming laughing stock for radio and print nationally, the town becomes a ghost town and their humiliation leaves the original people withdrawn and isolated from one another. Smith then tries to get the town to come back together. (Here is a town hall meeting scene that is sappy but inspirational nonetheless.)

One of the boasts made in the throes of conceit was that a new high school would be built “with their own hands” in the event that the bond vote failed. Smith reminds the council of these words and the meeting eventually becomes what could be compared to a group of Amish discussing the barn they will build for the neighbor. The kind of teamwork upon which our great nation was built.

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Believing the US debt is built upon the same ridiculous pride found in fictional Grandview – I also believe humble sacrifice and hard work is the solution. I know there will be some challenging days ahead of us. We must overcome our addiction to products made in China, we must continue/begin growing our own food, thinking health first and medicine second, many of us may find ourselves in multi-generational housing, and this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Together we lighten the load. There is no easy fix, we have debts and debtors will need to be paid the sooner we roll up our sleeves and face it the better.

Watch Magic Town. Don’t shut it off before the ghost town scene. There are some great lessons to learn, some pretty good acting and a few familiar faces from another Stewart movie, “It’s a wonderful life”. If you don’t see what I saw, that’s okay, you won’t have wasted 2 hours of your time because it is a satisfying movie. (Even if you don’t feel inspired to Blog about it.)

I’d love to hear your points of view on this movie.

Thanks for reading, Geri     

Sweet Nothings

I broke a candle today. The glass container shattered across the laminate flooring in an explosion of sparkling clear razors,  needles, and knives. I was barefoot.

This was the candle purchased the day I had to leave Roland at the hospital for the first time. It was lovely just to look at, but also had a delightful fragrance and crackling sound. It comforted me that first night. And the next. I stared at it on the floor trying to figure out how I could save it.

Then, my eyes drifted from the sparkling glass to my bare feet. Then my mind ran to my grand-daughter's little toes and I began trying to figure out how to save them!

First, do no (more) harm. If the candle can't be saved, so be it, the toes were the most important. So I tried to find a part of the nearby carpet that was NOT sparkling. Then stepped over to it.

Second, assess the damage. I saw that most of the glass had stayed embedded in the soft wax. Also, only part of the glass container was cracked. (At this point putting on gloves would have been a great idea) I picked up the largest remaining piece of the candle and carefully carried it into the kitchen. Then I put on shoes and grabbed the broom and dustpan.

Third, saving the candle. In order to save the candle I had to break the rest of the glass off of the soft wax. (This would have been a good time to put on safety goggles) Removing the candle was only one part of saving it. It melted at such a low temperature it would turn into a puddle if it was lit as it was now: just wax and wick. So I had to find a new container.  

A new home.  My friend went to San Francisco and brought me back an amber/orange cut glass votive holder. When I asked her why she didn't get me the traditional T-shirt, she said the glass reminded her of the lights on the golden gate bridge at night. That thought transformed my outlook on candles and containers. I have purchased glass cups and jars and all sorts of things because, "I can put a candle in that!". So I knew what I wanted to put the candle "guts" in, but wasn't sure it would fit. It did. Then I was not sure about the science of it, stability, overflow of melted wax, how high the flame would go, etc. I lit it. (Kids, dont try this at home!)

The surprise.  I had to let it burn for a while in order to see if it would melt too fast and overflow the container so I set it right next to me, lit, smelling wonderful, looking lovely, and crackling like a nice little fire. Wait a minute, . . . . I haven't been able to hear very well since New Years' Eve weekend when I developed a double ear infection (I also had an eye infection and strep throat, but oye, I never complain). I have been watching the TV with the volume in the 70s, saying "pardon me" too many times to count, and now I am hearing the wonderful little crackling sound of this candle.

After ten days of antibiotics I had begun to wonder how much of my hearing loss was going to be permanent. Then with the second round almost gone I was beginning to get used to having people repeat things. How easily we accept troubles sometimes.

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I believe when we have troubles we need to go to our maker first with all of them, then our doctors, and our family and friends. And just like taking antibiotics - the label usually says to finish all medication - we need to stand firm. Answers may not come instantly, but look for little reminders that an "answer-er" is listening. A glimmer of a candle, the sparkle of an explosion of glass that causes NO cuts! Keep taking your medication (NOTE: If you see listening to God as the medication, just remember it is a lifetime prescription), before you know it you will see improvement. Carefully the glass is removed making big and little toes safe, the candle is made beautifully useful again, and there will be some kind of love letter from God if you look for it. Who knows? Maybe He will whisper sweet nothings in your ear!  B^)