Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Sorry, but I've been lazy this morning. I spent it with Miss Eunice Habersham and a Fourth Generation Warfare samurai.

There is no news. There is only the truth of the signal. What I see. And, there's the puppet theater the Parliament jesters foist on the somnambulant public. -- Mr. Universe, Serenity, 2005.
Crawford Gowrie: Miss Haversham, I'm not gonna touch yuh now. You're an old lady, but you're in the wrong. You're fightin' the whole county, but you're gonna get tired, and when yuh do get tired, we're gonna go in.
Miss Eunice Habersham: [Unflustered] I'm goin' for eighty, and I'm not tired yet. -- Intruder in the Dust, 1949.
Rosey let me oversleep this morning and quietly went out the door without waking me. She figured, correctly, that I was still trying to catch up on the checks cashed on my Oregon trip. Now when I arise late, I tend toward lazy the rest of the day and when I got my grits for breakfast, I settled down in front of the television to watch the news but immediately became disenchanted with what Mr. Universe called "the puppet theatre."
So I flipped the channel over to Turner Classic Movies in time to catch the opening of the film based on the William Faulkner classic, Intruder in the Dust. It had been ages since I saw it and the gritty old Southern lady character of Miss Eunice Habersham, who faces off a lynch mob never gets old for me. She epitomizes the determined minority of the Three Percent.
After that, I briefly considered getting busy but made the mistake of flipping over to the recorded movies on the box and lo, and behold, was a Akiro Kurusawa movie that I had never seen, Sanjuro.
I was immediately taken by the intellectual subtlety and 4GW nature of the plot and with the wisdom of Kurusawa's ronin Sanjûrô Tsubaki, who observes, "Stupid friends are dangerous." and "You tired of being stupid yet?" and of course the eternal truth: "If it sounds to good to be true it usually is."
Like Intruder in the Dust, this is a movie that all Three Percenters need to see, for it not only explores the mental aspects of 4GW but the moral foundations as well. So, perhaps it was not a wasted morning after all.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

omg love "*dirty grits" with a couple of over easy eggs chopped into them, that's the kind of meal that puts meat on your bones or energy for hard work.

Glad to see you enjoying some "me" time! Relax it's OK we ain't going any where. See you here tomorrow.


*dirty grits - to pot of grits water add butter(I use half stick for 4 people), a lot of pepper, salt to taste, while the water is heating, pan fry some pork sausage(spicy if you like), drain grease, add sausage grits near the end of cooking, using the same sausage pan fry up some over easy eggs, toss into grits pot and chop them in, serve hot or spread on sheet pan to cool then cut into squares, refrigerate after cutting. Enjoy!
Looks like dirty mess but God does it taste good!
Have made this for 140 soldiers and NEVER ANY LEFT OVERS LOL

Drew in Michigan
Dam [got me hungry typing this] going to make some now for me and the kids

Anonymous said...

ANd besides, you got some R&R. A change is as good as a rest. This will give you some recharged energy reserves for tomorrow.

B Woodman
III-per

Anonymous said...

"Intruder in the Dust" reflects today very well when you consider that the person guilty of the crime is the person inciting the lynching, reminds me of our now a days race baiters, don't ya know.

Anonymous said...

I recommend "Yojimbo" as well.(translation: The Bodyguard)starring Toshiro Mifune as well. Yojimbo was remade as "A Fistful of Dollars", starring Clint Eastwood.

Toshiro Mifune was a student of Yoshio Sugino of the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, (Ryu = School) and became an excellent swordsman in his own right, a fact apparent to anyone who watches his "Samurai" movies, most especially Yojimbo, Sanjiro, and his portrayal of Musashi Miyamoto (the author of "Book of Five Rings") in Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy.

"The Seven Samurai" is another of Kuroswa's films worth watching. Again, Hollywood agreed, remaking it as "The Magnificent Seven" starring Steve McQueen, Yule Bryner,
James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Charles Bronson, and Eli Wallach. You may also wish to look up "The Hidden Fortress", which George Lucas credits as the inspiration for the first "Star Wars" movie.

There is a thread running through Japanese fighting philosophy that you may well "lose" in the end, but that this is acceptable if you do damage out of proportion to that fact. To put it another way, to lose your head but take 100 more before that happens is acceptable. In addition, while we focus rightfully on the firearm as a primary weapon, IMHO we would all do well not to overlook the blade, of whatever type. Inside 6-8 feet is is very difficult to defend against even a semi-skilled opponent, and it is QUIET....this in conjunction with the element of surprise, your chances are very, very good indeed.

oughtsix said...


Mike, I watched that same "Intruder..." movie this morning. Nice to know we were musing along together. I'd never seen it, and missed quite a bit of it as I readied for my day, but I got the gist. I'll see it through some day and I wholeheartedly concur with your assessment of it. Glad you got some rest and spiritual refreshment.

Anon, @June 9, 2015 at 4:39 PM, I second all that you wrote as well. Your summation is why the 100 Heads Life and Casualty Assurance Corps is such a powerful idea.

I'm a Whole Life policy holder.