In the words of Ricky Bobby….

“Because I Piss Excellence” (I’ve always wanted to use that in one of my posts…I’m weird that way.) It’s going to be a busy week for me. Tomorrow we’re having our new flooring put in, and I have to be here at the house to keep our “man eating” 26 pound Cocker Spaniel from eating the floor guys. Tuesday they’re going to come and finish up the floor, PLUS it’s Merry SITSmas over at The Secret is in the Sauce, you never know what might show up in my post for Merry SITSmas. Wednesday Laci goes to be beautified at the groomer. Thursday I have the consultation about getting my wisdom teeth pulled. Somewhere in there I have to write my post about my 10 favorite things that begin with the letter “J” that I got from Heather over at This is the day…” and do essential things like eat and sleep too….I guess I’m just going to have to learn how to do it all!

It Sucks being hurt

I got hurt again last night at work. This year it’s the right hand, last year it was the left (the one that I write with). The diagnosis for now is Bone Contusion but if I experience anymore pain at the base of my thumb in a week I’m supposed to go have another X-Ray done by my doctor to see if there is a potential acute fracture in my wrist somewhere. I promise to go into more detail later….it’s kind of hard to do much with this big bulky splint on my hand….What’s worse, is I mouse right handed.

Why Men Should Not Have Action Figures

A Legal Question

Is this statutory rape??? Or is It just a moosedemeanor…..?

The Searchers

The Searchers movie poster

I am a HUGE fan of John Wayne and John Ford movies. First, I’d like to say if you haven’t seen this movie, The Searchers, I highly recommend it. You get the chance to see John Wayne play his most complex character yet…. Ethan Edwards. Though I must warn you that there are a LOT of complex racial and sexual issues dealt with in the content of this movie.

The Searchers Trailer

“In ”The Searchers” I think Ford was trying, imperfectly, even nervously, to depict racism that justified genocide; the comic relief may be an unconscious attempt to soften the message. Many members of the original audience probably missed his purpose; Ethan’s racism was invisible to them, because they bought into his view of Indians. Eight years later, in ”Cheyenne Autumn,” his last film, Ford was more clear. But in the flawed vision of ”The Searchers” we can see Ford, Wayne and the Western itself, awkwardly learning that a man who hates Indians can no longer be an uncomplicated hero.” Robert Epert


John Wayne as Ethan Edwards

Ethan Edwards is an ex-Confederate soldier who never really surrendered after the end of the war between the states. For a couple of years he just wondered around the country, he may have even been an outlaw, nobody really seems to know. Then he decides to head for his brothers ranch in Texas. Ethan has a HUGE problem with indians and his adopted nephew Martin Pauley is 1/8 Cherokee, which causes some problems along the way. Then comes the massacre at his brothers ranch, where his brother’s family is slaughtered and his two nieces are taken captive (one of which is later killed also.) Which brings us to the 5 year quest to find his youngest niece that was captured by the Comanche’s who massacred his family. At first it was a mission to rescue her and bring her home but as time wore on it became more a mission to find her and kill her because “Livin’ with Comanche’s ain’t being alive.”

One of the most famous scenes from the movie….this photo really doesn’t do it justice though…you’ll have to see the movie to truly appreciate why it’s so famous.

“Ethan Edwards, fierce, alone, a defeated soldier with no role in peacetime, is one of the most compelling characters Ford and Wayne ever created (they worked together on 14 films). Did they know how vile Ethan’s attitudes were? I would argue that they did, because Wayne was in his personal life notably free of racial prejudice, and because Ford made films with more sympathetic views of Indians. This is not the instinctive, oblivious racism of Griffith’s ”Birth of a Nation.” Countless Westerns have had racism as the unspoken premise; this one consciously focuses on it. I think it took a certain amount of courage to cast Wayne as a character whose heroism was tainted. Ethan’s redemption is intended to be shown in that dramatic shot of reunion with Debbie, where he takes her in his broad hands, lifts her up to the sky, drops her down into his arms, and says, ”Let’s go home, Debbie.” The shot is famous and beloved, but small counterbalance to his views throughout the film–and indeed, there is no indication be thinks any differently about Indians.” Robert Epert

If you listen and watch closely you will also see that John Ford was a VERY crafty man. Though there are A LOT of racial and sexual issues dealt with in the content of this movie, there are also A LOT of “religious” and “faith symbols” used in this movie as well. I don’t want to say too much but in the end this is a story of redemption against almost “impossible” odds.

The shot at the end of the movie

Cast

John Wayne: Ethan Edwards

Jeffrey Hunter: Martin Pawley

Vera Miles: Laurie Jorgensen

Ward Bond: Capt. Rev. Samuel Clayton

Natalie Wood: Debbie Edwards

John Qualen: Lars Jorgensen

Olive Carey: Mrs. Jorgensen

Henry Brandon: Chief Scar

Ken Curtis: Charlie McCorry

Harry Carey Jr.: Brad Jorgensen

Antonio Moreno: Emilio Figueroa

Hank Worden: Mose Harper

Lana Wood: Debbie as a Child

Walter Coy: Aaron Edwards

Dorothy Jordan: Martha Edwards

Pippa Scott: Lucy Edwards

Robert Leyden: Ben

Patrick Wayne: Lt. Greenhill

Beulah Archuletta: Look

Jack Pennick: Sergeant

Peter Mamakos: Futterman

William Steele: Nesby

Cliff Lyons: Col. Greenhill

Chuck Roberson: Man at Wedding

Ruth Clifford: Deranged Woman at Fort

Mae Marsh: Woman at Fort

Dan Borzage: Accordionist at Funeral

Away Luna: Comanche

Billy Yellow: Comanche

Bob Many Mules: Comanche

Exactly Sonnie Betsuie: Comanche

Feather Hat Jr.: Comanche

Harry Black Horse: Comanche

Jack Tin Horn: Comanche

Many Mules Son: Comanche

Shooting Star: Comanche

Pete Grey Eyes: Comanche

Pipe Line Begishe: Comanche

Smile White Sheep: Comanche

Jamie/BITRCountryGirl

Movie Posts

I like to share my favorite movies with my friends out there in the blogging community, that is why I do my movie posts. The best thing about doing movie posts is that I have a very eclectic taste in movies. I love all sorts of different movies which is the more fun for you the readers in the long run. I just posted my first movie post on this blog a little bit ago, about one of my many favorite movies.

The Searchers

Jamie/BITRCountryGirl

A Little Breakfast in Bed

Ode to little black tufts of dog hair

It’s really hard to even be in our house right now because we keep coming across little tufts of black dog hair. Our Shawna was shedding something fierce the last couple of weeks and after yesterday it’s just really rough on some of us when we see the little tufts of hair.

Some will probably see this post and think…”It’s just a dog.” but we’ve had this trash can raider for 17 of her 19 years so she’s a valued member of our family and actually hasn’t thought of herself as a dog for MANY years. If your not a pet owner I guess you wouldn’t understand but if you are and you have loved and lost a pet you can probably understand what my family is feeling right now.

The upside is that she felt no pain in the end and we were all there with her so she was with familiar people at the end. We’re having her cremated so she’ll be here with us again in a week or two. Laci misses her like the devil….she’s been looking up and down for Shawna since last night and just has not been acting like her normal self either. I’m hoping that it will start to hurt less in the next few days….but that may just be wishful thinking on my part.

Jamie/BITRCountryGirl

Repost: Vietman Veteran

When I was in high school I was a member of our high school’s FFA chapter. Every other year we would go to the National FFA Convention in Louisville, Kentucky (It’s in Indianapolis now). Well the first year that I went one of the guest speakers was a Vietnam veteran who was SEVERLY wounded. He was disfigured and he only had a few fingers and a couple of nubs left on both of his hands as a result of a bomb going off near him in battle.

He said that while he was lying in his hospital bed he was thinking to himself that it would have been better off for everyone back home if he had just died in the explosion. He had his mind set that his wife would no longer love him due to his disfigurment and all of his battle scars. He didn’t want to be dependant on anyone just to maintain a “normal” life and he knew he would have to if he made it home. So as he told us, he made the decision to pull out the IV that was basically keeping him alive. As he was lying there waiting to die, he started to get really hungry. It had turned out that he had pulled out his feeding tube. He took that as a sign from God that He had something bigger planed for this gentleman. He went home and lived as “normal” of a life as he possibly could considering his “condition.”

At the end of his talk with us he sat down at a grand piano and played a piece by Mozart (I believe that was it) and got a standing ovation from several THOUSAND FFA members from around the country. This is just one example of how people make lemonade when they are dealt a bunch of lemons in life.

Peace,

Jamie

Happy Thanksgiving

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