Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 28th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “throw in the towel.” Use the phrase “throw in the towel” somewhere in your post. Enjoy!
The phrase we’re asked to use came from the sport of boxing. Well, it used to be a ‘sport’.
Yep, it’s a bit barbaric but compared to ancient Rome and gladiators, not so much. And those boxers are willing participants.
I used to watch Friday Night Boxing with my grandfather when I was about 6 or 7. (It was usually sponsored by Piels beer. I’ve posted one below. Notice there’s no disclaimer to not ‘drink and drive’. People, back then, knew better on their own, I guess. LOL)
Wait… let’s back up a bit. So, the phrase “throw in the towel” was synonymous with “crying Uncle” or for you younger folks, “giving up”. The manager would throw the towel he carried on his shoulder, for wiping his boxer’s face between rounds, into the ring if he realized that his guy was taking too much of a beating. Then the fight was over.
Back in the 60s, boxing was a popular sport. Was it dangerous? Yes. But it was no more potentially dangerous to one’s health than felling trees, or playing football, or building ‘towering skyscrapers’ and it was one way, inner-city, working-class men could make a living. Not the glamorous millionaire kind of today but a bare living.
But as all ‘sports’ have gone, so has boxing and it’s all about the ‘money’ now. There used to be technique and lots of training. Now it’s hype and showmanship.
I learned that there were two kinds of combatants…sluggers and boxers. The sluggers were just looking for a “knock out” and had powerful punches. The boxers were quick and skilled at endurance. They trained to deflect and ‘dance’ while wearing out their bulkier rivals by going the 10 rounds. The rings also varied. Some were larger than others. The smaller ones advantaged the sluggers because their rival had less area to avoid them optimizing the chances of a lucky blow. The large rings did the opposite. A skilled boxer could avoid exchanging blows as often and could tire out his rival (taking his arm strength away from fatigue) by making him the pursuer.
Which brings me to those Rocky movies. What the heck? That’s not ‘boxing’! Once I watched the first one and saw the back-and-forth carnage allowed, I “threw in the towel” on ever watching another one. If money doesn’t ruin something, Hollywood surely will!
https://lindaghill.com/2023/01/27/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2023-daily-prompt-jan-28th/
Tag: movies
Saturday Night Reminiscing 5/28/21- Tombstone
Either you love Western movies or you don’t.
If Tombstone isn’t one of your all time favorite films, this post isn’t for you.
I grew up on TV westerns. I truly believe they laid a foundation for my own value system including courage, loyalty, and living deliberately in a world that owes no one anything.
I want to showcase this movie tonight. One of those ‘I’ll never get tired of watching types”.
I’m sure I’ll be showcasing others in the future but this is my pick for the Number 1 spot.
Enjoy!
The Wizard of Oz-Classic Terror
I read a delightful post yesterday. It touched a nerve though. There is no terror greater than the fears of children. As Stephen Edwards points out, childhood fear defies reason. It shakes a kid to the core and follows them like a shadow.
What Me Worry?
That post of childhood worries brought back memories of fears that my sister had when she was 5 years old.
We grew up in New England yet my sister feared tornadoes. Not a simple fear. Not a rational fear, because tornadoes don’t live in New England. Actually, terror was a more fitting description.
As soon as our skies would darken and thunder rumbled, my sister was overcome. Her trembling was often accompanied by vomiting. Where in the world did her fear come from?
The Wizard of Oz, famed classic for children, was the culprit.
There are many “kids” films that I would not recommend for children and The Wizard of Oz tops my list.
Finding Nemo may have portrayed the real-life likelihood of fish becoming prey BUT I think it is also a film only for kids over 7 years old. The opening segment contains too many ideas better kept from small children. Kids should not be worrying about the mortality of their parents when they are little. Finding Nemo brings up that very subject. Bambi and Land Before Time are also on my “not before 8” list for the same theme. Just because a film is produced by Disney does not mean it is good for children. When you think about the stories brought to movies for the kids of today, the kids of yesterday, could only access them once they were old enough to read them. I therefore recommend being vigilant “pre-screeners” of the content of children’s movies.
We are the guardians of innocence for kids. Let’s help them keep it for as long as possible.
Making Memories on the Computer
In 2007, I sat down at a computer for the first time. With very little experience, I embarked on an enlightening and creative journey that changed my life. I didn’t even know how to press “enter” to skip to the next line of text but was determined to learn about this contraption.
I started in MySpace and became familiar with methods like “copy and paste”. I learned that a right-click on the mouse offered options and sampled them. Soon I was browsing sites and looking for ideas. I found Yahoo Answers and asked very ridiculously basic questions that most folks politely answered. One was, “How does one make those short films with titles?”. It was there that I was told about “Movie Maker” within my own computer.
I played for many “all nighters” and learned tricks that I could apply to other computer uses. I found sites like ONETRUEMEDIA where I was coached in basic film making. If you’ve never tried it, I know you’ll like it.
Armed with a Kodak digital camera, I made my first film on my movie maker.
(After following this link, you are welcome to sample other keepsake films made by grandma/sillyfrog.)
Talk about perfect timing! I had a two-year old granddaughter who went on to star in my films. My beloved pet, Ollie, shares that stage.
My daughter has announced that I will become a grandma for the second time near Katherine’s 7th birthday. Wow, there will be another star for my films!
Secondhand Lions
I wanted to share a clip from one of my all-time favorite movies. Of course, my all-time favorite actor is Robert Duvall.
If I were to have to choose watching movies that contain one common actor, they would be all those with Robert Duvall.
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Secondhand Lions
- Lonesome Dove
If you have not had the opportunity to see all these films, I highly recommend them!
Books Versus Their Movie Versions
Only one Book and Movie were equals…
I might have said that the book is ALWAYS better but my book club just read To Kill a Mockingbird. I have never seen a movie that was truer to a book than that one!
They are so close that they are equally spectacular and their meaning is identical.
Gregory Peck will always be Atticus Finch. A better casting choice I have never witnessed.
A real bomb of an expectation came after I read Michael Crighton’s “Congo” then saw the movie…that movie was the most terrible experience.
I recommend the books over movies 99 times out of 100.
Animals in Cinema
So I was watching a Western movie last night. It is a genre that I really enjoy. Those cowboys were my heroes when I was a kid.
The chase scenes in westerns are exciting. It was a very long time before I realized that movie horses were bullet proof. Yup, they are easily three times a bigger target than a man and rarely do they get shot.
The bullets were a blarin’ , the riders were a bouncin’ up and down and the horses never got a scrape! Gosh, they must be bullet proof. When you think about it, many horses must have been injured or killed if those chase scenes were ,at all, accurate in real life. A true “bad guy” (the guys who wore black hats, except for Hopalong Cassidy and Adam Cartwright.) would take the option of shooting a large target like a horse. PETA was nowhere to be seen in them days.
I have fun watching actors change horses in mid scene. Silverado was a fun western to notice this about. At one angle, the hero is racing up a hill on a black horse and as he rides down the other side…presto, it’s a brown horse with a white stripe on its face. Amazing!
Guess you know what interested me most while I watched?
The old Roman movies were also cool and, the horses were spear proof even then. My favorite game was to watch the horses. When the impaled men fell from these magnificent beasts, I’d decide which animal that I’d jump onto and ride off with, if given the chance.
Even TV westerns were full of horsey stunt doubles. I got so used to watching these horses that I’d notice them in every western of the time period. Especially, Nick Barkley’s horse Cocoa. That horse had a brown mane and black body with a very unique blaze of white on his face. He made appearances in John Wayne movies too.
Luckily Lassie had long hair. She was always portrayed by a male dog. I was on Grandpa’s farm enough to know the difference. They couldn’t fool me.
Did you know that Moose, (of Fraiser fame known as Eddie),had his son take over his role? As Moose got older, Enzo took his place. Heck,I knew Eddie was different!
In closing, I must get a really big irritation off of my chest.
Have you ever watched the cartoon called Back in the Barnyard? All of the cattle have udders! Most of the cattle are males.
If cartoons decide to be anatomically specific, get it right, will ya! Poor kids are confused enough about nature these days…
Sillyfrog's Blog 