SOUNDTRACK: “Pachelbel’s Canon” from Pachelbel’s briefcase—also from the film Ordinary People which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1980.
Johann Pachelbel was a 17th century German Baroque composer. His Canon in D opened the film, and Robert Redford, the director, was responsible for making Johann famous once again and for having everyone who saw the film stay at the end to find out about the music.
By Paul Goldfinger MD, Editor Blogfinger.net
The recording below is by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (“Hu RPO”) which is the most famous orchestra in England:
“I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty, and stupidity.
“Respect for religion has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of religion.’
“Religions like all other ideas deserve criticism, satire and, yes, our fearless disrespect.”
(Editor’s note: Salman Rushdie is a British-Indian author who wrote Satanic Verses, a novel, in 1989. As a result of that, the Iran Ayatollah issued a fatwa on him. He had to go into hiding for years. He has lived in the U.S. since 2000 and currently teaches at a major American University. He is a courageous man.)
As a blogger, I feel strongly about freedom of the press/speech and the need for democracies to defend that idea. Blogfinger has had a few individuals in Ocean Grove go out of their way to actively try to diminish what I am doing, but their small and intolerant voices have only encouraged me to stay the course and to hopefully encourage you Blogarians to keep participating in our experiment in hyperlocal reporting. You may, at times, not like what I do, but it benefits everyone if you support the process.
CRAIG OGDEN “Cavatina” from the soundtrack of Deer Hunter, a film about men going to war to fight for freedom in Vietnam.
Ocean Pathway. May, 2013. Police Memorial. By Paul Goldfinger. Click once to enlarge.
From Oklahoma: Horses make me think of this show by Rodgers and Hammerstein II especially when Curly rides a horse on stage at the opening. He sings “Oh What a Beautiful Morning.”
But this time we have the “Farmer and the Cowman.”
Monmouth Battlefield State Park. Photograph atop Combs Hill. By Paul Goldfinger 2014. . Click once to enlarge.
Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor Blogfinger.net
The Battle of Monmouth took place in the vicinity of Monmouth Courthouse in Freehold.
On a blistering hot day on June 28, 1778 the land that is now Monmouth Battlefield State Park was the site of one of the longest battles of the American Revolutionary War.
From the “State Parks Information”: “Here at Monmouth, Washington restored a reputation battered by defeats in 1777. In the day-long battle in the hills, wood lots, farm fields and meadows, the main Continental Army, retrained at Valley Forge, repulsed attacks by the main British Army.
By the end, over 600 men were dead, dying or wounded and the Continental Army held the field.”
The vista above is from Combs Hill where the Continental Army had placed their artillery.
The park is a beautiful place where you can visit, picnic, ride horses or sleighs. The visitor center is near where I was standing to make this photograph. The address is 16 Rt 33 Business in Manalapan.
I enjoy photographing battlefields, although this is only my second. The first is Gettysburg which we have visited quite a few times. Battlefields are evocative of so many qualities of man including bravery, fighting for right and freedom, loyalty and sacrifice.
It seems as if you can time- travel back in such a place as this, and that is an emotional experience.
I tried to capture that mood in this photograph which is much better felt in black and white than with color. —
Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net
BAND OF HM ROYAL MARINES: “Main Theme from Saving Private Ryan” (2006) Written by John Williams.
NORA JONES: This song, “The Nearness of You” was written by Hoagie Carmichael in 1938 for the movie “Romance in the Dark.” It was sung in the film by an actress, but the hit version on the charts was by the Glenn Miller Orchestra with the vocal by Ray Eberle.
Norah Jones recorded it in 2002 for her album “Come Away With Me.”
Phillip Seymour Hoffman* was a great actor, although he sometimes made weird movies. In 2010 he directed his first film called “Jack Goes Boating.” It’s supposed to be a romantic comedy, but the four characters are depressing. I forced myself to watch it for the sake of the soundtrack, but I couldn’t get past the first half.
The music, on the other hand, is varied and interesting. We recently posted one of the songs on BF — a re-do of “Blue Moon,” which is quite wonderful. Here is the link:
The song which opens the film, however, is “The Rivers of Babylon” by a reggae style (“rock steady”) Jamaican group from the 1960’s and 1970’s called the Melodians who had embarked on some Rastafarian themes in their work, resulting in an international hit called “The Rivers of Babylon” recorded in 1969.
The song was chosen to open the movie, and I really liked it. Then I listened carefully to the lyrics (I’m always first attracted to the music — then the lyrics.)
It turns out that the Melodians were using parables taken from Psalm 137 which tells the story of the invasion of the ancient kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE. This Jewish nation was destroyed by the Babylonians who, after demolishing the first holy Temple, carted off most of the Israelites as slaves to Babylon (now Iraq).
The rivers in the song title refer to the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. What does this Bible story have to do with the movie? — I ‘m not sure.
The middle east around 586 BCE.
But here is “The Rivers of Babylon” from Jack Goes Boating. — (*Phillip Seymour Hoffman passed in 2014.)
Brittany Primavera on the OG beach. Photo by Marc Steiner for the New York Times
In an article dated July 17, 2013, New York Times reporter Alex Williams caught up with recent law school graduate Brittany Primavera, who was studying for the bar exam in a sand chair in Ocean Grove.
Evidently, it is not unusual for new grads (Brittany is from Seton Hall University School of Law) to go somewhere peaceful to cram for the test without surrounding themselves with anxiety, such as is found in the University Library which is located in the concrete jungle of Newark, near Penn Station.
So Brittany rented a house in the Grove and spends her days on the beach, getting tan and cramming for the test.
Note: 2021. Brittany is now Senior Consul for a New York law firm. )
Note: 2025 Brittany is now a “Super Lawyer”—a partner in the NYC office of the GRSM Law Firm—a national practice.
RANI ARBO AND DAISY MAHEM from the 2010 album “Ranky Tanky.” (This is a 1970 Cat Stevens song from the film “Harold and Maude.”)
Thanks to Dennis Caren for alerting us to this stylish development. It is the sort of information sharing that we hope for on Blogfinger.
Paul Goldfinger. Naples, Florida Click once to enlarge.
MATT MONRO “And We Were Lovers” Theme music from the 1966 film “The Sand Pebbles” with Steve McQueen which was nominated for best picture. It was about the US Navy in a turbulent China, 1926.
