Rifleman Harris

--from www.completeseanbean.com

I just finished a most intriguing book that was first published in 1848. The full title is Recollections of Rifleman Harris (Old 95th) with Anecdotes of his Officers and his Comrades by Benjamin Randell Harris. Rifleman Harris was an English foot soldier from Dorset who served in the British army from 1803 to 1814. Rifleman Harris fought in the Peninsular War (1808-1814). Before the Peninsular War, Harris was trained and then sent to Ireland on a recruiting mission. He then was deployed to Denmark and saw action near Copenhagen. Harris was illiterate, but after his service, he became a cobbler in London. One of the officers from the war (Captain Henry Curling) found Harris and persuaded Harris to tell him of his wartime experiences. Harris lived to see his experiences published by Curling.

I have to tell that the only war book I recall reading previously and deliberately was Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose after watching the TV series. Again, I read the story of Rifleman Harris only because I recently discovered the Sharpe series. Richard Sharpe is a soldier from the 95th Rifles based on a fictional character created by Bernard Cornwell. Apparently, Mr. Cornwell read Rifleman Harris' book and was inspired to create his Sharpe character. One of the soldiers that Sharpe commands is a "Rifleman Harris," loosely based on Benjamin Randell Harris.

Harris' account of his Peninsular War years was just as bloody and violent as the Sharpe series presents. One of his first tasks as a soldier was to be part of a firing squad. Harris recounts numerous times how one of his comrades died or was killed. An example is how a fellow soldier's head is blown off by a cannonball and the trunk was still upright briefly. Another is how a comrade was shot in the thigh and the bullet had hit an artery so death came quickly. Amazingly, Harris survived battle after battle and march after march during the war. He was finally brought down by some sort of ague (fever) contracted after marching through a marshy area near Walcheren, the Netherlands. Harris then served in a veteran's unit but the fever returned again and he could not make an assignment. Therefore, he never received a pension from the army. Not much was known about his personal life except that he was born in Portsea, Hampshire, and his father was a shepherd. After the army, he established his cobbler's shop in London. Harris received a medal for his army service in 1848, one for which application had to be made and one had to be alive to apply after serving and surviving one of the many wars from 1793 to 1814.

--MGSM (Military general service medal) from Wikpedia

Only recently did I see the last two installments of the Sharpe series on PBS' Masterpiece Theatre, the first Sharpe's I have seen. This wonderful series began in 1993 and the final installment was filmed in 2008. The series stars Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe. Currently, I am on the sixth installment from the beginning (Sharpe's Gold) thanks to Netflix. I highly recommend the series. Somehow, I missed this series through the years--or my local PBS affiliate did not show it--who knows? I am just glad I found the shows and they have piqued my interest in the Napoleonic Wars. Who would have thought that I would want to know more about Lord Wellington?

--Duke of Wellington from www.theodorewhite.net

Wordless Wednesday: More Antibes!

--the spices at the open market

--an old clothes washing site

These two pictures show two places I distinctly remember when I was in Antibes. Thanks to my friend Martha for taking these. Click to enlarge.

Trip to Archer City

A few weeks ago, I spent a Saturday driving to Archer City, Texas from the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex and back. The trip takes approximately 2 1/2 hours one way. Why in the world would I drive to Archer City, Texas, and back? I wanted to check out Larry McMurtry's book stores in his hometown (see previous posting) and get out of the city and see some scenery. There are four separate buildings of Booked Up at this time. Three of the buildings are on the main drag of the town and the fourth is not far. I visited the three that were close together and left the fourth so that I would have a reason to return in the next few months. Why not? The drive across 6 counties (Collin, Denton, Wise, Clay, Montague, and Archer) from home and back was interesting because I had never been in the north central Texas counties of Clay, Montague, and Archer. How does that happen when one has lived in the state for 48 years and has been from Orange to El Paso and Dallas to Brownsville? The closest larger city is Wichita Falls and I don't recall having been there either. I was interested to see the terrain as it is relatively flat where I live (Collin County). Springtime was in full bloom and there had been recent rains so the scenery was still lush before the current high temperatures. I saw lots of horses and cattle. Used to you would see fields of cattle not too far from Dallas and Ft. Worth, but urban sprawl and development has stymied these scenes of late. I enjoyed the pastoral views and herds of animals. The land was a little less flat and had some outcrops and ridges to vary the horizon, too.

--Texas scenery

But what about the stores? Booked Up #1 was the main headquarters where you made your purchases, even if you found the books in the other three buildings. The main room had a table and chairs to sit and read or visit, as well as some offices and cases full of many of McMurtry's rare books on display, as well as some artwork/memorabilia, and the music of James McMurtry for sale (he is Larry's son). Also in Building 1 is the huge staging area for the sorting of books that the store buys of other rare book collections from across the country.

If I would have spent the entire time in Building 1, I would not have been disappointed. Also in this building were different genres such as Native American, Texana, Psychology,  and others. Buildings 2 and 3 were equally as interesting, but I remember Building 3 containing fiction. This is where I found a lot of books, as well as in the staging area. Here are the books I finally decided to purchase:

 

I left Archer City going back the same way I came until I reached the small German town of Windthorst nearby and then I took another route home, looping through Jack County. The sky was overcast and colorful at times, but it never rained and was quite sunny at other times. I had put this trip off a few weeks due to the springtime rains and just decided to go no matter what this particular weekend. Approximately 7 hours and 7 counties later, I was back home  looking through my cache.

Wordless Wednesday: Austin Sunset

--Sunset over Lake Travis from The Oasis (Photo courtesy of Martha Witebsky)

Other Wordless Wednesday participants can be seen HERE.

Viewing: Bella

I watched the 2006 film Bella yesterday through Netflix. I can't remember selecting the movie for my queue and I had it in my possession for quite a while before watching. What a gem of a movie Bella is . . .

Set in New York City, Bella chronicles one day in the life of two people, Jose and Nina. Both work for Jose's brother Manny at his restaurant. On this particular day, Nina is fired for being late numerous times and Jose, the main chef, walks off the job to spend the day with Nina. They were not close friends at the restaurant, just coworkers. Nina tells Jose that she is pregnant and wants to get an abortion as she is not ready to be a mother, doesn't love the father, and doesn't want to raise a baby by herself. Hence the reason she has been late, even though Manny was not interested in hearing any excuses from Nina. Throughout their day, Jose and Nina eat lunch at one of Jose's friend's restaurant and Nina gets a job offer, they go back to Manny's to retrieve Jose's phone and Jose and Manny have a confrontation, they take a bus to Jose's parents' house near the beach, they have dinner with his parents and another brother and his girlfriend, and they spend the night on the beach talking and talking. Finally, the next morning they head back to the city and Jose goes back to the restaurant for a new day. 

Interspersed throughout the film are flashbacks showing Jose's story of being signed to a professional soccer team and what happened in his life to get him from professional soccer player to chef at his brother's restaurant. Nina also tells Jose her story of an unhappy life and loneliness. By the end of the movie, I had a feeling of how things would be resolved, but I wasn't completely on track.

I enjoyed all of the performances by all of the actors in Bella. I had never seen most of them previously. Eduardo Verástegui was phenomenal as Jose, as was Tammy Blanchard as Nina. The actors who played all of Jose's family members were exceptional. 

Mr. Verástegui has an interesting website managed by one of his friends. I especially enjoyed pictures from Mr. Verástegui's travels in Europe.

The movie contains a message, bothersome I am sure to some, but not to me.  How did I miss this movie for so long? Not to mention the wonderful actors and director, Alejandro Gomez Monteverde? I have no clue. I am only glad that I did see Bella and highly recommend the film. Some time has passed and I notice these actors have not been in too many other movies, but I sure hope they continue to star in more in the future. See Bella for yourself and tell me what you think.

The Pipes of Pan

--Pablo Picasso and Gerald Murphy photographed in Antibes in the early 1920's.

--Pablo Picasso. The Pipes of Pan. 1923. Oil on canvas. Musée Picasso, Paris, France. Picasso was perhaps inspired by the previous photograph.

Etcetera after the Long Weekend

One  of  my  favorite  things  to  do  on  Sundays is to read the New York Times. Last Sunday, in the Times’ Magazine, Deborah Solomon interviewed John Waters. The question and answer that stood out to me was:

As a Catholic who attended parochial school, do you have any sympathy for the pope?

No. I feel that Catholics who hide child molesters in the church are worse than child molesters. I don’t think anyone chooses to be a child molester. I think they’re terrible; I think they rob children of their dreams; they should be stopped. However, clergy that hide them do have a choice, and I think they’re worse than the molesters themselves.

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Another interesting article I read was about Sparky Lyle, the Yankee pitcher from the 70’s. Sparky is coaching a minor league team now.

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I went to see Robin Hood over the holiday weekend and I thought the film was well done. Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett were perfect for their roles as Robin and Marian. I noticed that some of the “merry men” were some of Crowe’s cronies that starred with him in Mystery, Alaska from years ago. I also enjoyed seeing William Hurt and Max von Sydow. The movie was bloody and violent, and romantic and funny. Mark Strong is once again cast as the villain, as he also was in Sherlock Holmes recently. And I so did not recognize Matthew Macfadyen as the Sheriff of Nottingham.

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This week is the second week of the French Open at Roland Garros. At this moment Federer and Soderling are playing and Soderling is up 2 sets to 1 but the 4th set is tied. Oh, the drama. Come on, Roger!

--from www.rolandgarros.com