Although there is still two or so weeks left in this calendar year, we, along with the millions (give or take) of you out there that just want to have this year come to a close, we want to give our final farewells right here and now!
This was the year that nobody expected. When it all began on that January 1st, it was going to be the start of a new decade that would have been called “The Roarin’ 20’s 2.0”
We would have been doing crazy stunts such as flagpole sitting, making bathtub gin from a bathtub (duh!), and perhaps do those hot-cha-cha dances such as the charleston, cutting a rug to the hot jazz sounds coming from Coon-Sanders and the Kansas City Nighthawks, Bix Beiderbecke, or perhaps Duke Ellington. We would have been watching silent movies starring Clara Bow or Rudolf Valentino for drama, and laughing to the antics of Charlie Chaplin or The Keystone Kops. It would become a decade for the masses while the economy was booming with an unemployment rate a barely 3%, the lowest its been is some fifty years!
So what happened? Well, we did those crazy stunts such as wearing face masks. We drank enough gin, along with any kind of alcohol one could grab their hands on just to pass the time away or just to cope. We danced by ourselves on our own rugs in our homes since we were forced to stay there! We heard all of the jazz bands playing, with just about any form of music to keep our wits at bay through audio streaming sites. We also watched a lot of movies, TV shows, and just about anything we can find just to give us something to do because the movie houses were shut down. Many didn’t work due to massive layoffs. And those that did keep their jobs did it in our homes. We did zoom into the new year. Not through speed, but through teleconferencing for everything from business meetings and even baby showers! In short, instead of stepping on the good foot for the new year, we wound up stepping in a pile of dogs#it!
We can go on with the year, from civil unrest to racial divides to an election that was not rigged. (There’s proof folks, just in case you don’t believe us!) A new king was selected to run the kingdom that became a sorry state, while the previous commander in chief took his loss like a spoiled brat. All in all, good ol’ Charlie Dickens said it best. It was the best of times while it was the worst of times!
We are not trying to be nostalgic here, since much of what was being noted was anything but nostalgic! However, a lot of good that came out from all of this had reared its not-so-ugly head. It made people become fully aware of their personal situations. It made them break old habits they wanted to break but didn’t do such because they didn’t know how, or were just chickens#it to even try! A lot of others took advantage of many monetary based stimulus packages that were made available to those that really needed it, ranging from generous unemployment benefits to forgivable loans handed toward small businesses by way of the Small Business Administration. (For the record and as a disclaimer, this newsletter’s parent company applied for and received the said SBA loans.) Many of those improved their dwelling spaces for the better, performing tasks such as painting, cleaning, adding decorative and practical items, etc.. And in short, it was the kick in the rear that a lot of people really needed, yet didn’t realize that this swift kick should have been applied for generations of time!
But as this year sinks slowly in the west, east, north, and south, all we have right now is one word to apply for the next year-hope! There are a lot of hopes to pass around, and the new year would be the template to do it all. All that everyone has to do is to find that hope and take advantage of it, using the same method of doing that something or another that one wanted to do but never got around to it. This year, one finally got around to it! And it didn’t kill them in the process!
So with this being all said and done, we will thank everyone of you readers out their in cyberspace land for hanging in there! Think of that classic 1970‘s-era poster of the kitten handing on a horizontal wooden bar (stick?) with its front paws while exposing its underbody toward the viewer, with a single line of “Hang In There” printed above the photo of the said kitten! If you want to see a picture of the poster, use that Google search you’ve been using to find anything since this pandemic took hold!
See it now??
On December 14th, The Library of Congress’ National Film Preservation Board announced the twenty five film titles that will be entered as part of the LOC’s National Film Registry.
Under the guise of the National Film Preservation Act, the LOC chooses twenty five titles that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant. The films must be at least ten years old at the time of creation or public release, and must be an American production or co-production. Any motion picture can be chosen as long as it meets those guidelines, and do not necessarily have to be a commercial production. (Amateur and home movies can be selected.)
Each year, the LOC selects the titles are suggested by the LOC’s film preservation staff, moving image scholars, as well as the general public.
Listed below are the twenty five titles along with its year of release/creation. A “#” in front of the title indicates that it is a non-feature length film. (Short subject, amateur film, etc.) “D” indicates it is a documentary/non-fiction title.
#The Battle of the Century (1927)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Bread (1918)
(D)Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
Cabin in the Sky (1943)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
The Dark Knight (2008)
(D)The Devil Never Sleeps (1994)
(D)Freedom Riders (2010)
Grease (1978)
#The Ground (1993-2001)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Illusions (1982)
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
#Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914)
Lilies of the Field (1963)
Losing Ground (1982)
The Man With the Golden Arm (1955)
Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege (2006)
Outrage (1950)
Shrek (2001)
Suspense (1913)
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971)
Wattstax (1973)
#With Car and Camera Around the World (1929)
For more details on the above titles including titles of other films on the registry as well as how to vote for the 2021 selection, visit the LOC’s National Film Preservation Board web site at http://www.loc.gov/film
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This will be the final edition of Accessibly Live Off-Line for the calendar year. We’ll be taking the next two weeks off, only to return during the week of January 4th, 2021 to kick off our 25th anniversary year!
On behalf of the staff and management of Accessibly Live Off-Line, we wish each and everyone of you a very happy holiday season, and a better new year!
See you in ’21!
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