Camonica Club of North America: La Festa dell’ Inverno: Winter 2023

1979's 'Breaking Away' was a very memorable film. It's one of those movies with a lot of depth and background, despite it's relatively simple message. There's a lot about a young person trying to find themselves and their place, which is very relatable. The film is based on an actual race held annually at the University of Indiana, and the film was filmed in Bloomington, Indiana, and the cinematography was excellent, and really captured various moods.

The filming of the film's fictional 'Little 500', although again it is an actual race attended by 25,000 spectators annually, was excellent. It might have been filmed on the same day as the actual race. If you haven't seen this movie, then you probably should read no further! I love the metaphor of the final stage of the race, where "the Cutters" are well behind, and the protagonist David is exhausted from carrying the team on his back. Two of the Cutters are ordinary at best, then Mike was strong and athletic but is not a trained cyclist, and David is their superstar.

As the spent and banged up David comes in for his final stop, Mike jumps on the bike and through sheer determination and vitality, gets the team back within striking distance. Then comes one of the great underrated metaphors of film history! Going up against these well-trained collegiate teams, they're incredibly still in it. The other two teammates tape David's shoes to the pedals for the final stage, which powerfully symbolizes "there's NO going back now." No more substitutions, no more breaks, no more water. I don't really know if that would ever happen, as what if the cyclist had to stop for whatever reason? Then through guts and talent, David wins the race. In life, we all have a few ace cards that we can play decoy with, but eventually we have to just put our best out there; win, lose, or draw.

Looking back at the film "BREAKING AWAY" from 1979

Louis Rondoni

I'm related to Louie Rondoni as he was known, who was a very good competitive cyclist from San Mateo County back in the '50s, and maybe before that. His family, related on my paternal side, had come to the county earlier in the last century from the Ironwood-Hurley area.

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Nature is BARBARIC

Some time ago, I was looking out our front window back home. There were no houses across the street on the hillside, and there are a lot of trees, mostly pines, and a good number of birds. However, during the last couple of decades, ravens have moved into the area, and they don't like other birds around, so we saw less of them than what was usual before that. So on this day I spotted one of those pretty little white butterflies. I call them angels of the day due to their bright appearance in the sun, and their angelic motion. As I watched this white butterfly move along, and pondered my last days living in the home that we had for so many years, out springs a small black or dark grayish bird from the trees! To my surprise, it made a beeline towards the butterfly! It knew what it wanted, and the butterfly did also, and a chase ensued! The butterfly went into a surprisingly high rate of speed, then I lost track of them for a moment due to all of the background colors of the environment. In another moment, I spotted the bird on a branch, and I could see by it's beak and motions that it was clearly eating. It ate the butterfly.

After the ravens moved in, things would change in the local food chain. The ravens didn't tolerate anything except humans. They would stoop low and lunge at small dogs or cats. They particularly went after other birds, even going so far as to try to intimidate an occasional hawk when they entered the area. They kept a safe distance, but they at least tried to intimidate them, usually two-on-one. I think the animal they despised the most were sea gulls, who occasionally crossed over the mountain from back and forth between the bay and the ocean. One day I was in the kitchen, and I noticed a large amount of white feathers in the air, which really got my attention. When the feathers cleared, I could see ravens killing a sea gull on top of the house next to ours. They then fed on it. Although we commonly think of nature as being serene, which it is, we always seem to forget it's brutal side. When our pets enter it, they become part of the food chain, and we do as well!

There are videos of rabbits eating their young. or puppies eating one of their siblings alive. Very graphic videos! If we shrunk down to eight inches tall, and walked in a nearby park or hillside, dogs and cats would suddenly become defacto grizzly bears and Bengal tigers! How do we know that our own pets wouldn't do us in? Of course, there are dogs which can kill adult humans, without us having to shrink down in size. Our cats while we lived there over the many years, were able to live very full lives. They were free to roam, and they did, sometimes far distances, hunting. One of them was injured once, and we never did know what happened. Today, our cats would never survive there. Coyotes have moved in during the last fifteen years, and there is a lot of room for them. They're also active during the day. They will go after small dogs and cats. The first thing they did was eliminate all of the foxes and wild cats. One of our cats narrowly escaped being killed by a chasing pitbull, right in front of us, but he managed to make it to our six-foot fence and leap out of danger just in time.

Another time a couple of years ago, a neighbor's wandering cat narrowly escaped walking through the neighbors yard, being chased by an aggressive border collie. Hawks can sometimes go after a cat, although it never occurred up there. I think that would tend to be a larger species of hawk, and a smaller cat. Wild areas are much like urban areas, where everything can seem fine, then predators strike. I remember long ago when I spent a week at Jones-Gulch camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains one late spring when I was about eleven I think, and right after we had arrived and got off the school bus, one of my classmates was attacked by bees. She must have walked too close to a hive. It was only a few bees, but she was stung a number of times. I remember that day, how warm it was that early afternoon, the rugged mountains and woods. It's not surprising that there are many dangers up there, including poison oak! On a side note, I had mentioned earlier, paternal relatives who has migrated to San Mateo County long ago. At least a couple of them had attended Jones-Gulch as children, in the '40s!

My first experience with the brutality of nature was when I was a small child in our backyard. I would pick up grasshoppers by their legs gently, and look at them. Also, moths by their wings lightly. I remember turning them around and looking at their alien-like appearance. One day, I had two grasshoppers, one in each hand, and for whatever reason I put them together to see their reaction. They immediately clutched each other and started biting and drawing blood! I recall just throwing them in the soil. They didn't hesitate for a second, before tearing into each other. I'm 100% certain that if any human being shrunk down to two inches tall, and ran into one of those large preying mantises, they would clutch the person, and just start feeding on their heads! There are strange aspects of nature, such as we think of wolves as being very violent, and doves as being very gentle. Actually, wolves never kill other wolves, and they mate for life. Humans can't even say that! However, doves are particularly brutal, and kill each other all the time, or peck each others eyes out! So, shouldn't the old metaphor be changed from "the dove of peace," to...... "the wolf of peace?"

The following articles today, got me thinking about this issue:

'Mountain lion tears dog on leash away from its owner in California neighborhood'

'Great White Shark Bites the Head Off of a Diver in Extremely Rare Type of Fatal Shark Attack'

'Bird Rips Snake’s Eyes Out as it Tries to Escape' (video included)

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Yvonne Elliman If I can't have you 1977 16:9

RETROVISOR

722K subscribers

31,641,870 views - June 19, 2015

con't....

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"It’s hard to listen to this song, it brings tears to my eyes every time. How I long for those days in the 1970s, when I was a little girl! My dad passed away in 2016, and I remember he had this album and he played it all the time, when I was young. My dad was a lover of music, all genres. I miss him so much! I miss my childhood! I wish I could go back, things were so peaceful, and so much simpler back then."

-- Dee Lo

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“When a person places the proper value on freedom, there is nothing under the sun that he will not do to acquire that freedom. Whenever you hear a man saying he wants freedom, but in the next breath he is going to tell you what he won’t do to get it, or what he doesn’t believe in doing in order to get it, he doesn’t believe in freedom. A man who believes in freedom will do anything under the sun to acquire . . . or preserve his freedom.”
— Malcolm X

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These concepts are almost never spoken of in the mainstream. They present something of a perception, rather than anything really thought provoking. Two Stateist idealogies; a clear violation of the written social contract.

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“The best argument against Democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
-- Winston Churchill

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'There’s New Footage of a “Giant Wolf” Roaming Montana'

Cassandra Yorgey - Exemplore - February 14, 2023

What do we want? Dire wolves! When do we want them? Now, and also slightly fictional please. Giant wolf sightings have increased significantly since the rise of Twilight and Game of Thrones which both feature giant wolves, and now a new video has surfaced out of Montana claiming to show a dire wolf frolicking about in a field of wintery grass.

con't....

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Hey Jude (Remastered 2015)

The Beatles

7.19M subscribers

57,241,300 views - June 17, 2018

con't....

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Ships sailing by moonlight

James Gale Tyler

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Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus)

Carl Brenders

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Angel of Grief

Angel of Grief or the Weeping Angel is an 1894 sculpture by William Wetmore Story for the grave of his wife Emelyn Story at the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. Its full title bestowed by the creator was The Angel of Grief Weeping Over the Dismantled Altar of Life.

Angels Are Always With You

This image reminds me of my mother. To me there are three angels: My mother (Janet), my sister (Catheine), and my ex-fiance (Rachel). Also, I'm sure there are angelic spirit guides and elemental spirits that know me.

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Rita Hayworth

bluewater

38,185 subscribers

5,574 views - December 31, 2022

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Jacqueline Rondoni

I have something like a second cousin once removed on my paternal side who came out to Hollywood to try to get into maybe films, in the '30's I think! She was striking looking, if not beautiful. One of those smiles and eyes that just lite up. She may have had a bit part in something, but ended up being a waitress for some years. We had some photographs of her, as she had stayed with our earlier relatives who had lived in Brisbane. It's drives me crazy because a lot of these photos somehow got lost. I think I have one of her left, so I'll put that up sometime. She went from the Northwoods to Hollywood! Her photos remind me of Rita Hayworth. It's fun to think that a relative of mine was so glam and fancy, coming from a very historically isolated, blue collar background.

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'Sunshine On My Shoulder' John Denver with lyrics

alexandre gianola

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I hadn't thought of it other times listening to this song, but I do feel a sense of my mother being gone, the memories. This song make loss easy to contemplate and yet also hard to contemplate. It kind of goes hand-in-hand with the 'Angel of Grief' above.

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"My mother passed when I was 12. When I was younger she would sing this to me. Now I’m 24 with two kids of my own. I sing this to them just to keep her alive in my mind."
-- david childress

"So emotional to hear this song..My only daughter passed away Aug 2020..so hard for me to get over.. after 8 months my son died..after a week my wife also went through.. i dont know what to think about but i had so much Faith in God Will.. 😭 "
-- Dan Deladia

"Suggestion to all my brothers and sisters viewing this. This beautiful song is here to teach us to feel this way. Find the light inside you that resonates with sunshine. It is there! Heal your body, feed it well, give love to yourself and others. Let this beauty fulfill John's wishes for all of us to live in light.💞 Let's make the world the place he wanted for us. We are lifting the energy that has dragged us down in the past. Love yourself. Let your light shine. Pass it on!"
-- Notadonna

"I just recently lost my 66 year old grandpa, he introduced me to all of my favorite things, one of those includes John Denver, we lost him to cancer and we were so close you can't imagine it, but this music will help me get through it. I miss you Papa Sam I know you are out there and you will always be in my ❤️ "
-- Kalin Watkins

"Years ago I listened to my daughters singing this song....I cried....it was a beautiful moment.... and I find myself crying again....this song is heavenly"
-- Sonia Mayrink

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For dad- Sunshine On My Shoulders by John Denver (Jamie Goodso)

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Chickens On A Village Road

Johan Krouthen

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Upper Falls, Minnesota After Dark

dark woods creek

[Apparently in Minnesota]

Photo by dovlindphoto on flickr

Rami Cohen

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Beautiful fantasy image

This was written in French, so I can't give any information, but you could translate it if you want..

Germany Pomahuacre

Article from flawless-insideout.over-blog.com

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'Scientists Discover Gigantic Sharks in Mammoth Cave... Yes, Sharks!'

Sharon Parry - AZ Animals - February 18, 2023

Not the sort of news story that you would usually associate with Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky bearing in mind that it is miles from the sea! However, as is the case with many inland areas, this area was once an ocean and in those ancient waters there lived sharks. Shark fossils have been discovered miles underground and are allowing scientists to learn more about these incredible species.

con't....

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'Prehistoric 91-million-year-old Shark Discovered in Kansas Was Size of a Great White and Had Cannibal Babies'

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Just like crocodiles, sharks go right back to the age of the dinosaurs. Obviously this implies strongly that parts of Kentucky and Kansas were a part of the ocean at one point.

The Earth 65 million years ago

The Atlantic Ocean is seen extending into the middle of North America.

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Stevie Nicks - Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (Official Video) [HD]

Stevie Nicks

498K subscribers

31,690,592 views - March 29, 2019

con't....

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"This is one of those songs that NEVER get old… if you’re still listening to it in 2022 you’ve got GREAT taste in music 🎼😁"
-- Gypsy Soul

"When times was so much easier. Rip Tom Petty. You made a huge impact on countless lives through your music."
-- Kevin

"41 years later and it's remains a favorite in 2022."
-- Shelly Wyatt

"I feel privileged to have grown up listening to 80’s music. It will last forever!"
-- Mark

"This is one of the great ALL TIME man-woman rock duets. Perfect chemistry and vocal tradeoffs on this song!"
-- Wayne Polk

"I am 65. Still listening to this song, and all of Stevie Nicks songs. This is one of the greatest songs of all time. So glad I grew up listening to music in 60’s 70’s and 80”s. Greatest decades of music. The young ones today, DON’T KNOW WHAT REAL MUSIC IS!!"
-- Ron Williams

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Hard to believe that Tom Petty has been gone for over five years.

Saturday, February 18, 2023

La Festa dell’ Inverno: Winter 2023 - Part 5

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