The Question of Time: What Was Life Like in 1963?

[moremojo]

No indeed! At the time of the Russian Revolution, during WWI, there were still monastic communities in Russia and even in Canada in which it was openly acknowledged that monks had same-sex liaisons; sometimes as part of a ritual. I was fortunate to have access to records and descriptions of this in Russia and have heard more about thiese "cults" (?) from Orthodox historians who were not condemnatory. I've also seen an English-language anthology in the university library which discusses the phenomenon in a chapter on Russia; I'll try to relocate it this week and I'll post the title if I can.

In Andrei Tarkovsky's great film Andrey Roublev, the titular character (an historical figure, a monk and icon-painter who flourished in fifteenth-century Russia) reveals his attraction towards a fellow brother of the faith. The fellow monk concedes that "The Devil has tempted me too", implicitly acknowledging a perception of the sinfulness of fulfilling the men's mutual desire, without necessarily condemning the attraction in and of itself.

This scene was very striking when I first saw the film, considering the fact that it was made in Soviet Russia in the 1960's (heady stuff, surely, for that particular country at that particular time).

[loneleeb3]

So did you get a colour TV after that? 

Seriously, though, sad story. Hope it's worked out OK.

Not for many years. My daughter finds that un-believable.
Still working  it out but I think I'm going to be ok!

[moremojo]

I'm always a little startled whenever I hear of someone who wasn't poor (or even middle-class) who fought in Vietnam, like Al Gore or John Kerry.

My uncle is a Vietnam veteran, and came from a lower middle-class family that highly valued education and the hopes of bettering oneself materially. My uncle had a lot of learning disabilities that were poorly understood when he was growing up, and he grew to hate school, dropping out when he was able to do so. The military seemed like one of his better prospects at the time; as it turned out, he joined up right when the war was beginning to escalate. He was a commended soldier, but had a nervous breakdown while overseas, and received an honorable discharge. In many ways, today, he remains a broken man.

[loneleeb3]

My uncle is a Vietnam veteran, and came from a lower middle-class family that highly valued education and the hopes of bettering oneself materially. My uncle had a lot of learning disabilities that were poorly understood when he was growing up, and he grew to hate school, dropping out when he was able to do so. The military seemed like one of his better prospects at the time; as it turned out, he joined up right when the war was beginning to escalate. He was a commended soldier, but had a nervous breakdown while overseas, and received an honorable discharge. In many ways, today, he remains a broken man.

Same here. I had two uncles who came back forever changed. My one uncle was all american in football. He had scholarships waiting and his highschoool sweetheart. he came back broken and spent most of the 70's thru the 90's in prison. He seemed to be doing good for a while but now he has disappeared again and we can't find him. My other uncle is better. He spent most of the 70's in jail and straightend up and got married and had a child but he has battled the bottle ever since.
They never talked about whatthey saw but we know it was horrific because of the effect the war had on them.

[Shuggy]

Quote from: loneleeb3 on Today at 03:56:49
I remember the moon landing on our old black and white tv in 69.

So did you get a colour TV after that?   

Not for many years. My daughter finds that un-believable.

But wasn't it wrecked? I'm surprised you survived...

[Jeff Wrangler]

I remember the surprise I got the first time I saw The Wizard of Oz on television after we got our first color television. I'd had no idea the entire movie wasn't in black and white! 

[Shuggy]

I remember the surprise I got the first time I saw The Wizard of Oz on television after we got our first color television. I'd had no idea the entire movie wasn't in black and white! 

It's a pretty wonderful effect even when you know the movie's in colour.

It reminds me of the first times I heard stereo sound. I had originally been opposed to it on the grounds that spatial separation is not essential to music (and it's not, but stereo just doubles the bandwidth, as we'd say nowadays). The first time I heard it through headphones ("For unto us" from Handel's Messiah) I cried.

[HerrKaiser]

You guys are ahead of me....I didn't see color TV until the early 70s and STILL have not seen Wizard of Oz color sequences. time to go to the rental store.

But, seeing black and white productions brings back wonderful memories. Most TV shows weren't even filmed in color in 1963. in the mid 60s, NBC created a logo with the peacock whose "tail" moved in what was obviously a wonderful display of color to promote their shows... "brought to you in living color".

[Jeff Wrangler]

You guys are ahead of me....I didn't see color TV until the early 70s and STILL have not seen Wizard of Oz color sequences. time to go to the rental store.

But, seeing black and white productions brings back wonderful memories. Most TV shows weren't even filmed in color in 1963. in the mid 60s, NBC created a logo with the peacock whose "tail" moved in what was obviously a wonderful display of color to promote their shows... "brought to you in living color".

Boy, that phrase brings back memories: "brought to you in living color"! Here's another: Remember "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color"? 

As for television shows filmed in black and white, the first season, 1964-1965, of my childhood favorite, Fess Parker's Daniel Boone, was released on DVD late last year; it's in black and white.

[2robots4u]

This is in reply to comments about the use of "bloomin'" and "bloody" in My Fair Lady:  On stage "bloody" is definitely used, however, the cast recording opted not to use that word, as did the movie.  "Bloody" was not a widely heard phrase in America at that time, so I don't believe it was a shocked; in England it is as common as dirt and also would not have been a shocked.  It was many years later that I learned that "bloody" was a vulgar word, and used it sometimes.  I guess that might explain why so many people thought I was British!