Last week after Friday fish fry, Heide and I took in some culture and went to an independent film put on by the Janesville Women's Club. First of all, it never ceases to amaze me the places I find that I never knew were around. The Women's Club is in a dandy old building on the west end of downtown Janesville. Along with the modest admission charge came some good eats. The Dadio put a good dent in the iced-down beer bucket. The band (Melanie Jane and Pat Macdonald) that did the sound track for for the film performed. And the movie's director (Jim Rivett) answered questions for the crowd of people who came to participate.
As my movie interest in regards to this blog evolves, I seem to be doing these reviews after one viewing. The movies I have been gravitating toward are independents and made by people who do it more out of the love of film as opposed to hoping to get rich in Hollywood. Although I am sure a little notoriety would never be brushed off - and surely appreciated.
"Westbound: The Journey of a Lifetime," is a documentary film that interviews an older fellow (96 year old Adolph Vandertie) that flirted with the hobo life by haunting the "hobo jungles" that popped up by railroad yards and train tracks that so ensconced the poor economy of the Depression Era America. As a young man the Wisconsin native lived dirt poor. He never even had a bicycle. He listened to the stories of the traveling men, many of them educated but unemployed and homeless due to the economy. Many of the men passed the time by whittling wood. The ball-in-cage (carving a ball locked in a contiguous cage - the ship in a bottle concept) was one quintessential design among whittlers.
The story of Adolph really is a lifetime biography, but his experience with the train culture lingers in everything he did in life. Like so many men of the era, he worked factory jobs when he could get them. He did end up getting married and having three kids. In fact, a major point in his life found him deciding between either riding the trains to California from Green Bay or getting married. He turned down a friend's plans to get to California via tramping out there in train boxcars and instead opted for the domestic world of matrimony. He never saw his friend again. Adolph and his wife stayed married for decades until she passed away. He admits to taking on alcohol through some of his toils in life. He did make note that he had been sober for 55 years. One of his tenets was that he never missed a day of work no matter how much alcohol he drank the night before.
One activity-hobby-love-trade-art that defined his early connection to the hobo culture was taking up the art of whittling. He would work often on the ball-in-cage design for the whole of his life during his prolific whittling of wood. The transient travelers in the hobo jungles always had a stick of wood. The boxcars were often littered with discarded fruit and vegetable crates. They became one of these men's only belongings - crates and a jackknife. They passed the time learning to whittle objects. Adolph claimed the redundant past-time has a therapeutic effect on his psyche. The film highlights that Adolph has at least 4,000 wood carvings, much of which is now in the possession of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.
The brilliance of the film, if you will, is that it presents itself as a vignette of the hobo culture. But really, that culture only touched Adolph for a short time. Yet, Adolph never gave up the philosophy he learned via his travels through those hobo jungles and for sure he never gave up his love of wood carving. The film also weaves a tapestry of Twentieth Century America and Wisconsin as it follows Adolph's humble life. The makers of the film got done just in time because Adolph has since passed away.
Although a humble story at first blush, I found myself riveted to the story. I looked about the room of viewers and they were watching intently as well. The whole package was pleasant, the movie, the viewing, the audience, the eats, the beer, the live music, and the small hall in the upstairs of the old building where the film was shown.
The Janesville Woman's Club hit one out of the park. It was a worthwhile experience. You can call (608) 754 - 4544 to ask about other events and activities the club may be offering.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Marine Reserve Corporal Richard Joseph Nelson, 23, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, died on Monday, April 14, 2008 in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was killed during combat operations. Nelson was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserves out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was one of two Marines killed during combat operations in Habbaniya, Iraq. The Website journaltimes.com noted Nelson was killed by a roadside bomb attack. They also mentioned Richard was formally from Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, and was known as "Ricky." As a unit, Fox Company was on its second tour to Iraq. Nelson had attended Kenosha's Christian Life School. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Reserves in 2004. Corporal Nelson was on his second deployment to Iraq, spending several months there in 2005. This time around he arrived in January of 2008. He would have come back to the States in approximately September of 2008. Nelson was married in April of 2007 to his wife Kristen. The journaltimes.com went on to mention Nelson was a vehicle driver in his Marine unit.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Nelson graduated from Christian Life School in Kenosha in 2004. He played percussion in the school band. The school is also where he met his future wife and the two were due to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. The Journal Sentinel noted that Nelson was a mortar man during his first tour in Iraq and was a driver on the current assignment there. They went on to say Richard was born on September 4, 1984, in Kenosha. He had five brothers and a sister. His interests included hunting and fishing. In civilian life he did remodeling work, and worked as a carpenter for Cornerstone Construction in Kenosha.
The Website iraq.pigsty.net mentioned Richard intended to go back to college and become an elementary school teacher after his Marine commitment.
The Website marinechat.com notes Corporal Nelson was friends with fellow Marine Lance Corporal Dean Opicka who was also killed in the incident. Nelson's father had served in the Army during Vietnam. The Website went on to mention Nelson and his wife had their wedding at her parent's backyard in April, 2007, his brother Dave, a pastor, presided over the ceremony.
At the time of his death Corporal Richard Nelson was survived by his wife Kristen; parents Lennie and Susan Nelson; five brothers, Scott, Dave, Todd, Mark, James; and, one sister, Katie. Marine Corporal Richard Nelson was the 89th Wisconsin military service person to die in Iraq since the spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
0 American casualties to-date in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March 2011
100,029 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,830 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,442 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1505 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
864 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
32,051 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
10,622 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
104 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
28 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
146 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org.
