Everett Jenkins Birthday Blog

  Two weekends ago, I watched Vertigo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertigo_(film) Vertigo is certainly an interesting movie ... a psychological thriller ... and Alfred Hitchcock was certainly at the top of his game. Additionally, it was great to see San Francisco back in the day when the streets were clean and uninhabited by tents.  Nevertheless, in my assessment neither Vertigo nor Jeanne Dielman are better than the movie I watched last weekend ... Citizen Kane  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Kane I have come to the conclusion that a century from now Citizen Kane will again be recognized as the greatest movie of all time.  First of all, from a personal perspective, I consider Citizen Kane to be the greatest of all time partly because the screenplay was written by Herman Mankiewicz while he was confined in a very familiar desert ranch abode in my hometown of Victorville, California. An Oscar nominated film about the time that Mankiewicz spent in Victorville w...

  As most of you know by now, I have spent the better part of two years monitoring the news reports regarding Bruce's Beach (see the email below) and my family connection to the Bruce family.  In today's (March 19, 2023) edition of the Los Angeles Times, the following article appears: Subject: A tale of two reckonings over Bruce's Beach http://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=0c129703-2498-40f5-9419-f885fbd5384d This article chronicles the unveiling of the new historical plaque that the City of Manhattan Beach has installed to more accurately inform the public as to the wrongs done to the Bruce Family 100 years ago.  Ostensibly, this action by the City of Manhattan Beach is the final act of reparations that will be done.  However, as indicated by the following editorial which accompanied the Bruce's Beach article, it appears that many consider the efforts of Manhattan Beach to be hollow and that they may actually deepen the wounds instead of in...

  It was with great sadness that I learned from TMZ about the passing of Bobby Caldwell https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/15/arts/music/bobby-caldwell-dead.html Bobby Caldwell is known for the classic R&B song  "What You Won't Do For Love" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK1-NsFL5qY This classic song came out before MTV so most people only knew about the song through radio.  They never saw Bobby Caldwell in person.  A whole generation of folks grew up jammin' to the song not knowing that the man singing it was white.  The following videos are somewhat typical of the reaction that occurs when some members of the younger generation of African Americans listen to the record and then see the face behind the voice.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYtYk5Go6og https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqZz-B3Z48Q https://youtu.be/RYE8xx5nFUA Bobby Caldwell was a special talent.  He will be missed. Peace, Everett "Skip" Jenkins Fairfield, California March 16, 2023 P....