Making plans to have more reasons to smile 2019

You know, those sunsets that can be so loud you can almost hear them as they crackle behind the trees?

Or how about those smiles that speak more than any words someone can muster?

Those are the things I remember about 2018, and there’s no reason to believe 2019 won’t have more of the same.

Like anyone else, I lost close ones in the last year. Almost lost some others. Think of all those times I wish I’d said this or done that for someone before the chance was gone… forever. Well, I have it from a good source that there’s no better time than right now to do or say such things because there’s never a guarantee for a second chance with anyone. What’s here today can certainly be gone tomorrow.

This New Year’s was not like any I recall. I was not ready to see it go any more so than I was ecstatic about the 365 days of which it dispersed. It was just another year, which as the years begin to compute to the point I actually have to think at times to remember my age, is not a bad thing. There were highs and there were lows, for me, but maybe I can do something to make 2019 better regardless of the lows that lie ahead.

I appreciate my family and friends, I appreciate my company and hard-working co-workers, and I appreciate doctors -- much more so than I do pharmaceutical companies, but that’s another story. I even appreciate my attitude-occupying, hard-headed, never-ending shed-producing yet sweet-to-the-tip of her tail dog, Lucy. I appreciate Ricky Adams, who makes me look good every Sunday for bringing his talents back to print when I arrived in the Wiregrass in 2013. (Yes, Ricky, you followed my dog in the order of my thanks, but you haven’t chased one terrorist squirrel away, so….)

I appreciate friends that sit on both sides of the political aisle, although it’s nice to know ahead of time when we get together so I can talk about house foundations, spinnerbaits or airline preferences rather than getting in tight situations regarding politics.

I appreciate the beauty of nature far more than I did growing up in the country, you know, because it was right there in my face every day. That brings me back to my original thought on saying and doing things for those we miss so bad we physically hurt. Yeah, we’ll still miss them when they’re gone, but think of all those extra memories you’ll have by doing something with them or saying something to them now. When the sun goes down, take a moment to actually look at it… or a sunrise, if you’re up, and you’ll think of such good moments with a loved one. You’ll smile. You’ll smile so loud it’ll make your heart swell. I’m betting that someone will hear you even if you can’t see them.

The Banning of NOSFERATU

In 1916 during the first World War, a young producer named Albin Grau was serving in Serbia. Stationed in a rural region, he heard local farmers telling stories about supposedly real vampires. Amused by the lore, Grau decided that after the war was over he was going to make a vampire film. Within a few years, Grau had created a small production company, Prana Films, and hired a screenwriter, as well as directo

Then the fledgling production company ran into a huge problem. Grau really wanted to do a highly stylized expressionistic version of Bram Stoker’s novel DRACULA (written in 1897). Bram Stoker had passed away in 1912, so the estate was now managed by his widow, Florence Stoker. Though the novel was already in “public domain” in many countries, including the United States, in Germany where the film was being made the novel still required copyright approval and would not be considered public domain until fifty years after Bram Stoker’s death, so not until 1962. Prana Films had to get copyright approval before using anything from the book. It is not clear whether Florence Stoker refused to give approval or Albin Grau just refused to pay for it, but regardless, the situation was not pleasant and approval was not granted.

Completely unfazed by the copyright snafu and the threat of lawsuit if the movie was made without approval, Grau continued with pre-production, and by 1921, they began filming. Grau had the screenwriter make several changes to the vampire and his mythos to set him apart from DRACULA. The word “vampire” was changed to “nosferatu” (which means “vampire” in Romanian), and the name “Count Dracula” was changed to “Count Orlock”. They also changed all of the principal character names (like Lucy and Johnathan) and left out some of the secondary plotlines. And while sunlight kills Count Orlock, it only makes DRACULA weak. Orlock also became more animal-like and feral as opposed to the charming and refined Dracula character.