The Meerschaum Pipe

 

Meerschaum Pipes are made in Turkey and although I've never smoked a Pipe I do like a good Cigar.

Herman Melville owned a Meerschaum and was seldom seen without it. These days Smoking is a Taboo subject with many People and Pipe Smokers are something of a rarity.  LEE VAN CLEEF was a Meerschaum Smoker having started the habit when in the US Navy as a young Man and continuing the usage throughout His Career which is probably best known for 'Spaghetti Western' Characters 'Angel Eyes' and suchlike. In the 1952 Movie 'High Noon' VAN CLEEF Plays One of the Baddies 'Jack Colby' but He was originally offered the Part of  'Harvey Pell' the Deputy Sheriff played by Journeyman Actor LLOYD BRIDGES[Who once even appeared in a 'Three Stooges' Short] but turned it down after refusing to have Plastic Surgery on His Nose which the Producer STANLEY KRAMER thought would make Him appear 'less menacing' the arrogance of KRAMER is astonishing.

http://www.westernclippings.com/heavies/leevancleef_charactersheavies.shtml

The production and release of High Noon intersected with the second Red Scare and the Korean War. In 1951, during production of the film, Carl Foreman was summoned before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) during its investigation of "Communist propaganda and influence" in the motion picture industry. Foreman had once been a member of the Communist party, but he declined to identify fellow members or anyone he suspected of current membership. As a result, he was labeled an "uncooperative witness" by the committee, making him vulnerable to blacklisting. [wikipedia]

Herman Melville who was born in Pearl Street NYC is most famous for His 'Moby Dick' and ranks amongst the likes of Shakespeare in Literary Circles but unlike the fictional Shakespeare He actually used His own Name and used His life experiences in forming Characters that populate His Writings .

In another less known work by Melville- 'Redburn'- a Character called 'Jackson' meets His end after falling off a Yard Arm on a Sailing Ship into the Sea- in another Book 'Billy Budd'-the Yard Arm re-appears as the 'Gibbet' used to summarily execute by Hanging the Complex Character 'Billy Budd' who was 'Press Ganged' into Service from the Merchant Marine Ship 'Rights-of-Man' onto the aptly named 'Bellipotent' A Warship of the British Navy. [the obvious links to Thomas Paine's American Book playing on Melville's mind and He actually did fall off a Yard Arm into the Sea Himself one time-an incident He called his 'Baptism'..

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/b/billy-budd/herman-melville-biography]

'Billy Budd' the Character-is not what He at first appears to be .

 Depicted as- an innocent Sailor- Handsome in extremis-what He really is- is the 'Re-Incarnation' of 'Jackson' [in a Metaphoric and Opposite Sense] in Melville's Creative Mind but to expound on this would take way too long and I am not inclined to do so at this time . Other Literary Analysts have proposed that 'De Vere' the Captain of the 'Bellipotent' is in fact Billy Budd's Father.

Actors use similar 'Unconscious Influences' [like reading Thomas Paine] in Their everyday work.

Jeff Bridges is  a very good Carpenter and to Play the 'Back-to-Front Role of  'Dude' [Philosophising with a Hammer-a-la-Nietzsche?-He is still 'in search of America' without ever realising He IS America ie 'America Archetypal Dream']would have to recall His early KAHLUA Drinking and Pot Smoking Years as a relatively unknown Actor-

Here's a little from Him in a 1972 Interview courtesy of the New York Times...

Today Jeff spends most of his spare time in the Malibu Hills house he is building with the help of some friends. Carpentry is one of his favorite pastimes, along with gardening, painting, reading the philosophical books of J. Krishnamurti, and composing.

https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/22/archives/bridges-going-up-going-up-bridges-going-up-going-up.html

Jeff smiles, gets up and grabs the Kahlua he has been eyeing all afternoon, then takes big swig out of the bottle just as Duane would have done in “The Last Picture Show.” Its pow causes him to do a little jig in the middle of the room.

“You know,” he says, as he walks me to the door, “maybe I shouldn't have gone on so much about my self‐hate. Maybe it's actually hate‐love.”

50 years ago?...Man seems like yesterday..  Candy Clark  later went on to accompany David Bowie on the Set of 'The Man Who Fell To Earth' Movie..[which is why I've included so much stuff about Bowie in My 'Drugs are Talking' Post] Ms Clark formerly of El Paso Texas has campaigned to get the full uncut version of that Movie shown in Cinemas -personally I think 'Starman' [Movie]was way better but strange isn't it that Bowie recorded a song of the same name?..

[pic ebay]

Throughout this Blog- Hawaii has an unconscious 'Part to Play'-'Hawaiian Homegrown Hay' is a Street name for Cannabis and strangely enough Herman Melville was both a Hemp Smoker and worked for a time in a Honolulu Bowling Alley!...[http://totakeresponsibility.blogspot.com/2014/05/herman-melville.html

for information- Melville also was one of the first people to document Surfing!..

[I hear a 'Pipe' is a kind of Wave Surfer Dudes and 'Meerschaum' means 'Sea Foam' ] above site is a Gold Mine well worth a visit...

Ho‘okuleana – it’s an action word; it means, “to take responsibility.” We view it as our individual and collective responsibility to: Participate … rather than ignore; Prevent … rather than react... and Preserve … rather than degrade.

The 'Prometheus' 'Complex' is about the sons need to be better than His Father- it is related to the 'Oedipus' on an intellectual level.

Prometheus in the Greek Myth 'Stole fire' to give to Mankind [so His intent was basically 'good'] but Zeus His father was not amused and punished Prometheus by chaining Him to a rock and having an Eagle eat His Liver [which re-grew daily] for eternity. Heracles was the 'Hero' who freed Prometheus. Zeus did nothing because He knew Prometheus had the name of the only Human who could overthrow Him [Zeus had fathered both 'Gods' and Humans]

This Myth is showing that both Zeus and Prometheus were 'Tricksters', Zeus was a 'Bit of a Player' and Prometheus was a Burglar.

of course Jung saw in this Myth the basic elements OF THE'HERO' QUEST.

Jeff 'hates the fucking Eagles', steals [a rug] from a person of the same name as Himself and so on...

but the 'Liver' [not the Heart] being constantly attacked by a 'Beak' see where I'm going here? Beak=Cocaine.. if not- well so be it. I think the father was actually envious of the Son!

Jung goes into great detail about the importance of the Liver- and of course Liverpool or more specifically 'Jung's Liverpool Dream' is what got Me interested in Psychology all those years ago. I have partially covered this on My other blogger[address in My profile]

I suppose We all feel in awe of our father at some time or other , I certainly did because He was a genius at repairing broken things from Clocks to Bulldozers and always dispensed great wisdom despite having a less than perfect education He was an avid reader with a great sense of humour and would not rest until he finished a task -unknown to Me He once stayed up all night to finish a 10,000 piece Jigsaw Puzzle I had started -I was not best amused but that was what He was like-He would finish at least one Crossword Puzzle a day and loved sports but He had a no nonsense approach to 'supernatural' Phenomena. 

He died of a Heart Attack and although I don't think I ever said to His face I loved Him-I did. 

 I miss Him .

Aloha! ...

[addendum; I am now an ex-Smoker]