Yesterday was Billie’s birthday. Her 50th birthday. She wanted to see a movie. We searched the various local movie listings, and Billie found a trailer for Young @ Heart, which was playing at the Little Theater.

So that’s what we went to see.

Here’s a recommendation for you: See it.

See it especially if you want a little inspiration. See it if you want to understand the human spirit and the strength of optimism. See it because it’s just outstanding documentary film making. See it because you’ll meet a cast of people you will want to meet and know in real life.

Young @ Heart is a chorus of older people — average age 80, according to the movie — who love life, love to sing and specialize in singing rock and roll, even punk rock.

The movie documents a seven week period in which the chorus prepares for a new tour. It shows their struggles to learn new songs, reveals bits of background of select members, and takes you some of the sorrow that goes with a group of elderly people bonding (friends die, you know).

YouTube is full of Young @ Heart videos. I could show you I Want to Be Sedated, or Fix You (one of the emotional peaks of the movie), Golden Years, Road to Nowhere, or this cool home movie of David Byrne singing with Young @ Heart. But I’m going to show you “Staying Alive,” because it captures the fun spirit of this group and features my favorite singer from the chorus (and after writing that, I actually watched the version on YouTube — it’s longer than the movie, as it contains a great, and I mean great, take on “I Will Survive.”

You can buy the movie poster: YOUNG AT HEART DS ADVANCE POSTER

When I was a much younger man, single and unencumbered in San Diego, I spent a lot of time in the Anza-Borrego desert. I was particular drawn to a place called Ghost Mountain.

In the 1930s or so, a writer of cheap fiction by the name of Marshall South had moved his family to Ghost Mountain. He claimed it was an experiment in alternative living, away from the maddening crowd of modernity. I used to say he was counter culture before counter culture was cool. He was an original hippy.

Years later I would learn that life on Ghost Mountain wasn’t quite as idyllic as his columns in Desert Magazine (I read every one at the SDSU library) made it to be. In the end, he reportedly cheated on his wife and his family broke up in acrimony.

I did, however, write a poem called At Yacquietepec. Previous blog post about it here.

Today I got an e-mail alerting me to the release of a documentary about Ghost Mountain.

Here is screening information:

Friday, March 21, 7:00pm

Borrego Performing Arts Center

530 Palm Canyon Drive, Borrego Springs

Q&A with Filmmakers. Suggested donation $10. No reservations. Seating is limited.

I wish I could go.

You can watch the trailer here.

Here’s a DVD about Anza-Borrego: Anza Borrego State Park, California

Entertainment Weekly has published a slideshow of the 17 coolest cars in pop culture history.

The editors missed one. It’s a rather glaring oversight. They left out the Mustang Steve McQueen drove in the 1968 film Bullitt.

The movie is really what made the Mustang into the muscle car icon it is.

Oops.

The DVD: Bullitt