Haines His Way
Archives => Archive 2 => Topic started by: bk on September 28, 2004, 12:00:04 AM
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Well, you've read the notes, therefore you are aware of the myriad plot twists contained therein, and now it is time for you to post until the plot-twisted cows come home (although, in an amazing plot twist, the cows go to a Motel Six instead of coming home).
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I'm soooo sleepy. An author friend e-mailed me a chapter in his about to be published tome over which he's arguing with his publisher. He needs my opinion ASAP - but I can't keep my eyes open to read it.
Plot twists - the one famous plot twist that I figured out VERY early in the film was the one in THE CRYING GAME.
Favorite plot twists will have to wait until the morning. I'm taking the chapter I'm to read to bed now. Which means I'll probably fall asleep on top of it.
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BTW - The cows going to Motel Six made me laugh out loud.
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Fredric Brown always has great plot twists for me. He takes you right down to the end and suddenly slams you with something you least expected. But his ending, regardless of its unexpectedness, is always logical and indeed almost inevitable. It ends pretty much the only way it could. And if you go back and check everything is foreshadowed and leading in the direction of the ending. Wonderful writer.
Agatha Christie has never really done it for me. I find her plots either transparent or she doesn't quite play fair with the reader. In the movie Death On The Nile, I not only figured out who was the murder victim, but also the murderer, and the motive before any death had occurred. Same with Murder on the Orient Express. Saw the reveal coming way in advance. I remember also doing this the first time I saw Charade, though I remember nothing about the movie today.
We saw VANITY FAIR tonight...I'd never read the book...and though I wouldn't say it was a piece known for plot twists...the plot never went anywhere I was expecting it to go. It was a pleasant experience. It's a nice film.
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Dear BK:
I did not mean to besmirch your research in any way. By all means, personal recollection has much more value than mere statistical work, such as I've been compiling.
In fact, I find your setting Writer's Block in 1969 to be a wonderfully fertile period. There were so many shows running on Broadway at the time, well written and deserving of their audiences. Was everything worth remembering? Well, no, but this was a time when several shows ran for hundreds of weeks at the same time, something unheard of in the 1950s.
And it all "collapsed" sometime around 1972. The shows with long runs had run their runs, and closed. What was new that was being offered didn't deserve to run as long, and by the end of 1972 the only long running shows were No, No Nanette, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Grease, all fairly new productions.
Things turned around again by the mid-70s. By early '76, the new batch of long-run hits included Grease, Pippin, The Magic Show, The Wiz, Shenandoah, A Chorus Line, and Chicago, and Bubbling Brown Sugar had opened to stay for a while. (Something's Afoot would open in May, but only lasted for a couple of months.) But that's a different era, not the one you're writing about.
Of course, if you wanted to write a sequel.... ;)
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I was errant and truant this evening. I left work at 2:00 p.m. and took my niece to the Seattle Storm (http://www.wnba.com/storm/) playoff game. THEY WON! But there was an extremely surprising twist early in the game! Sue Bird, their point guard (whatever that means) fell down flat on her face and broke her nose! She ran off the court and was not seen from again. As important as she is to the team, they rose to the challange of losing a player and won the game.
As for movie twists: "The Sixth Sense" totally took me by surprise. I wasn't looking for any kind of "twist" and so I wasn't paying attention to see if any was coming. I was completely surprised. However, I was told what the twist was in "The Crying Game," so I wasn't surprised at all by that one...except for how the twist was "revealed!" ::)
Charles, I also love Fredric Brown stories exactly for the reason that wrote. ;D I'll admit that I haven't read everything...or even a lot...of his works, but what I have read, I've totally loved.
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Plot twists....oh my....hmmmmmmmmm.....
I have written a mystery that twists and turns, but since it will in all likelihood never be performed, I won't count it. So.....
I didn't figure out the twist to The Sixth Sense - the whole thing made me uneasy, but when it was revealed, I found that I had enjoyed it very much.
THE OTHER in book form has a tremendous plot twist that was bungled in the movie version....grrrrrrrrr.....but it was great in the book.
I agree A KISS BEFORE DYING novel and first version...whew!
I will think some more, because I know there are others. Oh the little Roger Corman thriller THE UNDEAD has kind of a twist ending....not as neatly done as a LOT of the Twilight Zone episodes, but clever.
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Miss Allison Hayes
1757 North Orange Grove Av
in her pic of the Week! :o
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Like Panni, I figured out the twist in Crying Game right away. It seemed a no-brainer (at least to me).
Another vacation photo. Two photos, one right after the other. A lovely shot of Miss Hayes and now me with Snoopy.
Charles Shultz was born in Saint Paul and the city has decided that there should be Peanuts characters all over town. Mostly Snoopy but others as well. There is a Lucy in the lobby of one of the hotels and other characters in odd places. Here I am with Snoopy and Woodstock in front of a local utility.
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Plot Twists:
DEATHTRAP and SLEUTH - Both wonderfully constructed.
THE GIFT OF THE MAGI - A twist that is also very touching.
TEN LITTLE INDIANS/ AND THEN THERE WAS NONE - My favorite mystery by Christie. The twist is not "shocking", but it just feels so right to me.
Out of curiosity, was anyone here surprised at the twist at the end of SWEENEY TODD? Now don't get me wrong. I love SWEENEY. It is one of my all time favorite musicals (if not my all time favorite), but I don't find the twist ending a huge surprise. A minor quibble to be sure, but I would love to hear any opinions.
Your thoughts?
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Hmmm, I never thought of Sweeney as having a twist ending. Maybe that puts me in your frame of mind, not being surprised by the ending.
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DR Ben:
The twist that I mentioned in SWEENEY is the identity of the Beggar Woman. At least, I think it was meant to be a plot twist. ???
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OK. I understand Still, like you, I wasn't much surprised by the identity. I had a feeling that's where it was going. Maybe I think too much. We must not think too much, people go mad if they think too much ;) (Robinson Jeffers adaptation of Medea starring Judith Anderson 1947)
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The plot twist in FEDORA took me by surprise. (I'm talking about the movie - I read the story afterward.) In retrospect, it shouldn't have been so hard to figure out - but there were so many over-the-top performances and deliciously campy bits along the way that it was easy to be distracted.
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Good vibes to DR Jose's father. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DR Michael Shayne, I do think that you would be okay travelling to Canada with just a birth certificate and photo id. I know for a while they were very strict. But if you were told that you would be allowed to do it, then I'm quite sure you would be okay.
Also, why would an emergency passport take 4-6 weeks??? A regular one doesn't even take that long here. I think an emergency one can be done in a few days.
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Good morning, all!
DR Jose, I wasn't aware of your father's health until DR Ben mentioned it to me in an email today. I'm so sorry that he's also going through problems, and I hope he's undergoing positive treatment.
Dear Friend BK, I hope you've got some antiseptic on your toe as well as a bandaid. I can't wait to read the new mystery.
Plot twists? I'm the perennial patsy at a mystery; I never see anything coming, whether it's Nancy Drew or Carl Hiaasen, but two big twists I recall are from a movie, THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER, which I would like to see again to see if it holds up, and the novel A SIMPLE PLAN. I read the book when it first came out, and I was reading it on the crosstown bus. When the nartrator killed his brother, I was so shocked I burst into tears! I never saw it coming.
About SWEENEY TODD's Beggar Woman surprise, Steve certainly lets you know she's Lucy through the musical underscoring and Anthony's line, "Tell me, mother . . ." When I saw the show the first time in June 1979, I remember being appalled when Sweeney got Joanna in the barber's chair. I think half the audience screamed with me.
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Donald, as always a great radio show! What a good sounding CD. I will look for it. I really liked the Music Man track. Nice work.
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(Meanwhile, in an office in a city on the eastern seaboard...)
I love me a good juicy plot twist!
Some of my favorite plot twists come from the novels of Charles Dickens. Great Expectations, Bleak House and Hard Times all contain terrific twists. And I was totally blown away by the major revelation in Nicholas Nickelby, of which I saw the televised RSC production before I read the novel.
When I was in eighth grade I read my first Agatha Christie--Hall'ween Party--and I was hooked for years on her books. I was very much taken by surprise by the solutions to both Murder on the Orient Express and Murder of Roger Ackroyd, along with a number of her other mysteries.
Because I rarely run out and see movies when they first open, the ones with the interesting twists tend to get spoiled for me. It was weeks before I had seen The Crying Game and though I had heard only hints of the big surprise, as soon as a certain character appeared on the screen I knew what it was about.
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Oops! (or Spoo!) I accidently clicked on the post button while composing my last post. Now what was going to be just one long dull post will now be two short dull posts.
*ahem!*--plot twists!
One night when I was at my mom's house, a trailer for The Sixth Sense came on TV. My mom asked me if I had seen it yet and I told her no. She said, "You know what I think? I think--" and she proceded to tell me her theory about the movie and wouldn't you know that when I finally did go to see it she was spot on.
I spoiled Shyamalan's recent The Village, myself when, during the movie, I began to try to speculate what the big shock ending could be and I figured it out.
Other movies with great plot twists: The Third Man, Sleuth (having not seen the play), The Empire Strikes Back (yes, that was a shock to me), and The Manchurian Candidate (which should be more of a shocker than it's allowed to be--unfortunately, the revelation is pretty much blurbed all over the place.)
In the theatah, I'll admit that Deathtrap did it for me, too. And the revelation about the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd was a surprise when I first heard it on the cast recording.
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Since I saw it before the ending was common knowledge, I'd have to say PSYCHO.
Last night I attended the Broadway Unplugged concert at Town Hall and I wish that every producer who claims that audiences won't sit through shows that aren't amplified would have attended and realized how wrong they are. From Stephanie J.Block's opening with "Don't Rain On My Parade" to Alix Korey's closing with "Everything's Coming Up Roses", this was an evening of highlights and to mention them all I'd have to type in the whole songlist. What a delight to hear the glory of the human voice (and the musical instruments as well) as they actually sound... when a singer moved from one side of the stage to the other, the sound moved with him or her. The singer --- not the sound mixer --- controlled the volume. I recently saw MEET JOHN DOE at the NY Musicals Festival and as much as I enjoyed it, the show was heavily miked in a 199 seat theatre and thus sounded awful. When I saw OF THEE I SING at Papermill, the sound quality was so bad that when a person entered stage left singing the sound came out of speakers stage right. Broadway Unplugged showed that it doesn't have to be that way. In addition to being a great concert of showtunes from a period of over sixty years sung by many of today's best voices, this was also an example of how much better many of today's musicals would be if they got rid of the body mics and soundboards.
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Welcome back DR Elmore!
Yes BK I remember you telling me the Alias plot twist in Season Two.
For those who are trying to remember Alias Season Three, there is a very good guide at: http://www.alias-tv.com/episodes.html
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I forgot to include an author who I think is incredibly adept at plot twists--Dashiell Hammett. The Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key, The Thin Man and The Dain Curse--all wonderful books that keep the reader guessing until the last pages.
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BK, I won't say anything about your Alias prediction. But I would like to hear your comments when you you get further in Season Three.
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Heigh Ho Heigh ho, it's off to work I go; I have to go work on TAN MANHATTAN for the November Chicago Humanities Festival presentation, but I wanted to mention a book. I don't recall much on the site about reading much beyond the wonderful Kritzer trilogy; we're more caught up in tv, dvd, and cd.
However, during my absent period, I've liesurely been reading A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith, and it's the most moving biographical novel I've ever read. I had known the musical and the film, but this memoir of Brooklyn poverty from 1901-1918 is one of the most moving books I've ever read.
DR Charles Pogue, I read VANITY FAIR in college while hospitalized for a week with the flu. There's nothing like a really long novel when you're cooped up! I'm a bit alarmed by the publicity about this new film's Becky Sharp being a "woman ahead of her time." In the novel, which is quite funny, Becky's the villan, a sharp angry young schemer determined to climb and claw her way into society, over her friend Amelia's body and relations. No one ever remarks over the fact that VANITY FAIR is Margaret Mitchell's uncredited source for GONE WITH THE WIND:
Becky = Scarlett
Amelia = Melanie
Battle of Waterloo = Burning of Atlanta
It's been too long since I read either Thackeray or Mitchell, but there are more points of similarity as well; don't both Becky and Scarlett marry Amelia/Melanie's brother at one point?
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Oh and one last Alias comment. When you get to episode 22 (the last episode in Season 3), maybe you can tell us all what the heck happens?!?!?
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No one has mentioned it yet, so I will:
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
"You mean (puff) all these years, (puff) we coulda been (puff) friends?"
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Briefly, in the 1950's, my mother dated Ira Levin. I've always wondered whether she might have been the inspiration for A Kiss Before Dying. On further thought, The Stepford Wives is a possibility, too.
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Count me as another fanatical admirer of Agatha Christie who I feel always plays fair in her books. Though I did guess the identities of the murderers in ROGER ACKROYD and HERCULE POIROT'S CHRISTMAS and SLEEPING MURDER, I don't think I ever guessed it correctly in any of the others. As far as the Christie films, I guessed the identity of the murderer in THE MIRROR CRACK'D but not in any of the others. And I LOVE seeing the films again to see the clues right there in front of my eyes and not catching on the first time around.
As for others that weren't surprises, neither THE SIXTH SENSE nor THE CRYING GAME was a surprise at the time of the big revelation, but THE USUAL SUSPECTS definitely was and is probably my favorite mystery of the 1990s. I did guess the identity of the bad guy in L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.
I definitely think the identity of the Beggar Woman was meant to be a surprise. Sondheim has said that he unscored her scenes with music that an astute listener would be able to pinpoint who she was from an earlier scene in the musical. I heard the cast recording before I saw the piece, so, of course, her identity wasn't any surprise when viewing it for the first time, but I was certainly surprised the first time I listened to that astonishing score.
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I guess the worst of Hurricane Jeanne has passed by. We had 2-3 inches of rain which was another disaster for those in the NC mountains who have already been deluged with rain this late summer and early fall, but I can't see any fatal consequences for us in the Piedmont region. Hopefully, this will be the last one that affects us.
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DR RLP, sorry to read that your therapy for your arm is still so painful. That must have been the worst break imaginable. Not ever having broken any bones, it's hard for me to quite "feel your pain," but I do sympathize that the road to recovery has been so torturous.
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I have to also admit sheepishly that even though I figured out THE SIXTH SENSE almost immediately with the scene with Bruce Willis and Toni Collette in her home, I was completely taken by surprise by THE OTHERS with a very similar theme.
Shamalyan's UNBREAKABLE was much more surprising to me than THE SIXTH SENSE. Of course, it was his least popular film, and I liked it better than any of the others. Go figure!
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Suddenly, a shot rang out!
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I think I'll miss my morning walk. I was all set to go when the phone rang and my author friend called to ask for my reaction to his chapter (see earlier post) which I finished reading very early this morning. So we just spent an hour on the phone and now I don't feel like walking but DO feel like coffee. I may actually go and get a take-out cup from Peet's rather than making my own I love their coffee and even though it's their beans I grind and brew fresh every morning, the cup I make at home is not nearly as good as the one I get in their coffee shop down the street. Somebody please explain this mystery of life to me. ???
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Dear BK:
I did not mean to besmirch your research in any way. By all means, personal recollection has much more value than mere statistical work, such as I've been compiling.
You didn't besmirch my research. I appreciated your post. I loved living in NY that year, it was - well, you'll read. My memories of that year are pretty vivid - where I needed help was in the out-of-town portions in New Haven and Boston - two cities I didn't really know that much about. Plus certain details about where shows were rehearsed, what restaurants the teams convened in, etc. That's where all those people I listed were very helpful. Most helpful about the out-of-town stuff was conductor Don Pippin.
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I forgot about the novel of The Other by Tom Tryon. Great book and yes, the twist was a real shocker back then.
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Now wait just a darned minute - isn't today Ask BK Day? Man, I really must have been out of it when I wrote these here notes last night - out of it or... it's a really good PLOT TWIST.
Anyone who feels like asking a question of me or anyone else, please feel free to do so.
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I am home sick today and my brain won't allow me to think of any plot twists at this time. Not terribly sick, just run down feeling and since I am babysitting my little grandneice Taylor tomorrow I didn't want to take any chances of getting sicker...so here I am in my bathrobe looking like something the cat dragged in.
When I am more awake I will try to think of plot twists.
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I just read Kathrine Kressman Taylor's "Address Unknown" for the first time last night. While I wouldn't exactly call it a twist ending, it's certainly one which had much more of an effect on me that I would've expected.
With regards to "Sweeney": I seem to recall Sondheim mentioning somewhere that he wanted the twist to be solvable by people paying attention, but that the clues in the original staging were too subtle. Certainly, when the wife and I saw the concert version at Lincoln Center, it was much more apparent (I think I still have the bruise from when she figured out what was happening and grabbed my arm).
One of my favorite twists, simply because it was a great ending for a show, was the bit of stage magic at the end of Summer of '42, which played off-broadway a few years back.
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My question for Ask BK Day:
Isn't this Tuesday? Isn't Ask BK Day on Wednesday?
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We were recently talking about Henry Sweet Henry. Its CD says, "Reissue Supervised by Bruce Kimmel."
My question for BK, from someone who knows little (nothing) about the process:
What was involved in supervising the reissue?
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BK, You can answer on Wednesday.
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Oh, man, I really must have been out of it this morning to think that this was Wednesday instead of Tuesday - UNLESS, it's just another great PLOT TWIST!
Supervising a reissue (some people take actual producer credits, which I think is wrong, although I may have done that very thing early on at Bay Cities and even Varese) is simple: You get the master, you remaster it for CD, and you supervise the packaging. That's it. The not-so-simple part is the remastering - you can be maniacal about it like I am (trying to get the best possible sound out of what you're given) or you can just do a direct transfer of the master and put that out (which happens a lot more than you'd think). There is no excuse for the latter, but the former takes good ears. For example, I think the Bay Cities' Funny Thing/Forum sounds much better than the Angel reissue. I think our Chicago is yards better than the Arista.
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I just lost a very long post due to "too many connections." That was an unexpected twist.
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elmore, last night I read a detailed plot summary of Vanity Fair in a reference text I have here and though the movie seems to follow the borad strokes of the plot, it seems the movie whitewashes Becky Sharp considerably. Even so, coming home I was making comparisons to Gone With The Wind.
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JMK, I did as well. Had to rewrite the one above.
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Yes, BK, it's Twosday, not Whensday--and this must be Belgium.
I must admit that I am usually taken aback by plot twists, if they are not horribly telegraphed. Joe and I watch a lot of B sf and horror movies these days, and sometimes the twists are as simple to guess as "he must be the real villain, why else would John DeLancy take that part", or "they keep showing a close-up of that girl for no reason".
But the major ones like The Sixth Sense and The Others--I hadn't a clew.
Since we don't see movies till they come to cable, I knew about the twist in The Crying Game, but I kept it from Joe, and he was bowled over.
By the way (btw in Internet Lingo) I was very impressed by how the twist in that film was used to do more than just shock the audience. In the first part of the film, we see Stephen Rea being forced to see the British soldier as a human being rather than as The Enemy or The Other (as his cohorts do), and we all empathize with him. The same process occurs in the second part of the film--he and the audience fall for Davidson (except you smarty-pants who figured it out in advance), and when the twist comes you can't simply dismiss her as "one of them", because an emotional attachment has developed.
I saw Sweeney Todd in previews, and the Beggar Woman twist was a total shock. Hey, "if you get it... good, you got it!" was a shock to me and most of the audience that night.
I've always wondered what it must have been like for the first readers of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when they came to the "twist" that Jekyll and Hyde were the same person. Oops! Sorry for the spoilers. Hope that doesn't ruin it for anyone.
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WFO, your J&H comments remind me of the anecdote of some young people standing in line for Cameron's Titanic, who overhear an older couple discussing the iceberg and sinking. "Great," the young folk whine, "now you've ruined the ending for us."
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Computer Question:
Yesterday, I got some spyware or obnoxious-advertisement-ware or whatever onto my home computer. First my desktop got filled with a pile of shortcuts to Internet sites and even a couple of .exe programs, which I dutifully trashed. Then I got a Your Daily Horoscope onto my Quick Launch which I erased and threw away.
But now there is an extra toolbar at the top of my Internet Explorer which links to all these sites and, worse, seems to launch that damn horoscope thing everytime I log on. I can find no information in Microsoft's help screens about getting rid of a toolbar that attaches to Explorer. It also brings on a Pop-Up window everytime I log on to Earthlink--right before Earthlink's Popup Blocker kicks in.
Any ideas how to trash that toolbar?
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I STILL haven't had coffee. I'm still in my bathrobe. (I HAVE showered) - the world is in a conspiracy to keep me from doing what I need to do today. Which i guess is Tuesday.
I have a question for bk: What day of the week is it? I know I'm not in Belgium. That much is clear.
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I just finished the last of Season Three of "Alias" and without giving anything away... hmmm... I guess I won't. But it left me wanting MORE MORE MORE (that's three MORE'S) have to wait until January. It's a lovely day today (ah a Call Me Madam reference) here in the SF Bay Area, very overcast, a lovely Fall day!
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For those who have lost their posts here one too many times, copy your post before you send it. Especially if you type out something long.
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I just finished the last of Season Three of "Alias" and without giving anything away... hmmm... I guess I won't. But it left me wanting MORE MORE MORE (that's three MORE'S) have to wait until January.
Maybe when BK finishes the disk in a few days we can discuss the ending. We can include warnings in case anyone is still planning to watch the dvd who hasn't seen the show already.
I am curious to know what you guys think. They love to end it and have us talking!
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I am curious what the relationship between Syd and Vaughn will be like, now that the couple has split in real life.
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WFO, you don't mention if you have run one of two programs, Spybot Search and Destroy or Ad-Aware. If you have one of these programs I would recommend running it. Both programs are good and better than that, they are free for personal use. If you don't have either one, you can download either or both at
Spybot S&D
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
Ad-Aware (by Lavasoft)
http://www.lavasoft.de/
Once you've downloaded and installed the program (it's pretty self-explanatory, just follow the prompts) run it to get rid of any lingering spyware. If you're lucky, this will get rid of the toolbar as well. Both programs check the registry for spyware and try to remove the offending code. If this doesn't get rid of the toolbar, you may need some professional help. Microsoft makes it nigh on to impossible to remove and re-install Explorer so someone may need to do a "reg clean" or a "reg edit" for you to get rid of the crap. But we operate on the assumption that Ad-Aware or Spybot will do the job first.
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Computer Question:
Yesterday, I got some spyware or obnoxious-advertisement-ware or whatever onto my home computer. First my desktop got filled with a pile of shortcuts to Internet sites and even a couple of .exe programs, which I dutifully trashed. Then I got a Your Daily Horoscope onto my Quick Launch which I erased and threw away.
But now there is an extra toolbar at the top of my Internet Explorer which links to all these sites and, worse, seems to launch that damn horoscope thing everytime I log on. I can find no information in Microsoft's help screens about getting rid of a toolbar that attaches to Explorer. It also brings on a Pop-Up window everytime I log on to Earthlink--right before Earthlink's Popup Blocker kicks in.
Any ideas how to trash that toolbar?
I have been having the same problem of late! I have run adware removal software but some of these things are quite stubborn and refuse to go...Daily Horoscope included! There should be a law, I say!
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Computer Question:
Yesterday, I got some spyware or obnoxious-advertisement-ware or whatever onto my home computer. First my desktop got filled with a pile of shortcuts to Internet sites and even a couple of .exe programs, which I dutifully trashed. Then I got a Your Daily Horoscope onto my Quick Launch which I erased and threw away.
But now there is an extra toolbar at the top of my Internet Explorer which links to all these sites and, worse, seems to launch that damn horoscope thing everytime I log on. I can find no information in Microsoft's help screens about getting rid of a toolbar that attaches to Explorer. It also brings on a Pop-Up window everytime I log on to Earthlink--right before Earthlink's Popup Blocker kicks in.
Any ideas how to trash that toolbar?
DR WFO, you need to install and run Spybot Search & Destroy. But even after you do that, you need to go into the Spybot's Tools tab and click on the BHOs button. There you will find a list of all the "Browser Helper Objects" that are attached to your Internet Explorer. You'll have to go through the list and look for likely suspects and turn them off via the toggle button at the top. Give it a try--it couldn't hurt.
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Good Morning! Well... Good Afternoon!
It was soooo nice to sleep in my own bed again last night. I truly had a very restful night's sleep. So restful, in fact, that I stayed in bed for about two hours just listening to NPR after my radio went off at 7:30.
I've been having a very nice, easy and slow day. Just easing back into things back here. I'll probably unpack my luggage tomorrow, although, since I have to pack it all back up in two weeks. I went through the rest of my mail and junk mail - isn't that exciting? Then I headed out for a walk.
It's been a very strange day so far weather-wise here in Richmond. It's not raining... Then a downpour... Then a dry spell... Then another downpour... etc. I took a walk earlier - it was hot, humid and windy all at once. Then the downpour. Thankfully, I had my umbrella with me. It was nice walking through Carytown and seeing how some of the storefronts spruced themselves up since I've been gone. There was also one notable closing - well, the store is just moving locations - and a new high-end design furniture store just opened too. Drool...
Right now, most of central Virginia is under a severe storm and/or tornado and/or flash food watch. The amount of warnings going across the bottom of the TV screen started looking like a rainbow with all the colors for the various watches. Currently, it's quiet in the Fan, but, apparently, in the West End it's been raining quite hard for the past hour.
In any case, I'm planning on staying in the rest of day. I may even do some baking - I even bought some fresh butter and eggs last night at the grocery store. We shall see...
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Currently, it's quiet in the Fan....
I love that movie. (I don't know why I never think of it when we talk about guilty pleasures. I'd pay a quarter right about now to see Miss Perske croaking "Hearts, Not Diamonds," while wearing Liza's castoffs from THE ACT! And Michael Biehn was so preppily cute then....and now he's a big action hero......hmmmmmmmmm....)
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As for Plot Twists:
The one in Sweeney Todd did catch me off guard when I first saw/heard it. It wasn't a total surprise, but that whole final sequence where he almosts kills Johanna, and then ends up killling the Beggar Woman is just so well constructed.
The movie "The Usual Suspects" blew me away. And, then seeing "Seven" the next day just creeped me out even more.
Books-wise, I know I've gasped out loud a few times when I've gotten to key passages, but nothing specific comes to mind right now. However, the final pages of "Catcher in the Rye", I guess, could be sort of a plot twist in a sense.
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Big news! Danise just called me. :D She is going through withdrawal not being able to post.
She said this was the worse of the three storms. She is fine, only lost the top of one tree and it didn’t cause any damage when it fell.
What she doesn’t have is phone service or cable, which means she can’t use her computer. Her cell phone just connected today so she gave me a call. Let’s hope her cable connection is back by the time she returns home this evening.
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DR WFO and MBarnum: Some of those Tool-Bar Add-Ins can easily be removed by going to the "Add/Remove Software" tab in the Windows Control Panel - or whatever they're calling it now in WinXP. They truly just are "programs". Some of them. My brother is a programmer, and he pointed out that some of those tool-bars are "simple" programs - programs which may not even come up in Spy-Ware and Ad-Bot detection software. Kind of trick - or a plot twist! So, you may just want to try the "Remove" function first and go from there. Just go down the list of programs and see if any of the Tool-Bar ones are listed. Select. Hit Remove. Then reboot your computer. *Oh, and do a "hard" re-boot - Shut Down, Start - not a soft-boot - Re-Start Computer. Hard boots help to clear more "crap" off your computer. -At least according to my brother. So...
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I read VANITY FAIR I'm a bit alarmed by the publicity about this new film's Becky Sharp being a "woman ahead of her time." In the novel, which is quite funny, Becky's the villan, a sharp angry young schemer determined to climb and claw her way into society, over her friend Amelia's body and relations. No one ever remarks over the fact that VANITY FAIR is Margaret Mitchell's uncredited source for GONE WITH THE WIND:
Becky = Scarlett
Amelia = Melanie
Battle of Waterloo = Burning of Atlanta
It's been too long since I read either Thackeray or Mitchell, but there are more points of similarity as well; don't both Becky and Scarlett marry Amelia/Melanie's brother at one point?
The comment regarding Becky Sharp also bothered me, to the extent I’m really am not interested in the movie version. Hmm, maybe I will tell Keith to see it while I’m in NY.
I never picked up the connection-very interesting.
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Shamalyan's UNBREAKABLE was much more surprising to me than THE SIXTH SENSE. Of course, it was his least popular film, and I liked it better than any of the others. Go figure!
But you're not alone in liking Unbreakable, which I think is also much better written than his other films.
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Jose-so pleased your check book has been found. Since I rarely purchased assorted boxes of See’s I shall have to check out what the Fall assortment is. I think of peanut brittle as a fall candy but they don’t put that in the assorted boxes. I’m happy to hear your father is doing fine-continued good vibes to him.
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You didn't besmirch my research. I appreciated your post. I loved living in NY that year, it was - well, you'll read. My memories of that year are pretty vivid - where I needed help was in the out-of-town portions in New Haven and Boston - two cities I didn't really know that much about. Plus certain details about where shows were rehearsed, what restaurants the teams convened in, etc. That's where all those people I listed were very helpful. Most helpful about the out-of-town stuff was conductor Don Pippin.
This pretty much confirms why I feel statistical research should be used to back up personal recollection, and not the other way around. It would have been a blast to listen in on the conversations you've had with your friends, pulling together the details. (Which almost sounds like the plot for a new book...)
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It is rare that plot twist catch me by surprise, but SIXTH SENSE was one of them. Often the plot twist is different than what I expect and not as good, IMHO, and I’m not happy.
Charles Pogue, if Becky was made more likeable, then what was done with Amilia? I looked online and hardly found any mention of her. I seem to recall she was the central character in the novel.
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Panni, when we are in LA or Portland Keith tries to get to Peet’s at least once.
FEEL BETTER VIBES TO MBARNUM!
Elan ADDRESS UNKNOWN is a powerful little book.
Jennifer I usually copy before posting. It has saved me from loosing posts many times in the past. :)
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Dobbin is the Ashley Wilkes of Vanity Fair. Not having read the book, I quite enjoyed the movie though I felt a little let down at the end. I think it's worth seeing.
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I found Amelia a simpering, delusional fool.
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Jose-so pleased your check book has been found. Since I rarely purchased assorted boxes of See’s I shall have to check out what the Fall assortment is. I think of peanut brittle as a fall candy but they don’t put that in the assorted boxes. I’m happy to hear your father is doing fine-continued good vibes to him.
From my sampling so far, the Fall Assortment consists of the foil-wrapped chocolate balls, milk chocolate molasses chips (I with they were the dark chocolate ones), a maple cream, a mocha cream... and then I'm suspecting the rest of the box consists of a dark chocolate truffle, a milk chocolate caramel.. and something else round covered in milk chocolate. ;)
*I should "know" the rest of the contents by the end of the day. :-X
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I found Amelia a simpering, delusional fool.
;D Yes, but you should have loved her anyway.
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Jose I prefer the light molasses chips and the milk chocolate creams. I’m not a fan of the mocha or maple creams. I guess that is why I make my own boxes and don’t purchase the pr-packed ones. ;D The rest of your box sounds yummy. :)
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...Scotchmallow (Honey Marshmallow and caramel).
;)
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....Dark Bordeaux (Brown Sugar Buttercream)..
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And I'm suspecting the remaining rectangular piece is a Butterscotch Square (Firm brown sugar, vanilla buttercream).
-And, yes, I do have the catalog in front of me. I do know all of the See's candies by sight. Yet. :P
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...I just got my advance book for The Producers delivered to me... There's a lot of notes! However, from the looks of it, most of it is "rhythm" stuff, and from the notes in the front, there's only four or five exposed solo sections. Not too bad.
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Der Brucer is now referring to Fletcher as his "Irish puppy."
This may seem odd, as Fletcher is a Dalmatian, and they are not an Irish breed. However, the designation is earned.
Fletcher has discovered potatoes.
I had a few sitting on the kitchen counter, some red rose taters and a couple of bakers. We left to run some errands, and when we returned we found that Fletcher had been counter-surfing again, and had pulled them down.
Scolding doesn't seem to sink in with Fletcher. He knows that our fingers wagging in front of his face means that we are not happy with his behavior, but he can't pick up the tone of our voices. If anything, he loves the attention.
I thought I had gathered up the potatoes, and put them back on the counter, but I must have missed one or two of them because he shortly reappeared with a red rose potato in his mouth, happy as if it were a ball. Well, we figured it couldn't do him any harm to chomp on the potato, so we let him keep it.
This would be the end of it, except that Mikey, the little terrier, has decided that HE TOO likes potatoes. In fact, he and Fletcher have quarreled more than once over who owns the potato, with Mikey grabbing the spud and running away with it in his mouth. The spud is, of course, almost as large as his head. (This may be, for him, a substitute for the avocados he used to harvest from the tree in our West Coast back yard digs.)
Well, what the heck, potatoes are cheap.
I'm a little concerned, however. What's going to happen if I leave a head of garlic on the counter?
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Now I want a scotchmellow! I don’t care for the Bordeaux but the Butterscotch Squares are good even if I don’t purchase them very often.
SWW-LOL-now you have learned you must not leave food on the counter you don’t want a big dog to steal. ;D
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Criminal, which is currently at a cinema near you, contains a pretty nifty twist.
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Maybe near some people, but it's not in Ashland yet. Possibly by the time I return from NY.
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I want some chocolate's now. I want a box of Aunt See's caramels and creams.
The only chocolate that's in our vending machings here on the floor is Butterfingers bars and York patties. They won't do.
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I skipped my walk this morning, too but it was raining pretty severely, and I didn't want to risk it in case lightning started popping. I'll be back on track tomorrow.
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Tonight at rehearsal, I will be killed (or rather my character), so that frees up the next two nights for me. I don't have rehearsal after tonight until Friday. It will be nice to have that midweek break.
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"But Dr. Morris, don't you see? These papers prove that Larry couldn't have murdered that man! Oh, we've got to get these papers to the police right away! Dr. Morris? Dr. Morris--my arm! Dr. Morris, you're hurting my arm!"
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oooh chocolate...
Michael Shayne, did you get my PM re: the cds you were selling? If not I'll resend :)
Today on the bus there was a guy about my age on a cell phone who was having the most FASCINATING discussion with his mother. I started eavesdropping when he kept repeating "Mom quit the dramatics" over and over again until he SCREAMED it into the phone. Clearly this worked because then he got to say "I'm doing it anyway.... I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. Really. Dad can go f**k himself". Clearly there was some sort of disagreement going on... of course one wonders why he would ever use language like that with his mother but who am I to judge?
One of the movie plot twists that I remember shocking me was from A Beautiful Mind a couple years ago. The revelation about the roomate floored me... but I'm very easily led I guess because others told me they knew all along about the "truth".
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For those who didn't know, the cast recording of TEXAS LI'L DARLIN' comes out on CD today paired with the soundtrack of YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM IT, the miserable film musical version of IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT. At least, now I can put away that old 10" LP cast album. And we're supposed to be getting LOOK MA, I'M DANCIN' next month. I never dreamed ANY of these would ever make it to CD (and that included the now available ANKLES AWEIGH and MEXICAN HAYRIDE).
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DRs Jose and Jane I want to hurt you both!
Those chocolates sound so good though. :)
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Another plot twist heavy movie worthy of mentioning is Malice. I was completely blindsided by that one.
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Another plot twist heavy movie worthy of mentioning is Malice. I was completely blindsided by that one.
So was I, DR D-t-M. I thought it was wonderful and for me the first indication that there was something else to Nicole Kidman except a multimillionaire superstar husband and an interesting face.
One of the best things about it was the misdirection of the early rape/murders. (I won't say any more about that aspect of it.) It seems like it's going to be sort of a classy slasher film, and it's SO different from that.
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Briefly, in the 1950's, my mother dated Ira Levin. I've always wondered whether she might have been the inspiration for A Kiss Before Dying. On further thought, The Stepford Wives is a possibility, too.
So long as you're not Rosemary's baby!
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Briefly, in the 1950's, my mother dated Ira Levin. I've always wondered whether she might have been the inspiration for A Kiss Before Dying. On further thought, The Stepford Wives is a possibility, too.
Noel, I'm assuming your mother isn't named Rosemary?
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Another film that had surprises (and that lots of people were VERY down on during its initial release) was MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE. I really liked it, but I did guess the identity of the bad guy in that one.
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So was I, DR D-t-M. I thought it was wonderful and for me the first indication that there was something else to Nicole Kidman except a multimillionaire superstar husband and an interesting face.
The one of best things about it was the misdirection of the early rape/murders. (I won't say any more about it.) It seems like it's going to be a classy slasher film and it's SO different from that.
I'll tell you how far off the mark I was--I thought it was going to be a courtroom drama. An Absense of Malice with the malice.
Was Kidman married to Cruise at the time? Seems like it was ages ago...
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Dobbin is the Ashley Wilkes of Vanity Fair. Not having read the book, I quite enjoyed the movie though I felt a little let down at the end. I think it's worth seeing.
DR Charles Pogue, there are a couple pf excellent BBC adaptations on video, and one on DVD from A&E. I remember one with Susan Hampshire from the early 70s, about 5 or 6 episodes on MASTERPIECE THEATRE, that was rather faithful to the book.
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I found Amelia a simpering, delusional fool.
She's really dull after Becky, but she's Thackeray's picture of the ideal Victorian woman!
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I had forgotten to mention THE OTHER this morning as a great plot twist, but the end of Tryon's novel HARVEST HOME is quite a surprise as well. I suppose the end to THE BAD SEED, when it first came out as a novel, was a real surprise as well.
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Yes, she was definitely married to Cruise at the time. They were pretty much together from the time of DAYS OF THUNDER through the release of THE OTHERS.
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DRs Jose and Jane I want to hurt you both!
Those chocolates sound so good though. :)
;D If you email me in the winter I will send you some.
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Yes, she was definitely married to Cruise at the time. They were pretty much together from the time of DAYS OF THUNDER through the release of THE OTHERS.
Or as close as their publicists could get them!
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Hmm...
So far, all I've had to eat today has been a Starbucks Coffee Frappacino with a shot of Valencia (I love that kick of orange), and a few pieces of See's Chocolates...
Is there anything wrong with that?
Seriously, is there anything wrong with that? ;)
:P
Strangely, enough, however, I haven't really been hungry today, so... ???
I'm just sitting hear waiting for UPS to come. They tried to deliver the packages yesterday I sent from L.A. last week, but they didn't come until after my roommate had left for work. So, they're supposed to come again today sometime after 5:00. Once they're here, I'll probably head out to dinner someplace. -Or I could just continue to live off chocolate for the rest of the day...
-Is there anything wrong with that?
::)
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Thackery's ideal of Vicotrian womanhood? Mooncalfing over a man who you can tell is a worthless, weak prat in the first five minutes of the film? Okay...
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Another film that had surprises (and that lots of people were VERY down on during its initial release) was MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE. I really liked it, but I did guess the identity of the bad guy in that one.
Count me as one who was down on it. To someone like myself who watched the TV show, that ending was IMPOSSIBLE.
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;D If you email me in the winter I will send you some.
Or you could just go to:
http://www.sees.com
And select your own assortment, and have them ship it to you in their "Warm Weather Packaging" for a nominal fee. They use a styrofoam "cooler" and an ice/cool pack to "protect" the chocolates.
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Jose, I'm sure a few exposed solos won't be daunting after you've just played ninety minutes a night of exposed solos.
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;D If you email me in the winter I will send you some.
Here is something I just found out. You are no longer allowed to ship candy/cookies between the US and Canada. Not sure if they are strict both ways. But from Canada to the US is now a no-no.
Although apparently there is a # you can call to get permission.
I suspect as long as you wrap it well and don't write that it is candy that you'd be fine.
I found this out when I was at the post office last month and a mother was trying to send home-made cookies to her daughter. The postal person said that it had recently become not allowed. She said the woman could take her chances. Personally I just would have sent them without marking down that there were cookies (there were about 5 other things in the box).
But the postal worker had scared her so much that she decided to go home and repackage the box.
Who knew?
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It has been a long time since I read the book but I recall she was sweet, loyal, caring, kind, and meek. Today there are still women like that who fall into the same trap with a man not worthy of them. Yes, she took the whole thing a bit too far and I think Thackery was making a point about that. One I personally took to heart when I read the book. If the movie didn’t give her character more strength I don’t think Becky’s should have been whitewashed-that was one nasty gal.
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Jose, I'm sure a few exposed solos won't be daunting after you've just played ninety minutes a night of exposed solos.
;)
So, have any "official" reviews come out yet for The Ten Commandments: The Spectacle Musical?
And was the music director or someone like that really at What If? last week?
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...Yes, it was the Butterscotch Square... Hmm... That was sweet... very brown-sugary...
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OH! And the UPS man has come and gone, and my boxes are now sitting on the living room floor. One of them had a "rip" in the side, but nothing had fallen out and the contents were still intact and dry - it was mainly books and music. No harm done.
I guess it's time for more to decide what do to do for dinner... Hmm...
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I understand fruit and plants, but not food-very odd. I bet See’s could still ship them even if I can’t.
The first time we sent Craig food to Romania we were concerned. We only shipped wrapped and canned goods-baked would be stale by the time they arrived so it isn’t an issue. He has to open his packages in front of customs at the post office. Last time he gave the guy a couple of rolls of life savers.
I called the post office. Canada seems to have a lot of restrictions but cookies didn’t show up-perishables non infectious biological ??? did but nothing about cookies. ;D
Jose I just this minute received my airline tickets from the UPS man. :)
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Or you could just go to:
http://www.sees.com
And select your own assortment, and have them ship it to you in their "Warm Weather Packaging" for a nominal fee. They use a styrofoam "cooler" and an ice/cool pack to "protect" the chocolates.
I will vouch for the security and frigidity of See's packaging for shipping.
Since moving to California, the Dear Mother of DR Jay and myself would ship a box to me as part of my birthday present, and one to DP John for his September Birthday. (And honestly did send us "customized" presents, knowing that he loves the "Nuts & Chews/Milk Chocolate collections" and I prize the toffee-ettes and anything dark chocolate.)
On occasion, I think the chocolates not only arrived before she hung up the phone after placing the order, but sometimes even arrived with those coolant gel-packs still partially frozen!.
She told me last year that she would be discontinuing this practice, and had a good reason, but can't recall what it is right now.....
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Ah yes DtM - THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962) - I remember shaking my head in shock the first time that Mrs. Iselin said: "Why don't you pass the time by playing a game of solitaire?"
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It has been a long time since I read the book but I recall she was sweet, loyal, caring, kind, and meek. Today there are still women like that who fall into the same trap with a man not worthy of them. Yes, she took the whole thing a bit too far and I think Thackery was making a point about that. One I personally took to heart when I read the book. If the movie didn’t give her character more strength I don’t think Becky’s should have been whitewashed-that was one nasty gal.
DR Jane, Melanie Wilks is very much like Amelia, but I adored her when I first read GWTW. I must have a thing for Victorian womanhood. Amelia's in that line of Dickens heroines who look great and are totally vapid yet David Copperfield and Nicholas Nickleby worship and desire them. That first twit "child bride" that Copperfield marries (who then dies) makes Amelia look like Scarlett O'Hara! Even in DRACULA, that paragon of virtue Mina Harker is pretty bland, even after her attack by Dracula, compared to the lusty vampire Lucy.
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I just got in and caught up on the posts. LUCKILY I actually have an errand today at the Mall where See's is located! Only a few more hours and then I go...
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If you didn't know - or are curious - what MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE director John Frankenheimer was doing at the Ambassador Hotel the night that Robert Kennedy was killed - check out this link. 8)
http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/story/0,6761,754309,00.html (http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/story/0,6761,754309,00.html)
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I just looked up VANITY FAIR in the DVD/Video section of eBay. The A&E BBC miniseries is available, and I didn't know the Reuben Mamoulian-Miriam Hopkins BECKY SHARP was on DVD. Miriam would be a good, tough Becky. Has anyone seen it?
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Plot twist give me a headache. Plots shouldn't twist. They should be nice and straight. That being said, I agree with Jrand about MANCHURIAN.
SLEUTH is fun.
I like to read O'Henry's stories for the lovely plot twists.
I think THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD has been mentioned as one of the all time great plot twists.
There are a number of wonderful movie plot twists which we now take for granted because we know them so well... PSYCHO, of course; PLANET OF THE APES; CITIZEN KANE; and CHINATOWN, natch.
Back to books - KRITZER TIME has, if not a plot twist, then certainly a highly unexpected turn of events... (which I suppose defines a plot twist).
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Have I mentioned, DR Elmore, that it's great to have you back?
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Okay, I have to eat something -- but first I have news -- I purchased a digital camera today. I want to get used to it before I take off for foreign shores. As soon as I've figured it out, I'll post some pics as an experiment.
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On the subject of US-Canada food shipments.
A few years ago I decided to order a cheesecake from a deservedly celebrated bakery in New York. I spoke to Maury and asked him about costs, etc. He said the cake was about $25, and there would be an additional charge for the candy. I told him I didn't want candy, but he interruped and said that that was his "deception." He couldn't send dairy products to Canada, so he topped the package with candies.
The deception worked and the cake arrived safely. (Maury sent it frozen - it arrived at the perfect temperature.) It was outstanding. And the candies were pretty good, too.
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JRand-very interesting and gave me chills. I remember that day very well.
Elmore it is so good to be talking to you here.
My favorite character in GWTW is Melanie, a woman of substance.
I love it-That first twit "child bride"-what a great description. ;D I found Amelia far more interesting.
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Well DRJOSE - "The Ten Commandments" did indeed open last night, but I cannot find any reviews either. Maybe everybody is just keeping quiet.
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Congratulations Panni. What did you get? I’m looking forward to the photos. Will you begin that cute little guy you live with?
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Have I mentioned, DR Elmore, that it's great to have you back?
Dearest Panni, you have, but it's always good to hear.
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Act one finally of Deathtrap. Although I suspected something nothing quite like what actually happened.
I never saw The Village, but I guessed this twist without even seeing it and people who did see it told me I was right.
Hated Unbreakable. Instead of red it was purple. The ending of Signs was a cop out. So anti clamatic.
I still love to watch the Usual Suspects, because there are so many ways to watch it. 1) The who film is a fairy tale. 2) Truth and fiction are mixed. 3) The whole story is true
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DiT your story reminds me of the practice of changing labels on Cuban cigars. ;D
Guess it will be safe to send Jennifer some See's candy.
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Here is a just received picture of DD and her group of Univ of San Francisco students in Budapest. The priest in the photo is the head of USF who was in Budapest to receive an honorary doctorate.
DD (long brown hair, white sweater) is standing in the second row, second from the left, beside the woman in the greyish dress.
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I’m looking forward to the photos. Will you begin that cute little guy you live with?
Al Pacino? ;)
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Jane - I got a Canon Power Shot A400. -- A new model they've recently come out with. It's 3.2 Megapixels. And even has sound! The prce was very reasonable. I went to my neighborhood photo store which is not a chain and has been around for decades (Studio City Camera). The salesman spent an hour with me and gave me a huge discount. i bought a picture card (is that the term?) so I can do 64 pics. It will take me a while to figure it all out, but it should be fun.
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Panni, DD looks very happy. :)
The camera sounds good. Have a great time traveling with it.
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The only music director I know who was at What If last week was Tom Griep, I think. Nice fellow.
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I really must still be overtired, even though I'm feeling a bit better today. I keep falling asleep.
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Hi Folks!
A happy surprise when I came home from work—I have my internet access back! YAY! Life is good! I was getting withdrawal symptoms!
I have e-mails to read, posts to catch up on and pictures to put into the right size so I don’t throw us into wide screen mode but I will be back……..
:D
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elmore, Melanie is a much stronger and stronger-willed woman than weak, sappy Amelia pining over a worthless, weak dead man (at least according to the movie and plot summary of the book I read). Like Rhett said Melanie is a truly great lady, but underneath her gentleness and kindness, you can see the steel and the grit allows her to be the gracious and great being she is. I saw little of that in the character of Amelia last night.
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DR Danise, glad you got your internet back.
DR Jane, how interesting that your post office didn't say anything about candy. I'm not certain if it's only a Canada going to US rule. But it's definitely a new one.
Anyhow, I still wouldn't advertise that I was sending cookies or candy. I would be clever and put something like "toys". :)
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Jane - I got a Canon Power Shot A400. -- A new model they've recently come out with. It's 3.2 Megapixels. And even has sound! The prce was very reasonable. I went to my neighborhood photo store which is not a chain and has been around for decades (Studio City Camera). The salesman spent an hour with me and gave me a huge discount. i bought a picture card (is that the term?) so I can do 64 pics. It will take me a while to figure it all out, but it should be fun.
Congrats on the cam, DR Panni! It's the same model my sister bought this summer and it takes terrific pics.
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Thanks for the vote of (camera) confidence, DTM.
Welcome back, Danise. Glad you made it through safely!
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Well, I've started to try and figure out how to use my camera. It may take me the next month -- or I may be forced to actually read the manual. At the moment I can't find the quick start up instructions in English. The only thing to do is go to the Mall to do my errands and while there pick up some See's to give me energy. Off I go.
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Jennifer don’t forget you may need to remind me to send the candy. Also I will want to know what you like besides just sending my favorites. http://www.sees.com/home.cfm
CP, it is true about Amelia. I recall being very disappointed in her as the book progressed. I wonder how I would feel about the book if I were to read it today. I was young when I read the book and it had a great impact on me at the time. I don’t know if today my reaction would be the same. All this talk, I think I shall skip the movie.
Danise, thank you again for calling today. It was great talking to you and knowing all was well.
Did anyone in California feel today’s earthquake?
I’m going to ice my back now.
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Earthquake???
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Hi again folks! I just caught up with all of my emails and have looked over today’s posts. I will go back and read the other posts I missed at a later time.
I would certainly like to try some of the candy that you were speaking of. It sounds very very yummy! Of course I happen to love maple. But when it comes to candy I’m not opposed to trying any flavor.
I do have a couple of questions for our dear readers that may seem totally off the wall but they are things we have been discussing around the house and at work. The first one is about Chick Filet ( I can’t think of how you spell it right now). Anyway can anyone tell me who owns them? I know that it is a religious group but I couldn’t think of which one it was when I was telling my boss about it.
My next question is another one kind of off the wall. Can anyone tell me who the actress was that used to wear all of the long scarves? If I remember correctly she even died while wearing one, something to do with a motorcycle. I remember the story about her but I cannot recall her name. I believe this was sometime during the fifties maybe the early sixties.
I’m attaching a couple of pictures of some of the trees are down around my house. The first one is one from down the street. It is the reason I was without my Internet connection or so I believe.
Panni, I do hope that you will enjoy your new camera. I know when I got mine I really got bitten by the photography bug.
Since you don’t have to worry about spending so much on getting film developed and having to put up with so many mistakes it makes you want to take more pictures. You can always delete whichever ones don’t turn out.
The camera that I have, is a Casio. I bought it because of the best shot feature it has. Not knowing much about 35mm photography, I found the prospect of buying a digital camera that was the equivalent of a 35mm camera quite frightening. I wasn’t sure that I would be able to handle all of the settings.
The best shot feature of this Casio camera made it the easy for me to use. The way it works is that it has many built and pictures of different settings such as blue skies, cloudy skies, etc. and you simply choose which picture seems to match the conditions that you find yourself in.
The camera will then set itself to match those conditions. You don’t have to know a thing about cameras speed or setting the flash. It certainly makes taking pictures very easy.
Thank you Jennifer & Panni for the good wishes I’m certain they help see us through the storm.
It was good to speak to Jane today on the phone. It was nice to talk to Keith as well. I’m not sure he knew who the crazy lady was on the phone at first.
BTW, Jane, both of my cell phones are back up and running.
I feel so sorry for all the people who are still without power and those who’ve lost their homes. We certainly lucked out yet again. The tree that fell on the back yard is nowhere near any of our structures and can easily wait to be taken down at a later date.
I am not sure how much that type of thing costs but I will be calling someone to do it for me as I do not believe I could take that tree down by myself.
Well that’s about all the news that is news. Let me post some of my pictures.
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Here is our Japanese Plum Tree in the back yard. I think it looks like it's taking a bow.
Part of me will hate to see it go but it was getting rather large and to be honest, the fruit that ripened on the top would rot and smell pretty bad. The birds loved it and will miss it, I'm sure.
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More tree damage from across the street.
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Shortly I will be on my merry way to sup with Tammy and her mum. Then I shall come back to the home environment and watch the final episode of Alias.
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DRDANISE....whew! Thanks for the pics.
Camera sounds great DRPANNI.
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Good Evening!
Back from dinner... And, yes, I had real food!
Steve came over and we headed over to a new-ish place called "six-burner" - as in a stove. It's the more casual spin-off of sort of Acacia run by chef Dale Reitzer who was written up in Gourmet magazine his first year in the business. I had heard and read many good things about his new place, and all the rumors proved to be true. Good prices. Good portions - no overloaded plates.
We both started off with the house salad which came with a sweet onion and poppy seed dressing. Very good greens, and the dressing had just the right balance of sweetness and acidity - and you could actually taste the gentle flavor of the poppy seeds.
For the entrees I had the braised short ribs with baked cheese and garlic polenta and roasted cauliflower, and Steve had the braised salmon with a citrus saffron 'salsa' and the potato and onion gratin. Yummy all around.
And then came dessert: butter pecan(!) panna cotta(!!) with candied pecans, and a pear and almond torte with cinnamon sorbet(!). The torte turned out to be more like an individual upside-down pear cake, but it was very good, and the cinnamon sorbet packed quite the flavor punch and was the perfect complement to the warm cake. The butter pecan panna cotta was light and full of flavor. And the coffee, a dark roast, was very good too.
We left with very happy and full stomachs - but not overstuffed. We will definitely be returning there again sooner rather than later.
It was also good spending time with Steve again. After dinner we just hung out at my place catching up on various stuff. A very comfortable evening.
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DR Panni - Have fun with your new toy/camera! Are you sure you're only going to take 64 pictures? ;) *Be sure to check the resolution settings on your camera. Unless you're going to be printing large size prints, you may only need to use a "medium" resolution which will allow you to fit more pics on your memory card.
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Danise, Keith knew who you were, once he could hear your name. He didn’t mention anything about crazy to me, but then look who he lives with. ;D
Thanks for the pics. Sure glad that big tree only hit the wires.
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DR Danise - So good to see you posting. And glad to know that none of those pics of those trees showed the trees falling onto your house.
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I'm home after my trip to the Mall to buy a couple of things and sample some See's. I actually couldn'f finish the small bag I bought (the sample piece was way too rich) and threw it away. (I know - a waste. But if I overdo it on chocs I get a sugar high and then a terrible headache not unlike a hangover. I know my limit, folks.)
On a different topic... Caller ID is a mixed blessing. It can be incredibly useful when screening calls or just for info before you pick up. But it can also be incredibly frustrating. Case in point -- When I got in just now, the light was flashing -- there had been a call, but no message left. And the call was from the Pantages Theater. The Pantages? Who was calling me at 7:11 PM from the Pantages??? And why? Did the leading lady twist her ankle and they needed me to go on as fast as I could get there? Will I ever find out? Will there be a plot twist? Stay tuned.
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Danise - Glad to see you weren't waving at us from under one of those trees.
And how sad for those beautiful trees.
When I lived in Boulder there were quite a few terrible wind storms. Especially when I moved to an area just at the foot of the mountains. One storm took off part of my roof -- which was sort of nice actually, because the insurance gave me a gorgeous new roof. The damage to the trees always broke my heart. The morning after the storm was always like looking over a battlefield with fallen tree soldiers.
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And one for Mahler.
I must do some serious reading now.
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We actually got back to humid summer here today once the clouds cleared away. I put on shorts and t-shirt again for the first time in days. This is typical September around here: cool days and warm, himid days alternate all month. But I have to say I'm truly ready for fall weather. It's my favorite season.
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Tomorrow I may actually be able to finish THE IRON GIANT.
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DR Danise - Isadora Duncan was a famous dancer - the mother of modern dance, to many - who died when a long scarf she was wearing got caught in the wheel of a convertible
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No posts in an hour! Skammen.
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I was almost about to say the same thing!
Skammen!
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Storm report: Hardly any rain from Jeanne here in Rehoboth Beach. However, we had errands to run up in Dover, and then over to the Grandlads' house to deliver Halloween stuff (a month early!). On the road to Dover, the rain began lightly. By the time we got to the shopping center, it was worthy of a dash inside from the car. At the Grandlads', we were in a downpour.
And, of course, when we got back home, everything was back to a light sprinkling.
And I don't miss earthquakes.
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Another hour...
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In an incredible plot twist, all the late-night denizens have been turned into a colony of WUSSBURGERS.
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No posts in an hour! Skammen.
I was almost about to say the same thing!
Skammen!
Skammen, schmammen! It's quality, not quantity that makes HHW so special! ;D
Starting tonight (after I finally leave my house) I will be house-sitting for a co-worker of a friend of mine. Several months ago, I house-sat for the aforementioned friend and she recommended me to her co-worker. Rita and Chuck will be in Europe for almost an entire month! The real problem is not that they don't have Internet access, but that they have a dial-up modem and I don't know what to do...they never showed me how to dial in! Of course, I might be able to figure it out when I get over there, but then again, I might not. I'll give you a fuller report (a Little Night Music reference!) after I actually look at it. So, I'm off until tomorrow morning at the latest, when I get to work.
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For those eager to see TIGER CRUISE again... It will be playing at the most convenient time of 3 AM next Monday/Tuesday. Pajama Partay!
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Good evening!
Well, I'm about to turn in myself, but before I go...
Who can post the LA Times review of The Ten Commandments? -Why can't it be a free site like other newspapers?!?!?
Goodnight.
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I just had a bowl of cereal with mixed berries to feed my blueberry addiction. I should probably just shoot it straight into my veins.
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Who can post the LA Times review of The Ten Commandments?
It wasn't in this morning.
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For Jose...
September 29, 2004
THEATER REVIEW - EXCERPTS
Fire, plague and much wandering
*'Commandments,' with synthesizers and leggy slaves, avoids disaster rank with a bit of polish.
Running Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
By Mark Swed , Times Staff Writer
"I am not eloquent," Moses says in the Bible. "I am slow of speech. I am slow of tongue." He doesn't say "I am slow of song," but we can assume as much.
In that, if not much else, "The Ten Commandments," the new pop music spectacular, or at least spectacle, at the Kodak Theatre pretty much gets it right. Val Kilmer, in case you didn't know, is Moses.
Indeed, "The Ten Commandments" is such effective theater that, after 2 1/2 hours of cheesy stagecraft and innocuous, blaring upbeat music, we don't just understand Moses, don't just aspire to be Moses, we actually become Moses. That is to say, "The Ten Commandments" has the power to leave a epiphany-seeking theatergoer speechless.
But that is not to say that there aren't pleasures to be had in watching the many leggy slaves in revealing costumes delicately climbing ladders and seductively squirming under the heel and whip of their Egyptian masters. It is not to say that there aren't goose bumps to be raised when the synthesizers in the pit hit really low notes at really loud volumes so that sound waves have the not-unpleasant force of pummeling wind. Nor is it to say that, if you happen to be sitting close to the stage, as I was, when a furious burst of flame tells us it's plague time, you feel its searing heat and see spots all through intermission.
..."The Ten Commandments" is, at heart, the vision, fantasy and perhaps spiritual undertaking of a popular fashion designer, Max Azria, founder of the design house BCBG Max Azria. "In 2001, Max saw the musical 'Les Dix Commandments' in France and knew he had to bring it to the United States," his credits tell us.
"Les Dix Commandments," a popular musical in France is, of course, French. Feeling the need to Americanize the show, the Tunisian-born French-trained designer, who has demonstrated a sure touch in finding an American accent for his French fashions, remade the whole thing — new music, new lyrics, new staging, Val Kilmer and, of course, Azria's own costumes.
To his credit, Azria has done more than produce the world's most extravagant, biblically themed fashion show, even if Patrick Leonard's feel-good songs are fine runway material and the show has been mounted in a mall — the Kodak being at Hollywood & Highland, where BCBG is well represented.
...Despite aspects of staging ineptitude and disappointing special effects, "The Ten Commandments" has a slick polish and just enough punch and too few laughs to keep it from being one of those historical disasters that you just have to see.
OK, perhaps the pelvis-wiggling Bedouins are worth a footnote.
The main function of "The Ten Commandments," which is through-composed, is to simplify the story of Moses into easily digestible emotional bits, into songs and dances. And for the most part, it does that effectively. When Moses is selected to lead his people, he sings, what else, "Why Me?" When the Red Sea parts, the Hebrews sing "Nothing we can do but take the leap into the deep." Maribeth Derry wrote the lyrics.
Indeed, given that there is no dialogue and everyone sings similarly styled music, "The Ten Commandments" does become, in a funny way, less a story of individuals than a saga of larger emotions. The cast is huge, some 50 strong, and everyone is beautiful. Few singers or dancers distinguish themselves with a personal sound or style. High notes are calculated to get applause. Adam Lambert, as Joshua, does the best in "Is Anybody Listening?" It is also the best song.
The Egyptian unit set is one of the show's least clever aspects. Large video screens show us the desert and the raging waters of the Red Sea. The burning bush is wheeled out on an especially fake-looking rock, its two handlers not well disguised in the back, gingerly operating the fire. The plagues are shadowy projections. The Red Sea parting is unimpressive — accomplished by fog, billowy curtains, video and a stage elevator.
...Kilmer is no Charlton Heston. Reduced only to song, which he sings in an earnest, breathy voice, he seems little more than a handsome stick figure. Clearly visible, at least from two different seats I tried, were monitors scrolling his lines for him.
...Robert Iscove's direction is of the traffic cop school. Travis Payne's choreography is a happy collection of clichés, from Egyptian hand-gestures to leaping orgyists dancing around the golden calf.
Oh yes, the Ten Commandments. They are the anticlimax. With the hour getting late, the action speeds up. No time to see Moses receive them. He simply returns from the mountain with tablets in hand. Synthesizers in the pit quiet to churchy treacle. A boy soprano (Graham Phillips) nervously intones "The Ten." Few are intelligible, although I got "It's never right to take another life." Everyone jumps for joy, in a clap-along finale.
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Hey, I can still post here! :o I'm at the house where I'll be house-sitting and they do have Internet access. It's supposed to be DSL, but I gotta tell ya, it's pretty damned slow! Of course, I'm assuming that a lot of that has to do with the fact that they have a very slow computer...even just typing in the message box takes a long time! I would type the letters and the cursor would move, but there would be no letters showing! Only after I stopped typing for a few seconds would the letters actually appear. Freaky! Anyway, I typed this message in Word and it seems to work fine...finely?...well. So I copied and pasted this message into the message box. Isn't that exciting? Isn't that just too too?? AND I posted this in last night’s (Tuesday's) day AFTER BK started the new thread.