October | 2015 | dual personalities

October 9, 2015

Friday movie pick: ”Call your baby, My wife’s having a husband”*

by chuckofish

Today we say happy birthday to Edward Andrews, character actor extraordinaire and Episcopalian. He was born to be the senior warden** in some fancy church, don’t you think?

In actuality he was the son of an Episcopal minister, born in Georgia in 1914. He attended the University of Virginia, and at age 21, made his stage debut in 1935, progressing to Broadway the same year. His movie career didn’t take off until he was in his forties, but he was made for the movies. Of course you remember him. He was perfect as both the harried executive and the slightly sleazy politician/military type. He frequently played The Mayor.

Last weekend I watched Send Me No Flowers (1964) in honor of Rock Hudson, and Andrews was hysterical as the doctor who puts up with Rock’s hypochondria.

He is also great in The Thrill of it All (1963) with Doris Day and James Garner, playing the flustered older father-to-be and advertising executive.

He was a staple on television from the 1950s until he his death in 1985. He was everywhere.

Anyway, one of Andrews’ movies might be just the ticket tonight as I know darn well it will be too stressful to watch the Cardinals take on the Cubs. Of course everyone in 49 states and Kansas City will be rooting for the Cubs against the Cards. That is always the way it is in the post-season. I hate it, but what can I do?

Pray hard.

*Gardiner Fraleigh in The Thrill of It All

**The senior warden in an Episcopal Church works alongside the parish rector. Together they share with their congregation the mission and vision of the parish and manage its operations as well. They also identify and work with members of the congregation who show leadership qualities or abilities and model ways of incorporating the Gospel in their daily lives.

2 Comments

October 8, 2015

Home, home on the range

by chuckofish

The OM and I have been watching Longmire, season 4 on Netflix for several days in a row.

We have enjoyed it a lot, but then it ended precipitously after only 10 episodes. Now we will have to wait until they come up with season 5 to see what happens. That is the trouble with binge-watching one show.

Modern problems.

Anyway, all of this Longmire viewing with its myriad plots and sub-plots involving Native Americans leads me to my next subject.

Did you know that Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a holiday celebrated in various places in the U.S.? It was begun as a counter-celebration to Columbus Day, which, as you know, is coming up next week. The purpose of the day is to promote “Native American culture” and to commemorate the history of Native American peoples. At least four states do not celebrate Columbus Day (Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, and South Dakota) with South Dakota officially celebrating Native American Day instead. Various tribal governments in Oklahoma designate the day “Native American Day” or name the day after their own tribe.

Well. I would just as soon celebrate Native American Day as Columbus Day, but I would no doubt do it by watching John Wayne movies or something equally offensive to Indians. (Not that it should be.)

Another way to celebrate would be to head out to Kansas City to see the ten decorative panels which were installed on the new Red Bridge in Kansas City in 2011. Each panel represents an individual who has ties to the area as part of the Three Trails Crossing during the westward expansion of the 1800s. (The area around Red Bridge is historically significant as the crossing at the Blue River was the only location where the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon Trail intersected. From approximately 1821 to 1880 it is estimated that thousands of travelers crossed the Blue River near the current bridge.) It is a very ethnically-diverse group and the Native American represented is my great-great-uncle, John Prowers’s, wife, Amache Ochinee Prowers! Pretty cool, right?

Amache is usually recognized as someone who bridged the two cultures–Indian and white–successfully. As I have noted previously, she and John had nine children together who, it would appear, were whole-heartedly welcomed into the mainstream of Colorado society. You can’t believe everything you see in the movies.

Someday I will head out to K.C., but not this weekend. I don’t even get Columbus Day off, so what am I talking about?

3 Comments

October 7, 2015

An’ The Raggedy Man, he knows most rhymes, An’ tells ’em, ef I be good, sometimes

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) who was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author, frequently referred to as the “Hoosier Poet.”

Statue in Greenfield, Indiana

I suppose no one reads his poems anymore. (Although–surprise!– his books are still in print.)

I remember my mother reading them aloud to us with great gusto. There was Little Orphant Annie

Little Orphant Annie’s come to our house to stay,
An’ wash the cups an’ saucers up, an’ brush the crumbs away,
An’ shoo the chickens off the porch, an’ dust the hearth, an’
sweep,
An’ make the fire, an’ bake the bread, an’ earn her board-
an-keep;
An’ all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an’ has the mostest fun,
A-listenin’ to the witch-tales ‘at Annie tells about,
An’ the Gobble-uns ‘at gits you
Ef you
Don’t
Watch
Out!

and The Raggedy Man

O The Raggedy Man! He works fer Pa;
An’ he’s the goodest man ever you saw!
He comes to our house every day,
An’ waters the horses, an’ feeds ’em hay…

Indeed, they were fun to read and fun to listen to. That is no doubt why Riley was among the most popular writers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

So join me in a toast to the forgotten Hoosier poet, James Whitcomb Riley. (Perhaps with one of these.)

I leave you with this picture of another famous Hoosier reading some JWR poetry for fun and personal enrichment.

Enjoy your Wednesday–and don’t let the Gobble-uns git you!

2 Comments

October 6, 2015

A floating sense of doom

by chuckofish

“God knows we have our own demons to be cast out, our own uncleanness to be cleansed. Neurotic anxiety happens to be my own particular demon, a floating sense of doom that has ruined many of what could have been, should have been, the happiest days of my life, and more than a few times in my life I have been raised from such ruins, which is another way of saying that more than a few times in my life I have been raised from death – death of the spirit anyway, death of the heart – by the healing power that Jesus calls us both to heal with and to be healed by.”

― Frederick Buechner, Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons

I can surely relate to what Frederick Buechner is saying here, although I wouldn’t classify it as neurotic anxiety exactly. I just have always had a morbid imagination, always thinking about what might happen, especially concerning loved ones.

At the evensong service on Sunday the choir sang an anthem based on a poem by Robert Herrick (1591–1674):

In the hour of my distress,

When temptations me oppress,

And when I my sins confess,

Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

When I lie within my bed,

Sick in heart and sick in head,

And with doubts discomforted,

Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

When the house doth sigh and weep,

And the world is drown’d in sleep,

Yet mine eyes the watch do keep,

Sweet Spirit, comfort me!

I was reminded that people back in the seventeenth century lay in bed at night and obsessed over problems too. I must say that I do find comfort in that.

And as I always say to the boy after one of our overwrought discussions of current events, God is in control. It is good to remember that.

The evensong service ends with the wonderful prayer for mission:

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give thine angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for thy love’s sake. Amen.

You can’t go wrong with this prayer at bedtime. Keep it on your bedside table. Envision those angels watching over you and your loved ones. It helps to dissipate that floating sense of doom.

2 Comments

October 5, 2015

O friends, in gladness let us sing, supernal anthems echoing*

by chuckofish

[FYI supernal means a) being or coming from on high b) heavenly, ethereal.]

I went to church twice on Sunday so I am feeling the supernal vibe. I read at Evensong, but I had to go to a meeting after the 10 a.m. service, so that is why I also attended that service. I am “mentoring” one of our confirmands, so I was getting the lowdown on expectations for the coming year. My assignment is a girl I have known since she was a tiny tot and not someone who is too cool for me. No piercings or dyed black hair either. All ~~should~~ will be well.

The boy came over after church and knocked down an old fence for us.

The OM and I would have wrestled with this for who knows how long, so once again, how grateful we are to have his manly help.

It took him all of 10 minutes, so we went out to lunch at Steak ‘N Shake.

On Friday night the OM and I went to a work-sponsored party at the zoo. I got to see the new polar bear in his swanky new environment.

He growled at me through the glass. He was up-close and personal, right? I wanted to see him swimming, but he did not oblige.

We also saw some penguins

and we rode on the empty train.

We ate a hotdog and went home. It was an evening well spent.

I am reading the new mystery by Robert Galbraith (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling)–The Silkworm, which I am enjoying very much. I am not a big mystery fan, but the characters in her series are real (not cardboard) and I like her P.D., Cormoran Strike.

I watched Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), which I did not particularly like, and Send Me No Flowers (1964) with Rock Hudson (“Is it a sharp pain, is it a dull pain, or does it grip like a vice?”), which I liked very much.

Also, this is pretty darn great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TOFdWGToKQ

How was your weekend?

*Lasst uns erfreuen, #618

7 Comments

October 3, 2015

Cultivate the Merry Heart*

by chuckofish

Recently I learned that on Sundays my DH doesn’t read his email. That conscious policy — an act of defiance if ever there was one — gave me an idea. After I post this, I’m going to turn off the internet — at least for the rest of the day! I don’t know about you, but I am beyond tired of the reductionism rampant on the internet. Everything (especially politics) gets reduced to dumb slogans and simplistic, black and white equations: If you believe X, then you are Y (apply whatever values to X and Y you want). The lack of depth or simple logic is deplorable. Yes, it’s so bad that it inspires me to rant.

Admit it. You’d love to say that to loads of people. Sigh. But no. We are going to laugh at all that self-righteousness, right?

And cultivate a merry heart. It’s so much healthier for the blood pressure.

Have a deep, complex and entirely satisfying weekend and when the world makes you mad, laugh like Errol 🙂

*Norman Vincent Peale

5 Comments

October 2, 2015

Friday movie pick: “He’s the last guy in the world I woulda’ figured.”*

by chuckofish

Thirty years ago today, Rock Hudson died after a 15-month battle with AIDS . He was only 59.

So in his memory, I suggest we watch one of his movies tonight.

We could go with Rock Hudson and John Wayne in The Undefeated (1970)

or Rock Hudson and Doris Day and Tony Randall in Pillow Talk (1959)

or Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida in Come September (1961).

His 1950s melodramas are a little heavy-handed for my taste but they’re not terrible. And he was great in his later career playing stand-up military types like Cdr. Ferraday in Ice Station Zebra (1968). But I like his romantic comedies best. He was perfect in them.

Indeed, he was just kind of perfect.

Have a great weekend! You go, Mike Matheny!

Yes, the Cardinals clinched their third straight division title, their fifth straight playoff appearance and their 12th postseason trip in the past 16 seasons. 100 wins. Central Division champs! Home field advantage!

*Fred in Lover Come Back (1961)–Hudson’s comedies are peppered with lines like this, as if his gayness was one big private joke in Hollywood (wink wink). I guess it was.

7 Comments

October 1, 2015

“Salutations!” said the voice.”*

by chuckofish

Well, here we go. Ninety-one days left in the year!

It will be Christmas before we know it. Plans are full-speed ahead for 2016 at work. 2016! But the millennium was yesterday!

Well, time marches on and all that.

Today, in memory of E.B. White, who died on this day in 1985 (30 years ago!), let’s have a moment with our favorite spider Charlotte.

“Why did you do all this for me?’ he asked. ‘I don’t deserve it. I’ve never done anything for you.’

‘You have been my friend,’ replied Charlotte. ‘That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”

When the book was published in 1952, Eudora Welty reviewed it in the New York Times, writing, “As a piece of work it is just about perfect, and just about magical in the way it is done.” I concur.

As you know, I have a love/hate relationship with spiders, but I do love Charlotte.

And, OMG, this year marks the 50th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas! So buy your commemorative Christmas stamps today!

And the Cards won the division! There is joy in Mudville again!

*Charlotte

4 Comments

Month: October, 2015

by chuckofish

by chuckofish

by chuckofish

by chuckofish

by chuckofish

by chuckofish

by chuckofish

by chuckofish