dual personalities

For Christ the Lord hath risen,
Our joy that hath no end.*

How was your weekend? We had a glorious (but windy) Saturday, followed by a rainy Sunday–par for the course this spring. Daughter #1 came home and we went to the Sappington House Country Craft Festival where we walked around their lovely grounds, checked out their library and perused the craft booths.

We moved on to a couple of estate sales. Daughter #1 found a nice little “brown” table and when one of the guys helped us move it to my car, he asked, “Which car is yours?” I said, “The little green car over there.” “Oh, the Mini Coop!” he replied. “I remember you ladies! Have a blessed day.” Yes, we are that Mother-Daughter pair in the Mini Coop. My day was made.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon on the patio soaking up the vitamin D under the umbrella, which, thankfully, did not blow over.

We went to church on Sunday and heard a good sermon on shame from the text, Genesis 18:9-15. After church we celebrated my birthday (again) with a breakfast casserole and cake…

and more presents…

We played inside…

…but we also managed to spend some time outside…

We found a good spot for my new elephant…

Then everyone went home and I caught up with daughter #2 on FT.

Are those baby Crocs not the cutest?

Meanwhile, continuing on my theme of watching Akira Kurosawa films, I watched The Hidden Fortress (1958) last week, which stars Toshiro Mifune and Misa Uehara as the princess. The story follows two unlucky and rather stupid peasants who seemingly cannot do anything right. Bickering constantly, they end up in the middle of a war and become pivotal in helping a princess get over the border to safety in Hayakawa. Of course, Toshiro Mifune is there as the general tasked to escort the princess and do all the heavy lifting and thinking. The princess herself is a very interesting character–smart, dignified, courageous, kind, and beautiful. The bond forged between her and the bondswoman she saves is quite touching. (Boy, you can have all your Disney princesses–this is a great princess.)

There is a lot of action and we get to see Toshiro do some great stunt riding– standing in the stirrups and wielding a sword with both hands while screaming the Japanese version of a rebel yell. It doesn’t get much better than that.

A lot has been written about George Lucas being heavily influenced by this movie when developing Star Wars. This is not surprising since everything he has ever done is derivative of something else. (He has said that R2D2 and C3PO are based on the two peasants.) You can argue that Kurosawa was derivative of John Ford–okay. But the bottom line is that this is a very entertaining and insightful film. It also has something significant to say about kindness (what an overworked word these days) and friendship. The princess learns a lot and she isn’t ashamed to say so. Even on the verge of being beheaded, she can say:

I have enjoyed the journey. The happiness of these days, I would have never known living in the castle. I’ve seen people as they are, without pretense. I’ve seen their beauty and their ugliness with my own eyes.

Great, great movie–check it out. You can rent it on Amazon Prime or watch it here.

P.S. We also watched Paul Blart: Mall Cop II (2015)–one of our low-brow favorites. The OM was riveted, but apparently unamused. Sorry (not sorry) Kevin James is a laugh riot.

*The Day of Resurrection, John of Damascus, 749, tr. by John M. Neale, 1862