Well, now Frederick Buechner, author and Presbyterian minister, has died. He was born the same year as my mother, 1926. He lived a long and fruitful life. He meant a lot to me.
I’m sure in real life we would have disagreed about a lot of things, but we were kindred souls. Like me, I think he cried in church a lot. Things moved him. He loved Jesus. And Saint Paul. He was a fool for Christ.
He was a type of gentleman one rarely encounters anymore. I am glad and grateful I was able to shake his hand once and hear him preach in person. I will miss him, but he has gone home.
Into paradise may the angels lead thee, Freddy, and at thy coming may the martyrs receive thee, and bring thee into the holy city Jerusalem.
P.S. The OM is home and doing well. He has to take it easy and stay home from work for a week. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (James 1:2-3)
Plans were interrupted this weekend when I had to take the OM in to the ER when he thought he was having a heart “event”. Long story short, he is still at the hospital and will have a procedure this morning. He will be okay, but once again, we are reminded that things can change on a dime. I am always so grateful that our hospital is close by, the parking is easy and everyone is always so nice.
Daughter #1 drove back to town to keep me company and the boy has been, as always, supportive too. I had been planning to babysit the wee twins today and daughter #1 will take over that duty. We spent some time yesterday going through boxes of old Legos and washing them, so they can play with them today.
The coping mechanisms we employ–zut alors!
Anyway, blogging may be spotty this week, but we’ll be hanging in there!
For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for.
I’ve been watching quite a few movies lately, and my choices have oscillated wildly between recent releases (e.g., Belfast, Prey, and Thirteen Lives) and classics like To Be or Not to Be (1942), Objective Burma (1945) and last night’s The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936). Few of these films were great but most were eminently watchable. The Charge of the Light Brigade was not. It had a great director (Michael Curtiz of the Adventures of Robin Hood fame) and a stellar cast, including Errol Flynn, Olivia DeHavilland, Patric Knowles, David Niven, Donald Crisp, Nigel Bruce and other stalwarts. But let me tell you, not even that cast could save this train wreck of a movie.
False advertising!
Recognizing the movie’s flaws, Curtiz includes a disclaimer admitting that it takes liberties with history. That should have warned me. Most of the movie – everything except the last fifteen minutes – takes place in India and involves the machinations of a perfidious local raja named Surat Khan, a love triangle involving Errol, Olivia and Patric, and several interminable sequences of cavalry maneuvers to loud martial music.
Poor Olivia looks pained throughout
The idea that Olivia would prefer Patric to Errol is absurd, as indeed is the whole Indian plot. At the beginning Errol saves Surat Khan from a leopard, so that Khan owes him his life. A few months later, Khan attacks the British fort where Errol is stationed. British incompetence allows Khan to lure a major portion of the cavalry away from the fort which he duly attacks. Eventually, Errol meets Khan to negotiate terms and nobly rejects Khan’s offer of free passage out of the war zone. After Khan attacks again, and Errol and Olivia manage to escape (Patric being elsewhere), everyone else, including the post’s women and children, gets slaughtered. Errol returns with help only to find the carnage. He and his men vow revenge, forcing Khan to flee India and take refuge with – you guessed it – the Russians. After Errol faces the fact that his fiancée Olivia loves his brother Patric, and his unit is transferred to the Crimea, he falsifies their orders so they can charge the Russian position and kill Surat Khan who is there watching. Have you got all that?
Let’s just review our history for a minute. The charge of the Light Brigade occurred at the Battle of Balaclava in 1854. Due to Lord Lucan’s misunderstanding of Lord Raglan’s vague order, the Light Brigade attacked the Russian artillery position and got blown to bits. It was a disaster, but the media (remember Russell’s Dispatches from the Crimea?) put a good face on it, and then Alfred Lord Tennyson immortalized the action in poetry. What made it worthy of celebrating was that the men knew the order would get them all killed, but they obeyed anyway. There was no Surat Khan and no revenge story. Why anyone thought that muddling history in such a way would be a good idea remains a mystery.
I can’t help feeling that Curtiz started out making a movie about British India, but partway through decided that he needed some hook to get people into the theater, so he added a voiceover at the beginning and a bit at the end, and voilà, we get The Charge of the Light Brigade.
All of this goes to show that bad movies have always been made, and while The Charge of the Light Brigade is far, far from the bottom of the heap, I did hate myself a little for watching the whole thing. Watch something else this weekend!
I was sad to hear that author Melissa Bank has died at age 61. She published just two books during her career, “The Girls’ Guide To Hunting And Fishing,” in 1999, and “The Wonder Spot,” in 2005, but I really liked both of them.
I discovered her during a difficult summer and her book made me laugh out loud. She was funny like people I grew up with, but she was kind too. The cultural elites dismissed her work as “Chick lit” but isn’t that par for the course? Rest in peace, Melissa.
Are you watching the second season of Only Murders in the Building on Hulu? I love that two out of the three leads are old guys who are over the hill and detached, but keep getting pulled back into the world by weird circumstances and their new friend Selena Gomez.
Its tone is unusually sweet and the humor is not spiteful and/or political. It has a lot to say about loneliness. They make fun of their own progressive plot twists. I watch every episode twice! Once to see what happens and a second time to enjoy the dialogue. Is that weird? I don’t care. Here is an interview with one of the stars, Steve Martin.
Well, I continue to be amazed by the fact that I still, nearly a year and a half into worshipping at my new church, am unable to get through a service without crying. Even if I make it through the hymns, the doxology, sung by an inspired congregation at the end of the service, gets me every time. This says something important about singing. “When we make a habit of singing every day, whether we’re up to our necks in mud or not, God is praised and we’ll be encouraged.”
Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.
I recently finished reading David McCullough’s 1776 which was a fascinating read, especially in our current age. I learned A. LOT. and was left wanting more when I turned the last page. I decided to pick up A Treasury of the World’s Greatest Speeches, which I’m sure I paid a dollar for at an estate sale. You know I love grabbing books off a shelf and flipping them open and seeing what I find.
“In these sentiments, sir, I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general government necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and believe further that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other. I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain may be able to make a better Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, sir, to find the system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear that our councils are confounded like those of the builders of Babel; and that our states are on the point of separation, only to meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another’s throats. Thus I consent, sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good. I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these walls they were born, and here they shall die. If every one of us in returning to our constituents were to report the objections he has had to it, and endeavor to gain partisans in support of them, we might prevent its being generally received, and thereby lose all the salutary effects and great advantages resulting naturally in our favor among foreign nations as well as among ourselves from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the strength and efficiency of any government in procuring and securing happiness to the people depends on opinion, on the general opinion of the goodness of the government, as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its governors. I hope therefore that for our own sakes as a part of the people, and for the sake of posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously in recommending this Constitution (if approved by Congress and confirmed by the Convention) wherever our influence may extend, and turn our future thoughts and endeavors to the means of having it well administered.
On the whole, sir, I cannot help expressing a wish that every member of the Convention who may still have objections to it would with me, on this occasion, doubt a little of his own infallibility and, to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to this document.”
You are my war club, my weapon for battle— with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms,
with you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver…
-Jeremiah 51:20-21
Sorry, I couldn’t resist another look at the boy.
In other news, I was sorry to hear that historian David McCullough had died. I admired him a lot. Here’s a short interview he did at Baylor University when he was there to give a speech in 2016. I was interested to see that he is a re-reader. “I think that reading is essential to not just education but to a good life, and I read a lot. I have to read so much history and biography as part of my work, but when I’m reading for pleasure I read fiction and reread fiction that I’ve read 20 or 30 years ago, and I find I don’t necessarily react to it as I did then –– whether I think it’s better than I thought it was then, that sort of thing. “
And, by the way, I watched The Buccaneer (1938) last night. It was a rousing adventure loosely based on the real-life pirate Jean Lafitte (Frederic March) who sided with the U.S.A. at an important juncture in American history.
Cecil B. DeMille was a real pro at mastering a cast of thousands. All the actors, especially Akim Tamiroff, perform admirably, but March is hampered by a bad fake French accent and he’s no Errol Flynn. Having said that, however, I think it’s a better movie than the Yul Brynner remake of 1958. Definitely worth watching!
The God of love and peace be with you on this fine day.
Lord, grant us grace, to make Thy goodness our trust: shutting our hearts against pride, our mouths against evil words, our ears against foul knowledge, and using Thy gifts to the promotion of Thy glory and of man’s salvation; for His blessed sake, in Whom we have all and are full and abound, Jesus Christ.
-Christina Rosetti
Many things these dark days are an outright affront to God, such as a drag queen parading down the aisle at Grace Episcopal Church in New York City. I could go on, such examples are everywhere, but what’s the point? They are all trying to provoke us and mock God.
But God will not be mocked and I try not to be provoked.
This past weekend I stayed in my lane by watching movies directed by the great Cecil B. DeMille. First I watched Samson and Delilah (1949) which was a huge box office smash when it came out, the #1 highest grossing film of the year. I have to say, I enjoyed it. Beautiful Hedy Lamarr, as Delilah, stole the show from Victor Mature, who doesn’t have the personality to match her…
…but they are well supported by George Sanders, Henry Wilcoxon, Angela Lansbury et al. The screenplay sticks to the biblical story fairly closely until the end when they soften up Delilah quite a bit. The real Delilah never had a second thought for Samson or a moment of guilt. (I will add that a drag queen would have gone unnoticed in this film and maybe there’s a point to be made there.)
Next I watched Reap the Wild Wind (1942), a technicolor historical romance directed by DeMille and starring John Wayne, Paulette Goddard, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, and a giant squid.
It is a good movie featuring all the bells and whistles–sets, costumes, music, a great cast, and lots of action–but it suffers somewhat because, I’m sorry, the audience is rooting for John Wayne, but he isn’t the hero! He does a bad thing and has to die, doing a good thing, killed by that giant squid. Paulette Goddard has to settle for Ray Milland. Sigh.
Both these movies have very strong female characters at the center and both are appealingly played. Points to Mr. DeMille.
My plan was to watch The Buccaneer (1938) which I have never seen. It stars Frederic March as Jean Lafitte…
…who one imagines is very different from Yul Brynner who played Lafitte in the 1958 remake. But I haven’t gotten to watch it yet since I was sidetracked on Sunday night when we went to see the boy play in his Men’s Lacrosse League championship playoff.
It was fun to be back at DeSmet HS watching a game. It’s been quite awhile. The wee babes were there yelling, “Go, Daddy, go!”
This week the DH and I managed to get away for a day-trip to the Adirondacks. Did you know that the Adirondack Park is the biggest preserve in the lower 48 states? Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks could all fit inside it. Of course, those parks do not have (as far as I know) towns within their borders, so the statement isn’t really fair. Anyway, we went to visit the Wild Center, a facility devoted to educating people about the flora and fauna of the Adirondacks. It has a big exhibition center (the building by the pond in the photo below) and loads of great hiking trails including a walkway above the trees (bottom right).
not my photo
Tupper Lake, where the Wild Center is located, is an easy hour’s drive from our house. We timed the trip perfectly; the weather was a balmy 78 and sunny, there were no bugs to speak of, and since it was the middle of the week, it wasn’t very crowded. The wild flowers were blooming like crazy and very tall. This isn’t the greatest photo, but you get the idea.
The nonchalant deer did not even pause their munching as we wandered by. Can you spot the second deer in this photo?
We climbed up to the treetops and navigated the funky rope bridges and walkways, some of which swayed alarmingly.
From the upper portions of the sky trail, we enjoyed beautiful, tree-filled views.
After thorough exploration, we stopped at the café for a cup of coffee and a packet of Lorna Doons, and then we came home and collapsed, tired but happy. I can’t tell you how nice it was to get out and get some fresh air! Really, we need to make more day-trips!
To start your weekend off with a cute baby, let me introduce our new great-nephew Charlie. The little guy is already six weeks old! Here is our brother proudly holding his first grandchild:
Praise God that His grace is sufficient for each day.
How is your week going? I have been working inside, moving things around to accommodate my new wing chair, which I am picking up later today with the assistance of the boy and his truck. My home is definitely a work in progress…adding and subtracting and rediscovering things that I have put away. As the @madcapcottage boys say: “When it’s time to change! Let’s rearrange…”
I worked in the yard for small amounts of time this week, but we have entered that portion of our flyover summer when it is too darn hot to do much outside. The yard is on its own.
I also worked on (and finished) my new Rifle Co. puzzle.
It was a fun one!
And I am reading J.C. Ryle’s oft-quoted book Holiness.
Published in 1879, it is remarkably readable and relevant. I highly recommend it!
“It is vain to shut our eyes to the fact that there is a vast quantity of so-called Christianity nowadays which you cannot declare positively unsound, but which, nevertheless, is not full measure, good weight and sixteen ounces to the pound. It is a Christianity in which there is undeniably ‘something about Christ and something about grace and something about faith and something about repentance and something about holiness’, but it is not the real ‘thing as it is’ in the Bible. Things are out of place and out of proportion.”
Boy, old J.C. should see what passes for Christianity these days!
Tomorrow is the birthday of film director and writer John Huston, who was born in Nevada, Missouri in 1906. He made a lot of movies–some bad and some good. You might want to watch one of his good ones such as Key Largo (1948) or The African Queen (1951). He also directed The Bible: In the Beginning, which was the second highest-grossing movie in 1966. (No kidding.) He also played Noah. It is not a great movie, but I would like to see Peter O’Toole as the Three Angels again. He was pretty great.
You will recall that he (they) brings down the wrath of God on Sodom and Gomorrah.
In my Bible reading I am currently in Judges and have recently read all about Samson and Delilah–quite a story! I was reminded that Cecil B. deMille made a movie about them with Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr cleverly titled Samson and Delilah (1949). I want to check it out.
I mean that story was made for the movies!
When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.[a] And his strength left him.
20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”
He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.
21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison. 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
Not to sound like too much of a lush here, but I do love a margarita. And ever since Club Taco closed, I’ve been searching for my lost shaker of salt. No wait, I’ve been searching for a good replacement. Well, the last time I visited my favorite liquor store (I’ll take phrases I never thought I’d use for $200, Alex), I gathered several margarita-flavored seltzers for an afternoon taste test.
Hard seltzers are all the rage for the young people.
It was 82 lovely degrees on the back patio this Saturday, so my mother and I decided to split all four seltzers and rank them according to our preference. I was inspired by my favorite YouTuber, Matt Mitchell, and his series Bless Your Rank. We were judging primarily on taste. But you know the vintage cocktail hour theme of the Bud Light Seltzer gave it an advantage. Real Henry Mancini vibes.
Let the taste test begin!
We started off with the Bud Light seltzer which was in the lead out of the gate. It has a strong margarita flavor without being too sugary and, of course, it had a hint of that Bud Light essence. “These would be great by the pool,” I commented. This reminded me that although I had not won the billion dollar lottery the night before, I had decided that I was going to spend part of the billion dollars on pools for everyone in my family. Alas.
At the end of round one, Bud Light Seltzer was in first place. Because it was the only place to be.
Next, we tried the Topo Chico Margarita Seltzer. This also had a good margarita flavor. Topo Chicos are like a hip Perrier and apparently known for being highly carbonated. I guess it was bubblier than the Bud Light. I enjoyed it.
But was it more refreshing than the Bud Light? Probably not. After round two, Bud Light was still in first place.
Next, we tried the two Ranch Waters. It turns out I didn’t read the labels closely enough and they were really just lime flavored seltzers so not quite in the same category as the prior contestants. We enjoyed them, but we liked the Spicy version more.
Here’s the final ranking.
There you have it, highly official research conducted in the name of blog content.
dual personalities 