dual personalities

Month: January, 2024

January 31, 2024

“I’m having a rhetorical conversation”

by chuckofish

Last week I watched The Producers (1967) on TCM. You know, the one about a washed-up Broadway producer who devises a plan to make money by producing a sure-fire flop–Springtime for Hitler. It was hilarious. As the producer Zero Mostel is beyond anything else ever. His comb-over is the best/worst in movie history. Gene Wilder is perfect as the overwhelmed accountant. It is silly, silly, silly. I’m not sure what today’s progressive audience would make of it, especially scenes like this:

…but I really don’t care. Everybody is insulted in this movie. Even old ladies.

Mel Brooks won the Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay–Written Directly for the Screen–for The Producers over writers Stanley Kubrick and John Cassavetes. I think he was a little surprised.

Back when the Oscars were worth watching!

Brooks is an interesting guy. It is noteworthy, I think, that Brooks graduated from high school in January 1944 and was immediately drafted into the Army. He was sent to Europe where he participated in the Battle of the Bulge, joining a battalion that was responsible for clearing booby-trapped buildings and defusing land mines as the Allies advanced into Nazi Germany. He was a real life Shecky Greene in Combat!. At the end of the war he was honorably discharged as a corporal. I bet he felt lucky to be alive. He headed to the Catskills to become a comic and the rest is history.

Sadly, the Hollywood elites of today are unable to make movies like The Producers anymore. They take themselves too seriously as artistes and produce overblown, overly-long messes. Mel Brooks never took himself too seriously and I am thankful.

So watch The Producers–It may be “shocking, outrageous, insulting”–but relax and let yourself laugh. It’s funny.

2 Comments
January 30, 2024

Now I ain’t too good at prayin’/But thanks for everything

by chuckofish

Well, I didn’t end up driving to Champaign-Urbana, as it turns out daughter #2’s moving truck-full of stuff won’t arrive until next week so…the best laid plans of mice and men and all that. Thank goodness they made it there safely.

Meanwhile Garden and Gun had a link to this back porch concert which introduced me to singer-songwriter Larry Fleet. I really like this song which Morgan Wallen also covered.

And this was really good.

Plus here’s a reminder. “I agree with Peter: “I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder” (2 Peter 1:13).”

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

3 Comments
January 29, 2024

Postcards from the weekend

by chuckofish

Another rainy, overcast weekend filled with busy-ness. When did February become such a busy month?

Among other things, the bud had the Pinewood Derby…

He got the “Spirit of Scouting” medal…

…but his car came in 4th out of 12 in the race, so he missed out on a podium trophy by three-tenths of a second. C’es la vie.

Meanwhile the movers came to daughter #2’s house two days earlier than previously arranged, so they had a last-minute scramble to finish packing the night before.

This gives them more time to drive to Illinois, so it’ll work out.

They left on Sunday and will arrive on Monday, in plenty of time to close on their house on Tuesday.

The OM and I are poised to drive over to help them unpack as soon as we hear when the movers are actually going to arrive (probably Wednesday) with all their stuff. Prayers for traveling mercies all around.

This week our Sunday School class on the Doctrines of Grace (TULIP) focused on Irresistible Grace–“the point at which the things determined beforehand in the mind and counsel of God pass over into time.” Or to put it simply: “He who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:6) I love this class!

After church the OM went to the Blues hockey game and the rest of us all went to see The Wizard of Oz (1939) on the big screen. (Check out Fathom’s Big Screen Classics series here.) As you know, it is one of my top 5 favorite movies, so I jumped at the opportunity. Wow, to see this great movie as it was meant to be seen was fantastic. The art direction is A++++ and on the big screen you can see every detail. The incidental music is awesome and Judy Garland is perfection. In fact, everyone in it is great.

The bud’s favorite part was the tornado in Kansas and Lottie’s fave was Glinda. We all agreed that Toto reminded us of Mr. Smith through the whole movie. I hope we can talk about it further sometime–they had to rush off to Lacrosse practice!

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite ancestors, John Wesley Prowers, the Colorado cattle king who was an early inductee into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Hall of Fame in 1963.

I like to celebrate by watching a really good cowboy movie. This year we watched Red River (1948), one of the best and a favorite of mine. As Roger Ebert wrote, “….’Red River’ is one of the greatest of all Westerns when it stays with its central story about an older man and a younger one, and the first cattle drive down the Chisholm Trail. It is only in its few scenes involving women that it goes wrong.” I have to agree.

John Wayne and Montgomery Clift are perfect as father and (adopted) son. Every time I see it I am so impressed with both of them. And Walter Brennan gives one of his best performances.

I also watched Kevin James’ Irregardless stand-up special on Prime Video. I think he’s funny and he seems really normal. No bad language or vulgarity. No politics. Probably having an old lady like me like your comedy routine is the kiss of death, but oh well.

So it was quite a weekend. What did you do? What did you learn? There’s no place like home!

4 Comments
January 26, 2024

Rain, rain, go away. Mr. Smith wants to play.

by chuckofish

Hello from wacky weather St. Louis.

And this social post was from Thursday morning! Also, who knew the National Weather Service has jokes? But yes, it has been cold, rainy, warmer, foggy, rainy, generally gross for many days now. Poor Mr. Smith hasn’t had a good walk in ages.

I had one of those work weeks where my days were filled with being added to long email chains six hours into the thread that required reading all the way back to the beginning to figure out what the question is. My work week was also filled with excitement like driving to work and having to pull over so the SWAT TEAM could speed past me in the SWAT van to deal with a hostage situation two blocks from my office. I am so glad I get to pay my 1% earnings tax for the privilege of maybe getting murdered on the way, during, or on the way home from work. I also spent several hours today discussing font size, so there’s that.

It hasn’t been all bad. This classic (!) was on TCM (!) this weekend and my mother and I watched from our respective homes, texting each other as if we were watching in the same room.

Yes, he does.

And this made me laugh. Literally my dream folder in fifth grade.

And I guess I should have done this.

Hopefully, the sun will come out next week. Or maybe it is time to stock up on ark building supplies.

3 Comments
January 25, 2024

Your word is a lamp unto my feet*

by chuckofish

Yesterday we were enveloped in a thick fog that was straight out of an old horror film.

(The Wolf Man, 1941)

It brightened up a bit in the afternoon, but not much. There’s rain and more rain on the radar.

Meanwhile my women’s Bible Study starts up again this morning. We are reading the book of Matthew. Since I loaned my softcover NIV to daughter #1 so she would have a smaller tome to carry to her Sunday School class, I had to find something to use for my Bible Study. My ESV Reformation Study Bible is too big to carry around and my chronological Bible is not suitable. So I went searching in my house…I found the RSV Bible that was given to me in 4th grade, which is cheap and kind of falling apart. Check out the inscription:

They used my nickname and spelled it incorrectly! Also, my last name is misspelled! Good grief. I remember at the time, even in the 4th grade, being really chagrined.

I found my mother’s American Standard Version presented to her when she was, like me, 9 years old:

I am not surprised that she received hers in recognition of “excellent work”. I’m sure she took it all very seriously, unlike me, who along with my schoolmates were giggling pains in the neck. I think we actually made our 5th grade Sunday School teacher cry. Mrs. Brinkmeier. I cringe to think of my elementary school depravity.

I found multiple copies of the Book of Common Prayer and a few more Bibles, including this ancient one inscribed to an ancestor, Emmeline Cornwall:

Emmeline too was singled out for her “punctual attendance, good behaviour and attention to her studies at the Sunday School.”

Emmeline’s Bible also includes helpful marginal notes…

“The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language” (Esther 8:9, ESV).

…and a hand stitched bookmark:

We have not forgotten you, Emmeline.

I found my father’s Oxford University Press KJV, which his Mother had given him, hoping for the best.

Finally I unearthed the study Bible I had used in my small group back in the 1990s, borrowed from and, I confess, never returned to my old church. Maybe I will use it, although it may raise some PCA eyebrows .

Well, remember, a Bible is of no use unless you open it.

So open it already!

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:14-17

*Psalm 119:105

4 Comments
January 24, 2024

Fun facts to know and tell

by chuckofish

Yesterday we were able to put away the storm gear and venture outside in relatively balmy temperatures in the 40s. Hopefully this weather system will persevere through next week when daughter #3 and DN will make the Big Move to Illinois. As you can imagine, the Move looms large in their lives and three-year old Katie has a limitless supply of questions.

Well, in case you were wondering, Illinois has been a state since 1818.

It is known as the “Land of Lincoln”–an excellent slogan, as they go. Three U.S. Presidents have been elected while residents of Illinois: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and Barack Obama. Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois and raised in Dixon. He graduated from Eureka College outside Peoria where he was student body president, played football and was president of his fraternity. Although he left Illinois after college never to return, Reagan is a true son of Illinois.

Illinois is a very flat state, lying entirely in the Interior Plains. Its highest point is Charles Mound at 1,235 feet (376 m) above sea level. It is located in the Driftless Area in the northwestern part of the state. At 279 feet (85 m) above sea level, the lowest elevation point in the state is located near Cairo and the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

Champaign is the 10th largest city in Illinois. Because the university and a number of well-known technology start-up companies are located there, it is often referred to as the hub, or a significant landmark, of the Silicone Prairie.

Carl Perkins and Bob Dylan joined forces in 1969 to write the song “Champaign, Illinois”, which Perkins released on his album On Top. This is a very cool, fun fact. Not many towns can say that Carl Perkins and Bob Dylan wrote a song about them.

“Yes, I certainly do enjoy Champaign, Illinois!”

My maternal grandmother was born and raised in Illinois–the Ravenswood neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago. After her mother, Anna Hough, and father, William Carnahan, were married in Colorado in 1889, they moved to Chicago where they lived thereafter and brought up their five children. They helped found the Ravenswood Baptist Church which still appears to be going strong.

The next few days are going to be a stressful time for daughter #2 and her famille as they wrap things up in Maryland and head west. I have no doubt they’ll all handle it with aplomb.

He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, “At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” (Genesis 26:22)

4 Comments
January 23, 2024

 Frosty wind made moan

by chuckofish

Yesterday we woke up to the world covered in a sheet of ice. The neighbor across the street got as far as the end of her driveway before she stopped and just left her car there and retreated into the house.

I had gone to the grocery store preemptively on Sunday, so I just hunkered down (once again) and stayed home. The OM worked from home as did daughter #1 and the rest of the world.

(Zoom calls at home.)

Moving along, today we remember Alexander Korda, the Hungarian–born British film director, producer, and screenwriter, who died on this day in 1956. He founded his own film production studios and film distribution company. He made a lot of good films, including some of my favorites, such as The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), The Four Feathers (1939) and The Third Man (1949). Any of them would be worth watching as we toast this notable film producer. Because of his work with Winston Churchill before and during WWII, he was the first British film producer to be knighted.

And here’s a little Shakespeare for a wintery day:

(As You Like It, Act II Scene VII)

Plus, some wise words from C.S. Lewis:

We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.” – Mere Christianity

Amen to that.

4 Comments
January 21, 2024

This is the day that the Lord has made*

by chuckofish

We survived another frigid weekend in flyover country. At least the sun was out. Daughter #1 and I braved the arctic elements on Saturday to go to an estate sale where Lamar gave us our usual good customer discount and made our day. We then went out to lunch at our local pizza place which was hoppin’ with activity.

Later at home I worked on a puzzle I got for Christmas…

And the Amaryllis is blooming! Wowee! What a show!

We went to church–it was almost 10 degrees! Our Sunday School class was on Limited Atonement. We had a lively discussion in our 60s age group. The boy said they also had a lively discussion in their 20-30s age group, but some of them are still working out their salvation with fear and trembling. It is a blessing to be able to go somewhere and have a lively intellectual discussion.

After church we went to our favorite diner for brunch and daughter #1 met us there after her service. We wolfed down our food like starving Presbyterians after a worshipful morning. As Charles Spurgeon said, “There is hardship in everything except eating pancakes.”

We went back to church that evening for our annual meeting, which was pushing it considering the eternal threat of bad weather. But we had a quorum and conducted our business. Our new pastor starts in two weeks!

Meanwhile daughter #2’s daughters continue to enjoy outdoor winter activities to varying degrees…

Ida prefers to play inside and I’m with her…

We are bracing for an ice storm today. Here’s to further hunkering down.

*This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)

6 Comments
January 19, 2024

As the sparks fly upwards

by chuckofish

Today is my mother’s birthday–she would have been 98! She died almost 36 years ago.

Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her and miss her. She lived one of those “hidden lives” George Eliot wrote about. I know she sometimes lamented that her life had not amounted to much. I tried to cheer her up by reminding her, as only a self-centered child can, that she had three handsome, healthy, smart children to be proud of. That didn’t really help.

I thought I knew my mother pretty well. But I’m not so sure I did. I spent a lot of time with her; we were together a lot. I think she listened to me a lot, and she hardly ever argued–only occasionally countering a really stupid statement made by me. Her generation was advised not to inflict their ideas on their children, to let them decide for themselves what was right. (That worked out well, didn’t it?) The times they were a-changin’ and it was scary for parents. Really scary. I know she worried plenty about her children, especially when we went off to college. She worried about my brother for a solid ten years.

My mother was cut off from her family and her New England roots once she and my father settled for good in Missouri. We visited them occasionally. Her parents visited us once. Her sisters each visited once. Back then the phone was only for emergencies. She never really made friends in her new hometown. This is not to say she didn’t try. But it was an unwelcoming community in which we dwelled. She only had us and we were not enough. Not to be overly dramatic, but isolation kills.

This was a hard lesson to learn, but I learned it. We humans need community. So find a church and start going every week. Make that your new year’s resolution. Make a new friend. Call an old friend. Stay in the game.

Well, that turned serious. Sorry. But I have been reading Job.

For affliction does not come from the dust,
    nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
but man is born to trouble
    as the sparks fly upward.

–Job 5:6-7
3 Comments
January 18, 2024

Tra-la-la, tra-la-la

by chuckofish

While we are in a celebratory mood, let us toast today’s birthday boys: A.A. Milne (1882), Oliver Hardy (1892), Cary Grant (1904), Danny Kaye (1911), and Kevin Costner (1955). Cupcakes all around!

I would like to watch The Fighting Kentuckian (1949) starring John Wayne and Oliver Hardy. It is an excellent movie!

We’ll see if that can be arranged.

We were remiss in not mentioning the passing of actor David Soul a few weeks ago. We loved him as the middle Bolt brother in Here Come the Brides and as Hutch in Starsky and Hutch back in the day.

I lost track of him after that but I did always think he was my husband’s doppleganger. Well, sort of.

Interestingly, his father was a Lutheran minister and a senior representative for Lutheran World Relief during the reconstruction of Germany after World War II .

I would like to indulge in some Starsky and Hutch binging, but it is not available as far as I can see.

So, as we experience a brief thaw before the arctic air returns, I am content to putter around at home, reading my Pilgrim’s Progress assignment, straightening up the house and driving cardboard boxes to the recycling center. I feel like my father “going to the post office” in order to get out of the house. While I’m at it, I suppose I should stock up on bread, milk and pretzel bites.

This seems right to me, because it is not crazy to think that demonic forces prowl about in [AI] technology. There may well be a way “for the technology to move forward in a manner aligned with the City of God, but thus far Big Tech (collectively) seems quite content to operate from a position of self-interest and self-gain, values prized by both the City of Man and the cosmic powers of darkness.”

On that note, it’s time to relax and read some A.A. Milne:

Tra-la-la, tra-la-la,
Tra-la-la, tra-la-la,
Rum-tum-tiddle-um-tum.
Tiddle-iddle, tiddle-iddle,
Tiddle-iddle, tiddle-iddle,
Rum-tum-tum-tiddle-um.

He had made up a little hum that very morning, as he was doing his Stoutness Exercises in front of the glass: Tra-la-la, tra-la-la, as he stretched up as high as he could go, and then Tra-la-la, tra-la–oh, help!–la, as he tried to reach his toes. After breakfast he had said it over and over to himself until he had learnt it off by heart, and now he was humming it right through, properly.

Have a good day! Watch a good movie starring one of the birthday celebrants, read some Winnie the Pooh, make some cupcakes, and find some excuse to get out of the house. Go with God.

3 Comments