Uncategorized | dual personalities

September 10, 2016

“And I rose in rainy autumn, And walked abroad in a shower of all my days…” *

by chuckofish

September is a big birthday month in our families, starting with (I believe) our dear grandmother, Catherine Carnahan Cameron. She got married on September 2, 1921 when she was still only 20. As I recall, her birthday followed within the next couple of weeks.

Tomorrow and Monday we celebrate the birthdays of these two happy cousins, Mary and Chris, respectively.

As coincidence would have it, Abbie, girlfriend of Tim (son #3) shares Chris’s birthday.

And Tim’s birthday follows in just two weeks. A late-arriving Libra, he’s the only non-Virgo in the bunch.

Here’s wishing you all super happy birthdays. Go wild and groove like it’s 1981!

May your next year bring you joy and success.

*Dylan Thomas

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September 9, 2016

This and that

by chuckofish

The weekend is upon us once more. Huzzah! It is raining now and that’s okay–the temperatures have cooled off.

If you missed Bells Are Ringing (1960) a few weeks ago, you can catch it again on TCM today at 5:45 p.m. It is not one of the great musicals of all time, but it is fun and the performance of the great Judy Holliday is worth watching. And Dean Martin is Dean Martin.

Personally, I have a soft spot in my heart for Bells Are Ringing because I remember going to go see the “Troubadours” production of it at Country Day in 1971. I was in the ninth grade and my friend and I were dropped off at the school to see it. I felt pretty grown up. It’s funny how experiences like that loom large in one’s memory. Not that my life has been all that exciting–so maybe it’s understandable.

Someone left the entire Masterpiece Theatre DVD set of I, Claudius (1976) in our giveaway basket at work, so I brought it home and I am watching it now.

Again, I remember watching it with my parents back in the day and how much they enjoyed it. It is excellent and some of the performances–Sian Phillips as Livia in particular–are pretty great.

All this nostalgic TV viewing makes me wonder what my children will look back on fondly. Back in the day, watching something like I, Claudius was such an event. You watched an episode and then you had to wait a whole week to see the next installment. Also, if you missed it for some reason, there was no DVR or VHS, so–drama! Schedules had to be re-arranged, dates turned down, priorities set.

We are spoiled now. There is no such thing as delayed gratification anymore.

Not that I’m complaining exactly. Here I go sounding like an old lady again. Mea culpa.

Anyway, this weekend I will be immersed in Ancient Roman political intrigue. How about you?

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September 7, 2016

“Shall we dance and walk on air?”

by chuckofish

On this day in 1952 Gertrude Lawrence (July 4, 1898 – September 6, 1952) died of undiagnosed liver cancer at the height of her Broadway career. She was starring in The King and I with Yul Brynner and so was buried in her ballgown from the “Shall We Dance?” number. I remember as a child hearing about Gertrude and the dress and thinking it was creepy and sad. Now, however, I think it was a pretty great idea.

Another fun fact: while bedridden in New York-Presbyterian Hospital, on Friday afternoon, 5 September 1952, less than 24 hours before her death, she instructed her business manager to arrange for her co-star Yul Brynner’s name to be added to the marquee of the St. James Theatre, which included only Lawrence’s name at the time.

According to the New York Times, 5,000 people crowded the intersection of East 55th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, while 1,800 others filled Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church for Lawrence’s funeral.

(The Church today)

Well, let’s toast tonight to the great Gertrude Lawrence! I won’t suggest we watch Star! (1968), which is a movie musical about Gertrude Lawrence starring Julie Andrews, because it is unbearably bad. Unfortunately, Gertrude only made a handful of films herself, most notably The Glass Menagerie (1950). She was first and foremost a theatrical actress and so her star was transitory.

The 1952 Tony Awards. From left: presenter Helen Hayes; winners Yul Brynner, Gertrude Lawrence, and Phil Silvers; and Special Tony Award recipient Judy Garland.

*Photos of G.L.’s funeral from Life Magazine.

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September 6, 2016

“Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings”*

by chuckofish

Well, daughter #1 made it into town and we had a super fun weekend, exhausting ourselves with activities and celebrating her birthday.

We stopped at Club Taco on the way home from the airport for margaritas, sitting outside on a beautiful flyover evening.

We went to a couple of estate sales, to the Sign of the Arrow and a fabric store, for a couple of long, long walks, for more margaritas. The boy and daughter #3 came over to a birthday bar-b-que. The usual things.

And we went to the zoo.

Now she has jetted back to NYC and it’s back to the salt mines for moi. Sigh.

*These are a few of my favorite things, Oscar Hammerstein

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September 2, 2016

And leave the rest of the house to the wind and the fairies*

by chuckofish

In an attempt to keep nature from taking over, we’ve undertaken a major renovation of our cottage. The builders have exhibited amazing fortitude in the face of deer flies, mice, ants, and all manner of nasty invaders, and they are prevailing! It’s a long way from finished but I think these pictures will give you an idea of what they’ve accomplished. When they took off the old cedar siding they discovered that there was neither wooden framing nor insulation underneath! The siding was basically nailed to the wallboard. Our contractor told us he could distinguish about 12 building stages around the property. We knew it was bad but his pronouncement gave new meaning to the old north country adage that houses are usually built by “two men and a case of beer”. Here is one of the workers putting up framing.

And here’s stage two:

and stage three:

The final cladding will be board and batten painted dark green with white trim. Here’s a picture of the nearly finished garage so you can get an idea.

They haven’t put up the battens (the strips that cover the seams between boards) in this picture and the final paint color will be darker green, but what an improvement!

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the labor — most of which has been nasty, hot, and exhausting — that has gone into this project. Monday is Labor Day. Let’s not forget what it’s for! Let’s give a shout-out to all those who work long and hard to make our lives better, whether in the field or in a cubicle! Remember what Theodore Roosevelt said: “No man needs sympathy because he has to work, because he has a burden to carry. Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

Oh, yes…and don’t forget to pour a libation to the wind and the fairies.

*George MacDonald

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September 2, 2016

Come September

by chuckofish

Daughter #1 jets home to flyover-land today, God willing and the creek don’t rise.

Have a good weekend! Happy Labor Day!

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September 1, 2016

“When summer’s end is nighing”*

by chuckofish

Today I have a big, stressful work event. But when it is over, I will breath a huge sigh of relief and go home and get ready for daughter #1’s arrival tomorrow.

Pray hard that Southwest Airlines comes through and all is smooth “sailing” for daughter #1 (not like last time, hem hem)…

and that Hurricane Hermine doesn’t adversely affect her flight.

Zut alors! There’s always something.

*A.E. Houseman, When Summer’s End is Nighing

The second photo is via Country Living

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August 31, 2016

R.I.P. Gene Wilder

by chuckofish

We bid adieu this week to Gene Wilder. You know how I felt about him. He was one of those funny, funny people with sad, sad eyes. The Chaplin film “City Lights,” he said, had “made the biggest impression on me as an actor; it was funny, then sad, then both at the same time.”

On Monday I went to a funeral of an old friend who died on Saturday. According to Jewish law, the body must be interred as soon as practical from the time of death, so his funeral was on Monday. The temple was packed. The funeral consisted of prayers, a eulogy by the rabbi, and testimony from all of the deceased man’s grandchildren, who all clearly idolized and loved their “Boppa”. The cantor sang Psalm 23. Since there is no explicit afterlife in Judaism, the focus was on what a great life he had (he was rich as Croesus), how his family loved him, and how he loved learning (he did). He was a generous man.

I thought of Gene Wilder, whose funeral will no doubt be similar.

May the prayers and supplications

of all Israel

be accepted by their Father who is in Heaven; and say, Amen

Later in the day, I went to my friend’s penthouse to sit shiva with his family and friends. I spoke to his children and told them how much I would miss their father. He was a gentleman of the old school–polite, humble, curious, and detached.

I thought of Gene Wilder. I will miss him too.

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August 30, 2016

“Ya vas lyublyu. What’s it mean?”*

by chuckofish

Last Saturday night the OM and I were home watching the baseball game on the telly. During the commercials I was clicking back and forth to The Great Escape (1963) on TCM. During segments with Steve McQueen we watched for extended periods–we were losing the game–and we saw quite a bit of this really good movie which I have probably seen a million times.

This time I noticed how really terrific the music by Elmer Bernstein is–and not just the famous theme music–but the incidental music, which, we all know, can make or break a film.

The music is quite reminiscent of Bernstein’s score to The Magnificent Seven (1960). In fact most of his scores are reminiscent of each other and that is okay. There are repeated themes and his orchestrations are similar. I mean, watch To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and you will see what I mean. His music was clearly influenced by Aaron Copland who encouraged him in his early musical studies. This also is a good thing.

Bernstein was nominated fourteen times for an Academy Award, but only won once for the mediocre Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967). What a travesty! But by now we are used to such things. His scores for The Magnificent Seven and To Kill a Mockingbird were ranked by the American Film Institute as the eighth and seventeenth greatest American film scores of all time, respectively, on the list of AFI’s 100 Years of Film Scores**. But some of his lesser known scores from lesser know movies are favorites of mine: The World of Henry Orient (1964) foremost among them.

Anyway, Elmer Bernstein deserves to be up there in the pantheon of best all-time film composers: Alfred Newman, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Max Steiner, Jerome Moross, Maurice Jarre, Miklos Rozsa…

What is your favorite movie score by Elmer Bernstein? Discuss among yourselves.

*Sedgwick in “The Great Escape”

**This list is so flawed! I mean they have a film score as #1 that is totally derivative (and intentionally so)–please!

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August 29, 2016

“Too soon the sun will cease to shine Too soon the wind will start to whine Another summer has passed away”*

by chuckofish

In honor of the last weekend in August, here is a picture of our dear mother in a bathing cap in the water of Damariscotta Lake, Maine sometime in the 1950s. At least that is where I always thought this photo was taken. There is no writing on the back. I might be wrong.

I wish I was there now.