dual personalities

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January 31, 2015

Meet Maureen

by chuckofish

Our new (2012) Honda Fit

Maureen the Honda Fit

It seemed appropriate to name her after another feisty redhead.

Maureen-OHara-8 What with my dual personality’s recent purchase, and the fact that our brother also bought a new car today (what a coincidence!), can you imagine what it would be like if we got together?

We might be fast and furious,

Fast and Furious

Fast and Furious

out for revenge (and money)

italianjob3or rebels in search of a cause (even at our age).

rebel without a car

In any case, we’ll have appropriately cool rides when we go “out for a rip” (as the Canadians say).

Have a great weekend!

3 Comments
January 29, 2015

This and that

by chuckofish

Today we raise a toast to actor Victor Mature, born on this day in 1913 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Not really my type, but not bad

Not really my type, but not bad, right?

Victor is not one of my favorite actors, but funnily enough, he is in two of my favorite movies:

John Ford’s My Darling Clementine (1946)

He played Doc Holliday to Henry Fonda's Wyatt Earp

He played Doc Holliday to Henry Fonda’s Wyatt Earp

and The Robe (1953).

Here he is being bought as a slave by Richard Burton.

Richard Burton buys a slave–Demetrius, the Greek.

In both movies he was given wonderful opportunities to flex his acting muscles in memorable scenes, such as the “Hamlet” scene in Clementine and the “Jungle Animals” scene in The Robe. Indeed, when given the chance (and the right director), we can see that Victor was pretty darn good.

Today is also the birthday of one of our favorite St. Louis Rams, Aeneas Demetrius Williams. He turns 47.

aeneas

Aeneas Williams, you will recall, had an illustrious 14-year NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals and St. Louis Rams that included eight Pro Bowls and four All-Pro selections. Last year he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Williams is now a regular on local TV as a color commentator during the football season–but all is secondary to his job as Pastor of The Spirit Church here in town where he has garnered respect as a leader and role model because of his tireless and extensive outreach in the community. He is married and has four children: daughters Saenea (Aeneas spelled backward ), Tirzah, Cheyenne, and a son, Lazarus. Who doesn’t love Aeneas Williams?

Today is also the anniversary of the day in 1907 when Charles Curtis became the first Native American U.S. Senator. A member of the Kaw Nation, Curtis served as a U.S. Representative and Senator from Kansas and then as Vice-President of the U.S. under Herbert Hoover.

curtisThe cool fact that a Native American has served as V.P. of the U.S. was news to me.

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Why do you suppose he is not held up as an icon–because he was a Republican?

Well, high fives all around for Victor, Aeneas and Charles! And have a great day.

 

4 Comments
January 28, 2015

Way back Wednesday

by chuckofish

susie2

Frequently we refer to daughter #2 as the neglected third child. We joke about it, but it really is a thing.

When I was going through all the boxes of my children’s school work and art projects, there was twice as much of daughter #1’s stuff saved than daughter #2’s. C’est la vie.

I could feel guilty about that, but the truth is, it just means there was less to throw away twenty years down the road.

We have plenty of good stuff for daughter #2 to store in a future attic.

mother_daughtertimeDo you think she was trying to tell me something?

susie

I think she knows we value her personhood. You go, girl!

 

9 Comments
January 27, 2015

Bull’s eye

by chuckofish

JOHN UPDIKE

“When I write, I aim in my mind not toward New York but toward a vague spot a little to the east of Kansas.

–John Updike

Today is the anniversary of John Updike’s death in 2009. So tonight I shall raise a glass to this acclaimed writer and fellow Episcopalian. How about you?

I went to see John Updike speak at my flyover university back in the nineties. I didn’t work there then, but I walked over from the church where I did work which was (and is) a few blocks away. Graham Chapel was packed and I was sitting pretty far in the back. He was unpretentious and generous. A good guy–I could tell.

2 Comments
January 24, 2015

January…the breakdown month

by chuckofish

I’m not talking mental breakdown — at least not yet. I mean it literally; things break in January.  I came down one morning this week and the first two lights I tried to turn on blew. Then I drove to work and when I got out of the car, it looked like this. The mechanic can’t get to it until Monday.

picture this on a cold 7am with snow all around

picture this on a cold 7am with snow all around

Even my iron has gone kaput. None of this matters in the slightest because it’s customary for January. I’ve come to expect it. Car problems feature this month, but sometimes there’s variety: the pipes at the camp freeze or the dishwasher leaks. Packages I’ve been waiting for don’t arrive…you know, that sort of thing. There is a bright side to all this. I get to buy a new iron and maybe even a new(ish) car. I also take these mechanical breakdowns as a sign to be careful, slow down, and pay attention. After all, I don’t want to be next.

So… when I’m not trying to get the smoke smell out of my clothes or the hard water build up out of my iron, I’m enjoying January’s goodness. This week one of my son’s college friends has been visiting (and the wine has been flowing).

chicken curry and good conversation

chicken curry and good conversation. Bonus points to anyone who can spot the decor mistake (awaiting the arrival of a purchase to fix it)

We also got to see the first episode of (the last season of) Justified, the best show on TV. And although I wasn’t thrilled about (spoiler alert!) what happened to Dewey Crow, it was still awfully nice to see Raylan and his hat again.

Raylen All indications point to a particularly grim season. I just hope the body count of characters that I like isn’t too high.

Don’t let the January blues, bumps and breaks get you down. Count your blessings and enjoy the ride!

 

 

2 Comments
January 23, 2015

Friday movie pick: “Well, they’ve got a very good bass section, mind, but no top tenors, that’s for sure.”*

by chuckofish

On this day in 1879 the Battle of Rorke’s Drift ended.

The Defense of Rorke'e Drift by Alphonse de Neuville

The Battle of Rorke’e Drift by Alphonse de Neuville

Just over 150 British and colonial troops successfully defended the garrison in Natal, South Africa against an intense assault by 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors. The Battle of Rorke’s Drift lasted 10 hours, from late afternoon till just before dawn the following morning. The massive Zulu attacks on Rorke’s Drift came very close to defeating the tiny garrison. By the end of the fighting, 15 soldiers lay dead, with another two mortally wounded. Surrounding the camp were the bodies of 350 Zulus. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders, along with a number of other decorations and honors.

You can read all about it here. I am more interested in watching the movie Zulu (1964), which is one of our all-time favorites.

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My dual personality and I were, of course, too young to see it when it came out, but my parents did and so did my older brother. They all loved it and we heard all about it in vivid detail. When we eventually got a chance to watch it on television, we were not disappointed.

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My heroes: Bromhead and Chard

It has all the elements of a great battle yarn. As Victor Davis Hanson writes, “…in the long annals of military history, it is difficult to find anything quite like Rorke’s Drift, where a beleaguered force, outnumbered forty to one, survived and killed twenty men for every defender lost.”

So my movie pick for this Friday is Zulu (1964). The film stars Stanley Baker and introduces Michael Caine (“Well chin-chin…do carry on with your mud pies.”)–in his first major role, with a supporting cast that includes Jack Hawkins (“You’re all going to die!”), James Booth (“I’m excused duty.”), Nigel Green (“Because we’re here, lad. Nobody else. Just us.”), and Patrick Magee–a veritable who’s who of 1960s English actors. The film begins with a narration by the famed Welshman Richard Burton and ends with his reading a list of the eleven defenders who received the Victoria Cross for the defense of Rorke’s Drift, the most awarded to a regiment in a single action up to that time.

I should also note that the soundtrack by John Barry is one of the greatest. We had the LP when I was a child and we loved it. It includes the narrated parts by Richard Burton.

Zut alors! This movie is over 50 years old! Can you believe it? Well, chin-chin, have a good weekend!

*Private Owen

5 Comments
January 22, 2015

Valuing the poet

by chuckofish

ceb87611cb11e3c30fe11cdd843b501e1a00e066-large

Therefore we value the poet. All the argument and all the wisdom is not in the encyclopedia, or the treatise on metaphysics, or the Body of Divinity, but in the sonnet or the play. In my daily work I incline to repeat my old steps and do not believe in remedial force, in the power of change and reform. But some Petrarch or Arisoto, filled with the new wine of his imagination, writes me an ode or a brisk romance, full of daring thought and action. He smites and arouses me with his shrill tones, breaks up my whole chain of habits, and I open my eye on my own possibilities. He claps wings to the sides of all the solid old lumber of the world, and I am capable once more of choosing a straight path in theory and practice.

–Ralph Waldo Emerson, Circles

 

2 Comments
January 21, 2015

Way Back Wednesday

by chuckofish

I think I mentioned that last weekend the OM and I planned to get started with our big basement clean-up. Well, we did!  We moved a lot of stuff out of the storage area into the “finished” area, so we could go through stuff in order to get rid of a lot of it.

You know how that works.

Anyway, I started going through boxes full of my children’s elementary school artwork. Enough time has gone by so that I can begin to be ruthless., separating the keepers

wrc shooting 4

from the we-can-live-without its.

wrc dare

Although that little vignette of the boy holding his hands up and saying, “No!” is pretty great…as is that “S” made out of a cigarette…

I have also been going through boxes of letters (remember those?) and cards. It is lovely to read them and remember the relatives and dear friends who took the time to take pen to paper to write. I’m keeping these this go-round.

Also, a lot of snapshots have turned up–such as this classic from Halloween circa 1982.

punks

I mean, I’m pretty sure it was a Halloween party we were going to, right?

Anyway, you can look forward to more treasures like these in the future.

6 Comments
January 20, 2015

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening

by chuckofish

Did you enjoy your long MLK weekend?

We celebrated (belatedly) the birthday of daughter #3

lauren

and I celebrated (belatedly) the birthday of an old friend with my pals.

fondue

The OM and I watched American Sniper 

20141003_AmericanSniper1

with Bradley Cooper and–this is the last thing I thought I would be saying–he was awesome. He really deserves the Oscar. This movie is really, really good. Clint Eastwood–and I am not a big fan of his directing–knocked one out of the ballpark. I also have to say kudos to Clint, who is eighty-four, for even being able to attempt this at his age. (I know a lot of guys in their eighties and it is hard to imagine any of them making a movie in the desert.)

Put this movie on your “to do” list!

According to Forbes, American Sniper blew past all reasonable predictions and crushed the January record books with a scorching $90.2  million Friday-to-Sunday and an estimated $105 million Friday-to-Monday debut frame. Well, no kidding. This is a movie with an actual (non-comic-book) HERO in it, with a plot, characters, action, tension–the whole nine yards. Of course, people are going to go see it. Duh. Wake up, Hollywood.

In between bouts of reading Middlemarch, I read a Louis L’Amour oater, Ride the Dark Trail, about one of the innumerable Sacketts. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I am also enjoying Middlemarch, which is full of passages like this:

“My mother is like old George the Third,” said the vicar, “she objects to metaphysics.”

“I object to what is wrong, Camden. I say, keep hold of a few plain truths, and make everything square with them. When I was young, Mr. Lydgate, there was never any question about right and wrong. We knew our catechism, and that was enough; we learned our creed and our duty. Every respectable Church person had the same opinions. But now, if you speak out of the Prayer-book itself, you are liable to be contradicted.”

It is a sure sign that I am really getting old, that I identify with the minor, comic characters, I suppose.

Oh, lordy, life is good, right?

7 Comments
January 19, 2015

Happy birthday, Mary, Dolly (and Buffy)

by chuckofish

mary's birth announcement Mary 1926

Readers of this blog may recall that today is the birthday of our dear mother, who was born in 1926, of Dolly Parton, who was born in 1946, and of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who is a fictional character, but whose birthday on January 19th is well-documented.

Therefore it is the occasion of much revelry in this family.

Join us in toasting Mary, Dolly (and Buffy), won’t you? And lest you forget who wrote this song, here’s an appropriate song by Dolly to start your day.

 

 

3 Comments