dual personalities

February 4, 2013

As Valentine’s Day approaches…

by chuckofish

I recently saw a post on another blog about the best screen kisses. This got me thinking, because, of course, I didn’t agree with the ones they had chosen. I won’t get into that, but I did think it was a good idea for a post, especially with Valentine’s Day fast approaching. You’ll want to line up your DVD viewing for February.

John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara about to lock lips in “The Quiet Man”.

So here are the best screen kisses (in my opinion):

“The Adventures of Robin Hood”

The BEST: Errol Flynn and Olivia de Haviland in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). When Robin challenges Marian, “Then you do love me, don’t you? Don’t you?” we are right there with her answering, “You know I do.” It’s been 75 years since this great movie was made, and nothing surpasses it for its romance and handsome leading man and lady! Captain Blood (1935)–also with Errol and Olivia–is equally wonderful, but they only kiss once and she slaps him!

John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara in “The Quiet Man”

The Quiet Man (1952) actually features several world-class kissing scenes, but John Wayne and Maureen in the rain is pretty special. You can tell they really enjoy kissing each other. John and Maureen were always a good fit.

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s”

Another kissing-in-the-rain scene, this time with Audrey, George and Cat. Eat your heart out, Ryan Gosling.

“Philadelphia Story”

Jimmy Stewart and Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story (1940). Who knew that Jimmy Stewart would steal the sexy-show from co-star Cary Grant? I remember my mother pointed this out to me many years ago–something about his hands and what he was doing with them. Hmmm. It’s always the quiet ones, right?

Honorable mention:

“North By Northwest”

Okay, we’ll give Cary Grant a hat tip for North By Northwest (1959) with Eva Marie Saint. He doesn’t look too uncomfortable in this one.

“Gone With the Wind”

And even though Gone With the Wind (1939) is not one of my favorite movies, who can deny that Clark Gable knew how to kiss? Atlanta is burning and he is parting with Scarlett on the bridge–wow. Back then they really knew how to set up the scene and stage the actors to optimal effect. He looms over her, powerful and manly; they kiss. And then he leaves!

Best acting while kissing:

“Pillow Talk”

Rock Hudson, God love him, and Doris Day in Pillow Talk (1959) go away for the weekend–so risque, so great. And then she finds out who he really is. Ooooooh!

So what have I left out?

Because I felt like I should have something since 1961, but nothing came to mind, I decided to check out one of the kisses that was mentioned several times in the comment section of the other blog. The blogger had asked for readers’ suggestions, and several people mentioned North and South. I did some checking and discovered it is a BBC four-part adaption of the 19th century novel by Elizabeth Gaskell (not the Civil War soap opera from the 1980s). I watched it last weekend (4 episodes) and, boy oh boy, what a find!

Hello, Richard Armitage!

Let’s just say he is totally wasted as Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit.

In conclusion, I give you the famous Montage of Kissing Scenes from the wonderful Cinema Paradiso (1988), which includes Errol and Olivia at least twice!

10 Comments

February 1, 2013

Of intrepid ancestors…part II

by chuckofish

Last week when I blogged about our great, great grandmother I set the stage for a tale of adventure, hard work, and a great deal of woe. Soon after Ann married and delivered her bouncing baby son, Daniel Herbert Hilton Cameron, they joined her husband, Daniel, and his regiment and embarked for Fort Beaufort, South Africa. Today this outpost of the British Empire is a modest spot for the historically minded tourist.

The fort boasted a Martello tower, which was built in the 1830s when such things were popular, though usually for coastal defense (Fort Beaufort lies inland at the confluence of a couple of rivers and not on the coast).

The eastern cape is a beautiful area with spectacular scenery, and by the 1860s it was really quite peaceful. The young family seemed to thrive.

Ann and Daniel had another child, a girl named Ann, but then Daniel fell ill with some sort of stomach ailment exacerbated by a wound received at the Battle of Alma during the Crimean War. Daniel lingered for three painful months before expiring in 1861.

Exactly what happened next is something of a mystery. Ann Hilton Cameron had two more children, Kenneth and Thomas, both born after Daniel’s death, and then she apparently also died. The orphaned children resurfaced in Scotland in 1871. The census identifies Ann, Kenneth, and Thomas, who were born in “the Cape of Good Wood” — presumably an erroneous transcription of the Cape of Good Hope — as minors ages 10, 8, and 6, living with two spinster sisters, Elizabeth and Mary McColl, in Killmallie Argyll. I’m sure of the identification because later letters from Kenneth to my great grandfather identify a brother,Thomas, and sister, Ann. There is also a family connection with Killmallie, which Daniel senior gave as his birth place in his enlistment papers, and of course, the children’s South African origins. But where, you might ask, was our great grandfather, Daniel H.H. Cameron?

As was usual at the time, poor Daniel was deemed too old for the spinster sisters — after all he was a teenaged boy and therefore potentially dangerous. Since he was still too young to be on his own, he was sent to the ‘orphan hospital’ that was part of the St. Cuthbert’s poor house in Edinburgh — an imposing place after the Cape sunshine.

Craigleith poor house in c. 1914

According to a contemporary description of the then new poor house,

The accommodation for the male inmates, which is on the west side of the building, is subdivided into four classes — very decent, decent, depraved, and boys.

The description conjures up dreadful images a la Oliver Twist. I’m not sure how long DHHC was there, but it must have been at least two or three years. I shudder to think. As the oldest child he would have been acutely aware of the loss of both his parents and his siblings as well as his freedom. The military community at Fort Beaufort had probably been close-knit and fairly pleasant for children. How traumatic it must have been to leave everything familiar and undertake a long, uncomfortable journey to cold, unfamiliar Scotland only to be separated from his siblings and stuck in a dingy big-city poor house.

Despite the tremendous challenges, however, Daniel survived and thrived…but that story is for next week. In the meantime, let us remember those who went before us and whose struggles made us possible!

8 Comments

February 1, 2013

Here’s the plan

by chuckofish

“Do well, and right, and let the world sink.”

George Herbert, from The Country Parson

TGIF, right?

3 Comments

January 31, 2013

Ravenstown

by chuckofish

I am not a big professional sports fan, and I certainly could not care less about the Super Bowl unless the home team is playing. Even the ads of late have been disappointing.

But who can’t root for the Ravens when they have fans like this:

According to Pigtown*Design, the “mother church of Episcopalianism” got into the act here. You gotta love it. Watch the whole thing; it is hilarious.

Fight! Fight! Fight! for Baltimore!

2 Comments

January 30, 2013

Hipster dad

by chuckofish

It occurred to me that we haven’t posted an embarrassing picture in quite a while, so it behooved me to do so. Inspired by the tumblr Dads are the Original Hipsters, I give you this:

Here is a real ’80s hipster in a Canadian leisure suit, complete with Mini-Me. Bad ass times two.

7 Comments

January 29, 2013

A hat tip to Jane

by chuckofish

Sunday, January 27 marked the 200th anniversary of the publishing of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. My how time flies!

I first read this book in the sixth grade. It is the first book I remember reading all day with only minor interruptions. It is really saying something that this 200 year old book (and many of the author’s other books) still can rivet a 12-year old to that degree and also interest that same girl 40 years later. Well, that’s how it is, right, with great literature?

You can check out the Wikipedia page here to read about the many film versions and theatrical adaptions that have been made and the rip-offs that have been perpetrated on this excellent book over the years. Amazing. I think she would be pretty horrified by some of them. So many sequels by other authors. There should be a law.

I will leave you with this.

Elizabeth, feeling all the more the common awkwardness and anxiety of his situation, now forced herself to speak; and immediately, though not very fluently, gave him to understand that her sentiments had undergone so material a change, since the period to which he alluded, as to make her receive with gratitude and pleasure his present assurances. The happiness which this reply produced, was such as he had probably never felt before; and he expressed himself on the occasion as sensibly and as warmly as a man violently in love can be supposed to do. Had Elizabeth been able to encounter his eye, she might have seen how well the expression of heartfelt delight, diffused over his face, became him; but, though she could not look, she could listen, and he told her of feelings, which, in proving of what importance she was to him, made his affection every moment more valuable.

They walked on, without knowing in what direction. There was too much to be thought, and felt, and said, for attention to any other objects.

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January 28, 2013

Weekend update

by chuckofish

This past weekend I spent some time perusing the “Watch Instantly” section of Netflix.com. Friday night I settled on an old chestnut called Secret of the Incas (1954) starring Charlton Heston, Robert Young and Thomas Mitchell. It is notable mostly for having been filmed in part at Machu Picchu and the town of Cusco in Peru which at the time were extremely remote locations.

The plot involves an Inca legend and a gold and bejeweled starburst that several people are trying to find. Nicole Maurey plays a mysterious Romanian beauty with a distinctly French accent with whom Heston and Young form a love triangle. Pretty standard stuff with the exception of Yma Sumac, a Peruvian singer with a 4 1/2 octave range, who intermittently launches into creepy performances of “Virgin of the Sun Gods” and the like.

Charlton Heston is very convincing as the slightly seedy adventurer out to make money. We forget how sexy he was back in the day. He is well suited to his clothes in this film.

Clearly Steven Spielberg thought so too as Heston as Harry Steele has got to be what everyone had in mind when they were dreaming up Indiana Jones in their typical derivative way. And there is all that archaeological stuff to boot!

I remember watching this movie as a child and enjoying it immensely. I’m sure it was one of the reasons why my sister (and dual personality) wanted to be an archaeologist from an early age. She no doubt was taken with Robert Young and his sartorial splendor. Don’t all archaeologists wear jodhpurs and riding boots and smoke a pipe? Aren’t they all charmingly shy and tongue-tied around women and fall head over heels in love with inappropriate ones whose naked shoulders they are called upon to bandage? Don’t they all propose marriage (spoiler alert!) the next day?!

No photos from the waist done could be found, but perhaps you can use your imagination. He had a pipe as well.

Nothing from the waist done was available, but perhaps you can use your imagination. He had a pipe as well.

Anyway, it was a good few hours spent. Since I had started down the pre-Columbian road, I continued the next day with another family favorite, Kings of the Sun (1963) with the inimitable Yul Brynner and who cares who else. Clearly this film was an excuse for Yul to walk around half naked (and at times nearly naked)–not a bad excuse.

The plot here, such as it is, has to do with a Mayan king (George Chakiris of the amazing hair) who escapes ferocious invaders by boat (with his people, including Richard Basehart, Shirley Anne Field and Brad Dexter) to a new land, where he meets up with Black Eagle (Yul Brynner), a Native American. Uh huh.

Suspending disbelief, this movie is quite entertaining. Filmed on the Yukatan, there are many attractive sun-burned people in this film, foremost among them, of course, our hero, Yul Brynner. Quiet, peace-loving, handsome George Chakiris seems way out of his league and knowing it, hands over the scenery for Yul to chew. We appreciate his sacrifice.

Also over the weekend I read The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, which I had picked up at an estate sale for 50-cents a few weeks ago. I had never read it before. Published in 1961, it tells the story of a little boy names Milo, who has many adventures in his search for Rhyme and Reason. It is frequently compared to Alice in Wonderland, but it reminded me of The Wizard of Oz. I enjoyed it. It is always worthwhile being reminded to pay attention and that there is much to be learned, even in your own backyard.

“Carry this with you on your journey,” he said softly. “for there is much worth noticing that often escapes the eye. Through it you can see everything from the tender moss in the sidewalk crack to the glow of the farthest star–and, most important of all, you can see things as they really are, not just as they seem to be. It’s my gift to you.”

What did you read/watch this weekend?

11 Comments

January 26, 2013

A preview of coming attractions…

by chuckofish

I’ve been doing a little genealogical research in my copious (ha!) free time just to stay sane and have pieced together a few interesting tidbits, which I will share more fully as soon as I can put it together. Don’t expect any major revelations — this isn’t cable TV after all — but what I’ve found does shed a kind of light on those who preceded us.

The story begins on September 21st 1857 when my great, great grandmother appeared personally at the registrars office in London to apply for a marriage license… a most unusual step for a woman (note the crossed our masculine pronoun).

But then she was attempting to marry a soldier of the 10th Lincolnshire regiment,which was stationed in Hampshire and soon to embark for South Africa. To top it off, my great grandfather was due to arrive on the scene at the beginning of November so the circumstances required great initiative on her part. She must have been an intrepid (or desperate) lass.

Now don’t you want to find out what happens next?

2 Comments

January 25, 2013

Retail therapy

by chuckofish

I am all about buying myself a present now and then to keep my spirits up.

I love tulips from the grocery store or a vintage Vera scarf from eBay.

Used books are a good splurge.

But still, the best things in life are free, right?

What is your idea of good retail therapy?

8 Comments

January 24, 2013

Rest in peace, Winston Churchill

by chuckofish

As you know, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS, Hon. RA was a British politician, best known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He died on this day in 1965 at the age of 90.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, he served as Prime Minister twice (1940–45 and 1951–55). A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. He is the only British prime minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature and was the first person to be made an Honorary Citizen of the United States.

I remember how really sad my parents (especially my father) were when Winston died. We watched the entire televised funeral.

In our family, it was a Big Deal. My father probably used it as an excellent excuse to drink way too much and to entertain gloomy thoughts about the state of the world.

A few years later, my family went to visit the Churchill Memorial in Fulton, Missouri when it opened in 1969. This Church, St. Mary the Virgin Aldermanbury, had stood in London since 1677 when it replaced an earlier structure that had sat on the same site since the 12th century. A magnificent building, it was badly damaged during the London Blitz, and was moved stone by stone to the campus of Westminster College in Fulton and rebuilt to Wren’s original specifications. Beneath this Church is the National Churchill Museum itself. I have always meant to go back.

Maybe this year!

Anyway, a toast to Winston Churchill and to our pater who revered him!

“All the greatest things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom; justice; honour; duty; mercy; hope.” (1947)

3 Comments