dual personalities

Tag: birthdays

March 23, 2021

“It seemed to be a good idea at the time.”*

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of the great film director, Akira Kurosawa (March 23, 1910 – September 6, 1998). Kurosawa directed approximately one film per year throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, including a number of highly regarded (and often copied adapted) films, such as Seven Samurai (1954) and Yojimbo (1961). After the 1960s he became much less prolific, but his later work included two epics, Kagemusha (1980) and Ran (1985).

There are quite a few Kurasawa classics available to watch/rent on Amazon Prime. That is my plan to celebrate his birthday.

(This Criterion Collection set would make a wonderful gift!)

I might watch one of my favorite Kurosawa movies, Seven Samurai, tonight…

…and then The Magnificent Seven (1961) tomorrow night to celebrate Steve McQueen’s birthday on Wednesday.

That works out rather nicely. Synchronicity, I think it’s called.

Not exactly lenten fare, but I can dig it.

Also, let’s all give a big shout out to William Shatner, who turned 90 yesterday. Ninety!!

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The world is more than we know.

*Vin in The Magnificent Seven

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December 18, 2020

“There is no friend like a sister in calm or stormy weather”*

by chuckofish

Today is my dear DP’s birthday. We are old ladies now, but we have been best friends always.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

(Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)

She is going on an AirBnb getaway this weekend with her DH and I sure hope she has fun, if not super fun.

Meanwhile we are luxuriating in having daughter #2 and her petite famille home.

Of course, Katie loves needlepoint pillows!

This is a good article by Sam Bush in which he relates White Christmas (1954) to the Gospel. Way to go, Sam. “At the end of the day, all we have to offer is gratitude. Thankfully, it’s the only gift that God receives.”

This writer on the New York Social Diary blog made me laugh: “If the idea of a new President and administration doesn’t thrill you — here’s a thought.  How about a face lift?  That long wanted boob, nose, or chin job?  Apparently plastic surgery is booming in Covid.  The masks, extended time spent at home, and no socializing gives you the perfect recovery time. A local plastic surgery clinic sent out a notification assuring their patients; “As soon as we’re ‘back to normal’ you can count on a flurry of invitations, outings and get-togethers. We can help you look and feel your best for your big post-pandemic debut.” Providing you are still alive!” However, as a person who recently had post-cancer plastic surgery, I cannot endorse this suggestion.

Also I was thinking that I remembered that at my private school back in the day we used to recite the doxology every morning in the elementary grades. Am I crazy? Anyway, regardless, I think that is a great way to start the day and here is a doxology that I like. The doxology says it all.

Amen. Today we also celebrate the birthday of Charles Wesley who wrote the following Advent hymn, which is a favorite of mine:

Come thou long expected Jesus…I really miss congregational singing, don’t you? Well, hang in there. I am officially off the grid and “at home” for 10 days. Huzzah!

*Christina Rosetti, Goblin Market

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September 11, 2020

Let’s take another crazy trip around the sun*

by chuckofish

Today is daughter #1’s birthday! Like everything else this year, our celebration will be low-key but determined. Plans are to clock out of work a little early, drive to STL, hook up with the wee babes and their parents and head to the Zoo. (Cross your fingers that it doesn’t rain on our parade.) Afterwards we’ll head home for toasted ravioli and cake and presents.

Can I come too? (We wish!)

Sounds like a good way to start the weekend to me! Welcome to my house…

Did you say, home run, slam dunk, touchdown pass?

Happy Birthday, dear daughter #1!

*Kenny Chesney

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May 25, 2020

“I see my light come shining From the west unto the east/Any day now, any day now I shall be released.”*

by chuckofish

Happy belated  birthday to Bob Dylan who turned 79 yesterday. We love you and God loves you, Bob.

The weekend rushed by and daughter #1 and I had fun doing things we had not been able to do in a long time, like walking around downtown Kirkwood and actually going in a store and buying something! (Don’t worry, we wore masks.) We also sat outside on the patio and drank a cold one. It was 87 degrees!

Their parents dropped off the wee babes for awhile on Sunday morning and they ran us ragged.

We finally had to resort to getting out the giant box of Beanie Babies.

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Hog Heaven

We were done in after that, but daughter #1 did give me a gel manicure. The rain actually held off for most of the weekend until Sunday when the OM decided to barbecue. Then it rained for hours.

We watched The LongRiders (1980) which you may recall is a movie about the outlaw James brothers, the Younger brothers, and assorted other brothers, all played by actual brothers: The Caradines, the Keaches, the Quaids, and even Christopher Guest and his brother. I had not seen it in a long time and really enjoyed it.

Screen Shot 2020-05-24 at 9.58.46 PMRather than being gimmicky, the real brothers lent an air of authenticity to the film which I appreciated. The musical score by Ry Cooder was also excellent. And I enjoyed the Missouri setting and the story of our homegrown famous outlaws.

Today I am celebrating Memorial Day and watching war movies as previously mentioned. I will also toast John Wayne on the 111th anniversary of his birth.

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FYI daughter #2 is scaling back her blog post activity to once a week on Thursdays as she anticipates the imminent arrival of baby U.  L’Chaim!

*Bob Dylan

 

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April 21, 2020

“Is this the face that wrecked 1000 ships and burned the towerless tops of Illium?”*

by chuckofish

“Time passed again. I don’t know how long. I had no watch. They don’t make that kind of time in watches anyway.”
― Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely 

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Life goes on–rather monotonously. Some days are more exciting than others.

I had a nice birthday, if an unusual one. The OM informed me on Friday that he had completely forgotten about my birthday and that it was too late to do anything about it. I took the news like the adult that I am. I told him not to go to Walgreens and buy office supplies for me. He did don a mask and gloves to go to the grocery store where he bought some flowers and a cake. We barbecued.

Earlier in the day I talked to my DP and flowers were delivered from daughter #2 (who had also had the wherewithal to mail a present).

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I got an eGiftcard from daughter #1 for our local spa for whenever it re-opens (!) The boy, daughter #3 and the wee babes did a drive-by Andy’s frozen custard delivery.

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And Carla drove by to drop off wine and chocolate (the basics)!

After my work day ended and we dined, I watched John Wayne in Stagecoach (1939). What more could a girl ask for? Not much really.

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*Doc Boone in Stagecoach (1939)

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September 13, 2019

“Oh but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now”*

by chuckofish

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Always the most glamorous member of the family, even in middle school.

Daughter #1’s birthday was Wednesday, but we will be celebrating it this Saturday. We are going to our flyover town’s annual Greentree Parade where we will sit in folding chairs and watch the local high school bands and elementary school floats go by. The wee babes are coming along and it should be a good ol’ time.

There will be presents, although nothing as cool as a new bike…

Mary on Bike.jpegThere will be cake…

cake06.JPG…and we will toast the birthday girl once, twice…thrice!

I will also note that today, besides being Friday the 13th, is the harvest moon. It is the harvest moon because it occurs during the harvest and near the autumnal equinox (which this year falls on September 23). So be sure to check it out tonight.

And here’s a little Bobby D, always appropriate for the occasion:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
-Romans 15:13

*Bob Dylan, “My Back Pages”

4 Comments
May 1, 2019

Born to the breed

by chuckofish

Happy 80th birthday, Judy Collins!

Did you know that Judy is still touring and recording? Me neither, but that is impressive! I remember listening to two of her albums back in the day:

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Her rendition of “Send in the Clowns” was a big favorite of our mother in the mid-70s.

Don’t you love farce?

My fault, I fear

I thought you’d want what I want

Sorry my dear

Today is also the 52nd birthday of country superstar Tim McGraw! Check out his website for information on the Man, the Legend!

We remember Tim from his Indian Outlaw days…

…before he became an elder statesman of country music married to Faith Hill.

I will toast them both tonight and perhaps watch Maytime (1937) which seems appropriate for May 1.

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There is a lot of good music in this movie! Here is Nelson Eddy singing “Will You Remember”–always a favorite of mine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMR6ddCSFCM

You might also want to check out Boyz in the Hood (1991) in memory of John Singleton who died the other day. John Singleton was the youngest director and the very first African-American in cinema history ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director.

Screen Shot 2019-04-30 at 8.15.43 PM.pngThe world is more than we know. I watched it last night and it was pretty good. But The Silence of the Lambs was the big winner that year. C’est la vie.

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April 4, 2019

Mutual incomprehension

by chuckofish

“You can know a thing to death and be for all purposes completely ignorant of it. A man can know his father, or his son, and there might still be nothing between them but loyalty and love and mutual incomprehension.”
― Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

Today is our father’s birthday. He would have been 97!

I have forgiven my father for a lot and forgotten even more.

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I am grateful to him for tying the knot with my mother and for going to work all those years and supporting us when he might have been doing something else. We were a boisterous trio of kids and we annoyed him frequently, if not endlessly. That’s the impression he gave anyway. I wish he could have enjoyed us more. I think all fathers should enjoy their children. They grow up pretty fast and move on and have children of their own.

Well, I know for a fact that the boy enjoys his children.

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May it always be so.

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; 5 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; 7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

–Deuteronomy 6:4-9

(Pssst. A frontlet is a decorative band or ornament worn on the forehead.)

5 Comments
January 18, 2019

“My only regret in life is that I didn’t drink enough champagne.”*

by chuckofish

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It’s finally Friday! It was a long, busy week at my flyover Institute and I am really ready for the three-day weekend. Daughter #1 is driving in to town from mid-MO, if she can figure out when to do so in between the weird weather they are forecasting for the weekend.

We will celebrate our mother’s/grandmother’s birthday (along with Dolly Parton’s and Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s) on Saturday–this calls for champagne–and, of course, Martin Luther King’s birthday on Monday.

Tonight we will toast Daniel Webster (1782-1852),

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along with Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), Cary Grant (1904-1986), Danny Kaye (1911-1987), and Kevin Costner (b. 1955)–all born on January 18. Just think of the movie viewing possibilities!

Screen Shot 2019-01-17 at 10.26.56 AM.pngScreen Shot 2019-01-17 at 10.38.25 AM.pngPersonally I am leaning toward a Cary Grant marathon, which could include any of these favorites: Gunga Din (1939), The Awful Truth (1937), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Houseboat (1958), North By Northwest (1959), Charade (1963), or Father Goose (1964) or The Bishop’s Wife (1947) if you missed it at Christmas.

Screen Shot 2019-01-17 at 10.24.00 AM.pngIt might also be time to revisit Silverado (1985)–completely derivative, but entertaining nonetheless.

Screen Shot 2019-01-17 at 10.15.57 AM.pngWe should also mention that today on the Episcopal Church calendar is the feast day of Amy Carmichael (1867-1951), Protestant missionary in India, who was the real deal. She opened an orphanage and founded a mission in Dohnavur. She served in India for fifty-five years without furlough and authored many books about the missionary work there. Her most notable work was with girls and young women, some of whom were saved from customs that amounted to forced prostitution. You can read about her here. Why don’t they make a movie about this remarkable woman?

Lots of choices to make this weekend–make good ones!

And stay safe in the winter weather.

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*John Maynard Keynes

9 Comments
December 18, 2018

In calm or stormy weather

by chuckofish

Today is my dear DP’s birthday. There is nothing that makes me feel older than my little sister reaching an age milestone, even hitting that milestone myself! We are getting to be such old ladies!

Screen Shot 2018-12-17 at 9.08.10 AM.pngHere she is on a dig in Jordan back in 1985 when she was a twenty-something graduate student, back when we had waistlines and tucked in our shirts.

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You may have gathered that my sister is the intellectual in the family and the most like our mother in that respect. Our mother was very proud of her, traveling all over the world in the pursuit of knowledge. She lived to see her go on to Yale and the Babylonian Collection, but she did not see her married and the mother of three boys. She would have been equally proud of that. She would have loved that she is a college professor. And she would have been very happy to know that she is a elder in her church.

I have always been proud of my little sister as well. She did the things I wasn’t able to do–she made the varsity field hockey team! She was never timid.

Well, we have been lucky to have each other and to support each other through the years, because, you know…

…there is no friend like a sister
In calm or stormy weather;
To cheer one on the tedious way,
To fetch one if one goes astray,
To lift one if one totters down,
To strengthen whilst one stands

(Christina Rossetti, “Goblin Market”)

Perhaps we are beginning to totter a bit, but we’re still standing! Join me in a toast to my much loved dual personality!

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