dual personalities

Tag: movies

March 16, 2026

Sometimes a light surprises

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Mine was springlike until it was not. The magnolia trees are in full bloom and everyone is worried that the cold snap will kill/damage everything. But this literally happens every year. At least it didn’t snow as initially predicted! (But we did have a tornado watch!)

Daughter #1 came over on Friday afternoon and set up my new printer for me. I am good to go after months of frustration with my old printer. We celebrated with wine time and Chik-fil-a for dinner.

Our DAR meeting on Saturday was skillfully run, as usual, by daughter #1. We had a wonderful lecture by our friend Esley Hamilton about all the architectural jewels of St. Louis that were torn down before 1904.

For instance, this house–the “Cracker Castle”–built in 1868 for Jonathan Pierce who produced hardtack during the Civil War, was heavily damaged by a tornado in 1896 and as a result was demolished soon afterwards. It is sad that so little actually remains from the nineteenth century (although the above monstrosity was no great loss).

Saturday night I watched The Quiet Man (1952) in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

Mr. Smith harumphed a bit at the Irish accents, but he still thought it was pretty great.

Sunday I went to church and heard a fine sermon on Joshua 8:1-35–I have really enjoyed Joshua. It seems very timely. Our final hymn was…

…and I cried…and my mascara ran.

Is this what William Cowper meant when he wrote:

Sometimes a light surprises
The Christian while he sings;
It is the Lord, who rises
With healing in His wings:
When comforts are declining,
He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining,
to cheer it after rain.

I went to the Westminster Catechism class afterwards and it was terrific. We went through #22-38, led by a ruling elder (who is also an attorney). It all makes so much sense! I think I finally understand what effectual calling is!

Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.

This morning I go in for my annual bone density exam, kicking off two weeks of doctor visits and tests. “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 25 Brothers, pray for us.” (I Thess. 5:23-25)

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March 11, 2026

This and that

by chuckofish

When we were driving back from the prairie, we were really struck by how everything is greening up in our neck of the woods. It has warmed up into the seventies…but storms, not surprisingly, are on the way.

Yesterday I did laundry, caught up on ‘desk work’ and ran a few errands. I feel like I accomplished a lot. Meanwhile I am working on editing a piece for the Kirkwood Historical Review which was sent in by a man whose parents grew up in Kirkwood. He was going through old boxes (as we are all wont to do) and found photos and letters etc and decided to write something up about them and his grandfather who was a state senator. This man, by the way, went off into the wide world from our flyover state and became a well known artist and illustrator with several New Yorker covers to his credit. As usual, I am surprised by what a small world it is.

Last week I watched the movie The Apostle (1997) which was written and directed by Robert Duvall, who also stars in it as Euliss F. “Sonny” Dewey, a charismatic Pentecostal preacher. He was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar.

I saw it when it came out and I have the DVD, but had not seen it in ages. It is a very interesting movie about a denomination I know little about. The soundtrack won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album. I remember that too–we listened to it a lot back in the day.

It also occurred to daughter #1and me that Euliss Dewey would be a great name for another Westie, with “Sonny” as his nickname. Weeeelllll (as Ida frequently starts a sentence), if you are looking for something good to watch, you might try The Apostle.

This is a good article about Three Reminders for Christian Parents. I was struck by her description of a child drawing pictures in church and that “love for the church is often absorbed more than it is instructed. Children learn to cherish the people of God not only through teaching but through presence.” It really reminded me of the twins who draw in their special church notebooks, seemingly not paying attention, but absorbing what they hear.

And I enjoyed this article about Tim Challies. I start every day with his blog and have for many years.

Have a good Wednesday!

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March 5, 2026

“Until you stirred him up I had no trouble with God.”*

by chuckofish

I spent most of yesterday catching up on my Bible Study and community group homework–no kidding, it was a lot. So I don’t have a lot to say today, except happy birthday to the great William Powell (1892-1984).

This wonderful actor was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times: for The Thin Man (1934), My Man Godfrey (1936), and Life with Father (1947). I suggest we all toast him and watch one of these movies.

I am partial to Life With Father (1947) wherein Powell plays Father, the quintessential Episcopalian:

Father: I don’t go to church to be preached at as though I were some lost sheep

Vinnie: Clare, you don’t seem to understand what the Church is for.

Father: Vinnie, if there’s one place the Church should leave alone, it’s a man’s soul!

Indeed. Enjoy your Thursday!

*Father

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February 20, 2026

Tell Woodrow, come a runnin’

by chuckofish

I finished watching Lonesome Dove (1989) and it was so good (and so sad)! I highly recommend watching it again. It is six hours well spent.

Also, the scene where Pea Eye is dehydrated and exhausted crossing the plains to get back to Captain Call and he hallucinates that the dead Deets comes to guide him to Captain Call reminded me, of course, of the scene in 3 Godfathers where John Wayne is at the end of his tether carrying the baby across the desert and the vision of Harry Carey, Jr. and Pedro Armendáriz comes to encourage him to go on. Lots of good movie references for the initiated.

And it was a fitting tribute to ol’ Robert Duvall.

So have a good weekend! I will be attending our Missions dinner at church tonight. I will be sitting at a table with I don’t know who, but I am okay with that.

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February 16, 2026

Time starts now

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Mine was very pleasant, although it rained all day Saturday.

Between traveling and work, I had seen very little of daughter #1 over the last few weeks, so it was great to catch up with her…wine time at Glen Echo on Friday, estate sale-ing on Saturday and a late lunch at the Village Bar. All our favorite things. We took Mr. Smith for his weekly shampoo and then had wine time at my house.

We watched Bullitt (1968), which you will recall was the movie the OM and I always watched on Valentine’s Day.

Wasn’t that nice of her?

Of course, the movie was great as always, really cutting edge for 1968. We LOL’d as always during the chase through San Francisco as the Charger and the Mustang race past the slow-moving green VW four times. (Frank Keller won the editing Oscar for this movie!) Another of my favorite scenes is when Bullitt, Bennett, Chalmers, and Baker gather around the telecopier as the passport applications arrive. Only Steve can make watching the fax machine riveting cinema. This time we noticed that frequently during the course of the film Lt. Bullitt is asked a direct question and he gives no response. As daughter #1 commented, “He speaks with his eyeballs.” His lack of response has great effect. When he does respond, major impact–especially when he says, “Bulls–t” to Robert Vaughn’s face toward the denouement of the film. Perhaps this is a good lesson for us all.

I went to church by myself on Sunday (the boy has the flu now) and heard a good sermon on Joshua 5:13-15. Are you for the Lord? Our goal is not to conform God to us, but for us to conform to God. It reminded me of that time during the Civil War President Lincoln was reportedly asked whether God was on the side of the Union. He replied, “My concern is not whether God is on our side,” Lincoln responded. “My greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” Touché. He was probably thinking of Joshua, because he knew his Bible backwards and forwards.

We finished up our Intro to Covenant class, which I really enjoyed. It never ceases to amaze me how whenever I am sitting alone before class, someone always comes and sits next to me. When I first went to that church I didn’t know a single person there. Now I know lots of people. Praise the Lord.

And I’m with the Madcaps:

Have a good week! There are definite signs of spring if you look!

Daughter #1 has a big DAR event today–our annual George Washington Commemoration Event on President’s Day at Lafayette Park–so keep her in your prayers. I am serving as the chapter chaplain, so I’ll be giving the benediction–there’s a first time for everything!

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February 4, 2026

Mid-week musings

by chuckofish

The temps reached above freezing yesterday so the snow started to melt. We have some big snow banks though and they will be with us for some time. C’est la vie.

I spent a stressful and irritating day yesterday gathering tax information and digitally transferring it to my accountants. I couldn’t help thinking of Mary Tyler Moore and her shoe box full of receipts and how the accountant (or was it a tax auditor?) was so impressed with her organization. How times have changed.

(Isn’t it amazing how I can remember that show but can’t remember what I watched last night?)

This is super sad. “The attention-span crisis goes to the movies.” Why does anyone even bother to go to college anymore?

On that note I think I’ll watch a slow-moving, two-hour, old black-and-white movie.

Perfection.

So read an old book, watch an old movie, call an old friend.

And Lottie got braces!

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January 21, 2026

Of gods and generals

by chuckofish

There was a small earth quake in central Illinois yesterday morning, but it didn’t amount to much and there was no damage reported. The magnitude 3.8 quake, we are told, struck at 1:27 a.m. Central Time, about 3 miles north-northeast of Ohlman, Illinois. The shallow tremor was felt across parts of Christian and Sangamon counties. According to daughter #2 they didn’t feel a thing in nearby Champaign County.

Today we toast General Ethan Allen (1738-1789) on his birthday, who is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolutionary War. Fun fact: A descendant of Ethan Allen, Ethan Allen Hitchcock Shepley, was the chancellor of our flyover university from 1953-1961, following Arthur Holly Compton. I always liked the story my mother told of the time our Labrador Retriever ran away and she got a phone call from the chancellor’s wife saying they had our dog. So she walked over to their house across campus and picked him up. She said Mrs. Shepley was very nice and said Teak was a good dog. My memory may be off–it might have been Mrs. Eliot, the wife of a later chancellor, who was nice, but whatever. It’s a good story.

We also toast Stonewall Jackson (1824-1863), Confederate general and military officer, on his birthday. He has always been a favorite of mine, even though he fought on the wrong side.

And speaking of generals, it is also the birthday of J. Carrol Naish (1896-1973), the character actor who memorably played General Phil Sheridan in Rio Grande (1950) which starred John Wayne.

Naish, although of Irish extraction, was one of those capable film actors who played an array of ethnically-diverse characters during his long career, including Sitting Bull twice.

Yes, Naish played lots of Italians, Hispanics, Native Americans, Jews, Irishmen, and even Wasps–because it is after all, called acting.

The world is more than we know.

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January 15, 2026

Walk this way

by chuckofish

Today we toast the great American dancer Ray Bolger who died on this day in 1987. He had a long and fruitful career, starting in vaudeville and on Broadway, and continuing in the movies. Here he is in The Great Ziegfeld (1936):

Woweee! Of course, everyone remembers him as the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz (1939) and with good reason. He was amazing! Whenever he was asked if he had received any residuals from telecasts of The Wizard of Oz, Bolger would reply: “No, just immortality. I’ll settle for that.” His portrayal truly was immortal.

We’ll also toast Pitbull on his birthday (born 1984) today.

Everyone needs a little Pitbull at least once a year.

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December 29, 2025

My eyes have seen the Messiah

by chuckofish

After a disorienting week of coughing at home, I finally made it back to church on Sunday. We had one service so it was the whole congregation together–very nice. I sat behind the pastor’s wife and their two children and she complimented me on my plaid Christmas pants. Quelle nice girl.

Our own Becka Marsh sang this version of Simeon’s Song during the offertory and I thought it was so lovely.

I played it a lot when I got home and I cried every time.

I also read The Three Godfathers, the short story by Peter B. Kyne on which John Ford’s 3 Godfathers (1948) is based (also the seven other versions). It seemed appropriate. The story ends with the remaining godfather stumbling into New Jerusalem with the baby as a woman sings

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, lift up your gates and sing,

Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! to your King!

He hands the baby to the woman and the author questions, “Who knows? Perhaps in that moment the woman, too, like the Three Bad Men, beheld the King!”

How could I not then watch the movie? (I did, and I could not love it more.)

Meanwhile, following a mild Christmas and balmy temperatures during the week–not to mention some fiery sunsets–

–we were warned a fast moving line of severe storms would move through Sunday afternoon–always exciting and unwanted. But nothing much happened.

My eyes have seen
My eyes have seen
Joy beyond belief:
I’ve seen the Messiah!

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December 23, 2025

À la recherche du temps perdu*

by chuckofish

As the year winds to a close, TCM remembers the actors, filmmakers and other film “creatives” we lost this year:

It is a good reminder. So many–from Robert Redford and Claudia Cardinale and Gene Hackman and David Lynch to our own dear “cousin” Richard Chamberlain. Sigh.

My doctor couldn’t fit me in, but I talked to a nurse on the phone. She suggested I go to urgent care to be tested and to make sure I don’t have pneumonia. Daughter #1 took me to the St Luke’s urgent care and I do have “the flu”. I got a prescription so hopefully I will be on the mend soon. Good grief.

I will hang in there and you should too.

*In Search of Lost Time 

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