My Bible Study group had our last meeting and luncheon yesterday. We talked about our Thanksgiving traditions and I think I shocked everyone by saying my family had been watching Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) for the last 30 years on Thanksgiving night. Oh well, c’est la vie. I stand by my choices.
Last night I watched Godzilla Minus One (2023) which is out on DVD and mine arrived right on time from Amazon. Seriously, that movie is the best movie I have seen in the last ten years. My hats off to Takashi Yamazaki who wrote, directed and supervised the visual effects. It won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects but why didn’t it win the Best Foreign Film? C’mon. Here’s the thing: it’s not about the monster, it’s about the people.
Meanwhile, the guys came and dug up the stump from our giant mulberry tree which was cut down a couple of weeks ago.
It was quite a job. It was a noisy afternoon.
Never a dull moment.
So it’s the weekend–have a good one! Make good choices.
On Tuesday I tried twice to vote early, but both times there was nowhere to park within a reasonable distance, so I passed.
Yesterday I got up super early and drove over to the little county library near me and found a place to park where I only had to walk a quarter mile to get there. And then stand in line for an hour. Zut alors. But it’s all good. I will say the people working there had their act together and things moved right along.
Well, I did my civic duty. ☑️ Go, me!
Today we toast the wonderful actor John Candy (1950-1994) on his birthday. Let’s all do the Mess Around in his memory:
In an ironic twist, Harry Houdini died on this day in 1926 from peritonitis (swelling of the abdomen), possibly related to appendicitis and possibly related to punches to his abdomen he had received about a week and a half earlier.
The world is more than we know.
And, oh hey, the Christmas cactus has buds!
Have a good day! Happy Reformation Day! Vote early if you can! And…
How was your weekend? Mine was rather quiet as daughter #1 was visiting daughter #2 et famille in Illinois. I went to our church’s women’s retreat on Saturday which included fellowship and lunch and a lot of crafts. I made bath bombs and sugar scrub, cards, and painted a mug.
My bath bombs turned out pretty well, but the rest of my crafts left a lot to be desired. Otherwise though, it was fun and I had a good time hanging out with a wide array of ladies–young and old.
I went home and watched the Mizzou-Alabama game but that was a bust. And by that I mean, super-bust.
On Sunday I once again helped with the Sunday School after the early church service. The twins were with me this time so that was interesting. After our together time with all the grades learning about Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, the leader, Mrs. Haynes, told everyone where to go–first and second graders with Mrs. Compton–and I saw the bud take her aside and say, “You can call her Mamu–that’s her real name.” I felt like the Velveteen Rabbit.
We had prayer requests and talked more about the Ethiopian eunuch and evangelism and we made bookmarks. This was mine:
The bud’s bookmark had a depiction of the Titanic sinking and an F5 tornado–Jesus is always with us. (I don’t mean to leave Lottie out, but her behavior is just so much more prosaic.) In church the twins continue to keep their natural depravity in check and I am very proud of them.
Meanwhile the prairie girls entertained their aunt and Mr. Smith, who was a good boy.
Daughter #1 made it home with Mr. Smith and I went over to their house and had dinner with them. Later at home I watched The Sixth Sense (1999) as part of my October movie viewing. I really like that movie. I remember the first time I saw it 25 years ago in a hotel in Worcester, MA with my sister. It was pretty scary.
Bruce Willis was never better. The world is more than we know.
Yesterday Ron, my co-editor of the Kirkwood Historical Review, came over to discuss the issue I am currently getting ready to send to the printer and he grumbled about how nippy it was outside. Indeed, the frost will be on the pumpkin very soon! And about time, really. I am ready for nippy.
Today we toast Jane Darwell, the wonderful character actress of 170+ films, who was born on this day in 1879.
I was surprised to learn that she was born in Palmyra, Missouri, the daughter of the president of the Louisville Southern Railroad. You can actually visit her birthplace, which is on the National Register of Historic places. I just saw her in My Darling Clementine (1946) and she was wonderful as always. Other favorites include: Bright Eyes (1934) plus four other Shirley Temple movies, 3Godfathers (1948), Wagon Master (1950), and her final film, Mary Poppins (1964) as the old Bird Woman. She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for The Grapes of Wrath (1940).
In October desiringGod is on a 31-day journey with Heroes of the Reformation. Every day they highlight a different hero, such as Thomas Cranmer. Not surprisingly, I am enjoying it a lot.
This is a very hopeful article about preaching the gospel in the wasteland of New England.
Meanwhile, the prairie girls went to the library and Ida was, as usual, too cool for school.
Hard to believe it is October 10th already and we are well on our way to Halloween (or, if you prefer, Reformation Day) and the slide to the end of the year!
Don’s chrysanthemums
Yesterday I had lunch with my friend Ben at his fancy retirement community. We were joined by three other friends who live there which made it almost a party. It was quite enjoyable and a reminder that old friends are best. We talked about poetry and old times and avoided politics.
Speaking of celebrating, today we toast the great Yul Brynner on the anniversary of his death in 1985. Yul was without peer and we will enjoy watching one of his movies.
Shall it be The King and I (1956) or The Magnificent Seven (1960) or The Ten Commandments (1956)?
We are experiencing absolutely beautiful weather here in flyover country and I feel almost guilty considering what those south and east of us are enduring. There but for the grace of God…Here’s an inspiring article about God’s Grace working through the church in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
Daughter #2 sent this picture and it made me chuckle:
Preschool on the prairie
And finally, this made me laugh–100 raccoons! ‘Somehow the word got out in raccoon land and they all showed up to her house expecting a meal,’ Kevin McCarty, a spokesperson for the Kitsap County Sheriff, said.
Hello! We made it back from the Navajo Nation and Arizona.
All went pretty smoothly and my travel planning skills were generally high-fived all around. The OM had some trouble adjusting to the altitude, but he soldiered on. We hydrated. Daughter #1 did a A+++++ job as our driver/navigator/community engagement coordinator.
Monument Valley is a remote place and it is not easy to get to. It was a six hour drive from Phoenix (this after getting up at 3 a.m. to make a 6:00 a.m. flight!) through the mountains. No one told us Flagstaff is in the mountains! (If I knew, I had forgotten.) Daughter #1 will regale you with her memories of this later in the week.
But we made it and I am amazed when I look back at my photos and realize, yes, we were actually there in this amazing, other-wordly place. You literally can not take a bad picture.
We stayed at Goulding’s Lodge, which has been in operation 100 years. It is where John Ford and his actors and crew stayed and that is respected and honored, but not overdone or commercialized.
We enjoyed it very much and would recommend it highly. There is a dusty old museum…
…and you can go in Nathan Brittles’ (John Wayne’s) cabin from She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.
We stayed in a “villa” and not the main hotel…
This was our view in the morning, drinking coffee on the porch…
We took a great 3.5 hour tour led by Sam, our Navajo guide, through Monument Valley. We rode in a Hatari-reminiscent open vehicle and got out at many points along the way and walked around.
Our fellow tourists, most of whom were Europeans (French and German), looked exactly like variations on my brother and sister-in-law. We were all exhausted and dusty by the end. Wonderful.
Truly it was kind of a religious experience for me, on the level with going to the Holy Land a few years ago. No kidding. I loved everything.
Back home on Saturday night I watched My Darling Clementine (1946) and it was awesome.
On Sunday we watched Ford’s masterpiece, The Searchers (1956). OMG.
Wow.
Tomorrow I’ll tell you about our adventures at the Grand Canyon!
P.S. Many thanks to daughter #2 and DN for taking care of the blog last week! Much appreciated. (Hope it didn’t inconvenience the prairie girls too much 😉!)
There’s not a plant or flow’r below, but makes Thy glories known, And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne; While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care; And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God, art present there.
I may have mentioned that next week the OM, daughter #1 and I are heading out West to visit Monument Valley on the Arizona-Utah border. The valley is considered sacred by the Navaho Nation, within whose reservation it lies. It is rather sacred to me as well. We are pretty excited.
Recently daughter #2 and Katie were reading this book…
…which included this…
How cool is that? IYKYK. I do love Pete.
In preparation for this trip, I am re-watching some of John Ford’s iconic films. First up was Fort Apache (1948) starring John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple, et al. It is the first of Ford’s Cavalry Trilogy.
Next on the docket will be Stagecoach (1939), My Darling Clementine (1946) and She Wore A YellowRibbon (1949)–three of my all-time favorites.
Unrelated to this, I also recently watched The Human Comedy (1943) on TCM. Directed by Clarence Brown from a story by William Saroyan, it stars Mickey Rooney as high school student Homer Macauley, who works part-time as a telegram delivery boy in the fictional town of Ithaca, California, during World War II. The movie depicts the effects of the war on the Home Front over a year in Homer’s life in a series of vignettes involving himself, his family, friends and neighbors in his hometown, and his brother Marcus, a Private in the U.S. Army. Homer is thrust into some difficult situations, some of which are heart-wrenching.
Rooney handles it all with skill and does not overdo it. (He was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar.) He is really quite impressive and he carries the film like a pro.
This scene, which does not involve Rooney, but includes Van Johnson as his brother on a troop train, is a real emotional highpoint–the kind they were not embarrassed to attempt in 1943.
I have no doubt that many today would find this entire movie to be absolute hokum and too rah-rah America, but I did not. I pity them. We still sing this hymn at my church and I will always think of these soldiers from now on when I hear it.
One night recently when I was flipping channels trying to find something to watch, I came upon Forrest Gump (1994). After a few too many commercials, I remembered that I own the DVD, so I started watching that. I had not seen the movie in many years and I really enjoyed it.
An adaption of the novel by Winston Groom, it follows the life of an Alabama man with a low IQ named Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), who unwittingly participates in some of the major events of the twentieth century and interacts with several major historical figures in the process. It won six Academy Awards including the Best Picture Oscar as well as Best Actor and Best Director. It was a huge hit. The soundtrack which includes 32 songs from the eras presented was also a hit.
In a famous scene toward the beginning of the movie Forrest meets Jenny, his best friend for life, as elementary school children on a bus. No one else will let him sit with them. Later he meets his “best good friend” Bubba on a bus of army recruits headed for Vietnam. He also will let Forrest sit by him. It struck me that I too met my best friend Trudy Glick sitting on a school bus in Junior Kindergarten. I was so shy I couldn’t speak to anyone, but she spoke to me and we were best friends through second grade. I remember telling the boy when he was in middle school to be kind to people on his bus–it could mean a lot to someone. I think it took years, but he learned that lesson. It is an important lesson. God places people in our path and the least we can do is smile and move over.
At one point in the movie when Forrest is running back and forth across the country, he runs through Monument Valley…
…and actually that is where he stops running.
We are headed there in less than two weeks! I will probably watch a few more movies filmed in Monument Valley in preparation for this trip, but Forrest Gump was, unwittingly, a good place to start. I recommend it if you are looking for something to watch.
By the way, Forrest Gump’s favorite book was Curious George. Which reminded me of this:
Look at that blue sky! Our little trip to Laumeier Sculpture Park on Labor Day morning was a success.
Mr. Smith got pretty worn out by the end, and had to be carried part of the way, but we all had fun.
I hadn’t been there in a couple of years. The twins had never been there at all and were introduced to the concept of “Sculpture”.
I don’t think they were that impressed, but enjoyed doing something different and seeing all the other dogs. Likewise Mr. Smith.
We went home and ate bagels and apples and then we watched the end of Ghostbusters, which we had started a few weeks ago. Then we played outside and then they played inside with Legos and then their dad picked them up. I collapsed.
It was a pleasant long weekend. Scottie Scheffler won the FedEx Cup! (He’s had quite a year–It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.)
And I watched a couple of good movies, notably The Undefeated (1969) with John Wayne and Rock Hudson and The Best of Times(1986) with Robin Williams and Kurt Russell.
I felt better after watching both of these movies, which is not something you feel a lot these days, you know what I mean?
Now I am getting ready for the arrival of daughter #2 and her famille on Thursday. Can’t wait to see these little firecrackers…
They’ve sure got the moves.
So, welcome, September! Stay positive! Pet a nice dog, take a walk in the sunshine, watch an old movie.
Godzilla Minus One (2023) is a Japanese epic kaiju film written, directed, and with visual effects by Takashi Yamazaki. Produced by Toho Studios and Robot Communications and distributed by Toho, it is the 37th film in the Godzilla franchise and Toho’s 33rd Godzilla film. I would venture to say it is the best. Seriously, I thought it was great–made in the tradition of the best Japanese films (i.e. Kurosawa films) but with a thoughtful bow to the original Godzilla franchise of the 1950s.
Unfortunately, I viewed it at my friend’s house on her very large TV and was distracted by her incessant talking throughout. She was not riveted as was I. At one point, she fell asleep. So I guess it is not for everybody. But as soon as it becomes available on DVD, I will buy it and watch it again.
The actors are all excellent, in particular Ryunosuke Kamiki as the penitent Kamikaze pilot who has survived WWII and is wracked with survivor guilt.
All the characters are well-defined, highly distinguishable, and display significant development. That’s saying something for a “monster movie”! I also thought it was interesting that the movie is critical of Japan and its part in the war and in the manner it treated its citizens. The way the veterans come together to solve the problem and take down Godzilla is moving and patriotic.
Come to think of it this country has treated life far too cheaply. Poorly armored tanks. Poor supply chains resulting in half of all deaths from starvation and disease. Fighter planes built without ejection seats and finally, kamikaze and suicide attacks. That’s why this time I’d take pride in a citizen led effort that sacrifices no lives at all! This next battle is not one waged to the death, but a battle to live for the future. (Kenji Noda)
And there is a miracle at the end of the movie, complete with angelic singing, which made me very happy.
If you have Netflix, watch this movie! It is definitely the best movie I have seen in a long time.
dual personalities 