“I hear that in many places something has happened to Christmas; that it is changing from a time of merriment and carefree gaiety to a holiday which is filled with tedium; that many people dread the day and the obligation to give Christmas presents is a nightmare to weary, bored souls; that the children of enlightened parents no longer believe in Santa Claus; that all in all, the effort to be happy and have pleasure makes many honest hearts grow dark with despair instead of beaming with good will and cheerfulness.”
–Julia Peterkin, “A Plantation Christmas,” 1934
Today is the first day of December. Let’s try not to get all stressed out.
Remember that Jesus is the reason for the season–not some unattainable perfection of decorating or entertaining. Relax. Pay attention. Have fun.
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon completed surveying for the “Mason-Dixon line” separating Maryland and Pennsylvania on this day in 1767. The work was done between 1763 and 1767 in order to resolve a border dispute involving Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
In popular usage, the Mason–Dixon line still symbolizes a cultural boundary between the North and the South.
Reading about this, it suddenly occurred to me that the name “Dixie” (used as a historical nickname for the southern states) must derive from Jeremiah Dixon’s name!
Mind-blowing that I just thought of that. Did you know that?
Anyway, here’s a great song by Mark Knopfler (with James Taylor) about Mason and Dixon, which was itself inspired by the book Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon.
P.S. I read that book back in the 1990s and liked it.
Last Saturday night the OM and I were home watching the baseball game on the telly. During the commercials I was clicking back and forth to The Great Escape (1963) on TCM. During segments with Steve McQueen we watched for extended periods–we were losing the game–and we saw quite a bit of this really good movie which I have probably seen a million times.
This time I noticed how really terrific the music by Elmer Bernstein is–and not just the famous theme music–but the incidental music, which, we all know, can make or break a film.
The music is quite reminiscent of Bernstein’s score to The Magnificent Seven (1960). In fact most of his scores are reminiscent of each other and that is okay. There are repeated themes and his orchestrations are similar. I mean, watch To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and you will see what I mean. His music was clearly influenced by Aaron Copland who encouraged him in his early musical studies. This also is a good thing.
Bernstein was nominated fourteen times for an Academy Award, but only won once for the mediocre Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967). What a travesty! But by now we are used to such things. His scores for The Magnificent Seven and To Kill a Mockingbird were ranked by the American Film Institute as the eighth and seventeenth greatest American film scores of all time, respectively, on the list of AFI’s 100 Years of Film Scores**. But some of his lesser known scores from lesser know movies are favorites of mine: The World of Henry Orient (1964) foremost among them.
Anyway, Elmer Bernstein deserves to be up there in the pantheon of best all-time film composers: Alfred Newman, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Max Steiner, Jerome Moross, Maurice Jarre, Miklos Rozsa…
What is your favorite movie score by Elmer Bernstein? Discuss among yourselves.
*Sedgwick in “The Great Escape”
**This list is so flawed! I mean they have a film score as #1 that is totally derivative (and intentionally so)–please!
Did you have a nice weekend? The weather here in flyover country was blustery and cool, but the sun shone and it was good to be out and about.
On Saturday the OM and I drove to Washington, MO on the Missouri River to have a yummy lunch at the Blue Duck which is just down the street from this landmark:
We went to a few antique stores/mall on the way home. I found something for daughter #2’s birthday which is around the corner. All in all, a nice day-trip to another part of our scenic state.
On Sunday I had to go to church early for another confirmation mentor class with my 8th grade mentee.
Here are some of them down at the Cathedral for an overnight “Lock-in”–remember those?
Besides other stuff, it was the Sunday when they declared their intentions to be confirmed. Thankfully, mine filled out her little card. I would have felt like such a failure if she had decided not to conform and/or be confirmed! (The year-long course is called “confirm, not conform”–catchy, right?) Well, way to go, Brigid!
The boy and daughter #3 came over to dinner and he told us all about his new job, which he started last week. Daughter #1 is also starting a new job in a week, so we are all in a tizzy of anticipation over new beginnings.
In the middle of all this, the OM and I watched The Martian (2015) with Matt Damon, which was okay, but I have to admit I lost interest halfway through. It all seemed mighty far-fetched, not to mention overly long.
We also started watching a British TV show called The Detectorists, which I just love.
It stars Mackenzie Crook (who also wrote and directed it) and Toby Jones and a cast of wonderful English actors. IMDB describes it as a show about “the lives of two eccentric metal detectorists, who spend their days plodding along ploughed tracks and open fields, hoping to disturb the tedium by unearthing the fortune of a lifetime.” But this is erroneous. They are not looking for treasure. They are interested in making an important historical find. The difference is important. And they do not hate their lives. They have a hobby about which they are passionate. And as for plodding along ploughed tracks, the scenery is beautiful!
Anyway, I highly recommend you watch it (on Netflix). It is very funny and also sweet. And I think the message is that the real treasure in our lives are our family and friends.
And I like the theme song:
Sadly, there are only six episodes and season two is not on Netflix! Ugh.
Here is a photo of our handsome older brother (on the right) with his dreamy best bud Tom at our parent’s home back in 1980. Written on the back of the snapshot is Oct. 18, 1980 which means it was taken on the evening following the wedding of the OM and yours truly. Everyone was relaxing and the bride and groom had left the scene.
Good times. I wonder what they were playing?
P.S. The BB (big brother) is the same age here as the boy is today.
This lovely long weekend I celebrated Thanksgiving with the boy’s in-laws, went to a “Rock N Roll” craft fair in terra incognita, “shopped local” and online, bought my evergreen wreath from the local Boy Scout troop, and got out all my Christmas decorations. I also got some decorations up, but I have a long way to go. The boy came over for his birthday dinner (honey mustard chicken) and put up our outside Christmas lights–yay!
I went to church–Advent I–and we were warned:
“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
We didn’t sing this hymn, but I wish we had. You go, Charles Wesley!
I went to see The Yeoman of the Guard by Gilbert & Sullivan on Friday night.
The scene of this opera is laid within the precincts of the Tower of London, in the period of the 16th Century.
Admittedly, it was not the D’Oly Carte Opera Company, but I thought our local Winter Opera company was really quite wonderful.
My mother was a fan of Yeoman and we had the record.
I think she liked it because it is the only W&S opera with kind of a sad ending. She could always relate to the fool/jester character in anything and there is a stellar one in Yeoman.
Anyway, I dragged the OM and the boy along (daughter #3 was otherwise engaged) and they enjoyed it also. We were all proud of ourselves for getting out and participating in a cultural activity.
It reminded me of the time back in 1964 when my mother bought tickets to see the actual D’Oyly Carte Company perform The Mikado. She took my brother and me. I was in the second grade, but she thought I was old enough to enjoy/appreciate this opportunity. (She may have over-estimated me.) Anyway, my father took my little sister (who was not old enough to enjoy/appreciate light opera) to see It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Ironically this film was on TCM last week and I DVR’d it and then watched it this weekend. It features literally every American comedian (plus Terry-Thomas) alive in 1963. It is overly long and drags some, but it does have its moments. Jonathan Winters is great and the scene in the gas station with Arnold Stang and Marvin Kaplan is priceless. There is a lot of yelling in this movie.
Speaking of movies, I also watched From Hell (2001) on Halloween and, despite the presence of Johnny Depp, I thought it was dreadful. Apologies for recommending it on Friday!
Sunday, as you know, was All Saints Day and we had an interminably long service complete with a children’s sermon dissecting the hymn The Saints of God. Oh, did I mention it was also pledge Sunday? Well, it was. On top of this, the woman sitting behind me was a beat behind or a beat ahead during every prayer and every hymn to the point where I was ready to slap her and slap her hard. I hate feeling that way in church.
And now it is November and the long slide to Christmas begins. Deo gratias.
Yesterday daughter #1 rode in from NYC for a little flyover R&R.
This time she will not be running in a half marathon but recovering from one she ran two weeks ago on Staten Island. ‘Taking it easy’ will be the byword for the weekend.
(Aren’t those white Keds the cutest things ever?)
I must also note that today is the birthday of my distant cousin, Dwight Yoakam!
Old Dwight (who is my age) has had quite a career. Fifteen-time Grammy nominee and three-time winner, his music career has been stellar indeed. But he must be congratulated for doing a great job of transitioning from country music heart-throb to “character actor.”
Would that we could all do it as gracefully.
Happy birthday, Dwight! We’ll be toasting you big time tonight!
dual personalities 