Family Memories: The Greatest Team

When I was growing up, my brother Brian and I were a pretty great team. Despite an eight year difference in age, we always had many adventures usually restricted to around the house or neighborhood.

Instead of a picture of Brian and me at that age, I will instead share with you a cartoon image of how I remember us: Calvin and Hobbes may have been inseparable, but if Bill Watterson had known Brian and me, he would have made it Hobbes and Susie!

 

So the memory begins.

In our living room we had two bookshelves, roughly 6.5 feet high, next to each other in a corner. Since they were not designed for a corner they were only touching at one point, so instead of overlapping where one would be overtaking the other, they only met at this point to where a perfect square of empty space was formed in the corner. This is where the memory begins.

I remember Brian (around 12 years old and already nearly 6 feet), standing on a chair, hoisting me up and lowering me down into that perfect square of empty space. We had both agreed that I would fit perfectly so there was no reason for us NOT to go on with our plan. To use the word “plan” in this story is misleading as there was no plan, just an idea that I would fit into that space and that he would hoist me in and then back out. But of course, any of you that have siblings know that there’s an agreed upon understanding that my brother would now pretend to leave me in that space. The actual events of him leaving me for a moment is muddled and I could be remembering it wrong but I truly remember a feeling of complete contentment and trust that he would come back and “rescue” me from that “pit”, which he did.

It’s such a wonderfully simple, yet silly memory of my playtime with Brian as we were growing up. We were constantly thinking of things to do and it never occured to us to have it involve a TV or video game. My childhood was filled with imagination and adventure because of Brian!

Thanks, Brian! I love you!

Another Gloria Steinem Spelling Test Study Guide

Here are more words to learn from "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions":

Deference - respectful submission or yielding to the judgement, opinion, will, etc of another

Indefatigable - incapable of being tired out; not yielding to fatigue

Couching - to express indirectly or obscurely (Sentence in the book for which it's used, "For one thing, I can finally stop couching my suggestions in hesitancy and humor. That alone should save me a lot of time."

Pariah - an outcast. Any person or animal that is generally despised or avoided

Obstreperous - resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner; noisy or boisterous

Frenetic - frenzied

Truism - a self-evident, obvious truth

Machinations - crafty schemes; plots; intrigues - To contrive a plot, especially artfully or with evil purpose

"Affirmative Action" - refers to policies that take factors including "race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group "in areas of employment, education, and business", usually justified as countering the effects of a history of discrimination. (Wikipedia)

Superciliously - haughtily disdainful or contemptuous, as a person or a facial expression


All of these words can be found in her chapter called "Campaigning". Within this chapter, she brings us on the journey of reporting on McGovern, McCarthy and Nixon. It's a wonderful insight into the 1968 and 1972 Presidential Elections and also an unjaded look at Nixon before Watergate. I've also come to the conclusion from how she presents McGovern, that he was a pretty stand-up guy.

Try and use one of these words in a sentence today or this week. I know I will be trying!

Presidential Debate: October 3, 2012

For those who do not have cable or will not be able to see the Presidential Debate tomorrow night (9:00 p.m. ET), go to the link below. You will be able to stream it live on Youtube. This is where I will be watching it!

http://www.youtube.com/politics?feature=inp-bp-ype-53

This is not a plug for any particular candidate, this is just me sharing with you what I've found so we can all be informed. Hopefully, it will be constructive and not just "he stole my juice box" kind of stuff!

Summer Stock (1950)

Judy Garland - Jane Falbury
Gene Kelly - Joe Ross
Gloria DeHaven - Abigail Falbury
Phil Silvers - Herb Blake
Eddie Bracken - Orville Wingait
Marjorie Main - Esme

This is not a movie I have seen recently and I'm not sure exactly how to explain this, but it is not a necessity for me to see this film again in order to remember each detail. I remember each detail down to specific colors, movements and script dialogue without aid. With that said, I feel it's time to contribute my own write-up/review of this classic musical.

As many of my friends and family know, I'm a Judy Garland fan. This is not something that I necessarily share with everyone though it definitely is not something I hide either. So, I will try and keep this simple and without too many words to get in the way of this wonderful, classic, MGM musical.

Things I know about the film (most will be Judy related):

This would be Judy's final film for MGM and I would say that though there were hiccups in the process, this is a slam bang way to go out! This musical has everything you'd want, to be entertained: humor, wonderful and inventive dancing, catchy and heartfelt songs, and a cast who's only job, in which they succeed, is to put a smile on your face. I'm tempted to include some excerpts from the movie and songs but there really are so many great ones that it's genuinely hard to choose. Not impossible, but hard none-the-less.

Judy Garland - Jane Falbury
By this time in MGM and musical history, Judy was already an established star and box office draw. She had already made so many great films and plenty of money for the studio to consider her run at MGM a success. By this time, American (and international) audiences would have already seen her as Dorothy Gale in "The Wizard of Oz" (1939), Esther Smith in "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944), an innocent ingenue in 8 films paired with Mickey Rooney** and many watched her "walk down the avenue" with Fred Astaire in "Easter Parade" (1948). She was the queen of musicals to say the least. Judy, having begun her career at the ripe "old" age of 2 years old, would be 28 years old at the time of this film and already considered a veteran of the stage (vaudeville) and screen! Though this was only the end of one part of her life and career, many know the things to come for Judy would continue to amaze audiences with more films, two Academy Award nominations and a slew of concerts attended by incomparably devoted fans.

Gene Kelly - Joe Ross
Gene Kelly was a veteran himself of vaudeville and screen (coincidentally his first film was "For Me and My Gal" (1942) with and staring Judy Garland), though many of us remember him for the movies he had yet to make: "An American In Paris" (1951), "Singin' In The Rain" (1952) and "Brigadoon" (1954). Gene should and must be remembered for his incredible talent in dance. He was a wonderful contrast to the dancing style of Fred Astaire and has been quoted as saying (in reference to Fred), "If Fred Astaire is the Cary Grant of dance, I'm the Marlon Brando." I couldn't have said it better myself. Fred was debonair and smooth where Gene was strong and athletic. Both were equally adventurous and inventive, but Gene had a style that I would imagine inspired many men to take up dance. Though he was a marvelous dancer you should also know he was a director, choreographer and producer; a man of many hats.

Now onto the movie:

The movie is about a young woman, Judy, who runs the family farm alone and is engaged to be married. One day, her sister and the traveling troupe of actors she is associated with, comes to the farm to "put on a show". Her sister, Gloria, assumes it will be alright to bring an entire show with props, sets and 30+ people to the farm without any notice or imposition. Gloria plays a diva actress who is dating Gene, the director. If you've seen any movies at all, you know that this pairing will not last and that Judy and Gene HAVE to end up together, so it's not a surprise THAT it happens, it's more the anticipation of WHEN and HOW. There are several funny gags showing how the different worlds collide including a memorable scene of all the actors and stage hands trying to help Judy do the farms daily chores. Eddie Bracken and Phil Silvers have a wonderful "where's my glasses" gag that, though it's not original, still gets me laughing every time. Marjorie Main is always a delight to watch. Her delivery is unrivaled and you're sure to laugh out loud at her a few, if not many, times in this film. I must also recognize Charles Walters. He was the director of this film among many many others including "Easter Parade" which I mentioned earlier. He had been an actor/dancer himself and worked with Judy on numerous occasions in film and her concert career.

There are so many wonderful songs in this film including one of my favorites called, "Happy Harvest". If you're not used to musicals, you will find this song to be incredibly cheesy. But if you've seen and loved even one musical in your lifetime, you will enjoy it and appreciate the ingenious, rhyming lyrics and catchy melody. If ever I am feeling blue, this song will ALWAYS cheer me up. You can't be sad with words like; "Come on along and take a ride, and look at life from the cheery side!" or the genius of, "We're gonna roll in plenty, spend and five or ten or twenty and those happy harvest bells are gonna chime. Remember neighbor, when you work for Mother nature, you get paid by Father time." Wonderfully cheesy and incredibly catchy. I must give credit where credit is due to Harry Warren, Harold Arlen ("Over The Rainbow"), Mack Gordon, Saul Chaplin, Ted Koehler and Jack Brooks. It wouldn't be a musical without these wonderful lyricists and composers. We just don't have musicians like these today. They are to be remembered and honored among so many others! 

There are many more wonderful songs and scenes to include, but, to keep this brief, there's really only one more for which to focus. I have two words for you, "Get Happy". As much as I'd like to go into detail about what makes this great, I really feel I won't do it justice and instead will just let you watch it and decide for yourself. Let's all, however, remember that to deem this clip/song/performance as nothing short of wonderful is the CORRECT answer! There will be a pop quiz later and we will see what you've learned. *wink*




Did everyone notice and love the guy with the crazy legs, lifting himself from a sitting position without any effort or need for knee surgery!? Talent. Talent, I say!

I would like to include a little piece of trivia in relation to Judy's outfit in this number. In "Easter Parade", two years earlier, there was to be a number incorporating this outfit called, "Mr. Monotony" (Irving Berlin). There are still dailies (several takes from the film at different angles) of this number which have been preserved and can be found on the DVD extras. I can just imagine the studio and many involved that wanted to somehow get that outfit into a movie because, well, Judy's legs could pull it off.

This was a rather long entry but you must understand I actually administered much restraint as there is so much from this film that garners attention, including one particular scene with Gene (in his wonderful, toned and tanned glory), a newspaper and a creaky floor board, but I refuse to give anything away. I now consider my work here to be done because now you're intrigued!

So, I encourage you to go on Netflix or to your local library, get this movie and enjoy a few hours of simple, solid entertainment. The movie is only 100 or so minutes but I said a few hours because I'm assuming you will rewatch some parts. I have every confidence in this as a fact and remember...."Forget your troubles, come on get happy!"

And so concludes another "Reel Vintage".


**Judy, in total, made 10 films with Mickey Rooney but only 8 where she was playing a character. The other 2 films are cameo roles.

Monday is Quote Day

"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."

 -Elie Wiesel Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
December 10, 1986