Wednesday, March 17, 2010

A Wednesday Post

GR&DF I am very happy that you enjoyed the snaps yesterday - I do love visiting the Farmers market and seeing what is available - as the seasons change and the year rolls by (faster and faster the older I get I notice!!) the fruits and vegetables that are in season are so much better than things trucked and flown into the Supermarkets. - Oh well, today the Farmers Market will get another visit at lunch time so there may be more snaps tomorrow - I know we need lemons, and some more asparagus - I think I will try that roasting method.....and some more little fingerling potatoes - and of course some more crack-korn!!

I heard form Leeanne that the mail art I made has arrived. For the life of me I can not find a single snap of that sucker on my camera or in my albums - being a ding sometimes I forget to get a picture - so I will have to snag one from the Blog after she posts - I got really worried as it took that thing more than 10 days to arrive - oh well better to get there than not!

Stitching was still focused on exchanges last night.

Both Donna and Marial asked about the earthquake out here - was there one? I am clueless. We usually have many and I mean there can be dozens in a 24 hour period - small to moderate quakes daily and unless I am sitting still and feel the house swaying - I am oblivious to any quakes going on - we are fine and all is well.

There have been quite a few movies over the past 5 days - Lets begin with two Kay Francis flicks - I really like her and her style of acting. At the time - the 1930's - she was the reining Queen of Warner Brothers and made tons of films - she was unseated by Bette Davis. The first of her films I saw was "Comet Over Broadway" - 1938 - starring Kay Francis, Ian Hunter and Donald Crisp. This was one of the later films that was less than stellar and was being used by the studio to oust her from her contract. Kay had a speech impediment and it was hard for her to say "R" words or words with the letter "r" in them. During the height of her career when she was making a bazillion dollars for the studio the would rewrite and fix the scripts so that she had fewer "R"'s to say but as her career waned they did this less and less and even wrote and rewrote the lines to make them harder for her to say. But, she was a trooper an forged ahead doing everything she was asked including this melodramatic tripe. Although Kay is great as always and very self sacrificing - it does become a bit silly towards the end.

The second Kay film was "Secrets of an Actress" - 1938 - starring Kay Francis, George Brent and Ian Hunter. Made the same year as the first. In this film she has a much better script with many clever lines - of the two see the second but both are worth a look just to see Kay.

The next film is a documentary called "Get Bruce" - 1999 - starring Bruce Vilanch - and a bunch of the stars he ghost writes for. Now, I had no idea what to expect as I usually find Bruce Vilanch a bit tiresome - but this film has thrown him in a whole new light - or at least to me. It is amazing how hard he works and how much he goes and if it weren't for him most if not all of the ceremonies that include actors and actress's would be really dull affairs - this film shows him working, working ,working always at work and on call to the Hollywood needy and greedy. They also interview his mother and she is totally delightful!! I would recommend this film for nothing but to see the back work to the working of Hollywood.

The next three films are all WWII films - and are all great in there own way - First up is "Patton" - 1970 - starring George C Scott and Karl Malden. What a superior film!! A tour de force for Scott as he seemed to nail the character of Patton and his living to fight and how he felt towards the men under him and the war itself.

The next two films where made during the war and it is interesting to see the difference in the interpretation of war and WWII specifically then and how Hollywood portrayed it in later films. First up is "Air Force" - 1943 - starring John Ridgely, Gig Young and Arthur Kennedy - the film is about a Bomber squad on route to Hickam Field on December 6, 1941.... flying into the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor the squad scatters to emergency fields all over the Hawaiian Islands and is finally reunited at Hickam. Then the movie shifts to Mary Ann one of the bombers and her crew and their adventure trying to get to Manila via Wake Island. A very good if not great film about the crew and the war in the air!! The second and final film of the day (do I hear a sigh of relief out there??) was "Action in the North Atlantic" -1942 - starring Humphrey Bogart, Raymond Massey and Alan Hale. This film starts off with a bang and the sinking/ramming of a freighter!! Then the films shifts to a new Liberty Ship and the merchant marine corps who where the unsung heroes of WWII - most of the action takes place on the sea - and the bulk of the film is about a convoy of freighters -including the new Liberty Ship - and them running into a wolf pack of German submarines. An excellent film with top notch acting. The special effects are a bit weak compared to the films of today but for 1943 they are pretty good.

There you go sports fans -


Have a great St. Patrick's day!!

Thanks for stopping by!! Do come again.

Take care,
edgar

10 comments:

  1. I think that's the one reason why I couldn't live in SF -- the earthquakes. lol! I experienced one back when I lived in Southern CA, and also a small one right here in NY. That's enough for me!

    I'm going to have to note down those WWII movies for my son.

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  2. You had a 3pointer on the 15th and I'm surprised it made anybody's news. My first earthquake (1992) was a 3pointer centered a few blocks from where I was. I kind of loved earthquakes. The small ones. Northridge scared me straight. :)

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  3. Oh the earthquake was in SoCal..4.4. That's tiny by my standards but it's got to be at least a 5.0 in order for me to even wake up. When I was little...my mom would be up and screaming after each one...i'd wake up cuz she was screaming. Sheesh!

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  4. I am always envious when I see the farmer's market photos. I can just picture myself filling a basket of all that fresh fruit & veg!
    I am a big WWII fan and read as many WWII books as I can get my hands on, so I am also a movie fan
    of that time period. It is also great to read about the ones you've seen. Some I have seen and some not.
    Still waiting on spring to arrive here in Georgia. Looks like it may
    be a bit late this year!

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  5. Edgar,
    No, you did NOT hear a sigh of relief! I love your reviews!

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  6. Yes there was an earthquake--4.5 or something in SoCal, it shook me out of bed at 4 a.m.--always fun--but not substantial enough to be felt up your way. You are right about the year going faster at our age (sadly I'm 46 too). Me dad calls it the old toboggan ride to the grave.

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  7. What a beautiful St. Patrick's card. I love vintage cards. Did I remember to thank you for the envelope that arrived last week? I could search through the comments and see if I did. Better yet, I will thank you again and give a resounding YES to your question regarding the other book.

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  8. A simple thank you. I do enjoy reading your blog.

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  9. Happy St. Patrick's Day Edgar!

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  10. Hi Edgar! How do you cook fingerling potatoes?

    Thanks!

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