looking for my groundhog

Was it here, hidden in the WSAV weather song?

Kinda sorta!

This was a sunny day, so the rascal would certainly see its shadow.

I know Smitty has been missing out on golf with his buddies.

He mentioned that on Friday, too.

I sent him this bit of the weather song to lift his spirits for the upcoming Sunday outing.

Let's hope the weather stays at our normal, as shown there!

Then Elissa texted to call off Music Bingo tonight.

Just she and Sandy went last week and they didn't like being that cold.

To her, I sent the forecast for today through Wednesday, as per Pat Prokop.

One more brutal freeze tonight, then two days in a row of near 60!

That sure brings a smile to my face!!!

This lunch brought a smile to me, too.

How so?

It isn't soup!!!

It's ham steak alongside Cranberry Pomegranate Brioche Stuffing.

So nice to eat with a fork, on a plate... so I had the same for dinner!

i had not-soup for breakfast, too: a scrambled egg wrap with Swiss.

Three meals with no spoon required!

In between lunch and dinner, I moved my trash can and the recycling bin to the curb.

I meant to do that two weeks ago, but I held off because it was cold that night.

Today, I went ahead and did it!

That's when I took a good look at my Japanese magnolia tree.

It's always been my groundhog, bursting with pink blooms to let me know warmer days were just six weeks away!

Those blooms from mid-January are all frostbit now.

I know it will be okay, though.

It recovered beautifully from last year's snow and ice, which lasted much longer.

So I celebrated its soon-to-be bounce back with a reward movie from Comcast: "Rush Hour"!!!

This one with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker has so many laughable moments, and a very nice story, too.

Then, after dinner, CBS had something special for me: 'mercials I actually enjoy!!!

I even texted around to family and friends to let them know it was on!!!

This was the 25th "Super Bowl Greatest Commercials" show, so there were lots of old favorites from the years past that were eligible for their 'Hall of Fame" - LOL!

Clydesdales! Pepsi! Doritos! Sheep singing Queen's music! Even one about herding cats!!!   

Nice to have so many high notes today!

i thank You, God!

weekend of hell: tv shows

Although the case could be argued that several of the movies yesterday might have also fallen into this category, I choose to differentiate.

(As I'm the one trapped in this weather hell, I get to make the rules.) 

The phrase "TV shows" refers to those aired productions that are episodic and part of a series.

 

Take this first one: a filmed live stage production of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" from 2012. 

This was on as part of the filmed annual Stratford Festival, held each summer for the past 70-plus years in Stratford, Ontario, Canada.

This particular one was part of the 2011 season there.

Of course, my attraction to it was my recent encounter with this favorite, courtesy of SavArtsAcad!

But I had another reason to watch: I recognized one of the actors!

That's Brian Dennehy cavorting as Sir Toby Belch, and clearly having a lovely time doing so!

(That's almost three decades after he played the sheriff in "Silverado".) 

I was sure, too, that Michael McKean was right there with him as Sir Andrew... but IMDB listed someone else.

Still, it was a lot of fun to see again! 

Next up were three British television shows which I've recently taken a fancy to.

"Sister Boniface Mysteries" features a woman of the cloth with a knack for using chemistry and other sciences to help the local police solve crimes.

This episode, "There's No I In Slaughter", s4e7, was about a team-building exercise that turned into a real homicide to solve.

The town's name, Slaughter, still brings a smile along with a favorite memory.

(smile!)

I chased that shot down with two hits from a man of the cloth named "Father Brown".

Interesting sidenote: the woman in this photo, 'Mrs. Isabel Devine", reminds me so much of 'Alice' from "The Vicar Of Dibley" that I actually looked up the actress (Claudia Blakley), only to find she was ten years younger than the one who was 'Alice' (Emma Chambers).

Both characters are adorably sweet and innocent, with a slight lisping quality to their voices.

Anyway, the first episode I watched was "The Battle Of Kembleford", s12e1.

That featured a reenactment of a medieval fight, but gets complicated when a historian gets killed.

After dinner, I followed that up with "The Lord Of The Dance", s12e6.

Brown's young assistant has become a competitor on a ballroom dance show when an accident befalls a dancer.

More accidents soon occur, as it becomes clear someone's life is in danger.

But in this 'cozy crime caper', the culprit is soon caught, of course!

Time for a change of pace.

Yes, dance pun intended!

"Great Performances" classical series, "Now Hear This", enticed me with "Boccherini: Night Music of the Streets of Madrid".

The synopsis seemed to promise a travelogue along with the tunes of the Italian composer.

Not only did Scott Yoo and his musicians deliver, but they revealed the emotional longing and homesickness that Boccherini had felt in 1780 when he was sent out of Madrid to a smaller town after ticking off King Charles III.

The composer had loved Madrid, the lively Spanish city which he'd called home for more than a decade.

"Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid", Opus 30 No. 6 (G. 324), was his love song for that home.

Having traveled around to Panama and Okinawa for several years, I can relate to that.

Right now, I'd like to be back in Panama, where the temperature hardly ever dipped below 70F. 

Time now to wash soup bowls and pots and warm the bed.

I do believe I'll crash a little earlier than usual.

This day that set a record low temperature of 18F warrants an early end.

weekend of hell: movies

Most of the movies were on PBS channels, of which I have access to seven.

Those are truly a Godsend.

I have made steady use of them ever since the pandemic limited my access to external forms of entertainment and knowledge.

 

Now, with the weather 

stranding me in Hell,

yet again, 

I express my gratitude 

to PBS, to GPB, and to SCE-TV 

for helping me stay sane.

I'll begin this post with a documentary about a strong woman and end with one about more strong women, with some men in between.

"Olympia", released in 2018, featured interviews and film clips with actress Olympia Dukakis.

She was in her mid-80's, talking about her career and life, mostly.

Toward the end of the documentary, she was back in Greece, and one of the things she did was attend the release of a turtle back to the Aegean Sea.

The turtle's name was Lola, so of course Olympia regaled us with a few lines from the campy 1955 song about a headstrong woman. 

Very amusing!

I felt a kinship with her during that segment, as turtle release events are something I hadn't known that we shared.

(smile!)

Shortly afterward, Smitty came by to change out my porch light.

It burned out sometime in the fall.

I'd mentioned it a few weeks ago, but let the matter drop.

He brought it up last night at the S&K Friday Fiesta.

"Did I still need that done?"

He arrived just before noon, at the door with the extracted dead bulb already in hand.

All he had to do was reach up to get to it!

I would have had to drag out the ladder and I didn't trust myself to do that with the inguinal hernia still active.

Knowing he was to come, I had the replacement (Ecobulb) ready for him, and he even cleaned the light globe and stayed to make sure the new light worked.

Then he was off to drip pipes at the shop and I went out into the low 40's and did the same here.

Good to know I won't have to be concerned about my front porch light for another seven years.

Thank you, dear brother! 

(smile!)

Then I watched a 2019 music documentary titled "Secret Song". 

Notice the red letters in the piece of music from Alban Berg's "Lyric Suite"?

Those notes indicate his initials, plus those of his mistress, Hanna Fuchs., and appear repeatedly throughout the "Lyric Suite".

In other words, as George Perle determined in 1976, the entire piece from 1926 documents the affair the couple had when Alban was almost 40 years old and she was almost 30.

The documentary was from the point of view of the modern-day musicians - the Emerson String Quartet and Renee Fleming - who were determined to play it with all the emotion and passion the Austrian composer had intended, acknowledging the heat behind the messages meant for his lover.

I found it all quite fascinating!

I wonder if they might be enticed to perform it in its entirety at a future Savannah Music Festival concert?

I'd love to see them perform again!

(smile!)

I decided to watch a movie from the reward stash that Comcast has bestowed upon me: "Love Actually", from 2003.

Alan Rickman, nearly two decades after his American film debut in "Die Hard", is a man in his mid-life crisis, much as Berg was, and, much as Berg did, he had an affair with a younger woman.

Perhaps Olivia Dukakis' character was right in "Moonstruck": men have affairs because they are afraid of death as they slide down towards it.

Nice segue, wasn't it?

Here's another: the movie I was watching was set at Christmas, with snow on the ground, snow falling... and then my first niece called.

She was watching snow fall in Hinesville.

Within an hour, I was watching snow fall here.

I tried to take photos, since that's what I do.

This one is the clearest.

Look closely at the tree trunk and its limbs...

there's a fine draping of white lines from snowflakes dashing through the air.

Sure, a magnifying glass helps, but the snow fall was still evident.

I decided to switch to something set during a warmer season.

Grit TV had a Kevin Costner movie from 2003 that I'd somehow missed!

Like with the Alan Rickman movie, "Open Range" has him almost twenty years after he was kissing a girl in "Silverado"... and he kissed a girl (Annette Bening) in this movie, too.

Robert Duvall didn't do any kissing, as he was busy trying to keep his men and free-grazing cows alive in cattle country.

This was another I know Daddy would have enjoyed.

Time to switch this film festival's focus back to women with a new documentary, "Coronation Girls".

This was amazing as it followed fifty young Canadian girls and women chosen to travel to England in 1953 for the crowning of the 27-year-old Elizabeth II as she, of a similar age as they, began what would become 70 years of her reign.

What an amazing time those girls all had on their 7-week trip that summer!

The movie looks into several of the reunions the group had as the 50-year mark was passed, then concludes with a dozen of the women, now in their 80's, unexpectedly having tea in 2023 with King Charles II on a second trip to England.

Wow.

That's one of those once in a lifetime events...

just as their earlier trip there had been.

I recently had one of those myself this year.

Those are to be treasured.

This view, however, is not.

Once upon a time, when snow fall was rare here, I did enjoy it, because it was not a common thing.

Now, for the second year in a row, there is snow on th ground in January.

Definitely not a treasure.

Good night, all. 

grease is the word... is the word... is the word!

Here's one of my favorite shots!

I just love this whole "Stranded At The Drive-In" vibe - with 'Danny' telling 'Sandy' that "No one walks out of the Drive-in!"

Guess he shouldn't have pushed his luck with copping a feel - hahahaha!

My thanks to The Historic Savannah Theatre for the loan of "Greased Lightning" to Savannah Arts Academy for this production - very nice move!

How did I manage to get a photo, anyway?

Well, I'd asked David Poole at intermission and he gave me permission, as long as I didn't use flash.

Major coolness!!!

I really wanted a photo of that car, and I got one!

Here's another one that I loved getting!

I snapped this right at the start of Act II. 

Yes, this is the dance contest at the high school, with 'Vince Fontaine' (Benjamin Watts) as the TV celebrity officiating as judge.

That's him, on the bandstand, in the hot peach suit with his hands on his hips - good one!

Then there's 'Doody' (Trey Wilner) dancing in the center with 'Frenchy' (Asa Clark) as 'Rizzo' (Maisy Oliver Smith) puts the moves on 'Danny' (Desmond Chaney) in the forefront on the right.

A moment later, I caught the second dance, "Born To Hand-Jive", 'Danny' burning up the floor with 'Cha-cha' (Constance Zaller).

Wow, that was some mighty fine dancing going on!!!

One thing this image drives home is the huge cast for this production - wow.

It reminded me of the time the Armstrong Masquers put on "Amadeus", which had forty actors and crew members for it.

We had all thought John Suchower would have had an easier time herding cats than all those in the cast and crew!

My guess is Becky Lieberman, the new director, had at least that many.

Good for her for keeping it all tight!

And I don't know who was in charge of getting Roger Moss to guest star as 'Teen Angel', but that was a superb choice!!!  

The man was such a hoot, thriving off the energy not only of the cast, but of the audience.

I made sure to hoot and holler and let him know I was enjoying his James Brown-esque spin on that character!

"Beauty School Dropout" was fresh and new, and perfect!!!

Then there's "Rock'n'Roll Party Queen", a song which truly was new to me!

Yes, that's my guy, Trey, strumming the guitar and singing along with 'Roger' (Richard Nguyen) in a scene set in "Jan's basement", where the Pink Ladies and Burger Palace Boys have gathered to listen to albums on Sandy's record player.

Yeah, that wasn't in the movie, but it was a great scene!

There was another song that Trey sang as 'Doody', "Those Magic Changes".

That was about him just learning to play guitar and trying to explain the chords to the other guys.

That reminded me of his starring role last summer! 

Really fun song!

But time to get back to the movie songs, right?

Here we have 'Roger', 'Kenickie' (Austin Bradford), 'Doody', and 'Sonny' (Jonah Rendon) on the left, backing up 'Danny'...

as he faces off against a revamped 'Sandy', with support of 'Jan' (Eden Sinoff), 'Frenchy', and 'Marty' (Hanna Richmond), as she tells her summer love that he needs "to shape up"!

"You're The One That I Want", she tells him, in no uncertain terms...

and he echoes that sentiment right back at her!!!

Super fabulous!!!

And what a great set design!!!

David Poole can always be relied upon for innovative pieces that serve multiple purposes and for this musical, those pieces are the letters that spell out the name of the production.

Wow.

I mean, W-O-W!!!

I'm so glad that I've been watching the weather.

I had an event already scheduled with One Hundred Miles for this evening, but the musical won out over an advocacy update.

Of course, that decision was made easier when OHM sent an email about posting the meeting on youTube later...

but I still would have come to see "Grease" tonight.

Yes, even though the temperatures would be in the low forties by the end.

I'm glad Linda Runge - the woman from my Lucas Theatre volunteer days, who I run into all over town - was there for this opening night, too!

She saw me and sat with me the whole time.

Yes, I will definitely see about coordinating my schedule with hers!

Right place, right time!

(smile!)

fb flashback: 29 January 2012

This was on a trip to Hinesville to visit with Damon's ex, Lecy, and their two children, Dylan and Carissa, as well as her son from another relationship, Jackson.

This was during the second year of my teaching full-time, so I was flush with money and willing to share with them.

We'd been to Walmart to buy items they needed, as well as some they wanted.

All of the captions are from the fb post of the album. 

 

"Hey, who doesn't like crayons?"

 

The photo has Dylan in the foreground, then Carissa, then Lecy, with Jackson's arms to the left.

 

Three-year-old 'Rissa 

"tries to find the right color she wants."

 

That was made more difficult by the huge selection in that big box of crayons.

 

 

Twelve-year-old Jack 

"made a picture of Dylan and Carissa for me."

 

"Such a good kid he is!"

 

Five-year-old Dylan 

"is making a picture of a blue spider."

 

No doubt he wants it to match his shirt.

 

 

"One fish, two fish...

can you find the third?"

 

There are a few more photos in the album of that visit, but these are a great indication of what a nice visit we had.

I wonder why I didn't write of that trip south?

Glad fb 'memories' gave me a second chance to do so!

tina tuesday (on a wednesday)

I had some good advice yesterday: plan myself a nice day for today.

So, that's exactly what I've done!

The day did, indeed, stay in tune with the weather song forecast by WSAV, so that was quite reassuring!

Highs in the mid-50's for today and tomorrow, and near 60 for Friday!

See, all it takes are a few temperatures which are appropriate for this latitude and my entire disposition becomes cheerier!

How to tell?

The preponderance of exclamation points, of course!!!

So, off I went for a 1 PM matinee of "Hamnet", to see that period piece about William Shakespeare's family life once again!

That makes it the third movie for this week's A*List, so I'm quite satisfied about that.

I saw "Zootopia 2" again on Friday, to get me out of the house before the Friday Fiesta with my brothers...

then, I saw "Hamnet" on Saturday afternoon, to get me out of the house before the Soup Party festivities...

both times because I know it's more likely that I'll go to an evening event if I'm already out of the house when night falls...

especially when that night is to be chilly.

(smile!) 

So, even if I see naught else, I've gotten my three movies in, and that's a fine position to be in.

It helps that I really loved those movies.

It helps that others really love those movies, too, so I was not watching solo in the screening room.

In fact, the Shakespeare movie has done quite well in the cinema, causing it to be carried over for next week - that's amazing!

I will say that I am grateful to have had Dr. Joseph Killorin was third-quarter English, as his specialty was The Bard and he made sure we understood the nuances behind the specific words chosen by the writer.

That was made evident in this movie, when the playwright is trying to get the man acting as Hamlet to truly feel the words, not just say them and certainly not paraphrase them in any way.

I knew those words, as I must have read "Hamlet" at least five or six times during Killorin's class, concentrating on not only the dialogue, but the characters and their interactions throughout the course of the play.

However, the movie drives home Shakespeare's rationale for those words and characters: they are an outpouring of his grief over the loss of his son.

Love and loss and remembrance are the core values in the movie.

I do hope it will win the Oscar for Best Movie.

(smile!)

Afterward, I filled up the car with gas, which was $2.63 today.

Not a bad price at Murphy's!

Then, off to Applebee's I went, to pick up two dinners!

Nope, I'm not expecting company, I'm just tired of soup and want something that I have to use a fork to eat!

Thanks for AARP Reward Points, I had $15 in gift cards, so the "2 for $25" special only ran me an extra $11 and change!

Tonight's dinner began with the House Salad, with the Lemon Vinaigrette.

Then I dined on the Fiesta Lime Chicken.

That's been my absolute favorite thing on the menu for years! 

Tangy and tart from the lime, spicy and festive from the salsa, both of which I always mix into the rice - yum!

And the chicken... so moist and flavorful and cheesy!!!

Tomorrow, I'll have the Caesar Salad, then the O-M-Cheese Burger.

It looks pretty danged delicious, right, with that bacon topping and the cheese sauce to pour on top of it?

At least I opted for mashed potatoes instead of the french fries.

(smile!)

I know, I know: what's with me eating beef lately?

Wait, that's not quite right, is it, as I generally have the 'crunchy beef tacos' on those Fridays with my brothers, right?

However, burgers are not usually my choice...

but for the second time in less than a month, I'm having a burger.

I do hope it's as good as it looks!

Meanwhile, let me check the telly and see if I can catch something of interest to finish up this mighty fine day...

so good to have been out of the house! 

(smile!) 

white stuff on its way... and i don't mean snow

I am so aggravated about the weather that I can hardly stand it. I've been looking forward to a weekend of musicals for over a month, and what happens? Saturday's forecast is now calling for "rain to snow". Fecking freezing sleet, that's what we'll have, that some are gonna mistake for snow until they find it's ice.

"G'friend, are you still raggin' on about winter? 'Cause, you are aware that December 22 was the official start of that season, right?"

Just look at that hourly forecast for today, would you? It's past noon, and the temperatures aren't even up to 40 F yet!!!

"Yes, but that's because it's had to crawl up from the low 20's that it was this morning. As a scientist, you know that takes a lot of energy."

 

I am only too aware of that deficit of thermal input. What is causing me to be so disgruntled is this: today is Tina Tuesday. But will I be going out to movies, or anywhere else for that matter? No, I will be keeping my warm heart in this not-so-warm house because it is too dangerous for me to go out. And that sucks. At least by this time tomorrow, the temperature will be ten degrees warmer. And why is that?

 

"Oh, I know! It's because the low at dawn tomorrow will be ten degrees higher than the low at dawn today. That's shown in the first weather song."

 

That's correct. That's why tomorrow will serve as my substitute Tina Tuesday. I'm glad that AMC has their cameo popcorn special on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. At least I won't miss out on that. 

 

"And it looks to be warm enough to probably see "Grease" on Thursday night, so that's doable. Then, on Friday night, which will be even a bit warmer, you could go to the Savannah Stage Company season opener party, even if you only stay an hour. That should still put you home before the next round of hell descends from the sky."

 

I sure hope so. Really makes you wonder why folks think Hell is below us when it clearly comes from above.

 

"You hang in there, sunshine. Get yourself a nice day planned for tomorrow and just try to enjoy whatever blue skies you can get."