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." 

i have girl scouts!

The call went out on fb: anyone want to buy cookies???

Miyah and Chloe are both Girl Scouts this year!

As their loving mama, my first niece was helping them hawk the baked goods.

Hey, I'll be happy to support the cause!

So, I started looking through the list of sweets offered and noticed several new flavors.

Alrighty then!

I most def needed the Adventurefuls, as 'adventure' has always been a magic word for me.

As an analytical chemist, those new-to-me Exploremores seem to be speaking science, so I took a box of those, too!

What other choices would I like to make?

How about two boxes of Lemon-Ups, two boxes of Samoas, and two boxes of Toffee-tastic?

What a fantastic name on that last one, right?

Okay, that's eight boxes of cookies, so what's the damage?

Just $40... what a deal!

I sure look forward to getting those in two weeks...

plus, as Christina has said she'll deliver, I'll get to see them in Savannah!

Bonus!!!

(smile!)

going chinese with mi amiga!

I'm so glad Carolyn agreed to change our movie outing to today!

We went to the first two offerings of the NCG Rom-Com Film Festival on Mondays, and so we had planned to see this third one, "Crazy Rich Asians", tomorrow.

We both just adore the wedding scene, with the water flowing as the bride wades through it to the altar - just magical!

And everyone holds illuminated butterflies for her to walk under - so very lovely!

With "Can't Help Falling In Love" being sung in the background as she proceeds - beautiful!

So, why change the date for our rendezvous with Henry Golding and Awkwafina and "Yellow" in Mandarin?

"Blame it on the Hell", to paraphrase Milli Vanilli.

Neither of us wanted to be in 30-degree temperatures after dark.

So we went to the matinee and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

We both came out wanting Chinese for dinner!

I suggested Wang's II, but Sakura was the winner.

More choices means more favorites on that buffet!

Coconut shrimp! Baked fish! Grilled Chicken on a stick!

Apple strudel! Plantains! French fries!

Broccoli stirfry!

Green beans!!!

And that was just my plate!

Then we both had seconds, as she had missed out on the green beans.

She simply hadn't known where they were!

I loaded up with more of those veggies, as they are so very delicious!

I even got more of the coconut shrimp, pleased that it tasted more like an entree than a dessert.

Plus, I had Chinese stirfry noodles with onions...

and smiley face balls for dessert.

(smile!)

soup afterglow

1. Dawn not only had sliced at least six types of bread, prepared a luscious salad and various toppings, set a gorgeous table with fancy place ware for fifteen, but also supplied a variety of wines to delight!

2. Dawn also prepared fifteen attendee gift bags, gift-wrapped five raffle prizes, and prepared four deluxe prize bags for the cheftestants! That's Jenn helping to distribute.

3. My little bag bag received simply for being there contained all these goodies! There's a dish towel that proclaims "Timing Is Everything", a shotglass that measures teaspoons and tablespoons, new measuring spoons, a package of chicken bouillon, a container of parsley flakes, and a bottle of Flavor Boss Smoky Apricot BBQ Sauce - wow!!! Every bag was slightly different, but similar. How fortunate that I got the Apricot BBQ Sauce!

4. Dawn had a game to play, as she does for all her parties. This time it was Soup Trivia and I got all 15 questions correct! Just for knowing about Borscht and Ribollita and Tom Yum Gai and Vichyssoise and Gazpacho. As I told them, I eat a lot of soup! And now I have this cookbook that's just perfect for me: Cook It Quick. Right place, right time! It was given gift-wrapped, so the Universe made sure her hand landed on that particular one!

5. Dawn had a joke book, too, to keep things moving along! What is a ghost's favorite soup? Scream of Broccoli! What do you do when you notice two flies are in your soup? Find out what swim stroke they're doing! Hahahaha!

6. Dawn also had questions for us to answer so we could know each other better. The game tonight was Five Fingers, to count off on your hand answers to five questions. Those were: who is your favorite person, where is your favorite place, what skill have you learned, what is a favorite memory, and what is a favorite little treat? My answers were: my first niece, Christina Ann; Savannah, with all its trees; sewing; playing outdoor chess with Miyah and Chloe; and watching "Keeping Up Appearances". Most of the women are married, so their favorite people are their husbands. I just loved hearing everyone's answers to those questions... and learning more about them!

7. Many thanks to newcomer Julie for sharing her stash of alcohol-free drinks with me! She'd brought a six-pack of the Mango Margarita cans, planning to switch to them after a glass of wine. When she noticed that I was drinking wine, she offered one to me... and it was delicious! Then she gave me another! I know they didn't have alcohol in them, but they made me feel like I was participating in the ritual of drinking with friends. Very nice, as that has been absent from my life since A-fib arrived.

8. Many thanks also to Gina! She made four different types of biscotti as dessert and at the night's end, she gave me the rest of them!!! Cherry with vanilla, blueberry with lemon, pineapple with coconut, and cranberry with honey - no strawberry at all. Hooray! I'm so glad we had a chance to sit beside each other last night!

zuppa con chicas de dawn!

"Hey, who are all these women? Is that at Dawn's house??" 

 

Hey, good eye! Yes, you're spot on with the locale, though you should recognize Yvette, on the left, from the swap party. The other three are new to this event. They are Dora, Julie, and Bridget, and they were three of the four cheftestants this time around. Surprisingly, that's the order of their placements in the soup-judging!

 

Dora, who will be 21 in March, is the daughter of Jennifer.

Her soup was the last one in the competition, and placed second.

It was the baked potato soup.

That would be a fully loaded spud, too, and the aroma was divine!

The soup would have benefited from having a dollop of sour cream as a garnish, maybe with a sprinkle of chives to dress it up.

Julie's Italian sausage pasta soup earned her third place, though it was the second soup to hit the table.

That's pretty high ranking for a first-timer!

This photo was snapped before the shaved Parmesan came around to go on top.

Even so, it was a good-looking soup and very tasty, as she used spicy sausage. 

It was one of the two that I deemed deserving of a "5" for taste!

I would have taken some of that home!

Then there's the Escarole Soup.

As the first soup of the evening, it set the bar... and set it low.

That's okay, as this was Bridget's first try and she will be better next time.

The pieces of the veggie and of the chicken were all too large and were stranded in the thin broth.

It has potential, though, so I hope this friend of Yvette will return next year to cook again for the party.

So, where's a photo of that winner tonight?

Here it is, and ain't it a beauty with that puff pastry top hat?

The aroma was very nice, too, as well as the presentation, and the taste?

Well, as I told all, I never had a Chicken Pot Pie as good as this soup bearing its name!

That's another I would have liked to take home for another meal.

Hopefully we'll be getting the recipes.

And who was that winning cheftestant?

It was Lisa!!!
There she is, with Dawn and The Koz, who'd come down from his man-cave to do his own taste tests!

He was also curious about our soup-tasting names for this occasion and mine was the first he demanded to know.

"Captain Cheesy Garlic Gobbler!", I proclaimed gladly, as writ large on my name tag.

Hahahaha!!!

What a bunch of Ninja Noodle, Spoon Sniffer, Spud-tastic Sipsters we all were!

Now, my silly self is home after 4+ hours with these ladies, laughing and sharing jokes and soup!

Thanks, Gina, for granting me the rest of the biscotti you made for us!

Thank you, Susan, for bouncing next door to be part of this grand affair!

And thank you, too, Margaret, for remembering my Easter Soup from a year when I was a cheftestant!

Good times, good times!!!

Well worth getting out in the low forties to be in all that warmth!  

 

"Wait! Are you back to taking Sotalol for your atrial fibrillation?" 

 

Nope, I'm just talkin' 'bout that temperatures outside! My heart doc seems to have my heart back in rhythm, so I've been pushing the boundaries to see where they are now. I felt like this would be safe tonight, as I wasn't walking far, and I am doing just fine! Time to catch up with those flower sisters now...