it is the wilderness in the mind, the desert wastes in the heart through which one wanders lost and a stranger

If given the opportunity, would you have a psychic reading? 

    absolutely, in a heartbeat. I've always been interested in seeing what someone else can see - not just "psychics" but insightful friends, teachers, and family, too. A coworker at the library was deeply into that sort of thing, and offered a couple of times to take me with her when she went the next time, but it never happened. I'm sure I will do it, someday. 

 

What's the last thing you [searched online]? 

    "virtual 5ks 2024", and I do not use the Big Bad G any longer, if I can avoid it. Too many questionable business practices for me to feel safe there.

 

Have you lost contact with someone you wish you could reconnect with? 

    yes. A few years ago - maybe 2 years after Chris died - I went through a long, dark depression. I didn't realize until maybe 18 months into it, just how deep it was. I'd been listless about keeping up with anyone, and really only stayed in touch with people who forced it on me. That's not to say that the people I lost contact with had somehow earned it by not forcing their friendship on me, but to try to explain how dark that time was. I also pushed some people away, because being by myself was "safer" (friends die, after all) and because I couldn't sort it out for myself, much less to someone who cared about me.

    When I started to come out of it (with the help of a trusted doctor and a couple of powerful medications), I could see some of the destruction that had occurred. Depression, to me, feels like a weird sort of arrogance, where I feel bad (the depression itself) and also feel like I've both caused and deserved the illness and the accompanying losses. 

    I wish I could go to those people (a couple of whom have read the blog in the past) and explain, apologize, and try to start anew. But I'm pretty sure that disappearing and failing to try and sort it out right away afterward has fucked that up irretrievably.     

 

Which tailless animal would be most awesome with a tail? 

    humans! I would love to have a luxuriant, long-furred tail. I would switch it back and forth when angry, puff it up when I'm scared, and wrap it over my eyes when napping. It would be wondrous.

 

What's the worst thing you've had stuck in your teeth? 

    oh man, that's an easy one: dental floss! A couple of my teeth are extra close together, so flossing can be arduous. Once, while attempting to do that, the floss snapped. I didn't think anything of it until I realized that a bit of it had remained behind after I removed the two long parts from my mouth. It was excruciating. There was no flossing it out, in part because I was afraid of breaking another length of floss and making it worse. There was no picking it out, as it was far too small to be grasped with fingers or even tweezers. It did sort of work its way out, but not until my jaw was aching, gums swollen, and frustration was at Pro level.

 

What's a good example of "just because it's popular doesn't mean it's good"? 

    so many things! Arby's roast beef, pretty much anything currently on television, high-waist jeans (particularly those that are also above ankle length with unfinished hems), hot/spicy snacks...

 

If you could snap your fingers and be any height, would you choose to become taller or shorter? 

    I'd elect to be 2 inches taller

 

Do you always walk around supermarket aisles in the same order? 

    I haven't done regular grocery shopping in several years. The advent of delivered groceries made me very, very happy. I spend less on groceries (even with the addition of an annual "membership" and a tip for each order), buy less crap (no impulse buys!) and have remained healthier than I might've otherwise.

 

What childhood award or prize are you most proud of winning? 

    my childhood wasn't about winning prizes or awards. I participated in lots of things, and did well in some of them, but rarely came in first. That's good enough for me.

 

What's your favorite Clint Eastwood movie? 

    Heartbreak Ridge (1986, reviewed here), or In the Line of Fire (1993, reviewed here), or Blood Work (2002, reviewed here). Maybe not his best, most critically-acclaimed films, but the ones that particularly resonate for me.

 

[from 3000 Unique Questions about Me; the title quotation is by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, from Gift from the Sea]

the movement of the water, of its wild heart

Some time, man or woman, traveller, 

afterwards, when I am not alive, 

look here, look for me here 

between the stones and the ocean, 

in the light storming 

in the foam. 

Look here, look for me here, 

for here is where I shall come, saying nothing, 

no voice, no mouth, pure, 

here I shall be again the movement 

of the water, of 

its wild heart, 

here I shall be both lost and found—

here I shall be perhaps both stone and silence. 

 

[Pablo Neruda {1904-1973} 'I Will Come Back', from Selected Poems: A Bilingual Edition {Nathaniel Tarn, ed.}]

we must risk delight

Would you have one of your fingers removed surgically if it somehow guaranteed you immunity from all major diseases?     sure, I've got a spare pinkie

 

Someone close to you will die in a few months unless you donate one of your kidneys to them. If you knew that your chances of surviving the operation were excellent and that your life expectancy wouldn't be appreciably reduced, would you give up the organ?     yes

    What if the operation were risky?     that wouldn't change anything

    What if you could refuse without anyone knowing?     likewise, it wouldn't change my decision

    ...or if the person with the failing kidney didn't want you to make the sacrifice?     that would depend on my relationship with them. If it was simply the matter of them wanting it done but not wanting me to be hurt - I would do it anyway. If they specifically didn't want my kidney, well...that would mean that the relationship wasn't the sort for which one makes sacrifices.

 

If you were given $1 million to donate anonymously to a stranger or cause of your choice, how would you dispose of it?     in that situation I would essentially be an ATM, and that's never been a goal. If I couldn't give it to someone I cared about, then I wouldn't want a part in it.

 

Would you take a pill that, without side effects, made you feel utterly fulfilled for a year—glad just to be you, doing whatever you already do? Would you choose differently if you knew the effect would be permanent?     as long as the effect was "glad" and not "unmotivated and weird", Hell yeah, bring it on. I do not think I'd change my mind if I knew it would last forever.    

 

Would you rather have success and everything material you want, but few friends; or little success or material well-being, but lots of friends?     I would prefer to have a small number of good friends and merely sufficient well-being. I don't need too much of any of it.

 

Would you accept an inflation-adjusted lifetime stipend of $150,000 per year if it meant you couldn't earn or inherit additional money? What would be the lowest such stipend you'd agree to?     that's very easy: $150,000 would do me fine. I could get by on much less, but that particular amount would absolutely satisfy my wishes. Make it so!

 

[from The Book of Questions; the title quotation is by Jack Gilbert, from Refusing Heaven]

I am the passion you have forgotten in your long sleep

The white cat is curled up in the sky 

its cloudy tail drawn round its flanks. 

Waking, it struts over the roofs singing 

down chimneys, its claws clicking 

 

on the roof tiles that loosen and fall. 

Now it runs along the bare boughs of the oak. 

Now it leaps to the beech and sharpens 

its long yellow claws. Sparks fly out. 

 

The moon is hungry and calls to be fed, 

cries to come into the bedroom through 

the skylight and crawl under the covers, 

to curl up at your breast and purr. 

 

The moon caterwauls on the back fence 

saying I burn, I am hot as molten silver. 

I am the dancer on the roof who wakes you. 

Rise to me and I will melt you to silk dust. 

 

I am the passion you have forgotten 

in your long sleep, but now your bones glow 

through your flesh, your eyes see in the dark. 

On owl wings you will hunt through the night. 

 

[Marge Piercy {1936- } 'How the Full Moon Wakes You', from The Hunger Moon: New and Selected Poems 1980-2010]

if...so much hope and dread hung in the balance on those two little blips in the alphabet! A chasm in fact!

        If... 

 

...you could rid the earth of one thing, what would it be? 

    hard-shelled beetles—like June bugs. I know I should respect all of God's creatures and all that, but they are just SO revolting! 

 

...you could be more ambitious in only one aspect of your life, what would it be? 

    money, of course. Better at saving, at avoiding over-spending, at choosing the right investments. Honing the sales stock in my eBay store. 

 

...you had to name the one most important ingredient of human beauty, what would you say it is?

    focused attention. The ability and willingness to look another person in the eye and listen.

 

...you had to name the single most erotic part of the human body, what would it be? 

    the brain. It's impossible (for me) to be even remotely attracted to someone unless there is an intellectual connection. In fact, the most attracted I've been is to someone not traditionally handsome, but infused with a broad body of interests and the quickest, sharpest wit.

 

...you had to name the least erotic part of the human body, what would it be? 

    the nose. I'm not certain why, but I've always been a little creeped out by noses. And there was an awkward and horrid moment with someone that solidified that feeling.

 

...you were to add a thirteenth month to the year, where would you insert it? 

    between April and May. The weather is pretty much perfect, with the furnace off and the A/C not yet needed. Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, and the world comes out of its grumpy slumber.

 

...you could have only one part of your body massaged every day, what part would you choose? 

    shoulders. I'm tempted to say hands, because there is very little that feels better than someone else massaging my hands—it's the one part of the body that is hard to massage for oneself. Also tempted to say head, because nothing beats a gentle but firm scalp massage to beat a headache. However, day after day the muscles that trouble me most are in my neck and shoulders. A good, regular massage would help a great deal.

 

[from If2: 500 New Questions for the game of life; the title quotation is by E.A. Bucchianeri, from Vocation of a Gadfly]

failure of courage is still a victory for safety

            What's inside my body is more or less the same 

    as what's inside yours—here, the river girl clutching her toy whistle. 

    Here, the black snake covered in scabs. Follow my neckline, 

 

the beginning will start beginning again. I swear on my 

head and eyes, there are moments in every day when 

    if you asked me to leave, I would. Head and eyes. Heaven 

 

    is all preposition—above, among, around, within—and if you must, 

    you can live any place that's a place. A failure of courage is still 

a victory for safety. Bravery pitches its refugee tent 

 

at the base of my brain and slowly starves, chipping into 

darkness like a clay bird bouncing down a well. All night 

    I eat garlic cream, water my dead orchids. 

 

        In what world does any of it seem credible? 

    God's word is a melody, and melody requires repetition. 

    God's word is a melody I sang once then forgot. 

 

[Kaveh Akbar {1989- } 'I Wouldn't Even Know What to Do with a Third Chance', from Pilgrim Bell]

and they threw fire, even though I said, "please"

A very strange set of films, average rating 7.5. It's a win!

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) - "In this silent comedy, college boy William Canfield Jr. (Buster Keaton) reunites with his boat captain father in a Mississippi River town. Though he's flummoxed by Willie's citified appearance, the elder Canfield seems to have found an ally to help him compete with fellow riverboat owner John James King (Tom McGuire). Willie finds himself falling for King's daughter, Mary (Marion Byron), but he has more pressing concerns when the weather turns bad and his father in arrested."
source: DVD
I watched it because: it came in a set with The General, which I've seen (reviewed here). I'm in early-films mode again.
IMDB: 7.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 96% Audience: 91%
my IMDB: 8/10

notable quote: "Take that barnacle off his lip." [keeping in mind that this is a silent film, so "quotes" are from the intertitles - the cards occasionally shown to logically move the action along]

MPAA rating: NR

directed by: Charles Reisner (and Keaton, albeit uncredited)

my notes: a short, clever film with the most extraordinary stunts. Keaton was a brilliant stuntman - his vaults on the steamboat during the storm are incomprehensible, and he made it look simple.

overall: highly recommended (and check out Roger Ebert's brief analysis of Keaton's work)

The Rundown (2003) - "Beck (Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock) is a tight-lipped bounty hunter who doesn't like to use a gun and accepts any job without asking questions. When Beck's employer, Walker (William Lucking), sends him to the Amazon to locate Walker's cocky son, Travis (Seann William Scott), Beck discovers a population controlled by a tyrannical treasure hunter (Christopher Walken). To survive, Beck and Travis must work together, without their affections for a mysterious rebel (Rosario Dawson) getting in the way."

source: DVD
I watched it because: it's a favorite (also reviewed here)
IMDB: 6.7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 70% Audience: 66%
my IMDB: 9/10

notable quote: "Don't go worryin' about Hatcher. That monstrosity won't give a flyin' fornication for the pair a' youse no more. He got what he was afta'."

MPAA rating: PG-13

directed by: Peter Berg

my notes: love this one. Drama, action, romance, silliness, terrific fistfights, snappy dialog. Rosario Dawson (Mariana) is awesome, Ewen Bremner (Declan) is a kick, and Ernie Reyes, Jr. (Manito) is phenomenal. Wonderful!
overall:  recommended

Mad Max (1979) - "In a not-too-distant dystopian future, when man's most precious resource—oil—has been depleted and the world plunged into war, famine and financial chaos, the last vestiges of the law in Australia attempt to restrain a vicious biker gang. Max (Mel Gibson), an officer with the Main Force Patrol, launches a personal vendetta against the gang when his wife and son are hunted down and murdered, leaving him with nothing but the instincts for survival and retribution."

source: DVD
I watched it because: it's been ages since I saw it, and I have temporary access to the whole series
IMDB: 6.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 89% Audience: 70%
my IMDB: 6/10

notable quote: "I'm scared, Fif. You know why? It's that rat circus out there. I'm beginning to enjoy it."

MPAA rating: R

directed by: George Miller

my notes: wack. a. doodle. ! Super intense and bewilderingly Australian. I like the story but didn't so much like the movie, which is too ominous and fast-paced for me. Still, it's worth seeing at least once.

overall:  recommended

Chappie (2015) - "In the near future, a mechanized police force patrols the streets and deals with lawbreakers—but now, the people are fighting back. When one police droid is stolen and given new programming, he acquires the ability to feel and think for himself. While the robot, dubbed 'Chappie ' (Sharlto Copley), puzzles out human behavior, the authorities begin to see him as a danger to mankind and order; they will stop at nothing to ensure that Chappie is the last of his kind."

source: borrowed the DVD from Joe the Barber (via Dad)
I watched it because: it looks like one of the weirdest movies ever made
IMDB: 6.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 32% Audience: 56%
my IMDB: 7/10

notable quote: "You've hurt my people!"

MPAA rating: R

directed by: Neill Blomkamp

my notes: shockingly, I liked it. I thought it was compelling, engaging, surprisingly funny, warm, and kind of thrilling. Dev Patel (Deon) is a really good actor, and Yo-Landi Visser (Yo-Landi) blew me away.
overall:  recommended

 

[the title quotation is from Chappie]

many fallen apples are on the ground

I have a ream of paper, 

a cartridge of ink, 

 

almonds, 

coffee, 

a wool scarf for warmth. 

 

Whatever handcuffs the soul, 

I have brought here. 

 

Whatever distances the heart, 

I have brought here. 

 

A deer rises onto her haunches 

to reach for an apple, 

 

though many fallen apples are on the ground. 

 

[Jane Hirshfield {1953- } 'A Ream of Paper', from Ledger]

poetry is eternal graffiti written in the heart of everyone

Blogger was down for most of the day yesterday, so there's nothing prepared for today's "normal" post. I hope that doesn't come as a shock—that I'm not awake every morning before 6:00 to post a poem, and again scrambling something out before 8:00. Pre-posting makes blogging possible.

 

So, in the absence of time and content, here's another perspective on poetry for this blustery, cold National Poetry Month.

[the title quotation is by Lawrence Ferlinghetti]

to share the warmth

A ray is caught in a bowl, 

And the cat licks it, thinking that it's milk; 

Another threads its way through tree-branches, 

And the elephant thinks he has found a lotus-stalk. 

Half asleep, a girl reaches out 

And tries to rearrange the moonbeams on the bed 

To share the warmth. 

    It is the moon that is drunk with its own light, 

    But the world that is confused. 

 

[Sudraka {c.200 B.C.}, 'Moon Milk', translated from the Sanskrit by John Brough, in Eat, Drink, and be Merry: Poems about food and drink from Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets]

a woman's dress should be like a barbed-wire fence: serving its purpose without obstructing the view

If you were to have your portrait painted, what would you choose as the setting?     anyplace near the Mississippi river

 

If you could have a servant come to your house every day for one hour, what would you have them do?     cook healthy meals, portion healthy snacks, clean the kitchen—and take all (other) food when they leave

 

If you had to choose the worst home you've ever lived in, which one was it?     that's easy: it was the duplex where I lived for less than a month after leaving apartment over the water place. It was terribly messy when I moved in, and only as I stayed there for a few days did I come to realize that it was also in bad repair. The dishwasher, oven, and stove did not work (and had not worked for some time, as there was a large wrench inside the oven). Fish tank gravel had been dumped into the kitchen sink, completely jamming the garbage disposal. Window hinges were bent, such that they could not be closed. I was given only one garage door remote, and the other was used by an unknown person while I was present, asleep. There was a significant insect presence. 

    Less than a week after I moved in, I found a different place to live. I proceeded to move out everything I owned, left the keys (and the one garage door opener), and mailed a letter provided by my attorney (OK, "provided by" is a stretch. It was more like "extorted from"....) to the landlords, demanding return of my security deposit and rent paid. They paid, reluctantly, but only after harassing me by phone for a couple of weeks, wanting to "talk it over in person." As if they could explain away the uninhabitable nature of that place. I was lucky to get out, and to get into the very nice spot where I lived the next 3 years. And, of course, most lucky of all to have such good friends as those who helped me move twice in one month.

 

If you could hold one position in current government, what would you want to do?     Librarian of Congress would be good, thanks

 

If you could have the hair of someone you know, whose would you take?     the woman who bought my (last) house has an abundance of long, spiral curls. They are the bane of her existence, and she likes her hair only when she blows it stick straight. Isn't it funny how we often believe we'll be happier with what someone else has?

 

If you could have prevented one natural disaster that actually happened, what would it be?     the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. It is the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century, having killed more than 227,000 people and causing almost untold destruction in more than a dozen countries. 

 

If you had the chance to make one purchase that you have passed up in your lifetime, what would it be?     there was a dress, mid-calf length, patterned with an abstract floral design, with a twisted halter neck sort of like the one at right. It was mostly coral, with peach and rose and cream accents (sort of the reverse of the one at right). It was beautiful, and it would have suited me both stylistically and aesthetically. And it was inexpensive. And it was available in the (small) town where I was living. But for no good reason that I can recall, I didn't go for it—and I've regretted it ever since.

 

[from If...Questions for the Game of Life; the title quotation is from Sophia Loren]

she's the cause of false beliefs

My Ego 

 

is a dented suit of armor, a designer gown 

with grimy lining. She's the cause of false beliefs. 

She fucks up my ability to love. She's prickly 

and tender as an artichoke heart. She proposes 

to me so frequently I can't hear other people 

speak. She's a self-anointed guide who materializes 

at my side with a flourish of trumpets and a bullhorn. 

She's a forged love letter, a jailer impersonating a 

friend. She's a series of flashbacks in which I'm 

both victim and hero. I try to bribe her into exile, 

but she calls herself my servant and falls weeping 

at my feet. I'm forever banishing her, this mistress 

of disguises, even as she clambers back into my lap, 

begging my pardon and getting all kissy with me, 

grabbing my hand and jamming it down her blouse. 

 

[Amy Gerstler {1956- },'My Ego', from Index of Women]

only he who has no use for the empire is fit to be entrusted with it

• What books on your shelf are begging to be read? 

    Leif Enger's Virgil Wander. Pale Colors in a Tall Field by Carl Phillips. Stephen King's On Writing. There is no end to the list.

 

• How often do you doodle? What do your doodles usually look like? 

    I doodle when I talk on the phone (which is pretty rare) or on Zoom calls. It's typically little 3D boxes or simple daisies that turn into unwieldy messes.

 

• When you're alone at home, do you wear shoes, socks, slippers, or go barefoot? 

    socks in spring, summer and fall, and both socks and slippers in winter. All this because the floors in most of my living space are hardwood, which I've come to realize that I do not like. They are slippery and cold and incredibly difficult to keep clean. Blergh

 

• What's something valuable that you accidentally dropped and broke? 

    many years ago, possibly the first year I was married or maybe even the year before that, I bought a handmade mug at Ann Arbor's Art Fair. It was deep navy blue, a little oversized but not too heavy, and fit my hand perfectly. It had a flattened handle - it looked more like a thin strip of clay rather than a cylindrical shape, and had a flat spot on the top that sort of cradled my thumb. The mug itself looked like a flat piece of clay had been rolled once, so it had a sort of seam that was raised. I liked to hold it with my hand through the handle but grasping the mug itself in my hand. I don't know if I'm explaining it well? It fit my hand perfectly and held just the right amount of tea for my preference. I loved that mug.

    And then, one day, it was on the counter, and I plunked down a cardboard box to open it, and nudged it off the side with the box. It fell to the floor and shattered. Not in a piece or two, glue-back-together-able, but completely demolished. 

    I cried, as I cleaned it up. Careless, dumb, and filled with regret.

 

• When you leave a room, do you turn the lights off behind you or keep the lights on throughout your house most of the time? 

    I often walk around in complete dark. Always turn off lights after I leave the room - with the exception of the kitchen, which has a small over-counter fixture that I will leave on now and then. Otherwise, I'm in an island of light in a sea of dark. I think it's headaches that made me this way; too much light can be a demon.

 

• Which is the greater tragedy: an innocent person imprisoned or a guilty person set free? 

    an innocent person imprisoned, for sure. That's why presumed innocent until proven guilty is a foundation of law in this country.

 

• Are people trustworthy? 

    no

 

• If you could redecorate your home at no cost, what would you wish to do? 

    1. expand what is now the closet in the office into a laundry room

    2. expand the office into what is now the laundry room, creating a closet on the far wall which adjoins with the dining room

    3. fill in what is now the doorway into the office, and make a new doorway 90º away (on the wall where the laundry room door is now)

    4. replace every interior door, and both the front door and the door to the garage

    5. add an exterior ("small") door to the garage 

    That would do, to begin with anyway.

 

• If you had the opportunity to start your own business, what would you start? 

    I would make my eBay business into a real, going concern, refocusing my stock in one direction (likely hard to find books) and ease off all the random categories, which sell reasonably well but are more of a challenge to list. I would be thrilled if that was my job.

 

• Are you more inclined to "build your own empire" or "unleash the potential of others"?

    build my own empire, for sure. I might've been "management material" at an earlier point in my career, but now I recognize and embrace the fact that I'm best doing my own thing really well, rather than trying to help others succeed.

 

 [from The Complete Book of Questions; the title quotation is by Zhuangzi, from The Complete works of Chuang Tzu]

until you can't do anything else but

you have to wait until it 

hurts, until it clangs in 

your ears like the bells 

of hell, until nothing 

else counts but it, until 

it is everything, 

until you can't do any- 

thing else 

but. 

 

then sit down and write 

or stand up and 

write 

but write 

no matter what 

the other people are 

doing, 

no matter what 

they will do to 

you. 

 

lay the line down, 

a party of one, 

what a party, 

swarmed by the 

light, 

the time of the 

times, 

out of the tips of 

your 

fingers. 

 

[Charles Bukowski {1920-1994} 'until it hurts', from Betting on the Muse]

all of them, right down to your mustache

Average rating: 7 - a pleasing bunch.

A Shot in the Dark (1964) - "Inspector Clouseau is called to a house where a murder was committed and finds that every clue points to the beautiful maid, Maria. As more people are killed, each set of clues always points to Maria, and Closeau continues to release her and escort her around town."

source: borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I was delighted by the Pink Panther as a kid, but have no memory of the movies themselves
IMDB: 7.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 94% Audience: 86%
my IMDB: 6/10

notable quote: "I give you my word as an officer and a gentleman ... and a policeman."

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Blake Edwards

my notes: some of the sight gags are so clever! The Flamenco bar called Cafe Olé, for instance, tickled me. The story is pretty thin, though, and every character is dumb. Prehaps I just didn't get it.

overall: slightly recommended

Chocolat (2000) - "When mysterious Vianne and her child arrive in a tranquil French town in the winter of 1959, no one could have imagined the impact that she and her spirited daughter would have on the community stubbornly rooted in tradition. Within days, she opens an unusual chocolate shop, across the square from the church. Her ability to perceive her customers' desires and satisfy them with just the right confection, coaxes the villagers to abandon themselves to temptation—just as Lent begins."

source: DVD
I watched it because: I've been meaning to see it for a while
IMDB: 7.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 63% Audience: 83%
my IMDB: 9/10

notable quote: "I think that we can't go around... measuring our goodness by what we don't do. By what we deny ourselves, what we resist, and who we exclude. I think... we've got to measure goodness by what we embrace, what we create... and who we include."

MPAA rating: PG-13

directed by: Lasse Hallström

my notes: LOVED it. An utterly delightful movie. Alfred Molina is marvelous. Juliette Binoche is terrific. My favorite, though was Hugh O'Conor as Pere Henri.

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture—David Brown, Kit Golden, Leslie Holleran

• Best Actress—Binoche

• Best Supporting Actress—Judi Dench

• Best Writing, Screenplay based on material previously produced or published—Robert Nelson Jacobs

• Best Music, Original Score—Rachel Portman
overall:  recommended

The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935) - "Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Wontner) puts his retirement on hold to investigate one last murder. With his trusty sidekick, Dr. Watson (Ian Fleming), in tow, Holmes uses his unique insights and techniques to find clues about the murderer. He soon discovers that the diabolical plot involves not only his arch rival, professor Moriarty (Lyn Harding), but also an international cabal including American gangsters and a secret society. Holmes must unravel the case before it's too late."

source: DVD
I watched it because: I borrowed a set from my dad
IMDB: 5.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 37%
my IMDB: 5/10

notable quote: "Any funny business, shoot him!"

MPAA rating: NR

directed by: Leslie S. Hiscott

my notes: major problem with this movie—copyright lapsed and the duplicating began. Though the copy I saw was an "original" (i.e. from a factory) it was clearly a dub of a dub of a dub. The visuals were not the worst ever, but the sound was so muddy that half the dialog was lost. If you can find a clean copy, it's probably worth seeing. I did enjoy Leslie Perrins as the mustache-twisty John Douglas.

overall:  recommended with strong reservations

Manhattan Melodrama (1934) - "Jim Wade and Blackie Gallagher are two boys orphaned by the sinking of a ship. Upon the death of their guardian, also a survivor of the sinking, the boys go their separate ways. Jim (William Powell) grows up to have a prominent political career, while Blackie (Clark Gable) becomes a casino owner and killer. Despite Blackie's lifestyle, the two men remain bonded through thick and thin. But when Jim runs for governor, his association with Blackie threatens his chances."
source: borrowed the DVD from my parents
I watched it because: my crush on Clark Gable persists (reviewed here)
IMDB: 7.1/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 81% Audience: 71%
my IMDB: 8/10

notable quote: "Everything in life can be paid off in chips...."

MPAA rating: Passed

directed by: W.S. Van Dyke; Jack Conway; George Cukor

my notes: I'm flat-out in love with Clark Gable, though Myrna Loy is the star of this show. Surprisingly sexy

Academy Award winner: Best Writing, Original Story—Arthur Caesar
overall: highly recommended

 

[the title quotation is from A Shot in the Dark]

she knows the world's assessment has been wrong

Because it is a curse to be beautiful 

and thus dismissed by other men, 

the pretty man often wants to marry 

mind, or grit, or great heart undistracted. 

This is not the same as the lovely woman 

who marries someone plain: she knows 

the world's assessment has been wrong, 

knows she is a fraud and proclaims it 

with that mirror. The handsome man feels 

no such scorn: yes, he is as gorgeous 

as they say, but it's not a useful currency, 

except with the plain woman who marries him 

as one would pocket found-money or plant a rose. 

But the plain man, the homely man, the man 

hunched like a cricket or built like a jug, 

who marries beauty and covets his own wife, 

the man who prays at the altar of his wife, 

the man who weeps when he has her, weeps when she's gone— 

remember Menelaus, how he burned? 

 

[Ellen Bryant Voigt {1943- } from 'Variations: Thorn-Apple' in Collected Poems]

there is a silence in me, absolute and inconvenient

Is the clarity, the simplicity, an arriving 

or an emptying out? If the heart persists 

in waiting, does it begin to lessen? 

If we are always good does God lose track 

of us? When I wake at night, there is 

something important there. Like the humming 

of giant turbines in the high-ceilinged stations 

in the slums. There is a silence in me, 

absolute and inconvenient. I am haunted 

by the day I walked through the Greek village 

where everyone was asleep and somebody began 

playing Chopin, slowly, faintly, inside 

the upper floor of a plain white stone house. 

 

[Jack Gilbert {1925-2012} 'The Answer' from Collected Poems]

so filled with lust for the influential phrase

A low bleat starts up, like a huge swallowing. 

I lie down in the darkness and listen. 

 

He names the purring 

starting with alligator—then, bullfrog— 

 

I take his mouth 

(flutter), make my high, light sounds— 

So filled with lust for the influential phrase. 

 

By day, we canoe the dark water. 

He points up at the moist branches and says 

osprey, egret, swallow-tailed-kite—

and I watch them eagerly, and I call to them 

bird! bird! bird! 

 

[Mary Szybist {1970- } 'Swamp' from Granted]

nescit cedere

2. What do you want to do before you retire, or before you die? 

    no bucket list, no specific places or things to do. More of a philosophy of always learning, exploring when possible, and forever being curious.

 

9. Do you have a saying or motto that you try to live by? 

    no, those that change by the day

 

16. What burning questions would people love to know the answers to?   

I'm pretty sure that I've reached full saturation on people I know asking me for (free) legal advice - as in, on average, every. single. person. I. know. has asked me at least one legal question (with the great majority being the kind of question that any other lawyer would charge for). Most are practical and timely ("I have a current problem..." or "I've saw on the news about...") and allow for off-the-cuff responses, but some are surprisingly esoteric and require actual research to answer.   

    The next most frequent question I'm asked is, "Why haven't you seen..." - in regards to their favorite film/genre. As if watching a lot of movies makes me beholden to other peoples' taste. 

    But, the really burning question? "Why aren't you more (or less) ...?" - about the formation, content, and effect of my personality.

 

23. What gear do you use for your business? Can you recommend some great software or apps? What products do you absolutely love? 

    my work is entirely computer-based. We use Microsoft Remote Desktop, so there's a login, then a third party authentication, then another login. At that point, I start opening the actual software that we use every day, including [the work app] (separate login), email and chat (separate programs but they share a login), a browser, and a word processor. At some point on most days I also use the snipping tool, and fairly often something for spreadsheets or presentations. Occasionally a media player. 

     What I really love is the pot of hot tea next to me, the sun coming in the window, and scratch paper for notes (not work-related).

 

5. Tell about something you dislike about something that you like?

    the stereotyped refusal to acknowledge thanks (the Derek Morgan type) from Criminal Minds. That show didn't have the exclusive right to that problem, but it was pervasive there. Imagine the victim of a terrible crime, having been saved from their fate by the skill and tenacity of the BAU team, expressing their gratitude, and hearing any of the following: "no thanks needed", "that's not necessary", "don't thank me", or worst of all, "your gratitude is not appropriate." What the fuck?! What makes thanks inappropriate or unwelcome? People say thank you because they feel a debt and can only use words to repay it. To refuse that attempt is ungenerous, mean, and obnoxious.

via GIPHY

30. What is the toughest part of your job or work? Is it worth it? 

    the toughest part of my job is dealing with people, just like every other job I've ever had. In the current scenario, it's conforming to the expectations of a project manager who is extremely smart, offset by being a sketchy communicator - in other words, trying to read her mind when she doesn't actually say what she means (or, sometimes, mean what she says). She has a Ph.D. and is a certified, belted LEAN and SIGMA and all sorts of other acronyms that, in my experience, result in being part asshole, part oblivious.

 

37. What are the events in your life that have shaped you the most? 

    birth, school, work, marriage, divorce, moving, grief, travel....

 

44. If you could host dinner for any five people – dead, alive, or fictional – who would you choose, and why? 

Count Ciano

    this is on my list of least favorite blog questions, or questions in general. However, in the spirit of the exercise, and because I want to post this tomorrow, I'll throw out some names: Jet Li, David James Duncan, Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari, Jonathan Bovaro, and Robin Williams. 

 

51. What’s one thing that you wish you could change about your life, and why? 

    I wish I had treated money with the serious attention that it deserved when I was a younger adult. Much of what I do now is, in part, making up for what I failed to do then.  

 

10. While blogging, do you skip questions in any particular area or topic? 

    Definitely! I generally don't write in any personal way about religion, sex, or politics. It's harder for me to write, it's way more vulnerable to post (since my readership is made up of some people I actually know), and a lot of it is no one's business anyway.

 

[from What to blog about: 101 Irresistible blog ideas with a couple of additions; the title quotation is Latin for "She does not know how to give up."]

for love, for poetry, and for eternal life

Father wherever you are 

        I have only three throws 

                bless my good right arm. 

In the haze of afternoon, 

        while the air flowed saffron, 

                I played my game for keeps—

for love, for poetry, 

        and for eternal life— 

                after the trials of summer. 

 

[Stanley Kunitz {1905-2006} from 'The Testing Tree': 3, in Passing Through: The Later Poems, New and Selected]

next time I have to come in here, I'm crackin' skulls

Average rating: 5.2, which means there's a really good one here!

Bedtime Story (1964) - "The caddish Freddy Benson (Marlon Brando) enjoys setting up elaborate ruses to seduce women on the French Riviera. Con artist Lawrence Jameson (David Niven) likes to pose as a prince to swindle the wealthy. When the two men meet, each perceives the other as an interloper and a threat. Upon the arrival of vacationing soap heiress Janet Walker (Shirley Jones), the two sweet-talking scoundrels compete to be the first man to trick her out of both her clothes and her fortune."
source: borrowed the DVD through interlibrary loan
I watched it because: I've seen the remake (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - reviewed here) many times, and just found out it was based on this film. The anticipated bonus of Brando in a comedy role made it irresistible.
IMDB: 6.7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 33%
my IMDB: 5/10

notable quote: "Listen, we're the weaker sex, not women. We're perishable, like ripe peaches hanging on a tree."

MPAA rating: NR

directed by: Ralph Levy

my notes: nowhere near as funny as Scoundrels. Niven is always a treat. Brando, though, was not funny, and his womanizing vacillated between skeezy and nonplussed. And, Shirley Jones as the lady everyone's panting over...nope.

overall: marginally recommended

The Breakfast Club (1985) - "Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal (Paul Gleason). The disparate group includes rebel John (Judd Nelson), princess Claire (Molly Ringwald), outcast Allison (Ally Sheedy), brainy Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) and Andrew (Emilio Estevez), the jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently -- and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same. "

source: DVD
I watched it because: I hadn't seen it in a while, and felt the need
IMDB: 7.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 89% Audience: 92%
my IMDB: 10/10

notable quote: "If you say you haven't, you're a prude. If you say you have you're a slut. It's a trap. You want to but you can't, and when you do you wish you didn't, right? ... Or are you a tease?"

MPAA rating: R

directed by: John Hughes

my notes: I love this movie. It feels familiar, sweet, painful, and so dear. Nelson is terrific, Hall is pure and sweet, and Sheedy's portrayal of the "basket case" is nuanced, smart, and very funny.

overall: terrifically highly recommended

The Invisible Boy (1957) - "Timmie (Richard Eyer), a mischievous 10-year-old boy, is plopped in front of a supercomputer by his scientist father, Dr. Tom (Philip Abbott). The computer, however, secretly gives Timmie super-intelligence and he's soon able to reanimate a robot named Robbie. Timmie and Robbie become best friends, embarking on a series of lighthearted pranks. But when Robbie starts taking orders from the evil supercomputer, Timmie must choose between his best friend and the safety of the world."
source: borrowed the DVD from Joe the Barber
I watched it because: some of his (JTB's) movies are bizarrely entertaining
IMDB: 5.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 25%
my IMDB: 1/10

notable quote: "'Can you see around corners?'

    'No, no, merely through walls.'"

MPAA rating: Approved [G]

directed by: Herman Hoffman

my notes: stupid story, poorly acted

overall: not  recommended

Jason Bourne (2016) - "It's been 10 years since Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) walked away from the agency that trained him to become a deadly weapon. Hoping to draw him out of the shadows, CIA director Robert Dewey assigns hacker and counterinsurgency expert Heather Lee to find him. Lee suspects that former operative Nicky Parsons is also looking for him. As she begins tracking the duo, Bourne finds himself back in action battling a sinister network that utilizes terror and technology to maintain unchecked power."
source: DVD
I watched it because: I think I've seen the rest of the series - maybe? - and liked at least one of them pretty well. (Ultimatum reviewed here; Identity reviewed here)
IMDB: 6.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 54% Audience: 55%
my IMDB: 3/10

notable quote: "...made a bargain with a guy in a dark suit, and now he's come back to take my soul."

MPAA rating: PG-13

directed by: Paul Greengrass

my notes: such a stretch. It's hard to be engaged by a cast that rarely interacts with other people, but stares at monitors and talks on phones and drives and runs and dashes through crowds and traffic. It's like watching a couple hours of security camera footage.

overall: not  recommended

 

Fracture (2007) - "Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling), a hotshot prosecutor, is about to leave his post for a lucrative job at a private law firm when his boss (David Strathairn) hands him a seemingly open-and-shut case. Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) tried to kill his wife with a shot to the head and is defending himself in court. All hope for a quick and easy trial fly out the door when Ted proves to be a more cunning and devious adversary than Willy anticipates."

source: DVD
I watched it because: it's an early Ryan Gosling movie with good reviews - a rare bird - and also an Anthony Hopkins movie that I haven't seen. win/win
IMDB: 7.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 72% Audience: 73%
my IMDB: 7/10

notable quote: "'I warned you about him.'

    'You warned me he was smart. You didn't warn me you were stupid.'"

MPAA rating: R

directed by: Gregory Hoblit

my notes: pretty good! Hopkins goes overboard being creepy, sort of a low-key Lecter, and Gosling's Willy is a childish dingdong until he suddenly snaps his shit together and figures stuff out. His "love interest" with his boss (Rosamund Pike) is pointless. Still, it kept me guessing. Best of the bunch is Strathairn as the wise old boss.

overall:  recommended

 

[the title quotation is from The Breakfast Club]

rocked in the shallow surf

'Sleeping With You'

 

Is there anything more wonderful? 

After we have floundered 

through our separate pain 

 

we come to this. I bind myself to you, 

like otters wrapped in kelp, so the current 

will not steal us as we sleep. 

 

Through the night we turn together, 

rocked in the shallow surf, 

pebbles polished by the sea. 

 

[Ellen Bass {1947- } 'Sleeping With You', from Mules of Love]

by ardor, grace, work, and loss

My gentle hill, I rest

beside you in the dark

in a place warmed by my body,

where by ardor, grace, work,

and loss, I belong. 

 

[Wendell Berry {1934- } 'Song (2)', from New Collected Poems]