OK. I wrote this story about a rare period of sustained testiness of my otherwise wonderful daughter last Saturday.
But somehow, the entire post disappeared from Blogger, pictures and all.
While I could reload the pics, and have, recreating the text is too much like work, especially since it’s suddenly getting warmer in the home office Ah, well.
Month: May 2007
Our Planet Earth
There’s guy named Robert Krulwich, who contributres to ABC News. He does the wackier stories. He also has quite the distinctive voice. He did a piece a while back about What if you dig a hole all the way to China?
He also noted the highest point on earth, i.e., the highest point on the planet in relationship to the moon and the stars. Hint: it’s not Mount Everest, because Earth is a oblate spheroid.
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In its “take action” section, Treehugger.com has a How to Go Green section: How To Green Your Wedding (didn’t they do that on Days of Our Life recently?), How To Green Your Electronics, How to Green Your Pet, How to Green Your Sex Life, etc.
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Meanwhile, 30 years ago, in a galaxy far, far away, [EDIT: at a neighborhood theater near you], the first (or fourth, if you can follow that) Star Wars movie came out. I saw that initial film at the long-defunct FOX Theater in Colonie, near Albany, some weeks after the release date, and the lines were STILL long. I LOVED that film, and Empire Strikes Back was even better. If Return of the Jedi was slightly less satisfying, it was still a suitable ending to the trilogy. Whereas I saw Episode 1: Phantom Menace, which largely bored me to tears, and never did see the other two films.
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Will Lefty Brown turn green?
ROG
Bobby Dylan’s 10th Studio Album
The very first Bob Dylan song I ever owned was I Want You on a Columbia compilation album called Best of ’66. In fact, I found the song list:
Help! – The Brothers Four
Hey Joe – The Byrds
Homeward Bound – Chad & Jeremy
Cloudy – The Cyrkle
You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me – John Davidson
I Want You – Bob Dylan
These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ – The New Christy Minstrels
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling – Pozo-Seco Singers
Just Like Me – Paul Revere and the Raiders
Down In The Boondocks – Billy Joe Royal
Simon & Garfunkel – You’ve Got a Groovy Thing
Dylan following John Davidson?
Anyway, the first Dylan album I ever purchased was actually not for me but for my high school girlfriend. She was a big Dylan fan, and so for her birthday or Christmas, I bought her the new release. It was a double album, so it, for the time and my budget, was rather expensive. It was Self Portrait. She was really glad to get it. But as she and I listened to it, it became evident on her face, even though she tried to hide it, that she was, to say the least, disappointed with the music. And why not? As Amazon put it: “Self Portrait stands as a truly perverse collection. Released in 1970…Bob Dylan…delivered a pop-inflected collection largely made up of rather indifferently performed covers.”
I seem to recall specifically a truly horrific version of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer”, which some, including me, thought was done in retaliation for S&G’s A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara’d Into Submission, the bit at the end where Simon says, “I dropped my harmonica, Albert,” Albert being Albert Grossman, Dylan’s manager at the time.
Subsequently, I’ve purchased about 20 Dylan LPs and CDs. One of them is NOT Self-Portrait. Dylan’s 66 today.
ROG
Oscar-Worthy Movies I Have Seen: 1934
“IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT”, “The Barretts of Wimpole Street”, “Cleopatra”, “Flirtation Walk”, “The Gay Divorcee”, “Here Comes the Navy”, “The House of Rothschild”, “Imitation of Life”, “One Night of Love”, “The Thin Man”, “Viva Villa!”, “The White Parade”
Seen NONE of these, or Frank Morgan (the Wizard in “The Wizard of Oz”) in “Affairs of Cellini”. Of course, I’ve seen various clips of “It Happened One Night”; must see that film.
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From a discussion the Buffalo guy noted about copyright comes this YouTube video about fair use, featuring your favorite Disney characters; also available on the Stanford University site.
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The Silver Surfer quarter to promote the new Fantastic Four film.
Oscar-Worthy Movies I Have Seen: 1932-1933
Picture:
“CAVALCADE”, “A Farewell to Arms”, “42nd Street”, “I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang”, “Lady for a Day”, “Little Women”, “The Private Life of Henry VIII”, “She Done Him Wrong”, “Smilin’ Through”, “State Fair”.
Don’t think I’ve seen any of these, though I did see a later version of “State Fair”. Heck, I still remember the title song: “Our state fair is a great state fair. Don’t miss it; don’t even be late.”
This, BTW, was the last year of the midyear to midyear awards. The eligibility period for these films was August 1932-December 1933, and awarded in March 1934. From this point forward, the award covered the calendar year.
What? No nominations of the Mummy or the Invisible Man? None for King Kong?! I’ve seen all of these on TV at some point in my childhood.
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So, what did I spend my yesterday doing instead of finding exciting bloggable material for you? Mowing the lawn – does WD-40 fix gas leaks? apparently; challenging a nearly 100% increase in our property assessment since 2003; and getting a haircut. Then my wife was out during the evening, so the child and I negotiated the from-dinner-to-bed routine.
ROG