Tuesday, January 30, 2007
amaryllis
Some dear friends sent me an Amaryllis this past Christmas (alright alright...it was Earl H.)....and this is a first, for me. There were these bulbs----six of them in a lovely basket...(actually, I think there is another bulb hidden under the dirt...because this little sliver has appeared as of today....! (See this picture right below....)
So, never having gone through this fascinating process before, I am having a wonderful time documenting what is happening. I am sorry I didn't start on the first day of arrival, but....well, I didn't. So here are a few pictures over these couple of weeks, from the first appearance of a few of the slivers of green, to today.....
So, this was about three days or so into the appearance of "green slivers"....very very exciting to me...partly because it took me a while to figure out the best place for these bulbs given the instructions that came with them....They are on one of the sideboards in the Dining Room....plenty of light, plenty of warmth, and mostly deferred sun in the late afternoon.
The above picture is two days later....Only two days and there was growth! These Amaryllis are quite extraordinary, aren't they? And it is not just the angle of the picture. There was truly growth, believe me.This next picture is only three days after that....Amazing Amazing! Because we are already seeing a 'pod'....! A sweet sweet pod that has the growing blossom inside it....
Yeah! Right there in the middle is the very dear pod! The first of six, I am hoping....And, so then I decided to wait for maybe a week. Well, almost a week, if your week is only six days long....And quite a lot had happened in those short but very productive six days...Look Below, Please....
And this, too....
Here's that first pod getting bigger and better and it's stem, much longer. I guess this is what they do, huh?
Then, today....! This is a closer look at that first original pod that I first noticed on January 17th....It is so lush and juicy looking, isn't it?
The picture at the top of this post is today, and as you can see from it and this one just below a whole lot is happening in that basket, including the little sliver in the second picture from the top.....
Here above is another little pod just beginning to do it's thing. I just love nature so much....It is, to me, one of the most exciting things in our world....wether it's plants and flowers growing, or people and animals forming and growing, it is all miraculous and beautiful.
A fellow blogger, Suzann, from Journey To A New Life, who many of you visit, has an Amaryllis growing right now, too....She is a veteran where these wonderful plants are concerned and I learned a lot about what to do after these beautiful flowers have bloomed reading that post of hers....Click on Suzann's name and pay her a visit to read about her five year old Amaryllis....Meanwhile....here is where we are here on the hill with these amazing plants.....Stay tuned, for more to come.....
So join me while we watch all these pods now showing, plus all the ones yet to come do their wonderful magical thing....Oh, yes....there will be much much more to come on these babies, I promise you.....
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 1:38 PM
Saturday, January 27, 2007
larry parks
I said I was going to do a post about my dear friend Larry Parks and so, my dear's, here it is....! Many many years ago....almost 61 years to be exact....I saw a film called "The Jolson Story" at one of the then two movie theatres in Great Neck, where I grew up. I was blown away.....! The film was about one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th Century, Al Jolson. At the time of the making of this film, Jolson's career was pretty much on the downhill side....but, this movie and it's sequel, "Jolson Sings Again", revived Jolson's career and introduced him to a whole new generation of people through the embodiment of the actor who played Jolson in these films, Larry Parks.
I fell in love with both Larry Parks and Jolson right then and there. So along with two friends of mine who also became Larry Parks-Al Jolson "groupies", we went back to the Squire Theatre on the Saturday of that week when the theatre opened at 11 A.M. in the morning, and we carried in bags of sandwiches to sustain us for the day. (They didn't sell actual "food" food back then in movie theatre's....just candy, popcorn and soft drinks) We stayed in the theatre all day long and into the evening, leaving only when the theatre closed down for the night just after midnight.....(you could do that in those days...you could go in any time and stay as long as you liked for 25 cents....and people did this all the time.)What is it the Larry Parks had? Well, aside from the fact that he was gorgeous, he had a sweetness about him that made you feel he was like the boy next door who also just happened to have the chops to become a big 'movie star'.
Now, Al Jolson was a larger-than-life performer and Larry had to "be" Jolson without just doing an imitation....This was a new form of movie back then....they hadn't made too many Biographical films of famous performers who were still alive, back then....Jolson did his own singing for the film and Larry 'lip synched' the songs, and did it brilliantly, too. The war had ended just the year before and Columbia Pictures had all these wonderful young talented people under contract. Larry Parks was one of those people. You believed he was Al Jolson, and especially if you were too young to have acrually seen Jolson perform. Larry received a Nomination for an Academy Award for his great great performance of Al Jolson that year....I tell you, this film was a stunner. More people went into show business because of this film than you can possibly imagine. And this was such a popular picture that there was a sequel, "Jolson Sings Again"....and it was as popular as the first picture. For a studio to do a sequel back in the late 1940's was practically unheard of....I know, that's hard to believe isn't it, when everything has a sequel or two or three, these days...., but, indeed, it was the 'unusual' back then...and because "Jolson Sings Again" was as big a hit as the first film, this further established Larry Parks as an A-list Star at Columbia Pictures....until the dark days came....
I won't go into the details of what happened next because to really understand about it you need read Betty Garrett's book, 
"Betty Garrett And Other Songs", in which she tells what happened from the most personal and factual viewpoint---the only time, no doubt, too---as Betty and Larry were married in 1944 and stayed married until his untimely death at 60 years of age, in April of 1975. Her book is a wonderful 'read' and you won't be sorry....So, suffice it to say, Larry was Blacklisted in the early 1950's durimg that horrible ugly McCarthy-Witch-Hunt period, and his career as a film star, never really recovered....Though he continued to perform on stage in plays and tour with Betty in a nightclub act, he only made two more feature films after that, and appeared in a few television shows, too, but his very last film was in 1960. It was "Freud" starring Montgomery Clift as Freud, and Directed by John Houston.
When I joined Theatre West in 1962, (it's first year of existance) Betty was there having been a founding member of this wonderful theatre group. It was a very very small group back then...maybe 25 people....And I had fallen in love with Betty about the same time I discovered Larry.
She was starring on Broadway in a show called "Call Me Mister" and she had "it"....Yes, the famous "it" factor was up there on that stage on Broadway....And MGM Studios thought so too and put her under contract. The Parks had met in 1943-44 and on their first date Larry knew this was the girl he wanted to marry....And marry they did. On September 8th, 1944, Betty and Larry were married in this lovely church on Hollywood Blvd., right here in Los Angeles....In 1974 they had their 30th Wedding Anniversary....
That is the fast background. The thing that has always amazed me about Betty and Larry is that these two people had been so important to me before I ever met them and then after meeting them and working with Betty in "Spoon River" and living in the same hotel for those almost 5 months back when we were on Broadway---(And Larry was doing a play on Broadway at that same time....) 
we got to be truly good and close friends and they became even more important to me in a "real" flesh and blood way. This friendship continues to this day and extends to their two sons, Garrett Parks and his wife Karen and their daughter Maddie, and to Andrew Parks, (called Andy) and his wife Katy....In fact in my capacity as a minister, I married both of 'the boys'---they will always be called 'the boys', I think....Garret and Karen in November 1991 and Andy & Katy in September, 2002.
We have shared so very many important times together, some very joyous times and some deeply sad times, too. The milestones of long term friendships just cannot be replaced by 'new' things.
Not that the 'new' aren't important---they certainly are and I am grateful for all the new friendships and experiences I still encounter. But at my age, to be close to people still, who knew both my parents and my siblings and my significant others, is a great gift. And these things cannot be replaced nor can they ever happen anymore...certainly not with my parents. All this is by way of saying that The Parks and I shared a lot over the years.
Larry made many many films during his career before the dark days happened....Click on his name and it will take you to The Internet Movie Data Base where you can see his body of film work. It is very very impressive. Larry Parks deserves a "star" on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk Of Fame. He still doesn't have one. Many people feel that the stumbling block is The Blacklist. It certainly can't have anything to do with his credits in films and theatre....he has those, including his Academy Award nomination,
and if he had done nothing else but "The Jolson Story" and "Jolson Sings Again", these two films alone should have assured him having a 'star' on The Walk Of Fame, but as you will see if you click on his name, there is so much more. And it's not the cost....because the money would be found one way or another....that is not the problem. The only other stumbling block is that they only give one star a year, postumously. But here is what is truly distressing: That someone like Donald Trump gets a "star" on The Walk Of Fame, and Larry Parks still doesn't have one...well....there is something wrong with this picture.You know, in the early days of this Walk Of Fame Project some people would have more than one 'star'....like Gene Autrey. Because his career covered films, records, radio and television...he has four stars. Bob Hope, at least three stars, maybe four....Bing Crosby, Milton Berle, etc....Because of space on the streets of Hollywood, now people who's careers span Films, TV, Records, etc....get just one star.
Well, that's all we want for Larry Parks. One star. One Star on The Walk Of Fame, please. Betty has hers, Thank God....and now, Larry should get his.
Years ago---almost twenty years now, I began this campaign to try to get Larry a star...it was almost a 'crusade'...And it was an amazing thing that happened....I distributed a Petition through the good graces and generosity of Milton Goldman, who was a big big entertainment lawyer in New York who's client list and friends read like a Who's Who of show business. He circulated his copy to as many people as possible and the got all these fantastic people to sign it. Big stars of the day who's names should have carried a lot of weight, like Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Kitty Carlysle, Maureen Stapleton, to name just three...I cannot find my copy of this petition---it is somewhere, but I don't know where, The point is, with over one hundred (100) BIG names on this petition, and it didn't happen.
There is someone right now today who may have some 'clout' with the Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce, because maybe that is what it is going to take, and the hope is that this person can convince them that the time is 'now' for Larry Parks to finally receive his "star"....I hope and pray that this will happen, and soon. It would be so wonderful for Betty to have this happen in her lifetime---it is her dearest wish, you know.
If you want to help, please write the Walk People: info@hollywoodchamber.net. It certainly can't hurt and who knows, if enough people from all over this country and the world bombard them with LARRY PARKS' name.....maybe, just maybe this will finally finally happen.
Larry was a dear sweet man who was a good friend and was always supportive of anything you were doing. If you appreared on some show on tv, you would hear from him the next morning telling you how wonderful you were---no matter the size of the part. He was a good man, a wonderful husband, and a devoted father....He is still so very missed by all who knew him and loved him, including his legion of fans all over the world. Check out Larry's 'tribute' page....it is a joy!
I am going to leave this post up for a little longer than usual because it is a little longer than usual and I'd like as many people as possible to see it...But not to worry, I will put up something 'new', before you know it....thanks for understanding.
More To Come.....
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 1:50 AM
Thursday, January 25, 2007
more movies & the oscars...
Okay. Let's start with "Bobby". Yes, I saw this film, too...For anyone who is not familiar with any of the current films, this is about June 4th, 1968 at The Ambassador Hotel, here in Los Angeles which was Bobby Kennedy's headquarters for this very important day...What was this day? It was the day of the Primary election, here in Los Angeles and if you look in my archives I wrote a post about this very day because I had worked on the Eugene McCarthy campaign...he was running against Bobby Kennedy as Democratic candidate for the Presidency of The United States, in 1968.
This is a very worthy film. Written and Directed by Emilio Estavez, (one of Martin Shean's sons), it is very heartfelt and an important piece of work. Why is it important? Because of all the wonderful things that Emilio Estavez has chosen to include from Bobby Kennedy's speeches. And there is much that we hear said in Bobby Kennedy's voice...wonderful, eloquent, meaningful things that we can take to our hearts in this horrific time we are living in right now as I write this.....As I said in that archival post...we have no voices like this now....We have no Martin Luther King's, (who was assassinated exactly two months to the day before Bobby Kennedy was shot....Kennedy died two days later on June 6th), We have no Bobby Kennedy's.
Can any of you who didn't live through all this imagine what it was like to live through those few months back in 1968?
Can any of you imagine what it was like to have two of the last great hopes for the leadership of this country, killed, just two months apart? It was more than horrific. I don't think our country has ever recovered from these terrible losses that began really with John F. Kennedy's assassination in November of 1963, and continued with the killings of Medgar Evers and Malcom X, and then MLK and Bobby Kennedy. Truly, the country never really has recovered.
But back to "Bobby"....This is not a great or perfect film....I wish it were. It has too many recognizable 'stars' in it that I found distracting, unfortunately....too many 'famous' people playing parts in the film that could have been played by people we do not yet have an association to....
Lindsey Lohan? Sharon Stone? No. I was taken completely out of the movie by these two actresses, and it's really not their fault. They are both very good and worthy actresses, but there is just too much media hoopla surrounding them, particularly Lindsey Lohan....the constant "in your face" photographs and the watching of every move made under a microscope----it is hard to separate all that from 'the work'....at least it was for me. And again I say, it is not her fault.
I saw "Babel", too.....another very worthy film, but so damn depressing...! It is a complex story that jumps around from one country to another, but all the stories are connected, ultimately, and it is filled with violence...So many films today inundate us with horrible awful violent scenes....again, too much for me....The actors are all truly truly wonderful, and I was not distracted by 'the star' names in this film, at all, and I'm not sure why exactly....but, anyway, it has now been nominated for Best Picture by The Academy.
2006 was quite a year, as it turned out, for a lot of really good good films. Besides the previously mentioned "Babel" there were four other very wonderful films nominated for Best Picture of 2006. And these other terrific and memorable films are, "Little Miss Sunshine",
a small but utterly delightful and engaging ensemble film with exceptionally wonderful performances by everyone who is in it, but I would have to say the two 'stand out' performances are the fabulously talented Alan Arkin, (who should win for Best Supporting Actor, but probably won't because Eddie Murphy will win that one....) and that darling little girl, Abigail Breslin, who is the little Miss Sunshine of the title, and who has been nominated for her performance in the Best Supporting Actress category. The chances of this dear little girl winning are slim, because it is pretty much "a lock" for Jennifer Hudson.
Then we have "The Departed", the Scorsese film which I liked very very much
---it is a 'movie movie' in the old fashioned 1940's-studio-film-kind-of-way....I was never bored for a second....and it has some very wonderful performances in it, too. Both Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon are very very good, and as always, Jack Nicholson is terrific. It is kind of spooky, but at times you are not sure if you are looking at Matt Damon or Leonardo DiCaprio....and it is obvious that that is what Scorsese wanted....and it works like gangbusters! And of course, as with any film by Scorsese, it too is filled with a lot of violence. And then we have the superbly touching film "The Queen", with the always 'spot on' Helen Mirren, (this may be her year, too, for the Oscar...though one never knows what the Academy members might do....) "The Queen" is a truly truly wonderful picture.
Very moving and quite funny, too. It is a beautifully rendered depiction of the events in England immediately following Princess Diana's death...And the great Helen Mirren of course plays Queen Elizabeth II and is magnificent...There is not one false move in her truthful performance. It is in no way a caricature but always a flesh and blood woman with a heart. Not an easy.
And last but by no means least, there is my personal favorite, and my pick for Best Picture, "Letters From Iwo Jima", which I wrote about already in a previous post. I hope with all my heart that it wins though I don't think it will, even though I think it should...though, again, one never knows what the Academy members will do....and quite frankly, I kind of like that the Academy is often unpredictable.
It would be very very interesting if "Little Miss Sunshine" wins
Best Picture as it did from The Producer's Guild of America....And there is an outside chance that that could happen...As I have already stated the Academy members always go there own way, and if "Sunshine" does win, that would be rather a triumph considering it is a little movie that is about a little but important idea...the other movies that have been nominated are 'big' movies in every sense...big subjects each with a panoramic sweep....Not so with "Little Miss Sunshine", but a very important little picture, none the less....Time will tell.
More To Come....
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 1:15 AM
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
more on isaiah
So here is the statement that Isaiah Washington issued after ABC issued it's statement about 'taking this situation seriously'...Forced to own up and say something to save his job, possibly?
Here are his words:
"I apologize to T.R., my colleagues, the fans of the show and especially the lesbian and gay community for using a word that is unacceptable in any context or circumstance. By repeating the word Monday night, I marred what should have been a perfect night for everyone who works on 'Grey's Anatomy.' I can neither defend nor explain my behavior. I can also no longer deny to myself that there are issues I obviously need to examine within my own soul, and I've asked for help.
"I know the power of words, especially those that demean. I realize that by using one filled with disrespect I have hurt more than T.R. and my colleagues. With one word, I've hurt everyone who has struggled for the respect so many of us take for granted. I welcome the chance to meet with leaders of the gay and lesbian community to apologize in person and to talk about what I can do to heal the wounds I've opened.
"T.R.'s courage throughout this entire episode speaks to his tremendous character. I hold his talent, and T.R. as a person, in high esteem. I know a mere apology will not end this, and I intend to let my future actions prove my sincerity."
It is almost sickening in it's 'mea culpa' after his very strong denial that he had ever said anything like this at all.
Why am I going on about this?
Because I think this incident points up how so many people in our country think it is okay to use language like Mr. Washington did, when it comes to gay people....Somehow, that name calling of a gay person is not as awful as attacking other minorities....The Mel Gibson remarks about Jews; The Michael Richards remarks about Blacks; And now, Isaiah Washington's remarks about gays....
Reading elsewhere about this situation, a person who I respect a great deal had this very cogent thought and I repeat it here and that is the following: If the situation had been reversed and T.R. Knight had called Isaiah Washington the N-Word, (Forgive the euphemism),
T.R. Knight would probably have been fired on the spot, back in October....but, this respected person went on to say, that it seems like a double standard in this case, and I agree. And maybe it's because so very many people in this country in their hearts, do not think it is 'okay' to be gay in the first place and have hatred in their heart, where gay people are concerned. And there are laws all over the place in our country that bear that out...and more laws contemplated, including one from our President who would like to write this prejudice into our constitution....These are scary times we live in on so very many levels and the hatred that seems to be seething everywhere in so called decent people, scares the hell out of me! What will change that? The only thing that will ever change that is if we live our lives as Martin Luther King said we need to....
With love.
Here is a quotation from a speech that Martin Luther King gave in August of 1967 to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference...
"I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems. And I'm going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn't popular to talk about it in some circles today. I'm not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love, I'm talking about a strong, demanding love. And I have seen too much hate. I've seen too much hate on the faces of sheriffs in the South. I've seen hate on the faces of too many Klansmen and too many White Citizens Councilors in the South to want to hate myself, because every time I see it, I know that it does something to their faces and their personalities and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we are moving against wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who has love has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality."
And he also said in another speech earlier that same year....
"Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that."
These words are just as meaningful today as they were 40 years ago....
I hope Isaiah Washington can find love in his heart, and Mel Gibson and Michael Richards, too, and anyone else he feels hatred in their hearts, and that that changes something in them because as Martin Luther King said...'hate is too great a burden to bear....'
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 1:10 AM
Sunday, January 21, 2007
weather
So we had snow in Malibu this past Wednesday, and that was while it was raining all around me....and from what I understand, it was sleeting in West Los Angeles, as well....So here is what the sky looked like for part of the time facing the west and Santa Monica which is just down the coast a bit from Malibu which is not visible because of my mountain.....Later the sun did it's amazing streaming-through-the-clouds beautifullness....
And as Blanche Dubois said in Tennessee Williams beautiful play "Streetcar Named Desire"......'.....Sometimes there's God so quickly....' I have quoted this before and I'm sure I will quote it again when the spirit is so called upon because it is the only thing that comes to mind when I see something this awesome....And a bit later...a closer look at that sun streaming through the clouds throwing light on that part of the city, just as if a Lighting Designer worked for hours and hours to create this fabulous "effect"....
I love my trees in this picture above....I call them my trees because I think they are so very beautiful and I never tire of photographing them because it is different every time....
Look here at this picture below....
The dramatic and beautiful sky behind my dear sweet trees....be sure to click on these pictures so you can see them bigger cause the bigger these pictures are, the more dramatic they are.....
And here below, is a far away shot of the whole panorama....Towards the middle lower left of the picture you can see the streaming sun, among other amazing things....such a dramatic sky that day...My Lordy....
And my little trees look so far away from me in this shot above....it's more the camera than anything else because to the naked eye as I stand on my deck looking west, these trees don't look far away at all....they look much more like this below....
Well.....maybe not quite this close, either....you can't win for losing can you...lol....I love those sweet trees a whole lot, as you all have no doubt figured out by now....And as you have probaly also no doubt figured out by now, you haven't seen the last of these dear sweet trees either.....
The voting is over for Whitney Steele and hopefully we will know sometime on Monday, January 22nd, 2007 what the outcome is....Thank You ALL for your votes and coming back and voting as often as you did...Hopefully, that helped to bring her to winning!
More To Come.....
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 11:59 PM
whitney steele and one tree hill
PLEASE see below for a new post...I will leave this up through January 21st, when "voting" ends....Do vote for Whitney if you are so inclined....
Below is a link to this contest that is going on at "One Tree Hill" which started today (January 10th, 2007) and ends on January 21st.....WHITNEY STEELE, who just happens to be the granddaughter of a very very old friend of mine, is competing in this contest and the winner will appear on the television show "One Tree Hill", singing the song he or she has submitted! And in her case, it is a song Whitney Steele has written, too.
Whitney is a very very talented young woman and I know because I have her CD and I think she has got "IT"! Truly!
So, do go here:
http://www.cwtv.com/thecw/rocktheprom
and give WHITNEY STEELE a listen---and, then vote for her, please. A 'break' like this----getting on this show, I mean----can mean so very much to someone's future career in this very very difficult business....That dear Whitney actually got into the five finalists says a whole lot about her talent...Help make the difference with your vote, and by the way, you can vote on your computer or another computer, too, once a day through January 21st. That's what I am doing, having already voted...well now...yesterday, and I will continue voting each day through January 21st....
By way of the history here: I went to High School with Whitney's dear Grandfather Burt Robbins...and Burt's 'late' sister, Zoe Olin, was a dear dear friend from those early days in Great Neck....In fact, The Robbins family were the first people I knew in Great Neck to have a television set.
One of those big huge pieces of furniture with a little ten inch screen....I used to go over to their apartment on Tuesday Nights to watch Milton Berle...Yes....'Uncle Miltie'. We all would sit around the tv set, mesmerized by this amazing miracle of an actual 'live' talking picture in one's living room....My mother finally broke down in self defense and bought a TV set just so I would not be at the Robbins house 4 nights a week watching different TV shows....Indeed, we all became addicted to television almost immediately back then, just as people are addicted now....(lol)So, do go on over to that link and give a listen to this incredibly talented young woman....And just think how really good it will make you feel if Whitney Steele wins and you know that by voting you had some part in making that happen and in supporting a very hard working gifted artist to achieve her dreams....It will make you feel like a million bucks, I promise you!
So, here is that link, one more time....And I thank you, in advance for your support in this very worthwhile endeavor....Yayyyy Whitney!http://www.cwtv.com/thecw/rocktheprom
More To Come.......
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 11:30 PM
Friday, January 19, 2007
more movies, the globes, etc...
So Meryl Streep ("The Devil Wears Prada") said on the Golden Globes among many many fabulous things that came from her lips when she won for "The Devil Wears Prada", that if there is a film you really want to see and it is not playing at your local theatre, go down to that theatre and speak to the manager and ask "WHY?" Great Great advice from the great great Meryl! And if I lived anywhere else, besides Los Angeles or New York, or Chicago, etc., I would take Meryl's advice and hurry on down to my local theatres and do just that.....Just ask why?She was eloquent, and funny, too....
About "Venus" with the great and wonderfully charming and gorgeously talented Peter O'Toole....This will not be a movie for everybody but it surely is a wonderful and truthful film....It is poignant and funny and at times, a bit creepy to some people, though I didn't feel that way----maybe you have to be 75 1/2 to really understand this film on a truly deep cellular level....It is a 'small' movie....that is to say, it is not a huge canvas like the two movies I spoke of in my last post....it is about one particular aspect of life...when one is facing one's mortality and see's the grim reaper coming on down the street towards you, and in this case, about the needs and desires of one man (Peter O'Toole) at this juncture of his life....It was to me ultimately a beautiful movie about friendship and a man's flickering desire to hold on to life for as long as possible.....
Peter O'Toole gives that rare and perfect performance by an actor, bringing all his history, his humor, his heart and his extraordinary talent to this strange but lovely picture....The young woman in the film, a young actress named Jodie Whittaker, is quite wonderful, too, as is everybody. His best friend, is played by Leslie Phillips, and he is just magnificent, too, and the always superb Richard Griffiths as well as that truly special and gifted actress Vanessa Redgrave playing Peter O'toole's wife---all giving memorable performances in this very special film.
Do ask your local movie theatre about "Venus". Because, just maybe if you speak up and enough other people speak up, films like "Venus" will play in a much wider release than they are now not playing! Power To The People!
Can we talk about Isaiah Washington for a minute? I mean, what the hell is going on with him? He denies having said something back in October that he already apologized for having said on the set of "Grey's Anatomy", and then says it again, to the press no less, after the Golden Globes! There are many ugly words in this world. Words that are unmistakable in their meaning and intention. And he should know this in his soul. He obviously has a problem.....
And let's talk about Donald Trump, too. Oy!
Among other indignities, Donald Trump gets a "STAR" on Hollywood Boulevard? The world is upside down and nuts....Well, we already know that from the situation we are in with Iraq and with this President of ours....so depressing. Well, it depresses me, too, for other reasons, that Donald Trump would be given a 'star' on Hollywood Boulevard and there are others....many many others, who have had careers in this business and have a history with a body of work deserving of a place on the Boulevard....like Larry Parks, that get nothing! We have been trying to get Larry Parks a "star" for over twenty years, but that is a whole other post, which I will do, but suffice it to say, the above mentioned 'star' for the above mentioned 'bully', is a travesty! And here is a lovely picture of Larry Parks for those who are too young to remember him....
And let me just say that the two pictures that Larry Parks is best remembered for are "The Jolson Story" and "Jolson Sings Again". More people went into Show Business because of these films than you can even mention....and Mr. Parks was nominated for an Academy Award for "The Jolson Story". That should count for something, shouldn't it?
And let's talk about "Running With Scissors for just one quick second. I watched "Running With Scissors" and I'm sorry, I don't get it. Some wonderful performances in a film that confounds me...I haven't got a clue as to what the filmmaker was trying to get across...A strange, strange picture, which I'd love to be able to recommend, but I can't. I'm sure there are people who completely disagree with me and I absolutely respect that...Well, that's it for the moment, my dears....
More To Come, For Sure......
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 1:21 AM
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
clint eastwood - the double whammy
Two more movies that had my complete attention and grabbed my heart as well are "Letters From Iwo Jima" and "Flags Of Our Fathers"....Clint Eastwood's most definitive twin war movies, ever. These films are quite amazing. "Letters" particularly is a very moving heart breaking film and the other side of the story of this extremely important period in the history of WW 2....The island of Iwo Jima was probably the most important piece of land in the progression of the war between the United States and Japan because it was actually Japanese soil . 
Most people of a certain age are familiar with the famous photograph at the top of this post of our six soldiers (5 marines actually and one navy man) putting up the flag on the top of Mt. Suribachi to show that the Americans had captured this very strategic island...and the subsequent "back story" of what happened and how it happened and the men involved....particularly Ira Hays' story...but, what Clint Eastwood has done in both these films is to show us the pain of war and what it does to destroy men (and women) emotionally and psychically, as well as physically, no matter what side you are on....
For me personally, I found "Letters" the more touching and 'real' film....maybe because Japanese is spoken throughout the film. I was never distracted by feeling or thinking I was watching actors....plus, humanizing the 'enemy', which Japan was back then, is the true brilliance of the writing and the acting and direction of this film. One should see "Flags Of Our Fathers" first and then as soon as you can, see "Letters", because they fit together like a puzzle, but you need to see the first part of the puzzle to really get the full impact of the second part of this amazing and extremely powerful puzzle....
The truth is, these two films are really one film---one story....and the impact is quite devastating and I think a really important contribution to understanding certain things about war----particularly this war, but it could be any war, anywhere, in any age, including right now.Clint Eastwood has done a masterful job of showing us the two sides of this story and how much we are all really alike. And if given the chance to really 'see' one another....to 'know' one another if you will, the people we are at war with---our so called enemies, are, underneath the surface differences, just like us in many many ways.....He shows us the horror of war in very graphic and sometimes visually shocking terms, bringing home the true lasting horrors that those who go through the fighting and dying carry with them forever and ever....
It is truly artful what he has done, and one feels these films---particularly "Letters From Iwo Jima" will last forever----and will stand the test of time....Neither of these films is easy to watch, but the rewards are great if you are able to give yourself over to the subject. Of the two, "Letters" is probably the more difficult because you have to read the english dialogue, but I found it as I said earlier, the more moving and powerful of the two films....But I think it is the accumulative effect, too....seeing "Flags" first, one has certain information and we gain a familiarity with this island and we have already been pulled in emotionally so that when watching the 2nd film or as I would say the second half, the impact of the previous film deepens the second film. It is all a very very powerful and meaningful experience. 
Bless Clint Eastwood (on the left in the picture above with the great great Ken Watanabe) for having the understanding and passion and heart to do these two films, and Steven Spielberg for Producing them, too....Another example of a very important history lesson that touches our hearts because it is given to us in such an artful way.....links to this post
| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 12:41 AM
Monday, January 15, 2007
movies
I have spent my entire weekend "watching" movies. Through the kindness of a dear friend, I have been able to see a number of films that were nominated for a Golden Globe this year....the ceremony to be telecast tonight!What did I see?
Well, first I watched "DREAMGIRLS". I loved it! I had seen the Broadway production and was pretty knocked out by the beauty of the staging and choreography---the late great Michael Bennett was responsible for both the Direction and the Choreography! 
But the standout was a young woman named Jennifer Holiday. Amazing performance---like nothing I had ever seen on the stage, and I had seen a lot of great performers in all my many years of going to the theatre---particularly on Broadway. The emotional power of that young woman was astounding! Vocally incredible and her 'acting' superb....like I said, I had never seen anything like it before.....
The film, now finally made, after almost 25...well, 26 years later, has another young woman in the part of 'Effie'...the same role that Miss Holiday played on Broadway...and now this young lady, Jennifer Hudson all but eats up the screen!
She is really fantastic, and she has quite a terrifically wonderful career ahead of her. And I think she will win a Golden Globe tonight, and deservidly so....it is ironic that she was a "loser" on American Idol....well, actually the way that show works and what they are looking for, Jennifer Hudson does not fit that box, at all....she has something extra that needs a much bigger canvas. "Dreamgirls" gives her that canvas....As to the actual music of this film...it suits the story wonderfully and has you tapping your foot and shaking your head through almost every song...a joy to listen to, though most of the songs, with the exception of a few, are a variation on the same song...no matter, it works anyway....Everyone in the film is wonderful! And it would not surprise me if Eddie Murphy wins a statue tonight, too.
But one of the really lovely things about the movie for me personally was the inclusion of Loretta Devine, a magnificent actress and singer who was in the 'Original' cast of the Broadway show....not as 'Effie', but as 'Lorell'.
In this picture above, we see Jennifer Holiday, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Loretta DeVine on the far right...the 'original' Broadway Dreamgirls....
Loretta has done the S.T.A.G.E. Benefit eight or nine times in the 20 years that I have been involved...and she is a magnificent performer who brings the house down every time she appears. Dear Loretta D. continues to have a very successful career in films and television and she is a truly talented actress weather in comedy or drama....and, she sure can sing! In "DREAMGIRLS" the film, she appears singing in a club at a kind of Celebration of the Eddie Murphy characters life, after he has died....I loved that the director Bill Condon and the other 'powers that be' found a spot for her to not only be in the film, but to sing a little, too....The score of the film is a mixture of the Original score on Broadway---with songs left out, and some new songs written for the film version, as well....I am not sure, but I believe the song Loretta sings in the film was written just for the film....Anyway, it was a lovely homage to Loretta DeVine that she was included in the film. Jennifer Holiday and Sheryl Lee Ralph were not included. I am sure there is a story there, but I have no idea what it is.
Here is Loretta at the Premiere of "Dreamgirls" here in Los Angeles....You all may recognize Loretta from among the many things she has done on film and television including the film "Crash" and the series "Boston Public". And currently she plays Dr. Richard Webber's wife, Adele, on "Grey's Anatomy".
I'll write about some of the other films I saw in my next post, I think...Just one quick thing I will say about Peter O'Toole in "Venus"....I hope he gets nominated for an Academy Award and wins, and I hope he wins the Golden Globe tonight...His was an exceptionally beautiful, sensitive, funny, endearing and lovely performance....
More To Come.......
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 2:37 AM
Saturday, January 13, 2007
blow up
There was a wonderful film called "Blow Up" released back in 1966....David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave were two of the main stars....And David Hemmings played a famous photographer who is among other things a very successful Fashion Photographer but takes pictures of all sorts of things, including some scenes in a park one day....And when he goes into his studio dark room to develop the park scenes, he thinks he see's something quite strange and rather scary...A body...And in fact, if memory serves, he thinks he has discovered a murder...
It's a wonderful film, very much worth renting...It was directed by Michaelangelo Antonioni (His first English language film) and produced by Sophia Loren's husband Carlo Ponti, who just died a few days ago....It was really a 'great' film and you won't go wrong putting it on your "must see" list, especially because it is such a reflection of the fashion's of the 1960's......I was thinking about this film because I saw something on the hill across from my house that was interesting, if not mysterious....
Here is that hill as another sunset is taking place, and we are looking past that hill towards Century City and the ocean beyond it....You can just barely see across the top of the hill way over to the right a little something....And the only way I could possibly check out what it was, was to 'blow-up' the picture.
So, moving in a bit closer we see there is a fence up there on the crest of the hill....in this particular shot you don't see the strange things I saw that are visible in the photograph below, but I did go in closer....Now here below we see something more....
And isolating these figurs just a little bit more....here they are just a teeny bit closer.....
I couldn't make the two figures any bigger without getting it all completely out of focus and "pixelated".....But, don't you find it amazing that people can actually walk up there on that hill, and that they do....?And here below, on another day, a couple of other people were walking up there....
If I had a better camera, which I hope to get eventually, I could probably get in even closer....something to look forward to in the future...And what is nice to know is, it wasn't like the mystery in "Blow-Up", just people out for a good hike on a good hill....
More To Come.....
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 2:15 AM
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
agave flower followup
Here is a small update on the continuing growth of that Agave Flower I told you about....the Missile-Like looking stalk as it has developed so far....The flowers themselves won't be visible for a while yet....the picture above is about 15 days after the original pictures I posted....And this next one is a closer look at the stalk.....
What I love about this close-up is that you can see the tiny beginning of one of the flowers that will be forthcoming...it looks like a baby agave in this picture above....And then yesterday, here is a far away shot with the garden below and the city in the background, looking south....this flower stalk is growing slowly but surely, every day....
And below, coming in a little bit closer....but looking west this time....
I love those Aloe Flowers in the foreground....such a rich beautiful color...And one more coming in really close so you can see how the leaves of the stalk kind of wrap around each other...looking truly like an asparagus....
I will be documenting this wonderful flower-to-be as it continues to grow and amaze....it really does look like an asparagus and good enough to eat, don't you think....?
And last but not least, I love this next picture...everything in silouette....the aloes and in front of them, that stately stalk growing peacefully as the sun begins to go down in the west....
More To Come......
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 2:40 AM
Sunday, January 07, 2007
from meme to memoir, or something like that
This started out as a "book meme", but led to something else entirely....I guess what it maybe has led to is another possible small chapter in my possible book.... and it got me to thinking about the whole amazing phenomenon of "Six Degrees Of Separation", or even 'Two Degrees Of...', but first, here is what started all this....the so called 'book meme'.....INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Pick up the book you are currently reading.
2. Go to page 23.
3. The 5th sentence down plus the next three sentences...
4. Write them down in this post.
And here it is, from: "Female Brando, The legend Of Kim Stanley" by Jon Krampner....(about one of the greatest American Stage Actresses of the 20th Century....)
"Patty enrolled as a freshman at the University of New Mexico in August of 1942. The wartime UNM was much smaller than today's--one classmate of Kim's remembers it's enrollment being less than that of Albuquerque High School, Patty spent two and a half exciting years at the university as a drama major and frequent performer in student productions at Rodey Hall. She made important strides in honing her craft, then left without a degree in December of 1944. But that's not the story she later told.
Kim usually said she attended the University of Texas."
After doing this, I then read on someone else's blog that you were supposed to go to page 123, not 23....Well, I did that, too, and these are the five sentences on page 123....
"Kim looks worried, then her lips start to quiver in barely suppressed sobs. The corner of her mouth falls and her eyes look downcast. She turns away from Slim, leans on a support post for the porch and takes hold of it with both hands, absentmindedly stroking it, and she asks, 'What am I gonna do? What in the name of God am I...." Her voice breaks and she's momentarily silent. She starts crying, and it's the real thing---her entire body heaves."
This passage is a description of a performance that Kim Stanley gave on Studio One, a 'Golden Age' dramatic anthology series on television from the 1950's, of the Horton Foote play, "The Traveling Lady", which was where this play first premiered, on April 22, 1957, and which I saw, I am happy to say, and as always, was completely blown away by this woman's fantastic acting. Everything she did had a reality to it that one does not see very often, especially on television or films and not that often on the stage, either. There were two truly great great 'stage' actresses of the 20th Century that are always talked about in the same revered way by their peers, Laurette Taylor and Kim Stanley....across the board....these two women were spoken of, and rightly so, in the most glowing and moving terms....they both were both spectacularly gifted actresses, and I consider myself lucky to have had the privilege of seeing both of them, and in the case of Kim Stanley, I saw her many many times on the stage and on television and in the few films she made.
Going back to the first paragraph from the book....'Patty' was Kim Stanley's real given name---Patricia Beth Reid. 'Stanley' was a 'family' name....and from what I've read so far in this book, Kim Stanley told many different story's about her childhood...what was true and what was not can only be figured out by the people who actually knew her and 'experienced' whatever, with her.
I never actually met Kim Stanley during her lifetime, though our paths crossed in a second-hand sort of way...Six Degrees to Two Degrees, as mentioned above....I knew and know so very many people who were close to her and/or who worked with her and in fact, I knew one of her husbands, too. When I say I "knew" them...I'm talking about people I knew really really well...there were many other people who I knew more peripherally that worked with her or were friends of hers, but I'm not talking about them....
The wonderfully talented actress Norma Crane, who was my dear friend and who I have mentioned in the past a number of times on this blog, knew Kim Stanley very very well having understudied her in the William Inge play "Bus Stop" on Broadway...and when Norma died of cancer in 1973, at the young age of 43, she left whatever 'residuals' that might be forthcoming from her performances in films and television to Kim's daughter, Lisa Conway,
who's father, Curt Conway---a great teacher and a wonderful actor, too, and who was Kim Stanley's second husband---was the very first Moderator/Artistic Director of Theatre West when it began in 1962, (pictured at left...) and who remained in that position for the first 7 years of Theatre Wests' life, and who became a very good and close friend of mine....The next 'six degrees/two degrees' was John Conwell, who was a very dear friend for 35 or more years, and who had gone to college with Kim Stanley at the University Of New Mexico as mentioned in those first five lines above, and was once 'engaged' to her, long before I ever met him....(You see the Six/Two Degrees thing happening here....?)
John Conwell (Pictured here on the left in an early 'Twilight Zone') and his dear wife Maxine, were wonderfully fun bright people that I met through my director friend John Erman the very first year I moved to Los Angeles....and veering off here just slightly, he, John Conwell that is, bought the very first painting I ever ever sold to anyone. It was a collage of Marilyn Monroe that I had created in 1964...soon after that, John & Maxine had a party at their home and Ralph Roberts, Monroe's great great friend, confidant and masseur was there at the party...he had been terribly close to Marilyn Monroe and he came over to me with tears in his eyes and kneeled down close to where I was sitting and said, "You really knew her, didn't you...?" I was rather stunned because I had never met Monroe, ever...so I said no, I didn't know her...And he said, "How could you have done this beautiful piece and not have known her?" I was very moved by this..and just said, "Well, I felt I understood her on some deep level....". He then said..."I've seen a lot of things that people have created about Marilyn, but this is the most moving one I've ever seen...and the only one that I feel portrays her as she really was....you truly truly understood her." Well, needless to say, it was one of the greatest compliments I had ever received about something I had created---about a piece of my art I mean, and it remains so to this day....I was reminded of this when reading the book about Kim Stanley, because John Conwell and Kim Stanley were, as I mentioned above, engaged when they were both at UNM, (which is all in this book) and later, Marilyn Monroe would play the character of Cherie from "Bus Stop", the same character that Kim Stanley played on Broadway, before it became the film which Monroe starred in playing 'Cherie'. Some say it was Monroe's greatest performance on film of a serious nature. It certainly was a magnificent performance by Kim Stanley on the stage, and people also say that Monroe's performance in the film was based on Kim Stanley's performance.....
Miss Stanley was an actress that I admired greatly, having seen her in many plays in the early 1950's in New York, "The House Of Bernarda Alba", "Picnic", "Bus Stop" and "The Traveling Lady" to name a few...
The very first film that Kim Stanley was in was an independent film called "The Goddess", released in 1958. This original screenplay was by that genius of our time Paddy Chayfesky and it was Directed by John Cromwell. And playing opposite Kim Stanley in the early part of the film was a young and devastatingly handsome actor named Steven Hill...(Yes, the same Steven Hill from Law & Order fame)...He was as brilliant in his part as Lloyd Bridges was in his role....both of these men were exceptionally superb and brought such a weight to this film because of their talents....
Miss Stanley was a true revelation in this small independent and very special and moving film...I had never seen a performance like that on film before....she played a character who's emotions ran the gamut, as they say, and then some...it covered the period in 'Emily Ann Faulkners' life from about age 4 to her leaving the little southern town where she grew up and then going to Hollywood and becoming a movie star and then her downfall into drugs and drink....Now, this sounds so 'old hat' and has been done and done and done to death since 1958 in theatrical films and television films, etc.. BUT nothing like this film had ever been done up to that time...and it was really the story of this little girl who knew she had not been wanted and how that effected her whole life thereafter...
I was deeply affected by this film when I first saw it at a small 'Art House'---the 55th Street Playhouse in New York City. And by the way, more 'six/two degrees', Joyce Van Patten was in the film, too...(I didn't know her then...) as was Curt Conway and a truly stellar cast that included a very young Patty Duke and a brilliant actress named Betty Lou Holland who played 'Emily Ann's' mother and had to age from a very young rather racy and wild southern girl to a middle aged conservative 'Bible Thumping' religious zealot....a magnificent performance....In fact, all the actors were truly exceptional---Burt Brinkerhoff, Joan Copeland, Gerald Hiken, Joanne Linville, Elizabeth Wilson and my dear friend Werner Klemperer who played a film producer who was very sympathetic to the star played by KS, now called Rita Shawn....(this was before I met Werner, too)...
This film had such an impact on me that when the screenplay came out in book-form, I bought it and then later when I was in Lehman Engel's BMI Musical Workshop for professional composer/writers concentrating on writing original musicals for the theatre, 
I chose this film as the material I wanted to adapt into a musical theatre piece because this material spoke to me on such a very deep level and Lehman encouraged you to choose material you were passionate about....During that period of time I wrote 5 or 6 songs for the musical...both music and lyrics, one of which was a song for the character that Steven Hill played in the film---Emily Ann's first husband--- it is called "In My Father's House", and of all my songs, I think it is the best song I have ever written. I felt that I understood what this story was about and so I wanted to work on it by myself, writing music and lyrics and the book, too....by this time I had probably seen the film fifteen times or more....To this day I still feel that Kim Stanley's performance is the greatest film performance I have ever seen....and the writing is so beautiful and thoughtful and so 'right on the money'....Many people always thought that Chayfesky based this screenplay on Marilyn Monroe, but he has always said that it was not about Monroe at all, but was modeled on another famous actress of that time who was born in the south....Ava Gardner.
A few years after beginning work on this musical adaptation, I was at a small dinner party at David Shaw and Maxine Stuart's home and they knew I was working on this project and they had invited the writer Paddy Chayefsky to dinner that night as well, and sat me next to him...
I was pretty much tongue-tied and overwhelmed by this fabulously talented outspoken man...it was thrilling to meet him and talk with him about this film and many other films, too---"Network" which was a brilliant brilliant film about the television business, in which he pretty much predicted "reality television" (way before that term was even thought up, let alone used....) and where all the things he wrote about which at the time seemed hilariously funny and not remotely possible, have now all pretty much come true where television is concerned....There is much more to all this, but I am going to stop for now...I realized while writing this whole post, just how intertwined so many of the experiences of our lives are---well, at least this is so in my life....the Six Degrees/Two Degrees theory certainly was at work where Kim Stanley was concerned, and this first and only biography of her, is a great addition to my world and to all world of all those who have been deeply touched by her work....
The picture at the very top of this post is from a film called "Seance On A Wet Afternoon". (1964) Kim Stanley received an Academy Award nomination for her stunning performance in this film
More To Come....
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 12:22 AM
Thursday, January 04, 2007
the blog meme
I've seen this meme on a couple of blogs but the very first place I saw it was on Melli's blog....I thought it was interesting and decided to do it..so, here it is.....The Blog Meme... 1-Do you like the look and the contents of your blog? This is a rather strange question....I very very much like 'the look' of my blog...especially once I got this very personal blog design from Girliebits....I think Maddie, (from Girliebits) did a fabulous job....And as to the content, well, if I didn't like it I would not have posted it, would I? LOL!
2-Does your family know about your blog? Yes, they do...well, some of them do. It's not a secret by any means....but my brother only looked at it for the first time about two months ago and hasn't looked at it since!
3-Can you tell your friends about your blog? Yes, absolutely...I don't blog anonymously...couldn't even if I wanted to....so, I have told just about everybody that I talk to on a regular basis...and the rest, when we catch up by phone or whatever, I do share my blog with them, and will continue to do so, but not a whole lot of my "friend" friends read my blog.
4-Do you just read the blogs of those who comment on your blog? No, I read other blogs, too, but I do find it increasingly difficult to get around to all the blogs I want to read....there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day....I don't know how everyone does it...I mean, I would be on my computer for a good eight hours every day, and I an finding it hard to be on the computer as much as I am....
5-Did your blog positively affect your mind? I'm not sure I understand this question....? My blog has been a very important addition to my life and to my well being...so, if you mean has it affected my mind in a positive manner...why absolutely, without question, a resounding Yes!
6-What does the number of visitors to your blog mean? I haven't a clue to what any of that means! It is interesting to me to see how many people come by here, but I certainly don't check that out every day, at all...so, I cannot even venture a guess as to what it means in any way, shape or form.
7-Did you imagine how other bloggers look like? Lol! Who wrote this question? It isn't even close to correct english....Do you mean have I imagined what some bloggers look like? Yes, absolutely. And I am always wrong! (lol) If and when I eventually see a picture of someone that I have "imagined" I am totally wrong. I mean, I would have to say I have been 100% wrong every time out of the box....but it is still fun to do. I can't help myself, you know? It's like reading a book and imagining what each of the characters in the book might look like...I think it is human nature to do this though, so I forgive myself for being sooooo way off the mark!
8-Do you think blogging has any real benefit? I do, indeed. I think it is a very positive force in terms of communication, especially in that it is a world wide thing. I think it can have and does have, for me personally, tremendous benefits....aside from meeting wonderful people all over the world, which is a huge huge plus, it has me writing all the time and creating images with my camera that I might not have created if it weren't for my blog....And visiting other people is informative, friendly, moving, funny, and totally engaging in 'the now'....and this is all good!
9-Do you think that the blogesphere is a stand alone community separated from the real world? Not at all. In fact I think it is just the opposite of that....the blogworld is completely engaged in the ''real" world and involved in every day happenings that effect all of us weather they be political, economic, entertainment things or just plain wonderful silliness...the blogworld is filled with people dealing with life-death situations every hour of the day as well as the mundane...it's a great place to exchange ideas and to vent one's anger and passion, etc. All "real" world stuff, to me.
10-Do some political blogs scare you? Do you avoid them? Well, 'scare' would be too strong a word for me... if they are too far right and espouse dogma, I don't read those because they anger me, and I don't need any more anger in my life than is already there, especially about the situation we are in at the present time with Iraq, etc....I certainly avoid those type of political blogs, but I don't avoid political blogs in general, at all. In fact I find many of these blogs enlightening and helpful in understanding the way things are 'going down' as they say.
11-Do you think that criticizing your blog is useful? No, I don't. This is an on-line diary and in that respect, I'm writing about me and things that interest me which includes often showing pictures, etc. Someone may not like it or enjoy it...then don't read it. But to criticize it seems of no use to me whatsoever...I am still going to express the things I want to express the way I want to, so what is the point?
12-Have you ever thought about what would happen to your blog in case you died? No, I can't say that I have....maybe I should think about that given my age, but it has not occurred to me at all till you asked this question. Hmmmm.
13-Which blogger had the greatest impression on you? No one blogger has that distinction. Everybody that I read impresses me for one reason or another...and that makes each one very important to me and each one impresses me for different and varied reasons, I think there are some fantastic people out there in the blogesphere.
14-Which blogger do you think is the most similar to you?...I'm not sure I think any blogger I read is similar to me....part of what makes blogging so fascinating and enriching for me is how varied and unique everyone is...I am incredibly interested in people, ALL kinds of people, and most of the time it is not because they are similar to me, persay...I think I am interested in people who's lives are very different from mine yet we can appreciate those differences as well as the similarities, and certainly I see some similarities to many many bloggers I visit....but 'most similar to me'....no one comes to mind.
15-Name a song you want to listen to? The Beetles song, "The Fool On The Hill"...sung as a ballad!
I am not going to tag anyone....but if you feel like doing this one, do let me know....
More To Come.....
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 12:55 AM
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
the party - december 31st
Fabulous food began our evening....Above, Prosciutto and Melon being put together in the kitchen...Delicious...along with many other goodies...Warm Brie with Apricots.....Crudittee's with two different dips....Warm Vegetarian Quiche--passed amongst us....A chicken-curry with raisins-something-or-other that is so fantastic I must have it every year---served on crackers....Our main course was Beef Bourginion, with little Pearl Onions and served on a bed of Rice with Pea's and Pine Nuts, and a carrot Purree---(Oh My....), A Beautiful Salad, and little baby Croissants and butter....(I did not take any pictures of all this because I was too busy eating!)But....then came dessert---This always Scrumptious Lemon Cake..., and an Almond Roca Cake and some little Fruit Tarts....with Coffee---Decaf & Regular....
We sat around for a short while letting our dinner settle and sharing the usual fun things that we do before 'The White Elephant Game began....Above is Garrett Parks, (Betty's oldest son) and his daughter Maddie, (Betty's grandaughter) with his lovely wife Karen's arm just barely showing in the picture.
The wondefully talented and dear Director/Teacher, Mark Travis, caught by the camera as he was talking with Andy Parks, Betty's younger son....
And there is Andy, now. As you can see, everyone still has there napkins...they are new and go so beautifully with my new Holiday Tablecloth, here below....
And here, of course is Betty with her darling grandaughter Maddie, who will turn eleven years old on January 12th....! (Which just happens to be my mothers Birthday, too....and if my mother were still alive she would be turning 108 this January 12th, 2007...Good Lord!) 
I LOVE those beautiful Cobalt Crystal Blue Glasses....they were my mother's and after she died, I got the 6 tumbler's, like the one above, that were still 'in tact' in this pattern...three years later, I found another six of these precious glasses in this exact same pattern in a little junk-type Thrift shop in Cathedral City, near Palm Springs....talk about excited....! I don't think the Thrift Shop Proprieter knew how truly precious they were....Needless to say, I got them! Here is the BEST picture of the night....Betty & Maddie, together...the resemblence is remarkable, I think....
Both 'naturals' in front of that camera...Maddie certainly has the heritage of a performer...both her grandparents on one side "actors"....her mother a singer/actress, her father a musician/composer...her uncle, an actor....who knows what she will ultimately choose to do and be, but for now she is one very remarkable almost eleven year old little girl, who is now as tall as her dear grandmother.....!
These two lovely ladies below, are here at this yearly party and have been for years and years...
On the left of the picture, the beautiful Seemah Wilder, and on the right is the talented fabulous Jacquie Scott....I have known Jacquie for almost 46 years....Seemah for over 31 years....she is a "new" friend...(lol)...And on the other side if the table, Jacquie's dear husband Gene Lesser, smiling and happy with something the adorable Maddie had said....
And then, (in the picture below---another friend of 39 years) Dianne Travis, had come to sit down with those of us at the table, and she too was mesmerized by whatever it was that Maddie was saying....
And then, it was almost time for the fun to begin..."The White Elephant Game"...and you know the old expression, "one's man's treasure is another man's trash"....Well, we had a fabulous combination of both of these types of things in the game this year....Here are Andy Parks and his lovely dear wife Katy, getting ready to settle down for 'the game'....
And Garrett's beautiful wife Karen, who also happens to be Maddie's Momma, was sitting in one of the green chairs near the couch....
But somehow, everybody took up other positions at the start of the game....
One of the most popular "gifts"...a true treasure as it turned out was the DVD Set of Chaplin Films...It moved around the circle about 15 times before the game was over....
Maddie, "acting" for the camera...It was amazing how this DVD set moved around the circle, but in the end, the man who opened it, Andy Parks, got it back in the last 7 seconds of the game, having rolled a "seven" just before 'time' was called....
Here is one of the funniest 'gifts' that was in the game....The "Rude Talking" Parrot...
We certainly had a lot of laughs with him...what a funny potty mouth he has and this was one of Betty's Favorite 'gifts', and she luckily ended up with it...! Here he is with Mark Travis holding him up...He is interesting because when his switch is turned on, he is motion-activated....
So every time he was moved....he would say some terribly funny rude thing like..."Polly wants an Ef-ing Cracker..." LOL! And this was repeated a few times, in case you didn't hear it good, the first time...
There was another movable talking "toy"...It was the Flashing Santa...and he was quite amazing....
Flashing Santa spoke and warned you that he had something very special for you and then finally when he and you were ready, his coat opened and his pants dropped...(but not to worry, he had on red underwear....!) He was pretty hilarious, too....
And here to finish off the party feeling of the night...are a series of photo's where each person is wearing these flashing glasses which were in the game...First, Garret, then Maddie, and then Dianne....
I love that bow on Garrett's forhead....
Maddie looks quite serious like maybe she is pretending to be from another planet....
And the most festive of all, Dianne...with the color from the lights spilling onto her hair....Very Very Festive....
And so...another New Year's Eve, has bitten the dust....A wonderful fun evening with great good, great good friends who are 'family' to me, and ringing in the New Year, together, once again.....
So, Happy Happy New Year, to one and all....I didn't go to sleep till about 5am and so today I have been recouping....napping on and off, and doing just a few loads of wash....A great way to begin 2007! And here was the sunset on this very first day of 2007.....
More To Come, For Sure.....
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| posted by OldOldLady Of The Hills at 12:01 AM
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