Another Bend in the Road

It always amazes me when life takes me down a different path.  There have been so many paths that I've walked in this lifetime.  When I was younger I hated change.  Now it just seems that I am resigned to having multiple changes in my life.

Luckily the mind has a way of forgetting all the bad things and just remembering the wonderful things.  After all....the mind was created by the most supreme being....why would it be anything else?

Although exhausting...this is a welcome bend in the road for me.  It is filled with possibilities and very friendly people.  I have never seen so many happy people all gathered together.  Everyone is so warm and accepting...this is so unusual.  It's been so easy for me to transition into this change.

And to think that it was preceded with literally a whole lot of shitty mess.  Those close to me will laugh about the irony of it all.  Yet to come out smelling like a rose is the way to go.

Thank you God for your wisdom and for paving the way for me to find the diamond mine at this time in my life.  Wow....I am in awe!  Color me happy!

Simple Pleasures

I think if anything....I am a person who just loves simple pleasures.  Enjoying simple pleasures to me means these are not costly and therefore are more abundant.

Take for instance the company of family or good friends.  Even if it is just a phone call asking how are you doing today?  That's simple right....and it just brightens your day.

Sharing a meal with family or friends is great too....especially when you have a theme to have the most... on the cheap.  That is so much fun for me.  Being a senior has its advantages here in Las Vegas.

Watching movies is another one of my favorite simple pleasures and thanks to the internet one can escape huge monthly cable fees.

Probably the greatest pleasure of all is tracking down these simple pleasures.  A coupon here....a great discount sale there.....so much fun.

Recently I happened upon this wonderful program that pays me whenever I shop.  It can also pay me when my friends and family shop.....AND it helps merchants and at the same time a certain amount of what I spend goes towards charity.  In this economy that is considered a Win-Win-Win.

Thank God for simple pleasures....I feel like the Cheshire cat licking my chops!  

Religion

In my lifetime I have experienced several different religions....all for the purpose of achieving enlightenment, clarity, purpose and understanding.

My earliest experiences have been in the Catholic religion.  I can remember going to catechism classes after school during the week, helping to clean the church on Saturdays and of course attending mass on Sundays.  Back then all of the masses were in Latin and most of the time the priest's back faced the congregation. 

Before getting married we had to go to 6 weeks of counseling with the Monsignor because my fiancee was not Catholic, and my matron of honor had been excommunicated because she was divorced. 

Then when I got divorced I was told that if I wanted to get married again I would need the approval of my ex-husband.  That was when I realized that this religion was not for me.

So I embarked on Nichiren Shoshu (the religion that Tina Turner got into after her divorce from Ike) but realized that everything I was chanting was in Japanese and I didn't understand what I was chanting.

My next encounter was Southern Baptist in the Midwest and was even baptised when I was in my 30's.  Of course my kids and I were the only Asians in the congregation....but I must admit they had quite a wonderful fellowship full of support for us....And we had a lot of fun with activities several days a week.  We got to study the Bible for the first time.  But alas, when we moved back to Hawaii we never quite found the Southern feel of the Baptist religion. 

In college I took a religion class and got to study about the Jewish, Christian and Buddhism religions.  Buddhism appealed to me and I attended a Buddhist ceremony that was in a former Catholic church.  But alas....I moved again.

So...long story short.....what I eventually came to realize is that God is within us all.  We are ALL his children.  We will ALL sit next to him in the hereafter.  Whether we live just one life or we are reincarnated (as so many religions believe)....we will all be at God's side.  Religion is not meant to be separate.  We are all his children.  We are ONE!

Now....getting off my "pulpit".....what I loved most about going to church was the music.  There are so many uplifting hymns that are my favorite....and here are some....

Ave Maria sung by Josh Groban and the skater is none other than Johnny Weir a medalist and national champion.....beautiful combination!

 

Just a Closer Walk with Thee sung by Sara Evans.  Now here is a winning combination as well because I am a huge fan of Patsy Cline...and I lived in Missouri too!

Now who can forget the song sung by Mahalia Jackson in the movie Imitation of Life starring Lana Turner, Sandra Dee, John Gavin, Susan Kohner, Juanita Moore...oh and in case you missed it....Troy Donahue.  That movie is a real tear jerker!



Susan Boyle who became famous after she appeared on Britain's Got Talent show when she sang I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables sings Amazing Grace another one of my favorites.



Tennessee Ernie Ford was a regular on TV when I was growing up.  Here he sings several hymns that are classic. 

Of course the song that he sang that I remember most is....16 Tons though not considered a hymn it was so popular back in the 50's I just had to mention it here.



This next song I've recently covered...but it is worth covering again.  The voice is Mario Lanza singing I'll Walk with God from the movie Student Prince.  

Now I am sure that there are more hymns that are your favorites....and what I enjoy most is the fun watching choirs sing....this next song is called God is Trying to Tell You Something.  I first heard it in the movie The Color Purple. 



Or how about the songs Whitney Houston sang in the movie...

The Preacher's Wife.  The music moves you and uplifts the soul! 



Anything that doesn't hurt anyone and makes you happy....well that's what it is all about....yes?





Jane Eyre





Who can deny the great film Jane Eyre starring Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine....and a very young and beautiful Elizabeth Taylor as her friend Helen who dies of pneumonia in the movie.  My favorite part of the movie was when Orson Welles kept calling Jane....Jane.....Jane.  Well I couldn't find that particular clip...but here is the ending.



Then in comes Timothy Dalton's version of Edward Rochester....I loved this version too.  Dalton has...in my opinion....a bit more sex appeal and is more mischevious in his portrayal of the part.

If memory serves me right...Dalton also acted as James Bond in The Living Daylights...I don't believe that I saw that particular sequel of the Bond movies....I'll certainly make a point to see it though.

In my opinion the romance in the Welles version was lacking, which might be attributed to the difference in the time when the movies were filmed.  The Welles version dated back to 1943...while the Dalton version was filmed in 1983.  Forty years can certainly make a huge difference in this Charlotte Bronte classic.

However no one can deny the star power of Joan Fontaine in her depiction of Jane.  She had the perfect demeanor for the part of Jane.  Margaret O'Brien's role as Adele showed her skill of acting once again.  Also not to be forgotten is the part Agnes Moorhead played as Jane's evil aunt.

The only "bone I have to pick" is the deformity of Dalton's face after the fire at Thornfield.  They turned handsome into hideous.  See for yourself.

  



But like I've always said...all's well that ends well....because watching these movies was quite enjoyable.

Just today I was reading about an actor called Austin Nichols.  He has such a strong interest in cinema that he keeps a log of every film he sees.  He is said to watch at least 20 movies a week.  Now that is what I call passion! 

Let's see....20 movies per week at about roughly 2-1/2 hours each comes to 50 hours a week.  I'm pretty sure that I have him beat.  Oddly enough I have to stop myself from keeping a log of all the movies that I watch....that much info I can do without. 

Now I can truly say that I have been criticized for the amount of time I spend watching movies....but for me that is fun and I'm am not so addicted that I neglect everything else that is important to me. 



I salute Austin Nichols for being a comrade to the lifestyle!  Oh...BTW he is an actor who appeared in the CW series One Tree Hill.   










Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is a well known novel written by Jane Austen back in 1813.  This is my favorite among her other works which include Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park and Emma.

Now...personally....if there is a movie version of novels...I would prefer that to reading.  It takes me a long time to read a book...while a movie runs me about 2+hours.  When I was in elementary school it was the Classic Comics that got me through most of the classics. 

However....I have read 2 classic books from cover to cover....Les Miserables by Victor Hugo in 1862 and Lorna Doone by Richard Doddridge Blackmore in 1869.  Believe me, I loved both experiences.  But like some.....I want immediate gratification and nothing delivers like the movies because one is instantly transported into another world with the scenery, costumes and characters.

My grandchildren would prefer the written word to movies and that is so great!  But not for me.

Anyway, back to the topic on hand.  Pride and Prejudice.  There have been many film and TV versions of this novel, however my favorite was the 2005 film version starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland. 



The entrance of Mr. Darcy (Macfadyen) and Mr. Bingley (Simon Woods) and subsequent introduction of Elizabeth (Knightley) and Jane (Rosamund Pike) along with their 2 other sisters. 

Mr. Darcy while appearing as stand offish is actually very shy and awkward especially in his pursuit of Elizabeth.  But believe me...he does have his moments in the film. 

There are interesting backstories from this film as well.  The first is that Pike and Woods used to be in a relationship prior to the filming of this movie.  Secondly, Knightley and Rupert Friend who portrayed Mr. George Wickham (Darcy's enemy) began a relationship as a result of the film.  Lastly, Woods' haircolor prior to the filming was very blonde but was later dyed to be like an orangey redhead for the film....well it never was able to go back to the original blonde after his hair grew out.

The proposal by Mr. Darcy was awkward to say the least, but Elizabeth's rejection was full of tension, innuendo and wanting....brilliant!

 

Now here are a number of versions of the film and it also includes scenes from the Indian version called Bride and Prejudice... another favorite of mine, starring Aishwarya Rai and Martin Henderson.  I'm sure that I will have another blog about that movie....stay tuned.





Knightley's description of the movie and Macfadyn described as a "bloke".... with her English accent....was classic....if you know what I mean.







Marilyn Monroe

Choosing a picture of Marilyn to feature on this blog was not an easy feat.  Although she only lived till the age of 36, her pictures reflect the metamorphosis she went through within a short period of time.....her life.

What stands out for me is the underlying innocence on screen that cloaked the torment she was experiencing in real life. 

Today she is considered to be a cultural icon as well as a quintessential sex symbol.  But she was more than that....she was a model, an actress and a singer.

Marilyn had a tough childhood.  It's not clear who her father was...she lived with foster parents....but at the age of 7, Marilyn was stuffed into a duffel bag by her birth mother who experienced psychotic episodes.  Marilyn became a ward of the state and her guardian was Grace McKee.  When Grace married....Marilyn was sent to an orphanage followed by a succession of foster homes. 

While there were offers of adoption, Grace would have none of it....eventually, she moved back in with Grace and her husband.  There is speculation that Grace's husband attempted many times to sexually molest Marilyn so she was sent to live in California with Grace's great aunt.  While there Marilyn was molested by one of the sons. 

In order to prevent being returned to the orphanage, Marilyn married a neighbor at a very young age.  His name was James Dougherty.  In her short lifetime she was also married to Joe DiMaggio, a baseball center fielder for the New York Yankees, in 1954.  In 1956 she married Arthur Miller, a playwright. 

It is well known that Marilyn caused delays whenever filming a movie.  It is said that these delays had contributed to the death of screen legend Clark Gable when they were shooting the movie The Misfits. 

Another famous scandal was disclosed when Marilyn sang Happy Birthday in the White House to President John F. Kennedy.  There are rumours linking her involvement with not only the President, but with his brother Robert as well. 

After Marilyn's death, Joe DiMaggio claimed her body and arranged her funeral.  For 20 years he had a half dozen roses delivered to her crypt 3 times a week. 

What is memorable of Marilyn is her legacy in films.  I just want to touch on my favorites and also some of her more notable films....

In 1953 she acted in Niagara, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and How to Marry a Millionaire. 

In 1954 it was River of No Return and There's No Business Like Show Business. 

In 1955 it was Seven Year Itch.

In 1956...there was Bus Stop.

1957 brought The Prince and the Showgirl.

1959....Some Like It Hot

1960....Let's Make Love

1961....The Misfits

1962...Something's Got to Give

Now as the the photo of Marilyn.....I picked this one....It is a pop art image of Marilyn by Andy Warhol. 

He had several versions of this image like the Marilyn Diptych...

It had 50 images of her all based on a single publicity photograph for the film Niagara.  The 25 pictures on the left side of the diptych (2 sided....I learned that in Art History classes....FYI a triptych....yup you guessed it...is 3 sided) are brightly colored, while the 25 on the right are in black and white.  It has been suggested that the relation between the left side of the canvas and the right side of the canvas portrays the relation between her life and death. 

The reason I picked the Andy Warhol image is because regular photo shots just didn't do her justice, in my opinion.  Warhol's image speaks of her fame, her celebrity-ness.....not merely her sensuality. 

Of course there are those that remember this next one.....

 

Well...it is said that scene from Seven Year Itch destroyed her marriage to Joe DiMaggio. 

The last clip I want to leave you with is this interview with Susan Strasberg, the daughter of Marilyn's acting coach, Lee Strasberg.

Don't we all!

Calamity Jane

Doris Day and Howard Keel acted in the movie entitled Calamity Jane, released in 1953.  I loved watching her movies....but this one in particular is my favorite.

The story is about the well known Martha Jane Canary, a frontierswoman who marries Wild Bill Hickok. 

The music and dancing is wonderful throughout the film.  The following clip is at the beginning of the movie.

The men in the saloon got upset when they find out that the performer is a man disguised as a woman....

This next clip shows Doris Day with Howard Keel who plays Wild Bill Hickok.  Their banter back and forth is really the best part of the movie. In this scene she gets the idea to go to Chicago to bring back the actress every guy in town has fallen in love with....Adelaide Adams.   Howard suggests that she observe how the women there dress more like a lady.

She brings back a beautiful woman but not the right one.  She brings back Adelaide's maid.....Katie.  The man that Calamity loves...the Lieutenant....falls for the woman she brings back...and so does Hickok.   I've always loved Howard Keel movies too.

Hickok makes a bet with Calamity that if she brings back Adelaide Adams, he will show up as a squaw carrying a papoose, then gets angry with Calamity when he finds out that she brought back the wrong woman. He lassoes Calamity and ties her up. 

 

But here are the songs that I like....

This next song is one of my favorites from the movie.....it received an Academy Award for Best Original Song and reached number 1 on the Billboard and Cashbox charts in 1954.  

But all's well that ends well at the end of this movie....Calamity marries Bill Hickok and the Lieutenant marries Katie.  Here is Doris Day talking about how much fun she had making this movie.

Finally....here are the trailers for the movie...



I hope you enjoyed this!

Gordon MacRae

Gordon MacRae was a singer and actor.  He appeared in such great musicals from Rogers and Hammerstein....such as Carousel (1956) and Oklahoma (1955) with Shirley Jones.

But I especially loved the movies he co-starred with Doris Day....called By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953) and On Moonlight Bay (1951). 

My mom and I went to see Gordon MacRae perform at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.  Unfortunately, he was so drunk people booed him and walked out because he couldn't perform. 

It was quite a shock for me because I was such a fan of his.  But life happens.  I don't know why....but we stayed until someone took him off the stage.  But he left such a legacy of songs and movies.....that I won't ever forget how great he was.

Now besides the above clips....there were 2 other favorites of mine that were in the movie Oklahoma... here they are.....

Gloria Grahame played Ado Annie in the movie.  Normally dubbed as a film noir siren, she was viewed by some critics to be a miscast as an ignorant country lass in a musical.  Additionally, her concern over the appearance of her upper lip led her to plastic surgery and dental operations that caused visible scarring and ultimately rendered the lip largely immobile because of nerve damage, which also affected her speech.

Gene Nelson who played Will Parker in the movie is such a talented dancer.  Unfortunately the best part of the previous clip is missing...the dancing he did with the lasso.  I can't believe that there isn't a YouTube video of that.  I guess you will have to rent the movie to experience it!

Easter Parade

Ann Miller was an American dancer, singer and actress.  What I remember her in... was the film Easter Parade with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland along with Peter Lawford (President John F. Kennedy's brother-in-law) who actually falls for Judy in the movie....
 

To summarize the plot, Astaire and Miller are dance partners when suddenly she gets an offer to star in her own show and leaves Astaire who vows that he can find just about anyone off the street to replace her.  You be the judge...here he is with Ann...

In comes Judy who doesn't even know which foot is the left one and who can't get men to take a second look at her while walking down Fifth Avenue so she makes this face and gets that second look. 



Astaire tries to duplicate the act he had with Miller until he realizes with Judy there is so much more they can do together.  The result is this clip....

Miller has her opening night and it is a smash...this next clip shows how great her talent really is....

This next portion of the movie shows the magazine covers made popular back in the day.....I enjoyed this sequence...but at the end Miller who is jealous of the success of her former partner with Judy decides to make Judy envy her.

But all's well that ends well....when Judy buys a hat for Fred to wear in the Easter Parade.

This was a wonderful movie and was the highest grossing musical back in 1948 and won the Academy Award for Best Original Music Score.