A Dangerous Occupation

Maggie Smith has all the best lines in "Downton Abbey." Of course, they are timed for humor but often I find her wisdom particularly sublime. Last week, she quipped that she disagrees with thinking about one's life as it is a "dangerous occupation" in her experience: "No life appears rewarding if you think too much about it." Now, on to the season 4 finale.

Another Mystery on PBS

Captain and I watched the three episodes of "Foyle's War" this week. They are free throughout October on the PBS Masterpiece website. What a brain-bender, complete with political intrigue from the start of the Cold War and a British detective who's admired for his moral certitude. How fun to watch Michael Kitchens, whom I loved in "Out of Africa" and "Enchanted April."

Compare and Contrast

The twins are writing essays to show the correlating themes between Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 and The Odyssey. (This is my favorite part of ninth grade with Kolbe Academy.) At first the boys thought the poem too romantic, while Homer's tale is heroic and bloody. The word language is what gets me. Did Shakespeare know about Penelope's nightly un-weaving when he talks about "alteration"? Did Shakespeare pity the "tempests" sent by Poseidon to delay Odysseus for ten years at sea? Wasn't young Telemachos similar to "Time's fool" in his passionate threats and final revenge against the suitors? Our reward in homeschool for completing the book, exam, and essay is to watch the modern parody "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" I predict that everyone will like the fiddle music, too.

Waiting for the Spring

Another rainy day. I expect the chilly temps,
and
we needed the rain.
But I'm tired of this weather already.
If you are longing to see some sunshine,
the only cure is "Enchanted April" -- either the wonderful 1922 novel by Elizabeth van Arnim or the cinema version (which is currently available on NetFlix via "Watch Instantly").

Bob Calls Them Less Miserables

I did a little poking around on Google today. Happy to discover that I was "there" when history was in the making... The current edition of "Les Miserables" turned out to be the same music as in the original play. I actually expected Hollywood to change/corrupt it.

In 1978 Claude-Nichel Schonberg dedicated his attention to musicals when he and Alain Boublil conceived the idea for a stage musical version of Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables. The original production was staged at the Palais de Sports in Paris in 1980. In 1985 and 1987 respectively, the musical opened in London and on Broadway, to acclaim in each instance. The Broadway production was nominated for twelve Tony Awards in 1987 and won eight, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.

Since I was a slightly naive graduate student from rural Kansas living in London in 1988, I took advantage of as many student tickets rates as I could afford -- probably viewing 6-7 musicals and plays on the various London stages for $5-15/ticket. I didn't realize that it was only the second or third year of "Les Miserables" at Leicester Square. Since it was the most "posh and expensive" theater, I made reservations to take Dale there when he came over to visit me at Christmas time. It was brilliant on the stage :-) and I totally enjoyed the recent movie-musical with girlfriends this weekend too. Here's some eye candy from the Leicester premier of the movie.

Heroics at Home

School resumed last week, and it was a bit too overwhelming for me to write any blogs. Meggar is back to Truman, Dorito is back to Hillyard half days and doing three courses for dual credit at Missouri Western. He is also receiving many scholarship offers in mail. Some larger than his sister received from the same school?! Very exciting and confusing about which college decision to make. The twins are preparing for many January deadlines: Poetry Out Loud contest, Science Fair, March for Life, and the Catholic Scouting emblem submission. And they are without a head coach for the rest of the season, so gathering information about other teams.

Happily, this weekend was not full of travel for hockey. They had "home" games in KC. Their violin teacher came:




and their hero strength and conditioning coach came:





and Scout friends came (Jamison, Ben, and Justin)
and Schmidlings (Terry and Kathy).



Lucas, Chris, Adam, Jacob, and Dorito had a fun time together before Adam goes back to college.

Megan and I watched last Sunday's season 3 premier of "Downton Abbey" at Constance's place. She had full tea service set out and were were enchanted all the way through. Captain and I are looking forward to tonight's episode two to take our minds off all the busyness.

Movie is Extravagant

Meggar and I went with Caroline to see "Anna Karenina" at the artsy theatre in Westport this afternoon. WOW--we were amazed how good it was! The theatricals were CLEVER--such staging and interactions were carried out in such a way that was unexpected. The script also stayed very true to the book, which I highly approve of.

There were curious (?) Russian accents as well as the fun of seeing old favorites among the cast. The gowns and hats and furs and jewelry were opulent. The wallpaper and chandeliers and horses and trains filled the entire stage or screen. I have always disliked Keira Knightley, so she was actually a good choice for the "villainess" for this drama.

Best of all, I loved the "Stiva Smile" by MacFadyen.

Queen's Jubilee Craft at Book Club

 I devised a tea bag craft  as a commemorative book mark in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. The celebrations in Britain have already begun in advance of her 60th anniversary on the throne June 3, 2012.
There was an ornament in the Jane Austen Centre gift shoppe online, plus I wanted to use some postage stamps from my pen pals in England (I have kept all of the letters since 1989)...

So I imagined a felt-stylized tea bag with a crown on the front and a Union Jack on the back, and we attached the postage stamps with embroidery flass to represent the tag. Such fun results! Instead of diamonds, we used pretty buttons.

This went well with our book club discussion of the Scottish spy novel "The Thirty-Nine Steps" by John Buchan. He was one of the earliest "man-on-the-run-plot" writers with plenty of double backs, twists, and improbable turns. Hitchcock turned it into a famous movie (1935) and borrowed many of Buchan plot devices for other films.

Little Dorrit

There is a new series on PBS's website called "Little Dorrit" about the youngest girl of family whose father is in debtor's prison in 1820s. The book by Charles Dickens is said to be fairly autobiographical. Captain and I have enjoyed the first two episodes! Andrew Davies is a fairly good screenwriter (i.e. Pride and Prejudice 1995 and Sense and Sensibility 2008). And the actors make sure to preserve his reputation!

Movies to Mention

Our whole family enjoyed a couple of movies over the holidays, taking advantage of Meggar being home. We adored "Sherlock Holmes II" and only Captain had never seen the first one. It was clever and historical and witty. It also gave me a chance to tell about my own visit to 201 Baker Street (fictional home of Sherlock Holmes and now a bank location) back in 1989 college days.
Secondly, we watched "Courageous" at the cheap theatre (finally). A worthwhile message about the importance of fatherhood to our modern culture. Of better quality than its predecessor ("Fireproof"). Kind of preaching to the choir since we are blessed with a virtuous father at the head of our family.
Lastly, Captain and I went to watch "Tree of Life" at the Bridgewater's home today. It is a beautiful and thoughtful movie about a 1950s father. I enjoyed the Focus on the Family review here.

Downton Abbey - Part 2

A year later, we are finally able to watch Part 2 of the "Downton Abbey" series on PBS. Captain and I thought the first episode was better than last year's! And it's free online to watch.

Maddening Increase

Can we blame NetFlix for wanting to make more money?  I was shocked about their proposal to double the monthly cost of my subscription (unlimited streaming plus 1 DVD at a time all month).  So we had to choose, and we are sticking with internet streaming.  Most of the movies we want eventually show up as "Watch Instantly" choices.  I prefer the non-new releases, classics, and indy films anyway.  Plus, I figure we can go to Red Box seven times per month if we need a quick movie fix and still pay less than the new higher rates for NetFlix.

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Went to see this movie a couple weeks ago when Megan was home.

We always read "the book" before we go see "the movie."  In this case, we had read and reread the book every time there was a 1st grader in our homeschool, so we were looking forward to Mr. Popper's Penguins all summer.  But the modern movie adaptation made it hard to recognize the 1938 book (written at the end of the Great Depression). It won the Newbery Honor Medal and was illustrated by Robert Lawson!  The tale was about turning lemons into lemonade, following your childhood dreams, and not being afraid to like geography in the midst of a prejudiced, small town.  The movie, however, is about a divorced father trying to look cool on custody weekends. The penguins eventually melt his icy Park Avenue heart and help him win back his kids, his wife, and the quaint restaurant of his childhood.  The humor is Jim Carrey style (goofy gags), but the negative content is surprisingly closer to a G rating than many PG movies these days.  It's not the beloved story of our homeschool treasury, but it was worth a couple of laughs at the $2 theater.

Update for July

July 1~Going to Wichita for holiday weekend: Gr. Gerald's cookout, Uncle Carey's cookout, and All-Star Sports for lazer tag.
July 2~Baby shower for Clint and Kathryn at Wichita Art Museum, with special exhibit of Mary Cassatt sketches.
July 3~Cook-out at Carpenter's house with fireworks.
July 4~Practically had the CC pool to ourselves today.
July 5~Driveway decorated with names written in smoke-bomb colors!
July 6~iPads invade our house.  New apps to download.
July 7~Garage sale at Alison's neighborhood.
July 8~New haircut for Me.  Meggar's idea. Boys agreed.
July 9~Waiting for "Mr. Popper's Penguins" at theatre.
July 10~Meggar goes to Greek Reunion in Kirksville.
July 11~The "Fiddlers Three" play Civil War songs for kids at Pony Express Camp.
July 12~My Scouts get too hot at Camp Geiger? More slushies!
July 13~Dorito is in charge of building the fire for the main Council Ring!  He is proud to be promoted to "Fire Builder" in Mic-o-Say.

July 14~Bastille Day in France.  La Quartorze Juillet.  We celebrated with French food at Cafe de Amis with our favorite friends, a classy mother-daughter duo.
July 15~Crepes at home are yummy with lots of Nutella

July 16~Meggar's Birthday with Boeuf Bourguignon (after I burned off the brandy and almost my eyebrows).  Eaten lovingly with the Bridgewaters.










July 17~Three-course fondue party for Meggar and 10 friends=hugely SUCCESSFUL candle-lit affair!
July 18~Vera Bradley makes the best birthday presents for Meggar (especially with 20% off birthday coupon in the mail).
July 19~Book Club = "The Painted Veil"

July 20~Visit from our German friends, the Fechner family, who lived here 10 years ago before transferring to Paris and Vienna with Boehringer.  Everyone wants to be a cowboy at the Pony Express Museum!  Later we enjoyed an orange-chocolate torte they brought us from Cafe Central!  I feel like a diplomat.
July 21~Stopping in Minnesota for swimming break at the lake with Alyssa. And a party with the girls Cross Country team.
July 22~Driving to North Shores for twins' hockey.
July 23~Golfing right behind our hotel.  Mom drove the cart. Twins tied at 48.
July 24~Drove straight home (10 hours) with only two stops.
July 25~Meggar leaves for Connecticut to babysit Jack and Alyssa for two weeks at the beach! Lucky girl!
July 26~Book club watched 2006 movie "The Painted Veil."
July 27~Captain going to Scotland for work/golfing trip.

July 28~Captain enjoys Skype and shows us his room in a 16th century castle.
July 29~Dorito boards the train at Union Station bound for Philmont Scout Ranch, New Mexico.  They applied two years in advance to enjoy a full two weeks of hiking and backpacking in the mountains.  Andrew Schneider warns us he might talk in his sleep.
July 30~Took Oleg with twins to T-Bones game.  Thanks to Aunt Kathy for free tickets!
July 31~"Willy Wonka" musical with Zachary and twins.  Schieber children shine.

Easter Blessings and Enchantments

Having Meggar back in our family circle brought such joy to everyone!  Saturday, she helped Grandma and Ashlan with shopping. She also studied quite a bit for her upcoming Biology final.  Yesterday, she and the boys watched 8 episodes of "White Collar" from NetFlix while indulging in candy, junk food, and Dr. Pepper (which they had given it up for Lent).  They also sat in the hot tub telling secrets until well past their bedtimes.

Today, she was so happy to see her friends come for our tea-party luncheon.  We served the requisite chicken salad on china plates along with potato-leek soup, muffins, 3-bean salad, jell-o salad, strawberries with cream, and carrot cake.  I let myself indulge in three strong cups of tea (PG Tips) since it was a dreary day.  Our discussions ran from books to movies back to books and Jane Austen and gardening and college and LIFE.  Meggar even managed a stiff upper lip when telling how her date ditched her just 5 days before the AGD formal.  See what I mean?  It's all just a normal LIFE.  Good to have a talkative, lady-like, and intellectual daughter.

Then we girls settled in for the movie "Enchanted April."  Traditionally, we watch it every year on a rainy day in April and dream of the smells of wisteria in Italy.

Another Masterpiece

Captain has become hooked on Masterpiece Theater with me.  Would you believe that I saw “Captain Wentworth” last week?  He played Hannay in “The 39 Steps.”  The spy-themed movie-ette is currently showing for a limited time and you can watch instantly here.  Because it is only 1 hour and 23 minutes long, it’s a perfect evening break from your routine.  My husband and I thought it was much better than “Any Human Heart,” which was last month’s free installment.  Of course, we are eager to see “Upstairs Downstairs,” which starts today.  I didn’t realize the Masterpiece schedule was changing so regularly, and I wanted to make sure my blog friends were also having the benefit of watching these free classics!  Plus Kristen pointed out the sweepstakes at PBS to win a trip to the UK, which I have entered again and again...

Brevity is the Soul of Wit

I admire Emma Thompson so when NetFlix recommended a movie where she had a starring role, I put it in my queue.  "Wit" is almost a monologue, which Thompson accomplishes seamlessly.  The heroine has stage IV ovarian cancer and has agreed to treatment with an experimental drug combination.  Not a cheerful movie plot. But Vivian Bearing is interesting to me because she is an English literature professor, who teaches a tough course (succinct) using her intense knowledge of the metaphysical poetry of John Donne, especially the Holy Sonnets.  She thinks about things deeply, but keeps a fresh sense of humor full of word play.  It was also interesting to me as I am far removed from my own cancer treatment (coming up on 7th anniversary).  There is a touching scene at the end with "The Runaway Bunny" and her former graduate advisor.  "It has always been my custom to treat words with respect."

Save the Last Dance for Me

A surprising lack of hockey games this weekend allowed Captain and I to slip out and attend the Seminarian Benefit/Valentine Dance at our parish.  We enjoyed the chance to dress up, eat slowly, and step out on the dance floor.  The timing was so Providential as my hubby is going away to jet school tomorrow.  Refresher training is always a week-long, annual cramp in our schedule.  But this year, Captain is getting a new type rating for a different aircraft, which requires he be gone for 21 straight days.  He doesn't relish the idea of that much studying, and I don't look forward to it on the home front either.  But the dancing earned him big brownie points!  Plus last night's comment that he would like to watch more Masterpiece Theatre with me (following our successful completion of "Downton Abbey.")  Music to my ears!

"TrueGrit" Movie Based on a Book

Captain's affinity for John Wayne movies has infused our home with a love of cowboy movies, and we own quite a collection.  Of course, my boys wanted to see "True Grit" during this hockey weekend, and it was fun to go altogether. Jeff Bridges was a good "Rooster" and Matt Damon was surprisingly good as his "side-kick" LaBoeuf. I just learned that the double-barreled success of this Coen brother's remake must be attributed to the enduring literary brilliance of an 1968 novelist.  I won't promise to read the book by Charles Portis like Mr. Weissand recommends, but it is another proof that the book is always better than the movie.  And they both make a timely reference for us during this 150th year since the Civil War.

British Actor is a Winner

On Sunday afternoon, I went with a friend to see "The King's Speech" about King George VI and his stammering problem.  Enjoyed it immensely! By Sunday night, I learned that Colin Firth was nominated for best actor, and yesterday's email headlines confirmed that he won the Golden Globe award for his dramatic portrayal.  Firth is still Mr. Darcy to me, and I love that Lizzy was "admiring him" in this film, as she played Mrs. Logue.  (She was also great in "Possession.")  As I am enthralled by history and British literature, this plot captivated me with its Shakespeare recitations and WWII news reels.  Moreover, it was a touching tale about families, difficult relationships, and duty if not forgiveness.  Of course, it was more fully appreciated since I'd already seen "Bertie and Elizabeth," a 2002 film which sheds more light upon his romance and marriage, and the politics of his brother's ascent and descent from the throne.