Gnarly! Like, Fer Sure!

Raybeard wrote a post about the removal of Gone with the Wind from HBO Max. I’m not going to repeat what he wrote. Here’s the link if you would like to read it. I’m not even going to comment on the movie because honestly, I’ve never watched it. Nor have I read the book. I have no interest in them. But it did get me to thinking.

For context: I hit my teens in the late 70s. I grew up in an all-white area in the USA mid-west Bible Belt. I was a typical kid. I drank a little, I smoked occasionally, I had a great group of friends. We “cruised” on Friday and Saturday nights, bowled, played arcade games, and went to the movie theater. Although I considered myself to be the "hippy" of the group, interested in the women's movement and civil rights, I'm not sure my awareness of the wider world came until college. (I'm pretty sure it wasn't until college that I added gay rights to that list, simply because I didn't know.) 

Fast forward to 2020. About two and a half months ago we fired up the VHS player and started rewatching some old Dr. Who we had. And then we dug through our collection and continued watching these old movies that we thought were brilliant back in the 80s and 90s. Alien and The Thing and Jurassic Park. And two weeks ago, we dug out some teen movies from the 80s. Valley Girl, Sweet Sixteen, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. There were parts I still thought were funny, but oh, my, have they not aged well.

Would I recommend them to a young person today? Not unless they asked specifically for an example of something problematic. But I think they’re important for that very reason. The things I didn’t notice when I was 20 that jump out at me now show me that I’ve grown, that I’ve paid attention and become a better person. And some movies, like Gone with the Wind, show a snapshot of our history. We need to have that, something tangible that we can judge ourselves on. It’s one thing for me to tell my kids and the young people I work with “this is how it was when I was your age” but it’s another for them to see it, to hopefully learn something about my generation from it. If nothing else, it’s a place to start a discussion.

One thing that surprised me as we’ve been doing our nostalgia viewing—WKRP in Cincinnati actually held up pretty well. There are a few episodes that weren’t so great, but it’s amazing how many issues that were featured on that show are relevant once again. If anyone doesn’t believe the current administration hasn’t pushed us back decades, I think the proof is in the viewing!

Desktop Dump 2

The Hobbit

We went to see The Hobbit yesterday. I have some vacation days I have to take or lose, so naturally, not being a workaholic, I'm enjoying a few days of not providing customer service! "The Hobbit" was my first foray into the world of Fantasy/Sci-Fi. I was in 7th grade and my Social Studies teacher was a big fan who was excited about the Rankin/Bass cartoon TV broadcast and encouraged us to watch it. I did, then read the book. I followed that with "The Lord of the Rings", and immediately, upon finishing, re-read it. (I was only 13, after-all, and some of it didn't make sense to me until I read it the second time!) I've been excited about seeing this film and very curious to see Martin Freeman as Bilbo. I love him as Arther Dent and John Watson, but this is such a different character. He didn't disappoint! When you love a book as much as I have loved these books it makes one a bit nervous to see what someone else's vision is going to be. I think one thing I  passionately hoped would be included in the movie was the opening line of the book--"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." Not only was it included, but Jackson included the first whole paragraph. I was ecstatic! The movie is almost 3 hours long. And there are two more episodes to go--that's alot of material for what is essentially a kids book! I knew, just from seeing "The Lord of the Rings" that Jackson would pad it out with back-ground info--stuff not from this particular book, but from the indexes and The Silmarillion. Some is inferred--stuff Tolkien mentioned but never actually wrote about. I had read so much about  how the 3D version was "like riding a roller coaster" but decided to pay the extra and see it in 3D. I'm so glad we did. Maybe, if we had seen it in a bigger theater with more advanced equipment we would have experienced the vertigo that had been mentioned  but we didn't experience any of that. The background shots were breath-taking. I will say the only thing I might criticize is what I found to be an overuse of CGed goblins. I think Jackson's use of costumed actors in the LOTR movies was better. I find the use of too much CG distracting. I hate to have to wait a year to see the next chapter, but at the same time I've missed having Harry Potter to look forward to in mid-winter. Now, at least for the next two years, I have a movie to look forward to again!

Vampire Party

The husband used to make fun of me because I don't like slasher/horror movies, but I've got a collection of Vampire books and I like Vampire movies. I really can't answer him why. I just have--going back to High School. Maybe before. So I guess the rest of the world has finally caught up with me!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Teaser Trailer [HD] 2012

I can't wait! Why does it have to be a whole year away?

Song of the Day! Hugo - 99 Problems

The video is a bit weird, but love the song! We went and saw Fright Night Saturday. I wasn't really interested in seeing it until my son pointed out that David Tennant was in it. He's my current Celebrity Obsession at the moment, so I had to go see it. And I'm glad we did--it was entertaining in a campy sort of way. I'd go see it again if someone else would pay for it! Anyway, this is the song from the credits. It so fit the mood of the movie.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits Teaser

Because, who doesn't love Pirates!

After Vacation

Well, the garden just might survive, after all. I guess the rain continued while we were gone, and when we got home after being gone for almost two weeks, there was more weeds than plants. My garden is in a low spot, so after a rain there tends to be standing water, at least on half the spot. But there wasn't any standing water when we got home. Yesterday I took the hoe out and worked around all of the plants and this morning I took the tiller and went down the rows and between the plants. It looks like most of the corn made it, but not many of the beans. I'll have to replant. At least one of the zucchini made it, and some other vining plants--cucumber, pumpkins. The eggplant is a no-show. And the tomatoes are hanging on. Every thing is a bit yellow, which shows they have been in water recently, but hopefully they will green up now--if the heavy rains can stay away!



We have cats. Two outside, two inside. Mom checked on the outdoor cats while we were gone, made sure they had enough food. We boarded the inside cats. And came home to fleas. We've never had trouble with fleas in this house before, but I guess last year was a great year for the critters, and we have fought them all winter long. I thought we had them taken care of, but I guess not. Syd and I both apparently have sweet skin, because we both got bitten immediately. The guys haven't had a single bite. It's so not fair! So we fogged the house yesterday and I'll Frontline everyone again. Uugh!



We went to see Toy Story 3 yesterday (while the foggers were doing their thing). Good movie! (I got teary at the end.) I think Toy Story was the first movie we took the kids to. We saw it in 2-D and I think it was a good call. We saved $8.00 and I don't think we missed anything. I went and saw Avatar three times, and I think the 3-D enhanced that movie, but we've seen the latest Shrek movie and Alice in Wonderland in 3-D and think both movies would have been just as good in 2-D. I'm hoping this whole 3-D thing is a fad.