Website Wednesday: Women and Weight
All of a sudden, my winter weight got exposed to summer heat. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way; any woman can tell yo that. You’re supposed to start feeling some warmth in the air, shed your winter outer garb for sweaters and such and before the “Oh boy, I’m not going to be fitting in my bathing suit which I need this afternoon” moment you have about a month to succeed or fail in that annual rite-of-spring diet.
But it didn’t happen that way this week. I even have a picture of me wearing a warm jacket and scarf just the day before I was bemoaning my “winter arms” as I looked for a sleeveless top to wear. Oh, cruel fate!
And I don’t mean the fact that my slacks shrunk while hanging in the closet this winter but the fact that in today’s culture women (and I think this is creeping into men’s meme) are so concerned with beauty, youth and most importantly weight.
It wasn’t always that way. Just look at Jean Harlow, Marilyn Monroe, Greta Garbo or May West; these women had meat on their bones (a truly disgusting image.) Go further back to the “Gay ‘90s” (I mean 1890s) and you’ll see some really hefty women. Of course, google “corset” and you’ll get the garment of torture they wore back then for their hourglass figures.
Fast forward to present time. I was reading catalogs for J. Jill and Lord & Taylor yesterday. All are filled with thin, young women, all belying the fact that the eyes looking at these images are such varied human shapes, most often heavier, less kempt, and thus less worthy. (Aside: J. Jill used to have a gray-haired model which I thought was so progressive. Not any more. I hope she’s OK since I know gray hair is one step away from the grave.)
And now, if you’ve read this far, you’ll probably wondering: Where is she going with this? I know I am. At one time, I was considering a health website for today; one of the zillion on the web which are so similar to a magazine’s “10 Steps to Rid 10 Pounds.”
But why? You, I, women know that so many of us are obsessed with weight. Why hit ourselves on the head with yet another website which tells us we are not worthy?
And then I thought of the metaphor of the eye of Sauron: It’s up there; it’s looking for food; let’s try and move it’s attention away. So when that craving hits you for the type of food which only brings calories to the plate; when that depression hits you because you know you’ve failed with another diet; when that rationale arrives that seduces you into believing you deserve that sweet, divert your eye from the fridge to Listverse, The Universe of Lists at:
http://listverse.com/
Set the timer. They say it takes about 15 minutes for food cravings to stop so read slowly.
The site greets you with: Welcome to Listverse, the most popular top 10 site in the world. Thanks to daily updates and insight into the bizarre and fascinating aspects of life, you will be enthralled.
And ironically, its current first list is: Top 10 Defunct Websites (I used to read Media Whore!)
Keep scrolling through the 56 pages or click “All Lists.”
Still hungry? Click forums and “Forum Games” to read (no promise about the decorum of the posts) or “Arcade Games” to play (looks like online games; not top quality but time passers.)
I can’t promise the site’s claim of “you will be enthralled” but it’s an interesting place, more than a time-waster, and it stays current with updates. (Edit: Each list item is followed by a short paragraph.)
Warning: Don’t read: Top 16 Awesome Fast Food Restaurants if you’re hungry.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Movie Monday: Burkas, Public Executions and Twilight
Some random thoughts which, trust me, will lead to a movie theme.
I was sitting on a hill a large field last Friday afternoon watching boomerang throwing, wearing a black cotton long sleeved top and a black jacket. Now, when I dressed early that morning, those two layers were comfortable for the weather. Sitting on the hill, near dusk, the weather had changed - it was heading for the heat spell we would have over the weekend - and I was slightly too warm.
Which started me thinking about women in burkas since I was wearing black and I think I have never seen a burka, except in black. And thinking how hot I was, I was wondering about their discomfort. So I googled “burka and heat” and found some sites which would lead you to believe that covered in black in the heat was a “cool” thing. Just sitting on that hill, I eliminated that possibility.
So taking away all the religious significance of the burka it was also a traditional garb. It has been around a long time; just like the Hassidic women’s garb or the Amish plain dress. If I wanted to stir my brain I could put together a long list.
Then last night I was watching The Other Boleyn Girl - again. TV, even with the movie packet, is so bad. This movie is a pretty unobjectionable piece of fiction and good white noise. They have only two straight-forward public executions, the two Boleyn siblings; no hideous tortures or disembowelments.
But the executions were once public in the western world and that got me thinking: how long were executions public since I knew that the Elizabethans came out in droves for them. Most of my google results were for U.S. and England’s history. The U.S. had outdoor public executions in the 1600's and executions finally came indoors in the early 1900's. (Of course, you could say that executions are still public here since there is still an indoor audience.) England used to leave executed bodies outside to rot and banned their public executions in 1868. Dickens witnessed a public execution (which he was “on line” for from midnight) and related the watching people treated it like a play.
Burkas, public executions, whatever moral objections there are against them, they have been part of the meme for a long time. A way of thinking, a way of looking at crime and punishment; tradition and culture; the roles of men and women. Many may have disapproved but so many just unthinkingly accepted.
Which brings me to Twilight. The movie which grossed almost $400 million world wide and which came in second (well, it was a far second) to The Dark Knight as the most impressive 2008 box office run. (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=twilight08.htm. )
Rob Pattinson is every pre-teen girl’s heart throb. Thank goodness he said “No” when the HP people said: Hey, Cedric, don’t you think you should shave those eyebrows? Who would have thought vampires had such bushy brows?
I think with an IMDB rating of 6.1 and 50 pages out of 105 of “I hate this movie” we can say it wasn't made as Oscar bait. But its gentle vampire protecting the virginal teenager plot has re-kindled the age-old and bizarre meme - the beauty and the beast theme. Like burkas, like public executions, its oddly romantic, warped presences has been with us seemingly forever. Perhaps somehow it fills a psychic need so we allow it to walk among us without much question.
That’s why I recommend the Mutant Reviewers from Hell’s review of Twilight:
http://www.mutantreviewers.com/rtwilight.html
I read: "... Twilight is critic-proof. I might as well not be sitting here, pounding away at this keyboard like a gorilla who just learned how to dominate the home row of keys...
and I thought: This guy is funny. Then I read more and thought: Wow! This guy is good.
He moves beyond the hype; the acceptance of this teen girl/virile lover box-office phenomenon and looks into its message about women in abusive relationships. He made me think out of the box; he was not accepting of the meme.
Be sure to scroll down the page to Sue’s review of the movie and how she interacted with her teen daughter who loves Edward: "Ohmygaw Edward is the best!!!! Sqeeeeeeeee!!!!!"
I’m looking forward to reading more mutant reviews from hell. How can you go wrong on a web site named that?
Some random thoughts which, trust me, will lead to a movie theme.
I was sitting on a hill a large field last Friday afternoon watching boomerang throwing, wearing a black cotton long sleeved top and a black jacket. Now, when I dressed early that morning, those two layers were comfortable for the weather. Sitting on the hill, near dusk, the weather had changed - it was heading for the heat spell we would have over the weekend - and I was slightly too warm.
Which started me thinking about women in burkas since I was wearing black and I think I have never seen a burka, except in black. And thinking how hot I was, I was wondering about their discomfort. So I googled “burka and heat” and found some sites which would lead you to believe that covered in black in the heat was a “cool” thing. Just sitting on that hill, I eliminated that possibility.
So taking away all the religious significance of the burka it was also a traditional garb. It has been around a long time; just like the Hassidic women’s garb or the Amish plain dress. If I wanted to stir my brain I could put together a long list.
Then last night I was watching The Other Boleyn Girl - again. TV, even with the movie packet, is so bad. This movie is a pretty unobjectionable piece of fiction and good white noise. They have only two straight-forward public executions, the two Boleyn siblings; no hideous tortures or disembowelments.
But the executions were once public in the western world and that got me thinking: how long were executions public since I knew that the Elizabethans came out in droves for them. Most of my google results were for U.S. and England’s history. The U.S. had outdoor public executions in the 1600's and executions finally came indoors in the early 1900's. (Of course, you could say that executions are still public here since there is still an indoor audience.) England used to leave executed bodies outside to rot and banned their public executions in 1868. Dickens witnessed a public execution (which he was “on line” for from midnight) and related the watching people treated it like a play.
Burkas, public executions, whatever moral objections there are against them, they have been part of the meme for a long time. A way of thinking, a way of looking at crime and punishment; tradition and culture; the roles of men and women. Many may have disapproved but so many just unthinkingly accepted.
Which brings me to Twilight. The movie which grossed almost $400 million world wide and which came in second (well, it was a far second) to The Dark Knight as the most impressive 2008 box office run. (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=twilight08.htm. )
Rob Pattinson is every pre-teen girl’s heart throb. Thank goodness he said “No” when the HP people said: Hey, Cedric, don’t you think you should shave those eyebrows? Who would have thought vampires had such bushy brows?
I think with an IMDB rating of 6.1 and 50 pages out of 105 of “I hate this movie” we can say it wasn't made as Oscar bait. But its gentle vampire protecting the virginal teenager plot has re-kindled the age-old and bizarre meme - the beauty and the beast theme. Like burkas, like public executions, its oddly romantic, warped presences has been with us seemingly forever. Perhaps somehow it fills a psychic need so we allow it to walk among us without much question.
That’s why I recommend the Mutant Reviewers from Hell’s review of Twilight:
http://www.mutantreviewers.com/rtwilight.html
I read: "... Twilight is critic-proof. I might as well not be sitting here, pounding away at this keyboard like a gorilla who just learned how to dominate the home row of keys...
and I thought: This guy is funny. Then I read more and thought: Wow! This guy is good.
He moves beyond the hype; the acceptance of this teen girl/virile lover box-office phenomenon and looks into its message about women in abusive relationships. He made me think out of the box; he was not accepting of the meme.
Be sure to scroll down the page to Sue’s review of the movie and how she interacted with her teen daughter who loves Edward: "Ohmygaw Edward is the best!!!! Sqeeeeeeeee!!!!!"
I’m looking forward to reading more mutant reviews from hell. How can you go wrong on a web site named that?
Friday, April 24, 2009
Knitting Friday and Crochet Friday
Off topic slightly but it did happen while I was knitting. Yesterday, I was knitting in the afternoon and watching the news. The knitting part is not unusual; watching the news is. They were presenting a clip of an interview with Dick Cheney’s daughter (will someone tell me this woman’s claim to fame or rather claim to national air time, except through DNA?) pontificating the latest Republican rationale for waterboarding: Navy SEALs are waterboarded so it isn’t torture.
Jesus H. Christ, morph me into a dog so I can leave my species! What lunacy! Does her tongue not shrivel up as the words pass it? Unfortunately, in some circles (outside of the 9th Circle of Hell that is) people are hearing this drivel and nodding in agreement.
But knitting does calm you and as I knitted I came up with the solution: induct waterboarded prisoners into the SEALs. End of controversy. Talk about using good old American ingenuity.
And on to Knitting Friday:
Sometimes, I prefer crocheting, especially with cotton thread and a large hook. Usually the crochet look is too stiff and home made (as opposed to hand made) but I did have fun experimenting with the following pattern: the mitered square.
First there is the mitered square worked from small to large end at:
http://www.innerchildcrochet.com/resources/how_to_design/mitered_square.html
Advantage: It gives you a neat look; even neater than working from the large sides and decreasing to 3 stitches. Disadvantage: I can’t figure out how you can start a second square off the first square which means you will be weaving in a lot of ends.
Then there is the mitered square pattern found at: (Note: picture below is with my old reliable Caron One Pound yarn which is pulled out many times to make pattern swatches. N hook was used.)
http://www.hookedonneedles.com/2008/07/mitered-squares-baby-blanket-crocheted.html
This is the square pattern I used which is based on the Bernat blanket pattern found at:
http://www.bernat.com/data/pattern/pdf/Bernat_OrganicCottonweb1_cr_blanket.en_US.pdf
I made one variation since looking at the Bernat diagram it seems that after Square 7 which ends on the left, you start Square 8 on the far right. But I don’t see instructions for how to go from left to right without cutting the yarn.
My solution: Make your first tier of squares to width (or length.)
When you have one chain left on your last square, single crochet across the top of the first tier of squares back to Square 1. (Important: You must single crochet one-half the number of stitches you are using for each square. Example: if you chained 16 - number must be even - you would single crochet 8 stitches across the top of each square.)
Once you are back at Square 1, chain 8 for the second side of your square, turn, single crochet down the chain 8 and through the back loops* of the single crochets along the top of Square 1 for 16 sttiches. Turn and work as usual.
*Except when you are single crocheting in a chain, all the stitches are worked through the back loop. You want have a consistent look so mark one side of your work. If you find yourself working a square from the other side, you would work in the front loops to keep the look.
Why I like this project: It’s a great “carry along” project. It’s a good stash buster. And the variations are endless: Work with thin yarn and large needles. Take your measurements and chain for a square big enough for a sweater front. (I know it won’t be form fitting.) Make two. Join shoulders and sides. Crochet around the armholes to finish. Pick up the bottom and knit a hem. (I have done this with a two knitted mitered squares and it does work.)
And now, a simple pattern:
My Incredible Summer Shawl (picture below)
Equipment: 2 balls of Lion Brand Incredible (yes, it was a Dollar Tree purchase);
US 19 needles. Hanging Size: 21" x 57"**
CO 25 sts. K every row. Bind off evenly.
Notes: Join balls with tight knot. Near the end of the yarn, measure 4 lengths of a row; put a knot there and when you get to the knot, bind off. That’s it. Simple and elegant
**Incredible is the slinky toy of yarns; it stretches and bounces right back. I made this as a summer cover-up on the days I dress like Johnny Cash.
Enjoy your knitting this week.
Next week (I hope): the Tess D’Uberville Shawl aka “working” shawl you’ll love. And, my knitted stash buster mitered square shawl - still a work in progress.
Off topic slightly but it did happen while I was knitting. Yesterday, I was knitting in the afternoon and watching the news. The knitting part is not unusual; watching the news is. They were presenting a clip of an interview with Dick Cheney’s daughter (will someone tell me this woman’s claim to fame or rather claim to national air time, except through DNA?) pontificating the latest Republican rationale for waterboarding: Navy SEALs are waterboarded so it isn’t torture.
Jesus H. Christ, morph me into a dog so I can leave my species! What lunacy! Does her tongue not shrivel up as the words pass it? Unfortunately, in some circles (outside of the 9th Circle of Hell that is) people are hearing this drivel and nodding in agreement.
But knitting does calm you and as I knitted I came up with the solution: induct waterboarded prisoners into the SEALs. End of controversy. Talk about using good old American ingenuity.
And on to Knitting Friday:
Sometimes, I prefer crocheting, especially with cotton thread and a large hook. Usually the crochet look is too stiff and home made (as opposed to hand made) but I did have fun experimenting with the following pattern: the mitered square.
First there is the mitered square worked from small to large end at:
http://www.innerchildcrochet.com/resources/how_to_design/mitered_square.html
Advantage: It gives you a neat look; even neater than working from the large sides and decreasing to 3 stitches. Disadvantage: I can’t figure out how you can start a second square off the first square which means you will be weaving in a lot of ends.
Then there is the mitered square pattern found at: (Note: picture below is with my old reliable Caron One Pound yarn which is pulled out many times to make pattern swatches. N hook was used.)
http://www.hookedonneedles.com/2008/07/mitered-squares-baby-blanket-crocheted.html
This is the square pattern I used which is based on the Bernat blanket pattern found at:
http://www.bernat.com/data/pattern/pdf/Bernat_OrganicCottonweb1_cr_blanket.en_US.pdf
I made one variation since looking at the Bernat diagram it seems that after Square 7 which ends on the left, you start Square 8 on the far right. But I don’t see instructions for how to go from left to right without cutting the yarn.
My solution: Make your first tier of squares to width (or length.)
When you have one chain left on your last square, single crochet across the top of the first tier of squares back to Square 1. (Important: You must single crochet one-half the number of stitches you are using for each square. Example: if you chained 16 - number must be even - you would single crochet 8 stitches across the top of each square.)Once you are back at Square 1, chain 8 for the second side of your square, turn, single crochet down the chain 8 and through the back loops* of the single crochets along the top of Square 1 for 16 sttiches. Turn and work as usual.
*Except when you are single crocheting in a chain, all the stitches are worked through the back loop. You want have a consistent look so mark one side of your work. If you find yourself working a square from the other side, you would work in the front loops to keep the look.
Why I like this project: It’s a great “carry along” project. It’s a good stash buster. And the variations are endless: Work with thin yarn and large needles. Take your measurements and chain for a square big enough for a sweater front. (I know it won’t be form fitting.) Make two. Join shoulders and sides. Crochet around the armholes to finish. Pick up the bottom and knit a hem. (I have done this with a two knitted mitered squares and it does work.)
And now, a simple pattern:
My Incredible Summer Shawl (picture below)
Equipment: 2 balls of Lion Brand Incredible (yes, it was a Dollar Tree purchase);
US 19 needles. Hanging Size: 21" x 57"**
CO 25 sts. K every row. Bind off evenly.
Notes: Join balls with tight knot. Near the end of the yarn, measure 4 lengths of a row; put a knot there and when you get to the knot, bind off. That’s it. Simple and elegant
**Incredible is the slinky toy of yarns; it stretches and bounces right back. I made this as a summer cover-up on the days I dress like Johnny Cash.
Enjoy your knitting this week.
Next week (I hope): the Tess D’Uberville Shawl aka “working” shawl you’ll love. And, my knitted stash buster mitered square shawl - still a work in progress.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Website Wednesday: On Poverty
Maybe I should start with a tip for the day: if you have a freezer with an ice maker bin and the ice maker stops working, do not decide the ice bin gives you more freezer space and use it for food storage. But if you do - TURN OFF the water to the ice maker. Because someday, that broken ice maker is going to get a “Little Engine That Could” thought of: Hey, I can still make ice. Of course it can’t but it has an unlimited source of water to play with.
I bet you can guess what happens when water runs and runs and runs. Disaster!
It was not my refrigerator/freezer but it got to be my damage. Paint buckling. water pouring through the vents. Until we honed in on the source; drip, drip, drip, all night. A royal mess. I’m tired, but resigned. It’s fixable.
Getting on to my website for this Wednesday, it’s something none of us should be resigned to: poverty. I picked up A People's History of Poverty in America by Stephen Pimpare and immediately noticed a layout similar to Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States - a lot of contemporary accounts scattered throughout the book. Then I discovered that Zinn, Pimpare and others are all published by The New Press at http://www.thenewpress.com/. They seem to be a publisher of progressive history books.
Pimpare paints the picture of wealth and poverty in the United States, juxtapositioning the needs of the wealthy to “do good” and the real needs of the poor. He starts with the story of wealthy women bringing flowers to the tenements to brighten up the lives of the poor and being shocked by the poor who only see the flowers extrinsically - as sellable items.
This is not a “feel good” book; the poor don’t get a happy ending, but it’s an extremely readable book about America’s underbelly of poverty. One advantage I found was that you can open it up anywhere and dive right into the dilemmas of the poor in that time period.
But you may be thinking: Not fair. This is Website Wednesday. Where’s the website?
And here they are:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28228/28228-h/28228-h.htm
The Battle with the Slum by Jacob A. Riis. A classic work. If you do nothing else, take a look at the pictures. (Not every site has pictures. For me on Firefox it was: Format: HTML - Size 691 KB - Main Site)
http://www.studsterkel.org/index.html
Conversations with America is not only about poverty. Click around and hear interviews Terkel had with the poor, the rich, some greats, some ingrates. An audio feast. If you’ve never read Studs Terkel, this is a great introduction.
And finally, keep up-to-date on the subject with The Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) at http://www.irp.wisc.edu/
This is: a university-based center for research into the causes and consequences of poverty and social inequality in the United States. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan. Interesting stuff here but not a light read since the Flesch-Kincaid grade level: is 14.5 +.
We often see the poor on their way to jail; not interviewed on some slick TV news show. Some of us may live all or most of our lives away from them. Here's a good way to learn how so many Americans live and have lived.
Maybe I should start with a tip for the day: if you have a freezer with an ice maker bin and the ice maker stops working, do not decide the ice bin gives you more freezer space and use it for food storage. But if you do - TURN OFF the water to the ice maker. Because someday, that broken ice maker is going to get a “Little Engine That Could” thought of: Hey, I can still make ice. Of course it can’t but it has an unlimited source of water to play with.
I bet you can guess what happens when water runs and runs and runs. Disaster!
It was not my refrigerator/freezer but it got to be my damage. Paint buckling. water pouring through the vents. Until we honed in on the source; drip, drip, drip, all night. A royal mess. I’m tired, but resigned. It’s fixable.
Getting on to my website for this Wednesday, it’s something none of us should be resigned to: poverty. I picked up A People's History of Poverty in America by Stephen Pimpare and immediately noticed a layout similar to Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States - a lot of contemporary accounts scattered throughout the book. Then I discovered that Zinn, Pimpare and others are all published by The New Press at http://www.thenewpress.com/. They seem to be a publisher of progressive history books.
Pimpare paints the picture of wealth and poverty in the United States, juxtapositioning the needs of the wealthy to “do good” and the real needs of the poor. He starts with the story of wealthy women bringing flowers to the tenements to brighten up the lives of the poor and being shocked by the poor who only see the flowers extrinsically - as sellable items.
This is not a “feel good” book; the poor don’t get a happy ending, but it’s an extremely readable book about America’s underbelly of poverty. One advantage I found was that you can open it up anywhere and dive right into the dilemmas of the poor in that time period.
But you may be thinking: Not fair. This is Website Wednesday. Where’s the website?
And here they are:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28228/28228-h/28228-h.htm
The Battle with the Slum by Jacob A. Riis. A classic work. If you do nothing else, take a look at the pictures. (Not every site has pictures. For me on Firefox it was: Format: HTML - Size 691 KB - Main Site)
http://www.studsterkel.org/index.html
Conversations with America is not only about poverty. Click around and hear interviews Terkel had with the poor, the rich, some greats, some ingrates. An audio feast. If you’ve never read Studs Terkel, this is a great introduction.
And finally, keep up-to-date on the subject with The Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) at http://www.irp.wisc.edu/
This is: a university-based center for research into the causes and consequences of poverty and social inequality in the United States. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan. Interesting stuff here but not a light read since the Flesch-Kincaid grade level: is 14.5 +.
We often see the poor on their way to jail; not interviewed on some slick TV news show. Some of us may live all or most of our lives away from them. Here's a good way to learn how so many Americans live and have lived.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Twisted Movie Monday: Torture and Hope
First, as you know, I let Friday slip by. On Saturday, I seemed to be nursing an MSG buzz (I am so allergic to that stuff.) And then there was Sunday and I picked up on President Obama’s reported statement that his administration would not pursue prosecuting those responsible for creating and implementing the torture policies of the Bush II administration.
Liberals and progressives are debating this policy in the comments at The Huffington Post online. This one put it succinctly: If this Congress and President Obama don't begin thorough investigations into these war crimes -- then they are complicit and become war criminals themselves. I love Barack -- but I will not tolerate this nonsense.
They water boarded one guy 183 times in one month! That’s 6 times a day! The mind boggles.
Torture is wrong. It shouldn’t be done by sick individuals; it shouldn't be done by a government. And please, no straw dog of: Well, if you could get information about your loved one by torture....
It’s wrong. It’s not about whether your adversary is a villain; it’s about you not become a villain also. Period. I would like to say it makes the human doing it into an animal but I think that’s insulting animals.
So I guess I was feeling pretty low by Sunday night: bailed out banks are cutting their lending; pictures of shoppers at the malls with captions of Confidence Returns; clips of the "tea parties" from last Wednesday and watching and listening to the hatred, the racism, the meanness always alive in this country and always finding a camera to play to.
And then I stumbled on Bill Moyers’ Journal. Truth be told, I watch Moyers planning to get depressed. He interviews the people who seldom make the “popular” shows for in-depth interviews because they are the thinkers, not the showboats. And thinking about this country could only make you depressed.
Moyers was interviewing David Simon, creator of The Wire, probably one of the best series ever on HBO and the best series depicting inner city life and all its trappings.
He’s definitely an angry, bright, articulate man. When he said, to paraphrase: Unless you use capitalism for social needs, you get a Ponzi scheme; he had me. This guy gets it.
Then he went on to talk about the fact that without a manufacturing base there is no need for lower level decently paid jobs and therefore no need for the poor. They become throw-away people and we do throw them away into privately run for profit prison systems or onto the mean streets to be corralled and controlled by the “guys with the guns” to live in poverty and drugs.
It bothers him; he’s not optimistic that we can change; but he cares. By his writing, by The Wire, he shows the American people the cancers within.
Go read his Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood. Rent, buy or use your library to get The Wire. You may squirm but knowledge should move you beyond your comfort zone.
As you know, I’m wary of heroes but I’m beginning this week with hope. It’s good to know Simon is here and writing.
First, as you know, I let Friday slip by. On Saturday, I seemed to be nursing an MSG buzz (I am so allergic to that stuff.) And then there was Sunday and I picked up on President Obama’s reported statement that his administration would not pursue prosecuting those responsible for creating and implementing the torture policies of the Bush II administration.
Liberals and progressives are debating this policy in the comments at The Huffington Post online. This one put it succinctly: If this Congress and President Obama don't begin thorough investigations into these war crimes -- then they are complicit and become war criminals themselves. I love Barack -- but I will not tolerate this nonsense.
They water boarded one guy 183 times in one month! That’s 6 times a day! The mind boggles.
Torture is wrong. It shouldn’t be done by sick individuals; it shouldn't be done by a government. And please, no straw dog of: Well, if you could get information about your loved one by torture....
It’s wrong. It’s not about whether your adversary is a villain; it’s about you not become a villain also. Period. I would like to say it makes the human doing it into an animal but I think that’s insulting animals.
So I guess I was feeling pretty low by Sunday night: bailed out banks are cutting their lending; pictures of shoppers at the malls with captions of Confidence Returns; clips of the "tea parties" from last Wednesday and watching and listening to the hatred, the racism, the meanness always alive in this country and always finding a camera to play to.
And then I stumbled on Bill Moyers’ Journal. Truth be told, I watch Moyers planning to get depressed. He interviews the people who seldom make the “popular” shows for in-depth interviews because they are the thinkers, not the showboats. And thinking about this country could only make you depressed.
Moyers was interviewing David Simon, creator of The Wire, probably one of the best series ever on HBO and the best series depicting inner city life and all its trappings.
He’s definitely an angry, bright, articulate man. When he said, to paraphrase: Unless you use capitalism for social needs, you get a Ponzi scheme; he had me. This guy gets it.
Then he went on to talk about the fact that without a manufacturing base there is no need for lower level decently paid jobs and therefore no need for the poor. They become throw-away people and we do throw them away into privately run for profit prison systems or onto the mean streets to be corralled and controlled by the “guys with the guns” to live in poverty and drugs.
It bothers him; he’s not optimistic that we can change; but he cares. By his writing, by The Wire, he shows the American people the cancers within.
Go read his Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood. Rent, buy or use your library to get The Wire. You may squirm but knowledge should move you beyond your comfort zone.
As you know, I’m wary of heroes but I’m beginning this week with hope. It’s good to know Simon is here and writing.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Knitting Friday
Ok, so you are going to have to suspend disbelief and pretend today is Friday because somehow I lost Friday - and Saturday.
Well, not really lost them. I lived through them; both days waiting for my "significant other" to get the shawl picture ready for my blog. I know, that's a pathetic excuse.
So sit back and pretend it's Friday and the weekend is ahead of you. To begin:
I felt like a variation of that "who will help me bake this pie?" fairy tale this week. You know the one where the hen asks everyone to help making the pie and gets no responses but the minute the pie is cooked everyone is ready to help her eat it.
Well, my variation is that I have been making my pink, fluffy shawl in front of my family for well, it seems like years but it’s probably only a little over a month. In fact, this past week, I worked on it non-stop so if you saw me, you saw it.
No one even said: Nice work. Ever. No comment about the color, the pattern. Nada.
I’m working in a vacuum here, folks. No feedback of any kind and you all know from reading Knitting Friday that I’ve been mocking the pink, fluffy nature of the shawl with my Miss Marple comments.
As you know, I really thought I’d have this baby finished a week ago when I learned, like they say about love in that famous song, you can’t hurry finishing off a shawl. So I had to rip back and with my last thread of patience I finished this masterpiece the evening before Easter Sunday.
I call it my masterpiece because as I laid the final product out over the sofa, the “Ohs” and “Ahs” started pouring in. What a great color. Oh, it’s so soft. And, on and on.
But here is where I diverge from the fairy tale. As I remember it, she shooed the would-be pie eaters away and enjoyed the whole pie herself. That showed them!
I however, gave the shawl to my daughter. No, I’m not a fantastic mom. I still think the pink and the fluffiness make the shawl too old for me. I would have worn it and tolerated this. She’s however, is going to wear it and enjoy it. And that’s the reason we knit, isn’t it?
Here are the complete instructions with a picture below. It really is a nice pattern.
Mesh Garter Stitch Triangle Shawl (see Friday, 3/6/09 for more information)
Using Paton Lacette; US 7 or US 8 needles
Basic pattern:
Row 1: K1, *P* K1
Row 2: K1 *K2tog* K1
Row 3: K1 *K1, YO* K1
CO 3 sts. Mark the right side.
Increase Section:
Row 1: Kfb, *P* Kfb
Row 2: K1 *K2tog* K1
Row 3: Kfb *K1, YO* Kfb
Continuing increases EOR to the desired width ending after Row 3.
For a triangular shawl, repeat to length and bind off on Row 1. (Note: Because this is a three row pattern, the increases will be on different rows.)
Even Section: Here you’re inc/dec row will only be Row 1
Row 1: Kfb, *P* K2tog
Row 2: K1 *K2tog* K1
Row 3: K1 *K1, YO* K1
When the shawl is long enough, end ready to work right side.
Decrease Section: Start decreasing on the marked right side.
Row 1: K2tog, *P* K2tog
Row 2: K1 *K2tog* K1
Row 3: K2tog *K1, YO* K2tog
Continue to 3 stitches. (Remember that the decrease rows will change.)Bind off but do not break yarn.
(The Decrease Section gets wonky when Row 3 is the decrease row. It throws off your decrease count and should have given me a wonky-shaped shawl but it didn't. In fact this was the best shape I have even gotten in a diagonally knit rectangular shawl. However, I have no idea what would happen if you used another yarn. I’m going to work on this but with another yarn you may wish to make the triangular shawl.
Edging: (You could single crochet around the whole shawl before you start but I found the edges very holey and used them. Just try and be even.) With a crochet hook slightly larger than gauge: Chain 5 and slip to connect to edge "hole." * Single crochet in next hole. Slip stitch in next, chain 5 and slip stitch into same hole.* Continue ** around. Slip stitch to connect to first Chain 5 space. Now, this is from memory since I don't have the shawl here any more but I think I just chain-3 in each chain 5 space around the shawl again and then just fastened off.
Final Note: As I said in a previous post, this is not an original pattern since it joins a basic ruching pattern (K2tog row and K1, M1 row) with a P row, which is essential for the Even Section (You could use a K row but I didn’t like the look.)
This worked for me. I hope it does the same for you.
Ok, so you are going to have to suspend disbelief and pretend today is Friday because somehow I lost Friday - and Saturday.
Well, not really lost them. I lived through them; both days waiting for my "significant other" to get the shawl picture ready for my blog. I know, that's a pathetic excuse.
So sit back and pretend it's Friday and the weekend is ahead of you. To begin:
I felt like a variation of that "who will help me bake this pie?" fairy tale this week. You know the one where the hen asks everyone to help making the pie and gets no responses but the minute the pie is cooked everyone is ready to help her eat it.
Well, my variation is that I have been making my pink, fluffy shawl in front of my family for well, it seems like years but it’s probably only a little over a month. In fact, this past week, I worked on it non-stop so if you saw me, you saw it.
No one even said: Nice work. Ever. No comment about the color, the pattern. Nada.
I’m working in a vacuum here, folks. No feedback of any kind and you all know from reading Knitting Friday that I’ve been mocking the pink, fluffy nature of the shawl with my Miss Marple comments.
As you know, I really thought I’d have this baby finished a week ago when I learned, like they say about love in that famous song, you can’t hurry finishing off a shawl. So I had to rip back and with my last thread of patience I finished this masterpiece the evening before Easter Sunday.
I call it my masterpiece because as I laid the final product out over the sofa, the “Ohs” and “Ahs” started pouring in. What a great color. Oh, it’s so soft. And, on and on.
But here is where I diverge from the fairy tale. As I remember it, she shooed the would-be pie eaters away and enjoyed the whole pie herself. That showed them!
I however, gave the shawl to my daughter. No, I’m not a fantastic mom. I still think the pink and the fluffiness make the shawl too old for me. I would have worn it and tolerated this. She’s however, is going to wear it and enjoy it. And that’s the reason we knit, isn’t it?
Here are the complete instructions with a picture below. It really is a nice pattern.
Mesh Garter Stitch Triangle Shawl (see Friday, 3/6/09 for more information)
Using Paton Lacette; US 7 or US 8 needles
Basic pattern:
Row 1: K1, *P* K1
Row 2: K1 *K2tog* K1
Row 3: K1 *K1, YO* K1
CO 3 sts. Mark the right side.
Increase Section:
Row 1: Kfb, *P* Kfb
Row 2: K1 *K2tog* K1
Row 3: Kfb *K1, YO* Kfb
Continuing increases EOR to the desired width ending after Row 3.
For a triangular shawl, repeat to length and bind off on Row 1. (Note: Because this is a three row pattern, the increases will be on different rows.)
Even Section: Here you’re inc/dec row will only be Row 1
Row 1: Kfb, *P* K2tog
Row 2: K1 *K2tog* K1
Row 3: K1 *K1, YO* K1
When the shawl is long enough, end ready to work right side.
Decrease Section: Start decreasing on the marked right side.
Row 1: K2tog, *P* K2tog
Row 2: K1 *K2tog* K1
Row 3: K2tog *K1, YO* K2tog
Continue to 3 stitches. (Remember that the decrease rows will change.)Bind off but do not break yarn.
(The Decrease Section gets wonky when Row 3 is the decrease row. It throws off your decrease count and should have given me a wonky-shaped shawl but it didn't. In fact this was the best shape I have even gotten in a diagonally knit rectangular shawl. However, I have no idea what would happen if you used another yarn. I’m going to work on this but with another yarn you may wish to make the triangular shawl.
Edging: (You could single crochet around the whole shawl before you start but I found the edges very holey and used them. Just try and be even.) With a crochet hook slightly larger than gauge: Chain 5 and slip to connect to edge "hole." * Single crochet in next hole. Slip stitch in next, chain 5 and slip stitch into same hole.* Continue ** around. Slip stitch to connect to first Chain 5 space. Now, this is from memory since I don't have the shawl here any more but I think I just chain-3 in each chain 5 space around the shawl again and then just fastened off.
Final Note: As I said in a previous post, this is not an original pattern since it joins a basic ruching pattern (K2tog row and K1, M1 row) with a P row, which is essential for the Even Section (You could use a K row but I didn’t like the look.)
This worked for me. I hope it does the same for you.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Website Wednesday
Every year, I try and learn something new. One year I studied music theory and got to play the piano so that I knew more than just reading notes. Another year I became a ham, an amateur radio operator. I did it only because I wanted to be able to pass a technical test. I shudder to think that in national emergencies I belong to a group of people who are called on to help with communications.
However, every year my continuing goal is to solve that perennial algebraic problem:
At the same moment, two trains leave Chicago and New York. They move towards each other with constant speeds. The train from Chicago is moving at speed of 40 miles per hour, and the train from New York is moving at speed of 60 miles per hour. The distance between Chicago and New York is 1000 miles. How long after their departure will they meet? or:
Two airplanes depart from an airport traveling in opposite directions. The second airplane is 200 miles per hour faster than the first. After 2 hours they are 1200 miles apart. Find the speeds of the airplanes. (wabash.edu)
Distant, Rate, Time, (DRT) that’s all you’re looking for and every year I keep looking for it.
So, once again this year I will pull out my pencil and paper and eraser and tackle my math nemesis. I haven’t used web sites yet for the explanations. There is so much out there on the web, so many different approaches to the same issue, maybe this year, I’ll get lucky.
Which brings me to my websites for this Wednesday. All of them deal with math. No, I’m not on a crusade to bring better math understanding to the world though that might not be a bad idea. I’ve been thinking about refreshing my math recently (basically to keep up with the kids who seem to be learning a lot of complicated math in the early grades) and here are some sites I like:
Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies at http://www.mathgoodies.com/
What It Is:
1. It's a math site to sell math CDs with a lot of free stuff for students, teachers and parents.
2. Tutorials for students ranging from integers through symbolic logic with some queer detours.
3. All the tutorials have reading material and some check-up questions but some math topics like algebra and calculus only have forums of homework help.
4. Articles on math education with one titled Math and Social Injustice and tips for parents.
5. Some printable worksheets and math crossword puzzles.
6. Pretty up-to-date math forums.
Plus:
1. The tutorials start with a problem which draws the topic into everyday life.
2. There’s a lot of information given.
3. Just enough check-up questions to solve.
Minus:
1. Font is small and there’s a lot of verbiage which may scare the average student.
2. You must type in your answers.
Conclusion: For the serious student or refresher adult.
Visual Math Learning at http://www.visualmathlearning.com/index.html
What It Is:
1. On-screen math lessons ranging from natural numbers to basic algebra where you listen to the “teacher” read the screen writing and watch visual explanations on the bottom of the screen.
2, Interactive exercises, puzzles and games.
Plus:
1. Very good explanations. Now I really understand natural numbers.
2. The "teacher" has an engaging voice.
3. Detailed lessons. (Basics of Sets is not for a light-weight.)
4. Easy to work interactive exercises. (A wolf howls if you choose the wrong answer.)
5. Forward, Back and Stop Buttons so you can review or go ahead in each lesson.
6. With the Stop button you can turn off the "teacher" and just read the lesson.
Minus:
1. The exercises, puzzles and games seem to be of a general nature, not for each lesson.
2. Instructions for some exercises/games are lengthy.
Conclusion: Excellent tutorial for the first time or returning math student.
The Math Page at http://www.themathpage.com
What It Is:
1. A complete online course in: Skill in Arithmetic, Skill in Algebra, Book I of Euclid’s Geometry, and Topics in Pre-Calculus, Trigonometry, Calculus and Real Numbers.
2. You do pen and paper exercises and then you scroll over the on-screen hidden answers to check you work.
Plus:
1. This on-line course is taught by a teacher at the Borough of Manhattan Community College which is probably still a two-year AA degree college and whose students need a good basis in math. They’ll, and you, will get it here.
2. If you want a challenge, tackle Euclid’s Geometry.
Minus:
1. I got spoiled with the “teacher” speaking the lessons in Visual Math Learning.
Conclusion: Of the three, the one you should take to that desert island with you. You know the age-old question: If you were on a deserted island, what books would you bring? Of course, let’s hope your island has Internet access and you remembered the rechargeable battery.
Enjoy brushing up on your math. And yes, there will be no quiz next week.
Every year, I try and learn something new. One year I studied music theory and got to play the piano so that I knew more than just reading notes. Another year I became a ham, an amateur radio operator. I did it only because I wanted to be able to pass a technical test. I shudder to think that in national emergencies I belong to a group of people who are called on to help with communications.
However, every year my continuing goal is to solve that perennial algebraic problem:
At the same moment, two trains leave Chicago and New York. They move towards each other with constant speeds. The train from Chicago is moving at speed of 40 miles per hour, and the train from New York is moving at speed of 60 miles per hour. The distance between Chicago and New York is 1000 miles. How long after their departure will they meet? or:
Two airplanes depart from an airport traveling in opposite directions. The second airplane is 200 miles per hour faster than the first. After 2 hours they are 1200 miles apart. Find the speeds of the airplanes. (wabash.edu)
Distant, Rate, Time, (DRT) that’s all you’re looking for and every year I keep looking for it.
So, once again this year I will pull out my pencil and paper and eraser and tackle my math nemesis. I haven’t used web sites yet for the explanations. There is so much out there on the web, so many different approaches to the same issue, maybe this year, I’ll get lucky.
Which brings me to my websites for this Wednesday. All of them deal with math. No, I’m not on a crusade to bring better math understanding to the world though that might not be a bad idea. I’ve been thinking about refreshing my math recently (basically to keep up with the kids who seem to be learning a lot of complicated math in the early grades) and here are some sites I like:
Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies at http://www.mathgoodies.com/
What It Is:
1. It's a math site to sell math CDs with a lot of free stuff for students, teachers and parents.
2. Tutorials for students ranging from integers through symbolic logic with some queer detours.
3. All the tutorials have reading material and some check-up questions but some math topics like algebra and calculus only have forums of homework help.
4. Articles on math education with one titled Math and Social Injustice and tips for parents.
5. Some printable worksheets and math crossword puzzles.
6. Pretty up-to-date math forums.
Plus:
1. The tutorials start with a problem which draws the topic into everyday life.
2. There’s a lot of information given.
3. Just enough check-up questions to solve.
Minus:
1. Font is small and there’s a lot of verbiage which may scare the average student.
2. You must type in your answers.
Conclusion: For the serious student or refresher adult.
Visual Math Learning at http://www.visualmathlearning.com/index.html
What It Is:
1. On-screen math lessons ranging from natural numbers to basic algebra where you listen to the “teacher” read the screen writing and watch visual explanations on the bottom of the screen.
2, Interactive exercises, puzzles and games.
Plus:
1. Very good explanations. Now I really understand natural numbers.
2. The "teacher" has an engaging voice.
3. Detailed lessons. (Basics of Sets is not for a light-weight.)
4. Easy to work interactive exercises. (A wolf howls if you choose the wrong answer.)
5. Forward, Back and Stop Buttons so you can review or go ahead in each lesson.
6. With the Stop button you can turn off the "teacher" and just read the lesson.
Minus:
1. The exercises, puzzles and games seem to be of a general nature, not for each lesson.
2. Instructions for some exercises/games are lengthy.
Conclusion: Excellent tutorial for the first time or returning math student.
The Math Page at http://www.themathpage.com
What It Is:
1. A complete online course in: Skill in Arithmetic, Skill in Algebra, Book I of Euclid’s Geometry, and Topics in Pre-Calculus, Trigonometry, Calculus and Real Numbers.
2. You do pen and paper exercises and then you scroll over the on-screen hidden answers to check you work.
Plus:
1. This on-line course is taught by a teacher at the Borough of Manhattan Community College which is probably still a two-year AA degree college and whose students need a good basis in math. They’ll, and you, will get it here.
2. If you want a challenge, tackle Euclid’s Geometry.
Minus:
1. I got spoiled with the “teacher” speaking the lessons in Visual Math Learning.
Conclusion: Of the three, the one you should take to that desert island with you. You know the age-old question: If you were on a deserted island, what books would you bring? Of course, let’s hope your island has Internet access and you remembered the rechargeable battery.
Enjoy brushing up on your math. And yes, there will be no quiz next week.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Movie Monday
Just when I spend a good portion of Saturday thinking up my coda for this segment on 1930s Hollywood movies and its treatment of the rich, Frank Rich (now there’s an irony) writes an “Awake and Sing!” column for the Sunday New York Times (4/12/09):
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/opinion/12rich.html?ref=global *
and ties up everything as I was going to, but so much better.
I guess I should be grateful since I would have had to join two eras together, the 1930s Depression and the 21st century Depression. Now, I can just concentrate on my primary topic: Hollywood Depression Movies and the Rich.
I'll finish up my look at the 1930s Hollywood movie this Monday with a look at the two last years, ‘38 and ‘39.
Adventure:
The Four Feathers (1939)
Gunga Din (1939)
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
Beau Geste (1939)
Test Pilot (1938)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Biography:
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
Children’s Movie:
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Comedy/Drama:
You Can't Take It With You (1938)
Holiday (1938)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Crime:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)
Drama (as a catch-all):
Jezebel (1938)
Boys Town (1938)
Algiers (1938)
The Women (1939)
Love Affair (1939)
Drama with Comedy:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Drama with Hankies:
Dark Victory (1939)
Four Daughters (1938)
Foreign Language Film:
The Rules of the Game (1939)
Movie based on Classic Work:
Wuthering Heights (1939)
Of Mice and Men (1939)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
Pygmalion (1938)
Movie based on Popular Book:
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
The Citadel (1938)
Musical:
Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
Mystery: The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Western: Stagecoach (1939)
Destry Rides Again (1939)
Source: http://www.filmsite.org/filmh.html
Not a complete list, of course, but the pattern remains the same. Hollywood was playing it safe with movies from popular or classic works. Pre-Code sex had been replaced by “culture.”
Rich people had prominent roles in most of these movies. In one, You Can’t Take It With You, Lionel Barrymore shows the wealthy Edward Arnold that he, Arnold, is not a happy man. However, though the rich may be shown as hollow and greedy in these movies unless they acquired their money through crime their wealth remained intact as the credits roll.
Which, unless someone has other facts, leads me to conclude my original premise was right: Hollywood gave the rich a “pass” during the Great Depression of the 1930s. And, moving right into hyperbole: Thus saving capitalism for the western world.
Which brings me to Alfred Hitchcock and Saboteur made in 1942. Three years removed from this decade, Hitchcock in one scene captures the cold-blooded, calculated, hypocritical demeanor of the rich that no 1930s movie came close to.
In many ways by categorizing Hitchcock as a director of thrillers, we miss his true gift: upsiding our calm, comfortable lives and showing us the underbelly of the beast which lives there. Whether it’s the banter about poisons in Shadow of a Doubt while a true criminal walks among them or the long, tedious attempt by two “good” people to kill someone quietly in Torn Curtain, Hitchcock gets the human condition right: even the best of us, or those who think we are the best of us, who struggle to get things right on this darkling plain are always surrounded by the banality of evil and many, many times will lose or be corrupted in our battle with it.
Wow! How did this blog get so dark? Maybe because I finally “saw” the scene in Saboteur with Otto Kruger sitting on Mrs. Sutton’s ornate sofa in that ornate room upstairs from that ornate ballroom which rivaled Penn Station in size.
It’s a continuous shot; just Kruger talking to the unseen hero, Robert Cummings, and telling him he’s a quixotic fool to think he can do battle with the power Kruger and his rich friends control.
Of course, Hitchcock couches it all in the patriotism of WWII. Kruger and his ilk are traitors, enemies of the state. But this scene is classic because it is Kruger’s speech that is timeless and ironically the patriotic retort by Cummings seems so dated.
In our day, reading about the Wall Street bailouts, the Wall Street salaries, the Wall Street greed, you can see Kruger’s “you are mere peons” smirk. And while Hitchcock moves our attention quickly away from the machinations of the rich to the thrilling scenes with Norman Lloyd - in the radio truck, in the movie theater, on the Statue of Liberty (talk about patriotism), we shouldn't forget that Kruger does walk away from this mess. He does get to frolic in Havana. His reward may be off-screen but there is no mistaking what Hitchcock is saying to us, the mere peons.
So go read Rich’s column. Rent Saboteur. When you watch movies take a look at their treatment of the rich. Or better still, take a look at the news and information television channels. How do they treat the rich?
Ralph Ellison in The Invisible Man had the grandfather say that the white man will always make the black man chase his tail. The rich are doing that to all of us.
*While the comments in The Huffington Post were positive in regard to Rich’s column, many commenters related that both he and Maureen Dowd “trashed” Al Gore during the 2000 U.S. election campaign.
Just when I spend a good portion of Saturday thinking up my coda for this segment on 1930s Hollywood movies and its treatment of the rich, Frank Rich (now there’s an irony) writes an “Awake and Sing!” column for the Sunday New York Times (4/12/09):
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/opinion/12rich.html?ref=global *
and ties up everything as I was going to, but so much better.
I guess I should be grateful since I would have had to join two eras together, the 1930s Depression and the 21st century Depression. Now, I can just concentrate on my primary topic: Hollywood Depression Movies and the Rich.
I'll finish up my look at the 1930s Hollywood movie this Monday with a look at the two last years, ‘38 and ‘39.
Adventure:
The Four Feathers (1939)
Gunga Din (1939)
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
Beau Geste (1939)
Test Pilot (1938)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Biography:
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
Children’s Movie:
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Comedy/Drama:
You Can't Take It With You (1938)
Holiday (1938)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Crime:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)
Drama (as a catch-all):
Jezebel (1938)
Boys Town (1938)
Algiers (1938)
The Women (1939)
Love Affair (1939)
Drama with Comedy:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Drama with Hankies:
Dark Victory (1939)
Four Daughters (1938)
Foreign Language Film:
The Rules of the Game (1939)
Movie based on Classic Work:
Wuthering Heights (1939)
Of Mice and Men (1939)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
Pygmalion (1938)
Movie based on Popular Book:
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
The Citadel (1938)
Musical:
Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
Mystery: The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Western: Stagecoach (1939)
Destry Rides Again (1939)
Source: http://www.filmsite.org/filmh.html
Not a complete list, of course, but the pattern remains the same. Hollywood was playing it safe with movies from popular or classic works. Pre-Code sex had been replaced by “culture.”
Rich people had prominent roles in most of these movies. In one, You Can’t Take It With You, Lionel Barrymore shows the wealthy Edward Arnold that he, Arnold, is not a happy man. However, though the rich may be shown as hollow and greedy in these movies unless they acquired their money through crime their wealth remained intact as the credits roll.
Which, unless someone has other facts, leads me to conclude my original premise was right: Hollywood gave the rich a “pass” during the Great Depression of the 1930s. And, moving right into hyperbole: Thus saving capitalism for the western world.
Which brings me to Alfred Hitchcock and Saboteur made in 1942. Three years removed from this decade, Hitchcock in one scene captures the cold-blooded, calculated, hypocritical demeanor of the rich that no 1930s movie came close to.
In many ways by categorizing Hitchcock as a director of thrillers, we miss his true gift: upsiding our calm, comfortable lives and showing us the underbelly of the beast which lives there. Whether it’s the banter about poisons in Shadow of a Doubt while a true criminal walks among them or the long, tedious attempt by two “good” people to kill someone quietly in Torn Curtain, Hitchcock gets the human condition right: even the best of us, or those who think we are the best of us, who struggle to get things right on this darkling plain are always surrounded by the banality of evil and many, many times will lose or be corrupted in our battle with it.
Wow! How did this blog get so dark? Maybe because I finally “saw” the scene in Saboteur with Otto Kruger sitting on Mrs. Sutton’s ornate sofa in that ornate room upstairs from that ornate ballroom which rivaled Penn Station in size.
It’s a continuous shot; just Kruger talking to the unseen hero, Robert Cummings, and telling him he’s a quixotic fool to think he can do battle with the power Kruger and his rich friends control.
Of course, Hitchcock couches it all in the patriotism of WWII. Kruger and his ilk are traitors, enemies of the state. But this scene is classic because it is Kruger’s speech that is timeless and ironically the patriotic retort by Cummings seems so dated.
In our day, reading about the Wall Street bailouts, the Wall Street salaries, the Wall Street greed, you can see Kruger’s “you are mere peons” smirk. And while Hitchcock moves our attention quickly away from the machinations of the rich to the thrilling scenes with Norman Lloyd - in the radio truck, in the movie theater, on the Statue of Liberty (talk about patriotism), we shouldn't forget that Kruger does walk away from this mess. He does get to frolic in Havana. His reward may be off-screen but there is no mistaking what Hitchcock is saying to us, the mere peons.
So go read Rich’s column. Rent Saboteur. When you watch movies take a look at their treatment of the rich. Or better still, take a look at the news and information television channels. How do they treat the rich?
Ralph Ellison in The Invisible Man had the grandfather say that the white man will always make the black man chase his tail. The rich are doing that to all of us.
*While the comments in The Huffington Post were positive in regard to Rich’s column, many commenters related that both he and Maureen Dowd “trashed” Al Gore during the 2000 U.S. election campaign.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Knitting Friday
I read in some blog: The kids went back to school and I went back to bed. I know the feeling. The fact that almost three full days of this school break had lousy weather didn't help. No playing outside for any long period; cooped up in the house; no TV because that rots your brain (I would hate to see my brain.) It was an interesting week.
One promise I had made to myself this week: I will finish my pink fluffy shawl. I even draped in on the back of a chair for pictures. Alas! I was too hasty.
If you have 40 stitches on your needle (which is about 80 more rows if you decrease every other row) you can not rush the project and start decreasing every row. Well, you can and then the right edge of the right side will be slanted and stretched and you will spend precious time picking out each stitch (you cannot frog mohair down to any stinking life line) back to the beginning of your decreasing madness.
So, right now I have 80+ stitches back on the needle. This time I'm going to do it right.
But I do have a pattern. I finally worked out a pattern for The Odds and Ends Squares Shawl which has the center diagonals going in the same direction, has a nice single crochet row between tiers, and can be used on leftover yarn or one-color "new" yarn.
The Odds and Ends Squares Shawl (read more on 3/27/09 posting)
Equipment: yarn, circular needles (a must), stitch markers (opt.), crochet hook to fit yarn weight (hook makes picking up stitches easier)
(Added: Needle size is not as important as the needles being circular. Though I imagine knitting with small-sized needles would become a drag fast. I'm using US8.)
Abbreviations:
CO = cast on; CS = center stitch; PU = pick up; st = stitch
K = knit; P = purl; RS = right side; WS = wrong side
K2tog = knit two stitches together
P2tog = purl two stitches together
Sl1 = slip one stitch
ssk = slip one, knit one, pass slip stitch over knit stitch and off the needle (psso)
ssp = slip 1, purl 1, pass slip stitch over P stitch and off the needle (psso)
tiers = think of the rows of this project as the tiers on a wedding cake. Tier 1 is the first row of squares at the bottom followed by Tier 2, Tier 3, etc.
**...** = repeat between to end of row or next directions
Also very important: Always slip (Sl) the 1st st as the rest of row (Sl1K on K row; Sl1P on P row)
Skill Level: Intermediate
Square 1 on Tier 1: Mark RS.
CO 25 sts or any odd number using the cable CO. Mark CS.
**Row 1: Sl 1K, K to 2 sts before CS, ssk, K CS, K2tog, K to end
Row 2: Sl 1P, *P* ** Repeat 2 rows to 3 sts on RS.
End P 1 row, then sl 1, K2tog, psso for 1 stitch left.
Square 2 on Tier 1: With the RS of square facing you and last live stitch in upper left corner, PU 12 sts along the left edge ( your 12th PU st will be the CS) and then CO 12 stitches.(25 total) You will now have the WS facing.
Row 1: Sl 1P, P to 2 sts before CS, ssp, P CS, P2tog, P to end
Row 2: Sl1K, *K*
End K 1 row, sl1, P2tog, psso for 1 st remaining
Option for Square 2: After PU, P 1 row and work as Square 1 of Tier 1.
Note: If you decide to P 1 row first, keep the same number of rows as the first square by finishing the square on the P row - sl 1, P2tog, psso for 1 stitch left.
Second Note: At times a square will have an extra row of stitches on one side - for ex. if you CO 12, K back, and then PU 12 more stitches for the other side of the square, the CO side will have an extra K row before you start the pattern: don't worry about this.
Final Note: Be sure the center stitch is at the right angle of the square.
At end of second square continue to make squares in Tier 1 to your desired size. (I’m making a shawl so it was 7 squares at 4 inches each.)
Single Crochet Row: Once you are finished with Tier 1, from WS, work a row of single crochet in the slipped stitches on the top of Tier 1 squares (you will be happy you slipped them now) back to the beginning edge of first square. You should have 12 sc + 1 sc for CS at junction of next square for each square across.
Square 1 of Tier 2:
Option 1: CO 11 sts (total 12 sts on needle). K back, PU 13 sts from single crochets across top of square from 1st Tier for 25 stitches total on needle. With WS facing, start square with P2tog and ssp decreases or:
Option 2: PU 13 sts from single crochets across top of square from 1st Tier. P back. Then CO 12 sts. for 25 sts total on needle. You will have RS facing so begin square with K2tog and ssk decreases.
Either option is very easy. You'll find that the single crochet between tiers gives a nice design. (I picked up my stitches through both sc loops but you can use front or back loop PU if you want.)
Square 2 of Tier 2: You will end with 1 st on the upper left corner of the RS of the 1st Square.
PU your 25 sts down the left edge and then across the single crochets. With WS facing:
Row 1: Sl 1P, P to 2 sts before CS, ssp, P CS, P2tog, P to end
Row 2: Sl1K, *K* End square with: K 1 row, then sl1P, P2tog, psso.
End K 1 row, sl1, P2tog, psso for 1 st remaining
Continue across as for Tier 2 square 2. When you have finished the second tier, single crochet back to the beginning and start the directions for Tier 2 again for the length of your shawl.
That's it. You can decide whether to use K or P decrease rows; just be consistent. This is an easy knit and can be a "pick up" project whenever you start getting a load of odds and ends.
Now, it's back to my pink shawl. I am going to finish that this weekend and hopefully wear it one day before the warm weather kicks in for good.
Next week: The Odds and Ends Squares Shawl gets a border.
I read in some blog: The kids went back to school and I went back to bed. I know the feeling. The fact that almost three full days of this school break had lousy weather didn't help. No playing outside for any long period; cooped up in the house; no TV because that rots your brain (I would hate to see my brain.) It was an interesting week.
One promise I had made to myself this week: I will finish my pink fluffy shawl. I even draped in on the back of a chair for pictures. Alas! I was too hasty.
If you have 40 stitches on your needle (which is about 80 more rows if you decrease every other row) you can not rush the project and start decreasing every row. Well, you can and then the right edge of the right side will be slanted and stretched and you will spend precious time picking out each stitch (you cannot frog mohair down to any stinking life line) back to the beginning of your decreasing madness.
So, right now I have 80+ stitches back on the needle. This time I'm going to do it right.
But I do have a pattern. I finally worked out a pattern for The Odds and Ends Squares Shawl which has the center diagonals going in the same direction, has a nice single crochet row between tiers, and can be used on leftover yarn or one-color "new" yarn.
The Odds and Ends Squares Shawl (read more on 3/27/09 posting)
Equipment: yarn, circular needles (a must), stitch markers (opt.), crochet hook to fit yarn weight (hook makes picking up stitches easier)
(Added: Needle size is not as important as the needles being circular. Though I imagine knitting with small-sized needles would become a drag fast. I'm using US8.)
Abbreviations:
CO = cast on; CS = center stitch; PU = pick up; st = stitch
K = knit; P = purl; RS = right side; WS = wrong side
K2tog = knit two stitches together
P2tog = purl two stitches together
Sl1 = slip one stitch
ssk = slip one, knit one, pass slip stitch over knit stitch and off the needle (psso)
ssp = slip 1, purl 1, pass slip stitch over P stitch and off the needle (psso)
tiers = think of the rows of this project as the tiers on a wedding cake. Tier 1 is the first row of squares at the bottom followed by Tier 2, Tier 3, etc.
**...** = repeat between to end of row or next directions
Also very important: Always slip (Sl) the 1st st as the rest of row (Sl1K on K row; Sl1P on P row)
Skill Level: Intermediate
Square 1 on Tier 1: Mark RS.
CO 25 sts or any odd number using the cable CO. Mark CS.
**Row 1: Sl 1K, K to 2 sts before CS, ssk, K CS, K2tog, K to end
Row 2: Sl 1P, *P* ** Repeat 2 rows to 3 sts on RS.
End P 1 row, then sl 1, K2tog, psso for 1 stitch left.
Square 2 on Tier 1: With the RS of square facing you and last live stitch in upper left corner, PU 12 sts along the left edge ( your 12th PU st will be the CS) and then CO 12 stitches.(25 total) You will now have the WS facing.
Row 1: Sl 1P, P to 2 sts before CS, ssp, P CS, P2tog, P to end
Row 2: Sl1K, *K*
End K 1 row, sl1, P2tog, psso for 1 st remaining
Option for Square 2: After PU, P 1 row and work as Square 1 of Tier 1.
Note: If you decide to P 1 row first, keep the same number of rows as the first square by finishing the square on the P row - sl 1, P2tog, psso for 1 stitch left.
Second Note: At times a square will have an extra row of stitches on one side - for ex. if you CO 12, K back, and then PU 12 more stitches for the other side of the square, the CO side will have an extra K row before you start the pattern: don't worry about this.
Final Note: Be sure the center stitch is at the right angle of the square.
At end of second square continue to make squares in Tier 1 to your desired size. (I’m making a shawl so it was 7 squares at 4 inches each.)
Single Crochet Row: Once you are finished with Tier 1, from WS, work a row of single crochet in the slipped stitches on the top of Tier 1 squares (you will be happy you slipped them now) back to the beginning edge of first square. You should have 12 sc + 1 sc for CS at junction of next square for each square across.
Square 1 of Tier 2:
Option 1: CO 11 sts (total 12 sts on needle). K back, PU 13 sts from single crochets across top of square from 1st Tier for 25 stitches total on needle. With WS facing, start square with P2tog and ssp decreases or:
Option 2: PU 13 sts from single crochets across top of square from 1st Tier. P back. Then CO 12 sts. for 25 sts total on needle. You will have RS facing so begin square with K2tog and ssk decreases.
Either option is very easy. You'll find that the single crochet between tiers gives a nice design. (I picked up my stitches through both sc loops but you can use front or back loop PU if you want.)
Square 2 of Tier 2: You will end with 1 st on the upper left corner of the RS of the 1st Square.
PU your 25 sts down the left edge and then across the single crochets. With WS facing:
Row 1: Sl 1P, P to 2 sts before CS, ssp, P CS, P2tog, P to end
Row 2: Sl1K, *K* End square with: K 1 row, then sl1P, P2tog, psso.
End K 1 row, sl1, P2tog, psso for 1 st remaining
Continue across as for Tier 2 square 2. When you have finished the second tier, single crochet back to the beginning and start the directions for Tier 2 again for the length of your shawl.
That's it. You can decide whether to use K or P decrease rows; just be consistent. This is an easy knit and can be a "pick up" project whenever you start getting a load of odds and ends.
Now, it's back to my pink shawl. I am going to finish that this weekend and hopefully wear it one day before the warm weather kicks in for good.
Next week: The Odds and Ends Squares Shawl gets a border.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Website Wednesday
For all the moms and care-givers out there who are enjoying Spring Break with the kids this week and perhaps getting ready for a holiday celebration, here is something real simple:
http://www.realsimple.com/
I like the hard copy of this magazine and that's saying a lot because except for the London Review of Books for which I suffer such guilt since I don't have the time to read all those great articles into which the authors have poured their sweat and guts; I don't like many magazines. It's my foible; I don't like quick reads except for the Movie Spoiler site when the ADHD kicks in and I know I can't sit for another minute in front of this slow movie but I must find out the ending so I trudge to the computer and cheat.
Having said all that: take a look at Real Simple. They really do want you to keep your life real simple.
I like that fact that their tips don't always have you running out to buy something. Like the tip for recipe storage. Use clear CD jewel boxes. You can prop the recipe in when you cook from it. Or take a plain coat rack (or make a plain coat rack) and hang your necklaces from it.
Or Extend the Life of Electronic Gear, or Uses for Left-Over Aluminum Foil (Better TV reception? That I have to try.)
I also like the fact that medical advice (and you know the drill with this: always check with your MD first) comes from qualified people, like a professor of medical oncology at the Mayo Clinic College.
The reads are quick; The Iliad it isn't. You can sort articles by most popular or most recent.
And, they have a blog: Simply Stated
http://simplystated.realsimple.com/
This one is a winner.
For all the moms and care-givers out there who are enjoying Spring Break with the kids this week and perhaps getting ready for a holiday celebration, here is something real simple:
http://www.realsimple.com/
I like the hard copy of this magazine and that's saying a lot because except for the London Review of Books for which I suffer such guilt since I don't have the time to read all those great articles into which the authors have poured their sweat and guts; I don't like many magazines. It's my foible; I don't like quick reads except for the Movie Spoiler site when the ADHD kicks in and I know I can't sit for another minute in front of this slow movie but I must find out the ending so I trudge to the computer and cheat.
Having said all that: take a look at Real Simple. They really do want you to keep your life real simple.
I like that fact that their tips don't always have you running out to buy something. Like the tip for recipe storage. Use clear CD jewel boxes. You can prop the recipe in when you cook from it. Or take a plain coat rack (or make a plain coat rack) and hang your necklaces from it.
Or Extend the Life of Electronic Gear, or Uses for Left-Over Aluminum Foil (Better TV reception? That I have to try.)
I also like the fact that medical advice (and you know the drill with this: always check with your MD first) comes from qualified people, like a professor of medical oncology at the Mayo Clinic College.
The reads are quick; The Iliad it isn't. You can sort articles by most popular or most recent.
And, they have a blog: Simply Stated
http://simplystated.realsimple.com/
This one is a winner.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Movie Monday
This was a busy day of Spring Break Children At Home and the day my monthly newsletter gets printed. So I vegged out in the a.m. although I did work on this movie blog over the weekend. What dedication!
This is what I hope will be the second to last posting on how the movies treated the rich during the Great Depression of the 1930s. I’m happy I tacked this question because you learn a lot when you try to answer your own questions. And, I hope anyone interested in the movies has enjoyed these Movie Mondays.
On a slightly related note - wait, it will all tie in - it’s amazing to me that right after Bush II leaves office there’s an American religious poll and the percentage of atheists jumped from like 0.002% to 15%. Did Obama’s victory destroy faith in this country?
So if these new statistics are true (perhaps, they finally decided to ask the right questions) I guess about 15% of America will find it difficult to understand the influence of religion on the movies and the development of the Production Code we have been exploring.
This site:
http://www.allbusiness.com/media-telecommunications/movies-sound-recording/10559097-1.html
answers a question I’ve been wondering about: why did the Production Code “suddenly” kick in around 1934 when it had been in effect since the 1920s?
I learned that 1934 was the year of the “perfect storm”: box office receipts were starting a steady decline; religious zealots were demanding reform of movie immorality; and big city movie-goers were a very conservative lot. On the last point: major conservative denominations (ex. Roman Catholic) made up the movie public of major cities and if a movie was not a hit in a major city it was just not a hit. So Hollywood in 1934 was entering the“recovery” period of the Great Depression (or should it now be called the First Great Depression?) and facing sagging profits; reformers demanding a draconian moral code and movie goers who still listened to the pulpit for entertainment guidance. No wonder Hollywood shied away from controversy or if they filmed controversy it was in the form of a film adaption of “great” or popular literature. An example being the 1934 Imitation of Life which dealt with a white mother and black mother living together and raising children. Of course, the black mother was the servant and the white one the kindly master but it did deal with the black daughter trying to “pass.”
Here's a list of Hollywood's popular movies during the years 1934 through 1937. Some movies fit into two categories. The Academy Award winning picture for the year is bolded:
Adventure Drama:
The Hurricane (1937)
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
Anthony Adverse (1936)
The 39 Steps (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
Captain Blood (1935)
Viva Villa! (1934)
Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
The Lost Patrol (1934)
Cleopatra (1934)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
Animation:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Biography:
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
Rembrandt (1936)
Comedy:
Way Out West (1937)
A Day at the Races (1937)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
It's a Gift (1934)
Comedy/Drama:
Nothing Sacred (1937)
Topper (1937)
The Awful Truth (1937)
My Man Godfrey (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Libeled Lady (1936)
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Drama (based on classic work):
Captains Courageous (1937)
Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Camille (1936)
A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Les Miserables (1935)
David Copperfield (1935)
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
Drama (based on popular work):
The Good Earth (1937),
Dodsworth (1936)
Anthony Adverse (1936)
The 39 Steps (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
*Dead End (1937)
Alice Adams (1935)
The Thin Man (1934)
Of Human Bondage (1934)
The Petrified Forest (1936)
Imitation of Life (1934)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
Lost Horizon (1937)
Drama with disaster:
In Old Chicago (1937)
San Francisco (1936)
Drama with grit:
The Informer (1935)
*Dead End (1937)
Marked Woman (1937)
Fury (1936)
Drama with hankies:
Stella Dallas (1937)
Imitation of Life (1934)
Drama with movie/theater background:
Stage Door (1937)
Dangerous (1935)
A Star is Born (1937)
Drama with Musical Numbers:
Three Smart Girls (1937)
One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
Follow the Fleet (1936)
Top Hat (1935)
The Littlest Rebel (1935)
One Night of Love (1934)
The Gay Divorcee (1934)
Horror:
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
The Black Cat (1934)
Melodrama:
Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
Musical:
Maytime (1937)
Swing Time (1936)
Rose Marie (1936)
Naughty Marietta (1935)
The Merry Widow (1934)
Mystery:
The Thin Man (1934)
Silent Chaplin:
Modern Times (1936)
*While there were poor people in a lot of movies (My Man Godfrey's shanty towns) only in Dead End did the hero and heroine stay in poverty at the end.
It's pretty obvious that Hollywood was not tackling the Depression in their movies but were taking cover behind popular and classic works. No more bodice ripping sex for them, the Production Code got them brushing up on their Shakespeare, and Dickens, and Kipling, and.......
Two excellent sites helped me prepare this list:
http://www.filmsite.org/30sintro.html and
http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearchInput.jsp
The second one is the Academy Award site and there I learned that 1934 was the 7th Academy Award year and the first time it only honored movies from that year alone.. Also, the category was not “Best Picture” but “Outstanding Production” back then. And, most interesting is that in 1934 and 1935, the Academy still listed the order the winners came in - 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
The picture is becoming clear. The 1930s in the movies started great guns with sex and salaciousness and then moved into proper respect for "great" works.
Next week we'll see how the decade ends. Will the movies start protesting the rich who even in this Depression made money? That's the way of capitalism. Let's see if Hollywood will raise its voice for the little guy before the world is plunged into World War II.
This was a busy day of Spring Break Children At Home and the day my monthly newsletter gets printed. So I vegged out in the a.m. although I did work on this movie blog over the weekend. What dedication!
This is what I hope will be the second to last posting on how the movies treated the rich during the Great Depression of the 1930s. I’m happy I tacked this question because you learn a lot when you try to answer your own questions. And, I hope anyone interested in the movies has enjoyed these Movie Mondays.
On a slightly related note - wait, it will all tie in - it’s amazing to me that right after Bush II leaves office there’s an American religious poll and the percentage of atheists jumped from like 0.002% to 15%. Did Obama’s victory destroy faith in this country?
So if these new statistics are true (perhaps, they finally decided to ask the right questions) I guess about 15% of America will find it difficult to understand the influence of religion on the movies and the development of the Production Code we have been exploring.
This site:
http://www.allbusiness.com/media-telecommunications/movies-sound-recording/10559097-1.html
answers a question I’ve been wondering about: why did the Production Code “suddenly” kick in around 1934 when it had been in effect since the 1920s?
I learned that 1934 was the year of the “perfect storm”: box office receipts were starting a steady decline; religious zealots were demanding reform of movie immorality; and big city movie-goers were a very conservative lot. On the last point: major conservative denominations (ex. Roman Catholic) made up the movie public of major cities and if a movie was not a hit in a major city it was just not a hit. So Hollywood in 1934 was entering the“recovery” period of the Great Depression (or should it now be called the First Great Depression?) and facing sagging profits; reformers demanding a draconian moral code and movie goers who still listened to the pulpit for entertainment guidance. No wonder Hollywood shied away from controversy or if they filmed controversy it was in the form of a film adaption of “great” or popular literature. An example being the 1934 Imitation of Life which dealt with a white mother and black mother living together and raising children. Of course, the black mother was the servant and the white one the kindly master but it did deal with the black daughter trying to “pass.”
Here's a list of Hollywood's popular movies during the years 1934 through 1937. Some movies fit into two categories. The Academy Award winning picture for the year is bolded:
Adventure Drama:
The Hurricane (1937)
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
Anthony Adverse (1936)
The 39 Steps (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
Captain Blood (1935)
Viva Villa! (1934)
Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
The Lost Patrol (1934)
Cleopatra (1934)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
Animation:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Biography:
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
Rembrandt (1936)
Comedy:
Way Out West (1937)
A Day at the Races (1937)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
It's a Gift (1934)
Comedy/Drama:
Nothing Sacred (1937)
Topper (1937)
The Awful Truth (1937)
My Man Godfrey (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Libeled Lady (1936)
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Drama (based on classic work):
Captains Courageous (1937)
Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Camille (1936)
A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Les Miserables (1935)
David Copperfield (1935)
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
Drama (based on popular work):
The Good Earth (1937),
Dodsworth (1936)
Anthony Adverse (1936)
The 39 Steps (1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
*Dead End (1937)
Alice Adams (1935)
The Thin Man (1934)
Of Human Bondage (1934)
The Petrified Forest (1936)
Imitation of Life (1934)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
Lost Horizon (1937)
Drama with disaster:
In Old Chicago (1937)
San Francisco (1936)
Drama with grit:
The Informer (1935)
*Dead End (1937)
Marked Woman (1937)
Fury (1936)
Drama with hankies:
Stella Dallas (1937)
Imitation of Life (1934)
Drama with movie/theater background:
Stage Door (1937)
Dangerous (1935)
A Star is Born (1937)
Drama with Musical Numbers:
Three Smart Girls (1937)
One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
Follow the Fleet (1936)
Top Hat (1935)
The Littlest Rebel (1935)
One Night of Love (1934)
The Gay Divorcee (1934)
Horror:
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
The Black Cat (1934)
Melodrama:
Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
Musical:
Maytime (1937)
Swing Time (1936)
Rose Marie (1936)
Naughty Marietta (1935)
The Merry Widow (1934)
Mystery:
The Thin Man (1934)
Silent Chaplin:
Modern Times (1936)
*While there were poor people in a lot of movies (My Man Godfrey's shanty towns) only in Dead End did the hero and heroine stay in poverty at the end.
It's pretty obvious that Hollywood was not tackling the Depression in their movies but were taking cover behind popular and classic works. No more bodice ripping sex for them, the Production Code got them brushing up on their Shakespeare, and Dickens, and Kipling, and.......
Two excellent sites helped me prepare this list:
http://www.filmsite.org/30sintro.html and
http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearchInput.jsp
The second one is the Academy Award site and there I learned that 1934 was the 7th Academy Award year and the first time it only honored movies from that year alone.. Also, the category was not “Best Picture” but “Outstanding Production” back then. And, most interesting is that in 1934 and 1935, the Academy still listed the order the winners came in - 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
The picture is becoming clear. The 1930s in the movies started great guns with sex and salaciousness and then moved into proper respect for "great" works.
Next week we'll see how the decade ends. Will the movies start protesting the rich who even in this Depression made money? That's the way of capitalism. Let's see if Hollywood will raise its voice for the little guy before the world is plunged into World War II.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Knitting Friday
First, before I forget this: there is no more basketball game watching in my near future. After four games, March Madness is over; perhaps we will move into April Angst. It was fun. I learned a few things: gyms are noisy; kids don’t always charge their DS enough; basketball game watching can be exciting even for elementary school; and circular needles are a must at any sporting event.
And now on to knitting.
I found another skein of the pink mohair so I am making my fuzzy friend even bigger. I just want to finish the damn thing but it’s becoming the crack cocaine of my knitting: I never get enough of it done to end off and I keep being drawn back to work on it. But it is very warm.
I wanted to post the entire pattern for my Mitered Squares Odds and Ends Shawl today. I also wanted to post a picture of one I had made last year but it has disappeared into the whirling vortex of items to be found in a young girl’s room -translation: I came find it anywhere - so I’ll wait till I finish this new one for pictures.
I’m realizing that pattern writing is not a walk in the park. Even though my pattern is not exotic in any way, I’m having to catch myself because I know what I’m doing and I start using a knitting shorthand I understand but you probably don’t.
Which brings me to a big cop-out. I was all ready to post the final pattern for my Mitered Squares Odds and End Shawl. I have been diligently testing it all week and writing down the instructions. However, the more I write, the more realize the interesting variations in this pattern and I realize that it, and I, need more work.
So the big cop-out is: no pattern this week and maybe not next week since all next week is Spring Break with munchkins joyfully playing at home.
But I will leave you with a fantastic site which will devour you for hours, days, weeks, months:
http://www.myhq.com/public/c/y/cyn5/
and be sure to visit her blog:
http://cynscorner.blogspot.com/
So enjoy your web cruising while I try to get this pattern together. See you next week.
First, before I forget this: there is no more basketball game watching in my near future. After four games, March Madness is over; perhaps we will move into April Angst. It was fun. I learned a few things: gyms are noisy; kids don’t always charge their DS enough; basketball game watching can be exciting even for elementary school; and circular needles are a must at any sporting event.
And now on to knitting.
I found another skein of the pink mohair so I am making my fuzzy friend even bigger. I just want to finish the damn thing but it’s becoming the crack cocaine of my knitting: I never get enough of it done to end off and I keep being drawn back to work on it. But it is very warm.
I wanted to post the entire pattern for my Mitered Squares Odds and Ends Shawl today. I also wanted to post a picture of one I had made last year but it has disappeared into the whirling vortex of items to be found in a young girl’s room -translation: I came find it anywhere - so I’ll wait till I finish this new one for pictures.
I’m realizing that pattern writing is not a walk in the park. Even though my pattern is not exotic in any way, I’m having to catch myself because I know what I’m doing and I start using a knitting shorthand I understand but you probably don’t.
Which brings me to a big cop-out. I was all ready to post the final pattern for my Mitered Squares Odds and End Shawl. I have been diligently testing it all week and writing down the instructions. However, the more I write, the more realize the interesting variations in this pattern and I realize that it, and I, need more work.
So the big cop-out is: no pattern this week and maybe not next week since all next week is Spring Break with munchkins joyfully playing at home.
But I will leave you with a fantastic site which will devour you for hours, days, weeks, months:
http://www.myhq.com/public/c/y/cyn5/
and be sure to visit her blog:
http://cynscorner.blogspot.com/
So enjoy your web cruising while I try to get this pattern together. See you next week.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Website Wednesday
This is my 100th post! Wow!
Though I bet in another culture in a parallel universe a "magic" number might be 67 or 108. But I'm going with 100 since that's one of my world's magical numbers. If this achievement represented human years I'd be expecting a birthday card from Obama.
Humans like to look back in contemplation at milestones. Sometimes they like to share their contemplations with you and bore you to tears. Sometimes they like to write a best-selling book about their musings - and still bore you to tears.
Shall I join that group? Nah.
Instead, I'd like to send you to a website whose recent postings have made me sad.
http://www.deusexmalcontent.com/ - Deus Ex Malcontent
I've been reading this site for almost two years. It handles current political topics so I probably got "recommended" from another site I read which also handles current political topics.
But websites are literary quicksand; you step in them expecting one thing and then you discover so much more.
I don't know Chez Pazienza as probably most of his readers don't but I've enjoyed the pictures of his adorable new baby, understood his angst as he looked for employment, and now: I feel so sad that his marriage is over.
So sad for him and surprisingly so sad for me, but that is the power of words. A good author, and Chez is a fine writer, weaves a story and as we follow it if we have human empathy, we see our commonality in the writing.
Be sure to read Truth and Consequences on 3/31/09. He says some truths about blog writing and offers a glimpse at the damage wrought as a capitalistic economy fails.
I"ve always admired him for his honesty and openness and he doesn't fail during this personal crisis.
Read his wonderful tribute to his wife written in happier times and then The Story Ends (also 3/31/09). In just two short blogs he captures all the joy and heartbreak humans must endure if they choose to love.
I don't know why on April Fool's Day, I'm recommending reading blogs which are not pranks. I don't know why on April Fool's Day, a day of silliness, I recommending a second site:
http://ahamos.blogspot.com/ - Rainbows! Puppies! Leukemia
for its Saturday, March 28, 2009 blog titled: My Wife.
Once again, you'll read about sadness; the death of a wife and mother.
Drew Pinsky wrote in the 3/24/09 Huffington Post that it was time for humans to shed their narcissistic traits and connect.
Reading these blog entries would be a good way for us to start.
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