Mom's Movie Marathon

Both boys left for church camp on Sunday. Mark left for a business trip to Louisville, KY, right after. That left me with nothing to do all afternoon Sunday, and Monday night. So I rented a bunch of movies I have really been wanting to see, that I know Mark doesn't want to sit through with me. Good times....

Lots of angst here - starving artist angst, herion angst, HIV angst, gay angst. Not the kind of angst I can really relate to. (I relate to working-mom angst, soccer practice angst, who's-putting-up-the-laundry angst. Granted, not as edgy.) But while I didn't really relate all that well to the story, I did really groove on the music. Lots of songs I've been singing in my head all day after hearing just one time. "Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes...." ....... "How we gonna pay-ayyy...how we gonna pay-ayyyy...."


Loved this book. And the movie was true to the book, only they crammed it into too hours. Made it seem very rushed. I would have preferred tacking on another half hour to really tell the story right. It was extremely well-cast, and the costumes were great.


John Travolta is not an attractive man, and he's REALLY not an attractive woman. And his accent drove me NUTS for the entire movie. But everyone else was great - I've become quite the fan of Queen Latifah. She was great in Chicago and in Stranger Than Fiction (in a very understated role). And she was great in this.

Laugh-out-loud funny at times, bordering on stupid at others. Would definitely be a better live show.

Wow. Much like a Jane Austen novel, only without the happy ending. I really enjoyed this one. The woman who plays Molly Weasley in the Harry Potter movies played Jane Austen's mother, and was SUPERB. I'll have to do some research to see how much of this is based on history and how much is movie magic. But definitely a good one.

So, no real duds in my movie marathon. Mark and I will likely watch some more movies when he gets back tomorrow, so I'll try to post on those as well. But don't expect more musicals or period pieces. Not Mark's thing. Probably some sci-fi and things blowing up. Everything has its place.

What I'm Reading Now

Wicked, by Gregory Maguire.

This is the book the musical is based on. It's the story of how the Witches in The Wizard of Oz came to be witches, good and bad. (According to the musical story, they were college roomies, and the Wicked Witch of the West was just a misunderstoond animal rights activist. I know it sounds crazy, but it works.) I had read that there is much more to the book (there always is).

Gregory Maguire has a lot of books based on the other side of famous stories. Cinderella's Ugly Stepsisters and Snow White are two that come to mind. He has also written a follow-up to Wicked, and might even be working on a third book in the series. This is the first of his books that I've read.

I've only read a few chapters, and so far, I can only say that it's unusual. But that could be a good thing. The Wizard of Oz is a pretty unusual story too, when you think about it.

They Always Say Polls Are Notoriously Unreliable

I can't seem to vote on any polls - not mine, or D's, or Kyle's. When I click "vote", I get that Internet Explorer White Screen of Death, aka The Webpage Cannot Be Found message.

I checked blogger help, which told me to "clear my cache". I didn't think that was legal in Tennessee, but I did it anyway, to no avail.

Is anyone else having trouble voting? Any suggestions?

Hmmmmmm........

From Broadway.com: (This article is more than a year old, but it was news to me.)

The Phantom in Manhattan: Lloyd Webber Back at Work on Sequel to Broadway Smash - by Broadway.com Staff

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber announced in a video message on his website March 9 that he will definitely write a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, the longest-running show in Broadway history. Although few details were revealed, he did say that the long-gestating show will be set in New York City.

Lloyd Webber had previously announced that a sequel was in the works for the show, which premiered in London in 1986. In fact, at a 50th birthday celebration concert for Lloyd Webber at Royal Albert Hall, a song from that project, "The Heart Is Slow to Learn," was performed by opera diva Kiri Te Kanawa. The plot for the sequel was developed with Frederick Forsyth, author of many books including The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File. After the composer dropped the project in 1999, Forsyth released the story as a novel, The Phantom of Manhattan. Although Lloyd Webber indicates on his website that he was unhappy with some of the plotting of the novel, his collaboration with Forsyth seems ongoing.

The Phantom of Manhattan novel is set in New York City in the early 1900s and filled with famous characters of the day including Irving Berlin and Teddy Roosevelt. Narrated by a dying Madame Giry, the ballet mistress of the Paris Opera House in The Phantom of the Opera, it tells the story of how The Phantom left Paris after the events of the original story and fled to New York City. There, he becomes a wealthy entrepreneur, building the Manhattan Opera House and luring his Phantom love Christine, now a famous diva, to perform there. Christine is married to Raoul, with a son named Pierre.

Based on the original novel by Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera features music by Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe and a book by Stilgoe and Lloyd Webber. It opened at the Majestic Theatre on January 26, 1988. The 2004 film version, which was nominated for 3 Academy Awards, grossed $154 million worldwide.

The Manny

The boys are having a great summer! Our good friend Shea teaches middle school, and of course gets the summers off. He's keeping the boys during the day, and they LOVE him. They go to the pool everyday for two hours (both boys are working on swimming requirements for scouts), play video games, board games, and just generally do guy things. Shea has even devised an elaborate playoff grid for Wii baseball - the World Series is this Friday. They're having a ball.

Church camp is next week, then a special day camp the week after, and then more Shea (we call him Showtime - it's a long story).

I once heard a person say "When you remember your childhood, why is it always summertime?" Ben and Daniel are making lots of wonderful summertime memories. We couldn't be happier!

Saturday Night Funnies

Saturday night, we went to Best Buy to get a new TV. Our family room TV has been dead for over a year now, and we finally took the plunge to replace it. We borrowed Mark's mom's truck to get it home.

As soon as we get to Best Buy, the boys take off for the video games, and Mark and I shop in peace. After we find a TV, we decide to replace the DVD player as well. We make our purchases, and I go find the boys. Mark goes to get the truck so he can back it up to the front door and load the TV.

When we catch up to Mark, he is still in the parking lot and has put the DVD player in the truck bed. Daniel hops up on the back of the truck, looks at the DVD box for a few seconds, then says "Ummm, guys? We could've hauled that in our car."

Additional humor ensued when Mark cracked his shin-bone on the trailer hitch while loading up the TV. He manned-up and walked calmly to the driver door, before collapsing in agony onto the front seat. I helped things by laughing uncontrollably.

We should've saved the money on the TV. We're clearly more than capable of entertaining ourselves.

City Tournament - Game Three

Well, we're out of it. We lost 2-0 to the Juggernaut that is the Coke squad. They were an extremely good team. I think I graduated high school with two of them.

I'm kidding of course, but in our Little League, we have three divisions. Two of the three divide their teams into 9-10 year old squads and 11-12 year old squads. The younger teams only play other younger teams, and the older teams only play other older teams. The third division - ours - plays 9,10,11, and 12 year olds on the same team. There are good arguments for both, but the short of it is come City Tournament time, our 9 year olds are up against teams made up of only 11-12 years olds. Such was the case tonight.

And we played well. We had great pitching, and awesome defense. The fact that we held them to two runs is impressive by itself. Their pitcher was just unhittable. We got runners on, but couldn't score any runs. The pitcher finally reached his pitch count in the top of the sixth inning. They brought in a new pitcher, who appeared to be quite hittable. This was when the controversy began.

Now, I'm no Ump-Griper. We have a lot of them in our stands. No matter what happens, if the ump makes a call against our team, he sucks. These people argue the most ludicrous calls you can imagine. My take is, umps make mistakes. And they usually make as many mistakes for us as against us, so we should just take our lumps and shut up. After all, what are we teaching the kids if we insist every loss was because of bad officiating? Sometimes you just lose.

HOWEVER....

We're in the top of the sixth and we're batting. The new pitcher is in, and we have one man on first with no outs. The second batter hits one just past the infield. The second baseman takes a few steps back and the ball lands in his glove. And then rolls out into the dirt. Play continues as if it were an error and not a catch. Our runner is almost at second and the batter is safe at first. And then the ump signals an out. He seems to think the second baseman made a clean catch. Which means the runner at second has to get back to first to tag up, which is metaphysically impossible at this point. The second basemen tosses the ball to first for the second out.

We now have two outs and no one on, instead of two on and no one out. Next batter hits one clean and gets on. We would have had the bases loaded and no outs had the ump made a different call. I'm not saying we would have won, I'm just saying that ump's call reversed our chances considerably. Next batter grounds out, and that's the ball game.

The kids were devastated. About half of them cried, even the older ones. They played a fantastic game against a fantastic team. I hated for them to lose it that way.

The home plate ump told one of our coaches after the game that the ump in question made a horrible call. But....what can you do? A friend of ours was there, and his sage comment was "Well, now you know how the Cubs feel."

So, baseball is over at our house until next spring. We had a great season. Ben has made great strides and is like a vacuum cleaner in right field now. So just wait till next year....

City Tournament - Game Two

Bolton wins again! This game was more of a slug-fest than the last one - it was neck and neck until we broke things open in the fifth inning. Final score was 19 - 9. Tomorrow night we go on to play a team that is currently undefeated.

Fingers and toes crossed, everyone. Fingers and toes crossed...

What I'm Reading Now

Change of Heart, by Jodi Picoult.

I'm just over half-way through this, and I still don't know what I think about it.

On the one hand, it's the story of a man convicted of murdering a young girl and her stepfather. He's on death row, and is trying to donate his heart when he dies. The person he wants to donate his heart to just happens to be his victim's younger sister, who just happens to need a heart transplant.

On the other hand, this is a book about faith, religion (all kinds, I might add - Christianity in all its forms, Judaism, Agnosticism, Atheism), forgiveness, divinity, and humanity.

It's a very unique story, and while I definitely want to see how it turns out, I don't know how I feel about it. It questions not only things that others believe, but it questions what I believe as well. And while I think questions are critical to any faith worth its salt, that doesn't make it easy to ask them or to answer them.

I will say that I don't think things are exactly as they seem. I've read lots of Picoult's books, and they always seem to have a twist at the end. I'm also noticing that there is very little detail being given about the murders themselves, which leads me to wonder if our murderer is as guilty as they say he is.

This Week's Poll

This one was a barn-burner, my friends! Les Miz and POTO ran neck and neck right down to the wire. Then, with only hours left to vote, it looked like POTO had it sewn up, but no! Les Miz caught up for a spectacular tie!

And poor Miss Saigon...no votes?!?!? Not a one? What do you have to do to impress you people? Land a helicopter on stage?

In related Broadway show news, it has come to my attention during my quest for Wicked tickets, that Les Miz will be at the Fox Theater in September, for those of you who voted that way. Just remember....you heard it here first. (Unless, of course, you already heard it somewhere else.)

All Time Great Reads - The Ones I Forgot

I warned you this would happen. My deepest apologies to the following books - as soon I posted, they started popping into my head, one by one, with that mournful puppy-dog face that says "How could you forget me?" See, I told you this would be a hard post.....

Classics

The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton - Turn of the century New York City. Fascinating characters (that May sure kept you guessing, didn't she?) And a darned good movie adaptation.

The Forsythe Saga, John Galsworthy - This one might belong in the Modern Fiction category, and possibly the Series category since it's really three books (but no one reads them one at a time - it's a saga, for crying out loud!) I have seen neither the original mini-series or the remake, but the book is fantastic.

Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell - I think we've all heard of this one. If you haven't read it, do so.

Modern Fiction

Ahab's Wife, Sena Jeter Nasland - This one makes the list on concept alone. Melville mentions that Captain Ahab had a wife just once in Moby Dick, and Naslund wraps an entire story around her. And what a story it is.....Una is way more interesting than her whale-obsessed husband.

The Prince of Tides, Pat Conroy - A great southern novel about some not-so-great-but-tragic-all-the-same southerners. I love the scene where Tom meets Sally at USC for the first time....

And Ladies of the Club, Helen Hooven Santmyer - This is a long one, and it chronicles the lives of several women from high school graduation until old age in turn-of-century Ohio. Life was much simpler then, but strangely similar.

The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver - I've mentioned this in a previous post, but not in any great detail. It's the story of a missionary family in the Congo. Beautifully written, and very insightful. Kingsolver tells the story from the perspective of several different family members, each one with a unique voice. There is a scene where their camp is overrun by ants (much like in the Indiana Jones movie) and the mother has to choose between carrying her youngest child, and her child with a disability - the mother can only carry one to safety. The scene is told from the perspective of the child who isn't chosen. Strong stuff.

Children's Books

Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls - My sixth grade teacher read this aloud to us every day after lunch. She cried hysterically at the end. Great story.

Badger's Parting Gifts, Susan Vreeland - Interestingly enough, I never read this as a child. Ben brought it home from school in kindergarten, and I fell in love with it. He kept checking it out because he liked watching me cry at the end. Absolutely the best book on dealing with death that I've ever seen for young children. Quite well done.

So there's nine more. Just under the ten that I predicted. I know I will think of others, but I just have to let them go. This is it. This is the list. No more.

City Tournament - Game One

Ben's team pulled off a win in their first city tournament game. They won 12-2 and mercy-ruled the other team in just under 90 minutes. One of our guys even hit a grand salami. We play again on Thursday night, potentially against last year's champs.

Fingers crossed everyone, fingers crossed.

Oh, and clearly, I forgot my camera.

My All-Time Favorite Great Reads

This is a post I have wanted to do since I started blogging. I have found it much harder than I thought it would be. Every time I try to list my top ten books, or the books I would take with me if I got stranded on an island, I get frustrated and have to stop. See, I have read many, many excellent books in my day. And books are a lot like food (another one of my life-loves) - they can be so wonderful, yet so different, it is impossible to choose a favorite. Which is better (to quote the infamous Gene Simmons) - steak, or cheesecake?

So, this is my attempt, futile though it may be, to list my all-time favorite great reads. I have divided them into some semblance of category, although I was kind of loose and fast with that part.

Classics:

Bleak House, Charles Dickens - One of my greatest regrets in life was that I never took Dr. Skinner's British novel course while I was at PC. He did heartily recommend this book in every other class I had with him, but I never got around to reading it. Until late 2000. I finally tackled it, it tackled me back. Great story, great characters, wonderful love story - I just loved it. And I emailed Dr. Skinner one of those "better-late-then-never" notes to tell him that I finally took his advice. He replied almost immediately that he read my email right before going in to his British novel class to lecture on Bleak House - he said he printed my note and read it aloud. So I guess I got to be part of that class after all.

Wives and Daughters, Elizabeth Gaskell - How I got an English degree and never heard of Elizabeth Gaskell is beyond me, but she was not on my radar. I found this while looking for something long and meaningful to read over the course of a month or so. This one fit the bill. I loved it. I knew going in that Gaskell died before she finished it, and I was really stressing near the end that certain story lines wouldn't get resolved. That's when you know you've got a great novel in your hands - when you can't stand the possibility that you won't know what happens.

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen - I could have gone with Sense and Sensibility - I loved that one as well. But I have to admit, the BBC P&P mini-series capped this one for me. Simply marvelous.

Les Miserables, Victor Hugo - I only read this because I was so into the musical at the time. But what a book. Far better story lines than made it to the stage, but I don't think you can read it without humming all of the songs at one point or another.

Middlemarch, George Eliot - Back to my Dr. Skinner story. In his email response to me, he challenged me to tackle Middlemarch next. Which I did. With haste. And loved it too. Probably the hardest read of any on this list, but well worth the effort.

Villette, Charlotte Bronte - I can't really explain why this book is on the list. But when I read it, I just got attached to it. I loved the main character - a very likable but extremely solitary figure. She made you want to be alone, like it was cool when she did it. Lots of "sneak-up-on-you" twists as well.

Modern Fiction:

Bel Canto, Ann Patchett - I've blogged on this before. Great story, almost poetic.

The Wheel of Fortune, Susan Howatch - I think your first Howatch book is always your favorite. She has a style of storytelling that involves multiple narrators - the first time you read one of her books, you're blown away by how many perspectives she offers on one thing. And how you agree so much with the narrator you're reading at the time, and then hate him or her so much later.

A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving - Would you believe me if I told you I had started this book twice before actually getting through it? Laura B. read it after my two failed attempts, and raved about it. I remember sitting in her room in that house she and bunch of other girls lived in slightly off campus, and her telling us about this book like she was describing a religious experience. I was mesmerized. And when she was done, I immediately read the book. The movie was OK, but don't settle for it.

Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry - Great story, great characters, great friendship. This is one you could settle for the movie on, but go ahead and read it. Oddly enough, I've hated everything else I've ever read by McMurtry. I secretly believe he didn't write this book.

Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett - Already posted about this one. The follow-up was amazing as well, just not as amazing.

Dancing at the Rascal Fair, Ivan Doig - Like the McMurtry book, this is the only thing by Ivan Doig that I could get through. But what an amazing story, and love story. There is a scene where one of the characters has to tell her husband that the love of his life (not her, obviously) has died. I wish I could write people like Doig does here.

The Stand, Stephen King - This is the first book Mark ever gave me. I read it during the blizzard of 1993. What a storyteller he is. Movies have ruined him - his books are no where near the grotesque/horror stories the movies seem to turn in to. Phenomenal story.

London, Edward Rutherford - Better than Sarum, but just slightly. Great historical novel. Had a character in it named Oh Be Joyful. I kid you not.

Texas, James Michener - I saw an interview with Michener that was shown just after he died. He was asked "What's the best thing about being James Michener?" And he said he loved getting letters from people who read his books, then went to the places he wrote about. Well, I read Texas, and then went to Texas for a summer. 'Nuff said.

The Reader, Bernard Schlink - So it was an Oprah book. Still a darned good story. Reminds you of the power of literature.

The Kitchen God’s Wife, Amy Tan - I expected to hate this book, but man, I was blown away by it. Learning things we never knew about our parents is powerful stuff.

Series:

A Song of Fire and Ice, George R.R. Martin - I started these fantasy books when I thought it was going to be a trilogy. At last count, he's now planning six plus books. Not your typical fantasy novels, Martin does not follow the rules. Don't get attached to the main characters - he'll kill them off in a heartbeat.

Harry Potter, JK Rowling - What can you say? I wish I had the creativity that she has. I'd settle for half of it.

Mitford, Jan Karon - Karon makes you love your neighbors and the people you go to church with. Her books make me hungry, and happy.

Children’s Books:

A Day No Pigs Would Die, Robert Newton Peck - For whatever reason, I have never forgotten this book. There's a scene where the main character is dressing for his father's funeral, and he's looking at himself in the mirror, and his suit doesn't fit right because it's an old hand-me-down, and he says "God, it's hell to be poor." I have never forgotten that.

The Hundred Dresses, Eleanor Estes - Ben's class read this book last year, so I dug out my copy and re-read it. His teacher told me she wanted to read it because there were some girls in the class that needed to hear it. What a marvelous way to teach a lesson.

Betsy-Tacy, Maud Hart Lovelace - What can I say - I love Betsy. My family friend and sixth-grade librarian recommended these books for me one summer when I was helping her in the library (and I have no idea how that series of events came about, but I digress). I have read them and re-read them ever since. Betsy's turn-of-the-century life is blissfully captivating. I have a link to the Betsy-Tacy Society's web page, if you want to do some independent study.

And there it is. I know as soon as I post it, I'll think of ten more that should be here. But maybe that's another post.

Crown of Wonder

For many of you, this post will be meaningless.

But for some of you, you will be amazed at my success, and astounded by my determination. For you see, after more than a year of searching, I found, this very morning, the earth emerald in the deep caverns of Flea Floater mine. This elusive gem completes my collection, and I am now the proud owner of....drumroll.... the Webkinz Crown of Wonder.

Little League Party

Well, the season is over. Ben's team finished 17 and 7, second place in the league. Tournament play starts on Tuesday. Tonight, however, was the end-of-the-season party at our local waterpark. Good times. Good, wet times.