A Legend: Rodney Dangerfield

We watched the Comedy Central documentary: Legends: Rodney Dangerfield which we had DVR'd. And what a legend he is. His humor appealed to everyone young and old. I remember watching a taped segment of Rodney from the tonight show with Grandparents, parents and grandchildren. Everyone was laughing.

Rodney's road to success was not quick or without hardship. He was born Jack Cohen. Quit the comedy business in his twenties to sell aluminum siding (he was probably the funniest aluminum siding salesman there ever was). He made a comeback in his forties under his new name Rodney Dangerfield. Eventually he appeared on the Ed Sullivan show and was so funny even Ed laughed. He started Dangerfield's a comedy house in New York so he could stay home and be close to his children. Ultimately his one-liner style of comedy influenced countless comedians.

Conclusion: The documentary was phenomenal ~ Rodney is most definitely a legend.

My mother-in-law's favorite Dangerfield joke: I just got back from a pleasure trip. I took my mother-in-law to the airport.

In the Bored Room

My husband and I recently watched the academy award nominated film "In the Bedroom". Thirty minutes into the film T. paused the DVR saying, "This movie is way too slow." Later when Frank is murdered, he declared, "Finally some action”. He has since renamed the film "In the Bored Room".

The movie stars Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson who play the Fowlers; a middle aged married couple living in Maine. The film traces their grieving process after their son Frank is murdered. Frank had been dating Natalie an older woman played by Marisa Tomei who is separated from her abusive husband. The murderer is Richard Stout (William Mapothor) the not quite ex-husband who can’t bear to see his wife run around with another man.

My husband's strong dislike of the film overshadowed any opinion I may have formed of the film.

Conclusion: If you like a lot of action and are a realist at heart this film probably is not for you.

Summer Reading

A couple of years ago I swore off fiction. I had been working my way through Oprah’s book club selections and was already becoming increasingly disappointed with each additional book, when I read "Back Roads" by Tawni O’Dell. That book was the last straw; I could no longer bring myself to read any more fiction. "Back Roads" was one of the worst books I have ever read. It seemed like O'Dell was trying to shock her readers by cramming every horrible thing in life (murder, incest, etc) into one book.

Slowly, I have been coming back to fiction. Recently I was looking for a couple of really good recommendations for summer reading when I came across the ornery librarian's blog http://ornerylibrarian.blogspot.com/. Originally I was drawn to her blog because of its name; but I kept returning for the reviews. I especially enjoy her bottom line remarks.

This summer I read three books reviewed on her blog and was not disappointed. I started with Steve Martin's "Shop Girl". She recommended it saying it was the best book on her blog. Who would have thought Steve Martin could write. Many times while reading I could almost hear his voice. I found this book to be a winner.

My next pick "The Lady and the Unicorn" by Tracy Chevalier was also good. I had read “The Girl with the Pearl Earring” and I as well as the ornery librarian liked this one better. I enjoy art history and was intrigued by the story of the tapestries. I did find the artist’s jokes about his unicorn a bit lame however.

My final selection was "The Accidental Tourist" by Anne Tyler. This was my first Anne Tyler experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be checking out more Tyler.

Bottom line: If you are interested in a reliable book blog check out the ornery librarian.

Crash

I rented the movie Crash last weekend. I felt it was one of those movies I had to watch. How could I go wrong; it had won the academy award, had a great cast of characters, and everyone kept saying how much this movie would make you think (this type of movie is usually right up my alley as I like movies that stay with you for a day or two). Yet I was apprehensive. I had this preconceived notion that it would be dark, violent and depressing. Mostly this viewpoint came from an Oprah show I happened to catch that focused on the movie.

Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised. The movie wasn’t nearly as dark violent or depressing as I had thought and was indeed thought provoking. It definitely stayed with me for a day or two. Interesting to see how our prejudices affect communications with members of all ethnic groups. The movie dealt not only with prejudice against blacks, but also with Asians, Hispanics, and Persians. Preconceived ideas cross all ethnic backgrounds and include prejudices within a group. How many times do we judge our co-workers, family and friends based on their appearance and our preconceived ideas about them?

I recommend the movie finding it to be one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Well worth your time.

On keeping speeches short

A teacher asked a student to sum up Socrates in four lines.
The student said:
1. Socrates lived a long time ago.
2. He was very intelligent.
3. Socrates gave long speeches.
4. His friends poisoned him.

Blanche DuBois

"Take Blanche her name is poetic: Blanche DuBois, "white of the woods," a heroine who stands for grace refinement, the lost plantation Belle Reve. She's also a liar, a semi-drunk, a hypocrite and a nymphomaniac and that's why she's so vivid - a butterfly and a tarantula at once."
 

~~Dichotomy from A Distant Country called youth - an adaptation of Tennessee Williams early letters which has been performed across the U.S. He also is known to have described Blanche as the funniest character he ever wrote.

Blanche DuBois is a character from Tennessee William's play "A Streetcar named Desire". She has been described as one of Drama's most memorable characters.

My husband and I watched the 1951 b&w movie adaptation starring Marlon Brando and Vivian Leigh on a steamy August evening a couple of years ago. The hot, humid weather only enhanced the enjoyment of this sultry classic movie.

If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it.