Circa 1963.
I recently bought a used Junior Girl Scout Handbook at a local seller and was blown away by it. Yes, I was a scout during the 60s but I guess I had forgotten just how logically the whole thing was presented and the ideals that were cherished.
Scouting was more than just an afterschool activity, it was a course on manners, friendship and even the arts. And yes, outdoor living was prominent as well, but that was presented in a way that made it look both fun and practical.
Back to the manners. Where do kids learn to set a table or eat in a mannerly style? Their classmates? Their parents? Well shouldn't it be codified and written down somewhere? The Junior handbook wrote it down on pages 151-152. We need this back! When I was on my cruise (see below)I was astonished by how far we have devolved in this area. People blithely and revoltingly chewed with their mouths open, ate soup in a splashy fashion and generally used utensils as primitive spears. Volume control is another place where we fall short.
No, I am not suggesting we drag our entire nation back to the times of limited rights for women and minorities or any such nonsense, so don't go there with me! But I do think that learning basic skills at the table would be beneficial.
Bring back the scouts of 63! More later...
Brief update: I have been informed that this trend toward piggish smacking and gobbling is called "relishing one's meal" or "eating with zest". I beg to differ. Just plain piggish and RUDE!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Cruise to Canada, part deux
Well the cruise ship botched Halifax by not providing a city itinerary or allowing enough time to see "the sights", but they made St. John look like there were no "sights" to be seen. The only tours were "pub crawls" and tours of the pier area.
As I mentioned before the Bay of Fundy is a "sight" all on its own, but we pulled in under the cover of darkness with only me and a handful of other possible Maximalists awake to see the view. We also departed at dinnertime, sigh. Another missed adventure was what appeared to be a fort at the top of a distant hill. It was, in fact the Carleton Martello Tower which played a part in the War of 1812 and is now a museum. With a little homework our cruise company and our cruise director (no Julie McCoy that's for sure) could have made this visit a thrilling historical adventure. Instead people came back to the boat and wondered why we stopped there. Sad but true.
I wonder why cruise ships don't bother creating truly interesting tours or providing a serious reference booklet about the ports of call. If they left the gambling tables open while we were docked I could understand the fear of lost revenue, but they were closed. And a heck of a lot of gambling accompanied the serious drinking took place.
The Maximalist did find one unlisted beauty of a place; the Scheherazade Books and Music store! Just a great place to browse and a grand collection in French and English. I found some wonderful LPs and some paperbacks I've been hunting for locally. I could have spent a few more hours just there.
Alas. I would love to go back to these two serious cities and get to know the area and the sights. Maybe in time for the Halifax Jazz Festival in 2012?
As for cruising, the Maximalist is not the casino type and I just did not find the glimpses of the two ports of call to be fulfilling. Perhaps a Caribbean cruise would be more like it. Beach hopping without the need to unpack.
As for cruises in general, I would have to try a different line or a different time of year perhaps. Maybe this particular cruise was something of an aberration, but I found the drinking to be astonishing. Every time you turned around you saw someone holding a gigantic drink, a bottle of beer, or wine. And the started with the bloody marys and mimosas at breakfast! There were AA/NA meetings twice a day on the ship, but there appeared to be plenty of people who should have become friends of Bill W.
Alcohol consumption is nothing I favor maximalizing in terms of quantity, but I bet that drove people to gamble more liberally. Anyway I got an idea of the true scope of the drinking when the cruise director announced a raffle. The prize was $500.00 off your bar bill! It was a five day cruise.
As I mentioned before the Bay of Fundy is a "sight" all on its own, but we pulled in under the cover of darkness with only me and a handful of other possible Maximalists awake to see the view. We also departed at dinnertime, sigh. Another missed adventure was what appeared to be a fort at the top of a distant hill. It was, in fact the Carleton Martello Tower which played a part in the War of 1812 and is now a museum. With a little homework our cruise company and our cruise director (no Julie McCoy that's for sure) could have made this visit a thrilling historical adventure. Instead people came back to the boat and wondered why we stopped there. Sad but true.
I wonder why cruise ships don't bother creating truly interesting tours or providing a serious reference booklet about the ports of call. If they left the gambling tables open while we were docked I could understand the fear of lost revenue, but they were closed. And a heck of a lot of gambling accompanied the serious drinking took place.
The Maximalist did find one unlisted beauty of a place; the Scheherazade Books and Music store! Just a great place to browse and a grand collection in French and English. I found some wonderful LPs and some paperbacks I've been hunting for locally. I could have spent a few more hours just there.
Alas. I would love to go back to these two serious cities and get to know the area and the sights. Maybe in time for the Halifax Jazz Festival in 2012?
As for cruising, the Maximalist is not the casino type and I just did not find the glimpses of the two ports of call to be fulfilling. Perhaps a Caribbean cruise would be more like it. Beach hopping without the need to unpack.
As for cruises in general, I would have to try a different line or a different time of year perhaps. Maybe this particular cruise was something of an aberration, but I found the drinking to be astonishing. Every time you turned around you saw someone holding a gigantic drink, a bottle of beer, or wine. And the started with the bloody marys and mimosas at breakfast! There were AA/NA meetings twice a day on the ship, but there appeared to be plenty of people who should have become friends of Bill W.
Alcohol consumption is nothing I favor maximalizing in terms of quantity, but I bet that drove people to gamble more liberally. Anyway I got an idea of the true scope of the drinking when the cruise director announced a raffle. The prize was $500.00 off your bar bill! It was a five day cruise.
Cruisin' to Canada, my first cruise vacation.
If you judge Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Canada by the activities featured from the cruise ship you will think "My God in heaven, there is nothing here" and go back to the ship to eat (for free) and buy drinks. I suspect that is precisely what the company has in mind and that is precisely what many people did. And that's a damn shame.
I was in Halifax on the 14th of July. I managed to get to the Maritime museum and to the area around the pier. Yes there was a bus trip to Peggy's Cove, but a three hour trip does not do justice to that lovely area any more than a quick trolley ride does justice to St. John, New Brunswick or the Bay of Fundy. Any of these areas is worthy of days of activities and appreciation of the history and physical beauty.
The pier area in Halifax is pretty dull looking, grain elevators on one side and industrial on the other. BUt when you walk around it is quite interesting and includes a view of Georges Island which was one of the sites from which the Acadians were imprisoned and deported. Old grey stone wall attest to the grimness of the place and the current appears strong. The restaurant pickings are great and varied in the area and on a sunny day (we had rainy weather) I'm sure the scene becomes much more appealing.
We also landed in Halifax during the Jazz Festival which would have been a great opportunity to see some fabulous performances and enjoy the port area. The cruise company did absolutely NOTHING to get the word out about the festival and the boat was scheduled to depart at 6PM anyway. This, I think, was the saddest of all. I missed great jazz and saw some silly song and dance show put on by the cruise ship instead! BAH! Here's what I missed by being on the ship instead: http://halifaxjazzfestival.ca/
More later...
I was in Halifax on the 14th of July. I managed to get to the Maritime museum and to the area around the pier. Yes there was a bus trip to Peggy's Cove, but a three hour trip does not do justice to that lovely area any more than a quick trolley ride does justice to St. John, New Brunswick or the Bay of Fundy. Any of these areas is worthy of days of activities and appreciation of the history and physical beauty.
The pier area in Halifax is pretty dull looking, grain elevators on one side and industrial on the other. BUt when you walk around it is quite interesting and includes a view of Georges Island which was one of the sites from which the Acadians were imprisoned and deported. Old grey stone wall attest to the grimness of the place and the current appears strong. The restaurant pickings are great and varied in the area and on a sunny day (we had rainy weather) I'm sure the scene becomes much more appealing.
We also landed in Halifax during the Jazz Festival which would have been a great opportunity to see some fabulous performances and enjoy the port area. The cruise company did absolutely NOTHING to get the word out about the festival and the boat was scheduled to depart at 6PM anyway. This, I think, was the saddest of all. I missed great jazz and saw some silly song and dance show put on by the cruise ship instead! BAH! Here's what I missed by being on the ship instead: http://halifaxjazzfestival.ca/
More later...
Friday, July 1, 2011
Why I am boycotting LUSH
It's "ethics" are not consistent with ethical conduct.
First it supports illegal immigration into the US and a flagrant disregard of the laws of my nation. They prattle about how nobody is "illegal", well people do plenty of illegal things. Lush actually helped organize a protest against Arizona's immigration law.
Next they support Hamas and despise Israel. They are bleating on their UK site about human rights abuses by Israel while they say nothing about the Palestinian terror activities that made the "wall" a necessity for jews. They say nothing about the Hamas charter which calls the end of Israel, or about Hamas' peaceful leaders who think it's okay to kill jews anywhere including children. Bathing with Lush products is washing yourself in jewish blood.
I have ideas for a few new Lush products, btw.
First we have the "Mrs. Braun you've got a lovely daughter" bath melt in honor of Hitler's Hottie, Eva Braun.
Next the Jihadi Bath Bomb which is shaped like a mass of cinders with little arms and legs (made of soap, naturally) sticking out all over...add red glitter for special cache.
And what Lush catalog could be complete without a little bit of citrus. We can call it "Death to all Juice!" after the charming fella above! Spelling is not his forte, but the aid money goes to bombs not books, I'm afraid.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Torch Song, Part II
Well I read a bunch of online reviews that panned the film, but I hold firm. The story is good if you can get past Crawford's song and dance routines. Maybe 1950's audiences loved musical anything, I don't know. Or maybe they just could not envision doing a straight drama about a Broadway musical actress. They should have. The should have concentrated on the psychology behind these two needy people and they'd have had a better show. Maybe the Maximalist is just a psych nurse? OK.
But if you had a young beautiful broadway starlet, the story would have failed. She would not have been so hard boiled on the surface. The woman would not be trying so hard to hold on to stardom, the future would still look bright. The "boyfriend", played by Gig Young would not have been so shallow and you'd have needed a younger man in the Wilding role as well.
I would have liked to see the character development highlighted and explored, OK?
Crawford's character had a lot going on mentally. She made it to the top and was finding it harder to stay there. She was taken advantage of by theatrer types, by the men in her life and even by her family. Despite the success she was pretty personally isolated and friendless. This feeling should have been built up and the stagey stuff played down, but there's nothing to do about that now, huh? Wilding's losses are also acute as a man who has not fully adjusted to his blindless despite the smiles and the music and his demeanor. His rejection of "Martha" brought tears to my eyes. The movie needed scenes like that one.
Anyway, other nice things were the costumes worn by Crawford, very early-50's chic, and her jewelry which was fab. Some reviewers quarreled with her eyebrow pencil, but that was part of the period. Look at Kim Novak in Bell, Book and Candle and you still see major pencilling, so I see this as a false issue. The furnishings in Crawford's apartment were also post-war modern and when you look at them you will see where Ikea found its inspiration. They are cheap modernist, while this was the real deal. Check out the blue bedroom and the lighting.
When all is said and done, I liked it. I may have liked it better with a 35 year old actress, but I still liked it.
But if you had a young beautiful broadway starlet, the story would have failed. She would not have been so hard boiled on the surface. The woman would not be trying so hard to hold on to stardom, the future would still look bright. The "boyfriend", played by Gig Young would not have been so shallow and you'd have needed a younger man in the Wilding role as well.
I would have liked to see the character development highlighted and explored, OK?
Crawford's character had a lot going on mentally. She made it to the top and was finding it harder to stay there. She was taken advantage of by theatrer types, by the men in her life and even by her family. Despite the success she was pretty personally isolated and friendless. This feeling should have been built up and the stagey stuff played down, but there's nothing to do about that now, huh? Wilding's losses are also acute as a man who has not fully adjusted to his blindless despite the smiles and the music and his demeanor. His rejection of "Martha" brought tears to my eyes. The movie needed scenes like that one.
Anyway, other nice things were the costumes worn by Crawford, very early-50's chic, and her jewelry which was fab. Some reviewers quarreled with her eyebrow pencil, but that was part of the period. Look at Kim Novak in Bell, Book and Candle and you still see major pencilling, so I see this as a false issue. The furnishings in Crawford's apartment were also post-war modern and when you look at them you will see where Ikea found its inspiration. They are cheap modernist, while this was the real deal. Check out the blue bedroom and the lighting.
When all is said and done, I liked it. I may have liked it better with a 35 year old actress, but I still liked it.
Michael Wilding in Torch Song.
Wikipedia defines "torch song" this way: a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship.
The trick to this being the title of a movie about a hardened broadway singer and her new and blind pianist, is that the "torch" isn't being carried by the singer at all and the one who carries it is longing not for a lost love as much as a lost life, at least a lost piece of it.
If you can get past the distraction of Joan Crawford's performance as a singer and look at the two pricipal characters as people, you will find a diamond. Yes, Joan pulls of the role of a broadway star with ease, and wow is that "finale" with Joan and company in "black face" hard on the eyes and pretty stunning especially given the presence of minority actors, but the romance here feels real and compelling. Wilding is of course sensational as Tye Grahame and the reasons behind his actions are bittersweet yet gut wrenchingly honest.
I wish I'd have seen it years ago, but as a older Maximalist I bet I can appreciate it better.
The Billy Joel song is dumb really. The past always gets in the way. Always
The trick to this being the title of a movie about a hardened broadway singer and her new and blind pianist, is that the "torch" isn't being carried by the singer at all and the one who carries it is longing not for a lost love as much as a lost life, at least a lost piece of it.
If you can get past the distraction of Joan Crawford's performance as a singer and look at the two pricipal characters as people, you will find a diamond. Yes, Joan pulls of the role of a broadway star with ease, and wow is that "finale" with Joan and company in "black face" hard on the eyes and pretty stunning especially given the presence of minority actors, but the romance here feels real and compelling. Wilding is of course sensational as Tye Grahame and the reasons behind his actions are bittersweet yet gut wrenchingly honest.
I wish I'd have seen it years ago, but as a older Maximalist I bet I can appreciate it better.
The Billy Joel song is dumb really. The past always gets in the way. Always
Thursday, June 9, 2011
My official earrings for summer 2011
As I've mentioned many times, I just love silver. I've also been longing for come cool vintage peacock earrings. The last pair I saw were long dangly brass ones which were snapped up while I was "thinking about it". She who hesitates...
Anyway I love these, They're huge 1.5 inches in diameter and heavy, so they swing like crazy. The silver is bright and shiny and they're perfect.
And since I was on a roll, I purchased a pair of sterling Steven Dweck earringa and a pair by a Polish artist named Bytomski. These are a shade more formal and are, sadly, clips. I'm always afraid of losing clips
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