That ONE Sister

I am one of three sisters.  That's me on the left!  How do you fit in your family?  The studious one, the pretty one, or the goofy one?  (Oh, let's not call it "goofy", let's say "funny",  yes, let's do!)

Dreaming of fresh air by the sea...in Eastbourne, in England Sept. 2014...

Music And Beer-MmmHops!

Music and beer...it never occurred to me how many musicians might have something to do with the craft beer industry.  My son has written a great article on the subject in the Beer Connoisseur Magazine, "Best Beer and Music Collaborations".  You may read it here!  (If there is one thing I know, I simply cannot spell "connoisseur". I have to look it up every time!)

  Well done, Christopher, keep up the good work!

Remember the Hanson Brothers?  Eventually, they just called themselves "Hanson".  They were a boy band from the late 90's from Tulsa,  Oklahoma and their big hit was "MmmBop".   In 2013, not only did they release a new album, but they also launched their IPA beer, "MmmHops".  (IPA means India Pale Ale...I didn't know what it meant either, I had to look it up!)   10 percent of the sales from their beer goes towards building water wells in Africa. I don't know about you, but I really like that a lot. 
 

And I see that one of the brothers, Taylor, married Natalie Bryant from Georgia in 2002. They were married at one of my favorite spots in Georgia- Callaway Gardens in the Ida Cason Chapel. You know me, I will find either a Georgia connection or an English one!

The Sound of Music-Music by Richard Rodgers/Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein

There were some real low moments in the Oscars but there were some magical moments as well.
There was a stunning performance by Lady Gaga in tribute to the 50th anniversary of the movie, "The Sound of Music".  And best of all, at the end of it, Julie Andrews herself came to the stage! My goodness, I love Julie Andrews.  No one can sing those songs like Julie Andrews and Lady Gaga must know that too, as I felt that her style of singing was almost a direct imitation of Julie Andrews. And I find nothing wrong with that whatsoever!  Thank you, Lady Gaga! Wonderful to have someone to sing these songs that I adore with such an obvious respect. 
One thing though, and maybe I missed it...but was there any mention of the songwriters?   It seems strange to me that Julie Andrews was there to present an award for songwriting, and there was the beautiful tribute from Lady Gaga and not one word about the songwriting duo of Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein!   Is there some legal reason for this?  I am only asking since I have such great respect for songwriters. 

 

It Happened One Night/Oscar Night

The Oscars will be on TV tonight. There have only been three films that have won in what is called the Big Five Academy Award categories.  The Big Five are: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay.  The three films are: "It Happened One Night" (1934), "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).  (I know people like that last one but it gave me the creeps, but hey, that's just me!)  I love you Anthony Hopkins, please don't be mad with me!

Recently, the movie, "It Happened One Night" was shown on one of our PBS channels.  Richard had never seen it, so we watched it together.  Clark Gable was really good in that movie, and I think he  deserved his Oscar.  Funny thing, in one of the scenes, he is munching on a carrot and is such a wisecracking kind of a fellow that it really put me in mind of Bugs Bunny.  I looked it up and was surprised to see that Tex Avery, who created the great cartoon character WAS influenced by Clark Gable in "It Happened One Night"!  Now, this might not be earth shaking news to anyone, but it tickled me that it made me think of Bugs...and I was right!( Click here  and scroll down to the catchphrases.)  Hey, other people can make great intellectual connections, but me, I can recognize Bugs Bunny when I see him!

  What's up, Doc?!

I have the hitchhiking scene in the YouTube clip above and the actress, Claudette Colbert, did not want to do this scene showing so much leg but when she saw the actress who was going to stand in for her, she decided to do the scene herself!  "That's not my leg!" is what she was reported to have said.
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For the Oscars tonight, I really like Eddie Redmayne.  I have not seen him in the movie, "The Theory of Everything" but just from the trailers, you can see that it is an extraordinary portrayal.  I really liked him in a mini series on TV called "Pillars of the Earth".  I thought he was very good too in the movie, "My Week With Marilyn".  Richard just reminded me that we also saw him in "Birdsong", a World War I drama.  He puts me in mind of another British actor that I have written about before....David Niven.  Charming and talented, and they both seem to be cut from the same cloth...witty and appreciative of all that comes their way.

David Niven won an Oscar for the movie, "Separate Tables" in 1959.  On his way to the podium, he tripped and fell on the steps.  When he accepted his award, he said the only reason that he had fallen was because he was loaded...and then, he paused and the audience roared with laughter, thinking he was drunk! He later said that he was going to say that he was loaded down with good luck charms but when he got such a laugh, he decided to leave it at that,
But hey, this is America and there is no time for the Brits to have their little pauses.   (David Niven always did tell the funniest stories and he was very quick witted...some of his stories were true but I am sure that he embellished a great many of them to get the most laughs!)  How do I know so much about David Niven?  I have read his books!  "The Moon Is A Balloon" and "Bring On The Empty Horses", are really funny books.  I wish that someone would make a movie about David Niven.  When this happens, and I can just see it happening...you can say you read it here first!

   I found a clip on YouTube for you. One year, David Niven was presenting at the Oscars and a streaker went passed him while he was on stage.  So quick and funny, not too many could think of such a perfect response. 

Some British humour for you and no, spell check. I meant to spell it that way for the Brits, if you don't mind!  This was in front of one of the hotels along the seafront in Eastbourne...it looks like it says FREE BEER!  But it doesn't, it says Free Wi-Fi and Great beer!  So Funny. Well, I thought so anyway, but then, I don't get out much.

When The Cold Makes You Blue

When the cold winter makes you blue (and that can mean blue in color and blue in mood) then... make blueberry muffins!  That is what I did!  I made them this morning and took them into work for my co-workers.  Happy to tell you that they were a hit!  They were only from a blueberry muffin mix, but instead of using the blueberries that came with the mix, I used my Dad's blueberries that I had in my freezer! (We picked them together this past June.)  I think I remember reading somewhere that if you add blueberries straight from the freezer that they work out perfectly in blueberry muffins.  I also added a squeeze of lemon juice and a bit of milk.   Making these muffins was just a small thing but we have all been stressed out a bit at work so even this small thing was much appreciated.  It was very cold today, our high was only about 23 degrees.  It was pleasing to offer freshly make blueberry muffins hot from the oven, on such a cold day!
  I didn't have time to take a photo of the muffins, but you know what muffins look like, right?  How about some "blue" photos, instead? 

 

 

 

 

Always Time For A Cuppa Tea

Thankfully, the snow and ice passed us by.  It was a fine line, just north of Atlanta, it was a different story today.  (This photo is from Feb. 13th of last year).
Wish us luck in Georgia!  I am hoping to get through this winter with just cold rain.  I am not complaining!  The photos of the people in Boston almost buried in snow makes me feel very grateful that I live in the South. 
LEFT IN THE LURCH!  That is the expression I immediately thought of when a co-worker unexpectedly quit this week without any notice.   I wonder...where does that phrase come from?  I looked at several different explanations...possibly something to do with a lychgate at the front of an English church, might have something to do with some kind of French game...several other possibilities...does anyone know for sure?

Scriptor, hope you like my post box mug! 

Blue Sky Bird Walk!

Today our weather is rainy and quite cold but this weekend was beautiful!  The high on Saturday was in the mid 50's.   There was a bird walk at Hard Labor Creek State Park on that day and since it is close to my Dad's, I decided to go by myself since Richard had to work.  Our walk was from 1:30 to 4PM and it was wonderful to be outside in the fresh air. It was quite windy and we might not have seen as many birds as usual because of this but the birds at the lake made up for it.

Our guide told us that the collective name for a group of water birds is a raft...so we saw a raft of double crested cormorants, he estimated about 130 of them!  Since Phil brought a powerful scope for our bird watching, we could see them in great detail.  Amazing sight!  The cormorants were mixed in with a group of ring billed gulls.  The sun shining upon the white gulls was dazzling!     Hey!  You want to know the other birds we saw on our walk?  You can see the list just here!
This weekend was The Great Backyard Bird Count and you find more info about it here. 

Before this walk, I went to my Dad's for a wonderful lunch.  Let's see, we had turnip greens, collard greens, cabbage from his garden,  roast beef with potatoes, carrots & onions,  macaroni & cheese, biscuits and onion cornbread, and a big pot of pinto beans and great Northern beans.  I needed a long bird walk after that meal! 

Best thing of all, after I finished the walk, I came back to my Dad's and was pleased to find him on his lawnmower and he was wearing the cap that I crocheted for him!  If only Richard could have been with me, he would have been thrilled to have seen all those cormorants!  And you know that I took Richard some left overs!