Hubby and I have been together for 19 years! Our Anniversary is September 16th and, I believe, most of my friends thought it would not last. We’ve been through job loss, mayhem with my mom, the dementia of my mom, death, car accident, pet deaths, major costs, major health issues and we are stronger now than ever.
I created this card for him creating the background using colour bursts. I sprinkled some coloured dust in yellow, green and red onto watercolour paper. I spritzed water onto the card and the colours burst forth. It’s really cool to see. Once it was dry, I stamped the trees in black and glued the backings, finally adding the saying.
Daughters come in all shapes and sizes and so do their parents. I decided to take the daughters and find their inner blossom. No, no get your head out of the gutter, they change from plain into a swan with either the help or against their parent. Here are my 3..
1. NOW, VOYAGER-1942
Poor Bette Davis is a nervous, plain Jane daughter of a viper of a mom, played with great evil by Gladys Cooper. When we meet poor Bette, she is a beaten down woman who cannot escape the caustic diatribes of her mom until she is sent to a care facility. Under the careful, gentle guidance of head psychiatrist, played, as always, with great aplomb, by Claude Rains, she shines and finds her true self. She takes a cruise and meets Hubba Hubba Paul Henreid where they begin a sensual love affair. We know this because he lights 2 cigarettes and hands her one..a huge sensual innuendo that made many women swoon, not to mention they have to share a sleeping bag. The true test comes when she finally comes home to meet back up with her mamma who does not approve. It is a romantic film not just because of the love affair but because of the romance Bette finds within herself and how she comes to find her destiny in helping a smaller version of herself. It’s a great film with a great score by Max Steiner.
2. SABRINA-1954
I just rewatched this enchanting tale that stars the exquisite Audrey Hepburn who is the daughter of the chauffeur dad played by John Williams, a prolific character actor that we know the face but not the name. When we meet Sabrina, she is a sweet girl in bare feet ( you actually see how big Audrey’s feet really are!) who longs to be part of of the party atmosphere of her dad’s employer specifically, in the arms of playboy William Holden ( in fact, they had a very intense love affair and he was planning to divorce his wife but when she spoke about having children, he crushed her dreams because he had a vasectomy. She ended the affair but Holden always carried a torch for her). Her dad was able to save money and invest wisely, by listening in on his employer’s stock tips, to send his daughter to Paris to become a chef. 2 years later, she returns and , boy, does she return dressed to kill in a very chic ensemble complete with toy poodle. Holden sees this lady and stops his little sports car offering to take her home not realizing this is the girl of the chauffeur. He invites her to another party his parents routinely give. She appears in an outstanding gown and is noticed by every man there but she only has eyes for playboy Holden. She is so excited when he asks her to meet him at his usual seduction place but is very disappointed when his older, all business brother appears in the form of Humphrey Bogart. Bogie decides to “woo” her to stop this romantic liaison between her and his brother because the family needs him to marry the daughter of some gazillionaire for business reasons. Audrey enchants as she wears one great dress to another and, although the costumes were designed by Edith Head, this is when Hepburn met Hubert De Givenchy who did design the iconic gowns including the little black dress. Hepburn rarely wore any other gowns after this and had a beautiful friendship with the designer until her early death, from cancer in 1993. This is a fun film by Billy Wilder even though Bogart seems a little too old for the role.
3. GYPSY-1962
Natalie Wood is the plain daughter to a stage mom to end all stage moms, played by the brilliant Rosalind Russell. Russell doesn’t think too much about Wood because she puts all her efforts into blond top-billed Baby June ( as in June Havoc who was a good actress in her day) during the heyday of Vaudeville. When Baby June leaves the act to elope with her boyfriend to escape the overbearing clutches of her mom, mom is devastated not thinking she has another daughter that will blow her socks off. Wood develops into a vavavoom siren but she doesn’t know it. Her mom, still wanting to be famous, reaches a new low by offering Louise as a stripper at the burlesque theatre. Louise goes on stage, reluctantly, and appears awkward but, somehow, she finds her confidence and wows the crowd after taking off one glove. Before you can say, 1st rate stripper, Louise becomes Gypsy Rose Lee, the most famous stripper ever, and finally stands up to her domineering mom. This is based on a true story from the book Gypsy Rose Lee wrote, becoming a famous play and musical.
What parent/daughter films can you think of? Any where the daughter blossoms under their guidance or against it?
This week on Monday Music Moves Me, it’s about dear diary…not diarrhea which is what I have written about regarding past loves and sad times I have been through. To be honest, I don’t keep a diary…too much work but I did keep a travel diary every time I went on vacation especially when I went to Europe so here are my diary choices…
1. IF IT’S TUESDAY, THIS MUST BE BELGIUM SUNG BY BOJOURA-1969
I love the movie about group of American tourists who travel across Europe where they must follow the umbrella, deal with a variety of complications including a teen who hates being there ( I thought the girl was stupid, and still think so) until she meets up with the cool hippies listening to Donovan. Donovan wrote this song and it was sung by J P Rags in the film but I chose this lady who was big in the 60s and 70s.
2. TWO FOR THE ROAD THEME BY HENRY MANCINI-1967
Henry Mancini, a great musician and composer, considered this piece his favourite. This is from a great European road picture starring Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finley which takes you throughout Europe from the time the couple meet to when they are less than enchanted with each other.
3. VIENNA SUNG BY BILLY JOEL-1977
I have been to Vienna more than twice and I wish to go back, over and over and over again. I love that city and know I have only seen a small part of it. In fact I could rhyme off more things I have not seen than what I have which means I must go back. I love St. Stephen’s Cathedral which is a brilliant piece of gothic architecture plus I love walking around this musical city where the greats such as Beethoven and Mozart both lived.
Robert Redford just died on the 16th of September at the age of 89 and it really affected me because he is one of the last of the giants of the big screen even though he is from the modern era. I’m changing this up just a bit because I can’t just choose 3…. I tried, but I couldn’t and I am choosing more than 3 going from my favourite on down and will not give a synopsis. There are some famous films he made that I have yet to see like, “All The President’s Men” so I won’t showcase some famous films he did make. You can let me know which ones I should watch in your comments. Here we go…
1. THE STING-1973
2. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID-1969
3. JEREMIAH JOHNSON-1972
4. BAREFOOT IN THE PARK-1967
5. THE GREAT WALDO PEPPER-1975
6. THE ELECTRIC HORSEMAN-1979
7. THE HORSE WHISPERER-1998
8. THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR-1975
9. BRUBAKER-1980
10. THE GREAT GATSBY-1974
You can see there are some major omissions because I have not seen them yet. Redford started the Sundance Festival in his home state of Utah but he was prolific behind the scenes as well as a Producer and Director. He won an Oscar for “Ordinary People” a film I still need to see. I noticed that I really like his directing style and here are 3 films I love…
1. THE MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR-1988
2. QUIZ SHOW-1994
3. A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT-1992
If you watch all these trailers…thank you!! We lost a great one this week and I bow my head to this classic gentleman.
I'm writing this late, again, but I just heard that Robert Redford died. I'm in shock because I thought he would keep going well into his 90s. He looked boyish most of his life which just makes it even more shocking. He was someone who believed in film creating the Sundance Film festival and directing many films winning an Oscar for “Ordinary People”. I love his films he directed and produced because they were quiet films that spoke volumes but in hushed tones like “The Milagro Beanfield War”, one of my favorites. On with the music where I am choosing 3 songs, one that won the Oscar, one that was nominated and one that received 0 love. Let's see if you can choose the right way…
1. HOOKER'S HOOKER BY MARVIN HAMLISCH
Tis is a great film with a great soundtrack famous for the Scott Joplin tunes that became famous again because of this film. Marvin Hamlisch created some original works for this film and this is one of them evoking the Jazz style of that time.
2. YOU'RE SO NICE TO BE AROUND SUNG BY PAUL WILLIAMS
Has anyone seen “Smokey and the Bandit?” You see a short, freaky blond guy early in the film and, again, near the end and that hobbit looking guy with that stupid haircut is Paul Williams who wrote a ton of famous songs back in the 1970s and 80s including this song where he wrote the lyrics with John Williams writing the music. Now this song was not from Smokey but from “Cinderella Liberty” a film I still need to see.
3. THE WAY WE WERE SUNG BY BARBRA STREISAND
We should all know this iconic Streisand song that comes from the movie of the same name that costars her with the brilliant Robert Redford. This is another song written by Marvin Hamlisch that moves the film along on its romantic story about 2 people who fall in love despite their major differences.
So, who won the Oscar, who was nominated and who was jilted on both counts?
I have a lot of stuff hanging around my craft room that just wants to be made into a card and one is this Santa that I stamped a long time ago. I decided to make it vintage looking since I felt the actual stamped image wasn’t clear, to me. I used a couple of Tim Holtz distress ink pads, my foam piece to place on the ink pad and rubbed the whole image in a light colour. I took darker inks to sponge along the edges. I layered the image and added some gold corners and framed it in. Some bling was added onto the card and my Christmas card is done.
Tic, Tac, Toe Challenge- tttc279- diagonal. rectangle, 3 or more colours, embossing
I had this peacock on my desk for so long so he needed some loving. This is a stencil I had used and so I finally glued him in place on a background I created using yellow dye inks. I started stamping the ferns and other stamps I have to create a scenic frame. The peacock is viewed in a small clearing. I used green, brown and merlot distress inks to create the scene and coloured in the edges. I layered up the card with the last layer covered I tissue. The final bit were the borders in gold and some bling and stickles.
This is a toughie because 1997 was a good year for movies of all genres, well, almost all. I decided to choose Best Supporting Actor and will just say it...Don't hate me. This is the year the great Robin Williams won and he did give a great performance and a memorable one but I feel there is one equal and am going out on a limb here because it is for a comedy. Now, I miss Robin Williams so much and was very upset when he died. It was the same when John Candy died, some just leave a mark. I am trying to go by performance and, maybe on another day, I might choose Robin but not today...
1. VINCENT D'ONOFRIO IN MEN IN BLACK
This comedic gem in acting is the best thing from this comedy. I’ve watched this film more than once because it’s brainless fun but I always get a kick out of Vincent D’Onofrio’s character. In fact, each time I’ve watched this, I am quite amazed how dexterous Vincent is moving in a jerky style with every joint seemingly going in different directions. He starts off as an a-hole husband with the IQ of a turnip, who investigates a crash and is quickly taken by some alien only to appear different, his face not quite attached. He asks his wife for sugar in water, gulps it down, freaks out his wife, who faints, and then proceeds to locate a galaxy. As he searches, he is looking more decayed but he continues to talk and move in a hilarious style that makes me laugh every time even though he is looking more gross by the second. I find his performance quite stupendous because of his range, his physical dexterity and, through the makeup, still be able to move his face making me laugh every time. He wasn’t even nominated and, I feel he should have won.
2. ROBIN WILLIAMS IN GOOD WILL HUNTING
Ughhh, Robin is so good in this film that, not picking him, feels like I just dropped kicked a kitten across the gorge. He did win the Oscar this year and I am happy about this but he deserved it for other years which I won’t say because I will pick this another time. Robin Williams is someone I still weep over because, I thought, he would live to be 95 years old. He was such a force of energy that it defied belief how much he knew and how he could use it to make us laugh. Thankfully, he rose above Mork from Ork, showing his huge range in films from the very funny like “Mrs. Doubtfire” to the very eerie like in “One Hour Photo.” In this film, he plays a professor who takes Matt Damon under his wing to help this bratty jerk develop his genius in mathematics and science. He won’t take bullshit shocking Matt Damon’s character and us. He made me cry when sharing, with Matt, his memories of his late wife who would fart while sleeping. In other hands, that scene may not worked but, in Robin’s hands, he made us laugh and cry at the same time. I don’t mind, at all, that he won the Oscar but, I just feel that Vincent’s comedic turn deserved to award more.
3. BURT REYNOLDS IN BOOGIE NIGHTS
Burt was very good in this role as a slimy director/ producer who cares for his porn people who seem to get into all sorts of icky situations. This film made a star of Mark Wahlberg as the lead porn star during the heyday of porn in the 1970s. He is recruited by Burt who sees potential( think long shlong) in this kid and, to make sure, has him have sex with Rollergirl, played by Heather Graham. You meet a number of people who work under Jack ( not “that” under) who deal with all sorts of issues not the least is cocaine which was a big problem back in the 70s and 80s. Jack becomes very angry when his higher ups want these films to go straight on video, not film which makes Jack feel will diminish his films. Burt knows this era having lived it but, not as a porn star, but as the biggest actor in the 70s. His character is believable as someone who truly cares about his actors, cameramen etc… while producing films that is the lowest of the low…porn. Burt was nominated and, I believe, he thought he was going to win, but didn’t. I remember seeing his face after he lost and his hidden anger and disappointment carried through the camera lens. Oh well, be happy you were nominated.
Do you agree with my assessment or are aghast that I chose someone other than the great Robin Williams (I’m sorry)? Would you choose someone completely different? Let me know.
