Friday, December 26, 2008

The Morning After

We had a very nice Christmas, though tempered by grief over Rudolph's demise and a plumbing leak. [There is a new development on the story (Rudolph's death, not the leak) which I'll report on later in the day.] With older kids in the mix, we didn't get around to exchanging gifts until noon, once they were all up. In the meantime, Premium T. weighed in with a premium breakfast of blueberry pancakes and sausage...

That afternoon, she took kind of a break from cooking and baking to watch Remember the Night with me, a truly delightful 1940 holiday movie with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. In short, NYC prosecutor Fred winds up taking shoplifter Babs to his rural Indiana home for Christmas. It sounds hokey (and it is to some extent), but the two stars are fine together and the Preston Sturges script elevates the story. (Great line: "There's nothing scarier than a square guy. If all men were like you, there wouldn't be any nice girls left!") Night is definitely the kind of movie they don't make 'em like any more. In this scene, Sterling Holloway sings "The End of a Perfect Day":


What is your favorite holiday movie? As much as I enjoy Remember the Night, mine is still Holiday Inn...

Friends joined us for dinner, and we had a great time. T. and Reilly pretty much outdid themselves with the homemade eggnog; prime rib with red win jus; mashed potatoes with truffle oil; gratin of rutabaga, parsnips, and butternut squash; sauteed forest mushrooms with garam masala, braised endive; pumpkin pie, meringues, and sugar cookies. The gym beckons...

Officials call Bayou St. John a flood protection liability, but New Orleanians call is a 'treasure': A fascinating article that typifies the engineering and environmental complexities faced by New Orleans as it rebuilds. The comments, which are by-and-large respectful and impressively informed, are as integral to the story as the article itself. They provide a window to the extent of which New Orleanians have educated themselves on the minutiae of flood control and environmental protection...

I for one can't wait for this. I can already hear the wingnuts grinding their teeth and howling in agony...


Incredible aerial footage of the extent of the TVA storage pond breach in Harriman, Tennessee here...


In a witty and original analysis, Another Old Movie Blog unravels the cinematic eroticism of the typewriter here...

Is Obama a geek? Or is he "too cool, too athletic, too normal"? The debate rages here. The article also explains the elusive difference between a geek, a nerd, and a dork...

My friend Margeaux Kent explains her bookmaking technique:


There's more about Margaux's superb work here. The web site for her business, The Black Spot Books, is here...

Friday's Choice: With the old year winding down, Hot Tuna reminds you to "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning" because your race is almost run:



Jorma Kaukonen explains how to play "Lamp" here.


8 comments:

Unknown said...

Re: Christmas Flicks: I'd have to say the 51 "Scrooge," tho one I didn't write about this year that Eberle & I really like is "The Bishop's Wife." Jacqueline T Lynch had a good post on this one over at "Another Old MOvie Blog": http://anotheroldmovieblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/bishops-wife-1947.html.

!#@$#$&^% Netflix doesn't carry "Remember the Night," darn them....

Those handmade books look wonderful.

K. said...

My copy of Night is on VHS, so it may not be available on DVD. My father watched it Christmas Eve on TCM. Is The Bishop's Wife the one with David Niven and Loretta Young.

Also, I just added a video of Hot Tuna playing "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning," plus a link to a guitar lesson from Jorma on how to play it.

Unknown said...

"Remember the Night" may not be on DVD, tho NetFlix is iffy with classic films. Yes, "The Bishop's Wife"=David Niven as the Bishop, Loretta Young as the wife & Cary Grant as the angel; Monty Woolley also has a nice role as a professor.

Love the song "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed & Burning," & play it myself-- will be interested to check out Jorma's version.

Anonymous said...

My My Puddin in da'Pie!
Jorma smoother than busted silk diamond white class lace...
saw them in Memphis many years back. Never had really clicked on those Cali boyz but this was later, 80's... the first half was all electric blues canned heat, youngster dead heads swatting at the music in front of their eyes..ok cool so far I guess... but then after intermission, Jorma and Jack(?) came out like in this video... and the place shifted like a capsizing ship as dozens of old farts and fartettes flowed to the front of the stage, seemingly from nowhere amongst the shadows along the back walls... just moved like a single step to fill the whole thing and Jorma and that bass player sat down and played That song...
How do you do this?
Editilla

btw-your word verification thingy today reads: "phiwar" (I only mention these when they start to look like something, like maybe our baby puter is trying to mumble to us... learning how to speak our language... warn us of a coming war... war, with Phi Mu's? Yaaaaaa)
hmmm what are they trying to tell us... hmmm

K. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
K. said...

I'm collecting and defining verification words. Once I have a critical mass, I'll post them.

Radish King said...

Fargo.

word verification: numbied. Used in a sentence: my fingers and toes are numbied.

Anonymous said...

This yuletide, A Holiday Affair snagged me four times! After the third, the DVD rental place I got it from thought I was nuts. I half expected them to wrap it up for me for Christmas! LOL! (I wish they had!) It's a Wonderful Life still wears the top hat for me, though, followed by The Snowman, Prancer (Kudos to Cloris Leachman in this film. I wish I --and everybody else-- could say the same for her stint on Dancing with the Stars. LOLouder!