television

Tuesday Thoughts

December 13, 2022 at 9:54 am by Claudia

Very, very cold here today! It’s currently 13 degrees. Yikes. I think we have a few days of this frigid weather and then it will warm up a little. Right now, the snow is on the ground and a lot of branches are still coated with snow because it was so cold last night. The sun is shining and it’s beautiful out there.

One more photo from our snow day:

Harper – not at all sure about this ‘snow’ thing.

I’ve since added some tights so her legs don’t get cold.

We have to run a few errands today, and we also want to take a little drive because it’s so pretty around here. The snow isn’t dirty yet – it’s all crisp and white and clean.

I’m close to finishing the new Anthony Horowitz. His books are so conversational that they tend to read quickly. It’s a lot of fun. Then I’ll return it to the library where, I hope, the newest Herron will be waiting for me.

We have been thoroughly enchanted by vintage What’s My Line episodes on YouTube. We watch at least two of them every night. It’s such a glimpse into another era, one in which we both grew up. The panel is smart, funny, charming and, above all, civil. There are none of the gimmicks that someone doing this show today would inevitably add. None of the “I’m funny and I’m going to throw in jokes whenever I can” crap that derails everything these days. No “me, me, me!” We are always amazed by the civility and kindness that permeates the program. I grew up watching it in the 60s when I was old enough to begin to appreciate it. We’re getting reacquainted with Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf, Dorothy Kilgallen, and John Daly – all of them brilliant and charming, accomplished, with full and active working lives beyond appearing on the show. It’s fascinating and extremely entertaining. We inevitably google someone’s name during the course of each show to learn more about them. So many of the guests and panel members now gone; in fact, most of them. I miss them. I miss that era of respect and civility. It’s such a contrast to what we see today.

More and more I find myself yearning for what was – and I know that “what was” wasn’t perfect. There were conflicts and inequities and McCarthyism and racial inequality – we see very few African Americans in the early episodes. So I’m not fantasizing that everything was ideal. It wasn’t. But the civility, wit, respect with which people were treated. That was real.

Just some thoughts in my mind this morning.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Stream of Consciousness Sunday

March 27, 2022 at 9:58 am by Claudia

In the category of “Things I no longer need to do” – watching the Oscars.

I’ve watched the Oscars for most of my life and you know what? I’m over them. Besides the fact that I often disagree with the nominations or lack of a nomination, the real point is that comparing performances is entirely subjective. It shouldn’t be a contest. I’ve felt this way for a long time, but I guess now that I’m a crabby senior citizen, I’m actually going to put my money where my mouth is. No more.

I have a real problem with all the ‘contest’ shows out there. Instead of showcasing real talent and skill, every one of these shows is overhyped to the point of ridiculousness. Why does every cooking or decorating show have to involve a contest of some sort? It’s exhausting. It’s even entered the miniature world, and while I understand that introducing audiences to miniatures might be a good thing, it takes our hobby or profession and puts a time limit on it so that the end results are rather slap-dash and not at all representative of what true talent and skill there is out there. There’s one on HGTV and now there’s one in England. Sigh.

Exception: The Great British Bake Off, which is done in a positive, affirming, and classy manner.

Or there are hyped up ‘reality’ shows that try and make every boring thing that happens a BIG DEAL. See Ice Road Truckers, etc. And the genre called reality television is anything but. It’s generally loosely or even tightly scripted. I am proud to say I have never seen an episode of Survivor (how can you really be ‘surviving’ when there is a crew filming you and Craft Services on hand, per the union, to provide food?) or anything to do with Bachelors, Bachelorettes or the Kardashians.

Anyway, back to the Oscars. I know people love to see what the nominees are wearing and all that sort of thing but that doesn’t tempt me strongly enough to watch it. (But if you love that sort of thing, enjoy!)

I’ve never liked theater reviews or movie reviews because they are subjective – they are one person’s opinion that can make or break a show or movie. And I find I like the Tony Awards, Emmy Awards, and Oscars less and less. If you want to salute the work, then stage a show where you highlight performances of the year. But no ‘Best’ award, because ‘Best’ according to who?

By the way, Don and I used to parody the hyped up reality shows. We’d do some mundane thing around the house and narrate it as if the stakes were incredibly high or we’d speak directly to the camera with something like “I went to the kitchen and I couldn’t find a clean knife. Not one. I walked to the drawer, opened it – there wasn’t a knife in sight. Then I walked to the dishwasher. Maybe there was a knife there? There was, but we didn’t run the dishwasher last night. So it was dirty.” Cue sad face.

Okay, I’ll stop. That’s what is on my mind this morning. I’m sort of all over the place, so let’s call this Claudia’s Stream of Consciousness Sunday.

I’m going to watch Gardener’s World this afternoon.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Day Four Hundred Ten

April 27, 2021 at 10:10 am by Claudia

It’s staring to take shape. Minus plants, of course, but that will begin to change after my visit to the nursery today. I don’t expect to get everything, but I should be able to fill some pots by the end of the day.

I’m excited!

We finished the fifth season of The Bureau last night. It’s simply one of the best series I’ve ever seen. I’m so sad that it’s over, therefore, I’m suffering a bit of withdrawal today. For all of you who don’t like subtitles, my humble advice: it just takes practice. You have to get into the rhythm of it. Frankly, we aren’t even aware of them after about two minutes. Of course, to each his/her own, but I will say that some of the best things I have ever seen, including La Strada, Cinema Paradiso, Amélie, A French Village, and The Bureau, are subtitled and what a loss it would be never to have seen and experienced them. Don makes the point that he likes foreign movies and series because he doesn’t know the actors, so he is able to completely lose himself in the story without the back story of the actors themselves entering his consciousness. Anyway, for what it’s worth, I highly recommend it and I thank Darko for his initial recommendation.

I worked outside for a bit yesterday but, like clockwork, it became windy almost the moment I stepped outside. I think Mother Nature likes to taunt me. So I didn’t last long. I also started the new John Derian puzzle, but was too tired to stay with it very long.

I’m reading The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel. Lord, she’s a good writer! I’m about ¾ of the way through it and I had to force myself to put it down this morning. I highly recommend both this novel and her first best seller, Station Eleven, which stays with me to this day. I don’t have a copy (I read a library copy) and I’ve often meant to buy one for my shelves because it’s that good. Note to self: BUY IT.

Okay. Time to get a move on. Don will get a little time to himself this morning as I go off to explore the nursery. We’re rarely apart these days, but if there are errands to be run, it’s usually Don that runs them so I’m the one that gets to experience the solitude. We are crazy about each other, but a little breather is a good thing!

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Tuesday Thoughts

Stream of Consciousness Sunday

Day Four Hundred Ten

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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