television — Page 4

Let’s Talk About Something Other Than Snow

February 16, 2014 at 8:51 am by Claudia

bedroom

Let’s talk about something other than snow, alright?

How about how pretty the bedroom looks when the sun floods in through the windows? I can’t get over how pretty the bed looks with that gold coverlet. And let me tell you, almost every muscle in my body has been aching the last couple of days and that bed….that bed….sinking into that plush pillow top mattress at the end of the day has been delicious. Thank you bed, so long waited for and well worth the wait.

Let’s talk about House of Cards, Season 2, now available on Netflix. I watched four episodes yesterday and once again, I am gobsmacked by the quality of this series; the acting, the writing, the direction…everything. Simply excellent. And very Shakespearean, I might add, with echoes of Macbeth and Richard III. My three favorite series right now are: Sherlock, House of Cards and The Newsroom. Everything else I’ve seen is okay (and sometimes not at all okay) but doesn’t come close to this level of excellence. Purely personal opinion, of course.

Two of my former students are in Episodes 1 – 4, Season 2 of House of Cards, doing wonderful work. That makes me happy.

I’ve not seen one episode of Downton Abbey. I suppose I’ll watch it someday. We have the first season on DVD but have yet to open the shrink rap and it’s been sitting around here for a year. That tells you something. It’s just not calling me at the moment and, as is usually the case with me, if everyone seems to watching something and I read endless articles and posts about it, I usually stay away. Go figure.

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I’m reading Sycamore Row by John Grisham and it is taking me forever to get through that book. Now, I’ve read Grisham’s books in the past and he is a good writer. No argument there. But this book, for some reason, is not grabbing me enough to keep me reading. It’s interesting, the characters are quirky, the plot promises to be compelling but the pace is way too slow for me. I’ve made a vow to finish it and I will, but boy oh boy, it’s taking me far too long to get through this sucker.

I forgot to mention something here though I did mention it on this blog’s Facebook page. Don won a San Diego Theatre Critics/Craig Noel Award for his performance as Doolittle in Pygmalion. The awards ceremony was last Monday evening and since Don couldn’t be there, Don’s brother Ron and his wife Suzie represented him. Ron got to go up to the stage and accept the award and they filmed the announcement with their phone, so we got to see it. I’m so proud of Don. Let me tell you, he was simply brilliant in that role. I’m still in awe of that performance and I’d give anything to see it again.

Craig Noel, who died a few years ago at the age of 94, was the man who shaped the Old Globe Theatre. It simply wouldn’t be here without him. He was Don’s mentor at a time when he desperately needed one. He helped Don find his way in the theater when he was still a teenager. I worked with Craig many times and simply adored him. He was that rare man who made a difference is countless lives, who made the world a better place. He was awarded the National Medal of the Arts for his work. We miss him so much.

So, the fact that this award was named for Craig Noel is particularly poignant and powerful.

Three cheers for Don!

Note: Nora, I want to take you up on your offer of Miniology mags, but when I sent an email to your Yahoo address it came back to me. Said it was not valid. Can you email me with a valid address? Thanks so much!

Happy Sunday.

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A Ride, Some Fries & Sherlock

January 20, 2014 at 9:22 am by Claudia

We never made it to Philomena yesterday. It turned out there wasn’t a matinee. But the day was lovely and slow paced, with both Don and I reading our books of choice, classical guitar music playing on our record player (yes, on vinyl!) and Scout snoozing at our feet. The day looked like it could stretch in that direction indefinitely, when Don suddenly suggested we go for a ride; the idea fueled, in part, because he needed new guitar strings.

I thought Dame Scout, who gets bored very easily on these winter days, should come along. That girl loves to ride in the car.

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She stands up most of the way, panting and looking out the window, a big old grin on her face. A ride in the car, whether for two miles or, in this case, lots of miles that spanned the Hudson River and back again, is one of her very favorite things to do.

We cover the back seat with an old sheet because Scout’s hair gets on everything, quickly covering the whole surface. This was taken when we made a stop for some food.

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Waiting for daddy to return to the car.

What did we eat? We each had a big order of fries from Five Guys. Sadly, that was our lunch. But oh, was it good! (Best fries ever.)

Don got his guitar strings, I got a magazine. Shocking, I know. But one of the few magazines I will buy is Vintage Style, which comes out quarterly. I happened to be reading another blog that mentioned it was out and I thought I might treat myself. I haven’t even opened it yet. Perhaps this afternoon with some hot chocolate?

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Scoutie got to have an adventure. All in all, a lovely Sunday, topped off by the new season of Sherlock on PBS. I think this series is one of the best things on television; smart, witty, complex, brilliantly filmed and edited, and Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock and Watson are simply superb.

I had a dream last night that Benedict Cumberbatch was my boyfriend.

Don’t worry, I told Don all about it. He gets it.

It’s so satisfying to watch something that requires the audience to think, to stay with the twists and turns in the plot, that doesn’t dumb down the writing. The writers assume we are more than capable of keeping up with the words, that we have sharp minds and appreciate keen wit, rather than moronic humor.

Thank goodness.

Does most everyone have this day off? In the theater, Monday is almost always the day off, so a Monday holiday is no big deal. What are your plans for the day?

Happy Monday.

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On a Cold Sunday Morning

January 20, 2013 at 9:01 am by Claudia

This particular Sunday starts what promises to be a frigid week. Temperatures during the day will be in the twenties and temps at night will be in the single digits. Yikes. Yesterday it was warm enough to melt a great deal of the snow. I don’t think there will be any more snow melt for several days!

Ah, but I have my big old queen sized quilt to keep me warm as I sit on the chair or sofa, hand quilting each square. It would be insufferable in a warmer month. Grandma had the right idea; work on a quilt or two every winter. I now have five rows of blocks quilted. I’m in the middle of the sixth. There’s a lot more to go.

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I’ve resorted to plopping the whole thing on top of the vintage wire laundry basket, which now does double duty as both a yarn and quilt holder.

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This flower frog has been transformed into a pen and crochet hook holder. It sits on the table right next to my blogging chair.

Can I stop to mention just how much I don’t care about any of the Kardashians or their publicity craving mother? Or any of the Surreal Housewives of any city? Or any bachelors or bachelorettes? Or pretty much anyone who thinks I want to tag along as they live their unreal, completely staged lives?

Or how sick I am of commercials where the actors stress the pronouns, as in ‘me, my, I, our’? As a text coach for the theater, I know that one of the cardinal rules of speaking is not to stress the pronoun. It’s a pronoun, for goodness sakes. The verb is more important than the pronoun. The subject is more important. The action is more important. In Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter verse, which scans ‘da DUM, da DUM, da DUM,’ 98% of the time the pronoun will be unstressed. It will fall in the ‘da’ unstressed part of the beat. If it falls in the stressed part of the beat (DUM), it’s for a specific reason. As in “No, you misunderstand me, it’s not just anyone’s dog, it’s MY dog.” Then it’s okay. But all of this ‘me, my, mine, I, we’ stress jars my ears. I asked a friend who works in Los Angeles about it and was told that ad companies and producers are requesting this sort of thing nowadays. Because any actor worth his salt would not stress the pronoun. They are being told to do that. I guess the advertising world has decided that we consumers could use even more self-absorption than we already have. I know I’m especially sensitive to this kind of thing, but next time you’re watching television for any length of time, see how often you hear this sort of thing. There’s one commercial out right now for Dr. Scholl’s inserts that, to my ears, is the equivalent of fingernails on a blackboard. I have to mute it.

I know I sound like a teacher. But I am a teacher. It’s in my DNA.

In closing, Scout has become radioactive:

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She’s glowing.

Have a happy Sunday.

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Let’s Talk About Something Other Than Snow

A Ride, Some Fries & Sherlock

On a Cold Sunday Morning

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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