a southern gal in the north

The Cheaters

You wouldn’t expect an almost forgotten Christmas classic to come from Republic Pictures unless it included a scene of cowboys singing carols on the lone prairie. The low-budget studio was more associated with Westerns and serials than sophisticated comedies about broken-down society types using the Christmas holidays to secure a rich uncle’s inheritance. Screwball comedy was not typical studio fare for Republic either or even in vogue at the time. Nonetheless, there are echoes in The Cheaters (1945) of the classic My Man Godfrey (1936) due to the central character Mr. M. (Joseph Schildkraut), “the forgotten man” brought home for the holidays by the family’s daughter, and by the casting of Eugene Pallette as the father trying to cope with this, a role similar to the one he had played in the earlier film.

The Cheaters.

Portumna Castle, gardens, June 2008

click on the photo above

Blogging Robots
Someone is wrong on the Internet

December 12, 2008 by Dmitry

When you launch BlogJet for the first time, it conveniently shows you a test post that you can publish to see if you have configured the program right. Early versions of BlogJet included the following quotation:

“Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.” — Pablo Picasso

Then I found a better quote on the Web and replaced Picasso’s one with it:

“Computers are incredibly fast, accurate and stupid; humans are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant; together they are powerful beyond imagination.” — Albert Einstein

It turns out, Albert Einstein didn’t say that. Instead, this quote is from Leo Cherne, an American economist.

Blogging Robots.

Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge during the snowstorm in New York City.

Photo: Michael Nagle for The New York Times

Measuring a whopping 3 feet in diameter, the Gomitolo Knit Clock is a huge statement. . . . . this crocheted cotton clock by Italian company Diamantini & Domeniconi on our last trip to The Conran Shop and have noticed it popping up in magazines and online ever since…

from Apartment Therapy

From Knitter's Review…

An updated look at the knitting community as reflected in eight years of Knitter's Review polls

Our love of yarn and needles cuts through many superficial layers of
daily difference, connecting us on a surprisingly deep and trusting
level. I've only seen two things ever threaten this connection:
politics and religion. Oh, and acrylic.

The impassioned discourse prompted by the recent elections has been
both enlightening and, alas, sometimes painful and divisive. With the
polls closed and the elections over, I've decided that it's time for
some knitterly reunification.

read more here

VOTE

September 23, 2008 NY Times
25 Receive $500,000 ‘Genius’ Fellowships
By PATRICIA COHEN

A sculptor who transforms straws, paper clips and Scotch tape into dazzling forms; an urban farmer who delivers healthy food to poor city dwellers; and an astronomer who looks toward the edge of the universe are among the 25 recipients of the $500,000 “genius awards” to be announced on Tuesday by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Candidates in every conceivable field are eligible, though the largest cluster of awards this year went to scientists (13), with those in the arts (8) a close second. As always, there are a few idiosyncratic careers in the mix, including that of an engineer and architectural historian who studies and preserves ancient bridges and other structures.

The foundation’s president, Jonathan F. Fanton, said the description that best characterizes this year’s class of winners was “people working on the very edge of discovery and people at the edge of a new synthesis.”

The recipients, who must be citizens or residents of the United States, join 756 who have been named fellows since 1981. Each gets $100,000 a year for five years, with no strings attached. Calling the recipients is “the best hour of the year,” Mr. Fanton said

Most of the winners, who are singled out for their creativity and their potential for making important future contributions, are familiar primarily to experts in their own fields, although a few in the arts have reached larger audiences: for example, Alex Ross, 40, a music critic for The New Yorker and the author of a cultural history of 20th-century music, “The Rest Is Noise”; Tara Donovan, 38, who creates large installations out of everyday objects, as in “Haze,” a 2003 work in which she stacked more than two million clear plastic drinking straws against a 42-foot-long wall;

read rest here

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Crazy world
Full of crazy contradictions, like a child.
First you drive me wild, and then you win my heart
With your wicked art.

Crazy world
Every day the same old roller coaster ride.
But I’ve got my pride, I won’t give in.
Even though I know I’ll never win.
Oh, how I love this crazy world.
-Henry Mancini/Lesley Bricusse

From VICTOR/VICTORIA

A fun old time musical on TCM tonight and just the ticket.  My nephews were completely wired and rambunctious making bedtime quite a long drawn ordeal.  So it was good to come home and find this on the TCM channel. (Especially since I had forgotten to tape the Season 6 premiere of NCIS – love MH and was a bit bummed to say the least*). 

I have loved this film since it came out and was privileged to see Ms. Andrews in the Broadway musical version which was well done but who can beat this cast – especially the late Robert Preston – he and James Garner tie in stealing their scenes.

And Lesley Ann Warren is fabulous! (It’s also great to see her recently in the new IN PLAIN SIGHT on USA, one of the subplots teasingly shows her perform an audition for the local theatre company … btw this is a must-see show, catch it in repeats until the new season next winter).

*thanks to my CA sister, I will be getting a copy of this!

ps SOME LIKE IT HOT is on now… Tony Curtis sending up Cary Grant – priceless!

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