All Else Confusion

Well, the big move happened on Monday and I am now a Virginia resident. The issue of how to get myself, my car, and all my stuff to my new home was nicely fixed by my father who very generously drove a rented cargo van from Massachusetts to Virginia on Monday and then drove it back again on Tuesday and then proceeded to use the van to transport my furniture from my house to my parents' house. What a father!

All in all, it was a smooth trip, though we had to pack the van around the guys who showed up to finish replacing my front door that was damaged in the robbery back in January. Unloading was a cinch as several friends and my roommate were there to help. I've spent the last couple of days unpacking and am happy to find that almost everything fits in my room. I had a little trouble with my clothes - it's tough going from a huge walk in closet to a closet with about a quarter of the space - but it's not too bad. Today I spent some time on the phone with the router company and got the wireless set up before heading out to explore. I now know where Target, Safeway (the grocery store), the Post Office, and CVS are. It's a start. Though there are still a lot of issues to be dealt with - like finding a job and a renter for my house - it's nice to finally be here and to be getting settled in.

Labels: personal

I was once paid the ultimate compliment of being compared to Maureen O'Hara. In reality, we look nothing alike except for our red hair, but I'll still take it! Born August 17, 1920 in Ranelagh, Ireland, Maureen O'Hara, with her red hair and green eys, was perfectly suited to technicolor. A versatile actress, O'Hara excelled in both comedic and dramatic roles. Her athletic talents were frequently on display, especially in movies with her most famous co-star, John Wayne. In several adventure movies her prowess with a sword proved her the movies' only genuine female swashbuckling star.

In 1941 John Ford cast Maureen O'Hara in How Green Was My Valley, the beginning of a long professional and personal friendship between the two. Together they would make 4 more films including The Quiet Man. Ford considered O'Hara "the best bloody actress in Hollywood."

Check out The Wings of Eagles tonight at 6:00
Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne play in the true story of Frank "Spig" Wead, directed by John Ford. Wead was a personal friend of Ford's and the picture is as true to life as he could make it. Look for an outstanding performance by John Wayne as "Spig" Wead.

As Wead, John Wayne is excellent. He's a difficult fellow to like, especially because he turns away from his wife and family so often, but the Duke's full, 3-dimensional performance movingly captures the frustrations and dreams of this tragic character. In a sign of his commitment to the role, Wayne even went without his toupee for sequences as the older Wead. He's still John Wayne, though... Look for him doing the dishes in one scene; no one ever made it look more manly.

Read the rest of the TCM write-up here.

Labels: movies

Labels: Psych

Today TCM features one of my two favorite red-headed actresses (the other being Maureen O'Hara whose day is later in the month). Dubbed "The Perfect Wife" for her portrayal of Nora Charles in the 6 Thin Man movies and Milly Stephenson in The Best Years of Our Lives. (which she considered her best role), Myrna Loy was the epitome of style, wit and perfect comedic timing. After the original Thin Man movie catapulted her and co-star William Powell to stardom in 1934, she was voted "Queen of the Movies" by the fans in 1936 to Clark Gable's "King." Witty, intelligent, wise-cracking, and always feminine, she held her own against such stars as Clark Gable, Cary Grant, and especially William Powell with whom she would make 14 movies.

Fun Trivia: Myrna Loy was supposedly John Dillinger's favorite actress. It was her picture Manhattan Melodrama that he had just seen before he was gunned down in front of Chicago's Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934.

Check out: The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer 11:30 PM Winner: Best Original Screenplay (Sidney Sheldon) 1947

Susan Turner, a teenager from a family of judges, falls for artist Richard Nugent, an older man, which causes complications, especially when her older sister, Judge Margaret Turner, falls for the same man. When Susan sneeks into Richard's apartment Judge Turner, following her uncle's advice, sentences him to "date" her teenage sister with the hope that Susan will soon tire of Richard. The result leaves both Susan and Margaret's boyfriends jealous and Richard acting like a teenager with Susan and trying to court Margaret. Also starring Cary Grant, Shirley Temple (as a teenager), and Rudy Vallee.

This film is filled with great one-liners. Watch for this exchange - it gets lots of play at my house:

Richard Nugent: Hey, you remind me of a man.
Susan Turner: What man?
Richard Nugent: Man with the power.
Susan Turner: What power?
Richard Nugent: Power of hoodoo.
Susan Turner: Hoodoo?
Richard Nugent: You do.
Susan Turner: Do what?
Richard Nugent: Remind me of a man...

Labels: movies

My friend Todd M. Aglialoro has a new Crisis article about recovering manliness in the Church. He is not advocating a return to a strict, aloof paternalism, but a recovery of understanding of the "natural gender differences" between men and women. This includes acknowledging that the masculine - not simply men, but truly masculine men - is needed in the Church.

Msgr. Stuart Swetland, director of Pre-Theology at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, agrees that in Christian spirituality “the default position is always going to be the feminine,” because we are fundamentally called “to be receptive to God, to give way to His agenda.” But he insists that “there is a way to do this without being ‘effeminate’—a properly masculine way to yield to God’s active principle.”

As Todd points out, the new breed of seminarian is learning this "properly masculine way to yield to God" as are many young men, especially young family men.

h/t AMSCOL Pioneer

Labels: men

Dana Andrews was born January 1, 1909. He was an accountant with the Gulf Oil Company before making his debut at the Pasedena Playhouse in 1935 and signing a contract with Samuel Goldwyn abd 20th Century Fox. He was a popular leading mann of the 1940's, propelled to stardom in part because of a shortage of leading men in Hollywood during World War II. His laconic, matter of fact style was perfectly suited for his most famous role as Homicide Detective Mark McPherson obsessed with a murder victim in Laura.

Andrews suffered from alcholism and became the spokesman for the National Council on Alcholism once his own battle with alchol was under control. He also served as President of the Screen Actors Guild from 1963-1965.

Check out: The Best Years of Our Lives 8:00 PM Winner - Best Picture of 1947
Three men returning from World War II struggle to get readjusted to civilian life. Al Stephenson comes home to a family that has grown up while he was away. Fred Derry faces a job shortage and war bride he barely knows. Wounded, Homer Parrish has a harder time facing the pity and helpfulness of others than adjusting to physical challenges. This film deals perceptively and sensitively with the issues facing soliders and their families as they return home from war and remains just as pertinent today as in 1947. Also starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March (winner - Best Actor), Teresa Wright, Viginia Mayo and Hoagy Carmichael.

Look for an especially outstanding performance by Harold Russell who earned the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Homer Parrish, the wounded sailor, and a special Oscar "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans." Russell lost both his hands in an accident while working on an army film in 1944. William Wyler, director of The Best Years of Our Lives, saw him in an army training film and asked him to play the part of Homer, changed from a spastic to amputee, in the movie. Wyler encourgaged Russell to finish college after making the movie, noting that there are not many parts for someone without hands. Russell followed that advice, earning a business degree from Boston University and becoming a successful businessman as well as advocate for the handicapped. He lived in Massachusetts until his death in 2002. Russell is the only actor ever to win two Oscars for the same role.

Labels: movies

Time for Summer Under the Stars on TCM. Every August, Turner Classic Movies devotes each day to a different star. It's a great way to get to know about some new stars or to see some lesser known work of a big star - or to revisit a classic. This year started with a day of Elizabeth Taylor movies, followed by days dedicated to Peter O'Toole, Joan Crawford, William Holden, Jimmy Stewart, Robert Mitchum, and Jane Russell. Today's star is Dana Andrews. One of the fun things about Summer Under the Stars is that it's not always the same big stars who get a day. Elizabeth Taylor started it and Sean Connery is ending it, but in between there are days dedicated to Joan Bennett, Rosalind Russell, Ann Miller, and Broderick Crawford. And then there are a few stars whose names you might know, but whose movies you don't. Check out August 24 when Ronald Reagan is featured or August 28 with Roy Rogers or get acquainted with Hollywood in the early days with Buster Keaton on August 30.

So pop some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy some of the best Hollywood has to offer.

Labels: movies

I remember when I moved into my house almost 4 years ago. I had just bought the house and my sister and I were moving from smaller rented space. On the day of the move, my parents came over along with some friends and we proceded to drive back and forth across the city all day with truck loads of stuff. How we had so much stuff, I have no idea! I vowed then that I was staying where I was forever. No more packing and moving!

Turned out to be a short forever. Now, not quite 4 years later I am sorting through my things and preparing to move again. The difference this time is that I won't be taking everything I own with me. There isn't space in my tiny Virginia apartment. Still the rest of my things need to be packed and stored. Or maybe I'll just give them away; it would certainly help the next time I have to move. If only I could reconcile myself to getting rid of a box or two of books - or movies!

Labels: personal

I don't like to get into battles, even in com boxes, but I couldn't help commenting when I found the following on a Mark Shea post about Ave Maria:

Don't want to hijack the thread, but here is what one very trustworthy person said to me about FUS.

Here's what Jerry Wegemer, a professor of English at the University of Dallas, said when asked to compare UD to FUS: "Both schools assign a lot of the same books, but only at UD do the students actually read the books." The weak link at FUS is the students. Not bad people by any stretch, but just not all that bright. Hence, the lower standards.

I'm sick of hearing about the lower standards of Franciscan from people who don't know much about the school. I will readily admit that FUS is not Harvard (thank goodness), and that it is possible to graduate from there without a rigorous education. But, please don't insult those of us who worked hard there and did receive a great education. There was an ongoing fight while I was at FUS as to which was the best program. I still place my money behind the Humanities and Catholic Culture program. In that program, I read the books (most of which are still on my bookshelves) and learned how to write papers. That education has stood me in good stead as I've worked in a variety of areas - everything from teaching the humanities to high school students to accounting, and now in grad school.

So please, I don't want to hear any more about the low standards at Franciscan or the supposed lack of quality of its students.

Update: Just to clarify - I don't know if Professor Wegemer actually spoke the words attributed to him and in what context they could have been spoken. As such, I am not making any judgement about Professor Wegemer. On the other hand, for someone to publish these words in a combox on a widely read blog without clarification is insulting and irresponsible - not to mention untrue.

Labels: school