REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

Historical Novel "The Painted Girls" Opens Up a New World For Me

When I recently heard a feature on NPR about a new historical novel called "The Painted Girls" by Cathy Marie Buchanan, I was very intrigued. Called "The Seedy Underbelly of Belle Epoque," NPR reviews the book telling the story about impoverished girls who entered the ballet school of the Paris Opera in the 1800s as a possible way of escaping grim lives. Edgar Degas's Little Dancer Aged Fourteen is a replica of the main character of this book, Marie van Goethem. 

I immediately put myself on the waiting list at the Palos Verdes Library District and I think I was first on the list. Because I've been pretty much waylaid for days with influenza, all I've done mostly is read, sleep and watch movies. 

What little girl does not have dreams of the ballet? Both my closest young girlfriends growing up in Sunland, CA took both ballet and piano lessons, but my parents did not have the money for that. But, I observed them endlessly. By the way, I'm pretty much a klutz so even if I had taken lessons, I doubt I would have lasted a month. I did indulge myself as an adult with piano lessons, too, by the way, but I sucked. But--my own daughter Christy got her mom's dreams forced on her with ballet and piano. Her heart wasn't in it, but she did dance until she was in her early teens.

I was mesmerized by the book and can't recommend it enough. Though all of Degas art has not particularly grabbed me, I know for generations of people, it has--particularly little girls who dream of being ballet dancers. 

Some Googling brought up this BBC documentary below telling the story of the bronze and how it came to be and how it is being analyzed and studied. Another good way to spend an hour and learning more, too. Ever since I was a little kid, my mind has been a curious one. It is imperative that I learn new things every day or a little piece of me shrinks away. My dad said I had a mind like a sponge and though with age the sponge can't quite soak up the way it used to, reading "The Painted Girls" has been a marvelous way to keep my mind active. 

The BBC documentary has shown clips of a film about Degas and this bronze, but I haven't been able to locate it yet. Anyone have any ideas? 

 

 

 

A Week of Reliving the Kennedy Era

When John Kennedy was campaigning in California in 1960, I shook his hand when his motorcade passed through Hawthorne, CA near Northrop Corporation where I was working at the time. My first time to vote was for him and I was one of my generation who really believed in Camelot. On the day Kennedy was assassinated, I was folding clothes and watching TV while my 15-month-old son was napping. I was horrified and ran outside weeping and soon our neighborhood was filled with weeping neighbors. I was 24-years-old and I was still such a Pollyanna at that point; that whole four-day ordeal that followed is imprinted in my brain. Coincidentally, my daughter Christina was born the day after Kennedy's assassination, and we adopted her three weeks later. 

The following assassinations of Martin Luther King and then Robert Kennedy shocked so many of us to the core, and then there was Viet Nam. Anyone who was an adult, or a young adult during those years carries cellular memories of this era. I personally lost my innocence--or naivete--on the day JFK was assassinated. And year by year ever since it has grown exceedingly more difficult to fully get on board with party politics. In 1965 the Watts Riots scared the daylights out of us. I went to the local gun shop with two babies in the stroller to buy ammunition for my husband's hunting pistol. (Me, who said she was a pacifist.) We moved to a new home in 1966 and only a few months later my husband lost his job. He went back to Northrop but we were in the process of adopting and the agency made us wait until Ray's employment was stable. In 1967 we adopted our son Tony. In 1968 my mom died unexpectedly and in 1969 I suffered my first clinical depression requiring hospitalization. That decade is seered into my memory.

I have never watched any of the films produced about Jack or Robert Kennedy as I couldn't bear to relive all those memories. I have read several biographies of them over the years and of Jackie Kennedy and we quickly found out that Camelot was a smoke screen. Virtually nothing in life really is what it appears to be. 

But, in spite of the terrible reviews of the miniseries "The Kennedy's," dropped by pressure from the Kennedy family against the History Channel, it did appear on some unknown channel I don't get. I was intrigued, though, and for the past eight days I have streamed an episode at a time via Netflix on TV. 

I thought some of the characters were uncannily cast, particularly Joe Kennedy played by Tom Wilkinson. It was way too sentimental and not really historically factual, but the actual scenes of what was going on at that time interspersed with the actors stirred up a lot of memories I had deeply buried. Now I remember weeping for the safety of my babies when the Cuban Missile Crisis was going on. I actually believed the end of the world might happen. It's going to take me some time to assimilate many incidents I relived this past week that have shaped me.

If you lived through that era, tell me if your memories still haunt you, if you allow them to surface. I still believe all these assassinations are far more complex than we may ever know. I am truly blessed not to have been a mover and shaker in my lifetime. If you don't have memories of that era, what historical memories do you have of your younger years that have affected you today? 

Steve Wozniak on Dancing With the Stars

So, did you watch Steve Wozniak on Dancing With the Stars last night? I love this guy! But, then I love all things Apple and I rarely watch Dancing With the Stars, but I HAD to see this guy who, with Steve Jobs, helped launch Apple in 1976. How many geeks do you see with the spirit he has? He reminds me of my big teddy bear long time friend Bruno who is one helluva enthusiastic and expressive dancer. There's more than one way to enchant a ballroom.

Though he and his partner Karina Smirnoff got the lowest score of the evening, I (and a whole lot of media and the general audience) hope he hangs in there for a while. What a great sport and lover of life he is. I'm so tired of perfect technique and movie star looks as the show's main criteria. If you didn't see the dance, here it is: 

Chris Gaither at L.A. Times blogs reports that, “The man known as the Woz created the original circuit board used for the Apple computer and teamed up with Steve Jobs in 1976 to sell it. He quit working at Apple full-time two decades ago and, after years working on different projects, reemerged last week as the chief scientist at Fusion-io, a computer storage start-up. -- Not only must his computer chops be pretty sharp still, but he must also feel pretty good about his dancing skills. -- Wonder if Wozniak, who's 59, has programmed an algorithm to calculate his odds of winning? -- It wasn't Wozniak's first appearance on reality television; He was a regular on "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List" because he was dating the comedian." 

At Wozniaks blog, Woz.Org, he commented today, "Someone has to try things a bit out of the normal. 

Well, the judges gave us the lowest score. But the audience applauded one of the judges saying that what we did was what the show was all about. I don't believe that they did much similar applauding for any of the other dances. 

Afterward we spoke with press for an hour. They all said how in the press room they had cheered us only, loving our dance. One press person said she was getting lots of messages saying how much people loved our dance. She didn't get any such messages for any of the other dancers. 



When Karina and I returned and finished our post-interview, the other dancers all told us how much they loved our dance and how fun it was. I have made a lot of good friends among the dancers and celebrities, and being nice helps.

Karina and I did exactly as we planned, so we came away extremely happy. I hit every beat. I didn't hear any specific comments about not leading with toes or having toes pointing wrong, or a hand upside down, or leaning forward, or having a foot miss even a single beat (it didn't happen). All I heard was some teletubby comment, which might be valid. I would say that there is a big mismatch between the judges' votes and the audience responses. That might be a matter for the producers.

I went into the dances deciding in advance how little the judges' scores mean. Through the dress rehearsal, it was easy to see two equal performances getting very different scores. I truly expect, from things I'm seeing and hearing, that I may even wind up winning last night's contest once the online voting ends. 

I do love all my fans who actually vote for me, via phone or online. We can show the DWTS people that we represent a large demographic that is new to the show. 

More tomorrow after I see the doctor.
floating, Woz -- -- tv is wake zone"

I didn't realize until today how the voting works at Dancing With the Stars, but you have to call or text in during the night of the performance. All I know is that I am going to at least e-mail and say how much I loved he and Karina's first dance. Let's hear it for one of my two favorite geeks! 

Don't Miss "The Visitor"

 

The indy film “The Visitor” was released in April 2008, but in Los Angeles it is playing in very few theaters, which is mystifying to me. I saw it tonight at a small theater in Manhattan Beach and it’s one of the best films I’ve seen in a long time. So far it has won at the Toronto Film Festival, Sundance, South by Southwest Festival and the Miami Film Festival. I sure missed this one on my radar screen.

If you haven't seen it, the film is about a worn-down-by-life college professor and his synchronistic encounter in the world of illegal immigrants in New York City. Set predominately in Greenwich Village, the story, the acting, the filmography, and the music are all incredible. The website says, “In a world of six billion people, it only takes one to change your life. In actor and filmmaker Tom McCarthy’s follow-up to his award winning directorial debut “The Station Agent,” Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) stars as Walter Vale, a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor whose life is transformed by a chance encounter in New York City. Through new-found connections with virtual strangers, Walter is awakened to a new world and a new life.”

I don’t want to spoil this film with further descriptions. When I saw it tonight, I did not know one thing about it except friends highly recommended it—and so do I.

 

Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

What a beautiful day this was--the sun was shining and it felt like spring was really here. I went to a few yard sales, grocery shopped, did some clean up and cooking, spent an hour doing yard work, then began reorganizing my office/art room once again. Spring must be here when I get in this mood.

This evening I went to dinner with friends Mary, Don and Jennifer before we went to El Camino College to see the twins, Elena and Emily, in Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Mary and Don are the twin's grandparents. Several friends and their grandkids also attended. Here's the girls after the performance. When the TV series Providence first began, the twins played Joanie's baby, two seasons, I think. Then they were replaced with another set of twins. Twins are often used to play one baby or child. Both of them sing beautifully in a local children's choir and it looks like they might be hooked on theater.

Joseph runs for several more performances. If you live in Los Angeles, I'd sure check out this company doing a masterful Joseph. It actually is amazing. I saw this one other time, probably in the late 1970s, but I'm older now, more appreciative, I think. And I have a hunch I'll be able to say in not too many years that I knew Elena and Emily when----

So, What's on Your Bucket List?

Photo by Warner Brothers

As soon as I heard that Rob Reiner’s “Bucket List” opened city-wide today, I wanted to be at my local theater tonight to see it—and I was along with three friends—all of us in our 70s. Putting Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman together in a film, even though I knew it would be schmaltzy, was also very entertaining. Two men, a ruthless, rich corporate boor (Nicholson) and a cultured mechanic who would have made a great college professor (Freeman), meet in a cancer ward. Both have limited time left and Nicholson talks Freeman into living out their fantasies while they can and provides the money to make it possible. In addition to being funny, the world famous sites were fabulous to see.

I laughed a lot and I’ll admit I cried, too, but mostly I just thoroughly enjoyed the film, its humor, philosophy and even the sentimentality. The ending has a twist that I’m still thinking about as I type this. If you like these actors, you can’t go wrong and if you are like me, you get to see it at the senior rate—which is $7.50 at the Regal.

But, I’ll admit I didn’t pay. A nice man named Joe treated me as our friends Rick and Orma introduced us for an evening out. It’s the first time I’ve a blind date (or any date) for a long time and he was a wonderful man. If he calls me sometime, I’d like to spend time with him. Coincidentally, though we didn’t specifically remember ever meeting before, we know many of the same friends and activities in the late 1960s and 1970s as we had actually been in the same parish. Small world.

So, I'm thinking about what I'd put on my own bucket list. What would be on yours?

The Big Bad Swim or Why I Love Indie Films

Don’t you just love it when you watch a movie you never even heard of before and find yourself transported? That’s just how I felt about the 2006 Indie film called “The Big Bad Swim” which I rented at the library this afternoon and watched tonight.

Indie Wire says, “Set in scenic South Lyme, Connecticut, 'The Big Bad Swim' follows twelve novice swimmers ranging from ages 17-75 who've taken time out of their complicated lives to take a swim class. The film focuses on three people in the class. Noah (Jeff Branson), the swim class teacher who's battling depression; Jordan (Jess Weixler), an exotic dancer/casino dealer who has little desire to trust men due to her jobs; and Amy (Paget Brewster), a high school teacher who is going through a divorce with another teacher at the school."

The film is the debut feature of Ishai Setton, who co-wrote the script with friend Daniel Schechter, and admits one of the biggest challenges the two had with the story was its size. Indies usually don't have the funds to have complicated, multiple characters, but somehow they pulled it off.

It won several film festival awards and all I can say is that I planned to use the movie as background while I was addressing Christmas cards. But, I was instantly engaged--and I didn't get very many done. I can’t remember the last time I have seen such good and thoroughly natural actors and I thought the plot and script were excellent.

Have any of you seen it? If not, I sure recommend it—and I’ll watch for Ishai Setton and his Settonsun Productions in the future. I am so partial to the Indie films.

Ron Weasley Becomes a Man in Driving Lessons

When I got home from work this afternoon, with an armload of books and DVDs for the long weekend ahead, I felt “down” and pissed off with myself that I was. I am fully aware of all the things I have to be grateful for, going into this Thanksgiving holiday, but I’ll admit to being mercurial, often for no obvious reason except than I am Fran aka Redondowriter. This penchant for occasional darkness, however, always blindsides me, no matter how momentary the feelings are. I took Cookie for a walk and then hunkered down in bed (it’s even cold and nasty in Redondo Beach) and began to read the first book—“Summer Reading” and slowly began to perk up.

Then I heated up left over tuna casserole (one of my comfort foods) and settled down to watch the British film "Driving Lessons", which has left me feeling “up,” the opposite of how I felt when I first got home. Our little Ron Weasley from Harry Potter (Rupert Grint), a dorky mamma’s boy, and Julie Walters from Billy Elliott, an aging actress, star in a coming-of-age, celebration of life plot. How I wish I had someone to talk to about this wonderful film tonight.

"Driving Lessons" reminds me of that old classic “Harold and Maude” which I’ve seen countless times over the years. Give yourself a treat and rent Driving Lessons and tell me how it made you feel. And I'm curious what some of your comfort foods are--and what kick-starts you when your adrenalin runs out.

Enchanted With Cirque de Soleil's Vegas Version of Mystere

Cirque de Soleil's Mystere at Treasure Island in Las Vegas, which I saw last night, was absolutely the best of the three Cirques that I have seen. It is described as a mystical, primordial extravaganza celebrating the human condition. With a show room built for it, the sets, lighting and all the multiple action going on down stage and in the air transported me to a world I have not been in for a very long time. My nephew Jim, my sister's youngest son, who is the same age as my oldest son, (he's also one of my Godsons) got seats for the two of in aisle three from the stage, near center. You could see every muscle ripple on the extraordinary performers, their body hair, make-up and incredible costumes; I actually felt like I was participating. I realized at some point that I had a grin on my face throughout the show, even in between the ohs and ahs My favorite was the "hand to hand" routine of two men who stood atop a rotating dome, with a remarkable display of sheer strength and endurance go through gravity-defying body positions.

The entertainment critics say that Mystere should be "upgraded" as it has played since 1993, but as for me, it was one of the most exciting evenings I've had in a long time.

Afterwards Jim took me over to the Venetian , which I had seen before, and we headed toward the Bellagio where the outdoor fountain show was playing. At that point, we decided we didn't want to deal anymore with the traffic. I say haughtily sometimes that I've outgrown Vegas, the adult Disneyland of the U.S., but I realize I'm just playing the age card. The showroom was smoke free and I was utterly enchanted. The new construction going on on the strip is mind-boggling, including one complex which is purported to cost $7 billion. Can you even imagine?

Tonight we have a family dinner with others at a restaurant, but if Jim gets home from work early enough, we'll visit Red Rocks, the newer hotel and casino in NW Vegas where my sister lives. I don't gamble much but each of these hotels are like architectural museums in their own right.

My sis and I have spent a lot of time together with me driving her to appointments and to go shopping. She has absolutely no interest in the strip or shows, but she didn't even when she was younger. She has slowed down far more than my sis Betty, even though she is "only" 81. It saddens me, but she chooses how she wants to live her life and is quite reclusive. My two sisters who have passed on were also the same way, so I can only I just keep this zest I have to continue being with people as much as I can, and seeing and doing things I haven't done before. I can't change her, but I can certainly let her be my teacher. I close this post with an extreme attitude of gratitude.

Hollywood Bowl: Brian Stokes Mitchell & Reba McEntire in South Pacific

photo by Joe Sinnott – Thirteen/WNET

Last night I went to the Hollywood Bowl with my friend Charla and her friend Beth to see Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell in South Pacific. It was a balmy night, our seats were decent, but the bowl has large projection screens now so you can see the details on the stage even if you are further up in the amphitheater. There is something magical about this place.

I was excited to go as in these later years my friend Lorita and I sometimes went; she died very unexpectedly last summer right before the event we had scheduled. Needless to say, I was surely thinking about her last night as our Hollywood Bowl night in 2005 was the last time I actually saw her.

The performance was wonderful. That was one of my favorite musicals along with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Oklahoma when I was growing up. I imagine there are few Americans in my age bracket who don’t know every song by heart. It was hard not to sing along. Stokes Mitchell, who performed in my school’s amphitheater a year ago when it was dedicated, was magnificent as were all the other cast members. McEntire, however, is not a Mary Martin—or a Mitzi Gaynor, but was a wonderful treat nonetheless. She is very down-to-earth and is best in the humorous dialogue.

We intended to eat at old Miceli’s off Hollywood Blvd. last night before the musical, but the town was absolutely jam-packed with tourists and we couldn’t get served in time to make the beginning. Just going four blocks on the boulevard took 20 minutes. At Grauman’s Chinese there were many people in costume and it was more or less a zoo. Wicked is at the Pantages but the Kodak Theater was apparently dark. A few people just stopped their cars and started shooting photos out the car windows. I was brimming with memories as we fought the traffic because when I was in high school, my girlfriends and I would go to Hollywood to “cruise the boulevard” in the 1950s. We were also regulars on Santa Monica Blvd. and Sunset Blvd. You’d actually see movie stars sometimes then. We used to park near a boarding house where starlets like Kim Novak lived, but we were always searching for Jimmy Dean, Natalie Wood and the gang from Rebel Without a Cause. Kids from all over Los Angeles came to Hollywood on the weekends and you thought nothing of hopping from car to car even when you didn’t know the people. It probably wasn’t safe to do then, but it would be a disaster today. The first bar I ever went into was Jazz City at the corner of Western and Hollywood—Chet Baker was playing.

My folks relocated from Michigan to Los Angeles right after the depression and my dad managed a gas station at the corner of Sunset and Gower so early Hollywood was always in our family stories. I wasn’t born yet then, but my other four sisters were and they all lived in a tiny house right on the gas station property. I’ve got photos of that—somewhere. Times were really hard then, my sisters told me, and the summer food consisted primarily of fresh peaches from a tree on the property and day old bread. Or so the story goes.

I was taken aback last night when I found that I couldn’t march right up the hill from the parking areas to where the seats start in the Hollywood Bowl. I had to rest a couple of times and catch my breath. Many other people older than me were trucking right along—and many were going even slower than I was. It was a full house last night and we were like sardines in a can. I thought I was going to have a panic attack at one point, but my shallow breathing and mild paranoia lifted as soon as the musical began.

This theater is a traditional summer “must”, but I must admit that if my friend hadn’t driven, or I hadn’t taken the bus, I would definitely have passed. I am beginning to feel less and less comfortable in extremely crowded venues.

So, what are your favorite musicals?