Mark's Movie of the Week #12: Ragtime

 

Ragtime is a 1981 American drama film directed by Milos Forman and based on the 1975 historical novel of the same name by E.L. Doctorow. The film is set in and around historical turn of the century New York City. The film stars James Olson, Mary Steenbergen, Howard Rollins, Brad Dourif, Elizabeth McGovern and featuring the final film appearances of James Cagney and Pat O'Brien. It features early appearances in small parts by Jeff Daniels, Fran Drescher, Samuel L. Jackson, Ethan Phillips and John Ratzenberger. It was nominated for 8 Academy Awards. Every time is Ragtime.

Gardening with Lora: Christmas Decorations

 

There are many ways to introduce flowers and plants into your Christmas decor. Of course, there's the tree, decorated with lights. Most people buy a new tree that is grown on a tree farm every year, which is then thrown out or recycled. Many others have a fake tree that they bring out of storage every year. But you can also have a smaller potted tree that you can decorate with tiny ornaments. You can keep year round as a houseplant, or you can plant it in the spring.  

 

Other plants to bring in are holly and mistletoe, which are usually found as garlands on mantles and banisters, in wreaths along with pine branches, or hanging over the doorway. You can purchase fresh versions from your local flower shop, nursery or grocery store. Many people decorate with fake versions as well. 

 

Holiday tables are often decorated with holly and pine branches as well, in addition to pine cones.

 

One flower that is commonly associated with Christmas is the poinsettia. These vibrant red flowers (or sometimes white) are usually potted and can be kept year round. They are often given as holiday gifts. Just make sure that you're careful with them if you have a cat or dog. They are poisonous! 

Mark's Movie of the Week #11: My Fair Lady

 

My Fair Lady is 1964 American musical drama film adapted from the 1956 Lerner & Lowe stage musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 stage play Pygmalion. It stars Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Dolittle, Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins, Stanley Holloway as Alfred P. Dolittle and many more stars. The film won 8 Oscars, including Best Actor, Best Director (George Cukor) and Best Picture (Jack L. Warner). My Fair Lady was truly loverly.

Mark's Move of the Week #9: Lawrence of Arabia

Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 British epic and historical drama based on the life of T.E. Lawrence and his 1926 book, Pillars of Wisdom. The film stars Peter O'Toole as Lawrence with performances by Alec Guiness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif among others. I was presented in two part, divided by an intermission. Lawrence of Arabia was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won 7 Oscars, including Best Picture and Director, David Lean. Lawrence of Arabia was one of the greatest epics of 1962.

Arts Connections Advice #7

 

Q: I was recently trying to send a file via email, which is new to me. I live with my mother, who didn't grow up with computers, so it's hard to figure out how to use different features. How do I get his information?

A: The easiest way to find out simple computing functions is to do a web search. When I looked up your specific question, many results came up. This is a very common question! The first result was from support.google.com, but there were also YouTube videos and a step by step guide by wikihow.com that includes pictures. You can apply this search method to almost any basic computing question and find tons of resources. When in doubt, Google it!

Q: How do we celebrate the holidays this year with the "Tripledemic" of Covid, the flu and RSV? 

A: We know how to navigate this from the past two holiday seasons, so one option is to stay home and have another socially distanced holiday. But that's easier said than done when you want to spend time with loved ones. So the best way to protect yourself is to make sure that everyone has had all of their Covid boosters and this year's flu shot. There's still no vaccine for RSV, so if there are infants and elderly relatives, you may all want to mask up. Same advice applies if anyone is showing symptoms of a respiratory infection. If you live in a resonably warm climate, you may also want to spend a lot of time outside. None of this will protect you 100%, but odds are that if you're fully boosted and vaccinated, that you should be ok. 

Mark's Movie of the Week #10: Gigi

 Gigi is a 1958 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli and processed using Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Eastmancolor film process Metrocolor.  The screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner is based on the 1944 novella of the same name by Colette.  The film features songs and lyrics by Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, arranged and conducted by Andre Previn.  The film is set in LaBelle Epoque at the turn of the 20th century.  Gigi's mother (a singer who is heard but never seen onscreen) leaves her care mostly to Madame Alvarez.  Madame Alvarez regularly sends Gigi to her sister, Alicia (Gigi's great aunt) to be groomed as a courtesan, which is a dignified euphemism for a wealthy man's mistress.  She learns proper etiquette and charm, but she prefers having fun with Gaston, whom she regards as an older brother.  Gaston is a known womanizer.  While playing cards with Gaston, Gigi wagers that if he loses, he must take her and her grandmother to the seaside for the weekend. Gaston loses the bet and the three travel to Trouville.  Gigi and Gaston have lots of fun together.  As other women at the resort are bored or have disdain for anything unfamiliar, Gigi pulls Gaston out of his depressive rut with her carefree attitude. When Gaston goes to Monte Carlo, Madame Alvarez schemes to turn Gigi into his mistress. After storming out several times, Gaston realizes that he is in love with Gigi.  He wishes only to be near her.  Gaston proposes a generous "business arrangement" to Madame Alvarez for Gigi to become his mistress; Gigi is unhappy with the arrangement.  Gigi refuses, telling Gaston she wants their relationship to remain platonic. Gaston professes his love for Gigi and asks for her hand in marriage. The final sequence returns to Honore Lachaille, who proudly points out Gaston and Gigi getting into a carriage in the Bois de Boulogne: elegant, beautiful, and happily married.  Gigi stars Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jordan, Hermione Gingold, Eva Gabor and John Abbot.  Gigi has 12 songs including "Honore's Soliloquy", "Thank Heaven for Little Girls", "The Parisians", Gaston's Soliloquy" the film's title song and "Say a Prayer for Me Tonight." Gigi won a record 9 Oscars including Best Picture (Arthur Freed), Best Director (Vincente Minnelli), Best Screenplay-Based on Material from another Medium (Alan Jay Lerner), Best Cinematography-Color, Best Costume Design (Cecil Beaton), Best Scoring of a Musical (Andre Previn) and Best Song (Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner for "Gigi").  In tribute to Gigi's domination of the Oscars, the MGM switchboard answered calls the following day with "M-Gigi-M." Thank heaven for Gigi.

What's the Deal With Advent Calendars?

 

Advent calendars are a fun way to count down to Christmas. The original idea was to acknowledge the Sundays in the season of Advent, leading up to the celebration of the birth of Christ. But today, they are a daily calendar (usually starting on December 1st) with little doors or drawers containing small gifts. We did some research and found that most advent calendars fall into these categories: food and drink, ornaments, make up and self care items, toys and figurines, or a set of little drawers that you can fill yourself.

Food and drink: With these calendars, you get a different edible item every day to enjoy. Chocolates are very popular, but there are also many featuring wine and liquor, cookies and snacks, cheeses, jam and condiments, coffee and tea, and even this one, called O Holy Cow, featuring jerky:

 

Ornaments: Many of this type feature a pop up Christmas tree and every day you get a different cardboard ornament to hang on the tree. These are often themed, such as Harry Potter, Star Wars or Disney characters. But there are also fancier ones, like this one, featuring a different Swarovski crystal ornament every day:

Make Up and Self Care: This is another popular option. You get a different lipstick, blush, eyeshadow hair accessory or make up tool every day. Others include bath bombs, lotions, and even one that contains beard care items from Beard Octane:

 

Toys and Figurines: Another popular category is toys and figurines, like Lego, Playmobile or Marvel action figures. Some create a little scene or set. This one is only 10 days, but it features something called Gue from Elmer's:

There are pretty much as many different types of advent calendars as you can think of. The possibilities are endless!