Then There Were Two

Longfellow once wrote, “To have joy, one must share it, for happiness was born a twin.” I wonder what Longfellow would say about Leibster Awards, of which I now have two, thanks to the sweet ladies at Pure Entertainment Preservation Society. Thank you so much, Tiffany and Rebekah!

As always, accepting a Liebster requires the nominee to jump through the following hoops:

1. Thank the nominator in your award post.
2. Place the award logo somewhere on your blog.
3. You must state 11 facts about yourself.
4. Complete the 11 questions that your nominator provided.
5. Nominate as many bloggers as you’d like (11 is the maximum).
6. Ask your nominees a series of questions (11 is the maximum).

Points One and Two are checks, and now we come to those eleven facts:

1. My favorite scents are ocean scents, although I also like florals. Problem is, good ocean fragrances are hard to find. Philosophy used to have a bath line called Message In A Bottle that came pretty close, but they don’t make it anymore.
2. Staying on the beach theme, some of my favorite seaside haunts are Stinson Beach, China Rock, and Bodega Bay. Pacific State Beach in Washington is nice, though the water is much colder. I’d like to visit Huntington Beach in Southern California and Matagorda Beach in Texas, too.
3. I don’t like being recorded. I don’t know why–it makes me wiggy. I’m fine with performance, public speaking and interviews, but hit that “Record” button and I get very nervous. I guess I’m just not used to it. Recently, though, I did a podcast for my county, whose Office of Public Information interviewed some of us from the Museums Division to promote our annual Cemetery Tour. It went OK, I guess, but I’m not usually that giggly.
4. If I were ever to work in the film industry, I think I’d like to be a set decorator. I wouldn’t rule out screenwriting and book scouting, either.
5. One of my main rides at Disneyland when I was little was Adventure Thru Inner Space. It looked pretty shopworn by the time I first saw it in the early 1980s, but every time we went to the park I had to go on it at least two or three times. It was a bummer when Disney got rid of it. I guess they had to, though–apparently people used to reach out and break off pieces of the ride. Fortunately, we still have lots of surviving pictures and audio, so it’s easy to relive.
6. My brother and I both married people of Scandanavian extraction–my sister-in-law is half Swedish while my husband is a quarter Norwegian. Bonus parallel: My husband and my dad were sprinters and wrestlers in high school, and their birthdays are two days apart. While it’s not a reliable litmus test of a good marriage, it’s funny how these kinds of things can work out.
7. I once stayed at a house on a ranch in North Dakota that had a toilet in the basement. Not a bathroom. Just a toilet. It sat between the bottom of the stairs and the spare bedroom. No light. No sink. Nothing. Yeah, it was creepy. Practical, but creepy.
8. I like making crepes from scratch. It took some trial and error, but I finally got the hang of it. Parents Magazine’s recipe is my go-to for the shells, and I highly recommend Robin Miller’s andouille-leek filling.
9. I’ve gotten to see two copies of the First Folio. One was at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento and unfortunately I can’t remember where I saw the other one, but I’m sure it was in California. This was the collection of Shakespeare’s works that was compiled by his acting troupe after the Bard’s death. It’s one of the best sources we have for determining the accuracy and provenance of other manuscripts and there are only around two hundred left in the world. For an English B.A. or major, sharing space with a real First Folio is like seeing the Crown Jewels.
10. Given a choice between an e-book and a traditional one, I’ll take a traditional book every time. I like the feel and smell of books, and obviously that experience is impossible with a tablet. The only time e-books would have come in handy would be during my college days, because English classes are notorious for assigning giant anthologies with onionskin pages. Students nowadays have it easy in that regard.
11. I once had a guppy named Whitecap, who, when he took a nap, would balance himself on the edge of the ceramic bridge in his bowl like he was Snoopy or something. I am not even kidding. That fish had personality.

Next up: Tiffany and Rebekah’s questions and my answers:

1. What famous, beloved, or iconic classic film leaves you cold, even though a lot of other people love it? Metropolis from 1927 (Read my review here). I know it’s got groundbreaking special effects and I do like German silent films, but the story just weirds me out. For one thing, it misinterprets the Tower of Babel passage in the Bible as a cautionary tale about labor relations, and for another, it was a favorite of several prominent Nazis, including Adolf Hitler. Yeah. Shudder.
2. What actors are your favorite classic film couple, even if they only made one movie together? I like Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, plus Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. I also like Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson.
3. What classic film genre is your least favorite? I’d probably say westerns–they seem all the same to me. People ride horses, they shoot guns, and they might smoke a cigar or two. And oh yeah, they belly up to the bar, where the bartender pours liquor so hard it can melt concrete. When it comes down to it, though, story matters more than genre to me, so as long as there’s a good story, I may watch a western now and then.
4. What type of classic movie musical do you prefer, one where people are constantly singing or one in which all the music is logical and in context with the story? I think both types can be done well–even an non-integrated musical can seem natural and integrated if the story doesn’t have to completely stop for the song to happen. 20th Century Fox in particular excelled at the revue kinds of movies because they really liked the backstage format. It was predictable but still fun.
5. What novel, book, or story do you really wish was made with certain actors in the Golden Era of Hollywood? L.M. Montgomery’s Pat of Silver Bush books. They’re underrated compared to her other novels, and I think George Cukor could have done something nice with them. Sara Allgood would have been a fantastic Judy, and Peggy Ann Garner would be a perfect Pat as a child, with Janet Leigh playing her as an adult. I’m not sure who would make a good Hillary, though. Maybe Dickie Moore and Richard Wyler?
6. What modern film can you most visualize as a classic film with particular actors in the lead roles? Much Ado About Nothing, starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh in the classic version, of course. They’d have to edit some of the dialogue, and the group bathing scene in the opening credits of the 1993 film would never have happened during the Code Era. The scene where Leonato, Don Pedro, and Claudio troll Benedick wouldn’t need any changes, though.
7. What is your least favorite performance from your favorite actor or actress? Why? Judy Garland and Gene Kelly in The Pirate. I couldn’t stand that movie–I thought it was obnoxious and trying too hard. The one part I liked was the “Be A Clown” sequences. Judy’s hilarious, plus Gene did some amazing choreography with the Nicholas Brothers.
8. What is your favorite performance from your least favorite actor or actress? Why? I’m definitely not a Nicholas Cage fan, but I liked him in National Treasure. The story was interesting though just a bit implausible, and having Justin Bartha as co-star gave Cage some color to play off of. No offense to any Cage fans, but the guy needs all the color he can get.
9. What is one movie that made you appreciate an actor or actress you didn’t think you liked before? That would be Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves–I got the biggest crush on Christian Slater after seeing that movie. Yeah, I know my Gen-X is showing, but what can I do? 🙂
10. Can you name a film adaption of a book that you think was better than the book? Pretty much any adaptation of Moby Dick is going to be better than the book because the book famously detailed the whaling industry in copious detail. Also, the film of In Her Shoes was definitely superior to the novel, although the novel is really good.
11. What is a remake which you like better than the original film? Why? I think The Preacher’s Wife was better than The Bishop’s Wife. They’ve both got their good points, and it’s not that Bishop was bad or anything, but I preferred the ending of Preacher. And Denzel is…Denzel. 😉

Okay, so that’s another check, and now on to my nominees:

• Maddy from Maddy Loves Her Classic Films
• Kristen from Speakeasy
• Gabriela from Pale Writer
• Steve from MovieMovie BlogBlog II
• Michaela from Love Letters To Old Hollywood

Finally, we have come to the last hoop, and that would be my eleven questions. Voila…

1. If you could start a second (third? fourth?) blog, what would it be about?
2. What’s your favorite dessert?
3. What was your most unusual job?
4. If you could interview any star from the Golden Era, who would it be and what would you ask them?
5. What’s your favorite thing about blogging? Your least favorite?
6. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
7. Have you ever walked out of a movie in a theater? If so, what was it and why?
8. What was your favorite subject in school and why?
9. If you were a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, would you watch the movies before voting or no?
10. You can go to either the Grand Canyon or the Rocky Mountains. Which one would you pick and why?
11. What’s the weirdest day you’ve ever had?

Okay, that oughta do it. Congrats to all my nominees, thanks again to Tiffany and Rebekah, and thanks for reading, everyone! Another Shamedown is coming on the morrow…