Spring Fever Movies

There aren't a lot of movies about springtime, but all seven of these soothe my spring fever.

1. Mary Poppins (1964).  The spring wind blows in a magical nanny (Julie Andrews) to aid the unhappy Banks family.  Walks in the park, kite flying, merry-go-rounds, and hunting with hounds evoke the season.
2. Camelot (1967).  The story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is retold in this musical.  This one makes the list for Queen Gunivere's singing of "Lusty Month of May."
3. The Producers (1968).  Two Broadway producers (Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder) scheme to make money by producing a sure-fire flop, "Springtime for Hitler."
4. Carrie (1976).  An abused girl (Sissy Spacek) with a crazy mom (Piper Laurie) and telekinetic powers is invited to prom by the most popular boy in school; all hell breaks loose when high school bullies push her too far.
5. Bull Durham (1988).  I've got to include at least one baseball movie.  Susan Sarandon is a baseball Annie in a romantic triangle with a young pitcher (Tim Robbins) and an experienced catcher (Kevin Costner).
6. Enchanted April (1992).  Four women leave behind a rainy, gloomy London when they rent a chateau on the Italian Riviera for a month. 
7. The Secret Garden (1993).  When a spoiled girl loses both parents in India to a cholera epidemic, she is sent to live with her uncle in England.  On his estate she discovers a beautiful, hidden garden, which helps her cope with her grief and loneliness.  My daughter was five or six when we saw the 1987 Hallmark Hall of Fame version, and it was one of our favorites.

13 Little Blue Envelopes

13 Little Blue Envelopes
by Maureen Johnson
HarperTeen First Edition Edition (2006)
368 pages
ISBN: 0060541431
Grades 8-10
 
Guided by 13 letters from her free-spirited "runaway aunt" Peg, 17-year-old Ginny is on a once-in-a-lifetime trip through Europe.  The catch:  She can only open one letter at a time, and she must complete the task in said letter before opening the next letter.  Oh, and her aunt has been dead for three months.  Her first destination is London, specifically the home of handsome Richard, a Harrods employee whose job duties include selling underwear to the Queen.

Part epistolary novel, part quest, 13 Little Blue Envelopes is a veritable page turner.  I was quite delighted to travel vicariously through Ginny and couldn't wait to discover what adventures awaited her.  Her travels take her from London to Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Corfu.  There are a couple of failed missions ahead of her, both of which seemed completely realistic and both of which disappoint me as much as they do her.  But she meets some interesting people, sees some fabulous sights, and learns about the beloved aunt she barely knew.

To order from Amazon, click here: 13 Little Blue Envelopes.

April Pilkunnussija

It's April Fool's Day and a perfect day to write about my particular foolish idiosyncrasy.   I am a pilkunnussija, as the Finnish say, which is a person who corrects grammar excessively.  I always have been a bit of a pilkunnussija.  I can remember laughing at a friend's grammatical error way back in second grade.  Though I no longer find it funny when someone makes a grammatical mistake and am fairly tolerant as far as the spoken work is concerned, I do have a few pet peeves with grammar in written form, especially in publication.  I mean copy editors are getting paid to make sure a piece of writing is grammatically correct, so, damn it, copy editors of the world:  Know your trade!  Following are some of my grammatical pet peeves:

1. Use of the word "utilize" when the writer means "use."  "I am going to utilize my basement for a man cave" is vastly inferior to "I am going to use my basement for a man cave."
2. "Less" used for "fewer."  If you can count it, the correct word is "fewer."  If the item is not countable, then "less" is correct.   "I have fewer cookies than you, but you have less ice cream."
3. Incorrect use of colons.  Just because your sentence contains a list does not mean a colon is required.  A colon should never separate a noun from its verb, a verb from its object, or a preposition from its object.  "The colors of the flag are: red, white, and blue" is not correct.  "The flag has three colors:  red, white, and blue" is correct.  When in doubt, leave the colon out.
4. Double possessives.  When a possessive takes an apostrophe, it replaces the word "of."  If the word "of" is retained, no apostrophe is necessary.  Correct:  "Larry is Sam's friend" and "Larry is a friend of Sam."  Incorrect:  "Larry is a friend of Sam's." (Sam's what?)
5. See picture above.

Happy April Fool's Day.  Love to hear some of your grammatical pet peeves.  Please share them.

The Joy of Discovering Good Blogs

Since I started working part time, I don't have nearly enough time to do things that are just fun, like looking for and reading new blogs.  In fact, it's an effort just writing mine once or twice a week.  Sometimes I stumble upon blogs when doing an internet search.  For instance, last week I was looking for retired Girl Scout cookies, in particular, forget-me-nots, a granola cookie made in the seventies.  Anyway, one of my hits was 17 Retired Girl Scout Cookies, an entry for the blog List 17.  I think this is an awesome idea for a blog, although, if I'd thought of it, I would have picked my favorite number:  16.  Some of the topics covered in List 17 include 17 Childhood Games from Hell, 17 Best Disney Songs of All Time, 17 Movies to Make You Smile, and 17 Things You Can Do Without.

My circuitous route to List 17 made me wonder how do people find blogs.  Those of you who follow my blog--officially and unofficially--how did you find your way to the fruitcake files?  Leave me a comment and let me know how you got here and tell me about yourself.  I read the bios of my official followers--and, at long last, I welcome you all.  I would have done so sooner, but I'm not savvy enough to leave you a message via the internet--and, believe me, I did try.  Also, I'd love to hear about other blogs that you read.  So next time you stop by, take the time to leave a comment and share.  I promise I'll reply to everyone who leaves a comment.

"We Got a Right to Pick a Little Fight Bonanza!"

Bonanza (1959-1973)
Created by David Dortort
Starring Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon
Featuring Ray Teal and Victor Sen Yung

Bonanza, which ranked #43 on TV Guide's Fifty Greatest Shows of All Time list, is a western about the Cartwright family who live on their humongous Ponderosa Ranch on the northern shore of Lake Tahoe, Nevada.  (See the map below.)  The Cartwrights include patriarch Ben (Lorne Greene) and his three sons of different mothers.  (All three mothers are dead--the fate of every woman who has the misfortune to fall in love with a Cartwright man.)  Oldest son Adam (Pernell Roberts) is the learned, if somewhat arrogant, one; Hoss (Dan Blocker), the middle son, is a gentle giant whose kindness  transcends his plain looks; and Little Joe (Michael Landon) is the hot-headed one with something to prove.  Big eaters, especially Hoss, they are fed by their Chinese cook, Hopsing (Victor Sen Yung), who gets really ticked off if they're late for dinner.

Most episodes are serious western stories, as the Cartwrights are gun-toting killers who fight a lot.  (See Bonanza lyrics below.)  Rest assured, the Carwtrights are always fighting on the side of right and are often aided in their violence by Sheriff Roy Coffey (Ray Teal).  But Bonanza isn't always serious; oftentimes it takes a more playful, humorous tone.  I'm not really fond of most of the serious episodes, except "Journey Remembered," which tells the story of Hoss's mother, but I love the funny ones.  Hoss and Little Joe, not the sharpest tools in the shed, when left to their own devices get up to quite a bit of mischief with Pa and Adam looking on and shaking their heads with superior amusement or exasperation.  Some of the more entertaining episodes are "San Francisco" (1.28), "Bank Run" (2.19), "Any Friend of Walter's" (4.25), "Hoss and the Leprechauns" (5.12), "A Knight to Remember" (6.19), "The Flapjack Contest" (6.15), and "The Ponderosa Birdman" (6.20).

Tomorrow to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, while most people will be attending parades and drinking themselves Irish, I'll be watching "Hoss and the Leprechauns."  Incidentally, this is my 100th posting:  One hundred postings in 16 months--not too shabby.

Bonanza Lyrics
We got a right to pick a little fight
Bonanza!
If anyone fights anyone of us
He's gotta fight with me!

We're not a one to saddle up and run,
Bonanza!
Anyone of us who starts a little fuss
Knows he can count on me!

One for four
Four for one,
This we guarantee.

We got a right to pick a little fight
Bonanza!
If anyone fights anyone of us
He's gotta fight with me!



To order from Amazon, click on one of the links below:
Bonanza: The Official First Season
Bonanza: Official Second Season

Of VW Beetles and The Beatles' Abbey Road

Thinking Small:  The Long, Strange Trip of the Volkswagen Beetle
by Andrea Hiott
Ballantine Books (January 17, 2012)
512 pages
ISBN: 0345521420

From Hitler to the hippies, Hiott takes us on the weird trip that is the Volkswagen Beetle.  Though originally manufactured to bring cheap transportation to the masses, the Volkswagen (the people's car) has long since transcended its humble origins:  It's come to represent freedom, adventure, escape, and a certain joie de vive.

Having lived through the sixties and seventies, I remember when every other car was a VW beetle.  Watch television shows and movies of the time, and you'll see the little buggers everywhere in the background shots.  We used to count them on long car trips--though we didn't engage in punching each other in the arm and shouting "Punch buggy!"  My favorite joke of all time comes from the sixties and involves a VW bug.  How do you get six elephants in a Volkswagen?  Answer:  Three in the front and three in the back.

One of the most famous bugs is the white one featured on the cover of Abbey Road with the license plate number LMW 28IF.  The significance of this plate involves the rumor that Paul McCartney was dead and had been replaced with an uncanny duplicate who could have been Paul's identical twin.  The VW bug's license plate number was yet one more clue that Paul was gone, as he would have been "28 IF" he had lived.

I've been in love with Volkswagen Beetles my whole life, though it has been an unrequited love.  In the early seventies, my family owned a tan VW microbus, the VW bug's second cousin, but I've never managed to own the real thing--unless you count my little pink and green Volkswagen Christmas ornaments.  I was always talked out of purchasing one as it would be too impractical, too expensive to repair, and offer too little heat.  There are a couple of vintage bugs around town that call to me:  a baby blue one parked a few blocks down the street that I stalk like a teenage girl with a crush, and a red one with a black rag top that gets taken out for the occasional ride.  Who is free spirited enough to still be driving one of these loveable bugs?  With a twinge of nostalgia I crane my neck to watch the little red convertible drive down the road and out of sight.



To order from Amazon, click on Thinking Small: The Long, Strange Trip of the Volkswagen Beetle or Abbey Road.

Recent Blog Stats

I haven't enjoyed the last couple of books I've read and haven't seen any new movies lately, so, while I fish around for something to review, I thought I'd share recent blog stats.  Since posting my Interview with Dan Boehl on November 11, 2011, it has been the most visited of all my posts.  But yesterday Grimm's Tales (November 5, 2011) surpassed Dan to become the the fruitcake files favorite post.  Four of the top ten posts are from this year:  Facebook Time Travel (February 9, 2012), Spend Valentine's Day with Cary Grant, Harrison Ford, Colin Firth, or Johnny Depp (February 13, 2012), The Blood of the Children (January 16, 2012), and Drinking Rum with Johnny Depp (February 17, 2012).  Following are the top ten posts:

Grimm's Tales
Interview with Dan Boehl
Facebook Time Travel
Spend Valentine's Day with Cary Grant, Harrison Ford, Colin Firth, or Johnny Depp
The Blood of the Children
In Defense of Chop Suey
Harry's Makeover
Tom and Huck Down on the Farm
Solid
Drinking Rum with Johnny Depp

Other hard hit posts this past month include:

Goodbye Whitney Houston, Jill Kinmont, and Florence Gree
Robbing the Rich and Giving to the Poor
Chinese Cooking in the Year of the Dragon
Summer of Butter Pecan Ice Cream and the Brooklyn Dodgers
No Escape from Stalag 13

Though I'm still waiting for readers from Africa and Antartica, I am getting more readers from the Middle East, Australia, and South America.  Currently, the five countries with the most fruitcake files readers are the U.S., Russia, Germany, the U.K., and Canada.