Since my mind is like a steel trap, I often forget to post some things.
So, here is Maine part 2 (or part 4, depending on how you want to count
entries).
While
we lived in several places growing up, the farm on the left is always
“home.” My dad now lives across the street in this house:
So, even though I poked fun at Livermore Falls, there are certainly
nice parts to it. We always sleep a LOT at Dad’s because it is so
quiet. It was cloudy while we were there, which is too bad, because on
clear nights you can see a ton of stars and can usually see the Milky
Way as well.
I also forgot to mention that we went to the Norland’s
(a living history center) Strawberry Shortcake festival. In addition to
eating fresh strawberries on fresh biscuits, we got to wander around the
center and got to try writing with quills and an ink bottle. And I
thought my handwriting could not get worse. Meredith, of course, was
great at it.
I did mention that Rockland has a wonderful downtown, but I
forgot to mention that a couple of years ago someone decided to
renovate the downtown movie theater. They use it for films and concerts
now, and it is beautiful. To celebrate the one-year anniversary of 
the Strand opening,
they decided to show “Gone With the Wind.” Since I had never seen it,
Meredith and I decided that I could not pass up seeing it on the big
screen in its original format (the same excuse I raised to get Mer to
see “Star Wars” when it was re-released). So, we went and saw the film with
Meredith’s parents.
Now keep in mind that all I knew of the film was
* The famous line “Frankly, my dear..”
* The names of the major characters
* It took place during the Civil War
* It had passionate looking people embracing on every movie poster I had ever seen
So, first surprise observation: the film is very long. This is not in a
boring-bad way; it is simply long (over 3 hours with the real
intermission). So, I settled back and watched a well-shot film about
two great lovers who were going to somehow carve out America’s great
love during the Civil War. Well, I was very surprised. Scarlett was NOT
what I had expected from 30 years of chick-flick romances, and Rhett
was not a typical sensative 90’s guy either. I was left speechless for several
minutes after the ending. I NEVER expected the ending (which I won’t
give away to the other 3 people who have not seen the film). I don’t
think this film could be made today – it would never get by the test
audiences. All in all, it was a worthwhile thing, but it still leaves me
confused as to why these folks are held up as great lovers.
Oh – as far as the title of the blog, there is a book from Mammy’s point of view that is supposed to be funny, which I hope to read soon.
great title to the blog!!
i never thought of rhett and scarlet as being the great american lovers so much as just meant for each other. i actually read the book in high school or college and was very tempted, on several occasions, to throw the damn thing across the room–scarlet annoyed me that much. but it was an engrossing read and it was an interesting flick.
great blogs, btw. am not surprised. your pics are beautiful–very different from the foggy, rainy summer i was up there!
have been home since friday. will give you a ring tomorrow, but will have to wait on hanging out till after family vacation. want very much to see the riordans and spend some time with you all!
your brother has been quite kind in picking up my book again. he tells me i got him hooked on the characters in a genre he doesn’t normally like, so i guess that means i’ve done well. i am hesitant to believe it’s any good, though. too critical of my own work, and i know the writing is not up to my own standards. still, the feedback was encouraging and made me get right back on the computer to write more.
off now to read a bit of annie proulx (WYOMING TALES). will try to give a ring soon. –j
Speaking of GWtW, did you notice the scene in the midst of the chaos of the Union moving on Atlanta where all the slaves are super excited to go dig trenches for the Confederate Army. I thought provoking ounterpoint to GWtW would definately be the movie movie “Bamboozled.”
I agree with you, Mu, that this movie wouldn’t have been made the same way today. I can’t imagine a character in a movie today proclaiming, straightfacedlly, “I don’t know nothing about birthing no babies.” Of course, you’ll notice in the movie that the white folks bought Hattie McDaniel’s original story (and note that McDaniel is an Ulster name). That’s because every plantation of any size really did have a black woman who was quite proficient in “birthing babies”.
Not quite sure why you think Rhett and Scarlett are held up as great lovers. Rhett’s most famous line is his swansong: “Frankly, Scarlett, I don’t give a damn.” And she’s an independent woman thoughout. Great love stories are all about co-dependence, if you ask me. Well, strike that. Love stories where the couple stay together are all about co-dependence. Often, in great love stories, the couple breaks up. Maybe that’s the great part. But what would I know?
I don’t think they are great lovers – I think they are held up in a romantic notion as such. I had thought they were great lovers before seeing the movie – that is what shocked me about the film. Form the posters at the very least, it had looked like it was a great “normal” romance. I can’t be the only one who thinks so – I have a song by an Irish woman that is about great lovers and it mentions “Scarlett and Rhett and Romeo and Juliet” (although it may be mostly for the rhime – the Irish can do that sort of thing for a song). I had assumed a movie that had captured America so much must be about romantic movie-style love. Whew, was I wrong.
Well, count me in as one of the three people in the world who has neither seen it nor read the book. Last time I told someone that, they looked at me as if I had claimed to be the source of world hunger and responded with the expected exclamation of disbelief…
Those pictures, especially the first, are beautiful. I’m convinced that every kid deserves to have a farm to run amok in. I half grew up in on my cousins’ farm, hiding in hay bales, chasing (and being chased) by angry roosters, running through the forest and corn fields, and realizing that yes indeed, that *is* an electric fence.
Oh and to answer your question…yes. My maniacal bouts of laughter are linked to paint fumes more often than not.
I haven’t read GWtW, or seen it all the way through since I was 11, but if Rhett and Scarlett are anything like Emily Bronte’s Heathcliff and Catherine, I can understand wanting to fling the book across the room. But then, they invoked that kind of reaction in eachother, why not involve the reader? I couldn’t understand why they were counted among the greatest lovers of all time, either. I read it with such high expectations and came away with a feelign best described as “….huh.”
The image of Carol Burnett dressed in curtains with the rod still intact and draped across her shoulders in a parody of the famous scene from GWtW still makes me laugh.