skylark Sounds busy, but fun I'm glad you both had a nice day out

Sleep well Skylark, it's been (another) stressful week

Thanks squiggle, you too xx


Summer, i thought of you today. I was packing a bag to take with us and asked granddaughter to go pick a hat to wear incase the sun came out. She came back with a Santa hat saying she was wearing it. I said er no, its not Christmas!! You and she would get on well! 

Lashing down with rain here, and i mean lashing 

Will say goodnight, going to soak the old bones in a bubbly bath 

Evening all. Had middle son and his fiancée visiting today.

El, I love the loch ness monster with the torch. Good news about your bonus.

Summer, the pics of Bramble are fabulous. My future Dil is in love with her - apparently Bramble is soooo similar to her parent's dog (although he's a boy).

Glad you had a nice time at the Gala, Skylark. I love that your granddaughter wanted to wear a Santa hat.

Squiggle, I hope the weather has been better for you today.

 

Lol that's tremendous, I like the girl  

 

Sorry I disappeared, I was talking to my mum. The rain sounds good, Hope you sleep well  

Goodnight Summer and Ros, sweet dreams.

Sweet dreams yogi  

Good morning everyone

 

Cloudy with patches of blue here, showers are expected by late afternoon.

 

Skylark, I'm glad you and your grandaughter had an enjoyable time at the gala.

 

I hope the rain up north isn't causing problems for anyone.

Good morning everyone. It's raining up here - not heavy rain, thankfully.

Squiggle, are you watching BB this year? If you are, what are your initial impressions of this lot?

Its a grey morning here, a bit drizzly but more rain forecast for later on.  I hope that the lashing rain in Scotland has eased off now.

 

One of those nights filled with vivid (sometimes horrible) dreams/nightmares I hate it when that happens.

 

Enjoy your Sunday

good morning Anyone for breakfast..? It's very still here this morning, I had a very peaceful walk with bramble earlier. It's dry so I'm going to take advantage of it while I can and Hoover the car. Hope everyone slept well P.S. yogi- you know my opinion of this years crop

*runs back into the thread for some lovely pancakes* Thanks Summer.

I do know what you think of this year's HMs.

 

Aww Squiggle, I hate having horrible dreams, I find it really unsettling.

We must have been posting at the same time earlier squiggle, I too hate those nights and I hope you have shook it off this morning I've hoovered mr summers car, twice! And cleaned the interior, he should be nicely surprised when he arrives home and sees what I've done Then I did some yoga, first time in a while, it felt good. Bramble snoozed on the sofa- perfect I'm watching guys & dolls, I've never seen it before. hope you're all having a lovely Sunday

Squiggle, I rarely have such nights, but when I do, they can be quiet disconcerting. They are more likely if I've had a late meal or something indigestible. You should have a good night tonight though

 

Summer, a hearty breakfast indeed

 

My opinion of this year's crop of BB housemates is that I have no opinion as I've seen nothing of BB .

 

Anf I've never seen Guys and Dolls either. Marlon Brando was a very good actor, but I associate him so much with serious films (On The Waterfront for instance) that it seems to me to be an odd choice for the lead role in a musical. IMDB indicates that Gene Kelly was wanted for the role but his studio refused to lend him out. Also, Marlon Brando's scenes with him singing were made up of multiple shots rather than a single take.

 

Although I'm a bit of a film buff, there are many famous films I've never seen:

Films which spring to mind include:

Titanic

Jaws

The Exorcist

Rosemary's Baby (that one is because my mother asked us never to see the film because of its content)

I've deliberately omitted more recent films as it may well be that one day I decide to watch them, so my list are all films which have been around for some time and have been shown on television many times.

 

Do any well known films come to mind which you've never seen? I know that squiggle has never seen Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Regarding bad dreams, I always pray that I will not return to those dreams when I go back to sleep, which I always find works.  I never think on dreams when I am awake, they are just a load of nonsense when your brain is trying to sort something out.

 

As for films I would never watch anything about The Krays or The Godfather series, I just find the subject matter distasteful.  I do like good triumphing over evil I suppose.  Guys and Dolls I have never fancied somehow, don't know why.  Gordon McCrae musicals among my favourites and South Pacific, Oklahoma etc.

I'm actually quite bored watching guys & dolls, I've slept through about half an hour of it too lol I'll see it to the end but I won't be watching it again. El, I've never seen the godfather films either, nor rocky. I've never seen gone with the wind.

Out of the films already mentioned, I've never seen The Exorcist (although I do remember reading the book when I was in my late teens and it was horrible. I don't like horror films), nor Guys and Dolls, but then again I'm not a fan of Marlon Brando.

 

Squiggle, I like Gordon MacRae musicals, especially the ones with Doris Day.

Eldest son has phoned to say he's going to pop in for a cup of tea and a natter, so see you later.

It ended with a double wedding. It was no pride & prejudice!

Yogi I don't like horror films either, I don't find them entertaining at all

Guys and Dolls was based on one of the short stories by Damon Runyon. He specialised in "humerous" stories about gangsters and gambling and the prohibition period. He was a heavy gambler himself and according to Wiki his best friend was a mobster accountant. What tiny amount I've read of his never had any appeal for me. So squiggle, I can understand why Guys and Dolls wouldn't appeal to you. I haven't seen either of the first 2 Godfather films - the famous scene of the horse's head put me right off seeing it. I did see the 3rd one which was made years later.

 

Summer, I've seen the first of the Rocky films which is an OK film but I've never been inclined to see any of how ever many sequels which have been made since. And I haven't seen the various Rambo films.

 

I have seen Gone with the Wind. There used to be a second cinema in Cheltenham which showed older films and the lesser newer films. For many years, Gone with the Wind couldn't be shown on television as it was still being shown in cinemas from time to time and I saw it there either in the 70s or the 80s. Although the film's print has been digitally remastered since, the print I saw had faded slightly over the years. It is a film which is best seen on the large screen and the scenes of Scarlett O'Hara as a nurse tending the injured (this film covers the American Civil War) and the scenes of her and the others fleeing the burning of Atlanta are memorable. It is a very long film but tends to be shown with an intermission half way through. I know when it was eventually shown on television it was shown over 2 days. Oh, and the American Production Code (censorship was very strict at that time) was amended specifically to pemit Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) to say what is possibly the most famous quote in film history.

 

I wouldn't want to see any of the modern horror films. The closest I have seen would be something like The Others (Nicole Kidman) which was quite good, but that's closer to a ghost story rather than a horror film. Films like the original King Kong and Frankenstein from the 1930s are very good, but although they were regarded as horror films then, I don't think many people would regard them as such nowadays.

As regards Gone With The Wind, I would say to anyone that, much as I enjoyed the film, read the book! I loved the book, and the film can't convey the story in the same way the book does.

Squiggle, I'd never thought of reading the book (I don't know why) but I'll put it on my wishlist now.

Yogi, if you read the book, you are likely to find that some of Margaret Mitchell's words have been criticised for some of the content which is offensive in modern society.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_with_the_Wind

The section headed "Criticisms for racial issues" goes into a bit more detail.

Though where they start making some comparisons between the book and the film "Birth of a Nation" I think that is unfair. "Birth of a Nation" was the first full length American film. However if it had been anything other than the first film I would think that it would have been destroyed by now due to its appalling racism, I have seen it, but it was hard going. I doubt if it will ever be shown on television other than late at night with a lengthy warning before hand. The most notorious American film ever made.

EL, I do find those who want to re-write history and throw up their hands in horror at the things that occurred very odd.  Of course we know that slave keeping in the Deep South was wrong, that's why they are fighting the war which takes place in the book in such detail. And of course the South was defeated, slavery was abolished and the abhorrent attitudes they held towards people of a different skin colour (attitudes which are unimaginable to all right-thinking people) slowly slowly changed.  Margaret Mitchell won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel, I guess that's good enough for me.

 

Incidentally if anyone gets a chance to watch the Rosa Parkes Story, watch it, it will bring a tear to your eye and a lump to your throat and a deep desire to stamp out racism, of whatever kind, for ever.

Thank you for the link, El.

I think, in fairness to Margaret Mitchell who wrote the book in 1936, it was set during the American Civil War and depicted attitudes of that time - attitudes which are now, quite rightly, considered to be very wrong.

Well said Yogi, that's what I was trying to say, and you said it better than me .  I think you will enjoy the book and I have to say that Margaret Mitchell wrote the characters so well that you come to like a lot of the black characters much more than the white characters.

I am enjoying the Jenny Colgan book atm.

I am glad you are enjoying the Jenny Colgan book Yogi, it's a great read

I had no idea that gone with the wind was set in the American civil war, or that it was so long, is that why I've not seen it listed on tv? 

Is that the sweet shop book?

It is, Summer.

Oh great, hope you enjoy it yogi, I'm looking forward to reading it myself.

 

Did you read California club? I'm reading it now

No, I don't remember reading that one. Are you enjoying it?

Yes I am, it's set in California obviously, but I feel like I'm on holiday too when I read it would you like it after..?

That would be great, thanks Summer.

Off for a bath and a read, goodnight Summer and Ros.

will do that then yogi 

 

Sweet dreams enjoy your bath