Book 11: Billy Boyle A World War II Mystery by James R. Benn

Two years ago, I went to Crime Con at Stamford Library. There were several presentations and discussions with authors and forensic experts.

Of course, the authors had books for sale. I was disappointed with the selections. Most authors had only the latest in their series of books available: I prefer to start with the first book. The authors, however, were more interested in selling their latest publications.

I ended up buying The Devouring A Billy Boyle Mystery by James R. Been. About a year later, I found the first book in the series at a Norwalk Library book sale.

It took me about 40-50 pages to get into Billy Boyle. The last 150 pages or so were suspenseful. I'm glad I read it and hope that if I read The Devouring next, I don't miss some important details from the other books.

I've only read four of the 19 books I have available to read. I may not have to worry.

Chipmunks on the NRVT

Yesterday Jeff, Lola, and I walked on the NRVT from Sharp Hill Road almost to Route 7. We turned around because the tree pollen was high and really bothering me. Otherwise, it was a beautiful day.

I noticed several chipmunks along the trail. Two were perched on branches, and I was able to snap this photo.

Back to Al Fresco Dining

Back on March 9, Jeff, Lola, and I sat outside at Sedona Tap House (STH) for charity steak night. Today after a walk to Mathews and Oyster Shell Parks, we stopped at STH on the way home for Kobe sliders, margarita flatbread, and beer.

The STH people did it right. Diners were seated six feet apart. The waitress gave me sanitizing wipes and paper menus when we sat down. They wiped down each table after diners left. I felt comfortable with the precautions. We drove down Washington Street in South Norwalk on Friday night and diners were too close together. While we were happy to be out again, we wouldn't want to risk illness.

I attempted to take several pictures today at Oyster Shell--couldn't get any of blackbirds nor groundhogs.

Here's one of a mallard relaxing.

Here's my sweet, happy Lola.

The Story of Soaps

This was a special on ABC the other night; I didn't hear about it until after it aired. Luckily, it was available on demand. Now I'm writing my first post in seven years about soap operas.

The show was pretty good. For me, the biggest takeaway was Genie Francis discussing how General Hospital finally addressed the horrible rape story of Luke and Laura. She said something like she didn't have to defend it anymore. Francis had once called it date rape, and I criticized her.

I enjoyed interview segments with Susan Lucci, Erika Slezak, and Bryan Cranston especially. I enjoyed hearing some of the historic social issues that soaps covered: antiwar protests, abortion, gay rights, eating disorders.

I didn't like the last half hour focusing on the decline of soaps. It had to be addressed: the number of soaps has dropped from 13 to 4. Many said the OJ Simpson trial was the death knell of soaps. Yes, his trial interrupted the daily shows, but so did the Watergate trial. I guess OJ was sexier than Nixon. I thought Andy Cohen had too much screen time. The Real Housewives are not a good substitute for soaps. (Full disclosure: I've watch both.)

I wonder if soaps would be better if there were more of them that aired for less than one hour a day.

***

I want to gripe a bit.

What ruined All My Children for me were the characters of Babe and Krystal Carey.  They started as grifters but somehow became heroines. One character, the unaborted abortion Josh (yes, that is ridiculous) called Babe a walking miracle after they had sex in a kiddy pool.

Krystal (with a K) ended up married to the classy Adam Chandler and had a child with Tad (I don't remember the details, but she was married to Adam at the time) and the show made her a victim.

Fuck the Careys.

Back to unaborted Josh. Erica Kane had one of the first legal abortions on TV. I didn't watch then, but it was a historic moment. But the show decided she really didn't have an abortion. The doctor somehow rescued the fetus who came to Pine Valley.

Let's move on to One Life to Live. When All My Children went south for me, One Life to Live  became my new fave. But OLTL had its share of problems. I hated how Rex ended up as a Buchanan. (So many people ended up as Buchanans--it was ridiculous.) Rex started out as a fairly interesting, kind of shady, minor character.  Then there was Ford, another character the show attempted to rehabilitate from a sleazeball to a hero.

Writing this, I see a trend. It's not that I only like one-dimensional characters or that I don't like when characters grow and change. But the changes have to be earned. And the shows need some bad guys.

Retconning of stories, such as Josh, became a real problem on soaps, especially all the characters returning from the dead. Death had no meaning on soaps.

Why did I watch?

I've written about my feelings before.

Real life is strange, sometimes stranger than the soaps.

There's an immediacy about soaps. You never to have to wait for a new season.

There's a familiarity about soaps: if you spend five hours a week with people, you feel like you know them. Just in this post, I cursed out fictional characters.

Sometimes I think about tuning in General Hospital or The Young and the Restless. I watched both at one time. But I don't think it will be the same. I miss the golden age of soaps. 

For Anne

It was 484 years ago today that Anne Boleyn was executed by her husband. No one is sure when she was born, but we know when she died.

Today I participated in a Zoom call on Anne Boleyn with Tudor expert and historian Carol Ann Lloyd . As she said, how many people would have others talking about them 484 years after their death?

Lloyd first became fascinated with Anne by watching The Six Wives of Henry VIII on BBC. For me, it was Anne of the Thousand Days. 

I'm not alone in my fascination of Anne. There were 31 of us on the call today; I had only a day's notice. There have been several books and movies about Anne Boleyn.

Is it because she went to her death with such courage and dignity?  Well damn, isn't that enough?

How about the way she kept the king in love with her for years before her marriage? It wasn't easy to say no to a king.

What about her religious work disseminating the English translation of the Bible?

Anne was never the vixen that many described her as. Nor was she the feminist Protestant reformer that some of us wished.

She was a complex women who fell outside others' boxes.

Today we remember Anne.

Book 10: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

This is one of many library sale purchases that languished on my bookshelf for years (though not as long as The Money Drunk and A Room of One's Own.) I'm not sure why it took me so long to read it. I read Northanger Abbey in college and liked it--though I don't remember much of it now.

It took me about 50 pages before I got into the story, and then I really enjoyed it. My book is the companion volume to the BBC mini-series with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle on the cover. I can't not picture Colin Firth as Darcy. I'll have to watch that: it'd be fun to see Julia Sawalha who I know as uptight Saffron on Absolutely Fabulous as the morally questionable Lydia. I'll also have to check out the Keira Knightley--Matthew Macfadyen version of the story.

I'll also seek out Austen's other books. 

Canine Health Report

Two weeks ago, we took Lola for her annual physical which includes a comprehensive senior pet exam. The new Covid-19 protocols have us waiting in the car, calling the office, and a vet tech comes out to pick up Lola. Well, Lola gets nervous about the vet anyway, and she flipped when a masked woman came to take her away from us. Thank God Jeff was with me. It took all three of us to wrestle her out of the car--beagle hair flying everywhere. We waited in the parking lot for the doctor to give us an update.

We asked about a mole on Lola's face that's grown larger over the last year. That was a wart (nothing to worry about) but Lola has a lump in her abdomen that will have to be removed. A more immediate concern was her kidneys: she had a higher level of toxins than she should have. The doctor discussed some of the reasons for the elevated readings--one was just that Lola was getting older. We really don't know how old she is--we think she is 9.

We took her for more tests last Monday. This time I took her out of the car before the vet tech came out to get her: that helped a bit.

We learned yesterday that she has two tick-borne diseases that are rare in this area. We speculated she could have caught them in North Carolina. She's already on antibiotics, so we'll finish them and then get her tested again.

Then we'll deal with the lump.

Poor Lola.

At least she enjoyed her walk today on the NRVT.

Thoughts on the Casting of Mildred Pierce

Another Noir Alley selection: Mildred Pierce. I've seen the movie before, but this was this first time in years that I watched the entire film.

I admit I'm not a big Joan Crawford fan. Maybe Bette Davis prejudiced me against her. Joan's good as Mildred, but I don't know if her performance was Oscar-worthy. I was more impressed with the work of Ann Blyth, Jack Carson, and Eve Arden.

I'm also more interested in who didn't play Mildred. Bette Davis turned the role down. She said she couldn't stand to work with director Michael Curtiz again--they made seven films together. According to TCM host Eddie Muller, Ann Sheridan also turned down the role. I don't know why--she would have been good.

The oddest part of Muller's story is that Barbara Stanwyck wanted the part and they turned her down. That's shocking; she would have been great. I would have loved to see her as Mildred--a lost opportunity.

Life Under Sheltering

A more dramatic title for this post would be life under lockdown or in quarantine. Some people are under lockdown in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. That is not our experience; we're sheltering

I go somewhere almost every day to parks or trails with Lola. These walks provide some both physical and mental exercise. Some days just being outside is enough to make me happy. Norwalk parks have been closed to vehicles. We're lucky to be able to walk to three local parks or drive to parks in Wilton and Westport (although not in Greenwich.)

I can still shop. I guess ideal sheltering would be having everything delivered. Apparently new customers can't get grocery delivery because demand is so high. In truth, I kind of like going to the store to see specials, new items, etc. Shopping during senior hours isn't too bad.

This week I discovered Total Wine has senior hours 8 to 9 am Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I took advantage of that. I tried to exchange wine Jeff got by mistake. Like many stores, Total Wine isn't accepting returns, so we have to hold on to it for a while. I made a few impulse purchases: sake (we're planning to get sushi tomorrow night) and a few miniatures.

Every time I go out, I use hand sanitizer when I get back in my car. I wash my hands as soon as I get home.

The rest of the time I stay home. I miss going places, but I never run out of things to do. There are always chores: cleaning, cooking, organizing, and de-cluttering. More enjoyable activities are reading, writing, watching films or TV, making artist trading cards and art journals.

Jeff is working full time, so we have a natural break between weekdays and weekends. Otherwise, I might be very confused.

Things are or will be opening up soon here in Connecticut. Most Norwalk parks reopened to vehicles today, including Taylor Farm and Oyster Shell.

We just have to play it by ear for now. Go slowly and carefully.

This Day in Mets History

Okay, so the Mets aren't making any history this year--at least not yet. Let's remember a simpler time four years ago.

Bartolo, you're the man.

Another Noir: Fallen Angel

I enjoyed Wicked Woman, last weeks' Noir  Alley selection on TCM, so I recorded this week's Fallen Angel. I don't think I've heard of the film before. But Otto Preminger made this film a year after Laura with some of the same actors and crew. I love Laura. Bonus: Dana Andrews stars.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed. TCM's host Eddie Muller mentioned that Dana Andrews didn't like the script; he wanted to do Leave Her to Heaven. I would have loved to see him in that film instead of Cornel Wilde. Muller also mentioned that Darryl Zanuck cut several key scenes with Alice Faye to give more screen time to Linda Darnell. That was a bad move because Faye's character's decisions don't make much sense. Plus, I don't get why he thought Linda Darnell was so great. Too bad.

Happy Birthday Lola!

Today is Lola's designated birthday--her fifth with us. We think she is nine. It's also been two years two years since she first walked around the block with us.

I'm going to cook filet mignon for dinner tonight for the three of us. Who knows how long we'll be able to find some.

Book Nine: Boston Noir Edited by Dennis Lehane

This was another forgotten book. That is, I had forgotten that I purchased it from Stamford Library. Some good comes from cleaning and organizing.

I liked some of the stories; some were just okay. I recently learned that May is short story month. I've also been taking a course in Flash and Micro Fiction. I think I should start reading more short stories. I don't have any short story collections that I haven't already read. I'll stick to my (now) 17 books I already have.

More Photos of Lola

I was waiting in the car while Lola had her vet's appointment yesterday. Scrolling through photos on my phone, I found this picture. She looks so happy.

Here's a photo I took today--the nicest day of the year so far.

Things didn't go as planned. I ordered several crab cakes from Bon Ton Fish Market in Greenwich. We were going to walk around Bruce Park in Greenwich before we picked them up. Unfortunately, the park was closed to cars. I meant to check before we left, but I forgot. We ended up walking around the grounds at the Bruce Museum which was nice. Another unfortunate thing is that Lola lost the tracker on her collar. We retraced our steps and tried to find it, but no luck. We got sandwiches from Blue Cactus and came home.

At least, Lola was happy. 

TCM Noir: Wicked Woman

Wicked Woman was a TCM Noir Alley selection last weekend. I almost passed it by but decided to record it. I'm so glad I did. It's far from a classic, but I can't stop thinking about it.

Billie Nash arrives in a small town on a Trailways bus. A tall, long-legged blonde dressed in white, she makes quite an impression, especially on local tailor and rooming house neighbor Charlie.

Billie gets a room in low-rent boarding house. She cons a dinner, $20 "loan," and free tailoring job from Charlie. She gets a waitress job at a local bar owned by Matt and Dora Bannister. The first night on the job, Billie hits on Matt. She learns that Dora inherited the bar from her father, but it was Matt who kept it from going under. Dora's a heavy drinker, and Matt disapproves.

Billie and Matt plan to sell the bar by forging Dora's signature and running off to Mexico with the proceeds, but things go awry. Don't they always.

The plan is foiled because Charlie hears Billie and Matt talking. Charlie forces Billie to spend "time" with him. Matt finds them in a compromising position and freaks out. He tells Dora what happened (off-screen) and  manages to cancel the sale of the bar with no legal repercussions. Billie leaves on a bus to Kansas City. She immediately attracts the attention of another passenger, smiles at him, and here we go again.

That's the gist of the plot. Here are some things that interest me.

Could Billie and Dora have become friends? Dora is the one who hires Billie, despite her lack of references. Dora seems to like Billie, especially when Billie slips her drinks behind Matt's back. Maybe it's Dora's drinking habit that keeps her from catching on to Billie. Besides, Billie probably hasn't had a woman friend since she hit puberty.

There were mentions of a problem with the stove; the cook was afraid it would blow up in his face. I  expected it would blow up in Dora's face. Would that help or hinder Billie's and Matt's plan? I guess it would depend on the timing.

The stove did blow up, but no one was hurt. There was just a lot of smoke and Matt closed the bar early. I thought of Chekhov's gun.

An unusual thing in this noir is that no one is killed. At one point, Billie says Matt wants Dora dead, but Matt shuts that conversation down quickly.

Some commenters on imdb.com thought it was unrealistic for Dora to forgive Matt so easily. I don't think she did. I think she's smart enough to know that she can't hold on to the bar without Matt. She's also smart enough not to let him get close to another waitress. Dora will never forgive or forget.

The movie isn't subtle about Billie--just look at the title. It's also known as Free and Easy. Billie is described as a trashy blonde and drifting floozy.

Here's what the film's posters had to say.

"She was born for trouble."
"She uses sex the way a hoodlum uses a loaded gun!"
"They called her 'wicked' but they didn't know the half of it!"
"She's nothing but trouble...Every voluptuous inch of her..."
"She lives up to every scarlet letter of her name!"

We don't learn anything about Billie's back story. We know she likes to smoke and drink and is into astrology. She has a favorite song that she plays over and over on her record player, and she wants to return to Mexico. At one point, Matt says they have to call off the plan to sell the bar and go away later. Billie says there is never a later. It made me wonder if Billie was always wicked, or if something happened that changed her.

The acting was pretty good across the board, but Percy Helton as Charlie was incredible. Helton acted in films and TV from 1915 to 1978 (237 credits.) If you don't know his name, you probably know his face. Charlie's longing for Billie comes off the screen in waves, and he has some creepy overtones when he has something on her.

I recommend this film for noir fans and fans who love to see a character actor's best performance.