Opening Day

Jeff put on the MLB Network as we ate lunch today. I saw the crawler announcing the breaking news that Justin Verlander was placed on the injured list with a teres major injury. I had not idea what a teres is, but it was major. That sounded serious. 

We had a few weeks to get used to the Edwin Diaz injury. There was even a slight hope that Diaz could return to the Mets this year. 

But no Verlander? I wonder anew: Are the Mets cursed?

Later stories used the language "low grade strain in the upper arm." That doesn't sound too bad. Whew!

Today the Mets continued their Opening Day winning ways by beating the Miami Marlins 5-3. Their all-time Opening Day record is 40-21 or .656.

161 to go.

Kindred's Kevin

I'm still thinking about Kindred, and the role of Dana's white husband Kevin. Kevin accompanies Dana on her third trip to antebellum Maryland by hugging her as she experienced the dizziness that precedes her trips. They pose as master and slave, only revealing their marriage to Rufus.

Kevin can protect Dana from the worst abuse, but he seems to minimize the dangers she faces. He even tells Dana that it could be a great time to live in and experience the west. Dana rejects his romantic viewpoint, telling him, "West. That's where they're doing it to the Indians instead of the blacks."

The danger Dana faces is manifested when Rufus's father catches her with a book. During the subsequent whipping, Dana's fear of death causes her to return to 1976, but without Kevin. He couldn't reach her in time to return home.

Dana spends only a few days in 1976 before returning to the 1800s, but for Kevin, it had been five years there. Dana notices that he looks more than 10 years older and that "this place and time hadn't been any kinder to him than it had been to me." It had definitely been easier. 

Another Week Passes

Today's dreary, rainy Saturday reminded me of Lousy Smarch Weather. At least Jace and I had two beautiful walking days this week: we returned to Cranbury Park and walked the latest portions of the Norwalk River Valley Trail in Norwalk.

My thoughts this week have been focused on Kindred and Vanderpump Rules. Sorry Octavia Butler to include both in the same sentence. I am a Gemini--my twins are Castor and Pollux: maybe I have both a high and low brow approach to entertainment.

I finished Kindred earlier this week and wrote a post about it. I keep thinking about the book.

Then there's Vanderpump Rules. Bravo has devoted about half of its airtime to the show, and I've watched many hours of the marathons (while doing laundry or cleaning.) I'm not usually a big fan of the reunion shows, but I wouldn't miss this year's. 

There will be a few posts on these topics to come. 

Book 10: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

This book is so good that after I finished it and the Reader's Guide, I immediately began to re-read it--maybe not every word--I skipped around a bit. It's a terrific book. 

On her 26th birthday in 1976, Dana becomes dizzy in her living room and suddenly finds herself in woods near a river where a young boy is drowning. Dana saves his life. When the boy's father points a gun at her, she finds herself back home. 

Unfortunately, this is only her first trip back in time. Dana, a black woman, soon discovers she is traveling across the country to Maryland and back in time to the antebellum era. The boy Rufus that she saved is the heir to a slaveholder's plantation and her own ancestor. She returns to the past any time his life is in danger. 

With each visit, Dana's time in the past lengthens. She must learn how to navigate plantation life as well as as grapple with the legacy of slavery and how it contributed to her own existence.

I have to return this book to the library, but I need to get my own copy.

Spring is Here!

As of 5:24 PM. We got off to a cold start, but it warmed up enough for Jace and me to get in two nice walks. Even though we had a mild winter, I am welcoming spring with open arms.  

They say the spring equinox is a brilliant time for beginnings.

The Week That Was

We had our first (and I hope last) Nor'easter on Tuesday. We got off lightly with barely an inch of snow. It was still disruptive because arrival time and date predictions kept changing. Original prediction was Monday, then moved to Tuesday. Monday afternoon is my normal shopping time--after my writing class and a midday walk with Jace. Of course, with a storm coming, it was crazy.

I'm not sure when the rain started: it turned to snow here around 10:30 - 11 Tuesday morning. I had just finished with the New Canaan Nature Center birds when snow really got going. I spent the afternoon with tax documents. I had already put most of them in a folder, but needed to print some off the Internet. The next day I had a doctor's appointment--I will need to go on cholesterol meds. Later I did a final review of the tax documents and made copies of things I hadn't downloaded. Thursday I took the paperwork to the accountant up in Danbury. I took Jace with me: on the way home we walked for an hour on the Norwalk Valley Trail in Wilton. 

I talked about my Friday here. I finally got myself to the gym Saturday and Sunday. The Nor'easter threw me off (no pun intended) schedule, but I should be able to work around things like that. 

Now it's Sunday night, and I wish I had planned better for the upcoming week. At least I have plans for tomorrow: writing class and food shopping are my priorities. I'd like to get an early start. 

The Pretenders to the Princes in the Tower

Henry VII might have defeated Richard III for the crown of England but he did not rest easy on the throne. Several pretenders claimed the crown during his reign sometimes by claiming to be Richard Duke of York, one of the Princes in the Tower. In her book, Alison Weir contends that Henry could have easily disproved these claims by parading the Princes through London. Instead, he spent considerable effort to investigate the claims. Weir cites this as evidence that Henry didn't know the fate of the Princes (although he suspected they were dead.)

Weir's chapter, "Pretenders" focuses on two. 

Lamber Simnel claimed to be Edward, Earl of Warwick, heir to George Duke of Clarence--Edward VI's brother. Henry disproved this by the aforementioned parading the real Warwick through London but not before Simnel became a figurehead in a Yorkist rebellion. I doubt the rebels sincerely believed he was Warwick; Simnel had earlier claimed to be York. Henry was lenient with Simnel and sent him to work in his kitchens.

Another more serious pretender was Perkin Warbeck. Warbeck too first claimed to be Warwick before switching to York. He apparently was more convincing as the Duke of York than Simnel had been. Rebellion in his name failed as well. Ultimately, he as imprisoned and put to death with poor Warwick. 

It's fascinating to think about--was there a market in teaching people to impersonate royals? Was it just the rumors about Princes and towers that got it going? How long did it take? Weir notes that no pretender claimed to be Edward V--he was too well known.

One theory that I saw in The White Princess miniseries is that Edward IV's Queen Elizabeth Wydville spirited her younger son to Europe for safekeeping and that Warbeck really is Richard Duke of York.  His sister Elizabeth in now Henry's Queen. She believes his claim, but what will happen to her husband and children if she declares the truth?

This could have been avoided if they had just crowned Elizabeth.

Erin go Bragh

I didn't have the greatest morning. Only one washing machine in the building was working. I did two loads of laundry here and three in the Maple Street building next door. At Oyster Shell Park, a policeman lectured me about how the park did not allow dogs. Hey--at least Jace and I had finished our walk.

Then Jeff suggested we go to Sedona Tap House after he finished working. We had Kobe beef sliders and Guinness. It was nice to get out and turn the day around. 

Happy Half-way Day Jeff. 

Book Nine: The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir

I was happy to see this book at the latest library book sale. Years ago, I read The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. It convinced me that Henry VII and not Richard III killed the princes. I had my own copy; that's one of the books I regret giving away/downsizing (another is Rebecca.)

I don't remember many details. I do remember that the narrator thought it significant there was no contemporary reports of Richard's involvement. But Weir shows that there were contemporary accusations, but people had to be circumspect when making such accusations against a king. I respect Weir's scholarship, and she's very convincing. 

I'd like to re-read The Daughter of Time; I don't think I would find it as convincing as I once did. 

Happy Pi Day

How did I forget the date? I went to New Canaan Nature Center this morning and wrote the date down several times. It didn't take. 

Jeff suggested a pizza pie for dinner. It sounded like a good idea to me.

Spring Forward

It feels too early. Maybe because they keep talking about snow in the weather forecast. I won't complain about snow; I'm afraid the February weather gods will take revenge if I do.

Frankly, daylight saving time confuses me. I've heard it was designed for farmers, then for one of the world wars, then to save energy, then for something else. Right now, I don't care enough to look it up. I just don't want to keep changing clocks twice a year. 

Here's one of my spring poems.

Scandoval: The Vanderpump Rules Cheating Scandal

I read about the Tom Sandoval/Ariana Madix breakup on a Google feed last weekend. I was surprised by the news; I expected to see another story or two on TMZ and/or Jezebel, and comments on Primetimer.com. Instead, stories exploded all over the internet; The New York Times ran a story, and it was on the main page of CNN.

I didn't plan to write about it, but if the Times deems it worthy of a story, I'll share my thoughts.

Vanderpump Rules just entered its 10th season. Cheating has been part of its storylines starting with Scheana's affair with Eddie Cibrian (married to Brandy of the Real Housewife of Beverly Hills at the time.) 

Later there were cheating stories about Jax and Kristen, Stassi and Frank, Jax and Faith, the Toms and miscellaneous Vegas/Miami women, James and Kristen, James and Lala, James and miscellaneous Sur staff members. I don't know the length of the Scheana/Eddie liaison, but the others were short-term--one (or two) night stands.

In contrast, the current affair between Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss has been going on for several months. They allegedly want to be together. Lisa Vanderpump's theory is that they were waiting until after the reunion to reveal their relationship, giving Ariana and the others a chance to get used to the idea before the show started filming again. 

Tom and Ariana were the longest term couple in the cast after Katie and Tom Schwartz divorced. They bought a house together. They probably would have been married except for Ariana's reluctance. 

I'm mad about it because I liked Tom Sandoval. Let me explain. When I say I like a reality show character, I mean the person is entertaining and makes good TV. I think all the cast members are pretentious assholes who I couldn't stand in real-life situations. Sandoval was over the top in his clothing choices--he loved any excuse to wear a costume and in his plans (ironically he helped finance Rachella when James proposed to Raquel.) While Sandoval was always an asshole by definition, he got worse in recent years: a nasty, middle-of-the-night email to Stassi, a ridiculous band in which he pays the other bandmembers, his stupidity--along with Schwartz--in opening their second bar/restaurant without understanding the business.

I'm also mad that Raquel fooled me. I even thought of defending her when Lala said she would win if she and Raquel were in competition for a man. I thought Raquel was the nice person Brittany pretended to be. No. Raquel was fooling around with Tom Sandoval while pretending to be a close friend of Arianna. She may have used Tom Schwartz as a decoy (or he may have been a willing beard) which also hurt Tom's ex  Katie.

So, here we are a week later. Everyone on the cast is pro-Ariana except possibly for Schwartz. Raquel has taken legal action against her cast members. The story has been called Shakespearean. 

I'll keep watching.

Movie Musings

Gone with the Wind was on TCM yesterday. We had it on in the background as I dried my hair, cooked and ate dinner, and did the dishes. 

For this viewing I was thinking about Clark Gable's performance. He had been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, but lost to Robert Donat in Goodbye Mr. Chips. I've never seen that film and don't remember ever seeing Robert Donat. Other nominees for 1939 films were Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights, Mickey Rooney for Babes in Arms, James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I tend to dismiss Mickey Rooney but have to admit I haven't seen Babes in Arms. Gable was good as Rhett Butler, but was he better than Olivier and Stewart (let alone Donat and Rooney?) I don't know. 

I read somewhere that Margaret Mitchell pictured Basil Rathbone as Rhett Butler. It takes imagination to see him as Rhett.  

As for Scarlett, I believe Paulette Goddard would have been brilliant in the role. You see Scarlett O'Hara is not beautiful--it's the first line in the book. Vivien Leigh is. I saw a documentary about GWTW with several scenes of Goddard. She could have been a great Scarlett.

Onto Ashley Wilkes. Well, I always had issues with Leslie Howard in the part. He was a very good actor, but he wasn't the young, dashing, handsome Ashley in the book. I didn't get why movie Scarlett was so obsessed with him. My sister said it was because Twelve Oaks was the best, wealthiest plantation in the area. I didn't buy that explanation. I read that Leslie Howard thought (rightly) that he was too old for the part; I wonder if he had protested his casting as a teen-aged Romeo a few years earlier. 

Olivia de Haviland was great as Melanie, but I thought she looked too healthy and robust for the skinny, childlike Melanie. 

The other day I was watching a short between two films on TCM: They're Always Caught. First I noticed an actor who played Bette Davis's husband in Dangerous--John Eldredge. Then I recognized another actor--Louis Jean Heydt--but had to look up his name on IMDB. Heydt might not have been a household name, but he was in several movies, often uncredited. His IMDB page lists his role as "Hungry Soldier Holding Beau Wilkes" in Gone with the Wind under "Known for." In 1939, he appeared in 13 other films, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Each Dawn I Die, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and They Made Me A Criminal. Not bad for an "average Joe."

Hello, March!

March is here and spring arrives in just over two weeks. Even though it's been a mild winter, I can't wait.  

It snowed last Saturday for a few hours. I remember saying it was the most snow we had seen all winter. Soon, all evidence of a snowfall was gone. But February wasn't done with us: we got several inches of snow on Tuesday. the 28th. After one warm and several rainy days, that snow is mostly gone, but a few mounds remain. 

I look forward to St. Patrick's Day. I have Irish roots, love the color green, and the day itself is special to Jeff and me--our half-way day.

The Lady on 142 by James Thurber

In my Merwinsville Hotel materials, I found a reference to a Thurber story that involves Merwinsville. A couple pick up the train at Cornwall Bridge, heading to Gaylordsville. While waiting in the station, a man overhears the stationmaster talking on the phone. Then the couple speculates about the meaning of the conversation. 

The story really has nothing to do with Merwinsville, but it was fun. It was in a collection I found at the library--Thurber on Crime. 

Since I liked The Lady on 142, I read ten other stories in the collection. I only liked one of them and gave up. Instead I started The Princes in the Tower.