Happy, Happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

                                     Just one day remains, girls, till I go to the executioner--oh, excuse me, I mean the electrician--and this is sort of how I feel.  Not to mention, if we don't all get ourselves to Sally Hershberger, we could all end up looking like this.  Then those masks would be covering our faces permanently, not just during the current pandemic.

                                       But, really, darlings, if you find your visage in the mirror closer to this than you would like, you are in for some real problems!

                                           When you let yourself go, fashion and glamour go down the drain!

"On A Picnic Morning, Without A Warning, I Looked At You, And, Somehow, I Knew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

                                           Happy Labor Day, everyone!  In more innocent times, Channel 7 would annually show the 1955 film "Picnic," to mark the Labor Day Holiday!

                                             Who could forget the dance scene, where William Holden and Kim Novak dance to "Moonglow?"  We all wanted to wear that pink dress Kim Novak was adorning, not to mention the hair, but I loved Susan Strasberg's outfit in this scene, too.  Of course, Madge (Novak) was the prettiest girl in town, but this was William Inge territory, where there were frumps like Mrs. Potts, and spinster schoolteachers, like the one enacted by Rosalind Russell.

                                                 So, get out your best summer frock, and wear it for the last time, this year, on this Labor Day!

                                                    And, remember, it is the last day to wear white shoes and seersucker!

Too Bad Reynold Brown, Or Someone, Did Not Get As Much Credit As Diane Von Furstenberg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                Who would have thought that 1958'a "Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman," in which Allison Hayes, as Nancy Archer, an anguished, sloppy looking mental patient, is transformed by radiation into a gigantic bombshell, would turn out to be a fashion icon of a film?

                                  Because, once she evolves to the titular size, all of a sudden she is wearing this stunning white two piece halter wrap.  I do not know who designed the costume, but Reynold Brown designed the now classic poster, which is emblazoned on a yellow T-Shirt of mine, so perhaps he is the one to bestow credit for Hayes' glam tran!

                                     I mean, 50 feet or 5, who wouldn't want to look like this?   No wonder the Nurse, played by actress Eileen Stevens gives the screen's best depiction of hysteria, until Veronica Cartwright surpassed it, three years later, in "The Children's Hour."

                                      Stevens' character got all worked up, not only because of the size, but because she knew she would never look that good.  Can you blame her?

                                        And how about the scene where the fake hand comes through the bar doors, and William Hudson practically wraps himself in it, like a customer strapping himself in to an amusement ride?

                                         Oh, there are so many camp reasons to see this film.  But who ever thought fashion would be one of them?

                                           I want that outfit in pink, girls!  Right after Sally Hershberger does my hair!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                          Here is the famous Reynold Brown poster, darlings!  See what I mean by the fashion, and style??????????????????

What An Unexpected Literary Gem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         Somehow, girls, my expectations were this would be the book I would toss aside, while Richard Powers' novel would be the one to enrapture me.  The joke is on me, dolls, because the reverse turned out to be true.

                                           Historical novels have changed, over time.  The lush romanticism and structural evolution over time has been abandoned for hard hitting political realism in ours.

                                             The funny thing is, as I said, after reading Lara Croft's "The Secrets We Kept," I thought about re-reading "Doctor Zhivago."   Well, if you read "The Parisian," darlings, it is almost the same.  The protagonist is Midhat, an Indian (as in India) who goes to Paris--hence the title-to become a doctor, and study philosophy.  But, before you can say Mary Shelly, he is back in his hometown, running his father's textile business amid difficulties with his chosen wife, an obsession with a French woman he still carries a torch for, and political strife between India, Syria, and Palestine.

                                                To think this is Hammad's debut!  It is one of the more remarkable I have come across, and so engrossing I could barely stir from my chair while reading to the the end, which is on a poetic note, and sums things up beautifully.  This last word also describes the quality of Hammad's prose, which is driven both narratively and historically, with much political intrigue thrown in.

                                                 "The Parisian" took me by surprise.  Had it come out this year, it would have made my Ten Best, for sure.  As is, this is a book for the ages, or, at the very least, years to come!

                                                    A must for those craving good literary fiction!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

"Out, Damned Spot! Out, I Say!" Could Lady Macbeth Have Foreseen Covid 19?????????????????????????

                                                   I have to wonder if literature's most notorious hand washer was years ahead of Dr. Anthony Fauci.  Were Lady Macbeth's spots--actually a projection of her own guilt-- a glimpse into our future, with the Covid 19 pandemic, at hand?

                                                   It certainly sounds plausible to me, but, who knew, until now, that "Macbeth" would turn out to be a work of prophecy?  Well, it does start out with a trio of witches, so that about certifies it.

                                                    Probably reading "Hamnet," which also deals with the bubonic plague, aka the Black Death, provoked this question in my mind.

                                                       Thanks to all this, reading or seeing "Macbeth" will never be the same!

                                                        And I have always wanted to play one of the witches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Could This Be The Book Of The Year? It Could Turn Out To Be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

                                            The year, of course, is not over yet, girls, but "Hamnet," by Maggie O'Farrell, is the only novel that has truly excited me, emotionally, narratively, and structurally.  It imagines how Shakespeare, who emerges from out of someone else's being in this novel, came to write his most enigmatic play, "Hamlet."

                                              I don't know how much of this is fiction or fact, but the author gets her period research right, and Hamnet, whose death (and that is not a spoiler, darlings!) ignites the drive of the novel, comes to haunt the reader in a way unseen since the titular character of Daphne Du Maurier's novel, "Rebecca."  All the more tragic because the deceased was only 11 years old!

                                                Don't look for Polonius or Ophelia here.  O'Farrell is not that blatant. What she centers on is a family stopped in its tracks by grief, and how that grief impacts them all over time.  What may sound like a downer is not, because the reader is given the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, plus living characters one can care about as much as Hamnet.

                                                  I did not expect to be blown away as much as I was.  You just never know, dolls!

                                                  But blow me away it did.  Should it be named Book Of The Year, remember, you heard it first, here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Was Our Big Labor Day Excursion, Darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   Yes, girls, September is here, and along with traditions--like do I or do I not do "Frank Mills" in front of the Waverly on the 12th, school reopening in whatever form it takes, (an irrevocable association with this month that remains unbroken since childhood!) and the transition from Summer to Fall, and all that is attendant upon it, along creeps in, with me, an underlying cynicism--what are we in for now, considering all facing David and I this month, regarding medical procedures?

                                    So, when David asked me about doing something special for Labor Day Weekend, with the few options at hand, I said I wanted to visit Three Lives Bookstore.  The timing had been fortuitous--after reading "Hamnet" by Maggie O' Farrell, and "The Parisian," by Isabella Hammad, and being on such a roll of happy reading experiences, I made the mistake of beginning Richard Powers' "The Overstory."  Now, girls, avoid this---even though I liked some of his other books,  by the time I was only thirty pages in, I knew I was not going to want to pick this up again.  It is all about trees and  how humans relate to them.  It is fiction, saga like, but reads more like a botany text.  If you want the same experience, only less cumbersome, read "Walden Two."

                                     I had a copy of "Cutting The Stone," which someday I would like to read, but I discovered my copy, which I had picked up in our lobby, was mutilated--as though a dog had chewed on the end cover.  Forget that!  So, we high tailed it to Three Lives.

                                       I was so happy we went!  Because they had things I was looking for that would not be found anyplace else--like "Angel," by Elizabeth Taylor, as well as some other literary gems I had had my eyes on.  The best thing was, unlike my last visit, all the staff were wearing masks, and everyone was practicing social distancing.  Now, should I have to go into the hospital, I can bring a pile of books with me, and read myself up a storm before I go in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         Times being what they are, with no access to Ocean Grove, or Cape May, what better option could there have been than Three Lives????????????

                                       Thank God for Three Lives!  May it remain there forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!