THE ELF ON THE SHELF
As Christmas approaches, I’ve developed an interest in Christmas Pixie Elves. I think it started when I saw one on a TV commercial, and that really sparked memories of my childhood. I figured if I could find the Whimsie dolls from my childhood on E-Bay, surely Pixie Elves are there also! Well, they certainly are. But they don’t come cheap.
I believe that back in the day, you could probably walk into any “Five-and-Dime” store and buy one of these little guys for a dollar or less. Nowadays, because they’re “retro,” they go for a lot more than that. I was bidding on this cutie pie, and though I don’t remember exactly where the bidding started, I was willing to go up to $6.00. That was a couple of days ago. This morning, he’s up to $10.50, and I’m sure he’ll go for even a bit more. The really cute ones seem to be going for $15-20 each. (UPDATE 12/17/14: the pictured Pixie actually sold for $36.00!!)
If you’re ever at a yard sale and see one for a buck or two, grab it! If you don’t care about selling it on E-Bay, it would make an excellent Christmas gift….for me!!
MATCHMAKER, MATCHMAKER
I’m a fan of two TGTV semi-reality TV shows: The Property Brothers, and Living Alaska. I call them “semi-reality,” because the more “reality” TV I see, the more I realize how 
completely staged it all is, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about today. I’m here to talk about TWINS. On the left we have the completely handsome Property Brothers, Jonathan and Drew — highly talented, tall, entertaining, well-groomed, completely single
(and if you can believe what you read on the internet: no, they are NOT gay.) On the right we have the Berington twins, Anna and Kristy, who recently appeared on an episode of Living Alaska. If I’m remembering this correctly, they are both six foot tall MODELS, and also completely single.
It’s a no-brainer. Why don’t the Property Brothers get together with the Berington twins? It doesn’t even matter which one ends up with which, the children are going to be stunning.
Of course I’m being facetious. You don’t match up with someone based strictly on looks (though I’m sure many people make their initial choices that way, and that’s probably one reason why the divorce rate is so high.) I’m just saying, IF these two sets of twins got together, they would leave the rest of us, and our children, even more in the dust than we already are.
I see a show: The Property Brothers travel to Alaska to help the Berington twins remodel their newly purchased Alaska retreat. C’mon now, don’t tell me someone at HGTV hasn’t already thought of this.
REBECCA
Russ and I are working our way through all the Academy Award winning pictures, and yesterday we watched the 1940 winner, Alfred Hitchcock directed Rebecca. It was quite good. But then of course, that’s the whole point of watching the Award winners—to see good movies.
You see, Russ and I also have a fondness for the sci-fi and horror B films of days gone by, titles like Teenagers from Outer Space and The Wasp Woman (both 1959), the Christoper Lee Dracula movies from the ’60’s and ’70’s, and of course the Japanese tales of Godzilla, King Kong, Gigan, Gamera, etc. These kind of movies are fun, once in a while, like cotton candy, but you can’t have them as a steady diet. You need to balance them with a healthy does of…CULTURE.
Rebecca is based on the best-selling novel by Daphne DuMurier, which I read and loved (and re-read, and still loved), many years ago. It’s a favorite, so I was looking forward to the movie. I hadn’t realized until I saw the credits that it was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, but learning that only raised my expectations.
Well, I am here to report that my expectations were both met and exceeded. Great movie! Though I had always pictured Maxim as Harrison Ford, Laurence Olivier did a good enough job. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Joan Fontaine in a movie before this, but she was precisely what was needed for the unnamed heroine of the piece.
The most delightful surprise of all, however, was how closely the movie stuck to the original. Don’t you just hate it when you read a book, and love it, then go see the movie, and have to ask yourself…what the #$%& is this all about?? Was the director reading the same book I was reading? It seemed to me the opening lines of the movie were directly lifted from the first page of the book, and from that point on, I felt we would be in for a treat. I say again: not disappointed.
ORIGINAL AUTHOR FAN-FICTION
Currently, I ‘m working my way through to the end of the “Cat Who” series. There are 29 books in the series, which I’ve been reading sporadically for the last several years, but now I’m up to The Cat Who Went Up the Creek, which means I’ve only got six more to go. For the last four or five, the moment I finish one book, I immediately pick up the next, so that the transition is seamless. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just all one great big book.
My mom is a fan of this series—in fact, she’s the one that got me started on it. But I remember her saying that she didn’t like what the author did with some of the characters towards the end. I have to wonder if I’m getting to that point. Though for me it’s not so much about “some of the characters” as it is about the main character, Jim Qwilleran.
It’s obvious to me that the author , Lilian Jackson Braun, is totally in love with Qwill. I don’t know that you could say he has any faults—except perhaps that he’s an alcoholic. But he’s a recovered alcoholic, so that doesn’t even count. If anything, it only makes him more heroic, each time he pours his pals a drink of brandy or scotch from his private collection, while he stoically sips his white grape juice or Squunk Water.
Okay, yeah—he’s a tall, good-looking guy with an impressive mustache (I’ve always pictured him as Tom Selleck), and not only does he write a column for the local newspaper, but he also happens to be the richest man in the northeast central United States. So I understand he’s a local celebrity, and well-liked, but in these last several books, the adulation is starting to get out of control. When people see him coming, they cheer, and old ladies practically swoon when he takes their hand and talks to them in his “mellifluous voice.” The author was in her 80’s writing this part of the series, so I’m sure she saw herself as one of those swooning old ladies.
And all that’s okay, except that it does kind of reek of Fan Fiction. But here’s the part that really bothered me: in the latest book, Qwill thinks he knows who the murderer is, so he invites his pal the Police Chief over for a scotch, and explains that he’s planning to meet with the suspect and see how he reacts to some very pointed questions. Qwill asks Chief Brody if he might have a few officers hiding in the wings, just in case things get out of control. And the Chief says…Sure!
Now, I don’t know if this is so more a comment on small town life or fictional story lines, but it seems to me that Chief Brody’s appropriate response should have been, “Now wait just a minute there, Qwill! You shouldn’t be taking such risks! You leave the police work to US!” Right?
In what universe is it okay for a private citizen to question a murder suspect while the police wait in the wings? Well, the police might need to use a civilian in a sting operation, but it would be THEIR idea, not the private citizen’s!! Basically, what we have here is an open acknowledgement by everyone involved that the police are completely incompetent and can’t do their job without the assistance of the intelligent, resourceful, unstoppable main character.
But you know what? I’m taking it all in stride. I still enjoy the books, they’re just making me chuckle a little more than they used to.
