Film History: The Beachcomber

The Beachcomber (also called The Vessel of Wrath, after the W. Somerset Maugham story) is a British comedy produced in 1938, starring the incomparable Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester, who were actually married. Laughton is a likable, filandering lush lolling around an East Indies island and Lanchester is the spacey missionary who tries to reform him. The main character's performances are perfect, Laughton's facial expressions are unforgettable. The script is good as well, warm and funny.

Some memorable lines:

I suppose I'm jealous of the reckless way he squanders the priceless treasure of life.

Oh, dry up you blubbering monkey.

That old clothesline ties me up in knots every time she comes near me.

You sentimental suction pump.

I suppose there must be some good in a man who is kind to his dog and keeps his mustache tidy.

Football Song

Although I only learned of the Hibernian Football Club yesterday while searching Youtube for a full length version of Sunshine on Leith, this clip makes me want to be a fan.

Reviewlet: The Shipping News

Published in 1993, The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx has been around for a while and even won a Pulitzer prize, but I'd never heard of it. I spied it on someone's bookshelf, absconded with it, was completely engrossed for a week and didn't want the story to end. The language is incredibly vibrant, the characters are believable but memorable and the setting, a fishing town in Newfoundland, is fascinating. The story line is also good, but I think vivid language steals the show. I'd give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Perfect but for profanity and other adult content.


"Used to say there was four women in every man's heart. The Maid in the Meadow, the Demon Lover, the Stouthearted Woman, the Tall and Quiet Woman. It was just a thing he said."

"Was love then like a bag of assorted sweets passed around from which one might choose more than once? Some might sting the tongue, some invoke night perfume. Some had centers as bitter as gall, some blended honey and poison, some were quickly swallowed. And among the common bull's-eyes and peppermints a few rare ones; one or two with deadly needles at the heart, another that brought calm and gentle pleasure. Were his fingers closing on that one?"

Emily D., on trying to find the right words

I found the phrase to every thought

I ever had, but one;

And that defies me, -- as a hand

Did try to chalk the sun

To races nurtured in the dark; --

How would your own begin?

Can blaze be done in cochineal,

Or noon in mazarin?

The thought beneath so slight a film

Is more distinctly seen, --

As laces just reveal the surge

Or mists the Apennine.

Quoth She

We read to know we are not alone.
- C.S. Lewis

Parsly and mint, chopped

Don't you wish it were scratch n' sniff?

Conspiracy Theory

Popeye the Sailor Man was an advertising ploy designed to boost canned spinach sales. How else could anyone conceive the notion of popping the top off of a can of spinach and tossing the putrid green mess down one's throat cold, without butter, salt and a bucket in which to vomit. The stuff is naaaassty.

Current mood: grateful for photosynthesis & chlorophyll

Quoth She

"If God is using guys like you, man, He must be taking resumes."
-Mike Weaver

A Partial List of What I Like About Today

1. The inestimably fresh smell of cucumbers, strawberries, mint, lemon, ginger, lavender and cut grass.

2. The song of a rose breasted grosbeak.

3. Two red winged blackbirds plummeting and rising in sync like jets in an air show.

4. Swallowtails and fritillaries, the first of the season.

5. Feeling a Friesian's velvety muzzle and ears.

6. Dandelions dotting the face of a green field like freckles.

Tip of the Day

It pays to exercise. Literally. In the last week I've found $1.25 on the road.

Current mood: very wary

Make mine a rhubarb juice!

Prologue to "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho

The Alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had brought. Leafing through the pages, he found a story about Narcissus.

The alchemist knew the legend of Narcissus, a youth who daily knelt beside a lake to contemplate his own beauty. He was so fascinated by himself that, one morning, he fell into the lake and drowned. At the spot where he fell, a flower was born, which was called the narcissus.

But this was not how the author of the book ended the story.

He said that when Narcissus died, the Goddesses of the Forest appeared and found the lake, which had been fresh water, transformed into a lake of salty tears.

"Why do you weep?" the Goddesses asked.

"I weep for Narcissus," the lake replied.

"Ah, it is no surprise that you weep for Narcissus," they said, "for though we always pursued him in the forest, you alone could contemplate his beauty close at hand."

"But..... was Narcissus beautiful?" the lake asked.

"Who better than you to know that?" the Goddesses said in wonder, "After all, it was by your banks that he knelt each day to contemplate himself!"

The lake was silent for some time. Finally it said:

"I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected."

"What a lovely story," the alchemist thought.

Film History: The Seventh Seal

The Seventh Seal was filmed in 1957 by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. A disillusioned knight and his squire return from the Crusades to find their homeland ravaged by the Black Plague. Death literally stalks the land. The knight, Antonius Block, challenges Death to a game of chess. With the time he gains, Block hopes to do something to render his life significant and he seeks to learn if God exists. The movie is characterized by heavy subject matter, slow action and haunting images.