It Started With a Christmas Present

My favorite Clark Gable film so far is "It Started In Naples" with Sophia Loren and the most hilarious little Italian boy you will ever see on film. Ryan gave it to me for Christmas, to which I exclaimed: "Oh, I love Clark Gable!" Gable made this film in 1960-his second to last film. Gable finds himself in Italy to take care of his deceased brother's estate. What he finds is an 8-year-old Italian boy (his nephew) that doesn't go to school because it starts to early, smokes, drinks, and curses. I was in love. Gable also finds, of course, Sophia Loren, the little boy's guardian. The love story was predictable, but I think the reason I liked this movie so much was because of the Italian boy and the fact that they were on the Island of Capri, which made me think of Elizabeth Gilbert's travels in the book I'm reading: Eat, Pray, Love. The entire Eat section is devoted to her travels in Italy.

Italy seems like a fun place to be. Gable is annoyed, at first, by the parties that go all night in the streets and the fact that he can't speak Italian (which is the world's most beautiful language-again, read Eat Pray Love.) But he comes around and gets the best of both worlds when he decides to stay with Loren and the Italian boy on Capri. My dad would also like me to mention that it is a very colorful film; he kept coming into the living room and exclaiming: "It's so colorful!" Yes, Father, the beauty of VistaVision in the 60's. So yes, you can borrow "It Started in Naples" if you would like, seeing that it is the first Clark Gable movie that I own. It's worth watching just to laugh at how much the Italian people yell at each other, including the 8-year-old.

I met Pam Beasley today at Family Hair Care. No, not Jenna Fischer....a real Pam. I was sitting next to this woman as we were waiting for our hair to continue to dye and we started talking about how she is from Michigan and here for her brother-in-law's wedding. Come to find out that she is a receptionist and an artist and her husband proposed to her after 5 years of being 'just friends.' She did actually look like Pam too. She was so nice! I told her to watch the office. She told me that she liked talking to me and to have a nice life.

Next Gable movie: "Mutiny on the Bounty."

Inevitably

"Gone with the Wind" or The Southern Version of Days of our Lives or The Movie with 18,000 Deaths. Four hours, two meals, and one nap later, I have finished the Scarlet O'Hara Saga, to be aired later this month in segments as an E! True Hollywood Story because Lord knows that the whole thing wouldn't be able to fit in a one hour show. OK, so, this isn't going to be a rant about what I just watched. I will stick strictly to Mr. Gable; if I don't, just slap your computer or something.

It started off all good and well-the classic 'love/hate' story. I knew that Scarlet was going to get annoying, but I didn't think I would have to follow her through three marriages and, as stated before, 18,000 deaths. I liked Gable's character, I mean, we're supposed to like him even if he is somewhat of a sleaze....but he grows out of that and we all have hopes for Scarlet's spoiled nature to leave. I think I liked Rhett Butler because I've only seen Gable play the atypical, quiet hero-the bad boy role was good for him, and I hope some of his other characters are a little shady in my upcoming viewings of movies of his that are only an hour and a half long. And I have to admit, I was confused for at least two hours by why he loved Scarlet so much. Then came the scene when he said that they were exactly alike, and I nodded my head in approval to the writers. 'Yes, I can see that. And she'll come around, and you will make sure that, even though it may seem impossible, they will end up together in the end like you always do, writer men and women.' Well, they were together, but the movie just couldn't end there...I mean, we're talking about the death of the South, so I guess that means everyone has to die, including marriages and unborn babies.

I kept waiting for the "Frankly my dear, I just don't give a damn" line, and I started to imagine it in all sorts of different contexts as the movie started to throw me for a loop as I moved on to disc two. I imagined it in the context of Rhett telling Scarlet that he didn't care if she loved another man, that he was indeed going to marry her. I tried to imagine it when he was telling her that he was going off to war and that he didn't care if he was shot. I tried to imagine it when he was taking their daughter, Bonnie, off to London. Nope. None of those. But when does the line come up? At the end, which is fine, but it's when he is LEAVING her, and he doesn't give a damn about that! Yes he does! I understand that you've been through a lot, Rhett, but she's finally telling you that she loves you and you should give a damn! (Imagine me ironing clothes, watching daytime tv, and yelling those same things at the Days of Our Live characters-yep, exactly the same thing) And THEN, to make matters even worse, Scarlet realizes that she can just go home. Go home to her Tara, to her beautiful plantation. THAT'S the moral of the story? Land? Dirt in your fist? TARA??!? Whatever, Scarlet, whatever.

Ok, so I both understand and applaud the efforts to make this a not happy movie. The character development was quite good, and even I admit that I subscribe to a post-modern archetypal 'everything works out in the end' BAM end of character development story line, but I'm just not a fan.

The Winter Snows are Coming!

That's a common fear in the Yukon, but people are going crazy for 'a pich of the yellow stuff' in "Call of the Wild." I streamed this movie from Netflix, was settling down in my bed, expecting the same caliber of film as "The Tall Men." I was immediately excited that it was in black and white (1935). I don't know why it didn't click that, because this movie was made exactly 20 years before Tall Men, Clark Gable woud look a considerable amout younger. When he entered on screen, very slim, very dressed up, and very scruffy, I literally jumped up toward the computer screen for a closer look and thought "That's Clark Gable?!" It was the difference from this to this:

He played the same character, except this time there was snow to think of, dogs to mush, and gold to find. He knew everything about the Alaskan wilderness, just like he knew everything about the wild west. He was also flanked with a sidekick similar to the one in Tall Men. The love story was a bit more complicated in this one: woman who lost her husband on the trail, then said husband shows up after Gable and woman are in love. Throughout the entire movie Gable and "Mrs. Blake" keep referring to the metaphor of the 'Yukon Law'-whatever you need, you take, even if it's from someone else. She doesn't think this is very fair, whether the law concerns food or people's former wives, but falls in love with him anyway. And I mean, come on, you're in an abandoned shack mining for gold with 1935 Clark Gable and he keeps staring at you....I don't blame you. Her husband shows up and she does the right thing: leaves with him, promising Gable they will see each other. But the movie ends with Gable's sidekick coming back for him.


All in all, it was a good flick; the dialogue is still what drives all of these movies because they didn't have much in the area of special effects. I think I'm going to come up with some sort of 'scoring' chart-you know, akin to 5 stars or something.

Hello, Mr. Gable

The first Clark Gable movie I watched was "The Tall Men." It's a Western: they drive cattle from Texas to Montana with the usual trouble of Jayhawkers (rock chock, KU, anyone?) and the Sioux. Clark Gable plays Ben Allison, an outlaw turned right by a man who is offering him money to be a trail boss and lead the thousands of cattle and men to Montana.

Of Course, there is a love interest. Her name is Nella and she's played by Jane Russell (picture to the left), who my grandfather knows. Yeah, not kidding. I told my dad about my Clark Gable moving watching over break and he immediately called my grandfather and told him I watched "The Tall Men," after which Grandpa told me that he knows Jane Russell and that his other good friend, Dale Robertson, was supposed to play the lead in the movie, not Clark Gable. All of these names probably mean nothing to you, but let's equate Jane Russell as the 1930's and 40's version of Meg Ryan. Dale Robertson is a very famous cowboy, which makes sense that he would be offered the part since most of the movie is built around the journey to Montana with cattle. How does my grandfather know them, you ask? Well, let's just say that when you drive up to my grandparents house, one of the first things you will see is a stake in the very front of their yard from The Great American Cattle Drive. Oh, but you may not notice it because there is a large, black stallion statue also in the front yard. My grandparents' house is filled with everything western: horses, chaps, whips, saddles with poems about the west lazered into them. My grandparents have actually been on cattle drives, frequently go to "Western Events," a.k.a. where all the famous people go who also love the west, and my grandfather heads up an organization called West Quest that is basically a cowboy crusade to fight cancer-they raise money for the American Cancer Society. I don't know, I just thought all of this was normal. My crazy grandparents that like to travel everywhere and let people stay at their house that are famous in the western world that most of my generation do not participate in. But I've always wanted to marry a cowboy (makes sense, right?).

I love the dialogue in this movie: a hillarious combination of the 50's and the west. At one point, Gable comes across Russell's caravan and they're starving. They have mules with them and Gable decides that he's going to butcher one. He tells Russell that it's "Missouri Elk." Yeah, definitely something my grandpa would say and also something my dad laughed at. Both Ben and Nella are stubborn as can be because they have to be-shooting enemies all the time and trying to live in the wild west. This makes for a very interesting love story, especially when Nella is wooed by the guy who offers Ben all that money to drive the cattle. One tactic that Nella employs is singing metaphorically whenevere Ben is around to get her point across. She always seems to be singing about herself as a peach tree, waiting for her love to come by so she can shake some peaches down. Maybe I should start singing about myself metaphorically whenever I'm around someone I'm attracted to. What words would I use to describe myself in a way that he would think I'm interested in him, not crazy? Ok, so maybe that only works in covered wagons with a lot of dust and a lot of knowing you might die that day from people on the trail.

This is older Clark Gable, not Gone With the Wind Clark Gable and certainly not the man who is pictured at the top of my Clark Gable Filmography Check List (thank you Anna). But he was the star of the show all the same and I'm looking forward to watching the other movies-up next, Call of the Wild.

Moral of this Post: Clark Gable movies are bringing me closer to my family.

Highlights of the Semester

I have that lilac-y, violet-y smell on my hands. This is the smell of the soap in my bathroom that has occupied the sink for the last two years. I bring my hand to my face to smell it and I immediately feel that my nose is cold (also a good indicator of being home because my dad likes to keep us guessing with the heating-only during the night and only when it’s cold enough). If this isn’t enough for me, I can look around at the random piles of objects in every room and feel right at home: camera and video equipment, books and clothes that Ryan and I have no room for at school, movies from Netflix. Even the refrigerator is randomly compiled; I felt amazingly at home when I opened the refrigerator and had the choice of making a completely random meal. For those of you who don’t know, making meals at my house is quite an art considering I have parents that have full time day AND night jobs. Usually my refrigerator has mustard, pickles, and milk in it…with some slices of deli cheese if you’re lucky. But Ryan has been home for a few days so I am delighted to see the random assortment of goods in the fridge: boxes of leftover takeout that I smell for safety purposes, my favorite ham from the deli, twenty-five different condiments including ten different types of salad dressing, and an entire pot that I didn’t even open but I’m guessing has spaghetti in it. I decided I couldn’t pass up the ham since I spotted provolone cheese in the drawer and some honey wheat bread in the cupboard. My mom’s favorite salsa was also staring me in the eye: an econo-size vat of ‘fresh salsa’ that is more like watered down mixed up vegetables that she is ridiculously anal about buying from Sam’s Club. I look in the cupboard again and find four bags of Tostitos chips. Perfect. Lemonade was sitting out on the counter, so of course I couldn’t pass that up. And so I had lunch. The tastes didn’t compliment each other at all, which was beautiful because that’s the way it always is at my house. I was completely satisfied and continued to eat pounds of salsa and chips as I read the book Anna is lending me, refilling my lemonade glass every other chapter.

Since I haven’t written very much this semester and seeing how, according to Yahoo.com, people like to read information in lists, I am going to write about the highlights of my semester. So, without further ado, in no particular order at all, my semester:

The St. Meinrad’s Trip: For Foundations of Christian Doctrine class, we went to St. Meinrad’s Monastery in St. Meinrad, Indiana. This trip was somewhat like meatloaf and chocolate pudding: comforting. “The trip required us to travel across Southern Illinois and Indiana, causing us to view the newly harvested fields, the scattered trees, and the farm houses, barns, and silos that seemed to be leaning ever so slightly to one side due to the wear and tear they had inevitably experienced from the wind blowing across the prairie over the years. I simply gazed out the window the entire ride because the landscape was comforting to me. I grew up with corn fields in my front yard and wooded timber in my backyard. Not only did that upbringing create a Little House on the Prairie mentality within me, but it also created a sense of home that revolved around the planting and harvesting of the fields, and the growing and changing of the leaves. Home was also defined by the rhythm the liturgical calendar brought through Catholicism. Fields and blue sky, such as the ones that were passing by during the car ride, will always remind me of my childhood, which was defined largely by country living and a Catholic upbringing. It was only fitting, then, that after we traveled across my homeland we arrived at a Catholic institution: St. Meinrad’s Monastery.” –From my reflection paper on the trip. In short, we got to pray with the monks, attend mass, and eat every meal as a class. The long of it is that I can’t deny my love for the Midwest (as shown above). The agriculture, the 360 degree view of the snow globe-like sky I have from my front porch, the seasons, and yes, the flatness. St. Meinrad’s also seems to have a patent on sacred space which was also homelike: not talking before church because your whispers would reverberate off the marble walls, listening to the trickling of the water in the baptismal font, your gaze being caught by the art in the stained glass windows. Yes, meatloaf and chocolate pudding.

Being on Senior Staff for Rez Life/Becoming Wendy: It would be easy to romanticize about being the SRC (it’s helped me so much as a leader) and at the same time it would be easy to complain about it (sometimes I don’t want that much responsibility), but I can’t deny that it’s been a good thing in most ways. I’m looking forward to looking for jobs as a Resident Director next year-we’ll see if that works out. While working as the SRC, I have become pretty close with the RD’s of other buildings, which brings me to my nickname for myself: Wendy. As you may recall, Wendy spends most of her time with the lost boys in Peter Pan. Nathan, Tim, and Seth are those boys; Seth says I’m blessed to be surrounded by good looking men all the time. I say I’m either blessed or cursed, but I’ll go on record and say that it’s definitely not the latter. I am very grateful for you men, and I’m getting really good at ping pong!

Living with Anna/Nancy: Anna’s mom always talks about her college room mate, Nancy. She talks about her with love and fond memories and laughter. Anna is my Nancy. I am thankful for Anna for two reasons: 1. She thinks my crazy ideas are great and not weird. We’ve ordered in courses from McDonalds, read favorite parts of books out loud to each other, created fictitious characters that we refer to as if they live in the real world, played in the snow, committed a crime, and have decided to become equally obsessed with two different things over break (haiku for Anna, Clark Gable movies for me). Ok, this is either akin to kindred spirit-ness or small group communication. I heard the other day that a group for small group com. went out and got tattoos together. Anna, don’t get any ideas, and yes, I AM referring to the communication department, Lord have mercy.
2. Anna is helping me to see both more of who I am and who I can be. However cheesy that may sound, I greatly appreciate her positive Maximizer even though my Intellection just wants to shut the door and think life away. If you don’t understand the last sentence, take the StrengthsFinder, it WILL change your life…or at least your conversations.

Studying World Religions: I never really understood why, when I went to night class on Tuesdays at 6:30 in Dietzman (Lord have mercy again), I felt so peaceful. For three hours a week I had the opportunity to learn about the world’s major religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. I had the opportunity to interview an Orthodox Rabbi in St. Louis. I read fiction and memoirs from every religion. My Input was on fire and I could picture Lauren F. Winner sitting next to me, coaxing me along as I tried to put words around what I was learning about and from these religions that were taking the corners of my mindset about the world and running with them in opposite directions. It’s only fitting that I’m now reading Eat, Pray, Love (coming to a book review blog near you soon) by Elizabeth Gilbert-a book that expands on what it means to be a person with worth that affirms beauty and God at the same time, mostly through the mediums of religion in India. Reading this book after studying Hinduism and Buddhism is like eating carrot cake or coconut cake-it’s sweet and meaty-I understand and, therefore, appreciate. Thank you Greenville College. I still can’t seem to shake the feeling that if I grew up in another country, I would be that culture’s religion, just like Christianity is culture here. I see how other people, through the books we have read, are trying to make sense of life through the faith they have grown up with. This only makes me want to dig deeper into Christianity to both validate what I grew up with and to find myself and God all at the same time.

Noticing Things: I don’t know if it’s because I’m going to graduate or what, but I seem to be taking in the scenery a lot more this year at GC. I’ve kept a few orange and red leaves between the pages of an Anne Lamott book to remember my last fall. I was walking up to Archer one time and was struck by the pink sky, the coldness, and the bird singing in the dead tree limbs. We have officially celebrated the snow by walking around in it during the wee hours of the morning. The witch’s frost (google image it) that showed up on all the trees one morning was stunning. This morning I was driving back from the airport before the sun rose and had to keep telling myself to look at the road because I was in love with the gray and pink striped sky-before-the-sun right above the snow line. It’s like I’m taking the deep breath before graduation, breathing it all in before it’s time to move on. Second semester winter-to-spring awaits me!

Look forward to commentary on Clark Gable movies, reviews on Eat, Pray, Love, Cloister Walk, and, surprisingly, The Golden Compass. Also, the quickest way to put Jim and Pam’s relationship on hold is to piss off the Writers Guild of America so much that they stop writing shows for the Office and other major productions for late night television. Check.

New Years Resolution: To blog more? Oh, and no fast food. Ok, good.