Name That Movie: Christmas Edition

Dec6

These are quotations from the movies that help make up a Semicolon family Christmas. Can anyone name all ten?

1. “If you’re ever under a falling building and someone offers to pick you up and carry you to safety, don’t think, don’t pause, don’t hesitate for a moment— just spit in his eye.”
“What did that mean?”
“It means we’re going to Vermont.”

2. “Why don’t you kiss her instead of talking her to death?”
“You want me to kiss her, huh?”
“Ah, youth is wasted on the wrong people.”

3. “Yeah, there’s a lot of bad ‘isms’ floatin’ around this world, but one of the worst is commercialism. Make a buck, make a buck. Even in Brooklyn it’s the same–don’t care what Christmas stands for, just make a buck, make a buck.”

4. Rats, singing: “This is my island in the sun!”

5. “All I want is what I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share. ”

6. “Why am I such a misfit? I am not just a nit-wit. You can’t fire me, I quit. Seems I don’t fit in.”

7. “Garments were invented by the human race as a protection against the cold. Once purchased, they may be used indefinitely for the purpose for which they are intended. Coal burns. Coal is momentary and coal is costly. There will be no more coal burned in this office today.”

8. Stacy: Come on, you guys. She must have some good qualities. Think about it. Come on, you two.
Matt: Well, both her eyes are the same color.
Tanya: She never threw up on me.

9. “I wanted to play ‘Mousetrap. Ya roll your dice, ya move your mice. Nobody gets hurt.”

Yeah, we’re heavy on the animated features around here. I still have a six year old in the house.

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born December 5th

Dec5

Today is the birthday of Joan Didion, b. 1934, who won the National Book Award in 2005 for her book The Year of Magical Thinking. I’ve added it to The List, largely on the recommendation of Ms. Mental Multivitamin. If I like it, I may add some others of Didion’s books to The List for I must admit that I’ve never read anything by this particular author.

Today is also the day to honor and remember the birth of Christina Rossetti. She was a thoroughly Catholic Christian poet, and she wrote several Christmas poems/carols. Most people are familiar with In the Bleak Mid-Winter, especially the last verse. The following poem, also by Rossetti, is not as familiar although I think I have heard it put to music:

Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas;
Star and angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine;
Worship we our Jesus,
But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.

Love is our plea, our gift, and our sign–that which we need, that which we receive, that which we give. May it be so.

Advent: December 4th

Dec4

Lars Walker tells a parable of “God with us” at Brandywine Books.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

I think we’ll sing all seven verses for devotional time this morning. My how the clan will squawk!

Beginning of Advent

Dec2

Today begins the waiting for Christmas, for the coming of the incarnate Lord. I’m going to try, good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, to post something inspirational/literary for each day of Advent.

Do you have a story? That’s what blogs were made for. In this season, tell your story of how the Lord Jesus Christ has made himself known to you. Or if you haven’t experienced the miracle of Christmas, read about some other people who have, and maybe your faith will come alive through their stories.

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born December 2nd

Dec2

David Masson, Scottish writer and editor, b. 1822. Mr. Masson was “an enthusiastic friend and admirer of Thomas Carlyle,” and he “actively promoted the movement for the university education of women.” He wrote a biography: Life of Milton in Connexion with the History of His Own Time in six volumes and edited a three volume edition of Milton’s collected works.

David Macaulay, b. 1946. I love Mr. Macaulay’s books: Cathedral (1973), City (1974), Pyramid (1975), Underground (1976), Castle (1977), Unbuilding (1980), Mill (1983), and Ship (1993). We also watched several episodes of the PBS series Building Big in which Mr. Macaulay explains the history and construction of bridges, tunnels, skyscrapers, domes, and dams. My kids were even inspired to build their own dam. If you haven’t experience David Macaulay’s books, you should. Any one of them would make a great Christmas for the architecturally inquisitive child or adult on your list.

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born December 1st

Dec1

A great compilation of information about Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin, and creator of both, Rex Stout.

Rex Stout, b. 1886. Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin are two of my very favorite fictional detectives.

Anyone in the mood for some Christmas mysteries? The following list of Christmas mystery novels is mostly taken from the book Murder Ink; I’ve not read all of them, but I have tried most of these authors. If you read one this Christmas, let me know how you liked it.

Agatha Christie: Murder for Christmas (Holiday for Murder)
Mary Higgins Clark: Silent Night
Charles Dickens: The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Martha Grimes: Jerusalem Inn
Georgette Heyer: Envious Casca
Michael Innes: A Comedy of Terrors
M.M. Kaye: Death in the Andamans
Ngaio Marsh: Tied Up in Tinsel
Elis Peters: A Rare Benedictine
Ellery Queen: The Finishing Stroke
Dell Shannon: No Holiday for Crime
Peter Tremayne: The Haunted Abbot

As for Rex Stout, his only Christmas contribution is a short story called “Christmas Party” featuring Nero Wolfe dressed up as Santa Claus. If the costume seems a bit out of character for Wolfe, he does have a good cause–he’s concerned about Archie Goodwin’s impending wedding! This story is one of four in the book And Four To Go.

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born November 30th

Nov30

Another Red Letter Day for literature in the English language:

Jonathan Swift, b. 1667. Read “A Lump of Deformity Smitten With Pride.”

Mark Twain, aka Samuel Clemens, b. 1835. Mark Twain’s Christmas greeting from 1890:

It is my heart-warmed and world-embracing Christmas hope and aspiration that all of us, the high, the low, the rich, the poor, the admired, the despised, the loved, the hated, the civilized, the savage (every man and brother of us all throughout the whole earth), may eventually be gathered together in a heaven of everlasting rest and peace and bliss, except the inventor of the telephone.”

Lucy Maud Montgomery, b. 1874.

Christmas broke on a beautiful white world. It had been a very mild December and people had looked forward to a green Christmas; but just enough snow fell softly in the night to transfigure Avonlea. Anne peeped out from her frosted gable window with delighted eyes. The firs in the Haunted Wood were all feathery and wonderful; the birches and cherry trees were outlined in pearl; the ploughed fields were stretches of snowy dimples; and there was a crisp tang in the air that was glorious. Anne ran downstairs singing until her voice re-echoed through Green Gables.

Winston Churchill, b. 1874. Christmas with Churchill by Gerald Pawle, Blackwoods Magazine, Vol. 314, No. 1898, December, 1973.

Poetry Friday: Dante Gabriel Rossetti Ushers in the Holiday Season at Semicolon

Nov30

Here’s a nice antidote to the slappy, happy Christmas music already filling the stores and airways. It’s a bit sentimental, perhaps, but definitely, seriously Christmas-y. The picture is also by Rossetti.

Reverie



My Sister’s Sleep

She fell asleep on Christmas Eve:
At length the long-ungranted shade
Of weary eyelids overweigh’d
The pain nought else might yet relieve.

Our mother, who had lean’d all day
Over the bed from chime to chime,
Then rais’d herself for the first time,
And as she sat her down, did pray.

Her little work-table was spread
With work to finish. For the glare
Made by her candle, she had care
To work some distance from the bed.

Without, there was a cold moon up,
Of winter radiance sheer and thin;
The hollow halo it was in
Was like an icy crystal cup.

Through the small room, with subtle sound
Of flame, by vents the fireshine drove
And redden’d. In its dim alcove
The mirror shed a clearness round.

I had been sitting up some nights,
And my tired mind felt weak and blank;
Like a sharp strengthening wine it drank
The stillness and the broken lights.

Twelve struck. That sound, by dwindling years
Heard in each hour, crept off; and then
The ruffled silence spread again,
Like water that a pebble stirs.

Our mother rose from where she sat:
Her needles, as she laid them down,
Met lightly, and her silken gown
Settled: no other noise than that.

“Glory unto the Newly Born!”
So, as said angels, she did say;
Because we were in Christmas Day,
Though it would still be long till morn.

Just then in the room over us
There was a pushing back of chairs,
As some who had sat unawares
So late, now heard the hour, and rose.

With anxious softly-stepping haste
Our mother went where Margaret lay,
Fearing the sounds o’erhead–should they
Have broken her long watch’d-for rest!

She stoop’d an instant, calm, and turn’d;
But suddenly turn’d back again;
And all her features seem’d in pain
With woe, and her eyes gaz’d and yearn’d.

For my part, I but hid my face,
And held my breath, and spoke no word:
There was none spoken; but I heard
The silence for a little space.

Our mother bow’d herself and wept:
And both my arms fell, and I said,
“God knows I knew that she was dead.”
And there, all white, my sister slept.

Then kneeling, upon Christmas morn
A little after twelve o’clock
We said, ere the first quarter struck,
“Christ’s blessing on the newly born!”

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born November 29th

Nov29

Last year’s quiz for November 29th birthdays. Check it out, and then come back and read about why today is my favorite birthday of the year other than my own.

Three of my favorite authors were born on this date:

1. C.S. Lewis, b. 1898. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, in particular, has a wonderful Christmas-y theme to it, and I would be happy to enjoy it again with a cup of hot chocolate sitting near the Christmas tree. Several bloggers have written at various times on sundry blogs I frequent about C.S. Lewis, so you can enjoy these tributes:

Jared at Thinklings: Remembering Jack
Carrie reviews Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis by George Sayer. (I read the same biography earlier this year, but I never got around to writing about it. So . . . what she says.)
Lars Walker at Brandywine Books: The Feast of St. Jack and on the 23rd The Great Man’s Headgear

2. Louisa May Alcott, b. 1832.

“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.

“It’s so dreadful to be poor!” sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.

“I don’t think it’s fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all,” added little Amy, with an injured sniff.

“We’ve got Father and Mother, and each other,” said Beth contentedly from her corner.

The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly, “We haven’t got Father, and shall not have him for a long time.” She didn’t say “perhaps never,” but each silently added it, thinking of Father far away, where the fighting was.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Today seems a as good a day as any to remind you and myself to pray for those who are far away, where the fighting is.

3. Madeleine L’Engle, b. 1918. I have two Christmas books by Mrs. L’Engle, and I always ask for one of her books on my Christmas list. THis year I’d like a hard cover copy of The Love Letters or of A Wrinkle in Time.
You may want to look for the following books at the library or in the bookstore; I think either one would enrich your Christmas celebration:

The Twenty-four Days Before Christmas: An Austin Family Story tells of the arrival of a Christmas baby during a snowstorm.
Miracle on Tenth Street and Other Christmas Writings includes the story above and other Christmas stories and poems by Madeleine L’Engle. A Full House, another Austin family story, is one of our favorites; we read it every year.

Are any of you fans of these three authors? Which of their books are your favorites? Little Women is good, but my favorite Alcott book is Rose in Bloom. On my list I mentioned two books by Madeleine L’Engle, A Ring of Endless Light and A Severed Wasp, but tonight I’m thinking that my true favorite of all her books is one that’s not as famous, Love Letters, a book about an American woman who runs away from her troubled marriage and ends up in Portugal identifying with the equally troubled life of a sixteenth century Portuguese nun. Not a Christmas story, but I highly recommend it.

As for C.S. Lewis, how could I possibly choose just one? My favorite Narnia book is The Horse and His Boy because it has the best story and the richest lessons, but Lewis’s other fiction books and his nonfiction are all just as rewarding and enjoyable as the Chronicles of Narnia. Till We Have Faces is an excellent story, based on the tale of Cupid and Psyche but infused with all sorts of philosophical and theological truths. And The Screwtape Letters is the most insightful book about sin and temptation and goodness I’ve ever read or ever hope to read aside from the Bible itself. Just take a year or two and read them all.

Ten Best Movie Musicals Ever

Nov28

Oklahoma (1955)
The first great movie musical. Yes, it’s pretty corny, but the songs are great anyway. And I can’t resist the humor of “Poor Jud Is Dead.” “It’s summer and we’re running out of ice.”

The King and I (1956)
I really enjoy all the Siamese children and the wives and, of course, Yul Brynner as the king of Thailand. “Etcetera, Etcetera, Etcetera. . .”

West Side Story (1961)
A musical version of Romeo and Juliet transferred to New York City in the 1950’s. Leonard Bernstein wrote the music, and Natlaie Wood makes a beautiful Maria (Juliet). Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1962 as well as numerous other awards, this movie deserved them all.

The Music Man (1962)
76 trombones lead the big parade; Professor Harold Hill can charm the money out of an Ioway skeptic; and who can resist lyrics like these:
Marian Paroo: Do you think that I’d allow a common masher – ? Now, really, mama. I have my standards where men are concerned and I have no intention…
Mrs. Paroo: I know all about your standards and if you don’t mind my sayin’ so there’s not a man alive who could hope to measure up to that blend of Paul Bunyan, Saint Pat, and Noah Webster you’ve concocted for yourself out of your Irish imagination, your Iowa stubbornness, and your li’berry full of books!

My Fair Lady (1964)
Of course, the ending is unsatisfactory. Why does Eliza go back to that conceited Henry Higgins? And Rex Harrison can’t even sing–just speaks his lyrics. Nevertheless, the songs and the acting and the story of a flowergirl who becomes a lady are all delightful enough to make up for any flaws.

The Sound of Music (1965)
Classic, pure classic.

Camelot (1967)
“In short, there’s simply not / a more congenial spot / for happily ever aftering than here in Camelot.”
I simply refuse to think that this movie has anything to with JFK; King Arthur is much more interesting than the Kennedys.

Oliver! (1968)
Another great movie musical, and Dickens is one of my favorite authors. Jack Wild plays an engaging Artful Dodger, and Mark Lester is so cute as Oliver. I also think Oliver Reed is a great actor. (I once saw Oliver Reed in a film about Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and to this day I picture Rossetti looking a lot like OR.)

Hello Dolly (1969)
I like Barbra Streisand in movies. This musical is one of the great Broadway musicals of all time, and Streisand is bold and brassy and funny as the matchmaker who wants a match for herself.

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
Tevye the Jewish milkman talks to God and tries to understand his wife Golde and looks for husbands for his six daughters. Unfortunately, the world is changing, and the dependable things in Tevye’s life are becoming few and far between.
Perchik: Money is the world’s curse.
Tevye: May the Lord smite me with it. And may I never recover.
Tevye: As the good book says ‘Each shall seek his own kind’. In other words a bird may love a fish but where would they build a home together?

And then they quit making them. I have a couple more musicals on my list of 107 Best Movies Ever, but none of the musicals made after 1971 made my list. What is there after Fiddler on the Roof? Grease?