The Birds and other news

You might remember that last month I went to a Fathom event to see Singin' in the Rain.  This month they presented Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, The Birds.  Well, it was a thriller in the 60's.  I admit I was a bit hesitant about seeing the show because I had heard it was so scary back in the day, but I'd say there were quite a few laughs and just 2 or 3 "gasp" moments.

You see this lady's hair?  It pretty well stayed just like that all through the show, which covered about a 3-day period.  She drove a convertible along the coast, not a hair out of place.  She maneuvered a small boat across the open waters, and again, not a hair out of place.  Well, except for the one-bird attack on her hairline.  It did get a bit mussed up while the blood was being wiped away, but within minutes it was back to its original smoothness.  She wore it down overnight, but it was immediately back up for the rest of the show.

Since she was an unexpected overnight guest, she didn't have a change of clothes.  Poor thing.  But her suit didn't show a smudge until the end of the show...as well as her nylons had no runs and were not bagging around her ankles.  Completely unrealistic.

There were some stupid moments too. I suppose it was intended to add to the suspense, and put the characters in harm's way of the birds, but sheesh.  Still, those moments did add to the enjoyment, because everybody was laughing at them.

And as a sign of times changing, I found myself surprised to see so many people smoking throughout the movie.  In a restaurant.  Sitting on a bench killing time.  Sitting in the living room chatting. You sure won't see that happening now, and that's a good thing.

I enjoyed Jessica Tandy and Suzanne Pleshette.  But then, you can't go wrong with either one.

I see in their upcoming events are Lawrence of Arabia, To Kill a Mockingbird, and ET, as well as several operas.  I'm sure I'll be going again.

Moving on, I'll be doing the hand-sewing on the challenge quilt's binding tomorrow, and it will be finished.  There's a possibility the deadline may be extended two weeks.  At first I thought, aargh, but as I thought about it, I'd rather be in competition with as many people as possible.  If two weeks will allow some of those with more pressures and distractions than I have to complete their projects, so be it. 

I've also sewn a few potholders.  The brown one was made with scraps, and the other two were started last winter and just needed the binding.  Feels good to get a couple more little ufo's out of the way.  I also sent a quilt top to be quilted, one that I started a good 5 or 6 years ago.

 
And to close off, here's Elise with her birthday cake.  3 years old!  Her party will be Sunday, but I'm glad to see she got to have celebration on her actual birthday too.  

Singin'

Yesterday was the 60th anniversary of the 50's musical Singin' In The Rain, and it was being shown in select theaters across the country so you  could experience it on the big screen.  Over the years I've seen snippets of the famous Gene Kelly dance that goes with the title, and probably somewhere along the way saw the whole dance, but I can't say I'd ever seen the movie.  So I went.

What did I think of it?  I liked it.  Times were different back then, and its reflected in the movie.   There's an innocence about it that's nice to see.   The female dancers danced suggestively using mainly their shoulders as the primary body part other than their legs...meaning no gyrating torso movement.  There was laugh-out-loud comedy, thank you Donald O'Connor, and lots of singing and dancing.  I do have to say though the movie also reflects the era in that there were no ethnic performers.  Well, unless you count one scene depicting the white actors in blackface makeup.  I'm used to seeing the diversity of today's movies, and when one or two scenes scanned the audience, it was a sea of white faces.  Again, a sign of the times.

This one-day presentation was put on by Fathom Events.  Go to their website and check out what's on the schedule.  I'm looking forward to the 50th anniversary showing of The Birds in September.   Will it be as suspenseful and scary as it was back in the 60's?  I hope so!