captainseapig's Blog

Brideshead Revisited is a film done in the British tradition. Set in the 1920's - 40's England. Servants, over indulgence and debauchery in tuxedos. In it's bold attempt to show the futility and hypocrisy of the Catholic religion through the eyes of an artist and a controlling aristocratic mother. The artist an atheist and not a member of the aristocracy the mother a devout Catholic who's husband lives with his mistress in Italy.

Because of her absolute control and mediaeval approach to her religion her only son constantly conflicted and constantly reminded of his sinful nature turns to homosexuality and alcohol.Dysfunctional at best the family struggles. The daughter marries a rich American who she does not love. The groom coverts to Catholicism a week before the marriage to please the mother. The artist befriends the alcoholic homosexual son and becomes that sons confidant. Later in the movie the artist has an affair with the daughter and cuts a deal with her husband selling him two of his paintings for an annulment of the marriage.This movie is an english soap opera, boring, slow with beautiful cinematography and acting. Ultimately it is about the clash of ideals between secularism and the Catholic tradition.Major boring alert.

Dramamama just got done directing 'Mulan' for Hudson Arts Alliance. She had 52 kids mostly girls with about 4 boys. The lead was a cute vivacious 12 year old girl who was perfect for the role of Mulan. Her leading man was a tall handsome 14 year old blond haired boy, barley containing himself amidst 50 girls. Costumes were scavenged from closets at home, silk pajamas. A mom made helmets for the soldiers in the show out of plastic milk jugs. Intuition and skill produced some lovely backdrops. The dollar store was the source of 30 broom handles used for fighting sticks.

I had the opportunity to sit through all the rehearsals because I had nothing else to do. (recovering from surgery) I watched as Dramamama and her staff shaped and formed these kids into good actors over several weeks. They worked those kids to death. One girl who Dramamama had as a student a year earlier had terrible stage fright  and couldn't go on stage last year. DM cornered her and encouraged her to get back, suck it up and do it, not to give into panic and fear. This year at the end of the performance she gave a wonderful tribute to DM. Meanwhile a professional voice instructor who has worked with international opera stars, told me, "that girl has a wonderful voice" Imagine the loss if DM didn't take the time last year to encourage this young woman to face her fears and conquer them. Perhaps she will preform professionally someday or perhaps she will never be afraid to try something new ever again.Her basic philosophy is that we do not demand enough from our young people. They are capable of so much more. They have the capacity to do excellent work and rise to the occasion if encouraged with love and positive reinforcement and disciplined with fairness and directness.I saw the results of kids changed, changed for the better. After "Mulan' was over and the curtain closed I've never been prouder  of my wife. I say that every year, after a performance and I mean it.

The History Channel has a new show called Surviving History. Basically these very talented carpenters and fabricators build ancient torture devices and demonstrate them. The other day they built a 'Brazen Bull' basically it's an oven in the shape of a big cow. Despots would put their victims inside and cook them alive. Sick. I was appalled at this that the producers and executives would find any socially redeeming value in is programing. You might as well build a miniature Aushwitz oven and demonstrate it.

Surely these artisens could put thier talents to better use on 'This Old House' on PBS or 'Trick My Truck' on CMT.They have built stocks put people in them and allowed the public to throw vegtables etc at them. And this is teaching us what?I say shame on History Channel executives that gave the OK to this program.

One of the first signs of spring is the yellow forsythia beginning to bloom and the robins starting to show up on the lawn. Peepers in the wetlands and red winged blackbirds sounding. Farmers begin to turn the soil with their plows. I can remember as a kid Mr Walker of Goodman Hill Rd. Sudbury getting out his horse drawn plow and turning the earth of his one acre garden. He had a big clydesdale that pulled it.                                                                My grandfather would start up his 1920 Model T doodle-bug and begin his springtime ritual of turning the earth in the garden.Between our house and his was a garden of about  the size of 3/4 of a football field. Along the side was a path that led to both our homes. Along the path were mature Lilac bushes that filled the air with their magnificent scent. Literally a little Garden of Eden as far as i was concerned. The hay was low in the barn from being used up over the winter. Gramps would be sowing some rye in one part of the garden for bread later in the year. He would also take the time to sharpen and ready all his farming equipment for use over the next 8 months. Ducks would fly in from their southern retreat and begin to nest in the wetland near our home. My brother and I would break out the baseball mitts oil them up and start tossing the baseball back and forth. we looked forward to baseball season. Just the other day i saw a baseball coach warming up his team in an empty parking lot. Ah spring. Now we can all get out into our gardens work a little longer in them because we have more daylight and maybe have time to take a little walk too.

It's that time of year when chocolate, sweets, pastries and an assortment of delicious delicacies find their way to our tables. My grandfather was a pastry baker. At Christmas the smell of raspberry torts, apple strudel and baklava mixed with apple and pecan pies would fill his kitchen at the farm house. Our neighbor Mrs Monohan would give us a tin of freshly baked Christmas cookies in the silhouettes of Christmas Trees, bells, stars and ginger bread men they would be topped with sparkly colored sugar. Gingerbread men would stand guard over their delicate houses covered in white frosting. Halloween forget it ,this was so much better, most everything was home made and fresh. Couple that with the magic of the season and the spirit of friendship thats in the air and you have the best time of the year. What treats does your family enjoy?

It's almost the 20th of December and I still haven't bought a present for anybody. Most men don't even think about it until the calendar hits the 20th anyway. I was talking to a friend and I told him, "oh I'm just going to get a gift certificate for everyone." He say oh no you have to think about a gift, make it special, put some thought into it, a gift certificate is a cop out. Are gift certificates a cop out something a thoughtless inconsiderate boob would give for Christmas?

I was surprised today by my friend Linda. Let me tell you about her. She's a born and bred outdoor girl an equestrian, artist,photographer,hymnodist,carpenter,educator. She met and married Jim a skilled master carpenter and former ski patrol captain at Alta, Utah. Jim used to shot the howitzer to blow down avalanches before they could do harm. They have a small horse ranch and a beautiful daughter who is attending college in Colorado. Their daughter bicycled from Colorado to Mass this summer in about 7 weeks. Anyway as I was working in my front yard Linda pulls up in her Ford Pick up and says I got something for you. Merry Christmas, she says as she pulls out a 6 inch horse hair paintbrush , with little jingle bells and holly attached to it. A leather strap was neatly tied through the hole at the end of the handle making it handy to hang on a nail or hook. Heres something you can hang on your door. The majority of my business is painting and wallpapering so this was really a fun gift. The snow was lightly falling. I gave her a hug and wished her a Merry Christmas and off she went spinning her tires. I like Christmas time. They have these paint cans filled with chocolate at Walgreens, maybe I'll cover one in juniper and leave it on her doorstep.

Terry Bradshaw was a geust on the jay Leno Show tonight. He came in with his usual flair and immediatley began to overshadow Jay. Jay couldn't get a word in edgewise. Eventually Jay told Terry, " I have some advice that could save your career". Bradshaw scoffed, "What could you tell me?". Jays says, "your fly is down". Sure enough the camera gets a tighter shot and Bradshaws zipper was all the way down. I'm talking zero slack. I never laughed so hard in my life. Bradshaws antics became halarious.
Marie Osmand was Jays second guest and when she sat down she asked Terry, "do you live here or did you just fly in?" She really teased him about it. Good show.

What a great show. After seeing so many special effects, car chases and violence. It was refreshing to see a film based on family and love. It was a true clean comedy. One of the best lines in the movie was, from a teenage daughter, " You love murderer!" Every adult in the theater laughed till it hurt. See it with the whole family mom, dad, kids and grandparents will find this story filled with whit, sensitivity and truth. I won't say anything more about it for fear of taking some of the surprise and fun away. Just go see it. Fantastic date night movie with your spouse.

My father in law would have a bar of soap and a razor and deodorant for his personal hygiene kit. He lived in a house with 4 women who filled the bathroom cabinetry with a myriad of beauty products from Avon to Mary Kay. Me five things razor, bar of soap, shampoo, and deodorant and shaving creme. No moose no styling gel no cologne no blowdryer, I hate the sound and feel of a blow dryer, never ever use one. Are there other spartan men out there?

I went to my insurance agent the other day to do some business. She had pictures of her grandchildren near her desk. They were beautifully done portraits of a curly haired little boy with an infectious smile and one of his sister with natural curls and a gregarious smile. I commented, "what beautiful children", and they were. She gushed about them for a while and told me how proud she was of them. Being a long time photographer my favorite thing to do was to take pictures of the children with their parents looking on and beaming. Whenever I see a beautiful picture well done it inspires me and it lifts my spirits. These innocent kids lifted mine the other day. And they don't even know me. Now there is the magic of photography and it's power to inspire.

Forever Plaid at the Northshore Music Theater was a wonderful thrill. As part of our weekend 25th anniversary celebration we went to see this production. Based on harmonizing boy groups of the late 50's and sixties this group of four young men are killed when a bus load of catholic school kids are going to see the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan SHow in 1964. The bus crashes into their car as 'forever plaid' is on their way to their first real gig in NYC. Being trapped in limbo they come to our stage confused and ask an audience member, "what year is this". They get a chance to preform for a real audience before going to heaven. They are accompanied by a recalcitrant piano player who is masterful and a bass player who belongs in a New Orleans jazz dive. Their harmonies are flawless as they sing '3 coins in a fountain' and my favorite of the show "load 16 tons" or "I owe my soul to the company store", really fun. These are clean cut young men in white suit jackets and plaid cumberbuns who worship plaid and all its intricacies. Very funny stuff and magnificent voices. Go see it for an uplifting evening of wonderful music and humor. 90 minute show with no intermission.

Some of you may be to young to remember hopping in the car with your family and going to the drive in at dusk. Dads would time the departure from home in accordance with how low the sun was in the sky. Teens with limited cash would hide their friends in the trunk causing the bumper to drag and alerting a friendly ticket taker, who would smile and let them pass anyway. Lovers would anticipate intimacy under a flickering silver screen. Moms and dads would turn the pick up truck around and put lawn chairs in the back under the starry skies. Popcorn and sausage smells would emanate from the snack-bar a filthy and unkept building. Nachos and cheese were their big money maker. You had to be desperate to use the bathrooms. Sometimes a stranger would almost open your car door with a load of popcorn covering his face and say, sorry wrong car. Rambunctious teens would climb up onto the bumper of a car an bounce up and down hard as their friends were making out in the back seat. Startling them. Every drive in had a playground up front with swings and a small merry go round and teeter toter. The local religious vigilante would flash his high powered flashlight into the back seat as a couple struggled to embrace. At intermission a young Yogi Berra in black pin stripes of the New York Yankees would peddle candies on the enormous screen. The speaker you put on the window of your car to hear the show would crackle and snap, nothing like the high tech digital surround sound we have today. Every once in a while a football would streak across the front of the screen casting a shadow across John Wayne's face until somebody yelled, "hey, knock it off punks". Fake yawns, while putting your arm around your girl were occurring every few minutes all over the acres of cars pointed toward the silver screen.
Double features would end at 2-am in the morning. Then there was the race to the exit. Most drive ins were dirt and the dust kicked up by the cars leaving would choke you. All the kids would be asleep in the back seat, without seat belts on. Mom and dad would be cuddling next to each other on the front bench seat all the way home. I will never forget those times and I will never forget, "I AM SPARTICUS!"

Remember Top Cat the cool hip ally cat of the cartoons 30 years ago? Well in Marlboro there's another Top Cat. Jack is old probably 15 years old and when he walks in the snow his belly drags so his track is a grove in the snow with paw tracks on either side of it. In the summer he sleeps in the middle of the quiet street and the occasional car coming into the neighborhood better move around, cause Jack won't. Partially deaf nothing really startles him. He welcomes people going on leisurely walks by meowing and coming up to them. He keeps warm by crawling up into the engine compartment and sleeping on a warm car engine during a winter night. He'll walk right into your house as though he owns it. He won't leave unless you pick him up and toss him out. Never ever have seen him run he always has a saunter without any worries. Everybody loves him and maybe thats why he's so fat and happy.

Mark has always been there for people ever since he was a little boy. Kind in word and deed and as a teen smart and athletic. Skilled on the piano and guitar Mark excelled in both and was a guitarist in a rock band during college for several years.. Fluent in German he graduated with his bachelors in German Literature. Now married for four years to a beautiful girl from California he has 2 children. Lizel a blond blue eyed 2 year old little princess and a son Algy just a few months old. Mark just finished fixing the brake lines on my car, replacing the rusty ones with brand new steel tubing. He plans to go to Boston University this wInter to begin a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I thought to myself wow, this kid is really a renaissance man. He has so many talents, I think this younger generation is remarkable, they seem so savvy and able to pick up things easily.