What to pick from?

Sat., March 1, 2003 - Talked to Greta. Lydia Witte died last week.  Ruby Ritze's granddaughter had triplets -- a boy and identical girl twins.  On TV watched "Milestones and Memories" of Lawrence Welk shows.  Very very interesting.

Sun., March 2, 2003 - Nancy came at noon and brought pizza. The same Sunday routine.  We played several games of Rummikub.

Mon., March 3, 2003 - Played cards in the evening.  Delores served pumpkin pie.

For only three, somewhat short entries, I have several things to talk about.

I don't know which Ritze granddaughter that is, but regardless, I wonder what the medical odds are of triplets that include identical twins.

I could comment on memories of my own of watching Lawrence Welk.  For instance I, or Grandma, recorded on a tape recorder (nothing so much as a VCR then) an episode or two and I remember listening and re-listening to one of them.  I'm not sure what the theme of the show was but two of the songs were Edelweiss and Loch Lomond.  Which then leads me to remember how when tape recorders were new, we'd turn one on and secretly record family conversations, usually over a meal.  I suppose people nowadays would consider that low-tech and likely not fun, but I recall we did get a bang out of listening to some of those afterwards. And there is still the classic, and long lost, recording of, at a minimum Aunt Irene and Aunt Helen, in the car somewhere and lost.  I can't recall a single word of it but do remember it was hysterical to listen to as they tried to figure out where they were.

And on a slow day, I could also research and/or comment on pumpkin pie, a real favorite of mine and of Mitch's.  I tell people we can't leave him alone in a room with one.  Perhaps not so much now that he's grown, but definitely when he was growing up.

Lastly, and unrelated to Grandma's entries, I'd like to mention that yesterday was my 60th birthday.  Rather a non-event given the current Covid restrictions. I had hoped to rent out the Joyo Theatre on Sunday and have a showing of a movie, open to family that wanted to come.  I thought having the theater to ourselves would be okay since we could all spread out. But since I had been exposed recently and new cases are through the roof, I thought it wise not to do it at all.  And normally I would bring treats to work, but out of 20 or so of us, I think 6 were here.  I didn't know that the night before but I was strangely unmotivated to make anything.  Kinda glad I didn't since I would have had extras to bring home and no one wants to be tempted with that.  It was such a non-event that around 10 p.m. I finally reminded John what day it was since he had not yet mentioned it.  But, the highlight of the day was Anna dropping by my office with a gift from her and Dakota and Mitch -- a Cricut machine.  Something I had been secretly interested in but had not thought to buy for myself.  So, good call on the kids' part.  The gift was really nice, of course, but the best part was having a little unexpected visit with Anna.

Laurel, but not Nebraska

Wed., February 26, 2003 - Mary took me to have my hair-do and Zoya brought me home -- we had planned to have lunch together but she wasn't feeling too well.  Went to Book Club in evening.

Thurs., February 27, 2003 - Called Marjorie C. -- today is her birthday.  Tom came in the evening for the usual reasons.  We played 2 games of Rummikub.

Fri., February 28, 2003 - Went to the movies in the library this evening.  Saw a Laurel & Hardy show and also a Roy Rogers show.  Called Helen.

And here's some information on Laurel and Hardy, most of which I absolutely did not know.  From Wikipedia:

    "Laurel and Hardy were a comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in the silent era, they later successfully transitioned to "talkies". From the late 1920s to the mid-1950s, they were internationally famous for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy, childlike friend to Hardy's pompous bully.  Their signature theme song, known as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos" (by Hollywood composer T. Marvin Hatley) was heard over their films' opening credits, and became as emblematic of them as their bowler hats.

    Prior to emerging as a team, both had well-established film careers. Laurel had acted in over 50 films, and worked as a writer and director, while Hardy was in more than 250 productions. Both had appeared in The Lucky Dog (1921), but were not teamed at the time. They first appeared together in a short film in 1926, when they signed separate contracts with the Hal Roach film studio.  They officially became a team in 1927 when they appeared in the silent short Putting Pants on Philip. They remained with Roach until 1940, and then appeared in eight B movie comedies for 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1941 to 1945.  After finishing their film commitments at the end of 1944, they concentrated on performing stage shows, and embarked on a music hall tour of England, Ireland and Scotland. They made their last film in 1950, a French-Italian co-production called Atoll K.

    They appeared as a team in 107 films, starring in 32 short silent films, 40 short sound films, and 23 full-length feature films. They also made 12 guest or cameo appearances, including in the Galaxy of Stars promotional film of 1936.  On December 1, 1954, they made their sole American television appearance, when they were surprised and interviewed by Ralph Edwards on his live NBC-TV program 'This Is Your Life'. Since the 1930s, their works have been released in numerous theatrical reissues, television revivals, 8-mm and 16-mm home movies, feature-film compilations, and home videos. In 2005, they were voted the seventh-greatest comedy act of all time by a UK poll of professional comedians. The official Laurel and Hardy appreciation society is The Sons of the Desert, after a fictitious fraternal society in the film of the same name."

Sounds like winter for certain

Sun., February 23, 2003 - Started snowing during the night and snowed until afternoon.  Since Nancy worked yesterday Mary was going to help me today.  Because of snow she stayed home -- a wise thing to do. Ray called in p.m.  They are okay -- were having snow, too.

Mon., February 24, 2003 - Saw "Rose Marie" this p.m.  Some pretty songs.  Howard Keel was one of the cast.  Played cards in evening -- I won 2 games!

Tues., February 25, 2003 - Very cold this morning, -4 degrees!!!  Bill came to take me to the dental clinic -- appointment was 8:00 a.m.  Was back home by 10:00.  Played Rummikub with Delores in p.m. 

I hope it was truly bad snow for me to bail on helping Grandma.  I'm thinking the car I had then wasn't the best on treacherous streets, so maybe it was indeed a wise thing.

Here's what I found about Rose Marie, from good ol' Wikipedia:

    "Rose Marie is a 1954 American musical film adaptation of the 1924 operetta of the same name, the third to be filmed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, following a 1928 silent movie and the best-known of the three, the 1936 Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy version. It is directed by Mervyn LeRoy and stars Ann Blyth, Howard Keel and Fernando Lamas. This version is filmed in the Canadian Rockies in CinemaScope. It was MGM's first US produced film in the new widescreen medium (having been preceded by the British-made Knights of the Round Table), and the first movie musical of any studio to be released in this format. It was part of a revival of large-budget operetta films produced in the mid-1950s.  The story adheres closely to that of the original libretto, unlike the 1936 version.  It is somewhat altered by a tomboy-to-lady conversion for the title character."

That being said, here's what they had to say about the original operetta:

    "Rose-Marie is an operetta-style musical with music by Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart, and book and lyrics by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II. The story is set in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and concerns Rose-Marie La Flemme, a French Canadian girl who loves miner Jim Kenyon. When Jim falls under suspicion for murder, her brother Emile plans for Rose-Marie to marry Edward Hawley, a city man.

The work premiered on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on September 2, 1924, running for 557 performances. It was the longest-running Broadway musical of the 1920s until it was surpassed by The Student Prince (1926). It was then produced at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London in 1925, enjoying another extraordinary run of 581 performances. It was filmed in 1928, in 1936 and again in 1954.

The best-known song from the musical is "Indian Love Call". It became Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy's "signature song". Several other numbers have also become standards, including the title song."

Happy birthday to Aunt Helen

Thurs., February 20, 2003 - Myrtle called in a.m.  Had to cut our visit short as I had a visitor, Marilyn Mark brought me a delicious pastry -- don't know what it is called.  Tom came for supper and the usual chores.

Fri., February 21, 2003 - Helen's birthday.  Saw the movie "Road to Hong Kong" with Bing Crosby & Bob Hope -- silly but funny.  Only 5 of us there for the show.

Sat., February 22, 2003 - Tom came for me & took me to church.  Merilyn was at a shower and came by herself.  Went to Tom's after church.  Merilyn brought spaghetti for our supper & then we played a new type of dominoes -- was lots of fun.

I'm guessing that was an evening church service for Merilyn to have had time to go to a shower beforehand.  

According to the following plot summary from Wikipedia, it does sound like a fun but silly movie.  Especially the end.

The story is told in flashback as Diane (Joan Collins) explains to American Intelligence how transmissions from passengers picked up from a missile to the moon are by Americans rather than Russians.

"Harry Turner (Bing Crosby) and Chester Babcock (Bob Hope) are defrauding people in Calcutta by selling a "Do-it-yourself interplanetary flight kit" that ends up injuring Chester, giving him amnesia. An Indian doctor (Peter Sellers) says the only way for Chester's amnesia to be cured is through help from monks in a lamasery in Tibet.

At the airport, Chester mistakenly picks up a suitcase with a marking designed to be a point of contact between agents of a SPECTRE-type spy organization called "The Third Echelon." Diane (Collins), a Third Echelon secret agent, is supposed to give plans of a Russian rocket fuel stolen by the Third Echelon to the man with the suitcase, who will be taking them to headquarters in British Hong Kong. She mistakenly thinks Chester is the contact.

In Tibet, the two make their way to the lamasery in Lost Horizon fashion. Not only do the lamas cure Chester, but they have a Tibetan tea leaf that gives super memory powers to those who consume it. Chester and Harry observe as great works of Western literature in the manner of Fahrenheit 451 are committed to memory, one giggling lama (David Niven) memorizes Lady Chatterley's Lover. The scheming Harry decides to steal a bottle to give Chester the power of photographic memory for lucrative nefarious purposes.

Returning to Calcutta, followed by Diane, Harry has Chester test the results of the memory herb by memorizing the rocket formula that Diane placed in Chester's coat. Not knowing what it is, Harry destroys it after Chester has successfully memorized it. Diane arrives too late, but after seeing Chester recite the formula, she offers them $25,000 to meet her in Hong Kong. On the way to Hong Kong, an agent of the High Lama replaces the stolen Tibetan herbs with a similar bottle containing ordinary tea leaves.

The Third Echelon is seeking the fuel for its own spacecraft with an underwater launching pad in Hong Kong. The goal is to be the first on the moon, where a base is to be established to launch nuclear weapons against Earth and to bring survivors under the agency's control.

With a Russian launch to the moon carrying two apes imminent, the Third Echelon, which was going to emulate the Soviet achievement, decides to gain respect at the United Nations by launching two human astronauts, Chester and Harry, instead of apes. The two are used as guinea pigs (and fed with bananas) to test the capabilities of the spacecraft and the effects of spaceflight upon humans. The mission is successful, with moonlight bringing back Chester's photographic memory.

Diane decides to leave the Third Echelon when she discovers that once her colleagues have extracted the final formula from Chester, they plan to dissect Chester and Harry to see the effects of space travel on their bodies. Diane helps the boys escape. They are pursued through Hong Kong, eventually leading Diane to the authorities. Chester and Harry happen to meet Dorothy Lamour at a nightclub where they are recaptured by the Third Echelon.

Chester, Harry and Diane all end up in a rocket bound for another planet. They think they're alone after landing, but they're not—Chester calls out, "The Italians!" as they are joined by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

Robbers Cave in 2021

Mon., February 17, 2003 - Played cards in Party Room this evening.  Delores was sick -- others all there.

Tues., February 18, 2003 - Zoya took me to have my hairdo.  Then we went to an oriental restaurant, Thai House.  I had seafood soup, very good and many different kinds of seafood.

Wed., February 19 2003 - Went to Book Club in evening.  Weather has been nice. 

I can't think of anything to say about Grandma's adventures in 2003, so I'll mention that Mom, Nancy, Anna and I went to Robbers Cave in Lincoln last month.  It was really interesting and really fun.  I can't believe I've lived in and around Lincoln for so many years and had never been there before.  But, now that's something off the list of things to do.  I highly recommend the cave tour and the facilities for a party or some such.  Really nice.

Oh, my goodness -- it has been a long time

So much going on, so little attention to this blog.  But here I am again.  For how many days in a row, or something close to resembling "in a row", who is to say?

Fri., February 14, 2003 - Saw a movie this evening, a tribute to Big Bands -- those taken from Lawrence Welk's shows.  Rained in p.m. and evening.

Sat., February 15, 2003 - Started to snow during the night.  Snowed almost all day.  Talked to Greta at noon.  They had snow, too.  Played cards in p.m. -- the group that plays on Mon. night.

Sun., February 16, 2003 - Nancy came at noon.  She made me a new kind of cheese & potato soup.  Very tasty.  Mitch & Anna here while Mary wen to Writers Group.  We played cards.  I popped some popcorn for them.

I'm having trouble reading Grandma's writing re the big band show, but I'll go with what I have there.

Of course, I cannot let dear Jenny's passing from this world to the next go unmentioned.  I should have posted something much closer to the event.  It wasn't for lack of caring about her, but just me being the usual me and not getting things done when I should do them.

However, since some time has passed it is much easier to say now how very happy I am for Jenny that her suffering is over, and for both she and Bill to be together.  The Lord works in mysterious ways.  I will always miss the two of them and particularly their laughs; both very different, but both very genuine and fun.  Bill and Jenny have left behind a beautiful legacy of lives well lived.  Their sons and grandchildren are testament to the lovely people they were.

Normal normal

Tues., February 11, 2003 - Handy-Van took me for my hair-do & Mary took me home.  Have a new girl - Stefani Pofahl.

Wed., February 12, 2003 - To Book Club in evening.  Took the article on the Shepherd's Twenty-Third Psalm.

Thur., February 13, 2003 - Tom came in evening.  He put up the extra shelf in the hall.  I had Nancy get it for me.  The pictures look so nice.  Talked to Myrtle in morning. 

Pretty standard stuff here.  I did so enjoy getting Grandma from her hair appointments.  She insisted on either making or buying me lunch and we would have a nice visit.  I went over my hour lunchtime, but made it up later or took vacation.  It was well worth it to me in order to spend more time with Grandma.