2024, Baboon Achievers, books, Family, Media, Movies, TV

Thanks a lot you all!

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Going down a rabbit hole isn’t anything new for me but this week I’m down two different rabbit holes and it’s all your fault!

The first is my Alan Bennett rabbit hole.  For those of you in Blevins, you may remember that Bill recommended one of our last books, An Uncommon Reader, which we all liked enormously.  Since then I’ve read several other Alan Bennett titles.  That has led me to a few movies that have been made from his plays/books.  Luckily so far the movies are pretty close to the plays/books; it’s clear that Bennett was closely involved in the various productions.  I had not realized before this rabbit hole that Alan Bennett is the author of Madness of King George.  He also wrote the screenplay when they made the movie from his play.  Bennett is unbelievably prolific; the list of his credits from television, plays, books, films and even radio broadcasts is remarkable.  I’m pretty sure that I’ll be down this rabbit hole for awhile yet.

The second rabbit hole is thanks to Barbara.   Last week I picked up a book at the library, an older volume of something called Lisa & Lottie.  I had no memory of why I had requested this title but that’s not actually uncommon.  In the reference column of my reading spreadsheet the notation “O&A” is the most common and stands for Out & About, and almost always means I don’t remember where I got the idea.  Within about 10 pages I realized this was the book that The Parent Trap was based on which we talked about on the trail a couple of weeks ago.

The original German title was Das Doppelte Lottchen, (The Double Lottie) and was published in 1949.  Disney got his mits on it and the first Parent Trap movie came out in 1961 with the enormously popular Hayley Mills along with Maureen O’Hara and Brian Keith.  The movie is actually much closer to the book than I had expected.  The biggest difference is that there is not a camping trip at the end during which Brian Keith realizes that his new fiancée is not the woman for him.  (In Lisa & Lottie, the new fiancée just gets mad about the twins/mother of twins issues and stomps off into the sunset.)  And, of course the names and jobs of all the characters are updated in all versions.  I’ve re-watched the Hayley Mills version again; probably won’t watch the Lindsey Lohan version again.  It’s actually fairly well done but YA liked the movie a lot and as a consequence I’ve been it A LOT! 

I’m actually really glad that I’ve already read both the Blevins selections for this month because I’m not sure how I’d fit them in!

What’s taking up your time this week?

36 thoughts on “Thanks a lot you all!”

  1. The next two days we are spending several hours with the grandkids because their dad is out of town and their mom working. Then Thursday we are driving down to Northfield to lunch with an old friend who has had some serious health issues recently. That just leaves Friday.

    I reread the Bennett book (and the Tyson book, for that matter) but had previous obligations for the day of Blevins.
    Like Sherrilee, the Bennett book sent me down a rabbithole, but a different one. I was curious about some of the books referenced and picked up a biography of the Mitford sisters, The Six. The Mitford sisters were quite an extraordinary bunch, eccentric and sometimes tragic. The idea of the queen reading and enjoying the Mitfords made it more amusing.

    Coincidentally, it appears that a television series is being produced about the Mitford Sisters.

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    2. I’ve read The Six and thought it was excellent. They were fascinating women. I’m not holding my breath about how good the series will be though.

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  2. My week is full of putting up garden produce and getting my retirement plans firmed up. That means setting up appointments with the State Retirement Office.

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  3. Last week was busier, but not productive. I felt like I was spinning my wheels all week and getting nowhere. That’s okay, because now I’m pre-approved for a home loan in case I do find a one-level home of my dreams.

    I enjoyed seeing many old friends at Rock Bend last Saturday. One of those old friends was the founder of the festival. I haven’t seen him in over 20 years. He lives in Arizona now. All he wanted was a birthday party – some good old friends playing music together in the park. It started out that way. Lots of people said that the crowd on Saturday was the biggest ever. Big crowds, even friendly ones, are exhausting for me these days, so I only went on Saturday. I relaxed on Sunday. Last night there was Fiber Friends at Cannon Valley Makers. It’s an all-ages group of people who do fiber crafts. Any fiber, any project – just bring it and come. I’ve been enjoying that. I got to help a younger woman with her crocheted top, and two other women offered to help me decrease to the top of my new knitted hat.

    Today I’m cleaning, catching up on errands and shopping, paying some bills – that kind of thing. Pippin needs more walking, even though he doesn’t want to, so that he can get his job(s) done. He detests warm weather, so this won’t be easy. Tomorrow I’m taking a needle felting class all afternoon. Thursday I have to pack for going up to Two Harbors for the week. I’m very sorry about missing another BBC. They’re just falling on the week(s) that I go up north. My next week will be in November, the week after the election. I’ll be closer to the border in case I have to make a run for it!

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  6. Well, let’s see. Today I brought Sandra flowers at 9:30 and will help her with lunch and stay with her until she falls asleep around 1. Then I will go do PT exercises and go home and do some more meditation and some cleaning after what I did this morning.
    Tomorrow just for fun except for the flowers it will be about the same. Same Thursday and Friday. I so love do the same over and over again. Yep. I do NOT, of course. Love going to see her but same days 7 days a week. Not so much fun.

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  7. I’m stranded at the moment. I have car troubles that started on Saturday. The oil pressure sensor is malfunctioning, so the alarm bell is dinging – very loudly – when I drive. The mechanic can’t fit it in until tomorrow. Hopefully it’s an easy and inexpensive fix.

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  8. Now that everything’s back in session after summer hiatus, here are two really full weeks each month, and two with a lighter schedule. This is one of the busy weeks – getting ready for an Arts Center board meeting this eve, a UU Board meeting tomorrow, answering phones (with Husband) at the DFL office on Thursday (weekly till election)…

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  9. Today I’m making copies of scripts (the way I want them) for shows that I have coming up and getting them in binders and putting labels on them.
    And I hope to spend part of the afternoon reading, taking notes, and researching them.

    Tonight I hope / plan to work on my shop project.
    And then the Debate tonight.
    Then the next three nights will be rehearsal.

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  10. I am spending the week visiting all 5 Utah National Parks plus Antelope Canyon in northern AZ. So far have done Antelope which was AWESOME and Canyonlands. Tomorrow is Arches followed by Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion. It is hot (90s) so we are limiting hikes to the shorter and less strenuous ones. My feet are tired already – a foot massage would feel great. The scenery is spectacular!!

    K-Two

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  11. Found a home for two of our Savoy cabbages with a Ukrainian-American coworker and her Ukrainian immigrant husband. She only knows traditional cabbage. He knows and loves Savoy cabbage. Now that leaves us only three more to use up.

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  13. kids day tomorrow(delivering before) guitar nite 7-10 take home one player south minneapolis gets me to bed about 11
    mayo thursday early home about 12 or 1
    deliver til 10ish. friday deliver til 5 when a high school reunion has many folks coming into town i havnt seen in 50 years
    weekend saturday deliver
    sunday deliver cbs sunday morning deliver vikings and maybe blevens if its not too late

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