A Movie "Year" in Review

Month with the most watched movies:
July (13)

Month with the least watched movies:
September (5)

Month with the least rewatches:
July (0)

Month with the most rewatches:
December (4)

Most watched actress:
Minnie/Myrna Loy (3), Deanna Durbin (3)

Most watched actor:
Cary Grant (5)

Favorite new actress:
Gene Tierney

Favorite new actor:
Donald O'Connor

Oldest film:
The Hands of Orlac (1924, September)

Newest film:
Lincoln (2012, November)

Funniest film:
Revenge of the Bridesmaids (2010, October)

Saddest film:
The Lost Weekend (1945, November)

Favorite film overall:
The Lost Weekend

Least favorite film overall:
Bringing Up Baby (1938, July)

Ratings:
0/5..................................0
0.5/5...............................0
1/5..................................0
1.5/5...............................0
2/5..................................2
2.5/5...............................0
3/5................................10
3.5/5...............................3
4/5................................15
4.5/5...............................7
5/5................................14

Another Year and Still No Offer to Host 'The Essentials' on TCM

Another year of laziness, procrastination, tears, sweat, frustration, and anger has come and gone.  I've seen myself grow into a new person (though I can't say better), who has found out things about myself that I never realized before.  I've met quite a few inspiring and funny people, I've laughed so hard I've cried, I've torn my hair out in frustration, I've realized my dream career, and I've learned that I like to be right way too much.  But looking back, it's been a great year.  Sure, I didn't get half as much done as I wanted to, but that's not important.  What is, is that I've still managed to enjoy myself 67% of the time.  I sound so cheesy, I know.  (Lucky for me, no one reads these things.)  As is always the case, as the end of the year came closer, I started coming up with all these ideas to create a new me.  And that's not gonna happen; I'll decide it's lame or embarrassing before I even give it the chance.  One resolution I do plan to follow through on, however, is a little idea I stumbled across on Tumblr the other day.  It's really the easiest thing.  For all of 2013, I'm going to write a good memory on a sheet of paper everyday and stick it in a jar.  This time next year, I'll dump it all out and read it.  And I really want to just start this memory collection already.  (Also, looking back on all that I've written here, maybe I should work on refining my writing skills as well...)
So, anyway, happy New Year to you all.  Here, have a few images:

~B

Fangirl, Huh?

I was going to write a nice little post about how Nerds are all-awesome; however, that did not work out too well...  (Want to see the gif set that inspired the post originally?  Click here.)  Instead, I think I shall define some words in dire need of defining.  They are as follows:

• Fangirl
• Fangirl
• Fandom
• Ship(ping)
• OTP
• Canon
• FEELS

Okay, stop.  Breathe.  This won't be too hard.  Oh, wait.  You weren't freaking out?  Whoops.  Didn't think my heartbeat was that loud...
I don't know how many of you (eight or nine...) are on Tumblr or anything like that, but let me tell you: no one is ever really there to explain these terms to you.  You're welcome; Merry Christmas.  It's just something you pick up.  It's the slang of the fangirl world.  Look, there I go using a word that has yet to be defined.  The point is, unless you're seriously considering throwing the rest of your life away by sitting on your butt all day long wasting countless hours on Tumblr and reading fanfiction, these words won't really come in handy.  Especially considering every normal person has no clue what's being said.  That's when you're really in a pickle because by the time you start using these terms in normal, everyday conversation, you've forgotten the correct, universally understood term.  So, at long last, here goes...!

Fangirl
Really this is just a term for a female fan of anything.  (Without the italics,) this can also be fitted to the male gender: fanboy.

Fangirl
Fangirl encompasses all genders.  We're They're the extremists.  The ones who freak out over the smallest touch between two characters, details, release dates, merch(andise), actors/actresses, shooting locations, etc.  Be warned: context clues are really what are gonna tell you which version is being used.

Fandom
The best way I can explain this is a kingdom of fans.  Let's use the ILL (I Love Lucy) fandom.  The "royalty" would be Ball, Arnaz, Vance, and Frawley because they are the main stars of the show.  The fans of the show make up the kingdom's people.  But there are also fandoms for ships/OTPs (see below), in which case (still with ILL), the Ricardos would be your "royalty."

Ship(ping)
Shipping is the act of being for the relationship between two people/characters.  It could be male/female, male/male, female/female, or other...things depending on the...extremeness...Yeah there are some BAD fanfics out there...This is the tricky one.  Once you learn this word and fully understand it, you'll start using it in everyday conversation.  An example for you:  "Oh, Lucy and Desi.  I totally ship it!" or "Oh, Betty Haynes and Bob Wallace: ship it!"  Yes, it is completely acceptable to use this term for real people/couples.  At which point couple names come in handy.  (Jaggie, Brangalina, etc.)

OTP
One True Pairing.  Now, remember this one.  It's so important.  OTP really goes hand-in-hand with shipping.  I guess OTP was originally intended to be your TOP ship from all your fandoms, but no one on Tumblr follows the rules.  Ergo, it is very much acceptable to have multiple OTPs from multiple fandoms.  Want some examples?  Psych OTPs: Shules, Carlowe; CH OTPs: Lucy/Ricky, Nick Charles/Nora Charles, Betty Haynes/Bob Wallace, etc.  There are also BrOTPs, which are like bromances (brotherly romance, but definitely not incest.  See: Shawn and Gus (Shus).)

Canon
Canon relates to OTPs and shipping and refers to established couples (or couples already together) within a show/movie/book.

FEELS
The worst one, the most taxing one.  FEELS are feelings, plain and simple.  However, they aren't especially used in the same context.  FEELS for the fangirl world (the really obsessive fangirls, in case you didn't catch that) are feelings so strong that you basically have an attack.  Like a feelings seizure.  This especially occurs when OTPs (especially when not canon) share a cute moment or something really surprising happens.  Common responses for Tumblr users especially include "I can't" and "asd;klfalskd," or something to that affect.  It basically just indicates that we they are unable to properly function after what they just watched.

Lastly, I did not list this, but I did mention it a few times.  Fanfiction.  I don't know if there's anyone who does not know what FF is, but in case you do not...
Fanfiction is stories written by fans of a show/book/movie, or sometimes even a song/band.  Often it's a good way to get through a hiatus or to get some much needed OTP moments not provided on the show.  Some important terms to know, especially if you read on fanfiction.net are OOC (out of character), AU (alternate universe), A/N (author's note), R&R (read & review), songfic (FF written based on a song with the lyrics moving the story along), one-shot (mostly one page stories, also known as shorts), crossover (where a story is written combining two different shows, etc.), fluff (cute scenes between characters that really doesn't have a plot), slash (FF with same-sex pairings).

For those of you who stayed on to read everything, I hope this helped clear up any language issues you've been having.  I know this isn't really related to the purpose of this blog, but I feel this really needed to be done.  And remember: URBAN DICTIONARY IS YOUR FRIEND!

The Grand Master Plan

With age comes responsibility, and with responsibility comes...wise and obvious ideas?  Yes, it's true.  You all know I'm obsessed with Rosemary Clooney.  (Wait, you don't?  ...)  However, it has only just recently dawned on me that I'm doing everything wrong.  She may be gone (and may she rest in peace), but that doesn't mean I can't get closer to her in some way.  "Bailey, you've gone off your rocker."  Thanks for finally catching on, but let me further explain: George Clooney.
Yes, that George Clooney.
"Okay, you've totally lost me."  Yeah, not many people seem to be able to follow my thought process.  George Clooney, the ultimate bachelor, just so happens to be Rosemary Clooney's nephew.  Seeing as I can't posthumously marry Rosie (yeah, that would be really weird...), I've decided to turn my sights onto someone else.  Sorry, Cary.
Of course, some people might view me as a gold digger for this decision.  I assure you, I am not.  More like a...relative digger.  I'm in it for the relation and the relation only.
"But, Bailey, you're not even 16."  Shut up.
"He's the ultimate bachelor for a reason..."
"Isn't that called a football marriage or something?"  Not one for football...
"He's old enough to be your father."  Stop rubbing it in.
"He's famous and you're...when was the last time you ever even went outside?"  I understand you are fluent in Tumblr problems.
"Good luck.  Not."
Thank you.  I have taken all of your comments into consideration.  The back-up plan?  Yahoo! is a very nice area to read about stuff I don't even need to know about.  And that, my dear reader(s?), is how I came across a certain key point in my back-up plan: Adelia Clooney, George's (yes, now we're on a first name basis) sister.  George's unfamous sister.  George's unfamous sister with children.
Oh, this just keeps getting better and better!
If George refuses to marry me, there are two other Clooney children I can marry.  And if they're already married?  Well, they should have some kids.  Of course, I might be removed a generation, but that's totally fine with me.  So long as I marry a Clooney somewhere down the line.
As I was telling my two best friends my Grand Master Plan yesterday (They both have boyfriends, and I wanted to change up my boyfriend jokes.  You know, the ones about how my boyfriend doesn't celebrate Christmas, doesn't live near me, doesn't give me presents?  He's a little...stiff.  Interpret that how you will.), pointed out the one problem in my Grand Master Plan: I'm a fangirl.
Never have I been so cursed.
Picture it: George and I are sitting in the living room around the Christmas tree with the rest of the family, and everyone's telling old stories about Rosie while her records play.  And then it'd be my turn to talk.  "Did you know Rosemary Clooney started singing with Tony Pastor's Big Band with her sister Betty?  When Betty decided to give up singing, Rosie went solo.  I have some of the coolest pictures of her on my laptop!"  *awkward silence*
So there's the only thing that will bring me down.  It's really not my fault that I absorb (*cough cough* obsessively wiki-stalk *cough cough*) my favorites!  "Yes, it is."  Shh...
But it will work.  I assure you.  He'll go from this:

To this:

Mrs. Clooney OUT!

Classic and "Classic" (Yes, There Is a Difference)

There are two definitons to the word "classic."
First there's classic.  This, in my book, refers to movies 1950's or 1960's and before.  (i.e., My Name is Julia Ross, Four Daughters, The Rains Came, The Diary of Anne Frank, Don Juan, etc.)
Then there's classic.  This means a movie that is so phenomenal that it's a definite must-see.  (i.e., The Shawshank Redemption, Titanic, Dirty Dancing, Footloose, Grease, Toy Story, etc.)
Of course, it's totally possible to have a movie that fits under both categories.  (i.e., Meet Me in St. Louis, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, etc.)
Just so ya'll know...So when I get mad at people calling modern films classic, this is why.  Because half the time they're probably not.  (*cough cough* The Social Network *cough cough*)
~Mini rant over.

P.S.  This was way better in the shower.
P.P.S.  And if anyone knows how to pass chemistry when the teacher can't teach the subject, HELP.

"The Lost Weekend" 1945: Reviewed

Talk about perfection.

Have you ever finally gotten around to watching a movie and, after it’s over, realized what an idiot you were for not watching it sooner?  That’s how I feel after watching The Lost Weekend.  I haven’t seen a movie this wonderful since Portrait of Jennie way back in July.

For those of you who have never heard of this movie or who might have but are clueless as to what it’s about, The Lost Weekend showcases an alcoholic’s troubles over the weekend.  Of course, that ten word description hardly does the picture justice.  Directed by the wonderful Billy Wilder and starring Ray Milland in the title role, this is not a picture you want to think twice about watching.

Milland, who earned an Oscar for his performance, plays a man by the name of Don Birnam.  Birnam just so happens to be a writer, as well as an alcoholic.  Throughout the movie Don struggles with his alcoholism and his failures in life.  Being a “writer” (if that’s what I can call it) myself, it’s interesting to see how he struggles with the fact that he can never write more than is hardly anything.  Experiencing through his storytelling how his writer’s block and harsh self-criticism drive him to excessively drink really gets to you.  How can a man who has so much potential—he points this out himself when he says he was declared a genius at age nineteen and has had his writings compared to that of Hemingway—let himself slip away so much?

Never having ever been around someone drunk, I’ve never experienced the side effects of too much alcohol.  But the way the movie is written out and shot gives quite the insight.  There’s not just the silly walking around and slurred remarks.  You see the horrible things the alcohol drives Don to do—how it makes him crazy with cravings for just one more glass.  How he’ll pawn anything, swipe anything, do anything just to get a little more cash to pay for the next round of drinks.  The Lost Weekend is about a drunken man, but it’s not a movie that uses drinking to create comedic relief.

In fact, after watching this movie it’s okay to feel slightly offended when movies do do that because it’s not something to laugh at.  Too much drinking can be a serious problem.  I know you’ve all probably heard that at least once in your lifetime from someone—whether that be a parent, police officer, whatever.  But it almost becomes real when you see the hallucinations Don’s intoxicated brain conjures up and you see him pushing away everyone else all because of a bottle of rye.

It seems so many times Don tries to quit but fails.  He keeps resorting back to alcohol.

“Well, the first thing I wrote, that didn't quite come off. And the second I dropped — the public wasn't ready for that. I started a third and a fourth. Only by then, somebody began to look over my shoulder and whisper in a thin, clear voice like the E string on a violin. "Don Birnam," he whispered, "It's not good enough, not that way. How about a couple of drinks just to set it on its feet, huh?”

It drives at him, nags at him, drives him insane.  At one point he says he’s tried to end it all once with a gun and a couple of bullets.  Yet that voice in his head “always wants us to have a drink first.”  And so starts the next round of drink after drink, drunken night after drunken night.  He has a problem, he knows the problem, yet he’s near helpless when it comes to resolving it.

By the end of the film, your brain should be fried, as well as your emotions.  This movie just takes on a ride and never ceases to amaze you.  From the acting to the dialogue to the directing and cinematography, this movie is terrific in every aspect.  It deserves every award it received, as well as any it might one day in the future.

Review Out!

~Bailey

Want a full review?

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The Best Lady Ever and She Doesn't Have Any Good Quotes

Inspired by Nat's post who was inspired by Marcela's post, I am happy to announce that it is...PICTURE TIME.
Rosemary Clooney is my role model.  Yes, I write English speeches and papers on her.  Yes, I have trouble cutting out information and staying within the given time frame/number of pages.  But she was truly an amazing and strong person.  One of the number one things I love about her is her smile and her laugh.  Half the time words cannot express how much I admire her.  So, here are some of my favorite Rosie pictures:

Her smile is just always so bright.

The fact that she's with dogs should be enough.

This I "received" as a "gift" from Nat last year in the birthday collage she made me.

Her laugh.  She lights up.

One of the few colored photos I have of her.  So pretty.

This one's one of my all-time favorites.

Her smile again.  It never looks forced or fake to me.

With Jim-Jim.

Starting out with dear ole Tony Pastor.

This is a close second for favorite Rosie pictures.

I feel like this picture shows her true, other side, her more depressed side.

What I would give to have been in that crowd...

Again with the laughing and the smiling!

Two of my favorite things: Rosie and pools.

First: Admit it.  This lighting is so cool.

So young and with Frankie Sinatra!

With daughter Maria.  She looks like such a caring mother.

With sister Betty!

The entire Ferrer gang: Rosie, Jose, Miguel, Maria, Gabriel, Monista, and Rafael (probably not in that order.)

And there's that smile again.

If you ever feel like getting your ear talked off, ask me about Rosie.  I would give you a quote here, but I'd have to look through This For Remembrance if I wanted to find a decent one.  Instead, I shall turn off my sad Band of Horses song, take out my contacts, brush my teeth, and head to bed.  I shall leave you with a Rosie song!

Don't you just love how she smiles when she sings and you can hear said smile in her voice?  If not, listen to this then Come On-a My House.  You can totally tell she's not happy to be singing that song; she sounds so angry when she's singing.

Yes, I'm going, I'm going!
~B.
And someone help me remember that I still need to write a letter to dear Rosie before next Friday!

Save the Classics!

Today I was scrolling through Tumblr, wasting time as usual, when a very important matter popped up: that of which films to add to the National Film Registry to safely preserve.  I've seen clips of Ginger Rogers talking about how many films have been lost and the necessary steps should be taken to ensure that the classics always live on.  I agree and feel strongly about this.  That's why I payed special attention to the following post:
JUST PUT YOUR LIPS TOGETHER AND BLOW: hornbecks: 2012 National Film Registry Nominations Closing...

2012 National Film Registry Nominations Closing Soon

Attention old Hollywood bloggers and film lovers of all stripes—

The Library of Congress is accepting nominations for the National Film Registry until September 28, 2012. Every year, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, in collaboration with film experts and the National Film Preservation Board, selects up to 25 films for inclusion in the Registry, which will ensure that the movies will live on in a government archive, maintained by a team committed to ensuring that movies deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” live on.

You can submit up to fifty nominations to the Library staff by sending an email to dross@loc.gov or by mail at:

National Film Registry
Library of Congress
Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation
19053 Mt. Pony Road
Culpeper, VA 22701
Attn: Donna Ross

Include the title and year of release for each of the films you would like to nominate, and be sure to number the list.

You may vote for any movie made in or before 2002, but it’s the oldest fims that are in the most danger. Here is a list of classics that have not yet been archived. These include

• Gilda
• The Sheik
• A Day at the Races
• Girl Shy
• The Mummy (1932)
• To Have and Have Not
• Design for Living
• Inherit the Wind
• The Gay Divorcee
• Steamboat Bill, Jr.
• You Can’t Take It with You
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
• Pride of the Yankees
• Random Harvest
• Strangers on a Train
• The Postman Always Rings Twice
• The Razor’s Edge
• Rebecca

as well as iconic animated films like Cinderella, Dumbo, Rabbit of Sevilleand Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century. These movies will, eventually, crumble to ash if serious action is not taken now.

If you want to advocate for these movies, you have to vote. Make sure to send in your nominations by the deadline, and then you’ll know that youstood for a film, even if you stand alone. You’ll have voiced the dire necessity of preserving our history, our heritage, the work of the people we love—and that’s what really matters.

There are tons of movies on this list, ranging from 1890-2002.  I wrote down 8 pages worth of movies I intend to send in an email about.  Movies such as the above, as well as After the Thin Man, Mary Poppins, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Grease, Dirty Dancing, Titanic (97), Little Women, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Breakfast Club, Since You Went Away, The Princess Bride, Arsenic and Old Lace, Auntie Mame, The Blob, and tons of others made up the entire list.  It's extremely depressing to me to think that all of these great movies could essentially become destroyed if the proper precautions are not taken.  I know only 50 movies are to be sent in, and I know that I wrote down over 50.  However, I intend to send in as many emails from different addresses as I can to ensure that people in the future can still enjoy what we do today.  These films are classics for a reason, and they need to be preserved.  

So I ask that you please take 30 minutes or so to read the list and send in your votes because our films won't  last forever and it's up to us to make sure that they do.

*REMEBER: You MUST send in your emails by SEPTMEBER 28TH, 2012.

Thanks guys.

The "To-Do" List

Dun dun dun.

(This is me writing my list.)

No, really, lists are good for everyone.  A habit I picked up form The Princess Diaries.  <3

• finish Insurgent
• Actually write my admired person speech out about Rosie.  I may know way too much information to be considered a normal amount, but that does NOT mean I can get up in front of everyone and make sense.
• study for my camera test tomorrow
• change the layout of my Tumblr page (Though I am NOT happy with it...  >:/)
• add tags to all my posts on this blog
• organize my picture folders some more
• completely update my CH Movies Seen slideshow
• finish watching No Man of Her Own
• finish watching Parnell because I just remembered today that I never did
• get some actual, good sleep
• CLEAN.  MY.  PIGSTY.  room.
• sort my clothes and get rid of the old ones
• order some new CH movies/CDs/autobios
• charge my iPod
• make an attempt to keep my bed made (though there's almost absolutely no point because I'm one of THOSE sleepers.  You know: the kind that twist, toss, and turn in their sleep and end up kicking their sheet to the end of the bed and throwing their Harry Potter squishy doll on the floor and completely turn my bed spread around and yeah...)
• organize my school binder
• PRACTICE MY CLARINET
• organize my bookshelf
• write.  and just write.  on actual paper.
• clear off my desk
• cross off the days on my calendar, which is on said desk, covered with papers and such
• throw out all these gift cards that probably only have 30 cents left on them
• GET TO SELLING THOSE UGLY OLD TWILIGHT THINGS.  That obsession is LONG over, B.
• tape up some things and take down others (from the walls)
• answer Ashley's Tumblr messages
• clean up this "mess" I've been leaving behind over behind the scenes at Film-Classics.  (Don't tell anyone, but all the ILL episodes I've unlocked have yet to be relocked.  But not for long!  (I hope.))  (And I got the Films section clean up, too!  :D)
• write my letter to Rosie for Nat's latest blog-a-thon
• get a life

Awful long list...better get started.

~Off to write a stuffy essay that won't help me much, then study for a test that hopefully will be easy to pass.

Oh.  And make tomorrow's lunch.

P.S.  We had our first history test last week and there was a question on there whose answer is quite honestly obvious: True or False: Queen Elizabeth I divorced her 3rd husband. 

Quite obviously false.  My reasoning for it being so quitely obvious?  SHE WAS THE VIRGIN QUEEN.  SHE NEVER MARRIED.  

Why does no one seem to know this but ME?!  (And my 6th grade brother.  But he doesn't count.)  Not even my dad, my history buff father, knew that.  Who else did they think VIRGINia was named after, if not for the VIRGIN QUEEN?!

GAH.  THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END.

"How To Avoid Sleep" by Bailey

Yes.  It's 10:50 on a Sunday night and I have school at 8 tomorrow morning.  Which requires getting up at no later than 6:45 to shower.  We can see how well I am at putting off certain things I really need (SLEEEEP).
Last week (actually, exactly 9 days ago), I was finally able to get my hands on a copy of Divergent by Veronica Roth.  If you've never read this book or the series at all, get out of here.

Okay, now come back.

Really, you're very lucky because I have been constantly attacked by FEELS (feelings, for those of you who do not kill countless brain cells on Tumblr) these past days.  I read Divergent in 7 hours last Friday and I now have about 100 pages left of Insurgent.  Wow.  I.  CAN'T.  TAKE.  IT.  I never thought anyone could be as cute as Lucy and Ricky/Lucy and Desi.  And then I found Nick and Nora Charles and they almost were.  And then there's Juliet and Shawn/Maggie and James.  Do you know how many FEELS that is?  On top of it all, I now have Fourtris (the main ship for the Divergent trilogy) to cut my heart in half.  And Insurgent is NOT.  HELPING.
In other news, reading Veronica Roth's blog is "inspiring" me to write.  So instead of paying attention in Algebra like I should tomorrow, I will write.  Because that's what I do.  Because that's how that little bump on my right ring finger came about.  That's right.  While normal people (or maybe that's just Jo March) have ink or lead or something on their hands, I have a bump.  No, it's not a wart.  I don't get warts.  I've had this thing for YEARS.  See, when I write, I hold my utensil with my thumb, pointer, and middle fingers and rest it on the side of my ring finger.  Now maybe a normal person would not have a problem with this.  But I write fast and I write hard.  The utensil pushes up against my ring finger, thus creating my little writing bump.
And that is my main writer's trademark.
Plus, has anyone ever (at least slightly) studied handwriting analysis?  I find it so fascinating.  I always like looking at my handwriting and how I form letters and words.

Cool picture of the day:

(Taken from judyforever)

~B.
(P.S.  And, yes.  I am now trying out the first initial sign off thing.  I need a change in my name life.  You can't really get many nicknames from Bailey, and, though I've recently been contemplating Bai, that name has long been strictly reserved to cousins and other family members.  And even then I hardly ever liked it.)

And this is exactly what I'm talking about...

Wow, time flies.  Yupp, this is exactly how every website/blog/whatever that I've created/worked on/whatever became neglected.  It's been nearly 3 weeks: shame on me.  School started Wednesday the 15th, so between that, swimming, homework, Tumblr, Psych, and other things I have neglected something very important.

Onward ho!

Last night I finally finished one of the books I highlighted three weeks ago, Alicia: My Story.  Can we all just take a moment to appreciate people like Alicia Appleman-Jurman?  If you read the post, you might recall that Alicia is a Polish Jew.  The book is about 433 pages long and covers 8 years.  The whole story is so heartbreaking; she goes through so much.  Living through the pain that both Alicia and her mother live through is terrible.  At one point her mother, knowing she is going to die anyway, throws herself in front of the bullet meant to kill Alicia.  This was maybe the saddest part of the book for me.  Sitting in Algebra 2, I had to take a deep breath and quickly close the book before my tears started to fall.  After the war is completely over and Alicia is allowed to return to Buczacz, her hometown, she still does so much more for so many people.  Remember, Ala is only 14 or 15 when the war ends.  She goes on to run an orphanage consisting of roughly 24 children who survived the concentration camps, work for the Brecha, learn 2 more languages, find at least 3 surviving extended family members, and travel to Eretz Israel (Palestine) only to be captured by the British and be imprisoned for 8 months.  You could really say the war doesn't end for Ala until 1947.  But this is a wonderful book, and I recommend it to anyone and everyone.  It's really capturing.

Lately, I've really gotten into (okay, maybe really is an understatement) a show called Psych on USA Network.  Now, I'm not one for modern TV shows or movies or TV in general.  But this is one awesome show.  It's full of culture and I guess that's one of the reasons I respect it.  It's packed full of references mostly to movies from the 1980's.  While not my favorite decade, I still like watching movies from then.  Besides that, you do get the very, very occasional CH reference (Ginger Rogers, Phantom of the Opera 1940's, etc.), and some modern references to awesome book series (Harry Potter, Percy Jackson).  Plus, the random breaking out into song sometimes seen in the show (but mostly in the bloopers.)  While I love the whole cast (have you ever seen a modern-day couple as cute as Maggie Lawson and James Roday?!), I really respect and envy Corbin Bernsen.  That name probably doesn't ring a bell: why do I like him so much?  Well it's really the fact that he was in the movie Radioland Murders, something I really want to see.  Sure, the movie looks pretty good.  But my dear Rosie (Rosemary Clooney) is in the movie, according to her Wikipedia filmography list.  Now, whether she really was in it or her voice/a clip of her was used from the CH days I'm not sure.  But the fact that he was in a movie that I associate with Rosemary Clooney just makes me all happy and warm inside.  If I ever meet or write to him, my first question will be about Radioland Murders.

Schpeal over; have a picture!

...Or two.  :D
Top: Rosie, who seems fakely surprised with her book
Bottom: Jaggie, or James Roday and Maggie Lawson

~Bailey

Vacation Books

Even though I have been home from vacation for nearly a week now, I figured I'd still share with ya'll my book schedule over the course of our 13-day trip.  We went from Ohio to Washington, D.C., to Pennsylvania and back home to our boring state.  We stopped at my grandparents on the way out and, my Papa being really in to History (gee, I wonder where my dad and I get it?) and having lived through all my favorite decades, I always enjoy looking through the books they have available at their home.  I grabbed a book that looked interesting (and familiar) mainly because I couldn't find the two books I swear I'd grabbed before leaving.  While in D.C., I bought four more books.  I'm set for a few more weeks yet.
Before vacation, the last book I'd finished was Shirley Temple's autobiography and I was having a hard time finding something that matched the awesome of this book.  So I grabbed a book that's been on my shelf for quite some time now and...what I've read is okay.  So far.  (I'm not very far in.)  Here are the books I brought along on vacation:

• Around the World in Eighty Days
• Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the 99 Steps
• The Great Escape
• Wreck this Journal
• Rutka's Notebook
• Edith's Story
• Alicia: My Story

The first is that book that's been on my shelf for ages (or so it seems).  I'm really only about 10 or 20 pages in.  To be honest, I'm reading it just because I know there's a movie out there, and I really prefer to read the books first.
The second: don't laugh.  I like my Nancy Drew and I borrowed a handful from my grandma a few years ago and I've only ever read a few.  I wanted a good mystery, especially since I'd been accustomed to seeing a few episodes of Psych every day.  I've yet to start this one...
The Great Escape is the book I picked up from my granny and papa's.  Yes, I grabbed it because I recognized the title.  On top of that, it's a book about WWII and Lord knows I read so little on the actual war portion.  Again, I'm only a few pages in; I'm not big on war/fighting books.  Of course, this (for those who have not seen the Steve McQueen movie, like me) is more about a bunch of men and their any attempted escapes from Nazi POW camps.  The whole concept sounds cool.  I just have to get myself into it.
Wreck this Journal is a fun book I bought from the International Spy Museum in D.C..  If you haven't already, head on over there.  Talk about the coolest museum EVER.  I bought it because my friend, Ari, has the same book but in German.  (She was one of our foreign exchange students last year.)  Seeing her destroy a book looked really fun and a great way to relieve stress.  So there goes ten bucks.
These last three are the fact that I have no control over myself when I see books about the Holocaust.  I spent at least $30 and that was with lowered prices, thank GOD.
I learned about Rutka Laskier around May last year when I was fixing up my English 1 final project.  I was on a mini-quest to find her book, Rutka's Notebook, for a couple of weeks.  It donned on me that the Holocaust Museum in D.C. had to have it.  And that just happened to be the number one thing I wanted to see in D.C..  It took me three different locations in the museum to find this book.  I have to say: I was a bit disappointed in how the book turned out.  Rutka is coined "The Polish Anne Frank."  I don't know about the rest of you, but when I think of that I think of the style of writing; Anne Frank was a very mature writer.  Rutka?  Not so much.  Currently I'm at a loss as to why she is even called that, unless they are talking about the fact that she was most wrongfully murdered at such a young age.  The whole book is set up somewhat strangely as well.  Her diary (kept when she was in a Polish ghetto) is only about 60 pages long, so the other 50 pages are filled with background information on ghettos, Rutka's half-sister's finding of Rutka and her quest to find more about her, and some other information.  In the back there is a bibliography of Holocaust recounts.  A couple sound really good.
I read Edith's Story next.  (Yes, I'm reading these three by size.)  This one was much better.  Unlike Rutka, Edith (spoiler!) survives the war.  She and her brother, Jules, decide to go into hiding in order to avoid being transported.  Her other brother, Guus, had been sent off to live in America earlier in the book.  Before Guus was sent off to America, Edith lived with her brothers Guus and Jules, her father, her mother, and her maternal grandmother, Oma.  Only Edith and Guus survived the war.  It's really such a great, touching story. You truly suffer and feel for Edith.
Lastly, my favorite of the three: Alicia: My Story.  This story is so...fabulous.  Alicia is Polish, like Rutka.  However, what Alicia and her family go through is horrible.  While Rutka's family was all kept together in their first ghetto, Alicia's was not.  The opening paragraph to the book tells you everyone's fate right off the bat:
First they killed my brother Moshe...
Then they killed my father...
Then they killed my brother Bunio...
Then they killed my brother Zachary...
Then they killed my last brother, Herzl.
Only my mother and I were left.
The book is so engrossing.  I'm halfway through.  In 1944, everyone finally believes that Poland has been liberated and the war is over for them.  The exiled Jews had slowly started to trickle back in and BAM.  The Germans come back.  Freedom was so close, not only for Alicia, but also for the reader.  To have that freedom ripped away, no matter if you lived it or are reading it, was horrible.  Alicia is but thirteen and she'd already escaped death so many times and helped so many people.  This is, by far, one of the best Holocaust books I have read.  Personally, I would refer to Alicia as the Polish Anne Frank, not Rutka.

So with school starting in just nine days, I've got a book or two to keep me busy (if my hectic schedule doesn't take care of that.)  Hopefully I won't burst into tears while I'm reading instead of paying attention in Chemistry...

Leibster Blog Award. Well This is New!

Hello dear two followers and any possible readers!  (Maybe I should start going out and promoting this or something...Things to consider.)
I've heard the Leibster Blog Award is going around.  I've only ever heard of it once or twice but never knew what it was or the point of it.  Ha.  But Natalie over at In the Mood decided to tag me, so it's game time!  The rules (because, according to Natalie, they've changed since this last time around):

1. The tag-ee must tell eleven things about themself
2. The tag-ee must then answer the eleven questions given to them from by tagger
3. The tag-ee tags eleven more blogs (we'll see how this turns out for me...)
4. And then the tag-ee assigns their eleven blogs eleven new questions

Oh boy what fun!  Moving on.

11 Things About the Fan Girl Behind the Blog

• I'm going through a Psych craze.  Hiatus sucks.
• Repeat songs included, I have 160 Rosemary Clooney songs from 6 CDs, plus a yet-to-be-listened-to Rosie record with Harry James.
• My main reason for being on Tumblr is all the pictures.  I have over 3000 photos in my Classic Stars picture folder on my computer.
• I was a toe-head as a child.
• I will be entering my Sophomore year in high school in 11 days.  (How fitting...)
• Not including my second grade class's production of E-I-E-I Oops, I have acted in 11 productions, starting with Alice in Wonderland, Jr. in 6th grade as the Caterpillar.
• I really geek out on the Holocaust.  I've read numerous books, fiction and non, and really enjoy learning about it.
• I don't have a favorite animal.  If I really had to choose, though, I'd pick dolphins.
• Yes, Wikipedia is reliable, and yes, I use it to look up everything I want to know.
• I really dislike the color pink.  Purple has been my favorite since 1st grade.
• I tend to pick at my lip when concentrating.  Because I like having the dry skin to pick at, I'm not very good at having chapstick handy, much less using it.

11 Questions (from Nat)

1. In film do you prefer black&white or color?
Black and white.  Color can be a nice change, but there's really nothing that says Classic Hollywood like black and white.

2. In photographs do you prefer black&white or color?
Toughie.  Black and white photos are nice because you can color them in Photoshop.  Color photographs are always nice, especially for stars who you are accustomed to seeing in black and white films.  I'll have to pick color, though, because right now my desktop background is a snazzy colored picture of Myrna Loy.

3. Your favorite era in music?
1950s baby!  Rosemary Clooney all the way!

4. Do you have a tumblr?
Yes.  Yes I do.  Tumblr  Please don't be alarmed by the Psych spam.

5. Your second favorite actress?
Uh...Who on EARTH am I suppose to choose for that?  Um...well, seeing as I've seen the most Ginger Rogers movies (behind Minnie, of course) let's go with her.

6. Your favorite movie starring your second favorite actress?
I think picking Ginger was a mistake...Yeah, I'm going to go with 1940's Primrose Path.

7. Your second favorite actor?
Jimmy Stewart, yo!

8. Your favorite movie starring your second favorite actor?
Ooh...This is the part where I wonder if I should choose It's a Wonderful Life, The Stratton Story, or Rear Window...In honor of Yin, let's go with Rear Window.  Pure suspense perfection.  Mmm!

9. Favorite foreign film?
This is the part where I have to go back through all my films and find a foreign one...This is a real problem here!  Found one!  That Hamilton Woman.  It's the first foreign film I came upon...

10. Ice cream or french fries?
ICE CREAM!

11. If you could see your favorite actress in any movie role (real or imagined) what would it be?
Ooh.  You know, I'm still feelin' like The Proposal should be remade to star Minnie and Bill Powell, so let's go with that!

Tag.  You're it.

• Film-Classics
• The Shades of Black and White
• The New Andrews Sisters
• and anyone else who would like to play along!  I'm still new to the blog world here.

Question time!

1. What was your first classic?
2. Favorite classic TV show?
3. If you could spend a day with any one classic star, who would it be?
4. Least favorite classic actor?
5. Least favorite classic actress?
6. Musical remakes from the '50s: yes or no?
7. Hayes Code: yes or no?  Why?
8. Silent or Talkies?
9. What do you think of movies like The Artist?
10. What role did your favorite actor deserve an Oscar for?
11. What role did your favorite actress deserve an Oscar for?

Thanks for taggin' me, Nat, and have at it everyone else!

"Give Out, Sisters" 1942: Reviewed

Give Out, Sisters is a 1942 film starring Dan Dailey, Donald O’Connor, Peggy Ryan, and the Andrews Sisters.  I ask you to forgive me for not doing my full research (reading the Wikipedia and IMDb pages), but we just got back from our family summer vacation and I’m a bit worn and groggy; reading is the last thing on my mind.  Anyway, I found this movie (and about…10? others) on a YouTube channel that is a goldmine for Don O’Connor movies, and I hastily downloaded all I could find. 

This movie lasts roughly 1 hour and 4 minutes and is really quite a delight to watch for all the singing and dancing.  However, I found the acting to be a bit stale.  The cast didn’t seem to compliment each other’s talents in the acting department and I eventually started to grimace every time someone opened their mouth. 

I must allow them some credit, though, for the humor put into this film.  The biggest stunt that stands out in my mind is when the Andrews Sisters, trying to do a favor for who I assume they deemed friends, by dressing up as the Waverly Sisters.  The Waverly Sisters are the rich antagonists in the film and they don't want their niece (whom they are the guardian of) to be dancing and “showing off the Waverly legs.”  Said niece Grace, or Gracie Roberts as she is known by when dancing, is a lead dancer for the dancing school that Don, Peggy Ryan, and the rest of the gang attend.  Anyway, in order to get the clear for Grace to dance at a night club with the rest of the school, the manager of the night club must hear the Waverly Sisters give their consent.  They are a tough lot to convince, so Patty, Laverne, and Maxene dress up as the sisters to fool the manager and clear the way for Grace to dance.  Later they come into quite a predicament when trying to get back to the club in time to go on stage as the Andrews Sisters without letting the manager know what was going on.

However, the dancing takes this cake in this picture.  Grace MacDonald (and as I’m beginning to look some things up, I’m realizing how unoriginal these names are…!) plays Gracie and isn’t the prettiest girl out there.  The quality of my version is pretty crappy and unclear so one can’t really see faces and small details.  On top of that I was riding in a car with my screen light turned down to conserve battery power, so I didn’t have the best viewing of the movie.  But after first watching Gracie dance, I forgot what her face looked like and quickly realized that I had conjured up a much prettier face for her than was actual.  This happened a few more times before I figured out who I had been thinking of: Ginger Rogers.  Gracie was blonde, slender, and a wonderful dancer and my tired mind must have mixed up a few things.  But no matter who was dancing, this film wasn’t too bad!  I rate it a 3 out of 5 and if you would like to see it (and other O’Connor films), you can visit this YouTube link.

IMDb

Wikipedia

"The Major and the Minor" 1942: Reviewed

“The Major and the Minor” is my third Ginger Rogers film; I’m really starting to like her!  This movie, released in 1942, stars Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland, along with Diana Lynn, Rita Johnson, Lela Rogers, and Robert Benchley.  It was remade in 1955 as “You’re Never Too Young” starring Jerry Lewis and Diana Lynn, only the positions are reversed.  Also, this film was nominated for AFI’S 100 Years…100 Laughs, AFI’s 100 Years…100 Passions, and AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes ("Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?").  It was also produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr. (Myrna Loy’s then-husband) and was a breakthrough for director Billy Wilder.  This is a really entertaining movie and a great choice, especially for Ginger fans!

Susan Applegate (Ginger Rogers) lives in New York City, New York.  She has recently (that morning in fact) started a job for a scalp treatment company.  One of her first clients is Mr. Albert Osborne (Benchley).  He, along with the elevator boy, finds Susan very attractive.  When she gets to Mr. Osborne’s apartment, he insists on getting cozy with Susan instead of doing his treatment because he’s lonely on Wednesdays nights when his wife goes to drill classes.  He offers her a martini ("Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?"), but she refuses and insists on getting down to business.   She makes sure to brush his head extra hard (she doesn’t like that he’s hitting on her) and gives him an egg shampoo, slathering it down his face when he makes her angrier.  He threatens to call and have her fired, obviously not enjoying have egg smothered across his head.  Susan quite likes the sound of that; she hates her job and wants to go back home.  She thought she wanted to get out of the small, ordinary town with nothing to do (and trust me, you do!  I live in one myself, and it gets REAL boring after a while.) and give the big city a try.  Well, she did!  She’s had 25 jobs in the last year and she’s done!  She’s going back to Stevenson, Iowa, with the $27.50 Will Duffy gave her for a train ticket when she left.  Only one small problem: when she gets to the station, she learns they’ve raised the price of tickets.  For anyone over twelve, a ticket costs $32.50 to get from NYC to Stevenson, Iowa.  However, she notices the lady behind her has children under twelve riding for half price.  And one of those children is a little girl of nine.  Susan gets a ‘brain blast’ (Jimmy Neutron anyone? :D) and heads to the woman’s room.  There she transforms herself from a young adult of maybe twenty-four to a young girl of eleven, going on twelve.  

“Stevenson, Iowa.  One half fare please.  It’s for the kid.”

She hires a man to act as her ‘Daddy’ and buy her a train ticket to visit her grandma.  However, he pockets the extra change ($16.25), giving her only a quarter to spend.  She says good-bye to ‘Papa’ and boards the train.  Susan is definitely playing her part; she’s singing “A Tisket, a Taskit” and playing with a balloon.  Only until the conductors come by does she run into trouble.  Not believing she’s really eleven, they start bombarding her with questions.  Susan starts spewing out nonsense and creating reasons for why she looks much older than her ‘real’ age.  She tells the men her family is from Swedish stock, and that she once heard of a five-year-old boy who grew a beard (among other things).  Although they aren’t completely satisfied, the conductors leave Susan alone and move on.  But they later catch her smoking out on the back of the train.  Not realizing they had seen her, Susan puts her cigarette inside her mouth when the conductors come.  She does pretty well at hiding the cigarette until they ask if she inhales when she smokes, at which points she spits the cigarette out into her handkerchief and runs through the train car, knocking down everything in her path.  At one point she and the conductors run into an attendant.  The first time Susan tries to slip into a room, she quickly exits because someone had occupied it.  However, she soon finds one she thinks is empty.  It isn’t until she’s inside and the conductors have passed that she learns someone does occupy the car.  This someone is Major Philip Kirby (Milland), who believes Susan is actually eleven.  Susan tells him he can call her Su-Su (Su-Su will represent her being eleven here, Susan will represent her as her normal age).  He keeps trying to call the conductor to help her find her car and get back to where she’s staying, but she claims she is afraid of the conductor, causing him to decide she should just stay in his car.  Su-Su refuses, knowing it would be wrong (even though he doesn’t know it).  Major insists and Su-Su finally relents.  There’s a storm in the middle of the night and lightning strikes, awakening her and causing her to bump her head on the bed above her’s.  This awakes Philip and he thinks Su-Su is afraid of the storm.  So he pulls her close to him and does his best to calm her down and put her back to sleep.  This freaks Su-Su out even more because, again, it’s not appropriate.  She finally pretends to fall asleep so he will go back up to his bunk.  The next morning, Su-Su is all set to tell Philip that she’s not really eleven because she’s fallen in love with him.  He goes off to get breakfast for her, so she uses this time to look more grown up.  However, the train had been stopped (because of a flooded bridge) and Philip’s fiancée, Pamela Hill (Johnson), and commander, Pamela’s father, had come to retrieve him from the train.  They don’t know of Su-Su, and so when Pamela walks in on Su-Su preparing herself, she assumes the worst and thinks Philip is cheating on her, spilling his tray and giving him a bloody nose when he meets her in the hallway.  Philip decides he wants to clear everything up and takes Su-Su with him back to Wallace Military School, where Philip is in training.  After everything is clear, Su-Su is taken to Pamela’s house to stay.  There she meets Lucy Hill, Pamela’s wise sister who sees right through Su-Su right away.  Lucy’s all in for keeping Susan’s secret if she helps her get Philip a position.  Lucy explains that Pamela makes sure Philip never leaves the school to go to battle, and Lucy doesn’t like it.  Susan agrees and the two become fast friends.  Others who also take a fast liking to Su-Su are the young commanders-in-training at the school.  They each have shifts to chaperone Su-Su.  The first boy, Cadet Clifford Osborne, is the first to make a move on Su-Su.  He starts explaining what seems to be a battle plan, but is actually a move and he kisses Su-Su.  All the other boys attempt it as well.  Philip had caught Clifford and Susan kissing and hadn’t felt comfortable, suggesting Pamela give her a talk about boys.  Of course, Pamela doesn’t and leaves Philip to do it.  So Philip sits Su-Su down for that talk.  He tells her she’s like a light bulb and the boys are moths.  The moths are attracted to the light bulb, or the boys are attracted to her.  So she needs to put screens up or go inside to keep the moths away.  Su-Su asks when she’ll be a grown woman and Philip tells her it’ll still be a while.  However, he makes note that when he squints, he can almost see her as a grown woman (he doesn’t catch on very fast, does he?  :D), making the situation very awkward after commenting on how good looking she is.  That night, Lucy is helping Su-Su gussy up for the dance that night.  A group of boys come singing to their window “Sweet Sue Just You” (familiar if you’ve watched ILL), and Lucy tells them they shouldn’t strain their vocal chords when their voices are changing.  After arriving at the dance, Su-Su’s dance card is quickly filled up, but she manages to save one spot for Major Philip to sign.  When she finishes dancing with Cadet Clifford, he insists on having her meet her family.  There she runs into Albert Clifford, her scalp treatment client!  He can’t quite place who she is and racks and racks his brain.  His wife insists he doesn’t know her and tells him to forget about it.  Su-Su finally gets to dance with Philip after Clifford and they agree to meet at the punch table at 10:45, after the dance.  Su-Su is set on telling him who she really is.  But with each other’s help, Pamela and Albert found out who Su-Su was.  And Pamela has no intention of letting Susan come clean (she doesn’t want Philip to be deported, and wasn’t happy that Susan had pretended to be her to get him the job).  So she tells Philip that Su-Su has a stomach ache and can’t make it, going there herself instead.  She threatens to make sure Philip loses his job is Susan doesn’t keep out of Philip’s life.  She is to go on the 11:40 train for Stevenson without saying any good-byes.  And she is not to keep in touch with Philip.  Susan relents, knowing she doesn’t want to be the cause for Philip losing his job.  So she leaves, only saying good-bye to Lucy.  A few days later, Susan is sitting in a hammock in Stevenson, Iowa, staring at moths around a light bulb (you just know she’s thinking of Philip).  Will Duffy, whom she had promised to marry once she got back, gets agitated at her for ignoring him and throws a rock at the light bulb before storming off.  The phone rings soon after and Susan’s mother (Lela Rogers, her real mother) predicts it to be Will calling from the phone on the corner.  But it’s not; it’s Philip.  He’s on his way to the west coast and wanted to stop by to give Susan a gift from Lucy.  Susan, pretending to be Su-Su’s mother, makes up a quick lie.  She shoos her mother off to the attic, deeming her the grandmother.    Then she goes out to sit on the porch and take care of the fruit (because they make jam, among other things).  After talking with Philip, she learns Pamela ended up marrying another man.  Susan is delighted, but Philip has no intention of marrying; he thinks Pamela was right and doesn’t want to make a widow out of a wife.  He leaves shortly after.  Three minutes before his train pulls out at the station, he sees a woman out of the corner of her eye.  He then figures out the truth, and the two board the train together.

I’m sorry this is really long!  I don’t know why it is; maysbe because it’s such a good movie.  Or maysbe I’m just elaborating too much.  I tend to do that…  Anyway!  This is a really good movie.  It’s my favorite of Ginger’s (even though I’ve only seen three).  It’s on YouTube at the following address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyl9USrVk2I&feature=related