Kindred spirits are not so scarce

Momma just got home from "Betsy's Ray of Sunshine."

Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

The Maud Hart Lovelace online discussion list (Maud-L Listserv) is an electronic mail discussion group focusing on all things Betsy-Tacy as well as conversations of more general interest. 

Momma discovered the Maud-L Listserve many years ago and was instantly hooked..

She loves these old descriptions she found online.

According to Sharyn November,

The Maudlist is one of the best listservs I've seen -- more like a kaffeeklatsch than anything else. Yes, we talk about the books, but we also exchange life stories and recipes and jokes and mutual support. In fact, I even stayed with Carla Kozak when I went on vacation -- and no, I had never met her before. Maudvibes are sent when people are worried and blue, and they work! Trust me.

According to Julie Chuba,

I really enjoy all the little pieces of people's lives--little anecdotes, memories, traditions, different things people notice about books or stories I've read, etc. It's so much fun to hear about them, even though it may not have much to do with Maud Hart Lovelace or Betsy-Tacy. Becky's yummy-sounding meals, Katie's 4th of July, learning about Alice Austen from Diane, Poe's songs of the day, strange names (Dick Trickle finished me), Marsha Q.'s valiant attempts to keep on us on Betsy track, finding out about new books and movies and music--it's just a day brightener for me! I feel as though I a know a bit about a lot of you. Even though we probably have very dissimilar tastes and opinions and lifestyles, it's kind of fun to "get together" this way.

The members get together periodically to actually meet, eat, and explore the country. Betsy's Ray of Sunshine was scheduled from Friday, March 7 through Sunday, March 9, BUT the house party was still going strong when Momma came home to spend time with my Big Sister.

Events included: Happy Hour at Camelback Inn (great view of Camelback Mountain); antiquing in Glendale; desert walks/hikes; Phoenix Art Museum; a desert picnic at The Farm at South Mountain; talking/laughing/games/reading/whatever!

So, are you a Kindred Spirit? 


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King for a day

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on Jan. 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Ga., where he was raised. (I was surprised to discover that King sang with his church choir at the 1939 Atlanta premiere of the movie Gone with the Wind.)

King is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using the nonviolent methods of Mahatma Gandhi. King has become a national icon in the history of modern American liberalism.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986 which is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of King's birthday, Jan. 15.

The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed on Jan. 20, 1986. At first, some states (including Arizona) resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays.

It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

Almighty God, by the hand of Moses your servant you led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last: Grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

It's curtains for you

"Great balls of fire! They're my portieres now! I'm going to Atlanta for that $300, and I've got to go looking like a queen."

Thankfully, most of My Faithful Readers seem to be familiar with Gone With the Wind.

But some of you seem to be unfamiliar with Carol Burnett's classic parody, Went With the Wind.

In GWTW, both the book and the movie, Scarlett plans to go to Atlanta to get $300 from Rhett Butler to pay the taxes on Tara. To impress him, she needs a new dress and makes one from her mother's portieres.

Incidentally, according to Wikipedia, a portière is a hanging placed over a door or over the doorless entrance to a room. Its name is derived from the French word for door, porte.

In Margaret Mitchell's novel, Gone with the Wind, the protagonist Scarlett O'Hara makes a new dress from her mother's green velvet portieres. Although the term is used incorrectly in the movie; the characters are talking about green velvet window curtains while portieres are so named because they hang in doorways. (The scene was famously parodied on The Carol Burnett Show when Carol Burnett, playing the role of Scarlett, wore not only the fabric but the curtain rod as well.)

In WWTW, Starlett needs to get $300 from Ratt Butler to pay the taxes on Terra. She also makes a dress from her mother's drapes.

The 1939 movie GWTW made its broadcast TV debut on Nov. 7-8, 1976 in two parts on NBC. Burnett's 18-minute parody WWTW aired Nov. 13, 1976 on CBS.

Carol Burnett later said the audience laughed for more than 10 minutes (a show record) when she first appeared and they had to stop taping until the audience settled down.

Burnett's dress is now in the Smithsonian. From Smithsonian.com on May 14, 2009:

Like Miss Starlett, the Smithsonian saw that Bob Mackie dress in the window and couldn’t resist it. That’s right, folks, the curtain rod dress now honors the hallowed halls of the Smithsonian as a part of the American History Museum’s Kennedy Center Honors collection. And that’s hardly something to fiddle dee dee about. Not only is the dress representative of Mackie’s decadently innovative designs, it’s a monument to the art of parody and the golden age of American comedy. No word yet on if and when it will go on public display, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted. Because, frankly, we give a damn.

I guess I'll have to go back to Washington, D.C. Again.

In the meantime, look for Went with the Wind on YouTube (Part One and Part Two).

Why did I want this? Well, I am all about alternative history. While I can appreciate the literary merit of GWTW (the book) and like the movie, certain, um, shall we say "glorified perspectives" set my vinyl teeth on edge. Besides I liked the green velvet and the curtain rod made me think of military epaulettes. 

But, I ask you, who looks better? Me or that Scarlett woman?

Went with the wind

I now completely understand why Carol Burnett said in a 2007 interview,

"When we were doing the Gone with the Wind take-off, it had originally been written that Starlet would come down the stairs with just the draperies hanging (off her). I went into the costume fitting on that Wednesday, and (fashion designer Bob Mackie) said, 'I have an idea.' He picked up the curtain rod with the dress on it, and I fell on the floor. I said, 'This is one of the most brilliant ideas anybody has ever come up with.' It was one of the longest laughs we’ve ever had on the show. You can see me kind of biting the inside of my cheek, trying not to laugh, before I could say, 'I saw it in the window, and I just couldn’t resist it.'"

Look for Went with the Wind online, especially YouTube (Part One and Part Two). It's hilarious. 

Oh, and you'll probably never see me in pink again.

It is so not my thing.

Green velvet, however....

Thanks Terrie!

I don't know nothin' 'bout restorin' dresses

http://terriespot.blogspot.com/

I was reading an interesting, but sad, article about how five of the dresses from Gone With the Wind are being restored and wished I had the talent to do that.

I got to thinking about Carol Burnett's classic spoof, Went With the Wind, and found this Blast from the past!

Add a brass curtain rod and I am all over that look!!