What's My Line?

Random people have posted many, many episodes of What's My Line? on YouTube. I've seen several of them. Suprisingly, most of them are pretty dull. One person's, however, stands out:



I will be the first to say Elizabeth Taylor is not one of my favorite actresses. But she is such a movie star. She looks gorgeous, she's dressed divinely, she's hilarious, and she does some of her best acting. If that video won't make you a fan, I don't know what could.

Miss Behavior by Bernice Bryant (1948)

I cam across this little book in a used book store called Chipola River Book and Tea. It's one of those old-fashioned beauty guides out to tell you the secrets of "poise, beauty, and charm," in this case for the teenage girl. It's an amusing read, sometimes informative, a bit inspiring, and kind of funny.

It has one big, irritating fault. It is obvious from the title. Can you guess? It's the puns. Lord, the puns are enough to drive the most sane person absolutely out of their head! The whole book is full of examples about "Bob" and "Sue" and all that sort of thing, and the chapter where Ginger gives all her friends clothing advice...well, I never knew it was possible to snap good-naturedly. Because that's what Ginger does. If she has something to say, she snaps. Every. Single. Time. Then the chapter about being a "nice girl" has to be called "Vice, Vice, Versa."  Even the characters laugh at their own puns. And oddly, Ms. Bryant suggests to her teen readers not to overuse slang.

In terms of advice, this book is the same as most of the other books on the subject, without much new information. My favorite chapter is the one about making over clothes because it gives some interesting, unique examples, not the usual stuff. But this book certainly has one distinctive feature. In spite of being rather sexist, it is decidedly not racist. In fact, it states that all people are equal regardless of race or ethnicity. Quite a refreshing thing to hear from such an old book.

Rating: 7/10

Dedicated to Millie: The Post a Day Project

 Millie has been after me to start posting more and, as I always say, a post a day keeps her temper at bay. So, I have decided that for the next three weeks, I shall post every single day. Even if it kills me, which is not that unlikely, considering the rate my brain is used to thinking up post-worthy material. But it really shouldn't be that difficult because I'll be on vacation these next three weeks--but if I miss a day, you'll get two posts the next day, guaranteed. But if I can't stick to this now, there will never be a more ideal time. Another advantage of doing this now is that my brother, the dear, dear boy who hacked into my Facebook and changed my name to "Ratso", will be taking a trip without a computer. He will therefore be unable to glance at my blog, cackle like a hyena, and send people in my family emails with links to it saying, "look wut weezul does online !!" It does get a bit tiresome after a while. Oh, I will miss him dreadfully.

This post is dedicated to Millie for a reason other than that her nagging pleasant encouragement is the cause of it. She has got to be the world's sweetest advertiser! She even did a post about my last post! (Thank you!) I mean, what have I ever done for her that was half so nice, except get into an argument with her about James Dean and threaten to steal her husband? Honestly, why is she even still speaking to me?? Ah, the mystery that is Millie. I must emphatically state, however, that this post is dedicated to her in spite of and not because of her recent comments about my upcoming marriage to Jimmy Dean. Don't lose too much sleep over insulting me though, Millie. I understand what jealousy can do, and you never could keep your mouth shut, could you?

To add something a little more useful to this post, I feel like changing the blog header, but you since you all read the blog, you can vote on it this time. Now, some of these options are not definite, as in they may have to be tweaked slightly to fit and that sort of thing, but I will say the final header shall at least bear a great resemblance to the winning photo.

The Contestants:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

You have three weeks to vote on the poll!

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

I saw this movie on YouTube today. Praise YouTube! This has got to be one of the most amazing movies ever, one I never would have gotten the opportunity to see otherwise. It is also helped by the fact that I have fallen madly in love with Dana Andrews. Oh, if only Miss Vintage were back up so that I could divorce that tiresome Paul Newman and work on stealing Dana away from Millie. It shall be so difficult otherwise.

As I suppose I have made obvious, I think the best part of TBYOOL was Dana Andrews, by far. He creates a sympathetic character out of somebody who does things that society frowns upon. He's the type of person that makes me think I would do exactly the same thing if I were him. Teresa Wright, too, but she was a little too stuffy in my opinion. She looked way less uptight in Shadow of a Doubt.

For some reason, today I cannot make myself write a proper review. I have hardly anything to say about this movie except that it's wonderful and Dana Andrews is devastating. Maybe it's because I had an English literature exam today, which really kills one's desire to write, but my mind is absolutely blank when it comes to intellectual things to say...about anything. I did, however, like the title. It implies that the best years of the veterans lives are not actually behind them, that their readjustment only paves the way for better things ahead. At least, I took it that way because of that line out of a Brad Paisley song that goes, "These are nowhere near the best years of your life." My interpretation is definitely colored.

And something else I just can't believe is that the average rating of TBYOOL by girls under eighteen on IMDB was 3 out of ten. It's absolutely mind-boggling that there are so many morons out there, so many blind morons that didn't take one look at Dana Andrews and think, "Ten! Ten! Ten!" I can understand not liking it, but a three??? What the heck??

Harley's 19!!

Today, January 17th, is Harley's birthday. In case you do not know Harley, I shall try to correct this situation immediately. Her blog is called Dreaming in Black and White, and it's one of the better "young people" classic movie blogs out there. But enough about that. I just want to wish Harley a very happy birthday! So happy birthday! She's really a doll.

Harley, the best birthday present I can give to you is a picspam of your new favorite actress, Gene Tierney. Not much of a present because I'll probably enjoy it more than anybody. But anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday :)

Happy New Decade!

Not only is it a new year, it is a new decade. Now that is something worth celebrating! One year may be very similar to the one before it, but no two decades have had the same atmosphere--as anybody who has been annoyed by someone telling them every vintage style is from the 1950s can attest to. My first new decade's resolution is to stop being lazy etc. which includes not procrastinating. This post is being published only nine days after I intended it to be! Is that a great start or what?

No, no, no don't answer that question. My real purpose is not to put my new decade's resolutions up against my actual behavior. I thought it would be a nice change to do resolutions for the world in general, not because that way I don't have to do them--it is a plus though--but just for the fun of it. Dear World, please take the following resolutions to heart. Please resolve to:

1. Stop blowing parts of yourself up. I don't understand your logic in doing this. When I'm bothered by parts of myself, I do not take the stance that attacking said parts will scare them into feeling better. I suggest you try a similar approach.
   
2. Not end in 2012. I'm not worried about this one because even if the Mayans turn out to have been crafty devils, I will at least have graduated from high school already, but the new decade will be a let down if it only lasts two years.
3. Put classic movies back in theaters. There are of course film festivals everywhere, but it would be nice if there were just theaters in every city that played only old films.
4. Start dancing properly. As in, the people in you. Making people learn a necessary social skill like ballroom dancing would probably raise their IQ a couple points. I think we could all do with that.
5. Give up the political correctness crusade. It's irritating.
6. Educate yourself about the differences between "overweight" and "curves."
7.  Have some more fun.
8. Get me some more followers. Just saying. I mean I would appreciate it.

World, you have ten years, starting right now. The nine days you've missed already are my own fault.


What are your new decade's resolutions?