Very glad I followed the recommendation of a commenter to an article about Quincy Jones and read this autobiography. I settled with my iPad and read it as an e-book before bed every night, spellbound by the life this man led. He worked with everybody! I learned so much, not just about him, but about music and music history, ranging from classical composers to hip hop.
He had his demons and made mistakes, never quite escaping the damage of a tough childhood, but he remained full of love for his work and the world, along with his family, friends, and fellow artists. You know a man’s special when he had several children by several wives, and he and the kids loved each other unconditionally, and the wives spoke kindly and lovingly of him even when their relationships ended. No telling how many lives he impacted during his 91 years. I finished the book last night. Rest in peace, Mr. Jones.
After I ran errands this morning, I found a good way to make myself feel better about things while I color: play old music I can sing along to. Not the kind of music I normally listen to, but music that takes me back to times when I was really just the daughter of two, and the kid sister of two. For example, Saturday mornings when we cleaned house, my mother would stack albums on the stereo. They’d be her favorites, mixed with some of Debby’s favorites to sing along to, and some of my favorites, too. That’s how today, while I colored, I ended up on YouTube listening and singing along to many songs by Andy Williams, the Righteous Brothers, Tom Jones, Patsy Cline, and Hank Williams Sr. while I colored.
I’d forgotten how singing is a great mood lifter. That’s true even though I’m not much of a singer (Debby is and Mother was). Luckily, nobody’s hearing me but the dogs; Tom’s been in and out of the house a lot so far today.
This is the book I was coloring from. I’ll share those I’ve finished as part of my Sunday Sundries post tomorrow. I did my first from this book in 2020, and I haven’t removed any of them to put in my sketchbook. I’ll explain why in tomorrow’s post. A unicorn’s always worth the wait.
When listening to YouTube today, I made a discovery. My parents had an album of instrumentals that included an English clarinetist, Acker Bilk. For all I know, the entire album was Acker Bilk. My father’s favorite from the album was Bilk’s rendition of “Stranger On The Shore” (England’s biggest selling single of 1962). For the first time, today I heard the lyrics. The words are so sad, maybe because as I listened, one of my characters came to mind, and it broke my heart for her. Then, as I pondered how to work it in as a reference in book seven (the current work in progress), I realized it’s even more heartbreaking for a different character in the series that would follow the Neverending Saga (should I ever actually complete the NS). I’m WAY too hard on my characters, and consequently on myself, sometimes. But as one of her mentors, who may have gotten it from Robert Frost, once told Marika, No writer tears, no reader tears!
Here’s the song with an orchestra and Andy Williams singing the lyrics:
And the instrumental version with Mr. Bilk and his clarinet:
A new smaller skeleton joined the pack at Houndstooth Hall: young Ambrose’s twin sister Amarise (whatever century some variety of plague occurred was hard on this family). Here’s a photo from her first appearance on Instagram, wearing a “Who The Hell Is Ben Cote?” button that I let her claim because, as Lord Cuttlebone explains, “Never come between a girl and her devotion to a guitarist, songwriter, performer, and possessor of great hair.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. For more of my Instagram skeleton Halloween homages to music artists, check behind the cut.
Dramatized from real historical events, in 1997’s Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown, after Queen Victoria’s beloved husband Prince Albert dies, she goes into seclusion at Windsor Palace. The nation, Parliament, her court, and her family all want her to come out of mourning. Her staff suggests that the Scotsman John Brown, stable master, a favorite servant of her late husband, come from Scotland to ease her back into life. They regret it when a deep bond develops between the queen and the headstrong, opinionated Mr. Brown. The relationship brings upheaval to the palace and scandal to the country. I’d never seen this movie, and I loved it. Judi Dench can’t go wrong, and Billy Connolly, musician, comedian, and actor, is well cast. A great movie for an Anglophile like me.
I first saw 1995’s Restoration in Montrose’s River Oaks Theater. I’m not sure if I’d heard good things about it, or whether I went alone or with someone, but the movie mesmerized me and I’ve never forgotten it. It stars Robert Downey Jr. as Merivel, a seventeenth century medical student, who only reluctantly uses his gifts because he’s more interested in a life of debauchery and a place in the royal court. There’s a great supporting cast: Sam Neill as the king; Polly Walker as Celia, favorite mistress of the king and object of Merivel’s obsession; David Thewlis as Pearce, another doctor who recognizes Merivel’s skills and urges him to keep studying and practicing medicine; Meg Ryan as the tragic Katherine who helps Merivel find his humanity when he’s banished from the royal court; Ian McKellen as Will Gates, who does his best to take care of Merivel, and so many more. Oh–Hugh Grant plays a portraitist, because what’s a British movie without Hugh Grant? If you like historical movies with lots of costumes and scenery, this is a good one.
1994’s Tom & Viv is a really sad movie, but I’m glad I watched it. It’s based on American poet T.S. Eliot (who became a British citizen) played by Willem Defoe, and Eliot’s first wife, Vivienne Haigh-Wood, played by Miranda Richardson. Both are heartbreaking in their roles, but Rosemary Harris playing Vivienne’s mother Rose became my favorite character in the movie. (She also played the grandmother in My Life So Far, and was one of my favorites in that film, too.) Both Tom and Vivienne struggle with a variety of physical and emotional illnesses. It’s not a happy film, and it shows how abysmal medical care was for women during the timeframe of the movie (1914 to 1947) (though as Miranda Richards points out in an interview, some things haven’t changed). Maybe not an easy watch, but if you like biographies, turn-of-the-century films, or stories about literary figures, this is good–just very sad.
Last one is 1999’s An Ideal Husband. Some of the reviews for this one are less than enthusiastic, but I’m not a critic, and I was grateful for the levity of characters at cross-purposes after watching Tom & Viv. An Ideal Husband is set in London in 1895 and adapted from Oscar Wilde’s play of the same name. Rupert Everett shines as determined bachelor Lord Goring; Julianne Moore plays the treacherous Mrs. Cheveley, who causes all kinds of problems; Jeremy Northam plays Sir Robert, an ethical man with a threatening secret from his past he’s trying to keep from his upright wife, Gertrude, played by Cate Blanchett; and Minnie Driver, who plays Sir Robert’s younger sister Mabel. Some of my favorite performances came from Peter Vaughn as Phipps, Lord Goring’s manservant, and from John Wood, who plays Lord Goring’s father Lord Caversham with great, fractious dialogue between the two.
Today, I went back to the source of wee Becky’s love for romantic comedies: Miss Doris Day. I wasn’t born or was too young for her early career, but I had a mother who liked to watch old movies with me on the weekends. Though I came to her late, Doris Day movies became favorites. I think I found this collection last year-ish in Target or somewhere similar. Naturally, I grabbed it. Not all of the six films are romantic comedies, but they all have Miss Day and her great leading men.
The fashion in 1959’s Pillow Talk adds to my enjoyment of this movie. I REALLY love Doris Day and Rock Hudson (playing composer Brad Allen and his alter-ego “Rex Stetson”) together, and wardrobe did right by them. I’ve never opened my Pillow Talk doll set by Mattel because I want to keep everything pristine. This certainly wasn’t the way I started out with dolls after Neighbor Nancy gave me her Barbie collection when I was around nine. I played with every outfit that came from Nancy, and my mother added to the Barbie couture as she could, whether she sewed doll clothes, bought off-brand doll fashion, or sprung for Mattel outfits.
