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Bringing Back the Bundling Board

Posted in BY THE WAY, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged Amish, courtship, Mennonite on June 12, 2010| 5 Comments »

So what exactly is a bundling board and why am I bringing it up now? Well first of all it came up quite innocently in a conversation over ice cream – I said over the ice cream not about the ice cream. One of our friends, Susan, did not know what it meant and when I hear that kind of response, I say to myself, “BLOG”.

Bundling boards were believed to have originated in the Netherlands or the Brittish Isles and were used as a form of courtship. The young couple would be able to be intimate but not sexually. They could talk through the night but no nooky. The practice was limited to the winter months; the boy usually spent the night at the girl’s residence where her parents would give them separate blankets and put the board between them. This courtship practice was more prevalent in New England and among the Amish people and the Mennonites. It was one way to stay warm through the long cold winter nights!

In later years, the practice of bundling was extended to visitors who needed to spend the night before their long return journey home. most households did not have guest rooms and so sharing a bed was the only solution. This practice remained alive well into the mid 19th Century.

There was also a commercial use of the bundling board – beds were scarce, travelers aplenty so depending on where you were in the country, you mi ght find yourself at an inn where you not only shared a room with several strangers, for an additional fee, you could rent half a bed, that is one with a bundling board of course.

This is a bundling board

: Bundle Up, Baby It’s Cold Inside!

An article in the Dec. 12, 1969, issue of Time magazine referred to a tongue-in-cheek effort to revive bundling by a so-called “Society to Bring Back Bundling.”

Due to the unexplainable popularity of this post, I did a follow-up blog with more history and research on the subject. Click on the link below to see the post.

“Bundle Up” – And it’s NOT cold outside?

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SPLICE is NOT NICE

Posted in BY THE WAY, From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books on June 8, 2010| 1 Comment »

We saw SPLICE tonight and unfortunately I arrived at theater without a clue about the subject matter. First clue: There was no line when we arrived. We were actually first in line and that was a first! Second Clue: SPLICE? What kind of title is that? My father was always splicing some wire into another wire. Third Clue: There was no line because there were hardly any SAG members in the theater. I must have missed the memo! Fourth Clue: The beginning credits were growing out of various forms of ectoplasm like the infamous Exorcist phrase “Help Me”.

And Adrien Brody – oh my!! From Academy Award Best Actor Winner to Biochemist Nerd Clive, subjugated spouse to a 21st Century Eve seductively leading Adam into the Garden of Good and Evil all in the name of research! Poor Clive is so p w that he not only finds himself doing the bidding of his ego-maniacal wife as they travel down the road of research way too far! Immoral, unethical, egotistical, self-aggrandizing and incestuous too!

Here’s a near spoiler-free synopsis (courtesy of Travis Saunders/The Lincoln Journal): A couple who have been romantically involved for some time are working on splicing DNA together to create other life forms. They create some kind of synthetic monster baby who resembles a human, and they name her Dren. The female scientist becomes attached to the creature in a motherly way, then chaos and horror ensues.

The scares are fulfilling most of the time, and sometimes the doomed mood is subtle. Dren’s sex appeal is quite disturbing, because she isn’t all human, which creates a few uncomfortable, yet terrifying, moments, especially in the creepy, yet ridiculous third act.

What really shines in Splice is the art direction and special effects. As far as horror goes, the settings are really creepy, even when they aren’t dark. Guillermo del Toro is the executive producer, and a lot of his films are known for their awe-inspiring creatures, and Splice is no different here.

Splice has its moments of greatness, but is held back by its lack of going far enough in the right direction, and going too far in the wrong direction. If you can stand to be seriously disturbed, and enjoy the horror / sci-fi genre, Splice may be something you could get into. Those who don’t like sexually disturbing themes may want to stay away.

I have to admit that the movie is hard to describe, difficult to analyze and as I sit here trying to formulate an intelligent review, I remind myself how many times I said to myself during the movie; “Stupid” . However, it did have a couple of themes to which it remained true: parenting while making questionable decisions as the core of the film being the loss of rationality and objectivity when dealing with one’s offspring and throwing in a fair amount of disturbing sexuality.

I’m no fan of Horror Movies, monsters especially those with elongated heads and one eye are not my idea of characters I want to care about. So I’m not sure I would recommend the movie, look I didn’t pay to see it…. it falls in middle ground, not a balls out monster flick and not exactly Raising Arizona either.

Sorry gang, I guess you’re on your own with this one, okay well not quite because I just tried to imagine encouraging someone to go see it and saying it out loud and all I could muster, was a hoarse whisper.

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Too Tired to Report SO….

Posted in Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged Flea Market, Jim and Susan, Ocean Grove on June 6, 2010| 1 Comment »

Yesterday was the much anticipated Flea Market in Ocean Grove. We contracted for a booth at the end of the winter and were anxiously awaiting the big day with HIGH hopes of selling a LOT of our stuff that has been stored in bins in our garage. Stuff from way back when, stuff from the Point Pleasant Antique Emporium and of course more stuff. Those of you who really know us, know what I’m talking about.

Last week I spent all day Tuesday pricing and repacking items in the several bins that now inhabited the living room of our tiny cottage. The forecast was not promising, showers were predicted – so we packed plastic sheets to cover the merchandise in case of a shower, brought along ponchos and counted on being able to duck into Jim and Susan’s tent if the rains came. We were fortunate enough to have Jim and Susan next to us – it’s good to have a friendly neighbor at an all day Flea Market.

We got up at the ungodly (for us) hour of 5:45am and took quick showers and began the tedious process of getting the “stuff” over to the Flea Market. First trip for Peter is to schlep 3 large very heavy tables and a bookcase to the spot. Then back again to the house to make a trip with the bins. Miraculously we got all the bins in the car and I went along on this trip to start to set up. Sounds like things are going according to Hoyle (so how many of you know what that phrase means?). We unloaded the bins and believe me it took both of us to carry some of them. Peter went back for a third trip and by the way it is now 7am and the official end of set up time. When I arrived at the site, I was both horrified and amazed because MOST of the vendors were already set up, tents up, merchandise out!!! Not an auspicious beginning for me. While Peter went back to get the two small tables we were going to sell and the wind-up Victrola which was meant to attract the crowds, I started to set up. What a freaking, yes a freaking nightmare. When I repacked on Tuesday I was sure I had put the items going in the bookcase in one bin, stuff for the tables in another and so on and so forth to make it easy to unpack. WHAT I didn’t do was remember where the tablecloths were so I could place the items out. So off to a very bad start and it only got worse as more and more people kept coming into the booth and of course they couldn’t move, there were bins open everywhere, newspaper all over and things just jumbled on the tables. You gotta get up MUCH earlier if you are going to attempt to do a flea market properly. So ALL of my OCD impulses were in full force – nothing was right, the items weren’t placed correctly (what is correctly in a flea market??) and many of the things Peter brought in at the last moment were not priced. This is living hell for someone like me!!

When I tell you that it was almost 10am before the booth really looked like a booth, I don’t think I’m exaggerating!! Meantime, while I’m scowling and cursing to myself, next door Susan is being the perfect salesperson; “Oh and that color is you” and she was selling sweaters like HOT CAKES (no pun intended) in the early morning heat. Little did we know that by noon we would be literally baking.

The sun shone brightly all day and the temperature rose into the 90’s! We had no shade, so we kept drinking water to stay hydrated. By noon, I had to walk home and get out of the clothes I was in because they were too tight, too dark and I was drenched. I left Peter in charge, walked slowly home due to the intense heat and the fact that both hips and my right knee were killing me. A quick cold shower and a change of clothes and I headed back. In order to be able to tolerate the heat, I had put on a halter top and Bermuda shorts which only succeeded in providing the scorching sun more flesh to cook.

It turned out to be a very LONG day and quite frankly, not all that profitable. The crowds seemed to be bottom fishing! It was so hot, nobody had any energy except the Italian Ice vendors and the fresh-squeezed lemonade vendors did a bang up business. By 4pm we were so wrung out from standing in the heat, that I could hardly pack up the “stuff” which I so dearly wanted to leave on the field and walk away. If it weren’t for Jim and Susan’s help we would have never gotten out of there. If it took 3 trips to bring it, it took 3 trips to get it back! We arrived home tired, dirty and not hungry and not richer enough to probably justify the effort BUT thankful to be home to take a shower – as Susan said, “There’s not enough soap to get me clean”.

Now that’s my rather pessimistic report of the day, but I know Susan and Jim had a good day – despite the heat, between her salesmanship and extremely low pricing, she managed to move a lot of “merch” as they say in the biz.

I took my camera along but had zero interest in taking any pictures not even of our booth. BUT…. my fellow blogger and experienced photographer and reporter, Paul has some super photos so please check out the link posted above this to see some colorful shots of an Ocean Grove Day. Please note that as I write this it is still HOT here – hence the scorching orange sun color ink lol.

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And Tuesday It POURED

Posted in Friends, Ha-P 2 B in OG, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged convertible, Susan and Jim, Wegman's on June 5, 2010| 2 Comments »

red convertible, raining, caught in the rain, top down, lawn furniture

Top Down and Caught in the Rain

Jim and Susan were lucky that they were near Wegman’s when the downpour started. They took refuge under the building canopy at the drive-up window for prescriptions. Talk about chagrined! Lawn furniture on its way back to the store because the style wasn’t right for their home after all and would only fit in the car if the top was down. Who knew it was going to rain??? Not to mention the automated voice asking them over and over again what was the number of the prescription they wanted to renew!!!

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Memorial Day Means Finley is Here!

Posted in Finley Ray, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged Bay Head on May 30, 2010| 2 Comments »

Well not exactly HERE but at least nearby on the Jersey Shore, so Chiara and Finny stopped by this morning to say hi! And then they hit the beach in Bay Head.

Bay Head, Jersey Shore, Finny, Finley Ray, beach, Memorial Day

What IS she thinking???

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Memorial Day Means…..

Posted in BY THE WAY, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged American Flag, Decoration Day, Indy 500, Memorial Day, Nagle's Ocean Grove on May 29, 2010| 3 Comments »

Memorial Day, Decoration Day, May 30th, American Flag, furled flag

Oh Say Can You See?

Memorial Day means American Flags will be flying high. In Ocean Grove many homes fly the Flag all year round and during the holiday, you can see bunting on porch rails, banners and multiple flags in all sizes in all places.

Memorial Day means small town parades, big city parades and decorated Veterans marching alongside fresh-faced Boy Scouts, vintage cars and high school bands.

Veteran, Memorial Day, parade, American holiday, Decoration Day

A Memorial Day Parade

Memorial Day means family gatherings, picnics and barbeques.

Family Guy

Memorial Day means going to the beach, or the pool or the lake.

Cannon Ball

All American Beach

Memorial Day means waiting in lines for ICE CREAM!

olde time apothecary, ice cream parlour, ice cream parlor, Ocean Grove, Nagle's

Nagle's Ice Cream

Memorial Day means the running of the Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500, speed race, nascar race, race cars, Indy, Memorial Day, 1911

The Indy 500

Memorial Day means…. well once upon a time, a long time ago, Memorial Day was a Federally designated holiday celebrated each year on May 30th. The first Memorial Day was May 30, 1868. General John Logan, the National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic proclaimed this holiday to honor the men and women of our country who died while in the service of United States. Memorial Day was formerly known as Decoration Day and was first called Memorial Day in 1882 and became more commonly known as such after World War ll and was officially declared a national holiday in 1967. In June of 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Act which changed the dates of three holiday and made them into 3 day weekends. This law moved Memorial Day from May 30th to the last Monday in May. The VFW and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War have opposed this change and in a 2002 in a Memorial Day Address stated the following: Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed a lot to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day^.Since 1987, Hawaii‘s Senator Daniel Inoue, a World War II veteran, has repeatedly introduced measures to return Memorial Day to its traditional date.

How will you be celebrating Memorial Day this year?

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Dark Legacy or Conspiracy Theory Wednesday

Posted in BY THE WAY, tagged Colin McEnroe, JFK, Kennedy Assassination, The Dark Legacy on May 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

It could be shades of Colin McEnroe who used to espouse a conspiracy theory every Wednesday on his radio talk show in Hartford CT, many years ago. Still the information did come to us through a radio show, this time WBAI, a listener supported Public Radio station.

Will we ever REALLY know the truth about the Kennedy Assassination? There isn’t a Baby Boomer alive that can’t tell you to the minute what they were doing and where they were when the news that our president, John F. Kennedy had been shot. One man on a mission? Not likely! The alleged assassin assassinated by a outraged and patriotic strip club owner??? WE KNOW this is just not the whole truth BUT no one has ever been able to prove otherwise.

They HAD to stop the bleeding, the nation was reeling, shocked beyond belief which meant we were apt to believe anything – at least for awhile. So we were told that a very special holy ordained group of wise men would look into this event and explain once and for all what really happened – Voila! The Warren Commission.

This from Wikipedia: The ten-month investigation of the Warren Commission of 1963–1964, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) of 1976–1979, and other government investigations concluded that the President was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, who was murdered by Jack Ruby before he could stand trial. This conclusion was initially met with support among the American public, however polls conducted from 1966 to 2004 concluded approximately 80% of the American public have held beliefs contrary to these findings.^[1]^[2] The assassination is still the subject of widespread debate and has spawned numerous conspiracy theories and alternative scenarios. In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) found both the original FBI investigation and the Warren Commission Report to be seriously flawed. The HSCA also concluded that there were at least four shots fired, that there was a “high probability” that two gunmen fired at the President, and that it was probable that a conspiracy existed.^[3] Later studies, including one by the National Academy of Sciences,^[4] have called into question the accuracy of the evidence used by the HSCA to support its finding of four shots.

Then a plethora of books followed:

Josiah Thompson — Six Seconds in Dallas
Priscilla McMillan — Marina and Lee
Jean Davison — Oswald’s Game
David Lifton — Best Evidence

Crossfire
Jim Marrs. The virtue of this volume is its comprehensiveness. Marrs seems never to have met a crackpot witness he didn’t believe nor run across a conspiracy factoid he didn’t accept. You’ll get the full case for “conspiracy” here, the good, the bad, and the downright wacky.

Case Closed
Gerald Posner. A comprehensive “lone assassin” synthesis, and massive debunking of conspiracy factoids. Its real strength is a compelling portrait of Lee Harvey Oswald the man.

The Killing of a President
Robert Groden. The text is a mish-mash of conspiracy factoids, but the pictures are a treasure in this large-format volume.

High Treason
Harrison Livingstone and Robert Groden. A good introduction to the conspiracy view of the medical evidence, and much more besides. Rife with inaccuracies and wacky assertions, but fascinating too.

False Witness
Patricia Lambert. The definitive debunking of the Garrison investigation, based on the full documentary record (much of it recently released) and extensive witness interviews. Shows the real Jim Garrison.

Pictures of the Pain
Richard Trask. Nominally only deals with the photographers who photographed the assassination and aftermath, and their photos. In reality a detailed, accurate, and compelling account of what happened “on the ground” in Dallas and especially in Dealey Plaza that day.

And then in 1991 when those of us who were teenagers when JFK was killed and were now in their mid-forties and were presumably more intelligent, more endowed with logical reasoning – Oliver Stone releases JFK. A movie part fact, part speculation and part opinion (Garrison’s and Stone’s) – AND we loved it! Someone finally came along and confirmed our long buried but not forgotten suspicions. NOT that the books or at least some of them didn’t also put forward the conspiracy theory, BUT this was in cinematographic panavision!

Fast Forward to 2008 and George Bush and the murder of John F. Kennedy The Dark Legacy, directed by John Hankey. What new revelations await us? I am sooooo intrigued by the title with its implication that George Bush was, may have, might have been involved. I understand there might be some Skull & Crossbones involvement too!!!

Check back in the future for an unbiased review!!!!

JFK, Kennedy Assassination, Warren Commission, Dallas, John Hankey, George Bush, Oliver Stone, conspiracy theory, Garrison,

The Dark Legacy

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The Legend Begins Here-Robin Hood

Posted in BY THE WAY, tagged Cate Blanchette, Errol Flynn, Maid Marian, Ridley Scott, Robin Hood, Russell Crowe on May 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I‘m going on record saying I LOVED watching Ridley Scott’s production of ROBIN HOOD starring RUSSELL CROWE. However, I seem to be in the minority of film reviewers – but then again, I’m NOT a film reviewer, just an opinionated amateur.

Robin Hood, Sherwood Forest, Nottingham, Russell Crowe, archery, crusade, knight, Robin Longstride

Russell Crowe - Robin Hood

So here’s what They said; New York magazine: Scott’s Robin Hood is a pompous, interminable hash. New Yorker magazine: What do you get if you mix “Gladiator,” “The Return of Martin Guerre,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Elizabeth,” “Troy,” “The Seventh Seal,” and a hundred buckets of mud? The answer is “Robin Hood”—the latest version, that is, directed by Ridley Scott. Anthony Lane neither applauds or derides the movie, his review is more of a plot synopsis.
Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2010/05/24/100524crci_cinema_lane#ixzz0oVdwXti0

Slash Film: How does a good idea become a terrible movie? That’s the perennial question in Hollywood, where the intersection of creative ideas, business sense and big egos can so easily produce something very different from what was originally intended. That seems to have been the case with Robin Hood, which was originally meant to be based on a hot screenplay by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris called Nottingham. Then Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott came along and everything changed. Eventually the result was a film that stands at less than %50 Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and was beat by Iron Man 2 in that film’s second weekend. So what happened? Cinematical: The results are in for the weekend box-office, and Tony Stark has officially delivered a beat-down to Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. Everything seemed to be in place, you had two Academy award winners, a great figure from popular myth, and origin-story fever in full swing. But, so far the flick has only earned so-so reviews and unfortunately, even more bad press for Crowe. Collective Review, Nicholas Deigman: The acting is average; but when the acting is ‘average’ in a film with a cast like this, you know something is wrong. Poor performances have become a Ridley Scott trope as he tumbles into his winter years. He seems to have grown tired – or scared – of the questioning glances of his desperately confused actors; preferring instead to fawn over the stuntmen and choreographers that will garner him praise for his mastery of ‘action sequences’. The cast is enviable, and every one of them wasted. News in Film, Jeff Leins: Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood is an unnecessary entry to the lore, going to great lengths to uncover the man behind the myth by ignoring much of the beloved legend that has endured for centuries. Masquerading behind a traditional title, this contemporary remake robs from a rich history and gives only a poor origin story in return.

BUT ENOUGH OF “THEM”

The movie is NOT your usual depiction of the legend that has become Robin Hood and his Merry Men stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. OKAY so??? Why would a director like Ridley Scott just redo what has already been done and re-done again? This is meant to be a prequel, a story of how Robin Longstride becomes Robin Hood. I think the problem so many people have with it is that up to this point our image of Robin Hood is somewhere between Peter Pan and Zorro. He is the good guy and the Sheriff of Nottingham is the bad guy….but that has been played out so much it’s taken on the aura of The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. And most of the prior incarnations of this legend have Robin Hood, lithe, lean and dressed in green! NOT so in this version and thank God! I’ve seen the giggling, leaping and posing Errol Flynn and I’ll take Russell’s brooding, dark and powerful Robin Hood any day. I’m not even a big Russell Crowe fan BUT ladies, he is reeking animal magnetism under that chain mail!!! Sexy – YES!

Much has been said about the casting of Cate Blanchette as the fair Maid Marian. She is not fair and she is not Olivia de Haviland and again thank God because Olivia would probably not find the brutish, sweating and downright dirty Russell would not appeal to her more delicate sensitivities. While Cate is SO real woman, so 12th Century and the scene of her washing the mud off her feet is perfect. The chemistry between them is palpable and yet demure because she is after all, a lady.

The film is full of blood and gore and mud – lots of mud! A lot of action, long fight scenes that have been artfully edited as they were in Gladiator. And some great actor portraying some pretty nasty characters. This just isn’t a happy go lucky band of mandolin players and archers who are really anarchists led by a prancing, dancing Jolly Green Good Guy. Thank God! Thank Ridley Scott and thank you Russell for managing to bring your rough, angry man, all man film persona to this character. Oh and by the way, the archery scenes are great BUT the arrows shot forth from Robin Hood’s bow make you just quiver – PUN INTENED!

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