Hooray for Bollywood!!! Watch "Jab We Met"

Some of my favorite types of movies to watch are Bollywood movies. These are movies made in India. My neighbor Usha, first introduced me to them when she learned I liked foreign movies and she brought over a couple of her favorites. Then came Bride and Prejudice, which was an Indian version of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and I became completely hooked.

If you love musicals with amazing costumes then you will love Bollywood movies. I recently found out that on IFC channel, every Sunday morning they show a Bollywood movie. The few I have been able to watch have been entertaining. It is so funny that even in a violent, bloody movie they can break into a musical number. I usually fast forward through the movies just to get to the music if I am not interested in the story, and then maybe I will go back and watch the movie. It takes more time since they are sub-titled. I usually watch movies when I am working, cleaning, cooking or ironing, but that is not possible with sub-titles.

Anyway, 3-4 weeks ago I DVR-ed one and I just got around to watching it this week and it was WONDERFUL. It is almost blasphemous to say I loved it more that Bride… , but I did. It is called Jab We Met (2007). Now since I don’t speak Indian, or Punjabi, or whatever dialect the movie was in, I don’t know what “Jab” means but the movie was so much fun! What was really funny is the sub-titles because sometimes they make no sense and you wonder who was the translator.

It is a romantic comedy about an adventurous, bubbly, crazy (in a fun way), girl (Geet), who is running away to elope with the love of her life (Anshuman), and on the train she runs into a rich young business man (Aditya), that is completely despondent and just wandering not knowing where he is going. Through misadventures, missing trains, “borrowing cars” to catch missed trains etc., she gets him out of the depression he is in and he learns a new “philosophy” to life. He eventually gets her to the man she is trying to elope with and by now, he is in love with her and being very scatter brained she doesn’t realize it. That is only the first half of the movie so there are other twists and turns and about every 20 minutes is a colorful, and great musical number.

Kareena Kapoor ... Geet Dhillon

I don’t do Net Flix but if they have Bollywood movies and you have time to sit and watch a movie I highly recommend this one for a fun time. I rated it a 9 out 10 on IMDB when I rated it, that is how much I loved it. Now I just re-watch the musical numbers because they are so fun!

Shahid Kapur ... Aditya Kashyap

The actor that played Aditya was handsome and the Actor that played Geet was stunningly beautiful. She won multiple “best actor” awards for this role. Both could sing and dance really well. Let me know if you have seen it and if you know what “Jab” means.

Here is my favorite musical number in the movie for you to get a taste of the fun.  ENJOY!!!

It's Like Being Read To By Mr. Darcy or John Thronton!

My friend Susan found an amazing web-site and she shared it with me.  As you probably know I love English Literature.  On this site you have the treat of having 3 actors read excerpts from books, some familiar and some not (at least there were some I hadn't heard of).  The first I listened to was Greg Wise reading the section of Persuasion where Captain Wentworth writes the letter to Anne Elliot...my heart skips a beat just thinking about it.  He reads it beautifully and I was in heaven for 15 minutes as he read.  Then I went to his reading of Elizabeth Gaskell's  North and South where John Thornton is proposing marriage to Margaret Hale...sigh...again, I am transported to Milton for 15 or so minutes. 

The other 2 readers on the site are Dominic West (A Midsummer Night's Dream), and Dan Stevens,  (Edward Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility). 

Dominic West chose Pride and Prejudice as one of his selections that he reads from.  It is the part where Mr. Darcy visits Elizabeth Bennet at the Collin's cottage in Hunsford...you know the part I mean...Sigh, swoon...and sigh again.  Most of his selections were from books I was not familiar with. 

Now Dan Stevens, I had to watch his eyes as he read his selection from Great Expectations.  Again, beautifully read, but that is the only book in his selections that I had already read and most of them I was not familiar with, but, my dad has warned me about Madame Bovary. 

If you have a few minutes here and there to indulge in hearing really good actors reading, I recommend you check out this site: 
http://www.cartenoire.co.uk/index.php

It is so good you may want a cup of coffee with you as you listen, since that is what the site is really selling... or be prepared with a cup of hot cocoa, if you prefer while you listen.  Be prepared to sigh and swoon of you are of the female persuasion!

The Public Has Demanded It!!! Here is my Doughnut and Root Beer Recipe

As I mentioned in my last post, we have the tradition to make homemade doughnuts and dry ice root beer every Halloween for friends, neighbors, and anyone who wants, that stop by while out trick-or-treating. I have had many requests for the recipes so here they are!

Spudnut Doughnuts
1 pound russet potatoes peeled and quartered
1 packages active dry yeast
1 ½ c warm milk (110 to 115 degrees)
½ c vegetable oil
½ c sugar
2 eggs
1 t salt
7 ½ cup all-purpose flour
Oil for deep-fat frying
2 c confectioners sugar
5 1/3 T butter
1/3 c hot water
½ t vanilla extract

Place potatoes in a sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil: cook until tender. Drain reserving ½ c cooking water: Cool to 110-115 degrees. Discard remaining cooking water. Mash potatoes WITHOUT ADDING ANYTHING TO THEM!!
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in reserved potato water. Add mashed potatoes, milk, oil, sugar, eggs, and salt. Add enough flour to form a soft dough. Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Punch dough down. Divide into 2 or 3 sections and roll out one at a time on a floured surface to ½ thickness. Cut with a doughnut cutter. Set cut out doughnuts onto a flour surface a let rise for another 30-45 minutes. In an electric skillet or deep fat fryer, heat oil to 375 degrees. Fry doughnuts, a few at a time until golden brown. Remove and let drain a few minutes before glazing.
For glaze, combine powdered sugar, butter, water, and vanilla in a bowl. Dip warm doughnuts into galze and let cool in wire rack. Yield: 4 dozen

Dry Ice Root Beer

5 lbs sugar
5 lbs. dry ice
1 bottle root beer extract (5 oz)
5 gallons water
Mix sugar, extract and water in a large container. Add dry ice 30 minutes before wanting to drink.

Easy Peasy!!!  Hope you enjoy the recipes!  For our night I make 4 batches of the doughnuts.  You want to eat them that night because they just don't taste good the next day for some reason!

My "Happy Halloween" Movie list...

I LOVE Halloween!!!  We have the tradition of making homemade root beer and homemade doughnuts for any friends and family that come by.  But while I am preparing for the nights fun, here are a list of my favorite Halloween movies.

The first on the list each year is of course a Cary Grant movie.  "Arsenic and Old Lace" is such a classic and it has comedy, suspense, murder, romance... it has it all!

Then we have to go to "Meet me in St Louis".  I know it covers a whole year in the lives of the Smith family but the scene at Halloween when Agnus and Tootie go to do tricks is a classic and takes you back to how the holiday used to be spent. 

By now I am ready for a little Hugh Jackman... in "Van Helsing".  It is just a fun movie!

Then for something even sillier, "Hocus Pocus". 

By now the dough is ready, the glaze is ready, the rootbeer is ready for the dry ice to be added and I put in a movie the older grandkids may be able to watch this year.  It is not one for young kids but it is a good one;  "Monster House".

Then if I haven't watched it too many times, I will always have to fit in

"It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"

Have a great Halloween and if you are in the area, stop by for doughnuts and root beer!

Goodbye to the Grand Old Party!

UGH!!!! I can officially say I am no longer a Republican. I have had it with both Political parties and I am now a Conservative.

I will support Conservatives no matter what party they belong to. I will no longer donate to the Republican Party but will donate to candidates or causes that support the Conservative values. If an election is held and there is no Conservative alternative, I suppose I will vote for the lesser of two evils but I am tired of compromising my ideals for political parties that don’t represent me. If there is a third choice of a Conservative I will do all I can to help that candidate. I am not a 1 issue voter but I will weigh all the issues and then decide who is the most Conservative. I think the Republican Party should be re-made as the Conservative party and all the “moderates” can move to the other party since the liberals have taken it over. There needs to be a clear distinction between the two, and as of right now, the line is too fuzzy. Until that happens, I will not be labled a "Republican".

Thank you ….the rant is now over!

It Is A Mystery--Where Did This CS Lewis Quote Come From?

I recently saw a quote that was credited to CS Lewis and being a HUGE admirer of his work I wanted to find the context of the quote and read more of his thoughts on the subject.  Here is the quote I saw:

The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career. " — C.S. Lewis

Great quote right????  Now don't you want to also know the context of the quote?  Well, I searched on line everyway I could think of for several days to find the source of the quote but I just kept being sent to several "Lewis" and "Narnia" fan type blogs and web-sites where they sited this great quote.  I eventually got frustrated and did what I always do when I give up and I told my husband the problem of finding the source to this quote. 

He is THE ultimate internet detective and I woke up the next morning with an email from him (yes, he informed through an email instead of telling me when he came to bed later that night), that he had found a talk from the early "80's" where the quote was very similar, but not exact, but there was a source listed.  Here is the quote he found:
As C. S. Lewis said, "A housewife's work . . . is the one for which all others exist."   The source listed for this quote was page 262 of "Letter of CS Lewis"  1966 edition. 

I thought, GREAT!, I have this book, and so the mystery may be solved!  However, I had the revised and enlarged edition printed in 1988, so of course, it would be on a differnet page.  So I read the book, which is an AMAZING read if you are a Lewis fan.  The letters written during and after his wifes' illness and death are gut-wrenching, tender and romantic!  Anyway, back to the quote search. I finally found the correct letter, written on 16 March 1955 to a "Mrs Ashton" from Magdalene College, Oxford.  Here is the quote in its entirety:

“I think I can understand that feeling about a housewife’s work being like that of Sisyphus (who was the stone rolling gentleman). But it is surely in reality the most important work in the world. What do ships, railways, miners, cars, government etc exist for except that people may be fed, warmed, and safe in their own homes? As Dr. Johnson said, “To be happy at home is the end of all human endeavour”. (1st to be happy to prepare for being happy in our own real home hereafter: 2nd in the meantime to be happy in our houses.) We wage war in order to have peace, we work in order to have leisure, we produce food in order to eat it. So your job is the one for which all others exist…” (pg 447-Letter of CS Lewis 1988 ed.)

So, I think what has happened with the original quote, is that someone put Lewis' quote into their own words and cited Lewis as the original author and it was put forth from then on as what Lewis himself had said. 

If anyone has any different information on the original quote listed, please let me know, but until I find a source, I will not use the quote because I have been burned in the past using a quote with an incorrect source and it was embarrassing. 

I am so glad I kept searching because I don't know when I would have ever read the book "Letters of CS Lewis".  There is a very touching tribute and biography, from his brother, Warren, in the '88 edition that is really good also.  I reccommend this book to everyone!

Happy Birthday to a Great Screen Legend!

I just realized that today is the 92nd birthday of one of the most beautiful actreeses ever, Joan Fontaine.  I realize that unless you love old movies you proably don't know who she is so I wanted to list my favorite Joan Fontaine movies for you to find and watch to be introduced to this amazing actress. 

First a little history about her.  She was born, Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland, in Tokyo Japan in 1917 where her father was a successful British patent attorney.  Due to recurring illnesses of Joan and her older sister, Olivia de Havilland (yes, her sister is the actress that played Melanie from "Gone With the Wind"), her parents moved them to Califonia.  Her parents divorced and her father remained in Japan to work and Joan later went back there to school.  When she came back to California, her sister had already made a name for herself on the stage and Joan also joined an acting group there.  She originally chose the name "Joan Burfield" as to not infringe on her sisters stage name.  She changed her name to "Fontaine" in '37 when she was in (uncredited) one of my favorite Katherine Hepburn movies, "Quality Street". 

She was nominated for two Acadamy Awards, first for "Rebecca" (1940) and then for "Suspicion" (1941) and she won the second time for "Suspicion" which she starred in with Cary Grant. 

She made several other movies after that, some that are classics, and then her final movie was in 1994 in a TV movie called "Good King Wenceslas" 

Now for my 6 ALL TIME favorite Joan Fontaine movies:

6-Quality Street (1937-she is uncredited in this but it is one of my fav Katherine Hepburn movies so I am listing it!)

5-A Damsel in Distress(1927-with Fred Astair)
4-Jane Eyre (1944 with Orson Wells)
3-Suspicion (1941 with Cary Grant)
2-Rebecca (1940 with Laurence Olivier)
1-The Women(pictured above/1939-with Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell)

The Women was an amazing movie, don't even think of watching the remake that came out last year!  YUCK!!!  There should be a law against re-making the classics!  You can see my review of this movie in my blog archives (August 31 2008).

If you don't know who Joan Fontaine is, I highly recommend you watch some of these movies and you will agree with me that she is one classy and beautiful actress.

Happy Birthday Ms. Fontaine!!!