Movie Critiques

LIFE OF THE PARTY
movie poster

Dear Readers, am sure you have wondered if the Movie Mavens have been out seeing all the summer releases...well, the answer to that is yes indeed we have. However, The Travelling Toe has been ailing and is behind in posting.  So this post will feature a short review of two movies.

First movie up is "The Life Of The Party" starring Melissa McCarty.  Well, it wasn't too much the life of any party but here are a few laughs along the way.

Here is the synopsis of the movie from the internet:

When her husband suddenly dumps her, longtime and dedicated housewife Deanna turns regret into reset by going back to college. Unfortunately, Deanna winds up at the same school as her less-than-thrilled daughter. Plunging headlong into the campus experience, the outspoken new student soon begins a journey of self-discovery while fully embracing all of the fun, freedom and frat boys that she can handle.

The Travelling Toe awards this movie 1 second toe up with your very own bedazzler from Amazon so you can be just as sparkly as Melissa was in the movie!

The second movie that is on this review is, "TAG".  This movie had numerous name celebrities in the lead roles but it did not do too much to save it from becoming a part of the Kick The Can game!  The concept of the movie is based on a group of men who have played Tag for many years.  At the end of the movie we do get to see these guys going about their pranks to tag a friend.  

The plot of the movie from the internet is as follows:

One month every year, five highly competitive friends hit the ground running for a no-holds-barred game of tag -- risking their necks, their jobs and their relationships to take one another down. This time, the game coincides with the wedding of the only undefeated player. What should be an easy target soon becomes an all-out war as he knows they're coming to get him.

This movie is awarded the one pinkie toe up with your very own Risk board game so you don't lose your life being chased through a hospital

And that's it for now....more to come!!

Author Event at North Richland Hills Library - Jennifer Egan

Jennifer Egan
author

Recently, Dear Friend and The Travelling Toe, attended an author event at the North Richland Hills Library.

The featured author was 2012 Pulitzer Prize Winner, Jennifer Egan.

The two of us attended the pre-lecture luncheon where we also received the latest book written by Jennifer, "Manhattan Beach".  She autographed our books for us and we were also able to have a photo taken with her.

After the yummy lunch, we then went upstairs area set up for her talk.  We were able to score 2nd row seats.  

Ms. Egan began her presentation by talking about her newest book.  She does not write about herself or the people she knows but about a time and place.  She wants to be transported out of her life and into something new.  

That is certainly true of her book "Manhattan Beach" which takes place in WWII. It deals with the events taking place at the Brooklyn Shipyards and female strength.  The storyline also details the Port of New York and the role it played during the war. The Brooklyn Navy Yard was decommised in the 1960's.  

As she was preparing the material for the book, she took a tour of the decaying Navy Yard and in one of the old offices there were still WWII maps on the walls. Ms. Egan said she spent many hours at the Brooklyn Historical Society going through their records and files. During the war, deep sea divers were used to go underwater to repair ships so that not all of the damaged ships would have to be placed in dry dock. As she researched more she came up with the idea of her main character being a female diver.  

Ms. Egan spoke about her writing process.  She writes the first draft by hand and doesn't want to read what she has written at this time.  She can end up with 1,400 handwritten pages.  She then types the manuscript and makes notes as she is typing.  Shen then reads the draft making changes.  She can have as many as 35-40 drafts.  She is also part of a writers group and there she is able to read her material and in turn they give her feedback on her ideas and the feel of the story.  

Ms. Egan was funny and engaging and totally enjoyable!

After a few questions from the audience, it was time for Ms. Egan to leave.

What another enjoyable lecture and by such an esteemed author at the North Richland Hills Library!

North Richland Hills Library

Fannin County Courthouse

Fannin County Courthouse
Bonham, Texas
(photo from the internet)

When we stopped in downtown Bonham to see the Fannin County Courthouse, we were so disappointed.  It was surrounded by fences as it was being refurbished.

This is how we saw the Courthouse!  And needless to say we could not go in.

The Fannin County Courthouse was built in 1889. It was designed by the artitecture firm of Dodson and Dudley and is made of limestone. It was remodeled in 1925 and again in 1965.  Hopefully they will bring back the original beauty of the building in this re-model.

Outside the fenced off area, was a statute of the town's namesake, James Butler Bonham.  He was killed defending the Alamo.

The county was named for James Walker Fanning who, along with his troops, were massacred at the Battle of Goliad in the fight for Texas independence.  

Perhaps we will make our way back to Bonham to tour the restored Courthouse and obtain better photos to share.

Fannin County map from the internet.

Day Trip to Bonham,, TX part 2

After our burger lunch we headed to the Sam Rayburn House Museum.  We arrived a little after 1:00 and missed the 1:00 tour.  As we did not want to wait for the 2:00 tour because we did not want to participate in rush hour traffic on the way home, we decided to walk around the property. Along with the historic house, there are several outbuildings, including a smokehouse, barn, vegetable garden and a chicken coop.  

the turkey was taking a nap when we walked by
and he was not at all happy at being disturbed
you can't see it but he was giving us the evil eye

One of the most interesting things in the outbuildings was Mr. Rayburn's car.  It is a pristine 1947 black Cadillac.  It was given to him as a gift by House members. When he lost his Speaker's post due to the Republican party holding the majority of the House seats, he also lost his chauffeured car. So Democrat members and some Republican members took up a collection to purchase this very beautiful Caddy for him to use.  

the caddy is often taken to local car shows

Mr. Rayburn was #8 of 11 children. He always had  a fascination with politicians and knew from a young age he wanted to be one. He was married once to his college roommate's sister.  However, the marriage was dissolved after 2 months and 25 days.  His ex-wife did remarry and have children.....but they remained friends all their lives.   

Mr. Rayburn bought property outside town and the home was built in 1916.  Being one of 11, he often hosted his large family of in-laws, nieces, nephews and cousins.  All were welcome to visit the Rayburn House.  

photo of the front of the house

screened in  porch at the back of the house

photo of the back of the house

The house was declared a National Landmark in 1976.  The Texas Historical Commission oversees the property that has a small gift shop and provides the tour guides. 

After we saw as much as we could, we decided to hit the road back home.  

What another fun day trip here in Texas!!

Day Trip to Bonham, TX

Dear Friend and The Travelling Toe took off on the super highways of the Metroplex for a day trip to Bonham, Tx.  The reason for the day trip was to tour the Sam Rayburn Museum.

Sam Rayburn, Texas State Representative, was the Speaker of the House for 49 years.  He is still the longest serving Speaker of the House and served under Presidents from Woodrow Wilson to John Kennedy.

All the Presidents

On display in the museum are personal memorabilia, such as furniture, photographs, paintings and other items.  Also housed at the library are the Congressional records from 1774 to 1980.  Congressional records are the official documents of Congress sessions.  Many scholars travel to the museum to study these important documents that chronicles the young Nation from the very beginning to the end of the 20th Century.  

records from 1780

Mr. Rayburn, was an avid reader, and his personal library is also on display at the museum.  In order to know which book he had already read, he started writing his initials on page 99 of each of his books.

Dear Friend posed with her beautiful blue nail polish to show his initials on page 99 of these two books.
















Another interesting item on display is the Speaker's rostrum that was used from
1857-1950.  

A beautiful chandelier hangs in the reproduction of Mr. Speaker's office that has an interesting story. Theodore Roosevelt, was refurbishing the White House lighting fixtures to modern gas lightning and this chandelier was placed in storage.  Sam eventually requested the chandelier for his office. Later it was presented to him so that it could be hung at the museum.

Pam, our Tour Guide, was very knowledgeable and shared lots of interesting tidbits of
Mr. Rayburn, the museum and his relationship to the community.

There is no entrance fee to tour the museum but donations are appreciated.  

A USS ballistic submarine was named for Sam Rayburn.  It was commissioned in 1964 and decommissioned in 1989.  

 

anchor of sub on display in front yard

After the tour, we drove back to the town square and the Travelling Toe took some pictures of the Fannin County Courthouse....it will be featured in a separate post.

We made a quick stop at an antique shop, "My Clutter" located on the town square.  The Travelling Toe found a cute little cup and saucer as a souvenir of the trip. 

From downtown Bonham, we took State Highway 121 to find some grub.  We stopped for a burger at "Muddbones".  For $7.00 you can get a hamburger, with all the usual fixings, plus a bag of chips and a drink from the cooler.  Just a tad disappointed there were no fries but sorrow was drowned in the very yummy bag of Cheetos.  

After lunch we went on our way to visit the Sam Rayburn House.

rose garden at the museum

Grant Wood And The American Heartland: Prints & Works On Paper

Recently the Irving Arts Center sponsored a wonderful exhibit of lithographs depicting the 1930's "Regionalism" movement. According to the Activity Guide, all the prints in the exhibit were created between, 1937-1941.  The title of the exhibit was "Grant Wood And The American Heartland".  

Grant Wood
1891 - 1942

Grant Wood trained at various artistic venues in the US and even studied abroad. Grant came into prominence when his iconic painting, "American Gothic", was completed in 1930 and placed on display at the Art Institute of Chicago that same year. It is now owned by the Art Institute of Chicago and is part of their permanent collection.

                                                           Art Institute of Chicago

The first picture on view at the exhibit was by Grant Wood and it was titled "The Village", which was oil on canvas and was painted in 1925. The Travelling Toe was able to grab a photo of it before the sign said no photography allowed...yikes!!!

Next to it was a print of a large stained glass window which was commissioned to Grant in 1927. When it was completed, it was titled "The Veterans Memorial Window" and was installed in the Veterans Building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa - where it is still on display.

The window is 24 feet high by 20 feet wide and took 2 years to complete. It is made up fo 10,00 pieces of stained glass.  It honors veterans of 6 different wars:

                                               American Revolution
                                               The War of 1812
                                               The Mexican War
                                               The Civil War
                                               The Spanish-American War
                                               World War I
          
Wood made full scale drawings of the work to use as templates and two of the drawings were on display.  He had used his sister as the female figure in "American Goth" so he used his sister again as the model of the center figure in the stained glass window titled "Republic".

Revolutionary War Solider
96 1/2 X 42 1/2

WW1  Solider
96 1/2 X 42 1/2 inches

Other artist lithographs, were also on view. These artists are considered part of the Regionalist movement and most of them were from the Midwest.  These artists showed the farmers plight, hard working folks and socially related themes. Below are a few of these  artists whose work was on display.

Thomas Benton,  Neosho MO
                                    Slow Train Through Arkansas - 1941
                                    Missouri Farmyard - 1936
                                    The Bull - 1950

John Bloom, DeWitt Iowa
                                    Shocking Oats - 1986
                                    Watering - 1984
                                    Picking Corn - 1988
                                    Cattle Loading - 1986

Jackson Lee Nesbitt, McAlester OK
                                     Water Place - 1939
                                     November Evening - 1939

Bernard Steflen, Neodesha, KS 
                                   Cows In Kansas (colored print) - ?

Grant Wood, Anamosa Iowa
                                  Wild Flowers - 1938
                                  Tame Flowers - 1938
                                  Fruits - 1938
                                  Vegetales - 1938
                                  In The Spring - 1939
                                  Fertility - 1939
                                 Seed Time And Harvest - 1937
               the pictures above were hand colored lithographs on Rives Paper
             
               the pictures below are lithographs
                                 Sultry Night - 1937
                                 Family Doctor - 1941
                                 Approaching Storm - 1941
                                 Midnight Alarm - 1939
                                 Shriner Quartet - 1939
                                 December Afternoon - 1941
                                 February - 1941
                                 March - 1941
                                 July - 1941
                  

Dear Readers, if you are interested, it is still possible to own a lithograph by Grant Wood or one of the other artists. They fall within various price ranges from up to the 6 or 5 figure range to a few lower in price as in the hundreds of dollars or some even lower.

Here are a couple of sites where one can find the lithographs of these esteemed artists.
                           
Artnet

Amazon

Ebay
                                      
Want to know more about lithography, click on the link below.


What is a lithography?