A Passage to India and Grown Ups

We finally broke down and bought a flat screen television set and a Blu-ray player. (They were surprisingly inexpensive!) The two most entertaining movies I have watched so far are  A Passage to India and Grown Ups.

A Passage to India

A Passage to India is the only E.M. Forster novel I haven't read. I stayed up way past my bedtime watching this epic 3 hour film which takes place in India during the 1920's. Two proper English women take a trip to India and are disgusted by British colonists disdain for the Indians. Seeking adventure, they befriend two Indian men who try to show them the real India. It's a great movie. It would have been a perfect movie if Sir Alec Guiness hadn't been cast as an Indian. The blue-eyed actor looked ridiculous wearing brown make-up and a turban. 

Grown Ups

If you liked Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion, you will love Grown Ups. It's a fun, silly movie about a bunch of friends who reunite to attend their junior high basketball coach's funeral. They bring their families and rent a lake house in their New England hometown for the weekend. I am looking forward to the sequel Grown Ups 2. Both films were produced by my cousin Allen Covert who is best known for his role as the limo driver in The Wedding Singer. Allen also starred in the stoner classic Grandma's Boy.

Bad timing

Russell and I used to only turn on the television to watch 60 Minutes, The Simpsons, and the occasional ballgame or awards show. We averaged about 3 hours a week. Well, I say used to because I recently discovered a channel that only plays reruns of my favorite shows. It's called MeTV. 

MeTV is just a regular channel on the dial. This is good because we don't have cable or satellite, just a big antenna.  I have gone from watching an average of 3 hours of television a week, to an average of 3 hours a day. I warm up with Bewitched and I Dream of Genie, and then the really great shows begin: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, The Odd Couple, and The Dick Van Dyke Show. 

This episode of The Odd Couple was my favorite show of the week. Felix talks Oscar into taking a ballet appreciation class taught by Edward Villella of the New York City Ballet. Tony Randall was such a great physical comedic actor. I don't think I truly appreciated his genius when I was a kid.

This post is entitled Bad Timing because I started my new TV habit just in time for Screen-Free Week which starts at the end of the month. I don't plan to participate.

Early Childhood Education: Growing Up

Back in the early 70's, there weren't many childcare options in my quaint New England town. Since my mother was a working single mom, I had to spend hours every day at a wretched place called The Happy Child Nursery School.

The owner was a morbidly obese, smelly woman who wore muumuus every day, even in the middle of winter. (She was so fat that she probably never felt the cold.) Miss Muumuu lived in a decrepit colonial house which probably hadn't been painted since the turn of the 19th century. In addition to the nursery school, the house also featured a museum of antique dolls. We weren't allowed to touch the dolls, but we didn't want to anyway. The dolls were downright creepy. Many of the dolls were kid-size with metal braces holding them in posed play positions as if they were frozen for life in an eternal game of TV tag. Miss Muumuu also had two male boarders who lived in the upstairs of the house. One man had a twitch and walked with a limp. We called him Skippy.*

There were some happy moments at the Happy Child Nursery School. During playtime we'd go outside, roll over a log, and play with worms. Another highlight was nap time when Miss Muumuu would watch hours of television while the happy children rested on soiled army cots listening to Phil Donahue interview male hookers, Siamese twins, and other assorted human oddities. Consequently, the first sex question I asked my mother wasn't "where do babies come from?" It was "what's the difference between a transvestite and a transsexual?" (They didn't use the politically correct term transgendered back in the early 70's.)**

Thankfully, daycare standards and early childhood education have improved drastically. (Believe it or not, Miss Muumuu held an advanced degree in Child Development from an ivy league college.) It's a bit unrealistic, but The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under the age of 2 experience no screen time (screen time includes computer, video, iPad, and TV screens), and that parents limit older children's screen time as well. This is because it takes away from real-life creative play and social interaction.

Personally, I think a little screen time, maybe 20 minutes of a Sesame Street video (not a lurid talk show) before dinner is okay because it gives harried parents a much needed break. Some television shows really are educational. Thanks to Schoolhouse Rock, I can recite the Preamble of the Constitution. And not all screens are bad. For example, iPads and smart phones can help nonverbal children communicate and are being used as teaching tools for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Although it's a little didactic, I got a kick out of the book Todd's TV by James Proimos. It's about a boy whose parents are too busy to pay attention to him, so he starts spending time with his TV instead. When the parents get jealous of the TV, they do what they should have done a long time ago. They turn it off.

Proimos, James. Todd's Tv. New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2010. Print.

*I also had a school bus driver with a limp. We called him Hoppy. (Gosh, I hope I'm not the one who came up with these nicknames.) My stop was the last on his route so I'd sing to him after the other kids got off the bus. At the time I knew all the words to all the songs in Fiddler on the Roof. He really liked Matchmaker, Matchmaker.

**Speaking of transgender issues, She's Not There is one of the best memoirs I've ever read. It was written by Colby College professor, Jennifer Finney Boylan, who started her life as James Finney Boylan. I had the pleasure of sitting next to her at an ALA publishers breakfast event. I started chatting with her and asked where she worked. She said Colby College, and I said, "isn't that where Jennifer Finney Boylan works? Wait--oh my gosh! You ARE Jennifer Finney Boylan! I love you. I feel like I already know you!" She said "well, you do know an awful lot about me." We were instant conference buddies and I introduced her to all my favorite librarian and writer friends.

Boylan, Jennifer F. She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders. New York: Broadway Books, 2003. Print.

Jennifer Finney Boylan wrote another really great memoir entitled I'm Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted. It describes her life growing up in a haunted house. What I really like about the book is that the ghosts aren't really a big deal. They just happen to be there. Watch this video tour of Jennifer's childhood home: jenniferboylan.net. It reminds me of Miss Muumuu's place.

Boylan, Jennifer F. I'm Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted. New York: Broadway Books, 2008. Print.

Top 5 list

Top 5 things I don't like that other people seem to love.

1. Chocolate

2. Louis Vuitton

3. The History Channel


4. Family Guy

5. Books about vampires

Yes, I still watch The Real World.

McGrath, Tom. MTV: The Making of a Revolution. Philadelphia: Running Press, 1996.

Yes, I'm 42 years old and I still watch MTV's The Real World. This documentary/sociology experiment started back in 1992 when 7 strangers were chosen to live together in an amazing Manhattan apartment for a few months and have their every move taped.

Johnson, Hillary, and Nancy Rommelmann. The Real Real World. New York, NY: MTV Books/Pocket Books/Melcher Media, 1995.

Each year the show takes place in a different city with different cast members. The Real World is often credited as being the first influential reality show on national television. In fact, it is even featured in the Paley Center for Media.

Maupin, Armistead. Michael Tolliver Lives. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2007.

The San Francisco season was especially ground-breaking because one of the cast members, Pedro Zamora, had the AIDS virus. He passed away only a few months after the last episode was aired and his death made national news. As President Bill Clinton said, Pedro had become a part of all our families and that now none of us could say that we didn't know someone living with AIDS.

Winick, Judd. Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned. New York: Henry Holt, 2000.

To learn more about Pedro, I highly recommend Judd Winick's book Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned. One of my favorite authors, Armistead Maupin writes:

"Pedro and Me is as lovely and resonant a tribute as one friend could possibly pay another. Judd Winick takes us beyond all those tilty camera angles into the realest world of all: the hearts and minds of the people who actually lived this wrenching but triumphant story. I was utterly captivated."

I met Judd Winick a few years ago at an ALA conference, but I was too shy to say much. I did get him to sign my copy of his book, though.

ps. In my opinion, Honolulu, Las Vegas, and Denver were the worst seasons because the kids acted like drunken springbreakers throwing off their clothes and getting into bar room brawls. It was kind of like watching the Jerry Springer Show, only with better looking people.

pps. I think this year's Real World: Brooklyn is the best season since San Francisco. I actually cried when I watched last week's episode. To learn more about Real World: Brooklyn, visit MTV.com.

Grammy Awards

Did you watch the Grammy Awards Show last night? I only caught about an hour, but I was very impressed by the lack of lip-syncing. Live music is so much more interesting than the canned stuff.

Since most of the YouTube clips of the event have been disabled, you have to visit Grammy.com to see the actual videos. Here are my favorite Grammy moments:

*Before presenting the award for Song of the Year, Duffy and Al Green sang a few lines of Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images North America

*Kanye West and Estelle performed their hit song, American Boy. Estelle has such a great sense of style and I love her clear, refreshing voice.

Estelle, Kanye West, Kardinal Offishall, John Legend, and Cee-Lo. Shine.
New York, NY: Atlantic/Homeschool Records, 2008.

*There wasn't a dry eye in the house when Jennifer Hudson sang You Pulled Me Through. She received a well-deserved standing ovation.


*The Jonas Brothers performed Superstition with Stevie Wonder. I thought it was cute that the boys kept yelling things like "Go, Stevie!" It felt like a middle school pep rally.

BTW, Stevie Wonder is really good with kids. Check out this vintage Sesame Street clip:

Rufus

Last night I watched a rerun of the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards on Bravo. Musician, Rufus Wainwright won the Stephen F. Kolzak Award for his role in fighting homophobia in the entertainment industry.

Although I'd heard his name before, I hadn't heard his music. I'd assumed he was the same guy who played with Chaka Khan. I have since learned that Rufus is the name of the entire band, not one guy, and that Rufus Wainwright sounds nothing like Rufus, the band.

Check out Wainwright's video, Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk:


The song reminds me of the lyrics to one of my favorite Cracker tunes, Big Dipper:

Cigarettes, and carrot juice
And get yourself a new tattoo
For those sleeveless days of June.

Cracker

Although I'm sure Rufus Wainwright is a great guy, I still prefer the original Rufus.

Rufus (Musical group), and Chaka Khan. Rags to Rufus. Universal City, CA: MCA Records, 1974.

Spanish television in the morning

I love to watch Univision in the morning. It's the happiest place on earth! Their morning show, Tu Desayuno Alegre, is a hoot. It's kind of like the Today show, only now and then the hosts get up and dance. They play music videos, too. Check this one out by the band, Control.



I hope the dancing guys are a joke.

Pan Am, Dick Clark, and Jesse Jackson

About 20 years ago, I had a brief career as a Pan Am flight attendant. (After the company declared bankruptcy, I left to go to grad school.) It was a great experience. I got to visit some amazing places and meet a lot of fun people.


I also had the honor of serving legendary politicians, Geraldine Ferraro and Jesse Jackson. (They both looked exhausted, so I left them alone and let them sleep. I would never ask a passenger for an autograph.)

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Photography by John H. White

ps. I also got to meet Dick Clark!

Britney wins!

Hooray for Britney! I'm so glad that she held it together last night. I just love a good comeback.

Happy Birthday, Bob Newhart!

The Bob Newhart Show is one of my all-time favorite television programs. I love Newhart's standup comedy, too. To learn more about the early days of his career, check out his book, I Shouldn't Even be Doing This! And Other Things That Strike Me as Funny.

Newhart, Bob. I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!: And Other Things That Strike Me As Funny.
New York: Hyperion, 2006.