Then and Now: Cover Girl

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What I remember:

I honestly completely forgot I saw this movie at all until I watched it recently.  Bits of it were vaguely familiar:  The "Poor John" number and the dancing in general.  The only thing that made me realize I had seen it was the bit about how they kept buying oysters they didn't like or eat to look for pearls.

What I realized:

The plot is dumb.  It's conflict isn't so much based on funny misunderstandings as serious communication issues.  It's best summarized as:  Boy loves girl, girl loves boy, girl wants fame but doesn't tell boy about her chance at fame, boy says he doesn't care if girl goes after fame, girl stands up boy, boy is offended, girl runs off to be famous and marry someone else, almost every other person in the movie conspires to get the two together, big dance and sing.  I'm sure if they do marry it will be awesome - because we all know how good communication screws up a marriage.

Dumb plot aside, the dancing is still top notch.  I could have used more Gene Kelly but I feel that way most of the time.

The costumes are so pretty.  Well the ones on the women.  Rita Hayworth's hair is amazing.  As for Gene Kelly, maybe they weren't sure how to dress him yet?  They put him in a dark brown suit with a dark tie that somehow made him look not nearly as attractive as he was.  I mean, this is a technicolor movie, why put your male lead in a dull brown suit?  He gets gray and blue suits too but everything is rather dull and doesn't really do anything for him.  The best outfit is a stage costume of green pants with a yellow stripe and a yellow and green striped vest.  Yes it's as hideous as it sounds but it's far better than those yawn inducing suits.

Hey, this movie took place during World War II.  Of course when I first saw it I probably didn't know all that much about WW II and the references are vague at times.

This must have been fussy to wear, but it's certainly amazing looking.

And, I totally love Eve Arden in here.  She's plays a no nonsense career woman who doesn't moan over her lack of beau and is just generally fabulous.  She's also hilariously funny and pretty much saves the day for the two leads.  I seriously covet her wardrobe, especially her hats.  Short of Gene Kelly she's pretty much the best thing about this movie.  How could I have totally forgotten this character?

As a final bonus, this film contains Phil Silvers.  I adore him in general but also because he was in one of my favorite musical comedies of all time: Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe.  That film is probably ripe for one of these posts as I have not seen it in at least a decade or more.

Checking In

Been a bit, hasn't it?  Since I have been too busy to put together new posts I thought I'd just do a little brief on what I'm enjoying right now.

Currently obsessed with this song:

Am quite impressed with "Astronaut Wives Club".   From the ads I expected it to be frothy fun but as a total space nerd I had to at least give it a try.  Sure it's pretty to look at but there is definitely more going on than pretty clothes and great makeup.  I'm quite excited that it looks like they will be dramatizing the hearings to allow women to be astronauts.  It's a bit of space race history that I'd never even heard of until I took a class in college on the history of space exploration.  A class in which I was, oddly enough, the only female student.  It was a small class, but still very strange that I would be the only female.

Anyway, if you aren't watching it I recommend popping in to give it a try tomorrow.

And while I'm promoting things I just saw these guys last week:

They are amazing.  I listen to a lot of "new stuff that sounds old" (you could even say it's my favorite genre of music) and it can be hard to come off as more than a novelty act.    Artists who are so heavily influenced by a much older style sometimes struggle to create a sound that walks the fine line between classic and fresh.  The Nightowls Seem to hit the sweet spot every single time.  They did some awesome covers in their set when I saw them - but I have to say I like their originals best.

Feel free to share anything you're currently digging in the comments.

Book Review: The Last American Vampire by Seth Grahame-Smith

   

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While I promise to steer away from major plot points and try to keep things vague in reviews some of what I write might be considered vaguely spolierish.  So if you prefer to read a book with no prior knowledge then I would advise not read my reviews.

The Last American Vampire  is the both the sequel and prequel to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer.   While it does pick up after the events of the first book it also goes back in history to explain the origins of Henry, the vampire protagonist.  We get both his human history and his vampire origins and their relation to one of the earliest European settlements in North America.  It also moves forward in time, giving an alternative history of the United States, with the occasional stopover in the UK and Europe.

The story is fast paced - I think I read it in less than a week.  There is lots of excitement and violence.  Henry also seems to have a habit of running into and either befriending or making an enemy of many historical figures through out the course of the book.  Well, white and male historical figures.

And here's where we come to what really bothered me about the book.  Now it has been years since I read Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer but I do recall that it had mainly white male characters and I wasn't too bothered.  The book was the story of the friendship between a man and a vampire.  However, this is the story of the United States.  Yes it's an alternate history, but it's still a history.  Where the hell were all the women and people of color who helped shape and build a nation?

There is literally only one female historical character who is a major player in the story.  And I am being really generous in saying so as she gets very little in the way of characterization.  What little we are given about her motivations makes her sound more like a one note stereotype of a traditional female character and less like a flesh and blood being.

And, okay, sure.  Henry is around four hundred years old.  His views on race and gender might be a bit antiquated.  And yet, he specifically mentions women's suffrage as something he supports and takes action to punish those who lynched an African American man.  So, if he believes women are good enough to vote and people of color deserve justice - well why are all his friends white males?

I am not kidding when I say over a dozen white and male historical figures are a part of this story.  But female and persons of color?  In some cases they only get a mention in the footnotes, if at all.

I know, I know, it's just a silly book.  And it is silly.  And I like silly.  I just think an "alternate history" where the white male vampire is the protector and savior of the United States is pretty much what we get when we whitewash history.  Except for the "vampire" part.  It's an okay read but I was really hoping for something more subversive. 

Top Ten Reasons Why there should be more Angent Carter

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 I was going to do a "Final thoughts" type thing analyzing the rest of what I hope is just season one of Agent Carter ( I can't find anything that confirms or denies a season two, anyone know anything more solid?) but then I decided I'd rather think about season 2. Spoilers (for season 1) ahead.

1. Agent Carter, Herself

Because TV needs more women like Carter.  And so does Marvel, well they need to start putting them in films and shows more. Not that I don't love Black Widow and Agent Hill, but they don't even get to have a conversation with each other.

2. Moving On

I'm not that bothered that season one was so much about getting out of Cap's shadow but now that Carter has let go of Cap, can the show do it too? Carter has always been her own woman and never the shrieking violet needing saving and she deserves to be seen as the hero she is.  Even if she's not in need of validation, I kind of am.

3. Agent Sousa

While I'm not shipping Carter/Sousa (Carusa?) yet I definitely want to see more of Enver Gjokaj as Sousa.  Plus they have to write the "Stark gives Sousa a new prosthetic and wackiness ensues episode."  They've already teased it!

4. Jarvis

He's already Carter's faithful retainer and it's always funny when he and Carter go "Full British."  Also, we've still got a lot of unsolved mysteries about Jarvis that I'd like to see revealed.  Perhaps his past comes back to haunt him and Carter helps him . . .

5. History/film buff Easter eggs

Considering my occasionally spotty knowledge of modern pop culture it's nice not to have to go to Google just to get the joke.

6. That Radio Show

So, I was reading that if Agent Carter does continue they are talking about doing a podcast of 15 minute episodes of the Captain America radio serial.  I know I said it's good that Carter is out of the shadow of Cap, but to have him not be there at all would be a bit strange.  The serial would be a nice way of keeping him there but out of the way.  Also, if they need someone I'm pretty sure I was born to write a 1940s style superhero radio serial.  Just sayin'.

7. Dotty

Because I'd like to find out if she's Moriarty or  Darth Vader.

8. More female characters

While there were females in season one, Carter wasn't really close with anyone.  (Admittedly they made it clear why she was wary about getting close with civilians.) Carter just revealed herself to her new roommate Angie, so that's a good step.  But I'd also love another female in the office.  Perhaps someone Carter mentors.  We can always skip ahead a few years and have Carter in a more senior position.

9. Witty repartee

Raised on a steady diet of Thin Man Films and screwball comedies I'm a total sucker for fast and funny dialog.  


10. Better Marketing

You know how sometimes there's a great product but they don't know how to market it?  I think that's what Agent Carter is suffering from.  There was the whole "Her hero" stuff and then referring to Agent Carter as a "Female weapon"?  Seriously, who is writing this crap?  If you want to draw in your target audience calling your lead a "tool" isn't helping.

I actually could add a few more things there but will leave it at that, for now.  Most of all I think at least 12 eps for the next season would be a good idea. 

An Epic Journey

I read once that socks are the short stories of the knitting world.  If I were to name a literary metaphor for this sweater I would pick an epic poem.  Specifically the Odyssey because I felt like I might never finish.

Initially I thought I wouldn't have enough yarn for this sweater at all.  But I found an extra skein and breathed a sigh of relief.  Until I got near the end.  I ran out of yarn halfway through the button band.  But I wasn't going to be defeated, oh no.  I would finish this baby.  Here were the options:

A) Probably the easiest:  Find yarn in my stash of the same weight as the yarn I used for the rest of the sweater and knit a new button band from it.  It wouldn't be gray like the rest of the sweater but it would be a finished sweater.  Except, I didn't want a gray sweater with a different color button band, I just wanted a gray sweater.

B) Possibly easy: Track down another skein of the yarn.  It wouldn't even need to be the same dye lot - I could just reknit the button band from the new skein and if the dye lot was noticeably different I could live with it.  Except even if they still make that color it will involve buying yarn and you know you can't just buy one skein.  Well I can't. I'm trying to use up my stash, not make it bigger.

C) The hardest: Rip out and re knit sections of the sweater shorter to reclaim enough yarn to finish the button band and for the making up.  Of course, this is what I chose to do.  I ended up re-knitting both sleeves (just the arms, not the cuffs) and having to claim a little yarn from the body as well.  It worked out, the sleeves probably would have been too long as they were and I discovered I bound off wrong on the fronts.  Sometimes doing things the hard way does pay dividends.

While the actual knitting turned out to be a longer journey than expected, the buttons were a miracle.  I've no idea if I picked them up with the intention of using them with this yarn but I found buttons of the perfect size and color in the button box and I had enough of them.  And we know that never happens.  I'm always one short or they are the wrong size or color.

 So was it worth it?  Yes! I love this sweater and wear it almost daily.  I'd much rather go the extra mile and rip and reknit to get something I want, love, and wear all the time.  Sure, completing a project is good, but a finished object that gets used and loved is so much better.  This is why I also rip out or give away sweaters when I no longer use them.  I don't like the idea of something that took hours of my life hiding in a drawer or trunk when it can be out in the world being useful.  Even if it takes me more hours to make it that way or someone else is wearing it now.

The pattern is the "Trimmed with Roses" cardigan from A Stitch in Time Volume 2.  I skipped the color work be cause I wanted something plain. The yarn is Dale Garn Baby Ull.  I would recommend both the pattern and the yarn.  Ravelry link.