Mr. Rogers vs. Mr. Dressup

I recently (finally!) saw the documentary about Fred Rogers, better known to most Gen Xers like myself, as “Mr. Rogers.” To be quite honest, although I have a passing familiarity with his show, I was never a regular viewer. Growing up out in the sticks, one of the things we sacrificed was decent TV reception. Hence, most of PBS passed us by as kids. I digress…

I was really impressed by the depth of kindness Fred Rogers showed not just to children, but adults and everyone he met as well. He also had a thick skin and believed imitation was the sincerest form of flattery as comedians sometimes put their own spin on his show – 

the best known being "Saturday Night Live’s" rendition of “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood” starring Eddie Murphy as Mr. Robinson. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_MDCH-W2WU I remember seeing that sketch as a teenager and thinking it was one of the funniest things I ever saw.

Probably the most impressive segment in the movie was the clip showing Fred Rogers testifying before the Senate subcommittee to save the funding for PBS (President Nixon wanted to cut it in half). There’s only a minute or so in the film, but it’s worth watching the entire clip on You Tube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXEuEUQIP3Q. No spoilers, but I challenge you to not want to stand up and clap at the end of it.

If you enjoyed the Fred Rogers documentary, check out my friend's blog for some truly eloquent thoughts on the meaning of it all: https://insightstothesoul.wordpress.com/

Anyway, while my peers were glued to their TVs watching “Mr. Rogers,” my brother, sister, and I often tuned in to Fred’s Canadian competition, “Mr. Dressup” starring Ernie Combs. Oddly enough, even though we couldn’t tune in many programs from Cleveland (only a mere 60 miles away), we had no trouble receiving TV from Canada or Erie, PA (60 miles in the other direction).

“Mr. Dressup” was similar in that he lived in a neighborhood and often had visitors. He also had a puppet named Casey that I think was supposed to be his son, though I’m not sure that fact was ever stated. Casey had a dog (also a puppet) named Finnegan who was also present during most of the show.

My favorite part of the show was when Mr. Dressup would open the “tickle trunk” and remove various colorful items of clothing and play “dress up,” hence, the name. I also enjoyed when he would pull out a sharpie and draw pictures on his giant sketch pad.

Imagine my excitement when a couple summers ago on a visit to Toronto, I got to see the treehouse Casey and Finnegan hung out in, and the tickle trunk and clips from the show. I can now remember the theme song whenever I want.

I think adults underestimate how important these programs are to a child’s development and how many happy memories come from watching these gems. I still watch programs on PBS today and am now old enough to be a financial contributor in the hopes of keeping this wonderful advertising-free service on the air.

ART & ANIMATION

"Indecent Exposure" Exhibit

Today we went out and combined an art outing with a little bit of animation. To elaborate, we drove over to the Gateway Film Center and then walked over to the Wexner Center (both on the OSU campus).

At the Wexner Center the current exhibit is a collection of works by John Waters (on loan from the Baltimore Museum of Art) along with art by a couple other artists. We’ve previously seen works by John Waters at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, so we were prepared for the mostly not PG art on display (which is why some of the exhibits are closed off to visiting school groups one of the security guards told me).

What I like about many of Waters’ pieces is how he draws correlations between things that are completely unrelated or fabricated (like photos of a UFO destroying the White House juxta positioned between photos of the twin towers being struck by airplanes), not that I am in any way amused by the subject matter or trivializing what happened on 9/11.

I also like how Waters often took photos (using a 35mm film camera) of scenes in various TV programs or movies choosing a common theme – like actors vomiting, smoking, drinking alcohol, etc. There’s also a collection of photos of mundane things like the contents of his dishwasher, cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink, a collection of folders in his file cabinet, etc. Makes me think some of my photos are probably under praised in comparison.

Yes, it kind of goes without saying that Waters’ various pieces are somewhat raunchy and usually show the seedier side of life, and he makes no attempt to paint a rosy picture of Baltimore (jokingly calling “Hairspray” a documentary during an interview I once heard with him on NPR).

Of the less controversial, but memorable works I liked was a collection of sheets listing feedback from the public about various artists’ works. Quite honestly, I had never heard of most of the artists (except for Cindy Sherman), but still enjoyed the comments (paraphrasing below as I didn’t take actual notes).

“It costs how much??? Jeez!” or “I think the cleaning staff would probably throw it away mistaking it for garbage.” Everyone knows a piece has to fit in your house or wherever you plan to display it, so some of these comments are almost justified: “I don’t think it would fit over our couch.” Or “I fear it would fall over and make a giant hole in our floor.”

There was also a piece called “Cancel Ansel” (2014) where Waters slightly altered a bunch of famous Ansel Adams photos. I’m a big fan of Mr. Adams (and have a copy of a print of El Capitan hanging in our den), who probably wouldn’t be pleased, but Waters didn’t do anything offensive to them at least.

After we left the Wexner Center, we walked back to the Gateway Film Center where we saw a matinee showing of Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts (there’s also Live Action & Documentary shorts).

There seemed to be a common theme this year as the majority centered around the circle of life featuring a character aging from birth to old age (with a child born in the middle). Of the three of them, it would be difficult to pick a favorite as they were all unique (and honestly, a little depressing). My husband and I think “Bao” (made by Pixar) will probably win. Big studios usually have the best shot at these things. 

My favorite (though I think this one was just an honorable mention) was “Wishing Box,” which my husband thought was a little derivative of Aardman’s “The Pirates! Band of Misfits.” Basically a pirate and his monkey find a little wooden chest that the Pirate is hoping will contain gold, but ends up being empty. However, his monkey feels around in it and pulls out a banana, and then another banana. The pirate quickly figures out that only the monkey has the power to make a wish and pull out desired item. Chaos ensues while the monkey tries to make connections between crudely drawn pictures of wished for items. Eventually the pirate realizes it would just be easier to use an actual visual aide. Be careful what you wish for is all I can say for fear of a spoiler alert.

I am just grateful for this rather light-hearted short because of the somewhat serious subjects in many of the others. Still, I’m glad we saw them, and glad we saw the John Waters exhibit at the Wexner Center (showing until April 28^th).

Don’t forget to tune into the Oscars on Sunday February 24^th.

Games Night

Last night my husband and I hosted a Games Night at our house in which we invited various nearby family members and a mutual friend (& her husband) of my sister and me. This was on my list of ‘19 in 2019’ as part of my effort to better connect with family and friends. Also, February can be such a depressing month that having a party is certainly a good pick-me up.

After filling up on pizza, brownies, cupcakes and various other snacks (including fruit to balance out all the naughtiness : )  it was time for an Ice Breaker to get things started. This was my sister’s idea after coming across it on Pinterest. The one we did was like Left, Right & Center, but you use candy (in this case Hershey kisses) and always pass a piece to the person on your right if you can answer ‘Yes’ to the question. For instance, ‘I’ve gone more than 3 days without taking a shower.’ The person with the most candy at the end of the game wins. However, unlike Left, Right & Center, most of us still had some kisses left by the end of the game, and several of us were tied. Then we each took a turn at coming up with our own question for the group. It was funny seeing how many of us answered affirmatively to the many questions. There’s also a drinking version of this game, but there were two children in a nearby room, so we had to keep it ‘PG.’

Following that, my cousins chose some games from the stack I had laid out on a table in my library. The first one we played was Buzzwords (Girls versus Guys). In this game you have 45 seconds to come up with the phrase containing the common Buzzword in 10 clues. Like all clues will have the word ‘Red’ paired up with another word so your answer might be ‘Red-Handed’ for instance. I enjoyed this game because it relies on speed and knowledge, and we did pretty well, though I think the Guys team still won.

The next selection was What’s Yours Like? In this game a card is passed around with a word that everyone but the person guessing gets to see. Then everyone takes turns describing theirs without being too obvious about it. One of the ones we had was 'your street/the road you live on.' I told my cousin, who is totally the Clark Griswold on his street (as far as Xmas lights are concerned) that he should have described his like 'sometimes it has lots of Xmas lights.' Sadly, he didn’t think of it at the time, or perhaps that clue would have been too obvious??? I love the two clues his daughters provided. The younger one said, 'Mom says we have lots of yahoos on ours!' while the other answered, 'Mom said no one knows how to park on ours.' Out of the mouths of babes.... 

The last game selected was one of our new ones called Who’s Most Likely To… Of course this game relies on familiarity between its players. To be honest, my cousins and we struggled a bit as I don’t think we know each other as well as we thought, so it was difficult to name a candidate straight off the bat for most of the questions. The only one that got a chorus of agreement straight away was the question, ‘Who’s Most Likely to Tell the Same Story (repeatedly)?’ In this case, my father’s name came up unanimously. Of course I called him to share that bit of info, and he was a good sport about it (not being entirely surprised I’m sure). He even shared a funny joke with the group before I let him get back to the TV show he was watching.

All in all it was a pretty entertaining evening as we played a good cross-section of games that tested our knowledge and familiarity. I can recommend all three, and if you live close by, I would even be happy to loan you a game.

"Stan & Ollie"

Last night my husband and I went to see the newly released “Stan & Ollie” movie starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly. Before I give you my review of the film, I would like to provide a little background on my love affair with Laurel & Hardy. This dates back to my teen years (16). My family was visiting my uncle (Russ) who lives near San Francisco, CA. One of our options for entertainment one evening was a (VHS) recording of some “Laurel & Hardy” films. Until this point I’m not sure I had even heard of them, so I probably shrugged, ‘Sure, why not?’ I didn’t suddenly become a fan then and there, but it did at least provide some inspiration for Christmas present ideas as I started seeking out various Laurel & Hardy items. I don’t remember what all I bought for my uncle over the years, but I do recall one of the nicer pieces of memorabilia was a small mirror with the faces of Laurel & Hardy painted on it.  Not sure if he still has this.

I gradually became a fan and made a point of trying to see whatever “Laurel & Hardy” films I could rent or watch on TV, and have probably seen most, if not all of them by now. I also learned a little about the bios of Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy, and have even visited Mr. Laurel’s hometown of Ulverston, England (1994) where there was once a museum in his (and Ollie’s) honor.

I don’t know if it was there or elsewhere that I saw a home movie where Mr. Hardy was visiting Mr. Laurel and his family. I noticed Stan’s young daughter cowering behind her father while Ollie seemed to be trying to engage his daughter in conversation. I later learned she (Lois I think) was quite afraid of Ollie because in all their films, he was the one beating up on her daddy. One can see how a young child could come to that conclusion.

Anyway, fast forward to 2019 when a movie is released about Stan & Ollie’s tour of England performing various classic scenes from their best loved films. I first read about it in the December 17^th (2018) issue of Time magazine and only heard last weekend that it was now (finally) in cinemas. By this point I had already read various reviews that all said the same thing, “It’s kind of sad,” because these years weren’t exactly the highlight of their career. Many people said to them, “I thought you were retired; good for you that you’re still doing all the same old routines.”

It should be said that Stan and Ollie hadn’t performed together in years after Stan was fired by the studio after not being granted the raise he had asked for (or at least compensation for the repeated showing of their films). I believe the tour was Stan’s idea to get their names back in the public spotlight and to raise money for the “Robin Hood” film he was hoping to make. We see Ollie making various bets on the ponies, so there was some financial motivation for him as well, besides supporting his old partner. It took a while to fill theatres as audiences were sparse early on (as it was in our theatre too with only about a dozen of us at the 7:25pm showing), but thanks to Stan’s inspiration to do some PR spots for the news reels, crowds soon picked up with many (larger) venues selling out.

Unfortunately Ollie’s health wasn’t up to the lengthy tour, so they had to cancel some of their dates towards the end, but not before doing one last performance in Ireland for their loyal and grateful fans (as we see from the huge welcome they get when they arrive by ferry in Ireland).

I certainly learned a lot watching the movie as I didn’t know anything about this period in their lives (and would perhaps choose to focus on earlier happier times in their careers), so it was certainly educational and an eye opener for me. Mr. Coogan and Mr. Reilly are to be commended for the amazing job they both did in getting into character. As someone who has seen most of the Laurel & Hardy library, I can tell you they both nailed it. If you close your eyes and just listen to them, you’d almost swear the real Stan and Ollie were up there. The make-up artists are also to be congratulated, especially whoever had to create the fat suit for Ollie’s character. I bet Mr. Reilly had to spend hours getting ready every day.

If you’re a fan of Laurel & Hardy, I can definitely recommend this. Yes, this film is kind of sad, but it does at least have a somewhat upbeat ending, so I wasn’t exactly sobbing when I left the theatre (nor was anyone else).