Wow--I didn't realize it had been almost a month since my last post. I have been transferring VHS tapes to DVD for the last two weeks, and let time get away from me. It has been tedious but since most of them have been humor it could have been worse.
I did several DVDs of the Three Stooges, from the early Curly days, through Shemp, Curly Joe, and Joe Besser. There are a couple of the movies as well as a two day marathon of the shorts.
Then I did the Marx Bros movies--all except Duck Soup, which I somehow missed taping. I want to get that eventually. One DVD of other comedians such as W.C. Fields in "The Bank Dick," The Ritz Bros. in "Hotel Anchovy", etc. and now I have just finished Monty Python, although I am missing "The Holy Grail" and "Life of Brian." Oh, and I can't forget Victor Borge, and Bill Cosby "Himself." Today I plan on doing "Airplane!" and "Airplane 2!"
Obviously I love humor. If I get down on myself the quickest way to climb out of it is to watch something funny. I am a real believer in the healing power of laughter. I would love to have more Laurel and Hardy, (I do have a bio film of them) and Abbott and Costello. The older the films, the funnier they seem to be. I also have two of my favorite movies--"It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," and "What's Up, Doc?" with Barbara Streisand and Ryan O'Neal. They just don't make 'em like that anymore. I love slapstick and silliness. My sons saw so much Monty Python as kids that they can recite whole skits.
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I wasn't the kind of mom who monitored my kids' viewing on TV or movies very well. I didn't care if they watched mild sexual innuendo, language, or scatological humor. One of their favorite shows was "Ren and Stimpy." What bothered me the most was violence, gore, and gratuitous language or nudity. They got enough of that from video games already. I just didn't censor things from them. I knew they would be confronted with them eventually, and felt they would be better off taking them in stride rather than being shocked or offended by them.
Now I will say that I did not like horror, torture, or the infliction of pain in movies. No Jason or Michael Myers in our house! They had to wait until they were over 17 before seeing that kind of stuff (as far as I knew.) I also didn't allow anything that involved mistreatment of animals. I am too soft-hearted for that--I turn the channel when an ASPCA commercial comes on. (Do they really have to be so pervasive? Enough is enough.)
They weren't damaged by this lack of censorship, in my opinion. They were both Eagle Scouts and DeMolays. They participated in sports and other extracurricular activities. And they have both turned out extremely well. I am very proud of both of them.
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Today is my last visit with the orthopedic surgeon. I have no pain in my knee now, and am using the treadmill or walking the dog almost daily. I still wear my Z-Coil shoes, and probably will for the forseeable future, as my heel spurs still bother me, and there doesn't seem to be much that can be done about them. The shoes allow me to walk with minimal pain. I have these exact shoes!
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I have been working on a tree skirt, and will post a photo next week when I have finished it. It still needs the binding, but is otherwise done. I still have two baby quilts to be machine quilted (I dread doing that!) and I want to make myself a new purse next. I finished the Christmas ornaments to be put in my Christmas cards, and although they are primitive, I really like the way they turned out.
I still play Minecraft almost every evening, and have read 8 paperback mysteries in the last month. So I do keep busy! I'll try to blog again within the next week or so.
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