Apres la deluge; Navy fails to right the sinking ship

My friends who saw yesterday's Navy-Notre Dame game on TV all talked about the exciting, nearly come-from-behind finish by Navy, which was down 27-7 with only 150 seconds left in the game. Sitting through it, however, was a completely different experience, one that left a lot of Navy fans frustrated.

The good: The Navy defense came to play. They shut down Notre Dame on their first two drives with an interception and a fumble recovery, and held ND to a single field goal in the first half.

The uneven: Special teams allowed a blocked punt in the first quarter that was run in for a TD, and couldn't generate kick returns. Recovering back-to-back onsides kicks, however, was pretty amazing.

The abysmal: Navy's offense just couldn't get going. The D intercepted. Navy went 3 and out. The D recovered a fumble. Navy went 3 and out, and had the punt blocked for a Notre Dame TD return. Navy made its first 1st down in the 2nd quarter -- and then went 3 and out. The D forced ND to punt. And finally Navy put together a 5-play, 58-yard drive for a TD. The D rose to the occasion and intercepted yet again. And then Kettani fumbled, and ND ended the first half with a field goal.

The second half started with Navy going 3 and out on all three possession in the 3rd quarter. Meanwhile, the D, which spent way too much time on the field, was getting worn down and allowed ND to mount nice drives that resulted in 2 more Irish TDs in the 3rd quarter, and a field goal early in the 4th. At that point a squall was ripping through the stadium, and with the score 27-7, fans on both sides (including the two nuns from a few rows behind us) figured that the game was over and headed for the exits in droves.

I remarked to Craig that this was exactly where we were two weeks ago -- down 27-7 early in the 4th. His comment: "That was Temple. This is Notre Dame."

The majority of the fans in the stands had jumped ship, but the Brigade was still there. They seemed to gain energy from the energy of the squall, and were down there in the endzone making a lot of noise. Their energy was infectious.

The D didn't give up, even when Navy (under Dobbs since 4:03 left in the 3rd) went 3 and out again after the ND field goal. The D proceeded to recover another fumble. And Navy went 3 and out yet again. And still the D didn't give up, and forced ND to turn the ball over on downs.

There are 2 minutes and 30 seconds left on the clock. The rain has mostly ended. The stands are three-quarters empty -- except the endzone section where the mids are generating as much excitement as they can. The Brigade still believed.

And Dobbs finally got into gear, putting together a drive of 4 plays for 57 yards and a TD. Navy picked up three first downs, plus a first down on penalty, on that drive, too.

Now it's 27-14. I muttered, "We only need two more TDs."

And Navy recovered the onsides kick, which everybody knew was coming. And Dobbs struck again, covering 41 yards in 3 plays for a TD/extra point which made it 27-20.

At this point a bunch of ND fans, who had headed for cover about a half-hour earlier, started to re-emerge and stood there in near disbelief and Navy made and recovered yet another onsides kick.

The clock read 1:21.

Navy picked up a first down and made it to the ND 34. Then, instead of trying to make another first down on short passes to the sideline (no timeouts left), or rushing and then spiking the ball, Navy tried to go for broke on long passes -- and they all fell incomplete.

Notre Dame took over on downs, and didn't obligingly fumble for a Navy runback. And that was all she wrote.

Final score -- Notre Dame 27 -- Navy 21.

Here's the big question from the upper deck. Coach Ken said at the Coach's Lunch on Tuesday that he wouldn't hesitate to put Dobbs in if the offense needed a spark, but he wouldn't change quarterbacks if there was a good flow. Despite the one drive in the 2nd quarter, it was apparent by halftime that the offense needed a spark, and there wasn't much the the way of flow to interrupt.

Knowing that it took Dobbs a couple of series to find the groove against Temple, we couldn't help but wonder what took Coach so long to make the change. If Dobbs had started the second half, would he have turned it into a real ballgame?

Navy managed to beat Temple with about 13 minutes of great football. Two-and-a-half minutes of great offense (and a boost from King Neptune, who generated the squall) just wasn't enough against Notre Dame.

FOR THE RECORD

Navy earned 121 of its total 242 yards of offense after Dobbs entered the game late in the 3rd quarter. They also picked up 5 of their 9 earned first downs and one of the 2 penalty first downs in that same time frame.

Lunch with Coach Ken in Annapolis

This being a holiday from work, Craig and I went to Annapolis for the Coach's Lunch at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. It was a nice place to visit on Veterans' Day, and it was an opportunity to hear what Coach Niumatalolo is thinking about how this season is going, and the Notre Dame game coming up this weekend. By the luck of the draw, we ended up sitting with Navy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk and Annapolis Capital sports writer Bill Wagner.

Coach Ken is a neat guy -- smart, polite, and kind of quiet, but you can sense that he's not someone to mess with. He wasn't giving away anything about Saturday's game -- "One game is just like any other game. . ." He did say that Jarod Bryant will start, and everyone is hoping that Kaipo will be back in form for Army.

He did talk a little bit about Ricky Dobbs, who apparently has really bad practices, but then goes out on the field in a game and blows everyone away. He mentioned that during the one day between Paul Johnson leaving and the announcement that Niumatalolo would be head coach, Dobbs made a point of phoning and talking to every one of the kids at the Naval Academy Prep School, and not one of them jumped ship.

When we were watching the game film, Bill Wagner remarked about how Dobbs unleashes passes with hardly more than a flick of the wrist. Coach Ken also commented on that -- that Dobbs has a very short windup, from about as far back as the ear. He can throw long, but he also has the gift of touch, so that he can thrown over the line, but drop the ball in front of the secondary.

With Navy's win over Temple 10 days ago, the team became eligible to play an ACC opponent, to be determined, in the EagleBank Bowl in DC on Dec. 20. When asked, Coach Ken admitted that he's thought about playing Georgia Tech, coached by Paul Johnson. That would be an interesting match-up, for sure.

I had an opportunity to ask Chet Gladchuk if Navy is going to stick with ACC officials. (Since Navy isn't in a conference, they contract for officials to work home games.) He said yes, that he has to respect their integrity. Those of us in the upper deck, though, have found the crews this year to be frustrating in a lot of ways. It seemed that in the Temple game, almost every other play was reviewed from upstairs. It makes it seem that the guys on the field don't quite know what they're doing, and it makes for a very long game if you're sitting in the stands. Oh, well...

So, this Saturday is Notre Dame in Baltimore. I just hope that Navy comes out on the field playing as well as they did in the fourth quarter against Temple, and that they sustain that level for the duration.

GO NAVY!

Navy 2009 Football Schedule

2009 Navy Football Schedule

Sept. 5: at Ohio State
Sept. 12: Louisiana Tech (First meeting)
Sept. 19: at Pittsburgh
Sept. 26: Western Kentucky (First meeting)
Oct. 3: Air Force
Oct. 10: at Rice
Oct. 17: at SMU
Oct. 24: Wake Forest
Oct. 31: Temple
Nov. 7: at Notre Dame
Nov. 14: Delaware
Nov. 21: at Hawaii
Dec. 12: vs. Army in Philadelphia

Navy 33 -- Temple 27

Last year a couple of friends thought I was writing too much about football -- so I stopped. And I discovered I couldn't get excited about writing, if I couldn't write about football. So...

This has been an interesting season for Navy. We started the year with Kaipo as the starting QB, and coach Ken thinking he'd use Jarod Bryant at slotback because Jarod is too good to keep on the bench. And there was a promising young backup in sophomore Ricky Dobbs.

Well, the best-laid plans gang aft agley, and they sure did for Coach Ken. Kaipo has been nursing an injured hamstring all season, and has missed more than he's played. Bryant did yeoman's duty as the new starter, but it seemed that the offense was struggling, and every week we waited to see if Kaipo was going to be back in harness.

Then, two weeks ago Ricky Dobbs came in at the end of an ugly loss to Pitt and breathed some life into the team, leading to a late score on a beautiful TD pass that didn't affect the outcome of the game (final was 42-21), but left us all thinking that there was hope on the horizon.

Last week Bryant hurt his shoulder early on against SMU, and Dobbs got the call. Navy won 34-7, albeit against a team with a lot of problems. Still, Dobbs got good game experience and showed that he's a shifty runner. BTW -- the game was played in steady rain and gusty wind, and Navy didn't even attempt a pass for the first time in a lot of years. They didn't need to.

The only concern was that Dobbs was doing most of the carrying. Kettani and Shun White weren't producing as they had been, and the explanation was that Dobbs still wasn't able to read the defenses well enough to take advantage of all the options.

Yesterday was senior day. Knowing that Bryant was ailing, Kaipo worked hard to be ready to start against Temple, and he did. Navy's first possession went for a TD. Temple answered. That took up a little more than half of the first quarter. The rest of the first half was just frustrating. Navy struggled to move the ball. The D would hold Temple or back them up on first and second down, but third down almost always turned into first down. Still, nobody scored. Navy tried a field goal as time was about to run out, but it was blocked. Halftime score: 7-7.

The third quarter was more of the same for Navy. Kaipo went out with 5 minutes left in the quarter. Dobbs came in, and still struggled. Meanwhile, Temple figured out how to score, and with only 13+ minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Temple led 27-7. It looked bad.

Then it seemed that Navy realized it was now or never. The senior parents and friends were in the stands. Navy could clinch a spot in the Eagle Bank Bowl in DC with a win, but with Notre Dame and Army coming up fast, the sixth win was looking less and less like a certainty, given the way things had been going. And they probably had seen the final that Air Force beat Army, meaning that the Commander-in-Chief's trophy will stay in Annapolis at least by default -- and default is never enough. Pride was on the line.

So, Dobbs rallied the offense, and the team scored on a nice drive capped by a pass to Thiel. It was 27-14, and there was at least a glimmer of hope.

Then the defense rose to the occasion, and started making the tackles they'd been missing for most of the game. Navy got the ball back -- and Kettani scored. But the extra point was blocked. It was 27-20 and the clock was ticking away.

Temple got the ball with a minute and something left. They made a first down. It was nail-biting time. Everybody was making noise (and as my husband, my mother, many folks who have sat near me over the years will gladly attest, I can make more than my share of it). Temple snapped the ball again. I had been yelling "DEEEFENSE" along with everyone else, but changed the yell to "FUMMMMBLE" (inspired by a man who sat behind us at Colts games years ago and whose signature yell was "Fee-fi-fo-fumble") -- and all of a sudden one of the Navy guys (Sovie, as it turned out) had the ball and ran it into the end zone. The extra point was good, and the game was tied.

Navy won the overtime toss and elected to give the ball to Temple, so that they'd have the last up, as it were. Temple elected to play in the south end of the stadium, away from the Brigade. But the Brigade rallied to the challenge and at least a battalion of mids proceeded in an orderly fashion to the south end where they could make some noise. We sit just above the Brigade, and it was an amazing sight. Their shipmates needed them, and they came through.

So Temple got the ball. They made a first down and made their way to the one, and then elected to pass (maybe thinking about that fumble?). Their receiver had it in the endzone -- and dropped the ball.

Navy got the ball, worked their way towards the goal line (the ball was practically ON the goal line for the last play), and then Dobbs took it in for the score.

Then the mids in the south end made their way back to their seats, and the Temple team, which had to be hurting, fell in behind the Navy team for the singing of "Navy Blue and Gold." That was pretty amazing to see, too.

I've watched a lot of games in my life, including some astounding comebacks by John Unitas and the Colts (including the game where Jimmy Orr went to the hospital and came back to catch the winning pass), but this one probably tops them all.

So, Navy has a week off, and plays Notre Dame at Ravens Stadium in Baltimore on 11/15. Then they play away at Northern Illinois, and have another week off before playing Army in Philadelphia. And THEN -- they'll play an as-yet-to-be-determined team from the ACC in the Eagle Bank Bowl in DC on December 20. And, yes, I ordered our tickets online about an hour after yesterday's game ended.

BTW -- Notre Dame lost to Pitt in OT yesterday, and plays BC next week before coming to B'more.

And Army lost to Air Force.

GO NAVY!

Our Introduction to the Queen Mary 2

The other night we watched a documentary on the National Geographic channel on the building of the Queen Mary 2. This was of special interest to us because we (or at least I; Craig had seen it once before and thought I'd be interested) first saw this several months ago, at which time Craig and I looked at each other and thought that we had to go for a sail on this magnificent ship. Craig thought it was totally out of our price range, but when we came upstairs, I did a quick and dirty Google for cheap cruises and discovered that it really wasn't out of reach.

Several weeks later, an opportunity came for us to get away for our first real, totally non-working vacation together in longer than either of us could remember. I did some serious looking for QM2 deals -- and found one that was too good to pass up.

Let me back up a few decades and explain why this ship appealed to us.

Both our dads were in the Navy, so we both spent some time around big ships when we were kids -- and have memories of riding the elevator from the hangar deck to the flight deck of aircraft carriers. And at the age of 8 I got stuck in the conning tower of an old fleet-type submarine. My legs weren't as long as the sailors', and I had trouble reaching the first rung of the ladder going down.

When Craig was 6 or 7, his dad was stationed in Panama. When that tour was over, the Navy sent him, his brother and his Mom to New York via ship. He had fond memories of being at sea.

When I was in high school, I spent a summer in Norway. This was in 1962, when the predominant form of transatlantic travel was by ship. I traveled as part of a group of 20 American girls from New York to Oslo on the Norwegian America Line's M/V Oslofjord. It took us 10 days to get to Oslo, with stops along the way in Bergen, Stavanger and Copenhagen. We traveled Second Class. One of the girls in our group and I shared a tiny inside cabin with two older ladies who didn't speak English. There were two sets of bunk beds (I had an upper) with a narrow walkway and small sink/vanity between them. The other facilities were down the hall.

We didn't spend a whole lot of time in our cabin. There were nice lounge areas where we hung out with other girls in our group, and a some of the guys traveling with another group. The food was way too plentiful and really good (lots of native Norwegian fare, such as brown goat cheese and reindeer steaks), with a huge "cold table" before every meal. Dinners typically included a meat course and fish course, along with appetizer, dessert, etc. And the all-Norwegian crew and staff were terrific.

The trip home was on the M/V Bergensfjord, a larger ship that held 800 passengers, versus the 600 on the Oslofjord. It was a newer ship, too (launched in 1955 v 1949). This time my first roomie and I shared a much larger (with private bath) cabin with two other girls in our group. I took an upper bunk again, the one on the outside with the porthole. Since we boarded in Copenhagen and didn't stop anywhere else, it only took us 8 days to get home. The food was as good as on the Oslofjord, and the same group of guys was on board, too. Yep -- it was pretty terrific.

So, both of us had nice memories of spending days at sea. Neither one of us was attracted to the typical island-hopping cruise with non-stop manufactured fun. And so sailing on the QM2 seemed like a good fit.

We ended up booking a five-day cruise out of New York, with two full days at sea and stops in Halifax and Boston. We left New York on the Thursday before Memorial Day, and got back the following Tuesday.

Getting ready for our trip

So, we made the decision to book the trip on the Queen Mary 2, and made it pretty quickly to take advantage of a great rate on a Britannia Club stateroom. The QM2 offers several levels of accommodation: Queen's Grille, Princess Grille, Britannia Club and Britannia. The Grille classes are at the top end, and consist of various kinds of suites, butler and concierge services, very special dining in their own dining rooms, private lounge areas, etc. The Grilles were out of our price range.

Britannia includes inside, oceanview and balcony staterooms, and includes dining at a fixed time in the grand Britannia dining room (with options to take meals in other restaurants).

Britannia Club falls somewhere in between. The stateroom is exactly like the other balcony staterooms (248 square feet), but all the Britannia Club rooms are on Deck 12, which is the bridge level at the top of the ship. There's also a small-ish, intimate Britannia Club dining room, with open seating, which means we could have dinner at any time between 6:30 and 9 p.m.

We were able to get a Britannia Club stateroom for only $100 per person more than a regular balcony room, so we went for it.

It wasn't until after we had made the booking that it sunk in that there would be a dress code for after 6, and a couple of formal evenings. And I remember thinking, "Craig is going to have a cow."

Having worked for most of his adult life as a self-employed artist (and now film-maker), he's pretty much managed to avoid the suit-and-tie look. And until early this year he owned a tux (a hand-me-down), which he wore to some formal events, and which ended up being given away in a used clothing box because it no longer fit.

Well, he did a little grumbling. We had two formal nights, and the others were "elegant casual," meaning he needed a sport coat, but no tie. Not so bad. We found a gently used tux at an upscale Goodwill store for $12.50. Except for the pants needing to be shortened, it fit. Problem solved.

It turned out that the formal wear I had stashed in the closet no longer fit me, either. And, having gotten tired of fooling with hair color, I'd gone through the pains of letting my hair grow out to a not-awful salt-and-pepper gray. I was okay with it for going to work, but when I started trying on formal dresses, I felt like Kate Smith's mother! (If you have to ask...) I found my two dresses (on a buy one-get one free deal), and acquired the proper undergarments -- and still hated the way I looked. So I bit the bullet and went to a salon recommended by a friend for a restyle -- and color. Much better!

Since we were heading north from New York, and going into the North Atlantic, we figured it would be chilly, and packed sweaters and jackets along with more summery things. Since we had decided to drive from Baltimore to the cruise terminal in Brooklyn, we didn't have to skimp on packing, and ended up with more than we needed, but now we know.

We did our passenger pre-registration on the Cunard web site. We have EZPass so we don't have to waste time at the toll booths between here and there on I-95. We printed out a map and directions to the terminal. We got our cruise documents in order. And finally it was time to go.

Setting Sail on the QM2

Our (or actually Craig's) first view of the ship was from the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. I was driving, but he was a gog about the huge white superstructure with the red stack that dominated the landscape. I finally managed a peek in the right direction, but my first real look at her after we pulled into the terminal area and were creeping towards the unloading area.

She's magnificent -- and she's huge. Our balcony is on the very top, the second one aft of the first vertical white line, just behind the "golf ball" at the very top of the ship.

When we made it to the terminal building, I hopped out. A porter unloaded the car and put our luggage on a cart, and I waited while Craig parked the car in the adjacent lot. We were about 30 minutes past our suggested check-in time by the time we got in line, but the line moved quickly. As it grew behind us, we were happy we arrived when we did. Cunard assigns check-in times by deck to help cut down on wait times, and it seems to be a good system.

At check in, we were photographed and issued our key cards, and then walked right onto the ship. Walking into the grand lobby and seeing uniformed crew assembled to welcome you aboard takes your breath away.

We boarded on deck 3, and our stateroom was on deck 12. We were directed to the best elevator bank. Someone on cruisecritic.com had pointed out that the up elevators were always packed, and suggested hopping on any elevator with space and going down first if necessary. That turned out to be excellent advice, and that's exactly what we did.

When we got to our level, we saw a pile of luggage, including one of ours, in the elevator lobby area. A steward pointed us in the right direction, and we found our room halfway down the port side corridor. The rest of our luggage was already there, and just a moment later, our steward (Joue, pronounced Joey) arrived with the final bag. And we were officially on vacation!

There was a split of bubbly and a plate of strawberries waiting for us. We checked out the balcony and settled in. There were two closets, separated by a unit of four drawers, a deep shelf and a safe (topped by the shelf with our flotation jackets). There was more than enough closet space, the drawers were adequate, and the luggaged stowed under the bed. The bathroom had enough counter and shelf space for all our stuff -- and we were settled.

The Kings Court buffet on deck 7 (the Promendade Deck) was open for lunch. It was a little bit of a cattle call, since that was the only lunch option, but we got enough to eat and found a nice little table in a kind of bay window, and we watched some folks starting on their three laps around the deck that make up a mile.

Then it was time for the flotation jacket drill in our designated assembly area, and then there was time to explore. We found the glass elevators on each side of the ship that run between decks 7 and 11, just below the wings of the bridge. They turned out to be our favorite means of conveyance, and connected the observation deck (11) with the Atlantic Room (card room), Commodore Lounge (comfy seats, big windows with great views, scale model of the QM2 behind the bar), library (more comfy seats and windows with great views, plus a huge selection of reading matter) and Promenade.

Although we were scheduled to depart at 5, the sailing was delayed until 9 p.m. so we could see the fireworks over the Brooklyn Bridge, marking its 125th anniversary. Our first dinner in Britannia Club was a little rushed so that we could make it topside, but we met our wonderful dining companions (Milla and Boris and Maureen and Ed) and knew that dinners were going to be enjoyable times.

Alas, we made it to the top of the ship at about 9:05, just in time for one last big boom. Apparently the fireworks got wet in the afternoon rain. But since we were topside, we stayed to see the ship pass under the Verrazanno Bridge. It was dark, and it was unseasonably chilly, and the ship creates its own wind. We were pretty bundled up, but it was still kind of chilly. But we joined a group of other adventuresome souls on an even higher observation platform and watched as the lights of Manhattan began to recede behind the ship. A helicopter escort went past below eye level. The Statue of Liberty stood vigil. And we held our collective breath and then cheered as the mast at the bow of the ship cleared the bridge, and then turned to watch the stack clear (by about 7 feet, close enough to divert the smoke) and cheered again.

By then we were all freezing, and headed below to warm up and settle in for the night. We opened our balcony door so we could hear the ocean sounds, and spent half the night looking at the lighthouses on Long Island as we sailed past. And that was our first day on the QM2.

See below for some additional photos.

QM2: Stateroom 12026

This was our home for five wonderful days. Note the closets and drawers on the left. And -- there's a bathroom on the right. (Sorry CCR -- couldn't resist).

There was a small sofa to my right, a desk, TV and fridge on my left, a coffee table in between, and the balcony behind me. It was 248 square feet total, and quite comfy. This is the standard balcony cabin on the QM2, no matter which deck you're on.

QM2: Manhattan skyline from our balcony

Pretty neat, huh? That's the Brooklyn Bridge on the right, celebrating its 125th birthday.

Freedom Dance: Best in Show

Freedom Dance just keeps on winning. It was one of 20 films showcased at the Rosebud Film Festival in Arlington, VA, yesterday (Saturday, June 14). Tonight was the awards gala. The top 5 films as selected by a panel of judges each won $1,000 and a trophy. And Freedom Dance won best in show.

Congratulations to Craig and Stephen, the whole crew, and especially Edward and Judy Hilbert for sharing their story and Mariska Hargitay for providing the narration.

More from the CINES

At the cocktail reception on the 7th floor terrace of the Newseum, we ended up sharing a table with a very interesting gentleman named Tom Hope. He had a white ribbon on his badge, indicting he was a Jury Chair. He was with his niece, Karin, and a lovely lady whose daughter is the executive director of CINE.

Tom, it turns out, was a photographer with an elite unit during WWII. He recently helped compile a book about that unit, and he had a copy for us to look at. Included was a first person narrative submitted by the soldier in the hospital that Patton famously slapped. The rest of that story is that Patton returned a while later. He had found out that this Canadian soldier, who was serving in a unit with American soldiers, had been wounded in a key operation. Patton pinned one of his own Purple Hearts on the soldier. And after Patton left the building, someone came and took the Purple Heart away -- because the soldier was Canadian!

We enjoyed hearing Tom's stories, and were very surprised when, during the Awards Ceremony, he was identified as one of the founders of CINE 50 years ago. Here's a link to a fascinating interview with Tom about how the US Government wanted someone to found an organization to encourage quality documentary films that could be entered in foreign film festivals, which at the time were being flooded with well-produced propoganda films from Communist countries. It's a fascinating story, and made the award even more special for Craig.

Freedom Dance Wins CINE Masters Series Award

Freedom Dance, the animated short documentary co-directed, co-produced, and co-edited by Steven Fischer and Craig Herron, won the CINE Golden Eagle Masters Series trophy for Independent Films last night. The trophy came with an award of $10,000 in post production services from Henninger Media in Arlington, VA.

The 50th anniversary awards gala was held at the Newseum, a brand new $400 million museum on Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, DC. In addition to presenting the Masters Series awards, CINE honored Edward James Olmos, the Oscar nominated actor (Stand And Deliver), with a Cine lifetime Achievement Award, and Gwen Ifill, of television news fame, with a Cine Trailblazer Award.

The evening started with a cocktail party and buffet catered by Wolfgang Puck on the 7th floor terrace of the Newseum overlooking the Capital building and the museums on the mall. Afterwards the awards ceremony was held in one of the many beautiful theaters inside the Newseum.

Steven Fischer, myself and my wife Barbara attended. As usual I was a bit excited at the prospect of our winning. They had all the trophies lined up on a table on the stage (there were only ten awards in addition to the Lifetime and Trailblazer awards). The golden trophies were glowing in the spotlights and I wanted one. Something about trophies glowing in the spotlight makes me crazy.

When they announced that Freedom Dance had won I shouted, "Yes!" maybe a bit too loud -- well, maybe a lot too loud. They showed a clip from the movie and Steven and I took the stage to receive our trophy and the award from Henninger Media. Steven did most of the talking as he is great at public speaking and then I thanked Edward Hilbert, the CINE awards people and Barbara.

Among the many hi-lights of the evening were video clips from famous people in the news and entertainment fields who congratulated the CINE Awards on their 50th anniversary, and the filmmakers on their achievements. My favorites were from Ken Burns, the famous documentary director of WWII, Baseball, Lewis and Clark, The Civil War and many others, and Steven Spielburg, who remembered receiving a CINE Award for his first short and how much it meant to him.

This was truly a wonderful night for Freedom Dance and all the people who helped us win this award. Thanks from Steven and myself to:

• Edward and Judy Hilbert for their wonderful story and Edward's cartoons;
• Mariska Hargitay for narrating this small movie and helping us get attention;
• Diane Leigh Davison, Esq., Attorney at Law who arranged for Mariska to narrate;
• Gregg Landry of Blue Rock Productions for shooting the live action sequences of Edward that formed the structure of the movie;
• Kevin Hill of Studio Unknown for the fantastic sound design of Freedom Dance;
• Phil Rosensteel for the composing (along with Steven) and playing the score;
• Dr. Michael Davidson DDS for the location photography of Hungary and Austria that were turned into backgrounds for the animation;
• John Bintz for setting up our website and keeping it going all this time;
• Barbara Herron for digital paint and enthusiastic support of me and this project;
• Paul Sulky for digital paint and animation;
• Leanna Chamish for being our video host;
• Edy Bondroff for her work on the Gallery show at the Jewish Communtiy Center at Park Heights;
• Claudine Davison, for making the Gallery show and an early screening at the JCC happen;
• Rachel Kreutzinger for digital paint;
• Joel Loukus for digital paint and some animation;
• Marc Gillis for his watercolor paintings that were used as backgrounds; and
• Meaghan Dunn and Jason Bloom for digital paint.

Craig talks about "House of Usher"

In case you (like some others) have been wondering why it's taking so long to get going on what's going to be about a 15-minute short film, here's an explanation in Craig's words:

Why is this taking so long to shoot, you are probably wondering. This type of production with live actors against the greenscreen where the house will go is a really heavy pre-production and post-production type of movie, and is similar to animation in that respect. Unlike most movies, the shoot itself is the shortest part of the process.

Since it is a period piece we are making costumes in the Regency or Empire style (think Jane Austen -- 1795-1820s) We are also working on furniture, as we need a few pieces where actors will touch or sit on things. Steve Landry has made a beautiful Recamier couch/chaise longue (yes, that's "long chair") which we will paint and upholster. Barbara has already posted photos of Madeline's dress and the chaise. (Ed note: Click on the "House of Usher" subject label to find them.)

Probably the most time consuming but crucial part of the process is the storyboard. Everything that will be in the movie visually is decided before we shoot. Rough versions to scale of the entire house have been made. Once the storyboard is finished and revised then the movie will be shot based on the storyboards with the camera lined up to the CGI house as much as possible. After everything is shot, the house and everything in it will need to be reconstructed and textured photo-realistically and composited with the greenscreen shots.

Craig

More as it happens...

More daffodils!

This is how the daffodils along the front walk looked on Thursday morning. The rest have bloomed since then, so I'll have to get another picture. Spring is here, in all its unpredictability!

Ruler of the Roost

Regular visitors may remember that Niece Heather came to us in January and asked if we'd adopt her pug, Marshall, because she and Jeff are both working such long hours that poor Marshall was home alone way too much.

We brought him home with us in mid-January, and as you can see, he's settled right in. This afternoon Craig was downstairs. I went into his upstairs office to get something, and found Marshall settled very comfortably into Craig's chair.

Meanwhile, Baby, our Jack Russell, was downstairs having a nice afternoon nap in Marshall's crate. Whatever works...

Madelaine's Dress Fitting

Here it is -- Madelaine's crushed silk blood red Empire/Regency dress. That's the train she's holding in her left hand. This version of the dress is make with drawstrings at the neckline and under the bust. They weren't quite adjusted when Craig snapped this shot. I was busy snipping stray threads from the edge of the right sleeve. You can see the gathering detail on the left sleeve.

The white muslin dress that Madelaine will wear for the burial scene has elastic at the neckline, under the bust, and around the bottoms of the sleeves. That dress, alas, is going to get ruined with fake blood, but we hope our Madelaine will be able to wear this dress to one or more screenings.

Daffodils!

My daffodils are almost all out.

We have a roughly 60-foot-long front sidewalk, lined on both sides with daffodils that my grandmother planted. She passed away in 1990 at the age of 90, so most of the bulbs were planted between 25 and 40 years ago. I've thinned them a few times and distributed bulbs to other beds, and they'll need thinning again this year. All together, there are at least 6 or 7 different varieties in various shades of cream yellow and saffron. And they smell good, too!

Enjoy this bit of spring.

Women's Portraits in Western Art

Thanks to my friend Jan for forwarding the link to an amazing little video showing women's portraits over 500 years. There's neat cello music, too. Check it out.

Chilly Spring evening at the pool

Our swimming pool association had its Spring general membership meeting this past Thursday evening. We were supposed to meet at 7 p.m. at a nearby church. When we arrived a few minutes before 7, everyone was still milling around in the church parking lot. The church had agreed to let us meet there, but nobody showed up to let us in.

So, we all headed over to the pool! It was pretty neat to go through the gates just before dusk. The pool is still wearing its winter coat and all the chairs had gone home for the winter. There was something really magical about being there.

We headed for the pavilion, turned over some picnic tables, set out the refreshments, and gathered wood from the grounds (head start on Spring cleanup) to build a fire in the fireplace.

It was a cool evening, and we had probably the shortest meeting on record, but it was fun having our Spring reunion at the pool with the fire to chase away the chills.

The pool opens at noon on May 24. We can't wait!

How early was Easter this year?

Easter this year was Sunday, March 23.

Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which occurred on March 20 this year). Easter can be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare.

This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see. Only people now 95 or older have ever celebrated Easter this early. And none of us alive today will ever, see it a day earlier!

Here are the facts:

The last time Easter fell on March 23 was 1913.
The next time Easter will be this early will be the year 2228 -- 220 years from now.

The last time Easter fill on March 22 was 1818.
The next time will be in the year 2285, in 277 years.

Throw in early Daylight Savings Time, and it's no wonder I'm so discombobulated!

Coach Ken starts spring practice

Spring really is here. Yesterday was the first day of Navy football practice, presided over by Coach Ken Niumatalolo and his new staff.

The defense, which was very green last year, has lots of repeaters for this season, but the O-line lost 4 of 5 starters, so some juggling is going on there.

In one of the more interesting moves, Coach is trying to find new ways to use backup QB Jarod Bryant. Barring anything unforseen, Kaipo looks to have a lock on the starting QB job again this year, but Bryant is deemed to be too good to keep on the bench. So, he's getting a try at slot back and punt returner.

The slot back possibility is really intriguing. We've always thought that Bryant is great at handling the ball, and he has some nice moves. Kaipo has the upper hand in reading and reacting to defenses. Having both of them in the backfield could make for some really interesting possibilities. Stay tuned.

Spring practice continues until the intra-squad game on April 18. This is going to be fun!

Daylight Savings Time in March -- Grrrrrrr!

Daylight time started too long ago, and Easter came extra-early this year, too. So Easter is over, and it's light until well after 7, and it all makes me want to switch to my spring clothes -- only it's still too cold! This is madness of the worst kind. Fie on all the policy-makers who were deluded into thinking this would be a good idea.

Last Night's Movie: "August Rush"

A brilliant young cellist has a chance encounter with the singer in a rock band on their respective post-performance highs in Manhattan. Separated by the cellist's overbearing father/manager, they are force to go their separate ways. When the cellist gives birth to a son nine months later, the father forges her name to adoption papers and tells her the baby is dead.

Ten years later the cellist is teaching music in Chicago and grieving for her dead baby. The rock singer left the band and is living in San Francisco, but is still grieving for his lost love. And a little boy living in a children's home runs off to Manhattan to find his parents, because he can hear them in his head.

The ensuing story is driven by the force of love that binds people, and by music as a language that communicates by resonating with us and within us in ways we're not usually conscious of.

There are wonderful sequences that intercut the cello and the rock band in ways that are pure magic.

The whole movie is has a magical fairy tale quality (with a little Charles Dickens thrown in), but it's beautiful and satisfying. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Keri Russell give wonderful performances as the rock singer and cellist, and young Freddie Highmore is charming as Evan/August.

"August Rush" gets two thumbs up in our house.

Madelaine's Dress Is Finished!

It wasn't easy and it involved ripping out and re-sewing a bunch of stitching, but Madelaine's blood red Empire gown for "The Fall of the House of Usher" is finished! It's beautiful and worth all the work.

Then I helped Craig with the valet's coat. We were applying a nice twisted braid edging when we ran out of thread! That's what happens when you get so caught up in the small stuff that you stop noticing the big stuff -- like basic supplies.

I'll keep helping Craig with the coat and vest, but my next big project will be the cushion and bolster cover for the Recamier couch. It will be a complete change from working with the red crushed silk, which is truly lovely, but gets to be hard on the eyes when you have to rip out a lot of stitches. The fabric for the couch is a fairly heavy upholstery fabric in medium blue with gold stars woven in. I'm probably going to need to use stablizer on the edges, as I suspect it's going to want to ravel. Stay tuned for pictures.

Global Warming: Our Fault?

My boss recently mentioned that he'd been reading an interesting book on global warming called "Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years." Authors Dennis T. Avery and S. Fred Singer present another view of climate change, and one that any thinking person should consider. They cite myriad studies of ice core samples, stalagtites, tree rings, etc. and present some interesting conclusions. The great ice age cycle of plus or minus 100,000 years seems to be linked to our solar system's passage through the arms of the Milky Way. There are documented shorter 1,500 cycles of warming and cooling that seem to be related to solar activity. And within those periods there are fairly sudden and dramatic shifts in temperature and weather patterns, including devastating storms.

They also look at human history -- periods of peace and productivity during the warm periods, when less effort is required to produce food and stay warm, and periods of strife and withdrawal during cold periods. They talk about an unnamed cold period prior to the Roman Era, the Roman Warming Period, the cooling period of the Dark Ages, the Medieval Warm Period (roughly corresponding to the Renaissance), the Little Ice Age, which ended around 1850, and the current Modern Warm Period. Hmmm...this has happened before, when people weren't running air conditioners and barging around in gas-guzzlng SUVs.

One of the thoughts I'm left with is that it's a lot less scary to think that we broke it and so we can fix it, rather than acknowledging our own puny place in the universe. Face it, people like to think they're in charge. People don't like change, and this is likely to bring lots of changes.

Should we abandon efforts to reduce greenhouse gases? Probably not.

Should we expect that reducing greenhouse gases will produce changes in the earth's climate? I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

I wish the policy makers would stop to consider what kinds of things might be productive. Maybe they should look at development patterns in coastal areas that are likely to be affected. New Orleans isn't the only vulnerable spot on earth.

The world is full of stories of great floods and drowned kingdoms. There's a Welsh folk song called "The Bells of Aberdovey," about church bells that can be heard beneath the waters off West Wales. There's a myth about the kingdom of Ys/Is off the coast of Brittany in France. The kingdom drowned, and the inhabitants retreated eastward until they came to a place along a river that was as wonderful as Ys, and they called it Paris (the equal of Is).

I could go on, but I'll write about this again soon. Meanwhile, I invite you to take a good look at the world around you. Remember that Ocean City, MD, gained prominence as an ocean resort after a great storm in the 1930s created an inlet that opened the inland bay to the sea. When you drive in the mountains, look at the folds in the rock that was blasted away when the highway was built. If you see a u-shaped formation, remember that the bottom of the u is actually the bottom of a layer of rock that was folded and then the upper layers eroded away by weather, or even by glaciers. The world that we see right now is not the world as it's always been. Does it really make sense to think that it will always be thus?

Last Night's Movie: "Atonement"

"Atonement" is a beautifully filmed adaptation of the Ian MacEwan novel of the same title. The story is compelling but complicated, and making the leap from page to screen took a great deal of skill and understanding of how to tell a story visually. Overall, it worked. But it left me wanting to read the novel -- and that's not a bad thing at all.

There's a complicated tracking shot near the end of the movie that runs about 5 minutes in length. Pulling it off was a logisticial tour de force, but it's not the longest track shot in the history of cinema, as somebody stated in the making-of extra on the DVD.

Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 film "Rope" held that distinction for a long time. He had a special set built with movable walls and plotted everything so carefully that the entire movie is a series of long tracking shots -- each up to 10 minutes long. Read more about how it was done at wikipedia.

The single longest shot, however, was accomplished in 2002, by director Alexander Sukorov in "The Russian Ark." The entire movie is one sustained 90-minute Steadicam shot, captured while the operator walked through the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, accompanied by a crew of seven shlepping hard drives, lights, battery packs, etc, and surrounded by a cast of 2,000 extras in period costumes.

You can rent this at Blockbuster, and if you love movies, you should. Be sure to watch the making-of, too. The crew had the use of the Hermitage for something like 24 hours, starting one evening and ending the next. During that time they had to work with the Hermitage staff to remove/protect works of art, bring in the extras and move them around, shoot the movie, and then put everything back the way it was. They got permission to use Catherine the Great's china and tableware, but they had to put museum staff in costumes and they were the only ones allowed to handle it.

The crew agreed that if anything went wrong in the first few minutes, they could start over, and they did two or three times. But, given the limitations of batteries, etc., they had to get it all on the next take. They did -- but the cameraman admitted that when he entered the ballroom for one of the final scenes, he didn't think he could carry his rig any longer. One of his crew told him what he needed to hear, and he got his second wind and was able to finish.

The ballroom scene, by the way, is a recreation of the last ball held in what was then the Winter Palace, in 1913. This was the first time dancing was held in that room since then.

Full Moon Tonight

Which means that this is the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox. And you KNOW what that means...

First Day of Spring!

Hooray!

Clark Brothers to appear on "Idol Gives Back"

The Clark Brothers, the bluegrass trio that won "The Next Great American Band" show last summer, will be part of the American Idol Gives Back show on April 9th. They've been working on a CD, and I can't wait to hear them again. There are clips on their website. Click on the links I've inserted and have a listen.

Lil's quilt -- and matching pillow

A while back I posted pictures of a lap quilt that I made for our friends Russ and Lil as a wedding present. Since I had leftover fabric, I pieced a cover for a little round pillow to match as a Christmas present. Russ took some pictures.

To make the pillow, I did some basic measurements, added enough for seam allowances and to make a casing at each end for a draw string (made from the quilt fabric). Once I had all that figured out, I cut out a piece of muslin to use as a pattern and then laid patterned fabric pieces on it to see how it would all fit together. I didn't stitch the pieces to the muslin -- just kept the muslin to use over again. I wrote on the muslin in pencil how much I allowed for seams, casings, etc., so I wouldn't have to reinvent that wheel.

And I did make a pair of pillows for Craig's brother and his wife for their family room. For those I used the same size pillow form and just a single piece of fabric. And I bought cording instead of making (and turning) the drawstrings myself.

The pillow for the "House of Usher" chaise longue is larger than this, but I'll use the same basic technique for measuring, etc. I may insert some piping braid in the seam at each end of the long section, to frame the round ends. Stay tuned...

Heather's Cabinets

Here are Niece Heather's kitchen cabinets, with the cherries that Uncle Craig painted. These were the inspiration for the tablecloth (see below). And that's Chef Jeff, making jalapenos stuffed with cheese and sausage. Makes me hungry just thinking about it.

Heather's Tablecloth

A while back I promised to post photos of the 70-inch round tablecloth I made for Heather for Christmas. I posted a detailed step-by-step how-to piece that you can access in the archives if you're so inclined. Anyhow, here's the finished product. I had enough fabric left (see my how-to) to make some placemats or napkins -- when we finish the "House of Usher" costumes.

Furnishing the House of Usher

Craig's production of "The Fall of the House of Usher" is taking on a life of its own.

Madelaine's second dress, an Empire number in blood red crushed silk, is almost finished.

Craig deconstructed a Goodwill coat and we've transformed that into the valet's coat, and bought the fabric for a coordinating vest.

And -- TA-DA -- Steve Landry, the set carpenter for Blue Rock Productions, where the movie will be shot, has finished Roderick's chaise longue, AKA Recamier couch.

We looked at lots of period paintings and photos of existing pieces. Craig designed what we wanted, gave the drawings and dimensions to Steve, and he ran with it. We have a long cushion for the seat, and found some great fabric that's appropriate to the period to cover it. I also picked up a bolster pillow, and will cover that, too. Of course, the wood will be finished; there are a couple of treatments we're considering.

I love this piece so much that I'm going to find a place for it in our house when the shoot is over. Craig has thoughts of his own, though. He wants to set it up in the lobby when we have a screening and let Madelaine recline tragically on it, in the red silk gown. I'm sure we'll do that at least once, but eventually it's going to end up in the upstairs sitting room.

Thanks to Steve for doing such a beautiful job. Don't you love all those gentle curves?

Daylight Savings in Alaska

Here's the latest from our friend in Alaska:

Here in AK we're gaining 5 mins. 45 secs a day and are already up to 11
hours plus of daylight. It doesn't matter how much daylight we have
as we are now 2 hour ahead of the sun
and day time temps are still hovering around 35 if
we're lucky. We won't be able to plant outside until
late May. We're in the time affectionately called
breakup which means that the snow is melting at a
rapid rate and then at night the water freezes giving
us a slippery ride in the AM. It also doesn't mean
that we won't get more snow tis month or next.   So
much for daylight savings. 

Spring forward

Between last night and this morning we lost an hour, an annual occurrence that always causes grumbling in our house. Although Craig is denying it this morning, he used to refer to this as changing time zones. Today he's insisting that changing to an earlier time zone would put us somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, and he's not buying my argument that it also might place us in the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Whatever...

It's always a disruptive time, and changing this early in the year seems more disruptive than usual. Sunrise in these latitudes will now occur close to 7:30 am for a while, making it harder for those of us who awaken more naturally with light than with noise. The days were already long enough at the other end to give us light to drive home from work. It's still a little chilly to do much outdoor work after dinner, and it's too early to do any serious planting because the danger of frost isn't past. So what's the point? We may not have to turn the lights on quite so early in the evening, but we'll need more lights in the morning, so I'm not sure there will even be any energy savings, unless everyone stays in bed until after the sun comes up!

Well, we're stuck with it, so we're just going to have to put up with what man hath wrought until everything evens out. Grrrr...

Lost our electricity -- again

Yep, last night we were watching a movie, and shortly before the end, the power went out! It was an annoying surprise. We thought the wind storm had pretty much died down by then, but you never know.

We have LOTS of flashlights, but discovered that we had moved the flashlight from the living room the last time the power went out, so Craig had to pick his way to the kitchen. We turned off the TV and few lights that had been on and came upstairs, where we have more flashlights, and were able to get ready for bed, throw on an extra cover, crawl in and read by flashlight for a little while. Fortunately, the power (and heat) came back on in the middle of the night

Today we've got to remember to take a couple of flashlights back downstairs and put them where they belong.

Moral of the story -- make sure you have your emergency supplies (flashlights and batteries, radio, water, extra blankets, etc.) and KNOW WHERE THEY ARE.

Happy St. David's Day!

It's March 1, St. David's Day, the Welsh national holiday. This day commemorates the death in 588 A.D. of David of Wales, a holy man who is remembered for drinking only water, and for his abilities as a preacher and teacher.

It's traditional on St. David's Day to wear a daffodil and eat leeks in some form. Tonight I think we'll have lamb with braised leeks! And it's a good excuse to sing, as if any Welsh person needed an excuse.

This March 1st in Baltimore is chilly and windy. If the old saying is correct ("In like a lion, out like a lamb"), spring is on its way.

Spring is springing

The early daffodils have been poking up for at least the last week -- and this morning I spotted a yellow crocus on our front bank.

A couple of years ago I planted something like 80 crocus bulbs out there, envisioning an early spring carpet of color. Alas, the squirrels got most of them, and last year maybe a dozen were still left, but seeing that one yellow crocus this morning made it all worthwhile.

Sewing room hint: Organize fabric in resealable plastic bags

I took a "liberal leave" snow day yesterday (although it never got as bad as the weather guys threatened) and spent some time back in the sewing studio. I ran into a frustrating bit of construction on a fancy sleeve for a "House of Usher" costume and needed a break, so I tackled my assorted scraps.

When I bought the fabric for Lil's quilt, it arrived in a resealable plastic bag. When I was finished with the quilt and a matching neck pillow (which Russ and Lil keep promising to photograph for me -- hint, hint), I put the scraps back into the bag. I know that all the coordinating fabrics are together and there are scraps large enough to incorporate into another project. It seemed like it would also be a great way to organize the rest of my scraps, to keep them clean, visible, easy to store, etc.

I learned to do economical layouts from my grandmother and college clothing prof (both of whom sewed during the Depression years), so I usually end up with sizable scraps. There's often enough to trim another garment, make a pillow cover or other small item, etc., and lots of scraps have gone to our 9-year-old niece to make clothing for her stuffed animals. The scraps usually end up in a basket or bag with other scraps, and we have to paw through things to find something that we want.

Yesterday I found about half a box of one-gallon resealable plastic bags in the pantry, and they did the trick. Each one holds a suprising amount of fabric, and you can press on the bag when it's not quite sealed to squeeze air out, kind of like those vacuum storage bags that they advertise on television. They do take up a little less room that way.

You can also put extra trims, bindings, etc. into the bag with the matching fabric, and even the matching thread, if it's not one of your standard thread colors and you want to make space in your thread box.

The one-gallon size seems like it should work for used patterns, too -- the ones that have lots of pieces that won't go back into the envelope without ripping the envelope beyond usefulness.

I filled about 20 bags yesterday, and am loving what it's doing for the studio. I've got to pick up another box of bags when I go to the grocery store today. Onward and upward.

Happy sewing!

What are the odds?

I'm sitting at my desk shortly before lunchtime, when a guy walks into my office, introduces himself, says, "Does this look familiar?" and hands me a picture of a sailboat we owned several years ago. He acquired the boat about two years ago, spiffed it up (including putting 10 coats of varnish on the teak!) and renamed it for his young daughter. The owner before him never had the boat in the water, but lived on it in the boatyard for a couple of years. We're not sure who else had it in between.

Steve, the current owner, had found something still on the boat with my name on it. He was in our offices for a meeting, saw my name on the staff directory and came looking for me. It was great to see our old boat again, in such great shape, and being enjoyed by a nice family. Steve even invited us to go out with them sometime, and we'd enjoy that.

THEN -- I went to a Women in Film and Video meeting this evening. During the post-meeting networking, I started talking to a guy who had just been talking to Craig and had Craig's card in his hand. He noticed our address, did a double-take, and told me that his mother grew up in this block of our street (in the house next door to ours, it turns out; there are only three houses in this block) and his dad lived in the next block.

Now I'm waiting for the third thing. Stay tuned.

What century is this, anyhow?

As we get deeper into pre-production for "Fall of the House of Usher," we find ourselves immersed in costume books, decorative arts books, and period movies, trying to soak up the right feel for the early 19th century. Movie-wise, we keep landing on Jane Austen-inspired films.

A fun contemporary introduction to Jane and her novels is "The Jane Austen Book Club." When one of four friends suffers a tragic loss, the others decide to cheer her up by starting a group to read and discuss Jane Austen's novels. Since there are six novels, they need to recruit two more members, and the story takes off from there. It's a fun movie on its own merits, and even more fun if you're familiar with any of the novels. And if you're not, there are some nice extras on the DVD that will get you hooked.

Jane herself is the subject of "Becoming Jane," which speculates about events in her early life that helped shape her novels. Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell and Maggie Smith all deliver wonderfully authentic performances, and the period costumes and sets are quite lovely, too.

There have been a number of productions based on the novels themselves. The other night we re-watched "Emma," with Gwyneth Paltrow in the title role, Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightley and Toni Collette as Harriet Smith.

"Pride and Prejudice" has been done many times, most recently in 2005 with Keira Knightly, Rosamund Pike, Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland. The 1995 mini-series, featuring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, is currently running on PBS on Sunday evenings as part of a longer Jane Austen series.

Colin Firth was also cast as Mark Darcy, the 21st century equivalent of the original Mr. Darcy, in "Bridget Jones' Diary."

A final must-see is "Bride and Prejudice," a delightful Anglo-Indian adaptation of the novel, complete with Bollywood musical numbers. As strange as it may sound, the story is a perfect fit. Many popular Indian movies feature stories about marrying for love vs. the traditional arranged marriage. And the musical numbers are just plain fun. There are some great extras on this DVD, too.

When we watched "The Jane Austen Book Club," I realized that I've only read four of the six novels ("Pride and Prejudice," "Sense and Sensibility," "Persuasion," "Emma," "Mansfield Park," and "Northanger Abbey." Guess what I'll be reading this summer.

Now, it's off to the sewing room, full of inspiration.

Three-Day Weekend -- Hooray!

It's Presidents' Day, AKA George Washington's Pretend Birthday (so named by my college roomie who was born on GW's REAL birthday), and we're having a brief but tantalizing taste of spring today in Baltimore, with the temp expected to top 60. It's aready 55 at 10 a.m., so I'm betting we get there.

And this evening, according to SpaceWeather, the shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station, which uncoupled this morning, will fly over in tandem.

Spaceweather also looks like a good source for info on the defunct spy satellite that the Navy is preparing to shoot down later this week.

"Freedom Dance" keeps on winning

This just in: "Freedom Dance," which already won a CINE Golden Eagle award for Independent Short Documentary, has also won the Special Jury award in that category and is eligible for a CINE Masters Series award. The latter will be announced at the CINE awards banquet on April 24 in DC.

AND -- "Freedom Dance" will be shown at the White Sands Film Festival in Alamogordo, New Mexico, in March. The festival runs from March 16-22, but we don't have a date or time for the screening.

Congratulations to Craig Herron, Steven Fischer, and the whole "Freedom Dance" team.

Attention Navy football fans...

I've noticed that quite a few of you are finding me because you're googling key words related to Navy football.

We have season tickets and expect to attend all the games this year. And I expect I'll be blogging all season long, and maybe add a different perspective.

Feel free to bookmark this site and add comments.

Go Navy!

Last Night's Movie: "Across the Universe"

You've probably seen the trailer -- vibrant colors, Beatles songs. To say that "Across the Universe" is a trip back in time doesn't begin to do justice to this beautifully crafted film directed by Julie Taymor. Those of us who were around back in 1967-69 can relate to the traumas of sending young men off to Vietnam, student protests, and psychedelia. It all takes place against a soundtrack of Beatles songs rearranged and performed in ways that make the music -- and the events -- seem brand new again.

Bono and Joe Cocker make cameo appearances, and there's a Gospel performance of "Let It Be" that will give you goosebumps. Dana Fuchs (Sadie) wails like Janis Joplin, Martin Luther McCoy (JoJo) plays a mean guitar reminiscent at times of Jimi Hendrix and Jim Sturgess (Jude) sings "All You Need is Love" the way you wish Iwan Macgregor could have done it in "Moulin Rouge."

There are some Bollywood/"Moulin Rouge" kinds of moments in this film. Baz Luhrman has a passion for music and dance and did a lot of theater. Julie Taymor also has a passion for music, and has worked with the Metropolitan Opera as a director and costume designer.

If you're paying attention, you'll note that one of the main characters is Jude. And yes, there is a Lucy, played by Evan Rachel Wood. Watch the movie and see what Julie Taymor did with that.

The DVD we rented from Red Box didn't have many extras, but Craig thinks there's a 2-DVD set with lots more. We'll probably add this one to our collection.

More on Navy's new football class

The Examiner did some digging and came up with a list of the new Navy recruits. And Kevin Eckel, a fullback from Haverford, PA, is on the list, although I think he's coming in through the Prep School.

There are five kids from Maryland in the group, two from Hawaii and several from Virginia, Pennsylvania and California.

The Navy Football Schedule Is Out

Aug. 30 -- Towson -- Annapolis, Md.

Sept. 6 -- at Ball State -- Muncie, Ind.

Sept. 13 -- at Duke -- Durham, N.C.

Sept. 20 -- Rutgers -- Annapolis, Md.

Sept. 27 -- at Wake Forest -- Winston Salem, N.C.

Oct. 4 -- at Air Force -- Colorado Springs, Colo.

Oct. 18 -- Pittsburgh (HC) -- Annapolis, Md.

Oct. 25 -- SMU -- Annapolis, Md.

Nov. 1 -- Temple -- Annapolis, Md.

Nov. 15 -- vs. Notre Dame -- Baltimore, Md.

Nov. 22 -- at Northern Illinois -- DeKalb, Ill.

Dec. 6 -- vs. Army -- Philadelphia, Pa.

Home and "neutral" games are in bold.

Looks like it's gonna be a fun season.

BEAT ARMY!

Getting ready for some football!

The big story in college football this week was Signing Day, when high school seniors sign letters of commitment to play for the college of their choice to guarantee their scholarships. Since the service academies don't give scholarships, the commitment process is a little bit different, but carries even more import, since it comes with a 5-year commmitment to serve after graduation and commissioning.

Navy has lined up some talented recruits, one of them being Chris Hill, Jr., from Lansing, Kansas. The Kansas City Star did a really nice piece on Chris and two other young men who will enter West Point and the Air Force Academy.

Chris is a running back whose dad is in the Army, but he was impressed with Reggie Campbell and Zerbin Singleton and chose Navy. His dad will be able to retire soon, and hopes to move the family to the DC area to be close to Annapolis.

Bill Wagner reports in The Capital that this year's recruits include 28 direct entries (who will enter USNA as plebes in July) and 32 high school seniors who will spend the next year at the Naval Academy Prep School. Among the incoming plebes, there are four outstanding quarterbacks and three slot backs.

Heard on XM Radio this morning (2/7/2008)

On this date in 1966, the #2 song on the charts was the Beach Boys recording of "Barbara Ann."

The original 1961 version by the Regents only made it to #13 on the pop chart, but I still prefer their upbeat tempo and wailing sax to the more informal, laid back version by the Beach Boys.

It's still a great song. Hats off to all us Barbara Anns!

Update: Show Off Your Short Film Festival

If you're going to be in the LA area on the weekend of Feb. 15-17, check out the Show Off Your Short Film Festival at the Raleigh Studios, 5300 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. "Freedom Dance" will screen on Saturday afternoon (the 16th) on a program that runs from 3-6 p.m.

Craig won't be there, but we think co-producer Steven Fischer will be.

Final Score: Giants 17 - Patriots 14

Although part of me hoped the Patriots could finish their perfect season, there's something extra special about seeing Eli Manning come into his own and win the Super Bowl the year after his big brother did. A couple of times it even looked like he was channeling John Unitas, something Peyton does regularly.

The Giants defense did an amazing job of shutting down the Patriots offense, and the Giants offense came through when it mattered -- and they deserved the win!

Politics and Snow

This year Maryland joins a number of other states holding presidential primary elections on Super Tuesday. The idea was to make Maryland's primary more meaningful, but the powers-that-be might not have stopped to consider local weather patterns.

February is historically the snowiest month in Baltimore. Five of the ten worst snow storms in these parts have occurred during the "Super Tuesday" window.

This year we should be fine, though, with temps predicted to be above normal.

Then again, Phil predicted another six weeks of winter. Hmmm . . .

Last Night's Movie: "The Wedding Banquet"

We found "The Wedding Banquet" on Comcast On Demand, and when we saw that it was directed by Ang Lee, we decided to give it a try.

The story is quirky, funny, not entirely predictable and sometimes heart-wrenching, but it's a very human story that comes straight from the heart and delivers a nicely resolved, satisfying ending. It's about a marriage of convenience, with some interesting twists and turns, but you'll have to check it out for yourself to learn more.

Update: Fall of the House of Usher Costume Fitting

The first of Madeleine's Regency-period dresses was ready for a final fitting, so yesterday actress Sara Cole stopped by and tried it on. It fit -- and she's stunning. Now it's on to the next dress.

By the way, our pug Marshall helped. Last weekend as I was working at the sewing machine, Marshall got under the sewing table, stepped on the foot pedal, and actually put a few stitches into the dress (fortunately in the right place) before I managed to move him.

A pug named Fortune once belonged to Josephine Bonaparte, and bit Napoleon. Maybe Marshall has a thing for white Empire/Regency dresses.

Kyle Eckel: From Annapolis to the Super Bowl

Look for former Navy standout Kyle Eckel in a Patriot's uniform at today's Super Bowl, probably on special teams. Eckel scored a couple of TDs this year as a running back, but he's made some key tackles on special teams.

There's always a mention of his separation from the Navy for "undisclosed reasons." My best guess is that his cohort was up for promotion from Ensign to Lt.(j.g.), his fitness reports weren't up to snuff, and he was allowed/encouraged to return to civilian life. It happens. If I'm where God wants me to be, so is he.

BTW -- There's another running back Eckel entering the Naval Academy Prep School this year. Stay tuned...

Siarad Cymraeg?

If you've ever wanted to learn Welsh, or are interested in Wales and its culture, or like to learn languages, Cymdeithas Madog's Cwrs Cymraeg might be just what you're looking for. Cwrs Cymraeg is a week-long intensive Welsh course for absolute beginners through advanced speakers, taught by native Welsh-speakers now living in Wales and North America.

It's not all drudge. Classroom sessions are conversation-oriented and recreational activities, such including movies, singing and folk dancing, reinforce the language-learning.

This year's course is will be held on the campus of Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, from July 13-20. Registration is already open. Check it out!

Suzanne, Georgia and John

Celebrity obits usually leave me thinking, "Oh, that's too bad..." but hearing about Suzanne Pleshette, Georgia Frontiere and John Stewart all in one weekend got me thinking about all sorts of things.

We loved Suzanne Pleshette as Bob Newhart's wife Emily, especially when she came back for the finale of "Newhart." But we really liked her in the 1969 movie "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium." While she always wore pants or long skirts and boots as Emily, she actually showed her legs (which she didn't need to hide) in one of the last scenes of the movie.

We didn't realize she'd been married to Tom Poston, but can imagine what fun they must have had together over the last few years.

The oft-married Georgia Frontiere is another story, and the official obits leave lots of room to read between the lines. She came from a show-biz family, and spent many of her early years as a singer and dancer. In 1957 old Joe Kennedy introduced the five-times-married Georgia to Carroll Rosenbloom, the wealthy and dashing owner of the Baltimore Colts. How did old Joe come to know Georgia, inquiring minds want to know, and what was behind that magnanimous introduction? Mr. Rosenbloom eventually divorced his wife, married Georgia, swapped the Colts to Robert Irsay for the Rams (at Georgia's urging, some folks have said), and then mysteriously drowned in the surf. Georgia was able to have Carroll's son Steve, who grew up in the Colts organization, cut out of the will, leaving her as sole owner of a football team. We'll never know, but I like to think that if Mr. Rosenbloom had never run afoul of Georgia, the Colts would still be in Baltimore and Steve would have assumed his rightful place as owner.

Then there's John Stewart, who as part of the Kingston Trio was responsible for a large part of what's popularly known as the soundtrack of my life. Yes, I liked early rock and roll as much as the next kid, but my friends and I liked to sing, and the Kingston Trio gave us lots of great material.

In the summer of 1962 I was part of a group of American girls that went to Norway for the summer, by ship, which is how it was done then. There were several New England girls in our group, so we spent much of our time at sea singing about Charlie on the MTA. Coming home, as the ship took us farther from the friends we had made in Norway, we found ourselves singing "500 Miles" over and over.

The next summer I went with my grandparents to Pine Knob Inn in Canadensis, PA, for a week in July. There was a big flat rock in the middle of Brodheads Creek where we kids liked to hang out after lunch -- and sing. One of our favorite songs that summer was "One More Town..."

"If there's one more town, I'll be going,
Fight for the women, I'll be there.
If there's one more song, I'll be singing.
I know I'm going but I don't know where."

I hope John Stewart is in a good place where he can keep on singing.

Baltimore City HAKS - The OTHER Transportation Network

Pretty much every day on my way home from work, I see folks on Fayette street with one arm raised at about a 60 degree angle, wrist drooped downwards, and one or more fingers bouncing rapidly up and down. They're "hacking" -- looking for a cheap ride from where they are to where they're going. A driver with time on his hands who's looking to pick up some extra cash is likely to stop and offer a ride. Both sides of the transaction are illegal, but that doesn't stop people from doing it.

Bernard Threatt, one of our colleagues in Women in Film and Video of Maryland, has made an engaging documentary about this phenomenon, which apparently is one of those only-in-Baltimore phenomena. To make "Baltimore City HAKS" he hopped into cars with total strangers and hung out in some pretty rough areas to talk to people trying to get from Point A to Point B.

I'm not sure how you can get a copy of the DVD, but you can view the trailer by clicking on the links to the HAKS website. It's bound to be an education.

"Underdog" Gets Two Paws Up and A Big Enthusiastic Shnort from Marshall

Craig rented "Underdog" the other night, thinking it looked like fun and the dogs would probably enjoy it, too (!). Baby had other things on her agenda for most of the evening, but the two of us and Marshall had great fun watching it together.

Disney did a great job of combining real dogs with enough animation to make an entertaining view of a dog's life as a superhero. And it was fun seeing/hearing Brad Garrett cast as a bad-ass Rottweiler.

Marshall jumped right in (literally) and responded with barks of his own. Baby did deign to join us a couple of times, and she got into it, too.

If you rent/buy the DVD, be sure to check out the extras and see how well-trained the dog actors really were.

All in all, it was a fun movie for grown-ups and dogs alike, and kids would like it, too.

As seen at Wal-Mart

As I mentioned below, today's high temp was 20-something. It was definitely a bundle up kind of day.

Believe it or not, I spotted not one but several women at Wal-Mart doing their shopping without the benefit of hosiery.

There was a lovely lady in salwar/kameeze wearing backless mules. Okay...

Then there was the woman with her bare feet jammed into backless fleece-lined clogs. Okay...

But there were two women walking around in winter jackets wearing rubber flip-flops on obviously bare feet. My toes hurt just looking at them.

Then there was this kid of maybe 15 or 16, who seemed to be a nice enough suburban white kid, trying to project the hip-hop vibe. He started with a white ball cap worn backwards and a nice royal blue polo-type shirt under a vastly oversized sleeveless t-shirt with an appropriately in-your-face kind of graphic on front. He had on clunky white athletic shoes with blue trim that matched the shirt. Not bad. Then there were the pants -- white warm-up pants with a blue stripe down the side of each leg, and they actually coordinated nicely with the rest of the outfit. But they were so oversized that the crotch was somewhere around his knees, and the elastic in back drooped below the point of no return, if you get my drift. He was walking around trying to discreetly hold them up at the sides, which got kind of tenuous after he bought a soda and only had one hand for the pants.

Well, all of us probably fell prey to some sort of fashion faux pas when we were that age. I'll probably never run into him again, but I hope he figures things out. Except for the fit of the pants, he didn't look half bad.

What are the retailers thinking?

When we weren't watching football today, we were taking our junior niece shopping. She had $20 from Grandma that was burning a hole in her pocket, and she wanted to go to Target to look for some new Polly Pockets.

Okay, I thought. The high temp today is about 20 and on Friday I hopelessly jammed the zipper on my several-years-old and seen-better-days berber fleece parka. This seemed like a good opportunity to replace it. I did find some gloves, hats and scarves on sale, and picked up a a nice pair of leather gloves with thinsulate lining, but there was nary a winter jacket to be found. There were lots of spring-y things on the racks, though.

Niece Jaycie didn't have any luck finding new Polly Pockets, either, so we decided to hit Wal-Mart on the way home. Wal-Mart turned out to be a total bust. No new Polly Pockets. One meager rack of clearance jackets, but the largest was something like a size 10, which, alas, isn't me. But they, too, had lots of spring stuff.

Given historic weather patterns around here, when we typically have our coldest weather in January-March, you'd think that somebody would be smart enough not to clear out the winter wear until after at least Valentine's Day. But what do I know?

Game 2: Giants 23 - Packers 20

What a game! And what an ending! It always makes me feel good to see the kicker come in and redeem himself at the end after one or two heart-breaking misses. And Lawrence Tynes, the kicker, used to play for Ottawa in the CFL, which makes him extra special in our book. (We were ardent Baltimore Stallions fans back in 1994-95, and I went to the 1995 Grey Cup, which I think was as cold as today's game in Green Bay.)

Anyhow, it will be fun to see the Manning brothers make back to back Super Bowl appearances, something I don't think has ever been done.

Game 1: Patriots 21 -- Chargers 12

Hooray! We're celebrating with all our New England friends and relatives, and I'm looking forward to seeing Bill wear an 18-0 shirt to work this week.

It was great to see former Navy running back Kyle Eckel on the field with Brady and Co., too. Pretty neat to see him go from USNA to the Super Bowl.

A Cold Day for Football

The current weather in Foxboro is 24 degrees and overcast, with a wind chill of 12. That sounds about right for late January up there. Bill from my office drove up yesterday and will be sitting out in it.

Green Bay is going to be positively frigid by game time. I guess one game had to be the late game, and the one in the westernmost time zone made sense, and the NFL wanted to get some prime time ad rates into the mix, but this is going to be ridiculous.

I think we'll put a log in the fireplace and enjoy the action on our own big screen.

BTW - football was made for viewing in HD. If you haven't taken the plunge, football will make it worth your while. (Sunrise Earth in HD is pretty neat, too.)

Navy's New Coaching Staff Gets To Work

While the Baltimore Sun spent last week agonizing about the Ravens' search for a new head coach, the Annapolis Capitol reported that the new coaching staff at Navy was already in full recruiting mode.

The 2007 Navy football team is being honored at next Sunday's Army-Navy basketball game in Annapolis. We were thinking about going, but he who hesitates is lost. While we were thinking, the game sold out. It's nice to see that kind of support for Navy sports.

Spring football practice starts in late March. Bring it on!

Baby and Marshall - One Week Update

Dogs are such a trip. After a very anxious, squirmy ride home last Sunday night, Marshall pretty much made himself at home. And Baby, while vocally correcting him from time to time, is settling into the new arrangement, too.

We had read that pugs sleep a lot, and Marshall does. During the day his preferred spot is at Craig's feet while he's working.

Marshall is about an inch shorter at the shoulder than Baby, but he's a stocky little guy (built like a fullback!) and outweighs her by about 10 pounds. Still, he can and does hop on and off laps at will. And he's not deterred by the puppy gates we sometimes put up at the bottom of the stairs, or in a doorway, and barges right on through. This is new to Baby, so she follows along into the off-limits territory.

And for the last couple of evenings, while Marshall has been flitting from lap to lap, Baby has settled right into HIS crate (which has a nice cushion, blankets, toys, etc. -- a regular puppy condo) and had a snooze. Marshall sees her and doesn't seem to mind. Go figure!

We're enjoying the various antics, and are getting used to all the funny little noises that a smooshy-faced pug makes.

And we thank niece Heather for choosing us to give Marshall a home.

Three-Day Weekend

The kid in me is yelling yippee! Snow days and three-day weekends are two of life's little pleasures for this working adult. I'm not sure which is better.

Snow days come with the element of the unexpected, and give us an excuse to slow down and enjoy the wonders of nature -- as long as there's not TOO much snow to shovel! There's a certain magic, though, in bundling up and sitting with a nice hot cup of tea or hot chocolate and watching the snow accumulate on the trees outside.

Three-day weekends are on the calendar years in advance, so you have the opportunity to plan something special. Some of my work friends are doing just that. Russ and Lil are off to the West Virginia mountains, and Bill is headed for Foxboro for tomorrow's Patriots game.

We don't have any special plans, although I'm thinking about picking up an oven-stuffer-roaster to put in the crock pot today. After a couple of days of good weekend eating, we'll end up with soup for next week. (I throw in some homemade noodles made with poultry seasoning. As Rachel Ray would say, "Yummo!")

We'll be watching football tomorrow and working on "House of Usher" costumes off and on, and all in all, it should be a relaxing, fun weekend.

It's baaaack! American Idol, that is!

And with a lot of shows going on hiatus because of the writers' strike, this will probably be one of the better alternatives on network TV over the next few months.

We saw about the first hour of the Tuesday and Wednesday night shows, which was about enough. We don't really get into it until they get to Hollywood and start weeding people out.

Overall comments so far:

Simon seems much mellower this year than in the past. I wonder if he's gotten so bored with it all that he just can't work up his usual dose of rude.

There are quite a few folks who can sing.

We seem to be seeing a lot of pretty blondes being put through. Look out, Carrie Underwood!

Mixed Mess in B'more

We're having our first taste of winter weather of 2008 today -- a storm system moving up the coast from down south. These are the most unpredictable and often the most dangerous storms, but so far this one hasn't been too bad.

Craig got caught out in the worst of it at midday, before the salt trucks were out. It was slushy and slippery and lots of folks were sliding around.

I was at work in the opposite corner of the city, and hung in later than a lot of other folks. By the time I left it had turned to rain and the roads were mostly just wet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays above freezing overnight.

Meanwhile, this will be a good night to snug in and watch a movie or something.

Easter

Somebody asked today about Ash Wednesday, and there were remarks about how early Easter is this year.

Easter (for most Christian denominations) is calculated as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, and this year it's a close thing.

The vernal equinox occurs at 00:48 (that's 48 minutes past midnight) EST on Thursday, March 20th. There will be equal amounts of day and night (even in Alaska), and it's the official first day of spring in the northern hemisphere.

There's a full moon on Friday, March 21st.

And so Easter is Sunday, March 23rd.

Backing up -- Ash Wednesday will fall on February 6, so Fat Tuesday will be February 5. Get ready to make those donuts!

Passover, which often falls pretty close to Easter, comes about a month later this year.

Game 4 -- Giants 21 - Cowboys 17

Well, one of the Manning brothers came through, and he looked pretty darn impressive. I've never been a Cowboys fan, but still respect for Giants -- who lost to the Colts in the 1958 and 1959 NFL Championship games.

So next week it will be San Diego in Foxboro and the Giants in Green Bay. Should be fun.

Game 3 -- Chargers 28 - Colts 24

What a heart-breaker! I give it my best "Gimme a C," but when all was said and done, all was said and done.

Bummer! I was fantasizing about the Manning brothers facing each other in the Super Bowl. Not this year...

Here's a good bit of trivia. What do the Chargers and Colts have in common?

Johnny Unitas played for both teams. Yep, in one of the darker moves of the Irsay regime, Colts General Manager Joe Thomas traded John to San Diego, where he retired.

New family member on the way

This evening we'll be bringing home a new family member.

Last Sunday, our grown-up niece tearfully asked if we could adopt her beloved pug Marshall, who is being left home alone for too many hours a day as she works a new retail management job. Marshall is 3, and he's a little sweetie.

Uncle Craig and I had a little bit of thinking to do. For instance, how will Marshall get along with Baby, our nearly-12-year-old Jack Russell Terrier, who has pretty much ruled the roost since we lost Macbeth, an elderly Dalmatian, in December of 2006.

Well, we decided to go for it. Baby enjoyed having Macbeth for company, and she and Marshall will no doubt work out their own protocols.

Our little niece called to tell us that Marshall is very sweet and easy to take care of. She advised Uncle Craig that we won't even have to pet Marshall, just look at him once in a while and talk to him and he'll be happy. Uncle Craig assured her that since we have two laps between us, we expect to have a dog on each one!

Stay tuned...

Game 2: Patriots 31 - Jaguars 20

I'll be up front. Even though we live in Baltimore, our favorite teams are the Patriots and the Colts. I started following the Patriots after the Colts left Baltimore and ex-Colt Raymond Berry was coaching in New England. AND, we used to live in Plainville, right down Route 1 from Foxboro, and I still have cousins in Massachusetts. Plus, one of my co-workers has gone to EVERY Patriots game since right after the Colts left.

There was no snow in Foxboro last night, but we saw a really good game. Jacksonville is GOOD. We were impressed with their big, shifty QB. Jacksonville is going places.

But the Patriots were just that much better. It was a fun game to watch, and it would have been even more fun to be there.

And yes, youth is often overrated. In the end, the Patriots years of practice and experience and playing together made a difference.

We'll be cheering for the Colts today, and my only regret is that if/when the Colts win, they'll be playing the Patriots next weekend in the "semi-finals." That's the Super Bowl match-up I'd really like to see, but alas, the league isn't set up that way.

But the Patriots or Colts against the Packers? That might be interesting.