Month: June 2004

Loretta Lynn

Posted on by Dana

I was watching the Travel Channel’s ghost-fest the other night, and I learned that Loretta Lynn’s Hurricane Mills plantation is haunted.

That woman can’t catch a break, can she?

For those of you not in the know, she grew up poor in the backwoods of Kentucky (just listen to “Coal Miner’s Daughter”), married at the inconceivably young age of 13 and immediately started having children (4 by the time she was 17). If you’ve ever watched the story of her life, then you also know her husband was a jerk for a lot of their marriage, and I learned on the show I watched that her son died in the creek by her house. No, she might have lots of money now, but I’d never say she had an easy life.

And now her house is haunted. Well, presumably it’s been haunted for some time.

You know, I’ve watched Coal Miner’s Daughter I don’t know how many times. My grandmother was a fan, so I grew up listening to Loretta Lynn. She’s not a bad songwriter. I think what I like about her is that she keeps going, no matter what life throws at her. She’s a very strong woman.

I was watching the Grammys one time when I was a little girl. I suppose it could have been the Academy Awards. I was young — it’s hard to remember for certain. It must have been after Coal Miner’s Daughter came out, but not too much after. I don’t know why Loretta (and don’t you just feel like you can call her that when you don’t even know her?) was there. As a kid, I thought she was getting a special award, but I see no record of it in her biography or at the Grammy website. Perhaps she was just presenting. But I do remember the reaction of the audience, which was almost completely one of admiration. I think there was a standing ovation. Why do I say almost? The camera panned to Madonna, who was looking supremely bored and unimpressed with Loretta’s presence on the stage. I didn’t like Madonna before, but I have always pretty much despised her after that. The look on her face told me a lot about Madonna, and none of it was good.

So I chose a few of my favorite Loretta Lynn tunes for my radio blog:

  1. “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man” (a duet with Conway Twitty) is a song I grew up hearing. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know this song.
  2. “You’re Looking At Country”
  3. “You Ain’t Woman Enough” always makes me think of the scene in the movie after she wrote it, and Doo asks where she got the idea for the song. She gives him a withering look and says, “Where you think?” Classic.
  4. “Story of My Life” is on her newest album, Van Lear Rose, which has received a lot of critical acclaim. I like the pedal steel guitar.
  5. “One’s On the Way” is pretty much also the story of her life. Did you know that Shel Silverstein wrote it?
  6. “Miss Being Mrs.” is another cut from Van Lear Rose.
  7. “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)”
  8. “Coal Miner’s Daughter” — What set list with Loretta Lynn tunes would be complete without it?

You know who you’ll never see on my radio blog? Madonna.

Visit LorettaLynn.com.

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The Death Penalty

Posted on by Dana

On this day in 1972, the Supreme Court struck down the death penalty. In a 5-4 vote, the court ruled that the death penalty, as it was used at that time, was a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which means they felt that the death penalty could be called “cruel and unusual punishment.” What I thought was interesting is why. In their ruling, the majority said that they felt the death penalty was unconstitutional mainly because it was used in “arbitrary and capricious ways.” The implication then was that the death penalty is imposed more often upon racial minorities than on whites. This is still true today. In 1976, the death penalty was reinstated. The majority of the public at the time — 66% — supported the death penalty.

The percentage of the public who supports the death penalty today is also right about 66%. I will be honest and say I don’t know how I feel about it. On the one hand, if someone committed a heinous crime against someone I loved, then I would probably want to kill them myself. Several years back, when a woman shot and killed the man who molested her son in court, many people said they would have done the same, and many people expressed dismay that she went to jail. Don’t know if she’s still there or not. Public opinion in support of the woman was very strong. On the other hand, it has happened, especially in this age of DNA evidence, that people sitting on death row have been found innocent of the crimes that put them there. That means that people may have died innocent of the crimes for which they were executed. I’m not convinced that it works as a deterrence. It punishes that one person for their crime, but I don’t think most people who make the decision to commit a crime think about the death penalty or even prison when they do it. If they did, they might not commit the crime. I would be willing to bet most people commit crimes either with the sincere belief that they won’t be caught or that the crime so desperately needs to committed that getting caught doesn’t matter, if they are rational at all. So if you are going to argue that it will prevent crime, I have to say I disagree. I does, however, still mete out the ultimate punishment to those who commit crime.

Then there’s the issue of which methods of execution are okay to use. Georgia had an electric chair, but now uses lethal injection. Georgia has executed 34 people since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Texas, to no one’s surprise, leads the nation with executions performed: 322 since 1976, 9 already this year, 24 last year. At this time, 458 people are on death row in Texas. It also has the highest number of juvenile offenders currently on death row at 28. The first person executed after the death penalty was reinstated was a man named Gary Gilmore, a career criminal convicted of murdering an elderly couple who would not lend him their car. He faced a firing squad in Utah with the last words, “Let’s do it.” Utah still has a firing squad. I think, though I may be mistaken, that the option of facing a firing squad or a lethal injection is available to the prisoner.

The Bible is not clear on the subject, advising to take an eye for eye in the Old Testament, while advising he who is without sin to cast the first stone in the New Testament. Are people who carry out executions guilty of murder? I honestly don’t know.

I suppose the executions of those who have been kidnapped in the Middle East is much on my mind. I asked myself, in their minds, are they exacting a death penalty on people they believe have committed a crime? Actually, I don’t think so. They have to know those people have committed no crime except being from a country they hate. They are using terrorism to excellent effect. I admit to being completely afraid of what they are capable of doing when they will film themselves cutting off a man’s head. I haven’t talked about it here. When I read the newspaper account of Nick Berg’s murder, I cried. I cried for many reasons. I have a son, and it occurred to me that Nick Berg has parents who are devastated over losing their son at all, much less in such a horrible way. I also cried out of fear. I cried out of anger.

So I don’t have any conclusions today. Mostly because I don’t know how I feel.

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Blatant Sexism

Posted on by Dana

I’m scratching my head over an encounter my sister Smackey had with her friend’s husband. I guess this guy is one of Riceman’s (my brother-in-law) underlings. Riceman just made Master Sergeant, by the way, so he deserves some props, yo.

From what I gather, the husband (not Smackey’s) was grousing “about a woman that he thought was talking down to him (that’s another story),” according to Smackey, and then he actually said, “I am sick of these Texas women that think they are smarter than me when I’m a man.”

Inside her head, Smackey thought, “AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!! I want to kill!!”

What she said was, “What do you mean by that?” She said he changed the subject. Smackey is driving herself nuts because she’s so pissed at the guy, but I think partly she’s wondering what she should have said. Since Riceman is this turd’s boss, she doesn’t want to cause problems for their working relationship, and the woman married to the turd is a friend, too. So what to do?

My reaction upon reading it was to check the year on my calendar, then scratch my head in wonder that there are still people with this attitude in 2004. I got into a huge fight with one of my ex-husband’s best friends when we were all in high school, because he was a sexist pig.

Smackey’s right. She went on the explain that she thought to herself that most women she knows are probably smarter than this jackass. I think the reason it’s bothering her is that it always bothers us when we’re confronted with the ignorance of bigotry in any form, even more so when it is directed at a group we belong to. How dare this dumbass think for one moment that he’s smarter than someone else because of his sex organs, miniscule though they undoubtedly are. (And no mike@nospam.com, if that is your real address, that comment wasn’t directed at you, so no need to get your panties in a twist.)

I think Smackey’s response was the correct one. She called him on it, made him aware he’d said a dumb thing, and he changed the subject. However, she wasn’t confrontational, either.

How do you react when you hear a bigoted comment? What would you have done?

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Our House

Posted on by Dana

That’s our house. Actually, if you look a little NE of the red tack, our house is the lighter colored one. You can see the deck on the left side of the house. It’s a nice deck. We inherited a bird feeder that hangs from a hook on the deck. It’s not something I’d ever have thought of buying myself, but once I saw we had it, I bought birdseed for it. I keep checking to see if any birds have found it. If you look to the right of the house, you can make out the blackish-looking parking slab. This photo must have been taken before they cemented over it, because it doesn’t look black now. It’s a bitch to park on, because it’s not very even, there’s a precarious drop-off, and there’s a rather pretty tree with purply-white flowers that grows right where the driver’s side door opens. It drove me nuts that I didn’t know what kind of tree it was, so I hunted it down on the Internet, and it appears to be a white hibiscus. The flowers and leaves look just like this photo:

The houses next to us and across the street from us have been made into duplexes. The room that juts out in the front is the kids’ room. As you can tell, it’s pretty big. We figured they needed the space, though.

We’re settling in, but still unpacking. I have a really nice kitchen with lots of light. Sadly, there is no dishwasher or disposal. But I’ve been managing! I’m cooking a pot roast in my crock pot right now, and it smells great. Let me say here and now, I’m not a real homecooking kind of girl. I am a pretty good cook, but rather unenthusiastic about it, especially when I’m working. Seems like one more chore. But fixing that roast today, checking on it as it simmers, and smelling it throughout the house — it makes me feel proud for some reason. I know that’s silly.

This whole house is much “lighter” than our former home. Everything was so dark, from the cabinetry, to the flooring. There weren’t a lot of windows, and those that existed were darkened by tall trees in our yard. We have plenty of tall trees here, too, but they don’t obsure the light coming into the house. I really like all this light. I think the dimness can impact how you feel, sort of like Seasonal Affective Disorder. It kind of reminds me of my parents’ house. Their house is beautiful and full of light. The home they lived in when I was in high school, by contrast, was much like our old one — very dark.

We have a nice-sized backyard with encroaching kudzu. I was thinking the other day that a small swing set might be nice. We MUST get patio furniture so we can enjoy that nice deck properly. Maybe even a porch swing. I’ve always wanted a porch swing. My dream home is probably one of those old Victorians with a wraparound porch. I used to think I wanted hardwood floors until I had them at my old house. I prefer carpeting! Hardwood was impossible to keep clean. There was always some sort of dirt on the floor. I couldn’t keep it swept up no matter how I tried. Vacuum cleaners pick up all that stuff.

Well, I need to get back to work.

Want to see if you can find your house?

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The Pensieve

Posted on by Dana

Okay, so even though the content isn’t really finished, I am announcing that I have a new blog called The Pensieve, where I will confine my Harry Potter obsession.

I while back, I asked the folks at Mugglenet if I could do a regular column about the many allusions and references, both literary and historical, in the Harry Potter books. They agreed. I wrote my first column about Sybill Trelawney. We got stuck trying to come up with a name for the column (The Pensieve is perfect, but already taken over there). So I was eventually forgotten, and my column never appeared. I decided I still wanted to do it, though, so I decided I would create a forum for it. I know that not everyone who reads this blog would necessarily be interested, so I decided to keep my Harry Potter-iana in another place.

I’m fairly happy with the look of it. I made a collage for the title masthead in Photoshop. I scoped out my favorite links to share. I created several pages of content, but the columns, or whatever else I choose to share, will be in blog format on the main index page.

Now that I have taken a little break, I need to get back to unpacking and laundry.

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It’s Good to Be the King

Posted on by Dana

First of all, we finally finished moving after two twelve-hour days. Steve has to be exhausted. I don’t think we can do this again on our own. Steve’s strong, but he’s one man, and one man with MS at that. Next time we have to move, whatever the cost, we’ll have to hire movers. But we are in our new domicile, and life is good. All of my muscles ache and I have a giant migraine, but life is good.

Cranky Dragon is having codeine-induced dreams about Elvis. Inspired by the nocturnal ramblings of the Cranky One, I have an all-Elvis set list for my radio blog. Please check out this really cool Elvis site, where you can listen to 30 number-one hits, learn about their recordings, read Elvis quotes, and learn all about Elvis. Maybe you can even find out if he ever owned a green mustang.

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Harry Potter-iana

Posted on by Dana

Oh my Lord, this was too hilarious! Thank you, Vickie, for sharing the link.

And check out Icy Azalea’s Harry Potter Livejournal Icons. They’re spiffy:

Since I haven’t plugged her in a while, check out my favorite Harry Potter fan artist, Laura Freeman. A sample:

Addendum (7:02 P.M.): As soon as I have time (read after we move), I am thinking I’ll put up my Harry Potter links page again. I really need something original for that page. My old one had my whole family sorted into various houses and predictions for Books 6 and 7. I just can’t think of anything to add. It seems like there is so much out there, and more well done than I could do. Any suggestions are welcome.

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King Arthur

Posted on by Dana

If things go well as we move, I hope to be here on Sunday night. I imagine I can catch a repeat if it doesn’t work out.

My new friends don’t know about my King Arthur obsession. One of my unfinished early forays into website design was a King Arthur index — characters, places, etc. I hate to sound all boastful, but I usually don’t learn anything new anymore when I watch programs like the one the History Channel will be showing, but I watch them anyway. So yeah, I will be here on July 7 or shortly thereafter, too.

I digression before I move on — it ticks me off that you have to subscribe to Britannia’s History Club in order to look at anything. Sigh. Didn’t used to be the case.

Anyway, these are my King Arthur recommendations:

Books

  • My favorite King Arthur book, hands down, is The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Besides being comprehensive enough to cover most of the Arthur legends, it puts by far the most refreshing twist on the King Arthur story. No one since, in my opinion, has topped her.
  • Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory has been the definitive work for over 500 years. Period. Even if it is not the original source for the legend, it is still required reading for anyone who wants to acquaint themselves with the legends.
  • Geoffrey of Monmouth introduced the world to King Arthur in his History of the Kings of Britain. There are some great stories in this book.
  • Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s romanticized poems in Idylls of the King are essential.
  • Read the collection of legends and romances in The Mabinogion are the earliest stories of King Arthur. These stories predate Geoffrey of Monmouth.
  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is probably my favorite of the Arthurian romances.
  • Tristan by Gottfried von Strassburg was my introduction to the story of Tristan and Isolde, and it’s a good one.

Movies

  • While not as faithful an adaptation as I’d have liked, the movie version of The Mists of Avalon is still a great movie.
  • Excalibur remains a faithful rendering of the legends.
  • If you’re going to deviate from the Arthur story, the key is to change perspective and tell it from another viewpoint so Arthurian scholars nuts like me don’t get their panties in a twist. Merlin accomplished that. Great film; visually stunning.
  • Terry Jones of Monty Python is actually a medieval scholar of some renown. That is why Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one of the better and more faithful renderings of the stories.

Web Sites

Artwork (I’m partial the the pre-Raphaelite vision of the Middle Ages)

That said, my absolute, personal favorites:

  • Knight — Sir Gawain
  • Story — The Lady of Shalott
  • Peripheral Arthurian Romance — Tristan and Isolde
  • Book — The Mists of Avalon
  • Movie — Merlin (at least, today it is)
  • Female character — Morgan Le Faye
  • Painting — Currently The Beguiling of Merlin, but that changes.

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The Lady and the Unicorn

Posted on by Dana

I have completed The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier. I did not like it as much as I liked The Virgin Blue, but I still found it enjoyable.

It was interesting to learn how tapestries were made. I have never given thought to the months or even years of work involved. On her website, Chevalier has included images of the tapestries that inspired the novel. They are beautiful. I think I have seen a reproduction of at least one of them before.

This novel is different from The Virgin Blue in that it is set entirely in the past — the late Middle Ages (1490-1492). The Virgin Blue is set in two times: the present and 400 years in the past. I will say that I think Chevalier does her research well. She carefully renders her setting so you know you are in the past without letting it overwhelm the plot. That’s not easy to do — I allowed myself to get carried away describing the setting in my own book. It’s hard, because on the one hand, you want to prove that the characters are really in the past, so you show the reader — look, see this detail? On the other, all the reader really needs is a feeling and his/her imagination can do the rest.

I absolutely detested one of the main characters, Nicolas des Innocents. I thought him a lecherous rake who cared nothing for anyone but himself. He was a preening peacock of a man. I couldn’t feel badly for him at all when he suffered disappointments. In fact, I found myself feeling glad and thinking it served him right. Actually, I didn’t like many of the characters. The weaving family in Brussels were probably my favorite characters. I liked Aliénor, but that was because she was strong and intelligent without being snotty. I think that Claude was snotty, and I honestly didn’t feel sorry for her when she was disappointed either. Regina Marler’s Amazon review makes it sound like the reader might actually root for Nicolas and Claude: “Their passion is impossible for their world — so forbidden, given their class differences, that its only avenue of expression turns out to be those magnificent tapestries.” In truth, I couldn’t see that there was much passion between them — at least not any more than Nicolas showed toward every other female who crossed his path. If it had been requited, Nicolas would have discovered, I think, that he didn’t care any more for Claude than he did the multitude of other women he had sex with. Ultimately, the main characters in this story are the tapestries themselves. I found myself wanting to read on to see how they fared. The weavers worked at a frenzied pace to finish on time. I didn’t feel Jean Le Viste appreciated the work that went into them at all. If anyone did, I think it might have been Léon Le Vieux, who worked with Jean Le Viste on the commission, even though he never outwardly expressed appreciation for them. I don’t know why, but that’s the feeling I get.

I would read another book by Chevalier. Her writing is very good. Very well researched. I don’t know why she doesn’t make her characters more sympathetic. It is a good writer who gives her characters flaws to make them human and accessible. But I think she takes it a little too far. Her characters have too many warts to make me love them. I didn’t feel this way about most of the characters in The Virgin Blue. I’m willing to give Girl with a Pearl Earring a try.

Addendum (7:35 P.M.): I have just realized where I’ve seen the tapestries in this book before. They decorate the Gryffindor Common Room in the Harry Potter movies. I’m kicking myself for not picking that out right away. Oh well.

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