Why Books are Better Than TV

Chance's Corner: Home from the Hill

"When you talk of GREAT Motion Pictures you will talk about this one!" is the tagline for Vincente Minnelli's film Home from the Hill. It's a very ambitious statement that isn't necessarily true anymore. Home from the Hill has fallen into obscurity since 1960 due to circumstances unknown. However, in my opinion, I think it is a movie that should be talked about more.

Home from the Hill takes place in the small town of Clarksville in the northeast region of Texas. Wait, what? The Clarksville, Texas that is just 36 miles from Mount Vernon? Yep, that's the one. Portions of the movie were actually filmed on location. The most recognizable location is the downtown square where the group of old timers are whittling and playing music.

Let's go Snipe huntin'.

The movie stars big name actors such as Robert Mitchum (The Night of the Hunter), George Peppard (Breakfast at Tiffany's), Eleanor Parker (The Sound of Music), and George Hamilton (that really tan man). Now who in the world could imagine that these four and Vincente Minnelli would be caught dead in Clarksville? I mean, Minnelli is known mostly for his elaborate musicals such as An American in Paris starring Gene Kelly and Meet Me in St. Louis starring Judy Garland (his wife at one time). Home from the Hill is well-noted departure from his usual film style, and perhaps that is why it is his least known work.

The main reason Clarksville was chosen is because it is the central location in the original novel by William Humphrey. The story revolves around the titular macho-man Captain Wade Hunnicutt (Robert Mitchum) and the trouble his wild oats has brought upon his wife, Hannah (Eleanor Parker), and his son, Theron (George Hamilton). Oh, and one of his wild oats just happens to be named Rafe Copley (George Peppard).

Theron's mine now.

The film is mainly a study of masculinity. Captain Wade Hunnicutt wants his son to be the "... kind of man that walks around with nothing in his pockets, no identification because everyone knows who you are. No cash because anyone in town would be happy to lend you anything you need. No keys 'cause you don't keep a lock on a single thing you own. And no watch because time waits on you."

Let me show you... love...

In order to achieve this level of manhood, Captain takes Theron under his wing, against his  resentful wife's wishes, and teaches him to hunt near the Sulphur Bottom. Rafe, treated as just some ranch hand by Captain, is also recruited to  help Theron "just like a big brother." There's plenty of hunting action at the beginning of the film, but the central plot circulates around Theron as he grows, falls in love, and as he is eventually corrupted by his father's legacy.

Robert Mitchum and company are all great in their parts, but the real star in this film is George Peppard. Rafe Copley, the cast-off son of Captain Wade, taken in but dejected in every other way. He longs for his father's love, even just the recognition that he is his son, but as chance would have it... I can't spoil the ending.

Sulphur Bottom is a bit more majestic and smoky than I remember.

Overall, Home from the Hill is an interesting snapshot of what small Southern town life can be. Everyone knows everyone's business. Everyone talks. Things eventually catch up with you. Just ask Eleanor Parker. 

If you're interested in seeing Home from the Hill, you can rent it at the Franklin County Library.

Marvelous Mondays! : Tornado in a Jar

Yesterday afternoon at Marvelous Mondays, we made tornadoes in a jar or pet tornadoes.  They are very simple to make and the kids loved playing with their tornadoes.

All you need is a Mason jar with lid, water, dish soap, and a little glitter. Simply fill the jar mostly full of water.  Add a squirt or two of dish soap and a little glitter.  Replace the lid and swirl the ingredients together.  And there you have it - your very own pet tornado!

 



Banned Books Week 2014

The American Library Association has declared the week of September 21st Banned Books Week. 

 

From the ALA website : "Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular."  "The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools"

 

 

A few books that have been banned at one time or another:

 

 

 

All of the above books are available for checkout at Franklin County Library.  For more lists of books that have been banned at one point or another see:

ALA Frequently Challenged Books

Harper Collins 12 Crazy Reasons Why Books Have Been Banned

 

What do you think of the practice of banning books?



Book Review : Princesses Behaving Badly by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie

More often than not, given a choice, I (Julie) will read fiction before I read non-fiction.  However, when Princesses Behaving Badly : Real Stories from History Without the Fairy-Tale Endings came in, I flipped through it and was intrigued. 

 

In her introduction, Ms. McRobbie discusses the current little-girl obsession with princesses; fairy-tale weddings, tiaras, and all things pink.  However, the Disney idea of a princess finding her true love and living happily ever after has very little basis in reality.  Real princesses were and are real women with all the strengths and failings of the rest of us.  Depending on the time and culture they lived in, some were able to rule, others were used as pawns between rulers - married off to the most convenient husband. 

 

Princesses... is divided into seven parts: Warriors, Usurpers, Schemers, Survivors, Partiers, Floozies, and Madwomen.  Within these sections, Ms. McRobbie introduces us to over 50 real princesses.  One princess left her royal upbringing to become a pirate then went back home, married, and had children to carry on the royal line.  Another went to war with her toddler son strapped to her back.  Others literally slaughtered their way to power, sparing no one who might threaten their claim to the throne.  Still others pretended to be, and convinced the world that they were, princesses when they had no claim to the title whatsoever. 

 

Most intriguing to me were the women who tried to take control of their own destinies.  Sometimes they succeeded, but more often they failed.  The chapter on Justa Grata Honoria begins with her brother, Roman Emperor Valentinian III, trying to marry her off.  Rather than go quietly, she sat down and wrote a letter asking for help.  The letter was addressed to Attila the Hun!  Unfortunately, her scheme didn't work and she was married anyway, but she sure made life interesting for her brother for a while. 

 

I have a couple more stories to read, then I'll be putting it back on the shelves for check out.  The stories are short and easy to read.  Give it a try and tell me what you think!

 

 

 

  

Fall Fundraiser!

Craft Supply Swap!

Marvelous Mondays are back!

We kicked off Marvelous Mondays again yesterday.  For our first project this year, we made Floam!

Floam is very similar to the Gak we made last year, but with the addition of polystyrene beads to give it texture.  Making the Floam was a messy, static-y process.  The kids seemed to have a good time though! 

Every Monday that school is in session we will be conducting Marvelous Mondays at 4:15.  Come see what we're doing next week!

Chance's Corner: On Set

Remember that movie they're filming around here? You know Spirit Riders that has C. Thomas Howell in it? Well, somehow I ended up in it too!

It all started when I heard that extras were needed for a mock football game Saturday night in Winnsboro. I shrugged it off. I knew that I'd just be some random person mixed in the crowd. I went on with my life. Little did I know that the acting bug had bitten my mother and she contacted the casting director. They called her back on Friday wanting her to be an extra in a courtroom scene at the Winnsboro City Hall. I knew I couldn't let her go by herself! She needed acting tips, right? Sure!

We arrived at the Winnsboro City Hall at 1 PM, and signed a lot of paper work giving our consent to be in the movie and other legal mumbo-jumbo. We were ushered to an upstairs recreation room where the other extras and crew members were milling about. We pretty much just sat there for three hours while they set up the lights, cameras and such before filming some preliminary scenes.

When we finally got called down into the courtroom, the place was buzzing with light, sound, and camera crew members. The camera crew moved the camera over here... then over there... then back over there. The light crew was attempting to get the best light options for each take by putting up diffusers, black cardboard, and black sheets. The sound crew was checking the sounds, checking mics, and asked for complete silence as they "listened to the tone of the room." There was even a makeup girl running around doing touchups on the face of the actors. My face was perfect, so I needed no makeup (ha!).

The magic of movie editing.

Setting up the scene.



Actor Craig Nigh, seen in Breaking Bad and Frasier, getting a touch up.

 

Actress Alexandria "Allie" DeBerry, seen in Disney Channel's A.N.T. Farm.

 

Quiet on the set! Lock it up! Action!

Kim Jackson Wheeler (the one in the black) prepping for her upcoming scene.

Taking a break.

 

I'll be in my trailer, dah-ling.

 

It truly was an interesting process to witness. There's certainly a lot of work involved! If you ever get to see the movie, maybe you'll catch a glimpse of my shoulder or something. As for the mock football game on Saturday, my mother and I both decided to sit that one out (didn't want to be overexposed), but my sister and her kids went. They took their autograph books they bought at Walt Disney World for Allie to sign.

Amazon Smile

Do you shop at Amazon.com?  I absolutely love Amazon.  I subscribe to their Prime service and am able to get most things with free two-day shipping.  I buy all kinds of things at Amazon including, recently, books, craft supplies, and water guns.  I once was even able to get two day shipping on a chop saw for my dad!

Anyway, this is not an advertisement for Amazon.  However, if you do already shop there, then you could be contributing to the Friends of the Franklin County Library. 

Amazon has a service called Amazon Smile.  If you start at smile.amazon.com then you can choose a charity to receive 1/2 of 1% of your purchase total.  The donation is from Amazon and doesn't add one penny to your purchase total.  There are thousands of charities to choose from, and now our Friends group is one of them. 

 

The Friends of the Franklin County Library contributes in countless ways to our library's operations.  It is because of them that we are able to provide the Summer Reading program, computer classes, KiteFest, and lots of other programs.  If people like you did not support them, many of these programs would cease to exist.  Amazon Smile is just one more painless way to help them provide all of these great services.  I hope you'll consider making the Friends of the Franklin County Library your charity of choice at Amazon Smile.