Dallas Theater Center: Sense and Sensibility

Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility as adapted by Kate Hamill for the Dallas Theater Center, proved to be an outstanding production. We first hear and see the town gossips - such a shame about the Dashwoods. Poor Mr. Dashwood died so suddenly and now his widow and her girls must move.

1790s in Devonshire, England is not so different today. Jane Austen, beloved author, wrote of timeless subjects. We see Elinor Dashwood, the eldest sister, try to maintain proper decorum while falling in love with Edward Ferrars.

Elinor has to rein in her sister Marianne, the impetuous soul who fights the social mores of the day. She falls for the dashing John Willoughby, while the stolid Colonel Brandon courts her. But Willoughby is a playboy and scoundrel. Edward is engaged to another. The Dashwood girls have no money to bring to the table. Oh, it's all so difficult. Thank goodness they did not have Facebook and other social media to exacerbate the muddle.

The Dallas Theater Center's simple staging and strong acting carried the day. This was a rich well done play, and Jane Austen ruled over it with her words.

It is not what we think or feel that makes us who we are. It is what we do. Or fail to do....
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Elusive Mom

 This is a day late, but it can count for everyday.  My mother was very elusive - she dodged photography like crazy. I truly have very few pics of her and she's been gone over twenty years. But her common sense echoes in my brain.  This is her birthplace in Greentown, IN.  Humble beginnings and she stayed humble her whole life.

Somber young girl who never belonged on a farm.

She was ahead of her time. I remember her always urging me to travel, go to school, don't marry (too soon). She was a feminist before Gloria  and Betty fought the good fight.

I could use her advice today.

Book Review: Chasers of the Light by Tyler Knott Gregson

From the back cover blurb - The Epic Made Simple, The Miracle in the Mundane.
Author Tyler Knott Gregson bought a vintage Remington typewriter and began to knock out poems on scraps of paper, grocery receipts, and no editing. These poems illuminate grand gestures and small glimpses, poems that celebrate the beauty of a life spent chasing the light.

I really enjoyed reading the poems in this book - Chasers of the Light: Poems from the Typewriter Series.  They are rich and yet simplistic, and totally heartfelt. After reading them, I sighed - just content in the feelings.

Here's one example by Tyler Knott Gregson  (picture it in old typewriter print)

I kiss you
and
on your lips
I taste the sea
and the
sea
has always been
home
to me

I truly recommend this book of poems, and have no doubt I'll be re-reading much of his work.
There are many I wish I'd written myself.

Movie Review Madness: Furious Seven

 

 

 

It’s Furious Seven for the franchise series – bigger bolder and crazier than ever. Can cars fly? Heck yeah. Can cars zoom through three buildings? Heck yeah. Is our team back together? Well, sadly we lose a few thanks early on to the evil Jason Straitham, who’s bent on revenge for his brother. This guy is rogue top skills former British service, and he’s unstoppable – or is he? We also have another terrorist faction in cahoots who’s out to get the mega chip/software program created by the elusive Ramsey.  And who’s managed to find and protect Ramsey? Our team. Does all of this sound incoherent? Sure – you have to see it to believe it.  

Vin Diesel is Dom – our strap shirt muscle bound leader with the voice growl as hot as the cars he uses. Paul Walker’s baby blues are still in the majority of the movie. He’s a family man now, married to Dom’s sister Mia, and he vows to come back to her after this mission. Michelle Rodriquez, our hot girl fighter/driver/Dom’s girlfriend, still has amnesia but maybe her memory will return. Tyrese and Ludacris still banter and use their mad skills. And then Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) survives the Jason beating, but organizes the Furious crew and roots from his hospital bed until he literally busts out of his casts to provide backup with one huge machine gun.  

The key to this movie is the cast chemistry – they truly look like they are having fun. The car chases, the fights, the destruction is over the top. This is nonstop action at movie making cinematic greatness. Furious Seven runs too long – I would have edited away at least forty minutes. Otherwise this is a mega popcorn treat. The final salute to the late Paul Walker at the end of the movie is well done and touching. Strap in for a crazy ride and yes, cars can fly.

 

A to Z Reflection

I have read so many great A to Z Reflections, I decided to do a very short comment. 

The creativity of so many people is astounding. I was remiss in reading lots of new blogs from the linky list. Work interferes with fun, and I'll be honest - I am lazy. When I get home from a day on the computer, I'm done with a keyboard. But I kept up with all of my faves (Annalisa, Robyn, Julie, Delores, Barbara, Al, Alex, and Hillary, and more) and enjoyed the variety of styles, characters, humor, and writing.

I am giving a special shout out to Sue McPeak for her hard work and energy.

Thanks to the whole A-to-Z coordinating team. They unite a huge blog world into an April fun frenzy. With all of the crazy in this world, this effort shows the power of the written word for good.

Special thanks to everyone for visiting Texas with me in Eye on Texas A to Z. We certainly poked into a lot of corners of this vast state.

Y'all come back now.   All the best!!

Book Review: The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K.Rowling) is an exciting crime novel with plenty of twists and turns, and another visit with private investigator Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin.  I like Rowling writing as Galbraith. I truly believe she shifts into another mode, goes tough and gritty with the best of ‘em.  I’ve already reviewed the first book The Cuckoo’s Calling in this blog.  Now a tad famous and on the police radar (he basically showed them up on the Lulu Landry case). Strike is hired by the wife of novelist Owen Quine to find him. Of course, it’s more than a missing person case. It involves a volatile finished manuscript that paints portraits and can ruin key players in the publishing business. And ultimately there’s a brutal murder with bizarre circumstances. Strike and Robin have to work around the police blocking their way, go with their instincts, and overturn initial conclusions. (It’s way too obvious to arrest the wife) 

Meanwhile, Strike is not in fine form. His prosthesis is bothering him (he lost a leg in Iraq) and that slows his mobility. Poor Robin is newly engaged and fighting with her fiancé, Matthew, who distrusts Strike and the whole investigative job. I enjoy these flawed characters and how life influences their work. The Silkworm keeps you guessing and the writing is solid. Here’s an example p.281: 

Preoccupied with his own comfort, a mixture of football and murder on his mind, it did not occur to Strike to glance down into the snowy street….Had he done so, he might have seen the willowy hooded figure in the black coat leaning against the wall, staring up at his flat. Good though his eyesight was, however, he would have been unlikely to spot the Stanley knife being turned rhythmically between long fine fingers.

 

Robert Galbraith’s The Silkworm spins a tale of deception, cunning, egos, and jealousy. Power and money can make people do horrible things. Cormoran Strike has seen the worst in people and can dig deeper to solve the case, unravel the lies, and gain justice. Wrap yourself in a blanket cocoon and enjoy a darn good mystery.

May Day

Happy Post A to Z Challenge


Bought this little outdoor metal crab creation at the Southlake Center Art Show last week. The sharp red brightens my day.

We shall have a glorious weather weekend in Bedford, Texas. . I expect to be outdoors, not hanging at the computer. I assume my blog friends - old and new - are all shaking off the alphabet, resting, and recharging for May and beyond.

Be well and enjoy the weekend. I shall be back with movie and book reviews and more....

Don't be crabby