A Christmas Story House and Museum

A Christmas Story is my husband's all time favorite Christmas movie....maybe his favorite movie ever.  The outside scenes were all shot in a neighborhood in Cleveland, OH.  And, a fan of the movie bought the house, restored it to look like the rooms in the movie and created a museum and gift shop to go along with it.  Since we were nearby visiting Niagara Falls, we decided to stop by and see the place.  We had a lot of fun talking about the movie with the guide and learning all kinds of trivia about the making of the film. 

There is a leg lamp in the window and a Red Ryder BB gun under the Christmas tree, a "turkey" in the oven and the "Old Man's" car in the garage.

At the gift shop you can buy leg lamps of all sizes, a variety of movie memorabilia and even a bunny suit like Ralphie got from his aunt.

It's a great stop on your way through the Cleveland area!

A Visit to Oz

This weekend the husband (for the purpose of this post, he is now "my Wizard") and I packed the car, traveled the twists of turns of the tornado road and landed in the Land of Oz.  You can find the Land of Oz on your Google Map by searching for Beech Mountain, North Carolina.

From 1970 to 1980 there was a fully operational park at the top of Emerald Mountain known as the Land of Oz.  It was much loved my many people but the advent of parks such as Disney World put an end to many of the smaller, less spectacular attractions like this one.  Several years ago some people who were fans of both the movie and the park decided to try to restore it to be able to share with another generation.  Each year the park is opened up to the public and admission fees help to pay for additional restoration.

 

My Wizard wore a tee-shirt that said, "I am the man behind the curtain." and countless people stopped to comment on it!  I know he is a Wizard because he makes things happen that I once thought weren't possible.  He and I had a great time meeting all the characters who were not only dressed in costume but who spoke and acted totally in character.  Dorothy's house was great...and just so you don't think that sewing was completely out of my mind - Auntie Em had an old Singer machine in one of the bedrooms.  There was also a museum filled with original props from the movie, the theme park and a set of first edition books.

 



I am a well established fan of the Wizard of Oz as is my blogging friend, Jen of Glinda Quilts.  Several months ago I won a giveaway on her blog and she made me a great pants bag to use when traveling. I not only used it for packing, but brought it with me to the park (absent my pants) so that I could have Glinda the Good Witch pose with the pants bag:

My Wizard and I are already planning on going back again next year.  We might upgrade from tee-shirts to costumes.  May I never again make fun of the Star Trek conventions!

 

Movie Review: Jack the Giant Slayer

This might seem like an odd movie for me to give an opinion on, but....I liked it.  Now, in the spirit of full disclosure I need to tell you that one of my favorite all time movies (besides the Wizard of Oz, of course) is The Princess Bride.  And Jack the Giant Slayer has very much the same feel, although with a lot less comedic lines.  It's a fairy tale with a princess and a commoner, a king and a traitor and big bad giants.  It had action, but not any of those endless car chases.  It had it's share of gross monster stuff, but no screen shots long enough to turn your stomach. It had romance...all g-rated.  And it had heroes.  And a nice ending.  My top compliment:  I would watch it again.

 

Oz the Great and Powerful: a Movie Review

If you read this blog with any regularity you will know that I am a fan of all things "Oz".  So, when I heard that a new Wizard of Oz movie was being released I was both excited and apprehensive.  I love the old Wizard of Oz and I was afraid that a new edition would tarnish the old.  This was opening weekend for Oz the Great and Powerful and we were sitting in the theater with our 3D glasses donned on Saturday afternoon.  This movie lacks my favorite character: Dorothy, but her spirit and spunk are somewhat replaced by a new character: China Doll.  It is a prequel to the original movie and tries to explain how the Wizard ended up in the Land of Oz.  I liked it.  There were plenty of elements that mirrored the old movie to keep me happy.  The evil in the movie was very "retro".  What I mean by that is: no deep darkness and occult evilness like is often used in newer movies to portray the bad guys.....just mean witches.  And no one had to die in the movie either to tell the story.
                                   
I've read quite a few criticisms about the CGI effects and at times they seemed a bit cheesy, but I'm easily entertained and the overall effect didn't ruin my movie experience.  It's also been said that the Wizard's acting lacked some authenticity (so, exactly HOW authentic is a wizard anyway?).  And I might agree with that, but again, I bought it....I was pleased.  Perhaps the one thing I missed most was the music.  This movie isn't a musical and the songs from the old movie stick in your mind and make you smile.  And given how visual a movie it is, it's one that merits a trip to the theater rather than a viewing at home. 

Hmmm.......I wonder if anyone will release new novelty Oz prints?

There's No Place Like Home

When I retired, I thought that travel would be a large part of new life.  But it turns out that although travel is exciting it is also tiresome.  I enjoy seeing new things and visiting family, but I also enjoy the familiar.  It's nice to step away from the everyday for awhile and break out of routine and sameness; but it's also nice to return to the comfort and security afforded by sameness and predictability.

We traveled north this weekend to visit family.  Some of you who are reading this may live in the Midwest or near the Great Lakes.  Please don't take offense at this.  It is darn COLD up there!!  The husband and I spent some days wearing as many layers as we had with us and still found it cold.  The wind was bitter, the sun went into hiding and it seemed that even indoors people tended to keep the temperature lower than we were accustomed.  One of our activities was a visit to see The Hobbit movie in 3D.  It was great.  The special effects in 3D were really entertaining, but the theater was COLD.  I wish I had brought a blanket with me to wrap up in.

Travel itself can by weary.  We drove to our destination(about an 8 hour trip), then I flew home while the husband went on for some more business travel.  Both methods (flying and driving) require quite a bit of sitting.  Air travel has it's share of walking, but it's usually more like rushing, afraid you won't find the proper gate or be late for boarding.  But, everything went well and I arrived home just before the weather turned bad.  Unfortunately, my DH is still in the Midwest and dealing with some snow.

When I arrived at the airport I was treated to a surprise - one of those unexpected things that travel offers.  The airport had a display of Lego buildings.  Lego has received many of my dollars buying sets for the Sons throughout the years and I've joined the Sons in building Lego creations through the years  So I'm very familiar with the medium. It was great to see the display.  I immediately took pictures of each building and marveled at the work that went into them.  Here are some examples: 

                                     

 Travel is still something I like and hope to do more of, although Alaska may be scratched off my list of places to visit.  (Again, apologies to those of you who live there.  If you can warm the place up a bit I might reconsider.)

But I understand why Dorothy wanted so much to leave the splendor and wonder of  the colorful Land of Oz to return to dreary predicable Kansas.  When it comes right down to it, there's no place like home.

Pondering The Wizard of Oz

I'm working on a small Wizard of Oz wall hanging.  Even though it's a simple project, the progress has been quite slow.  Hopefully I will be able to finish it this week.  This has always been one of my favorite movies.  So, as I was sewing, I found (first major accomplishment) my VHS copy of the movie and figured out how to make the old VHS player work (second major accomplishment) so that I could watch it as I sewed.  I realized a few things:  I still love this movie.  I love the characters, the old special effects that were cutting edge in their time, the songs....everything.  Back in the old days, you couldn't just sit down and watch a movie whenever you wanted.  I didn't see The Wizard of Oz in the theater until I was in college.  My first introduction was on TV.  And since you couldn't record TV back then, you had to plan to be available whenever it was going to be aired.  It seemed like this movie was aired about once a year and my mother made sure I was aware of the show time.  Commercials were your only opportunity for food or bathroom breaks if you didn't want to miss part of the show - there was no rewind.  After several years my family got our first color TV (yes, I'm THAT old!).  And I was introduced to the color extravaganza of The Wizard of Oz.  I loved it even more.  I thought it was so clever of the director to start and end the movie in black and white making the magic of Oz even more breathtaking.  I do admit to being scared of the wicked witch and her flying monkeys in those days, though.  And they were uglier and scarier in color.

As I was viewing the movie recently I think I realized some of my attraction to the story.  I like Dorothy.  I think I related to her without being aware of it back then.  She grew up, as I did, surrounded by adults.  (I'm the youngest in my family by 11 years).  And there were times for Dorothy, as for me, when being "good" basically meant staying out of the adults way.  But Dorothy also has spunk and I admired that in her.  She was willing to speak her mind and stand up for the less able including her dog and her companions.  She was scared of the witch and even the wizard to an extent, but she didn't back down.  And, most of all, she came home.  She was frustrated with home at first, but she quickly realized that home and the people there were important.  In a way, she grew up and learned to value what was right in front of her.

After all, there's no place like home.

Movie Review: The Rabbit Hole

When my husband travels I try to catch up on movies or TV shows that he doesn't care for.  He does the same.  We will both watch a wide range of movies with each other, although we reserve the right to sleep through some shows that are so NOT in our interest range.  And we reserve the right to an occasional "no thank you".  He uses his on "Dancing With the Stars".  I use mine for the worst or foulest of the shoot 'em up or sci fi movies.  Although I have sat through "The Walking Dead" this past season.

Anyway, last night I watched "The Rabbit Hole" with Nicole Kidman.  I had been ignoring this choice in my Netflix cue becuase the subject matter seemed so depressing.  It's about a couple who tragicly lost their 4 year old boy in an accident and how they both dealt with their grief.  I found it so well done that it should be included in classes on grief counseling.  It showed that there are good ways and not so good ways to deal with grief, that each person does it differently, that it never completely goes away, but does get better over time and that in the end you get through it just by doing the next thing, walking through life and sharing with those around you.  It's perhaps the most underratted movie I've watched in a long time.