Here is a tune I had all but forgotten about. Lyrics had absolutely no meaning, but it was catchy without being cheesy.
Here is a video from somebody known as useless director on YouTube. Restored from original 8mm his/her Father filmed orginally to this old Kansas song. It does look 'dusty' in more ways than one. Sometimes, I like that better than the modern, high tech, high def stuff of today. I think Kansas only had two hits.
The other hit from Kansas. The sound isn't particularly great though.
One of my all time favourite movies has got to be The Graduate from 1967 starring Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman.
You couldn't help but feel sorry for Ben at times; you know, the perfect prodigal son returning home from College, graduating with all kinds of honours and winning prizes. The poor guy had to paraded around like a circus poodle by his parents at both his graduation and when they oohed and aaahhed around the swimming pool while Ben must show off the expensive scuba diving garb. I'm sure most who had seen the movie must have thought to themselves: 'why didn't Ben simply tell his parents thanks but no thanks?'
I wonder if anyone actually felt sorry for Mrs Robinson? A woman unhappy in her marriage and life. I'm sure if she didn't attempt to make life for those around her as miserable as her's was, maybe she could have been a more sympathetic character.
Well, I happen to think that's why Ben caved into the advances of the unhappily married Mrs. Robinson.
My favourite scene, though, was the end when Ben is screaming "E-LAINNNE!!" over and over again outside the church where Elaine is marrying that Blonde all-American type every parent dreamt for their daughters at that time.
Gotta love a man who would make an absolute fool of himself for a woman. Obviously, Elaine was impressed: I loved how Ben locks the entire crowd in the church by wedging the large crucifix though the door handles and they run onto the bus.
Anybody ever imagined what would have happened to all of them if they had the chance to write a sequel? Enjoy!
It sure doesn't feel like Halloween this year. My husband and I came home from his nephew's engagement brunch in Ottawa, only to find the neighbourhood looks like it alwasy does. No Halloween decor anywhere. Not even a jack o lantern. It was the same thing in Ottawa; not even the shop windows had much to offer in the way of Halloween decor.
There were no trick or treaters or any evidence that there have been. Not even anyone in costume going off to Halloween parties in town.
I remembered early childhood living my parents' first apartment in a group of buildings known as the Benny Farm in N.D.G. (for those who don't know, NDG is in the West End of Montreal). Lots of families with kids living in the neighbourhood. All kinds of activities. All before the days of internet, video games and yes, even before the VCR and most folks had black & white TVs. We had to rely on our imaginations to have fun. My fondest memories growing up were in that neighbourhood.
My old neighbourhood had ceased to exist some years back. All the old buildings were abandoned and later demolished for new buildings to be built. I'm happy that these new buildings are for lower income families; lord knows there's a shortage of subsidized housing here, but it's sad to know that reminders of the good times are no longer evident.
One such fond memory was Halloween in the area. Sometimes a haunted house would be set up in the basement of one of the buildings. We went trick or treating in large groups. We knew almost everyone who's bell we rang. We would carry pillow cases to collect the treats and little orange UNICEF boxes to collect change issued by our schools. Yes, Halloween in the Benny Farm provided more ambiance than Christmas or summer vacation in my opinion.
As years passed, no matter where I lived, I noticed fewer and fewer kids out trick or treating. It had become a safety issue. As such, the Old Montreal Forum had set up a large Halloween party for the kids. The program was successful. They came in costume and would trick or treat around the place and there were other activities to keep them safe, but that too became defunct in recent years.
Another surprising thing is UNICEF had scrapped its' Halloween box campaign. Not sure if this is the case elsewhere, but it no longer exists here, in Montreal. Maybe they too noticed that Halloween is no longer in vogue.
I guess it's hard to preserve fond memories of youth and evidence of it ever happened have all but disappeared, much like the Benny Farm and Halloween.
I did find an old Adams Family cartoon to at least keep some semblance of Halloween here.
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