1st Amendment Quote of the Day - February 12, 2014

“I think the conviction of appellant or anyone else for exhibiting a motion picture abridges freedom of the press as safeguarded by the First Amendment, which is made obligatory on the States by the Fourteenth.”
  Associate Justice Hugo Black,  Supreme Court, in Jacobellis v. Ohio, 1964

“If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch. Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men’s minds.”
   Justice Thurgood Marshall, Supreme Court, in  Stanley v. Georgia, 1969

50 Years Ago Today: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

There's a great subplot in this movie about Freedom of the Press, not to mention the Rule of Law, the taming of the West, working at whatever job there is, self defense, literacy, love, sacrifice, and civilization in general. And surely it is on the Top Ten list for letterpress printers everywhere. There's a lot more value to printing than deep impression on the wedding invitations!

All that and John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart too! What more can one ask from a movie?

Adding To Our Media Library: Best British Mysteries, Clean Comedy, and Awesome Nature & Travel Documentaries

So today I have been searching for DVD bargains on Amazon. We are fleshing out our collection with clean comedy, documentaries, movies we'll watch over and over. I do not have an Amazon affiliate account, so it you are going to buy from there, be sure and use the Amazon Search Box on your favorite blog. They'll make a little on it and it won't add to your cost. :-)  Amazon has great promos lately.

Clean Comedy: The funniest comedians make us laugh without embarassing us, and comics like Jeff Allen stand right up there with Jeff Foxworthy. My husband has a new by-word: "I'm a happy, happy, man." Heh.

Two great collections to pick new favorite entertainers from are the Apostles of Comedy and Thou Shalt Laugh (several volumes available - we started with Volumes 1 & 2. Read the reviews before buying - viewers say Volume 3 contains inappropriate material).

Used Boxed Sets on Amazon can be a real bargain. Be sure you are getting the DVD version, because there are still some VHS tapes down in the "lowest price first" sort!

If you don't yet own "Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series" with the original David Attenborough's narration, it's a great bargain right now. I got a pristine set last month for less than $15.00. That's 550 minutes - more than 9 hours - of magnificent footage. Get the regular dvd, not the HD one - the regular boxed set contains hours more programming with fascinating "behind the scenes" footage.

I ordered the "Reader's Digest Journeys of a Lifetime Boxed Set" today. It has 13 hours of armchair travel for as low as $5.00. These kinds of things are nice to unwind and settle down with right before bed time.

More than 6 hours of "TV Classics: Westerns Vol. 1 and 2 (Box Set)" for a penny - $3 once you add in shipping. Buy from Amazon for $2.98 with free shipping. Or find a "just launched" seller and buy from them - support home businesses by helping a new seller get of the ground!

The BBC did a series of "The Chronicles of Narnia (BBC)" in the 1980s that reviewers say is even better than the recent movies. One reviewer notes that the BBC version is carefully true to the story as written by C.S. Lewis, so the nuances of the books remain intact. I'm looking forward to seeing this.

Speaking of the BBC and Masterpiece Mystery, some of my favorite recent discoveries on the British Mystery front are:

New Tricks - There just aren't enough praises for this well written, perfectly cast ensemble series about an engaging trio of retired detectives dragged back into service by a cute, tough, woman inspector who's young enough to be their daughter, good (and old) enough to be their boss, and real enough to need their friendship. The age jokes are realistic - and funny - but it's the serious plots that won me over. Interesting cold-case crimes that unfold in fascinating detail, that require both deep historical research and human deduction to unravel. Warm and believable relationships between the characters (nearly all the supporting cast recur, just as they would in real life). Love the characters, love the scripts, love the theme song, love the series!

Sherlock - Another that rates pure applause. The premise sounded like a bad idea: Conan-Doyle's detective set into the 21st century world. I thought: "Yawn." I feared Romeo & Juliet in blue jeans. Then when the show started I sat up and paid attention. Wow. Simply, truly, brilliant.

Here's an idea of how good "Sherlock" is: 259 reviews on Amazon, and 247 of them are 4 star or better (224 are 5 star!)! Smart. Witty. Fast paced. Clever. Not suitable for young children, as the violence is dark, but not gratuitously so, and so far it is relatively "clean".  Martin Freeman's Dr. Watson is perhaps the best I've ever seen, and Benedict Cumberbatch pays tribute to Jeremy Brett's fearless high energy while making the role his very own.

Speaking of Sherlock, Gerard Van Der Leun of "American Digest", has a downloadable PDF of his book "The Quotable Sherlock Holmes" available free to his readers. Or, you can buy a print copy or the Kindle Edition on Amazon.  (I'll also take this opportunity to thank him for permission to keep and display the nifty "Welcome to Texas" Bilboard over on the left (my other left).

Other Greatest Hits of the BBC and PBS Mystery include Mr Palfrey of Westminster - a surprisingly clever (and believable) series about a cold war era consumate British spy catcher working within the heart of London to foil Russian efforts to undermine Western governments. Presents as a "cozy" but it is not.  The cloak and dagger deceptions extend even to his own staff, and Palfrey's counter-espionage skill will keep you guessing. It reminds me pleasantly of LeCarre's low-key approach.

I've written before about Inspector Lewis. It's still a favorite and I plan to buy the series soon. I'll watch this one for a long time. (P.S. Paul says "You forgot Lovejoy. You need to mention Lovejoy in there. It's still a favorite of your husband, who plans to buy the series soon." Hee!)

Once you get past the low budget cinematography, the BBC movies (actually mini-series - some are nearly 5 hours long) made from PD James' books that star Roy Marsden as Adam Dagliesh are very good. The two more recent, standard-length movies in which Martin Shaw is cast as Dagliesh, Death in Holy Orders and The Murder Room, are also excellent. Each man brings a different look at the complex poet-detective's personality.

I ordered a couple more neat dvds totalling less than $5 each with SuperSaver shipping, but I can't mention them here yet because I want to surprise Paul with them, and he reads Pecan Corner. Hi, Honey! Love you much! :-D

So what great media bargains have you found recently? Or have you discovered a fab British, Scots or Irish show that we all need to know about? Do tell!

My Fair Lady: Support Your Local Theater

What's playing on the little theater stage in your town this week?

There are amazing hidden talents in our friends and neighbors, and we don't have to watch America's Got Talent to see it. The next person we speak with in any local business is very likely to be able to dance, write, sing, command, heal, paint, compose, design, speak, run, bat, build, perform, or act so well it would leave us speechless. The person next door, down the block, around the corner, is a suprising miracle.

If next summer you find yourself in Texas, in proximity to attend the Brownwood Lyric Theater's Summer Musical, by all means make the effort and go!

We saw My Fair Lady last week and it was WONDERFUL.

This is Paul's favorite musical. The book in that photo up there came out of our bookshelf. So, on the one hand, that made it a must-see production, on the other hand, he was a bit nervous. We know there are a lot of talented people in the area - we saw Fiddler on the Roof last year. But this is the middle of rural Texas after all, and the British accents are crucial to the story.

They did a fabulous job. The acting from the entire cast was top-notch. The music (solo, choral and orchestral) was perfect. The choreography was down pat. The directing was worthy of Broadway. The costumes were magnificent. The accents would have fooled a native Londoner.

We were both so pleased and delighted! It is noteworthy that Paul was impressed, because in his earlier life he did summer stock (The Lost Colony) and actually lived in New York City, working on off-broadway shows, for a while. So he has been immersed in professional theater - when he gives praise, he knows from personal experience what it is he is applauding.

I am no expert, but I know that there were times during the performance that I forgot I was watching a play and became completely caught up in the events on stage.

And the $10 ticket price made it the best bargain around.

We are so constantly exposed to the most sophisticated entertainment there is. Via television, movies, and dvds, any night of the week we can watch the greatest actors in the world, see the most cutting edge special effects, hear music recorded and mixed with the most exacting sound equipment.

But there's still room to be charmed, delighted, entertained, and even swept into a spontaneous standing ovation by our own neighbors, teachers, shopkeepers, administrators, cabinet makers, as they share their amazing talent in beautiful live events like this one. You have to be there to experience it.

So! What's playing in your town this week?

"So, Hamlet, How Long Hast Thou Been a Grave-maker?" Dan Akroyd meets Nick Arguello

So I was thinking whether to blog about Nick's handshake with Dan Akroyd at Twin Liquors in Austin, and then Instapundit went and blogged about Ontario banning Akroyd's Crystal Head Vodka. Heh. What a great excuse to make Shakespeare puns...

From the Globe and Mail article: (italicized items added - they are lines from "Hamlet")

"Are you afraid of this vodka? ..."

Is not parchment made of sheepskins?

"Crystal Head Vodka’s distinctive bottle shape looks remarkably life-like, a curiosity you’d expect to see in a droll chiropractor’s office. Or maybe that should be remarkably death-like, because that’s the Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s interpretation."

...why may not that be the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities now, his quillets, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks?

"In a stark departure from every other state and province on the continent, one of the world’s hottest new vodka brands has been banned from Ontario stores."

 How absolut the knave is!

"“I like it, it kind of makes the product more appealing in my view,” Mr. Aykroyd told [Reporter Beppi Crosariol] over the phone last week from Texas."

 Go, get thee to Yaughan: fetch me a stoup of liquor.

"...from Texas..." where Akroyd was busy signing the Hamlet-esque portrait of Nick contemplating a bottle of the stuff!

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy!

Here's a video of the Twin Liquors event, fun for Akroyd fans as well as Austinites.  And the full text of this passage from Shakespeare's play "Hamlet" can be found here. It's pretty funny reading!

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