My 200th Post!

This is my 200 post on the old blog. So, I thought I'd share ten things that I love.

Modern Times Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard

Movies

I am a film buff and a film geek. I freely admit and happily acknowledge that. I'm not doing a film studies degree, because I don't like analyzing films or becoming a pretentous, art house film snob. I just love watching movies because I can escape into a story, whether it be a fantastical tale, a lively boy meets girl musical or a searing realistic drama or even those really bad (and not B-movie bad) movies that are shown at 3 o'clock in the morning. I think that I've seen between 1000-1200 movies. I certainly don't remember all of them nor have I seen all of the ones that one is supposed to see, not even Chinatown or anything by David Lynch. How shame-making of me, I think I'll just go hide in the corner.

My favourite films (and it was really hard for me to decide) are: Hopscotch, I Know Where I'm Going, Duck Soup, Semi-Tough, Sherlock Jr, You Can't Take It With You and The Princess Bride. My favourite auteurs are: Woody Allen, Ernst Lubistch, Terry Gilliam and Guy Maddin.

Three Theatres by Fred Herzog 1957 (source)

Neon Lights

Vancouver used to have 19000 neon lights in the Fifties. But now there are barely a hundred. Neon lights fell out of favour in cities, I'm not entirely sure why but I think it's something to do with light pollution, attracting the "wrong" sort of people and changing perceptions of what is tacky. I love neon, it's an artform and a wonderful showcase of post-war prosperity. Neon Lights are also landmarks and add a bit of colour to the dark night and show how lively city life can be. Anyone who thinks that neon is tacky and attracts the wrong sort of people probabily never wears brightly coloured socks.

"Well, it's just gone 8 o'clock and time for the penguin on top of your television set to explode"

Television

What can I say about TV? Old shows, new shows, variety, sitcoms or miniseries, I love them all. Except for "reality" shows or Japanese game shows. I'm not sure why I love watching TV other than I'm a product of my generation. An I was named after a character on a sitcom. There are shows that I re-watch every year; The Prisoner, Pride and Prejudice, The Day the Universe Changed (I actually watch that two or three times a year) and then there are shows that I watch occasionally and the new (to me) shows that I discover. I even watch Top Gear and I don't know how to drive. My favourite shows change all the time, but at the moment include: Perry Mason, QI, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Futurama (which I prefer to The Simpsons), Leverage, The Addams Family, Black Adder, Black Books, Fawlty Towers, Doctor Who (classic and current), WKRP, That Mitchell and Webb Look, Slings and Arrows, Nero Wolfe and of course, Monty Python.

Embroidery

Apart from thrifting, I consider embroidery to be my only hobby. I can't do needlepoint, macrame, crochet and don't even get me started on my inability to knit. Embroidery is also a fairly cheap hobby and you can hang it on your wall, embellish your clothes and work away at it while watching something (instead of snacking) or while waiting for a bus to arrive or a page to load when the internet is having a slow day.

Reading

Ever since I learned to read when I was three, I haven't stopped. When I used to work in a used bookstore, people used to come up to me and say "Oh, you must be a reader." No, actually I'm illiterate, is what I wanted to say.

I quickly progressed from Beatrix Potter and Robert Munsch to Edgar Alan Poe, Sherlock Holmes, Homer and Jane Austen before I was in high school. My love of books may be why I'm doing my BA in English and Humanities, the two most reading intensive subjects at university. I don't like reading things online and I hate the idea of the Kindle. I have to have the physical copy in front of me. This may be why I have five Billy bookcases in my room and a giant pile on the floor that's enough to fill a sixth. Whether it's poetry, prose or fiction, as long as it's interesting, I'll read it.

I don't have a favourite author, but when anyone asks, I just say P. G. Wodehouse. My favourite book is the two Alice ones, my favourite poem is "The Owl and the Pussycat", my favourite poet is Keats and Shakespeare is, quite possibly, one of the greatest men that ever breathed and my favourite is Twelfth Night.

(source)

Whodunits

As regular readers may have gathered, I love whodunits. I like the puzzle and trying to sort out the clues from the red herrings and figure out the solution. Plus it's jolly good fun. I even prefer playing Cluedo rather then Monopoly, which usually becomes violent once someone buys a hotel. I also love watching mysteries, especially curled up with a blanket, a mug of tea and my embroidery during a dark and stormy night. I hate Columbo because they show the solution first and that takes all the fun out of it. I don't watch any modern mysteries, although that new Sherlock series is excellent. I prefer to watch Perry Mason, Nero Wolfe, Jim Hutton as Ellery Queen, Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, David Suchet as Poirot (and he's almost done filming all of them. Round of applause), Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter Wimsey, Peter Davison as Albert Campion and Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes. My favourite authors are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Rex Stout, Margery Allingham and Dorothy L. Sayers.

Milk

I love milk.

It is very good.

I have it in my coffee, but never in my tea.

I prefer 2% if you please.

Steve McQueen drank milk,

And Steve McQueen is cool,

Therefore milk is cool.

Django Reinhardt in 1946 (source)

Jazz

What can I say about jazz? Either you love it or you don't understand it. This is my favourite song, without lyrics:

Steed and Mrs. Peel

These two were my role models and my idea of super heroes. You can keep your Green Lanterns and Batmans (except for the campy Sixties Batman). Steed and Emma saved the world every week from devious masterminds and did so with style and intelligence. They outwitted the villains and had fun (and drinks) doing it. Mrs. Peel showed us that women could be intelligent and educated spies instead of screaming while tied to the train tracks. Steed showed us that no amount of Bond gadgets were a match for a trick umbrella and a metal lined bowler hat.

Fur Coats

My favourite thing about winter is that I get to wear my fur coats. In fact they were the subject of my first post. I now have three and they all cost $45 each, which is weird. I'm determined to find a full-length mink for under $100. I say it can be done! They're stylish and incredibly warm. As to the anti-fur statements, I've never received anything other than wonderful comments and strangers touching my coat. And it's recycling, since I'm the only one who reuses them, and it supports local businesses. So, if you find a fur coat, buy it!