Random Saturday - Purple and green

If you expect something about color coordination in art or fashion, you're wrong, sorry. This is just another post about memories which is inspired by a post written by Nicole from Huisvlijt, "Kringloop Tristesse".
I don't speak Dutch, but from the Firefox translation I get it's about a water can that a school class gave to a teacher and it ended up in a thrift shop still with that tag on.
No idea how it is in other countries, but in my time gifts for teachers were not a big thing, at least not in my school. So I asked a teacher I know how it is today, and he too said that it happens, but not often.

We had one teacher, however, who got several gifts from part of the class, and that was a running joke.
One of my classmates loved the color purple and wore it a lot and said teacher didn't like purple. I don't know what the exact reason was, but he once told my classmate jokingly that purple wasn't a color, but a punishment.
So of course our whole row decided to give him something purple. My friend was a former baker's daughter and good at baking herself - how I loved her Christmas cookies! - and suggested a marble cake, but with purple and pink food dye. It was a big hit (I have no idea if our teacher ate any of it, though).
Anyhow, from then on, he always got something purple at the end of the school year. Nothing big of course, just to keep the joke alive, and we always tried to make it something useful or consumable, so it wouldn't take up unnecessary space.

One year, another teacher said jokingly how much we "spoiled" him (they had become a couple although we didn't know it yet at the time) and another friend of mine told her to pick a color. She said green. That friend did macrame and knitted socks like crazy - it was the 80s and a lot of pupils knitted in class - so she made a beautiful pair of green socks as a Christmas gift, much to our teacher's surprise but also delight.
So from then on we had to get something purple and something green.

Picture by Konevi via pxhere

I even kept the tradition running for several years after leaving school. A lot of my school friends left town to work elsewhere or study, but I lived at home during training as a librarian and my teachers didn't live far from me.
One time, my teacher handed me a little parcel saying "ok, so sometimes purple can be beautiful if it's on the right thing".
It was a framed picture of a purple Porsche (he had a vintage one himself, not purple but red). I don't know if I still have that picture somewhere, but I remember it really made me laugh back then.

Picture by Alex Ifti via Unsplash

So yeah, that's my little story of an "apple for the teacher".
Is it common for children to give their teachers a gift where you are?

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot - Week 143

Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot!
My posts for the link up will go live on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. EDT or, if you live in the future like I do, on Fridays at 3:30 a.m. CE(S)T.

Happy "Fasching"!
"Fasching", "Fasnet", "Karneval", "Fastnacht" and others are the German names for the period of last celebrations before Lent.
There are parades, parties, and a lot of local traditions, for example elaborate masks and costumes.
In my area, "Fasching" used to be more of a rural tradition in the small towns and villages around my town, but 16 years ago that changed when the first "Narrenzunft" or "Fools' Guild" in town invited others and it grew from there.
I have to admit that I'm not a fan myself because I don't deal well with large crowds, but the traditions are fascinating.

Carved wooden mask
Picture via pxhere

So, are you ready for the "Faschings"-weekend? 

As part of the reboot, we will be featuring a different blog every week.
How about stopping by and saying hello? Let them know we sent you.

This week our spotlight is on Happy Retiree's Kitchen.

Pauline from Happy Retiree's Kitchen says: "Happy Retiree's Kitchen is an interactive food blog, where I share my home cooked, delicious and sustainable recipes and tips. I cook simple food, aiming for a healthier lifestyle and a healthier planet. I hope you enjoy reading about our life here in Tropic North Queensland on the east coast of Australia. I enjoy cooking for family and friends, and sharing many stories with you including my adventures with food, our garden, and whatever else seems interesting at the time. Enjoy your visit and please spread the word and leave a comment on my blog post."

Marsha from Marsha in the Middle started blogging in 2021 as an exercise in increasing her neuroplasticity. Oh, who are we kidding? Marsha started blogging because she loves clothes, and she loves to talk or, in this case, write!

Melynda from Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household - The name says it all, we homestead in East Texas, with three generations sharing this land. I cook and bake from scratch, between gardening and running after the chickens, and knitting!

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

Cat from Cat's Wire has what she calls a jumping spider brain. She has many interests and will blog about whatever catches her attention - crafts, books, old movies, collectibles or random things.

Rena from Fine Whatever Blog writes about style, midlife, and the "fine whatever" moments that make life both meaningful and fun. Since 2015, she's been celebrating creativity, confidence, and finding joy in the everyday.


Here are some of my picks from last week's link up.

Barbara is taking us for a walk to the Zealandia sanctuary on Waitangi Day.

Gail has been wondering if she should go grey and wants to know what others do.

Check out Gina's last 5 thing Friday post!

Melynda has a yummy looking granola recipe for you!

Linda is sharing pictures of critters in the snow.


Let's link up!

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Silent movies - Show People

For today I have a film from the end of the silent era starring Marion Davies whom I found so hilarious in "The Patsy".
It's "Show People" from 1928.

Public domain via Wikipedia

Ladies and gentlemen - the plot (with spoilers)!

"To hopeful hundreds there is a golden spot on the map called — Hollywood."

One of those hundreds is Miss Peggy Pepper from Georgia who is taken to Hollywood by her father, Colonel Pepper.

Overwhelmed by Hollywood

At the casting office, Peggy demonstrates her acting abilities, but it's not easy to actually be cast in a movie. Then, however, she and her father meet Billy Boone in the commissary who tells her to show up at his set.
What she doesn't know is that Billy does slapstick comedy while she aspires to be a dramatic actress. After she gets spritzed in the face with seltzer in her first scene, she breaks into tears, but Billy convinces her to go through with it by reminding her of what a thrill it's going to be for her to see herself in a theater.

Indeed Peggy becomes an instant success, and after making more films with Billy, she gets a contract by the High Arts Studio (the name says it all) which means she leaves the comedy troupe and Billy.
After her screen test, her new co-star Andre, who lets her know that he's really the Comte d'Avignon tells her she needs to change her personality and get new friends to become a star.
So Peggy Pepper turns into Patricia Pepoire and lets stardom get to her head.

Marion Davies's hilarious impersonation of Mae
Murray which we have already seen in "The Patsy".

One day she and Billy's comedy troupe have a shoot at the same location. Billy is happy to see her and tries to joke around with her, but she hurts him by calling him a cheap clown and running off.

Soon after, Peggy is fetched out of a studio luncheon. The producer shows her a bundle of telegrams all saying that the audience is not interested in "Miss Pepoire" anymore. He warns her that he wants to see the old Peggy again, but she's so full herself that she tells Andre producers don't recognize art when they see it.

Sometime later, it's the day of Peggy's and Andre's wedding.
Billy sneaks into the house with the delivery people and begs Peggy not to marry, but remember the old days instead.
To bring her to her senses, he spritzes her with Seltzer like in their first scene together. Peggy is so mad that she grabs a custard pie, but instead of Billy she hits Andre who's just opening the door in the face with it.
She starts crying and Billy walks out, but looking at Andre she can't help but laugh. Realizing that Billy is the only "real person" in her life (I think she's forgetting her father here), she calls off the wedding.

Peggy has a plan. She convinces her director King Vidor (playing himself) to cast Billy in a war movie without letting him know that she's in it.
Of course, Billy is surprised to see Peggy, but when she tells him he can't get out now because the camera's rolling already, he sweeps her into his arms. As the kiss written for the scene doesn't end, Vidor and the crew quietly leave the two alone on the set.

In short, that was FUN.
It's said the movie was influenced by the story of Gloria Swanson who went from comedy to big drama, but also by a novel (later turned into a play and (lost) movie) called "Merton of the Movies" in which a young man tries to make it in Hollywood.

I absolutely love Marion Davies in this. She goes through all stereotypes and tropes, makes the funniest faces, but is also appropriately dramatic for the times.
As mentioned in my blog post about "The Patsy", Davies was the mistress of William Randolph Hearst who wanted to see her in epic dramas, what a pity with her being such a wonderful comedian.
There's the scene in the casting office when the innocent and clueless Southern Belle is asked for photos and enthusiastically shows off her baby photo. On being asked if she can act, she presents her various moods, from meditation to joy.

This is of course "passion", what else?
Her father is proud of Peggy's acting skills.

That was a real thing, by the way.
Here are the moods of "The Biograph Girl" Florence Lawrence who is regarded as the first film star according to some sources.

I also like William Haines as Billy. He's charming and funny, but you can also feel his pain about Peggy treating him the way she did.
In one scene he's calling her to invite her for dinner with him and her father who also says that even he doesn't see much of her anymore. It's something I can really relate to. 
Yet he's so proud of her and her career and doesn't give up on trying to make her see that people want the old Peggy back.

Actually I like everyone, Peggy's lovable father (Dell Henderson who also played her father in "The Patsy"), the crazy comedy director who can't even control himself in the theater, the director at the "High Arts Studio" who does everything to make Peggy laugh or cry (a wonderful scene, and by the way, did you know there were actually so-called mood musicians on the set for that purpose, there's one great story here?), Andre as the "Comte" who really used to be a waiter at a spaghetti house, and Miss Pepoire's crazy maid.

I shouldn't miss to mention, however, that the film was full of cameos by important film people of the time.
There's for example Charlie Chaplin asking for Peggy's autograph after her first big movie. Peggy, annoyed by him being so insistent, asks Billy "Who is that little guy?". There are way more at the studio luncheon, for example Douglas Fairbanks.

Actually we even get a cameo from Davies herself, but ...

Peggy is not impressed with Marion.

While the movie has no spoken dialog, it has a music track which works very well.
I had so much fun that the 82 minutes went by like a breeze. This movie is so going into my favorites!


Sources:

1. Fritzi Kramer: Show People (1928) - A Silent Film. On: Movies Silently, June 29, 2013
2. Thomas Doherty: FROM THE ARCHIVES: Show People. On: Cineaste, Fall 2012

10 on the 10th - Things I hate to love

Welcome to February's 10 on the 10th.
This is the prompt Marsha from Marsha in the Middle has given us for today - tell us about ten things you secretly love and hate that you love them.
I don't think I can do that. Either I love them secretly for a reason and don't want to put them on the web for everyone to see (that doesn't mean it has to be something "bad", maybe it's just something I don't want to discuss) or I don't really care which means I don't hate that I love them because it's my choice.
Or does it simply mean guilty pleasures like watching Hallmark movies for Christmas and liking a few because they are nice or some because they are hilarious? Does that make me guilty of being not intellectual enough and therefore I should hate it?

Now I think I might be overthinking this, another thing I'm totally a pro at (not just making toast, and by the way, did you know that Merriam-Webster says it's a preposition is absolutely fine to end a sentence with, also this here definitely isn't academic writing, anyway).

Picture by
Teslariu Mihai via Unsplash

Let me give you one example. I'm a pushover when it comes to my cats. That's why I don't live with dogs. When I say "my feline overlords", that's pretty much true. Surely, it can get annoying at times and make me hit my head against the wall (not literally), but like so many cat servants I'm still kind of proud for them to be little punks (that's not the word I would use in real life, I don't think I have to explain more). Do I dislike that I am? No.

Wait, maybe I hate to love my parentheses, I already have four in this post so far.
Nah, not really. If you knew me in person, you could probably hear parentheses when I talk. I can feel them in my thoughts. Sure, there may be better ways to deal with my added information that probably no one but me finds in the least interesting, but ...

Maybe I hate my habit of leaving some sentences open and my fondness of ellipses ...
Nope. Some sentences need additional information and some sentences don't need an ending - not to be accompanied by a dramatic look of mine hinting at ominous things I like to leave hanging in the air instead of writing them - because you know where they are going, anyhow ...

Oh, and of course the em dash — which I'm never typing right simply because I'm too lazy for ALT+0151 (which I keep forgetting after using it once, so ... (oh, and by the way, the German one has a different combination)) - or rather the hyphen that runs through my posts without hyphenating anything.
Again, no real regrets.
I'm not a writer and don't pretend to be one, and while I'm sorry that you have to deal with it, I feel no hate for it. This is pretty much what falls directly out of my brain onto your screen, and if you have been grinding your teeth over this, I apologize again, but I doubt it's going to change.

Wow, I haven't even found one single yet ... (ominous pause)
I think I might have been better at "things I love to hate" although that makes it sound as if I hate something because that brings me joy which makes no sense at all. Argh, overthinking again!

While I'm at it, feel free to take a few of these if you need them! I have plenty.
((((((((( ... ... ... ... ... - - - - - —— — — )))))))))))


Marsha, I'm sorry, seriously.
You didn't get what you asked for, but who would even be interested in my not appreciating the fact that I still can't keep my fingers off dairy? Oops, gave you one, do you think you could let this count? 🤡

Snow

I didn't think of taking snow pictures myself when we had some because honestly I didn't feel like going outside in the evening (except when I had to shovel and that really didn't put me in the mood for pictures).
When I went outside, most of the snow didn't look very pretty anymore. I should have tried to take a picture from my window, through the houses in direction of the woods, but being on the first floor the view isn't very good.
My sister took these pictures from her balcony (thank you!). Isn't it strange how you can feel and smell them?
So here's my humble (compared to so many others at the moment) offer of snow impressions days after we actually had snow. I hope it will convince the weather gods that we don't need any more of it.

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot - Week 142

Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot!
My posts for the link up will go live on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. EDT or, if you live in the future like I do, on Fridays at 3:30 a.m. CE(S)T.

I know that for someone who doesn't even cook or anything I talk a lot about food in the reboot posts. Today is about one of the things that stand between food and me sometimes - I'm talking about my brain.
The other day I wanted to make myself some toast. I'm good at that, practically a pro. I can pop in a slice with the best of them. But my toaster was broken. How was that possible, from one day to the next? It's not even that old yet. The toast just didn't stay down and the light wouldn't come on, either. Maybe it was the socket, let's try the one next to it. No. Crumbs stuck? No. You can tell I was already reaching for straws there.
Hunger wouldn't let me give up, though, and in the end the solution was quite, erm, easy ... it totally helps if you don't use the egg cooker's plug (which doesn't even look the same)! 🤪 (<- this is the actual face I made at that point, only with glasses on).

Picture via pxhere

Are you ready for the weekend? What are your plans?

As part of the reboot, we will be featuring a different blog every week.
How about stopping by and saying hello? Let them know we sent you.

This week our spotlight is on Wisdoms & Wrinkles.

Laura-Kim from Wisdom & Wrinkles says "I'm Laura, a 46-year-old recovering helicopter mom learning to fly solo as my nest gradually empties.
After 18 years of blogging about the chaos of raising four kids, I'm now navigating the unexpected adventures of midlife with hot flashes, reading glasses, and a whole new perspective.
These days, you'll find me working from home alongside my husband (yes, we're still talking!), managing a household that's somehow both quieter and louder with just two kids still under our roof. I'm documenting this grand adventure of reinvention - from surviving menopause with my sense of humor intact to redefining my role as mom to young adults, while discovering who I am beyond the chaos of kids in school.
Join me as I share the laughs, tears, and unexpected wisdom that come with embracing this next chapter. Because while my wrinkles might be multiplying, so are the reasons to smile."

Marsha from Marsha in the Middle started blogging in 2021 as an exercise in increasing her neuroplasticity. Oh, who are we kidding? Marsha started blogging because she loves clothes, and she loves to talk or, in this case, write!

Melynda from Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household - The name says it all, we homestead in East Texas, with three generations sharing this land. I cook and bake from scratch, between gardening and running after the chickens, and knitting!

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

Cat from Cat's Wire has what she calls a jumping spider brain. She has many interests and will blog about whatever catches her attention - crafts, books, old movies, collectibles or random things.

Rena from Fine Whatever Blog writes about style, midlife, and the "fine whatever" moments that make life both meaningful and fun. Since 2015, she's been celebrating creativity, confidence, and finding joy in the everyday.


Here are some of my picks from last week's link up.

Got leftover packing paper? Ann shows us how to use it to make something pretty!

Mireille is taking us with her to a visit of the Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina.

I think these earrings that Moois made give off great 60s vibes!

Amy is talking about having fun. When was the last time you had fun?

Nicole is seeing things in the snow - what do you see?


Let's link up!

Guidelines:
This link party is for blog posts only. All other links will be deleted.
Please link only blog posts you created yourself. Please link directly to the URL of your blog post and not the main address of your blog.
Please do not link to videos, sales ads, or social media links such as YouTube videos/shorts, Instagram or Facebook reels, TikTok videos, or any other social media based content.
Please do visit other blogs and give the gift of a comment. 

Notice:
By linking with Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot, you assert that the content is your own property and give us permission to share said content if your post or blog is showcased.
We welcome unlimited, family friendly content. This can include opinion pieces, recipes, travel recaps, fashion ideas, crafts, thrifting, lifestyle, book reviews or discussions, photography, art, and so much more!
Thank you for linking up with us!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Silent movies - The Last Performance

Two weeks ago, we had "the profile", today I'm bringing "the eyes" back - Conrad Veidt.

The movie is from 1929 and it's called "The Last Performance".

Let's start with the plot and some spoilers.

Stage magician and hypnotist Erik the Great is in love with his pretty and much younger assistant Julie, but she doesn't really seem to be in love with him although he regards himself to be engaged to her.

One night, a burglar enters Erik's suite to steal food. Everyone including Julie and Buffo, Erik's second assistant, come running, but Erik assures them everything is alright and even offers Mark a job as his assistant on suggestion of Julie.

Erik plans to announce his engagement on Julie on her 18th birthday, but before the celebration starts, the jealous Buffo tells him about the secret love between Julie and Mark.

So instead, Erik announces the engagement of Julie and Mark, much to the guests' surprise and Buffo's anger.

During their next stage appearance, Buffo gets killed in a chest and sword trick Mark performs.
At the murder trial (with Sam de Grasse of villain fame from four movies I covered before as the prosecutor), Julie implores Erik to help Mark.

Erik asks the judge to let him perform the trick. He shows how he deceived the audience into thinking that Mark did the deadly stab by showing a bloody sword, but how actually he killed Buffo with a dagger he had hidden in his sleeve.
He explains having hoped that Julie might be coming back to him if he got rid of the disloyal Buffo and took Mark out of the picture by blaming him.
Then he kills himself with that dagger in front of a shocked audience.

Veidt was 36, Philbin was 27 at the time. Actually, this movie came out only one year after they had been a very believable couple in "The Man Who Laughs" (a post of mine that sadly didn't get any comments at all although I thought the movie was really fascinating).
So I didn't get the ick feeling from this that I've had from other movies before, not just because I'm a Veidt fan, even if they put the makeup and silver temples on thick to drive the idea of a huge age gap home. 

The movie was made on the set of "The Phantom of the Opera" and had two versions. The one that was part sound - we are at the end of the silent movie era and Veidt went back to Germany after this film - is considered lost (in the Hungarian version Bela Lugosi dubbed for Veidt).
The silent one included scenes that are considered lost.
I watched the print with Danish title cards which has a runtime of about an hour, so maybe some of the development is a little rushed.
I read there was one scene in which Erik had a breakdown. That must have worked well because it's hard to believe how he could have stayed so calm throughout the whole movie, well, except at the end of course.

Although it was quite predictable that Julie would end up with Mark, I definitely wasn't rooting for them even if that was probably what they wanted the audience to do.
Oh look, the old guy taking advantage of the young girl who only stayed because he had done so much for her.
I think I could have felt that more if Erik had been played by an older actor.
This way, I just felt sorry for him, well, until he killed Buffo. He should have fired him because he was annoying throughout the movie, but killing was a bit over the top.
I also didn't like Mark from his first whiny scene after Erik surprised him in his suite.
Another thing that made me wonder was how no one seems to have considered Buffo's death to be an accident. After all Buffo could/should have left the chest during the sword stabbing. A clear failure of Mark's lawyer.

So the highlight for me was really Conrad Veidt. In my opinion, they could have made more of the movie if they hadn't just concentrated on his sinister, hypnotic look that much. Like I said, though, maybe the missing footage would have made a difference.
Why some call this a horror film I don't know, by the way.
Anyhow, thanks to him I enjoyed the movie anyway while the other three didn't convince me that much. It made me even wonder how Julie's and Mark's story would have continued, they both didn't seem very capable to deal with life.

Would I watch it again? I think I would, but there are more Veidt movies to watch!


Sources:

1. Fritzi Kramer: The Last Performance (1929) - A Silent Film Review. On: Movies Silently, August 20, 2014
2. "Monique classique": The Last Performance (1929). On: Conrad Veidt Forever