When Karen and I went to North Dakota, we happened on a "double feature" at the old theater in downtown Fargo. The first half of the evening was a wonderful live stage production that was a re-enactment of a World War II Radio Show with big band music and Abbot & Costello and singers and dancers and soloists. It was so well done. The second half was a silent movie with live musical accompaniment on the original movie theater organ. Wow! What a treat! I'd never seen, or in this case, heard, anything like that before.
Well, UMF had its own version and we went. I received the notice via email sent to all faculty and staff:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday 3/25 7pm Lincoln Auditorium
The Kid Brother (silent with LIVE PIANO ACCOMPANIMENT by DOUG PROTSIK;
Harold Lloyd, 83 minutes). $5 adults; $3 children, UMF students free.
Review by Hal Erickson at
http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=97655:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I read the review and the movie sounded like a lot of fun (which it was). But the idea of live piano accompaniment was what really enticed me. I convinced MRM to go and even though we were exhausted from our full afternoon of Maine Maple Syrup Sunday adventures (more about that later), we went.
Doug Protsik is great! He gave background information on the movie itself and the era and the genre. He was quite animated and fun to listen to. Then he explained that when he composed the music to go with the film, he pulled from music from the era, he composed some of his own melodies, and he had a little fun by putting other music in there that if you knew the music and/or the lyrics, you would get the little joke.
I was worried I would fall asleep in a dark theater, but I was literally on the edge of my seat, multi-tasking between watching the movie, listening to the music, thinking about what the lyrics were (if there were any), watching for certain things in the movie that he had told us about, and laughing so hard at the fun and cleverness of the movie.
After the move, Creston stopped by the house and he, MRM, and I debriefed. I definitely won the prize (not that there was a contest) for observing the most things that Doug had told us about up front, but I also noticed (or knew) more of the hidden songs. A lot of them were from Dede's era (my grandmother) and because I learned so much from her, I think I have an older soul than most people my age. Some of the songs included: the theme song from Bonanza (okay, that's not from Dede's era), Pop Goes the Weasel, Late Last Night (When We Were All In Bed), Mary Had a Little Lamb (the others knew that song but didn't hear it in the score), Roll Out the Barrel (Dede and Grandaddy's favorite song to polka), The Old Gray Mare, What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, and the sea shanty, Blow the Man Down.
But just knowing what the songs were is nothing. They were so cleverly intertwined with the other music (which sooo sounded like silent movie music, including "mysterioso") and they really went with that tiny piece of the plot at the time. So sorry. You had to have been there. Next time I get an announcement that Doug Protsik is doing something, I'm going!
Monday, March 26, 2007
March 24, 2007: Saturday Adventure at Renys
Here's the "March Mudness Sale" I was telling you about. ;-)
I was going to scan the flyer myself but I found it online at their website:
http://www.renys.com
The plastic bags they put your stuff in at checkout say, "Renys -- Your Maine Department Store" which is a pretty clever slogan. But this ad says, "Renys -- A Maine Adventure" and I think that describes it well.
I strolled through Renys when I came to visit in December and knew that it was a rare treasure but I only got to spend about half an hour in it. I do remember being impressed that the Christmas ornaments were hanging right next to the Coleman lantern mantles and other lantern replacement parts. Saturday, I spent an hour and a half in Renys. I wasn't rushed as I was in December and I did have a little a list of items I wanted and I was just going to see if they had them. Oh, my. They have everything. Check out the ad. Where else can you get canned red salmon, Comet liquid cleanser, a sleeping bag for $15, a hay rack liner (whatever that is), polo shirts, and moose salt and pepper shakers?? Here's what I bought on Saturday:
There are 3 floors and the basement has a 6 foot ceiling in some places. There's something fun at every turn. Some of the things I looked at but did not get included imitation Wellington boots for mud season, a desk lamp (not that they didn't have a giant selection from cheap and tacky to unusual to really nice), picture frames, Renys brand jelly (they even have jalapeno pepper jelly which I was wanting for the Texas Independence Day party), cast iron skillets and Dutch ovens, phone accessories, iPod accessories, stationery, margarita glasses, Easter decoration and candy, rugs, jewelry, and a whole floor of clothing.
It is definitely an adventure!
I was going to scan the flyer myself but I found it online at their website:
http://www.renys.com
The plastic bags they put your stuff in at checkout say, "Renys -- Your Maine Department Store" which is a pretty clever slogan. But this ad says, "Renys -- A Maine Adventure" and I think that describes it well.
I strolled through Renys when I came to visit in December and knew that it was a rare treasure but I only got to spend about half an hour in it. I do remember being impressed that the Christmas ornaments were hanging right next to the Coleman lantern mantles and other lantern replacement parts. Saturday, I spent an hour and a half in Renys. I wasn't rushed as I was in December and I did have a little a list of items I wanted and I was just going to see if they had them. Oh, my. They have everything. Check out the ad. Where else can you get canned red salmon, Comet liquid cleanser, a sleeping bag for $15, a hay rack liner (whatever that is), polo shirts, and moose salt and pepper shakers?? Here's what I bought on Saturday:
- 4 CD's at $2.99 each: Benny Goodman, Etta James, Peggy Lee, and The Platters
- a ball of cotton twine for $0.69
- an 80-piece picture hanging assortment (picture hangers, nails, saw-tooth hangers, wire, etc.) in an 8-compartment plastic box for $0.99
- a hammer to hang those picture-hanging goodies on the wall--I wasn't going to get one 'cuz I knew I could borrow one from several people in the building, but for $0.99, I decided I wanted my very own
- a long-sleeved, periwinkle blue, 100% cotton crew-neck collared shirt for $12.99 (that wasn't the sale price, that was their regular price on it, though there was a black line drawn through the name on the label [not hotwater river but a similar name of a very high-quality brand])
- a surprise for Dr. Mari that I can't tell you about until she gets in the mail and figures out what it is, but it defies all categories
- 2 magnetic 3.5" x 5" picture frames (well, picture sleeves) for $0.99 each [they're hard to find anymore in that size, but Mother needed some for her refrigerator for some older photos from before her switch to 4" x 6"]
- a big basket to sit on the floor of my office and hold bottles of water for $12.99 (I didn't like the look of the case of bottled water sitting there . . . to me it was the first thing you saw when you walked in the office)
- a pair of scissors for $0.99
- an ice cube try for $0.99 (to store earrings in my dresser drawer)
There are 3 floors and the basement has a 6 foot ceiling in some places. There's something fun at every turn. Some of the things I looked at but did not get included imitation Wellington boots for mud season, a desk lamp (not that they didn't have a giant selection from cheap and tacky to unusual to really nice), picture frames, Renys brand jelly (they even have jalapeno pepper jelly which I was wanting for the Texas Independence Day party), cast iron skillets and Dutch ovens, phone accessories, iPod accessories, stationery, margarita glasses, Easter decoration and candy, rugs, jewelry, and a whole floor of clothing.
It is definitely an adventure!
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