Cuplog

The Muppet Show, Season 1, Disc 2

Cuparius — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 19:42:32 +0000

On this disc of the first season of The Muppet Show, the best episode overall was easily the one featuring Peter Ustinov (112). He took an obvious delight in working with Muppets, and seemed to fit in rather well amongst them.

The single best sketch, however, was in the Lena Horne episode (111), and wasn’t even included in the U.S. broadcast. It was a UK Spot with Zoot and Rowlf performing the “Theme from Love Story (Where Do I Begin)” and it is simply beautiful. The saxophonist was Frank Reedy and the pianist was Derek Scott. Exquisite.

Tiger Lily

Cuparius — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 18:32:58 +0000

The tiger lily (Lilium lancifolium, I believe):

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Kwanzo

Cuparius — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:38:45 +0000

The kwanzo is a tetraploid daylily. I have limited myself to displaying three images here (photographed on Bastille Day):

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Tomato 3

Cuparius — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:33:28 +0000

Here is the latest photo of my tomatoes:

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I also noticed a new pair of tomatoes on a neighboring vine:

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Tea Rose Sequel

Cuparius — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:31:20 +0000

Here are four more photographs of tea roses, following the first three and the prequel.

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Daylily Orange

Cuparius — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 20:28:53 +0000

I failed to photograph any of my own daylilies this year, so here is one of my parents’ daylilies of the same color:

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Spider

Cuparius — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:16:14 +0000

I observed this wee visitor on my door today:

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The Three Musketeers (1921) Reviewed

Cuparius — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:42:55 +0000

The Three Musketeers, that quintessential swashbuckling tale, has been adapted for the silver screen many times, and for many the most famous one of all is still the one brought to life by that consummate swashbuckler, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., who starred as the hero, D’Artagnan. A production of his own film company, the 1921 film had impressive sets, excellent outdoor cinematography, and a wealth of period costuming. If I rated a film in terms of production values, I would assess it as Great bordering on Superb.

The quality of the acting is more of a mixed bag, ranging from the weak melodrama of Mary MacLaren’s Queen Anne to the convincingly regal bearing of Adolphe Menjou’s Louis XIII. Nigel De Brulier successfully captures the innocuous posturing of Cardinal Richelieu, but doesn’t quite convey the magnitude of his formidable power. Fairbanks, as might be expected, is a nearly nonstop burst of energy, as befits the character of the impetuous D’Artagnan, pausing from chases, duels, and general mêlées to express his grief at a given misfortune with a brief obligatory swooning (symbolized by the pressing of the back of the hand to the forehead), which would be forgivable if it were not repeated over and over again. But Fairbanks was not a great actor. He was a great swashbuckler; he was only an adequate actor. Nevertheless, he embodies the restless, roguish, courageous, idealistic spirit of his character very well, and the sum of all the film’s parts constitute a very good film indeed.

Writing: Good
Directing: Good
Acting: Fair/Good
Cinematography: Good
Stunts: Great
Swordplay: Good
Panache: Great

Overall Rating: Good
Swashbuckling Rank: Great

Tomato 2

Cuparius — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:02:20 +0000

Yesterday, I shot this picture of my tomatoes (and realized I ought to have included a ruler for scale in both this and the first picture):

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You will notice the second tomato was missing in the earlier picture. This is a photograph of it from seven days ago, which I meant to post… seven days ago:

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Tea Rose Prequel

Cuparius — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:23:35 +0000

Upon special request, I offer another photograph of a tea rose. Chronologically, it precedes the others (q.v.) by a day.

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