Category: movies

not quite Sesame Street

We don’t watch a lot of TV in our family, but sometimes we do let Phoebe and Theo watch some short videos. They like shows best that have colorful costumed characters and musical numbers with lots of rhymes:

This episode was brought to you by the letter T.

sock it to me

I just can’t get enough of those socks. I figure you can’t either. So, I’ve rifled through my sock drawer to share with you this sock-themed ThThTh list.

  • knock your socks off: an idiom meaning “impress” or “surprise in a good way,” as in The excitement of this sock list will knock your socks off.
  • put a sock in it: “be quiet.” (Differs somewhat from “put it in a sock.”
  • bobby-soxer: a 1940s term for a teenage girl, especially fans of Sinatra
  • The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947): a movie with Cary Grant and a teenaged Shirley Temple.
  • sock hop: a dance popular in the US in the 1950s in which participants took off their shoes and danced in their socks

    • stocking_23

  • Christmas stockings: socks hung by the fireplace as part of a Christmas tradition. They are then filled with eggs by the Easter Bunny. (Do I have that right?)
  • Fox in Socks: A Dr. Seuss book (featuring a fox wearing socks) filled with particularly tricky tonguetwisters:

    New socks.
    Two socks.
    Whose socks?
    Sue’s socks.
    Who sews whose socks?
    Sue sews Sue’s socks.
    Who sees who sew whose new socks, sir?
    You see Sue sew Sue’s new socks, sir.

    • foxinsocksbookcoverpippi.jpg

  • Pippi Longstocking: A character from a series of children’s books by Astrid Lindgenwho wore socks that were not only long (long stockings) but noteworthy for being mismatched
  • Diddle Diddle Dumpling: a Mother Goose rhyme featuring (at least in some versions) stockings:

    Diddle diddle dumpling
    My son John
    Went to bed with his stockings on
    One shoe off and one shoe on.

  • bluestocking: a term for an “educated, intellectual woman” used commonly in the 18th and 19th centuries. Also Blue Stockings Society.

    • redsox

  • Red Sox: a baseball team based in Boston, MA
  • White Sox: a baseball team based in Chicago, IL
  • Chartreuse Sox: a baseball team based in my imagination

    • threesockmonkeys

  • sock monkeys: stuffed toys traditionally made from socks. (Perhaps less traditional is the sock monkey dress.)
  • sock puppets: hand puppets made out of socks.
  • sock puppet: a dummy internet account
  • The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theater: a sock puppet duo of YouTube fame

  • The Bureau of Missing Socks: “the first organization solely devoted to solving the question of what happens to missing single socks. It explores all aspects of the phenomena including the occult, conspiracy theories, and extraterrestrial.”

tiny_sockstiny_sockstiny_sockstiny_sockstiny_sockstiny_sockstiny_socks

on the bridge

My ThThTh posts are falling down.¹ I’m having trouble finding enough time for blogging, at least of the variety that necessitates typing. (I’m doing a lot of reading, but little commenting or posting.) And I have a backlog of barebones drafts of these lists, but no time to flesh them out.²

Anyhow, I’ve had this bridge post under construction for a bit, and Saturday’s bridge photos seemed a good prompt to finish the job. So, here’s a ThThTh list on the bridge.

  • burn one’s bridges: create circumstances such that there’s (metaphorically) no going back.
  • Bridges of Madison County : A novel by Robert James Waller that become a runaway best-seller, and a 1995 movie based on it starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood.
  • burning one’s Bridges of Madison County: an expression meaning “rid one’s library of fad novels.” (Oh, fine, I just made that up.)
  • we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it: an expression meaning that plans about how to deal with a situation won’t be made until that situation arises.
  • The Billy Goats Gruff: a classic fairy tale about three goats who want to cross a bridge, and encounter a troll. Who leaves nasty comments on their blogs. (No, wait. Wrong kind of troll.)
  • water under the bridge: an expression one says of negative events when one has decided not to dwell on them.
  • “Under the Bridge,” a song by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
  • “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” a song by Simon and Garfunkel.
  • “Water Under the Bridge Over Troubled Water:” a non-existent song title.
  • bridge: part of a musical composition
  • bridge: a card game
  • bridge: a type of dental work used to fill a gap
  • bridging the gap: making a connection between ideas, or other abstract concepts
  • “London Bridge is Falling Down:” a nursery rhyme and traditional song with many verses, the first (and best known) of which is:

    London Bridge is falling down
    Falling down, falling down
    London Bridge is falling down
    My fair lady.

  • Bridge to Terabithia, a Newbery Medal-winning children’s novel by Katherine Paterson. Also a 2007 movie based on the same.
  • Bridge to Nowhere: let’s not go there.

bridge_29473_lg
Image: The New London New Bridge from The Encyclopedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition (New York: The Encyclopedia Britannica Company, 1910), via clipart etc.

¹Falling down, falling down.
²Hey, those two metaphors worked together!

moo

With Chinese New Year having brought us into the Year of the Ox, it seems a good time to bring on the bovines.

Seeing as oxen aren’t all that plentiful in the universe of things in my head, Babe aside¹, I’ve decide to round up some more plentiful bovines instead. This ThThTh brings you cows².

A herd of cow things

  1. Cows are used in the branding of several companies, such as Ben & Jerry’s (ice cream, which is a dairy product), La Vache Qui Rit/Lauging Cow cheese (more dairy products), A black and white cowhide pattern is also used for Gateway Computers, which are computers made entirely out of cheese. Or are they made out of beef?

    2. ben_and_jerrys gatewaylogo vache_qui_rit

  2. cow pie: Not anlagous to a chicken pie, this is not a beef-filled pastry.
  3. cowlick: a section of hair that grows in the wrong direction, sticking out as if licked by a cow.
  4. Vachement: a French slang adverb. Vache being the word for cow, and -ment being an adverbial suffix along the lines of -ly, vachement could be translated as “cowly.”
  5. Graceless, Aimless, Feckless and Pointless: the cows from Cold Comfort Farm (1995), one of my all time favorite movies. (Also in the novel by Sella Gibbons). Loads of other movies featuring cows, can be found at a cow-obsessed website called Bovine Bazaar.
  6. “The cow jumped over the moon”: a famous line from “Hey Diddle Diddle”

    7. cow_jump_over_moon

  7. sacred cows: Cows are holy in the Hindu religion, and are allowed to roam the streets freely in India.
  8. holy cow! An exclamation of surprise. Holy cow! That’s a lot of cows roaming the streets!
  9. “Cows,” A chorus-line inspired song off of Sandra Boynton’s album Philadelphia Chickens.
  10. Cow Parade: a large scale art project/event in which life-sized plastic cow models are painted and/or decorated as works of art and put on display. First seen in Chicago, and later in other cities around the world.
  11. Mrs. O’Leary’s cow: the cow blamed for starting the Great Chicago Fire by kicking over a lantern. She has since been cleared of the arson charges, as she didn’t really exist.
  12. Don’t have a cow, man. An expression meaning “don’t get upset.” A catchphrase used by Bart on The Simpsons.
  13. How now, brown cow? A saying used to practice the diphthong [aʊ], which is contained in each of the words.
  14. “I never saw a purple cow.”: a children’s rhyme.

    I never saw a purple cow.
    I never hope to see one.
    But I can tell you, anyhow,
    I’d rather see than be one.

  15. till the cows come home: an idiom meaning “all day long” or “for a long time.” I could list cows till the cows come home.

cow_sketched

¹ The blue ox, not the pig.
²I’ll spare you the bull, or at least the bulls, for now.

It’s a Wonderful Knife

Watching The Nutcracker is a long-time favorite Christmastime utensil tradition in many homes. But did you know that there are plenty of other excellent holiday specials and movies about utensils?

Lesser-known Holiday Utensil Shows

its-a-wonderful-knife

  • It’s a Wonderful Knife
  • Frosty the Soupspoon
  • Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Strainer
  • All I Want Fork Christmas
  • The Baster Christmas Pageant Ever
  • Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Tongs
  • How the Grinch Stole Chopsticks
  • Spatula on 34th Street
  • The Ladle Drummer Boy
  • I’ll Be Home for Cheese Grater
  • The Sporks of St. Mary’s
  • Whisks in Toyland
  • It Came Upon the Midnight Peeler
  • Yes Virginia, There Is a Garlic Press

    • the cutting edge

    knife_12For last week’s ThThTh list, I set the table with forks and spoons. I said I’d be back later with the knives.

    1. like a hot knife through butter: an expression meaning that something was or can be cut easily
    2. not the sharpest knife in the drawer: an expression meaning “not very smart,” playing of the use of the word sharp as a synonym of intelligent.
    3. The Subtle Knife: A novel by Philip Pullman, second in the trilogy His Dark Materials. (It’s the sequel to The Golden Compass.)
    4. “3 Blind Mice”: a nursery rhyme and song in which a carving knife is used. Possibly is about Bloody Mary.

      Three blind mice, three blind mice,
      See how they run, see how they run,
      They all ran after the farmer’s wife,
      Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
      Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
      As three blind mice?

    5. going under the knife: an expression meaning “having surgery”
    6. “I always eat my peas with honey”: A poem of largely unknown origins. I first ever heard it while visiting my in-laws last week (and eating peas), and then encountered it a second time the next day when Magpie left it as a comment on my utensil list. Kind of eerie.

      I always eat my peas with honey;
      I’ve done it all my life.
      They do taste kind of funny but
      It keeps them on my knife.

    7. Shonen Knife: an all female “pop punk” band from Japan. They also have an album called Let’s Knife.
    8. “Mack the Knife“: a song from the Threepenny opera. Has been performed by many, From Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong to Sting, The Doors and The Psychedlic Furs.
    9. “Cuts Like a Knife”: the title track from the 1983 Bryan Adams album (YouTube)
    10. Slash with a Knife, a book of works by artist Yoshitomo Nara with many paintings of angry and threatening-looking but cute litte kids.
    11. Knives can be used for slashing, stabbing, and throwing (as well as slicing, dicing and julienning), so they appear pretty frequently in movies as weapons. You might see them such in fight scenes (eg. West Side Story) or murder mysteries (eg. Gosford Park).
    12. The knife is one of the possible murder weapons in the boardgame Clue.
    13. “That’s not a knife. This is a knife.” A line from Crocodile Dundee. (See the scene on YouTube.)
    14. “Chefs do that”: A line from the movie The Long Kiss Goodnight. Geena Davis plays an amnesiac with no memory of her past life as an assassin. When she discovers her skill with knives, she briefly thinks she must have been a chef. Then she throws a knife and skewers a tomato against the wall, saying “chefs do that.” (You can see at least part of the scene in the trailer on YouTube.)
    15. knife throwing: a sport involving throwing knives at a target. (The goal is to hit the target with the point of the knife, not, for instance, the handle.)
    16. knife throwing act: involves a performer throwing knives around a person, with the goal of not impaling the person. Somewhat ironically considered an “impalement art.” Here’s an example of a mother throwing knives at her little kids in the 50s:
    17. knifehand strike: a martial arts strike using the “blade” of the hand (not the palm or a fist), and sometimes called a “karate chop.”
    18. “In Japan, the hand can be used like a knife.” A famous line from a 1970s commercial for the Ginsu knife.

    setting the table

    Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, a holiday marked by primarily by sitting around a table and eating. In honor of the day, I’ll set the table for you.

    This ThThTh list features utensils. Actually, just forks and spoons. I’ll keep the knives stored safely away for another day. Likewise, I will avoid the hazards of the spork.
    spoon_psf

    A collection of spoons (and forks)

    1. Spoon!: The battlecry of The Tick.
    2. spooning: a position for cuddling.
    3. born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth: an expression said of one who is born into a wealthy family.
    4. Silver Spoons (1982-1987) A TV show about a rich kid and his father. (Did anyone else remember that the show had regular appearances from Jason Bateman as a kid?)
    5. Can you hang a spoon from the tip of your nose?
    6. gag me with a spoon: an 80s Valspeak exclamation used to express contempt and/or disgust.
    7. A Spoonful of Sugar: a song from the movie Mary Poppins.
    8. Hey Diddle Diddle: A nursery rhyme in which a dish rus away with a spoon:

      Hey diddle diddle,
      The cat and the fiddle,
      The cow jumped over the moon.
      The little dog laughed to see such fun,
      And the dish ran away with the spoon.

    9. And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon: a picture book by Janet Stevens.

      10. 696px-heydiddle and_the_dish

    10. “There is no spoon”: a line from The Matrix, and a reference to this spoon-bending scene:
    11. fork in the road: a type of intersection.
    12. The Dirty Fork Sketch, from Monty Python:
  • The Blue Rajah: a character played by Hank Azaria in Mystery Men (1999). A superhero who throws forks (and fork-filled dialog):

    • An effete British superhero, to be precise. I am pilfering your tableware because I hurl it. I hurl it with a deadly accuracy. The Blue Raja is my name. And yes, I know I don’t wear much blue and I speak in a British accent, but if you know your history it really does make perfect sense…The point is: Your boy’s a Limey fork-flinger, Mother.
    • I say, what the fork! Let’s do it!
    • May the forks be with us.

    • So there’s my list. Stick a fork in me, I’m done.
    800px-fork6233

    If you’re looking for more tasty bits to gobble up once your t(of)urkey is gone, go stick your fork into the 107th Carnival of Satire over at The Skwib. A spoonful of satire makes the holiday angst go down! (Especially when taken with a Wild Turkey chaser.)

    Silly Men Walking

    Rejoice! There is now a Monty Python channel on YouTube (warning: a video will start playing when you click that link), where you can find a host of Python clips. Okay, so you could find the clips on YouTube before, but they were all unauthorized:

    For 3 years you YouTubers have been ripping us off, taking tens of thousands of our videos and putting them on YouTube. Now the tables are turned. It’s time for us to take matters into our own hands.

    So now you can watch The Ministry of Silly Walks as Python intended:

    In related news, today I also learned of this terribly Silly Short Movie involving Men Walking at The Skwib. Steve Sullivan’s brilliant “A Heap of Trouble” features men walking down the road singing: “…nine naked men just walking down the road…”

    Intrigued? You can watch it yourself: “A Heap of Trouble.’

    As Mark so eloquently warns:
    “Warning: Not Safe for Work if your co-workers are uncomfortable with brief shots of sausage and/or Welsh singing.”

    To read more about this short (where most of the men aren’t even wearing shorts), go visit The Skwib.

    bed post

    bedPhoebe got a real bed a couple of weeks ago, inspiring me to think about beds for a ThThTh list¹.

    A bed list²

    1. make one’s bed and lie in it: an expression meaning that one must accept the consequences of one’s actions. The wording of the expression is somewhat variable, with various subjects (and agreeing possessives) possible, some variation in tense/aspect of the verb make, and variability in the the following clause. eg. You’ve made your bed, and now you must lie in it. or He made is bed, so now he’ll have to lie in it.
    2. The Princess and the Pea: a classic fairy tale in which a pea is hidden under mattresses to test whether a girl can feel the lump under the bedding
    3. “Someone’s been sleeping in my bed.” Something the bears say in the fairy tale Goldilocks.
    4. flower bed: an area, such as in a garden, that has been planted with flowers
    5. bed of roses: an expression meaning an easy or luxurious situtation. More often heard with a negative, such as “it was no bed of roses.”
    6. fortune cookies: If you add “in bed” to the end of the fortune when you read it, hilarity will ensue (in bed).
    7. hotbed: an environment conducive to rapid growth
    8. Beds Are Burning, a song by Midnight Oil. (youtube video)
    9. “5 little monkeys jumping on the bed:” a children’s song/rhyme of the “counting down” variety:

      Five little monkeys jumping on the bed
      One fell off and bumped his head
      Mama called the doctor and the doctor said
      “No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”

      Subsequent verses are sung with one fewer monkeys jumping, until one reaches the final “no more monkeys” state. There’s a book based on the rhyme, too.

    10. “10 in the bed:” another kids’ song of the countdown type.

      Ten in the bed and the little one said “roll over! roll over”
      So they all rolled over and one fell out…

    11. in bed with the enemy: an expression meaning “consorting with the opposition”
    12. strange bedfellows: an expression used to describe a situation where unlikely individuals cooperate, having been brought together to by unusual circumstances. Taken from a line from Shakespeare’s The Tempest: “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.”
    13. “In Bed with Madonna:” The title of the 1991 Madonna movie (“Truth or Dare“) as it was released in various countries. I saw it in Brazil as “Na Cama com Madonna.”
    14. “My Bed is a Boat:” a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson from A Child’s Garden of Verses

      My bed is like a little boat;
      Nurse helps me in when I embark;
      She girds me in my sailor’s coat
      And starts me in the dark.

    15. “Come, Let’s to Bed:” a Mother Goose rhyme:

      “To bed! To bed!”
      Says Sleepy-head;
      “Tarry awhile,” says Slow;
      “Put on the pan,”
      Says Greedy Nan;
      “We’ll sup before we go.”

    16. bed head: hair that has been messed up during sleep, or that at least appears that way

    44432_girl_sleep_lg>
    ¹Also at times inspiring me to miss the cage-like qualities of the crib. Is duct tape really so wrong?
    ²You know, I pretty much never make my bed. But I’m clearly not opposed to making a bed list.³
    ³You know, I really need to get to bed.

    girl in bed image source: Ella M. Beebe Picture Primer (New York: American Book Company, 1910), Copyright: 2008, Florida Center for Instructional Technology