Cary Grant Project

We've got a new addition:  "Dream Wife", Cary Grant's first movie with Deborah Kerr. He throws her over for a hot, young -- very young -- thing from some indeterminate foreign land where she's the daughter of the Khan.  And where the women still delight in pleasing their men instead of trying to be the man.  Like those darned American women.  In 1953.

1. "North By Northwest", 1959, also starring Eva Marie Saint and James Mason
2. "Bringing Up Baby", 1938, also starring Katharine Hepburn
3. "Charade", 1963, also starring Audrey Hepburn
4. "The Philadelphia Story", 1940, also starring Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart
5. "The Awful Truth", 1937, also starring Irene Dunne
6. "Notorious", 1946, also starring Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains
7. "His Girl Friday", 1940, also starring Rosalind Russell and Ralph Bellamy
8. "People Will Talk", 1951, also starring Hume Cronyn
9. "Houseboat", 1958, also starring Sophia Loren
10. "Holiday", 1938, also starring Katharine Hepburn
    
11. "My Favorite Wife", 1940, also starring Irene Dunne
12. "Father Goose", 1964, also starring Leslie Caron
13. "Indiscreet", 1958, also starring Ingrid Bergman
14. "Suspicion", 1941, also starring Joan Fontaine
15. "The Bachelor And The Bobby-Soxer", 1947, also starring Myrna Loy
16. "An Affair To Remember", 1957, also starring Deborah Kerr
17. "To Catch A Thief", 1955, also starring Grace Kelly
18. "The Talk Of The Town", 1942, also starring Jean Arthur and Ronald Colman
19. "That Touch Of Mink", 1962, also starring Doris Day and Gig Young
20. "Operation Petticoat", 1959, also starring Tony Curtis
21. "Arsenic And Old Lace", 1944, also starring Raymond Massey
22. "The Bishop's Wife", 1947, also starring Loretta Young and David Niven
23. "Monkey Business", 1952, also starring Ginger Rogers
24. "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House", 1948, also starring Myrna Loy and Melvyn Douglas
25. "Dream Wife", 1953, also starring Deborah Kerr
26. "Walk Don't Run", 1966
27. "Destination Tokyo", 1943, also starring John Garfield
28. "Only Angels Have Wings", 1939, also starring Jean Arthur
29. "I Was A Male War Bride", 1949, also starring Ann Sheridan
30. "The Toast Of New York", 1937, also starring Edward Arnold and Frances Farmer
31. "Once Upon A Honeymoon", 1942, also starring Ginger Rogers
32. "In Name Only", 1939, also starring Carole Lombard
33. "Thirty Day Princess", 1934, also starring Sylvia Sidney
    
34. "The Amazing Adventure", 1936
35. "Topper", 1937, also starring Constance Bennett
36. "Wedding Present", 1936, also starring Joan Bennett
37. "Big Brown Eyes", 1936, also starring Joan Bennett
38. "Born To Be Bad", 1934, also starring Loretta Young
39. "The Grass Is Greener", 1960, also starring Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum
40. "Kiss Them For Me", 1957, also starring Jayne Mansfield, Ray Walston, and Werner Klemperer
41. "Penny Serenade", 1941, also starring Irene Dunne
42. "Kiss And Make-Up", 1934, also starring Helen Mack
43. "Hot Saturday", 1932, also starring Randolph Scott
44. "Night And Day", 1946, also starring Alexis Smith
45. "The Howards Of Virginia", 1940, also starring Martha Scott
46. "Wings In The Dark", 1935, also starring Myrna Loy
47. "Room For One More", 1952, also starring Betsy Drake
48. "Sylvia Scarlett", 1935, also starring Katharine Hepburn
49. "I'm No Angel", 1933, also starring Mae West
50. "Merrily We Go To Hell", 1932, starring Sylvia Sidney
    
51. "Gunga Din", 1939, also starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
52. "None But The Lonely Heart", 1944, also starring Ethel Barrymore
53. "She Done Him Wrong", 1933, also starring Mae West
54. "The Pride And The Passion", 1957, also starring Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren

Cary Grant Project

It's been a few years, but I haven't forgotten! Started in 2008 and last updated in 2011, the Cary Grant Project continues. Today I watched "The Toast Of New York", the story of Jim Fisk. Cary Grant played his friend and business partner, Nick Boyd; at least, that was the character's name in the movie. It was pretty much Edward Arnold's movie, but Cary Grant was the amiable sidekick, and the voice of reason when it came time for the big "cornering the gold market" climax. This was more of the rougher early Cary Grant, before he hit his 1940s stride, but still enjoyable.

1. "North By Northwest", 1959, also starring Eva Marie Saint and James Mason
2. "Bringing Up Baby", 1938, also starring Katharine Hepburn
3. "Charade", 1963, also starring Audrey Hepburn
4. "The Philadelphia Story", 1940, also starring Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart
5. "The Awful Truth", 1937, also starring Irene Dunne
6. "Notorious", 1946, also starring Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains
7. "His Girl Friday", 1940, also starring Rosalind Russell and Ralph Bellamy
8. "People Will Talk", 1951, also starring Hume Cronyn
9. "Houseboat", 1958, also starring Sophia Loren
10. "Holiday", 1938, also starring Katharine Hepburn
    
11. "My Favorite Wife", 1940, also starring Irene Dunne
12. "Father Goose", 1964, also starring Leslie Caron
13. "Indiscreet", 1958, also starring Ingrid Bergman
14. "Suspicion", 1941, also starring Joan Fontaine
15. "The Bachelor And The Bobby-Soxer", 1947, also starring Myrna Loy
16. "An Affair To Remember", 1957, also starring Deborah Kerr
17. "To Catch A Thief", 1955, also starring Grace Kelly
18. "The Talk Of The Town", 1942, also starring Jean Arthur and Ronald Colman
19. "That Touch Of Mink", 1962, also starring Doris Day and Gig Young
20. "Operation Petticoat", 1959, also starring Tony Curtis
21. "Arsenic And Old Lace", 1944, also starring Raymond Massey
22. "The Bishop's Wife", 1947, also starring Loretta Young and David Niven
23. "Monkey Business", 1952, also starring Ginger Rogers
24. "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House", 1948, also starring Myrna Loy and Melvyn Douglas
25. "Walk Don't Run", 1966
26. "Destination Tokyo", 1943, also starring John Garfield
27. "Only Angels Have Wings", 1939, also starring Jean Arthur
28. "I Was A Male War Bride", 1949, also starring Ann Sheridan
29. "The Toast Of New York", 1937, also starring Edward Arnold and Frances Farmer
30. "Once Upon A Honeymoon", 1942, also starring Ginger Rogers
31. "In Name Only", 1939, also starring Carole Lombard
32. "Thirty Day Princess", 1934, also starring Sylvia Sidney
    
33. "The Amazing Adventure", 1936
34. "Topper", 1937, also starring Constance Bennett
35. "Wedding Present", 1936, also starring Joan Bennett
36. "Big Brown Eyes", 1936, also starring Joan Bennett
37. "Born To Be Bad", 1934, also starring Loretta Young
38. "The Grass Is Greener", 1960, also starring Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum
39. "Kiss Them For Me", 1957, also starring Jayne Mansfield, Ray Walston, and Werner Klemperer
40. "Penny Serenade", 1941, also starring Irene Dunne
41. "Kiss And Make-Up", 1934, also starring Helen Mack
42. "Hot Saturday", 1932, also starring Randolph Scott
43. "Night And Day", 1946, also starring Alexis Smith
44. "The Howards Of Virginia", 1940, also starring Martha Scott
45. "Wings In The Dark", 1935, also starring Myrna Loy
46. "Room For One More", 1952, also starring Betsy Drake
47. "Sylvia Scarlett", 1935, also starring Katharine Hepburn
48. "I'm No Angel", 1933, also starring Mae West
49. "Merrily We Go To Hell", 1932, starring Sylvia Sidney
    
50. "Gunga Din", 1939, also starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
51. "None But The Lonely Heart", 1944, also starring Ethel Barrymore
52. "She Done Him Wrong", 1933, also starring Mae West
53. "The Pride And The Passion", 1957, also starring Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren

Cedars As Far As The Eye Can See

There are still a few more state parks within an hour's drive, and today it was the day for Cedars of Lebanon State Park.



Apparently it's named for all the Eastern Red Cedars there -- which aren't really cedars, perhaps in the same way that peanuts aren't really nuts; or perhaps not.  All I know is I couldn't say if the trees I saw were Eastern Red Cedars or something else.  I know there are many different kinds of trees, but who can tell them apart.  I feel the same way about all the different kinds of birds.

This is a huge park, with some nice amenities.  And the swimming pool looks like it'll be pretty amazing if you're into that kind of thing -- once the renovation is finished. Now it's just a big, empty hole.  Plus there's horse riding.  Maybe I should have picked up a remembrance at the gift shop, which is also a thing at this park, in the main office.  Well, I have my memories.

Even though there were people there in the camping area, I didn't come across anyone on the trails.

There seemed to be a lot of these big stones along the two mile Cedar Forest Trail. (This is off to the side of the actual "trail", by the way.)

Despite my leisurely pace, I made it back in less than an hour, so I figured I had time to try the half-mile Cedar Glades Trail. Besides the shorter distance, it was a much easier stroll due to being a wider trail with a lot less roots and stones in the path.

A Smaller Park

The other day I visited my second Tennessee State Park, one of the smallest: Port Royal State Park, near Adams, Tenn. Technically it seems to be Port Royal State Historic Park, perhaps because, unlike most others, this one has no camping options. I suppose you could put a canoe in the water, but it doesn't really look like a spot for vigorous boating activities.  There are two sections separated by the Red River. The northern section contains a short segment, a few hundred yards, of the Trail of Tears. And, unlike the much larger Bledsoe Creek State Park, while at Port Royal, I didn't see any other people; unless you count the guys in a van who appeared to be park employees doing whatever they do -- and I never saw them get out of the van.

In the southern section, there's a pedestrian bridge from 1890 over Sulphur Fork Creek.

In the northern section, due to a recent storm, it was kind of hard to navigate the whole River Bottom Trail.

And here's a shot of the Trail of Tears, where the Cherokee were camped before leaving Tennessee on the "Northern Route".

Parks across the state

I'm not a lover of the outdoors, but I kind of like the idea of visiting all the state parks -- because, let's face it, that at least seems remotely possible, unlike the people who try to visit all the national parks.  Tennessee has 56 state parks. I don't know how long I'll still live here, but as long as I do, a lot of them can probably be hit as day trips. Most of them have some kind of tent camping and camper/RV sites, but even if I wanted to -- and I don't much care for being outside -- I don't really know how all that is done; even if I just tipped my toe in and became a van-life guy. That sounds better than trying to drive a fifth wheel, but still not cheap. And, again, I don't know how any of that life works.

Back to the state park tour.  I went to my first one, Bledsoe Creek State Park, on Memorial Day. It's got the campsites and the places to load your favorite watercraft into Old Hickory Lake.  And a few different trails. I don't have the proper hiking gear, or even know what proper hiking gear is, but I think most of the trails in the state parks would be considered easy by serious hikers. I circled most of the park in an hour and a half to two hours on the High Ridge Trail and the Shoreline Trail.

It would have been tough to get over this little ditch without a little bridge.

This would be the steepest part of the High Ridge Trail.

And here's a view from the Shoreline Trail of Old Hickory Lake, which is probably also Bledsoe Creek at this point.

Getting close. Counting down.

Seeking rocking chair for long-term use

Forced outCountdown

Reading in 2014

Books finished in 2014:

+--------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+---------------+----------+
| title                                                        | Authors        | yearpublished | Finished |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+---------------+----------+
| Storming Las Vegas                                           | John Huddy     |          2008 | 1/2014   |
| Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), The | Robert Spencer |          2005 | 1/2014   |
| Pilgrim's Progress, The                                      | John Bunyan    |          1678 | 5/2014   |
| Robinson Crusoe                                              | Daniel Defoe   |          1719 | 7/2014   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+----------------+---------------+----------+ 

Mid-year I started trying to read the great novels.  So far it's been a pretty tedious slog.  "Storming Las Vegas" was by far the most interesting of the four from 2014: a non-fiction account of thieves bumbling their way through the casinos' huge piles of cash.

Willy Wonka Musical

This should show my true colors as far as how much I enjoy performing. Maybe test my limits. I'm Mr. Salt in the musical version of "Willy Wonka" running from June 5th to June 22nd. That's 15 performances.  Is that a lot for a community theater? It is in my experience. The most performances of a show I've been in was 9.  And that's only happened with 5 shows -- out of the 41 I've been in before "Willy Wonka".  In fact, more than 5 is pretty rare.  Here's how many shows I've been in broken down by number of performances.

Number of performances	How many shows had that many performances
9	5
8	2
7	2
6	3
5	13
4	8
3	8

Reading in 2013

It didn't take much ciphering to come up with this year's list. In my defense, time does fly like an arrow. The full list of what I read in 2013:

+----------------------------------------+-----------------------------+---------------+----------+
| title                                  | Authors                     | yearpublished | Finished |
+----------------------------------------+-----------------------------+---------------+----------+
| Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, The | Philip K. Dick              |          1965 | 2/2013   |

+----------------------------------------+-----------------------------+---------------+----------+

I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads.  I'm not sure what the title means.  It's disturbing how quickly things pass from my memory -- but I don't think better (total?) recall would help with that title. However, I don't think it had much to do with the story, which was about people escaping their dreadful future life through a socially acceptable escapist drug.