Thanks for the lovely quotes, Nina.

I read, "Close Range," last year. Brokeback Mountain was one of the short stories in that book. I didn't see the movie and actually didn't really like most of the story themes but the writing was excellent.I am quoting nature passages from the Brokeback Mountain one: "where hay couldn't grow but leafy spurge and Canada thistle throve and the wind packed enought sand to scour windshields opaque." Not nature but love this description. "One of those damp mornings the nail-driving telephone voice of a woman said she was louise." "the dazzled rope of lighteningagainst the cloud is not the downward bolt, but the compelled upstroke through the heated ether." "tires spanking the tar-filled road cracked with potholes." etc. If you read it you will be amazed at the beauty of the author's language. nina

That's a great story, Nina, a very unusual experience for both you and your husband, who was in the right place at the right time. (g)

More movie info. After I retrived some more info from clippings of the newspaper and mailed them to the Asst. director a lady called from Hollywood and asked if I knew they would incoperate some of it into the movie, they started filming here. My daughter had the children of the woman who they rented some period clothes from and she told her that they needed a thin woman to fit into the clothes. She suggested to my daughter that I send in a request. I did and added a picture my husband took of me and an old dog who lived up the street. I did mention I was the one who sent them the info about the shooting. In a couple of months they called and asked me to come that afternoon for a fitting for a scene they were shooting that night. My husband took me several miles from here to a small town with a railroad station. While I was waiting in my trailer to be called the asst. director called out after knocking on my door, "Hey, Teresa, we are putting your husband to work." It seems Robert Altman looked out his window and said, "Do we have a train engineer?" someone answered, "NO." Altman said,"What about that man out there?" So that is how my husband almost seventy and I were in a movie together. It was really fun and memorable. The following year the head of the movie business here called again and asked for me to be in Ang Lee's "Ride With the Devil." Unfortunately, I was out of town. It was on my answering machine when I got home. The following year they called again and said I should come for a commercial. Again I was out of town and that ended my movie career, fun while it lasted and we even got paid. nina

Nina wrote: "About the movie Kansas City. A year before the movie was filmed there was a notice in the paper asking if anyone had any memories of life in KC in 1934. At that time, I was seven years old and at t..."

Nina, your story shows how one thing can lead to another. Life is so full of chance happenings.

Voltaire: "Life is a game of chance."

Thanks for telling us your story.

Nina wrote: "To Joy AND HER HUSBAND: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! On this special day for you I will relate my own LOVE story: When I was seventeen and in my second semester of college my girl friend's sailor boy frie..."

Thank you for the wishes, Nina, and thank you for telling us your beautiful love story. What a series of coincidences that was! Your guardian angels must have been working overtime!

About the movie Kansas City. A year before the movie was filmed there was a notice in the paper asking if anyone had any memories of life in KC in 1934. At that time, I was seven years old and at that time we had a machine Boss named Pendergast who ran the city. There were waring factions in his Demorcratic party called the Rabbits and Goats. These were gangsters. we lived in a nieghborhood that had drugstores and groceries and hardware stores and schools. When I was home after school on election day my mother said, "Go get the dog and let's walk up to the dry goods store as I need a spool of thread." Then she added, "No wait, I should run the sweeper before your father gets home." That took about five minutes. We walked up to the corner in time to hear the sirens and watch people gathering across the street near the dry goods store. The polling place was in a deli next door to it. Inside the deli three men were shot in a cross fire between the goats and rabbits. The owner of the drygoods store where we were headed five minutes earlier stuck his head out to see what we going on and he was shot and killed. My mother always said if she hadn't stopped and run the sweeper we would be dead. I related this in a few minutes phone call to Altman's director not knowing it had any thing to do with a movie. I thought it was going to be something written up in our paper, until I got a call from Hollywood..to be continued, must feed the birds and fix lunch. nina

To Joy AND HER HUSBAND: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! On this special day for you I will relate my own LOVE story:

When I was seventeen and in my second semester of college my girl friend's sailor boy friend who often had Sunday dinner at our home, invited her and me to go to the USO on one of the Sundays for dinner. Because I was too young to be a hostess, I was excited to see what it was like inside. In our city it was located in an old large two story house with a front porch. The evening I went I was too interested to eat so I say in the living room and watched everyone coming and going. Suddenly, a young looking(he was eighteen) red haired sailor came over and dumped a napkin with a bunch of cookies in my lap. I looked up and laughed so he did it again. End of story? Not quite. The young sailor was on a week-end leave from a college he was attending as part of a Navel V-5 program. The college was in the middle of the state of MO and he was allowed one weekend a month away. He and his buddy had hitched a ride to KC. One month later he came again to the USO and was standing on the front porch as my girl friend and I were walking past in order to get the bus home after roller skating around the corner at an inside rink. It happened to be the night before Easter. He and his friend walked down from the porch and said something to us. I turned around and recognized him as the cookie dumper. I said, "YOu!" and he thought I must be a cousin. He didn't remember me and he had over a hundred first cousins so figured I must be one of them. He did remember me after I described our first meeting. In the meantime he and his friend went home of the bus with us. I had a hard time worrying over how I was to explain this to my parents. It turned out he was a Catholic which did help in my mother's eyes because I was also. He asked if my friend and I could come downtown the next day and meet and go to Mass on Easter at the Cathedral and then go to the Ice Capades. After which they would go back to school and we'd go home. My father said, "Absolutley, NOT!" My mother said, "Well, he seems like a nice boy and they are only going to Mass." She convinced him and the next day our first date was going to Mass on Easter Sunday. To be continued..It wasn't quite smooth from then on. We have often marveled at the fact that he just happened to come to the USO that first evening and the only time in my life I was at the USO was that evening and he didn't often come to KC on his month's leave but just decided to do so at Easter and that my friend and I decided to go roller skating that Sat. evening and we just happened to walk past the USO when he was standing there...nina

Yes, I loved "Enchanted April". Good movie.

Nina, how did you get involved with the "Kansas City" movie? Did you have to apply or audition for the role as an extra?

That certainly must have been a memorable experience for you!

Shall We Dance was a movie that made you feel good. Not many like that any more. Did anyone out there see, "Enchanted April," a few years back. I don't know how many times I have seen it. It was the first time I saw Miranda Richardson. She once held the door open for me. It was after I was being filmed for Robert Altman's movie, "Kansas City." I was an extra but was the only woman being filmed that night. It was a magical night; I had my own Italian hair dresser, Two make-up ladies; my own trailer and wardrobe mistress. It was quite different than my daily life at age sixty eight. As the saying goes, "It was a blast." In real life I had a red haired husband and in the movie my husband also had red hair. It was fun introducing one husband to the other. Time for bed. nina PS part of something I wrote was incorporated into the movie.

Jackie wrote: "Bordertown:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445935/
It was a really good movie. I like Jennifer Lopez as an actress. I'm not into her music; I prefer her husband's music, Marc Anthony is very po..."

Thanks, Jackie, for answering my question. I didn't see that movie, but I did enjoy seeing Jennifer Lopez in "Shall We Dance" with Richard Gere.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358135/
She was very appealing in that movie, as was Richard Gere.
It was a light and entertaining movie.

Bordertown:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445935/

It was a really good movie. I like Jennifer Lopez as an actress. I'm not into her music; I prefer her husband's music, Marc Anthony is very popular in the Latin music genre.

S.A. wrote: "Jackie wrote: "Yes, Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones starred in two Zorro movies. Both were enjoyable."
I second Jackie's opinion of the movies. Good fun. I do like a nice bit of swashbuc..."

Thanks, Sue. I'll definitely put them on my Netflix's queue. Did Antonio Banderas star in a movie with Jennifer Lopez? Why am I associating him with her?

Jackie wrote: "Yes, Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones starred in two Zorro movies. Both were enjoyable."

I second Jackie's opinion of the movies. Good fun. I do like a nice bit of swashbuckling.

And watching Antonio Banderas is always nice...

Sue

Jackie wrote: "Yes, Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones starred in two Zorro movies. Both were enjoyable.
The Mask of Zorro, 1998:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120746/
The Legend of Zorro, 2005:
ht..."

Thanks, Jackie. Maybe I'll put them on my Netflix list. I just finished watching "Sideways" and I'll be starting "Brokeback Mountain" soon. I find that the extras on the DVDs lengthen the watching time. But I can't resist seeing behind the scenes.

Yes, Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones starred in two Zorro movies. Both were enjoyable.

The Mask of Zorro, 1998:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120746/

The Legend of Zorro, 2005:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386140/

Sounds like Valentine's Day was a good one.

Glad to hear you're selling those bowls, Jim. I wonder how much they mark them up and if they make more than you do on them.

The Gypsy Kings' music must be fun to listen to. I love lively music. I wonder if Zorro has been made into a movie.

PS: Only read about 10 pages of The Gypsy Morph. Maybe I'll finish tonight, maybe not. Still have some TV to watch. I guess it depends on how long I stay here at the computer, LOL

I have some of their music on my computer, belly dancing type of music. I haven't been to a play in ages. My friend Lisa's husband works in the London stage industry, costumes I think.

My husband and I went up to London to see the stage show Zorro in the West End.

It was terrific! Wonderfully romantic swashbuckling entertainment. Great music by The Gipsy Kings, great dancing, full of energy. Great night out. Thanks, Grant!

I got Marg a plant basket Thursday evening & kept it hidden until last night, so she got it a little early. Had lots of greens in it with heart shaped cookies on sticks.

I went down to "Completely Kentucky" last night & they bought 8 of my bowls. Hopefully this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship. I need some place to sell them & they don't do consignment, but buy outright. Wholesale prices, of course, but at least they're out of my house. They don't like shiny finishes, so I'll have to find another place, too. Yuck.

While there, I found a gorgeous card by a local artist. It's a flower scene & suitable for framing. That was Marg's Valentine Day's card.

We just got back from dinner at Jim's Seafood. The chef isn't the old one that wowed us when we first ate there. It was OK. The scallops didn't have much flavor, but the shrimp was good & the fresh berry cobbler was great. Marg's out doing the horses now.

Hope you all had a great day, too.

Hope you finish _The Gypsy Morph_, Jackie.

Our grands are coming today for the weekend with our son, Billy, and his wife. Meanwhile we're babysitting our other son Tommy's dogs. Busy weekend. But, like you, I'd like to finish my book _Death Straight Up_. Also have to finish viewing our Netflix movie "Sideways" so that I can return it and get another movie.

Oh... they're here! Gotta go! (g)

We don't have any plans. I've got about 75 pages left of The Gypsy Morph and I'd like to finish it today.

Today I'm wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day.
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Hope somebody gives you some chocolate.
Yum............