Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Harold and Rock, Mia and Don


Well, my mysterious Amazon transaction has come to an end. I got an e-mail from the bookseller saying, "I have checked all the details and I can see that the item is not delivered to you it seems to have been lost in transit." She offered a replacement title or a refund. I chose the refund, and it's been issued. So I'm done with those people.

Frankly, I suspect they never had the book ("The Story of Harold") in the first place. Or perhaps they had it, then sold it, and failed to remove the listing from Amazon, so I bought it again -- leaving them in a mad scramble trying to fill my order. They sent me the Edward Gorey sticker book thinking that might pacify me (why?!) and when that didn't work they threw in the towel.

The good news is, I found "The Story of Harold" for sale on AbeBooks from a London bookshop at a similar price. So I've bought it again and unless I have extraordinarily bad luck, I should be reading it shortly.

In other news, one of my co-workers gave me a tray of foxglove seedlings yesterday! Yes, this after I gave away about 150 foxglove seedlings myself. But it's fine -- there are only six plants (or maybe eight) in this tray and they're a different color from the ones I grew. So we'll squeeze them into the garden somewhere. I'm kind of psyched to have them, actually.

Last night, Dave had to work on school stuff, so I was free to watch whatever I wanted on TV. I seized the opportunity to have a 1978 alpine disaster movie double-feature! I started with "Avalanche," starring Rock Hudson and Mia Farrow, which is truly dreadful. It feels like about an hour of script was cut, leaving a choppy mess with incomplete character development and tepid acting. The avalanche scenes (involving lots of tumbling styrofoam) were kind of fun. (Apparently there's a Mystery Science Theatre version of this film, which probably would have been a better viewing option.)

Then I moved on to "Ski Lift to Death," which I actually remember watching on TV when I was a kid. (It was later marketed as "Snowblind" after someone realized "Ski Lift to Death" is an impossibly campy title.) Starring Deborah Raffin and Don Johnson, it's a much better movie -- maybe still not quite good in the grand scheme of things, but more or less coherent. In addition to the catastrophic failure of a ski lift, the plot involved a mafia hit-man and a "t-shirt dance queen" disco contest (!). There's also a lengthy segment in which a freestyle skier awkwardly performs to omnipresent '70s tune "Nadia's Theme," which we all know from "The Young and The Restless," and she looks more like a beginning skier trying to keep herself from falling down -- upper body swaying wildly, arms flailing. Whoever thought that was a good idea?

I love my bad '70s movies.

(Photo: Autumn on a street near our flat.)

10 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

You know how to have a funtime on a Monday night!

The Bug said...

I LOVE Mystery Science Theatre! I should track some of those down & make Mike watch them after baseball season is over.

Steve, I hate to say this, but you might need a Foxglove Intervention.

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you may actually be getting that book. I searched around for it online and couldn't find a copy. I'm not sure what I was doing in the 1970s, but I've never heard of those movies. LOL!

ellen abbott said...

I did laugh when I read that you had been given the foxgloves.

Sharon said...

I can't wait to hear how you like the book. I hope it was worth all that work...and the cost. That's an interesting choice of movies to watch. You made me think of a movie I watched on Netfix about a year ago that was the worst acted and most poorly written movie I had ever seen. Needless to say, I can't remember the name of it.

Catalyst said...

That tree in your photo is gorgeous!

Sabine said...

Well your taste in movies is something else.

Edna B said...

I just love that beautiful tree! I was going to mention that I found a copy of the book on Ebay, but you already have the book. I hope it is worth all the trouble you went through to get it. I'm not really into very many movies, but I do love "Yankee Doodle Dandy." I can't tell you how many times I've watched it, and I love it every time. It will be interesting to see your new plants when they bloom. You have a wonderful evening. Hugs, Edna B.

jenny_o said...

It's great that you found a different vendor and can get your book after all. Knock on wood, that is :)

I wish I enjoyed movies. I'm forced to be quiet whenever the topic comes up because I have nothing much to say! lol

Steve Reed said...

YP: We are serious about our evening entertainment.

Bug: I love MST too. I'm going to find that "Avalanche" episode!

Robin: "Avalanche" was apparently a theatrical release, but it was a box-office bomb, if the Internet is to be believed. "Ski Lift to Death" was a TV movie. I think '78 was a Winter Olympics year, which may account for the ski-related themes!

Ellen: I know! It's like a curse!

Sharon: Oh wow. You'll have to tell me what it was if you remember.

Catalyst: Isn't it?

Sabine: So I've been told, by basically everyone who knows me. LOL!

Edna: I have never seen "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Funny how we get attached to certain films, isn't it?

Jenny-O: Knock on wood, indeed. I won't count my chickens until they've hatched! (Mixing metaphors, there.)