Sooooo... the super secret Christmas stitching has been completed... and the super secret Christmas knitting is almost done (will finish it as I watch TV tonight)...so I decided to start a new chart... Instead of Sheep by Heartstring Samplery. You can see it here.
And this is my progress so far...
I'm using 2 strands of floss over 2 threads...I like that heavier coverage for this linen. Now this little piece has so much I love. First there is the lyrics from the song "Count your Blessings" by Irving Berlin in my FAVORITE movie White Christmas. Did you know it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song? I didn't either till I read it on Wikipedia. Anyway beside the lyrics there are tons of my favorite sampler motifs...a house...a giant woman...scissors...a bird... and a chicken...okay so technically I think this is a rooster but it is poultry so that fits the bill..LOL!
I already know where I'm going to hang it when it is finished and framed... right next to my bed...perfect ,dontcha think?
And this little piece is connected to my rant...you can leave now if you want but I need to get this out of my system.
So if you've been reading this blog for any length of time you know that "White Christmas" is my FAVORITE movie. I've watched it countless times at home and even seen it in the theater on the big screen a couple of times too. I had seen it as a stage play several years ago and it was part of the package I have at the Aronoff Theater in Cincinnati this year. I was excited to see it last Thursday night. Dinner beforehand was tasty (really any meal that ends with cheesecake is tasty now, isn't it?) and the company was wonderful but the play left me a bit ticked off. I didn't know until afterwards that they had "modernize" their interpretation. Big sigh.... I'm not a fan of "modernizing" classics... did I ever tell you about the production of Cinderella where they changed the ending? Oh another rant for another day. Back to the rant of today...
Now I know that the stage play can't contain all the elements of the movie, I accept that, but what I don't want to accept is when you change the personality of the characters and the names of the characters. In the play Phil was sleazy and not at all likable. Emma the housekeeper from the movie was morphed into a loud mouth Ethel Merman-y "I want to be in the show" harridan. And then there was the music... some songs were totally left out of the play, okay I can live with that, but they were replaced with songs that were NEVER in the movie!!! "I Love a Piano" is the opening number of the second act...yes it is an Irving Berlin tune but it is no substitute for "Mandy"... even the girls sitting on stools tap dancing could not redeem this for me...perhaps if they had had tambourines with faces on them I might have been placated. (If you are a fan of the movie you know what I'm talking about here... if you haven't seen the movie go stream it from Netflix...you will love it ...promise!)
The funniest scene of the whole movie is when Bob and Phil (Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye) lip sync the "Sisters" song for Betty and Judy (Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen). This was totally skipped in the first act where it should have appeared. Instead it showed up mid-way in the second act and it wasn't a bit funny. Insert frown-y face. I will say I did like the tap dancing in the show. It brought back memories of my youth when I took tap dancing lessons for years. However, that can't make up for the songs they left out of the show and the fact that every single song was done at a breakneck pace. Their finale of "White Christmas" was so quick tempo I thought they were late for their post-show dinner reservations.
Thank goodness for Netflix... I came home and watched "White Christmas" in its entirety. It did get the bad taste out of my mouth...and the next day I watched it again...feeling better...and I plan to watch it again later today. Then perhaps all will be right in my "White Christmas" world. I suppose this is proof that I'm turning into a crabby old lady...or reverting to a whiny 3 year old. I just want classics to stay classic...crawling down now from the mountain I made out of soapboxes.
I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts today and Super Mom - No Cape on Monday. I still have some Christmas prep to do but my house is all decorated. This may be the earliest it has ever been done...and it is nice that I will be able to enjoy it for a longer time.
happy stitching-
carol fun
Wait, wait, wait! Don't crawl down yet! I'm climbing up there with you. I'm another one who doesn't think classics should be remade. I hear they remade The Sound of Music for television and I refused to watch it. And who remakes True Grit? Wrong. Just wrong. You don't mess with John Wayne....or White Christmas! :)
ReplyDeleteLovely cross-stitching. I'm with you on the movies. I like the original ones and don't believe I'll ever watch the remakes. Happy stitching.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I've been guilty of fast-forwarding the Choreography number a few times but other than that you can't leave things out without destroying the magic of it all. Then there are times I just have to stare at the Choreography number like in a trance because I had a "Modern Dance' unit every year of Jr. High and High school in P. E. White Christmas is definitely a classic! The script should come with a disclaimer that nothing can be changed.
ReplyDeleteI am with you with this so called modernizing of movies, and the traditional Christmas carols. They change the tunes so you don't even recognize the song.
ReplyDeleteI probably would have walked out on that show! White Christmas is my favorite too. Anytime a classic is changed like that, it should come with a warning label.
ReplyDeleteCounting our blessings - a good night-time habit. I'm with you - old movies are classics - don't tinker with them!
ReplyDeleteYour needle work is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHope there is enough room for me up there on your high horse because I'm with you.
Sounds like the whole group of us want to be on that high horse with you!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry the experience was so dismal when it had the potential to be magical.
Watching the original and stitching your wonderful sampler will fix everything!
What a beautiful sampler! Love it! Love 'White Christmas' too! Christine x
ReplyDeleteBeautiful sampler and so disappointing the play changed things for no good reason.
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you Carol. We are big fans of "A Christmas Carol". We have been invited to the "modern version". I don't think we will go and this post helped me to make that decision! I do love the stitch project you are doing. Who is the designer? It is one I should do because I have so many blessings to count this year.
ReplyDeleteSorry Carol, I checked again and got the name of the designer and I just ordered it from her Etsy site!
ReplyDeleteWell, that's a shame about the play. The one good thing is that I (Yes, cause it's all about ME) was just thinking I haven't seen White Christmas in years. And here you are telling me that it's on Netflix. I'm watching it tonight after dinner - thank you. Just not what you had in mind when you started that rant was it? hahaha
ReplyDeleteHow in the world did you get so much done on that stitchery so fast? It has my favorites too, from the verse to the scissors - I love it all.
Lovely cross stitch sampler and I too agree with you on remakes of classics. xx
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one to feel this way about the remakes. Your stitching is wonderful, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI love the new cross-stitch pattern you're working on. And so sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy what you thought was going to be a wonderful evening. I'm not a huge fan of make-overs either. Let them come up with new stories... leave the old ones alone.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for linking up to last week's Stitchery Link Party and for the link back. Aloha hugs!