The Fun of Movies

Au Pair Kansas is shooting on the college campus today and tomorrow. I'm hoping that some of my Mass Media students go out and watch the fun of movies being made.

Spending time waiting for the cameras to be set.

Spending time waiting for the lights to be set.

Spending time waiting for the sound to be set.

Spending time waiting.

That's the heart of movie making!

I recently - and finally - got a copy of an early Essanay Film, Sweedie Learns to Swim, starring Wallace Berry as Sweedie, the Swedish maid. It's hysterical.

A silent film, shot in Chicago in 1913/14 (released in 1914), the film shows Sweedie taking her day off and going down to the lakefront to take swimming classes. It is, of course, a disaster.

There's a scene where Sweedie tries to learn to swim in the bath tub. Of course the water overflows, leaks through the ceiling and pours into the dining room below (where, for some reason, the master of the household is gathered with guests, but without a maid). How many times, I wonder, did the carpenters at Essanay have to rebuild that studio dining room? It surely wasn't destroyed in one take.

That's the wonder of film. Nothing is ever destroyed in one take!

BTW: Here's a photo of Beery in 1914 at IMDB.com. A dapper dandy, but nothing like a Swedish maid. The thing is, Beery didn't try to be a drag queen. No bust line, no affected walk, no nothing. He just put on a wig and a dress (or a bathing cap and bathing suit) and did a little bit of coy mugging for the camera, and there he was.

Like Beery Au Pair Kansas features a couple of guys in drag. One is the husband's ghost. The second is a local drag queen. I guess it's just a good Swedish American tradition to put guys in dresses for laughs.

End Of Year Hijinks

Today was a day with a little more life in it. Three Mass Media students are working on a video for presentation to class on Thursday. They're convinced it is hilarious. We'll see.

In the meantime, Kris called from Mac, reporting a flat tire. Not what we needed. I may have to make a run to Mac to get her on track and headed home. Or maybe the tire will hold air long enough for her to make it home. I hope the later.

How do we get our days so full of stuff as this?

I love the stuff I do, I'm just a little concerned that I never take time to think anymore. I had an hour today, but I used it to clean rather than contemplate. Ah well, there's always tomorrow.

BTW, I like the word "hijinks." It reminds me of collegiate life in the 1940s (not that I was there) and the sort of stuff that Theodore Geisel did as an undergraduate.

Last Week of Class

Everybody's getting a haircut, says Nancy Pelosi. The Chicago Tribune declared bankruptcy. Even your scotch tape company is cutting jobs.

But I'm more interested in things that are going right, or maybe just things under my control.

Going right: The balcony at Presser Hall. Thanks to DeVere Blomberg it looks and sits much better. DeVere not only contributed to the costs, he spent hour after hour working on the project. The balcony is beautiful and it was well occupied for yesterday's Jultid concert/worship service.

On the other hand, students, in their last week of classes seemed rather dead today. I felt that way too. The 9 and 11 am classes just wouldn't talk. The 1 pm class was different, since it was a student presentation.

We have to keep going to the end, but it is sometimes hard to keep all the way to the goal. DeVere's work at the college is a great inspiration to me.

Thanks, DeVere!

That's What I'm Talking About

I mentioned in the last post that I was easily distracted. Then I went looking for a youtube version of one of my favorite Jultid sånger, Staffan var en stalledräng. I found this one from Cornelius Vreeswijk, a Dutch folkie who revolutionized Swedish pop-folk music.



this is a version you'll never hear in Lindsborg. The last minute of the cut is blank, so carry on without it.

Here's a more conventional version of the same song - more or less -



Okay, I guess that's less. Who says the Swedes don't have a sense of humor?

Ooops. Almost forgot to post this one.

Catching Up

I've been catching up in the last two weeks. I finished my grading of Argumentation debates tonight. I finished a six minute version of the Leonard Inauguration Week and posted it to youtube. I'm not satisfied with the quality, but I'll fix that later.

Here's the six minute version.



There is an hour version of the week's events, available from me or through the development office at the college.

I went to Jultide today and videotaped with a change in equipment to fix some sound problems. I fixed some and made others. Oh well. But I've already started capture. Maybe I can keep up - if I just keep focused.

There are too many options in life these days, it's too easy to be distracted.

We'll see how long I can keep focused.

The New Cat

We've put a new cat in the house, thanks to Dwight Swisher. Here's teh kitteh at work.



She's an active cat an loves to go fishin'.

The music in the background is supposed to be Swedish Christmas music, but it's actually Swedish translations of Disney movie music.

Lucia

We're only a week away from Lucia. Here's a young Swede with a lovely voice singing verses from Sankta Lucia you never hear sung in Lindsborg.



I'm sad that we don't even try to sing in Swede anymore - not even the simple children's ring dances of Christmas and Midsommar. We could learn those!

A year away

It's been almost a year since I posted a comment.

How are things going in Lindsborg right now?

There are reasons to be excited, and reasons to feel gloomy.

Jallisco is doing landoffice business, the Crown is doing moderately well, the Ice Cream store has closed and the Courtyard's tennants have disappeared. It's a mixed bag on main street.

The College is building and busy and beautiful. I had a student come back from Atlanta the other day and she was amazed by how different the campus looked. "I can't believe it. It looks like a college campus." The people at Student Life are doing a great job of serving student needs. The new dorms have students excited about living on campus. Lots of positive stuff.

But there are students who are discontented. One of my advisees got registered for spring classes, declared a major and a week later withdrew. He was unhappy with a part of the athletic program. He could get more for less money. He's not alone in leaving.

I love my house. The Carlsons left us a great place to live. My in-laws were down for the holiday and praised the place. But the siding's old enough to have cracks in it. There's a small and troubling leak in a second floor closet.

So, how's it going?

A little great, a little down in the dumpsie.

That's what life's supposed to be like, isn't it?

More Than A Week

I've been gone from the blogging for more than a week. By the time I get my papers graded I have no energy left to explore town or gown issues. I'm wondering where all my time and energy goes.

Part of it, this last week, went to getting to and from Columbia, Missouri for my daughter's Ph.D. graduation. She was hooded on Friday the 14th. The ceremony (the important parts) looked like this:



We got back via Kansas 4. Picture the trucks. Thirty electric trucks replacing line all along the way. It was fantastic.

Christmas Carol Tonight

Tonight is the first of two performances of A Christmas Carol, in the Burnett Auditorium, 7:30 pm.

Done as a Reader's Theatre piece, I like to think of this technique as one that Dickens would have approved of. He spent several years in America, touring as a lecturer and reader of his own stories. He even buried one of his children in the cemetery in Moline, Illinois.

I am extremely proud of the cast. These are not your normal Theatrical kids, they're a combination of the Burnett Center standbys and absolute newcomers to the stage.

Plus, we've got the Lindsborg Youth Choir singing between the staves. You're all invited! Come and hear and see and enjoy one of the Christmas highlights.