Smart Speakers

Do you have one of those Smart Speakers that are all the rage now, like Amazon Echo (Alexa), Google Home or Apple HomePod? You know, those "voice-controlled, intelligent personal assistant services" as Wikipedia describes them?

My Rare One just got a Google Mini and she LOVES it! My Rare One tends to be an early adopter of new technology. I am not. I'm a late, drag-me-kicking-and-screaming-into-the-modern-world adopter of new technology. So I do NOT have a Smart Speaker and do not foresee getting one in the near (or indeed, any) future.

But people SWEAR by their Smart Speakers! Is there NOTHING those devices can't do?

What about the danger of getting too DEPENDENT on them?

I suppose they MIGHT be useful in SOME circumstances . . . 

. . . but NOT in OTHERS.

Their ultimate uses we can only DREAM about.

Happy International Women's Day!

I've been a feminist since 1970 when I was 13 years old and first heard that such a concept existed. I've tried to live my life according to feminist principles and have no regrets for doing so. Feminism made possible the life I wanted and needed.

Since I also consider myself a freethinker, though, I don't necessarily agree with every single feminist stance. Some ideas are too extremist or simply not feasible -- for example, I've never subscribed to lesbian-feminist separatism and I reject the sex negativity underlying a lot of second wave feminism. I also oppose the transphobia tearing apart the women's spirituality movement today.

But I have never stopped openly calling myself a feminist, no matter how negatively distorted a picture of feminism is painted by supremacist opponents and the media. To me, feminism simply means the conviction that men and women are equal and should be treated so.

But if a new word MUST be chosen, I would agree with THIS substitute, LOL!

So Happy International Women's Day, everyone! And remember -- onwards and upwards! Because the struggle is far from being over yet.

BEADS! BEADS EVERYWHERE!

And you know how!

Oh, fer gawd's sake!

Must Her Royal Highness the Cat

teach you EVERYTHING?

HRH is a Bead Girl from waaaaaaaaaaay back!

Maybe just a bit TOO way back . . . .

But for all you WILD WIMMIN

out there who indulge,

I'll just end with a word of advice --

That's a mistake I'LL never make AGAIN!

March Is FINALLY Here!

If March comes in like a LAMB this year, here's the perfect meme:

And if March comes in like a LION:

YIKES! Although the heat might be nice after February's frigid cold.

Maybe March could come in like some OTHER kind of big cat instead?

THAT'S more like it!

Favourite Childhood Books

I've mentioned before that I was a voracious reader as a child. I know many of you were too. So this post asks the question: what were your favourite books when you were a kid? You know, the ones that blew your socks off, the ones you read over and over, and the ones that had a real or lasting impact on your life?

Here's my list --

1. The Bobbsey Twins series of books by Laura Lee Hope (a pseudonym for a whole string of pulp writers). Anyone else remember these disgustingly wholesome little books? They've gone the way of the dodo bird now and quite rightly so. But I cut my teeth on reading them, so they have a special place in my heart despite their low quality.

2. British writer Enid Blyton's Adventure books -- The River of Adventure, The Castle of Adventure, etc. I believe there were 8 books in this series. I read them all at least 10 times.

3. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Our Grade 3 teacher read us this book in school. It was the first book I ever asked my parents to buy for me. I read it over and over until it fell apart. I never saw the movie until I was an adult.

4. Heidi by Johanna Spyri. Because of my Swiss heritage, it was a "must read" in my childhood. I liked the movie with Shirley Temple too, which I saw on TV.

5. The Little House on the Prairies series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The series is out of fashion now for its questionable views on indigenous people and its wholehearted promotion of the myth of benevolent Western settlement. But I loved these books back in the day and read them many times.

6. The Hardy Boys mysteries by Franklin W. Dixon (a pseudonym for another whole string of pulp writers). I read as many of these as I could get my hands on. I totally identified with the Hardy Boys and shunned the similar line of mysteries "for girls" about little miss prim-n-proper Nancy Drew. But as much as I despised Nancy Drew, I did like her tomboy girl chum, George. Of course, I figured out why much later on.

And as a Canadian kid, I adored the following Canadian children's books. In those days, it was so rare to read anything actually set in our own country --

7. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I had this PEI book practically memorized and used to act out its scenes constantly with one of my first girlhood crushes. I was so smitten with my little tomboy friend that I even let her be Anne. I was content to be her Diana. (One of the first posts I ever wrote for this blog was about her).

8. The Secret World of Og by Pierre Berton, who was one of our most popular and distinguished writers of Canadian history and national affairs. It's the only children's book he ever wrote, a kind of Canadian riff on the Oz books, but set in Ontario.

9. Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat, another serious author later in life who started out by writing charming kids books. Owls was actually set in Saskatchewan -- Saskatchewan, for gawd's sake! A place I knew and had been to! Who could believe it?

Okay, your turn now! What were your favourite childhood books?

Oscar Kicked My Ass!

Well, it's a good thing I didn't have any MONEY riding on the Oscars because my predictions SUCKED! Of the ten categories for which I made predictions in my last post, only four (40%) proved to be accurate:

Best Costume Design:
Ruth E. Carter for Black Panther

Best Original Song:
Lady Gaga et al for "Shallow" from A Star is Born.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Charlie Wachtel, Spike Lee et al for BlacKkKlansman

Best Supporting Actress:
Regina King for If Beale Street Could Talk

My other six predictions (60%) were horribly wrong!

Best Original Screenplay:
I predicted Adam McKay for Vice, but the winner was Nick Vallelonga et al for Green Book.

Best Actress:
Not Glenn Close for The Wife, but Olivia Colman for The Favourite.

Best Actor:
Sorry, Willem Dafoe for At Eternity's Gate, it was Rami Malek for Bohemian Rhapsody.

Best Supporting Actor:
Get lost, Sam Elliott for A Star is Born, the Academy picked Mahershala Ali for Green Book.

Best Picture:
Green Book again! Too bad, so sad, Bohemian Rhapsody.

Best Director:
I was shocked, SHOCKED, that it was not Spike Lee for BlacKkKlansman. Alfonso Cuarón of Roma took the coveted prize.

Oh well, c'est la vie. Some of the world's greatest NEVER win an Oscar.

My Fearless Oscar Predictions!

I only ever watch one awards show per year -- the Academy Awards! It's a leftover tradition from my childhood, back in the days when it was literally the only awards show on TV. Plus I love movies and these golden statuettes are still the most prestigious awards for them.

My general prediction is that this is the year when the Academy is going to recognize actors and directors who, for whatever reasons, have been grossly overlooked in years past. Wrongs will be righted and some old grievances laid to rest. In that spirit and as promised, here are my fearless Oscar predictions for ten big and/or key categories!

Best Costume Design:
Ruth E. Carter for Black Panther

Best Original Song:
"Shallow" from A Star is Born. This is the only Oscar Lady Gaga will get.

Best Original Screenplay:
Adam McKay for Vice. Whether you agree with the film's political analysis or not (and I do), it was very, very cleverly written.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Charlie Wachtel et al for BlacKkKlansman

Best Actress:
Glenn Close for The Wife. This will be her Oscar to make up for all those years of being overlooked. A "career-recognition" Oscar, if you will.

Best Actor:
Willem Dafoe for At Eternity's Gate. Ditto re the career-recognition.

Best Supporting Actress:
Regina King for If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Supporting Actor:
Sam Elliott for A Star is Born. Another career-recognition Oscar.

Best Picture:
Bohemian Rhapsody. Sorry, Cal, I know you're pulling for Black Panther.

Best Director:
Spike Lee for BlacKkKlansman. Again, a career-recognition Oscar for all those years of being unjustly snubbed and overlooked.

So we'll see tonight if I'm right!