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• Jan. 23, 2004 | 2:45 p.m. PT
Captain Kangaroo remembered:
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CBS / AP file |
• "I had a Captain Kangaroo record that played birthday songs and was customized with my name. It was a thrill to hear the Captain speak "directly to me" and sing "Happy Birthday, Chris/Your birthday is today/Hey!" and "There's a boy named Christopher/A boy who we all love." Thirty years later we still talk about that record every year. I hope it's still in my mom's house somewhere. I'd hate to lose it!" —Chris
• "I was saddened to the point of a tear or two rolling down my face when I learned that the Captain was gone. I lost my mother this past June, and it seems that daily another part of my childhood disappears. I never missed the Captain while I was growing up. Mr. Moose, Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Green Jeans are as much a part of me as Sunday morning church services and my Mother's homemade chicken and "smashed taters." . . . Every time I see a ping-pong ball I remember that show." —Jack
• "Sure hope ["Captain Kangaroo"] gets re-run or on DVD . . . My 19-month-old [and I] love the moose and the ping pong balls." —Scott
Five-link Friday: • Want to recreate Disneyland in your own home? Start with one of the original Space Mountain vehicles ($5,200), then move on to a gondola from Tomorrowland's People Mover ($2,000). You can pick up other goodies from Disney's eBay auction page. (Via Boingboing.)• Think you could do a better job than Michael Jackson's plastic surgeon? Give it a try! • Readers of the New Yorker may have puzzled over an odd essay in the Jan. 19 issue. "Nation columnist Katha Pollitt wrote an article called "Webstalker," in which she describes searching like a crazy woman for any online info about her ex and his new love. She tells everything about them but their names, so the New York Observer picks up that dropped ball.• Just two more reruns of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." Fans can console themselves by taking this quiz to determine "Which Mystery Science Theater 3000 villain are you?" I'm Eegah, which is kind of depressing since I'd hoped to be Torgo or even Jan in the Pan. (MSTies will get all those reference.)• It's a sad day in TV-land. Captain Kangaroo -- also known as Bob Keeshan -- has died at 76. In my household, the Captain was one of those people like Mister Rogers, almost too nice to be real. It's sad to think of a world without these two gentle giants of children's television.Send in your memories of the Captain. It's quite a loss.
• Jan. 22, 2004 |10:30 a.m. PT
‘Starting Over’ revolt: The reality show "Starting Over" has been called a "Soaprah" and "old-lady 'Real World" (that last by no less an authority than Melissa Howard of "Real World New Orleans")
If you haven't seen it, it's a reality show with an ever-changing cast. Women move into the "Starting Over" house in Chicago because they are struggling with some part of their life. Problems so far have included weight loss, an inability to drive, massive debt and more ambiguous woes such as "learning to trust other women." Women work with Starting Over's two "life coaches" and when it's decided that a woman has reached her goal, she "graduates" and moves out of the house. This show is no "Fear Factor," but it can be somewhat addictive.
The most recent "Starting Over" graduate is Audrey Tucker, who moved into the house wanting to be a country singer. The show arguably did more for her than it has done for any other woman -- hooking her up with music lessons, a band, got her songs pressed onto a demo CD, had a radio station play her music, and even snagged her a performance at the Arizona State Fair, none of which she could have done on her own without a lot of work.
Then, the night before Audrey's graduation from the house, one of those snarky fights that are so common to reality shows. When other housemates chose to briefly stop at another event before going with Audrey to dinner, there was a knock-down, drag-out screaming fight of the type reality shows love to save for their future promos. From the scenes viewers saw, both sides were in the wrong, but Audrey's refusal to listen made her out as the bad guy.
The next day in a meeting, life coach Rhonda Britten tried to settle the matter, but she cluelessly only made it worse, allowing Audrey to call another woman "trash" and knuckle-rapping the other housemates while letting Audrey off scot-free. It was a stunning scene for those who'd seen the fight in a different light, and immediately Internet message boards began to light up.
The official "Starting Over" board has been deluged with thousands of messages condemning Rhonda's handling of the situation, some calling for her resignation. Topic names include "They have to get rid of Rhonda," "I have no more respect for Rhonda," "Rhonda needs to apologize" and "Rhonda handled this very badly." Some viewers are swearing to never watch the show again, others are questioning Rhonda's credentials.
Some would say it's ridiculous for viewers to get so involved in a TV show, but admittedly, reality shows like "Starting Over" invite this kind of reader involvement. They want viewers to get involved with the cast members, cheering them on and, yes, picking sides. They really shouldn't be surprised when viewers take things a little too personally.
• Jan. 20, 2004| 9:30 a.m. PT
Books to the big screen: There were so many thoughtful responses to my question about whether you read the book before seeing the movie that for once, the real e-mail in my mailbox outnumbered the spam!
There was no universal opinion, and I didn't expect one. Even the most ardent readers could find a movie or two or three that improved on the book -- named most often was the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Here are some of your thoughts.
Books are better
• "Unfortunately, movies only sometimes ruin the books, but what is really is ruined is a country that becomes too lazy to read. . . . With reading each reader is able to create the story with their own vision and not Hollywood's." —Barbara
• "I think the whole enjoyment, for me anyway, in reading a book is that it allows your imagination to work and decide for yourself how the characters look and what their world is like. The story is actually played out in your head. Books rule!" —Jill
•"I loath what Hollywood does to the books I read, and I have on a number of occasions not seen films I had been informed were mangling the story. I understand that film is a different media than print, and that a certain amount of compression or expansion is necessary. But actually changing elements of the story, distorting plotlines, reinventing characters or suppressing other characters, is incomprehensible to me - and a vandalizing of literature." —Bruce
Movies are better
• "I don't read books for exactly that reason. It takes far more talent to create a great movie than it does to write just a book. I never want to be disappointed in the movie, so I stay away from the books. The reader's imagination makes it a different experience for everyone who reads it, and the result may or may not be what the writer intended." —Jason
Both are great
• "I have seen many paintings and photographs of Monet's garden in Giverny, and many of them were even the exact same spot. Each rendition tells the scene just a little differently, yet one does not spoil the other. Some artists prefer a camera, some acrylic, and some oil on canvas. I love many different mediums. In the same way, I love to see a story that I have read come to life first in my imagination and then see another artist's rendition of the same story on the big screen. The movie does not spoil the book for me." —Mark
Movie, then book
• "My opinion is I like to read the book after I see the movie. If the movie was interesting or the characters played a dynamic role then I know the detail in the book will be better. Details in books about characters, scenery, and genres are often much more enjoyable when you read them, but can be even more descriptive if you've seen played out." —Andrea
• "I would rather see a movie first and then read the book. Otherwise I spend so much energy trying to picture the characters in the book." —Joanna
Book, then movie
• "I think it's always a good idea to read the book before watching the movie that's based on it. At least for me, reading the book creates a personalized experience that a movie cannot do likewise. When you are watching a movie, you are an outside involvement, taken along for the ride. You create the world in a book, you plan the route, and it's always better to form your own opinions and thoughts on a story before experiencing someone else's, even a good director's." —Dean
• "I absolutely must wait to see the movie until after I have read the book. In fact, I try not to even see a preview of the movie while I am reading the book, lest the actors' looks should interfere with my imagination of the book characters." —Elizabeth
Book, not movie
• "Nine times out of ten I am disappointed with Hollywood's version of books that I have read. The only movie that lived up to the book was 'The Shining.' Nicholson was a perfect pick. But now, if I liked the book, I avoid the movie." —Joanne
"Lord of the Rings" got it right
• "I read The Hobbit years ago, but never took on the challenge to read Lord of the Rings. After the first Lord of the Rings movie, I decided to pick up the books and read them. For once, I actually had a hard time reading, because the movie was so close to the books, that it seemed almost boring to read the same scenes." —Roger
• "It's a rare occurrence that I enjoy the movie as much or more then the book. A few exceptions, such as The Lord of the Rings. This is one of the few times that I caught myself enjoying the movie (slightly) more then the books. Just for that, Mr. Jackson should win an Oscar!" —Susie
• "I will always read the book before seeing the movie so that I will not be influenced by the images of a director to convey the author's vision to me. Seeing a movie of a great book will not prompt me to read the book because the literary experience will forever be tarnished by the casting and images of the movie ... the book rules as original source. However, in the recent 'Return of the King,' Peter Jackson somehow managed to vision scenes from the book more spectacularly than I had ever imagined them in my multiple readings of Lord of the Rings." —Denis
"Lord of the Rings" got it wrong
• "In the case of The Lord of The Rings, the differences are so extreme that I would consider it a good idea for the industry to consider a remake in the next 20 years. The treatment in the movie was at so many levels inaccurate, Hollywoodish, and childish in the sense that it seemed to be directed by a teenage mentality." —K
Specific movie/books:
• "It used to be that I couldn't wait to see a movie adaptation of my favorite book, that was...until 'Timeline.' [Director] Richard Donner should be ashamed of what he did to that book. . . . I waited years since reading the book to see the movie, only to leave the theater trying to get others to rid with me to egg Donner's car. Maybe they need to adopt a rule that when they change a movie script that far from the book, they need to have 'Based very loosely on the book' in the title." —Kevin
• "I think it goes both ways. The Tom Clancy book 'Sum Of All Fears,' great book, bad casting in the movie. Ben Affleck has his good acting moments, but he was too young for the role and a lot of Tom Clancy fans didn't like that and said it ruined the movie. But then you have 'To Kill A Mockingbird.' The book was still better than the movie, but I could watch the movie over and over again." —Lindsay
• "I have always insisted that my five-year-old daughter watch a movie only after she reads the book. For some books it has been great! On the other hand, for others it has been a letdown. For example, when we watched the Harry Potter series, we figured it was well made and not many images were really a whole lot different from what you'd infer from the book. On the other hand, when we watched 'Stuart Little' (based on the classic book by E.B. White), it felt terrible." —Rema
• "I am a classic literature aficionado and have experienced the mixed bag you have. I enjoyed Campion's rendition of 'Portrait of a Lady,' but miss the insightful prose of George Elliot in the still-interesting-to-watch BBC 'Middlemarch.' I enjoyed watching the most recent 'Mansfield Park,' even though it had little to do with the book. And I still maintain 'Lord of the Rings' should never be visualized, even though Jackson did a marvelous job." —Brad
• "Perhaps it's the genre that makes the difference. I was thrilled (last century) to see the movie 'King Rat' cleave so closely to the book, and now I can't differentiate between the two. But the modern Harry Potter movies while still enjoyable, are a different critter from the books. Science Fiction (OK ...& Fantasy) seem to be more manipulated." —Warren
• "I understand that it is impossible to fit most books into a 1 1/2 hour movie. So the film folks take a slice, and we the audience get to taste the pie. If we like it, we can always read the book. I think the best adaptation I've ever seen is A&E's 'Pride and Prejudice.' I read 'Little Women' for the first time as a child, and many times since. The version starring Winona Ryder is so enjoyable, I watch it over and over. Likewise, Harry Potter, though they could not fit it all in. I was a huge fan of Jean Shepherd's before 'Christmas Story' came out, so I recognized bits from many different stories, and still enjoyed it. There have been dozens that I have scorned, but that was before I came to the conscious realization that they could not do the whole book." —Nancy
"I saw ‘Cold Mountain’ last Saturday and ran to the library to get the book. I am a constant reader and am not ignorant by any means of the word. Here's my dilemma, this book takes work to read. It is almost too literary for my taste after having seen the movie. I am the one who can usually read a novel in 2 days, here I am on Wednesday night barely on page 50. I find myself wondering if I had not seen the movie would I know what in the world was going on in this book? It is too slow for me. In this case the movie I fear is probably better than the book.” —Misty
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