An Evening with The Manfreds

Maximum Rhythm And Blues With The Manfreds – The 60th Anniversary Tour 2023 has just ended. I had the great pleasure to see The Manfreds and Paul Jones at Cadogan Hall in early November. I have been a huge, HUGE Manfred Mann and Paul Jones fan since I was a teenager. Years have passed but my love for them has not faded. I remember listening to the compilation album ‘Manfred Mann – The Best of the EMI Years’ over and over again, in my room in the 90s and wishing that there would be a time machine that could take me to the Sixties so I could experience the whole amazing music scene myself first hand. I have seen Paul Jones live twice before but with the The Blues Band. Which is also an excellent group, obviously! But this was the first time I got to see and hear Paul Jones, Tom McGuinness and Mike d’Abo perform those lovely Sixties hits live. And as they promised, they delivered the hits! All the songs that you know by heart, that you’ve heard hundred times before and you never get tired of them. Paul and Mike sounded magnificent, it was such a great night that I will never forget. These guys are in their eighties and they still do a show full of energy and joy! Thank you The Manfreds for the music, for the memories! ❤

The Manfreds: Pete Riley, Marcus Cliffe, Mike d’Abo, Paul Jones, Tom McGuinness, Mike Gorman, Simo Currie

Set list:
5-4-3-2-1
The One in the Middle
Fox on the Run
Sha La La
Ha! Ha! Said the Clown
I’ve Been a Bad Bad Boy
My Name is Jack
Oh No, Not My Baby
Semi Detached Suburban Mr James
Pretty Flamingo
Ragamuffin Man
Smokestack Lightning
—
Without You
Build Me Up Buttercup
If You Gotta Go, Go Now
Just Like a Woman
Watermelon Man
Handbags and Gladrags
Build Me Up Buttercup
When I’m Dead and Gone
The Mighty Quinn
Do Wah Diddy Diddy
—
Hi Lili, Hi Lo

Quantum Leap: M.I.A.

It is time for the 9th Annual TV Show Episode Blogathon. And my pick is one of the truly great ones! Quantum Leap is one of my ‘holy trinity of tv shows’, the other two being Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Bionic Woman. My blog post is thus long overdue.

***Spoilers***

The thing about Quantum Leap is… that it is simply brilliant. And my favourite episode is definitely M.I.A., set in San Diego April 9th 1969. This episode concludes the second season and oh boy, what a conclusion it is.

Sam Beckett leaps into a police detective Jake Rawlins. Sam’s holographic guide, Al Calavicci, tells Sam that during this leap, he needs to stop a woman called Beth from meeting and dating a man called Dirk and convince her to wait for her husband who is missing in action in Vietnam. Beth believes that her husband is dead. However, Al informs Sam that the husband is in fact a prisoner of war and will eventually return home.

From the first contact with Sam and Al, it is evident that Al is hiding something. He seems fixated in preventing Beth from falling in love with a man, a lawyer called Dirk, who keeps popping up in Beth’s way. At this point, the audience of Quantum Leap has come to know Al as a lighthearted ladies’ man who has been married several times and whose escapades with the ladies are numerous. Finally, it turns out that Beth is in fact Al’s first wife. While Al was suffering in a prisoner-of-war camp for several years, Beth mourned for him until she gave up, met another man, had Al declared dead and married again. This was very unfortunate since Al was Beth’s and Beth was Al’s one great love. And this is the reason why Al has not had very much luck with his subsequent marriages and affairs with women. Preventing Beth from falling in love was not the reason why Sam leaped into Jake Rawlins and when he realizes this, he and Al do the right thing and do not stand in the way of Beth’s happiness. But Sam does not leap until Al gets to say goodbye to Beth. This final scene is heartbreaking, it is the one scene one cannot watch without tears streaming, every time. But it isn’t just about the water works. This episode gives us a chance to know Al better. To understand what makes him the man he is. And once again, it celebrates the deep friendship between Sam and Al. So every time I hear the song Georgia on My Mind, I think about Al and Beth and Sam ❤

A-Z of Women – D

Blogging challenge from way waaayyy back continues!

Rules are straightforward:  You go through the alphabet and answer the following questions by naming women whose first or last name begins with the letter in question. There is no time limit.

1. Who is your favourite female author?
2. There is other culture besides literature. Who is your favourite woman in culture other than literature?
3. Two questions, you can answer both or just one. A) The woman you would like to get to know better? B) Who is your absolute favourite and would like to bring to attention?

First question: At this time, only one name comes to mind. Joan Didion who passed away in December. I read her memoir The Year of Magical Thinking some years ago and it was a really powerful experience. She had a distinctive style of writing and I am grateful that I still have many of her works waiting on my reading list.

Second question: *drum roll* Doris Day. Surprise. Her work never gets old. Love love love.

Third question: Angela Davis. I have her memoir on my reading list. Hopefully, I have time to read it this year…

RIP Dean Stockwell

Last Tuesday I read the sad news from Russ Tamblyn’s tweet that Dean Stockwell had passed away. To me, Dean Stockwell has always been dear. First of all, my beloved Quantum Leap would not be the same without Dean as Al Calavicci. Furthermore, his work for example in Son’s and Lovers and Long Day’s Journey Into Night is superb. Rest in peace Dean, you will not be forgotten. Your work will live on ❤

A-Z of Women – C

Blogging challenge from way back continues!

Rules are straightforward:  You go through the alphabet and answer the following questions by naming women whose first or last name begins with the letter in question.There is no time limit.

1. Who is your favourite female author?
2. There is other culture besides literature. Who is your favourite woman in culture other than literature?
3. Two questions, you can answer both or just one. A) The woman you would like to get to know better? B) Who is your absolute favourite and would like to bring to attention?

1. Babette Cole was a children’s writer and illustrator. Her style was unique and hilarious. And educational. I can’t remember any other children’s books that made me laugh as much. And children love them too. Dr. Dog is hilarious with depictions of all kind of maladies (such as pinworms :P) that the good doctor cures. Princess Smartypants is a saucy and independent individual who knows her own mind. And loves her pets. The stories are out out-of-the-box and illustrations are vivacious.

2. Fanny Churberg was a landscape painter. Her paintings are impressive and dramatic depicting nature and the countryside in all its’ glory.

Shocks of Rye (1876) / Public domain.

3. Imogen Cunningham was a photographer. A famous pioneer in modern photography. However, I haven’t yet explored her work and I missed the exhibition last year in Turku.

Long Time No See

No time for blogging. Except maybe just for one huge fan girl moment. Russ Tamblyn is finally writing his memoirs! According to his Twitter page on August 3rd: “Working on my memoir with my buddy Pat here. He gets to hear all the raw stories and personal photographs. Don’t be jealous. It will all belong to you, soon enough.”

The first time I heard about this project was 20 years ago! As an avid fan girl I wrote to Mr. Tamblyn in 1998 asking for a signed photo which he sent ❤ (and that is one of my prized possessions). There was also a letter attached that said thanks for the support and that Mr. Tamblyn is writing his memoir called “Tamblin’ Through Hollywood”. Ever since I’ve been eagerly waiting for that book. Is my wait finally coming to an end?!

Gill Paul: Hollywoodin rakkaustarinoita (Hollywood Love Stories)

This is my fourth post for the Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge 2016.

Gill Paul’s Hollywood Love Stories is an easy read. If you like Hollywood gossip and enjoy the bittersweet drama that is behind every(?) glamorous show business love story then this is your book. Short accounts of beloved couples’ lives and loves with lots of pictures. Some film history tidbits as well. This book definitely inspires to read more about these stars and their lives. However, I have one question to the author: Why, oh why, didn’t you include one of the most legendary Hollywood love affairs in the book ? Naturally, I’m referring to Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. Their marriage lasted for 50 years and was by all accounts a happy one. Their love story is only mentioned in a footnote…

A-Z of Women – B

This is my second post for the blogging challenge in Tarukirja blog. Rules are straightforward:  You go through the alphabet and answer the following questions by naming women whose first or last name begins with the letter in question.There is no time limit.

1. Who is your favourite female author?
2. There is other culture besides literature. Who is your favourite woman in culture other than literature?
3. Two questions, you can answer both or just one. A) The woman you would like to get to know better? B) Who is your absolute favourite and would like to bring to attention?

1. Anne Brontë. My favourite of the Brontë sisters. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was an impressive novel.

2. Pauline Boty. She is definitely my favourite artist ever. One of the few famous female pop artists, she was almost completely forgotten after she died in 1966. I remember reading that her paintings were storaged in her brother’s barn and were salvaged when an exhibition was organized in 1998. See some pics here.

3A. Bodil Ipsen. She was a Danish film director. So far I’ve seen Mordets melodi (1944) and would like to see more. The funny thing about this film was that I noticed that the Danish language spoken in the 1940s seems to be easier to understand than contemporary Danish. Or maybe the actors just paid more attention to articulation…

Mary McCarthy: The Group

This is my third post for the Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge 2016.

I really wanted to like The Group (Finnish translation Ryhmä). It’s a story of eight young women who graduate from Vassar in 1933. It is the time of the Great Depression but these women are not really the ones to suffer because of it. They have time to worry about other things such as extramarital sex, birth control, miscarriages, cheating husbands, violent dates, sexism in the work place, mental health issues and lesbianism. Controversial subjects in the 1930s and also in 1963 when the book was published. These days not so much. I am sad to say but I found both the book and the film (directed by Sidney Lumet in 1966) tedious and dated. I didn’t care for any of the characters and I didn’t understand why they were friends in the first place. Also, eight main characters is just too much. Trying to get to know all of them is difficult. The movie is 150 minutes long and in desperate need of editing. The cast is pretty great with Candice Bergen, Shirley Knight and Richard Mulligan to name a few. And kudos to the costume department, the look and style are impeccable. Apparently The Group was an inspiration to Candace Bushnell when she wrote Sex and the City. However, SATC hasn’t yet lost its attraction unlike The Group.

 

Cover of Ryhmä 

DVD Cover

 

Hannah Kohler: The Outside Lands

*Spoiler alert*
Hannah Kohler has written a universal story about the insanity of war and what better backdrop than the Sixties, California and Vietnam War? Jeannie and Kip loose their mother in a tragic accident. This loss defines the teenage siblings’ lives for years to come. Kip gets into trouble, fights with his dad and on a whim decides to enlist and go to Vietnam. Jeannie gets into trouble with the first eligible man that comes along (a medical doctor no less) and settles for a quiet but unhappy life as a housewife. However, fate has other plans. For Kip the true nature of war uncovers gradually. There are no heroes, no honor. Just regular guys trying to survive day to day the best they can. And when Kip has finally had enough, he resorts to an act that will change his life forever. Back home Jeannie finds the lust for life with a young and beautiful but reckless anti-war activist Lee. Together they try to help drafted young men to avoid active duty by falsifying medical certificates. This side of the story I have no problem with. Kohler has done her research. The thing that is missing is the ever so important atmosphere. Kohler doesn’t describe enough the surroundings, clothing, decor, music etc. This story could have taken place anywhere, anytime. And for a 1960s enthusiast this is a bit disappointing. The lesbian relationship between Jeannie and Lee seems pointless. I don’t think that plot twist brings anything new to the story.

This novel inspires me to search for other novels or short stories about the Vietnam War and the home front. Preferably something that was written and/or published in the 1960s or 1970s. I have to research this topic further…