Bonanza: An Old TV Show Worth Watching

 

When looking at the posts I've made on this blog so far, I feel a little bit like Maria in The Sound of Music: "These are a few of my favorite things"!  Here's another one of my favorite things: the show Bonanza.  It was one of the longest-running Westerns on TV, having fourteen seasons (1959-1973). And it's family friendly, which I really appreciate.  I discovered it in 2016 when my family watched an episode for my dad's birthday, and I was hooked!  

Bonanza is set in Nevada (near Lake Tahoe) in the 1860's.  It's a show about family, a father and his three sons.   I feel that the best way to introduce the show is to introduce the main characters.  So I present to you...the four Cartwrights!

Ben Cartwright owns the Ponderosa, the biggest ranch in Nevada Territory.  There are two things in Ben's life that he really, really cares about: his sons and his land.  If anyone threatens Ben's boys or the Ponderosa, Ben will come after them.  (And an angry Ben Cartwright is one of the most terrifying things in the West!)  Ben is a wise man and a kind one, and he has a great sense of humor!  He brings up his boys to be honest, compassionate, loyal, and gentlemanly.  He's played by Lorne Greene (who was also in Battlestar Galactica).

Adam Cartwright (played by Pernell Roberts) is Ben's oldest son.  He went to study architecture in a college in Boston, but returned to the Ponderosa afterwards.  Adam loves Shakespeare, music, and logical arguments.  He can build a sawmill, out-fox wily outlaws, and bust the toughest of broncs.   As Ben's oldest son, Adam has a lot of responsibilities...overseeing ranch hands, making business deals, going on long trips, buying horses...and he fulfills them all! 

Hoss Cartwright (played by Dan Blocker) is the middle son, and at about 6'4" he's the biggest of the Cartwrights!  (Hoss's name is really Eric, but nobody calls him that.)  Hoss is one of the kindest and gentlest men in the West.  He loves taking care of children and animals, and he's always bringing strays home to the Ponderosa to see if he can help them!  Hoss is a fantastic tracker, a champion wrestler, and a patient brother.  And he needs all the patience he can get, because his little brother is quite a handful!

 "Little" Joe Cartwright, played by Michael Landon, is the youngest.  (You may recognize the actor from Little House on the Prairie...he grew up to play Pa Ingalls!) Joe is always in and out of trouble.  He rushes into dangerous situations, chases girls, and comes up with crazy schemes (and ropes Hoss into them!)  He has a quick temper and a fast gun to match, and he's got a lot of growing up to do. But he's got a lot of love for his Pa and his brothers, and he's not afraid to show it.  With Little Joe around, life on the Ponderosa is never dull!

The Cartwright family always sticks together.  When there's trouble, they're united to meet it.  And there often is trouble, since this is the Wild West!  The Cartwrights deal with cattle rustlers, bank robbers, and outlaws of all descriptions.  They travel through scorching deserts.  They go out of their way to help neighbors who are dealing with problems like poverty, drought, or blackmail.  And through it all, they maintain a terrific sense of humor!

Some of my favorite episodes:

• "Ponderosa Matador" (Comedy).  Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe are all trying to impress the same girl...and Hoss and Joe decide to put on a bullfight!
•  "The Wooing of Abigail Jones" (Comedy).  The ranch foreman, Hank Meyers, wants to marry a woman named Abigail Jones who's not interested in him.  Hoss and Joe try to save the day by talking Adam into proposing to Abigail on behalf of Hank!
• "San Francisco" (Drama).  Ben, Hoss, and Joe go to San Francisco and get kidnapped by men who are trying to force them to become sailors.
• "The Rescue" (Drama). The Cartwrights deal with cattle rustlers.
• "The Ride" (Drama).  Adam witnesses a murder, but to prove who committed the crime he's got to prove that someone can ride from Goat Springs to Virginia City in an hour and a half.
•  "The Gunmen" (Comedy). Hoss and Little Joe are mistaken for two hired gunmen called the Slade Brothers.

This short post doesn't do this terrific show justice...if you're interested, there's a terrific Bonanza fan website at  http://www.bonanzaboomers.com .  (I moderate two forums on that website under the username "CowgirlAtHeart.")

My Favorite Fictional Detectives

 

I've always loved detective stories.  As a child, I read every "Happy Hollisters," "Hardy Boys," and "Nancy Drew" book I could get my hands on.  I always tried to figure out the mystery before the end of the book.  Sometimes I was successful, but most of the time I was completely mystified until the detective revealed the truth.  Then (finally) I was old enough to read classic mystery stories written for adults.  I devoured stacks of mystery books and discovered three detectives that became favorites (and remain favorites to this day): Father Brown, Lord Peter Wimsey, and Miss Marple.

Note: In the selection of those three detectives as my favorites, I have no ill-will towards Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot.  I have also read and enjoyed books featuring those detectives (and spent considerable time researching to figure out how to say Poirot's name...it's pronounced "air-KYOOL pwa-ROH").  

Father Brown

“But, as a matter of fact, another part of my trade, too, made me sure you weren’t a priest.” “What?” asked the thief, almost gaping. “You attacked reason,” said Father Brown. “It’s bad theology.” 

(G.K. Chesterton, The Blue Cross)

 Father Brown is, first and foremost, a Catholic priest with a firm grasp of theology and a great zeal for the conversion of sinners.  But he's also an expert at solving mysterious crimes.  From his dealings with vast numbers of people in various states of sin and repentance, Father Brown has learned a lot about human nature.  His secret to solving crimes is that he can put himself in the criminal's shoes; he knows just what he would do if he were the man stealing the diamonds.  And he's not as interested in bringing criminals to justice as he is in getting them to see where they've done wrong. 

 

Father Brown also has a sense of humor.  For instance, in The Blue Cross, he leaves a trail of ridiculous things behind him for the French detective Valentin to follow...mixing up apples and oranges, putting salt in a sugar bowl, and paying for a windowpane first and breaking it afterwards!

Father Brown is incredibly humble and innocent.  He will capture a criminal and then slip away before anyone gets a chance to thank him.  The criminals that he confronts don't know what to make of him; he's nothing like any detective they've ever seen.  One of them, Flambeau, repents after he's caught and becomes fast friends with Father Brown, helping him solve more crimes.

G.K. Chesterton did a marvelous job with Father Brown's character!  The only thing I'm sad about is that I've read all the Father Brown stories...I wish there were more!

Lord Peter Wimsey

“But to Lord Peter the world presented itself as an entertaining labyrinth of side-issues.”

(Dorothy L. Sayers, Clouds of Witness)

British aristocrat.  Bibliophile.  Master of Arts from Oxford.  John Donne enthusiast.  Champion cricket player.  Expert pianist.  Crime solver.  Lord Peter Wimsey is the Renaissance man of detectives.  Everything interests him, and no detail is too small for him to notice.  With his butler, Bunter (a man much like P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves), he continually finds himself getting involved in detective cases.  Those around him say indulgently that it's a hobby he has.  Lord Peter knows better...he doesn't solve crimes because he likes to.  He solves crimes because he knows how to do it and people ask him to help them.  

Lord Peter is a human character, despite his nearly superhuman powers of observation.  He has difficulties with his brother and sister-in-law, who don't like his detective work.  He has nervous breakdowns caused by PTSD from World War I.  He is madly in love with Harriet Vane, whom he saved from the gallows and who continually maintains she will never marry him. (He proposes to her at intervals...on April Fool's Day, on her birthday, or in the middle of a group of police...sometimes very seriously, sometimes jocosely.) 

Lord Peter is also full of quotations.  In Have His Carcase, he says, "I always have a quotation for everything--it saves original thinking."  I always love it when book characters quote other books I've read!  He talked so much about Kai Lung and about John Donne's poetry that I went and checked out both books from the library.  (I was not disappointed.)  

Some say that Dorothy Sayers must have been in love with the character of Lord Peter Wimsey while she was writing those books.  I believe it!  His character is incredibly well-done.

Miss Marple

“Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle appealing manner- Miss Wetherby is a mixture of vinegar and gush. Of the two Miss Marple is the more dangerous.”  

(Agatha Christie, Murder at the Vicarage)

No one who didn't know Miss Marple would ever think she had anything to do with solving crimes.  She's an elderly lady with a meek, kindly attitude and a propensity for listening to village gossip.  And she's lived in the same village for almost all of her long life.  But she has an uncanny knack for spotting a criminal.

Miss Marple's secret lies in her knowledge of the people in her own village.  According to her, “Everybody is very much alike, really. But fortunately, perhaps, they don't realise it." When a crime is committed, Miss Marple can remember a similar situation from when she was young.  By remembering the sort of person who committed the similar crime long ago, she can figure out who must have committed this crime.  

She doesn't stay at home trying to solve crimes, either.  She travels around, poking her nose into all kinds of situations to find out what's going on.  People tell her things because they don't have any idea she's doing detective work.  Sometimes her work is dangerous and she has to flee, but she remains determined to figure out the truth.  She has more bravery and perseverance than someone a quarter of her age.  And through it all, she stays sweet and kind.  Agatha Christie invented a fantastic character in Miss Marple!

10 Reasons Why I Enjoyed the 5th Pirates of the Caribbean

 

Warning: This post contains spoilers.

After seeing the second and third "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, I told myself...and everyone else...that I was tired of the "Pirates" franchise.  I just didn't like Pirates 2 and 3...the plots were really convoluted and it seemed that each successive movie was trying to one-up the previous one.  Besides, #2 ended on a cliffhanger and #3 had an unsatisfying ending (was that supposed to be a happy ending?  It didn't feel like one!)  I didn't watch movie #4 at all...it didn't have Orlando Bloom or Keira Knightley, and it did have weird CGI mermaids.  No, thank you!

So my sister practically had to drag me to watch Pirates #5, "Dead Men Tell No Tales," with her this afternoon.  And to my surprise, I liked it!  I had a good discussion with my sister about the movie afterwards; she says she thinks the filmmakers were trying to fix all the things people complained about with #2 and #3.  Anyway, here are ten reasons why I liked it.  Feel free to disagree with me in the comments if you wish. :P

 1. It had a simple plot.

The thing that bothered me the most about movies 2 and 3 was how confusing they were.  There were so many plot twists and different storylines that I couldn't keep them straight in my head!  This movie, on the other hand, had a simple plotline.  Everyone wanted the Trident of Neptune.  They all went after it.  Eventually, they all got to the place where it was and had a fight over it.  I appreciated how straightforward it all was.  That's not to say there weren't any subplots...there were a few of those (I'll talk about some of them later in the post), but they didn't work as extra complications to the main plot.

2. It completed the Will and Elizabeth story in a satisfying way.

I was so frustrated at the end of movie 3 when Will was doomed to captain the "Flying Dutchman," only returning for one day every ten years to be with Elizabeth.  After all they had gone through together, it seemed horribly unfair that they should be separated again.  So, when the curse was broken at the end of movie 5 and Will was released and reunited with Elizabeth, it was a huge relief...finally, a real happy ending! 

3. Henry Turner was a likeable character.

At first, when I realized one of the main characters was Henry, Will Turner's son, I groaned inwardly.  I tend to dislike sequels where the main character is the son of the main character in the previous movie.  But Henry (played by Brenton Thwaites) was a bold, driven character and actually reminded me a bit of Orlando Bloom (and a bit of Christian Bale as well).  I didn't mind that he was a main character instead of Will.

4. Barbossa got a heroic ending.

Barbossa was a character I never cared much for in the first three movies.  He was either the villain or was grudgingly helping Jack Sparrow (for selfish purposes of his own).  I liked that this movie redeemed him by having him sacrifice himself for his daughter.  (I never saw that twist coming, by the way.)  I found myself crying when he died.  (Don't tell anyone! :P)

5. The villain was well-done.

I could have done without the disgusting way Captain Salazar's mouth dripped blood every time he talked.  I don't know what was going on with that.  But apart from that, he was a great villain.  He had one goal...revenge on Jack Sparrow...and he was trying to achieve it, no matter what (a bit like the way Javert in "Les Miserables" keeps looking for Prisoner 24601).  

6. We got to see some of Jack Sparrow's back story.

It was very cool to see Jack Sparrow become captain of his own ship, with his men giving him tribute (such as the hat that would become his famous hat)!

7. The bank-robbing scene was hilarious.

The scene where the pirates rob a bank by dragging the whole bank building down the streets of the town is just absurd.  Impossible...ridiculous...and insanely funny!  I could not stop laughing as the bank building scooted down the streets, with Jack Sparrow trying to keep up with it.  And it was poetic justice that the safe came open and all the money got lost.

8. The love story wasn't overdone.

Henry and Carina grow to like each other by the end, but that isn't the main focus of the story.  Although I like the way Will is constantly in love with Elizabeth during the earlier movies, I'm glad the writers didn't do the same thing with Henry and Carina.  They had just met at the beginning of the movie and couldn't even get along with each other until late in the story.  It would have been weird to have a romantic storyline happen quickly.

9. There wasn't much actual piracy.

One of the things that always bothers me about the Pirates movies is that there are good guys who are bad guys.  That is...piracy is wrong.  And the Pirates movies often seem to glorify it.  In this movie, besides the bank-robbing scene, there really wasn't any piracy to speak of.  Everyone was too busy hunting for the Trident of Neptune.

10. We got to see Will with his son.

One of the best moments of the movie was when Will, freed from his curse, was reunited with Henry.  (One of the other best moments was when Will was reunited with Elizabeth, but I digress.) It was great (and a little tear-jerking) to see how proud Will was of his son!    

So there it is: my list of ten reasons why I liked Pirates #5.  I must add that there were also some things I did not like about the movie.  For one thing, there was quite a bit of joking about inappropriate topics...sex, prostitution, etc.  If I watch it again, I'm definitely muting it in those places.  Also, I hated how Gibbs makes an unwitting sailor the captain in Jack's absence so he, not Gibbs, has to face Captain Salazar's wrath.  Another thing I didn't like was that a couple of the "bad guys" early on in the movie who think Carina is a witch seem to be priests or religious sisters.  But apart from those problematic elements, I really enjoyed watching it! 

Five Incredible Books that Deserve to be Read

 

Have you ever been in this situation?  You read a book and want to discuss it with somebody.  Then you discover that none of your friends (or hardly any of them) have read it...so you go around trying to get them to read it!  This post is my attempt to do just that. :D  Here are short summaries of five books that I really like and think others would like to read too!

The Paradise Project by Suzie Andres

The Paradise Project is a Pride and Prejudice-esque novel set in the modern day.  It's really fun as a Jane Austen spinoff, but I know I would have loved it even if I had never read any Austen at all.  The characters are vivid; the plot is well-done; and the humor is terrific!  The main character, Elizabeth Benning, embarks upon a year-long project to find happiness.  With support from her loving sister Jane and best friend Emily, competition from Jane's husband Pat, well-meaning interference from a mysterious man named Ralph, and chilly behavior from Ralph's friend (or is it girlfriend?) Gretchen, Elizabeth has her work cut out for her to find where her happiness lies!

This book is extra-special to me because I know the author, Mrs. Andres, personally.  If you want to learn more about her writing, you can visit her website: http://www.suzieandres.com/ !

Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery

I read Enemy Brothers first in high school and enjoyed it immensely.  In fact, I liked it so much that when I had to write an essay on a book for my college application, I chose it for the subject of my essay.  Enemy Brothers is the story of two brothers caught on opposite sides of World War II.  Twelve-year old "Max Eckermann" is taken away from Germany and brought to England.  When he gets there, he runs into a young Englishman named Dym who says Max is really his kidnapped younger brother Tony.  Max--or Tony--is determined to get back to Germany and help Hitler win the war; Dym is equally determined to show him that he's really his brother and that England's cause is right.  The characters, especially those of Dym and Tony, are fantastic.  I've re-read this book at least half a dozen times, and every time I enjoy it just as much as the time before.

The Mass of Brother Michel by Michael Kent

I borrowed this book from a college friend and absolutely loved it!  For years it was out of print, and I tried to get it used but despaired when I saw how much money it was going to cost.  Finally, however, it's back in print!  

The Mass of Brother Michel tells the story of a young nobleman in the Middle Ages.  At the beginning, he seems to have all the good things in life: health, good looks, riches, and a beautiful and good lady in love with him.  But when he gets seriously injured in a hunting accident, his whole life turns around as evil family members turn against him.  Michel ends up in a monastery, offering all his sufferings up to God.  In his new life, his one desire is to become a priest and be able to offer Holy Mass...but he needs to learn that sometimes even the holiest of desires is unattainable on earth.  This book explores the depths of human misery and suffering and the joy of holiness; it's one of the most moving books I've ever read.  I highly recommend it.

Where The Woods Grow Wild by Nate Philbrick

It's hard for me to find a fantasy novel that I like.  If it isn't by C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien I have an inherent distrust of it.  Other fantasy novels usually seem to be 1) not very good or 2) totally copied from Lewis and Tolkien.   But I stumbled upon this fantasy novel, Where the Woods Grow Wild, a few months ago, and I loved it.  It's a new book...it just came out in December 2016!

Where The Woods Grow Wild is the story of a boy named Martin who goes into the forest to search for his missing friend Elodie.  This forest isn't like any other forest I've read about, and the creatures in it aren't like any creatures I've read about, either.  The author, Nate Philbrick, did a fantastic job at building his own fantasy world.  The characters are complex and well-rounded.  Also, the book is very clean (which I really appreciate).  A lot of the things Martin finds in the forest are downright terrifying, so that I was on the edge of my seat with suspense.  This was a very fun, exciting book!

The author (who's only in his twenties, by the way) has a blog at https://youwritefiction.wordpress.com/ where he gives terrific (and funny) writing advice and talks about the other writing projects he's working on (including a sequel called Where The Woods Grow in Flames).

Carney's House Party by Maud Hart Lovelace

Last but not least, Carney's House Party is a book about a girl living in a town called Deep Valley, Minnesota right before World War I.  It has many of the characters from Maud Hart Lovelace's "Betsy-Tacy" books, but it's not necessary to have read the "Betsy-Tacy" books to enjoy this one!  Caroline, or "Carney," is home from college for the summer and navigating relationships with her friends.  With Larry (her old beau) coming back from California, Isobel (her sophisticated, sometimes stuck-up, college roommate) staying with her, Sam (a dashing young neighbor that Carney can't understand) hanging around for reasons of his own, and a community spreading gossip like wildfire, Carney is in for an unforgettable summer!  

New Year's Resolutions

"Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man." ~ Benjamin Franklin

I've always felt funny about making New Year's resolutions.  It seems odd to me to pick a particular day of the year for deciding to improve ourselves.  After all, shouldn't we resolve to be better every day, not just at the beginning of the year?  But I usually made resolutions anyway...over-ambitious ones that I didn't end up following for more than a week.  

Then I read somewhere that a good resolution has five attributes (they spell the word SMART): specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.  Those attributes make sense to me; if you have a vague, unreachable, or badly-timed resolution, you're probably not going to end up following it.  So, with the five attributes in mind, I formed the following resolutions for 2018:

1) I will read 100 books during the year.  This includes re-reading things I've already read.  To keep track of my progress, I'm adding the books to Goodreads as I finish them, and I've also made a Pinterest board for pictures of the books (yes, I'm hopelessly addicted to Pinterest).  So far I've re-read Emma by Jane Austen and am in the middle of re-reading Persuasion.  Goodreads says I'm one book behind on my goal already, but I'm hoping that when I finish Persuasion I'll be back on track.  I'm planning on coming up with a book list soon too, but I haven't started making it yet.

The reason for this resolution is that, although I love reading, I lost a lot of my momentum during college when I had so many things to read for school.  After college, I never got back into the swing of regular reading.  I'm hoping this resolution will help with that!

2) I will post something on this blog at least once a week, barring family emergencies or vacations.  I'm not sure what I'll post yet, but I am going to post something.

The reason for this resolution is that I tried to blog before and failed miserably because I never posted anything.  This time I'm determined to post regularly!

 

Do you make New Year's Resolutions?  And do you agree with the SMART theory about resolutions?  I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!