Time to give them their heartworm medication! The stuff these guys get comes as a “delicious meaty treat” that all dogs love. And as a rule, they do. They eat them right up like treats and as they are rather small, they wait around for a chaser.
Treats are given in the kitchen. We hand them their treats, then hear their little paws clicking madly over the pseudo-wood floors. It is such a funny sound since Scotties don’t bound or gallop but rather trot or, as the prompt suggests, scamper. I laugh whenever I hear it.
Gibbs refused to eat his meaty treaty because … are you ready? I handed over the pieces in the living room rather than the kitchen. Uh huh. He would not eat it because I delivered it in the wrong room. He put it in his mouth, looked at me, and dropped it behind the computer table.
After moving the table and finding it on the floor, I dusted it off and looked at him. These little meaty treats run about $10 a pop (and that’s on sale), so you don’t drop it then look me in the eye with that “And what are you going to do about it?” attitude. I told him to eat it or else. I’m not sure what else might be, but I would have thought of something. Eventually.
He got the point. He ate it. Very slowly, staring at me the whole time. What a brat!
I used to think he was “like this” because he had a deprived and abandoned puppyhood. Clearly, I failed to realize he is a proper Scottish Terrier and therefore has attitude problems. He joined our home and in just a little more than a year, he’s spoiled. Rotten.
It must be us. Whatever dog we get, they all turn out rotten. They treat us like slaves and worse, we act like slaves. I yelled at him. Garry said it had upset him, so he took him to the kitchen for another treat.
“He doesn’t like it when you yell at him,” he explained.
Unless you were born in another country or became fluent in another language, you probably have little interest in foreign language films. The language barrier is something many of us do not wish to overcome while reading subtitles. So we take a pass on them, and in turn may be missing some of the best films ever made.
Even if you are interested in films of another language, where would you go to see them? Large cities might have “art houses” that show indie and foreign language films, but that is not the case in most locales. You can always order them online, but do you want to own a foreign language DVD or stream a film to your computer or tablet? Perhaps the whole process of tracking down the good ones to watch seems to be more trouble than it is worth.
For most of my life I had zero interest in these films. Yes, I could find some and I was aware that there were excellent foreign films showing here, but basically I thought it should be left to the snobs who were proud of themselves for seeing something the rest of us did not. I saw that in much the same way I see pretentious art critics standing in front of a painting while making pronouncements about brush strokes or some other obscure point. I was wrong, not about the art snobs but about foreign language films. They are as vibrant and artistic as anything Hollywood has to offer.
Living in a largely German American neighborhood, I often heard of the 1981 German-made World War II movie, Das Boot (The Boat). Some friends talked me into watching the gritty and often claustrophobic tale of life and conflict on the U-Boat. At the time it was made, it was the most expensive German film ever produced. The picture received six Oscar nominations. It was both unpleasant and powerful.
Years later a French intern at the company that gave me my day job was surprised to learn I had never seen the highly praised French film, Amelie (French title: Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain). The 2001 comedy concerns the title character and her attempts to manipulate everyone’s life but her own. She even sets out to improve the life of her father, depressed since the death of his wife. Without giving away too much, I can say there is a travelling gnome. Seriously.
My friendship with several Frenchmen has led me to a number of French films, including the classic comedy La Cage Aux Folles. Roughly translated this means The Cage with Madwomen (or Queens, as in homosexuals). I have enjoyed the French films, and while my French is terrible, I followed along nicely with the aid of subtitles.
When I was reading a list of best films of 2014, I found a Portuguese language film from Brazil, Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho (Today I Want To Go Back Alone), but titled The Way He Looks for English-speaking audiences. It is based on a highly regarded 2010 short film, Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho (I Don’t Want to Go Back Alone) by the same film maker. The coming of age story originally ran just 17 minutes, the feature runs 96.
There are plenty of coming of age stories and I thought I had seen my fair share. This included the German language film Sommersturm (Summer Storm) which I viewed at the Music Box theater in Chicago. The one time first run theater, and home of many of my Saturday afternoon movie and cartoon features as a child, has mercifully found new life playing indie films and old features. A former screening room, holding less that 100 seats, is now the site of many of these foreign language films that will not find a wide audience.
On the recommendation of the reviewer, I sought out the Brazilian short film on You Tube. It was easy to find and I confess I was impressed by the tale of the teenagers trying to make their way in the world. The writer and director Daniel Ribeiro found his young players through auditions. They are all perfectly cast and totally believable in their roles. This was particularly difficult for the lead character as I will explain below the short.
When it came time to make the feature, some years after the short, the director faced an interesting decision. Who shall be the lead teenagers in the movie? After all, the charm of the short, now with over 5 million hits on You Tube, is the principal players. The solution was to bring the two boys and lead girl back. The fact that they looked a little older actually works in pushing the story a little further. No, you will not see portrayals of teenage sex. There is nothing even close. You will learn how they feel as they grow to realize their feelings for one another.
At the time I researched the availability of a DVD, I also discovered that the feature was playing that very week at the Music Box! I made plans to see it. The longer version meant additional characters. Leonardo, the main character portrayed by Ghilherme Lobo who was still a teenager, now has protective parents. Additional classmates include boys who torment him for being different. He’s blind. Giovana, portrayed by Tess Amorim, is the girl who helps him get around and develops feelings for her friend. The new boy, who gets a seat in class behind Leo, is Gabriel as played by Fabio Audi. His introduction into the mix creates both an awakening and confusion of feelings for Leo.
When someone mentions that Gabriel is good-looking, Leo asks Giovana if he himself is good-looking. He has no idea the way he looks (Hence the English title). When Gabriel takes Leo on adventures only sighted people have, Leo is intrigued and Giovana is jealous. Just who loves whom will become clear enough in due time. The ending, while not a total surprise or even huge in a cinematic sense, is nonetheless satisfying.
Having opened in Brazil in April 2014 to strong attendance and critical acclaim, and after a round of successful screenings and awards at film festivals, Brazil chose this film as its entrant in the Best Foreign Film category at the 87th Academy Awards. Fifty countries submitted their best efforts. The short list for consideration by the Academy was cut down to 9 movies. The Way He Looks was not on it. Perhaps it did not stand a chance against the heavy crime dramas and political stories. It is just a charming film, beautifully enacted by a crew of handsome young players and a strong supporting cast. It will leave you with a smile, and sometimes that is all a film should aspire to do.
Be sure to hit the CC at the bottom for captions, unless you know Portuguese, of course. Here is the trailer for American audiences:
Portrait of a 1948 composite doll – by Madame Alexander
There’s a reason why I take a lot of pictures of this doll. She was one of Madame Alexander’s originals, named after the girl in the McGuffey reader which was used in American schools for almost 100 years. She was also one of the most popular faces ever produced, with a sweetness that later dolls never matched … and is completely missing from modern dolls.
She was also my best reconstruction. Because she is made of composition material — basically glue, sawdust, paint, and a lot of careful hand molding — she needed quite a lot of repair. Both her feet were eaten away by moisture. I repaired them well enough to fit into shoes, but not well enough to stand on their own. I repainted much of her face. Her wig is new and I sewed the dress and smock myself. I know it isn’t a huge accomplishment, but I don’t sew, so it was a big deal for me. I also made her hat. She is as close to the original as I could create.
Or, in this case, turquoise. I’ve never been entirely clear on the difference. Maybe aquamarine is more greenish than blueish? But turquoise swings both ways.
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Years later a French intern at the company that gave me my day job was surprised to learn I had never seen the highly praised French film, Amelie (French title: 
