like you these old movies?
4.1 miles. Thank goodness. I thought I'd never make it over 2.5 again.
Actually, I've always liked black-and-white movies; I don't know if it's because I'm not critical that way or because they were always the movies my mom told me she used to watch when she was little. She used to take my sister and I to the revival houses to watch Boston Blackie and the movies she remembered. Mostly B flicks, but some of the greats.
She used to tell me how she would steal nickels from her father to go to the movies when she was young. It wasn't until years later that I wondered how she could steal nickels from her father when she didn't live in America until she was 26. I think my mom just gave all of her stories American references as soon as she could. When she moved to the US she learned American spellings very quickly--which was good, considering she was a secretary and had to type letters and such--and never went back.
When I see my American compatriots using British spellings for words I always think, How affected. Get with the program. Hint: we don't use "ou" in words like "color," folks, and if you're going to use British spellings, go all the way: "kerb," "criticise," etc.--but you never do, you only use the easy ones, like "colour."
And don't write me and say that British spellings are the only correct ones; you haven't got a leg to stand on with that one. The English language, thank goodness, is a fluid and changing thing, as opposed to the archaic and rigid French language.
Darin and I were singing along to the Genesis album We Can't Dance when I said, "It's kind of amazing--they write songs about child abuse, hypocritical ministers, and hit-and-run accidents, all with a catchy beat. I really like these guys."
At which point Darin reminded me that we had come up with a very important critical distinction between Genesis and Phil Collins: if we like the song, it's Genesis; if we don't, it's Phil Collins. Phil Collins solo is really sappy and always about love. Genesis is usually more about the melody (they always wrote the music before the words) and has a greater variety of topics.
This completely non-scientific analysis of Phil Collins's music brought to you by a lazy Sunday afternoon.
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Copyright 1998 Diane Patterson
Send comments and questions to diane@spies.com