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Anne Boleyn

May19

On May 19, 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, was beheaded after being tried for and convicted of adultery and witchcraft. Lady Boleyn had an exta finger on one hand and a large mole on her neck–proof positive that she practiced sorcery. She was also accused of having an incestuous relationship with her brother and of committing adultery with several other men. And she had miscarried a deformed baby in a day and age when such defects were thought to be the result of witchcraft or gross sin on the part of the parent(s). Of course, neither the miscarriage nor the deformity could have been Henry’s fault, nor could he be blamed for Anne’s real crime, the failure to produce a male heir to the throne.

She only left behind a red- headed daughter, who became Elizabeth I, arguably England’s most famous and powerful monarch ever.

If you would like to learn more about the six wives of Henry VIII, I recommend: The Six Wives of Henry VIII (Miniseries).

These movies were originally produced for the BBC in 1970, and I first saw them when I was a teenager. I thought they were great then, and I still think they are very well acted and quite informative. They’re not documentaries, but rather dramatizations of the lives, and of course deaths, of each of Henry’s six wives. You can probably get them either on video or DVd from the library. Enjoy.

February 16th Birthday

Feb16

LeVar Burton, actor and host of Reading Rainbow, b. 1957. LeVar and I are about the same age. We really enjoy Reading Rainbow around here. I have many of the old episodes on video tape, and I use them to supplement my curriculum. I wish I had an index to all the episodes and their subjects so that I could pull out the right one at the right time. For instance, we’ll be studying the transcontinental railroad in history soon, and I know there’s an episode of Reading Rainbow about that event. Many of the others are just as educational.
I also wish I could find a list of all the titles of the American Experience TV show also on PBS. I tried to find such a list on the internet once, but I could only find partial lists, even at the PBS website.

Monk

Sep27

We don’t watch much TV around here. The kids watch a little PBS in the afternoons, but that’s about it. Tonight we watched the first two episodes of the TV series Monk with Emmy award winning actor Tony Shaloub. I read a review in WORLD magazine and ordered from our DVD rental service. It was fun. Monk reminds me of the TV detectives of the past that I posted about here. There’s something endearing about quirky detectives like Columbo or Hercule Poirot or Nero Wolfe. They each have their limitations, even handicaps, but they manage not just to overcome those limitations but also use them to their advantage. Somehow the fact that Nero Wolfe is so fat and lazy that he hardly ever leaves his chair much less his house becomes an asset rather than a liability. Miss Marple uses her elderly insight into human nature and her fussy old lady persona to solve crimes that baffle the police. And Monk’s obsessive-compulsive disorder and his multiple phobias become both problems to be overcome and talents to be used. It’s not profound, but it is entertaining–which is more than I can say for any programs I’ve seen advertised on TV recently.

My Top Ten TV Detectives

Jul18

And now in honor of Perry Mason, who I assume has no birthday since he’s a fictional character, here’s my list of the Best 10 TV Detectives, in no particular order:

1. James Garner as Jim Rockford
2. Raymond Burr as Perry Mason
3. Raymond Burr as Ironsides
4. Peter Falk as Lieutenant Colombo
5. Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher
5. David Suchet as Hercules Poirot
6. Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum
7. Derek Jacobi as Cadfael
8, Pierce Brosnan as Remington Steele
9. Jack Klugman as Quincy
10. Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday

Can you name the TV shows that featured each of these detectives?

Tuchman and Alexander

Jan30

Today is the birthday of both Barbara Tuchman and Lloyd Alexander. I am very fond of Tuchman’s book, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century, a history of France during the high Middle Ages. However, I must enjoy reading about the Middle Ages more than I like reading about WW I because I have yet to finish The Guns of August. Lloyd Alexander is one of my favorite fantasy authors (after CS Lewis and Tolkien, of course).

We’ve been having a Green Acres marathon around here for the past few days. We borrowed a DVD of a dozen or so episodes, and my children have enjoyed the silliness immensely.

Quotation for the day: “Getting used to new wallpaper is like trying to push a purple straw hat through a keyhole.” –Mr Haney
Oliver comments to Lisa: “Don’t even try to understand.”