Welcome to Jaydine's Finer Things

Here we are. A repository for all things Jaydine. I've enjoyed the email posts, and perhaps that may be the best venue for sharing. I've sent each of you (and you know who you are) an invitation to be an author with the ability to post directly to this blog. If that is too much of a hassle for you, feel free to simply email me, and I will post for you. However, if you accept the "author" invitation, it will make it easier for you to post comments to this blog. And that's what we really want to see. Dialogue and lots of it.

I've started with some basic links. If you are aware of others web links you'd like displayed. Please let me know. Please take a moment to vote for your favourite family cookie.

Finally, here are some recent emails I thought I would add to our inaugural post.

From Scott:
"I would also like to put in a vote for Jaydine's Finer Things. As far as the finer things in my life, well after two years I'm finally coming to the conclusion of Homer's Iliad. It is surprisingly graphic in it's descriptions of death, and surprisingly detailed in it's genealogy of all the characters. And to think, it all started as an oral story before there was writing and the necessity of literacy. Literacy is so overrated.

As far as music, since I stopped "borrowing" music from the library a few months ago I am not as obsessed with the stuff, however one of the last CD's that I "borrowed" was "Whipped Cream and Other Delights: Rewhipped", the classic Herb Albert album remixed. If anyone would like a copy let me know.

I watched four episodes of Leave it to Beaver last night and three things stood out: Wally is really annoying, Seth kind of has a resemblance to Eddie Haskill, and Ward and June were awful parents. (They left "The Beaver" home alone so they could chaperon Wally at a dance. Beaver was 9 years old! He spent the time alone crushing things with a vice in his dad's garage. Also who would consciously decide to call their kid Beaver or The Beaver.)"

From Blaine:
"Hay Gang,

I recently watched "The Revengers Tragedy" a film based on the 1606 play written by Thomas Middleton, a contemporary of Shakespeare. The film starred some of my favorite British actors: Christopher Eccleston, Eddie Izzard, and Marc Warren. Unfortunately it was not very good. Cant recommend it. A conceptual nightmare really. They tried to make it science fiction of all things. It was like watching an old episode of Max Headroom with iambic pentameter.

As for Literature, I have more of a guilty pleasure than a finer thing to share. I have been reading a Doc Savage. "The Lost Oasis" and "The Sargasso Ogre" are two short stories originally printed in 1933. They contain ghost Zeppelins, lost diamond mines, deadly Egyptian assassins, and desperate amazon women. This stuff will rot your brain. Doc Savage is a super scientist and athlete that fights crime along with his five heroic buddies. They are kind of like the Village People only in the 30's and not openly gay. Doc is considered an early version of the superhero. The stories are fast paced ripping yarns and I cant see several elements later borrowed for Superman, The Fantastic Four, and even Johnny Quest. I must admit, I still think Superman is cooler. I have more pulp heroes of the 30's lined up for reading. I will be reading The Shadow next."

From Donette:

"Hello All,

I think this 'Finer Things' club is a great idea. Maybe it will force me to participate in, read, etc. things other than Parenting magazine or watching PBS kids. I am racking what's left of my oatmeal brain trying to think of the last time I read something worth mentioning. I read a lot of books but most of them are guilty pleasures that can be devoured in a couple of hours (murder mystery's). I guess about six months ago I got into reading books by Pearl S. Buck. Of course everyone has heard of and read "The Good Earth". I read "Sons" and "The Three Daughters of Madame Liang". "Sons" was written in 1933 and it is an amazing story of three sons and what they decide to do with their late fathers inheritance. Each are so different in what they believe and how they live their lives. The fascinating thing to me was the culture. Everything depended on the look of wealth and women were less than nothing in China at that time. It was an amazing book and I liked it better than "The Good Earth". "The Three Daughters of Madame Liang" was a shorter book and more modern. It was written in 1969 about a mother who sends her daughters to America for a better life. The government is failing and the people are loosing their wealth. Chinese-Americans are being called home to China to help the country to progress in science for the benefit of nuclear weapons. Through very calculated ways Madame Liang tries to communicate with her daughters to stay in America but all of her letters are intercepted and read. This book held my interest but is my least favorite of the others. Pearl S. Buck has written a zillion books and I am excited to read more of her work. I don't want to get Buck overload so I read my lame murder mystery's in between the heavier stuff.

I haven't watching anything cultural on tv unless you count retro pop culture. I noticed Scott mentioned "Leave it to Beaver". I do tend to catch rerun episodes of "The Brady Bunch". Have to say I am a big fan and am saving my pennies to buy the complete seasons on DVD (It comes in a green shag carpet DVD box set!) Anyway there are many mystery's to 'The Bunch' like where does Alice sleep? What happened to the ex spouses? Why did Greg not want to be 'Johnny Bravo"? It is all very complex and keeps me up at night, hehe. Alright I'm done. Good night."

From Jan (of Honeysuckle Cottage):

"Family,

My vote is for "Jaydine's Finer Things." Although the Plain City "Shaggy Dog" was a close second. I have just finished watching PBS Masterpiece Theater's "The Complete Jane Austin." Man, I'm using lots of quotations!! Anyway, it was a fine thing being part of the Regency Period for several weeks. (Nothing like a man in boots and breeches). Now that it is summer and there is nothing on TV worth watching I highly recommend watching these shows. They are available on Netflix for those of you who use that service. Alan and I are going to San Francisco for a few days and that is a very fine thing! I hope you are all doing well."