MY* age had nothing to do with it; it may be infuriating to some people, but in WA schools were invested with some of the same responsibilities as day-care...they don't get to make any decisions that would normally fall to parents.

Which is exactly as it should be.

Any teacher or coach or superintendent that was part of THAT clusterfuck would be not only out of a job, but probably up on charges.

Also exactly as it should be.

Sadly, I'm not surprised at the willful stupidity of the coach, or even the superintendent.

The coach, no, definitely not surprised at the willful stupidity there, but OMG, the superintendent's arrogance is absolutely mind-boggling to me. Church member or no, if she's got a parent breathing fire down her neck, she should be full of deference and "We're so sorry, Mrs. Ammons, it was a grave mistake and the district most definitely doesn't approve."

Then again, I grew up in the heathen confines of Miami-- I was shocked when Lewis told me that they used to say the Lord's Prayer over the stadium loudspeakers before every football game when he was in high school. Public high school in Pensacola. Also Bible Belt-y. That sort of thing would have been absolutely unheard of in Miami.

That's why she owns it. So she's got very good taste.

What are you going to introduce to her? Hudson Hawk?

What are you going to introduce to her? Hudson Hawk?

"History, tradition, culture... are not concepts! These are trophies I keep in my den as paperweights!"

I am SO Darwin Mayflower.

Edited to say: And, finishing my thought - YES, show her this film!

Sunset Boulevard was FANTASTIC!

It's one of my favorite movies. Although I've only seen it the once. I mean, you've got to love a movie where the main character starts out dead.

Sean, that sounds like a very good talk. I really hope things work out the way you want them to.

I mean, you've got to love a movie where the main character starts out dead.

The opening as originally scripted had Wm. Holden's character sit up in the morgue and start to tell his story to the other corpses who listen raptly.

The opening as originally scripted had Wm. Holden's character sit up in the morgue and start to tell his story to the other corpses who listen raptly.

I... don't see that as working quite as well as the way they did it in the final version.

Sunset Boulevard was FANTASTIC!

This is absolutely one of my top 10. Date Girl gets high marks for her cinematic taste! If you start reading about the film, it just keeps getting better--the fact that Gloria Swanson actually was a silent film start who managed to make a career in talkies and that film Max plays for Norman and Joe is Queen Kelly--directed by Eric von Stroheim (Max) and staring (Gloria Swanson)! It's all very, very cool.

Someone seriously needs to knit this for me. It's so cute, and yet, ancient and evil!

I... don't see that as working quite as well as the way they did it in the final version.

Well, Wilder wrote it and directed it so he agreed with you.

I only note it because it shows how dark/offbeat it was in his original conception.

There are so many things I love about it. It has both this reverence for old Hollywood and a scathing satire of it at the same time. This is really one of the great mythmakers of Hollywood, so deep into its old lore.

It's a noir, and it's also the definitive Hollywood Gothic. That amazing funeral scene with the monkey and the card game with all the real silent stars, and DeMille. And Swanson fought to make her character more human and tragic - less monstrous.

That scene where Norma goes back to the studio and is treated like visiting royalty was a scene that Wilder wrote after he saw Gloria Swanson actually returning to the studio and seeing her surrounded by veteran techies, swarming around her. Treating her like the star she was. (Swanson had moved away to NYC, and was quite different from the character. Swanson was rather quirky and practical instead of an egomanical diva.)

Did you know she was an amateur inventor? That weird little cigarette holder that she uses in the film was her invention.

I love the insider stuff on low level screenwriters trying to make it. All that stuff with Nancy Olson's character as they're collaborating on the script.