SHANE

Rancher: "I'll kill him if I have to!" Jack Palance: "You mean I'll kill him if you have to"--Shane

This evening I saw the iconic George Stevens western Shane once again, as a Murray Pomerance Film 101 presentation at the Event Screen. (Like last month's Hud, it features young Brandon de Wilde in a hero-worshipping role.) I think my favourite part is the scene where they're dancing to "Goodbye, Ol' Paint." Victor Young's music is the quintessential western score.

Today I used our new bread machine for the first time, to make whole wheat bread.  Now I can bake two-pound loaves with five cups of flour and two cups of water!  The recipe included gluten, so I went out and bought it at John Vince.  It also had margarine in the place of oil.  I did it like the recipe said, and the result was an oversized mushroom loaf. (I was away at the movie when it came ready, alas.) Next time I'll refrigerate the mix overnight first.

Today I also finished The Conscript, and right away started Erckmann and Chatrian's sequel Waterloo. (That's the novel I encountered as a Classics Illustrated comic.) The book I'm reading is basically a Xerox of an Everyman's Library edition published a century ago, which no longer has copyright protection.  The catch is that quality can suffer:  they missed two pages in the third chapter!  Life is simpler if you're willing to read e-books, but I have a sentimental attachment to paper.

Yesterday was the dress rehearsal for Monday's choir concert.  I was speaking to Beatrice and mentioned that Gary, whom I know from the memoir group, wanted to help with the front of the house, and they can have him hand out programs.  I mentioned that I'd been blogging my memoir pieces, and she asked me to send her the link!  She was looking for musical suggestions, and I suggested the Christmas carol "The Holly and the Ivy" and the Polovtsian Dances from Borodin's Prince Igor. (Are we crazy enough to do another untranslated Russian piece?)