THE WINDS OF WAR

"I'm going to Warsaw!"--The Winds of War

Wednesday afternoon I met Midwife and talked about things like David Sedaris.  I've written her a short article about seeing Carousel at the English National Opera, and now I'm writing one about my hometown of Sackville, New Brunswick.

This afternoon I baked some gingerbread for the cookie exchange Sunday afternoon.  But it was a disaster (too little shortening?), and I may try baking it again tomorrow.

Tonight I saw the first episode of The Winds of War on Youtube. That's the 1983 miniseries about Americans at the start of World War II, up to Pearl Harbor. (It should have been titled "Welcome to the World, Uncle Sam!") It was a ratings hit at the time, though someone called it "the campiest show since Batman"!

It stars Robert Mitchum, who was one of the coolest actors ever, but he's a bit too old here. Ali McGraw was never much of an actress, but similarly she's way too old! (At least Jan Michael-Vincent has some life.) The female characters are rather brainless.  The bit where the woman gets killed by Nazi strafing and her infant child keeps saying "Mama!  Mama!" is especially shameless.  It's the sort of show that basically tells Americans what they want to hear about themselves.