Saturday Afternoon at the Movies: Apollo 13

My internet friends CJ and Kathy are part of this meme where you post your all time favorite films.   I'm not sure I have more than about FOUR favorite films, but I have films I have seen that I can share.  However, unlike CJ, who says the meme cites there is no need to explain why you like the film, I prefer the way my internet friend Birgit reviews films (often hilarious, many times irreverent, but always in a polite and kind way).  Her synopses are not to be missed. If you aren't familiar with her movie reviews, please check out her blog.

One thing you should know about my choice is you won't find any "chick flicks" here and any romance is simply a side effect of the major overall film. 

Today, my choice is Apollo 13.  Released June 30th, 1995, Apollo 13 stars Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Sinise.  It is one of the few films I saw in a first release movie theater.

This is based on the true story of the ill-fated 13th Apollo mission bound for the moon. Astronauts Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton), and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) were scheduled to fly Apollo 14, but were moved up to 13. It was 1970, and the US had already achieved their lunar landing goal, so there was little interest in this "routine" flight, until that is, things went very wrong, and prospects of a safe return faded like a setting sun. 

Everything was going according to plan after leaving Earth's orbit according to astronauts Lovell, Haise, and Swigert.  However, when an oxygen tank exploded, the scheduled moon landing was called off.  Subsequent tensions within the crew and numerous technical problems threatened both the astronauts' survival and their safe return to Earth.

What I loved about this film was when the three men isolated themselves in the LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) and realized they would run out of oxygen faster than anticipated, since only two people were originally supposed to fit in the LEM.  When the ground team realized the LEM filters were round, and the Command Module filters on the craft were square, a team was put together to create a filtration system from the limited supplies found on the craft itself.  This was truly a human factors problem (my area of expertise), and it made the film even more realistic to me.  

My date was sitting on the edge of his seat and told me it was a thriller and amazed that it was based on real events.  Even Hollywood couldn't make this one up.  The irony is, when Apollo 13 took off, there was practically no interest to show photos of the craft headed to space.  The news outlets didn't even take an interest when the crew sent a video back to earth.  However, once the problem was known, the entire world was watching in anticipation and bated breath.

Although it's often called a docudrama, to me it's really a heart pounding thriller even though you know how it ends.

You can catch this film on Netflix or you can rent it on YouTube. 

Saturday Afternoon at the Movies will be on hiatus next Saturday, since I will be welcoming our new host at Art Journal Journey.
 

Friday Smiles 322: More Museum and an update on my flower bed

I'm once again joining Annie (at A Stitch in Time) and the ladies at Friday Smiles.  But first, here are a few funnies I found in my office when I cleaned it last year.


Poor Leroy had fallen on hard times. He lost his job at the fertilizer plant, his wife had left him, his unemployment had run out, and he was evicted from his apartment. He packed what little he had in a knapsack, made a little sign that read "Will work for food" and set off down the road on foot.
       
Toward the middle of the day, he came to a farmhouse. He was getting very hungry, and so he knocked on the front door. A woman answered, and Leroy explained his situation, and how he could do most anything and how hungry he was.  

At first the woman wanted no part of Leroy, but he persisted. Finally she asked "Can you paint?"
      
"Oh yes, ma'am," Leroy said, "I sure can paint. I've done a lot of painting. Just let me show you." The woman relented, found a can of paint and a brush and said, "You go around back and paint the porch, and I'll fix you dinner." Happily, Leroy went to work.
      
About 40 minutes later, Leroy appeared at the front door. "Are you finished so soon?" asked the woman.
      
"Oh yes, ma'am," said Leroy, "but I think you ought to know that's not a Porsche, it's a Volvo."




Two men, Robert and James, applied for an engineering position. Both applicants having the same qualifications were asked to take a test by the department manager.
      
Upon completion of the exam both men only missed one of the questions. The manager went to Robert and said, "Thank you for your interest, but we've decided to give James the job."
      
 Robert replied, "Why? We both correctly answered nine questions. I believe I should get this job, especially since I've grown up in this town and James just moved here."
      
The manager said, "We made our decision not on the correct answers, but on the question you missed."
      
"How could one incorrect answer be better than the other?," asked Robert.
      
"Simple," said the manager. "James put down on question #5, 'I don't know', and you put down, 'Neither do I.'"

I think that's enough funnies today, since I want to update everyone on my flower bed and, as one commenter noted, the "mole hills" that have gotten even bigger next door.

It was definitely still raining when I took this photo.  It's raining now, too.

The "mole hills" have moved to the street, where there is mud everywhere and nary a street sweeper has been on my street for at least 10 years.

Now let's head back to the museum.

WWII was fought on two fronts, one in Europe, one in Asia.  These memorabilia are refer to the Asian side of the war.  Someone put their greasy head up against the plexiglass display case. 

We'll return to this area again.

I got turned around and we'll be back to see the Navajo code talkers again.

This section talks about the Rape of Nanjing (translated to Nanking).  For me, this was as interesting as the German Holocaust.  The destruction of Nanjing, the capital of the Nationalist Chinese from 1928 to 1937, was taken over by the Japanese Central China Front Army that captured the city.  The massacre occurred over a period of six weeks starting on December 13, 1937, the day that the Japanese captured Nanjing.  Over the next several weeks, Japanese soldiers perpetrated numerous mass executions and tens of thousands of rapes.  The army looted and burned the surrounding towns and the city, destroying more than a third of the buildings.  In 1940 the Japanese made Nanjing the capital of their Chinese puppet government.  

Since most Japanese military records on the killings were kept secret or destroyed shortly after the surrender of Japan in 1945, historians have been unable to accurately estimate the death toll of the massacre, but estimates put the number from 40,000 to over 300,000.

Thankfully, there were no children in this area.  Some of the photos were too ghastly for me to show and put on the internet.

I hope you could read the captions, since I really don't have time to type them out.

I have no idea how I got so turned around, but this was a photo from Germany. 
As promised, I've returned to this area I missed before.

I hope you can read this.

This is a good place to leave today.  Next Friday will be the day before the WOYWW crop, so most of the  Friday Smiles participants in the UK will be preparing for it, I suspect. Thanks as usual for joining me in the museum today.  Please don't forget to start your weekend off right by visiting Annie for a few Friday Smiles.  We would love to have you join, also.

Light up the night

Today I'm joining Erika, you may know as Bio Art Gal, our host this month at Art Journal Journey

with her themes In the air/In the sky.

"Light up

the night."
Notice the sun setting in the background.

I apologize that this photo isn't in focus.  It was the best I could get.

I've seen night skies that look like this over the flat lands of rural Kansas, too.

For this entry, I began with a page I found in an old calendar.  I sewed the computer generated words to the page, then, thinking it needed something further, added the row of sequins that I hoped followed the coastline.

Thanks beyond belief for joining me today and I also hope to see you at Art Journal Journey with your interpretation of Erika's theme.

What's On Your Workdesk this 520th Wednesday? Don't let me forget the *

This is the BIG one, ladies and gentlemen.  It's the day we honor Julia at Stamping Ground, our wonderful host and Queen desker.  It's also the day we celebrate 10 years of WOYWW.  I wasn't here from the beginning, but I was here for the first anniversary and haven't missed one since.  I simply can't forget to add my asterisk.

I want to point out, that I have only found one person I can't reply to and it was a desker on Instagram.  I'm a blogger (PERIOD) and don't "do" any other social media sites.

I have to admit, these "artistic" ATCs look much better on my dining room table than the actual ATCs I created.  It's amazing what several blur transformations in Photoshop can do for some not very creative ATCs.  None of these are for my PIF partner.  All will be revealed after the crop on June 1.

More than a few of you have asked about the dresses hanging on my wall.  I will explain them next week, 

but for now, today is all about Julia and the desks.

What's On Your Workdesk Wendy is a photo hog.  She is hiding the ATC I kept for myself.  It's clear she's also guarding the envelope I've designated for my PIF partner.

She's also pointing to the obligatory rocking horse (which I'm sure is the real reason people visit).  It was sent to me years ago by no other than the queen of deskers, Julia herself.

Wendy has hopped over to my other "desk" that holds my guillotine cutter and my sewing machine.  I made this dust cover from a used pillowcase to celebrate the first anniversary of WOYWW.  It was the first time I ever stamped on fabric.  I was SO scared I would mess it up.  Of course, that's when Wendy was born, too.  She doesn't look too bad for being 10 years old!

I want to thank each of you for joining me today, and in Julia's words:

The number that your name is given on the list is important..leave it when you make a comment on other Desker's posts and they can visit you without too much to-ing and fro-ing.

I am also grateful for any and everyone visiting my desk today.


Thank you Nikki for once again making and supplying the blog button.