Buster keaton

 Do not try Buster Keaton stunts at home, ladies and gents, or you might die. Buster Keaton was a skilled stunt man that took many risks and those types of stunts can kill you, so much so that insurance companies won't let you do those stunts anymore. He is what you call a skilled expert and insanely lucky. He is also made of rubber.

Courtesy of Pinterest

Today we talk about one of the most hilarious comedians and stunt men I've ever seen. He started in silent movies with physical comedy. I'll go into three parts of his life; his acting, his stunts, and his life outside acting. 

His Acting

Not only was he an actor, but also a director, which is usually where seasoned actors who stick with Hollywood end up going if I've caught onto the pattern. He could also edit and write. He also did stunts that insurance companies will no longer sign off on. He was known for a straight face during comedy scenes, which earned him the nickname "the great stone face". Keaton transitioned from silent films to the talkies (movies with sound). For a while, he dealt with alcoholism, but he came back strong guest-staring in many movies and TV shows. Some have put him above Charlie Chaplin in their ranking of silent film stars. He did 19 short films and 10 silent films over 8 years.

His Stunts

Okay, here's where we really talk about his fame. Keaton's stunts, if done wrong, could have killed him. He's famous for these gutsy stuntwork films that are comedy gold. If he'd done one thing wrong he'd have never seen old age. This is why insurance companies won't allow actors to imitate his stunts at this point. Stunt men end up in hospitals often. We know this. What we don't want to see is dead actors. Keaton was one of a kind. 

Outside Acting

He started as a child vaudeville actor at age 5. At a few months old he nearly suffocated because he was accidentally shut in a trunk while his parents were busy performing, which led to him being left at the boarding house ever since that incident. Legend has it his family escaped from fires and trainwrecks. At nearly 3 years old he caught his finger in a clothing wringer and lost a joint, threw a brick at a tree and hit himself with it on accident, and was sucked out a window by a cyclone only to be gently put down a few streets back. This was when his stage career began and this was also when his parents came to the conclusion he'd be safer onstage. 

Courtesy of Pinterest

Joseph Frank (later Francis) Keaton was born to parents Joseph and Myra Keaton, Medicine show performers, on October 4, 1895. He allegedly used to crawl right on stage from the wings at 9 months old. The easiest way to care for him without interrupting the show was to bring him with them to their shows. The actresses and women in the show loved him. He at one point stood behind his father and mouthed the words of his father's monologue in the exact same costume - unrehearsed! He had talent and everyone could see it, so they included him in shows all the time. He'd rough house with his father, sing, dance, write comedy, play piano and ukelele, juggle, and do magic. As a kid, he didn't really have much public schooling, mostly tutors and his mother teaching him to fill in gaps. He turned out to be too entertaining to teachers and students, funnily enough. Less than one day of school proved that. 

The laws on child labor actually thought all the throwing around comedy onstage was abusive, though not a single bruise could be found on the child, and his parents often did get arrested. They tried to pass him off as a midget a few times to avoid that. Close friends and family have insisted he had a happy childhood and he was not abused at all. With the child labor people watching their every move it is unlikely that they could have gotten away with it. No bruises meant he was clearly not abused. The only thing Keaton said was that his father did drink, therefore he had to fend for himself often as he got older. His only real injury came from a train wreck. Joseph Keaton loved his son and was proud of him.

When Keaton was 21 his father became a violent alcoholic. The act wasn't quite the same and Keaton had to look out for himself a little more. He knew how to land, apparently, so he didn't get as much damage. According to Busterkeaton.org:

The article, curious in light of Joe's increasing on-stage violence, goes on to interview 19-year-old Buster:

“The funny thing about our act,” declared Buster after his final toss Tuesday, “is that dad gets the worst of it, although I’m the one who apparently receives the bruises . . . the secret is in landing limp and breaking the fall with a foot or a hand. It’s a knack. I started so young that landing right is second nature with me. Several times I’d have been killed if I hadn’t been able to land like a cat. Imitators of our act don’t last long, because they can’t stand the treatment.”

— Detroit News, December 4, 1914

Courtesy of Pinterest

He quit in January 1917 and Keaton and his mother stranded Joseph Keaton in California temporarily. He immediately was signed to another act, given his stardom. He did some work with his mentor Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, standing by him despite scandal, until Arbuckle died. He had a brief time as a cryptographer and entertainer during WWI (in France). 

Another thing about Keaton was his pain tolerance. His shoe got stuck in an elevator and he crushed his foot. Under strict orders to do nothing strenuous he filmed a dance number. Cue the Captain Picard face palm. The man was impervious to pain. 

On Our Hospitality (1923), he almost drowned in a river sequence. On The General (1926), he was knocked unconscious by a cannon. On the Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1927) set, he broke his nose (playing baseball), and the most remarkable of all, he broke his neck shooting a scene for Sherlock Jr. (1924). In the scene, he runs along the top of a train and then grabs a waterspout. Water gushes down on the track and Buster is obscured for a moment. During that moment, he was forced by the pressure of the water down onto the tracks, where he hit his neck. But if you watch the film closely, you see Buster get up and run off—still in the same take. It was years before he discovered what had given him those awful headaches. (courtesy of busterkeaton.org)

He married Natalie Talmadge in 1920, had two sons, and divorced in 1932. He had literally been kicked out of the bedroom after the second son was born. It was not a great marriage, but he loved her.

When he signed over to MGM he admitted that he'd made a mistake and given up his creativity. Chaplin and Lloyd had also advised him against it. 1932-34 were the worse years of his life. His friend Arbuckle died, his wife divorced him claiming he drank, two other friends died, he was sued for taxes and declared bankruptcy, he struggled with drinking, and he illegally married his second wife while drunk (which got plastered in headlines). And he was fired for refusal to work on inferior pictures. He was forced into a sanitarium in 1934, where he allegedly got out thanks to Houdini's secrets and got his life on track again. 

MGM did break him of some of his brilliance in film, though. He did keep doing acting after that, but it wasn't the same because he lost creative freedom. He did do theatre again. That brought him life. His best work was mostly when he had creative freedom to do what he wanted and didn't have to fight with studios that he wasn't running. 

He often laughed and smiled offscreen, though he'd go stonefaced when a camera pointed at him. He married again in 1940 to Eleanor Norris, who was 21 to his 44. They were happily married until he died of lung cancer in 1966 at age 70. His last film appearance was A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. 

“I think I have had the happiest and luckiest of lives. Maybe this is because I never expected as much as I got . . . And when the knocks came I felt it was no surprise. I had always known life was like that, full of uppercuts for the deserving and the undeserving alike.”
— Buster Keaton

https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/99741%7C25179/Buster-Keaton/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Buster-Keaton

https://www.busterkeaton.org/

Common Places People Disappear

It occurred to me the other day that people disappear from lots of places, but some locations are consistent. Let's discuss where people disappear from and why. 

The Great Smoky Mountains courtesy of wallpaper cave

First I'm going to talk about where people tend to go missing and possibly why. Then, I'm going to highlight a few cases that are unexplained.

You'll notice that my research tended to find the most mysterious disappearances and I'm rolling with it. I'm also making a note of the fact that extensive parklands are often places where lone hikers do go missing. This is because it is easy to pick off a few hikers if they are in the middle of nowhere, as opposed to standing in the middle of a town full of people. Also, suicidal individuals may choose this setting to end their lives alone, as well as perhaps just getting lost in miles of park land. 

Extensive Parkland 

The Great Smoky Mountains are part of park land, which means you know what I'm going to tell you next. Tourists have gone missing over the years. I'm sure it is a great place to visit, though. In 1969 the largest manhunt ever could not find a 6 year old boy that went missing. The last one happened in 1981 and it was an elderly woman.

Yosemite National Park is a tourist hotspot, but again, this one has a history of missing persons reports. 45 reports have never been solved. This place has bear problems, though, so maybe the bears can answer us on what happened. This goes so far back it dates into the 1800s.

The Alaska Triangle is a large amount of wilderness space. They have hundreds of search and rescue missions every year. State troopers often find no trace of anything. From 1988 on, 1600 people have vanished. A famous political leader disappeared around this area and they couldn't even find the wreckage of his plane or a body. 

Let me explain why this situation specifically is a problem. Usually, victims disappear in late afternoon or before severe weather. Often bodies are found missing shoes or clothes (as hypothermia's last phase is getting too hot) and at previously searched areas. Children are found a good distance from where they actually disappeared from. Parks also don't ask other agencies for help as often and handle it in-house. The weird fact of the matter is that feet alone show up on some shores (Washington State and British Colombia), sometimes still in shoes. Victims have wandered home, been found in a jail, or joined a cult (as they do operate in remote areas). Records are also not the greatest in parks disappearances. Bigfoot researchers discovered about 1600 people had gone missing in the wild. The larger the park the more possible it is to actually cover up a murder, get mauled by a bear, do suicide uninterrupted, or just take a bad fall leading to injury or death. Common sense says to GPS yourself if you hike alone. 

The Desert

Obviously, the desert is not the place to find yourself stranded. You might actually die. Superstition Mountains in Arizona has a history of missing people. This time they found the bodies and they were beheaded! Again, deserts cause death if you don't know how to survive, but that's a bit extreme to lose one's head. They found a body and a campground with a bloody blanket and letters missing addresses and names, too. This is a treasure-hunting spot, as well as what some native Americans believe to be the entrance to the underworld. I think we've got a serial killer on our hands, if you want my opinion. 

Superstition Mountains courtesy of Pinterest

Survival in the desert is not what we are all taught at home, especially if you are from a city or an area that isn't close to a desert. People can be incredibly evil, too, and leave you in the desert to die. This is a place no one is going to stroll for fun. Some mentally ill individuals choose to stroll to their death in the desert. Others have drug issues or a crime is related. According to News Channel 3, a detective who investigated cases in the desert said "the real serial killer is the desert itself". Not many are hydrated enough to stand it or trained in survival. 

Aircraft Graveyard

The Nevada Triangle is not where you should be flying. When a famous pilot went missing they looked for him and found his remains and plane in the area. Unfortunately, he's not the only one to crash and die here. Hundreds of pilots - not five, hundreds! - have gone missing in this zone. 

You know what comes next, the Bermuda Triangle! This one has a history of messing with navigation tools. It not only traps planes, but also ships. Thousands of people have died in this area. Some blame the paranormal (aliens), others say Atlantis was located here and the crystals are destroying aircraft and boats, and others claim to have found a crystal pyramid underwater that causes crashes. Oh, and I'm not done with conspiracy. The idea that the slaves who died in these waters haunt the waters is a theory, as well as government testing of secret projects. The truth may fall rather flat in comparison. Weather and human error are likely the cause of this situation. Cyclones and methane hydrates (gas explosions in the water) could sink a ship or destroy a plane quick. Electronic fog can make navigation impossible, which is how tools don't work. It may just be that people are stupid or the weather is to blame. 

On The Water

Lake Superior is a missing person zone? Yep, it is. Shipwrecks litter the bottom of the lake. A wreck from a hundred or more years can be found in the water. 70 ships have gone down and 17 have not been discovered yet. Lake Michigan is also known for some missing people. 

A Shipwreck at Lake Superior Courtesy of Reddit

It can be said that many ships go down in the ocean. Hundreds, in fact. Piracy is also a situation we have to face, only now they hold machine guns instead of swords. Currents are not helpful. They carry evidence farther from the shipwreck site. As satellite images get better we can find ships faster. 

Out Hunting

Pecos, New Mexico is a hunting destination and a zone where several have gone missing. In 2009 a 61 year old man stayed back at the cabin during a hunting trip and never was seen again. He's not the only one to go missing, which leads to lots of alien and supernatural theories that probably are false. 

Hunting expeditions are somewhat like hiking expeditions. I'll say the same thing about treasure hunters in the jungle. They have gone missing because they got lost or attacked. The jungle is one place they may not waste too much time combing. The woods are hard to navigate and the idea that people go missing one place and move north or south afterward makes searching hard. This goes right up in the park land category, if I'm honest. 

No Explanation and No Answers

This is the heartbreaking part for those who have lost loved ones in this manner. After seven years they are declared legally dead unless proven otherwise. While this would be the perfect way to fake one's death, I don't recommend doing that. Some families never got closure. One man searched for his son for years just to get closure and find the body (he did). My heart goes out to those that have to live with that reality, that they'll never know what happened.

Hoer Verde Courtesy of TheRichest

In the case of mysterious unsolved cases, I have a real treat for you. Whole towns have disappeared and left everything behind. A whole town in Iowa is now just land after the ruins were left alone in the 1920s. The newspapers no longer cared after the stock market crashed, so it just reverted back to land after the ruins broke down. This was called Urkhammer, Iowa. In 1928 the residents just vanished without a trace. The dust bowl was far more important to the news and no one bothered to investigate after 1929 hit everyone like a mac truck. 

In Brazil, there was a village that was abandoned entirely. 600 people left everything there - food and all their belongings! The only clue they have is a blackboard that read "There is no salvation". This has been blamed on aliens or political upheaval. It is called Hoer Verde. 

If you want more of this information, you can look up "towns that disappeared overnight" and make yourself turn on every house light in the process. I'm stopping here. I need to go watch something light and absurdly comedic. Many urban explorers will find these towns and houses with all the possessions in them, especially in Europe where they don't vandalize as much. I'll let you research at your leisure.

Sources:

 https://www.thetravel.com/25-mysterious-places-people-keep-disappearing-from/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNShqCIKSqw

https://nypost.com/2020/07/04/why-hundreds-of-people-vanish-into-the-american-wilderness/

https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/10-mysterious-disappearances-in-national-parks.htm

https://www.rd.com/list/mysterious-disappearances-no-one-can-explain/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_disappeared_mysteriously:_1990%E2%80%93present

https://www.missingpersons.gov.au/about/why-people-go-missing

Where is the Bermuda Triangle, what is it, why do planes go missing there and what are the conspiracy theories? | The Sun

Hundreds of ships go missing each year, but we have the technology to find them (theconversation.com)

Going in-depth on disappearances in the desert - KESQ

Movies and Abused Actors

I know that movies feeding off of real emotion look good and authentic, but can you force distressing emotions to come out of an actor by abusing them? Yes, you can. Ask Shelley Duvall about her film experience. Even putting donald and goofy voices to the steps scene in the shining won't make the scene less unsettling. Today we talk about her and many other cases of abusing actors. 

Courtesy of looper.com
Tippi Hedren in The Birds

Today I am focusing on The Shining, The Birds, Singing in the Rain, and the alleged Dan Schneider situation that arose at Nickelodeon. You'll never see these movies and shows the same way again. 

The Shining

The book alone is, I'm told, unsettling by itself. It is about a family living in a hotel during winter. During this temporary stay to watch someone's hotel alone, the father gets haunted by a spirit making him violent toward his family and the son sees horrible psychic visions. Unsettling? You bet. The movie shows the mother of the family as submissive, but readers will know that isn't like the original (and movies almost never are, anyway). 

Shelley Duvall spent hours crying during filming, to the point of dehydration. She was criticized and the cast wasn't allowed to speak or be nice to her. The stairs scene was filmed 127 times. I'll leave a clip of the stairs scene here, if you dare to watch it. It isn't gory.

She almost quit acting after this. She was diagnosed with acute anxiety and I think you can guess why. If the scene above is her mental state, she needs serious therapy. Stanley Kubrick was a perfectionist when it came to films, which is why this all happened to her. Yes, he got the effect he wanted, but at what price? Duvall started losing her hair. It didn't help that Stephen King himself and others criticized her performance because it conflicted with the book character. 

Singing In the Rain

What? Yes, I love this movie, too, but Gene Kelly was not pleasant to Debbie Reynolds. He was negative and worked her tirelessly. She had 3 months to learn the dances that Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor had already mastered. You can't tell on the screen how much work she went through to make it look good. Fred Astaire encouraged her when he found her crying at a rehearsal piano, stating that he works himself to frustration and anger, as well, which helped pull her through. 

Hard work, however, is not abuse. What I am talking about is dancing until your feet bleed. Good Morning filming took 14 hours to film. Her feet bled and she was ordered by a doctor to stay in bed 2 days afterward due to exhaustion. While Gene Kelly admitted how badly he treated her, he also did something unthinkable. 

According to Nickiswift.com,  Debbie Reynolds said "Gene took me tightly in his arms ... and shoved his tongue down my throat. ...It felt like an assault. I was stunned that this thirty-nine-year-old man would do this to me." You can't see the movie in the same way after this. Again, nobody said it was easy to break into the dance world, but situations like this don't help. She wrote about this in her biography if you want to know more. 

The Birds

Alfred Hitchcock, for whatever reason, was not known for being nice to Tippi Hedren. Allegations of sexual assault and inhumane conditions during filming are two things that put Alfred Hitchcock on the list of obsessed directors who mistreated actors. He claimed for one scene he'd use mechanical birds, then used real ones when the mechanical ones didn't work. This means she got birds hurled at her for five days. She had birds tied directly to her and got birds hurled at her for the last day, as well. The birds attached would peck her. She was so focused on survival and learned later that the crew found all this to be heartbreaking - and Hitchcock was the only one who could stop it and wouldn't. 

According to People.com, this is what happened. 

"Hedren’s only reprieve came late in the day when a bird tied to her shoulder pecked her too close to her eye and she snapped, told her director “I’m done,” and began sobbing from exhaustion. “Minutes passed before I looked up to discover that everyone had just left me there in the middle of that vast, silent soundstage, completely spent, empty and alone,” she writes.

A doctor ordered Hedren to take a week’s rest and had to force Hitchcock to let her take it. “She can’t,” Hedren writes of Hitchcock’s response. “We have nothing else to shoot but her.”

“What are you doing? Are you trying to kill her?” Hedren’s doctor replied and finally convinced Hitchcock his star needed actual rest, which she took and returned a week later to finish the film."

During Marnie, Hitchcock sexually harassed Hedren and when she told him no he refused to loan her out while she was under contract with him. Hitchcock would obsess over leading ladies.

According to New York Post, this is the story. 

It was during the making of “Marnie” that Hitchcock’s demands for Hedren to have lunch with him in the studio commissary escalated to lunches in his office, and finally to intimate Champagne toasts after each day’s shooting was completed. She became increasingly uncomfortable with his suggestive behavior.

“I was stunned and alarmed by his actions,” she recalled. “In the end, he made unqualified demands of me that I could not assent to. He said things like, ‘I want you to be available to me at any time, whenever I choose.’

“I don’t care about being an actress if this is what it involves,” Hedren says. Hitchcock never used her in another film, and refused all requests to loan her out for other movies while she was under contract, derailing her then-promising career.

Nikelodeon Situation

So, Dan Schneider's name has definitely been run through the mud. Jeanette McCurdy (Sam from Icarly) has written a biography and in the proccess exposed some of her run-ins with "The creator". It turns out she's not the only one to be made uncomfortable. Again, the female harassment theme continues. Schneider claims to be smear campaigned. I'll let you be the judge and do your own research on that. I am going to be as objective as possible and only use the facts I have found. 

Jeanette McCurdy stated in her biography that someone called "the creator" massaged her shoulders, made her wear a bikini, and encouraged her to drink alcohol while underaged. Investigators have found Schneider's sets to be toxic and hostile in environment. In 2018 he was booted after proof of verbal abuse came out. No proof of other types of abuse has been found, but plenty is alleged. 

Alexa Nikolas (Nicole in Zoey 101) has some experiences that she has shared. Daniella Monet (Trina in Victorious) claims he and all his male-only writers created sexual jokes unnecessarily for teenage actors to do. Schneider also advocated for a skimpier female wardrobe and Monet commented that it wasn't age-appropriate. Nikolas said it was common on set for female actors to sit on Schneider's lap. He also had an anger problem and screamed at the actors. He also (though this is contradicted by some sources) didn't like female writers in the room and didn't think women were funny. This was contradicted when he said Ariana Grande was hilarious and he likes Lucille Ball and Tina Fey. Jenny Kilgen accused him of gender discrimination and creating hostile work environments. Other writers tell stories of him asking for massages and asking them to do embarrassing acts for money.

Schneiders disputes all this and says he couldn't have done some much if he had abused his actors. Investigations echo McCurdy's story from her biography. He used to tweet foot pictures of the female stars he worked with. He was already in the doghouse before this and it is just more public now. They did not find proof of sexual misconduct in both investigations toward him. It is a messy issue. 

According to looper.com:

Gradstein told the newspaper, "[Schneider] could be generous and validating, and it was exciting to be around his talent and passion for creating entertainment. But he was also unreasonably demanding, controlling, belittling, and vindictive with a willful disregard for boundaries or workplace appropriateness."

If you want to know more about Jeanette's story, go get her book. She is amazing. As she says, her time with Nickelodeon was only a short part of her biography story. 

Amazon.com: I'm Glad My Mom Died eBook : Mccurdy, Jennette : Kindle Store

Sources:

Tippi Hedren Recalls Hitchcock Abuse During Filming of The Birds (people.com)

Tippi Hedren: I was sexually harassed by Alfred Hitchcock (nypost.com)

Shelley Duvall's abuse experience on The Shining because of Stanley Kubrick - Confessions of a Horror Freak

Shelley Duvall's Traumatic Experience Making 'The Shining' Scarred her for Life (thevintagenews.com)

Actors Who Claim They Were Abused On Set (nickiswift.com)

Debbie Reynolds’ real story behind “Singing in the Rain” shows how fierce she was (yahoo.com)

Actors And Crew Have Alleged On-Set Abuse By Nickelodeon TV Show Creator Dan Schneider (yahoo.com)

Dan Schneider, ‘iCarly’ Creator, Accused of Misconduct (vulture.com)

The Dan Schneider Controversy Explained (looper.com)

Could Francy happen?

I talked about Ned and Nancy (Nedcy) in a previous blog. What I want to theorize on today is whether Frank and Nancy (or Francy) could happen. I'm going off of the Herinteractive games, for reference. 

Courtesy of Tumblr

I mean no ill will toward Ned. I'd like to make that clear right now. I like many aspects of Ned, including his impressive loyalty to Nancy and sweet, sappy conversation. He's also a good man for advice in earlier games. While that is all true, Francy is an attractive option since Frank and Nancy share a lifestyle of travel and adventures on a consistent basis. How would this actually look and would it work? Let's find out. 

Background Information

The Hardys are mostly phone friends, with the exception of three games where they are physically present. You can become the Hardys in Kapu Cave (both brothers), Last Train To Blue Moon Canyon (Frank only), and Midnight In Salem (Frank only). It's important to look at how many games they are in as both phone friends and present investigators. The game that only features Joe won't be counted in this case. Frank is in games 6-10, 13-15, 22, 25, 28, and 32-33. This means he's in a lot of the games and is in contact with Nancy quite a lot, though the fact that usually Joe is on the line means we don't get too many romantic declarations going on. I hear no mention of Frank having a girlfriend, though the books say he does. I'm going off of game references, so we'll just forget about the books for this post.

In Deadly Device, Captive Curse, Trail of the Twister, Midnight In Salem, and maybe a few more I'm forgetting it is subtly referenced or observed in dialogue that Frank has a crush on Nancy. What you don't hear is her flirting back. When talking to Ned, Nancy talks about calling Frank casually, as if talking about a friend. She says that the Hardys are kind of a set. I hate to crush the Francy dreams of all us Francy fans, but game Nancy isn't flirting back. Nancy from the games is not going that direction, or she would have already cheated on Ned or dumped Ned. In fact, she wants to patch things up with Ned and makes it a priority in Midnight In Salem and Captive Curse. I don't see it happening. 

Why It Would Work If It Happened

I know some people don't agree with the Francy argument, but let me explain why their relationship could work, if it happened. While the games obviously don't want to split up the Nedcy situation, I'd like to explain my opinion.

Point one is lifestyle. Both of them are already working together on cases, traveling all over everywhere solving mysteries. What Ned lacks is the understanding that she needs space, but Frank gives her that space by working his own cases. Then they come together to celebrate their success. The one thing Midnight In Salem puts up as a possibility is running a detective agency with the Hardys, which Nancy doesn't decline, but doesn't say yes to either. I could see Frank and Nancy doing case work together on a consistent basis and loving it. 

Courtesy of Pinterest

Point two is their strong friendship and support for each other. One cannot deny that when working cases together they give support to both sides, without too much disagreement or arguing about how to work the case itself. This friendship has been going strong without all that much conflict for years, unlike the Nedcy situation which is getting harder to maintain for Nancy and Ned. While Frank, too, would worry about Nancy unceasingly, he wouldn't be creating as much conflict because he was bored because he has stuff to do. I do love Ned, but I think he needs more hobbies that aren't Nancy-based. Frank has a side business with Joe, thus he's got a hobby.

Point three is his understanding of Nancy. Such a strong friendship leads to deep understanding of each other. He's not afraid to let her have space, nor is he hounding her for more contact with him. Nancy's tunnel vision is not a problem when he's got his own cases to work. I said that Nancy needed space to live her life in the Nedcy blog. Frank understands that and also knows what frustrates her, especially after watching her relationship with Ned go into hard times. I find it impossible to believe she hasn't talked about it with the Hardys. She tends to open up to Frank about a lot. 

Could It Go Bad?

Yes, it could. One of the issues I see is that Frank and Nancy could get too busy for each other. Both are working active cases on a daily basis. The clinginess of Ned may not show up in Frank, but they are indeed busy people all the time. What could stop that from happening is going into business together. That solution could make it work more fluidly. That happens naturally no matter what, thus I think this issue isn't a particularly big one. 

The other issue is where they live. Physical distance makes for a hard relationship. Her friends are in River Heights and his are in Bayport. I think they are states away. Allegedly, Illinois and Massachusetts are supposed to be the states they live in. Hours of driving or a flight away is not the ideal distance to create a relationship. Given how much they travel, it may not be that bad for them, if they work the same cases together. However, it makes a romantic getaway hard to plan for around cases. Ned complains about getting together while living in the same town, but Frank would have to literally take a long drive or a flight to even get together with her for a weekend. This is a huge issue they'd have to figure out.

Courtesy of Herinteractive

Conclusions

I love the idea of Francy, but the games aren't going to put them together anytime soon. Nancy is trying to patch up her Nedcy situation, thus I come to the conclusion it isn't happening. They have long established that Ned is Nancy's man and won't be changing that. Francy'd be fun, yes, but I do see the major issue being the travel required to be physically together. Being used to travel doesn't make a long-distance relationship any easier. She already has trouble making time for Ned without states of distance in her way.

Sources:

https://nancydrew.fandom.com/wiki/

Christian Films Worth Watching

 I talk about the Christian bubble (link here for my blog on that) and Christian fiction (see here), but let's focus on the visual media that isn't printed on a page. I want to look at all the exceptions to the rule. While there are badly made preachy films and fake Christian media out there, I'll be highlighting the ones you should be looking up. 

Courtesy of wordandway.org

I could look up an entire list or two or five of the best Christian films that are well-made, however, I have my own list that I'd like to give you. I know for a fact that these are good. I have watched all these beautiful films, except for one category. I can look up more and watch them for myself on a future blog. For now, I give you my personal recommendations. 

Some of you will be saying that not all these films were directed and made by Christians. You'd be right. It seems that some Christian filmmakers have also directed horror films, so I don't care who directed it, in my personal opinion. If you care I can respect that fully. Just know that this list doesn't pay any mind to who produced or directed the film itself. You'll have to look into that yourself. I'd encourage you to appreciate the film despite the director or producer.

The Miracle Maker

Any claymation or stop-motion photography film is impressive, but when you can make Jesus roll his eyes in claymation and the water look like it comes in and out you are good. It came from the late '90s and it is Jesus's life in stop-motion photography. Keep in mind that anything in this style took months and possibly years to make due to the nature of the art. It isn't a common art because it takes so long to make just three minutes alone. Fluid motion is legitimately impressive. It takes effort. If you need an example of stop-motion films you can look at some Wes Anderson films, Tim Burton films, and Aardman films. This holds up to that standard and takes it slightly higher even. When you take an effort to put Jesus' life in claymation and it looks this amazing, it is worth watching just to marvel at the craftsmanship of the film. Watch it on Youtube free with ads (and be aware it is also a western title) and enjoy! The DVD is probably worth the money, too. Click here to find it easy.

VeggieTales

Okay, so your kids may like this more than you will. To be fair, it is quality entertainment that not many could replicate in Christian media. People tried and failed to meet this high standard and cash in on it. 

I will warn you about one thing; the original team that did VeggieTales is no longer running the show. I suggest you stick to the older shows and movies to see the best of them. I can't guarantee the high mark that made the old ones good will be in the new content. I am sad to say that the original creators were booted out of the production team, as far as I know. Be aware of this and go rent those DVDs from the library if you want to be sure you've got the good stuff. 

Sherwood Pictures

The broad category you see here encompasses all the films made by Sherwood Pictures, which is a church production team. My husband loves these movies for their depth when I can safely say that many Christian films lack depth. Lack of depth leads to fluff instead of content. The movie Fireproof takes on serious issues. Flywheel is the first film they made. War Room is all about prayer. 

If my husband can love these films, you can too. He craves depth in entertainment and suggested them to me. Give them a try. See what you think. 

The Passion of The Christ

I was forced to watch this one at my old church. It turned out to be a good film. It is exactly what you'd expect it to be, which is all about Jesus. The graphic nature of his crucifixion is shocking. Be aware of the fact it won't be pretty. They used good actors and had a great script. There is a sequel coming. I can't say what that will be like. It is one of the highest-grossing films. 

The film is not for young kids. Please understand it is rather intense in nature and won't be something your young child can watch without trauma. Also, the original might be in Aramaic. While I suppose that it may give a better picture of Jesus' suffering, I wouldn't show this to any small child. Put this away until only adults are in the room. 

Prince of Egypt

This one is for the whole family. It is the story of Moses. I know for a fact that even secular audiences will watch this one, which is a mark of quality all by itself. I love this film. Someone took great care in recreating Moses' life. Yes, they took maybe one or two liberties, but I can't name a film that didn't. 

Give this one a family movie night or two. You and your kids will love it. Also, the voice of Ramses in this one is the voice of Jesus in The Miracle Maker. 

Bonus Content

Let's talk about Narnia and Lord of the Rings (LOTR). I know they aren't the Christian genre, a strong reason why both Christian and nonchristian audiences know and love these books and movies. We also know that the authors are strong Christians. There are reflections of Christianity throughout both. The genre these are technically in is children's literature and fantasy.

The scene below is what I think honestly reflects the crucifixion even more than the passion does. I can't not cry in distress as Aslan gets killed by the white witch to cover someone else's actions. 

I included this scene because it genuinely reflects what Jesus did for us, giving up His glory and paying our sins' price to free us. It is hard to watch what happens to Aslan, yet it gives us an accurate picture of how much Jesus suffered (even if it isn't a human representative being Jesus). 

LOTR portrays sin, represented by the one ring. It threatens to overtake everyone who has it. The depth of evil in this ring practically destroys Frodo as he goes with Sam to Mordor on a mission to destroy it. In the end, Sam is the only one who can give the ring back to someone, pointing to the concept of Sam being the true hero as he tries to help Frodo carry it. 

What a flower means

 Today this one is for my mom, who loves flowers so much she's got at least 18 orchids in her house. We're going to look at the meaning of flowers in American culture, which may not match other cultures. Ready? 

Courtesy of theflowersavenue.com

Did you know there are birth flowers, just like birthstones? Myths also have something to do with flower meanings. It's all symbolism. I'm leaving out the mention of crystals on this one for reasons that it is sometimes used in witchcraft forms. I am not here to promote witchcraft. I will include a menagerie of flowers in this post. I cannot possibly hit on them all. I'm going to leave a brief chart, in case you want to know your birth flower. Next, I'm going to go into common flowers you'll hear about in most places and stores. 

Courtesy of Pinterest

The Common Flowers

The orchid is where I will start, a rare flower people would go on expeditions for and sell to others. People lost their lives just to give the orchids to rich people who'd pay a high price. It represents delicate beauty, fertility, love, refinement, thoughtfulness, and charm. The name orchid means testicle, surprisingly, and only because of its shape. They are on every continent except Antarctica. In some places wild orchids are protected. Ancient Greeks found this flower to represent virility. Aztecs mixed vanilla orchids with chocolate to promote power and strength. The Victorian era displayed them as a luxury and to show refinement, which means only the rich had them. There is no such thing as a black orchid. 

Different colored orchids represent other things. Blue-tinted ones are rare and represent rarity. Below is a list of what each color means at a glance.

Red - passion, desire, strength, courage

Pink - grace, joy, happiness, innocence, femininity

White - reverence, humility, innocence, purity, elegance, beauty

Purple - admiration, respect, dignity, royalty

Yellow - friendship, joy, new beginnings

Orange - enthusiasm, boldness, pride

Green - good fortune, blessings, good health, nature, longevity

Courtesy of gardens-with-purpose.com

Do you want one? You can pay what you want for them. You can pay five to ten dollars at a grocery store or buy the rarest variety for your greenhouse for thousands of dollars. Your choice. The cheap ones don't take much care, except for water and sunlight. The expensive ones require a greenhouse more expensive than most people's homes and plenty of attention.

The Rose has a whole language by itself. You see them everywhere in greenhouses and can find ones bred to be hard to kill. One flower versus a bouquet makes a difference in this flower's meaning. Let me just put the colors in a paragraph each for you. 

Not only that but what hand you accept the flowers with often plays a role in the meaning. Accepting with the right hand means you agree and affirm. Your left hand shows disagreement. A crown of roses indicates a reward of virtue, a bouquet in full bloom indicates gratitude, and a rose in a tuft of grass indicates everything is to be gained by good company. A faded rose says "beauty is fleeting".

Red is most certainly love, as well as respect, admiration, and devotion. Deep red can mean heartfelt regret or sorrow. A single red one means "I love you" or "You are the one for me". Two roses symbolize "Let us be together". At three, we get the meaning "You and me and our love for company". Six means "I am halfway in love with you". A dozen is "be mine". Somewhere between twelve and fifty means "I am yours" and fifty roses say "my love for you is limitless". Twenty-five roses can be given to congratulate someone. 

White represents purity, chastity, and innocence. Also included are new beginnings, sympathy, humility, or spirituality. One white rose says "my feelings are pure". If it is withered it is a symbol of the loss of innocence or death.

Yellow is friendship and caring. It is platonic. If you want to send flowers to a friend this is the color to send. They are warm and welcoming. "You bring joy to my life" and "let's be friends" are what can come across here. 

Pink is admiration, joy, and gratitude. It also connects to sweetness and innocence. Deep pink shows deep gratitude and appreciation. Elegance and grace are also conveyed with this color. One alone says "I like you". 

Courtesy of bhg.com.au

Orange conveys passion and energy. This is intense desire, fervor, and pride, as well as fascination. One single rose says "I'm proud of you". 

Lavender means enchantment or love at first sight. Darker colored lavender shows regal majesty and splendor. These can also express adoration and fascination. A single rose expresses "I am enchanted by you". 

Blues rose are not natural. They are dyed that way. Therefore, they are mysterious and unattainable. So, "I can't have you and can't stop thinking about you" is what this rose expresses, which is pretty much saying you are a forbidden fruit. Maybe don't give this one. One alone means "you seem like an unattainable dream". 

Green roses represent harmony, wealth and luxury, fertility, peace, and tranquility. They are off-white with shades of green. You give these as a "best wishes for a prosperous new life" occasion or a get well soon expression. 

Black roses are not natural. They are dyed that way or a deep, deep red that just looks black. It means the death of something. Don't send these to a significant other unless you want the relationship to die. Unless you are Abby from NCIS, you probably don't want these. 

One peach rose means "thank you" or expresses that you sympathize with someone. In my sources below you'll find the page I worked off of for the rose meanings, where you'll also find the rose types mean something, too. I'll put that here for you to explore on your own. Otherwise, this blog will never end. 

A Lily is just as complicated as the two other flowers before it. If you thought this blog subject wasn't complex you have just been proven wrong. The common meaning is purity and fertility. Again, colors matter. The flower itself connects to Zeus and Hera in mythology. 

According to bloom and wild, the story goes like this. 

"The story goes that Zeus wanted baby Hercules to drink Hera’s milk. But because Hercules was born of another woman, she disagreed. In a sneaky bid to get Hercules some milk, Zeus brought him to drink Hera’s milk while she was asleep. When she woke up and [realized], she pushed them away and the drops of milk that fell on the ground grew into lilies."

Egyptians believed this flower was sacred and the Romans filled their pillows with it. It is quite fascinating. 

Courtesy of Gardening Know How

The basic rundown below is what the colors represent. This one I can leave in a basic list for you. 

White - Purity, rebirth, often used in funerals and weddings

Pink - love, femininity, admiration

Red - love, passion

Orange - confidence, energy, positivity, warmth

Yellow - thankfulness, joy, friendship

This one isn't as complicated as the rose, obviously, but you do see the colors matter in all of these. 

Sunflowers remind me of one of my best friends, which is why I'm going to end with this one. Let's not make the blog a mile long. This one has a myth with it, too. Clytie and Apollo the sun god are the players involved in this myth. 

According to sunflowerjoy.com, this is the myth. 

"The Greek water nymph, Clytie, fell in love with the Sun God called Apollo. She often gazed up at him and hoped that he would offer a look or a glance in her direction. He never did look upon her because Apollo was in love with someone else and had no interest in looking down at Clytie. After a long time, Clytie realized that Apollo had no interest in her. It was a one sided and unrequited love that would never be reciprocated. Clytie became depressed at the thought that her love would never be returned. She refused to eat and drink and just stared forlornly at Apollo. In time, the other Greek Gods felt sorry for Clytie. Eventually they decided to change her into a beautiful flower, a sunflower, as this was kinder than leaving her as she was. Clytie the sunflower always looked towards Apollo, the Sun God. This was then how all sunflowers came to follow the path of the sun. The Greek origin story of the sunflower is rather sad. Clytie was a lovesick water nymph who pined for someone and yearned for a love that she could never have. However, her sadness was transformed into the beautiful yellow color flower that is still with us today."

So, that's the story according to mythology. Not bright and cheery, but seldom is mythology ever cheery. At any rate, the name of the flower means "flower of the sun". Shocker, right? 

Now we dig into what it represents. It follows the sun, thus it is considered loyal and devout. It symbolizes true faithful loyalty. It connects to Christianity and many other religions. It also represents longevity, optimism, happiness, good fortune, and good luck. Peace and hope also come with this flower since it can clean up radiation and toxic pollution, thus representing a nuclear-free world. This flower is pretty and absorbs toxicity. 

Sources:

Flower Meanings | Birth Flowers | The Language of Flowers | Floriography (buildingbeautifulsouls.com)

Orchid Flower Meaning - Flower Meaning

Rose Flower Meanings by their Color, Variety and Numbers (pickupflowers.com)

What is the meaning of the lily flower? | Bloom & Wild (bloomandwild.com)

What is the Meaning of a Sunflower: Symbolism, Spiritual and Myths (sunflowerjoy.com)

Indepth Analysis: Ned and Nancy

Within the world of the Nancy Drew games, we see a Ned and Nancy relationship that is currently on shaky ground. Over time the Francy (Frank and Nancy)  idea from the Supermystery books has bled into the game plot. While Nancy makes no effort to hook up with Frank, Ned still gets a bit weird about Nancy solving a mystery with the Hardys. 

*There may be game spoilers!*

Courtesy of Pinterest

Today I'm going to go into the details of the Nancy and Ned relationship (games only). I'll start with a rundown of what has happened in their relationship from game 1 to game 33. From there I'll jump into what each of them seems to need from each other. Lastly, I'll state my opinion on whether Nancy and Ned should be together as a couple or not. If I think they can fix it I'll state how I think they could, but we'll see. 

The Relationship As It Stands

Ned starts at game 1 as a phone boyfriend. He only really gives hints here. In the next game, he does say "I love you", but still a phone boyfriend. For the majority of the series you only talk to him over the phone. We never see him in person, even though we once play as him. We see only a picture or two to go off of.

It may be that the many books they based the games off of didn't include Ned, but be that as it may, Ned is not in games 3,6-10,12-14,20,22-23,26-27, and 30-31. He is mentioned in many of these games. You just can't call him. Again, I will make the case that the books may not include Ned (in fact, she may not have met him yet in some books). That has no bearing on the relationship itself if that is indeed the case. I am taking that into account and assuming Ned receives her letters and communicates with her between cases. 

Courtesy of Herinteractive

With all that in mind, the content of those calls includes advice on the case at hand. We also learn he's in college working hard on his degree and in a fraternity. He's busy, too, so we can't say he spends all his time waiting for Nancy to come home. Early on we see no complaints from Ned. He worries over Nancy's safety and helps her solve her cases with good advice. In Kapu Cave, however, Nancy sees the Hardy boys on the beach and hangs up on Ned mid-conversation. You call him back, yes, but you can find conversation indicating he's not happy Frank is there. No indication of any other conflict surfaces the game after. Nancy even checks on Henry Bolet for him in Crystal Skull while she's with Bess.

Within Phantom of Venice, there is a heavily mentioned locket that Nancy says Ned gave her. This still shows a rather healthy relationship. We don't know what happens outside the cases Nancy handles. We assume they go out between cases. I do, anyway, but to each their own. Why else would Ned buy her a locket if he wasn't committed to the relationship? After a while, you can't avoid calls from Ned (should you not bother to call him as the player). This happens in Blackmoor Manor, Kapu Cave, and Waverly specifically. 

Captive Curse begins to give us a clue as to how many times Ned had to reschedule their dates for Nancy's cases. He gets upset about it and says he doesn't have anything to do. This shows us that his life tends to circle around Nancy's. He even goes to the Hardys for consoling, who then call Nancy and ask what happened between them. The game has you make up and get back together. Truthfully, this has roots that may have been happening behind the scenes. Ned later admits he's waiting for exciting things to happen to him like they do for Nancy and Nancy assures him she would love for him to be able to join her. He admits he knows that and forgets that sometimes. Next game Ned helps Bess and George get Nancy out of jail. He even endures a date with Deirdre so the rest of the gang can get her fingerprint and notes. 

Courtesy of Pinterest

For the next few games he's the usual helpful phone boyfriend. Silent Spy shows him defending Nancy as she is in Scotland. He declares his loyal support for her. Sea of Darkness lets the player choose a response more than other games have before. Nancy completely forgot their anniversary dinner. This means if you hate Ned you can refuse to return his "I love you". Assuming you are nice to Ned and return his "I love you", the response you get is that Ned has a gift he can't give you over the phone and that he's constantly worried he'll get a call about Nancy's untimely death any day now. He's consumed by worry, basically. Hot tip, buy him a sword and he'll love it.

Now we need to talk about Midnight In Salem's (MID for short) mysterious call early in the game. If you don't know, Ned suggests Nancy take a break from cases in a somewhat passive-aggressive tone (it may be just my perception, but I'm not sure) and then gets interrupted by a woman mocking Ned. She steals his phone and won't give it back. She hangs up on Nancy. No explanation is given. 

We can take two thought journeys with this one. Road one suggests Nancy is being cheated on. Road two suggests Ned's sister took his phone. I choose to believe Ned's sister is to blame, as he openly texts he is hanging out with friends. He also is on vacation, presumably with his family. Plus, what idiot calls his girlfriend with his side chick beside him? Come on, Ned isn't stupid. Frankly, even Dierdre says he's not budging "on the you situation" and would wait by the phone for eternity even if Nancy never called Ned again. Deirdre knows the score. She's kept her eye on Ned for years, so she's probably right. 

We come back to the rest of MID, where we play phone tag with Ned the whole game. He's not being helpful at all in the communication department. Nancy says she'll call him back as she encounters situations like vandalism to the Perry's house and Mei's disappearance. I wish she'd have just explained what was happening instead of not taking his call. This communication situation is not good, as well as Ned's consuming worry over Nancy combined with his dislike of Frank. She does end the game by planning a vacation with Ned, however, where they can talk out their issues uninterrupted. This is the game that last came out, so we know nothing else. 

What Do They Need?

Nancy has tunnel vision. Any player of Herinteractive games knows this after several games in. She is seldom in River Heights. Her constant barrage of cases leads her all over the map. This means she's seldom home to have a romantic getaway with Ned or spend time with him. What does she need? I can't really say. She has the support of Ned, the attention of Ned, and doesn't need much. If I had to say what she needed from Ned it would be the understanding that she needs space to solve those mysteries and live her life (which Captive Curse touched on). 

Ned is a college student that also has a busy life. He's also expressed that he wants more of her attention and time. This one is simple. There isn't much more to say. He needs more time spent and attention from Nancy because she's practically traveling all year. The time he does have off seems to not match up with hers if MID gave me the right vibe. 

This is shockingly simple to fix. All it really takes is an intentional inclusion in her cases, if possible, so Ned can come with her. It could also help if she did what the end of MID actually suggested they were going to do. Nancy is trying to save the relationship. In my opinion, Ned also needs to give her some space if he's not going to join her adventure. She loves mysteries. Ned can't just keep her at home. There needs to be a balance of time at home and mystery solving. It all comes down to their lives being out of balance. Add some clear communication to a re-balanced and prioritized relationship and they may just work out forever. 

Will It Work Out?

Yes, I think it will. Nancy made a step toward prioritizing Ned at the end of MID. Ned is clearly not cheating on Nancy if Deirdre is convinced he would wait on her forever. He's declared his support of her, his worry over her, and his devotion to her in Sea of Darkness. Long story short, they need to balance their time together and time away while clearly communicating. If they do that they're going to be fine.

I am fully aware that some players declare Nancy to be a horrible girlfriend, but I also present to you that Ned also needs to make an effort. Captive Curse demonstrated that Ned is too dependent on Nancy for his free time and needs to give her space. MID demonstrated that he's not good at communication either. A relationship is a two-way street and they need to understand each other. It takes two people. Nancy seems to have a dynamic life and Ned doesn't seem to be anything other than a homebody. You see this also in Carson and Kate's relationship, which seems to create arguments also. Ned is too dependent on Nancy in some cases, which isn't good. 

Keep in mind these are my opinions. You can disagree at any time. For perspective on my perspective, I am someone who gets lost in their own head, like Nancy here. Ned's argument in Captive Curse comes across to me as whining about how he has nothing to do outside of Nancy. I do see how he'd be upset that the getaway had to be rescheduled, but aside from that, he has to know that Nancy can't bale from a case on his whim. The world doesn't revolve around Ned.

With all that, I end my case. Ned and Nancy, in my opinion, can fix this and are actively trying.