October 22, 2005
Busy Saturday
Driving - At times today it seemed hard to remember to conserve gasoline. Good thing it's now below $2.50/gallon and falling. Michelle and I were in full chauffeur mode today. She drove the girls to gymnastics. She later picked Abigail up. While they were away I backed up the iMac onto my iPod. Once Michelle got back with Abby I went to gymnastics to pick up Claire. From Gymnastics Village I took her straight to a birthday party for her friend Shauna being held at Boulder Morty's. From there I dropped off the iMac at MacEdge to have them replace the aging CD-RW drive in it. Ironically I think that during the commute a penny that Timothy shoved into the drive came out. After dropping off the iMac I head to my office to do a couple hours of work. From there I picked up Claire and a neighborhood friend to bring them home. Ahh, at least there was some carpooling! Some token of efficiency!
Movie - After having one of my favorite Michelle dinners — chili — I watched the second half of The Quiet Man. What a classic! John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald! I remember we read the screenplay back in high school and I first saw the film when we were first married and living on base. Still, it was great to see it again. I imagine it might even be a tradition in the Tarpey family, eh?
My favorite scene is just when Danaher finally concedes to pay up the rightful dowry that Mary Kate has been complaining endlessly to Sean that he must demand as her husband. She has been such an unwilling wife since her husband won't press for it. But to her, it's not money. It's the principle. The shame of not getting what is rightly hers. The review linked above describes it thus:
“Now that her honor has been triumphantly defended, Mary Kate and Sean act as equal marital partners. As she beams with pride, she opens a threshing machine door. Sean flamboyantly throws the money in, and then she slams shut the door. She stands before him - in a masculine, fighting stance - they are joined together in the frame as Sean liberates them by tossing the dowry money into the fiery furnace to be burned. Now with a secure marriage in place, both of them acknowledge that their needs have been fulfilled - she has her rightful dowry after a public demonstration of her husband's love, and he has his integrity, self-respect and freedom from the past with the incineration of the dowry. Sean's guilt over the mercenary boxing match that resulted in the accidental death of his opponent is finally exorcised with the burning of his wife's money.
As they walk arm in arm past her brother, Danaher aims and misses a blow with a clenched fist to Sean's head. Realizing that her husband will begin an epic brawl with Danaher, Mary Kate promises Sean that she will return to their home to prepare his supper:
I'll be goin' on home now. I'll have the supper ready for ya.
She strides off alone - her own strength, identity and power are spatially communicated.”
Priceless! Up to that point she has been a pill of a wife. Suddenly she conveys that she has her pride back and she's willing to cooperate fully with whatever her husband wants from now on (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more...) without reservation. She knows he's a trustworthy, honest, upright man. She trusts him completely. The love that was physically, yet reluctantly consummated the night prior is now more emotionally sealed.
Then, of course, it proceeds with one of the funnier fights scenes I've witnessed.
I don't recalled what triggered me to TiVo the movie a few weeks back, but I'm glad I did. It was great seeing it again. John Wayne... amongst the Irish, what a hilarious contrast in dialects!