Favorite Fictional Character --- Gilligan

 

Sharing my favorite fictional characters with everyone used to be one of my favorite aspects of this blog, so there was no way I was going to resurrect Wordsmithonia without bringing back this weekly feature. 

August 16th, 2017 was the last time I posted a Favorite Fictional Character post, and it just so happened to be on Inspector Gadget, the fumbling cartoon(ish) secret agent many of us grew up with. It's fitting that today I'm going to feature another fumbling character, the always clumsily adorable Gilligan from a show I'm sure we are all familiar with, Gilligan's Island. 

Growing up, I remember laying on my stomach, head in my hands in front of TV watching Gilligan's Island and loving every minute of it. At first in black & white and then in color, as both the show and our TV upgraded, I loved Gilligan's antics as he bumbled across my screen, somehow both annoying and endearing himself to his fellow castaways. 

He always tried to do the right thing and to be as helpful as possible. He put his whole heart into everything he did, but like Inspector Gadget, he fumbled it 98% of the time. His antics are both hilarious and loveable, but it's his heart that I absolutely love about him. He didn't quit or give up when he failed at something. He didn't stop pouring his heart into everything he did, just because his friends got frustrated with him. He kept true to himself, and in my opinion, that is just about the most important thing anyone can do. It's one of those life lessons I think most of us would be good to hold onto with both hands. 

Wordsmithonia Has A Facebook Page

When I made the painful, final decision to shutter the blog a few years ago, I started a Facebook page mainly because I wanted to keep some semblance of it still alive. While my brain was telling me it was time to let go, my heart wouldn't let me. At least not fully. 

Now, while we all post our thoughts about books, music, TV shows, and movies, we also  play a lot of tournaments. We've done tournaments covering the greatest screen villains of all time, favorite children's characters, the most annoying characters, favorite reads, favorite soundtracks, and quite a few more. 

Right now we are getting ready to start one on our favorite musicals. I would invite you all to join us, which you can do by clicking the link above our banner photo beneath here. You could play by entering your own favorites, or vote once the tournament starts, or even just to lurk around the page. We're a friendly group. 

Join Us!

Lured (1947)

If you know me, even a little bit, you know that not only am I a sucker for classic movies, but I'm a fiend for those that just so happen to fall into the classic mystery/noir genre. I'm by no means an expert on the subject as I know there are hundreds of really good movies I've never even heard of, let alone watched. What I am, is a lover of these films. I've been know to binge 4-6 new to me movies in a day; I get so entranced by them. Thank everything holy for the streaming services that have brought so many of them back into the light of day. Kanopy, which I have through my public library membership, has an abundant catalog of them. If you have a library card, I would implore you to see if your public library partners with them. If you like movies, you will love this service. 

I was browsing in Kanopy the other day and came across a movie with the general description of a serial killer stalking the streets of London, luring and killing women through the use of personal ads. When an American dance hall girl figures out her friend is missing, she takes her concerns to Scotland Yard, and is quickly roped into going  undercover to catch the man who has already claimed the lives of too many innocent women. 

That description alone sold me on giving it a go. The fact that Lucille Ball plays the aforementioned dance hall girl and George Sanders is a nightclub owner who she gets involved with, was just icing on the proverbial cake. I don't need to state how brilliant Lucille Ball was in this, because that should be obvious. It actually makes me wish she had done more of this type of movie. Yeah, she was a born comedian but she had the chops for tense drama as well, and that shines in Lured. George Sanders was not a typical Hollywood heartthrob with the looks of a Cary Grant, but that man's screen presence and his voice more than made up for that. It was impossible not to fall for him, even when you know all along there's a chance he's the killer. 

I'm not going to spoil anything about the story's twists and turns, but I would strongly recommend you discover them for yourselves. This was a delightful caper that's guaranteed to thrill even the most die hard mystery fans. For an extra treat, be on the lookout for a deliciously over the top performance by Boris Karloff.

Strange Houses by Uketsu

Unatural layouts, trap doors, and windowless rooms - a sinister conspiracy is concealed within a house's warped and unsettling floor plans. 

I'm an impulse buyer. When I go grocery shopping, I'll end up with fifteen things I never planned on getting. I've tried an abundant amount of chip and Oreo flavors this way. As I've aged, I've tried to get those impulses under control to limited success. With bigger items, say a coat that looks like a watercolor of a birch forest, I'll walk away to ponder things over for a day or two. For the record, I wear that coat a lot. 

It should come as no surprise that my lack of impulse control isn't constrained to the grocery store, put me in a

book store and all the samplings start looking like the newest flavor of Lays. It's why I'm trying my damndest to stay out book stores as much as I can. Long story short, I saw Strange Houses by Uketsu on a cute little side table in the east side Barnes & Noble and knew instantly that I needed to take it home. 

Don't get me wrong, when I see a blurb touting how sensational a book is, I'm always a little skeptical. Nevertheless this little guy came home with me and I loved every second of it. I wasn't sure what to expect, but what I got was a fiendishly clever murder mystery that had me second guessing myself a couple of times. 

Our narrator is approached by a friend who while shopping for a new home for his young family comes across a house that despite its attributes, left him feeling off. With the help of a draftsman friend, our narrator dives into the mystery of the house and the sinister reason behind its design. 

There isn't a lot I want to divulge regarding the nature of the mystery or the way it plays out, mainly because I think it's best for readers to discover it for themselves. What I will say is I enjoyed the heck out of the journey and I'm really looking forward to reading more of this author. 

Hello

 

A few years ago I made a decision to let this blog die. I made up a lot of excuses in my head about why that was a good idea. I told myself I didn't have the time. I convinced myself that nobody was really reading it anyway. I lied to myself that I wouldn't miss it. Even when I knew I would miss the people I met and grew close to over the years. I even started a FB page that I planned to use as an extension of the blog, and in many ways it's worked out for me. But it's not the same. 

I miss sitting down and really putting my thoughts down on paper, typos and all, or in this case on screen. I miss the interactions and the discovery of books I never would have heard about, let alone read without the blogging community. I know blogs aren't the "cool" thing anymore. I know Instagram and TikTok have taken up a lot of the space that blogs used to dominate. And there again, all I can say it's not the same. I've seen some great content creators in those spaces, and I applaud them. Yet, I miss curling up in bed, going through my blog roll, and catching up with my favorite bloggers. I miss the interaction that always felt personal and connecting. 

Now, I'm not saying I'm coming back to blogging full time, or that I even expect anybody to read a single post I put out there. I may be sporadic in posting. I may even decide that I have nothing to say. But, I feel that it's time to reclaim my voice and space. I hope to see you around, even if it's just me bopping in and out, catching up on my favorite bloggers.