I have always adored classical music. Hearing an orchestra play sends little happy shockwaves of life through me. Makes me feel tingly. Hell, it makes me feel something, period. My mother would play it for me. When I was Sunday School years old she was collecting classical records that some grocery store was doing for a promotion. I think by the time Volume 7 came out (Tchaikovsky, disc 2. I only know this specifically because still own it), she had grown bored with it. Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite was my jam because I was a tiny human obsessed with ballet. The Ravel record, specifically “Bolero,” was on heavy rotation via my mother. When she passed, I requested it to be played at her service. They spelled it wrong in the pamphlet. That irritated me. It was important. The music was pretty much all that mattered to me at her service, the only thing I could contribute because I was out of it because, well, duh.
What makes me think of this currently?
I am watching Celebrity Jeopardy! reruns on Hulu (after watching Tacoma FD, it is now pronounced “hugh-looo” forever in my brain). I am partial to Celebrity Jeopardy! because its not as dumbed down as the teen tournaments, yet not as hard as the Tournament of Champions. I like a challenge, but I don’t wanna feel too smart or too dumb, ya know? I remember having the television on in the other room as I got ready for work one day in my twenties, and every damn question they asked? BAM! I KNEW that shit. One after another. I was feeling like a bad ass until I walked back into the living room to find that it was a kids’ tournament. Insert sad trombone noises here, I suppose.
As I write this, I just realised that a ramble about a game show is age appropriate for me now. Yay! Now I’m just an old person and not the pre-teen dork yelling out Wheel of Fortune answers with my grandparents. That’s one thing that my grandma brags about in regards to me, that I can kick ass at Wheel of Fortune. I always feel a little silly sense of pride when she says that. Gotta take those wins however you can get them sometimes.
Oh, right. A point. Maybe I should get there…
So this question comes up on the screen:
Originally composed as a ballet,
Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero” is best known as the sexy theme
of this film starring Dudley Moore & Bo Derek
Okay, fine. Easy. That’s “10.” I’ve never seen it, but I was alive enough in the 80s to remember people making a big deal about the Bo’s swimsuit poster. But that is obviously not totally what caused me to stop what I was doing to type about a game show rerun…
My mother thought Dudley Moore was cute. Her word, “cute.” I’d not personally use the word “cute” to describe a grown-ass hairy Englishman, but when I learned how short he was (5’2”), I suppose it is appropriate enough. I’ve seen so many damn Dudley Moore movies. “Arthur 2: On the Rocks,” “Like Father Like Son,” “Crazy People,” “Santa Claus,” blah blah blah. Especially Santa Claus. She loved her Christmas movies. I was late coming home on a Christmas Eve once and she got all pissed off at me. Know why I was late? Because it took the guy at Suncoast ages to find the VHS copy of “One Magic Christmas” that I special ordered for her. I’m bad at time, but I’m damn good at gifts.
Blake Edwards’ film, “10” came out in 1979. In the 80’s you could rent a VHS or a Betamax player right along with the tapes. We didn’t get a VCR until they’d pretty much taken over the market, so we’ll say 1988, but her friends had them before we did. I watched “Jaws” on a tiny screen and it still scared the shit out of me. I saw “Star Wars” for the first time on a rented machine out in the country at her friends’ farm (Got my ears pierced for the first time in that kitchen as well. Pretty sure they ended up burning that place to the ground for insurance money and bailed to California. Why do I remember this crap?? I was like 5! Sorry, maths, no room for you, Gina’s gotta remember details about people that she never saw again from like 1986!), so I’m betting you she also saw “10” around then. Know what else? That’s about when she started collecting those records. Ravel was one of the first.
sooooooo yeaaaaaah….I now realize that there is a very high probability that she knew that song because of that damn movie. I have a lifetime love affair with classical music because of that woman. I played a song at her funeral that she liked because of a damn Dudley Moore movie. My whole life may have been different if she was into Matt Dylan or Mel Gibson or some junk. Weird.
She’s been gone 11 years today. I’m past being sad on this day, instead I choose to think of dumb little happy things. It’s way better this way.
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