The ABC Life Blog

LEARNING CENTER

Barbara: This month I learned something about the bra. The bra has forever been the bane of my existence. As a young girl who developed kind of late, I was always wary of going to a party where the adolescent boys in those days thought it was hysterical to snap the bra back of all the girls and if you were caught without one you would never live it down. The ‘70s were great when it was finally acceptable and even cool to go without a bra (although now when I look at the pictures of me walking around Europe without one I blush as red as the tight little tank top I was wearing). Once I finally (thank goodness) needed a bra – and to this day – I was constantly conscious of the restricting straps, bands, wires, etc. on them. Who came up with this tortuous device?! Now I know. “Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller and Polly Smith were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for creating the modern sports bra. Their prototype was made by sewing two jockstraps together.” Two jockstraps? Of course – they must be the sisters of those little boys who were still torturing me! I guess you can’t win for losing.

Given that this was “B” month, how could we not look into the world of BEES!

First up was watching The Beekeeper, starring Jason Statham as a retired military operative who is now a one-man wrecking crew, unleashing  revenge on scammers who delight in and succeed in robbing people online. The Beekeeper now lives out in the country raising bees and selling their honey. If you are game to go along on the ride and accept exaggeration, humor and predictable outcomes, you will enjoy this film. Unfortunately, if you have been subject to scamming recently, you may find yourself getting angry and a bit too involved in cheering on the revenge. But the movie does remind us to be extra aware of phishing scams these days.

Second, was a look into the evolution of the phrase “the bee’s knees.” There’s a lot of speculation as to how this phrase evolved, but it’s widely believed it was first used in the 18th century to refer to something very small, although its present meaning is “something marvelous.”  This seems to be a reference to a dancer from the 1920s – Bee Jackson – and her active knees when she popularized the Charleston, or to the goodness of the pollen load carried on a bee’s back legs. We prefer the dance origin as the thought of someone’s “active knees” gives us a chuckle.

Third, we wondered: do bees actually have knees? Yes they do. Bees have six legs and each leg has a joint between the femur and tibia, known as a knee. The two front legs are used to clean the antennae. The middle two legs are used for walking and packing the pollen basket, which is situated on the two hind legs. The bee’s knees work together with the other parts of the legs to move the pollen along.

And finally, we couldn’t let this post end without trying a new cocktail: THE BEE’S KNEES. This cocktail was made from gin, a mixture of hot water and honey to make a syrup, lemon juice, and ice. It was very easy, quick and quite delicious. The Bee’s Knees cocktail was also developed during the Prohibition Era. Honey and lemon juice helped to sweeten the drink and hide the taste of poorly made alcohol. It was not too strong although it did creep up on us after a while. We both really enjoyed it. In fact, it was the bee’s knees!

You know how you have a hankering for something but cannot make it fit into your ABC Life? That’s what happened this month. But luckily we found a way…

New restaurant – BIG RAY’S BBQ IN ALLEN

We headed out to try the pork ribs at Big Ray’s BBQ. It sounded authentic and there were plenty of cars in the lot. Unfortunately, we were disappointed. The food wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great either. The ribs were fatty, and the glazed carrots surprised us by being served refrigerated. All in all not the best experience but our quest for ribs will not end. Any recommendations?

New movie – ADAM’S RIB

Laura: A few months ago I bought The Essentials: 52 Must-See Movies and Why They Matter by Jeremy ARNOLD. He recommends ADAM’S RIB, a 1949 movie with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. So, although it’s not a rib you can eat, it was a rib to enjoy. The film has two main storylines. The first is an attempted murder case and the second is the marriage between the two stars, who are both lawyers and married to each other. What makes this movie so essential is its arguments for the equality of both sexes. Katharine Hepburn represents the accused wife and argues for treating her under the same expectations and laws that influence society regarding men. This is really brought home in this movie and since it was back in 1949, it’s very impressive.  The movie also has a lot of humor and great dialogue, reminding me how the old movies definitely relied on banter rather than brawls.

Whenever we have the chance, we like to see old, classic movies that we somehow missed. This month we got the chance to see one.

New movie: ARSENIC AND OLD LACE

In the mood for a totally madcap comedy? This is the one to see. Cary Grant is good at almost anything and this role, which was originally meant for Bob Hope, puts his comedic chops to the test. The plot revolves around his two spinster aunts who put a for rent sign up and, if a lonely man answers the ad, “compassionately” put him out of his loneliness by serving him a drink of elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine and cyanide, then bury him in the cellar. There are a number of other players that add complications and make this an amusing two hours of escapism.

New book: APPLE Pie and ARSENIC

Laura: While arsenic is most commonly paired with “old lace,” author C.A. Phipps paired it with a pastry in her cozy mystery “Apple Pie and Arsenic.” The first in the Maple Lane Mysteries series, this book features a cat-loving bakery owner, a dead body and, of course, our favorite poison. It’s a relatively quick read and hits all the notes that a cozy mystery typically embraces: likeable characters, a female amateur sleuth, small town or village, no graphic violence and rarely any sex. Although I’m a huge fan of mysteries, the cozy kind does not have a strong pull on my reading choices. I prefer a bit more zing and hard edges to my who-done-its. But “Apple Pie and Arsenic” moved along at a decent clip and appears to be well liked by cozy fans. Plus, it has a few easy recipes. Some of C.A. Phipps other titles include “Bagels and Blackmail”, “Cookies and Chaos” and “Doughnuts and Disaster”. She’s up to H with “Honey Cake and Homicide” and I imagine she’ll continue through Z. Gotta love someone who loves the alphabet life!

LEARNING CENTER – ARSENIC

Speaking of arsenic, did you know that water in the Atacama Desert in Argentina naturally contains up to 20 times the arsenic considered safe for humans? Over the course of thousands of years, settlers in the area have developed a resistance to arsenic – which would have come in handy for those lonely old gentlemen!

New activity: Local Theatre Performance of ALMOST MAINE

We enjoy going to the theatre and although we don’t always like what we see, we keep going because we like to support local theatres and there definitely are some gems. On Sunday we went to the Allen Contemporary Theatre to see Almost Maine by John Cariani. Talk about a gem! This play was 9 vignettes about love and loss in a small town called Almost Maine and it was funny and touching and poignant – just so enjoyable. Barb got teary-eyed at a couple of the stories. What’s more, the caliber of acting was very high. It’s too bad it was the last performance but if it ever comes back to a town near you, it’s a highly recommend from us.

New restaurant: ZIO AL’S PIZZERIA

We couldn’t let W, X, Y, Z month go by without at least one representative of  those last 3 letters so we went for lunch to Zio Al’s Pizzeria in Plano. When we pulled up, we were a little uncertain because the place looked so tiny, but we said “why not?” Boy, are looks deceiving. The menu had several pizzas that we had never heard of. We decided to try the Gyro Lovers’ Pizza since we both loved those ingredients.

Wow! It was delicious! Definitely worth a return visit. Maybe for a spinach ricotta?

New documentary: Language A to Z

Needing to finish off the alphabet, we were excited to discover the documentary Language A to Z on Kanopy. It’s a series featuring each letter of the alphabet so obviously we jumped to X, Y and Z (Sorry W, but you’ve had enough play this month). X stood for !XOO which is a “click language” originating in Africa. It has more sounds than any other language on earth, with over 100 different clicks. Y stood for Yiddish which the charming narrator says is a “dying language that is not really dying at all.” He then went on to the letter Z which is more prominent in our language than we ever realized. We love shows that teach us something and this show is chock full of information which is presented in a fun way. We’ll definitely be making our way through the alphabet with him.