Wednesday, August 27, 2008

I Feel Fat

I would venture to say that most find it easier to eat sensibly and stay
active during the summer. Not me. Summer months are my fat
months. For one thing, I hate the heat and humidity of the midwest
and most times stay inside to escape. Then, the house must be
stocked with plenty of food for all the meat and potato eating guys
and their friends who are ravenous at all times of the day and night.
Picnics. Potato salad. I cook. I eat. I eat ice cream. I feel fat. I relish
the beginning of September with cool temps for walking, less cooking
and fewer people around to feed. I love fall.

Speaking of the end of the picnic season, I watched an interesting little
film directed by Peter Weir the other night, Picnic at Hanging Rock,
an adaptation of the novel by the Australian author, Joan Lindsay. It's
about an excursion by a party of girls from an exclusive private school,
who travel to Hanging Rock, in Victoria's Mount Macedon for a picnic
on St. Valentine's Day, 1900. The picnic ends in tragedy when three
girls and a teacher mysteriously vanish after climbing the rock.

Weir masterfully creates a beautiful film with a mystical dreamlike
aura and marvelous cinematography. It evokes a feel similar to
E.M. Forster's novel A Passage to India with strange cave echoes
and sexual hysteria. Compounding the film's dreamlike quality is the
intriguing dialogue peppered with quotes from Edgar Allan Poe,
among others. This film, made in 1975, is a tad dated by Zamfir
panpipe music and a few women's hairstyles, but all in all is well
worth watching!

artwork: Picnic in the Mountains, Fernando Botero, 1966

38 comments:

  1. I am so there with you!

    Summer is when I gain and in winter I begin to shrink.

    The movie sounds like something I would really enjoy. I need to see if I can find it online.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Elizabeth and welcome to Willow Manor! Hope you stop in again soon.
    I'm on my way over to your place for a visit...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've been eating ice cream like a crazy person lately. I can totally relate!

    I've seen that movie at the video store before and will make another Willow recommendation to my list. In looking at Peter Weir's filmography, I realized I've seen most of his other films already.

    Enjoy your summer and just find some baggy pants to wear until it starts to cool down! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. When I was putting in our yard and stuff this spring, I lost about 20 pounds....but was eating like a small horse! I'm glad to report, I have found those pounds, and a few more, this summer. I told Lucky that I was going to start cutting back.......Tuesday......after Labor day......maybe!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oy! I am so with you on the whole hate the heat thing. I always pack on weight during the summer. Gah!

    Can't wait for cool fall temps!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love that picture, Picnic in the Mountains. Adorable. I do know how you feel, though Willow. I feel fat too at the moment, even with dog walking and gardening. I used to be a perfect size 12 and now I'm a just size 14, with probably a 16 top. It all just exploded when I hit about 55.
    That film looks excellent. I used to love Zamfir music. I had a tape (yes, a tape) of him playing classical music and used to play it in the mornings for my bed and breakfast guests and they all loved it. But dated, oh yes! I must watch out for the film on sky. Lovely post.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Me, too! It's the icecream...big bowl every night and chat with the husband! As soon as it gets cold, we replace it with a cup of hot tea after dinner! That alone is a diet! tee-hee! I also find that I'm busy with projects while everyone is at school and don't snack like I do when everyone is constantly eating! Come, autumn, come! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. The little man in the painting looks just like Sir Topham Hat of Thomas the Tank Engine.... Or as the British call him, "The Fat Conductor" :) This must have been painting in the summer! tee-hee

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love Botero's fat people paintings. I had to look hard to actually find one where they were wearing clothes...teehee...didn't want to cause a stir...

    ReplyDelete
  10. BT, Zamfir was so cool, at the time. It's amazing how hokey it sounds now when you hear it as the score of a film!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ah yes, summer weight gain, I too am afflicted. Trouble is I live in AZ-if I don't fight the heat I just may combust! I've made a vow, September 1st even if it is 1000 degrees, as soon as it hits 995, I'm heading out for a walk!

    *Looking up movie on Netflix*

    ReplyDelete
  12. Willow, I love Botero's work too. I've posted a tribute to your post. Thanks for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ooh, ice cream, potato salad..
    You've made me hungry.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Welcome, to the move about in the great outdoors season! I hope you get to walk many a happy trail and enjoy autumn's bounty to the fullest.

    Luckily, Viennese summers are not humid. A big plus is also that there are so many opportunities for swimming, hiking and even sailing within the city limits, on top of the fact that walking is part of the daily routine.

    I never watched the movie "Hanging Rock," thank you for the tip!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I struggle with weight "issues" all year round it seems. I just love to cook and I love to eat. And I do also love September ... and October and November. In these parts it's really January to the end of March that can be trying. We have such extreme weather here in Nova Scotia and winter's can be very cold and often way too much snowfall.

    I saw Picnic at Hanging Rock years ago and also really enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ooooh, you're right--the clip does have the same feel of "Passage to India!" Sounds interesting. I know what you mean about feeling fat, but I have to admit, these days I feel that in the cold months, too! LOL. Fun post, Willow!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I started my summer " extra lbs reduction routine" a couple of weeks ago and vowed off ice cream and reduced my bread intake( the hardest thing in the world for me to cut back on is bread.

    This is another movie I've never heard of but from the Youtube clip it looks like a great watch- especially since the Tea Society will be having an Edwardian picnic at the end of September...Going to Netflix to put yet another Willow suggestion in the queue!...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Not to rain on the movie clip too much - but who would send a bunch of girls wearing long white dresses out to a big rock? Even back then there were hiking togs.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Bill, they were making a point of how repressed they were, which adds an element to the film. The girls all started out wearing white gloves and were strictly instructed not to remove them until they were safely through the town. After they arrived at the rock, some of them actually removed their shoes and black stockings. Scandalous!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I love Botero's work ... he lives on E. 79 St and in front of the building he lives in is one of his sculptures .. a large chubby cat! One day when I am in that area I will take a photo of it. There are also two of his sculptures in the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle .. a nekkid man and woman both in bronze .. the finish on the man's penis was rubbed off because there are so many mature people passing through the mall there


    :-Daryl

    ReplyDelete
  21. Daryl, you always have the most interesting little tidbits of info! Heh, heh, they probably give it a little tap for good luck. Cheaper than viagra!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. t.allen-mercado, I hear you! 995 would feel good. Actually, I can't complain, because it is cooler here today, but raining. Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again soon! x o

    ReplyDelete
  23. Heat affects everyone differently. I was in Colombia this summer and the heat was stifling--I couldn't eat and my husband was starving all the time! By the way, I love the Botero painting--my husband is from Colombia, and Botero is probably their most famous artist (Botero's paintings are not exactly my style, but they always make me smile!).

    ReplyDelete
  24. Story of my life Willow. Pappy

    ReplyDelete
  25. Sore point Willow, since my mobility has been so poor this last two & half years, I have gained so much weight it makes me miserable. All my working life I have been active, looking after 21 horses, also 3 of my own (only 7yrs ago)sigh! Maybe if I can get to see the film it will take my mind of the surplus pounds I carry????

    ReplyDelete
  26. Queenie, dear friend, you have a valid excuse and on top of that, you look fabulous! I have no excuses whatsoever. Ug.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I have no excuses either and it is not just summer. I think for me it is all year round. My children told me I can no longer make them an excuse, but quite frankly is it realistic for us to maintain our size 0 figure when we were 24 years old?

    ReplyDelete
  28. I will put this movie in my Netflix queue as I haven't seen it - the trailer was interesting!

    Good luck with the weight loss - we're all in the same boat I fear. As the temps. remain in the nineties here I have to admit the walking planned for the past couple of weeks has been sporadic!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Willow,
    I'm a little chubby but it's good for the love handles. I guess I don't feel fat... but I am.Denial ...I think it's called.
    Being an transplanted Aussie I saw Picnic at Hanging Rock when it first came out and it created quite the stir. What I like is the movie is it just keeps you hanging... sorry about that. But really you have to wonder what did happen. Yes it does remind me of the cave scene in Room with View.

    I love fall and already we are getting the crisp mornings here in Calgary.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Stephen, I'm so ready for those crisp fall mornings! Send them down!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Ditto! The heat keeps me inside getting fat. I loved the mystical dreaminess of both films.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Looks enchanting. Must remember to look for it.
    I think if my weight goes up at all it is over the winter time when I am probably a litle less active. you know the sort of thing - sitting at the computer reading blogs!!

    ReplyDelete
  33. OMG! Willow, this is one of my top 25 movies of all time! I love it! I've tried to find a recording of the Zamfir for ages too. I've been putting off buying the Criterion edition of this movie because it is so darned expensive, but one of these days, I'm just going to give in and slap down the fifty bucks!

    Kat

    ReplyDelete
  34. Kat, I know what you mean about those Criterion Collection films! I only have a few of my very favorites. Picnic at Hanging Rock I ordered from Netflix rental. Do you have it up there? It really is convenient!

    ReplyDelete
  35. I remember this movie very well, I have not seen it since I was a teenager. I watched with my sister and it made such an impression on her, she talks about it to this day. I never met anyone else who knew of this movie until I stumbled upon it on your blog. Makes me want to call up my sister for a chat.:)

    ReplyDelete
  36. I feel the same way about summer.

    I'm always having get-togethers with friends, eating and drinking and sitting around! Too hot to do yard work! Sitting in air conditioning or on a boat. If I do swim, it's not for long, so how much exercise do I really get?

    I am so active in the spring and fall!

    I found your blog through others, and I'm so glad I did. I love the photos and recipes!
    Alida

    ReplyDelete
  37. This looks like a movie I would really like. Thanks, Willow.

    ReplyDelete

Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)