Reliving Baseball Memories

Thanks to Powerline's Paul Mirengoff I found a cool site called Retrosheet that has box scores and play-by-play for major league games going back to 1957. The great thing about the site is it allows me to relive some of my favorite baseball memories.

Two games stand out for me, both of them 1-0 affairs. Both involve the Atlanta Braves and in both instances, the home team won.

The first one is July 25, 1992 at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta. Charlie Liebrandt started against Danny Jackson and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Braves had the lead going into the 9th inning when Alejandro Pena comes in to relieve Liebrandt. Shortstop Jay Bell singled with one out and that brought up center fielder and clutch hitter for the Pirates: Andy Van Slyke. Fortunately for us, we were in the bleachers in left center field. Van Slyke hits a fly ball that is a sure home run until Braves center fielder Otis Nixon makes a spectacular grab over the fence to rob Van Slyke of the home run and win the game for the Braves. From our vantage point we were able to watch the ball sail right into Nixon's glove. The clip of Nixon's catch was replayed numerous times for years afterward. It's even mentioned in Nixon's Wikipedia entry.

The second memorable game for me was April 6, 1993 at Wrigley Field. It was my first visit to Wrigley and one of the coldest days I'll ever remember. It was the second game of the season for the Chicago Cubs after being defeated the previous day by former Cub Greg Maddux and the Braves. Jose Guzman started for the Cubs against future hall of famer John Smoltz. The Cubs drew first blood in the bottom of the first. Rey Sanchez doubled and then Mark Grace singled him home. That was the only run the Cubs would score and it would be all they would need.

Guzman was perfect through the first seven innings. He walked Terry Pendleton to lead off the eighth inning. The crowd started booing when Guzman issued the walk. My wife, who was not paying close attention to the game (she was pretty cold so I cut her some slack) asked me why they were booing. She didn't realized that Guzman had just lost the perfect game. Deion Sanders came in to pinch run for Pendleton and then got caught stealing. David Justice then walked but Guzman settled down and got the next two batters out. Guzman lost the no-hitter in the ninth inning when he gave up a two-out single to Otis Nixon. But that was the only hit he allowed and the Cubs ended up winning 1-0.

I've only seen seven major league games in person. But I plan to see a whole lot more. Three of the ballparks I've been to don't exist any more. They are Fulton County Stadium (Atlanta), old Busch Stadium (St. Louis) and Memorial Stadium (Baltimore). Maybe I can get to the rest of the major league parks before another of these wonderful cathedrals gets torn down. At least there is a way to relive the memories even if the ballparks are no longer there. The memories will last forever.

Why I Am A Conservative

Novelist Andrew Klavan has written a column which, I think, says better than I could say on my own why it's good to be a conservative. Here's the open paragraph:

The thing I like best about being a conservative is that I don’t have to lie. I don’t have to pretend that men and women are the same. I don’t have to declare that failed or oppressive cultures are as good as mine. I don’t have to say that everyone’s special or that the rich cause poverty or that all religions are a path to God. I don’t have to claim that a bad writer like Alice Walker is a good one or that a good writer like Toni Morrison is a great one. I don’t have to pretend that Islam means peace.

Be sure to read the whole thing. Then check out Dadmanly's response to Klavan's column.

Hat tip: LaShawn Barber

A Case for Country Music

I'm not much of a country music fan but after listening to this speech by comedian Jeff Foxworthy I think I might have to start listening to it more often. (Hat tip: Evangelical Outpost)

At A Loss For Words

Monday's shootings in Blacksburg have left me at a loss to know what to say or write. I live only about a hundred miles or so away so it feels like this happened right in our own backyard.

However, the words of this hymn, which was born out of tradgedy, keep coming to mind:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul. (Refrain)

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul. (Refrain)

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! (Refrain)

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul. (Refrain)

The lyrics were written by Horatio Spafford, a Chicago businessman who lost nearly everything in the great Chicago fire of 1871. In 1873, he decided to take his family to Europe. However, business delayed his departure and so he sent his wife and four daughters ahead. The ship they were travelling on was struck by another vessel and sank leaving his daughters among the victims. He sailed across the Atlantic to rejoin his wife and penned these words after passing the spot where the collision occurred. It would be the only hymn he would write.

It amazes me that in the midst of so much pain and loss Spafford was inspired to write this lyric. The truth that remains in the face of such evil is that God is still sovreign. We may not understand much about this event, but we can at least rest in the assurance of His sovreignity.

Time For The Media To Do Some Self-Examination

Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post rightly points out that the media should take a good hard look at how they handled their reporting of the Duke lacrosse scandal and learn a few things from the whole sordid episode:

There's a lot going on the last couple of days--MSNBC booting Imus, McCain's big speech on the war, Fred Thompson's cancer, Larry Birkhead prancing before the cameras, and, oh yeah, the Duke sexual assault charges were dropped.

I hope that last one gets plenty of coverage, even though it's been clear for some time that the case had fallen apart. As long as we're talking about how the Rutgers women were unfairly disparaged as "ho's," consider the nightmare that the three Duke lacrosse players have lived through.

But in all the coverage you read and see about the clearing of these young men, very little of it will be devoted to the media's role in ruining their lives. I didn't hear a single television analyst mention it yesterday, even though two of the players' lawyers took shots at the press.

It was an awful performance, no question about it. News organizations took one woman's shaky allegations and turned them into a national soap opera, pillorying the reputations of the players. Reade Seligmann, Colin Finnerty and David Evans were presumed innocent in a legal sense, but not in the court of media opinion.

We will now read 100 stories about how an obsessive prosecutor overreached in bringing the indictments in the first place, and that's fine. But keep in mind that the Duke case was all over the network newscasts, the morning shows, the cable channels and the front pages. Newsweek put two of the defendants' mug shots on the cover. "I'm so glad they didn't miss a lacrosse game over a little thing like gang rape," Nancy Grace said on Headline News.

The North Carolina AG spoke of "a tragic rush to accuse," and he just as easily could have been talking about journalists as Mike Nifong. Commentators have been chattering about whether Nifong will be disbarred, but no one gets to disbar the media.

What made this a case of aggravated media assault is that news outlets weren't content to focus on the three defendants. Attorney General Roy Cooper said there was a "rush to condemn a community and a state." Remember all the "trend" stories about "pampered" and "privileged" student athletes being "out of control"? Remember how the lacrosse players' homes were shown on TV? How the coach lost his job? How this case was depicted as being about the contrast between a white elite institution and a poor black community? All of that was built on what turned out to be lies.

Once discrepancies surfaced in the account of the accuser--who has still not been identified by the MSM, even though she's now been exposed as a liar--some news organizations did a good job of pursuing them. But just about everyone joined in the original frenzy over race and sports. And given the media's track record going back to Richard Jewell, I have zero confidence that this won't happen again.

I'd have to agree with Howard. I doubt that the media will change its ways.

However, http://hotair.com/archives/2007/04/11/breaking-nc-attorney-general-dismisses-charges-in-duke-lax-case/>here's one journalist who gets it (click on the second video clip).

Servant, Husband, and Father First

As Zach Johnson was being interviewed following his improbable win in last weekend's Masters golf tournament, someone asked him if he knew that his life would be forever changed by his victory. His response was something along the lines of he didn't think so and was certain his son (who is 14 weeks old) wouldn't notice. While he might of been remarking on his son's youth and inability to see that his dad had achieved something remarkable, I think he was saying something much deeper and more important.

Johnson had already mentioned in an earlier interview that he was a Christian and that Jesus had been with him through the round. Obviously, his identity as a Christian is important to him and he is not afraid to say so.

But by making the remark about his son, I believe Johnson was saying something that all of us fathers need to remember: no matter what we may achieve in our respective professions that won't matter to our wives or our kids as much as how much we love them. No matter what I achieve either personally or professionally, it cannot change the fact that my wife and kids love me. They love me not because of what I can do or have done but because of who I am in Christ.

Men, our tendency is to allow our identities be defined by what we accomplish. My prayer is that we can see that who we are in Christ and as husbands and fathers matters much more than anything we can achieve. That includes winning golf tournaments.

Should Newt Run?

Marvin Olasky deals with this question in this week's cover story for WORLD Magazine. Although he doesn't come out and directly answer this question, he does indirectly answer it at the end of the article:

I met Newt Gingrich early in 1995 after I wrote a book, The Tragedy of American Compassion, that he read, liked, and recommended to others. I became an unofficial advisor to him regarding welfare reform that year, and met many of what are now his "former close advisors." I retain a great respect for him but I also wrote a history book in the late 1990s, The American Leadership Tradition, that views unfaithfulness to a wife as often a leading indicator of unfaithfulness to the nation.

This does not mean that a person who has committed adultery will necessarily be a bad president, and it certainly does not mean that someone who is faithful in marriage will be a good president—but, as Gingrich said in 1999, voters "have the right to know everything about a presidential candidate, everything, because they're going to be in an Oval Office with nuclear weapons, and you have the right to know in advance 'Who is this person?'"

It's ironic that Mr. Gingrich points to the very thing that could be the biggest hurdle in a potential presidential campaign. His own past may come back to haunt him and cost him votes, particularly among evangelicals. It's not clear whether his extramarital affair is an insurmountable obstacle to a White House bid. If the recent media attention from his appearance on "Focus on the Family" is any indication, he will likely face intense scrutinity from the mainstream media should he decide to run.

There is no doubt that Newt Gingrich is one of the smartest men in politics today. He has more ideas in a day than many leaders have in an entire career. But perhaps he would be better suited serving within an administration as an adviser rather than as President.

"B.C." Creator Johnny Hart Has Died

Cartoonist Johnny Hart who was the creator of the comic strip "B.C.", died suddenly yesterday at the age of 76. His strip, which featured dinosaurs and prehistoric cavemen has appeared in newspapers all over the world since 1958. But the most important thing about Hart was that he was a committed Christian and would often incorporate Christian themes into his strips as can be seen in today's strip whch is fitting given that today is Easter Sunday.

He will truly be missed.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has a fitting tribute that is worth reading in it's entirety.

IPod a Life Saver?

According to these photos an Ipod that Kevin Garrad had in his coat pocket during a recent mission in Tikrit slowed down a bullet fired at close range just enough to prevent it from piercing his body armor. The photos (particularly the close up of the damaged Ipod) are pretty amazing.

It's story worthy of Mythbusters. In fact, the same person who posted the photos on Flickr has submitted the story to the show. Wouldn't it be great to see this story put to the test?

Hat tip: Michelle Malkin

"House" and Abortion

Last night, "House" (Tuesdays, 9 p.m. Eastern on Fox), showed why it is by far one of the best dramas on television in an episode that dealt with abortion in a way unlike any other show on television ever has before.

The episode opens with celebrity photographer Emma Sloan (who happens to be five months pregnant) coming to the hospital after suffering a stroke. After running a series of tests, House comes to the conclusion that it is the baby that is making the mother sick. The mother is dying and if the baby isn't delivered she will die. House is in essence, arguing for aborting the baby to save the mother. But Sloan wants to keep the baby and challenges House to find a way to save them both. The highlight of the episode is a scene involving an operation on the baby that no doubt was inspired by this famous incident that causes House to rethink his position not only on abortion but realize that he was dealing with a real human being and not just a clump of tissues.

This marks the second time this year that the show has tackled the subject of abortion. In another episode, House encounters a rape victim who became pregnant as a result. House argues that the best thing to do is terminate the pregnancy. While the girl resists at first she eventually decides to have the abortion.

The producers of "House" should be commended for tackling such a controversial subject. While the episodes may not necessarily change anyone's mind, they at least provide a good place to start a conversation on this subject.

At Least He Can Poke Fun At Himself

President Bush has had to deal with more criticism than any president in recent memory. In spite of all the negative press, he still has managed to keep his sense of humor:


Hat tip: Two or Three.net

Wrongfully Accused

Eric Volz is an American reporter who was living in Nicaragua. On November 21, 2006, his girlfriend Doris Jiminez was brutally murdered in San Juan del Sur. At the time of the murder, Volz was two hours away in Managua. Despite a mountain of evidence that should have exonerated him, he was sentenced to thirty years in prison. The video below tells his story in more detail:

His parents have also appeared on NBC's Today Show to draw attention to the story.

The family and friends are asking people to contact their Senators and Representatives. More information about the case can be found at the Friends of Eric Volz website.

Hat tip: Stacy Harp

Great Baseball Books

Just in time for Opening Day (which is Monday) here is a list of the five best baseball books from former Commissioner Fay Vincent.

Cool Link

Here's a cool link to add to the blogroll: Curt Schilling has a blog. Visit early and often.

In a recent post, this question from a fan elicited a great answer:

Q-I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD PLEASE TALK MORE ABOUT BECOMING A CHRISTIAN AND HOW IT AFFECTS YOU ON A DAILY BASIS. ARE THERE OTHER RED SOX PLAYERS THAT ARE CHRISTIANS AS WELL?

A-There are many of us on the team. As far as how it affects me on a daily basis I am not sure there’s any way to put it other than it affects everything about me, everyday. It doesn’t imply what people that are not Christians seem to think it does. Which is to say it doesn’t preclude me from saying dumb things, making stupid mistakes, thinking bad things, to me it’s the foundation on which I am trying to build something lasting and meaningful to the people I know, and that know me.

Couldn't have said it any better myself.

Hat tip: Dean Barnett

Interview: Margaret Kerry, Model for Peter Pan's Tinker Bell

The first thing Margaret Kerry will tell you about herself is that she is a talker. This is not a huge surprise since she has had an extensive career in radio and voice-over work for various animated productions. But the role she is best known for is one that she didn't even receive credit for nor did it require her to say anything: Tinker Bell from Disney's Peter Pan.

Margaret Kerry. Photo courtesy of Disney.

Mrs. Kerry started her acting career at the age of four as a fairy, ironically enough, in A Midsummer Night's Dream with Mickey Rooney. She would later work with Rooney again on National Velvet doubling for Elizabeth Taylor in several scenes. By the time Peter Pan rolled around, she had already established herself as an actress and dancer when she received the call that would literally change her life.

"I was working at Fox as an assistant dance director and I got a call from my agent that they were doing interviews for this reference model for a 3 1/2 inch fairy who didn't talk. I got home and thought how in the world do you show your stuff when it's a fairy who doesn't talk? So I went into my records and had one that was instrumental and stayed up and choreographed fixing breakfast: getting up, walking to the kitchen, going over, looking into the refrigerator, getting out the eggs, juggling them on the way over to the stove. Of course there was nothing there. It was all pantomime."

"I took my record player with me over to this very tiny office. I put the record on and did it for them. I think they were a little taken aback. So then they said 'What we want to do is this scene where she lands on the mirror and preens herself and then she measures her hips.' And I said, 'Oh, I can do that.' I did it for them and I learned later that one of the reasons they hired me was I looked down through the mirror which wasn't there and back up. They could see the difference in my face. I figured that Tinker Bell had never seen a mirror before. They hadn't thought about that. To me, all of these things are so new to her and that's what makes her so beguiling. She has never seen a jug before so she get's inside it according to the book. She's never seen a mirror before. So now she's preening and she's never seen her hips before. That's what they saw that I was able to bring: this other dimension to her that they really hadn't thought about.”

“Tinker Bell was a throwaway character. They were not going to do much with her. First of all, she really did not fit in the era. Wendy was the character that was in the culture, the demure, helpful female that was the mother type. They had had Cinderella and Snow White and along comes this cury thing who is independent, starting to find out what life is all about. She is adventurous and no one is going to tell her what to do.”

Clearly, Ms. Kerry’s ideas about the character helped transform her from a minor player to a major part of the story. She would go onto the soundstage and act out different scenes for the animators so they would know how to draw the character. I asked her how difficult it was to act out the sequences that only the animators would see.

Margaret Kerry (Live Action Reference Model for Tinker Bell) © Disney. All Rights Reserved..

“It was not difficult because I believed in (Directing Animator) Marc Davis. He could explain what he wanted and I, as a female, having gone through so much of this, as an actress, a pantomimist, and as a dancer could put it all together. I knew when he got to what he wanted when he would say ‘Let’s film that’. He was an enthusiastic, delightful genius.”

Little did she know that this 3 ½ inch fairy would become as closely associated with Walt Disney as Mickey Mouse. I asked her how Tinker Bell managed to become such a Disney icon.

“It wasn’t until the people at Disney Studios (they thought Disneyland was going to be an abysmal failure and he was going to lose all his money) asked him not to use many licensed characters at the parks because they made money out of licensing Minnie, Mickey, and the others. So they sent Roy Disney in to talk to him about it. Walt said, ‘I’ll take it under advisement’. A couple of days later he said ‘Tell them I’m going to use Jiminy Cricket and Tinker Bell. Will that satisfy them?’ And Roy said yes. That’s why Tinker Bell came to life in the park.”

“And then, of course, Mr. Disney made the greatest decision of his life. He had Tinker Bell open up his television shows and she would take us all to magical places. And I thought he was a genius for doing that.”

It seems a little ironic that the role for which Ms. Kerry is best known is one she was never credited for on screen. It was this lack of screen credit that likely fed one of the wild rumors that circulated shortly after the film’s release: Marilyn Monroe was the model for Tinker Bell.

“Marilyn Monroe wasn’t even known in 1953. A couple of people who have been at Disney all these years suspect there was a radio interview done and somebody said that Tinkerbell was curvy like Marilyn Monroe and we think that somebody picked up on that and put it in an article.”

As it turns out, she had her own close encounter with Marilyn Monroe a couple of years prior to Peter Pan. “She came to Fox. She had just been signed as a starlet and we were doing a bathing suit layout with about 60 other girls. We all fell in love with her. She was just darling and so sweet. We knee she was our main competition. You could just tell it. We didn’t mind. There was no backbiting.”

“She was sitting around a table with an umbrella over it and we were waiting for the photographer to do a new setup. We were talking about that we didn’t go out in the sun because it was bad for our skin. I said, ‘For the first time my camera has film in it. Can I take a picture of you?’ She looked at me and she said, ‘Only if I can take a picture of you.’”

One of the other common misconceptions about the film has to do with Ms. Kerry’s alter ego and her feelings toward Peter. When Wendy arrives in Neverland, Tinker Bell gets mad and the assumption is that she is jealous of her because she is in love with Peter. Not so, says Ms. Kerry. “She’s gone on adventures with Peter before and has had all of his attention. Then this big, ugly girls comes along and gets the attention. She is provoked. She doesn’t know what jealousy is really if you asked her. She just knows that she wants the attention back. Other movies have said she was in love with Peter. But she doesn’t know what love is. In today’s world she would be called a groupie.”

Speaking of groupies, Ms, Kerry says she still gets a lot of mail from men especially who relay the feelings they have had for the little fairy. “You don’t know how many letters and e-mails I get from men who say they were in love with her from the first moment they saw her. They’re always a little bit hesitant to say it. She can’t possible hurt you. What a good person to be in love with!”

“I’ve had men who have walked up to me at Disneyana shows and said ‘I have to tell you, Margaret, I’ve been in love with you since I was five years old’. And I said, ‘Fine. I’m not doing anything next Tuesday. Let’s get married.’”

Though she wasn’t given credit for her work as Tinker Bell, she’s still very proud of the movie and says that it has still retained its magic after all these years. “I hadn’t seen the film in 12 or 15 years (until a recent screening as part of the DVD release promotion). I realized how much fun this film is. This is a happy, magical film. The audience was in stitches. They were laughing at the crocodile. The crocodile should be menacing. But it’s so funny. Everything that they did in it could have been dark, ugly, mean and scary. It was funny. They did the greatest job and I think that right now, we need a happy, magical film from the greatest classical animation company in the world: Disney, and it’s this remastered film. It’s really something to watch. I forgot since I hadn’t seen it in so long. You walk out of the theater singing and happy and talking about, I hope, Tinker Bell.

Peter Pan is now available in a new 2-disc DVD from Disney Home Video.

This article originally appeared at Blogcritics.

Fred Thompson, Presidential Candidate?

One of the most intriguing potential presidential candidates hasn't even declared yet and is having an effect on the race: former Republican Senator Fred Thompson. John Fund of Opinionjournal.com has a terrific interview with Mr. Thompson in which he discusses a possible presidential run.Personally, I hope he will run simply because it will vastly improve the field of potenital candidates.

DVD Review: Peter Pan

One of our family's favorite Disney movies is Peter Pan. The timeless story about a boy who doesn't want to grow up is one that we never get tired of watching. When I heard that Disney was going to release the movie in a new 2-disc edition I wondered whether it would be worth owning especially since I already had the VHS and earlier DVD version of the movie. Once I saw everything that had been added for this new edition I was blown away.

The film itself has never looked better. The updated digitial remastering of the video as well as the home theater Surround Sound mix have both dramatically enhanced the movie.

The second disc offers a number of terrific bonus features that will enhance the viewing experience. For the first time, viewers will get to hear in Walt Disney's own words "Why I Made Peter Pan". There is also the alternate opening to the film in "The Peter Pan That Almost Was". The photo gallery features storyboards and live-action reference photographs that were found in the Disney archives. Also included is a 1952 featurette "The Peter Pan Story" and a look at the many different variations the story took on during production and why it took so long (16 years!) to bring the movie to life.

Music also plays an important part in this movie. Viewers will get to hear the songs that didn't make it into the film (as well as the concept art for those numbers). T-Squad performs "Second Star to the Right" in what clearly is a Disney Channel music video.

But the brightest spot musically speaking is a new song that was written by Richard Sherman, legendary Disney composer. The lyrics to an unfinished song were found in the archives. Sherman was commissioned to compose the music. The end result is a marvelous ballad which is beautifully performed by Paige O'Hara (the voice of Belle in Beauty and the Beast).

Anyone who is a fan of Peter Pan or is being introduced to the movie for the first time will thoroughly enjoy this DVD. The continuing appeal of this film should be enhanced by this 2-disc set.

This article was originally published at Blogcritics.

Interview: Kathryn Beaumont, Voice of Peter Pan's Wendy

Kathryn Beaumont started her career as a child actress in England before MGM signed her to a contract and brought her family to Hollywood. Little did she know at the time that would lead to a meeting with a Hollywood legend: Walt Disney.

Kathryn Beaumont

Shortly after arriving in Hollywood, Disney put out a casting call for a new animated feature: Alice in Wonderland. Ms. Beaumont was eventually cast as Alice and it led to a face-to-face meeting with Disney. "I was very awestruck because the first time I met him was when we went in to sign the contract [for Alice in Wonderland]," Ms. Beaumont recalled during a recent interview. "We were going to go up to Walt's office and meet him. I was very nervous because he was a person who was so well-known all over the world. But I realized he was an easygoing person, an everyday person and he wasn't the icon in the office, the head of the studio you never saw. He was very much a part of the studio and made himself known and seen. He sat down on the couch with me and with the [Alice] book and started talking to me about what was happening in the book and how they were going to interpret some of the scenes. He was so relaxed with me and it made me feel much, much better. I liked him a lot."

Disney apparently liked what Ms. Beaumont brought to Alice in Wonderland enough that he cast her as Wendy Darling, the oldest of the children that fly off to Neverland in Peter Pan. But, she explained, her job involved more than just providing the voice for Wendy.

"They would invite me to come up and sit in on storyboard conferences and there was a reason for that in that they wanted me to understand what the scene was about and understand every aspect of it where my experience with MGM had been that you got your little script and you memorized your lines and you really didn't have an idea what the story was about - you just knew that scene. So there wasn't really an understanding and a following through of what was going on in the film. At Disney, the fact that I would go in and watch how the storyboard was evolving and what the character was going to be doing, I was better able to play the role more realistically. They accepted me as one of the team though I was one of the littlest people there. Because of that, they made me feel comfortable, an important part of it all."

Providing the voice for Wendy was only about half of what was required of her and the other cast members. The other, lesser known aspect, is that the actors were also the live-action models for the animators.

"I started out doing the voice and then the animators wanted me to do the live action as well because that was the reference work for the artists to be able to see the way the human figure was moving. So we would record first and then go to the soundstage and it would be filmed but basically just for the animators. Their seeing my movement and the way that I interpreted the character, they would look at that and then that gave them the help that they needed to draw the character."

Live Action reference shot (Kathryn Beaumont as Wendy Darling, Paul Collins as John Darling). © Disney. All Rights Reserved

With the new 2-disc DVD release from Disney, a whole new generation of viewers will get to enjoy this movie. I asked Ms. Beaumont what has made this such a timeless story.

"It's because it's such a timeless story and it's an adventure. Children obviously love anything that have to do with adventures that they have and the fantasy that goes along with that. Then there's the concept of the little boy who didn't grow up and that concept that's developed through the story. The conflict of growing up and then looking back, being a mature person and thinking back to the time when you were carefree and could have fun and there was no responsibility as opposed to the little boy who wanted to live that way forever. It's that concept we can all relate to in our lives. The story itself has that but it also has these wonderful characters, adventure and lots of humor. Every generation comes by and is intrigued and thoroughly entertained by it from one generation to the next no matter what things have been going on in our lives over the decades."

"The fact that I at such a young age had this opportunity to do something so very special and it's even more special because these films have come back again and again. I never suspected that would happen and how fortunate I am that I am part of it and can still be part of the legacy that was Disney. I am proud to be part of what he created."

This article was originally published at Blogcritics.

Book Review of the Week

Thanks to Lyn Perry at Thought Renewal for selecting me as their guest book reviewer of the week. Be sure to stop by and check out their terrific blog.

A Twist on Reading a Good Book

Brittany Shahmehri shares her family's twist on reading a good book in a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor. (Hat tip: Al Mohler). This sounds like a tasty idea:

We have a tradition of trying foods from the books we read aloud. It started when we read Elizabeth Enright's "The Saturdays," and one of the boys asked, "What are petit fours?"

An answer, my husband and I felt, wouldn't be as good as a sample. So one Saturday we all sat down to tea and little cakes, iced in pink, green, and yellow. It was exciting for the boys to try a dessert they had learned about in a book.

Later, when we read C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," we had Turkish delight. "I don't think I would betray my brothers and sisters for this!" said one child.

We read "The Penderwicks," written by Jeanne Birdsall, and had gingerbread. We read Paddington Bear and tried marmalade.

The world that a good book creates is whole and real, but it lies flat on the page until a reader animates it. Stories, when read, are visceral: We believe in the characters. We can see their lives, hear the things they hear. We can almost taste the food they eat. Almost. Because while stories are visceral, they aren't tangible. Petit fours, however, are tangible.