Saturday, December 13, 2008

Bettie and Acme

Like many, I was upset upon hearing the terrible news of Bettie Page's death. However, I was even more upset to find out that many of my peers at work had no idea who she was, nor did they seem to care. Maybe I'm spoiled by spending so much time with a relatively small circle of like-minded friends and acquaintances. Maybe I'm too old-fashioned in my interests, my pursuits, my tastes, etc. Or maybe the world at large is just too busy idolizing the current icons that stand on the shoulders of the giants of days past to notice what the clay feet of their heroes are resting upon.

OK, that sounded a little bitter...

On a brighter note I highly suggest the biopic The Notorious Bettie Page for your weekend viewing.

It is a wonderful film from director Mary Harron, best known for American Psycho. And while it, like most biopics, is far from all-encompassing, it does give a sense of the atmosphere of sexual repression and hypocrisy that gripped the United States in the 1940s and 50s.

For your viewing pleasure, I present a trailer for the movie:



As well as a rare 1997 interview with Bettie herself:




As promised here's my feelings on ordering groceries online: not too shabby. The actual ordering process was pretty painless. After I ordered my groceries (with an active running tally running alongside letting me keep track of how much I was spending), I requested a delivery time for the next day. I requested a window between 6:30-8:00pm and at 6:30 on the dot, the Acme truck was waiting outside. It was all pretty painless overall. My only issue was that because I didn't reserve a time before I started shopping, some of the items I requested were unavailable, but they made me aware of that before I checked out and now I know for next time. I also ended up spending about $30 less that I usually do at the store because I was able to stay focused on what I needed instead of just grabbing stuff that I saw and thought I wanted. I'll definitely do it again.