Monday, February 29, 2016

Wolfgang Hampel, Betty MacDonald and Hollywood

Several people told journalists that they were surrounded by groups of youths that forced them to hand over mobile phones, a watch and other items.
Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.



Wolfgang Hampel - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,


 Betty MacDonald fan club research team is working on a new Betty MacDonald exhibit.

If you are interested in joining this Betty MacDonald fan club project you are welcome.
 
Several Betty MacDonald fan club fans shared very interesting details and info regarding Betty MacDonald's fascinating experiences in Hollywood.


Marjorie Main was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Ma Kettle in 1948 for her role in The Egg and I.

Celeste Holm was the Oscar winner instead of Marjorie Main.

I wished Marjorie Main had won it because she really deserved it.

Marjorie Main was outstanding. 

I'm very happy for Leonardo DiCaprio who won the Oscar tonight. 

He had to wait for 22 years and it was his 6th nomination. 
( see info below ) 

Congratulations dear Lenonardo DiCaprio!

 
We are going to publish some new Betty MacDonald fan club interviews  by Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel who is working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography.
 
Good luck dear Wolfgang Hampel!

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is a great guy even if he is a bit strange.

My British friends would say he's a bit eccentric but that's like Onions in the Stew, don't you think. 
 
Do I agree with Betty MacDonald's description of women and men? Oh yes I do! 

Betty MacDonald was such a very intelligent lady and she knew very well what she was writing about.
 
If we believe that Mr. Tigerli acts a bit strange what can we say of the behaviour of some men?
 
Betty wrote the truth! By the way I don't hate men! I love them - some of them - especially mine!

My family and friends adore Traci Tyne Hilton's books very much.

We are very happy that she is our new Betty MacDonald fan club honor member.

Betty MacDonald fan club fans from all over the world like Linde Lund's interview with Traci Tyne Hilton very much. 


Have a great Monday,

Astrid


Don't miss this very special book, please.



Vita Magica
Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I  

Betty MacDonald fan club groups 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund 


Betty MacDonald fan  club interview with author Traci Tyne Hilton
           
Copyright 2014/2016 by Traci Tyne Hilton & Linde Lund
                                            
                         All rights reserved




I can find several interviews with you. Which two ones do you prefer?





 Here are two recent interviews. The second one is a "character interview" with the characters from my newest book, which is kind of fun.













 




This is a picture of me on my tenth wedding anniversary at The Betty MacDonald Farm on Vashon. My sweet husband planned our weekend away, but didn't realize that I actually wanted to STAY at the farm! But he did drive me there to see it before we went home, though. I'm pretty little in the picture, but if you look closely, you can see me by the door to the barn.





Which book by Betty MacDonald did you read first?




My mom gave me her copy of The Egg and I when I was about 11. It was my first taste of Betty Macdonald, but I was definitely hooked! I read it at least once a year until I was in my twenties and finally got around to finding the rest of her work at my library...and then collecting reprints.





What do you like most in Betty MacDonald's books?




I love her over the top humor paired with her brutally honest representation of life. 





Is there anything you dislike in Betty MacDonald's books?




One could call her portrayal of the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest in the Egg and I racist, but she was a woman of her time, and the things she writes about, such as alcoholism, are not untrue. They are just reported with that brutal honesty that she also uses for her white neighbors--no one is safe from her sharp pen. So, it makes me a little uncomfortable to read, but at the same time, I think it is real (from her perspective at least, and her perspective is valid,) and I don't dislike it, if that makes sense.





Did you ever read Betty MacDonald's books for children for example The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series and  Nancy and Plum?


Oh yes! I wish I had had them as kids, but I have been reading them to my kids which is even better! My sister in law bought me Nancy and Plum several years back, and I love it. I don't know why it's not a classic on par with the Secret Garden or the Little Princess! But...even better than Nancy and Plum are the Piggle-Wiggle books. They crack my kids up, and were the first chapter books that my girls really devoured. They crack me up, too!





What is your favourite book by Betty MacDonald?





It is still The Egg and I. It's a book that formed so much of my opinion on fiction and held such an important part of my growing up--I don't think anything could beat it. My husband and I call snobby activities "The Theatah and the Dahnce" and I've been known to say "I itch, so I scratch, so what?" 





Did Betty MacDonald influence you as author?




Absolutely. Though I write mysteries I want them to be funny, and I hold Betty MacDonald's work up as a standard for humor.





What do you think is the reason Betty MacDonald is beloved all over the world?



 Betty's work gives us a glimpse into a world that we would have never known without her. Both life in the Olympic Mountains and on Vashon are so different from regular town and city life. I think readers love to escape, and the more remote the location, the more different the people we get to meet, the more we love the work! Betty's books help us all escape to a time that is getting farther and farther away, and a place that doesn't even exist anymore, but even when it did, it was unexpected, hilarious, and stunningly beautiful.





Dearest Traci I hope I don't bore with so many questions.

I wasn't a bit bored! Betty MacDonald is definitely my favorite author and I loved having a chance to talk about her work and why I love it so much!





As I already mentioned there are several Betty MacDonald fan club fans who enjoy your books very much.




That people who love Betty MacDonald also like my books is almost unbelievable to me, and really is a dream come true, as an author. When I was a young girl, curled up with her work, escaping to that remote egg farm, I never dreamed that someday people who loved her, would also enjoy what I had to say.



Dearest Traci thanks a million for this wonderful interview.
Lots of love to you and your family.

Lots of love to you, as well! Thank you.


Traci



Oscars 2016: Leonardo DiCaprio finally ​won an​ Academy Award

The internet sighs and looks for new jokes.

Updated by on February 29, 2016, 12:28 a.m. ET
Leonardo DiCaprio didn't have an Oscar, and that was hilarious, according to the internet. There were memes about it. Someone even made a video game where players stepped into the actor's shoes and tried to chase down that elusive award.
It all stemmed from DiCaprio being just about the only major cast member from Titanic to not be nominated for an Oscar when that film won 11 awards (and was nominated for 14) in 1998.

Well, the internet will now have to find somebody new to laugh at. On Sunday, at the 2016 Oscars, DiCaprio finally won his prize for Best Actor, for his work in The Revenant.
His win wasn't exactly unexpected. DiCaprio had won every major pre-Oscar award of the 2016 awards season, including the Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild award. But with DiCaprio, there's always the sense that someone might swoop in at the last moment and win instead.
DiCaprio thanked numerous collaborators, from his Revenant co-star (and fellow nominee) Tom Hardy to Martin Scorsese, who directed DiCaprio to two previous Oscar nominations, for The Aviator and The Wolf of Wall Street.
But DiCaprio saved his most glowing praise for Revenant director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who'd won his second consecutive Best Director trophy earlier in the evening: "You have forged your way into history these past two years. What an unbelievable talent you are. Thank you to you and [cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki] for creating a transcendent cinematic experience for all of us."
DiCaprio concluded by talking about how The Revenant had to keep switching locations during filming, because the production team wasn't able to find cold enough temperatures to keep going. And the longtime environmentalist tied that into the battle to stop climate change.

"Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work together and stop procrastinating," he said in the most passionate moment of his speech. "We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters ... but who speak for all of humanity."
He concluded with gracious thanks — "I do not take tonight for granted" — and then slipped backstage, finally an Oscar winner.



Desperate refugees riot at Greek-Macedonia border

Angry refugees stranded at border rip open razor-wire barrier trying to enter Macedonia as guards fire tear gas.

| Refugees, Syrian Refugees, Macedonia, Greece, Europe
A woman holds her children as they run away after Macedonian police fired tear gas [Giannis Papanikos/AP]
A woman holds her children as they run away after Macedonian police fired tear gas [Giannis Papanikos/AP]

A riot broke out as hundreds of desperate refugees stranded at the Greece-Macedonia border smashed down a gate guarded by security forces on Monday.
The razor-wire barrier was ripped open and border guards fired tear gas in response.
Angry crowds shouted and pushed towards the barrier. Several men used a large steel post to ram the gate while trying to pry it open.   
Nearly 8,000 refugees are in limbo at the overcrowded border camp - with a capacity of 2,000 - at the village of Idomeni, according to Greek officials.
The Idomeni camp is rapidly turning into the main focal point in the largest migration crisis in Europe since World War II.
 Can Greece cope with the refugee crisis?
It was set up to shelter refugees as they wait for passage to Macedonia, which has greatly reduced the number of people allowed to pass in recent days.
Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Idomeni, said there was a rumour that the border crossing was opening, which brought hundreds rushing to the gate. 
"There was a state of panic and hope that finally those gates towards Western Europe would open. It's an emotional roller-coaster for these refugees and migrants who are here," she said.  
About 50 refugees were allowed into Macedona on Monday.
"The refugees are saying, 'What we've seen here is going to divide opinion in Europe'," Abdel Hamid reported. "It's a completely different atmosphere at the moment from last year and they are aware of it. People are saying that 'this is not going to help us. They will see this and we will not be welcome.'"

The situation at Idomeni camp, the main transit point for refugees travelling towards western Europe, continues to deteriorate.
Hundreds queued for hours for food at the camp on Greece's northern border.
The people at the camp - mostly Syrian and Iraqi refugees, many of them families with children - complained over lack of access to basic facilities such as toilets and food distribution points.
"The situation is, as you see, like a disaster and they don't open the borders, Macedonia don't open the borders, and people are coming more and more, so there is a very big number of people who have to wait for a long time in the food [line] and in the toilet," said Hamsa, a Syrian refugee from Aleppo.
Tensions ran high and scuffles broke out among people queuing up for an indeterminately long wait before being considered for passage to Macedonia.
Struggling with limited resources to house migrants itself, Macedonia had briefly closed its border last week, only to re-open it but with much stricter controls, allowing only a few hundred people to pass through over the weekend.
"I am suffering here. I am slowly dying here. I don't know what I'll do," said Abdullah, another Syrian man from Aleppo.
More than one million refugees and migrants passed through the camp in the previous 12 months, travelling from Turkey to Germany and other western European countries, where they hoped to secure asylum.
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