"The Wrong Man" (1956) ...Cutting the Cable! Spring and the World Goes Round Right?...A Few Snapshots

The Wrong Man  (1956) 

We've watched this movie twice now and I am fascinated by it.  A nightmarish case of mistaken identity done to a good family man, a true story.

The story is of Christopher "Manny" Balestrero an Italian American who plays bass at the famous Stork Club for a living.  He and his wife, Rose have two little boys.

It's a bit frightening that this happened, and it's also frightening that the general population is so eager to label someone wrongly without doing their homework to the full extent.   My dad always said, don't believe anything of what you hear and only half of what you see.
  

One of the best things about this unusual  Hitchcock movie is the power of prayer portrayed.  One major event and turn in the movie is when Manny is praying as he views an old world style picture of Jesus in his Italian mother's home as she encourages him to pray for strength. 


We need to remember that this can happen and allow me to say my daughter and son in love have a friend who is in a situation very similar to this story and worse.



Henry Fonda plays the part of Manny and it's a pretty good resemblance to the real Manny Balestrero. 

The part of his mother is the sweetest by the way and so seems his wife, Rose. As you will see, Rose does not fare well with all of this and understandably, it's very sad.

There is a street named for Manny Balestrero in New York.  



The Wrong Man is playing on the 'Movies!' channel on regular television and will be playing future showings through April, please check the 'Movies!' site for scheduling.  Thursdays and Sundays they play the older Noir style movies that we love, but the Noir movies are also sprinkled through the week. 





The trailer for The Wrong Man.  (1956)   


The complete movie is on youtube and perhaps at your local library as well!



'To Tell the Truth' program in 1957.  The real Manny Balestrero.
 


If you look Manny Balestrero up, there are many interesting articles on this family man who was wrongly accused.



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Joyfully Cutting the Cable! 

Photo by Robert Stock

We have joyfully cut the cable and are thoroughly enjoying regular antenna television with our new Channel Master, we can dvr all of our favorite retro movies and programs along with Jem's old cowboy movies and programs and fast forward through commercials.   We receive now almost 60 digital stations and many are very wholesome programs, it's like going back in time in a very good way.  There is actually a better selection of wholesome programs on regular antenna television these days then what we were finding on cable.  We decided to study up on what regular antenna television offered when our bill suddenly went up to over a hundred dollars a month!

With the Channel Master we can dvr movies and shows such as Donna Reed and many others!  I love seeing Donna Reed with her menu planning and sewing machine along with her wonderful doctor husband who makes house calls and works out of their home!  Oh what a wonderful time in the country!

The people at Channel Master have been very helpful on questions on taping programs etc.  Very prompt and polite in answering our questions.  We highly recommend! If your family likes to relax in the evening perhaps catching Ed Sullivan or an old black and white movie this is really great.  We love watching a program, just us two or with our youngest, it makes a lot of great conversation as we watch together.  The Channel Master also provides the on screen channel programming schedule that I was afraid I would miss without cable. 

And may I say that my kitchen radio with conservative commentators fills me in just fine on the politics and straight up news of our day concerning a Christian as myself.



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Spring has Sprung at the Forest Cathedral!


One Afternoon...
 


Here at the Forest Cathedral one morning...  Hear the birds?




I hope you all are having a nice spring time.  I've been busying myself with reading good books, sewing some Little Dresses for Africa, sewing a few skirts for myself... making some cloth homemade napkins in a 50s dark green cotton, not perfect but cute, quaint and retro.


The World Goes Round...

  Photo by Robert Stock

 ...And the world goes round right?   In the evening as I hit the setting button on my hair dryer I feel like deja vu, it's like night to night here we are again!   I place my navy tennis shoes on top of my shoe rack ready for the next day...and deja vu, it's that time for my evening routine again.

Strange at times, it seems like yesterday my girls were little playing outside...So very strange.  I can even relate to my grandparents remembering their quiet routines in life, I even think of my dad telling me of his suppers he would make for himself and I recall his good attitude.

When I'm in smalltown at the store I see older vets, some are even from WWII and they have wonderful attitudes.  I see the older ladies with silver hair and their good attitudes as well, ..and I think that is GREAT. It does my heart good!

I spend quite a bit of time with God, in the car, in the forest, wondering how long lost friends are doing, even blogging friends who I no longer hear from and some I still do, one precious couple is like family to us.

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Photos to Share




I stumbled across this photo of me with my precious little dog Esther, who we lost several years ago, she was also one of my sweet coffee-babies, such a precious little gal, a roly poly lambikin!

Here is a cute pic of Muffie, our littlest fur angel at present, he was found on the street by Marianna our daughter probably over ten years ago in our old subdivision. Our youngest, Rebecca was still skipping rope then...Oh my gosh, life is so crazy the way it goes on...So fast!  It's that old earth going round and round!





Gracie with Coffee very soon after we lost Charlie. I thought this really portrayed the emotion felt that week, animals are sentient beings.  In Proverbs it tells us to take good care of animals, and I love doing so, let us consider this in all things.







See this beautiful white lab mix?  This is our grand-doggy!  Zuzu and Tommy have a small home and we babysat their dog, Liesl while Baby Timmy made his arrival and the next few weeks...  As I observed this precious doggy running with Gracie through the forest and taking swims Jem and I both knew she must stay with her grandhoomans.  So now Gracie  has a new running buddy here at the Forest!  Liesl is a sweetie and a vibrant, energetic ball of energy full of love!


I snapped this as I was walking out to the car..."We'll be back Liesl!"




Liesl and Gracie taking a vivacious swim together!




Alert and elegant Gracie...




Silly Carefree Happy Gracie...






The Finale!  Our Little Pumpkin! 

And of course our first grandbaby!  Doesn't he look like a little doll we would see at the store?  Bath time for Baby! 




I love his little lips...So cute.







Content and Happy Little Baby.





I just took the last two the other day, his mommy, our daughter, Zuzu invited me to go to the store with her, so I quickly snapped these catching his sweet smile.  This baby is a miracle baby, Zuzu had been so ill she wasn't sure how long it would be before she would be able to have a baby and here is our little miracle!



Here are some reminders for us in closing...



Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own.  Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.
Proverbs 3:5-6

 


 If you believe in a God who controls the big things, you have to believe in a God who controls the little things.  It is we, of course, to whom things look "little" or "big."
~Elisabeth Elliot



Teach me, Father, to value each day, to live, to love, to laugh, to play.
 ~Kathi Mills



Joy cannot be pursued.  It comes from within.  It is a state of being.  It does not depend on circumstances, but triumphs over circumstances.  It produces a gentleness of spirit and a magnetic. personality.
~Billy Graham


Teach us to count the days...Teach us to make the days count...Every day is a journal page, what will we compose?  Thinking of these words from the Chris Rice song.



Love,   ~Amelia at My Forest Cathedral

Our New Little Sweet Pea! An Angel!

Getting things accomplished isn't nearly as important as taking time for love.             ~Janette Oke 


Our first little grandbaby, a precious little grandson has made his arrival!  What a precious little angel...

 

Our daughter, Zuzu with her first baby, our first grandchild.  Such a precious little baby!  Our son in love, Tommy (proud daddy) took the photo.   Baby is such a sweet, sweet little baby, he smiles and coos when he sleeps, I say he sees angels...



The last month has been a month full of turny-twisty days, phone by my side waiting on the phone call, several days of calls and checks and texts and waiting, during the day, the middle of the night... But great thankfulness to God for a safe delivery and healthy, healthy little baby!




Not every day of our lives is overflowing with joy and celebration.  But there are moments when our hearts nearly burst within us for the sheer joy of being alive.  The first sight of our newborn babies, the warmth of love in another's eyes, the fresh scent of rain on a hot summer's eve---moments like these renew in us a heartfelt appreciation for life.    ~Gwen Ellis


The birds are singing and trees are blooming....


Jem and I took a little day trip the other day...So fun.  A day to unwind...


We do not need to search for heaven, over here or over there, in order to find our eternal Father.In fact, we do not even need to speak out loud, for through we speak in the smallest whisper or the most fleeting thought, He is close enough to hear us.    ~Teresa of Avila


The Lord...is close to all who call on Him sincerely.    Psalm 145:17-18


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I was wondering what I could do to bless friends who read here, so I thought maybe one of my personal recipes?  Would you like one of my recipes?  It's a nice cozy one to serve any time of the year!

This makes a nice light, soup type of pasta dish - bowl.  My Grandma and Grandpa Oddo would have loved this...You could serve this dish (bowl) with a crusty bread and a green salad.  Many evenings I simply serve this dish with some good fresh, crisp crackers from the pantry.  Jem loves Italian cheese sprinkled over the top.  My grandparents would have too...  My grandma was from Naples, Italy.  My grandpa was from Bisaquino, Sicily. 



Amelia's Heartwarming Pasta Bowl

Ingredients:

1 16 oz.bag of frozen asparagus spears, our store has the asparagus tips cut into small pieces.

1 16 oz. bag of frozen spinach

3 - 4 cloves of garlic sliced.

1 jar of pasta gravy. I use tomato basil flavor, the store brand with no more then 3 grams of sugar  per serving. (Important!)   Many brands have far too much sugar and my Grandpa Oddo would have thrown it out the window!  lol  The Oddo family did not do sweet pasta gravy.  I sometimes can't believe what gets passed over as authentic. (Not quite sure what part of Italy some came from!)  Ha! 

Olive oil

1 Tablespoons dried basil

A small pinch of dried red pepper

Sprinkle of garlic powder

1 cube of 'Not-Chick'n Cubes',  I buy these from Vitacost. These cubes really fill out many a soup.

1 bag or box of pasta, I use gluten free spaghetti, (I break mine in half like my grandma did).


Here we go:

Saute garlic on low in a generous amount of olive oil, only until fragrant.  If it browns the flavor changes and tends to be bitter.  So don't do that!  My grandma would shake her head at you! 

Pour the jar of pasta gravy in with another jar filled with water.  Bring to boil, pour in bag of spinach and asparagus.  Add dried basil and that very small pinch of dried red pepper, garlic powder along with the veggie bouillon cube. When your veggies are done you can serve ladled over pasta.

Serve the soup over cooked pasta in a soup bowl and you will say...  Bravissimo!

This makes a nice size 4 quart pot of soup. 


Possible add-ins:  You may add a can of Bush's butter beans drained and rinsed if you like.  You may also substitute artichoke hearts for the asparagus and even add rinsed black olives.


How much of our lives are...well...so daily.  How often our hours are filled with the mundane, seemingly unimportant things that have to be done, whether at home or work.  These very "daily" tasks could become a celebration of praise.  "It is through consecration," someone has said, "that drudgery is made divine." 

~Gigi Graham Tchividjian

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I'll close with this most beautiful, beautiful song by Andrea Bocelli and his son...Fall on Me.
Appropriate yes?  Yes.


Did you know Andrea Bocelli is a prolife advocate?  I think this song is just beautiful...A father-son duet.  At Christmas tbn produced a beautiful Christmas special in the Bocelli home in italy. I do believe it was one of our favorite Christmas specials.  PBS is running a Bocelli special and it is just breathtaking.

Enjoy...




Edit. 3.5.19   As I listen to this song, I think of the Father and how we, his children can fall on Him.  Andrea Bocelli's care for his son is very similar to our relationship with our Father in Heaven, a very personal one.  His son Matteo also has such a sweet and ongoing response to his father.  We too can walk with our Father and talk with Him...  



What constitutes Success?  She has achieved success who has lived well; laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent people and the love of little children; who has filled her niche and accomplished her task; who has left the world better than she found it;...who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty, or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given the best she had.     ~Bessie Stanley




God's blessings to All,       ~Amelia