Friday, September 30, 2005

The Week in Romance

The first topic I must mention is that somehow, this singles columnist/blog proprietress missed the fact that last week was National Singles Week. How this escaped my attention is completely beyond me. I must have been in a Windy City. Or in La-La Land. Biopics are huge. With The Aviator (Howard Hughes) and Ray (Ray Charles) dominating much of the Oscar buzz last year, and with the imminent arrival of the already-critically-acclaimed Walk the Line, the upcoming biopic about Johnny Cash starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, it wasn't surprising to me to read about the following deal:
JANE HAWKING's book about the turbulent years of her romance with astrophysics genius and A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME author STEPHEN HAWKING is being turned into a movie. Bosses at Hollywood's Film And Music Entertainment Inc have acquired the film rights to MUSIC TO MOVE THE STARS and now hope the story will become an Oscar-worthy epic.
Moving on to the Grand Romantic Gestures Department, cosponsored by Bad Idea Jeans..."Lovelorn widower Hugh Ramage has taken out newspaper advertisements to try to find the mystery Welsh woman he fell for on holiday." After chatting with the woman, who he now describes as his "perfect match" for hours over the course of his vacation, poolside in Bulgaria, he made a tactical error: he didn't ask her name. All he has to go on is that she's from Wales. (Actually, that's more like "Bad Planning Jeans.") So, he's decided to "take out advertisements in a last-gasp bid to claim a holiday romance." The Scottish grandfather added, "We talked about our families, where we lived, what we did. I have never met anyone before that I can talk to so easily - it was if we had known each other for ever."

"I was going to ask her if she would like to keep in touch," he explained, "But for some reason, I lost my bottle." [I love that phrase.-EDK] Mr Ramage, of Belshill, Lanarkshire, said he would be happy to travel the 400 miles from his home to Wales to meet the woman of his dreams again.

He then added, "And I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more, just to be the one who walked a thousand miles to be there at your door." (The Proclaimers....look it up.)

But not all is bad for single women...Forbes reports that "Married women are more likely to report ongoing sexual difficulties than either single women or married men, according to an eye-opening new survey from Britain." Want all the details on how functional or dysfunctional you are? Check it out here...

Frustrated movie romance of the week: (Serenity spoiler here, so consider yourself warned)...Mal and Innara. Come on! She's a frickin' courtesan! Stop your shomer negiah smoldering at each other, get over yourselves and get yourselves a room already...that's all I'm saying. Want more Serenity spoilers? Try MyUrbanKvetch.

As for someone who (I hope) is one of your favorite singles columnists, she's had a good week. Her new column, Homing in on Change, is in this week's Jewish Week, and she's been profiled on Jmerica's YoYenta blog. And she's apparently begun referring to herself in the third-person.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Um Jane Hawking's romance? Inspiring, not too sexy though. And she is ultimately betrayed by a really smart cad. Only the English could love this, right? And "Married women are more likely to report ongoing sexual difficulties"? Also unsurprising from the Brits. If you are playing with the same bloe for years, you have the time to develop 'problems'. Anyone else just dumps the chump and moves on. This is an effective response to the problem, but something that's less possible in a marriage. They'd call it contingent probabilities in a statistical study.

Cheers & Good Luck, 'VJ'

Shoshana said...

Both excellent articles! May you have continued writing success and everything else in the new year. Shana Tova!

Anonymous said...

Yes I agree with Shoshana too. Swell stuff. But how often can you go to the well here? This is getting heatbreaking for the audience, (not to mention the author). Start using the blokes to plumb new material. This may not put them off others, but it might make everyone seem a bit more interesting when we go along for the read. It's a thought.

Cheers &Good Luck, 'VJ'

Esther Kustanowitz said...

Glad you guys are enjoying. I'm not going to use the blokes for new material, as you put it, at least not concretely and traceably. But I'm entering 5766 with a smidge of hope. And that's all I'm saying.

Anonymous said...

Wishing you all the best Esther. But if 5767 rolls around in the same space, I'd try to convert 1 or the 2nd (!?) of the 'soulmates' you mentioned. It might just be easier all around. Just saying...

I understand the reluctance on using the comedy material available to you. It's this sort of dramatic tension and ambivalence that produces good 'edgy' comedy.

Cheers & Good Luck! 'VJ'

The First Date Chick said...

Oh, goodness. I get busy for a while, slack off on my blog reading, and completely miss a week devoted to me and mine =)

Hope you enjoyed!