worldcon volunteers

It is my understanding that, last week, the organizers of the upcoming worldcon were bemoaning the lack of volunteers. That's rather strange. A friend and I both volunteered months ago and neither of us ever heard a single thing back.

chips

I have a question for my blog’s visitors.

I have read James Hilton. Well, not Hilton himself, because we were never that intimate, nor did I ever read his entrails to peer into the Future. On the other hand, I read one of his books, Lost Horizon, but not Goodbye, Mr. Chips. If you have read the latter, would you mind telling me which movie adaptation is the closest to the original? I mean, is Robert Donat’s perpetually befuddled Chips the way Hilton depicted him, or was it Peter O’Toole’s prim teacher?

That being said, I much prefer O’Toole’s interpretation. In fact, I prefer the 1969 movie. I agree that, as a musical, it’s not very good. In fact, at some point it forgets that it’s a musical. Thankfully, O’Toole does little of the singing. And Petula Clark, much as I love her voice, doesn’t sing anything that’s very memorable. And yet, I prefer that movie, taken on its own terms. Maybe it’s because, while the 1939 version focused much more on Chips as a teacher, 1969’s main interest was the love between Chips and his wife. Yes, my significant other has been known to call me a sentimental fool, and she presumably means it in a good way. That’s probably why my favorite scene are when they meet in Pompei, and she asks a silent question to Apollo, looking up at the temple and, when she looks down again, she just stares at Chips.