Scott, I'm in awe of your home orchard. I am trying my hand at one in MD also, and have many of the same types of fruits as yourself, but far fewer varieties! You really have made the best of a lovely big yard. I would love to hear your recommendations about Jujubes for our climate. Still no fruit from your Sherwood? I've heard other people complain of that from time to time. I'm looking for something which will taste good dried--have you tried all of your varieties dried yet? And I want something with fewer (or no) thorns, without compromising on flavor. Have you had problematic suckering from your Jujubes? I've seen complaints about this too. Thanks in advance for your words of advice! By the way, what in part of MD are you located? Christina

Frieda, re your question about school assemblies and Jerusalem in particular. It used to be the law that every school began each day with a form of religious 'observance'. As far as I know this is still the case, although the large 'secondary' schools get round it by claiming lack of space/time etc. But junior schools, even the non-denominational ones, will have a couple of prayers and a hymn plus 'announcements'. And C of E and RC kids will probably attend weekly/occasional services in their local church. Of course these days, as your friend says we have become a far more 'secular' country plus we have had a huge influx of people bringing in a wide range of faiths, all of which are meant to be catered for within the 'Religious Education' systems of each school area. RE is still taught as a 'lesson' up to exam standard. That is certainly how I learnt the words and tunes of so many hymns. As far as Jerusalem goes. I feel the words don't mean much on their own but with that wonderfully confidant Victorian music, it would be difficult not to be moved by hearing it sung en masse . . . have you ever been/or heard the 'Last Night of the Proms' from the Royal Albert Hall and large parks around the UK when Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory etc are sung by the thousands in the audience? It may be considered very 'jingoistic' by the nay-sayers but it is a truly rousing sound. Below is an extract from the Last Night of the Proms. I hope it doesn't make your fillings tingle . . .luckily I, unlike millions of my countrymen have never needed any 'work' on my teeth so my head is quite amalgam-free. ;-) Here is a link that might be useful: Last Night of the Proms

It's rarely that movie is as good as a book but sometimes good adaptations happen-and I tend to remember them all since happens not often For example "Girl With a Dragon Tatoo" i liked more as a movie..the non-American version. But I started with a movie, that probably influences things. "The Joy Luck Club" managed to be a great adaptation of the book-and I actually read the book several yeas before watching the movie Mini series of "Pride and Predjudice" are nice adaptation while the movie with Keira Knightly was something I kinda dismissed because to me that wasn't a good adaptation at all. Still, I prefer the book of course. The former Soviet Union movies based on "Sherlock Holmes" are considered the best in all the adaptations of Sherlck Holmes ever made, and won the prize as such-and I totally agree. Of course they filmed just several stories but did it very well. "Alias Grace" did a very fine job; but let me tell you the book is finer...reading it now. Now some books are probably too much of a challenge to ever be interpreted on the screen..I haven't seen one good "Wuthering Heights"..and I really tried. I haven't seen a "Lolita" that comes even close to the book itself. I don't think one can adapt Nabokov successfully. Too many things will go missing. His language is too good and too elusive for that. No Dostoevsky or Tolstoy either,,of course I didn't watch all of these..but whatever I started I just turned off. Very fast. As I was totally obsessed with "Les Miserables" since age 8 (to the point I tried to steal a little bun from a bakery-and succedeed-but that was my first and last attempt of stealing lol..more than I can handle..it was a tiny 3 kopeiks bun but nevertheless)-I tried to watch as many adaptations as possible. Some I enjoyed; but no they don't measure to the book. I couldn't appreciate long passages about monasteries, sewer, Parisian jargon, the battle of Waterloo etc when I was a little girl..but now I find these much more interesting. As it was when I read Fowles "The Magus"..at twenty I was so much into story..and the stories within the story I went through too quick..wars and all.. But now I understand these are actually the best ones there..or maybe they are to me now, since I became older. Generally I think the more complex and well written the book is the harder it will be to translate it I do look forward to adaptations that don't exist yet, or exist but I haven't seen them yet like Löwensköld trilogy by Selma Lagerlöf'..I think there can be a huge potential of making a great movie out of it.. Steven King is an example of an author whose books can be translated very well into visuals. PS remembered one more adatation that was good .."The Name of the Rose". They cut a lot out of it obviously..still, a good movie

In a long flight on the weekend, I watched Where'd You Go, Bernadette? It was pretty close to the book. Something that I didn't like in the book (an unnecessary complication in the husband's life), was omitted in the movie. In that sense, I liked the movie better. The visuals at the end of the movie (a building being built), give a much better idea than the book does. Most of it was filmed in Pittsburgh, a couple of scenes in Seattle, and some scenes in Antarctica. IMO, for those of you who have read the book, it is worth watching the movie. But it will not show you the Seattle five-way intersections that Bernadette hated.