macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Jun 26, 2006 23:00:31 GMT -5
Hmmm. Well I was looking forward to reading this one, basically because I just bought it on eBay and I'd never read it... always great to have a brand new BSC experience. But my enthusiasm was short lived (isn't that a great expression? I read it in a book once). First of all, the feminazi comments on the third page annoyed the F out of me. Honey, I'm home, I called, just like the old sitcom husbands called to their wives, before the wives got smart and got out of the unpaid labor of housework. So sue me. Housewives get no respect, no pay and no tax deductionsShut up, Abby. Seriously. Also, since when did the wives get out of the unpaid labor of housework? Try doing some research, girl. Every statistic shows that women are still doing the bulk of the household chores and are responsible for childcare, despite also being expected to hold full time jobs. Oh and when she is describing Kristy's Great Idea, she finishes with And the rest is history. Or herstory This makes the "OR SHE!!!" stuff seem positively tame. Didn't Ann (or ghostwriter Nola) consider the fact that SAHMs still exist and that a percentage (however small) of their audience probably have mothers at home full time and that it's not exactly complimentary to claim that these women get "no respect" and that they should "get smart" and "get out of unpaid labor". Very offensive, for such PC books. Also, the plot itself. Drama drama, when Abby has an asthma attack. Then it's all OMG FUND RAISING CARNIVAL! And Kristy's apparently unexpected idea that the BSC run a booth. Everyone was acting as if this was something original, as if Kristy hasn't had the same idea in every other book. I did like the interaction between the Stevensons though. It was very insightful.
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Post by greer on Jun 26, 2006 23:13:39 GMT -5
Yeah, that made me mad when I read it, because my mom is a SAHM. I guess Abby was just meant to be a FIERCE SOCCER PLAYING INDEPENDENT WOMAN.
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Jun 26, 2006 23:40:30 GMT -5
Exxxcellent point! I guess it goes back to the whole idea that it's okay to make derogatory statements about the majority, which is why we have sitcoms with sassy black families and their idiotic white neighbor, or a smart wife dealing with a bumbling husband, when the reverse of either situation would NEVER fly as a program.
This is one of the first BSC books that I bought, read, and did NOT reread repeatedly very soon after the first reading. Mary Anne and Camp BSC was another. At the time, I thought I was growing out of the BSC (lolololol), but now I realize that while (in my opinion) the plots were less solid after Mary Anne and Logan got back together, this is where they started to slide into absurdity.
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Post by lovelylemontree on Jun 27, 2006 0:56:01 GMT -5
OMG - I hate Everybody Loves Raymond with the fiery red-hot passion of a thousand burning suns. I just had to get that out.
I like Abby all right in her own books while I pretty much loathe her in anyone else's. Her books will never be on my favorites list though. I reread Welcome To The BSC, Abby a couple weeks ago and it's okay for a later book. I like the cover art.
The Stevensons are just a weird family. Mrs. Stevenson has some serious issues and I doubt they all stem from her husband's death. The woman is bizarre. I'm so torn on her because while she's a crap mother, on the rare occasions she's actually around she's pretty nice. If she were a raging b*tch I could hate her outright, but as she is written, I can't form a solid opinion on her.
The part I don't like about this book is how in the end, Abby and Anna come out with that box of their dad's. While it's good that they finally talk about him (after four freaking years), they then proceed to set out his belongings in their new home. And it's not even normal things like pictures or knick-knacks. It's his eye-glasses and bathrobe. That seems so odd to me and rather unhealthy. After four years, why does Mrs. Stevenson want her dead husband's bathrobe hanging on the back of her bathroom door?
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ktag
Junior Sitter
Posts: 694
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Post by ktag on Jun 27, 2006 1:31:05 GMT -5
Seriously. There's a carnival every 5 books, and that's definitely not the first time the BSC had a booth. I guess Kristy just wanted to take credit for the idea this time. Why exactly did every family need to have a booth anyway? Overkill. Anna, who it affects the most, didn't even care.
Yet another ambulance is called by the BSC. Maybe they should work out a deal with the hospital. Frequent emergency miles.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Jun 27, 2006 1:42:07 GMT -5
Now that was all downright creepy. Obviously, as you said, Mrs Stevenson is a strange one so it's not surprising that her response to a traumatic situation wasn't exactly normal.
Her relationship with her daughters in this book was strange as well. She seemed nice enough, but there wasn't much of a maternal bond or something.
Speaking of which, why is every ailment so overdone? Most people with asthma don't suffer serious, life threatening attacks. Of course the severity differs from person to person, but really. No one in the BSC who suffers from asthma actually has the experience of people I've known IRL. Stephie in California was another example.
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Post by lovelylemontree on Jun 27, 2006 1:43:13 GMT -5
I loved that. Anna's just like, "Fine, make your weird cakes, I'm going to go practice my violin."
Although, I suppose it was kind of sad how enthusiastic Abby was about running a booth with her mom and sister and they kept trying to blow her off.
I want to know how much more Watson's carnival rides earned than what he paid to rent them.
Agreed. She didn't seem like their mother. More like an aunt they'd recently moved in with.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Jun 27, 2006 1:49:31 GMT -5
I thought it was about time there were some parents and family members who weren't all gung-ho about the BSC's latest crusade. I was very disappointed as a little kid when I'd try to start up some BSC-like activity with the neighborhood kids and no one ever cared less.
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Jun 27, 2006 10:16:00 GMT -5
So much word -- I think it would have taken a bit of effort on my part to get both my parents to take me to a carnival for its entire operating time, let alone actually operate our own booth. And the non-organization-sponsored carnivals I HAVE been to always had businesses operating the booths, not weirdly community-involved families.
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Post by morbiddadestiny on Jun 27, 2006 13:23:04 GMT -5
alright, looks like i need to reread this one.
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ktag
Junior Sitter
Posts: 694
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Post by ktag on Jun 27, 2006 17:41:53 GMT -5
Though the cupcakes did sound pretty good. The decorate yourself not so much.
I was disappointed with this book, because I bought it thinking it was Abby's introduction to the BSC. Stupid misleading title. There wasn't anything about how she joined. Why didn't they just call it Abby's First Book, BSC's Carnival #4235?
Also, why would anyone want a pin made out of magazine cut outs? Ooh, piece of paper that says art. Must buy!
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Jun 27, 2006 20:12:41 GMT -5
Word. I was positively drooling reading about those cakes. Yummy!
So. Much. Word.
They sounded like sh*t! A peice of cardboard with music notes stuck on it and a pin attached to the back. What a peice of CRAP!! Who the hell would pay money for that?
TBH, it sounded more like a school fete thing, like we used to have them in primary school. They would organise pony rides, fire engine rides and other boring stuff like that, plus there'd be the odd family here and there that held a crafts stall, cake stall, second hand stall and there'd be face painting etc. But there were never any crowds of 13 yr olds desperate to get involved.
Also, the Pikes seem to feature heavily in the Stoneybrook carnivals. FFS. With eight kids to look after, doesn't Mrs Pike have anything better to do? Seriously.
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Post by greer on Jun 27, 2006 20:21:56 GMT -5
The last show that did that I can think of is Burns and Allen, which ran from 1950-1958.
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Jun 27, 2006 21:23:52 GMT -5
Not once she finishes passing all her work onto Mallory!
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Jun 27, 2006 21:54:05 GMT -5
The last show that did that I can think of is Burns and Allen, which ran from 1950-1958. The Simpsons is pretty good. Homer is a bumbling moron, but I wouldn't exactly say Marge is the brightest star in the sky either. She gets progressively dumber as the series progresses (although that goes for Homer as well).
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