stuff

"Vincentennial" : Vincent Price Centennial Celebration!

2011-04-25T01:33:00.000+01:00

St. Louis is celebrating the 100th birthday of native son, Vincent Price with displays of memorabilia, and festival of 20 of his horror flms, including my personal favorite "Theatre of Blood".

"Home Before Dark" on TCM USA April 11 2011 - Set Your Recorders!

2011-04-11T00:52:00.000+01:00

"Home Before Dark" (1957) is on TCM USA April 11 2011 at 2:30PM EDT.
This movie used to be on TV all the time in the 70's, now it seems to be almost forgotten.
When Jean Simmons died, hardly anyone mentioned this movie, which has one of Simmons' best performances as a woman recently released from a mental hospital who comes home to face the same problems that caused her breakdown. There is a great supporting cast: Dan O'Herlihy as the stuffy conventional husband who just doesn't have the nerve to be honest with her or himself. Rhonda Fleming as the half sister laying in wait and Efrem Zimbalist Jr as the sympathetic friend.
Based on the eponymous novel by Eileen Bassing.

Tsunami March 11 2011

2011-03-13T19:06:00.001Z

I hope that anyone who can will donate to their favorite reliable charity to help the afflicted areas of Japan.
Personally, I gave to the Salvation Army.

The tsunami had little impact at my location which is 30 miles south of San Francisco. Coastal geograophy really affects the impact of a tsunami. One location could have little affect and another severe damage. (According to a letter I received from the county, I live in an evacuation zone. That is because the property includes a creek 1/4 mile inland, The bulk of the property including all buildings, is far above any danger zone.) Eight miles north there was a five foot variance at the harbor, but any wave action was absorbed by the breakwater. There was no damage to beaches, no surge of waters inland. Forty miles south, Santa Cruz harbor is closed due to damage, mostly because of sunken vessels causing a transportation hazard: 18 vessels capsized/sunk, estimated 100 vessels afloat but damaged. The environmentalists are worried about wildlife being affected by an oilsheen!
A coworker said her 20 year old son was in a panic because he believes the 2012 End of The World Scenario and he thought this is the first blow. Instead of staying calm and helping his mother during an evacuation order, he was begging her to drive away. He would have driven himself, but he recently injured himself while skateboarding. Useless kid. He should go to Japan and help them clean up, that will knock some sense into him. Anyway, here is a photo of one of the "tsunami events" near my house. This happened several times. Fortunately, it was also low tide.
Click on the photos for larger images.

The waters retreated about 200 feet further than normal.

And then the waters returned. Except for the exagerated length of the withdrawing water, it looks pretty normal for wintertime.

We are all very lucky on the West Coast. The only people killed were victims of Social Darwinism who went too close to the water to film the action.

Great Blog Post on "The Black Cat" at Classic Film and TV Cafe

2011-02-27T21:41:00.000Z

Classic Film and TV Cafe has a great post on one of my all time favorite horror movies, "The Black Cat"
This film is a feast of creepily fascinating plot, fabulous cinematography and set design.

You might not guess from this photo, but Lugosi is the hero.

I love the cat treatment on this classy poster.

Click here at Dr. Macro for a supersize version of this fabulous photo.
It makes great wallpaper!

Go, now! Read the post!

2011 Movies for Valentine's Day

2011-02-12T00:25:00.004Z

Once again, I would like to suggest some movies about love for Valentines's Day. Last year's selections leaned more to the love lost and unattainable, this year is more optimistic and the viewer will not need to lay in so many hankies.
I generally only watch old movies, made before 1960, mostly black and white. Therefore, the list below may seem limited to readers who watch newer films. This list is mostly American films, maybe more foreign films next time.
The links on the titles lead to TCM.com

THE BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET (1934)

A film full of love of all kinds - some of it pretty unsavory.... There is the unusual love between poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, whose initial connection is their mutual admiration of each other's work. (Norma Shearer and Frederick March). There is the creepy smothering possessive incestuous love of Mr. Barrett (Charles Laughton) for Elizabeth, his favorite daughter. There is the young healthy passionate love of the sister Harriette for her suitor Captain Cook. Directed by Sidney Franklin who remade it in 1957 with Jennifer Jones and John Gielgud, which is also quite good.

[Trivia: Although in the story always shows Barrett's beloved spaniel going with her, it's fate was not so happy; her father killed the dog after she eloped with Browning. He really was a twisted control freak of a father. His attitude toward Elizabeth was particularly creepy, but he treated all of his sons and daughters just as bad; disinheriting any child who married or left home.

SMILIN' THROUGH (1932)

In dual roles, Norma Shearer and Frederick March heat up the screen with pre-code passion. Leslie Howard suffers and grieves. In Victorian times, two men love the same woman, Moonyean. On her wedding day, the jealous drunken ex-suitor shoots the bride. Her widower lives in grief and solitude, communing with Moonyean's spirit. He adopts his Moonyean's orphaned niece who grows up into spitting image of his dead bride. She falls in love with the son of none other than the murderer. Will Leslie Howard stand by and let love have its way? Will the lovers be parted forever by a vengeful guardian and the first World War? Because it is a Pre Code film, the passionate love is portrayed with great feeling and intensity. Love, romance, passion, ghosts - this story has it all.
Remade in technicolor with Jeanette MacDonald and Gene Raymond to much less affect but much lovely singing. Not everyone appreciates MacDonalds singing, and Gene Raymond's heyday was in the early 30's. However, he was a decent actor and singer, very athletic and enjoyable to watch. He is under appreciated today.

MY FOOLISH HEART (1950)

A very touching tale of a college girl's great love at the beginning of WW2, and the consequences. Dana Andrews and Susan Hayward were really too old for these parts. But it doesn't matter at all because they are so appealing. When the story begins, Susan Hayward is an unsympathetic lush on the verge of divorce. She remembers her love affair with Walt, played Dana Andrews who is terrifically appealing as the easy going, humorous but fatalistic Walt. Be armed with many hankies when you watch this. And here is another photo of Dana Andrews just because.....

THE LIFE OF VERGIE WINTERS (1934)

My favorite Ann Harding film. This used to run on AMC back when AMC showed old RKO movies in the good old days.
This is one of the ultimate pre-code "women's pictures". Per Mick LaSalle it was the last film released before the production code went into effect. It was blacklisted by the Catholic church decency brigade, and was very profitable. Moira Finnie has very nice write up about Ann Harding at Movie Morlocks, including some lovely photos from this movie.
Vergie Winters (Harding) loves John Shadwell (John Boles). Her father, for a price, tells the man she loves that she has married someone else. Heartbroken, he marries another played by Helen Vinson, an actress who is not well known today but was a reliable supporting actress who often played the bad wife, but was equally good as a nice wife (ie, "Transatlantic Tunnel"). I always watch a movie if Helen Vinson appears. Vergie and John carry on a 'back street marriage' together for many years as he becomes a distinguished politician until his wife brings it to a drastic halt. I don't want to reveal too many plot details because the it is such a heartfelt melodrama. Jon Boles could be a wooden actor when he wasn't singing, but he is fine in this movie. Lon Chaney Jr, back when he was billed as Creighton Chaney, plays Vergie's steadfast friend and would be suitor. Ann Harding is at her most beautiful in this film. The fashions, ranging from WW1 to 1930's fashions are really lovely.

DOUBLE HARNESS (1933):

Ann Harding and William Powell. Another great pre-code film. Harding plays Joan, a very forthright and honest woman who loves John (William Powell) who is extremely fond of Joan, but marriage shy. (In the best old movie tradition, we know they are sleeping together because Joan changes into a negligee when she visits him.) Joan tricks him into marriage, then works to honestly win his love and commitment to the marriage. It is not an easy task battling such obstacles as a frivolous and dishonest sister, The Other Woman, and the dinner party from hell. Before Myrna Loy became famous as the ultimate Wife, Pal and Best Friend, Ann Harding wore that crown.

BLIND DATE (1934)
Ann Sothern plays Kitty, who works as a switchboard operator and supports her family. She is engaged to a hardworking mechanic and long time friend Bill (Paul Kelly). When he is too busy to step out with her on her birthday, she goes on a blind date and meets Bob (Neil Hamilton), a wealthy man whose intentions are not entirely honorable - at least in the beginning. Rather improbably, Sothern gets a job modeling clothes for Bob's department store. There are many vignettes of frugal Depression life. There are several touching scenes between Kitty and the two men who love her. Will true love, or obligation win out? Paul Kelly is extremely good in this film. There are many closeups of Ann Sothern and her fabulous eyes, I cannot think of a movie where she was prettier. Supporting cast includes Jane Darwell and Mickey Rooney. Laura's Miscellaneous Musings has a nice write up of this film.

ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS (1948 )

Billed as "Pleasure beyond measure!" Jack Carson and Doris Day. Doris Day plays a struggling singer who is hired to impersonate a wealthy socialite on a cruise. The socialite stays home to secretly spy on her husband. Meanwhile, the husband hires a private detective (Jack Carson) to spy on his wife during the cruise. Both people struggle to maintain their assumed roles while falling in love with each other. Lots of fun songs, nice technicolor, cute dialogue. Day and Carson have great chemistry together. What is it about Jack Carson? The lovable jerk. He can put his shoes under my bed anytime.
Also with Oscar Levant playing the usual Oscar Levant character. (Levant made the famous quip that he "knew Doris Day before she was a virgin".) This is a perfect example of Day's great charm: effervescent, spunky but not overly cute. Check this link for lots of nice information about this film at this site devoted to Doris Day's films.

ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1952)

With Robert Ryan, that intense hunk of noir pulchritude and Ida Lupino, petite and equally intense. This spare and intense drama stars Robert Ryan as a scary, hardened cop, who seems to revel in his brutality. Ida Lupino a blind woman determined to get her psychotic brother safely put away. Through his growing feelings for her and his experiences in the rural community where he is sent to help capture a murderer, he becomes a more sympathetic and empathetic man. A very famous music score by Bernard Herrmann. Film Noir of the Week has a fabulous post on this film, so I won't waste time saying much more. The gentle reader may wonder "A Robert Ryan film noir for a romantic Valentine Day viewing?" You betcha. Ryan and Lupino are one of my favorite film pairs. Read more about Robert Ryan at Skeins of Thought, and this article by David Thomson which contains my favourite description of the actor "so convincing you could see his jaw muscles thinking."

THE SEVENTH VEIL (1945) Starring James Mason, Ann Todd and Herbert Lom

Completely cornball melodramatic fun! Anne Todd plays a concert pianist suffering from amnesia who is brought back to mental health thanks to 1940's movie style psychoanalysis. The seventh veil refers to that revelation of emotion that restores our heroine's psyche and mental health. Dark and brooding James Mason provides both menace and romance. Don't miss the scene at the piano!

VOICE OF THE TURTLE aka ONE FOR THE BOOK (1948)

From the John Van Druten play. Of course, the original play is more sophisticated and frank; the movie steps softly around the more controversial aspects of the play and presents one of the sweetest most romantic movies ever. Propinquity brings two people together early one Spring: Eleanor Parker is Sally, a ditzy struggling actress who so is in love with falling in love that she love unwisely and too well. Ronald Reagan is Bill, a soldier with some baggage of his own who has been stood up by his date Olive, played with great vigor by Eve Arden. She has dumped him for her old beau Commander Ned Spurling (Wayne Morris), for whom she still lusts. Unfortunately for Olive, Ned doesn't live up to her ardent memories.
Eleanor Parker plays the kind of woman who is so sensitive she thinks her radio got lonely because it was left on while they were out. Normally, that is the kind of woman my palm would itch to slap. But Parker (and the playwright) give the character plenty of gentle quirky charm.
It's popular among some to dismiss Reagan as a mediocre actor, which is very unfair. He brings a great naturalness, humor and common sense to this character. Bill is just what Sally needs.

Everyone starring in this film was a the peak of their talent and good looks. A thoroughly enjoyable movie.

As usual, the prolific Laura has a very nice post on this film.

The Dot and The Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (1965):

A line loves a dot who loves a "wild and unkempt squiggle". What must the straight arrow line do to win her love? It's only 10 minutes so why spend time describing it? Just watch it:

Who is the Most Over Rated Screen Legend?

2011-02-01T03:05:00.000Z

Take your mouse over to the right and take my little poll. Please add your alternative suggestions in the comments. Thank you.

Obviously,many different opinions are possible. The criteria is this:
1. American
2. Dead
3. Appears on the AFI top 25 list.

Actors

Humphrey Bogart
Marlon Brando
Gary Cooper
James Dean
John Wayne

Actresses
Marlene Dietrich
Katherine Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Marilyn Monroe
Elizabeth Taylor

Just because I put a person on the list, doesn't mean that I personally think that star is over-rated.

I'll give my personal opinions after the polls close.

Living in a Really Old Farmhouse....

2011-01-10T17:29:00.000Z

Mice can be a problem! I told my friend if he wondered what to get me for Christmas, I like some old fashioned wooden mousetraps. Can't beat the classics. Sure enough, Christmas morning, there were six mousetraps. I've had great luck. I strung up last night's bag in the doorway to surprise him when he came home...into the dark house. He loved it.

"My Foolish Heart" Dana Andrews Lovers - Set Your Recorders!

2011-01-09T01:33:00.001Z

"My Foolish Heart", a 1949 gem starring Dana Andrews, Susan Hayward, Kent Smith, Robert Keith and Jesse Royce Landis is on TCM USA , January 25 2011 at 8:45AM EDT.

I haven't seen this for many years, but remember it as a very touching tearjerker. Dana Andrews is most appreciated these days for his roles as disillusioned characters, but here he plays a really endearing man: good humored, decent, easy going, natural.
The plot is quite the melodrama, told in flashback by Susan Hayward. In the beginning of the film, she is an unsympathetic lush on the verge of divorce. She remembers her college years when "she was a nice girl" and we see the story of her great love.

It's from J.D. Salinger's story "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut". Apparently, Salinger was so upset by the "hollywoodization" of his story that he vowed never again to sell film rights to any of his creations.
While the public loved the film, critics dismissed it as another woman's picture. It is quite the damp hanky film but has a skillfull cast and direction makes it work beautifully.
I once answered a survey of "the film character you would like to marry" and my choice was Dana Andrews in "My Foolish Heart".

One day I will post my personal list of tearjerker films - this will be one of them.

Obituary - Robert Vallance - Horseman

2010-12-26T03:24:00.000Z

Robert Vallance, who died on October 30 aged 63, was chairman of the Secretaries of Foxhounds Association, having served for 26 years as secretary of what is now the Bicester Hunt with Whaddon Chase.

Zenyatta in A Winter Wonder Land

2010-12-24T12:00:00.016Z

Here is a very lovely film for Christmas. Click here to view the full aspect video at YouTube (and see other nice Bloodhorse videos.) Almost everyone's favorite thoroughbred mare enjoys a snowy turnout her retirement at Lands End Farm on December 20, 2010. She is very well behaved and affectionate and certainly very beloved. I wish Goldikova was getting as much attention too! Three time Breeders Cup Mile Winner!! But enjoy this happy winter scene and keep the music at a low volume, it's lovelier that way.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-23T20:08:00.000Z

Spam-Ku and the "Mysterious Porcine Muse"

2010-12-21T21:45:00.000Z

Who would have though that the canned mystery meat would spawn so much verse?
Because it's so easy!

Uniform pink meat
Salty and gelatinous
What did it come from?

+ + + + + +
Odd and ends of ham
Collected by the packer
Too damned expensive!

+ + + + + +

Spam fried in hot bacon fat
Pumpernickel and mustard
Served with a pickle!

Limerwrecks - FABULOUS BLOG!

2010-11-13T00:24:00.000Z

I came across the Limerwrecks blog by chance. If you like old movies and limericks then click now and visit this blog. Go! I have nothing better to offer today!

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman on TCM November 4, 2010

2010-11-04T21:22:00.003Z

"Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." (Rossiter Worthington Raymond)

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman is on TCM November 4, 2010 at 10:PM Eastern time.

With James Mason and Ava Gardner. Mason is the mysterious, brooding, oh so handsome Captain van der Zee and Gardner is Pandora, headstrong beauty. It's slightly uneven, but a gorgoeous and compelling combination of supernatural and romance. Beautiful people and scenery, beautifully filmed.

I'd throw away the world for Hendrick too! No one does mysterious romance better than James Mason.

Although this has been a favorite film since childhood, I have only seen this in rather muddy color, hopefully tonight's film will have improved color.

In the film, Hendrick quotes some lines from the poem "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold. The entire poem is here.

Answers to Amanda's Cinema Survey

2010-10-30T02:32:00.002+01:00

My Answers to Amanda's Cinema Survey .

1. What is your favorite movie starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, excluding all of The Thin Man films? LOVE CRAZY

2. Name a screen team that appeared in only one film together but are still noteworthy for how well they complimented each other.
I think these people appeared together only once: Dana Andrews and Susan Hayward in "My Foolish Heart". Eleanor Parker and Dennis Morgan in "The Very thought of You"

3. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' best film together?
FOLLOW THE FLEET
(My personal favorite because it also has Randolph Scott and Harriet Hilliard who sings some wonderful songs.)

4. Your favorite actor named "Robert"?
ROBERT RYAN . Great actor, great hunk.

5. An actor/actress who, when you see one of their movies, you always wish that someone else was in his/her role?
LUCILLE BALL in most movies. (I don’t like “I Love Lucy” either, what an annoying character! I really admire Lucille Ball’s great business sense, she was a consummate professional. But I never feel like watching a film if she's the star.
Most of SPENCER TRACY’S later movies. He was usually too old for the parts and obviously cast for box office reasons. (ie, Sea of Grass - and he could not even ride a horse!)
GARY COOPER dramas. He was OK in comedy, but too stiff for drama. He was awful in The Fountainhead (and he knew it). The lusty bits in Fountainhead are quite good of course.

6. An actor/actress that someone close to you really loves that you can't stand or vice versa?
My mother thought Harrison Ford is a good actor, I think he has the talent of a fence post. Ironically, I brought him to her attention by saying I thought he had an interesting face.

7. An actor/actress that you both agree on completely?
We agreed that James Mason was a great actor and a fine figure of male pulchritude. We agreed on most movie things.

8. Complete this sentence: Virginia O'Brien is to Ethel Merman as...
As Buster Keaton is to Joe E Brown.

9. What is your favorite film starring Ray Milland?
SO EVIL MY LOVE

10. You had to have seen this one coming: what is your favorite movie of the 1960s?
COMEDY OF TERROR with Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff.

11. An actor/actress that you would take out of one film and put into a different movie that was released the same year?
Take Allan Jones out of "Everybody Sing" which is OK, but Jones deserved to be in a better film: "Girl of the Golden West". Nelson Eddy was too tall, fair and Anglo Saxon to play Rodriguez, although of course Eddy's voice was fine. Allan Jones was Jeanette MacDonalds choice for the film and would have been a
better fit. Besides, I like Allan Jones a lot and wish he'd made more films with Jeanette. That leaves Nelson Eddy without a property, which is unfair.

Removce Cary Grant from Arsenic and Old Lace - he can be in anything else as long as it's not A&OL. He was awful in that. Grant said Capra made him mug it up in the movie, he hated his performance.

12. Who was your favorite of Robert Montgomery's leading ladies?
Ann Harding and Myrna Loy in "When Ladies Meet"

13. You think it would have been a disaster if what movie starred the actor/actress who was originally asked to star in it?
WIZARD OF OZ. Shirley Temple was considered to star. They realized the songs were beyond her abilities and needed a stronger singer, so went with Judy Garland. If they had stuck with Temple, maybe they would have tailored the songs to her range and abilities and it would have been a completely different movie, which is unthinkable.

13 Alternate : What movie would be great if the actor/actress originally asked had appeared in it?
Dan Dailey was oroginally cast as the gunslinger in Blazing Saddles. He was enthusiastic had to back out due to bad eyesight. John Wayne was offered the role. He loved the script and would have liked to do it, but he said his public would not understand. Gene Wilder got the part. So instead of an actor
parodying himself, you get a nebbish jewish guy who can't ride.

14. An actor/actress who you will watch in any or almost any movie?
ANN HARDING / ERROL FLYNN /LAURENCE OLIVIER / RONALD COLMAN / BARBRA
STANWYCK / KAY FRANCIS /

15. Your favorite Leslie Howard film and role?
Tom in THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. I also like The Scarlet Pimpernel, and preferred Ashley to Rhett.
There are some films I have not yet seen, so there may be another favorite.

16. You have been asked to host a marathon of four Barbara Stanwyck films. Which ones do you choose?
MIRACLE WOMAN, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW, THE LADY EVE (I think that well illustrates her fabulous range.) Actually, due to the popularity of the marathon, it should be extended another day with these films: MY REPUTATION, CLASH BY NIGHT, STELLA DALLAS. Because once you see a few Stanwyck films, you want to see more.

17. What is, in your mind, the nearest to perfect comedy you have ever seen? Why?
KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS. Every line is pithy. It just works. This movie gets a lot of attention because of Alec Guiness' multiple roles, but the script and ensemble is great.

18. You will brook no criticism of what film?
I don't worry about that. Everyone has their hits and misses according to personal taste.

19. Who is your favorite Irish actress?
GREER GARSON.

20. Your favorite 1940s movie starring Ginger Rogers?
LADY IN THE DARK

21. Do you enjoy silent movies?
Very Much! Especially the long German sagas like THE INDIAN TOMB and SPIES.

22. What is your favorite Bette Davis film?
LITTLE FOXES came first to mind, Davis was a great actress and it's hard to choose just one.
23. Your favorite onscreen Hollywood couple?
JACK CARSON and JANE WYMAN. They always conveyed fun loving lust.

Memo: Why just couples? How about pairs? Like Ronald Reagan and Wayne Morris in their comedies. Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins!

24. This one is for the girls, but, of course, the guys are welcome to answer, too: who is your favorite Hollywood costume designer?
ORRY KELLY

25. To even things out a bit, here's something the boys will enjoy: what is your favorite tough action film?
ZULU

26. You are currently gaining a greater appreciation for which actor(s)/actress(es)?
JEAN ARTHUR. Her voice is incredibly annoying to me. I've gotten used to her voice so I can appreciate her talent. Same thing with Glynis Johns - something about her voice grates on me, but she is great.

27. Franchot Tone: yes or no? YES!

28. Which actors and/or actresses do you think are underrated?
BASIL RATHBONE: People mostly think of him as Sherlock Holmes but he was extremely versatile and could play anything.
LIONEL BARRYMORE: People remember Barrymore as the crochety old character actor in a wheelchair. They need to see him in more films before he was crippled when he could do so much more.
HEDY LAMARR : she was so beautiful, she didn't always get a chance to play interesting characters. When she had a chance to do something unusual, like The Strange Woman, or a nice natural woman like HM Pulham Esq. She was also excellent in comedies.
TYRONE POWER: Like Hedy, he was so handsome he was stuck Swashing on film, but found an outlet on the stage. Also his career was interupted by WW2. He was from a distinguished acting family, was well read and anxious to play unusual roles. Check him out in NIGHTMARE ALLEY.
RONALD REAGAN: It's fashionable to dismiss Ronald Reagan's film career. Because they don't like his politics, people believe he was a mediocre actor yet have not actually seen his films. This is unfair. He was natural and earnest and very good in light comedies. Bedtime for Bonzo isn't as bad as they claim - it's cute and lightweight.

29. Which actors and/or actresses do you think are overrated?
GARY COOPER, MARILYN MONROE

30. Favorite actor? I like too many to nail down just one person. I'll answer with a twist. My favorite German /Austrian actors are Conrad Veidt, Wolfgang Preiss and Bruno Ganz

31. Favorite actress? My favorite French actress is Isabelle Hupert

32. Of those listed, who is the coolest: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Steve McQueen, or Patrick Stewart? I'm not sure what the definition of cool is but I like Patrick Stewart best of this list.

33. What is your favorite movie from each of these genres:

Comedy: TWENTIETH CENTURY
Swashbuckler: THE SEA HAWK
Film noir: ASPHALT JUNGLE
Musical: MAYTIME
Holiday: MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER
Hitchcock: THE PARADINE CASE

UPDATE: hmmm...I'm not sure Maytime is quite a musical, it's a melodrama about opera singers plying their trade. So I'll suggest one of my 50's favorites "THE PAJAMA GAME". It also features much of the original broadway cast which is a great bonus.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Segue on Question #13. I recently read that there were plans in 1977 to remake "Dodsworth" starring Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor. Thank goodness *that* never happened!

Podcast: Life of Reginald Mitchell 1895-1937, Designer of the Supermarine Spitfire Fighter

2010-09-19T21:42:00.001+01:00

Listen to the The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography's podcast biography of Reginald Mitchell, who designed 24 airplanes, most famously, the Spitfire.

Website for Reginald Mitchell

On the other hand, don't forget the Hawker Hurricane:
"Battle of Britain week: Was the Hurricane the plane that REALLY saved us from the Nazis?"

Eileen Nearne, WW2 Spy, Dead at 89

2010-09-19T21:35:00.000+01:00

"Eileen Nearne, who has died aged 89, was a member of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) and recruited into the Special Operations Executive (SOE); parachuted into France, she was captured, then interrogated and tortured by the Gestapo. " From the Telegraph, September 17 2010
From the Guardian: Lonely Death of a Wartime Heroine and The spy who we loved: Eileen Nearne was cherished says niece

Trust the Daily Mail to take the most melodramatic angle.

From the Sunday Independent

Lieutenant-Commander Tony Bentley-Buckle Obituary

2010-09-08T01:28:00.002+01:00

Lieutenant-Commander Tony Bentley-Buckle, who has died aged 88, spent the last 18 months of the Second World War as a prisoner-of-war in Germany, when he and his fellow inmates of Marlag-O, a PoW camp for naval officers in northern Germany, built a man-sized dummy called “Albert RN”.
--From the Telegraph, September 5 2010

This gentleman sounds like a character from a Nevil Shute novel!

Obituary Elizabeth Jenkins 1905-2010

2010-09-08T01:13:00.000+01:00

"Elizabeth Jenkins, who died on Sunday aged 104, was a sensitive and perceptive novelist and biographer; having been introduced to the Bloomsbury Group in the 1920s, she soon turned her back on Virginia Woolf, whom she found “appalling”, to achieve success in her own right. " From the Telegraph, September 6 2010
Obituary from The Guardian
Obituary from the Independent

Find Elizabeth Jenkin's books

Body building, steroid abusing midgets ?!?!

2010-09-05T20:40:00.000+01:00

"SWAT TEAM REQUESTED FOR VIOLENT MIDGETS" from the Reno Union "Police Blotter"
(My local fishwrapper's Police Blotter is never this good!)

More From Tabloid Prodigy: "A posse of midgets cooperated with “steroid-using” bodybuilders in an attempt to kill TWO people, according to a bizarre 911 call in Western Nevada County, Calif. on Tuesday...."

Hope Bourne, Fascinating Woman, Dead at 91

2010-08-29T02:16:00.002+01:00

"Hope Bourne, who died on August 22 aged 91, was an author who celebrated life on Exmoor, where she lived for more than 60 years; her knowledge of this beautiful corner of England – of its flora and fauna and its traditional communities – was encyclopedic, and was gained by submission to a lifestyle which few in the 20th century would have dared even to contemplate." From the London Telegraph August 27 2010

Read her obituary here... Find her books here...

Lou Lumenick on TCM October 20, 2010

2010-08-09T03:15:00.001+01:00

Lou Lumenick will be an on air guest programmer on TCM in October 2010. Follow this link for details to a versatile lineup of films such as All Through the Night, (have cheesecake on hand), The Last Flight, Ride Lonesome and Park Row.

Quail Hunt !

2010-06-23T02:53:00.002+01:00

Not for the squeamish or uptight vegetarians.

A recent evening at dusk, my cat Quilty brought a freshly killed quail. I call her Quilty because of her patchwork coloring. She is small and dainty, and a good hunter. There is a steady population of about 30 quail at our place, so their reproduction keeps up with the predators.

I picked it up and yanked a few feathers...they came out readily. In a few seconds, the entire bird was plucked, so I decided to eat it myself.. Sorry Quilty, eat your dry food!

Then I cut off the head and hung it in the sink to drain the blood

… plucked the pin feathers and cut off the wing tips

Next I gutted the little birdy and rinsed it well. The crop contents are in the upper left: green rye grass grains. Note the little birdy's head and new feather crest! It was a youngster.

I rinsed the body well, patted it dry and sprinkled it with salt, pepper and olive oil. I put a little sprig of rosemary, a bit of garlic and a piece of bay leaf in the cavity. When I went back outside, Quilty was meowing over the pile of pulled feathers. Maybe she'd wanted it all for herself. The next day, I wrapped it in bacon secured with toothpicks and roasted it. It was a bit tough and very tasty.

Ann Harding

2010-06-11T20:41:00.011+01:00

Laura's Miscellaneous Musings has a nice post today about a new bio of Ann Harding, one of my favourite actresses and a great beauty. I'm not stealing Laura's thunder, so before you follow this link to Laura's post please look at these beautiful pictures of Ann Harding. Click to enlarge. Enjoy.

Update: Follow this link for a nice review at hollywoodyesterday.com

Another lovely photo. I think this is from Double Harness

Spider Lace Pillow Case Edging

2010-04-07T20:10:00.001+01:00

Click here to download the entire pattern :

Four Word Film Review

2010-03-03T17:20:00.004Z

Four Word Film Review is a great site for those who love movies and puns.
Here are some great examples from various genre. I picked examples of my personal favourites. I haven't posted any reviews myself, because I can't top any FWFR's already posted! Has anyone posted one? Any personal favourites?

+FAMILY+

Dumbo (1941)
Elephant gets ear-borne.
Large-lobed elephant becomes ear-odynamic.

National Velvet (1944)
Young Liz - Aintree sweet?
Pie-eyed jockey wins National.

The Yearling (1946)
Jody's deer, oh dear!
Boy fawns over deer.

+ROMANCE+

Now, Voyager (1942)
Charlotte lights Jerry's fire.
Repressed voyager escapes dowager.
Fat, myopic heiress transformed.
No moon, just stars.

The Sheik (1921)
Hostage gets just deserts.
Valentino: chic sleek sheik.

+FILM NOIR+

DOA (1950)
Poisoned man's frantic search.
Murder victim speaks out!

The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Hayden's big, hard Dix.
John Huston's mean streets.

+ART+

The Red Shoes (1947)
Corpse de ballet
Dancing for Shearer joy.

Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Will Belle Marais Beast?
Cocteau concocts cross-species courtship.

+LITERARY CLASSICS+

Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
Hunchback struck by belle.
Laughton changes church oil.

A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
Selfless Sid thinks ahead.
Sidney substitutes. Sacrifice successful

+ FROM THE THEATRE+

Streetcar Named Desire (1950)
Blanche seeks/enters asylum.
Scandal plagued belle disintegrates.
Louisiana family, emotional gumbo.

Kiss Me Kate (1953)
Shrew tamed with showtunes!
Porter brushes up Shakespeare.

+SHAKESPEARE+

Richard III (1955)
Olivier plays a hunch.

Hamlet (1948)
Olivier ennobles flakey Danish.
Freudian Prince ponders vengeance.

+SENTIMENTAL+

Stella Dallas (1937)
Stanwyck's STELLAr Role!

+COMEDY+

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Mortimer's aunts, mortifying hobby
Sweet, old serial killers.

Twentieth Century (1934)
Tyrant Barrymore bamboozles bombshell.

+MELODRAMA+

Mildred Pierce (1945)
Restauranteur's daughter needs spanking.

Grand Hotel (1932)
Hotel reveals Grand stories.
Despair, tragedy, art-deco style.

+EPIC+

Ben Hur (1959)
Ben Hurries to finish.
Jesus undoes Messala's work.
Jew overcomes race discrimination.

+SCI FI+
Devil Girl from Mars (1954)
Statuesque Martian seeks congress.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Pacifist alien targets Washington.
Behave, for Gort's sake!

+HORROR+

The Wicker Man(1973)
Island living means sacrifices...
Dirty Rattan Scoundrels.
Wierd Wiccans roast pig.

The Bride Of Frankenstein (1935)
Monster bitch with stitches.
Resurrected, engaged, rejected, enraged.

Romantic Movies for Valentine's Day

2010-02-13T03:37:00.016Z

Lists of romantic movies abound, but they are not films that come to my mind when I think "hmmm, really romantic movie."
I have no way of knowing how these appeal to both sexes. I can't remember any romantic film that my husband liked. His favorite movie was "Thunder Road". I know that my father especially liked "Miracle in the Rain" and "Brief Encounter".
The other thing about this list is that the movies are all b/w except for "A Matter of Life and Death" and "Sweethearts" and they were all made in the 30's - 50's. To me a "newer" movie was made after 1960. I simply prefer the older films and if there is a great english language romance made after 1960, I probably haven't seen it or did not like it.
The fact that most of these movies represent romance which is mostly tragic and yearning will not be lost on an attentive reader. Mulitple hankies are required when viewing these movies. The links of the film titles will lead you to articles at tcm.com.

In no specific order:

Miracle in the Rain (1956)
Ruth (Jane Wyman) lives alone with her mother, who is a mental case since her husband abandoned the family many years before. Art (Van Johnson), is a very nice soldier who meets her one day in the rain and strikes up a friendship. His manly good cheer is a ray of sunshine to lonely woman devoted to work and taking care of a heartbroken, neurotic manhater. Tragedy strikes and Ruth's despair and loneliness almost kill her. Both Johnson and Wyman were really a bit old for the parts, but they carry it off so nicely and the story is so lovely, you don't really mind. The 1943 novel and screenplay were written by Ben Hecht who apparently could master any genre.

Brief Encounter (1946)
Directed by David Lean, set in gritty, rationed post WWII England, two middle class married people meet by chance at a train station and fall madly in love. Do they give in to their passion or do the right thing by their families?   With Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto to set the mood. Another Lean movie which I like just as much as Brief Encounter is The Passionate Friends, also starring Trevor Howard, with Anne Todd and Claude Rains who is really brilliant.

Now, Voyager (1943)
Obviously no plot description is necessary for this classic of a spinster who becomes a swan. Gladys Cooper is one of the great movie mothers from hell. (I saw Cooper in another movie where she was a kind and gentle lady and did not recognize her for some time.) The movie is very faithful to the novel of the same name by Olive Higgins Prouty who also wrote Stella Dallas. ("Now, Voyager" is the third novel of five describing the saga of the Vale family: "White Fawn", "Lisa Vale", Now, Voyager", "Home Port" and "Fabia")

History is Made at Night (1937)
With Jean Peters and Charles Boyer. A woman escaping from her husband is inadvertently saved by Charles Boyer. Colin Clive provides the formidable obstacle to their love in the form of psychotic jealousy. There was no one like Colin Clive who really enjoyed playing extreme characters.   Too bad he died so young. In theory, I should prefer "Love Affair" with Boyer and Irene Dunne. (Remade as "An Affair to Remember") Much as I love Boyer and Dunne, I'm not so fond of "Love Affair" and I do not like "An Affair to Remember".

A Matter of Life and Death (1946) A Powell & Pressburger picture.
An RAF fighter pilot who cheats death argues for his life before a celestial court. The earthly scenes are in color, heaven is a black and white bureacracy. It ends with the heavenly justice quoting Sir Walter Scott:
   In peace, Love tunes the shepherd's reed;
   In war, he mounts the warrior's steed;
   In halls, in gay attire is seen;
   In hamlets, dances on the green.
   Love rules the court, the camp, the grove,
   And men below, and saints above;
   For love is heaven, and heaven is love.

One Way Passage (1932) Kay Francis, fashionably dressed and terminally ill, arrives in Hong Kong, a stop on her world cruise. There she meets William Powell, debonair murderer, who is in Hong Kong to escape from the gallows awaiting him in San Francisco. They are immediately taken with each other. William Powell is arrested and returned to the USA. It appears no expense was spared to capture him, because he travels First Class with a sympathetic cop, and the couple is able to pursue their romance across the Pacific.
Remade in 1940 as 'Til We Meet Again with George Brent and Merle Oberon. There is nothing quite like the original, but I enjoy the remake almost as much.

The Constant Nymph (1943)
I've only seen youtube clips of this movie. It's considered one of the great romantic movies of the 40's. Tessa, (Joan Fontaine) is a 14 year old girl loves Lewis (Charles Boyer), an older composer and old friend of her family. He marries her cousin, a woman of his own age. As time passes he comes to realize the depth of feeling Tessa has for him and he returns her love. But can they ever get together? Naturally, this is handled with good taste and great feeling. Joan Fontaine received an Oscar nomination for her performance, which is one of her favorite roles. She does a great job portraying a teenager. Charles Boyer was rather old for the part, the composer is really only in his 20's. It's only available via bootleg. It was on youtube for a while, now removed. The novel by Margaret Kennedy is quite good, I loved it when I was a eighteen. it was somewhat scandalous in it's day because it dealt with the physical and emotional passions of girls. Not that love of the very young is so unusual in older books; in The Constant Nymph, sexuality is also a theme. Erich Wolfgang Korngold wrote the magnificent score. Hopefully, a nice print is safely stored in the TCM vaults and will be broadcast some day when the legal entanglements are unknotted.

Feb 2011 UPDATE!  There is a possibility that The Constant Nymph will be released to DVD this year. Lou Lumenick has details.  A big hat tip to Laura's Miscellaneous Musings

Maytime (1937)One of the best Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy movies. This was one of the most popular movies worldwide in 1937. How times have changed! Jeannette loves Eddy but promised to marry her impresario (John Barrymore) to whom she owes all her success. Great romance and great tragedy ensue amidst magnificent music. John Barrymore was on his downward spiral, but he is very good in the role, one feels quite sorry for poor Nicolai left in the cold. The production is loaded with great character actors. MacDonald is also very good as an elderly lady.
Here is the most touching finale - advance to 5:30

Maytime also features an opera written for the movie based on Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony, one of my all time favourites. Everytime a local symphony plays it, I am there.

Which reminds me of a very cheerful, sweet and romantic film to finish the list...

Sweethearts (1938) Jeannette and Nelson in their first technicolor pairing, play a married Broadway stars split up by their scheming business partners. A stellar supporting cast, many many songs by Victor Herbert, including the title duet a fantastic witty script by Dorothy Parker, gorgeous set design, gorgeous fashion and a great supporting cast. I always watch this when I want to cheer up.

As Valentine's Day Approaches....Kisses

2010-02-13T02:10:00.005Z

Let's look at some great movie kisses. Everyone has an opinion on something like this. This is my girlish take. In the movies, since we are essentially voyeurs at an extremely private moment, it's not about slobbering, it's about the actors' ability to convey love.
Here are some examples featuring Ronald Colman and Charles Boyer - both age 46 in the clips. They both had magnificent voices and expressive eyes. It helps :-)

There is just no one like Ronald Colman. He had the most expressive eyes. If you want to get right to the smooch, advance to 2:00

Charles Boyer was short, paunchy and wore a toupee. In real life he was thoughtful and bookish. One anecdote is that when Bette Davis saw him on the set of "All This and Heaven Too", she did not recognize him and asked to have him removed from the set. Ah, Le Grand Charles....

Peter Lorre's great scene in "Confidential Agent" (1945)

2010-02-13T01:55:00.002Z

"Confidential Agent" based on a Graham Greene novel has some typical Hollywood quirks: Charles Boyer , Peter Lorre and Katina Paxinou as spanish agents with, respectively, french, hungarian and greek accents. Lauren Bacall provides great eye candy in her third film role. However, it's the great acting chops of Boyer, Lorre and Paxinou who make this film great entertainment.

Poem o' the Week: Song by William Blake

2010-02-06T02:32:00.000Z

Memory, hither come,
And tune your merry notes:
And, while upon the wind
Your music floats,
I'll pore upon the stream
Where sighing lovers dream,
And fish for fancies as they pass
Within the watery glass.

Pause in the Storm - 20 Jan 2010

2010-01-20T17:45:00.001Z

We are awash!

Bombay in the Winter

2010-01-19T02:58:00.000Z

Bombay 11.2H Welsh Cob

2010-01-18T17:29:00.003Z

Night of the Incinerator - Part 2

2010-01-14T23:52:00.002Z

Fun with Butane! Imagine if it was a FULL can, instead of only one third. This one threw coals all over the grass. Very pretty to see.
This is the prime season for good fires: plenty of rain so nothing can catch on fire from flying coals and sparks. Also, a few more dead pine trees which need felling, and plenty of fallen cypress so as soon as the chainsaw is back in operation......

Night of the Incinerator - Part 1

2010-01-13T00:23:00.001Z

When it comes to burning trash, we don't fool around. Long ago, the incinerator was a 300 gallon fuel tank. Now it is a rusted hulk of its former self, serving well as a burn barrel. Here we toss in an old can of silicon lube. In the background, there is an illuminated window with a silhouette. That silhouette is a grim reaper decoration which I put up on Halloween a few years ago and never took down. Enjoy.

Poem o' the Week: O water, voice of my heart

2009-12-03T01:58:00.000Z

O water, voice of my heart, crying in the sand,
All night long crying with a mournful cry,
As I lie and listen, and cannot understand
The voice of my heart in my side or the voice of the sea,
O water, crying for rest, is it I, is it I?
All night long the water is crying to me.
Unresting water, there shall never be rest
Till the last moon droop and the last tide fail,
And the fire of the end begin to burn in the west;
And the heart shall be weary and wonder and cry like the sea,
All life long crying without avail,
As the water all night long is crying to me.
- Arthur Symons
Arthur Symons

Poem o' the Week: The Turtle Dove ( English Folk Song)

2009-11-16T02:17:00.005Z

The Turtle Dove

Fare you well, my dear, I must be gone,
And leave you for a while;
If I roam away I'll come back again,
Though I roam ten thousand miles, my dear,
Though I roam ten thousand miles.

So fair thou art, my bonny lass,
So deep in love am I;
But I never will prove false to the bonny lass I love,
Till the stars fall from the sky, my dear,
Till the stars fall from the sky.

The sea will never run dry, my dear,
Nor the rocks melt with the sun,
But I never will prove false to the bonny lass I love,
Till all these things be done, my dear,
Till all these things be done.

O yonder doth sit that little turtle dove,
He doth sit on yonder high tree,
A-making a moan for the loss of his love,
As I will do for thee, my dear,
As I will do for thee.

Bryn Terfel Sings "The Turtle Dove", Arr. R Vaugh Williams
This is from the Last Night of The Proms. I wish the some of the Proms, especially the Last Night were broadcast in the USA.

Poem o' the Week: Silent Noon by D.G. Rossetti

2009-11-13T23:35:00.002Z

Silent Noon

by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882)

YOUR hands lie open in the long, fresh grass,—
The finger-points look through like rosy blooms:
Your eyes smile peace. The pasture gleams and glooms
’Neath billowing skies that scatter and amass.
All round our nest, far as the eye can pass,
Are golden kingcup-fields with silver edge
Where the cow-parsley skirts the hawthorn hedge.
’Tis visible silence, still as the hour-glass.
Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragon-fly
Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky,—
So this wing’d hour is dropped to us from above.
Oh! clasp we to our hearts, for deathless dower,
This close-companioned inarticulate hour
When twofold silence was the song of love.

Ian Bostridge Sings "Silent Noon" Comp. Ralph Vaugh Williams

Belle Baker Sings "Blue Moon"

2009-10-24T01:36:00.002+01:00

My favorite version of this song. ENJOY!

Arnold Friberg's Famous RCMP Paintings

2009-10-22T23:18:00.007+01:00

Arnold Freiberg did a series of paintings for the Northwest Paper company calendars for the printing trade that was very popular. The paper company wanted to prove the quality of their paper and its ability to hold gorgeous colors so the company chose the subject of the mounties in their iconic red jackets and the beautiful landscapes of the Canadian wilderness. (Surely one of the great marketing moves of all time.)

Spring Time in The North

"Maintaining the Right"

This painting was commissioned by the RCMP.

Just for fun, let's not forget Nelson Eddy, the best singing Mountie!

Poem o' the Week

2009-10-13T23:10:00.001+01:00

Plaint

DARK, deep, and cold the current flows
Unto the sea where no wind blows,
Seeking the land which no one knows.

O'er its sad gloom still comes and goes
The mingled wail of friends and foes,
Borne to the land which no one knows.

Why shrieks for help yon wretch, who goes
With millions, from a world of woes,
Unto the land which no one knows?

Though myriads go with him who goes,
Alone he goes where no wind blows,
Unto the land which no one knows.

For all must go where no wind blows,
And none can go for him who goes;
None, none return whence no one knows.

Yet why should he who shrieking goes
With millions, from a world of woes,
Reunion seek with it or those?

Alone with God, where no wind blows,
And Death, his shadow—doom'd, he goes.
That God is there the shadow shows.

O shoreless Deep, where no wind blows!
And thou, O Land which no one knows!
That God is All, His shadow shows.

-Ebenezer Elliott. 1781–1849

Black Bart - Jersey Giant Chicken

2009-10-09T02:30:00.001+01:00

Black Bart is the young rooster. He's almost three months old and supposedly could weigh 12 pounds when mature. I feed him enough nutritious food - he'd better get huge.

The problem is that General Patton is so agressive we fear for Black Bart's well being. They are always separated. Should General Patton become a Sunday dinner with dumplings?

Chickens Meet Bobcat

2009-10-09T02:16:00.002+01:00

Why are the young chickens hiding in the tall grass at 4:00 in the afternoon? A bobcat came out of the brush at the end of the yard and was stalking them. The cats ran away, the rabbit jumped around in her cage and the chickens hunkered down in a clump of timothy grass. I shot the bob cat THREE times with the BB gun before it left. It jumped in the air and made a 360° summersault. Very funny, too bad I didn't get that on video! The chicks usually let me herd them around the yard, but I could not lead them back to the coop, so I picked them up two at a time and locked them up. All is well. I hope the bobcat doesn't become a pest, it's a gorgeous animal and it's probably easier to shoot than trap.

Pulp of the Day - "Soft Bodies for the Nazi's Hall of the Living Dead!"

2009-09-26T01:12:00.003+01:00

Pulp of the Day Blog is highly recommended - check it out: http://www.pulpoftheday.com/
Leave an entry for the caption contest..
I love the character on the right grasping the victim's thigh.

It was a fun Labor Day

2009-09-08T20:14:00.001+01:00

I may - or may not - have saved this spunky gopher from the Jaws of Death...
Girly is a tiny cat and an excellent hunter. Gophers are like mini beavers - all teeth, and very feisty. Girly had a hard time delivering the coup de grace because the gopher was fighting back. The gopher did not appear to be seriously wounded so I put it under a woodpile to recover. It was such a spunky lil' bastard I thought it deserved a second chance. (Of course, if there was a gopher snake under the woodpile, I didn't do the gopher any favor.) Mind, if the gopher had been the little digging demon of the lettuce patch who ate a row of parsley, I would have cheerfully delivered the coup de grace myself!
The camera amplifies all the background noise, but you can hear the gopher chattering his teeth. So cute!

Charles Laughton, The Great Ham

2009-09-07T06:49:00.000+01:00

This is a very cute, fluffy, highly enjoyable film where Laughton plays a distinguished stage actor and even greater ham. Maybe he played himself.

The Big Book Of Lesbian Horse Stories

2009-09-04T23:50:00.001+01:00

"When these Sapphic sisters saddle up, ecstasy is only a heartbeat away."

Buy your copy today!!!
http://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9780758202543
Won't this perpetuate the myth that women like to ride astride for the - ahem - stimulating effects?

Horse o' The Week - Section D Welsh Cob

2009-09-04T19:08:00.000+01:00

A great description here: http://www.welshpony.org/SectionD.htm
Section D Welsh Cob Mare

Section D Welsh Cob Stallion

Olivier Latry plays opening chant at Mass at Notre Dame

2009-09-03T03:08:00.005+01:00

Olivier Latry, one of the best organists in the world, is one of three organists of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The organist cannot directly see the cantor or chorus, so watches them via video or a mirror.

One Guinea Pig in the Hand is Worth Two in the...?

2009-09-01T00:09:00.000+01:00

Guinea Pigs are entertaining animals who speak with funny squeaks and whistles. I used to have several and when I came home from work, would be greeted with a chorus of "Wheek!Wheek! Wheek!" all demanding food of course. They are a favored food source in the Andes. Peruvian restaturants are getting popular in the USA - I wonder if they serve guinea pig? I'd try it if it was on a menu. The babies are born with teeth, fur and their eyes fully open, they can eat adult food almost immediately. There is nothing cuter! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Guinea_baby_1.jpg
This little fellow was very mellow!

Famous People - Admit it - You Wish You Could be this Man

2009-08-29T00:50:00.017+01:00

Louis XIV

...[his] vanity was without limit or restraint." -- St. Simon

"Dieu a donc oublié tout ce que j'ai fait pour lui?"

Has God forgotten all I have done for him? - Louis XIV

Horse o' The Week - Dutch Harness Horse

2009-08-28T18:11:00.007+01:00

The Dutch have a tradition of exceptional harness horses. Traditionally, they were versatile horses, strong enough for farm work and elegant enough to take the family on outings or to compete. Since WWII and the decline of farm horses, they are now bred for sport. The breed was refined with an infusion of Hackney and American Saddlebred. Breed standards are very strict and the population is small. Like so many European Warmblood breeds, breeding stock goes through very strict testing in order to be registered. This ensures very high quality and exceptional health.
In the USA, they are crossed with Arabians to create a larger "Park" horse than the Saddlebred or Tennesse Walker.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal described the economic woes of the Amish. The Amish benefitted during the recent contruction and housing boom. They used the extra income to purchase some luxuries, including fancy carriages (with LED lighting!) and Dutch Harness Horses. It was the Cadillac Escalade of the Amish world.

(click to enlarge)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_harness_horse

Igor and the Cotton Tail

2009-08-27T17:24:00.003+01:00

This rabbit's feet didn't bring it any good luck this morning! Igor is a very good hunter. If only he would spend more time hunting rats in the hay barn...

Here is Igor in a more relaxed moment...such a sweetie

Bunschen, pet bunny

2009-08-26T17:32:00.005+01:00

Bünschen lived in a pen, which was totally enclosed so other animals could not get at him. He had a large white bunny buddy named Bünzel who was very camera shy.

"Baby" Hen - aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

2009-08-20T23:13:00.005+01:00

5 weeks ago, a fluffy little black chick with a fuzzy yellow behind, today, a leetle chicken. Her name is Tooty. She has a hatch mate named Tweedy.

August 20, 2009

July 14 2009

Fourth Poem of the Week

2009-08-20T22:51:00.008+01:00

A Sonnet of the Moon

Look how the pale queen of the silent night

Doth cause the ocean to attend upon her,

And he, as long as she is in his sight,

With her full tide is ready her to honor:

But when the silver wagon of the moon

Is mounted up so high he cannot follow,

The sea calls home his crystal waves to wone,

And with low ebb doth manifest his sorrow.

So you, that are the sovereign of my heart,

Have all my joys attending on your will:

My joys low-ebbing when you do depart,

When you return, their tide my heart doth fill.

So as you come and as you do depart,

Joys ebb and flow within my tender heart.

- Charles Best

Third Poem of the Week

2009-08-19T20:10:00.002+01:00

A Modest Love

The lowest trees have tops, the ant her gall,
The fly her spleen, the little sparks their heat;
The slender hairs cast shadows, though but small,
And bees have stings, although they be not great;
Seas have their source, and so have shallow springs;
And love is love, in beggars as in kings.

Where rivers smoothest run, deep are the fords;
The dial stirs, yet none perceives it move;
The firmest faith is in the fewest words;
The turtles cannot sing, and yet they love:
True hearts have eyes and ears, no tongues to speak;
They hear and see, and sigh, and then they break.

-Sir Edward Dyer

Second Poem of the Week

2009-08-18T06:55:00.007+01:00

The Silent Pool

Look downward in the silent pool:
The weeds cling to the ground they love;
They live so quietly, are so cool;
They do not need to think, or move.

Look down in the unconcious mind:
There everything is quiet too
And deep and cool, and you will find
Calm growth and nothing hard to do,
And nothing that need trouble you.
-Harold Monro

Poem o' the Week

2009-08-16T21:06:00.004+01:00

Night, and the wisdom of eternal loss,
and down the straight road, far as I can spy,
a form goes plodding, and that form is I,
a fated stone that cannot gather moss.

But faintly through the darkness he hears come
the echo of another's feet, and squares
his shoulders neath the burden that he bears,
steps out - and empty is the dark and dumb.
- Charles Williams

Pet Hamster in a Mug

2009-08-15T19:51:00.001+01:00

Answer to MovieTone News Quiz

2009-08-12T01:30:00.008+01:00

Answer to the quiz found at this blog:
http://www.movietone-news.com/2009/08/thinking-caps-on-please.html

1. Your favourite Humphrey Bogart film in which he doesn't play a gangster or a private eye. (Oh, and not including Casablanca either.)
The Caine Mutiny
2. Your favourite appearance by a star in drag (boy-girl or girl-boy).
1) William Powell in Love Crazy,
2) Lionel Barrymore in Devil Doll (I just had to mention this because it's such a uniquely entertaining film directed by Tod Browning. It also illustrates that there was no scenery Lionel Barrymore could not chew - completely appropriate in this story. Great special effects.)

3. Your favourite Laurel & Hardy film; short or feature, or one of each. (This will sort out the men from the boys - or perhaps the men from the girls.)
Babes in Toyland ( I love Victor Herbert, it's the winning touch for this film.)
4. Your favourite appearance by one star in a role strongly associated with another star. (Eg: Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, Grace Kelly as Tracy Lord, Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates...)
Jack Palance as Roy Earle
5. The thirties or forties star or stars you most think you'd like, but have yet to really get to know.
Female: Evelyn Venable
Male: John Boles musicals
6. Your favourite pre-Petrified Forest Bette Davis film.
Cabin in the Cotton
7. Your favourite post-Mildred Pierce Joan Crawford film.
Sudden Fear is the best production and great acting from everyone. Very exciting and suspenseful.
“Humoresque” is a sentimental favourite – Crawford is very beautiful and touching, the music is lovely, the ending so…well, Crawford, in tears and soft focus, the Love Death from Tristan & Isolde . Who can resist? (SCTV also did a great parody of the film.)
8. Your favourite film that ends with the main character's death.
Cowboy: Western Union with Randolph Scott
Man: Sterling Hayden in Asphalt Jungle
Woman: Symphonie Pastorale with Michelle Morgan
Man & Woman: Odd Man Out
Child: Miracle of Marcellino (1955)
A Donkey: Au Hazard Balthazar
A Dog: The Biscuit Eater (1940)

9. Your favourite Chaplin talkie.
Monsieur Verdoux - so sinister, yet sentimental - a bigamist who murders to help his beloved wife
10. Your favourite British actor and actress.
John Mills, Wendy Hiller (Great stars of some of my favorite British films: John Mills in Tunes of Glory, Hobson's Choice, Ending Up. Wendy Hiller in I Know Where I'm Going, Major Barbara, All Passions Spent)
11. Your favourite post-1960 appearance by a 1930's star.
Male: Frederic March in Seven Days in May
Female: Bette Davis in Baby Jane. So over the top, yet convincing. Horrifying yet pitiful. (Crawford and Davis were really both perfect in the film. )
12. Dietrich or Garbo?
Dietrich – she had loads of talent. Garbo is beautiful and unique but not terribly talented. I like to look at pictures of Garbo, I like to watch Dietrich perform.
13. Karloff or Lugosi?
I simply cannot choose between them. I ‘ll have to pass on this one.
14. Chaplin or Keaton? (I know some of you will want to say both for all of the above. Me too. But you can't.)
Keaton
15. Your favourite star associated predominantly with the 1950's.
50's Hollywood- Male: Stewart Granger, Female: Cyd Charisse

16. Your favourite Melvyn Douglas movie.
1930's : The Old Dark House
Over All: Hud. (In so many earlier films, Douglas seemed to play a trademark Melvin Douglas personality. I liked him much better after he did character roles.)

17. The box-office failure you most think should have been a success.
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T

18. Your favourite performance by an actor or actress playing drunk.
1930's: John Barrymore in Dinner at 8. Very pathetic. He knew the subject!
1950s: Bing Crosby in The Country Girl. I was convinced that’s what Crosby was like in real life. (Whatever his flaws, I don’t think Crosby was ever a drunk)
19. Your favourite last scene of any thirties movie.
Here's two completely different but equally effecting:
The End of Public Enemy when James Cagney is dumped at his mother's house strapped in a stretcher
The End of Maytime when the lovers are reunited
20. Your favourite American non-comedy silent movie.
The Man Who Laughs
21. Your favourite Jean Harlow performance.
I've only seen a couple of her movies so I will choose "Dinner at Eight". I really need to see more of such a distinctive icon.

22. Your favourite remake. (Quizmaster's definition: second or later version of a work written as a movie, not a later adaptation of the same novel or play.)
I Died a Thousand Times – It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, but I seem to remember it’s as good as High Sirerra
23. Your favourite Orson Welles performance in a film he did not direct, not including The Third Man.
Father Mapple in Moby Dick

24. Your favourite non-gangster or musical James Cagney film or performance.
The Strawberry Blonde

25. Your favourite Lubitsch movie.
Touble in Paradise. ( It is my favourite Lubitsch film because I’m also a big fan of Kay Francis)

26. Who would win in a fight: Miriam Hopkins or Barbara Stanwyck? (Both in their prime; say in 1934 or so.)
Hopkins
27. Name the two stars you most regret never having co-starred with each other, and - if you want - choose your dream scenario for them. (Quizmaster's qualification: they have to be sufficiently contemporary to make it possible. So, yes to Cary Grant and Lon Chaney Jr as two conmen in a Howard Hawks screwball; no to Clara Bow and Kirsten Dunst as twin sisters on the run from prohibition agents in twenties Chicago, much though that may entice.)
Basil Rathbone winning a sword duel against anyone else who could really fence. (Romeo and Juliet doesn’t count .)
28. Your favourite Lionel Barrymore performance.
"On Borrowed Time"
29. Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard or Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour? (See note on question 14.)
Hope & Goddard (Lamour is great but Goddard had more snap.)
30. You won't want to answer this, but: there's been a terrible fire raging in the film libraries of all the major studios. It's far too late to save everything. All you can do is save as much as you can. You've been assigned the thirties. All you'll have time to drag from the obliterating inferno is one 1930's film each from Paramount, MGM, RKO, Columbia, Universal and Warners. Do you stomp around in a film buff's huff saying 'it's too hard, I can't choose just one' and watch them all go up in smoke? Or do you roll your sleeves up and start saving movies?
But if the latter: which ones...?
MGM: Maytime
Paramount: Trouble in Paradise
RKO: The Life of Vergie Winters
Columbia: The Miracle Woman
Universal: Bride of Frankenstein
Warners: The Roaring 20's
You didn’t mention Fox: Captain January. (quintessential Depression movie)

I’d like to add a couple items, just to share some pleasures:
Favourite 30's SciFi movie: Transatlantic Tunnel
Favorite Serial: King of the Royal Mounted

My Rooster, General Patton

2009-08-06T05:16:00.005+01:00

This is General Patton. He's a year old and very friendly and also very agressive. He has really lived up to his name. He attacks everything, including me. At this time he has two wives: Mrs. Patton and Mrs. Henny Penny.

Horse o' the Week

2009-07-02T22:18:00.002+01:00

For Independence Day we will honor the US Cavalry and the hardy remounts. Click on each image for full size picture.

20th Century

Union Cavalry

Morgan Stallion

Jenny Camp, US Army. 1932 Olympic Champion

My Cat Whimpydoodle

2009-06-22T03:23:00.001+01:00

Horse o' The Week

2009-06-05T23:05:00.002+01:00

Highland Pony Stallion

My Cat Dougie

2009-06-01T02:23:00.001+01:00