Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Back after a long time...
More later...I promise!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tick Tock...I love clocks!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Back to the Blog...
So things are looking up for me and hopefully, my business will grow!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Folk Art...Dolls
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Happy Mother's Day!!!
Musings about Amusement Parks...
We went into the gift shop to look for a little something to remember her first day there and she chose a purse with a dog's head on it and the words had the words Adventureland printed on it. The funny thing is that the cashier didn't know they had that purse in the store. LOL!
Amusement parks are something I'm very familiar with. I was born in a hospital down the street from Disneyland in Anaheim, CA...a hospital that is no longer there. It's an apartment complex. I loved going to Disneyland. It was a treat. And every time we drove pass the park...doing errands or other things...I would always ask if we are going there.
Loved Disneyland...the way the place had this peculiar, musty scent in the Haunted Mansion and Pirates. To the Alice in Wonderland ride...natch! The theming was wonderful!! Rich detail and care with every ride the Imagineers created. Love that place...magical! I just hope that Jens going to Adventureland will feel the same way when she gets to be my age. The wonderment...nistalgia...the fun!!!
And since I'm on a Amusements kick tonight...
Monday, May 3, 2010
Movie Monday Featuring...
Way back when Walt Disney had the only feature length motion picture cartoon, other animation studios wanted to jump on the bandwagon and come up with their own. Of course, Snow White proved to be quite a hit for Disney. So the Fleischer brothers, namely their studio made Gulliver's Travels, which became second animated feature film ever released, and the first produced by an American studio other than Walt Disney Productions.
Now the story written by Jonathan Swift back in the 18th century and full of political satire would go over children's heads if they were not well versed in the subject. This version was more kid friendly.
The plot has Gulliver washed up on an island and being found by the Town Crier Gabby. For all you trivia buffs...Gabby had his own series of spin off cartoons that Fleischer Studios produced. My daughter has a collection of old cartoons that my mother bought for her a year ago and I was surprised to see a cartoon about Gabby...not knowing how popular the character was after the Gulliver's cartoon came out. According to The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons by Jeff Lenburg, "Stories were shaped around Gabby's inability to do anything right."
The whole plot is centered around two kingdoms and the Kings (Little and Bombo, respectfully) of both of them. Their children, Princess Glory of Lilliput and Prince David of Blefuscu are do to be married. The two Kings cannot agree on which song to play at the ceremony; Little wants to play the song "Faithful" while Bombo wants "Forever." It takes the gentle giant Gulliver to smooth things over for the two kingdoms, and for the couple to become happily ever after...
You can download Gulliver's Travels for free since the copyright to the movie has lapsed and it is now in the public domain: http://www.archive.org/details/gullivers_travels1939
I remember watching this enchanting movie on the Family Film Festival on channel 5 in LA when I was a young one. The follow up, which I'll do for next week's Movie Monday was a flop for Fleischer Studios...but it's just as good and sweet as Gulliver is. Just as Disney before, the Fleischer's used Rotoscoping, an animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame to give Gulliver more human characteristics. However it was Max Fleischer who invented this design for Fleischer Studios first cartoon, "Out of the Ink well," and proved to be so successful, that the Disney Studios adopted this technique.
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Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Show Me Your Form!!!!
My other "Marilyn" form...or the one I call"va va va voom"...it's stunning in person. I found this one at Hobby Lobby about a month ago and just thought it was the coolest...
Monday, April 26, 2010
Movie Monday is BACK!!!! Featuring A Date with Judy
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Spring Cleaning Pulitzers and Musings
Sorry that I've been absent of late!!! With work, the Jennerbug and other writing projects this blog has, sadly taken a back seat!!!!! I really prefer blogging via my laptop rather than on my Blackberry...that is when the laptop version downloads properly and I don't have to wait a million years.
Anyways, I closed my storage unit and got a bunch of stuff out, so I've been putting on the tunes, and whistling while I work organizing books, cds and nic nacks.
Doing so has me stressed out. I made a sizable dent on Sunday, but still have to put some things away. I really don't know where yet. I do want to go to Gordman's and see what they have in the way of hanging shelves, although my fave store Target does have hanging shelves, they really didn't catch my eye. Too boring or plain. I thought of displaying my miniature dress forms on the wall above my vanity would look nice. We'll see!!!
Movie Mondays will start up again next Monday...I have one already mapped out, and wanted to work on it last night, but my article for the Examiner was first priority. So I'm going to save "A Date with Judy" next week.
Also, my short story, "The Audition" will hopefully be done in time to be posted on my website Saturday. The character development is a bit flat, and that is something I need to work on. There is only so many hours in the day and it drives me batty that I cannot get things done in a timely fashion.
Congrats to the Des Moines Register for winning the Pulitzer for their photo taken by Mary Chind of waters overtaking a couple who's boat went over a dam and the rescue effort in progress made the Pulitzer committee take notice. This is the paper's 16th Pulitzer, and I know how every journalist and writer strives for this prestigious award! Best Fiction went to Iowa Writer's Workshop alum Paul Harding for his novel "Tinkers."
Monday, March 29, 2010
Movie Monday Featuring: Easter Parade
That little gal with the big voice is back! This time on our Movie Monday she gets a little help with dancing from Fred Astaire and music composed by Irving Berlin. Easter Parade went on to be Judy Garland's highest grossing film of her career, and was the highest grossing musical of 1948.
Love triangles aplenty as Don Hewes (Fred Astaire) and his original dancing partner, and the girl he adores, Nadine Hale (Ann Miller) have a falling out. Nadine decides to strike out on her own, and is quickly replaced by Hannah Brown (Judy Garland) and the new team becomes a hit, after a few mistakes along the way. A man by the name of Jonathan Harrow III (Peter Lawford) throws a wrench in to the mix when he declares his attraction to Hannah and sings "A Fella with an Umbrella," trying to impress her. Hannah later admits to Jonny, that she is in love with Don, and that the mistakes she makes in rehearsals are so she can spend more time with him. In the one of most memorable performances of the film Astaire and Garland come out on stage as a pair of street urchins and sing "A Couple of Swells" to the audience's delight.
Don and Hannah's performances get the attention of Mr. Ziegfeld of the Ziegfeld Follies where they perform "Midnight Choo Choo," and where they meet up with Don's former dance partner, Nadine who is starring in the Follies. Nadine's signature dance performance is "The Girl on the Magazine Cover" featuring an elaborate staging where dancers appear as models on covers of magazines. Don breaks out and old song and dance number he used to do with Nadine, making Hannah jealous in the process. In the end, forgiveness wins out and Don and Hannah end up together, singing one of Berlin's most unforgettable songs, Easter Parade.