Spring has arrived in Santa Monica and I'm a bit frustrated. The winter weight, which carried with it the angst from a terrible loss and an intense moving adventure, seems to like it here and has been resisting the notion of leaving anytime soon. I've been trying to find a sensible diet to click with, but its been a challenge this year. I'm trying to resist totally drastic measures like the Master Cleanse because my health insurance is only mediocre.
I did stumble upon this charming commercial for weight loss product from 1957 called Tafon. Check it out. Notice the kind tone of language used throughout. Oh, and try spelling it backwards...
Enter my longtime friend Janine from San Francisco. A good friend and professional writer, we met online in the classic Cadillac enthusiast community back in the 90's. She sent me an email last weekend announcing that she has started her own blog, called the low carb evangelist, dedicated to healthy eating. It's a combination of outreach and reinforcement by accountability for herself. And because she's a very talented storyteller, it's a fun read. And its great for me, because I have a blogbuddy to reinforce my desire to drop the winter pounds. I'm doing her triad- no sugar, no wheat, no flour. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
Welcome to the World O'Jeff Blogroll, Janine. Check her out here
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
sunday drive: cottages of venice
Venice is one of the oldest areas on the West side, it was incorporated in 1905. Its main street was named for its founder, Abbot Kinney. His boulevard has lived through many incarnations, boom and bust, neglect and rebirth today becoming Venice's answer to Melrose- fashion and food.
The cottage is the iconic structure of Venice, even as the street becomes populated with sleek modern multistory structures, the little cottages flourish. Juxtaposition is the story of Venice, and nothing speaks more eloquently than the cottages.
Abbot-Kinney Boulevard, cottages and signage old and new for your amusement.
More photos here
The cottage is the iconic structure of Venice, even as the street becomes populated with sleek modern multistory structures, the little cottages flourish. Juxtaposition is the story of Venice, and nothing speaks more eloquently than the cottages.
Abbot-Kinney Boulevard, cottages and signage old and new for your amusement.
More photos here
Monday, April 7, 2008
whales and foxes
Last night was the closing night for the Bette Davis Centennial Tribute. It has been great fun to see four nights worth of her important films on a big screen. There were a handful of us that I recognized from all four nights but all in all it was a smallish crowd last night.
We were treated to The Whales of August, featuring a seventy-nine year old Davis paired with Lillian Gish as widowed sisters facing their mortality at the end of a long life together. It was a remarkably sweet and pleasing film, and Bette was clearly herself even in this, the last picture she would complete. Yup, still a handful at nearly eighty. Definitely worth viewing for Davis fans.
The tribute closed with The Little Foxes, the story of a scheming and materialistic woman who blackmails her way into control of the family business. Think of her not as a fox, but a barracuda in Orry-Kelly. Possibly her strongest role, and out and out fun. A great way to commemorate the birth of one of the strongest actors ever to appear on film. Happy birthday, Bette.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
sunday drive: malibu
Although the entire stretch of California Highway 1 between Dana Point and Oxnard is designated Pacific Coast Highway, it does not run its entire length along the ocean.
Specifically, it turns inward at Long Beach and does not return to the oceans edge until Santa Monica, where it runs along the coast through Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Castellmare, and Malibu on the way to Oxnard. This section is quite old, dating to 1929. For today's sunday drive we are going to Malibu- dazzling movie star hideout but also quaint and old. Some parts are untouched from the 20's with lots of 40's, 50's and 60's. Of course, vintage signage and old architecture along with some natural beauty for your enjoyment. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but included is a Quonset hut market in Topanga Canyon, the building in castellmare that housed Thelma Todd's Cafe in the 30's and the Malibu Pier. Twenty seven miles of scenic beauty. Enjoy.
More photos here
Specifically, it turns inward at Long Beach and does not return to the oceans edge until Santa Monica, where it runs along the coast through Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Castellmare, and Malibu on the way to Oxnard. This section is quite old, dating to 1929. For today's sunday drive we are going to Malibu- dazzling movie star hideout but also quaint and old. Some parts are untouched from the 20's with lots of 40's, 50's and 60's. Of course, vintage signage and old architecture along with some natural beauty for your enjoyment. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but included is a Quonset hut market in Topanga Canyon, the building in castellmare that housed Thelma Todd's Cafe in the 30's and the Malibu Pier. Twenty seven miles of scenic beauty. Enjoy.
More photos here
bumpy night
The third night of the Bette Davis Centennial Tribute rocked. It was the pinnacle evening, falling on the 100th Anniversary of her birth, pairing All About Eve with Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (note marquee photo which I took myself and cartoonized.)
It was a festive crowd, the little theater was packed. Wild applause when Margo Channing (Bette) came on camera. I'd never seen Eve on a big screen and it was a treat. Bette was clearly at the top of her game for this film. Excellent supporting cast including Celeste Holm, Thelma Ritter, Gary Merrill, George Sanders, Hugh Marlowe, and an important early appearance by Marilyn Monroe. It won the academy award for best picture of 1950, and while I still find Sunset Boulevard more iconic, it is a very impressive film. Anne Baxter's backstabbing, man stealing Eve is a delight and there are many classic lines, most notably Margo's "Fasten your seat belts- its gonna be a bumpy night".
At intermission, all of the straight couples except two seemed to depart leaving Baby Jane for the gays. Over the top and halfway down the other side, Bette's broken down, boozed up bimbo is a sheer camp triumph, jousting with dear sweet wheelchair bound Blanche. We all know the film word for word, but it was such a pleasure seeing it on a big screen with an appreciative audience. A great cap to a big night for Bette. Tomorrow the tribute closes with the Whales of August (1987), and The Little Foxes (1941). I'll be back with an update.
Friday, April 4, 2008
bette davis eyes
My favorite theatre in Santa Monica is the tiny little Aero on Montana. It's part of the American Cinematheque, and shows mostly retrospectives. It's a great little 1940 gem of the late deco period, with nice exterior detailing and a wonderful original ticket booth. The theater itself has been restored to a homogenized box, but at least the building was preserved in its original form, and they do some wonderful film series.
Last night was the first night of the Bette Davis Tribute. To mark the 100th anniversary of her birth, there are four nights of Bette. The tribute opened with Jezebel (1938), her Oscar winning performance as an spoiled and impulsive young woman who scandalizes polite society by wearing a brazen red dress to an important cotillion. Note to trivia buffs: the dress was actually brown, which looked as red would appear in a black and white film. And we thought it was easier then.
For the second reel, she went from wardrobe malfunctions to murder in The Letter (1940), as an unfaithful wife packin' a pistol, and seeming to get away with it. Both films felt heavily influenced by the Hays act, and feature a heavy dose of moral contrition, which thankfully somehow never quite wrinkles those Orry-Kelly gowns. Great fun to see her so early in her career.
Tonight we have Dark Victory, regard as one of her finest, and Now Voyager. So last night she was a bitch, tonight will be about self actualization. And tomorrow? Tomorrow will be All About Eve (1950) and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962). Camp classics on the big screen in a classic theater. I'll come up for air on Sunday.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
phone home
It's a classic tale of business history- a man designs a product so well, so elegant in its simplicity, that it becomes so successful that it and he are forever linked. Well, I don't have to tell you much about Henry and his creation. That simple yet elegant design that was so popular it continued virtually unchanged for over twenty years and became part of peoples lives all over the world. At first, the customer could have "any color he wanted as long as it was black". Later years saw the introduction of color and thus our story begins.
Of course, I am thinking of Henry Dreyfus and the Western Electric 500 Telephone. The iconic chubby phone that nestled in every telephone nook in America, and across the planet. Debuted in 1949, invigorated with color in 1954 and produced well into the 1980's.
The estate sale late last year went very well. So well that she not only sold the excess clothes and furniture, and the two cars in the garage, but even the telephones in the house. When I moved, I had only my cell phone and a marvelous rotary Ericophon. I tried shopping for a new desk phone but they were all hideous black high tech creatures with angry digital eyes that looked like they would attack me in my sleep. No, thank you. Then my eye caught a glimpse of a Dreyfus 500reproduction- timeless and elegant. "That's it", I mused. Never one for knock offs, I decided to get a real rotary 500 for my desk.
Ebay produced a cornucopia of 500s in a rich array of colors- red, yellow, orange, aqua, pink, green, beige, black, cocoa and even lime. I gazed about my apartment, which in many ways is the intersection of Chartreuse Lane and Tangerine Way. I decided to bid on a Cherry Red 500. I felt like an excited seven year old when I opened the box and gazed at it in its reconditioned glory.
Then the frustrated collector began to re-emerge. Having divested myself of so many posessions in a short period of time, I kept shopping. I decided that a triad of phones in complementary colors would look smashing on my George Miller desk. A couple weeks later I was unpacking yellow and bittersweet orange 500's to join their red compadre. I thought it was fun.
Okay, this is the moment the obsession began. I looked at my sixties modern buffet and imagined it covered with 500's in a whole range of colors. I was thinking Andy Warhol meets Ernestine. I realized it was crazy, but in a relatively inexpensive and harmless way. Back to ebay which produced, in a frenzy of bidding, another orange, two aqua, three pink, an ivory, and a chocolate. Yes, there are duplicates. In case of a breakdown, I guess. I connected one of the aqua ones in the bedroom. There are pink spares nested in my bookcase. And a friend helped me arrange the buffet in a pleasing color spectrum. To wit:
I love it, but its a wee bit loud when the phone rings. One of my techie friends has offered to help me build a random ringer for the buffet, so any one of them will ring randomly when someone calls. My obsession is complete. Oh, except for one thing. There's a wall plate in the kitchen that would be perfect for a companion Dreyfus 550 wall phone- what color shall I get?
Of course, I am thinking of Henry Dreyfus and the Western Electric 500 Telephone. The iconic chubby phone that nestled in every telephone nook in America, and across the planet. Debuted in 1949, invigorated with color in 1954 and produced well into the 1980's.
The estate sale late last year went very well. So well that she not only sold the excess clothes and furniture, and the two cars in the garage, but even the telephones in the house. When I moved, I had only my cell phone and a marvelous rotary Ericophon. I tried shopping for a new desk phone but they were all hideous black high tech creatures with angry digital eyes that looked like they would attack me in my sleep. No, thank you. Then my eye caught a glimpse of a Dreyfus 500reproduction- timeless and elegant. "That's it", I mused. Never one for knock offs, I decided to get a real rotary 500 for my desk.
Ebay produced a cornucopia of 500s in a rich array of colors- red, yellow, orange, aqua, pink, green, beige, black, cocoa and even lime. I gazed about my apartment, which in many ways is the intersection of Chartreuse Lane and Tangerine Way. I decided to bid on a Cherry Red 500. I felt like an excited seven year old when I opened the box and gazed at it in its reconditioned glory.
Then the frustrated collector began to re-emerge. Having divested myself of so many posessions in a short period of time, I kept shopping. I decided that a triad of phones in complementary colors would look smashing on my George Miller desk. A couple weeks later I was unpacking yellow and bittersweet orange 500's to join their red compadre. I thought it was fun.
Okay, this is the moment the obsession began. I looked at my sixties modern buffet and imagined it covered with 500's in a whole range of colors. I was thinking Andy Warhol meets Ernestine. I realized it was crazy, but in a relatively inexpensive and harmless way. Back to ebay which produced, in a frenzy of bidding, another orange, two aqua, three pink, an ivory, and a chocolate. Yes, there are duplicates. In case of a breakdown, I guess. I connected one of the aqua ones in the bedroom. There are pink spares nested in my bookcase. And a friend helped me arrange the buffet in a pleasing color spectrum. To wit:
I love it, but its a wee bit loud when the phone rings. One of my techie friends has offered to help me build a random ringer for the buffet, so any one of them will ring randomly when someone calls. My obsession is complete. Oh, except for one thing. There's a wall plate in the kitchen that would be perfect for a companion Dreyfus 550 wall phone- what color shall I get?
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