The classic American film, Double Indemnity has a scene in which Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) is meeting with his boss, Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) in Neff’s office. Continue reading
Iris Bristol photo Al Greene and Associates
If you’ve never heard of Iris Bristol you’re not alone. Her most notable film appearance is in My Fair Lady (1964) in a brief uncredited role as a flower girl. Iris, born in Worcester, England November 20, 1931 is more well known for gracing the covers of male libido boosting magazines in the 1950s and 1960s, than she is for movies. At five foot three with an hourglass figure, Iris’ décolleté was put on display frequently.
Mammary obsessed photographer and director Russ Meyer Continue reading
Sir John Barrow Memorial Hoad Hill Ulverston Cumbria, UK
The “lighthouse” is in the town of Ulverston, a bucolic seaside town which hosts various festivals throughout the year. There’s an annual Dickens Festival each November in which many of the citizens dress in Victorian attire. Then there’s “Another Fine Fest” held in June. The title is a takeoff on the admonishing words “Well… that’s another fine mess you’ve gotten us into!” Oliver Hardy says these words in countless films to his comedic partner Stan Laurel. Ulverston’s modern claim to fame is as the birthplace of comedian Stan Laurel, who lived here until he was six-years-old.
Levity aside, viewed from afar, the 100 tower off the northern English coast of Cumbria sure looks like a lighthouse. Continue reading
Bela Lugosi was not always Dracula
With today being Halloween we thought we’d do a story about Bela Lugosi and Dracula. Not many children dress as Dracula on Halloween anymore. You are not allowed to wear the cape and put fangs in your mouth unless you are a real vampire. This is because of the very vocal beyond-the-fringe maniacs who go into an uproar about “cultural appropriation.” So, Dracula is off limits as a costume as far as certain groups have told us, such as ORVIL (Only Real Vampires In Life) .
For those who don’t realize it, I’m not serious, but sometimes it feels as if this is where mainstream society is headed unless somebody speaks up.
Bela Lugosi (1882-1956) the actor most identified with Dracula, loved and loathed the role at the same time. Dracula made Lugosi famous, but in the process it typecast him as being a horror star. Most people do not realize that prior to Lugosi being cast in Dracula in 1931, he had starred in the Broadway production of the play for three years. Previous to that he was a leading man with strikingly handsome features.
So who was the real Bela Lugosi? Continue reading
New York City school children in a display of patriotism, September 1902, “Saluting The Flag” photo: Florence Maynard
After World War I and the Bolshevik uprising in Russia, declaring your loyalty to America was not taken lightly. In 1919, President of the New York City Board of Education, Anning S. Prall, set a requirement that all graduating New York City High School children recite a pledge of allegiance to the United States before receiving their diplomas. This is quite different than the pledge most Americans know by heart.
Prall’s pledge:
“I will reverence my country’s flag and defend it against enemies at home and abroad.”
“I will respect and obey the President of the United States and the law of the land.”
“I will support, in school and out, American ideals of justice and fair play, including the right of unhampered opportunity under the law for all.”
“I will hold the ideal of rational patriotism above loyalty to any individual, political party, social class or previous national connection.”
“I will actively oppose all revolutionary movements, such as Bolshevism, anarchism, I. W. W.-ism, or any movement antagonistic to the laws of the United States or tending to subvert the Constitution of the United States.”
How long Prall’s allegiance pledge was retained is undocumented. But in 2019, can a student refuse to say a pledge of allegiance in school? Continue reading
Incredibly, around 60 years ago, well before the age of cell phones, it was known that in the future people would be attached to their phones.
So, here is the proof
I remember when I was first was told about eBay 23 years ago. Ebay was a great platform to bid and possibly win at auction interesting, older items. Many times rare purchases could be won for a bargain. Books, ephemera and unusual items. At least that’s how it started for me.
Over the years eBay evolved from a relatively small community user-based auction site to a worldwide commercial behemoth store. And it’s not a very good one. Along the way they lost their original customer base.
Why? Continue reading
Colorado Governor Richard Lamm photo: Denver Post
On October 18, 2003 at a Washington DC luncheon former Governor Richard Lamm made a remarkable speech. The topic was “How To Destroy America.”
We usually don’t cover a speech from almost two decades ago. But Richard Lamm’s speech is important to look upon at this point in history. Continue reading
You can infer what you want about what is written here. I’m not naming names.
Certain groups and causes now overwhelm the media, and in turn our citizens with their lies. Their lies get repeated over and over. Their special cause, whatever it may be, works hard to get the truth obfuscated.
Lies get accepted into truth.
The man who most eloquently summed up why this happens, was Swiss writer Henri Frédéric Amiel (1821 – 1881). From 1847 until his death, Amiel recorded his insights about humanity in his diary, Journal intime. It is a brilliant self-introspective work.
This quote best reflects what we are experiencing today.
“Man defends himself as much as he can against truth, as a child does against a medicine, as the man of the Platonic cave does against the light. He does not willingly follow his path, for he has to be dragged along backward. ‘The natural liking for the false has several causes: the inheritance of prejudices, which produces an unconscious habit, a slavery; the predominance of the imagination over the reason, which affects the understanding; the predominance of the
passions over the conscience, which depraves the heart; the predominance of the will over the intelligence, which vitiates the character. A lively, disinterested, persistent liking for truth is extraordinarily rare. Action and faith enslave thought, both of them in order not to be troubled or inconvenienced by reflection, criticism and doubt.”
In 1869 Continue reading
The Calm Good Old Days of May Day – May 1, 1937 – A man holding an American flag attends a peaceful May Day assembly at Union Square in New York City. credit photo: Acme
Today is May Day.
How May 1 mutated from a day of championing workers rights into a day of promoting socialism, communism, and all perceived injustices does not concern the average person on the street. Yet, it is a fact that there is more division, discord and disgruntlement in America as ever before.
How did we arrive at this point in history?
If you were to say there is a concerted effort to undermine democracy in the United States, you may be called a conspiracy theory nut or a supporter of President Donald Trump or his predecessor, President Barrack Obama. It’s kind of funny how both Democrats and Republicans see the other party as eradicators of freedom. Continue reading
