Monday, October 31, 2011

Omar... Shame on You

I don't know how many people have seen this news clip of 79 year old,  Omar Sharif slapping a woman that wanted to get a picture taken with him.  He behaved abysmally.  This happened just last week.  Here is an example of violence against women that has to be stopped.   Dr. Zhivago was one of my all time favorites.  Now,   I won't be able to watch it anymore knowing what I know about this man.  You just know if he can do this on camera, in a public forum, he's done it before.  So far, nothing has been done to him about it.  An apology has been asked for by "a leading Arab organization"  ( which is nameless apparently) but so far, he has not responded.

All I can say is "Shame on you Omar."  Frankly, I think you are an ass.


First there is a woman, all smiles that stands next to him.  Then another lady walks up.  You can only see the back of her hard and then he lashes out and her hair goes flying and he starts lecturing her in Arabic.  She looks stunned and has a smile stuck on her face.  She then goes on to get the photo op.   Boy, oh boy.   All I can say is she probably not an American.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Weekend Fun



It is 50ish outdoors and 9 am.  I am waiting for Terry to get dressed to go Flea Marketing.  Michigan plays at noonish.   After last week's loss to our nemesis, Michigan State, we are out for blood.  We are  5 - 1 as of today.   Just a couple of years ago, I had to leave the house at game time.  I couldn't take the pouting, whining and "Turtle Throws a Tantrum" ( from the Sweet Pickles books) of that man I love, over a football game.  I saw a lot of movies that year.  He has mellowed a bit, or knows he will be watching all alone otherwise.  A victory is not as much fun without someone to high five on a good play.

At the Flea Market I am looking for shelves I can paint for my daughter's townhouse.  I think I've found enough frames to do for right now.  Wish me luck in the treasure hunt.


All is well in the world.  Michigan won.  Michigan State lost.  And, I found a couple of treasures at the flea market. 

Thursday, October 27, 2011

New From Old

I have been playing around with a mixed media art form that has inspired me to take and go in different directions,

Back in the summer I found a couple of old photos, one a tin type, at our local flea market.  I later found old doilies, post cards, an old book, pearls, a broach I had for ages, and various other pieces.  This is what I did with them.


It's a glimpse into a past era.


Now I have been on the hunt for photos and postcards I can use to tell the stories of days gone by.  I have a couple of pieces from the mid 1940s WWII time.  I need a photo of a soldier of that decade.  I'll keep looking.

I can take the same idea and use broken wine bottles, corks, wineglass pieces,  old china, teacups, etc, and go in all different directions.

                                            Right now I have these 2 beautiful young ladies.


The back is blank.  There is no hint at what was going on in her life or when this was taken.  I'm thinking it was a communion day, but she seems a little old for that.  Her shoes are very fancy indeed. 



The back of this one does tell us something, but I have no idea what language this is or what it says.  The only thing I can see is April 1918, in the left bottom corner.


Both of these came from an antique shop near Charleston.

Maybe there is a slim chance someone can read it and tell us something about this little girl in black.
 

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Halloween Fun.

Because Halloween is just around the corner, I thought I would go down Memory Lane and  take you with me.

This was 1955... I'm in the middle with my Kangaroo sister and a family friend. 



Either that is two different years, or we ditched one little guy for another.  We just didn't look that excited about being there did we?

Big jump forward to when I had Trick or Treaters of my own. 



Daughter # 1.   After that, she was a cheerleader for about 5 years in a row.   I liked when I could dress them, which makes me think my mother dressed us in the first pictures.






I don't think I ever bought a costume.  To me it was more fun to put one together out of stuff we had.  They probably wanted the one in the box from the store.


If you notice that the little Gypsy's hair and the ghoul's hair is the same, it did have to come from somewhere.


"If I Could Turn Back Time" now,  would I?  Would you?

Now I have these guys to watch get excited about their Halloween costumes. 


Have fun guys.  Take pictures and call your Nana.  I want to know all about it.


Monday, October 24, 2011

Here's Your Movie Ticket

A week or so ago, I recommended Eddie and the Cruisers  with Tom Berenger.  Today I'm choosing another movie of his.  Someone to Watch Over Me . (1987)  


In Queens, Mike Keegan( Tom Berenger)  is celebrating his promotion to detective, with his wife and his son.   Meanwhile, in a fancy club, the socialite Claire Gregory (Mimi Rogers /the first Mrs. Tom Cruise)  witnesses the murder of the owner of the place by the powerful mobster Joey Venza. Mike is assigned to protect her in the night shift in her apartment in Manhattan. Of course someone wants her dead and someone else just wants her.




The only movie trailer I could find was in French, so I thought this version of that classic song, by Renee Olstead will set the mood for a penthouse New York apartment, in the middle of the night.



The second of his movie's is Shattered, 1991.


Tom Berenger as Tom Merrick, who begins to suspect the auto accident that caused his memory loss may not have been accidental.  Judith Merrick (Greta Scacchi) is thrown clear of the crash and escapes without injury. Her husband, Tom, on the other hand, is trapped inside and when he is finally rescued, he is disfigured and in a coma. Judith helps him through his ensuing recovery and plastic surgery and the couple returns to their home in San Francisco. Tom, now suffering from selective amnesia, meets his old friends Jeb (Corbin Bernsen) and Jenny Scott (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer). After meeting them, he gathers hints that before the accident, he wasn't well liked by many people. The next day, when he returns to work, he begins to pick up more clues on his past life -- clues that indicate his marriage wasn't as idyllic as he presumed. To make matter worse, he keeps having flashbacks of shattered glass, ocean waves, and a gun.


This is a Double Feature day.  Grab your popcorn. 

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Road Trip Home


We left Savannah bone weary and sore footed.  Driving toward Myrtle Beach, I spotted this gas station/grocery store/home.


It is on a main highway, but still, out in the middle of nowhere.  I wonder how they make enough to keep it going.    Not a customer in site.



Being a northern transplant, this was not a sight I had ever seen. 

So on to Myrtle Beach we went.  Murrell's Inlet, Surfside Beach, and on we drove, passing Seafood Buffet after Seafood Buffet... $19.99 - 2 for $29.99 , etc. 


Planet Hollywood - Myrtle Beach... Are they closed?  Where are the cars.  Ok, it is Wednesday.  Maybe that's it.


Hard Rock... hmmmm... not many cars is there?

By now it was about 5pm and I was hungry.  We had not had much of a lunch and I wanted seafood darn it.  We put a buffet address into the Garmin and off we went...only to find it closed. And so was the next one, and the next one.  Open Thursday, Friday and Saturday....This was Wednesday.My stomach was grumbling and so was I. Okay, let's just go check in to the hotel.  The attendant graciously told us, go down the road, Captain George's Seafood Buffet is open.  Yay!!

We found it easily enough and there were cars in the parking lot. 

In we went.



This was the first of, I believe, 6 islands of food.  It looked like a Vegas Buffet.  OUr very nice hostess seated us and said these fateful words, " Our buffet is $31.00"  each.   Why Terry looked at me for direction I don't know. To me, there wads no question.  I headed straight for the King Crab.   He  went for everything else.


I have never had blue crab.  I don't know how to crack it or haow to eat it, so a very nice waiter came over with one to show me.  I learned it is a lot of work for very little meat.  He did say it is alot more fun with beer and friends.  Okay.


I don't know what to do with these guys either.  I'm not good with food that stiff has their heads attached.  Cut the head off of my fish too.  I don't want the whole lobster... just the tail please.


                                         I love steamed oysters, but these were raw.  I can't do raw.


                                   Love at first sight.... Crab and shrimp, only because there was no lobster.


There was also all kinds of fish, chicken, pork and desserts.  Oh, yes.  My husband has a sweet tooth.  I saw on his plate alone, German chocolate cake, cheesecake, baklava, banana pudding and chocolate pudding.   I have that "off" button that tells my brain, you are full... stop.   Terry doesn't and he admits he doesn't.

So, as we sat  there, with tea and coffee, the waitress came over with our bill.  Terry looked at me, took big breath and said, very quietly "I'm gonna throw up."   The mother in me took over.  I said, very lovingly, " Get out of here.  Go outside. Go! now!"   My first thought was not that he was sick.  It was you are not going to do that in a dining room.  Get out of here!  

He slowly stood up... actually, he was afraid to move, but he said once he was moving he felt much better.  So he's not allowed to go to buffets anymore.


These buildings are in Swansboro,  close to Jacksonville, N.C. and we're almost home.



Whenever I see these old gas station ? store? buildings, I think of the movie " Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe."  I wonder what kind of life it had.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Bonaventure Cemetery



The residence of Bonaventure began in 1762.  It was a 600 acre estate located about 3 1/2 miles from the Savannah colony.   The first Bonaventure Plantation burned in 1771.  It was soon replaced with a brick structure. The second house burned somewhere between 1803 and 1817.   The "story" about it says that when the fire started, the owner was having a dinner party.  He was informed by house staff they needed to vacate.  He then asked his guests to pick up the table/ or their wine glasses and proceed onto the lawn where they continued with their party while watching the fire.  Somehow, I doubt this.  The property was sold 1846 to establish a cemetery.




Angel on the gate post.
Bonaventure has long been known for the massive live oaks with the arched limbs, covered in moss.  Many are over 250 years old, having been planted by the second owner.



                                                                 Little Gracie Watson

"Little Gracie Watson was born in 1883, the only child of her parents. Her father was manager of the Pulaski House, one of Savannah's leading hotels, where the beautiful and charming little girl was a favorite with the guests. Two days before Easter, in April 1889, Gracie died of pneumonia at the age of six. In 1890, when the rising sculptor, John Walz, moved to Savannah, he carved from a photograph this life-sized, delicately detailed marble statue, which for almost a century has captured the interest of all passersby." From About.com

Gracie, some say, can still be seen as a blue orb, moving about the upper floor of the bank that replaced her home.  Because police kept getting calls that someone was in the building, the currant owners have installed a pink light so Gracie's blue orb can't be seen.


The bank from our Ghost Walk.



 When the cemetery first opened, some Savannah citizens had their deceased relatives relocated from other burials spots to be interred here.  As time went on, it became a game of keeping up with the Jones on which family had the biggest and most impressive statues.  There was a statute passed that only graves purchased before 1943 can have more than one monument. 



You're right if you are a fan of  Midnight in the garden of Good and Evil,   that this is the cemetery featured in the both the book and the movie and where "that statue" used to live.   


The 50 inch tall " Bird Girl", who had been standing for nearly 50 years, drew such  attention after the book and the movie it was moved to the Telfair  Museum of Art.

The Wilmington River flows by  the back of the cemetery.  Some say this is the river Johnny Mercer had in mind when he wrote "Moon River".   He's here too, resting along with other family members. He also wrote "Old Black Magic", "Come Rain or Come Shine",  "In the Cool, Cool, Cool, of the Evening" and my favorite, "Days of Wine and Roses"


We were here about 90 minutes.  There were few people milling about. A couple of others, like me, taking pictures.  The trees are enormous and covered in moss. To me, it is so picturesque.  It was also very quiet, very haunting, and very beautiful.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Hello Savannah



James Oglethorpe came to Georgia in 1732 from England, with 114 people he had arranged freedom for from debtor's prison.  He had lost a dear friend in debtor's prison some years earlier.  He also forbade lawyers in Savannah because a lawyer was responsible , he felt, for sending his friend there to being with.  For Savannah he thought a judge was good enough.  During the first year, one half of these people died. there were outbreaks of yellow fever and malaria.  A cemetery was needed immediately.  That began Savannah's relationship with the dead and buried.



When the city was designed, it had 24 square park areas.   Today there are 22 remaining squares all with names and personalities. like Forsyth Park,(The Victorian area)  Wright Square, and probably the most well known is Chippewa Square.  This is where a certain movie was made showing a young man sitting on a park bench eating a box of chocolates.  Around each square are streets so it's easy to navigate and easy to get great views of all the beauty.  One of those cross streets, however, has been paved over that first cemetery of settlers.  oops....   So too has the old Jewish cemetery been built upon. 



The Kehoe house was built in 1892 for $25,000, by William Kehoe, owner of the iron foundry.  So, what do you do when you want to show off your iron making wealth?  Everything that is painted white is wrought iron. ( And most of Savannah has wrought iron trim.  I thought I had seen a lot in Charleston.  That pales in comparison.  It is gorgeous here.)


More than a century later, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kehoe and their 10 children was sold, in 1980 to Broadway Joe Nameth for $80,000.  He wanted to make a "Gentleman's Club" out of it.  That was not going to happen, so, as the story goes, in 1989, he sold it for  $530,000.  I also heard $250,.000.... so the truth probably lies somewhere between.  He did all right anyway.  After it was sold, the new owner renovated and turned it into a Bed and Breakfast, as it is today.


I had to show you Paula Dean's Lady & Sons Restaurant.


I had heard that it was buffet and part of it is.  You can order off a menu as well.  Go on line to see the menu.  To me the buffet looked average for $15.99.  On the dinner menu is a Chicken Pot Pie for $18.99.  I had no desire to eat there myself.


The Mercer-Williams Home was built by General Hugh Mercer, Great Grandfather to composer Johnny Mercer, in 1860.  The building was interrupted by that war so it wasn't completed until 1968.

In 1969, Jim Williams,an antiques dealer,  (any fans of  Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil   remember this?) bought the empty house and took 2 years to restore it.  Then there is that whole other thing that happened there.



                                                              The Forsyth Park Mansion.


It does have 126 guest rooms and suites. The hotel is open for us tourists to go into but we didn't.  Maybe next time because I can not find any history on that house anywhere.  Maybe one of you know something about it.


Broken glass on a wall to keep out spirits.  Slaves from the western coast of Africa and from Haiti brought their spiritual beliefs with them.  One being spirits will not cross water so they mixed lime with natural dies to make paint the color of the Caribbean water.  It was then painted around windows, porch ceilings and door frames.  Sometimes even the underside of floor boards.  The lime deterred termites and mosquitoes, therefore saving many from malaria and yellow fever.  Even today, wasps will not build a nest in a porch ceiling painted blue.  They think it is sky.


  The old Candler Hospital.  Founded in 1808 as a seaman’s hospital and poor house, Candler is the oldest hospital in the state of Georgia. The original structure, which has been empty for nearly three decades, was once used as a Union hospital, as well as a hospital where hundreds of patients died of Yellow Fever. It has also been used as an insane asylum.   There was a tunnel connecting it to Forsyth Park, where they illegally buried many yellow fever victims, so as not to worry the people in the city, about the epidemic. ( I don't know what they told the relatives of those missing family members.??)  In the last few years, the Savannah Power company was burying lines when they found graves of dozens of bodies, also believed to be yellow fever victims.  I did find information that there were or are plans to develop the space for retail and condos.  Seriously?  Who is going to line up for that space? 



Colonial Park Cemetery the oldest ,still in use,  cemetery in Savannah, began in 1750. (after that other one was full)   More than 700 victims of the 1820 Yellow Fever epidemic are buried here.  "There are also many victims of Savannah's  dueling era of 1740 and through 1877. Many of the duels left a number of men dead from what one source calls acts of "too much honor." 



There are 2 orbs captured here, in the Colonial Cemetery, from our Ghost Tour.  One is just below the Spanish moss and the other is to the left.

We did the 90minute walk with one other couple about our age and the guide.  She told us to take 3 photos at a time for comparison.  These are my second and third photos, of this shot.  Looking at them while on the camera, the orbs are blue, not white like lights.   Weird, huh?  They have moved.  I took a lot of photos through our walk and didn't get anymore.  The other man with us got more.  I think his camera was better 'cause we were both clicking away. 

To me Savannah is a beautiful mixture of gracious manners, fabulous homes, sweet tea and wrought iron.  It goes hand in hand with an acceptance of spirits, ghosts and superstition.   I did learn that if your grandmother visits you long after she died, you do not call her a ghost.  That's just rude.  You know who she is.  She's your Grandma, not a stranger.  Maybe not your whole grandma,but a shade of Grandma, so you have a Shade in your house, not a ghost.  Now I know.

So on that note, tomorrow we go to Bonaventure Cemetery, just outside the city.  It's a perfect place to visit with Halloween near.  To me, it is hauntingly beautiful.



 
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