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Showing results for tags '1933'.
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All generations have their own little embarrassments (goodness knows, mine had "Saturday Night Fever" et al), but can someone please explain to me, other than that this man was obviously extremely handsome, what in the *hell* this is all about? I had heard of this song before, but had never seen the entire thing performed; unfortunately, now that I've watched it, I can't unwatch it. Just as hunky Edd Byrnes was born Edward Byrne Breitenberger, the beautiful Connie Stevens, was born Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingoglia. Both singers-actors are alive and well. -
"The Bitter Tea of General Yen" is a pre-code film directed by Frank Capra ("Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"), and starring Barbara ('If someone from my disadvantaged background has risen to success, others should be able to prosper without government intervention or assistance') Stanwyck. I'm watching this film out of a corner of one eye I while I do other things - the stereotypes are howlingly bad. Here's General Yen: <--- Nils Asther, a Swedish actor. On the other hand, last night, I actually watched "Dr. No" (1962) for the first time in decades - in nearly 30 years, not much progress was made in the stereotype department. <--- Joseph Wiseman, a Canadian actor. And here's yet another Chinaman: Kwai Chang Caine in "Kung Fu" (1972-1975): <--- David Carradine, an American actor (he died in Thailand, FWIW).
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Matt and I flew Turkish Airlines to Singapore. The low fares are incredibly tempting, as is the free hotel and free tour of Istanbul. We did find the staff to be very accommodating and nice and the food was for the most part very good- except for one terribly weird English Breakfast. I found the guy dressed as a chef on-board to be a bit silly. The seats were fairly old, but that may have made them bigger than some other seats, who knows. They allow you to check two bags for international flights, (I forget the weight limit, but it might be wise to pack a checkable duffle if you normally only take one bag, as lots of people were unloading stuff from one bag to another. I found this insanely annoying, but multiple airlines do it, if you can have two bags with so much weight, you should be able to have one bag that is less than those two weights. You may also carry on two bags. You line up a bit like Southwest Airlines to board the plane, and people have no real regard for the groups, so it is pretty much a cattle call, and because they fly to more countries than any other airline, we found they had a lot of infrequent fliers. I assume it is comparable to many of the other new airlines that have come up with fairly low fares. We had one delay for an hour due to weather, but given the weather going on all around, it was likely very justified, other than that, things ran on time, and they made up that hour in the air. So, not a GREAT airline, but also fine for the price. We went on the free tour, we could only do the really short one, but it was nice to get out and get some fresh air during a fairly long layover. -
Glenn Corbett was "the guy who replaced George Maharis on Route 66." While watching "Same Picture, Different Frame," I wondered to myself how this impossibly handsome man could be relatively unknown in today's mind, so I did a little research, and found that Corbett played Zefram Cochrane (inventor of the warp drive!) in the "Star Trek" episode, "Metamorphosis." (Yes, that's Betty from "Father Knows Best.")
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Lillie Hitchcock Coit was a wealthy socialite who was a patron for San Francisco's firefighters, and the benefactor for the construction of Coit Tower. Ms. Coit is the official "Matron Saint" of San Francisco's firefighters. She bequeathed one-third of her fortune, or $118,000, "to be expended in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved." There are beautiful murals within the spiral staircases of Coit Tower that are available to be seen on tours. Visiting and touring information can be found at the website, www.coittowertours.com. This site is wonderfully simplistic, while containing all you need to know before coming to visit.
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"Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein" are two of the greatest comedies I've ever seen and they both starred Gene Wilder. Mel Brooks is certainly a comedic genius, but I don't think these movies would have been nearly as good without Wilder. I think I'll give Blazing Saddles a view tonight. And then maybe watch the best skit from "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex": -
If you've driven north-south on 16th Street you've seen them, and if you've driven east-west on Columbia Road you've seen them (at mid-day on Sundays, perhaps for longer than you'd care to). These are the three formidable churches in the Mount Pleasant - Columbia Heights - Adams Morgan neighborhoods - at least the ones prominently visible from 16th Street - and along with numerous other items of architectural interest in the immediate area (e.g., The Temple of the Scottish Rite (also known as "The House of the Temple") on 16th and S Street, the Ecuadorian Embassy on 15th and Euclid Street, the Headquarters of the Inter-American Defense Board (also known as "The Pink Palace") on 16th and Euclid Street, the Lutheran Church Center (also called the Warder-Totten House, which has had more lives than a cat, and could have been tagged in the thread title, but it's not a place of worship), the Meridian House on 16th Street and Crescent Place, and of course, Meridian Hill Park which is 12 acres in size, stretching from Florida Avenue to Euclid Street along the east side of 16th Street, and I'm sure I've omitted several other buildings of merit and interest), anyway, along with this rather amazing concentration of historic architecture (we're talking about architects such as John Russell Pope (arguably the most important architect in Post-1800 Washington, DC, having designed the National Archives Building, the Jefferson Memorial, and the National Gallery of Art (West Building) - those three buildings alone are enough make you say, "Huh?") and George Oakley Totten, Jr. (who designed numerous mansions along 16th Street and in the Kalorama Circle area), we have three churches large enough to stand out and make drivers turn their heads. Sitting up by itself on 16th Street and Columbia Road is the National Baptist Memorial Church: I don't know much about the architecture behind this church (when it was completed, or who designed it), and would love to have someone knowledgeable in architecture comment on the style and the architect. However, I did find an interesting web page devoted to its groundbreaking in 1921, with President Warren G. Harding actually breaking the ground: Apr 23, 2014 - "Historic Photos of the 1921 Groundbreaking for the Columbia Heights National Baptist Memorial Church" on parkviewdc.com And also the 1922 Cornerstone Ceremony attended by Secretary of State Charles E. Hughes. I've read that the building was constructed over a couple of decades (which might make it the youngest of the three churches, despite being designed first - I'm not sure when construction was completed on any of the three): Sep 11, 2014 - "Historic 1922 Photo of National Baptist Memorial Church's Corner Stone Ceremony" on parkviewdc.com As impressive as this church is, it takes a back seat (in visual prominence) to other the two Meridian Hill churches sitting face-to-face on the south side of 16th and Harvard Streets. As you're driving south down 16th Street, you can see all three churches at once, with the one just described in the foreground: Notice also that as you're approaching the southernmost two, there's a Capital Bikeshare rack on the right: In the Architecture Thread in the Art Forum, the book, "The AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington, DC" is mentioned, and that book refers to both of these next two churches, possibly taking a not-so-subtle swipe at the first, the All Souls Unitarian Church, which was "inspired" (rather blatantly, I will add) by London's Saint-Martin-in-the-Fields, on the southwest corner of the intersection: . The similarities between this and London's famous church are unmistakable. From the book: "1924, Coolidge & Shattuck - St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London, by James Gibbs, provided the architectural inspiration for this building as it did for so many other churches throughout America, Britain, and Canada." Across 16th Street rests, mano-a-mano with the All Souls Unitarian Church, the impressive and beautiful Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, now unfortunately masked by scaffolding: Up above, I said the book "possibly" takes a not-so-subtle swipe at All Souls, but the way they worded it, they could just as easily be talking about the row of rat-infested (I've seen them with my own eyes) storefronts on Mount Pleasant Street, so decide for yourselves (bold emphasis is my own): "1933, Young & Hansen - Designed to suggest the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City and capped by the Angel Moroni, the building, with its delicate, linear detailing, stratified stone skin, and consistent verticality, creates one of the most elegant small churches in town. Or perhaps the sense of success is relative and results from comparing it to its distinctly unsubtle neighbors across the street." Who they're slamming all depends on which "street" they're referring to - it's ambiguous, and could go either way. Regardless, this is a beautiful area for a stroll or a bike ride, and all of the buildings mentioned here are worth seeing.
