LifeSoFarLaRue

In 2009 the second in the series of Christmas "Legends" ornaments from Broadway Cares appeared.  It was Chita Rivera playing Anita in "West Side Story." The shows origins came form a retelling of the "Romeo and Juliet" tale set this time in the gang world of NYC in the 1950's.  Opening on Broadway in 1957 with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Steven Sondheim (his Broadway debut), it was conceived and brilliantly staged and choreographed by Jerome Robbins who won the Tony Award for his work.  Nominated for six awards including Best Musical, it lost however to "The Music Man." Later for the screen version in 1961, it was nominated for eleven Academy Awards and won ten including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (George Chakiris as Bernardo) and Rita Moreno (playing Anita) as Best Supporting Actress. It was also the first time in Oscar history that the Best Director award was shared by two people, namely

The last two villains I will share with you are Jafar, the power hungry Grand vizier of Agrabah from "Aladdin" and the second (not exactly a villain but definitely a mean one) is Lady Tremaine, that evil  stepmother of "Cinderella." And to borrow from the folks at Warner Brothers, "That's all Folks."

And no set of villains would be complete with out that sea-witch, Ursula from "The Little Mermaid."  The role was written with Bea Arthur in mind and ultimately offered to Joan Collins and then Elaine Stritch.  The first two rejected the idea and Stritch was hired for a time but had a disagreement about how her song. "Poor Unfortunate Souls" should be performed and was ultimately fired leaving the door open for Pat Carroll who did the role proud.

One of my favorite villains in that egomaniacal Cruella De Vil from "101 Dalmatians."  One statuette shows her with the ever present cigarette holder and the other is her morning in bed.   What a gal!

Maleficent was that "Sleeping Beauty" trouble maker.  I have two of her, purchased at different times. One is simply her and her ever-present raven. Diablo.   The second shows her perched on the castles parapet just before she turned into a dragon.

One of my favorite villains has always been that rotund croquet playing Red Queen from "Alice in Wonderland."  Can't you just hear her roaring "Off with her head?"   I got this wonderful statuette at the aforementioned Jewelry store in upstate New York and it does the old queen justice.  More to come on another day.

My Disney Villains Collection was added to at random.  Some I ordered through the Disney Catalog or purchased them at the Disney Store in NYC.  Still, others I bought at a local Jewelry store in upstate New York.  I think these two came from the Manhattan Disney store.  They are of those two dastardly foes (of each other) and the bane of  "Peter Pan," that sinister swashbuckler Captain Hook and his arch enemy the Croc who swallowed the clock.  (Interestingly enough, the Croc has a wind-up key on his underside that makes him go "tick-tock.")   More to come, later.

In the 80's Disney brought out a series of "Classic Collectibles."  And being a sucker for anything Disney I decide to start a collection.  There were wonderful statuettes of any character that your could think of  and far to many to amass without going broke, so I narrowed my collecting down to the Disney Villains.  The first two that I bought were from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and as I'm sure you recall there was an Evil Queen who transformed herself into a Hag in order to give Snow White a poison apple. These two along with the ones to follow are nestled on my book shelves in the Living room.   Hope you enjoy a peek at them.    

I  ran across this meme on Face book. And I had to respond.  In Corbin, Kansas we had a "Party Line" and I still remember our phone number.  It was two longs and a short.

Another artist that I have the privilege of knowing and calling a friend is Parker Harlowe (below).  I've know Parker and his partner Chuck as long as I've lived in Naples (17 years.   I always coveted one of his painting and luckily for us, he decided to sell it.  We snapped I up before you could say the proverbial "Jack Robinson." (whatever that means.) The painting is called "Mardi Gras Mamma," a piece that certainly captures the fun of that celebration and I'm so happy to have it in my life (along with Parker and his mate Chuck.)  It makes me happy when I look at it.

I would like to introduce you to an artist that I know.  Well, in truth, I've known his wife.Maddi for many years, since she was a teenager, I dare say.  And her husband, I have never met in person, but one of his painting hangs in my living room.  Below is a picture of George Angelini working on that same painting.  And what a talent he possesses! I saw this painting on his Face Book page  and I knew it was meant for me.   It just called out "Hey, I'm meant for you" and I bought it, literally.   George titled it "On Your Mark" and it is one of my favorite things..  If you would like further information on George and his work, I encourage you to visit his website to see some of his other endeavors.  angelinifineart.com  Double click the first page to see more.

THE GOOD:  "EAST OF EDEN"  One of my favorite films that has stood the test of time, it was directed by Elia Kazan and loosely based on the second half of a John Steinbeck novel by the same name and also, it made James Dean a star and garnered him an Oscar nomination. (Kazan was also cited and Jo Van Fleet did win the award for Best Supporting Actress.)  Others in the cast included Julie Harris, Raymond Massey, Richard Davalos and Burl Ives.  But it is Dean's breakout performance that set this movie on it's ear. (Ironically, it is the only film that Dean saw in it's entirety before his untimely death.)   James Dean was one of a kind and that shows in this remarkable film. THE BAD:  "BARBARELLA"   Roger Vadim' s attempt to exploit his wife's beauty and sexiness as well as stretch the boundaries of taste, was a disaster.  Jane Fonda playing the title role has her tongue firmly planted in her cheek, but to no avail.  John Phillip Law (as an

At one time, on the outskirts of San Francisco, there existed an establishment called the Sutro Baths, named for and built by a former mayor, Adolph Sutro.  It was the largest indoor saltwater swimming pool that had ever been constructed and Californians flocked to it in droves. (Mr. Sutro also owned the nearby Cliff House seen in the distance in the picture below.) Alas, they were both destroyed by fire (many years apart) as depicted below. When Fabian and I were in San Francisco, we journeyed out to the former site and were entertained by the seals that still frolic in most of the area although, as you can see below, there is not much left of the previous grandeur.  A few years later, we came across this wonderful depiction of the baths in their heyday and it now hangs over the sofa in the living room.  A remembrance of a bygone era.