Sunday Drive: Let's Fall in Love

The other night, M. P. and I watched Judy Holliday and Jack Lemon sing this tune in the delightful 1954 comedy It Should Happen to You.  M. P. was so taken with this song, he suggested I use it for today's post - and so here it is, as performed by Margaret Whiting in 1955.  Pictured with Whiting is studly Hugh O'Brian, a. k. a. Wyatt Earp.

Waitin' for the Weekend

Sunday Drive: Summertime

As performed by the great Les Paul in 1992:

Today's Tidbits, 072217

Maria van Oosterwijk, Vanitas--Still Life (1693)

The other day would have been my darling mama's 95th birthday - strange to say.  Perhaps you will think it even stranger if I say, I'm glad she did not live to see the world as it now is, nor any of my kin.  Things high and low are out of hand, out of joint, out of control, and I fear that evil days are upon us.  But what do I know.

Long-time readers of this blog know that I used to have a lot more to say about gay rights and politics and all sorts of topics.  But once past 60, one realizes that the steam in the boiler drops gradually but steadily lower, and one has much less patience for the foolishness and futility of the world.  One also understands, finally, that one is just a very small ripple in the immense, immeasurable ocean of life, an endless rolling tide of change -- like it or not.  So why waste the time left to you, be it long or short, with utterly useless protests?  Leave that to the armies of youth, who have strength and passion a-plenty, and still believe they can change the world.

All that being said, I suppose there's really no point in my continuing this blog -- but somehow I just can't quite let go of it yet.  Even at only one or two posts a week, it gives a little rhythm to my otherwise mostly bland, blank life in retirement, a something to look forward to.  But what to post?  I am so utterly disgusted and outraged and horrified by the shambles in Washington and elsewhere that I have stopped reading news articles almost entirely - most days I can hardly bear even to glance at the headlines.  So no more of that here.

I do, however, spend my days looking up and contemplating many other, much more interesting things.  But I have usually hesitated to post that kind of potpourri here, since it falls under no heading and would be such an odd mix of unrelated topics.

Still, perhaps a potpourri is better than an empty bowl.  So starting today, I may from time to time give you all a sampling of my finds - none of which are necessarily cool, groovy, sexy, personal to me, or relevant to anything happening now in the world.  But they recall a memory, delight the eye, raise a smile, or give food for thought - is that so bad?  At any rate, it is the best this tired old sod can manage.  And it passes the time.

Click images to enlarge:

Fritos fried chicken recipe, 1950s

Grocery prices in Perry, Georgia, 1940; multiply by 17 to get today's equivalent.

Cutaway view of a Pan Am Stratocruiser

Still as true as ever.

Benham Park, Berkshire, England

Waitin' for the Weekend

Sunday Drive: A Summer Place

So last night I finally saw A Summer Place, nearly sixty years late.  I've heard the lovely Max Steiner theme all my life, of course, but somehow never saw the show.

I wish I could say it was worth waiting for, but no.  Just crazed, convoluted melodrama that goes on waaaay too long, until you don't know whether to laugh or cry or jump out the window.  But Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue are both young and pretty, and rich dad Richard Egan is a sight for sore eyes.

Here's a rare clip of Percy Faith conducting his orchestra in a performance of the 1960 number-one hit.  It sounds just like summer should feel when you are young and carefree and full of sunny dreams.  I'm on the shady side of life now, but I can still remember.  Enjoy.

Waitin' for the Weekend

Waitin' for the Weekend

Just mute the sound and enjoy the pictures:

Sunday Drive: God Bless America

The Irving Berlin classic, as performed by the great and lovely Kate Smith in the 1943 film This Is the Army:




We are certainly in great need of blessing and guidance now, as then.

Canada 150

Official logo of the Canadian sesquicentennial.

Happy Canada Day - Bonne fête du Canada - to all my Canadian truckbuddies on the 150th anniversary of Confederation.  You all have made great progress in that time, from a sprawling wilderness to a civilized democracy, a beacon of hope for all the world.  I wish my country could say the same.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greeted his fellow Canadians in this video message:





To mark the occasions, HM The Queen of Canada issued a new official photograph, taken by a Toronto photographer, in which she is wearing a diamond maple leaf brooch first worn by her mother during the 1939 Royal Tour:

There's something to be said for having a dignified, non-political Head of State at the top of the ladder, and also the historical continuity of family ties.  Representing the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were on hand in Ottawa today to celebrate with Canadians.

A monarchy wouldn't work here, of course; but sometimes it's nice to think of, from a distance.