What We Wore to the Oscars

By far the nicest Oscar gown and suit.
And Michelle Obama is supposed to have toned arms? Oh please.. look at these and compare.
Hmmph, not by a long shot Michelle.
This is a switcheroo, but, he makes a pretty stunning babe.
Gloves are tacky though

Sue me, but I did like Reese Witherspoons sedate black and white gown. Just so lovely.
I often think plain is better than over the top.
She needed a stunner of a diamond necklace though. Just maybe a bit more "bling"?
I love sparklies!

And I thought that this black velvet number was  so very classical  with the elaborate glittery cuff.
Must have been prettier in person though. The photograph doesn't capture what it had to be like.
Dark velvets are always stunning especially if there are sparklies to be shown off.

Everyone's favorite eccentric spinster auntie, Helen Bonham Carter, did not disappoint us.
A tall pointed black witchy hat was missing though and the fancy broom.
It's a "bad girl of the fairytale" look.

But you know what?  I think Carter has a whole lot of fun dressing up.
Get a load of the Union Jack on the calf! Very patriotic.
Rule Britannia!

Another Gothic bride look . Even the Oscars can't get away from the just dragged from the crypt look.
Didn't she do this once before?

Everyone looked nice. Even the men wore tuxedos which they seem to disdain sometimes in favor of tennis shoes and tee shirts. Ugh.

I enjoyed the Oscars though many thought them boring and not as exciting as they could have been.

Best music award should have gone to Beethoven for his moving music in The King's Speech.
The rest was not that impressive I thought and who is it that told Gwyneth she had singing talent? Oh man... no no no. 

 Classic, lovely but no bling... You have to add that bling with black I am telling you!!!
 The earrings are not enough.
She had better not move too fast with that top either.

 I am not sure what to make of Celine Dions spun silver dress.
The emphasis it puts on the tummy is not great, but the material is stunning.
Over all I just am  not that fond of it I suppose. Its a bit cocoon-like.

I always think Sandra Bullock looks nice.
This dress is a looker I think. One of the best of the bunch.

Here is my own Oscar frock.. what do you think..
And yes, its a Photoshop but that is my head  and my face and body manipulated to remove the models huge shoulders and muscular arms too, to represent me.

A pretty good likeness over all.
And, I kind of like the dress.
Don't be afraid to 'diss' it though. I am not afraid. much.


Ok whose dress did you like at the Oscars.. and more importantly:

Now.....What did YOU wear to the Oscars?
Get out your PSP or whatever and make yourself an Oscar night Gown or just do a post showing a dress you would most like to wear to the Oscars!

Don't be lazy.. get busy.
I want to see you in your gown!

After a lovely bit of a heat wave--40's and 50's°F--we had a dusting of snow yesterday, melted now, but lower temperatures at night again and high 30s in the daytime.
Some of the song birds are back, though and it's a great thing to hear them singing all day long. I miss that in winter. Though in winter we have the Cardinals, Blue Jays and Chickadees stay around.
I was thinking about handwriting and art today.

Palmer Method

Did you have penmanship in elementary school? We did.
Feet flat on the floor! Hands just so... dip the nib on the black wooden pen into the ink well embedded on your desk and make the interlocking OOOOOOO's.
Then other designs and finally the alphabet over and over.
First each letter alone with it's capital and then the alphabet connected as in cursive handwriting.
We all tried so hard to make those spiraling O's perfect circles.
It was called the Palmer Method and it was taught in American schools for generations. My mother received a national award for her beautiful Palmer method handwriting when she was a child. As an adult she was often asked by people to address wedding invitations and to write names on certificates of graduation, etc.
I had the worst handwriting in the whole school until I was in the 5th grade and I decided I wanted to be a good student. So, I stopped goofing off...ok I mostly stopped.. but not completely.
Okay,   well, I didn't stop really  and I learned in 6th grade to write 5,000 word compositions for talking too much in class. That was an education in itself, boy.
But there were teachers with beautiful handwriting whom I admired and I copied from their examples. My handwriting became nicer and nicer until finally in my freshman year in high school I began to notice the penmanship of our very elegant French teacher.
She was it! And I copied it until I learned it with its little "and's" written between words on a slant.
I think computers have ruined handwriting for most children and what I see today is kids who mostly seen to print everything.
It is kind of sad because good penmanship gives a sense of pride and accomplishment and a love of beauty,

"Spencerian"

like in this Spencerian method handwriting, which is so lovely.
It is really art work isn't it?

Did you have penmanship in school? How is your handwriting?

Lena LoSchiavo

This story begins in the previous post....

The photo of Lena  LoSchiavo taken in August of 1908, intrigued me.

11 years old, a bit of my own little darling  reflected in her face, she sits smiling in a torn and tattered dress.
Shorpy's site did not have too much information on her except for a caption.
The person taking the photos, Lewis Wickes Hine was doing so for the sake of research on child labor at the turn of the previous century. Hines was a photographer and sociologist.
Child labor laws were nothing in those days.

I enlarged a photo from the Library of Congress and then hand colored this portion of her photo to bring her to life a bit again. She is not finished yet.
Those old photos do very little to show a person's "light" and soul.
From a close up I took from  another photo of her, her eyes appeared light, not dark.
So using the coloring of my 'famous anonymous kid', I gave Lena coloring.
Her eyes may have been blue, I used a dark brownish green with violet rings, as per the "kid" . Her skin and lips are also  from the "kid".
This is not done with photoshop tricks but by hand and needs more work, but I was anxious to put it up.     I spent some time on it Friday and will do more as time allows. As you can see the hands are far from done.

At the Shorpy website, which features old photographs, people were discussing how old Lena looked. Well, not now I think.
It was late at night according to the information known about the photo and the poor kid was over tired. 
Also, they were wondering what had become of her. This lovely  eager faced child demands attention  as there is , to me at least , something intriguing about her.
When I find old photos like this I just have to color them.
To see the original photo in high definition you will need to see it on the website. I took this from a smaller photo and enlarged it myself.

It can be hard tracking people down because spellings vary from site to site. Immigrants were often misunderstood when telling their names to officials and so there are various spellings used in documents and records.
A name like LoSchiavo can become variously Loshavo, Lochiavo, Lochavo , depending on who heard it and how they wrote it down. Since different languages say the letters of the alphabet differently, asking someone to spell it was not always an option.

If I am correct in my research, Lena was born in 1898 in America to Italian immigrants Charles Loschiavo and his wife Mary Gentile Loschiavo. There were 4 children, Giusippi who died 9 days old, an unnamed infant who died at birth , another girl, Petrina who was a few years older than Lena and passed way in 1962 at the age of 67.
Petrina had married John Mercurio.

Charles Loschiavo, Lena's father,  passed away at age 34, when Lena was 10 or 11. This may well be why she was selling on the corner to add to  the family income. Mrs. Mary LoSchiavo had lost a son  in February at 9 days old and her husband in July of the same year.

Lena seems to have married Charles Mercurio at age 16 or 17(?) and had a little girl , Terita, who passed away at age 84 in 1999, 11 years after her mother.
Lena, passed away in 1988 at the ate of 90.

She and some of her family are buried in the St Joseph New Cemetery in Cincinnati. I found all this in their interment records.

I also Googled the site of the  corner where Lena sold pretzels and baskets from 11:00 AM  in the morning til Midnight in front of the 6th Street Market 'saloon' entrance  at 209 West Sixth Street in Cincinnati.

You can compare it with the corner that you see in the photo of Lena in the previous post.

I  dubbed it
"Lena's Corner"

“Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” 

Lena worked hard to  help support her mother....

Rest peacefully Lena.

America's Brightest Stars: Her Children

This beautiful child is Lena Loschiavo, age 11 selling baskets outside a market place in Cincinnati in 1908.
No school for this daughter of Italian immigrants. She had to work as did so many  children to help support the family.
God love her. Look at that smile and the eagerness in her shining eyes.
These children were amazing and helped make America great.
Lena would be 121 years old this year.
These children didn't realize what they were building. They had no idea how important they were.
You can click the old photos to make them a larger.Though to see them in  high definition and much larger, you will have to go to Shorpy's site. Link is at bottom.








Here is my own wonderful 'famous anonymous kid', also just turned 11.
I see Lena in her face.  Brighter with modern photography of course. The old photos sometimes were darker than normal.
Thank God she does not have to work like that and can go to school. She is a great grand and great great great great great(back to the early 1700's)  ... granddaughter of immigrants.

In 1900, little Bertha was only 5 and shucked oysters to help the family. She started work at 4AM and put in a  long hard day.
Imagine a child of this age using those sharp awful knives to shuck open oysters? Imagine the accidents they had. Hard, dirty , smelly work for anyone least of all a little baby like this.
These kids were something else and did not complain of their lot in life, hard and unfair as it was.

Detroit at the turn of the last century..
These children had a bit easier life. But then again, who is to say whose life is easy and whose is not?
And easy does not always mean better.
Americans have always made the best of things whatever their lot.
Our kids seem to rise to the occasion.

School kids, 1909. Clean, bright and happy.
May all our children be this way.


Old Photos are from  Shorpy.com
Anonymous kid photo from "Me"

Surfer Cat

Dru's post about her kitten Lily made me decide to rat out my  Garfield.
He isn't bad.   Never was but, he does like to carpet surf.

Sleepy after a hard day of surfing

It's his hobby!
I have a series of small rugs through the house. They're  in the hallway, the entrance, the kitchen and by my bed and dresser.
Garfield loves to get up speed and then make a mad dash for the carpets "surfing" on them until he reaches the next one.. the surfing that one ..etc. until at last he reaches the one by my dresser..
WHOOSH................ you can hear it slide as he lands on it.
If cats giggle, then you would hear him giggling. He gets his exercise though!

Oh, I can't forget his 2^nd hobby, playing in his water bowl. I use a large rubber bottom mixing bowl so he has enough water all day. He loves to put his feet in and splash all over the place. He has a great time doing it and the cleanest kitty feet in town!

Spring Time Meme

      

NJ Pine Barrens

It is windy but sunny today and you can sense Spring in the air.
The birds are coming back already and we have had a heatwave into the 40s. Yes, odd to think that temperatures in the 40's are warm but, when its been so very cold, it is.
I have come to dislike winter a bit since last year and all the snow we have had and the very low temperatures.
Doing a meme is something I enjoy so thought I would do one today.

Monday Meme   Spring Forward

1. List 3 things you like about spring:

1. The colors of spring flowers. Delicate pastels.

2. the sound of "peepers" tiny 1 inch frogs that live here by the millions.They "peep".  It is a dear, sweet sound through Spring and into part of summer.

3.The return of song birds and wandering along the white sugar sand roads.

2. List 3 things you hate about spring:

1. The dampness, its bone deep sometimes.

2. Chilly mornings make it hard to know how to dress.

3. Can't think of anything.

3. Do you set your clocks forward in the spring? Do you think it is a good idea?

I do set them of course, have to, but think it is a goofy idea.

4. Do you have allergies in the spring? Do you take any allergies medications?

I think I do have allergies to some pollen.

I don't take any medication though.

5. What are you looking forward to the most this spring?

Spending more time with family I hope.

I was the 5,959th person to take this week's Monday Meme!

There's even a what kind of dog are you meme to do..... Here is mine:




discover your dog breed @ quiz meme

"Get the Look"

I am all for good fashion but when photos are published with a "Get the Look" section to them you would think that the fashions would be ones that someone might want to emulate.  Well,  wouldn't you?

While she may be the sweetest girl on earth, this Vampire bride look isn't something anyone should mimic.
Dark red lipstick on her pale, pale face give an otherworldly  look.
She seems in need of a transfusion.
She is straight out of Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride.
The dress, while interesting in a Salvation Army way has  some possibilities for an imaginative person with scissors and a good sewing machine.
But it   looks  ages old. The color looks dirty.Maybe like someone just dragged themselves out of their dirt lined coffin?
Ugh. just Ugh. No I do not wish to "Get the Look".

Am I wrong? I see the resemblance...........................................
The Corpse Bride.

Next is this New Age Moutain Man look.
Umm, when that thing hanging round her neck revives he is going to one angry dude.
Love the mini Firestone tires on her wrist.
Not.
Are those pants made from plastic bags?

What is she hiding in that baggy crotch?
I don't want to know but it is reminiscent of boggy-soggy-baggy  diapers.

You too can look like a Hippy Lord of the Rings character.

She needs a change of shoes though.
These "feet" would work nicely.
Do you want to
"Get the Look"?

She is smiling.. why?? Why???

The label on this dress read, "Some Assembly Required". But obviously this lady could not make out the directions.

Why can't Hollywood dress itself?
Is there a connection between lack of taste and acting somehow?
There is a disconnct between how the great Edith Head dressed them and how they dress themselves.
The girl behind her is going for the Pirates of the Caribbean look.

  I added back in the missing pieces of the Jigsaw Dress... I think its not bad when assembled.
I wonder how many parts were left behind, like when you assemble Ikea stuff and find parts that have no place in the assemblage.

Here the worst students from Hollywood High's Home Ec sewing class model their worst mistakes.

Bjork, in green , seems to have been stomping grapes before this photo shoot.











"So, now, which look suits you?" She asked hesitantly...

The King's Speech

Queen Elizabeth's father, Albert Frederick Arthur George,  was second in line to the throne but the abdication of his older brother David (King Edward VIII), thereafter the Duke of Windsor, saw him ascend the throne as George VI just before WWII.
'Bertie', as he was called by the family had a terrible debilitating stammer that made public speaking impossible.  A nightmare really. The film makes it clear how awful it was for the King.

Learning breath control!

The movie focuses on how the King, with the help of   Lionel George Logue,  overcome his stammer and give one of the most important speeches in Britain's history.
At first the King is loathe to see  yet another therapist but the Queen convinces him it is the best thing to do.
At a first meeting Logue has the King read Hamlet's "To be or not to be" solioquy while earphones blast the opera Marriage of Figaro into His Majesty's ears.
Logue makes a record which the disgusted and thoroughly disheartened King takes with him. He won't listen to it at all at first. He is convinced he stammered all the way through.
But when frustration pushes him to hear it later, it is perfectly and beautifully done spoken.  It does the trick and he is convinced to being work on his stammer. And work is what it will be!

The film was magnificent. Colin Firth's performance was stellar.In fact, every performance was stellar and the cast consisted of some great actors including the great Derek Jacoby of BBC's  I Claudius fame. In that he played the stammering Emperor Claudius of Rome.
That series is usually on YouTube if you wish to see it by the way.
Helena Bonham Carter did a marvelous job but then she always puts forth a good performance. 

The film is based on  historical fact and is deeply personal and utterly absorbing in its human drama.
The film  is funny, heart warming, sad, and deeply inspirational.
It was rated R because of scenes where the King is using profanity over and over to rid himself of the stammer but these scenes had the audience laughing hard. They also give you some insight into the why and wherefore of stammering.
Scenes of  the exchanges and banter between the  King and Logue  were great fun to watch.  You can see their relationship growing over time.

The audience was deeply engrossed in the film right from the start. Many were wiping their eyes in the final scenes. No one was bored , it was obvious.

King Eward VIII

The scenes showing David, then King, show a thoroughly self absorbed,childish man with a slavish attachment to Wallis Warfield Simpson.  He has little sympathy for his brother's affliction and even cruelly mocks him on one occasion. The representation seems true to all I have read on his personality.
With their devotion to Nazim , it can be hard to find sympathy for him and Wallis.


David Seidler,the producer,who himself had a stammer as a child, said “Here was a stutterer who was a king and had to give radio speeches where everyone was listening to every syllable he uttered, and yet did so with passion and intensity”
For Seidler the film took on personal importance.

The film makes clear why King George was so beloved, and so strong for the Empire during some of its darkest days.

The Queen herself gave the film two thumbs up.
I highly recommend it.
My daughter and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Evening Out

My daughter and I  are off to the Cinema-plex  to see the Kings Speech, with Colin Firth.
We are both fans of  Firth's acting and this movie is of particular interest to me as I  have spent a lot of time studying about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. The Duke abdicated the throne in favor of his brother who had a terrible stuttering problem.
The movie is the story of his devotion to overcoming it.
We have enjoyed Firth's performance in  Pride and Prejudice.
I will let you know how it was.
Cheers!

Heading into the Weekend

AT THE SHORE

Wind Speed: 15 knots

Wind Direction: SW

Condition: Knee high

Ocean Temp: 35 F

Wave Height: 3 ft

I found a new weather widget that changes with the day. The sun shines in the day and at night it goes dark and a moon shines or not.. and the house lights go on. It rains, snows, gets windy, stormy, etc. according to what is happening in your area. You can choose from a country village or a seaside. Since the seaside one is too tropical looking I chose the village. They need to add a city too.
We have been warmer and birds have been singing but the weather man tells us rain/snow icy cold tonight. I vote not, however.
This photo was taken as the sun fooling around in the skies but, not today!    This picture is from last year I believe.
I don't watch football so I don't think I will be seeing the super bowl, though I may tune in to check out what others are doing.
Have a lovely weekend.