How long has it been?? Waaaaay toooooo looooonnnngg! My hubby's birthday was Thursday and he turned 66! He does not look it but he is not a happy camper. I was working but I bought him a cheesecake and, this weekend, I made beef Stroganoff and he loved it.
Ok...on with the card. The Library Challenge started up again and I'm so happy about that so I designed a card around the book they displayed. I created the background using alcohol inks. I stamped Mr. Ruggles, this stamp is about 2 years old, in black ink and placed him in the frame I made using a dye cut. I coloured it with distress sprays. I used double sided sticky tape and placed it all down. Stamped the sentiment in silver but used blue embossing powder and heated it up. I coloured the sticker borders in black and framed Mr. Ruggles. Oh, his first name is Percy. Poor guy is not a sports cat but he loves to read which makes him the perfect cat.
It's TV time again and this is a funny theme that Wandering Through The Shelves chose. My mind went everywhere but I chose 3 that ended up being a theme within a theme within a theme. Also, have you noticed that today's shows have hardly any TV theme opening showing the casts' names etc.. I find that sad.
Yesterday was pick the Oscar song theme so, without further adieu the Oscar winner was Windmill of Your Mind. The nominated one was Chitty, Chittenden, Bang, Bang and nada was Who Knows Where The Time Goes.
Now on with the show...
1. LOST IN SPACE- 1965-1968 COMPOSED BY JOHN WILLIAMS
Yup, before John Williams won Oscars and was Spielberg's go to composer he wrote many TV themes and was going by Johnnie Williams...or was that Johnny?? Well, this is a show, created and produced by Irwin Allen, I watched after school religiously to the point my mom asked if there was anything else but that on. Poor mom had to listen to this and Gilligan’s Island all the time. This show was about a family, with best friend in tow along with evil Dr. Smith, who get off course and crash land on a planet trying to get back to earth. The 3rd season they have the ship mobile going from planet to planet trying to get home. There are a couple of musical versions for this show but I chose the more popular one.
2. THE TIME TUNNEL-1966-1967- COMPOSED BY JOHN WILLIAMS
This show, created and produced by Irwin Allen, only lasted 1 season and its a shame because it is quite good and it was solid for a Friday night but Execs canceled the series putting their bets on a show about Custer...it bombed. 2 scientists end up in a time machine going from one famous event( like the sinking of the Titanic) to another all while trying not to change what happened. John Williams created the music for thos as well and it's excellent lending itself to what the show is about.
3. LAND OF THE GIANTS-1968-1970 COMPOSED BY JOHN WILLIAMS
Take a guess who the producer and creator of this show was?? Yup Irwin Baby! He was all the rage back then and this is also about a group of people who went off course in their spacecraft landing on a planet that looks like Earth but everyone is huge and these guys are like Barbie and Ken dolls. The Giants are trying to find them and get rid of them so we often see the stars in predicaments where they need to be saved. This was a very expensive show to run with all the special effects and everything had to be made to scale. I loved watching this show too.
Hope you like all my themes here but especially John Williams of Star Wars/Indiana Jones fame. What TV themes come.into your head?
1968 seems like a good year to pick for this month so that’s what I went with. Nothing special why I chose this year so let’s see if you can choose who won the Oscar, who was nominated and who got nuttin’ honey. BTW, I'm entering this ro the Monday Music Moves Me hosted by Cathy from Curious as a Cathy.
1. CHITTY, CHITTY, BANG, BANG- SUNG BY DICK VAN DYKE & SALLY ANN HOWES
This song, composed, is famous and justly so because it is fun! It’s infectious and it plays more than once in the fun, family film of the same name that stars Penis Van Lesbian, er, I mean, Dick Van Dyke and the lovely Sally Ann Howes who has a very pretty voice.
2. WHO KNOWS WHERE THE TIME GOES- SUNG BY JUDY COLLINS
Judy has such a beautiful voice and was part of the folk music scene of the 60s but sang a lovely song, written by Sandy Denny, from the film, “The Subject Was Roses” starring Patricia Neal. This was the first film she made, winning an Oscar might I add, after suffering a debilitating stroke while pregnant 3 years earlier. The doctors thought she would never walk again never mind working gain and memorizing lines. This lady had quite the life and her autobiography is one to read because this gal went through some very difficult moments in her long life. I actually think she is pretty inspiring.
3. WINDMILLS OF YOUR MIND SUNG BY NOEL HARRISON
This song, composed by Michael Legrand with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, comes from the film, “The Thomas Crown Affair”, starring those 2 docile , likeable actors Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. Actually, they are notorious for being the most obnoxious people to ever have to work with. This song was famously sung by Dusty Springfield but also sung by many others as well as known just by its music.
So can you guess which won won, which was nominated and which one came up empty?
I don't know why my brain went to this theme but it did. There were quite a few "stars" back in the day that would have made it big today in the reality TV throw-ups. I have, thankfully, never seen the Kardashiasses show and never care to, but they made it big for being ultra fake. I believe the stars, I have chosen, would have been a lot better than many of the tv hookers of today. These 3 gals made movies but are more known for their publicity than their acting.
1. THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT-1956
This film stars the bodacious ta-tas belonging to Jayne Mansfield who milks it( pun intended) for all its worth. She is one, of many, to be another Marilyn Monroe. This film stars Tom Ewall( who starred with MM in the 7 Year Itch) as a boozy promoter forced by a mobster to make the mobster's moll a singing sensation even though she has no talent. What none count on is that the moll and the boozer fall in love. It's actually quite funny with some good songs from early rock & roll icons in this movie. This Dame doesn't seem all that bothered by how much the studio played her as a dumb blonde built like curvy Mount Rushmore. Jayne apparently had a figure of 40-21-35. Her IQ was supposed to be 163 and she knew several languages. She was most known for her pink palace with thick pink rugs in the bathroom ( ewww) and pink everywhere..my nightmare. She had 5 kids ( one is Mariska Hargitay), 5 husbands, many lovers and wanting to be in every photo shoot possible. Sadly, she died in a tragic car accident when only 34.
2. QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE-1958
This is a flick that’s so bad to fun! It’s even more fun because it stars Zsa Zsa Gabor famous for being…Zsa Zsa. She is the epitome of over excess in the Hungarian accent, furs, feather boas, husbands, lovers and 2 other famous sisters, Eva and Magda. I think Eva was more of the decent Gabor sisters famous for her tv role in Green Acres whereas Magda was the lone Redhead, least known, but just as crazy. She married George Sanders (a great actor) after Zsa Zsa was married to him. Darling, they would have loved to be in a reality series but they came from a different era. This is one film where Zsa Zsa was the lead as a beautiful woman on Venus trying to save the male astronauts who crash landed on the planet Venus. The Queen has a major hang up when it comes to men much to the chagrin of the female Venetian gals, no they are not from Venice but they all live on Venus who really miss a man’s …er. Moving on, the Queen hides her face behind a mask but is slowly losing her grip on power and reality. This is one of many outer space films from this decade and it’s fun…very stupid but so much fun. Apparently, Zsa Zsa was not happy being surrounded by very beautiful women who were younger and became quite the diva (big surprise) to the point where the director got an ulcer.
3. GIRLSTOWN-1959
Another Monroe wannabe was, well, she is not dead yet, Mamie Van Doren who had ample bazongas and paraded around in many a tight sweater in Grade Z flicks. This movie actually has some famous faces, kinda sad, since this flick is …bad but, again, in a fun way but not as fun a Queen Venus. It seems Mamie causes the death of a bastard kid who tried to rape her but falls to his death. She is sent to a nunnery…yup, a nunnery…ok, ok…it’s a delinquent home for girls run by nuns but close enough, where Mamie causes quite the stir in her double D cup. What are the nuns to do? The other girls like or hate Mamie but, in the meantime, the head of the motorcycle gang, Mel Torme…yes! Mel Torme was a witness to what really happened on that cliff side. Paul Anka also appears in this flick. The title song is sung by Paul Anka with a blood curdling scream placed in the middle…quite jarring actually. Mamie is the only one still alive of these 3 divas at 92 and looks…scary, to be honest. She has also had multiple marriages but the last one stayed strong. She claimed to have had affairs with both John and Robert Kennedy plus many others and loved to be the centre of attention.
What older stars can you think of that would have loved to be in a reality show? What movies were they in?
I went for a walk with my brother now that I feel much, much better and we came across this fun garden scene. I thought it was very inventiveso out came the camera. You can see I am in my Met Gala outfit for the backwoodsman. I'm joining the wonder Cathy at Curious as a Cathy for the Monday Music Moves Me challenge all about songs and/or Groups/Singers that ate just one word/name. Here are mine...
1. RAPTURE BY BLONDIE-1980
I like Blondie and this was a different song that, at one time, I memorized the lyrics to. I had no idea this was one of the first hits for a "rap" song. I'm not into rap, for the most part but I do like this.
2. PRIDE BY U2-1984
I love U2 and had a thing for Bono..still do:). It's also titled In The Name Of Love and has to do with Martin Luther King Jnr. I had no clue..just lovevthe song and it is one of the rare times I actually saw a band! I saw them back in the late 80s.
3. BUMBLEBEE BY ABBA-2021
Well, you know ABBA would be here because I love them and they made so many songs with one word. This is from their newest CD about the plight of the bees dying. We better wake up and save these critters or we will pay for it.
4. EAGLE BY ABBA- 1977
Since Mother's Day just passed, I am adding this because my mom loved this song. Bjorn and Benny both loved the band "The Eagles" so this is an homage to the band B & B loved.
5. CHIQUITITA SUNG BY ABBA-1979
Thos means "little girl" in Spanish and became a huge hit in Spain and Latin America especially when ABBA released their Spanish album with this song on it. I do have the Spanish album and love it.
There are quite a few more but I had to give 3 ABBA songs.
This is a wide open theme that Wandering Through The Shelves chose and I love it, but I narrowed it down a bit more. Here they are...
1. JEZEBEL-1938
This stars Betty Davis as a spoiled, willful brat from the South who loves the noble Henry Fonda and vice versa but she wants things her way. She demands rather than demures and, shocking, she decides to wear a red dress to the ball when virgins( Ha!) are to wear white. Well, that's just going too far and Fonda makes sure everyone sees her in red. I like this gal! He takes off but comes back with a wife. What will this Jezebel do? I mean, yellow fever is everywhere but this is love! This is an excellent vehicle for Bette who won the Oscar for her role as well as having a great affair with William Wyler, the director, who could match her punch for punch. Many years later, she said he was the love of her life and she was a fool for letting him go.
2. ALL THIS, AND HEAVEN TOO- 1940
Based on a true story about a gentle governess, played by Betty Davis, to a French Duc, played by Charles Boyer, who has children by a bitch of a wife. The wife is not exactly cracker Jack and thinks they are lovers and will steal the kids away. Davis and Boyer do love each other but never give in to their love. When his wife is murdered all hell breaks loose with gossip being #1. I found this performance by Davis very understated which is unique because it’s Bette Davis, but she handles the character well and she has good chemistry with Boyer. The costumes, like Jezebel are great but I really liked the story and knowing it’s a true story makes it even more special. By the way, this scandal brought the end of the French Aristocracy.
3. THE LITTLE FOXES-1941
Tallulah Bankhead originated the role on Broadway but Betty Davis secured the movie screen role and made the most of it as the shrewish wife of a noble but sickly, rich husband played perfectly by Herbert Marshall, one of my favourite actors. Davis has 2 brothers who are equally corrupt but can make it in the world because they are men while their sis is relegated to being a nice wife. Well, nice is the last word you would use for this character who should be considered one of the most evil for what she conjures up to make her wealthier than she already is. She will do anything to get ahead…anything. Bette was up for another Oscar but didn’t win and I think, maybe , she should have won. Love this film and it is a must see, in my humble opinion.
My sweet hubby often will draw a sun for me and he says that I am his sunshine. You can either say…awwwww or bleccch. For me, I melt and this brings out the romantic in me. There are many pieces of music that makes me swoon but I chose these 3 because I find them so ….what’s the word?? Yes, romantic:) I'm joining in with the Monday Music Challenge.
1. SOMEWHERE IN TIME BY JOHN BARRY-1980
I must have been one of the few people who went to see this film in the theatre because I had a major crush on Christopher Reeve. I fell in love with this movie because of the fantasy of it and the music really moves this plot along. It just wouldn’t be the same without this great theme.
2. THE KISS FROM LAST OF THE MOHICANS BY TREVOR JONES-1992
I saw this film in the theatre as well because, yes, I had a crush on Daniel-Day Lewis and he didn’t disappoint. This is a great soundtrack and should have been nominated for an Oscar but Trevor couldn’t finish the who project so Randy Edelman completed it. Since someone came n to fine tune it, it was disqualified. To me, this is an Oscar winner and just makes me feel all gooey inside.
3. HYMN FOR THE HEARTLAND BY JAMES GALWAY AND PHIL COULTER-1998
James Galway is a world renowned flutist who has established himself as one of the best in the world. With Phil, he created a CD, which I must get, which is all about the immigrant Irish who came to the States. It’s just so beautiful and dreamlike. I love it.
Which songs or musical pieces makes your heart go pitter patter?
