My Turn as a Blonde

I have been busy, I love my blog, but I've had so many things to do this summer and it's been difficult to do everything I want to do. I always have so many things I want to accomplish in the day but my mind is making plans for 10 people, I over plan myself every day.

I had the pleasure of working with Thomas P. Woodward (http://tpwstudios.co/) again at the beginning of the month. I had my first shoot with him in April of this year and posted about it in my post "A Day in the Life"

I love modeling and acting since it gives me the privilege to step outside of myself. In my latest shoot with Thomas P. Woodward we decided to go with a Marilyn Monroe, blonde bombshell theme.

My Mommom's gold dress got a chance to be showcased at this photoshoot. It's one of my favorite 50s dresses

I am looking forward to the photo shoot we have planned for this week. To see more photos from this photo shoot visit my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/obf0908

Movie Spotlight: Pleasantville

Have you ever wished you could beam yourself into a T.V. family? I did this a lot when I was little, I watched a lot of T.V. especially classic shows. My all time favorites were The Munsters and The Golden Girls, I always wanted to live with The Munsters since they were such an awesome family, everyone thought they were so weird but they were so loving.

Part of the reason I love the movie "Pleasantville" so much is the main characters actually get beamed into a T.V. family.

"Pleasantville" came out in 1998, my parents got it when it came out on VHS. I watched it and instantly fell in love with it, I notice new things every time I watch it and I understand it a lot more now than I did when I was eight years old. 

I'm sure that "Pleasantville" helped to spark my love for vintage, I really wanted a lot of the clothes in the movie. 

 Reese Witherspoon's character complains about wearing her 1950s bra, she said "I could, like, kill a guy with these things." Personally, I love the "bullet" bra look. 

 The mother, Betty, wears a lot of smart suits in the movie. I would love to raid her closet.

Look at those fantastic glasses

I could watch Pleasantville over and over again and not get tired of it. The movie is visually stunning and the plot is very thought provoking. People often think of the 50s as a perfect decade but it wasn't the paradise people make it out to be when they get an attack of nostalgia. 

So, what are your thoughts on Pleasantville?

In Memory of Peter Sellers

Peter Sellers died 34 years ago today. Actors and musicians make up my role models but I have never empathized with any of those people more than I have with Peter Sellers.

People are too quick to speak badly about Peter Sellers but forget that he was a very hurt man. While he reportedly did not like the documentary "Will the Real Mr. Sellers Pease Stand Up" I think it's very revealing. Although I can see why he didn't want anyone to see it since he was a very private person and the documentary is so raw.

One of my favorite parts is when he showcases his drumming skills. 

I am astounded by the amount of talent the man had. He was a drummer that was known as "Britain's answer to Gene Krupa", he was extremely interested in photography and was of course one of the greatest actors of all time. 

I wanted to have a little movie marathon to remember Peter Sellers and since it's hard for me to pick just one favorite here is what I have planned in no particular order. 

1) The Party

My absolute favorite scenes are the birdie num num scene and the scene where Hrundi V. Bakshi takes his first drink and proceeds to hop up and down on a bed. 

2) The Magic Christian

This is a wonderful movie to watch on father's day.

3)Being There

I wrote a post a couple of months ago about Being There (http://obf0908.blogspot.com/2014/05/movie-spotlight-being-there.html)

4) His episode of The Muppets

I know this isn't a movie but he was wonderful on The Muppet Show

5)Dr. Strangelove

I did not make this .gif file and take no credit for it.

Now, I'm off to watch and remember the great Peter Sellers. 

Night Time Glamour

Lisa Douglas from "Green Acres" is mostly to blame for my love of glamorous sleep wear. I first saw the show when I was little and I fell in love with Eva Gabor's wardrobe. Those of you that have been reading this blog or awhile know that I love to get dressed up. You should never forget the power your outfit can have on your attitude.

Having fun with your outfits doesn't have to end at night. I have a small collection of vintage nightgowns, not nearly as lovely as Mrs. Douglas but I have some 60s baby doll nighties and peignoirs.

 Isn't this a fun print? The fabric looks so floaty and comfortable. One of my dreams is to have a night gown/pajama collection to rival Lisa Douglas.

This robe exudes glamour. 

This photo came from a 70s issue of Life magazine and the pajamas remind me of something a genie would wear. These would be lovely for the summertime.  

The feathers at the bottom make the night gown. Wouldn't it be lovely to lounge in this in the evening? It exudes the glamour of old Hollywood. 

Photo by JLS Photography

This is one of my favorite nightgowns and peignoirs. It always makes me feel so glamorous, I just wish I had a pair of marabou slippers to match. 

So, how many of you enjoy slipping in to something glamourous in the evening?

The Hunt for Vinyl

This week the music post isn't about a certain band or artist but it's still music related. Lately almost every conversation I have has turned to a discussion about vinyl. Most of the time it's just me complaining that I can't find Bobby Darin records in the record shops or thrift stores and every time I am asked why I don't order them online. The main reason is I'm impatient when it comes to waiting but I really enjoy going to the record shop.

I didn't grow up with records. I grew up looking through my parent's record collection and listening to their curated music collection. I thought the records were neat, the large artful covers, the heft of the record and the ritual of putting it on the turntable and dropping the needle. I grew up with CDs and cassettes. I knew how much fun going to a music store to buy an album was and it's something I miss. It's always interesting to talk to other people about music, I've had a lot of interesting conversations in record stores.

Part of me loves digital media, I love my iPod like it was my child, but I miss that shopping experience of digging through the albums to find what you were looking for and chatting about music with the other customers and clerks. What I don't miss is carrying loads of CDs to play on my walkman whenever I wanted to go somewhere.

Record shops are a rarity now. When I was a child and in my early teenage years there were lots of places to by CDs and slowly they began disappearing. Most of the time new business don't move in and the building is abandoned.

                                                                          Some of my records.

Thankfully it's still possible to have a great record shopping experience. In New Jersey (where I'm from) there are two great places that spring to mind, the Princeton Record Exchange in Princeton, NJ (surprise) and the chain of Tunes stores.

The Princeton Record Exchange (http://www.prex.com/) has a huge selection of top quality records and I owe most of my collection to them. They have the biggest vinyl selection, to my knowledge, in the state of New Jersey. There is a huge dollar section with quality records (not junk) and harder to find albums at reasonable prices.

Tunes ( http://www.tunesonline.net/) is a chain that has 6 locations, including 1 in Maryland. Like the Princeton Record Exchange they have a dollar section and reasonably priced harder to find titles

Of course there are always thrift shops, my local Goodwill is always packed with records, but I find that some thrift shops store records in a way that makes it difficult to look through them.

A small collection of my collection. Some of them have the Princeton Record Exchange sticker on them.

So, how many of you prefer purchasing your records from a record shop instead of ordering online?

The Comedy of Rik Mayall

Today I learned of the death of Rik Mayall, a genius of comedy. One of my friends is mourning one of her heroes and I empathize with her, comedy actors have gotten me through a lot of things in my life especially dark things and I will always consider them heroes.

I started watching "The Young Ones" way after it was aired and my absolute favorite scene of the entire show was from the episode "Interesting" when Rick thought a tampon was a telescope with a mouse inside of it.

Here's the clip

I treasure comedians, they have helped me through some dark spots in my life, they've helped me even though I didn't know them. Laughter is important to make it through the day and it takes a truly talented person to make one laugh, I'm fortunate to have many heroes like that even though not all of them are still living. Fortunately, Rik Mayall left a huge body of work to be enjoined even though, sadly, he is no longer with us. I hope all of his fans pop in their favorite show or movie of his and enjoy his talent on this sad day. What is your favorite moment of Rik Mayall's career?

The Turtles: Tuesday Music Post

Everyone knows at least one song by the Turtles, if you don't at least know "Happy Together" than you probably live under a rock

The best part of this video is Mark Volman dancing with his french horn. 

The Turtles formed in 1965 and disbanded in 1970 although they still tour from time to time. They had a monster hit in 1967 with "Happy Together" and did not want to be tied to the bubblegum image so they released "Elenore" in 1968 to parody the song but it didn't really work. People loved the song and, for the most part, didn't get the joke. 

It may have been a joke, but it's a catchy joke. 

"Elenore" came from the album "The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands" where the band pretended to be 11 different groups with different musical styles.

The Turtles produced a lot of great tunes but one of my favorite things about them is they injected their humor into their work. One of the songs on "The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands" is titled "Food" and the lyrics are list of different foods and a recipe for pot brownies, so not only do you get a record with great tunes you get a recipe, what a value. When you watch videos of them performing you can obviously tell they're having a good time. 

"She'd Rather Be With Me"

Their last big hit was "You Showed Me", it's hauntingly beautiful. 

So, do you have a favorite Turtles tune or any Turtles trivia to share?