Thursday, January 30, 2014

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Farewell the Troubador


If one measure of the quality of a work of art, or at least the kinds of art meant for performance, is its flexibility, its openness to adaptation, then Pete Seeger was a great artist indeed.

Monday, January 27, 2014

No Cure Like Travel


The surprising joy of a cruise ship is that you can so easily find places to be on your own.  Get up early and it's just you and the ocean.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Chilly Scenes of Winter


When I was a child, my grandparents used to laugh about seeing crazy ladies down in Miami wearing fur jackets over their Catalina bathing suits...

Monday, January 13, 2014

An Auspicious Introduction


Bridget was at first surprised when Lady Fogminster insisted on holding the interview for the position of under-housekeeper in her boudoir.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Rooms Worth a View


Now that's a drawing room.

From the prologue to Bride of Frankenstein, it's a cozy retreat for Mary Shelley and her circle (including the divine Una O'Connor in her brief turn as a glorified dog-walker - the lesser-known of the film's two dual roles), and it probably has as much to do with any place the Shelleys actually lived in as it does to a Chinese tea house.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Monday, January 6, 2014

A Date That Will Live in Infamy


To paraphrase dear Mr. Yeats - "And what rough beast, its hour come round at last/Slouches towards Brentwood to be born"?

Sunday, January 5, 2014

In Case You Were Wondering...


...the recycling room down in the depths of our apartment building will confirm it:  Christmas is over.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Shameless Saturday Camp Explosion: Folly of the Blonde




One of the facts to be reckoned with is that taste tends to develop very unevenly. It's rare that the same person has good visual taste and good taste in people and taste in ideas.
- Susan Sontag, "Notes on Camp"

Marion Davies turned 116 earlier this week, so I thought it would be nice to showcase one of her later efforts today...