History | StrangeBlog

November 22, 2010January 4, 2012

Fashion Crap: And I do mean CRAP – recent costumes…

October was kind of a sewing nightmare. I really, really hate sewing. Like, I’d rather stab myself with a rake than have to deal with the cutting, the pinning, the seamripping, the rumpled fabric (right, I don’t even OWN an iron)…yeah, can’t stand it.

Well, since none of my beautiful Regency wardrobe fits (still), I had to pull together an 1814-ish evening gown out of my trusty-dusty purple silk sari (not a very period color, I know) for the Bay Area English Regency Society’s Congress of Vienna Ball. I had a role – Princess Bagration, the White Pussycat and Naked Angel – so I needed something that looked lush. At any rate, the job’s not TOO bad for a rush. I didn’t have time nor a proper pattern to make period stays, so the silhouette’s not the best. Oh well.

For Halloween, I made myself a Patrick Nagel “Rio” outfit, perfect for “dancing on the sand.” This image was apparently the alternate cover image considered for Duran Duran’s legendary sophomore album.

More images in my photo album.

January 22, 2010January 3, 2012

San Francisco’s Market Street, then and now…

Compare this footage taken from a Market Street cable car just days before the 1906 earthquake with a similar perspective from 2005!

From Flixxy:

This film, originally thought to be from 1905 until David Kiehn with the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum figured out exactly when it was shot. From New York trade papers announcing the film showing to the wet streets from recent heavy rainfall & shadows indicating time of year & actual weather and conditions on historical record, even when the cars were registered (he even knows who owned them and when the plates were issued!). It was filmed only four days before the quake and shipped by train to NY for processing. Amazing but true!

So much is different, yet it’s amazing to think how much the area hasn’t really changed. There aren’t cable cars on Market anymore (unless you count the Powell turnaround), but Muni still operates vintage streetcars! There is the Ferry Building, too, still acting as the beacon at land’s end. And the modern bike rider who waves his cap at the photographer evokes some of the ebullience of the earlier footage. Amazing how a simple, timeless gesture can echo the mannerisms of ages past.

November 3, 2009January 4, 2012

Austen Pilgrimage to England, 1997

4 Sydney Place in Bath, one of Jane Austen’s residences.

Chapel at Sudeley Castle, AKA Emma 3’s Donwell Abbey.

Chatsworth: Elizabeth and the Gardiners visit here in Pride and Prejudice (the novel).

Jane Austen's Grave at Winchester Cathedral — Jane Austen’s Grave at Winchester Cathedral.

The Cobb at Lyme Regis: Granny's Teeth (Persuasion 1995) — The Cobb at Lyme Regis: Granny’s Teeth (Persuasion 1995).

Lyme Hall in Cheshire, AKA Pemberley (P&P2, 1995-96).

Mompesson House: Mrs. Jennings’ town house in Sense & Sensibility (1995).

Queen's Garden at Sudeley Castle — Queen’s Garden at Sudeley Castle.

Sudeley Castle, Donwell Abbey in Emma 3.

Sudeley Castle, Donwell Abbey in Emma 3.

Friends at Chawton Cottage, Jane Austen’s home.

Wilton House, Sense & Sensibility (1995) filming location.

July 22, 2009November 20, 2012

Bustles at the Beach…

June 21, 2009January 3, 2012

Clair de Lune…

This animation sequence was released as the “Blue Bayou” segment in Walt Disney’s Make Mine Music (1946), one of several Walt Disney “composite” releases of the mid-late 1940s. Originally, however, it was created to accompany Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune as an additional segment for Fantasia. Initially, Mr. Disney had intended Fantasia to be a fluid, changing concept, to which new pieces would be added with each re-release. For a number of reasons (the 1941 animators’ strike, WW2,…), that concept didn’t pan out (at least, not until Fantasia 2000…kind of). In 1998, the original version of Clair de Lune was restored and screened at the London Film Festival.

June 19, 2009January 4, 2012

More Corona Park Pictures

June 17, 2009January 4, 2012

Kali does Corona Park…

I’m a huge, huge, huge 1964-65 New York World’s Fair fan. And on May 23, I finally got to visit the Mecca of NYWF fandom – CORONA PARK at Flushing Meadows in Queens! My good-natured friend Dasha accompanied me. In fact, she assisted me greatly by taking a few photos (See a galleryful of my Corona Park images here).

Here are a few pics of the Unisphere, the fair’s official symbol and the embodiment of the fair’s aim: Peace through [global] understanding.

“It will remain as a permanent reminder of man’s aspirations for peace through understanding, and a symbol of his achievements in an expanding universe. Unisphere is truly the miracle in the meadow.”

~ US Steel Ad

This 900,000 pound stainless steel structure was designed by Gilmore Clark and engineered/constructed by United States Steel’s American Bridge Division.