Paul Gordon Emma at San Diego Old Globe Theatre and more…

I tend to tweet most of my minor updates these days, but here’s a roundup for the sake of completeness.  🙂

 

Emma comes to the Old Globe in San Diego.
Emma comes to the Old Globe in San Diego.

Paul Gordon’s Emma – A Musical Romantic Comedy is now running at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre!  The show – which has already enjoyed successful runs in the Bay Area, Cincinnati, and St. Louis – previewed earlier this month and officially premiers this weekend.  The run will continue through February 27 (with an extension to March 6).

Emma is directed by Jeff Calhoun and stars Patti Murin as the eponymous heroine and Adam Monley as Mr. Knightley.  For more…

In other Emma adaptation news, Romola Garai’s Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television did not result in a win.  Still, it was nice to see her nominated for her starring role in the 2009-2010 BBC Emma miniseries.

In non-adaptation Emma news, Maria Edgeworth’s presentation copy of Emma was sold last month at auction.  According to Sotheby’s auction house, it fetched 79,250 pounds sterling.  Edgeworth was a bit of a novelist idol of Austen’s and an acquaintance of the James Leigh Perrots, Jane Austen’s aunt and uncle.  You can learn about Edgeworth’s opinions on Emma in this roundup of period responses to the book.

Happy new year, everyone!

Music Collection: A Christmas Music Box

StrangeBeat Productions presents yet another holiday tunes compilation, just in time for Christmas!

A Christmas Music Box "cover" art
A Christmas Music Box “cover” art.

As of Christmas, 2018, this collection’s moved to the YOOTOOBZ! For information, visit this NEW, IMPROVED, UPDATED POST!

Continue reading “Music Collection: A Christmas Music Box”

Fashion Crap: Vintage beaded purses, anyone?

So nearly a year ago I promised to piggyback my antique jewelry post with a look at some of my spiffy vintage beaded purses.  Most of these purses came from my grandfather, the king of pawns and master of the Bay Area flea market.  It’s also possible that one or two of them belonged to my great-aunt Alice.

But FIRST, my awesome silk shawl from the 1920s.  This is the famous Shawlhead shawl, ifyouknowwhatImean.

Silk 1920s shawl.
Silk 1920s shawl.
Shawlhead
Shawlhead.
Shawlhead by Lani
Kali in 1920s silk shawl. Photo by Lani Teshima.

Okay.  So onto the purses.  First up is a cute, cream-colored purse with machine embroidery and white beading.  It has a sparkly clasp and metal chain, and looks to be from the 1960s.  There’s no maker or shop mark on the lining to identify it…

Continue reading “Fashion Crap: Vintage beaded purses, anyone?”

This is Haunted Halloween!

Collection CD art...
"This is Haunted Halloween" collection CD art...

A festive two hour collection of holiday tunes, debuting on October 1, 2010!  –

Disc One is packed with a selection of macabre party hits, from a new extended mix of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” to Sheb Wooley’s campy “The Purple People Eater.”  Disc Two follows with pieces reflecting the darker side of Halloween.  Here, spooky film themes, ghoulish classical favorites, and other grisly tunes mix it up with creepy sound effects perfect for a stormy night.

Produced by Jason Pittman and Kali Pappas, this collection offers new presentations of old classics alongside several fun surprises.  But beware — this is not your average Halloween mix tape.  Listen and share!  If you dare…

Available for download NOW:

Audio files:

– Disc 1 – 17 .mp3 files, tagged and labeled. (128kbps LAME MP3)

– Disc 2 – 14 .mp3 files, tagged and labeled. (128kbps LAME MP3)

Expanded notes on the collection and the various tracks:

Liner Notes.pdf

– Liner Notes.rtf (text only)

Artwork:

3 .psd files, complete with gutters and ready for conversion/printing (CYMK)

– 5 .jpg files, at screen resolution for viewing (RGB)

– 1 .jpg file, 800×800 pixels, for use as cover art in your preferred media player

LINKS:

http://tinyurl.com/hauntedhalloween

http://bit.ly/hauntedhalloween

Mirror:

http://tinyurl.com/strangebeat

http://bit.ly/strangebeat

Dead Man’s Party…

Almost time!

Mr. Ghost Goes to Town

“Behind every man now alive stand 30 ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living.”

~ Arthur C. Clarke

More to come!

Michael Gambon nominated for Emmy; Emma vampire mashup released

Sir Michael Gambon received a nod during last week’s Primetime Emmy nomination announcements for his portrayal of Mr. Woodhouse in the 2009 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma.

In other Emma news, a new Jane Austen horror mashup novel hit Kindles last week.  Emma and the Vampires, written by Wayne Josephson, takes another stab at the novel of manners-meets-horror movie literary genre.

Aisha opens to generally favorable reviews

Sonam Kapoor as Aisha
Sonam Kapoor as Aisha.

Aisha, starring Sonam Kapoor, opened this past weekend to fairly positive reviews and strong box office receipts.  Opinions on this film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma ran the gamut from “meh” to glowing.  Have you seen it?  What did you think?  Was it the Clueless rehash some people expected?  Does it matter?

Bits and bobs from around the net relating to Aisha‘s premier: