Port Arthur, Texas

Bolivar Lighthouse
Rode the 2.7 mile, 18 minute ferry ride from Galveston to Port Bolivar, destination: Port Arthur. Why? I wasn't exactly sure. All I knew was that I needed to take some pictures.....

Arghhh, crayons!
I don't think this little girl went to school there. No, she went to school in Port Arthur.

I was looking for Proctor Street. Here's what it looked like back in the 1920s:

familyoldphotos.com
It doesn't look like that anymore. Surprise! Here are some places just on the outskirts of the old Proctor, downtown area:

There are houses like this on Galveston.
I liked this because of the tacky mural and the cool, Yellow Submarine-esque 7-UP sign.


This building, circa 1929, was on its last leg:

And there it was. Empty as a pocket with nothing to lose.
It was like my experience in Timpson, writ large.


According to this plaque from 2002:Frank Trost was the photographer of record on the day the Lucas Gusher erupted in the Spindletop Oil Field. On January 10, 1901, Trost was notified of the events at Spindletop, just south of Beaumont. With his unwieldy camera equipment in tow, he mangaged to take at least one photograph of the gushing oil before sundown.



Hotel Sabine
Across the street from Hotel Sabine:
This is the back of the World Trade Building (must have been heady times). Here's the other side (yes, it's the same building):


Onward, down Proctor:
The Port Arthur Savings Building, complete with a piano to the front of the entrance

Keyhole Klub - where you walked in swingin'

Looking back from where I'd come while in front of Keyhole Klub. The Hotel Sabine is the large building in the distance on the right, the World Trade Building on the left. Not a soul around. I felt like I was on one of those Star Trek sets where the story took place on some post-apocalyptic, earth-like planet (say, like "Miri").
Coca-Cola - _______ and Refreshing




The 1916 Federal Post Office Building
Greyhound Bus station - you'd wait a long time for a bus.

Conveniently located a mere two blocks away from the World Trade Building:
And within easy walking distance of:

The lion's den

So, it's the old "if I can't see you, you can't see me" trick then, is it?Shhhhhh....I think it's coming out...Caspar is one of those rare cats who will actually play with any toy you buy for him (as opposed to those cats for who you buy "expensive" toys, and they only want to play with crumpled up aluminum foil or your shoes or houseplants, or any other regular household items). Yet, that in no way changes the fact that he is a bastard (as in, "You people are BASTARD people!").

"Get Me to the Church On Time"

Gasp...It's Frank Sinatra!!From a previous post:

On June 20, 1965, Frank Sinatra organized a "summit meeting" of the Rat Pack in St. Louis as a benefit for Dismas House of St. Louis, the first halfway house for ex-convicts. The evening was televised via closed-circuit to select locations, where ticket buyers watched the live performance on screen. The 90-minute version telecast on Nick at Night's TV Land in 1998 was part of The Museum of Television & Radio Showcase series. The concert was retitled Frank, Dean & Sammy: An Evening with the Rat Pack for the Nick at Nite broadcast.
Johnny filled in for Joey Bishop
Here's Frank's opening song from that performance, "Get Me to the Church On Time." Despite forgetting the words, he's swingin' hard (love it!). Like any great performer/artist, he made it look so easy and effortless.

Throwing nightmare fuel on the fire

Image "found" at Deaf Indie Elephants
If you're like I am, you were intrigued a few years ago to hear about how when The Wizard of Oz and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon are properly synced, an odd, even unsettling, series of coincidental moments occur. And if you are like me, you were ultimately not intrigued enough to actually attempt to do it yourself. Well, finally someone has done it for you (and me). Here's the whole thing in all its creepy splendor (offically called the "Dark Side of the Rainbow"):


It's not as if The Wizard of Oz isn't disturbing enough as it is...
shiver....

Via Transbuddha

Jedi duel in real time

Imagine seeing this shot in the trailer for Return of the Jedi back in 1983! What did it mean? Was Luke going to be on Vader's side? Had Luke given in to the dark side?

Continuing what I started with my "Empire duel in real time" and "Duel of fates in real time" posts, here is the final showdown between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader from 1983's Return of the Jedi.


Other than to discover the fate of Han Solo, this is what moviegoers were interested in seeing when the movie premiered. Unfortunately, George Lucas also felt his fans would enjoy seeing Ewoks. Silly man. I've taken the liberty of removing that problem.


Two thoughts about this sequence: First, it dawned on me that when Luke finally overpowers and begins to beat Vader down, ultimately severing the same hand Vader sliced off of him in The Empire Strikes Back, he and Vader are in the same basic positions on the screen (Vader to the left, Luke to the right) they were in Empire, only in Jedi, they are moving from right to left (as opposed to moving left to right as in Empire).





Remembering the lesson of the cave


Secondly, the beginning of Revenge of the Sith (when Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin defeat Count Dooku) felt very much like this scene from Jedi. It even looked like it, thus giving Star Wars fans a sense of false hope about the rest of the last prequel...

Not directly related to the duel, but a great scene nonetheless, here is the end of one of the all time great movie "villains":