English Russia has great pictures of a "frozen traffic jam in Moscow." Smart people in Russia no doubt travel with blankets and other supplies any time they drive long distances during winter.
I haven't seen any other "performance by an actress in a supporting role," but it doesn't matter - sheshouldwin. And while The Departed is awfully darn goodgreat brilliant (and I've not seen Babel yet), the Academy could do worse than to give Little Miss Sunshine movie of the year.
For Sinatra fans, this is a really great segment from a PBS special of a few years back called American in the '40s. First is an interview with a woman who discusses what it was like to see Sinatra on stage back when he was "The Voice." I believe the filmmakers may actually have captured a hot flash, on film.
The amusing interview with her is followed by archival footage of Frankie (on top of the world, ma!) performing "Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)." Frank is actually performing with Harry James, and notTommy Dorsey, as is implied in the preceding interview.
Big band leader Harry James
In 1939, James "discovered" Sinatra, who at the time was working as a singing waiter at the Rustic Cabin in New Jersey. James hired him on the spot to be his big band's singer.
360-degree photographic panorama of the entire galaxy, from the viewpoint of our solar system. (via Wikipedia)
From Astronomy Picture of the Day comes this cool, animated GIF titled "The Milky Way Over Paranal." My father talks about how almost anywhere outside of large, metropolitan areas, one could look up and see the Milky Way every single, clear, cloudless night back in the '50s and '60s. Can you imagine?
"The Milky Way Over Paranal" Credit & Copyright: Stéphane Guisard
The explanation from the site:
It's not the sky that's falling. More accurately, the Earth is rising. The Earth's rotation gives a continually changing view to all Earth observers, including those measuring the universe at the Paranal Observatory. The observatory's four, massive 8.2 meter telescope units are situated on top of the 2,600 meter high mountain, Cerro Paranal, in the dry Atacama Desert in northern Chile.
Appropriately (at least to my way of thinking), here is the video for "Under the Milky Way" by The Church, from their 1988 album Starfish:
Near the epicenter of the 30's oil boom, Gladewater didn't feel the effects of the depression. Although Gregg County has produced more oil than any other county, the slump of the early eighties was felt severely. The downtown section of Gladewater was full of empty buildings with economic prospects dim. This is when Beth Bishop came up with the idea for the Antique Capital of East Texas. Now with approx. 200 dealers in 16 malls, Gladewater has a revitalized downtown with a weekend tranquility even during the week.
The Bumpus House, believed to have been built about the turn of the century. It was about a yard away from the railroad tracks.
the old Ice House
its old vending machines
first franchised motor bus line in Texas
The W. E. Nunnelee Bus Lines began passenger service from Tyler to Gladewater and Mt. Pleasant in March 1925. Later they added buses from Tyler to Henderson and Nacogdoches. Twenty-six vehicles were operated over the 205 miles. These included 7-passenger automobiles and 12-, 15-, 16-, and 19-passenger buses. Fare from Tyler to Gladewater was $1 with stops in Winona, Starrville and Friendship. The 30-mile run took an hour, over roads paved in 1919 and 1923. On Aug. 1, 1927, buses were placed under regulation of the Railroad Commission. This line had franchise No. 1; it was one of 247 companies running 865 public passenger vehicles on 20,348 miles of Texas roads. Many of these "buses" were autos built for private use. Others had "stretched" auto chassis seating 10 or more passengers. Several models had doors that opened along the side. Uncomfortable and hard to drive, they constantly needed new tires and repairs to brakes and valves. Breakdowns were frequent. Overhauls (often made by necessity by the roadside) were handled by mechanics lacking suitable tools. Although far different from the air-conditioned, safety-engineered buses of today, early buses showed the way to a new era in convenient transportation.
They just don't make 'em like this anymore. I guess kids today would get bored while watching something like Lady and the Tramp from 1955. It is a different kind of animated movie from today's, born of a completely separate time and sensibility. But surely kids (and grown-up kids) of any era would still fall prey to the lovely poignancy of "Bella Notte." When that possibility no longer exists, I want off of this planet.
the voice of Darling/Si/Am/Peg
Peggy Lee, who, along with Sinatra producer/arranger/songwriter Sonny Burke, created the songs for the film, later sued Disney for breach of contract claiming that she still retained rights to the transcripts. She was awarded $2.3m, but not without a legal battle which was settled in 1991. Of all the great songs they wrote for Lady and the Tramp, I'm rather partial to "The Siamese Cat Song," on which, thanks to early multi-tracking, Lee sang both parts.
This is one of those Disney scenes I clearly remember seeing for the first time (December 1971). I saw Lady and the Tramp, along with many other Disney cartoons, at the now closed Broadway Theater in my hometown, Galveston, Texas. It lives only in memory and this painting (found at Cinema Treasures):
sigh......
I later saw my first XXX rated movie there as well (irony), but I regress. Incidentally, Lady and the Tramp was the first Disney animated film released only on DVD (the last released on VHS was Bambi II). Even as a child this stirred me (there is something about that last verse, when the "Disney singers" repeat the chorus, that is like a time machine straight back to childhood):
I haven't seen any other "performance by an actress in a supporting role," but it doesn't matter - she should win. And while The Departed is awfully darn 
For Sinatra fans, this is a really great segment from a PBS special of a few years back called American in the '40s. First is an interview with a woman who discusses what it was like to see Sinatra on stage back when he was "The Voice." I believe the filmmakers may actually have captured a hot flash, on film. 
The amusing interview with her is followed by archival footage of Frankie (on top of the world, ma!) performing "Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)." Frank is actually performing with Harry James, and not Tommy Dorsey, as is implied in the preceding interview. 
360-degree photographic panorama of the entire galaxy, from the viewpoint of our solar system. (via Wikipedia)
Gladewater, Texas (13 miles W of Longview, 70 miles N of Nacogdoches, 115 miles E of Dallas ) history from TexasEscapes.com:
The Bumpus House, believed to have been built about the turn of the century. It was about a yard away from the railroad tracks.
The W. E. Nunnelee Bus Lines began passenger service from Tyler to Gladewater and Mt. Pleasant in March 1925. Later they added buses from Tyler to Henderson and Nacogdoches. Twenty-six vehicles were operated over the 205 miles. These included 7-passenger automobiles and 12-, 15-, 16-, and 19-passenger buses. Fare from Tyler to Gladewater was $1 with stops in Winona, Starrville and Friendship. The 30-mile run took an hour, over roads paved in 1919 and 1923. On Aug. 1, 1927, buses were placed under regulation of the Railroad Commission. This line had franchise No. 1; it was one of 247 companies running 865 public passenger vehicles on 20,348 miles of Texas roads. Many of these "buses" were autos built for private use. Others had "stretched" auto chassis seating 10 or more passengers. Several models had doors that opened along the side. Uncomfortable and hard to drive, they constantly needed new tires and repairs to brakes and valves. Breakdowns were frequent. Overhauls (often made by necessity by the roadside) were handled by mechanics lacking suitable tools. Although far different from the air-conditioned, safety-engineered buses of today, early buses showed the way to a new era in convenient transportation. 
They just don't make 'em like this anymore. I guess kids today would get bored while watching something like Lady and the Tramp from 1955. It is a different kind of animated movie from today's, born of a completely separate time and sensibility. But surely kids (and grown-up kids) of any era would still fall prey to the lovely poignancy of "Bella Notte." When that possibility no longer exists, I want off of this planet.
