John came home with a big box of records yesterday. As I mentioned last year, early January is a terrific time to shop at thrift stores. He found some pretty amazing stuff, including Ray Charles, B.B. King, Kinks, and Beatles albums, but his biggest score in my opinion was this Stereo Demonstration Record.
I love colored vinyl. mmm-mmm! So pretty. Plus the album artwork is very cool and the actual sound recording is mesmerizing. It would make a pretty great sample source for a DJ. It features Jack Wagner who was the official park announcer for Disneyland until 1993. You still hear his voice on most of the rides reminding you to stay seated until the ride has come to a complete stop, etc. You can listen to the full album here.
Almost just as cool is the artwork on this inner sleeve:
It's lucky I don't have kids. I'm afraid I would spend way too much money on toys that they wouldn't be allowed to play with. Children's toys should be simple, colorful and safe. And if you have to pay $100 for a set of blocks in order to fulfill those standards, so be it.
I've wanted to write about Mary Blair for awhile. She is one of my absolute favorites and because I'm such a big admirer, the subject is a little intimidating. I get excited and don't know where to begin. So I'll try starting at the beginning.
In this post, I'll share Mary Blair's beginnings through the mid-40's, following her trip to South America. Mary Blair dominated the design of Disney animation studios and branded the look of most of the signature animated films from the late 40's through the early 50's including Cinderella, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. She is also responsible for the "It's a Small World" ride, the mural art in the Tomorrowland Promenade (which has since been covered), and the ninety-foot mural at Disney's Contemporary Resort hotel at Walt Disney World.
Beyond animation, theme parks and architectural decor, she was a brilliant artist and her work in advertising and children's illustration could stand alone.
Mary Blair was born in 1911 and lived most of her life in California. She graduated from the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles in 1933 (other alumni include: Edith Head, Chuck Jones, Bob Mackie. It's now known as CalArts), and in 1934, she married another artist, Lee Everett Blair, brother of animator Preston Blair. They both had shows in private galleries, but the economic climate at the time made a steady job a necessity. In 1938, Mary went on a six week painting tour of Mexico, and Lee was hired to Disney studios as director of the color for Pinocchio. When she returned from Mexico, she worked briefly in the animation department at MGM studios, and in 1940 she joined the creative team at Disney.
In 1941, Walt Disney, his wife, and a handpicked group of artists and writers, including Lee and Mary, went on a the a two-month tour of South America as part of F.D.R.'s Good Neighbor" policy. The visual and cultural lore of Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru, inspired "Saludos Amigos" and "The Three Caballeros," as well as Mary Blair's work for years to come.
Mary Blair was affected by the South American experience more than she ever put into words. In her paintings, she went inside herself to find how it felt, rather than how it looked. To paraphrase Kandinsky, she took ten looks at the canvas, one at the palette, and half a look at nature. Mary Blair's South American art detonated rather than evolved. Suddenly, there it was -- spectacularly rich and special, full of gaiety and color, and a delight to Walt Disney's eye. - from The Art and Flair of Mary Blair by John Canemaker
Saludos Amigos (1943)
The Three Caballeros (1945)
Greeting Cards (1940's)
Fellow fans - I'm going by memory on a lot of this information, so please correct me if you see mistakes. Also, apologies for my sloppiness in crediting the photos. I've been gathering photos from ebay, animation sites, and flickr for years now, and I'm not sure exactly where I got the majority of them. If you feel I'm using one of your photos - please let me know and I will be sure to credit you.
I do, however, know that the following people have amazing collections:
The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights is a display of christmas lights and decorations at Disney World (not Land). It started in 1986 as a 1,000 light display on an Arkansas house - a gift from a Little Rock businessman to his six-year-old daughter. Each year it got bigger and bigger (he even bought the properties on either side of him to expand). By 1993, the house had over 3 million lights. The neighbors complained and he was taken to court. In 1995, Walt Disney World project director John Phelan contacted Osborne's attorney about moving the display to the Orlando resort.
Initially the display was just the original lights from the Osborne estate, but in the past 12 years, over five million lights have been added. Disney caretakers have also added hidden Mickeys into the lights. The 2007 edition of the display has more than 40 of them.
I vaguely remember going to see this house as a kid while visiting my grandma in Little Rock. More here.
If I owned a home, I'm pretty sure I might go ape shit crazy decorating with lights and blow-up figurines. I love the idea of a nativity scene under a North Pole sign with a waving Santa overlooking the 3 wise men and like a I dunno, blow up Calvin and Hobbs peeing over the whole thing.
Do you know Pickwick Records? It's too much to condense in one posting. And not really interesting enough to do so either. I don't really know a whole lot. But lemme try...
They were an American record label, and they mainly made their money from re-issues of Elvis an Jackson 5 recordings.
Mostly it's exciting because Lou Reed did some session work on some of their recordings in the mid-60's.
But these are also exciting:
I'm back! Well, I've been back, but been hibernating - making Christmas cookies and embroidering my name on my stocking and stuff.
Disneyland was unbelievably fantastic. I mean, I thought I would have a really good time, but I had no idea what an incredible all around experience it would be. The saturated colors, the attention to detail, the spare-no-expense-over-the-top extremity, the nostalgia factor (even as a first timer), the escapism...it was amazing.
Every memory I have of my time spent there is warm and bright and sparkling and totally carefree. Which is exactly how it's supposed to be, I know, but when you think about going to magic mountain or six flags or the state fair or something - those places are fun and there's all kinds of great imagery and smells and thrills that go along with it - but you don't leave feeling like you just experienced something (...get ready, I'm gonna say it...)magical.
I could have stayed a full week.
The Pirates of the Caribbean was definitely my favorite. I rode it, 3 or 4 times. With Splash Mountain an easy second. And of course I was thrilled to ride "It's a Small World" my nerdy Mary Blair fondness spilling over.
I have to be brief tonight. My internet is down, so I'm at a coffee shop with my friend. She's just announced that she's getting married, so I should give my undivided attention to stories revolving around that. Plus, apparently I'm to blame for introducing her fiance to the wonderful world of youtube, where he saw a video that has convinced him that he was abducted by aliens as a child and implanted with a monitoring device. Also, something about reptoids(?) I'm highly amused, and must find these influential videos. hee hee...
Friends and Family: see flickr for more photos. (But, unfortunately, probably not 'til tomorrow.)
Which sucks for me, because I have to work 12 hours tomorrow. Standing, talking and smiling. With a jumbo travel mug of of Dad's super potent Folgers I suppose!
I'm at my Dad's house. And I'm completely overstimulated from hanging out with my brother for the last six hours or so. He knows how to talk. We all do - it runs in the family - but he wins hands down.
Topics included:
Politics
Religion
Science
Pop Culture
Relationships
Exercise
Eating Habits
History
Our Social / Economic Status
Housekeeping - Tools and Tricks of the Trade
Conspiracy theory
The gun shots we heard
Dufar
Jujitsu
Bouncers at Clubs
Being Bullied
Why expensive laundry detergent is worth the extra $2
The Chocolate Rain Guy
The Family Guy
The half marathon he's racing next week
Flickr vs. Photobucket
The cheap cat food our mom bought growing up causing hairballs
National Gold Bank Notes
Why he broke up with his last girlfriend and advice on what never to say to a guy
How I should probably wait tables to get out of debt
This great waiter he had at Chili's recently
Never call cubed steak "steak" - It means you've seriously lowered your standards - or worse, never knew any better in the first place.
I haven't stopped growing, it only feels that way, and it'll get better. (thanks.)
Red Bull and Vodka: if he drank alcohol - that'd be his drink (gross.)
He really wants to see the new Cohen Brothers movie.
He can't believe I haven't seen 300.
Christian Bale - losing and gaining weight / muscle for films.
Really skinny people being as disturbing to look at as really fat people.
Annnd...More jujitsu
Oh there's more, but a written list is not nearly as entertaining as in person. You really gotta have the whole experience of slowly putting on your pajamas, brushing your teeth, setting your alarm, and getting into bed for the first half hour. And then laying in bed listening to him as he glides along on Dad's Gazelle for the next four and a half.
I greedily want every single piece (minus the oversized heart purse) from Erin Fetherston's new collaboration with Target. Luckily I'm certain most everything will be laughably too short on me. Still like to dream though...
I should try to sleep again. My dad and stepmom will be up in an hour.
In 1955 Disneyland teamed up with Howard Hughes to introduce the "TWA Moonliner", where tourists could experience what a day trip to the Moon would be like. It was the centerpiece of Tomorrowland into the 1970s. For awhile, the trip was even a regularly scheduled TWA flight. It was eighty feet tall - eight feet taller than Sleeping Beauty's castle.
As part of the promotion, Hughes also built the TWA Moonliner II, a 35-foot version of the Disneyland rocket. In 1956, the replica was mounted onto the roof of TWA's new downtown Kansas City office at 18th Street and Baltimore.
But Hughes and Disney ended their partnership, rendering the Moonliner obsolete. The original was destroyed -but, in Kansas City, TWA took the smaller version off its roof and sold it to a travel-trailer company called SpaceCraft.
Thirty years later, a lawyer from Columbia who collects Disney memorabilia bought the rusting rocket and began restoring it.
Two months ago the old TWA Building renovation was completed, which includes an exact replica of the Moonliner II.
John came home with a big box of records yesterday. As I mentioned last year, early January is a terrific time to shop at thrift stores. He found some pretty amazing stuff, including Ray Charles, B.B. King, Kinks, and Beatles albums, but his biggest score in my opinion was this Stereo Demonstration Record.
I love colored vinyl. mmm-mmm! So pretty. Plus the album artwork is very cool and the actual sound recording is mesmerizing. It would make a pretty great sample source for a DJ. It features Jack Wagner who was the official park announcer for Disneyland until 1993. You still hear his voice on most of the rides reminding you to stay seated until the ride has come to a complete stop, etc. You can listen to the full album here.
