Monthly Archives: July 2011

Hands free driving......attention free it appears as well!

The Jetson’s have nothing on this!

I really love the visual appeal of this video. Disney’s artists deserve a round of applause. If this clip doesn’t get you excited then check your pulse.

All I can say is why isn’t this a reality!? Do we dream this big anymore?

Monsanto Chemical Companies "Home of the Future" at Disneyland (1957-1967)

This is for you Vic.

This home was an exhibit at Disneyland from 1957-1967. This house was made of 99.97% of artificial materials. It was cutting edge for its time. Plastics were a new thing and revolutionized and modified building materials that were available.

Ok, I have an excuse as to why I don’t have one of these….I wasn’t alive yet. For all of those of you who were alive during that time I want to know why you didn’t buy one of these!?

Here is a video I found on this marvelous house. I wish it was better quality but this is the best I could find.

Part 1

Part 2

Here are some pictures of the inside and some literature:

Click Images to Enlarge

The house's designers, Marvin Goody and Richard Hamilton.

Looks good even at night!

Soo retro!

Nice!

Oh! I want one sooooo bad!!!

Floor Plan

Railroad is a big part of my family. My father and grandfather were both railroad engineers. They both worked on the Rock Island railroad for years before the Rock Island went under. Railroad is what brought our family to California. My father was transferred here and worked for the Union Pacific for many years. My dad said growing up in Illinois and being Irish you had three career choices: priest, cop or railroad man.

Railroad is still a large part of this country and what makes it successful. Somehow the golden era of railroad travel has faded. I watch so many classic films where the main mode of travel was by train. It was the way to travel during that era and it was luxurious and mysterious. I know we are in such a hurry to get everywhere that we no longer have the patience for leisure travel. The following video shows what it use to be like.

Vista Dome Adventure

Here are some ads I found on-line

Click Images to Enlarge

Imagine the beauty of Canada flying by

So cool!

Observation deck

Look at the view!!!

A view like that has to be good for digestion!

See, even cowboys rode on these trains!

Very cool

wow!

Ok, I go to S.F. all the time and would ride this in a hart beat!

classic

Thinking….why did we bring the kids!!

Connecting families

Leg room for days!Look how swanky all the fixtures are

Everyone dressed nicer then

My pop’s worked on this railroad!

I bet sleeping on this train was a treat

Cool styling

I am people!

Melody and I love lamps. We have all kinds but we have not had the opportunity to get our hands on a Majestic lamp like the ones below. If you are not familiar with them they have a very unique design. The whole lamp is a piece of art from the main body to the shades.

History:
In the early 1950′s the Majestic Lamp and Radio Company was reduced to making only their profitable lamps. These beautiful lamps were manufactured sold and marketed under the Majestic Lamp company name until 1963 when the company was sold to Westinghouse. Clifford Westinghouse made the lamps much more cheaply, with the thought that if he could get a Majestic Westinghouse Lamp into every house of America, then he would make millions on the replacement light bulbs.

Here are some picture of a few lamps we would like to have in our collection!

Click Images to Enlarge

"Z" Lamp

"Z" Lamp

Source:

Pictures are from Marfa Lights & Lamps

This is a tribute to film noir (The Endless Night: A Valentine to Film Noir). Please notice the use of shadow and the gritty style of the film.

There are certain kinds of classic movies I like. I enjoy the 40′s and 50′s crime stories. The suspense created and the bad attitudes of the characters is what appeals to me. I was not aware that a lot of films I was enjoying are known as film noir (French term meaning “black film”). Below you will find a better explanation of what that term means:

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood’s classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression.

Here are a few films that I enjoyed that are a part of this school of film…

“Out of the Past”

(Jane Greer’s first flick)

“Double Indemnity”

(I love Fred MacMurray in this)

“The Killing”

Do yourself a favor and find sometime to see one of these great movies.