Arts & Culture

Speaking of empty chairs......

If you're a political junkie, like me, then you were likely riveted to your seat last night watching the Republican National Convention.   I thought the video clip nicely done and the speech by Florida Senator Marco Rubio quite moving and politically astute. It would appeal to the large Cuban American population in Florida (which is rich in electoral college votes) and likely reach out to the huge Hispanic vote.

 

As the child of hard working immigrants, who came to Canada in the 1950s, his story also resonated emotionally with me. My parents came from rural poverty in Macedonia Greece to Canada - worked hard in restaurants and factories - saved and sacrificed to buy a home and to send all three of their children to university and to make a better life for themselves and us.  In my first full time job I made more money than both my parents combined that year.  Rubio spoke not just about the American dream for a better life but tapped into the broader immigrant dream and experience.

 

But, it was Clint Eastwood's odd monologue / comic routine / performance piece that was the most memorable part of the evening (I went to bed after 20 minutes of Mitt Romney's speech).  He had a conversation with an empty chair pretending it was Obama ...and it made me wonder did someone vet this speech?  He's been pilloried in the press since then and the Obama camp's tweet "this seat's taken" shows their strong ability to use social media to their advantage.

 

But it got me thinking about chairs :

 

                  

 

            

 

 

And if you're interested in more specialized chairs :

         

 

And for those of you who are more practical and handy :

         

 And for those of you not too familiar with Twitter here's the tweet :

 

 

I listen to the wind that obliterates my traces music in vernacular photographs, 1880-1955

 

 

I collect vintage photographs so imagine my excitement when I saw the book I listen to the wind that obliterates my traces : music in vernacular photographs, 1880-1955.  Not everyone understands the desire to own photos of other folk's ancestors.  Author Steve Roden clearly knows this pleasure.  He has combined the 150 snapshots, tintypes, cabinet cards, RPPC real photo postcards with a two CD compilation of 51 deeply moving older gospel and blues songs. Listening to his musical choices I'm reminded of the blog post I did on Blind Willie Johnson.  All the photographs and recordings in the book are from Roden's personal collection. 

 

It's a book designed to give pleasure to a variety of senses - the eye, the ear and the hand. It's a beautifully tactile object - the covers are thick cardboard - the size is easy to handle and a bit unusual at 6.5 x 8.5 inches - it has a nice heft without being heavy.  To quote the publisher Dust to Digital: our mission is to produce high-quality, cultural artifacts, which combine rare, essential recordings with historic images and detailed texts describing the artists and their works.

 

Looking at this book you get a strong sense of Roden's inspirational vision.  The joy of being in the Internet age is you're no longer limited to his book. If you want to know more about him you can see his webpage and also his blog.  You can read other blogger's comments about the book and with the Amazon peek inside the book to see more photos. His work as a musician is strongly linked to his work as an artist. 

 

 

 

My only regret is that while the music on the CDs is listed in detail there is no similar description of the photographs to give any background about them.  While they stimulate you visually and even give a sense of wonder as to the sitters and their journey to Roden's collection there is no context or scholarly examination.   

 

 

 

Above is an image from my personal collection - quite damaged yet all the more charming for that - circa 1920s -  American .. bought in Clarence just outside Buffalo New York in 2008.  Enjoy.

Gene Kelly - Singin' in the Rain

August 23, 2012, is Gene Kelly's one hundredth birthday, and this year is the 60th anniversary of 'Singin' in the Rain'. Let's celebrate this brilliant dancer and his best-loved film!

 

 

Back in the dark ages of the mid 1970’s, when I was a library school student in Toronto, I was a huge fan of Hollywood musicals. The sets, the costumes, the music, and the dancing! What a wonderful escape! I'd watch them on TV, or in theatres if they ever showed them. How fantastic it would be to be able to sing and dance like that.

At that time, the Ontario Film Institute was located at the Ontario Science Centre. Under the leadership of Gerald Pratley, they would have regular film screenings in the lovely auditorium, and I often went, even though it was a bit of a trek from home.

In August 1975, they ran “Fred and Ginger”, a wonderful series of 15 musical films, and I think I went to just about every show. They weren’t all just starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, of course, but also many  other wonderful musical stars, including Gene Kelly.

Seeing all those movies up on the big screen, night after night, was absolutely heavenly!

Of course, this just fed into my fantasy of being a musical star! And so, of course, I decided to take tap dance lessons. At the tender age of twenty-something!

Never for a minute did I imagine that I would get past much more than ‘shuffle off to Buffalo’.

 

But somehow, taking the lessons and watching my teachers, hearing the great broadway and movie music that we tried to dance to, connected me to the magical world of singing and dancing that I was so in love with.

Now, I do feel I'm being a bit disloyal to Fred Astaire. I loved his dancing as much as Gene Kelly’s, even though they were so different. But since it’s Gene’s birthday I’m celebrating him today. Fred’s turn will come.

I always wished that they’d danced together more, but the only time was in a number called 'The Babbitt and the Bromide', in the 1946 film, 'Ziegfeld Follies'.

 

 

'Singin in the Rain' was made by MGM studios in 1952. Sixty years later, it’s still fresh and entertaining as ever. The movie is set during the 1920’s when silent films were being replaced by talking pictures, and the leading actors and actresses of the silent era had to either keep up with the trend or be forgotten.

The idea for the film came from Arthur Freed, the head of the unit that produced a host of musical films, including another Gene Kelly hit, An American in Paris, which won a Best Picture Academy award.

Why has 'Singin’ in the Rain' become one of the top regarded and best-loved musical films of all time? Take a look at the most famous scene and see for yourself.

 

Little known fact: Gene Kelly was fighting a bad bout of the flu, and had a high fever while filming this scene.

Here’s 'Good Mornin', another number from the movie that shows Gene working so well with his co-stars, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds.

 

Little known fact: Debbie Reynolds felt that her dancing wasn’t up to Gene’s standards, and Fred Astaire gave her some coaching to help her out.

Cyd Charisse, who was a classically trained dancer, was chosen to be Gene’s partner in ‘Broadway Melody’, the very innovative and exciting  modern dance sequence.

  

 

The movie has everything – comedy, drama,  romance, vaudeville slapstick, wonderful songs from Broadway shows of the 1920’s, and of course, some of the greatest dance numbers of all time.

The original film version of the song 'Singin in the Rain' was performed by Cliff Edwards, (Ukulele Ike), in a 1929 musical, 'Hollywood Revue'.

 

  

Little known fact: Cliff Edwards was the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Disney's Pinocchio!

 

If you haven't seen 'Singin in the Rain' yet, this is a great time to do it. A new, HD version of the film has been released to celebrate the 6oth anniversary.  Don't forget to listen to the wonderful soundtrack, and take a look at a couple of books about Gene Kelly, MGM, and the wonderful world of movie musicals.

                    

If you feel like singing too, we have musical film scores and songbooks to borrow at the Toronto Reference Library. Including, of course, the special edition of the Singin' in the Rain score.

The tap lessons are up to you!