Downtown Theater

The Perils of Pauline with Betty Hutton is playing at the Watson Theater which is "Carefully Cooled". Neisner Bros. and McClellan's and J. C. Penney Department Stores are across the street. There are nice canvas awnings to shade the retail entrances and wide sidewalks for the pedestrians. Shopping Malls were a few years away. This is Kansas. And yes, that's the city bus back there in traffic. meagain625 says: Excellent photo! I'm jealous of your finds, anyjazz! anyjazz65 says: I cheated on this one. I found it in the bottom of an old file drawer today but I originally found it on this street. This is Salina, Kansas. I went to that movie... Oh and thanks for the comment. cornerofthefield says: Do you have an after picture for this one? mluisa_ says: Bellissima ! anyjazz65 says: @cornerofthefield: Good idea! I could do that on my next trip out. It is quite different now. @mluisa: Thank you! ed ed says: i don't know why, but this has a threatening edge for me...as if some great disaster is about to befall.. anyjazz65 says: Yes, eded, it has for me as well. I am not sure why either. Perhaps in my case it is because I know first hand how much things have changed since 1947 when this picture was probably shot. And yes, one could characterize that as a disaster. For us on this continent with megalomaniacs in our government and a society driven by rampant greed perhaps a photograph like this gives scope to our precarious present-day impending possibilities. And yes, this is a scene from many disaster movies. In the next frame Godzilla puts his foot on a few of the cars or a crack opens down the middle of the street or a huge shadow of an alien spacecraft gets everyone’s attention. Yes, perhaps it is a reminder of a woefully lost calm before an eternally apocalyptic storm. Shall we, like Pauline, in our next episode, once again escape the clutches of our dastardly nemesis, or indeed, is this our last chapter? Again, I cite the wisdom of Walt Kelly: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” ed ed says: yes, anyjazz, that's exactly right about the next scene... i think also of atom bombs.. that's an excellent phrase of Walt Kelly's. i'll explore further. you know that whatever you get first, we get sooner or later, and what has dismayed me in recent years, maybe the last ten or so, is the way greed and plastic culture has been embraced here, not ironically, as once, but as worthy almost, and because popular, therefore justifiably accepted and promoted. this morning i was reading a passage in a book called "silver light" i am in the middle of. the chapter was called "birdland" and had a description of a girl listening to jazz in that club in 1950 - wardell grey, charlie parker etc. it was very well written and got a lot of the complexity and richness and feel of how jazz is made. (kerouac can do that too) then i thought of a conversation we'd had before about the decline and fall of musicianship, big bands etc... it all amounts to the same thing perhaps: instant culture as easy as possible.. it's easy to be grumpy about these things, i know, and to seem elitist if you object, but, well....you know what i mean... celebrities and rampant consumerism? in the words of bartelby: "i would prefer not." anyjazz65 says: It is perhaps indicative of how far society has degenerated. The plight of the boiling frog would be appropriate here but everyone has heard it too often surely. We now look at an old photograph of an idyllic scene from softer times and think not peaceful, nostalgic thoughts but of inevitable, impending doomsday scenarios. Maybe our basic survival instincts are subtly and subliminally conditioning our thought processes toward an awareness of peril; an awareness that will rebel and say a final “no” to the directions that insatiable, power-mad, leaders would take us. “How could my hand rebel against my heart? How could your heart rebel against your reason?” --Dryden. (Modernized a bit.) Perhaps the answers will be in the next chapter. Thanks for the tip on the book, eded. I will find a copy today.

Can anyone identify this painting? Is it Francois Schuiten? Looks like his work but can someone confirm it?? Click for larger version. Yes, I refuse to use Kleenex until THIS stops.

The Story Behind the Photograph - The capture of Goddard P. “Chickadee” Lefingwell III.

The capture of Goddard P. “Chickadee” Lefingwell III. originally uploaded by anyjazz65. This rare photograph of “Chickadee” Lefingwell (pronounced leFINGwell) shows him about to be captured by Agent Harlan Kruhz (no relation) in an elm tree just outside the Dirtpile city limits in either Ohio or Ontario. According to legend “Chickadee” was known to elude his pursuers easily by flying into tree tops and hiding among the leaves. His downfall, pictured here, was when “Chickadee”, steeped in the false confidence of hundreds of previous escapes, taunted agents from a lower perch. Agent Kruhz, on loan from the Holloway Junior High Jump team had been specially selected and trained for the capture of the elusive G. P. Lefingwell III. While other agents dressed nattily as sunflower seeds distracted the nefarious felon, Kruhz leapt into the tree behind “Chickadee” and put the arm on him thus ending the troublesome but illustrious career. It was now safe again to wear pink at polka parties and Chocolate Chip Cookie challenge events. That historic day, February 15th 1915 (probably a Saturday or a Tuesday, no one knows for sure) is described prominently and in pointed detail, in primary school history books. The lengthy notation is credited for a renewed disinterest in the subject of history among students of that era. After his rapid conviction, Lefingwell was incarcerated at the Indiana Yodeling Institute for Young Individuals. (The ‘I YI YI’…) He was pardoned in 1974 by Gerald Ford along with some other forgotten hardened criminals. “Chickadee” spent his last days working in a kite factory and dreaming of the old days. Decades later, modern DNA evidence would prove that not only was Lefingwell III innocent of all charges, he was actually not a “Chickadee” at all but just another loon.

And the conversation went as follows: soozika says: Just for the record, Mister: February 15th 1915 was a Monday. www.hf.rim.or.jp/~kaji/cal/cal.cgi?1915 The rest seems okay. anyjazz65 says: I knew SOMEBODY would look it up... oldog_oltrix says: Also just for the record, Mister, the IYIYI is a still-functioning incarceration facility, although it is now in Minnesota and its name has been changed to the Oklahoma Institute for the Clueless - "O.I.C." anyjazz65 says: Ah. So that's where they went. I have been collecting their mail but they left no forwarding address so I have been saving it. I have been enjoying reading their subscription to "Waiting Room" magazine. That's a relief. Gee, nobody's called me "Mister" since my mom told me, "No Mister, you may NOT join the Brownies." ed ed says: not innocent of ALL charges, surely. this photo at least provides evidence to support his conviction for breaking the prohibition laws regarding pipe smoking on a Monday, which had come into force on Jan 1st. 1915, if my memory serves me right. in my humble opinion, the pardon bestowed by Gerald (gumchew) Ford was a kick in the teeth for the descendents of the courageous Harla Kruhz, who - as a man - took to drink (sunflower oil) and have never (well, hardly ever) been seen since. God bless you, H.K., i say: long may your memory flame.. anyjazz65 says: Good point, ed ed! There is the matter of the pipe. Some say his "tobacco" was the primary reason “Chickadee” did so much flying, but the history books, detailed as they may be, are a bit vague in this aspect of the capture. Some say the pipe actually belonged to Harlan (later Harla) and was additional motivation for the sensational capture. But, there are always conspiracy theorists on the periphery of such monumentally historical events. True, Harla’s descendants were affected by the early release of Lefingwell III (often mispronounced) after only 59 years in maximum security. Some were merely taken aback while others, (the red headed ones) had full-blown snits. They paraded about carrying signs decrying the judicial system and Lefingwell III (often misspelled) in particular. In the end, I understand they were given custody of the pipe. That seemed to help them lose interest in parading and turn to more contemporary issues about corn chips, gummy bears and ice cream sandwiches.

Girl One

Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

When a guy walks down the street he just goes somewhere. When a girl walks down the street, she turns heads, changes minds, destroys concentration, stimulates imagination and stops traffic.

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