This Old Photo: Shorpy.com Part One

Shorpy.

First Shorpy was a kid coal miner who had a short, hard life. But because a few pictures of him were taken one day long ago, he lives on in that ephemeral way that photos can bring us immortality - randomly, sometimes whimsically, very often poignantly.

This is Shorpy the boy.

Shorpy the Website

And now Shorpy lives on as the very name of a website devoted to the mystery and yet the immediacy of old photos.

Each day brings a few new photos, some of which have been lovingly restored by the site runners. And with these instant portraits of long-ago days comes witty, informative, nostalgic, always fascinating and fascinated blog commentary.


It Takes a Village, ca. 1905

Here’s a recent gem from New York City, 110 years ago. Sure, it's a chance for non-New Yorkers to discover this beautiful, still existent architectural gem which has had at least three lives. (Market, courthouse, library.) A kremlinesque colorful lower Manhattan landmark which has posed for paintings, from the Ashcan School all the way to present-day sidewalk artists.


But on a nonspecific day, circa 1905, was the centerpiece of this quick study on early 20th-century urban street life.


HD Web-See
Ramp open the Hi-Def view and drink in the details of a day when George M. Cohan was actually performing somewhere in that city: Take a look up 10th Street - The laundry airing on the roof opposite. The cop, the stairway loiterer, the streetcars, the horse-and-buggies, the wagon piled high with barrels, the horse fountain(?) on the corner of the building. And to the left, on Sixth: The train pulling away, the guy below striding along, reading his paper, a sign on a more distant building advertising a Famous Old Remedy Painkiller (Keep It Handy).


30 Rock, '33

Now quick, jump forward with me. Is this moment in time in the Village really only 28 years before this stunning central Manhattan image? 
And is there any more spectacular city image anywhere than this moody night shot of the brand-spanking new, now-iconic 30 Rockefeller Center?

All images courtesty http://www.shorpy.com/

OOOOOhhh! The 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies

The Opening Ceremonies. What'd ya think?


I’m an Olympics freak. I want to like any Olympics’ Opening Ceremony, and I really want to like anything Canada does. (Technically I’m half-Canadian, with ancestors from Quebec and Ontario).

Sport, art, music, drama, spectacle - this is my thing. But … how can I say this politely, and friendly, like a good half-Canadian.

Um, I liked the whales on the floor.

Semi-Hot Mess 
Really - the best parts were those that celebrated nature more than that big noisy hot mess involving violins on the moon and mohawked dancers. Grungie tapdancing fiddling kilted lumberjacks. (And I’m still confused where the Maritimes thing turned into the Quebec part.)

Aside from the music going on forever, and the not-particularly exciting dancing, the set and costumes for that long East Coast section were just jarringly unappealing to me. Even the neon-blue boat against that weird scary orange-yellow moon. Yuck.

The Good, The Meh and the Whimsical 

I liked flying prairie boy. The evocative rainforest. The dudes in red going completely vertically down the tissuey white mountain. And those whales.

But oh, the many phallic symbols. And the cauldron malfunction. And Wayne Gretzky in a fecking pickup truck tooling around downtown Vancouver with a giant doobie. Worst torch light in my memory. Not exactly like the guy coming down the ski jump with the torch (Lillehammer?) or the flaming arrow lighting a cauldron (Barcelona?).

And O, Canada, one of the most beautiful national anthems ever. That dirge version was an early indicator of more missteps to come.

Bob Costas Will Be Back to Say Something Dumb In a Minute 
It also almost seemed like the long musical “codas” were there so US TV could cut away for commercials. Switching back and forth from NBC to online viewing of Eurosport feeds I noted one of the few times NBC missed a really new music section was the Samuel Barber piece - yeah, they missed the *American* composer* - at the end of the rainforest section.

Why We Love the Winter Os 
That said, I still love the Winter Olympics. The small, cozy feeling just makes you want to move to a quaint mountain valley and ski and skate all day. Even if you can't do either.

I enjoy watching almost all the Winter Olympic sports except curling. (Brooms? A top?)

In light of Friday's tragedy, I don’t want to come across as insensitive - but the very fascination of the Winter OOOOOs as a whole IS just how dangerous almost all the sports are. People hurtling down icy mountains and even icier roller-coaster-like tracks. Or in a rink, crashing onto the ice or each other.

And that highest ski jump? I don’t even want to go to the top of that thing and cling to it for dear life. Let alone ski down it and leap off. How breathtakingly insane.

[Photos 1,3,4: TylerIngram. Photo 2: © VANOC/COVAN]

Let’s Not get Overly Coo-coo for Coco

Did the greatest entertainer in the world just pass away or something? Good lawd, the most rabid Conan fans need a bit of perspective. A guy lost a job. He's still rich. You'll get to see him somewhere else. Stop posting comments on blogs wishing all the Olds who watch Leno would die. Because, first of all - nobody has been watching Leno. Not “older“ people. Not even Jeff Zucker.

Ah youth, to be so naïve you’re actually still surprised by the fact that quite frequently crappy no-talents get ahead of other people at work. Yes, it’s true! I’m old enough to have been on the Conan end of that scenario several times. (Only I was making in the tens of thousands what he makes in the millions.)

 It's All So Goofy
At some point this past week or so I went from being transfixed by the highway wreckage that is NBC to being tired of all the Coco-hype. He's not always THAT funny. Especially if, like me, you prefer more intellectual, political satire to goofiness. His monologues are frequently in the mediocre-to-average range and some of the bits, like Masturbating Bear, pretty juvenile. To me, the funniest stuff on his shows have been the taped-on-location bits - the UPS delivery guy, the pool boy. (Triumph was funny but a little too mean at times for my taste.)

And he's certainly not a great interviewer, which should be a prerequisite for a talk show. But then again, neither is Leno, Ferguson or Fallon. (Letterman, when he's not being snotty, has his moments with guests that he likes.) And to be fair, there was actually a time when Leno used to make some half-way decent political zingers.

Anyway, deep breaths, people.

The Weekend of Weird Outfits & Who Got What? Golden Globes & Figure Skating Championships

Bling, Bling, Bling
This weekend I was overwhelmingly bedazzled - and sometimes due to actual performances. Let's put it this way - any actress who's being panned for her choice of high or low coture at the Golden Globes need only check out Johnny Weir's free skate outfit. She will feel much better about herself.

Gold Medals and Golden Globes
These strange few days included trying to monitor:

Two sets of figure skating national championships - the prelude to the Winter Olympics, and

That fluffiest of Hollywood self-congratulatory events - the Golden Globes. Which are supposedly a prelude to the Oscars. Yawn.

It's all a blur at this point. Did Ryan Bradley win the Best Supporting Actor in a Musical or Comedy? Did Drew Barrymore and Justin Long win the Pairs event? 


 I do know this - the Golden Globes broadcast did not win best Short Program. Gawd.


Some Globes You Got

The movie-star laden Globes also tosses a few bones to the supposedly lesser (but often greater) TV lineup. My primary interest.  (And by the way, feck you, movie stars who couldn't be bothered to even applaud for the TV show nominees and winners. We saw you, and we took names.)

As an event, it's the Hostess Twinkies of television. Occasionally you like to indulge in something so frothy and unfullfilling. But after awhile you get a little sick.

But I'm glad Ricky Gervais thinks he's so funny -that makes one of us with that opinion.

Making the Team
When the GGs rolled around Sunday evening I was still recuperating from three days of US and Canadian skating events.


Miracle of miracles, a few standout performances revived my sadly flagging interest in the art/sport/occasional farce of skating. I'm back on Team Jeremy and Team Joannie (Rochette) for their work in winning the US Men's and Canadian Ladies crown, respectively.


Jeremy Abbott's 2010 Nationals Freeskate

And then there are the incomparable Virtue and Moir. You could OD on this OD, feel compelled to watch their Compulsory and freely watch the Free Skate for hours.They Are Magic. The Best. The End.

Abbott and Tessa and Scott grew up elsewhere but now train in Detroit. We are happy to take credit for them.

And now a couple days rest before more rich people patting themselves on the back (the Screen Actors Guild awards) and the divas of American dance and lady skaters take the ice for U.S. Nationals, Part the Second.

MY DEAD CAT COULD RUN NBC BETTER, AKA JEFF ZUCKER'S REIGN OF ERROR

I would’ve never thought I would look forward to Comcast taking over a company. But as Jeff Zucker continues his Reign of Error at the not-so-proud peacock network, I’m rooting for the lousy cable company to do something better.

Even if that means with Comcast running things I might have to wait for Parks & Rec to show up on my TV sometime between 8 a.m. and noon, noon and 6 p.m. or 6 to 9 p.m.

And then there’s the NBC Talk Show Titanic.

Where’s Johnnnny (Carson, When You Need Him)?
I grew up on Johnny Carson. He managed to project himself as both a Hollywood Rat Pack-type insider and a good Midwestern boy; do schtick and political humor; AND interview everyone from starlets to opera stars better than any current host (except perhaps Colbert) does.

It was the perfect package.

NBC Disaster Movie
But this current lineup - this was all destined to go bad from Day One - Conan being too "weird" for 11:30 and too East Coasty for L.A., Leno completely stinking up the place at 10. (Fallon sucking like a stoned guy at a college station is a given.)

As the youths say, EPIC FAIL.

My Perfect Talk Show
These days it's much harder to do something really different and appeal to a really mass audience. It's all niche programming.

But if I were trying to put together a late-night show with a little of something great for everyone, here are the ingredients I’d want:
1. The Tonight Show with Conan theme song,
2. A little Letterman monologue (and perhaps an even smaller quantity of Kimmel),
3. The first five minutes of Jon Stewart's Daily Show,
4. The bondage-guy dancer from Craig Ferguson,
5. Conan’s taped pieces out and about and
6. A Stephen Colbert interview

This combined would make one very good show.

I'm Thinking Arby's
Also, Jimmy Fallon should be working someplace at his true talent level, perhaps as the drive-through window guy at Arby’s. And Jay should confine his public appearances these days to eating at Arby’s.

And here’s a novel idea - how about a woman/ person of color on one of the Big Shows? Or is 2010 too soon for such a radical idea?

Your Favorite Non-PC Olympic Figure Skaters

 (As always buoys and gulls, remember to click back to this page after going to a link.)

 Ah, figure skaters. Some of them are just a wee bit isolated from the world’s realities.

I rather dislike these contemporary Russian dancers anyway, so here for your bug-eyed WTF viewing “pleasure” is Domnina & Shabalin‘s 2010 Original Dance. 

She said she picked the music after her new dog ran around the room upon hearing it.

I think her dog’s a racist.

Shades of Alexei Yagudin in 1997.

I'll give them a benefit of the doubt and assume it was just a cultural misunderstanding thing.

"These freaks are leeching the dignity from our beloved sport."






Then of course, there’s drag.

‘Cos ha-ha there’s nothing funnier than a guy dressing like a woman.

And we won’t even get into flip side-  guys trying-too-hard-to-prove-they’re-straight.

Figure skating, I keeed because I luurve you.

Not as much as I used to, but that’s thanks to your crappy new judging system and same old cheating judges.

Oh dear, to cleanse our palate, how about a little of the exquisite Yu Na Kim (or Kim Yu Na), who is a class act. With a capital C. (As opposed to a capital K ...KK.)

In Which I Don't Write But Name Drop Like Crazy

Random thoughts:

1. All my previous posts seem soooo last decade.

2. In the first 20 hours of 2010 I ate two pizzas.

But not to worry, I also walked for nine minutes.

3. If I’m going to live my life like a less successful Liz Lemon it’d be nice to at least look like Tina Fey. (And hell, I've even had a thing for a piano player or two.)

4. It sucks to feel like you have a hangover when you didn’t have any Fun preceding it.

5. The Jersey Shore, Real Housewives, America’s Next Top Model, Top Chef, The Hills, P. Hilton, Kardashian.

Sorry, I don’t follow any of the above, don’t care about any of the above, have no thoughts about any of the above - I’m just trying to up my SEO.

6. I’m going to open a restaurant as near as possible to the TSA checkpoints at the airport and call it Security Dinner Theatre.

7. Why yes, I am tired and silly tonight, why do you ask?

8. At least I got some good creative writing done during my week off.

Come on, my little script babies, make momma some money in the new year.

9. I never got around to posting this before. It's the crazy Christmas house in Royal Oak, MI.

Me like.

2009 & the Aughts were not the greatest, and still there may be hard times ahead ... but let's face the music and dance. (And be thankful that people like Astaire and Rogers and Nat King Cole lived to share their talents with us.)

Happy New Year Everyone.