Just finished reading this.
16 June 2018
06 June 2018
How Much is that Doggie in the Catalog?
When I was a kid, growing up in the 1960s, my parents would regularly take me to three major department stores: Sears Roebuck, Montgomery Ward and J.C. Penny. We shopped in the stores, but my parents would also order items from the catalogues that we would go pick up in the stores. Department store shopping and catalogue shopping were both part of my normal life.
There were also Hanny’s and Korricks in downtown Phoenix (back when the downtown was still a shopping destination), as well as Diamond’s, Goldwater’s, and Switzer’s (at Park Central, then later Chris-Town).
As I got older, I made a point of shopping in (well, at least walking around) some of the great department stores along the west coast. There was I. Magnin, Macy’s and Neiman Marcus (San Francisco), Bullocks Wilshire and May Company (Los Angeles) and I. Magnin (Santa Barbara). Little did I know that, by the time I am writing this, nearly all of those great stores would be history. So many of the major department stores have closed or are closing owing to stiff online competition. I can’t remember the last time I was actually inside a major department store. Like so many others, I do a lot of my shopping electronically; even though I miss the big department stores and their catalogues. (I had a job at the Broadway Department Store in Chris-Town Mall in 1977-1978.)
Recently, becoming nostalgic for that department store shopping experience, I bought a vintage Montgomery Ward catalogue from 1965. This was not the year I was born; rather, the year I probably would have started to become cognizant of the purchase of consumer goods like food, clothing and entertainment items.
I hate to use a tired cliche, but it really was like a trip down memory lane. The dresses! The shoes! The televisions! So many things similar to (if not exactly) things in my house growing up.
Sure, online shopping can really be convenient and sometimes less expensive; but I miss the experience of going to nice department stores just to walk around.
There were also Hanny’s and Korricks in downtown Phoenix (back when the downtown was still a shopping destination), as well as Diamond’s, Goldwater’s, and Switzer’s (at Park Central, then later Chris-Town).
As I got older, I made a point of shopping in (well, at least walking around) some of the great department stores along the west coast. There was I. Magnin, Macy’s and Neiman Marcus (San Francisco), Bullocks Wilshire and May Company (Los Angeles) and I. Magnin (Santa Barbara). Little did I know that, by the time I am writing this, nearly all of those great stores would be history. So many of the major department stores have closed or are closing owing to stiff online competition. I can’t remember the last time I was actually inside a major department store. Like so many others, I do a lot of my shopping electronically; even though I miss the big department stores and their catalogues. (I had a job at the Broadway Department Store in Chris-Town Mall in 1977-1978.)
Recently, becoming nostalgic for that department store shopping experience, I bought a vintage Montgomery Ward catalogue from 1965. This was not the year I was born; rather, the year I probably would have started to become cognizant of the purchase of consumer goods like food, clothing and entertainment items.
I hate to use a tired cliche, but it really was like a trip down memory lane. The dresses! The shoes! The televisions! So many things similar to (if not exactly) things in my house growing up.
Sure, online shopping can really be convenient and sometimes less expensive; but I miss the experience of going to nice department stores just to walk around.
03 June 2018
20 May 2018
17 May 2018
It’s Da Bomb
When I met Matt in 1994, I was in the process of buying a condominium. I lived there about five years before moving into the house Matt bought for us. I liked condo living. It was a small complex (about 24 units) and everyone knew everyone. Quite of a few of the units were used as rentals, so my neighbors kept changing.
The neighborhood was generally quiet. One night, I was sitting on my balcony and I heard a domestic quarrel of some kind in the distance (several houses away). A woman was shouting “I hate you, I hate you.” Fair enough. People fight. Then, I heard this scream of terror, like the woman had been stabbed or something. Of course, I called the police. They arrived shortly and I gave them a statement.
My condo unit shared a landing with the unit next door. While the policeman was standing there talking to me, my neighbor’s baby began to cry. The officer gestured to the sound, as if to say, “Is this what you heard?” (Because I am clearly that stupid.) I politely told him, “no.” But, he turned and knocked on the door, I guess to see if my neighbor had heard anything.
The door opened to a cloud of smoke – if you know what I mean. The officer asked to come in and speak to the neighbor, who replied, “Now’s not a good time.” (Duh!) The officer insisted and then things got real really fast.
The next thing I knew, our complex was surrounded by police cars, a fire engine, an ambulance or two and sundry other vehicles. The police went door-to-door telling us we all had to evacuate the premises. I spent the night at Matt’s.
Turns out, my neighbor was busted for smoking weed – and lots of it. On searching the unit, police found several pipe bombs loaded and ready to go. That’s why we were evacuated. They arrested the husband.
I was allowed to go back to my unit the next morning. A couple days later, the next-door wife came to my unit. She was crying, almost hysterically, apologizing for what her husband had done, etc. They moved out shortly and I never saw them again.
I imagine the police never did find out the cause of the screaming woman I called about; but I wonder what would have happened if chance had not intervened on my neighbor’s activities.
The neighborhood was generally quiet. One night, I was sitting on my balcony and I heard a domestic quarrel of some kind in the distance (several houses away). A woman was shouting “I hate you, I hate you.” Fair enough. People fight. Then, I heard this scream of terror, like the woman had been stabbed or something. Of course, I called the police. They arrived shortly and I gave them a statement.
My condo unit shared a landing with the unit next door. While the policeman was standing there talking to me, my neighbor’s baby began to cry. The officer gestured to the sound, as if to say, “Is this what you heard?” (Because I am clearly that stupid.) I politely told him, “no.” But, he turned and knocked on the door, I guess to see if my neighbor had heard anything.
The door opened to a cloud of smoke – if you know what I mean. The officer asked to come in and speak to the neighbor, who replied, “Now’s not a good time.” (Duh!) The officer insisted and then things got real really fast.
The next thing I knew, our complex was surrounded by police cars, a fire engine, an ambulance or two and sundry other vehicles. The police went door-to-door telling us we all had to evacuate the premises. I spent the night at Matt’s.
Turns out, my neighbor was busted for smoking weed – and lots of it. On searching the unit, police found several pipe bombs loaded and ready to go. That’s why we were evacuated. They arrested the husband.
I was allowed to go back to my unit the next morning. A couple days later, the next-door wife came to my unit. She was crying, almost hysterically, apologizing for what her husband had done, etc. They moved out shortly and I never saw them again.
I imagine the police never did find out the cause of the screaming woman I called about; but I wonder what would have happened if chance had not intervened on my neighbor’s activities.
06 May 2018
20 April 2018
06 April 2018
The Great Hollywood Studios
There was a time when film studios were a dime a dozen. They’re still about a dime a dozen (even adjusting for inflation), but only a handful of the classic studios are still in operation. My husband, Matt, and I made it one of our goals to visit each of these classic studios at least once. We just got back from our tour of the last studio on our list.
Separately, and before we met, we had both visited Universal (1976 for me; circa 1979 for Matt). It has long been mostly an amusement park, but a tram did take my family and me around some of the behind-the-scenes elements. I understand it remains mostly an amusement park, although still a functioning studio.
We hit the jackpot with Warner Bros. and our visits in 1996, 2009 (twice) and 2012. We did the short two-hour tour first ($45/each) and spotted the three women stars from the series “Friends”; then the longer five-ish hour tour ($200/each) that included visits to the prop house, the costume house, travels along the famed back lot streets and lunch in the studio commissary (on the first day of shooting for Christopher Nolan’s “Inception”) and a brief spotting of Johnny Galecki (smoking!), star of the series “The Big Bang Theory.” It was an expensive, but totally-worth-it all-day tour. We returned to Warner’s later that year to attend a taping of “The Big Bang Theory” and then again in 2012 for a taping of “Two Broke Girls.”
Later in the day of our 2009 trip to Warner’s for the long tour, we zoomed over to the once-glittering MGM Studio (now Sony) for a taping of “Rules of Engagement” -- the first time we attended the taping of a television show. Even though neither of us had ever seen this particular show, we did want to experience a taping and this was the only show where we could get tickets. Little of their famed back lot still remains, but we did get to see fragments of some of it.
We had a wonderful backstage tour of the Disney Studio in 2015 ($65/each). It doesn’t really have a back lot any more (what it did have is now a parking garage), but many films are still shot on the grounds, especially “Saving Mr. Banks.” It was really amazing to see the work areas where animated films were made, Mr. Disney’s office, and other sights rarely available to the public -- including the superb archives. (You have to be a member of Disney’s “D23” to even buy tickets for the tours which are only done a few times each year.)
Finally, there was our recent tour of Paramount this year ($178/each). This tour was totally worth the money. It included many departments where we were actually able to speak to employees, watch special effects being made, see historic costumes and props -- and lunch in one of the rehearsal stages. We walked historic New York streets, saw behind the facades of the “buildings,” and learned a lot about the studio. (As an added bonus, I got to meet Matt Lanter of TV’s “Timeless.”)
Top row: 2009 Warner Bros. VIP tour (our second tour). Here is part of the back lot dressed for the short-lived TV series “Eastwick”; a WB VIP Studio Tour ticket; our return to WB to attend a taping of the once-funny TV series “Two Broke Girls.”
Bottom row: Matt and I (fresh from my heart surgery) at our 2015 tour of the Disney Studio; the keepsake badge given to all tour attendees; our recent tour of famed Paramount Studio (including what was once known as the RKO Studio).
Separately, and before we met, we had both visited Universal (1976 for me; circa 1979 for Matt). It has long been mostly an amusement park, but a tram did take my family and me around some of the behind-the-scenes elements. I understand it remains mostly an amusement park, although still a functioning studio.
We hit the jackpot with Warner Bros. and our visits in 1996, 2009 (twice) and 2012. We did the short two-hour tour first ($45/each) and spotted the three women stars from the series “Friends”; then the longer five-ish hour tour ($200/each) that included visits to the prop house, the costume house, travels along the famed back lot streets and lunch in the studio commissary (on the first day of shooting for Christopher Nolan’s “Inception”) and a brief spotting of Johnny Galecki (smoking!), star of the series “The Big Bang Theory.” It was an expensive, but totally-worth-it all-day tour. We returned to Warner’s later that year to attend a taping of “The Big Bang Theory” and then again in 2012 for a taping of “Two Broke Girls.”
Later in the day of our 2009 trip to Warner’s for the long tour, we zoomed over to the once-glittering MGM Studio (now Sony) for a taping of “Rules of Engagement” -- the first time we attended the taping of a television show. Even though neither of us had ever seen this particular show, we did want to experience a taping and this was the only show where we could get tickets. Little of their famed back lot still remains, but we did get to see fragments of some of it.
We had a wonderful backstage tour of the Disney Studio in 2015 ($65/each). It doesn’t really have a back lot any more (what it did have is now a parking garage), but many films are still shot on the grounds, especially “Saving Mr. Banks.” It was really amazing to see the work areas where animated films were made, Mr. Disney’s office, and other sights rarely available to the public -- including the superb archives. (You have to be a member of Disney’s “D23” to even buy tickets for the tours which are only done a few times each year.)
Finally, there was our recent tour of Paramount this year ($178/each). This tour was totally worth the money. It included many departments where we were actually able to speak to employees, watch special effects being made, see historic costumes and props -- and lunch in one of the rehearsal stages. We walked historic New York streets, saw behind the facades of the “buildings,” and learned a lot about the studio. (As an added bonus, I got to meet Matt Lanter of TV’s “Timeless.”)
Bottom row: Matt and I (fresh from my heart surgery) at our 2015 tour of the Disney Studio; the keepsake badge given to all tour attendees; our recent tour of famed Paramount Studio (including what was once known as the RKO Studio).
25 March 2018
12 March 2018
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