The 'New Vintage' Life, NY Times Home & Garden

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/07/29/garden/20090730-PREWAR_index.html

Home & Garden
The ‘New Vintage’ Life
Michael Weschler for The New York Times
Published: 20090729
A look inside three Brooklyn apartments decorated with the taxidermy, antique skeletons and other Victoriana that are making their way back into home decor.

Garden Update Part Two

The Elepahnt Ears (Colocasia) finally broke trough the top layer of mulch. Due to the cool June, they didn't find the time to do so until July came around. The Coleus blumei did not thrive during the many cold nights in May and June. Normally, the plants would be thick and bushy with many colorful leaves. Perhaps, they, too, will show better in August.

Update from the Garden

Warmer weather has come at long last after much fog and rain. The clematis is finally blasting off and adding a dramatic splash of color against the house's buttery exterior.

Plant stand from Martha Stewart's K Mart collection. Neat design but quality is not the best.

Close-up of Juncus effusus 'Curly-wurly'

Public Enemies Globe Review

'Public Enemies' movie review - 'Public Enemies' showtimes - The Boston Globe

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I read this after seeing the movie and find that most of my complaints regarding the film were addressed. The film could have been excellent but did not manage to turn that corner. Depp was great but he alone did not grant the film the direction and purpose required. We are definitely living in an environment where people would enjoy identifying with a character who sticks it to the Man. Cinderella Man and Seabiscuit are also set against the Great Depression backdrop but the directors of both films connect the viewer to the protagonist's struggle. However, the connection between the audience and the Enemies' Robin Hood-like characters is not allowed time to take hold.

Seabiscuit Trailer

June was a Wash Out Month

As months go, June will be remembered as a wet soggy mess of a month that has now spilled over into July. Where is the justice? Every day there is either mist, fog, rain or all of the above. The song A Foggy Day(in London Town) has come to mind more than once. Alas, the clip from The Big Sleep above shows how interesting Bogey could make a rainy afternoon. Would you have closed early and let your hair down just for Bogey? Only in songs and in movies does someone suddenly appear that makes the "sun shining everywhere". If you have a story that counters this point, please, share and spread the joy.

A Foggy Day (in London Town), by George Gershwin, song from film, Damsel in Distress starring Fred Astaire and Joan Fontaine, 1937

A foggy day in London Town
Had me low had me down
I viewed the morning with such alarm
The British Museum had lost its charm
How long, I wondered, could this thing last?
But the age of miracles hadn't passed,
For, suddenly, I saw you there
And through foggy London Town
The sun was shining everywhere.

Straw Birds

I purchased these birds made of natural fibers from Williams Sonoma back when they marked their Easter items down. I did not pack them away when the season ended. Since we have had such a bleak, cloudy month they have provided a touch of vibrate color to a rather gloomy introduction to summer. The hand is a ceramic rubber glove mold that I purchased for $7.00 at the Brimfield Fair.

My Thriller Experience

Michael Jackson 1958-2009

My first cassette was Thriller but I was a bit late joining the phenomenon that swept the nation. The setting was fourth grade in a crumbling southern classroom that was a year away from being replaced by a brand spanking new school. I still recall friend - not famous - Tammy Baker swooning over the Thriller album center fold of Michael Jackson having fun with two tiger cubs. Carlos Lewis did the moonwalk better than any other fifth grader could. A feat of expertise that he performed on a dusty kick ball field framed by swings and a jungle gym. Babysitter Jackie Johnston's brother, Donald, wore the Beat It jacket to school and the roller rink. There were puffy Michael Jackson portrait stickers in My Sticker album. The beat of the music shaped these memories because I never was quick to pick-up on lyrics.

The cassette player was second hand. The small device was a hand-held model with wrist cord and a single speaker. Immediately upon receiving the gift I begged to go to Wal-Mart to buy the Thriller cassette. The cassette cost more than the player. Eventually, I moved up to a single speaker boom box and then to a two speaker/two cassette deck boom box. The Bad cassette made its premier listen on the latter. In high school, as Jackson's cultural hold faded, I purchased the Dangerous CD on the day it was released. After that Jackson began his decline that sadly ended this past week. His music immediately recalls memories with exacting clarity.