Who's Jumping?

Name the four people jumping in the picture below! (Sorry there is no prize for answering is correctly. It's just something to amuse yourself with for a few minutes.) It really shouldn't be too hard. (: Have fun!

Movies in LALA Land

So for my brother's Senior trip my family went to Los Angeles, California. I have two things to say about it 1) The city is absolutely awful and I hate it and 2) the trip was a lot of fun!

While there we toured three movie studios: Sony (who bought out Columbia), Warner Brothers and Paramount. Lots of classic movies were made in these three studios. We even got to see Lucille Balls office! It was lots of fun. We were shown places where the Brady Bunch was filmed, and discussed different old stars that had contracts with certain studios and explored the world of film. It was great!

During the old days studios pretty much owned their actors. Nowadays actors act at any studio the movie they are making is being filmed. However, back in the day an actor or actress signed a contract, for whatever amount of time, to "stay true" (so to speak) to one certain studio. They were paid a certain amount and basically sat around the studio from 8 to 5 every day waiting for a job to drop into their lap. Big name actors usually had a sort of "living quarters" where they spent their time when they were filming a movie. Once they were hired for a movie they would spend several weeks on the film then the lull would start all over.

If there was a studio that wanted a certain actor, but didn't have a contract with them, the studio that did have the contract with that particular actor could "lend them out". For example, say Cary Grant was signed on with Columbia but Universal wanted him for a movie, Columbia would share him while the movie was being made. This could be costly for Universal as they would have to pay both Cary Grant and Columbia. With the way movies are made now, though, is much more flexible for both the studios and the actors.

Back in the Golden Age of movie making studios could film anywhere from 20 to 30 movies in a year. Now movies are made much more slowly and carefully to make them just right and make sure they are quality, and in the end most studios only shoot 4 to 7 movies a year.

I suggest that if people were to visit LA they take at least one tour of a movie studio. I also suggest that it's not Universal as that is more of an amusement park, and less of the "real deal". Have any questions of the history of filming movies? Please leave a comment!

Autopsy Report: Myths and Truths, You Decide

There are thousands of Elvis fans to this day. For those who were alive when he died there was great devastation. Many couldn't believe it, many didn't want to believe it, and some strongly believed it wasn't true. Whether it was because they were doubters, knew it for a fact or were so in love with the rock'n'roll king that they convinced themselves he was still alive is a mystery. So here I present to you facts and stories and will let you take away from this what you want. Enjoy.

On August 16th, 1977 Elvis Aaron Presley died.

It is believed Elvis had had a late night dentist appointment on the night of the 15th, and went home to Graceland to finish some final details on a tour he was starting on the 17th. He went to bed at about 7 in the morning to rest up for his evening flight. While getting ready for bed he must have died. He was living with his fiancee, Ginger, but they were staying in separate rooms, so no one was with him during his final hours.

Some reports indicate that Elvis was naked and in the bathroom when he died, while others say he was in blue pajamas and in his dressing room. It's also possible that he was in blue pajamas in the bathroom or naked in his dressing room. Nevertheless he was discovered by his then fiancee, Ginger.

He was found in the afternoon and there was an attempt to revive him. Later it was believed that he had been dead for several hours before he was found, and resuscitating would have been pointless. Police said there appeared to be no "foul play".

Autopsy reports said that he had anywhere from 8-14 drugs in his system. Some people believed he died of a drug overdose while others said all the drugs in his system were prescribed to him and were not enough to kill a man. It has been reported that Elvis died of a massive heart attack. Many people believe Presley would have died whether he had drugs in his system or not because he had such a bad heart.

The news of Elvis' death hit the world hard. People went into mourning faster than they did when JFK was assassinated. Fans stormed Graceland wanting to be there during the funeral. Could Elvis Presley, the King of Rock'n'Roll really be dead?

There was a viewing and thousands of people went to see their rock'n'roll idol's lifeless body. It's reported that 75,000 people wanted to see the body and about 30,000 people were able to. Is it possible to say that if this many people saw the King dead that he really was and still is dead to this day? Apparently this isn't good enough for some fans because rumors and "sightings" of Elvis being alive are still flying around to this very day.

Much like the stories of Kennedy's death being a conspiracy, and the moon landings being a hoax are the stories of Elvis faking his own death. Whether these stories are true or just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, I'll let you decide.

First lies the question of Elvis' gravestone. It's said that it was originally spelled wrong. Elvis' name was Elvis Aaron Presley and on the gravestone it was spelled Elvis Aron Presley, but when I tried to look up proof of this I couldn't find any. Either the error was corrected or it never happened and was just a rumor started by someone who believed Presley was still alive.



Then there was the coffin and the body inside the coffin. Wax you say? It's possible. People are reported to have said that when they were carrying the 900 pound coffin they felt a cool air, supposedly because of an air conditioner to keep a wax body cool. Maybe this was the realistic body people saw when they went to view his body.



A story of Elvis faking his own death has drifted around hoping to make people believe that Elvis is an undercover agent fighting the war against drugs. Because Elvis was so against the use of drugs it was decided that Elvis should "die" so he could fight this drug battle without anyone suspecting him. (Read more here.)

There is a story that Elvis was going to expose some criminals, possibly those who were apart of the Mafia. If he did this his life would be in grave danger. So much in fact that he would have to become apart of witness protection and disappear. Someone so famous couldn't possibly "just disappear" so a cover story was formed so he would be gone for good. Wouldn't be funny if the criminals were caught or died and Elvis "came back from the dead"?

How would a person fake their own death? Apparently Elvis was "a pharmaceutical expert" and knew exactly what drugs to take to make it look as though he were dead (I believe that this would backfire though when the autopsy starts seeing as how they have to cut you open). Shortly after his death a man, looking remarkably like Elvis Presley, boarded a plane head for Buenos Aeries. He went by the name John Burrows, a name Elvis supposedly used every once in awhile when he didn't want publicity. (Read much, much more on the topic here.)

The myths of Elvis faking his own death and still being alive to this day continue to circulate everyone around the world. People are constantly "seeing the King". But what is true, and what is not? Is any of it true? You decide.

(This post has been dedicated to my friend Wendy. The biggest Elvis fan I know! And to be honest she has helped my own love of Elvis to blossom. Love you, Wendy!)

The Silent JFK Witness SPEAKS

1960s is really the era I am most familiar with. I'm not sure why, it's just fascinating. There is so much history with the Space Race, Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam, rock 'n' roll music, the rising of hippies, the John Fitzgerald Kennedy's assassination, the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination and so much more!

On May 24th, 2011 my Mom and I went to a special talk on JFK's assassination. It was filmed and viewed live on a website called iAntique.com. The special guest who was interviewed was a lady by the name of Mary Ann Moorman. Mary Ann Moorman is famous for taking a picture of John F. Kennedy the moment he was assassinated. Ms. Moorman has kept silent these 48 years on what happened the day of the assassination and finally she has come out to tell the world what she saw and heard and experienced on that fateful day.

Mary Ann Moorman

It was November 22, 1963. President Kennedy was in Dallas. Mary Ann and her friend Jean Hill decided they wanted to be there to see the President drive by and, if they could, get a picture of him. It was an exciting day! Mary Ann had a Polaroid camera with her. It had two pictures left in the roll. One she took of Jean and the other Jean took of her. They ran to a department store to get more film for their camera and hurried to what is now known as "The Grassy Knoll". They wanted to be away from the crowds and get the best shot of the President as he drove by as possible.

They waited for several hours taking pictures of police that were ahead of the procession. Mary Ann had known some of these police officers during high school. It was around 12:30 (Central Time) when the car Kennedy was in finally showed up.



Mary Ann put the camera to her face and "focused" her shot. She followed the car the President was in with her eye to her camera, waiting to get the perfect angle in which to snap her picture. Jean called out, "Hey Mr. President! Look over here! We want to take a picture of you." A moment later Mary Ann clicked to take the picture, at the same moment she heard what she thought was a firecracker. She pulled the camera away from her face and heard the sound again two more times. The Presidential motorcade almost halted to a complete stop. Mary Ann heard Jackie Kennedy, who was at that time sitting next to her husband in the back of the limousine they were riding, yell "Oh my gawd! He's been shot." And watched as the first lady attempted to jump off the back of the car. The next moment the limousine went shooting forward at a much high speed.

Puzzled Mary Ann noticed her friend running up the Grassy Knoll. She was gone for several minutes when a man approached her and asked her if she had just taken a picture? She said she had but had not looked at it yet. She pulled it out and together the two looked at what she had captured in a single moment.



It was in fact an image of President Kennedy the moment after he had been hit by a bullet. Whether it was the first bullet to hit him (this bullet went through him and hit the governor of Texas who was sitting in front of him) or the fatal bullet that killed him remains a mystery to this day. Nonetheless she had captured at close range what no one else had.

Jean Hill (in red) and Mary Ann Moorman (in blue) on the grassy knoll during the shooting

The following hours were confusing as Mary Ann and Jean were rushed to the Sheriff's office and the press room there. She told and retold her story. Within 30 minutes of the declaration of Kennedy's death Mary Ann's photo appeared across the country on television sets in every home. By 6 o'clock that night Mary Ann was home. At around 12:30 that night the FBI showed up on her doorstep asking to see the picture she took. In the following months the CIA, Secret Service and FBI again, took the picture to examine and study it.

Mary Ann Moorman explained she didn't feel like her life had all changed because of what had happened and what she had experience. She did tell the interviewer that she has remained silent for all these years because of her friend Jean Hill. Jean and Mary Ann had had such different remembrances of what happened on that day and she didn't want to speak up because she realized it was cause a lot of controversy. Several years ago Jean Hill died and with the upcoming 50th anniversary of the assassination people's interests were rising as to what happened that day, for these reasons Mary Ann felt she should come forward with her story. Even if it was no new information it is a new story and an addition to a fascinating history.

Adding to the Ads of the World (Part 2)

A Musical Influence

In my music class we have been studying the history of music. Today we covered the Renaissance period.

It's odd how the history surrounding music can seriously affect what the music sounds like.

For example: The Reformation happened during this time in history. What was the Reformation? It was when people started to break away from the Catholic church and its ways of teaching. This was the time when Protestantism really came into being. Like every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. Along with the Reformation came the Counter Reformation. Both of these had heavy influence on music of that era. Up to this point music was mostly religious and religious music was beautiful, but complicated. Unless you were part of a professional choir it was hard to understand or sing along with anything that was sung in the churches. Not only this but the songs that were commonly performed were most likely in Latin and unless you were part of the church or well educated it is unlikely you would be able to understand anything they were saying anyway. So the Protestants came up with something that is known as the "Psalms Tunes". A Psalms Tune was a simple melody and the lyrics were taken directly from the book of Psalms, and was sung in whatever tongue was native in the country you happened to be in.

As we talked about before to every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. The Catholic church that was beginning to dwindle decided to make their own music just as complicated and beautiful as they could. Their hope was to draw people back into the Catholic church with their beautiful music and astounding wealth. It worked for some. But the Protestant church and its music wasn't going anywhere.

Outside of the religious angle of music was the artistic angle of music and the Renaissance. During this time people became very focused on capturing humanism through art. Artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo became very involved what human's looked like and how to make them beautiful and proportionally correct. During the Medieval Era art was simple, and flat looking. By the Renaissance artists were determined to give their art elegance by giving it depth and soft beauty.

Medieval Art
versus

Leonardo's simple soft sketch
or


Michelangelo's emotional perfectly proportioned statue

Don't worry, dear readers, I'm coming back around to music. Like the art of this era the music was likewise as emotional and given into more detail and structure. It was beautiful and sometimes simple and sometimes romantic.

Suggestions of music to listen to:
Giovanni's Pierluigi da Palestrina's Angus Dei I
Martin Luther's Ein' feste Burg
Louis Bourgeois' Old Hundred
(This is an example of a Psalm Tune.)

Sputnik

Today is the 53rd anniversary of the successful launch, and orbit of Sputnik 1.

That single act by the Soviet Union changed the world forever. Sputnik was the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. It was not like one might imagine. This satellite was not big and amazing, in fact it was rather small. It was 22.8 inches in diameter and weighed 183.9 pounds.

The world, especially the United States, started to panic. Were the Russian's going to attack from outer space? How did they come to have such technology? What would this mean for the future?

The United States reacted immediately. For the years following World War II America had been the leading nation technologically and everyone rested assured that they would not be surpassed anytime soon. In fact in 1955 the United States had already started plans on launching their own satellite into space. After the launch of Sputnik the miniscule space program the United States had started grew drastically along with its funding.

Now the race was on. The race for space.

Sputnik in the making.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

For my music class I had to analyze a song of my choice. So I chose Simon and Garfunkel's Scarborough Fair/Canticle. Part of the assignment was to look at the meaning of the song and the culture surrounding it. That was by far my favorite part about this assignment.

This piece is actually two songs together. Scarborough Fair was written a long time in Europe about a fair that lasted 45 days. Canticle was a song written by Simon and Garfunkel. The meaning behind all the words in Scarborough Fair are much debated but as it is related to the second song Simon and Garfunkel sing with it the meaning is probably this:

In the lyrics the singer is constantly mention "parsley, sage, rosemary thyme". Supposedly these four herbs were put on peoples bodies if they died of the plague to keep the plague from spreading to other people. Canticle is clearly an antiwar song, if you listen to the lyrics it talks about men who are soldiers that kill simply because they are told to but don't know the reason why. During a concert Simon said the two songs together represented loss.

Below are the lyrics to both songs as arranged by Simon and Garfunkel:
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt
(On the side of a hill in the deep forest green)
Parsely, sage, rosemary & thyme
(Tracing a sparrow on snow-crested ground)
Without no seams nor needlework
(Blankets and bedclothes a child of the mountains)
Then she'll be a true love of mine
(Sleeps unaware of the clarion call)

Tell her to find me an acre of land
(On the side of a hill, a sprinkling of leaves)
Parsely, sage, rosemary, & thyme
(Washed is the ground with so many tears)
Between the salt water and the sea strand
(A soldier cleans and polishes a gun)
Then she'll be a true love of mine

Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather
(War bellows, blazing in scarlet battalions)
Parsely, sage, rosemary & thyme
(Generals order their soldiers to kill)
And to gather it all in a bunch of heather
(And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten)
Then she'll be a true love of mine

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine


*The words in parenthesis are Canticle.

Nothing Better... Grant and Hepburn

Last night was a Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn night. All we did was watch Charade but it's such a great movie. The twists the turns.. yes!

Charade was released in 1963. Cary Grant was 59 years old when it came out and Audrey Hepburn was only 34. Quite the difference. But yet they were both beautiful people that seemed to work pretty well together.



















While watching this movie all I could think was "Coats!Coats!Coats!" Audrey's coats were adorable, to say the very least. They are all brightly colored and I know many girls that would commit murder to get their hands on some of those coats, especially if they looked that good in them.

Well enough about this... I need to finish up at least one of my drafts on here so you all have something interesting to read.