I'd like people to remember me as someone who was good at his job and seemed to mean what he said.

So I have been browsing around online and I found a museum that is called, "The Jimmy Stewart Museum". I think I want to go there! Unfortunately it's in Pennsylvania and I'm not going to Pennsylvania any time soon.

So here we go...

A Career Takes Off

Jimmy Stewart Biography Part 2

Jimmy Stewart's first job in Hollywood was as a participant in screen testing with new Hollywood stars. Due to his gangly appearance and shy mannerisms on screen it was hard for Stewart to find an acting job in a movie. But finally he came out with his first movie in 1935, The Murder Man. Unfortunately it wasn't such a great success, but everything was forgotten when he came out in the successful movie Rose Marie just the next year. In his early films Jimmy never had a leading roll, but in 1936 he was cast as one of the main characters in After the Thin Man. A fitting title for a man who never filled out the boyish skinniness that he took with him to the grave.



Before World War II Stewart's acting kept everyone captivated by his boyish charm that kept the fans coming. But soon life would change. Stewart had always wanted to be a pilot. However, acting had interfered in his plans to either work with his Father in the hardware store or become a pilot. But on December 7th, 1941 things would take a sudden turn.
To be continued soon...

Rock Around the Clock

Last night my aunt and uncle were just sitting around watching TV after watching The Book of Eli and I guess maybe we were looking for something lighter and more fun to watch after such an intense crazy movie. Anyway, my uncle landed on a movie called Rock Around the Clock. I'm telling you, if you want a movie jam packed (I love jam!) full of great fifties music, especially fifties rock this is the movie for you. Starring Bill Haley and the Comets, The Platters and Freddie Bell and the Bellboys.

The movie was made in 1956 and is a classic black and white picture. It stars Lisa Gaye, with her adorable, curvy figure and great dance moves along with Johnny Johnston as Steve Hollis, the man who is trying to get Bill Haley and the Comets famous.

Bill Haley and His Comets

Freddie Bell and the Bellboys

The Platters

Women Love Chocolate and Men Love Cake

First of all I would like to say that my brother was the one who titled this post. So if it doesn't make sense I'm sorry but I couldn't think of anything to title it.

Secondly I would like to brag about my sister a little. She is a a pastry chef and has been hired recently to make a cake for a 25th anniversary for some friends of ours. While she was frosting the cake we got into a discussion about groom's cakes and how they started and all the traditions surrounding groom's cakes.

Ok, here we go. Groom's cakes. No one really knows when groom's cakes came about or how or if any of the recorded histories of the groom's cake are true. I will tell you several histories and traditions, you can decide which one you like the most.

Groom's cakes were supposedly started in the 18th century. However they were for SURE made during the early 1900s. (As far as we know, haha!) The groom's cake was always a dark colored cake such as a fruit cake or a chocolate cake in contrast of the traditional white bride's cake.

Some say the groom's cakes was served at the receptions to the guests with wine for toasting.

Another story says that the grooms cake was on top of the bride's cake and no one ate it on the wedding day. Rather it was put into a container that was filled with brandy and preserved for the one year anniversary of the bride and groom's consumption. This makes sense to me seeing as how many couples to this day save the top of their cake so they can eat it together on their first anniversary.

Yet another history says that all the single women or just the bridesmaids were given a piece of the groom's cake wrapped in paper so they could place it under their pillow the night of the wedding in hopes they would dream of their future husband that night.

Still another story says that the groom's cake was wrapped in a box and tied with fancy ribbon and given to the guests as they left as party favors. I personally like this tradition, it's very fancy and classy in my opinion and when I get married I may just have to do this.

No matter the tradition almost every writing of the history of groom's cake, I read, agreed that the groom's cake sat on a separate table from the bride's cake and was in no way to look as wonderful as the bride's cake, and should traditional not be white. Of course the story of the groom's cake sitting on top of the bride's cake is a different matter entirely.

If anyone knows any other stories of the origin and traditions of groom's cakes I would love to know.

I know this is not a groom's cake but the picture was just so cute!

So one last thing before I sign off for the night, since we're on the topics of wedding and food and traditions. Another tradition that I want to have at my own wedding is an old tradition that replaces the bouquet toss. This tradition is the "bride's pie". All the single women at the wedding reception would be served a slice of the bride's pie. Hidden in the pie would be a single glass ring. The lucky girl to get the piece of pie with the glass ring would be the next lucky lady to get married.

Summer cRaZyNeSs

I've been feeling rather guilty that I've been slacking off on my blogging, until I started reading other people's blogs today and found out that I am not the only one that has not been blogging regularly. Unfortunately besides my week long trip to Mexico I have no excuse for not blogging. I'm just simply lazy and enjoying my Summer vacation. I've been sleeping in late (sleeping is good for healing so that's my excuse!), reading a lot (A LOT! which reminds me I need to finish my Jimmy Stewart post), drinking coffee and watching old films and my beloved Stargate. Oh and of course there if physiotherapy, but no one cares about that too much, including me.

Anyway I was thinking about summer games, sunbathing, playing in the ocean, hanging out with friends, going to the movies and eating buttered popcorn. So, being me, I had to find pictures and wish to share them with you. Please enjoy.

The Soda Fountain and Ice Cream Parlor

So today I was rummaging around in my refrigerator looking for the ingredients to make a chocolate milkshake... unfortunately I came up short on some of the ingredients and had to satisfy myself by reading some history on soda fountains and ice cream parlors.

After doing this I decided to google if there are any soda fountains or ice cream parlors around and I sadly my search was for naught. There are very few ice cream parlors that stay true to the original 1880's feel or any soda fountains to speak of near my house. In all actuality I discovered that the soda fountain craze died in the '70s. It was started at the beginning of the 1900s and it's popularity spiked during the depression because it was cheaper to go hang out at a drug store and eat ice cream there rather than going to a bar. So who invented the first carbonated drink? Oddly enough it was a pharmacist. Not long after his invention anyone could buy a soda fountain, a couple of recipes and set up shop, most of the people who bought soda fountain's were indeed pharmacists, the reason for this I still can't seem to figure out.

Eventually something that was called a "soda counter" was invented and now people could come to your drugstore, sit down, drink a soda or eat ice cream, for as long as they wanted. It was just an easy way to socialize.

A painting of one of the first soda fountains.

Hmm. I wish I was there!

A soda counter.