GingerPages

Sunday, November 29, 2009

'Blurb' about Flying Down to Rio...

..in today's edition of 'Parade' magazine, which is a weekly 'periodical' that is included in many Sunday newspapers around the country.
I'm sure there is probably an 'e-link' to this Q&A on Parade's website, but I just scanned it in for your instant perusal.
It would have been cool if they could have expounded a bit on the method used to create the effect...but it is just cool to see Ginger and Fred's Pic in a current edition of something.



Oh, P.S. - a BIG welcome to Jamie, Gingerology's newest follower! Glad to have you aboard - and PLEASE feel free to throw in your 'two cents' on any and all topics!

Sincerely, JWalker

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Happy Thanks'ginger', Y'all...

...Hello, all! Just wanting to wish all of you Gingerologists out there a festive, yet reflective Thanksgiving weekend! DON'T FORGET the Ginger/Fred-a-thon begins at 4:30 am on Thursday Morning!
Of course, when this season rolls around each year, I can't help but be reminded of that beguiling Turkey Day we all shared at VKM's place back in '37...I'm sure you all remember it as fondly as I...


Of course, her digs in Beverly Hills was the only place large enough to accomodate us all comfortably...and of course she was ever the gracious host... this picture captures the color palette from that era, in that everything was 'pastel' in nature...that is why 'colorized' films have those 'mild' hues... global warming has made colors more intense...


Her entry foyer contained these large sculpture-type objects, of large white horses with dudes with pointy hats riding them... she seemed to be very proud of those, for whatever reason... and she loved to greet her guests in a very fashionable and engaging manner, whilst posing in front of these horses...she looked fabulous, natch...

Of course, being in motion pictures, she always eagerly documented any gathering with her camcorder...I believe this was an early Sony model, which ran on kerosene... unfortunately, the film itself was comprised of asbestos and DDT, and was thus eventually confiscated and destroyed by fringe groups which could best be described as 'lacking in patriotism'...

Well, of course the main reason for our convergence was the Great Thanksgiving Feast, which Ginger was so famous for... and as expected, the presentation was stunning...the table setting was immaculate, totally perfect in every way... I honestly could not find a picture of her table setting, however, so I opted to include this photo of her setting on a table...which honestly is far more stunning than any arrangement of china and silverware one could muster...


Ginger was such a great hostess...promptly delivering all of the scrumptious dishes she had lovingly prepared to the table with lightning speed and unparalleled grace, never letting her guests want for anything... and all this whilst in high heels, and if not totally backwards, at least in directions which were not of a typical nature, even for VKM...


After we had all gormandized to the verge of lunacy, Ginger swiftly cleared the table and summoned us to her famous ice cream fountain, where she held court over the frozen delicacies...hey, does anyone remember what flavor was Ginger's fav? I think it was pistachio... ...notice how she effortlessly changes outfits between each phase of the serving schedule...as well as hairstyles; remember, these photos were all taken on the SAME DAY!!! They just don't make ladies like that anymore, y'all...well, present company excluded, of course...heh heh...


Well, by then we all had to somehow get moving around to burn off some calories or else perish, so VKM broke out her racket, cracked open a new can of Wilsons and hit the court... Ginger didn't soft shoe when it came to tennis, and she waxed anyone foolhardy enough to find themselves across the net from her. I still have a few round divots on my forehead where she cranked out a few backhands at me...she would have been lethal with a graphite racket...


Well, after the tennis whuppins were administered by our otherwise gracious host, it was getting to be early evening, and folks were starting to make their 'final rounds' for goodbyes, was so good to see you again, let's do lunch, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera... and Ginger was kinda ready to start getting the house back in order, I could tell... she knew how we tended to 'linger' at her place well after the event proper was over (especially me...), hence she was getting a bit 'concerned', as the picture above shows... but still a graceful hostess, as usual...


But before anyone could get away, I grabbed my trusty Kodak Brownie and snapped a few group pictures for posterity...I'm sure y'all remember posing for this one - it's kinda neat going back and picking out which one is which...but heck, y'all know which one you are in this pic... Let's see, there's Lauren, Beth, Jennifer, Maggie, Juliette, Amanda, Maria, Arianna, Winona, Alex, Betsy, Fioraon, Mirriam, Kate, Nicole, Sarah, Kori and of course, Ginger... hmmmm, looks like a few of y'all were missing in this particular pic - I think a couple of y'all cut out early to go on over to Barbara Stanwyck's shindig that evening...didn't Tom drive some of y'all over there in his straight-eight Packard?


Well, after everyone else had left, as usual, I was still hanging around (Miss Stanwyck did not invite me to her shindig - she honestly just didn't like me at all... and just because she caught me rummaging thru her garbage cans a few times...) Ginger was a bit frazzled by my tenacity, but at the same time somehow touched that I was still there (she was such a patient lady...) But, she had to leave right then and there for Chicago for a week, regarding some movie, play, etc... never a sedentary moment for that lady, THATS for sure... she said I could have the remainder of the turkey carcass for sustanance, and I could stay out in her pool house, which was very generous of her... of course, that's when I parlayed the situation into becoming her full-fledged cabana boy just a few weeks later, fetching ice cream for her and her guests, while being allowed to converse with her every once in a while... such a perfect occupation... the only possible way it would have been better was if I was actually on the payroll... but you guys did a great job helping me out financally, with all the USO shows y'all put on... which is what Thanksgiving is all about, right?
Well, I hope this recollection of that wonderful day back in '37 has given you a warm, sentimental feeling...and implores you to make the most of the impending Turkey Day, in order to have more great memories for the years to come...
Have a great and safe weekend, y'all!!!
Huey - VKMfan - Gingerologist

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Thanks, AC!!!

...For the 'great read' honor, as well as all the kind words regarding my facination for all things Ginger! (man - you have me pegged, no doubt! :-] )
It is nice to know what I dig up for the blog is of some entertainment and maybe even informative value to folks out there... and I hope it keeps rolling along. I just don't see me letting up much on G-ology anytime soon, since Ginger is just such a cool topic, and the more you learn about her, the more you want to learn.
And thanks, AC, for your killer blog, which inspires me to work on G-ology to make it of interest!

Thanks Again!!! VKMfan

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Thanks, Gingerella!

...for bestowing a award upon my humble little blog! It is cool to know that folks are interested in Ginger, and hopefully I can keep the blog rolling... I will not grow weary of the subject matter, trust me, y'all... :-)
Well, as a part of this, there are some questions I must answer...I try to have fun with these, and provide 'whumsical' replies... so, check the first comment, where the Q's and A's are located, just in the interest of 'space saving'.
Thanks again, Gingerella! and also to all the other followers of Gingerology!

JWalker - VKMfan

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

..."THE" Roxie Hart...

...OK, y'all, I just read that the Broadway run of Chicago will have a new lead for Roxie Hart...ready? It's...Ashlee Simpson. A very interesting choice - but she actually was in a 'Chicago' run in London a bit back, so who knows - she might be pretty good with it.
But, somehow, I just don't see the pure 'Roxie Moxie' coming from Ms. Simpson... but hope to be proved wrong...
There have been quite a few actresses over the years take on this role, and honestly, haven't seen any, except for 'snippets' of the 2002 movie 'Chicago'...Renee Zellweger seems to make a pretty good Rox... but, for the record, the only Roxie Hart in this blogosphere is the one just below this text, y'all...



...yup, that's the only Roxie I know... ...sigh...

KIG - VKMfan

Monday, November 16, 2009

...Another Reminder...

...about tomorrow morning's KILLER double feature on TCM, "Rafter Romance" (9am Eastern) and "20 Million Sweethearts" (10:15am Eastern)... both of these are 'must-haves' for VKMfans...trust me!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Ginger Trivia, Round Five...

...Haven't had one of these in a bit, so here we go... this one is specifically regarding Ginger and Fred movies only, in anticipation of the G&F Thanksgiving Marathon on TCM ... some are pretty easy, some not so... again, if any 'questionable' questions (or redundant redundancies, for that matter...) arise, please post and discuss... and, the answers will be placed in the comment section, so DON'T hit the comments until you want ALL the answers!!! The phrase 'G&F' will be used exclusively below for 'Ginger and Fred'...

Question ONE: What is the longest G&F movie, running-length-wise?

Question TWO: What is the shortest G&F movie, running-length-wise?

Question THREE: How many movies did Ginger make between "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle" (1939) and "The Barkleys of Broadway" (1949)? (WITHOUT looking at the list on the right!!!)

Question FOUR: Which five G&F movies did Ginger's buddy (yeah, right) Mark Sandrich direct?

Question FIVE: (a softball...) Which G&F movie is Ginger's favorite?

Question SIX: In "Carefree", how many TOTAL shots did Amanda Cooper fire with various shotguns?

Question SEVEN: Which five G&F movies does Eric Blore appear in?

Question EIGHT: Which actor and actress were originally slated to be the Barkleys?

Question NINE: What song from a G&F movie won the very first Best Song Academy Award?

Question TEN: This one is a bit shaky, so feel free to reply (think I am correct, tho...) ...What is the only G&F movie where they are not already married, not getting married, or not readily apparent that they are going to get married?

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

...A reminder...

EDIT - just making sure you are aware the time shown is EASTERN, not central... will probably just keep it that way, since all of TCM's schedules default to Eastern time. thanks, and sorry for the confusion...JW

...Tender Comrade will be on TCM tomorrow, on Veteran's Day, appropriately. It is best described as a 'Stage Door' arrangement of a bunch of ladies living in a house whilst their dudes are off at war, and they are doing the 'Rosie the Riveter' deal.


I enjoyed this one, and Ginger is devastating as usual in it... but there was some 'controversy' about this one when it came out, citing 'underlying communist dialogue'... in fact, it was said to have been 'toned down' quite a bit before Ginger would even do it. I didn't really get all that much 'communistic' philosophy from it, but you can gauge it yourself...

In any event, it is an interesting one - but be sure to have hankies handy... there are some parts that prompt the ol' tear ducts... well, I was a bit choked up at the end... again, it takes a REAL man to admit THAT, ladies!!!

VKMfan

Friday, November 6, 2009

...Back from Baltimore...

...Hi y'all!

Had a 'good' time in Baltimore...well, as good a time as you can have while working... but a pretty neat town, what I saw of it, anyway...

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween! It was pretty cool that while driving to Baltimore on Halloween, we were routed 'off the beaten path' by MapQuest, and ended up passing thru an old town in Virginia with literally hundreds of folks out trick-or-treating...for some reason that art has been lost in my neck of the woods, so it was a cool experience for me, even just passing thru...

Well, as expected, I did have some 'VKM withdrawal' while away... so when I got back, asked my daughter to pick out a Ginger to watch...she chose 'It Had To Be You'...probably not my first choice, but still sounded better than whatever I was watching on vacation...and it may have been a good time to watch it. It really isn't THAT bad, and, even tho the plot is a bit weird, has some funny spots in it...of course, Ginger is gorgeous thruout, as usual... so overall, that one is growing on me.

Well, just thinking of some post topics for the next few days... will work something out shortly... any suggestions welcomed.

AND, a big G-ology welcome to 'ShabbyChicDiva'!!! Please feel free to comment!