Getting NEW glasses!

Purchasing NEW eyewear always makes me a little nervous, mainly because whatever you select is going to be your NEW "look" for the next year or more. So you don't want to screw THAT up! I wonder what people would do if I somehow managed to forge a pair of x-ray specs (not with actual x-ray powers because, of course, THAT just isn't possible) fitted with my current prescription? Could you imagine going everywhere in those, and the looks you'd get? It would probably only be fun for about 15 minutes... or until the ladies stopped running and screaming. Evidently, I think of everyday life being much like a cartoon. But I digress.

Turns out that after enduring the eye exam, looking at/trying on just about all of my frame choices, AND a very annoying saleslady, I wound up having just the new lenses put in the same frames I've been wearing for the last 4 years! That's me, always on the new cutting edge of fashion... NOT! But, you see, nothing else compared to how nice my old frames still look on me, so I know I actually made the wisest decision. Not to mention the fact that I saved about another $300 dollars that way.

The lesson to be learned here, kids: If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

It Sure is HOT, Esther! Let's Go For a Dip...

Photo via Google Images

It's Summer, and the days are starting to really heat up here, in Southern California. So, taking a cue from some of my fellow bloggers who've also done water-themed posts, I thought that it might be fun to dive in the pool for a refreshing dip with Hollywood's bathing beauty of the 1940s and '50s, Esther Williams. Come on, put on your swim cap and let's jump in...

Photo via Google Images

So pretty in pink!

What'll the boys think?

Photo courtesy of Luis Aquino

Wow, all of that time in the water

must've shrunk Esther!

Photo courtesy of Luis Aquino

Strike a (pool) pose!

Photo courtesy of Luis Aquino

Men, keep that in mind...

Photo courtesy of Luis Aquino

Long before dolphin-safe tuna, it wasn't

uncommon for fishermen to find Esther

tangled in their nets. Why they were

fishing in swimming pools, is anybody's

guess...

Photo courtesy of Luis Aquino

"Vacation, all I ever wanted..."

Photo via Google Images

Even underwater, this lady looked good!

Photo courtesy of Luis Aquino

Cool, relaxed and... shiny?

Photo courtesy of Luis Aquino

Far from singing her "swan song", Esther

poses with a fellow swimmer.

Photo courtesy of Luis Aquino

"Would you like a beverage? It's cool and

refreshing Lipton iced tea. You'll love the

brisk Lipton flavor! When I'm not

swimming, you'll always find me drinking

a delicious glass of Lipton iced tea!"

Photo via Google Images

Even Tom & Jerry made a splash with Esther!

Alright, out of the water! We've gotten enough sun for the day, and the bus is heading back to 2009. Grab your towels, and don't leave your inflatable toys in the pool!

Wave good-bye to Esther, everyone!

I hope you all had a fun time! Come back again, soon, and we'll take another trip somewhere... Have a great weekend!

Movie Moments: Disney-Pixar's 'Up'

All photos from Disney-Pixar's 'Up'



Yay, I finally got to see 'Up', Disney and Pixar's latest collaboration! And it was REALLY good! Of course, that came as no surprise. Everything that they do is top-notch quality and a whole lotta FUN! I saw it in 3D, too. Not sure if you can see it without...?

Anyway, it's got a wonderful story (My author husband said afterward that he was impressed with the screen writer's ability to formulate a story that encompassed so much and evoked such emotion.), terrific animation, awesome sound, VIBRANT colors and excellent characters. What more could one want from a cartoon movie?!

The story begins to take flight!

Old fuddy-duddy, Carl Fredricksen.

Perpetual optimist, Russell.

Ever faithful & furry, Dug.

Here is the official movie synopsis from Disney ~

"a comedy adventure about 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell."

And if I told you any MORE than that, I'd surely ruin it for you. So, do yourself a favor and see this film. Unless you're a curmudgeon like the story's protagonist Carl, it will most certainly BRIGHTEN your day!

Amusing & colorful, 13-foot-tall Kevin.

A Boy's Toy Joy: The Fisher-Price Movie Viewer

There is probably only a handful of toys that I can fondly remember playing with as a child growing up in the 1970s. I plan to feature them one at a time, so as to give them the attention I feel they deserve.

The first toy that I would like to "focus" on is the Fisher-Price Movie Viewer. Its design was suggestive of an old movie camera and it even hand-cranked like one. The main difference, of course, was that you used it to watch movies, not film them. The movies that I can remember viewing with it were all animated cartoon shorts. And there were only two of those that I used to watch again and again.

Walt Disney's 'Lonesome Ghosts' was my all-time favorite. It starred Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy as ghostbuster/private eye types investigating an old haunted house. They even had on hats like Sherlock Holmes wore, and a magnifying glass, I think...

My favorite sequence was when they were already inside the old house and Mickey opens a door, only to be nearly drowned by a HUGE wave of water that comes rushing in! And four "spooky" ghosts come-a-floating on that very tidal wave. One of the neatest things about the viewer was that, because you powered it by hand-cranking the red dial, you could make it go as fast or slow as you wanted. Even frame by frame or BACKWARDS! So, the whole water sequence alone had a myriad of possibilities and could keep me fascinated for hours. The tale concludes when the three bumbling "detectives" are being chased by the ghosts and crash into a stack of flour barrels. They are then covered head-to-toe in white powder and end up scaring the ghosts away!

The End.

This was my 'Blade Runner'

at the tender age of 4!

My second favorite was Walt Disney's 'Three Little Pigs'. Now, I don't have to tell the story of that one, do I? Again, the thing that I loved to do was watch it in slo-mo or throw it in reverse when the Big Bad Wolf blew down the pigs' houses. I also enjoyed all the happy pig dancing and laughing in this one!

Their houses would get blown
down, then rebuilt again and again...

Thanks to a retro toy seller, I can now crank-up these gems whenever I feel like remembering some of the simpler joys of my youth. There ARE others, but I'll save those for another time!