Ithaca Falls
Big Flats
Elmira
Candor
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Greetings from La Posada - Winslow, Arizona.
Happy National Train Day.
Auld Reekie (by National Library of Ireland on The Commons)
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Monitor’s 1981 LP finally available on CD (w bonus tracks).
Orson Welles removes his makeup on the set of Citizen Kane.
Cinephilia & Beyond has an amazing find: the complete collection of Orson Welles’ Sketch Book: “a series of six short television commentaries by Orson Welles for the BBC in 1955. Written and directed by Welles, the 15-minute episodes present the filmmaker’s commentaries on a range of subjects. Welles frequently draws from his own experiences and often illustrates the episodes with his own sketches.”
All the essential documentaries on Orson Welles, including Orson Welles: The Paris Interview (1960), Filming ‘The Trial’ (1981), The Battle Over Citizen Kane (1996), Shadowing the Third Man (2004), Orson Welles: The One-Man Band (1995), With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film (1990), Filming ‘Othello’ (1978), F for Fake (1973), Orson Welles with French film school students, Orson Welles “Its All True” Citizen Kane and RKO, and seven-minute video of a very young-looking Welles (he was 23 at the time) addressing an onslaught of press members on October 31, 1938, the day after The War of the Worlds broadcast.
A futuristic cityscape that Jack Kirby penciled as a gift for Don Heck in exchange for Heck inking some work for him.
Amazing Adventures #39, November 1976, cover by P. Craig Russell
Interestingly, I recently rediscovered the majesty of upper and western New York last year. I don’t want to divulge the exact area, but my wife, daughter and I fell so deeply in love with one village last summer (2011) that I flew back a few weeks later and bought us a second home. The geography, topography, history and culture of the area are outstanding and after having just spent 7 weeks back there, I am ready for 7 more. There is just too much to do and experience and no way to cram it into an artificially constructed time frame. You may recall that I grew up in the City and have never had any desire to return to the place. This western part of the state though with its Amish, agriculture and glacially carved and fed landscape is beyond description. More than these stunning pics (and it’s impossible NOT to take great photos up there) I would be very much interested in your personal observations and some of the experiences you had connecting (or not) with the locals. Honestly, if we were still close (you and I) I would be pestering you about seeing it for yourself. This is a world meant for sharing. I’m still thinking of you often…
TT, I was just wondering about you the other day. I guess if you’re taking seven week vacations and buying a second home, I needed worry.
It’s true: by the end of our recent trip, we too wanted to buy a second house in the Finger Lakes area. But my wife knows too well the trouble I’d get into with so much amazing area at my fingertips. I would certainly be arrested for trespassing in one of the incredible abandoned homesteads on the outskirts of Ithaca. Even the scarier neighborhoods of Elmira enchanted me. As for the wilderness, my clueless wandering would land me a fatal case of Lyme disease within six months. But even my wife wouldn’t be safe — during the trip, she confessed that she’s fantasized about throwing herself into The Gorge ever since she was a little girl.
By the time our week was up, I was exhausted from overstimulation. For a boy who’s spent his whole life in the deserts of Arizona, upstate New York is a lot to take in.