Sorry guys... today's photos are real stinkers. I know it, you know it, and even your neighbor knows it. Just look at them quickly and go about your business. It'll be like ripping off a band-aid; it hurts for a moment, and then forgotten.
Check out this dark and joyless photo of Bea Arthur's Carrousel. I don't blame her, she was a delight. But her Carrousel was just no darn good. The shadow beneath the awning is much darker than it should be, as if light couldn't escape even if it wanted to. Even the odd angle imparts a Caligari-esque unease to the scene.
The chain blocking the exit from the Hills Bros. Coffee Garden imprisons the patrons, who must drink their bitter brew in silence. A funeral director walks past us, unfazed by the gloom, but wishing he'd gone to clown college like he really wanted.
Major-
ReplyDeleteI love the stroller-eye view of the first image. And in the second one, my concern is directed towards the rather odd-looking CM who appears to be making a quick getaway backstage...
Thanks, Major.
I hope the Carousel's band organ plays "And Then There's Maude" and "Thank You For Being A Friend"!
ReplyDeleteOf course, after the Carousel is moved to Star Wars Land and all of the horses are converted to Ewoks, I'm sure they will program the band organ to play "Good Night, But Not Goodbye" from the "Star Wars Holiday Special."
ReplyDeleteTOKYO MAGIC : I believe the carousel at that time played “And Then There’s Maude” and the “Paul Lynde Show” theme...
ReplyDeleteMike, I just watched an episode of "The Paul Lynde Show" (on Antenna TV) a few hours ago. Paul was upset with his son-in-law, Howie, for some reason or another.
ReplyDeleteHe’s usually mad because the Howie tends to never have a job. I noticed on the show guests stars play characters with the first name of the real star .... last week Charlotte Rae was in playing Paul’s sister “Charlotte” for example .
ReplyDeleteMajor, Major. Try and look at the bright side of these rare and unusual photos. My mom always said, try and find three good things about something you don't like. 1. Bea Arthur is not actually in the photo. 2. The park was not crowded that day. 3. It's actually not the subject, but the cheap box Brownie camera that is at fault.
ReplyDeletePhoto #2 1. The mortician is a Maxwell House drinker. 2. You know where you can tie up your horse now. 3. Bea Arthur is not in this photo either.
I feel better already. Thanks Major.
That mortician looks a bit like Marc Davis. He sported that look while he was working on concepts for the Haunted Mansion to keep him grounded in the project.
ReplyDeleteIf only he'd known he could have minored in funeral science at UC Clown Tech. Damn guidance counselors.
ReplyDeleteBefore all the horses were painted white...
ReplyDeleteI can't think if a thing to say today except R.I.P. Ron Miller. I believe he's the last of that generation of the Disney Family that worked at Disney.
ReplyDeleteNanook, that CM and the Mortician are working together as a team. After putting up the chain, the CM is headed off to hack into the public address system and shout 'STARBUCKS,' and in the ensuing chaos there are sure to be some 'losses' that will certainly finance a clown college degree
ReplyDelete"Sign says 'Coffee Garden,' so that's what we're doin'. Guardin' the coffee."
ReplyDeleteNanook, maybe that’s why these photos are wonky - they were taken by a three year-old! And I see that you noticed Arthur Fonzarelli heading backstage.
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, yes, and they also used the themes from “Good Times” (“Any time you meet a payment!”) and “All in the Family” - part of the Maude family tree.
TokyoMagic!, your idea is brilliant, thanks to your upbeat character and experience.
Mike Cozart, Jeez, I don’t remember the Paul Lynde Show at ALL!
TokyoMagic!, who played Howie? Anybody who’s remembered today?
Mike Cozart, I’m picturing Howie as being a TV sitcom version of a no-good hippie, sort of like Meathead from “All in the Family”.
Jonathan, aw, poor Bea, from what I’ve heard, she was not like her mean “Maude” character at all. Plus she was hilarious on an episode of “Futurama”. “Death by snu-snu”… anybody? Anybody? I liked the old Maxwell House theme with the “percolator” music, so Hills Bros. can go to HECK. In a hand basket too.
Chuck, I would be thrilled to find a photo of Disneyland with Marc Davis wandering through. Can you imagine? Meanwhile, wait until you see a slide that I have from the 1964 New York World’s Fair. No Marc, but… some other familiar faces.
Melissa, what, even funerals are a science? I once took one of those job aptitude tests in school, and they said I was well suited to be a meat cutter. I am not kidding.
Anon, yes, I always like to see the multi-hued horses.
K. Martinez, I know, I saw that on Facebook last night! Such a bummer, Ron Miller seemed like a very nice man. And the link to Walt and all of those projects… it’s the end of an era.
Anon, it is kind of amazing to think that Starbucks wasn’t even a thing in 1963… but it would be along in just eight years! I wonder if a clown college degree is printed on brightly-colored paper?
Melissa, those guards should have guns, if you ask me.
Plus she was hilarious on an episode of “Futurama”. “Death by snu-snu”… anybody?
ReplyDelete"Have you any idea how it feels to be a fembot living in a manbot's manputer's world?"
You all may joke, but I have a vivid childhood memory of a county fair merry-go-round playing the theme from The Waltons.
Major, John Calvin played "Howie." It looks like he guest starred in a lot of TV shows throughout the seventies and eighties. IMDb doesn't list anything for him past 1995. The character was sort of a hippie, but he wasn't "no good." He was supposed to have a very high IQ, but was always causing problems, inadvertently, for his father-in-law, Paul Lynde.
ReplyDeleteSince the Carousel seemed to play a lot of Norman Lear theme songs, I hope it also played, "Movin' On Up!" from "The Jeffersons."
When the Carousel horses are swapped out for Ewoks, I wonder if they will all be "white," and all be "jumpers"?
"John Calvin played Howie." I'm now imagining roles for Martin Luther, John Wesley, and Huldrych Zwingli.
ReplyDeleteInstead of Ewoks, they should have Tauntauns - with one special Tauntauns you can climb inside.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I love that idea! After you climb inside the Tauntaun, they could fill it with beef livers!
ReplyDelete