FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (PARODY)

ON COUPLE KISSING PASSIONATELY:

(SFX): SMOOCH! SMOOCH!

(SFX): KISSY! KISSY! KISSY!

  (SFX): SMOOOCH! KISSY! KISSY! SMOOCH!!!!

(SFX): SMOOOOOOCH!!!!

COUPLE:  KISSY! SMOOOOOCH!!!!! KISSY!! SMOOOOOOOCH! SMOOOOOOCH!!!!!!!!!

SHE SITS UP, PUSHES HIM AWAY:

GLADYS: "No, wait a minute...we shouldn't be doing this. It's wrong."

PIERRE: "Wrong? How can it be wrong? Are you saying the love between a man and a woman is wrong? How can it be wrong?"

GLADYS (WHILE SPITTING OUT WATER): "I don't know...it just is!"

PIERRE: "Well, if it's wrong, how come it feels so right? I mean I feel pretty doggoned right about it, and if you feel that way, too....."

PIERRE: "Gladys, have you got a towel?"

GLADYS: "I forgot to bring a towel. I have a sandwich. Do you want a sandwich?"

PIERRE: " No, forget the sandwich. Look, all I'm saying is...that when a man..."

PIERRE (WHILE SPITTING OUT WATER): "When a man...."

PIERRE: "What's in the sandwich?"

GLADYS: "Peanut butter, I think."

PIERRE: "The crunchy kind?"

GLADYS: "Yeah, the crunchy kind."

PIERRE: "Good. Let's do it."


************

Photo and title copyright by original copyright holders.

RETURN TO DISNEYLAND

Here I am, back at Disneyland! Many thanks to my anonymous friend whose employee pass made this possible! 

Here's (above) my tram which connected the parking structure with the park. Yikes, half the people hid their faces in a panic when I snapped the picture. I felt terrible. Everyone was so jovial only a moment before. I'll have to be more discreet when I take pictures of crowds.

Once in the park we headed for the Cars ride, which was great. They set it up so you appear to be racing the car beside you. 

Above, the line for the Pinocchio ride. I love taking crowd shots close up but as I said, I'll have to be more discreet. 

Above, the Pinocchio attraction again. This wall painting is the first thing you see at the start of the ride.  How do you like the idea of the dual proscenium, one within the other? 

No trip to Disneyland is complete for me without a visit to The Golden Horseshoe. I love the architecture. It's small scale, but succeeds in being grand at the same time. 

Traffic in Disneyland is handled beautifully. The people in the lower left are in a sunken, elliptical line leading to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. On the bridge above them (our level) is the walking traffic from Adventureland. Above that is a staircase leading to a V.I.P. restaurant, and above that (in the distance) is a rope bridge that leads to Tarzan's Treehouse. 

I love the way traffic flows in and out, up and down and all around in this part of the park. The people watching opportunities are endless!

Above, another view of the treehouse bridge.

On the way up the treehouse (above) what you see mostly is a beautiful tangle of Burne Hogarth-type branches. Even in the tree you become aware of the human traffic going on in all directions around you. I marked the passageways with red arrows.

Going down (above) you're treated to great views of the park. 

Stunning! Views like this took my breath away!

Above, the treehouse bottom. Seeing this reminds me of how important it is for our era to plant lots of exotic, slow-growing "old-growth-type" trees so our successors will have something to look at besides pine. 

Here's (above) the caricature nook in Adventureland. I hate to say it, but the talent wasn't that impressive. 

Here's the silhouette shop. The caricatures were okay, but not very imaginative.

Here's an exhibit showing a real animator working at a traditional animation desk. I can't convey how strange it was to see the ordinary, everyday tools of my trade in a museum setting behind velvet ropes. I felt like a time traveler in a future era where my own time was regarded as quaint and old-fashioned.  

The live entertainment at the park (above) was unbelievable. The dancers were as good as ones you'd find on Broadway. The front row of the crowd was devoted to the handicapped so I couldn't get close enough to get a good picture.

When it was time to go home I had to stop at a souvenir shop to try on one of the new Oswald hats. Nice, huh? Expensive, though...16 bucks!

A VISIT TO THE GETTY VILLA

I just spent a large part of the day at The Getty Villa in The Pacific Palisades. If you live in LA you know that this recreation of a Roman villa houses one of the best collections of Greek and Roman art in the United States.

My favorite room is the one containing the busts. This Roman bronze (above) is extraordinary when you see it up close. The face shows a man full of grit, someone who spits in the face of adversity and refuses to buckle under. 

Yikes! I'm paying the price for not reading the inscriptions. Who is this man? Alexander? Maybe it's nobody well-known, but he dominates the room.

This (above) is simply a highly individuated balding man.

A fascinating likeness (above)! Who is this man?

Above, the emperor Nerva. He looks like Lawrence Olivier in "Spartacus."

This is Commodus, the dissolute son of Marcus Aurelius. I thought Bernini invented this ultra-smooth, beautifully mannered technique, but I guess he didn't.

I've seen this face (above) many times on modern men in present day Los Angeles, yet here it is, on a bust more than 2,000 years old. 

Here's (above) "The Charioteer," which celebrates the victory in a race of Rome's most popular charioteer. 

I'm wondering if the real life charioteer paid for this sculpture (above) out of his own pocket. How else to account for the obvious "Chick Magnet" appeal of the shapes? You should have seen how the women in the museum reacted to this statue.

Above, another bearded man. 

Here's (above) a stunningly charming female face. The sculptor must have admired his subject, maybe he even fell in love with her. It looks like something Carpeaux would have done 1500 years later.

This statue (above) blew my mind. The fluid, quirky style reminds me of Donatello's "David." I thought Donatello invented this technique, but this sculpture pre-dates David by at least 1500 years.

Here's (above) a musician or a poet being visited by the muses. An easily grasped concept, right?

Wrong. What the heck is that (above) fish tail on their backs? I wish I'd taken the time to read the inscription.

Above, a couple of artifacts from Greek theater. The Getty has more painted items like this, but photography in those rooms was forbidden.