Hope everyone’s having a great weekend.  Happy Fourth of July!

How can you encourage men to call?

Jane, on 1813:  “You wait! You wait and hope!”

Which is pretty much how it goes in the 21st century, too.

How do you meet men?

Courtney:  “…you go to parties, you go to bars, you go to restaurants…”
Jane:  “…you marry your cousin…”

I guess it worked for Fanny Price.

Anyway, here’s episode 1:

The teaser:

Poking fun at everything from Helen Gurley Brown’s Sex and the Single Girl to crazed 21st century Austenites, “Sex and the Austen Girl” is the funniest, most relatable chick-centric web production I’ve seen in a long time.

More…

• Tubefilter Review: “Sex and the Austen Girl” Finds Original Twist
• Laurie’s Austen Addict site
• Buy Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
• Buy Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict

Friends of American Maritime History: our national flagship, the legendary ocean liner SS United States is in grave danger of being sold for scrap — an unacceptable fate for this great symbol of American achievement. From 1952 to 1969 the ship was the fastest, greatest ship in the world, transporting American presidents, movie stars, business and military leaders, and foreign heads of state. Sadly, she has fallen out of the limelight and has passed through the hands of a variety of owners, all unable to restore her to a rightful place of dignity.

The SS United States Conservancy, a national non-profit organization, has been working hard to “Save Our Ship” for the past five years. We are rapidly running out of time, however. We have been in touch with the ship’s current owners, The Genting Group/Norwegian Cruise Line, and know they are unable to maintain the ship in her current berth in Philadelphia. Please help us establish a public-private partnership to re-purpose the ship as a stationary attraction while we continue working with government officials to homeport the ship in a large U.S. city.

Here’s the Conservancy’s latest fundraiser commercial – please pass along the good word, even if you don’t have money to contribute.  If you loved “Bon Voyage” with Fred MacMurray…if you think Hotel Queen Mary was a great idea…if you give a crap about human history and technological milestones and all that is good and right about civilization…help the Big U!

Anyway, here’s the latest scoop on Emma, which wrapped last night on Masterpiece Classic:

• If you were one of the #emma_pbs Twitter winners from last week, make sure you follow me/respond to my direct message so I can get your mailing info to the good folks at PBS.org and so you can get your awesome Jane Austen action figure.    Remember, I’m @magicskyway.
• Vic’s thoughts on Emma 2009/2010.
• Laurel Ann has posted some final thoughts on this latest Emma miniseries at Austenprose.
• The 2009/2010 Emma DVD is now shipping.  I can’t wait until it arrives!  TV.com’s Emma DVD review is fairly extensive.  Here’s another review of the DVD edition, from BlogCritics.  Remember, the DVD version includes unique special features and a few “deleted scenes” that aired on the BBC but not on PBS.
• Eventually, I’ll post a fashion review and screencaps from the third hour of the miniseries.

From Flixxy:

This film, originally thought to be from 1905 until David Kiehn with the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum figured out exactly when it was shot. From New York trade papers announcing the film showing to the wet streets from recent heavy rainfall & shadows indicating time of year & actual weather and conditions on historical record, even when the cars were registered (he even knows who owned them and when the plates were issued!). It was filmed only four days before the quake and shipped by train to NY for processing.  Amazing but true!

So much is different, yet it’s amazing to think how much the area hasn’t really changed.  There aren’t cable cars on Market anymore (unless you count the Powell turnaround), but Muni still operates vintage streetcars!  There is the Ferry Building, too, still acting as the beacon at land’s end.  And the modern bike rider who waves his cap at the photographer evokes some of the ebullience of the earlier footage.  Amazing how a simple, timeless gesture can echo the mannerisms of ages past.

1924 diamond and pearl earrings.

Anyway, when I say old, I mean OLD.  First, I give you two cameos.  The larger one belonged to my great-aunt’s husband’s mother.  Like that?  Anyway, I’m guessing it’s 1910sish, but I have no way of knowing for sure. It’s a genuine carved shell, featuring what appears to be a maenad.  The ivy in her hair and the very Dionysian thyrsus (a very phallic giant fennel stalk-turned-ancient-Greek-fertility-symbol) in the background are the dead giveaways.

Maenad cameo, non-maenad cameo.

William Adolphe Bouguereau maenad, with thyrsus.

Greek maenad with thyrsus (and ivy all over her peplos).

Wearing maenad cameo and 1924 diamond earrings. Incidentally, I totally recommend DiorShow mascara.

The smaller cameo belonged to my great-grandmother, and is probably roughly the same age.  I’m not sure what it’s made of, but it’s not shell or stone.

Also from my great-grandmother comes this stunning yellow glass pendant.  Once again, I have no precise year of manufacture, but I’m guessing late teens or, more likely, the 1920s.  At any rate, it’s art nouveau enough to look good with my 1912 tea gown.

Glass pendant.

Me, wearing said pendant.

Now THIS is my platinum Pedre watch, probably early 1930s.  It has a gazillion tiny diamonds on it.  It’s crap for keeping actual time, but it looks FIENDISHLY cool, has an awesome story behind it, and reminds me of the Chicago song “Does Anybody Really Know What Time it is?” (“A pretty lady looked at me and said her diamond watch had stopped cold dead…”).  ANYWAY.  The story is that my grandfather used to own a bar in SoMa on 6th Street in San Francisco, and from that bar he also ran a pawn operation.  This was one of the items pawned.  Okay, so maybe it’s not such an awesome story, but it does have a compelling noirish quality to it that “I bought it at the flea market” can’t deliver.

Platinum and diamond deco Pedre watch.

Now for my prides and joys.  First, my 1924 diamond earrings.  They’re white gold with little dangly pearls.  I love them so much I’m afraid to wear them.  I bought them at Jewel D’Orleans (AKA Dianne’s Estate Jewelry) in Disneyland.

1924 diamond and pearl earrings.

Me wearing said earrings.

Me wearing said earrings.

Me wearing said earrings.

Me wearing said earrings. Yes, I'm a total photo whore.

And last, my awesome gold mourning brooch, ca. 1850.  It has black enamel, a profusion of  little seed pearls, and a plaited lock of the deceased’s hair inside.    This piece also came from Dianne’s Estate Jewelry.

1850 mourning brooch.

Next time: Beaded purses, my silk shawl, a SWEET antique dress clip, and maybe some other stuff.

Mainly thinking out loud.

And now, a silly Depeche Mode video.

Heh.

]]> http://blog.strangegirl.com/2009/12/05/straaaange-blog-thats-how-my-blog-goes/feed/ 0 http://blog.strangegirl.com/2009/12/05/emma-odds-n-ends-and-happy-christmas-and-stuff/ http://blog.strangegirl.com/2009/12/05/emma-odds-n-ends-and-happy-christmas-and-stuff/#comments Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:00:51 +0000 Kali http://blog.strangegirl.com/?p=408 So another old edition of Emma wuz auctioned today.

Also, IndiaTimes presents a short article about Ayesha star Sonam Kapoor, who discusses her work on the film, endorsements, and future projects.  According to the piece, Ayesha will drop in April, 2010.

Also, happy holidays.  My little tree and I salute you…

Merry Christmas, Fools and Foolinas!

Here you go.  It’s all posted at Facebook, in a publicly-viewable album.