I recently found out that Audrey Hepburn had a pet fawn. Can you believe it? How stinkin' adorable is that? His name was Pippin, nicknamed Ip. According to a "New York Daily News" article by Patrick Huguenin, "Hollywood icon Audrey Hepburn is still full of surprises:"
When Hepburn was making her 1959 flick "Green Mansions," directed by then-husband Mel Ferrer, the animal trainer on the set suggested that she take her on-screen sidekick, a baby deer, home with her so that he would learn to follow her.
"It was truly amazing to see Audrey with that fawn," remembers [Bob] Willoughby [photographer] in the caption alongside a photo of Pippin cuddling up to Hepburn like a lap dog as she naps on the couch. (Her pet dog, Mr. Famous, is curled in a ball at the other end of the sofa.)
"While Audrey's maid had been told about the little deer, she could not believe her eyes seeing Ip sleeping with Audrey so calmly," writes Willoughby. "She was shaking her head and just kept smiling."
Is anyone else super excited that "The State" is finally coming out on DVD tomorrow? It's been over 10 years (almost 15, I think!) since I've seen it last (I'm thankful for the few youtube videos out there though) and I'll be so happy to hear Michael Showalter say, once again, "I'm Doug and I'm outta heeeerrre." Tomorrow will be such a wonderful day for 90s nostalgia!
And, if you haven't seen it yet, you must watch "Horrible People," a hilarious web comedy series that is not only very State-like, but has the adorable Joe Lo Truglio in it as well (check out his childhood shark drawings/obsession here). Plus, of course, it stars Kristen Schaal. And all things Kristen are divine.
Just a quick post in the midst of my vacation hangover to sing the praises of a picture book I found at Buxton Village Books during our stay in Cape Hatteras last week. After years of bringing home cheesy OBX t-shirts and store-bought sea shells, I finally found a vacation memento that records exactly what our week at the beach was like--at least for our youngest child.
In Wave, Suzy Lee's gorgeous, soothing illustrations of a little girl (I imagine her as a 2 and a half year old, like my own daughter) meeting the ocean capture the relationship between child and sea so perfectly it puts a lump in my throat.
A lovely video at Chronicle Books animates every page of Wave, so you can witness its charm for yourself, but I can promise that the sweetness and wonder of Lee's illustrations can only truly be savored with the book in your lap.
Mosaics are fascinating to me. I have a degree in studio art, so I have spent a fair amount of time painting, drawing, and taking some very unsuccessful ventures into the world of clay, but the idea of imagining, planning, and executing a piece of tile art is so daunting.
I love how they look though- blocks and shards of color fitting together just so. Artist Cynthia Fisher graciously walks you through the process on her website -it makes it slightly less intimidating and all that more impressive...
Has anyone else been checking out MairaKalman's series, "And the Pursuit of Happiness," appearing in the "New York Times" the last Friday of each month? Each illustrated column is about a historic person or place she's visited related to American democracy. She's talked (and created images of) President Obama'sinauguration, women and the Supreme Court, the Lincoln archive, and the Pentagon. Her last column was about her visit to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. The images are bright and whimsical and her commentary about his legacy is both smart and funny (I counted two uses of the expression: "aycaramba!"). She paints an honest and well-rounded picture of the man (yes, I just noticed that pun too...), but still keeps the tone light. And, gosh, aren't these images (and these sentiments) wonderful?
Shelley Duvall, the classic awkward beauty, is 60 years old today. A real hero to the gawky too tall and too skinny high school girl, Shelley embraced her looks and even played the original bony and lanky girl, Olive Oyl, in Altman's "Popeye" (never mind her roles in Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick, and those other Robert Altman movies). That movie is a classic (be damned all you hateful critics!) and she shines with her squeaky voice and giant shoes.
Just revisiting her singing "He Needs Me" makes me so happy (watch it here) and who doesn't smile when she sings "He's Large"?
"Children watching cartoons in a movie theater,"San Carlos, CA, June 1946 by Charles E. Steinheimer via LIFE
Okay, this post title sounds a little ominous, but this it's not a children-of-the-corn type of post. It's just the opposite. I came across the above picture and it reminded me of when I went with my nephew to see the musical production of "The Grinch" this past Christmas. He was, at the time, just new to 3 years old and he had never seen live theatre before. We were worried he'd be restless or bored or would pull something that 3 year old boys are experts at pulling, but he was not only a gem the whole time - he was also mesmerized. He stood the entire time and, like the little boy in this picture, held the seat in front of him as if he had to anchor himself to some place (sitting in his seat was not going to do it). The musical was, well..., what you'd expect, but his face and the way he was utterly swept up in the experience was wonderful to watch.
So here are some more images of children as audience members fully caught up in what they are watching. What's interesting is that most of these are of puppet shows or plays or parades. The only one of kids watching movies is the one above and that picture was taken in 1946. It's strange that, for the most part, pictures that I came across of groups of kids watching movies or tv were so different from these - there wasn't the same array of expressions and reactions. And the pictures of audiences in 3D glasses? Really kind of strange how uniform in expression they are (creepy even, if you ask me). Anyway, these old black and whites seem reason enough to go see more live stuff with my nephew or any of my friends' children - I cannot get enough of these expressive little faces.
"WPA Federal Theater Project in New York: children watching Marionette Unit," 1935 via wikipedia
"A group of children watching the Punch and Judy puppet show," UK, 1946 via LIFE
"Children at a Puppet Theater, Paris," 1963 by Alfred Eisenstaedt via girlfriday
"Children at a Puppet Theater, Paris," 1963 (version II) by Alfred Eisenstaedt via girlfriday
And you have to watch this clip from "Les quatre cents coups" ("The 400 Blows"). You don't have to know anything about the movie other than these 2 older boys are sitting in on a puppet show of "Little Red Riding Hood" (a perfect story to trigger many different reactions from its audience). Also, these little kids, in case you can't tell, are not acting - these are their honest reactions to what they are watching. And wait until the end of the clip to catch my favorite part: one boy resting his head on another boy's shoulder. Neither boy flinches, neither boy moves. It is completely natural and innocent. And it kills me every time.
Not expecting much for the 5th of July, I headed over to the North Carolina State Flea Market in Raleigh. And despite the rain which caused many sellers to pack up early and the humidity (never mind the holiday hangover) that kept many buyers at bay - it was a great day. I picked up a lovely pair of earrings (costume, of course - flowers of blue "jewels," vintage screw on posts) and a bag of cucumbers from a sweet old man who had one blue eye and one brown. I was going to make a cucumber salad, but I ended up slicing most of them in half, sprinkling them with salt and enjoying them without anything else. That kind of Sunday was just what was needed and it cost me all of $6.00.
P.S.
Alice B. Gardens, who not only took the gorgeous picture I included in this post and has a wonderful etsy shop, but her blog is the most effortlessly beautiful blog I've come across in some time. Each post on Alice's Garden is of one of her photographs followed by a link to listen to a song that she's paired with that image. So simple, so cool. And her taste in music is, of course, as divine as her talent. You will fall in love.
Fireworks just don't photograph. Pictures of exploding 'works tend to look diminished and smoky and film representations - eh. But check out this video. It not only totally captures the spirit of fireworks, but it is also so darn imaginative.
video by PES
check out more stop motion shorts by PEShere.
I recently found out that Audrey Hepburn had a pet fawn. Can you believe it? How stinkin' adorable is that? His name was Pippin, nicknamed Ip. According to a "New York Daily News" article by Patrick Huguenin, "Hollywood icon Audrey Hepburn is still full of surprises:"
"While Audrey's maid had been told about the little deer, she could not believe her eyes seeing Ip sleeping with Audrey so calmly," writes Willoughby. "She was shaking her head and just kept smiling." 
all photographs by Bob Willoughby
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"Children watching cartoons in a movie theater,"San Carlos, CA, June 1946 by Charles E. 
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"Children at a Puppet Theater, Paris," 1963 (version II) by Alfred 
