The Future is Now!

One of my favorite movies is Dinner at Eight, made way back in 1933. There are many great moments in the film, but one in particular inspired today's post.  And if you're a fan of the movie, you probably know which one!

Marie Dressler & Jean Harlow in Dinner at Eight

In the closing scene, gold-digging Kitty Packard (played by sexy Jean Harlow) talks to matronly Carlotta Vance, a former 1890's Broadway star (played by Marie Dressler):

Kitty:  I was reading a book the other day.

Carlotta: (appears startled) Reading a book?

Kitty: Oh, yes, all about civilization or something; a nutty kind of a book. Do you know that the guy said machinery is going to take the place of every profession?

Carlotta: (looks Kitty up and down) Oh my dear, that's something you need never worry about.

For a good laugh, watch the scene here.

The future is now, as machinery (computer technology) has replaced several jobs in the marketplace. Machines, as well as robots, are used on some parts of assembly lines.  And in addition to ATMs, there's electronic banking, electronic billing, and my favorite--electronic shopping!

I remember the days of full-service gas stations.  Later there was the option of full-serve or self-serve.  The full-service option has been out of existence for several years, but something relatively new at the supermarket is the self-checkout machine.

And nowadays, instead of using library staff to help with research, there's the Internet.  Oh, and you can check out your books at the self-checkout machine by the door!  When I stopped working as a librarian 14 years ago to raise a family, talk was that in the near future, you'd be able to read a book on a computer.  I thought that sounded pretty ridiculous, but what did I know?

Electronic books have turned the publishing industry upside down! Today a book can be published in a matter of minutes, and publicity can be generated by social media.

In closing, here's something amazing, with the advent of 3D printing, machines are capable of making machines themselves!

Beautiful Jean

Kitty Packard was right! It looks like machinery is well on its way to taking over every profession, with the exception of the world's oldest.

Have you ever seen Dinner at Eight? Also, how has technology transformed your work environment?

Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

Originally posted March 11, 2013

Busy Day Brisket

I absolutely love beef brisket, but I've never prepared it myself until today! This version is currently in my crock pot and I can't wait until dinner. It's very easy and according to the reviews at Allrecipes.com, it sounds delicious. Maybe you can give it a try too. Enjoy!

Busy Day Brisket

• 1 T dried thyme leaves
• 1 T paprika
• 2 t black pepper
• 2 t salt
• 1 t onion powder
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 1/2 t cayenne peppet
• 1/2 cumin
• 3 lbs. beef brisket, trimmed of fat
• 1/2 t liquid smoke
• 2 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 cups Barbecue sauce  
  
     
  
  

  1. Combine thyme, paprika, pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, and cumin in a small bowl; set aside. Rub brisket all over with liquid smoke, then rub with spice mixture.
  2. Pour Worcestershire and barbeque sauces into a slow cooker; place beef on top. Cover, and cook on LOW 8 to 10 hours, until fork tender. 

   

  Do you like brisket? Thanks for visiting and have a great week!
  

Keye Luke: From Artist to Actor

As Number One Son Lee Chan

Hubby and I have been watching old episodes of Kung Fu, which featured actor Keye Luke as the blind Master Po. To older generations he is remembered from the Charlie Chan serials as Charlie Chan's Number One Son Lee Chan. Wikipedia says that he was the first Chinese-American contract player signed by RKO, Universal Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was one of the most prominent Asian actors of American cinema in the mid-twentieth century. However, before he was an actor, he was an artist.

According to IMDb, Keye Luke was born in Canton, China. He grew up in Seattle, Washington, and entered the film business as a commercial artist and a designer of movie posters. He was hired as a technical advisor on several Asian-themed films, and made his film debut in The Painted Veil (1934). It seemed that he appeared in almost every film that called for Chinese characters, usually in small parts but occasionally, as in The Good Earth (1937), in a meatier, more substantial role. In addition, he played Dr. Kildare's rival at the hospital in the Dr. Kildare series at MGM.

As Blind Master Po

More from Wikipedia says Luke worked on several of the murals inside Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and he did some of the original artwork for the 1933 King Kong pressbook. Luke also painted the casino's mural in The Shanghai Gesture. He published a limited edition set of pen and ink drawings of The Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam in the 1950s. He also created illustrations for the books The Unfinished Song of Achmed Mohammed by Earle Liederman, Blessed Mother Goose by Frank Scully and an edition of Messer Marco Polo by Brian Oswald Donn-Byrne (unpublished). Other art done by Luke included the dust jackets for books published in the 1950s and 1960s. It was through his studio art work that he was recruited for his first movie roles.

I always find it fascinating to learn about an actor's life before the acting began, so just thought I'd share! By the way, are you a fan of Kung Fu? Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

Judy Holliday

Big oops on my part! I forgot to post something yesterday. I've been so involved with revising my new novel, blogging slipped my mind, so my apologies.

With all the talk of sexual harassment in Hollywood (and everywhere) coming to light, it reminded me of a story I'd read about actress/comedian Judy Holliday and her run in with Columbia Pictures studio head Harry Cohn. When he grabbed her in a tight embrace, falsies popped out of dress, to which she remarked, "These are yours anyway, Mr. Cohn." I think that "dampened his enthusiasm" and she was able to get away.

For more about the talented Judy Holliday, check out the article below from Turner Classic Movies: 

This spirited, intelligent actress of stage and screen played variations of the squeaky-voiced 'dumb blonde' role in a number of breezy comedies of the 1940s and 50s. Under her own name, Judith Tuvim, she formed a comedy troupe called "The Revuers," with Betty Comden and Adolph Green. This led to bits in the films "Winged Victory" and "Greenwich Village" (both 1944) and "Something for the Boys" (1945). But it took two Broadway shows, "Kiss Them for Me" and, notably, as the intellectually ambitious moll in "Born Yesterday," to make the newly-renamed Judy Holliday a star.

She returned to films with a memorable supporting role in the Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn comedy, "Adam's Rib" (1949), then vaulted to stardom the following year when she recreated her stage triumph of "Born Yesterday" in George Cukor's film adaptation. As the airheaded mistress of a shady and rather dull-witted tycoon who turns the tables on him once she's educated, Holliday won an Oscar as Best Actress of 1950 (beating out Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Boulevard" and Bette Davis and Anne Baxter in "All About Eve").

For the rest of the 50s, signed with Columbia, Holliday made a handful of films, delighting audiences as ditzy but surprisingly shrewd types in "The Marrying Kind" (1952), the delightful media satire "It Should Happen to You" and "Phfft!" (both 1953), "The Solid Gold Cadillac" and "Full of Life" (both 1956). Holliday's last film was recreating her stage role in the musical "Bells Are Ringing" (1960). She returned to the stage in the straight play "Laurette" (Taylor) and the musical "Hot Spot" (1952). A heavy smoker, Holliday died of throat cancer in 1965 at the age of 43.

I'm a movie buff, but I've never seen a Judy Holliday movie. Have you? Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

Nathan "Nearest" Green: Ex-Slave/Master Distiller

I found this interesting article that appeared in the Washington Times about Jack Daniel's master distiller. Thought I'd post it today.

Nathan “Nearest” Green was a slave whose services as a distiller were rented out to a Tennessee preacher, Dan Call, in the 1850s. It was Green, research by black author Fawn Weaver shows, who mentored Call’s protege, Jack Daniel, in the making of the famous spirit that would bear his name.

While he went on to serve as Jack Daniel’s first master distiller and, as a free man, became prosperous in his own right, Green’s contributions have largely been missing from the company’s success story, even as they remain common knowledge in Lynchburg, Tennessee, Ms. Weaver said.

“To this day I don’t know how Nearest ended up being hidden. I really don’t,” she told the Mail. “Because when Jack was alive he never hid him. When Jack’s descendants ran the distillery, they never hid who he was or what he did. The relationship between Jack’s descendants and Nearest’s descendants were one that was rare between blacks and whites. They would’ve stood out. In Lynchburg, they always knew.”

Ms. Weaver said that her research shows that Daniel and Green’s business relationship was remarkable for its mutual respect across racial barriers, particularly for the time. “His family was fully integrated after the Civil War. Jack and his family did not see a difference between Nearest and his family and their own,” she told the Mail.

Indeed, the closeness between the Green and Daniel families is recognized in the name of the new whiskey label, Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey.

The name refers to a southern tradition of “referring to teachers, mentors or others close to a family as ‘uncle, aunt or cousin’ out of respect,” the Mail reported.

“If you are in Lynchburg, everyone calls each other uncle, aunt, cousin so and so, whether you’re black or white,” Ms. Weaver said.

For more information on Nathan "Nearest" Green, check out Wikipedia.

I'd never heard of Nathan "Nearest" Green, had you? Thanks for visiting and have a great week!