Saturday, January 22, 2011
RANDOM 341 OBJECT
1950 SALAD SET Sterling & Wood Frank Whiting TROUBADOUR-$18
Isn’t it great that some families take good care of their things? This set is a good example of such care. The sterling is tarnished, which is no big deal, but the wood is almost “as new.”
Fork = 10 ¼” – Spoon = 10 ½” – NO MONOGRAMS
We all need to take better care of ourselves, that’s obvious. But we also need to have a serious talk about taking care of our planet without the nut-balls and lobbyists in the room who are just trying to sell coal and oil. It reminds me of true story I read once about a pod of dolphins.
People would see this pod of about eight dolphins, mostly in the early mornings, way up on the beach. At first folks thought it was just another case of dolphins washing up on the beach – then dying.
Well, not so fast. It turned out that whenever they were approached, they’d use their flippers to scamper across the sand and back into the water. They’d swim about 100 feet offshore and stick their heads out of the water and make those laughing sounds we’ve all seen and heard on TV.
This went on for months. Local people began sneaking up on them, hiding behind a big rock on the shore. I think it was Laguna Beach, California, but I could be wrong about that.
What they saw when the dolphins didn’t realize a featherless biped was watching was pretty amazing. They were practicing walking around on their flippers, and they were getting very good at it. One guy claims he saw a male and a female walk all the way to Thalla Street and look in the show window of an art gallery before scurrying back to the beach. (That sounds fishy to me, but he swore it was true.)
You may remember reading about it by now. I don’t know what year it was, but after practicing their “walking” for well over a year, the entire pod walked all the way from Laguna Beach, California to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, stopping only in farm ponds and rivers to breathe and get wet. (Dolphins have to do that.) They stayed fairly close to I-40 most of the way.
The really great part about their amazing feat is that they did it for charity – getting so many dollars per mile in donations for the “Save the Tuna Fund.” Ironic, isn’t it?
Uh-oh. Now that I think about it, that was just a dream I had a few years ago. So – never mind.
GOOD LUCK
I left out a lot of the dream because I hate rambling eBay descriptions, but someday I’ll have to tell you about the VW van full of hippies who saw them struggling along a few miles west of Memphis. Turns out they were on their way to a crafts show to sell hand stitched and beaded leather bras and headbands and such.
So the bus stopped, and while two of the flower children carried water in buckets from a nearby river and kept them cool and wet, two or three more of them made a little pair of leather flipper moccasins for each of the dolphins. That was a nice thing to do. I think so anyway.
RANDOM AUNTIE'S PHOTO ALBUM
Friday, January 21, 2011
RANDOM 341 OBJECT
Antique 1906 Print ORIG FRAME - FIRELIGHT FANCIES Dewey-$28
I guess I’ve had this nice old print since man began to walk upright, but I’d always read a meaning into it that may not be correct.
It’s in nice shape – signed and dated in the print; lower right:
“Copyright 1906
Alfred James Dewey”
Then there’s the brass plaque still attached and undisturbed on the original oak “Arts & Crafts” frame. “FIRELIGHT FANCIES – SHE.” The glass is dusty inside, but the print is excellent. I’ve included my normal glare, so just ignore it.
Like most people, the first thing that comes to mind when you see the print with the gal seeing a man in her fireplace is “peyote ceremony.” Then you think: “No. Maybe it’s a dream sequence involving an absent or dead lover.”
You’ll notice she has a nice set of chenets, but that’s neither here nor there.
I was perusing a 1904 copy of a newspaper the other day (The Grey River Argus) and ran across a poem of the same name: “Firelight Fancies.”
”There are pictures in the firelight,
Bringing to mind, with pain,
Memories of a one-time twilight,
Which I ne’er would see again.”
”In the twilight you and I, dear,
Parted; bitter words were said.
We were both too proud to own, dear
Whither our affection led.”
”Sweetheart, will you grant forgiveness
If to you I humbly come?
Will you turn my pain to gladness?
Will you make my heart your home?”
”If you disregard my suit, dear,
Broken, hopeless, I shall be –
Dead all my desire to live, dear,
Speak that welcome “yes” to me.”
THAT'S ENOUGH OF THAT CRAP! This poor @%$&^ better hope all his pleading and groveling doesn’t result in marriage. She’ll have him by the short hairs for life.
My advice to him: “RUN!”
My advice to her: “Get over it and lay off the laudanum.
Dang! I forgot what I was talking about. Must have been something nice.
