Tribute to NYC

Today marks the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City. I still remember being on the exercise bicycle at the gym watching the news, thinking there's no way that what I was seeing could be real. This post is a tribute to the people of New York City who literally took the hit for the U.S. and instead of wilting under the tragedy, they showed a spirit of courage and care that still serves as an inspiration for the rest of the world.



This shot shows the original Statue of Liberty flame, housed inside the statue. I shot this during a 2006 visit.



A vintage September 1947 photo of Rockefeller Center:



Times Square, circa 1958:



"South Pacific" was playing at the theater:



Last one for today shows my very favorite building in New York, The Chrysler Building. It is a gleaming Art Deco marvel:



To end on a note of laughter (which we all need to survive the bad times), I am sharing a few of Joan Rivers' favorite jokes about how she loved New Yorkers.



"You know why I like New York? Because the city is TOUGH! The Statue of Liberty carries a gun, I was so impressed. You walk out in the street and see a cop frisking a horse. And the women are tough! See, here in California the ladies are too wimpy. A guy flashes them and they go to pieces. In New York a guy flashes a woman and they take their embroidery hoop out and play ring toss!"

See more Daveland New York City photos at my main website.

1950's Disneyland Gems, Pt. 3

Traveling down Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland we come to the Silent Screen Cinema, with headliners Mabel Normand and Fatty Arbuckle.



The two featured shorts are "The Speed Kings," a 1913 Mack Sennett comedy starring Fatty Arbuckle and Mabel Normand:



and "The Great Train Robbery," the 1903 Edwin S. Porter ten minute short that is considered a milestone in filmmaking for its cross cutting, composite editing, hand tinting, and location shooting.



Today, memories of Normand and Arbuckle are tainted by the scandals that they were involved in. Normand had an addiction to drugs and was also a suspect (later cleared) in the still unsolved murder of director William Desmond Taylor. Arbuckle was accused of raping a young girl in a San Francisco hotel. Although he was cleared of all charges, his career never recovered from the headlines.

A little further down Main Street, we see a White Wing sweeping up the horse poop. Not an enviable job, but somebody's got to do it.



Zooming in for a closer look at East Center Street, with the Gibson Greeting Card Shop on the corner.



Yesterday, I received this sad email from Daveland reader Peter B.:

Last night I was informed that Disneyland removed the large tree that has been sitting on the Plaza Pavilion/Coke Corner for must be 50 plus years.

You can see the tree in this December 1968 image:



And how it looked recently, providing lots of shade to this little area of the park:



Last bit for today is on yesterday's news of the passing of comedienne Joan Rivers.



I discovered her back in the 80's when my dad took me to see her at the Valley Forge Music Fair. I thought she was one of the funniest people I had ever seen. She was brutal to a number of celebrities (Elizabeth Taylor, the Royal Family,…) but most of all, her humor poked fun at herself. Her timing and delivery were impeccable. I wore out my vinyl version of “What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most” until I could practically recite the whole album myself. She rarely (if ever) apologized for her somewhat offensive jokes which touched on such subjects as weight, religion, and the Holocaust. As she stated herself, "I've learned to have absolutely no regrets about any jokes I've ever done ... You can tune me out, you can click me off, it's OK. I am not going to bow to political correctness. But you do have to learn, if you want to be a satirist, you can't be part of the party."

Whether you liked her or not, you could never say the woman was lazy. Even at the age of 81, she worked endlessly, rarely turning down a gig no matter where it was. RIP, Joan. You were a true trailblazer.

See more Daveland Disneyland Main Street, U.S.A. photos at my main website.