Disneyland The First Year at Night: Pt. 1

This amazing collection of twelve night time shots documents Disneyland in its first year. I don't know this for sure but I would have to hazard a guess that the photographer was a professional, as these are well composed and pretty sharp, especially for evening shots. These are presented in the order that they were shot. The first shows a pretty young lady (who is in a few of the photos) taking a look at the Park from the Main Street Train station.

Down to ground level, we see City Hall.



Zooming in, it's hard to believe the lack of crowds and guests being able to just relax.



Walking down the street our photographer stopped at the Upjohn Pharmacy.



Let's zoom in for a peek through the windows. I see edutainment!



Standing under the amazing Upjohn street lamp, our young lass probably couldn't even begin to imagine that 60 years later there'd be a Starbucks across the street!



A straight shot down Main Street towards the Train Station.



A closeup view shows that a Keystone Kop is keeping guests safe at night. We need him back!



Last one for today takes us to the Castle.



More early (and contemporary) Disneyland photos at my main website.

Laocoön and His Sons at Disneyland

This sculpture has been something that has caught my eye each time I have visited Club 33. Residing in the main dining room, "Laocoön and His Sons" is not something that you just look at casually. The look of agony on Laocoön's face begs to be noticed. This is the first photo I took of it back in September 2007. Little did I know that nine years later I would have a very interesting story to piece together.

Flash forward to my most recent dinner at the Club, and our wonderful waitress Angela told us the backstory. The original statue was unearthed in Rome in 1506 and then placed on public display in the Vatican, where it still resides today. When it was excavated, there were a number of pieces missing from the statue. Angela told us that both Raphael and Michelangelo created what they thought his missing arms might look like, but that Michelangelo's interpretation won out.



At this point, my memory started humming. I remembered that I had seen another copy of this statue somewhere. Sure enough, just one month before I had seen it in Savannah at the Telfair Museum.



Carl Brandt, the Telfair's first director, traveled to Europe in 1883 to purchase works of art for the museum's collection. While there, he commissioned this plaster cast of the Roman sculpture dating from early in the first century AD. A vintage Telfair publication describes it:

"As priest of Apollo, Laocoön was commissioned by the Trojans to offer a bullock to Neptune. During the sacrifice two enormous serpents issued from the sea and attached his two sons, who stood next to the altar. The father attempted to defend his sons, but the serpents falling upon him, he died in greatest agony from their venomous bites."

I had also photographed it in Savannah back in March 2007, just 6 months before my photo at Club 33 was shot.



My brain continued to engage; if the original was in Rome at the Vatican, I wondered if I had seen it when I visited Rome back in 2004.

BINGO! From September 2004:



From Rome, to Savannah, to Club 33. The circle is complete!

More Daveland photos and fun at my main website.

A Selfie at Disneyland, 1967

When I first saw this October 1967 image, I wanted it because it was a vintage view of New Orleans Square at Disneyland that I didn't have. But when I looked closer, I saw an even better reason to acquire it: an old-school selfie! How cute! How many of today's selfie-obsessed generation would be willing to wait at least a week to see how that little snapshot turned out?



Sorry, but this is as close as I could get for a contemporary view in my collection:



More vintage (and current!) New Orleans Square photos at my main website.

Angels Flight Today

On my most recent trip to Los Angeles, I made a stop at Angels Flight Railway, the little Railway that could (but not quite yet).



The two cars are currently frozen in time, waiting for the City to come up with a feasible solution that allows them to operate safely.



Such a beautiful little treasure here, it really is sad that they just sit here.



The ticket booth up top.



A shot of the inner workings:





Don't get dizzy!



As I walked back down to the bottom, a junkie sitting off to the side asked me to help him shoot up. That was a first. I just kept walking. As if things couldn't get more bizarre, I saw this:



Somehow, the City of Los Angeles has managed to connect the dots between Condors and Angel's Flight.



More Angel's Flight Railway photos (vintage AND current) at my main website.

RIP Green Hornet

Van Williams, best known as Britt Reid, aka "The Green Hornet," in the 1966 TV show, passed away on November 2016. My apologies for just finding out! Here are some shots of him working out with Robert Conrad at what I believe is the Warner Brothers Studio gym. The things guys will do for publicity.



I wonder what direction the photographer was giving while these were being shot?



Here are some shots of Adam West and Van, promoting their blockbuster TV shows, "Batman" and "The Green Hornet."



Both casts and vehicles from the two shows.



For more Movie, TV, and Pop Culture photos visit my main website.

Where's My Anchor?

Just when I think I couldn't possibly see anything new at Disneyland...when scanning this vintage August 1959 slide, I noticed an anchor on the Columbia. I had never noticed it before!



Pulling up this shot from October 2008...



I saw that yes, this anchor is still there! I had just never paid attention to it.



Flash forward to this 2015 shot.



Again, overlooked.



Looks like I need to improve my powers of observation!

More Columbia photos at my main website.

Guillermo del Toro Sneak Peek

Just a quick peek at the amazing Guillermo del Toro exhibit at LACMA which, unfortunately, finished its run last Sunday. This incredible tableau by Mike Hill is titled "Forsaken," and depicts the Frankenstein creature about to get rejected by his new-born "bride." Dr. Pretorius stands nearby, watching the proceedings.

The Bride as a ginger? Who knew.



More LACMA photos at my main website.

Grace Cathedral

Grace Cathedral towers over Nob Hill in San Francisco. The impressive French Gothic structure is something I've seen each time I've visited the City by the Bay but never entered...until my most recent trip there.



Surprising, since it is prominently featured in two of my favorite movies: Hitchcock's "Family Plot" and "Time After Time." Although it is part of the story for the television mini series "Tales of the City," a cathedral in Montreal stood in for the interiors.



This labyrinth is based on the one inside the famous Chartres Cathedral in France.



What a view!



It seemed like this place was full of so many rooms and hallways to explore.



I found myself constantly changing lenses...wide angle to zoom to low light. So much going on here!



This mural really caught my attention.



The vintage look and feel had me at first glance.





The light through the stained glass cast some beautiful colors on the floor.



One of the many gorgeous stained glass windows:



More Grace Cathedral at my main website.