Wednesday, June 15, 2011

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Nostalgia (IAWL) - It's A Wonderful Life (1946 movie)


"I've heard the filmed called "an American cultural phenomenon". Well, maybe so, but it seems to me there is nothing phenomenal about the movie itself. It's simply about an ordinary man who discovers that living each ordinary day honorably, with faith in God and selfless concern for others, can make for a truly wonderful life." 
James Stewart


Jimmy Stewart on "It's A Wonderful Life":

A friend told me recently that seeing a movie I made in 1946 is a holiday tradition in his family, "like putting up the Christmas tree". That movie is It's a Wonderful Life, and out of all the 80 films I've made, it's my favorite. But it has an odd history. 

When the war was over in 1945, I came back home to California from three years' service in the Air Force. I had been away from the film business, my MGM contract had run out, and frankly, not knowing how to get started again. I was just a little bit scared. Hank Fonda was in the same boat, and we sort of wandered around together, talking, flying kites and stuff. But nothing much was happening.

Then one day Frank Capra phoned me. The great director had also been away in service, making the Why We Fight documentary series for the military, and he admitted to being a little frightened too. But he had a movie in mind. We met in his office to talk about it. 

He said the idea came from a Christmas story written by Phillip Van Doren Stern. Stern couldn't sell the story anywhere, but he finally had 200 twenty-four page pamphlets printed up at his own expense, and he sent them to his friends as a greeting card.

"Now, listen," Frank began hesitantly. He seemed a little embarrassed about what he was going to say. "The story starts in heaven, and it's sort of the Lord telling somebody to go down to earth because there's a fellow who is in trouble, and this heavenly being goes to a small town, and..." 

Frank swallowed and took a deep breath. "Well, what it boils down to is, this fellow who thinks he's a failure in life jumps off a bridge. The Lord sends down an angel named Clarence, who hasn't earned his wings yet, and Clarence jumps into the water to save the guy. But the angel can't swim, so the guy has to save him, and then..."  Frank stopped and wiped his brow. "This doesn't tell very well, does it?"  

I jumped up. "Frank, if you want to do a picture about a guy who jumps off a bridge and an angel named Clarence who hasn't won his wings yet coming down to save him, well, I'm your man!"

And thus, production of It's a Wonderful Life started on April 15, 1946 ...

Click here to read full article.

Michael Nerandzic - Heroic Final Act



"Give a forceful witness of love for life, which is God’s gift. … Be ‘prophets of life’! Be such by your words and deeds,… and by concretely helping those who need you, and who might be tempted to resign themselves to despair without your help."
Pope John Paul II, Rome, 1996



Excerpts from Daily Telegraph:

AN AUSTRALIAN blimp pilot has been hailed a hero after he saved three passengers by ordering them to jump from the burning airship only to then die himself. 

Michael Nerandzic, from Balgownie in Wollongong, was attempting to land the A60 Goodyear airship at an airfield at Reichelsheim in Germany, when the blimp caught fire during descent. Realising the airship was only moments away from disaster, Mr. Nerandzic then made the heroic decision to put his own life on the line to save those of his passengers. Hovering 2m above the ground he yelled for the three passengers to jump from the gondola to safety below. 

That decision reduced the ballast weight of the airship which is believed to have caused it to shoot 50m into the air where it exploded with the burning wreckage falling to the ground. Mr Nerandzic was unable to escape and died in the wreckage.

Click here to read the full article.


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Nostalgia (Pac-man) - Arcade Game


Excerpts from Wikipedia:

Pacman is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. It  is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games, and an icon of 1980s popular culture. 

The game is regarded as one of the most influential video games of all time, for a number of reasons: its titular character was the first original gaming mascot, the game established the maze chase game genre, it demonstrated the potential of characters in video games, it opened gaming to female audiences, and it was gaming's first licensing success. In addition, it was the first video game to feature power-ups, and it was the first game to feature cut scenes, in the form of brief comical interludes about Pac-Man and the ghosts chasing each other around during those interludes.


Sardine Run



Sardine Run by Thomas P. Peschak. Photo taken from Time. For more pictures, click here.






Dunder