Pixie Charades

A   L   O   H   A !

Pixie as ET The Extra Terrestrial!

 Remember when E.T. 

was hiding in pain sight 

among the stuffed toys?

[:]

Thanks for goofing off

with us!

                  Warmly, cloudia

Gravity 3D = OMG

A  L  O  H  A !

" Enjoyment of the landscape

 is a thrill. "

David Hockney 

" The creative habit

 is like a drug.

 The particular obsession

 changes,

 but the excitement,

 the thrill 

of your creation

 lasts. "

Henry Moore 

" The thrill 

of coming home 

has never changed. "

Guy Pearce 

(-'.'-)>

Being a film snob

I rarely see

spectaculars;

But an old pal

wanted to see

G R A V I T Y

in 3D.

My friend is a 

visual artist,

so his response

would be interesting

even if the film

struck me as

an empty magic trick.

Grumpy me

didn't want to

wear the 3-D glasses

over my eye glasses.

but they were light

and comfortable.

Previews

were of upcoming

3D films.

When the Hobbit's forrest

exploded around me,

snow falling,

everything wondrously

yet subtly 

three dimensional,

let's just say that

I was hooked,

even before one of the 

birds flew past me.

I settled in for

technological thrill

of the species

"Planetarius"

and from the first scene

WAS thrilled

by the visual and moral

wonder of 

leaving our insular

little Earth.

The acting

was superb.

This was more than

a visual display.

A Thrill-a-second

true heroes adventure!

I won't spoil it.

If you are a prig like me,

drop your reserve

and go see this film.

What tale 

(film, TV, Book, myth, project, or poet)

is thrilling YOU

at the moment?

Do share in comments.

                                   fondly, cloudia

Memory, Movies

A   L   O   H   A   !

Click photos to enlarge 

 " There's no fence 

nor hedge

 around time that is

 gone.  

You can go back 

and have 

what you like

 of it,

 if you can 

remember. "

How Green Was My Valley (1941)

 “ I find

 that the further I go

 back,
the better

 things were,
 whether they

 happened
 or not.”

 Mark Twain

 “Strangely enough,
 this is the past
 that somebody

 in the future
 is longing
 to go back to”

 Ashleigh Brilliant 

 
   “ I can't go back

 to yesterday -
 because I was

 a different person

 then ”

 Lewis Carroll

  >  <  }  }  ( ° >

Just as music does,

or a book we once loved,

movies take us

back in time

to the person we were

when we met them.

I just watched

'The Bird Man Of Alcatraz'

with Burt Lancaster.

Saw it in the theater.

Back then, when choosing,

a film, one might ask:

"Is it color, or black & white?"

This film is black and white.

The film is also 50 years old!

[ Cue up the 

'flashback memory music' ]

We went to the movies

all the time when I was young.

Dad had been a projectionist

in WWII.

Other dads flew bombers,

mine showed movies.

Seeing a scene

that I saw,

when younger than 10,

the 'Me' of today

watched the 'Me'

I was back then.

What would I tell

that child,

now that I am

both at once, 

all through the

 magic of film?

I remember the car

we had then,

the smell of the rain

riding home in the dark.

Dad was young & strong,

loved & feared,

but riding with him

felt safe

from the mysterious

big wild world

out there.

Watching movies

with dead people:

Dad and child-me.

How can 50 years

 take so long,

yet pass so fast?

Back then I yearned,

and wondered; 

Today I have memories

and know.

Yearning is turning

seasons change,

as I look back

 with tears

that are sweeter

than laughter.

Know what I mean?

 

 'Take Peace & Laughs - Leave Your Comment'

 
Thanks for visiting!
                  Warmly, cloudia

Waikiki Theatre

A  L  O  H  A !

 " Stuff your eyes with wonder,
 live as if you'd drop dead
 in ten seconds. 
See the world. "

Ray Bradbury

Vintage neon sign.

The Story:

 All That's Left - the Sign

" The stuff that dreams are made of. "

  Waikiki Theatre

 was designed by Hawaii architect
 C.W. Dickey
 in 'Tropical Moderne' style,
 and built by the local
 Consolidated Amusement Company
 as its deluxe flagship.
 She opened August 20, 1936 
exhibiting “Under Two Flags.
 Many of us considered her 
Hawaii’s most beautiful theatre.

The star of Kalakaua Avenue
 featured a lush garden forecourt 
with a large fountain.

" I'm walking here! I'm walking here! "

Her lobby featured ornate Moderne wall murals,
 a ceiling fresco,
 and an atmospheric auditorium
 lined with artificial tropical vegetation,
 including two full size coconut palms, 
a proscenium in the shape of a rainbow, 
and a huge Robert Morton organ

that I got to hear!

  "TOTO,
 I'VE GOT A FEELING 
WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS 
ANYMORE"

" Here's looking at you, kid "

2005
" I love the smell

 of napalm

 in the morning."

 

A Bird in flight !

Duke Kahanamoku

Remembers-

" Creativity

 is the residue

 of time wasted. "

Albert Einstein

"At the movies"

Cloudia 

 <(-'.'-)>




Going to the movies
should be an escape.

Our hearts go out

to everyone effected

by the weekend's

incident in Colorado.

Thank YOU
for visiting
Your comment
is valued

                            Warmly, cloudia

Save the Queen

Theater, that is. . . 

A L O H A   &

Welcome Back to Virtual Honolulu.

Today we visit the Kaimuki neighborhood.

Even when you live in a place like this-

"There's no place like home," 

"The Wizard of Oz," 1939.

  You still enjoy going inside a dark palace of magic,

like Kaimuki's QUEEN THEATER- seen here in the 1930s.
Happy 75th Anniversary to the old dame.

"Toto,

I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas

anymore," 

"The Wizard of Oz," 1939.

Today, she is in disrepair. 

The neighborhood would love to save her!

"I am big! It's the pictures that got small," 

"Sunset Blvd.," 1950

 

"Here's looking at you, kid,"

  "Casablanca," 1942

"The stuff that dreams are made of,"

  "The Maltese Falcon," 1941.

View from the tiny parking lot in back: all the way to Punchbowl

"Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" 

"White Heat," 1949

\&&&/

"Built in 1936 on a 10,396-square-foot parcel of prime Waialae Avenue real estate near the top of the hill, the Queen Theater grew to two stories and went from a neighborhood movie house to a porno theater to the place where people would go to watch "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" while dressing in full cult-following regalia.

The theater has not yet been declared safe for people to walk around in, but the lobby has been cleared. "

Honolulu StarAdvertiser

Paula Devi of EVERYDAY Radiance was kind enough to share an award with me.

She wrote:

" Cloudia of Comfort Spiral Cloudia brings us beauty - both visual and written. In sharing with us her amazing photography of her Hawaii, its flowers, colors and people and sharing thought provoking quotes, you cannot but leave her blog thankful you visited. "

Thank YOU, Paula,   

As Well as EACH of YOU who visit & comment here!

                                            Sincerely, cloudia