Flight Fairy

It doesn't take much to ignite a young girls imagination but put on a pink cape and a flowing dress, at dusk amid the fireflies that dance in the sky, and you've got a flight fairy in the making.

She runs ahead and casting her wide wings this way and that....and is constantly moving forward in search of....well, what could it be?!

Some kind of notification of other creatures in the night, perhaps....a ball or a key, maybe?

It doesn't matter....the point is that there is something ahead at every turn....

And every thing ahead is of great importance....searchable by tiny feet and bird-like arcs around the grassy summer yards all under darkenging azure skies.

And at the fall of night she returns home again to get ready to begin again tomorrow.

Even as adults,  we know that it is in the search that we find the most fun....

That flight of fancy for a little girl is exactly that....every part of it is exhilarating!

Castle Green - a slice of old school comfort

Around the end of the 1890's, Pasadena was becoming a winter and holiday destination for the nation's elite. The warm climate, the verdant green of lush gardens and the beautiful San Gabriel mountains were a magnificent backdrop and lure to travelers from the East.

There were quite a few grand resort hotels that went up - Hotel Raymond, built in 1886; The Hotel Wentworth, built in 1907, which later became the Huntington Hotel, officially in 1914, and now the Langhorne; and Hotel Maryland, built in the early 1900's and was adjacent to the Hotel Green. These last two were close to the train line that connected with  Union Station, in downtown Los Angeles. A wonderful oasis of friends, parties and the start of the Rose Parade awaited you here.

The left portion of the Hotel Green (below), now referred to as Castle Green, was built in 1898. The bridge connected it to the original part of the hotel, which burnt down.

Castle Green has six stories, with turrets on several levels, a grand staircase and many regal spaces for entertaining and sitting on a wide veranda. This was built to last and made fire-proof.  Fires were a scary event that kept destroying other hotels with the advent of electricity and faulty wiring.

 

Here are some interior shots 

There have been quite a few famous residents living there - Marcel Duchamp - famous for his Nude Descending a Staircase, Tim Burton, the film maker, and several films, like The Sting and the Little Rascals had scenes filmed there.

The Veranda, all the more pleasant with chairs set up for your comfort!

 The Castle Green opens up a couple times in the year for tours, and there are multitudes of weddings going on most weekends.

 

The Castle Green has seen some down days...like anything, it's upkeep is dependent on the economy. But for those who have lived there for many years, they cherish both the very civilized attributes to 'hotel' living with concierges and elevator men on the ready to help you out and the independence of living quietly among some very interesting bedfellows.

Sometimes nostalgia for a more romantic period overtakes me. This was hilariously depicted in the movie The Grand Budapest Hotel and makes me want to live in a place such as this. There is a lot of life packed into the wood-worked, velvet-curtained interiors.

Hope you'll get to visit sometime.

Here's a link to some Castle Green history.

Burnt food

Here's a new fangled cooking style....

Obviously, they do a good job with it!

Brit Week - all along the mall

Clever marketing to park a Black Flat on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica,  or a few brand new Jaguars in there too.

Or even some English/Welch dancers....with synchronized dance moves and poles to clink against. They had a full war face paint....

The flag alone is a draw....fun adventuring with the out-of-towners!

Even when they come begging...but truth be told, he said they were making a movie, so must be sort of a jokey kind - terribly British.

California sunshine...bikini weather!

Yes, we have the weather......! We have had a few startling earthquakes too.   Other than those, it has been pretty pleasant!

 

While out on my bike, I noticed a neighbor sunning herself quite early in the morning - 9a. Somehow it felt rather surreal, looking at her year-round Halloween decor.

My thougths were of the sculpture George Segal  - but in real time.

http://www.segalfoundation.org/index2.html

Happy Birthday Marion Davis!

Marion Davis was the long-term girlfriend to the newspaper publisher, William Randolph Hearst. She was a MGM actress under contract, and the consummate hostess.

Whether she spent time at Hearst Castle up in Cambria, CA or at her beach house in Santa Monica, she was always up for a making the party fun, and making merry.

Her house was built in the 1930's and has a spectacular view of the water. What remains is the guest house, which is where they were celebrating her birthday. Lots of people dressed up to fit the era, so it was a very fun occasion.

Even a friend of Marion's showed up, a Miss Carlisle, also of MGM fame. She was just a few weeks away from her 100th birthday.

She regaled us with stories of the festivities and what it was like to be on-board a rail car trip with Mr. Hearst and Marion  and the entourage.

We were there to re-imagine life in the world of Marion Davis and all that Hollywood glamour, and what a thrill that must have been!

Happy New Year!

It is a new year, and a propitious start to 2014....

Those who want to seemlessly slip into the next annum, will just plain sleep.

I watched HOURS of HOMELAND....and loved it. Riveting, and an extraordinary drama.

Time to take down the tree.....

and start anew.