Wakanda forever!

I am really, really hoping that Momma will take my Big Sister and I to see the new Marvel Comics moving picture, Black Panther, tomorrow. 

In Black Panther, T'Challa returns home as king of Wakanda, but finds his sovereignty challenged by a long-time adversary, in a conflict with Global Consequences.

I am excited about the new moving picture, but I am thrilled that I discovered a new Seamstress and Metalsmith for 18" Vinyl Americans because of it!

Not only does Nina make amazing (and sassy!) items for her Etsy shop, Small Scale Styles, but her dolls are sassy, too

For example, check out this dialogue two of her dolls (in the photo above) had Thursday on Instagram:

Cedric: I've got on my tshirt and I'm ready. Are you ready for the Black Panther premiere tonig...ok...You're more than ready.

Brown Betty: Wakanda for life!

Cedric: I don't think they're going to allow that spear into the movie theater, Betty.

Brown Betty: But it's for your protection, my king. And my name is Okoye.

Cedric: ...

Stayed tuned for more posts this week about Nina and her Etsy shop.  (You can get Cedric's Black Panther inspired graphic T-shirt there!)

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SmallScaleStyles

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallscalestyles

Hats. Why did it have to be hats?

I can see already that Lea is going to be trouble.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Momma got Me a Fun Fedora yesterday at the American Girl Scottsdale store, but what did Lea do last night?

She stole it.

I admit she wears My Fedora with panache, but really.

The word fedora comes from the title of an 1882 play by dramatist Victorien Sardou, Fédora being written for Sarah Bernhard. Bernhardt played Princess Fédora and wore a center-creased, soft brimmed hat. The hat became fashionable for women, and the women's rights movement adopted it as a symbol.

It dropped in popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but Indiana Jones re-popularized the fedora in the Indiana Jones moving picture franchise.

No one messes with Indiana's hat, and they better not mess with mine.

Adventure now or tea first?

Ahh, there's nothing like a relaxing Sunday at home with my Big Sister, a bracing cup of tea, and watching Jason Isaac's delicious performance as Mr. Darling/Captain Hook in the 2003 moving picture Peter Pan to cheer one up.

We'd been kind of melancholy about Ahmie's death, when Momma's sister-in-law arrived with British tea fresh from her European vacation.

Ahh.

Then my Big Sister started watching Peter Pan, the first authorized and faithful moving picture or television adaptation of J.M. Barrie's 1904 play and 1911 novel since Disney's 1953 cartoon version.

Jason Isaacs (whom we met at Phoenix Comicon 15!) is amusing as Mr. Darling, but he excels as Captain Hook. 

Yes, life is good.

Set phasers on 'Weep'

What can I say about the death of my beloved Leonard Nimoy: 1931-2015.

"I have been, and always shall be, your friend.... Live long and prosper." 

"Of my friend I can only say this: of all the souls that I met on my travels, his was the most … human."

RIP Spock. Please give my regards to Bones, Scotty, Christine, and Gene.

Inspiring imagination

Momma and I are proud to reveal Momma's contribution for the upcoming Dolls for a Cause auction benefitting Kids Need to Read.  

(Please forgive the quality of the photographs, but Momma was in a terrible rush.)

Founded by Nathan Fillion, Kids Need to Read works to create a culture of reading for children by providing inspiring books to underfunded schools, libraries, and literacy programs across the United States, especially those serving disadvantaged children.

The inspiration for Momma's donation came from one of Momma's favorite books. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published on May 17, 1900, it has been described as the original American fairy tale.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has since been reprinted many times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of the well-known 1939 moving picture.

"Dorothy had only one other dress, but that happened to be clean and was hanging on a peg beside her bed. It was gingham, with checks of white and blue; and although the blue was somewhat faded with many washings, it was still a pretty frock. The girl washed herself carefully, dressed herself in the clean gingham, and tied her pink sunbonnet on her head. She took a little basket and filled it with bread from the cupboard, laying a white cloth over the top. Then she looked down at her feet and noticed how old and worn her shoes were. 

"At that moment Dorothy saw lying on the table the silver shoes that had belonged to the Witch of the East. 

"She took off her old leather shoes and tried on the silver ones, which fitted her as well as if they had been made for her."

Based upon the original book description and illustrations, this auction includes:

• Dorothy's faded blue gingham dress
• white petticoat
• pink sunbonnet
• silver shoes  (purchased)
• mini basket and and a white cloth
• loaf of bread (by Pippaloo)
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz paperback (purchased)
• miniature copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by American Girl
• Susan Winget red poppies storage box (purchased)
• Toto, too!
• buttons and bookmarks from Kids Need to Read

A pair of ruby shoes (purchased) is also included to honor the 75th anniversary of the epic 1939 movie!

Everything will be carefully packed in a collectable red poppy box before being packed inside another box for mailing.

The auction starts on Nov. 9, 2014 and ends Nov. 16, 2014.

Happy bidding!

The Book of Life

20th Century Fox Animation

I don't know about you, but Clementine and I are muy excited about the upcoming moving picture, The Book of Life.

The Book of Life is the journey of Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans three fantastical worlds where he must face his greatest fears.

The Book of Life is scheduled to be released October 17 - just in time for Halloween and Día de Muertos.

Is The Book of Life promoted in your area, or is it primarily in the Southwest?

If I Only Had a Brain

Honestly, I waited ALL YEAR to write my special The Wizard of Oz anniversary post for Aug. 25, 2014.

And I forgot.

(That was Yesterday ... in case you didn't notice.)

The Wizard of Oz, a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, opened nationally on Aug. 25, 1939. It is the most well-known adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. 

The film starred Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale; Ray Bolger as Hunk/Scarecrow; Jack Haley as Hickory/Tin Man; Bert Lahr as Zeke/Cowardly Lion; Frank Morgan as Professor Marvel/The Wizard/Doorman/Cabbie/Guard; Billie Burke as Glinda the Good Witch of the North; and (My Personal Favorite), Margaret Hamilton as Miss Almira Gulch/The Wicked Witch of the West. 

Notable for its use of Technicolor and elaborate use of make-up and special effects, the film's first sneak preview was held in San Bernardino, California. The film was previewed in three test markets: on Aug. 11, 1939, at Kenosha, Wisconsin and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and at the Strand Theatre in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin on Aug. 12.

The Hollywood premiere was on Aug. 15, 1939 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The New York City premiere was held at Loew's Capitol Theatre on Aug. 17, 1939.

Amazingly, it was not a box office success on its initial release, earning only $3,017,000 on a $2,777,000 budget.

Can I click my heels three times and yesterday over?

Bad Apple outfit by Greta Garb-Oh!

Ruby boots by Welcome to Neverland

One bad apple

Greta Garb-oh!

I'm sooo sorry I haven't posted much in the past few weeks, but it has been busy around here. 

Momma switched jobs, both Grandmomma and Grandpoppa had surgery, and the school year ended for my Big Sister.

Phew!

Oh, and Momma has been sewing of course.

Her latest outfit is inspired by both the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz AND the 1939 classic film, The Wizard of Oz.

Momma likes the moving picture, but she LOVES the original 14 Oz books.

And who can blame her?

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of both the popular 1902 Broadway musical and the well-known 1939 film adaptation.

The story chronicles the adventures of a young girl named Dorothy Gale in the Land of Oz, after being swept away from her Kansas farm home in a cyclone. The novel is one of the best-known stories in American popular culture and has been widely translated. Its initial success, and the success of the 1902 Broadway musical which Baum adapted from his original story, led to Baum's writing 13 more Oz books. The original book has been in the public domain in the US since 1956.

In the book, when Dorothy and her companions try to enter the forest, the Fighting Trees pick the Scarecrow up and throw him back two times. They are easily overcome by the Tin Woodman and his a sharp axe.
 
In the 1939 film version, apple trees become annoyed with Dorothy when she picks an apple from one of them. The Scarecrow helps by provoking the apple trees into throwing their apples at him, which Dorothy can then collect. She discovers the Tin Man while collecting the thrown apples.

Using a pattern similar to the iconic film dress worn by Dorothy in the film, Momma used licensed Wizard of Oz fabric, but used the wrong side to soften the look. She paired it with a brown blouse covered with red apples. She is trying to find glittery red boots for the sale version, but I prefer my silver boots. (Dorothy wore silver shoes in the book, but it was changed to ruby red for the film.)

Momma is so excited about this that she is heading up the next Dolls for a Cause auction in August which will benefit Kids Need to Read. Classic books have been chosen for the theme.

Stay tuned for more exciting information.

In the meantime, a version of my One Bad Apple dress will be listed in Momma's Etsy shop soon!

You can't eat beauty

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Momma doesn't normally watch the Academy Awards. She has pretty much boycotted it ever since The Color Purple failed to get a single award in 1986 despite 11 nominations.

We did happen to watch the last few minutes last night though, and we were both moved by actress Lupia Nyong'o's acceptance speech when she won the Best Supporting Actress for 12 Years a Slave at the 2014 Oscars, especially when she said:

It doesn’t escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else’s. 

But it was her acceptance speech last week for the Best Breakthrough Performance Award at the 7th annual Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon that truly moved us:

I want to take this opportunity to talk about beauty. Black beauty. Dark beauty. I received a letter from a girl and I’d like to share just a small part of it with you: "Dear Lupita," it reads, "I think you’re really lucky to be this Black but yet this successful in Hollywood overnight. I was just about to buy Dencia’s Whitenicious cream to lighten my skin when you appeared on the world map and saved me."

My heart bled a little when I read those words. I could never have guessed that my first job out of school would be so powerful in and of itself and that it would propel me to be such an image of hope in the same way that the women of The Color Purple were to me. 

I remember a time when I too felt un-beautiful. I put on the TV and only saw pale skin, I got teased and taunted about my night-shaded skin. And my one prayer to God, the miracle worker, was that I would wake up lighter-skinned. The morning would come and I would be so excited about seeing my new skin that I would refuse to look down at myself until I was in front of a mirror because I wanted to see my fair face first. And every day I experienced the same disappointment of being just as dark as I had been the day before.

I tried to negotiate with God: I told him I would stop stealing sugar cubes at night if he gave me what I wanted; I would listen to my mother's every word and never lose my school sweater again if he just made me a little lighter. But I guess God was unimpressed with my bargaining chips because He never listened. 

And when I was a teenager my self-hate grew worse, as you can imagine happens with adolescence. My mother reminded me often that she thought that I was beautiful but that was no consolation: She’s my mother, of course she’s supposed to think I am beautiful.

And then Alek Wek came on the international scene.

A celebrated model, she was dark as night, she was on all of the runways and in every magazine and everyone was talking about how beautiful she was. Even Oprah called her beautiful and that made it a fact. I couldn’t believe that people were embracing a woman who looked so much like me as beautiful. My complexion had always been an obstacle to overcome and all of a sudden, Oprah was telling me it wasn’t. It was perplexing and I wanted to reject it because I had begun to enjoy the seduction of inadequacy. But a flower couldn’t help but bloom inside of me.

When I saw Alek I inadvertently saw a reflection of myself that I could not deny. Now, I had a spring in my step because I felt more seen, more appreciated by the far away gatekeepers of beauty, but around me the preference for light skin prevailed. To the beholders that I thought mattered, I was still un-beautiful. And my mother again would say to me, "You can’t eat beauty. It doesn’t feed you." And these words plagued and bothered me; I didn’t really understand them until finally I realized that beauty was not a thing that I could acquire or consume, it was something that I just had to be. 

And what my mother meant when she said you can’t eat beauty was that you can’t rely on how you look to sustain you. What is fundamentally beautiful is compassion for yourself and for those around you. That kind of beauty inflames the heart and enchants the soul. It is what got Patsey in so much trouble with her master, but it is also what has kept her story alive to this day. We remember the beauty of her spirit even after the beauty of her body has faded away. 

And so I hope that my presence on your screens and in the magazines may lead you, young girl, on a similar journey. That you will feel the validation of your external beauty but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside. There is no shade to that beauty.

Amen, sister. Amen.

Steampunk Addie and the Vortex of Time Parasol

I am sooo excited.

Look at what my Dear Friend Ginny Weasley just posted on my Facebook page!

Addie? Are you here today or wandering the world on some great adventure?

Mum set us to ridding the curtains of doxies again at Grimmauld Place, dusty old museum of a place if you ask me. Anyway, behind the spot where the portrait of Phineas Nigellus was hanging... well apparently this has been hiding there the whole time. I'm not sure if it belonged to his wife Ursula Flint or his sister Elladora Black but either way I wondered if you might want to have a look at it and investigate?

It let off the strangest sparks when I first picked it up, but now it just looks like an old umbrella. *sigh* You never know what sort of magic is hiding within The Noble House of Black!

Thanks Jen and Ginny! It's even better than Hagrid's Pink Umbrella!

The Wonderful Dolls of Oz

I've got the dreaded Dorothy Doll Dementia right now and wanted to discover when the first Dorothy doll was made.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published on May 17, 1900. It was followed by a popular 1902 Broadway musical and three moving picture adaptions before the 1939 version starring Judy Garland!

• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910)
• Wizard of Oz (1925)
• The Wizard of Oz (1933)

It is generally acknowledged that Oz merchandise predated the 1939 The Wizard of Oz, but I can't discover when the first dolls appeared. 

Dorothy and Oz character dolls have been produced since then including Madame Alexander, Barbie, Tonner, and the 75th Anniversary of the 1939 release has increased that production. (The Hollywood premiere was on Aug. 15, 1939, at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.)

I, of course, like the newest steampunk versions. (I've always had a thing for both the Tin Woodman and Tik-Tok.)

I'm curious, which do you prefer?


1.) Tonner's Tornado Traveler Dorothy?

tonnerdoll.com

or 2.) Madame Alexander's Dorothy and Toto, Steam Punk Doll?

madamealexander.com

Personally, I like aspects of both dolls (I am seriously loving M.A.'s Toto!) and I am excited to meet the newest addition in September!

The life of the Black Valentine

tonnercollectibles.com

Tonner Dolls released an email and video celebrating Black History Month: Tonner Doll’s African American Retrospective.

Oh, and Valentine's Day, too.

I saw many familiar faces among the dolls (some of whom are part of my Steam Team) but there were two faces that popped out at Me that I had never seen before: the sold-out Tia Dalma of Pirates of the Caribbean and Laurent of Twilight.

Aren't they a match made in HE-double toothpicks? A vampire and a voodoo queen?!

An authorized likeness of Naomie Harris in the role of the bewitching Tia Dalma, this Tonner Character Figure will cast a spell on you! With a layered dress and stomacher, each detail has been faithfully recreated. Tia Dalma is 16” tall and she is crafted of fine quality vinyl/hard plastic with rooted saran hair. Tia Dalma features 13 points of articulated movement and hand-painted face detail. She uses the Tyler Wentworth® 16" standard bending wrist body sculpt.

Laurent, the voice of Twilight's nomadic group of vampires, saunters onto the baseball field wearing rich corduroy pants paired with a textured faux leather belt and boxers, a luxuriant brocade vest with "silver" chain, and a soft faux leather jacket. Laurent features the 17" Matt O'Neill body sculpt.

Can you imagine the trouble we'd get into?

Mwa ha ha.

The good ship Lollipop

Well, shoot.

All these years Momma and I thought The Good Ship Lollipop was a ship, and it turns out it was an aeroplane. 

"On the Good Ship Lollipop" was the signature song of the late child actress Shirley Temple. Temple first sang it in the 1934 moving picture Bright Eyes on a taxiing American Airlines Douglas DC-2.

I've thrown away my toys
Even my drum and train.
I wanna make some noise
With real live aeroplanes.

Some day I'm going to fly,
I'll be a pilot too.
And when I do, how would you
Like to be my crew.

On the good ship lollipop.... 

Hmm....

The Steam Ship Lollipop has sailed

Actress and Ambassador Shirley Temple has died.

Shirley Temple was an American moving picture and television actress, singer, dancer, and one-time U.S. ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. She also served as Chief of Protocol of the United States from 1976–1977.

Momma has never been a big fan (she was influenced by Grandmomma who was forced to wear ringlets as a child - she could recite 'Twas the night before Christmas in the time it took to get her curls done) but we are still sad to hear of her passing.

You can't got to a doll show and not see dozens, if not hundreds, of Shirley Temple dolls, but imagine my surprise when ma chère amie Cécile said she actually liked some Shirley Temple movies.

R.I.P.

Waving a red shirt

Did you know I am a Star Trek fan?

Yup, Momma was a real first generation Star Trek fan. 

She watched it from its introduction on Sept. 8, 1966 through its end on June 3, 1969.

(Admittedly, she was very young and when the Apollo 11 landed on the moon one month later on July 20, 1969 she was completely unimpressed. Momma had just turned 5 and had seen Captain Kirk and Spock (swoon!) do it weekly for nearly three years in COLOR. The grainy black-and-white footage of Neil Armstrong was b.o.r.i.n.g.) 

Knowing this, Momma's brother introduced us last year to John Scalzi's 2012 hysterical sci-fi novel, Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas, which was the winner of the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, with the chance to serve on "Away Missions" alongside the starship’s famous senior officers.

Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to realize that 1) every Away Mission involves a lethal confrontation with alien forces, 2) the ship’s senior officers always survive these confrontations, and 3) sadly, at least one low-ranking crew member is invariably killed. Unsurprisingly, the savvier crew members below-decks avoid Away Missions at all costs.

Then Andrew stumbles on information that transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.

 

(The idea of red-shirted characters being frequently killed in Star Trek has become a pop culture cliché. But is it really that hazardous? Click here to find out, but please note the women have a much better survival rate.)

 

Anyway, it was with great joy when we saw that FX announced plans to produce Redshirts as a limited television series - hopefully in 2015.

If Galaxy Quest was one of the best Star Trek motion pictures ever made, then Redshirts has the potential to be one of the best Star Trek television shows ever made.

 

 

To a T

Mini Me Dolly Divas

I've never been much of a T-shirt fan but I have to admit I am rapidly becoming one after viewing them in Dacia's Mini Me Dolly Divas shop on etsy.

A T-Shirt (also known as a T Shirt, tee-shirt, or tee) is a cotton-knit shirt thats defining characteristic is the "T" shape made with the body and sleeves.

 
The T-Shirt evolved from 19th century Unmentionables, when one-piece "union suits" were separated into top and bottom garments. T-Shirts became popular in the United States when they were issued by the U.S. Navy during or after the Spanish-American War of 1898.

By the year 1920, the word "T-shirt" became an official American-English word in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. They became even more popular in the 1950s after Marlon Brando wore one in A Streetcar Named Desire.

(Incidentally, Momma thought that T-shirt sales skyrocketed after Clark Gable wore one in the 1934 moving picture, It Happened One Night. It turns out it was the other way around. Gable took off his dress shirt in what was considered a racy scene with Claudette Colbert and (gasp!) there was bare skin beneath. Undershirt sales allegedly plummeted.)

 
Now all I can think of are T-shirts that I want:

• Small in Stature, Big in Imagination
• Set phasers on Stunning
• No Tribble at all
• Make it Sew
• Star Trek: Into Dorkness
• You can't take the sky from me
• Shiny!
• Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
• I am a leaf on the wind.
• I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you.
• You are startin' to damage my calm.

Do you have any suggestions?

Steampunk Addie's Improbable History

It probably will come as no surprise that Momma and I are both looking forward to the upcoming moving picture, Mr. Peabody & Sherman. 

Mr. Peabody & Sherman is a computer-animated adventure comedy film based upon the characters from the Peabody's Improbable History segments of the 1959-1964 animated television series, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. 

Although the television show ended days before Momma was born, watching reruns was an anticipated event in her life. 

The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show (known as Rocky & His Friends during its first two seasons and as The Bullwinkle Show for the remaining seasons) featured the serialized adventures of the two title characters, Bullwinkle the moose and Rocky the squirrel.

Supporting segments included Dudley Do-Right (a parody of old-time melodrama), Peabody's Improbable History (a dog and his pet boy Sherman traveling through time), and Fractured Fairy Tales (classic fairy tales retold in comic fashion), among others.

Rocky & Bullwinkle was known for its quality writing and wry humor. Mixing puns, cultural and topical satire, and self-referential humor, it appealed to adults as well as children.

That is why we are looking forward to the moving picture's (re)scheduled March 7, 2014, release.

Mr. Peabody, the most accomplished dog in the world, and his mischievous boy Sherman, use their time machine - The WABAC - to go on the most outrageous adventures known to man or dog. But when Sherman takes The WABAC out for a joyride to impress his friend Penny, they accidentally rip a hole in the universe, wreaking havoc on the most important events in world history. Before they forever alter the past, present and future, Mr. Peabody must come to their rescue, ultimately facing the most daunting challenge of any era: figuring out how to be a parent. Together, the time traveling trio will make their mark on history.

Are you ready to leave your mark on history?

 

A dragon lives forever

Momma is frantic.

Disney revealed yesterday a new float coming this spring to the "Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade" at the Magic Kingdom Park: Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty" – in the form of an enormous, Steampunk-inspired dragon.

Stretching 35 feet in length and reaching 26 feet above the parade route, the Maleficent Dragon was designed in partnership with Tony Award-winner Michael Curry.

So why is she frantic? Will they, or will they not, have one at Disneyland?

This week in the Civil War: July 14, 1863

'Glory': African-American regiment assaults Fort Wagner

After one recent failed attempt to take Fort Wagner on Morris Island on South Carolina's coast, an all-black regiment formed as the 54th Massachusetts Infantry launched an all-out attack on July 18, 1863, that would inspire the 1989 movie "Glory." Vicious hand-to-hand fighting ensued, with many left dead and wounded as Confederates holding the fort fought back from a fort bristling with artillery. Black troops bravely headed up the parapets, even as many were mowed down by artillery and gunfire. It was one of the prominent moments when African-Americans played a major role in Civil War combat. After the bloodied, tattered regiment was turned back, other Union units also tried to take the fort and failed. Once the fighting subsided, far heavier losses were counted on the Union side with about 1,515 casualties to about 174 Confederates defending the fort. The 54th's colonel, Robert Gould Shaw, was among the dead. Soon afterward, Federal forces would besiege Fort Wagner and force it to be abandoned by the Confederate defenders in September 1863, far later than Union generals had hoped at that point 150 years ago in the Civil War. 

Feathers will fly

Reel FX

You might think I'm ridiculously excited, but I can not wait until Free Birds (formerly known as Turkeys) is released in November.

Two buddy turkeys, Reggie and Jake travel back in time to the first Thanksgiving to take turkey off the menu. They are joined by the feisty Jenny on an awesome adventure to save Turkey-kind. Catch it in theaters Nov. 1, 2013!

Time traveling turkeys?! Count me in!