Goodbye, Paul

Paul Harvey (Sept 4, 1918 - Feb 28, 2009)

Radio broadcaster.

Paul Harvey on wiki

Goodbye, Wendy

Wendy Richard (July 20, 1943 – Feb. 26, 2009)

British actress. Was in "Are You Being Served?" and "EastEnders."

LINKS:
Wendy Richard on IMDb
Wendy Richard on wiki

Goodbye, Clarence

Clarence Swensen (Dec. 29, 1917 – Feb. 25, 2009)

Actor. One of the Munchkin soldiers in The Wizard of Oz.

LINKS:
Clarence Swensen on IMDb
Clarence Swensen on wiki
Clarence Swensen on wizardofozfestival.org

My rose chop plate

I got a vintage Fiesta 15" chop plate in rose off ebay. Somebody had painted a horrible twigs and berries decoration. I thought for $12.00, I could easily clean this up and have a very nice, large piece of Fiesta. So I tried different removers to get the paint off. I started with some common removers and worked my way to stronger, and more dangerous stuff.


First was mineral spirits. No luck.


Then MEK. I thought for sure this would work. I've used it to get paint of several pieces of pottery and it always works. Except this time.


So I tried acetone. I sorta knew this would fail.


Paint thinner? Nope!


Finally, muriatic acid. This is the strongest remover I know of. Still wouldn't take anything off.


I was hoping to post a before and after shot of this large piece but looks like I'm stuck with this dreadful painted plate. I'm open to suggestions on how to remove it!

Oscars

Loved the speeches by Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn for Milk. Glad Slumdog Millionaire won as many awards as it did.

My only complaint for the night was during the In Memoriam section, the camera kept making passes at the large screen that featured the deceased. Wasn't the best way to show that segment. Notably absent from the sequence: Dody Goodman and Mel Ferrer. At least I think they weren't shown, but with all the camera passes, I couldn't tell.

Also, Shirley MacLaine was right. Ann Hathaway CAN SING!

Sunday dish

Fiesta in medium green: left to right; 5 1/2" fruit bowls, 6" dessert bowl, tecaups and a saucer, 9" plate, individual salad bowl. Front: oval platter. Medium green was the last color added to the standard Fiesta line. It was made primarily in the 1960s when Fiesta's popularity was winding down so not much of it was produced.

Fiesta greens: left to right; forest green, light green, chartreuse, and medium green.

Slumdog Millionaire

We saw Slumdog Millionaire this afternoon. What a great movie -- wonderfully written and edited! It's nice to see a movie of this quality without having overpaid celebrities who can't act as well as without loud, flashy special effects. I hope it wins a ton of Oscars!

Extremes

Sunday dish

Service for six in fourteen colors.

Guess the celeb...

Spring is coming...

These small yellow daffodils grow wild all over the place. I've seen some blooming in other people's yards and along the road sides. The ones in my yard finally started to bloom today.

Women drivers

Got this from Richwah's blog...

Fiesta at Belk

The last time I went to Belk their Fiesta display was a total mess. Went by today to find it had been cleaned up and in an organized display. Behind the shelf shown here was a nice stock of chocolate and ivory along with serving bowls, disc pitchers, cream/sugar/tray sets, and more. Their evergreen, heather and cinnabar colors were discounted. Unfortunately, they used a Lorena Garcia shelf to display the Fiesta! Someday they may get it right.

Sunday dish

The standard vintage Fiesta colors. Top: rose, old ivory, chartreuse, turquoise. Middle: forest green, cobalt, medium green. Bottom: light green, gray, yellow, red.

Of the pieces in my collection, the cups and saucers are the only ones where I have an example in each color.

Garden pic: Crocus

This is my first flower to bloom this year. I planted dozens of crocus bulbs two years ago, but this is the first time any bloomed. I never realized just how small these plants are!

Goodbye, James

James Whitmore (Oct 1, 1921 – Feb 6, 2009)

Stage and screen actor. Among his 140+ screen roles was Brooks from The Shawshank Redemption.

LINKS:
James Whitmore on wiki
James Whitmore on IMDb

Open Thread...

The first album I ever bought with my own money was Seven and the Ragged Tiger by Duran Duran. I was thirteen years old.

What was your first album?

Hamlet 2

We rented Hamlet 2 this evening. I thought it was going to be rather silly, but it turned out to be pretty good...

Why does the Birmingham News hate me?

A few weeks ago, I subscribed to the Birmingham News for the first time after living in this area for six years. I usually get local news online, but I know times are tough for all forms of print media so I decided to go ahead and sign up when approached by a rep at the mall. It was a special promotion and the price was right. I also had him verify delivery could occur in my area.

I was informed that delivery would start within 3 to 5 business days. After two weeks of no paper and after my check had cleared the bank, I got a refund check in the mail from the Birmingham News. No letter. No explanation given. Just a refund check.

I was a little annoyed, but didn't think much more about it. I figured I got along without the paper before, I'll make it now.

A week after I got the refund check, I get a call from the Birmingham News. They wanted to know how much I was enjoying my subscription. Did I mention they called on a Sunday and just as I was about to sit down for dinner? Now I was annoyed. I told her about signing up and the returned check. She said she was sorry. I told her I wasn't interested in her apology and in these times when papers are stuggling to survive, they shouldn't be so damn careless with subscriptions. She said she would clear every thing up and get me my paper. I told her not to bother and never to call again.

That was the end of that.

By the way, today is the so called NATIONAL BUY A NEWSPAPER DAY.

Do so. If you can.

Doubt

Went and saw Doubt last night in Birmingham. This movie came to the area several weeks ago and then vanished before I got to see it. Since it has gotten so many award nominations recently, I guess they decided to run it some more.

Decent movie with a strong cast. Viola Davis, shown above right, plays Mrs. Miller, the mother of a boy in a Catholic school who may or may not be the victim of the priest played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. She shares a scene with Meryl Streep in which she cries over her son and her abusive husband. She not only sheds tears, but snot. Lots and lots of snot. It was a bit disgusting and very distracting.

Amy Adams plays one of the nuns. She is shown here with a Homer Laughlin Georgian Eggshell teapot with the Sussex pattern, treatment number G-3320. Being a dish nut, I was focused on the teapot so I can't recall what happened at this particular moment!

Sunday dish

Gray Fiesta: Covered casserole, creamer, cup and saucer, 9" plate, 8" deep plate, T&J mug, 4 3/4" fruit bowl. I've never been a fan of the colors introduced in the 1950s and gray would have to be my least favorite of all. I have warmed up to rose, but I don't think I'll ever care for gray!