MARY PICKFORD

Do you like movies? Do you want to be an actor? Do you ever loooong to be in the spotlight? Adored by millions? Swimming in cash? Well, I know I do. Have you ever thought of WHO the world's first celebrity was? Aren't you curious? Well, Let me share my knowledge with all  of you.

MARY PICKFORD WAS THE WORLD'S FIRST WORLD WIDE CELEBRITY SUPER STAR!!! She was given the title "America's Sweetheart" by the billions of people around the world who were her whole hearted loyal fans.

Mary Pickford was born in Toronto Canada in the year 1892. She had a little sister Lottie, and a little brother Jack. Her Father died when she was very young and her mother worked very hard to support the family. They ended up having to rent out one of the rooms in their house to strangers to bring in a couple extra dollars for food. And it just so happened that one of the people who they rented their room to was a man from one of Canada's theater stock companies and he suggested that she Mary Pickford, then named Gladys Smith, and her siblings be actors in a play called The Silver King. She grew in skill and in fame as she began traveling around Canada performing in small plays. But she soon grew tired of the constant travel and the terrible conditions she was forced to live in.

While she was in New York with her family for a short visit she found the courage to talk to David Belasco, who at the time was THE BEST STAGE DIRECTOR OF ALL TIME. She convinced him to let her be in one of his plays, and she became known all across the country from her parts in numerous plays put on by David Belasco.

But, she was soon forced to go to work for Biograph Studios because the family wasn't bringing in enough money to support them. Biograph Studios was one of the first movie studios in America. It was stationed in Manhattan, New York. She acted in hundreds of short ten to twenty minute films for Biograph Studios and became known as the Biograph Girl.

After a few years with Biograph Studios, she signed a contract with other studios and made more and more short films until she signed her contract with Famous Players Movie Company. With this company she made feature length or full length films and her fame SKYROCKETED!!! After switching and traveling around to many other movie Studios and gaining more and more fame, she was named America's Sweetheart.

Mary Pickford is what was known as a Character Actress. In each of her movies, she played a character very similar to her last. Her signature character was a young angelic girl. Her characters were always sweet and well behaved young girls. Even at the age of 30 she was still playing little girls. She made many attempts to escape her signature role as a little girl and tried to move into more adult roles, but none of her fans agreed with her and wanted her to stay a little girl forever.

One of the ways she tried to escape her little girl roles was by cutting off her signature gold curls. Everybody was shocked at this new hair cut, and once the curls were off, her career quickly faded away.

Mary Pickford was a pioneer in the film industry. Hollywood wouldn't be what it is today without her. And that may not seem like such a good thing today since hollywood is sort of down in the dumps. But the film industry, not only hollwood, has Mary Pickford to thank.

Sadly, during her last few years alive, Mary Pickford became sad and people thought her very lonely, because she never left her house and always stayed indoors. Mary Pickford believed that she was forgotten and uncared for. She tried to destroy all her films thinking that once she was gone nobody would care about them. But thankfully she was convinced not to. If she had, we wouldn't be talking about her today.

Here's a bunch of pictures...

Mary Pickford on a Poster for the play A Good Little Devil 

As  a little girl in The Poor Little Rich Girl 

As a young girl in Daddy Long-Legs

As a young girl  in Suds

Before and after her haircut

She was one of the first actors to put their prints in cement at the Grauman's Chinese Theater. She WAS the first actress though. 

A family picture with her third husband "Buddy" Rogers and their two adopted children Roxanne and Ronald. 

I of course did not give a very great biography of her in this short post. There is soooo much more that I could talk about and so many more pictures that I could put here. If you are interested in her definitely search her up on google.com. 

A list of my favorite of her movies...

1. Pollyanna

2. The Poor Little Rich Girl

3. Sparrows

4. The Little Princess

5. The Little American

6. Stella Maris

7. The Love Light

8. Through the Back Door

AND THERE ARE SO MANY MORE WONDERFUL MOVIES TO WATCH! 

If you have any questions, just leave a comment and i'll get back to you. Or just look it up on the internet. 

Thanks for reading. 

JO STAFFORD

So, i've been listening to a lot of cool music lately. And one of my newest favorite singers is Jo Stafford. She was mostly singing during the 1940s and 1950s, which is a little bit later music than I usually listen to, but it still has that perfect refreshing feeling to it. And also, a lot of her songs really can just bring tears to my eyes. They are so beautiful.

The first song I ever heard of hers was You Belong To Me. That song is super good, but it isn't as good as I thought it was the first few times I heard it. It was one of the first songs I ever bought on iTunes. Now, when I listen to it, it is a little bit boring, but that's only because I have heard it so many many many times.

Jo Stafford did a whooooole lot of singing. She was in a few singing groups. One i'm pretty sure was called the Stafford Sisters. And another the Pied Pipers. I love when she sings with other groups. But she also sounds absolutely beautiful singing alone too. Now, no matter how much i'd like to keep the joy and perfection you feel when you hear her sweet voice to myself, i'm going to share it with all of you. If you want to be blown away by the most beautiful singing in all the history of Earth itself, listen to this list of songs sung by Jo Stafford... (This doesn't at all make me like Annette Hanshaw and Ruth Etting any less.)

1.  (You Belong To Me)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5lVIaM_jBE            
2.  (Smilin' Through)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEEfCkFvnmY        
3. (No Other Love)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjDqMftHbKI            
4.  (Blue Moon)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz_x-Yu15Bw                  
5. (Haunted Heart)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZYsBN6NRyM          
6. (Begin the Beguine)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6BS4TrfFOI                  
7.  (The Best Things In Life Are Free)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6raAdR-1s0o                  
8. (I'll Never Smile Again)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ8COLbG5wA            

Please look her up on youtube and listen to as many songs of hers as you can. She is such a good singer. So much better than all the singers of today. If you don't believe me, take a listen to one of these songs and you'll know what I mean.

Here's a few pictures...

MORE PUBLIC SCHOOL PROBLEMS

Hi everybody. So, I know I haven't posted something in a long time. But honestly, I don't think anybody reads this blog except me... so nobody cares. If you do read this... please leave some sort of comment so that I know that i'm not just talking to myself.

So, I am almost 100% certain that I have already written some sort of post similar to this one... so I may or may not repeat myself a couple times. But, I just have to get this off my chest. So, here goes nothing.

I think that public school is a job. It is a job that children are forced to do for free. I would call it child labor if I didn't think some people would take some sort of offense from this. But let me tell you something. In the olden days, like 100 years ago or 150 or so there was all those child labor and factory worker protests and what not. Those kids had work every day about 15 hours a day. They sometimes lost fingers and got diseased and died on the job, so obviously child labor (Then) is worse than public schools (Now) but i'm still going to compare them. I don't know about you, but my school starts at 8 am. I live in Brooklyn. Way on the East side of it too. My trip to school takes about 50 minutes to an hour every morning. So, I have to wake up at 6 am every day. 6 am! I'm 14 years old. I need my sleep. I have spoken to other students at my school who wake up at 4:30. What kind of "good" education forces their students to wake up at 4:30am every morning?

So, I wake up at 6, I get home at 5 (approximately). That is 11 hours of my day outside of home. Then at home I have about 4 or so hours of homework and school related things. Leaving me finally free of school at 9pm. If I do the math, (That I learned in the 2nd grade. elementary school math is the only math you ever need. Middle school and high school are wastes of time and just try and teach you stupid things so that they can have "genius" students and brag to other states and countries about it, when really they are only making a few "Geniuses" while the rest of us fail at every class and cry ourselves to sleep every night), that is 15 hours of school a day. Now, if you have after school class or some sort of extra curricular activities that you need to work on, for example, piano like me, then you are going to want to practice that every day too. But sometimes you don't feel like playing the piano after 15 hours of constant boredom. Then, your piano teacher starts getting annoyed with you because you are slowly working less and less on the piano music while your school work piles higher and higher until you feel like you could rip out your hair and die. Then, you take 3 hours to yourself, doing whatever it is you like to do, of course never including anything outside unless you have a backyard or deck, because by the time you are even ready to take a step outside it is dark and your parents won't allow you outside. Then at 11 you get into bed and try to sleep through those horrible school related nightmares until 6 when you are woken up and have to do the whole cycle over again.

Not only are the days too long and the work too heavy a load, but school itself is a horrible place. According to many people LaGuardia happens to be one of the best high schools in New York. Well, let me tell you. I go to LaGuardia so I can say this truthfully. Not once have I ever truly felt welcome to the school except in one class in 9th grade which was Social Studies (Global). The teachers do nothing but barf up random information that you don't care about into your lap and expect you to somehow be able to remember all this stuff for a test every two weeks or so. The very first day of school my teachers always mention some gigantic test we are going to have at the end of the year, an they say, don't ever think it is too early to start studying for that. LISTEN TEACHERS!! I was sent here to learn useful things for my future, not to stress out about some stupid test that was created by some stupid phoney who was trying to scare kids into pulling out their hair and stressing out over absolutely nothing. Never in high school has a teacher asked me anything personal or friendly. Never once has a teacher asked me, how are your parents? Are they doing alright? How is your sister? How's your dog? How's your writing coming along? How was your evening? NOTHING!! They don't ask me those things because they don't know anything about me. They can't ask me how my siblings are because they don't know I have a sibling. I go to a building every day filled with a thousand absolute strangers! I didn't figure out who the principal was until the third month of 10th grade. The principal should personally introduce themselves to all of their students. I don't care if that takes too long. Maybe you should have less students in one school so that each student can actually get help from the teacher when they need it and don't have to be forced to sit in the back and learn nothing.

We shouldn't be learning stupid geometry or even most of algebra or chemistry or living environment! At least not before we even learn about street smarts or social skills or actual life skills. I am going to graduate high school and think to myself... "Okay. I just finished my 14th (For some it could be 15th) year of school. What have I learned? Well.... I learned how to add. I think. I learned how to subtract. I can't divide anything without a calculator... I can't multiply double digits without a calculator either. George Washington was the first president... Who was the 5th president? Who knows?? How many days are there in March? Beats me. What are taxes and how do you pay them? I have no idea. I guess i'm just gonna have to ask my parents, who are then going to say, didn't you learn this in school?"

The answer is NO! WE DON"T LEARN ANYTHING IN SCHOOL! WH AM I GOING TO SCHOOL?? because my parents force me to. because it is a law that you have to send your kid to some sort of schooling system. What kind of law is that? Why can't some people just not have their brain filled with useless facts that nobody cares about?

Anyways, if you agree with me leave a comment and maybe we can start some kind of revolt where every kid in new York high schools and middle schools just walk out of school and fill the streets and start chanting things and throwing rocks at the windows and stuff.

PETER PAN 1924

Everybody knows the story of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, but if you haven't seen the 1924 movie version of Peter Pan then you only know half of it. I watched this movie for the first time only a few months ago, but since then I have watched it about three times.

If you don't already know, the plot of this movie is,
the Darling children (Michael, John, and Wendy) are tucked into bed by their parents. Their parents then go across the street to a small dinner party. In the night while the parents are away Peter Pan comes in through the window with Tinker Bell his fairy friend to find his shadow. They find it and Peter Pan tries to stick his shadow back on by rubbing his feet with soap. Haha. He realizes that the soap won't work and he begins crying. His crying wakes Wendy up and she helps him attach his shadow to his feet. Skip forwards a little bit and Peter Pan is leading the three children to the second star to the right and straight on 'till morning to Neverland. When they are there they meet the lost boys and the indians and the pirates and the mermaids and have a wonderful adventure. Wendy acts as the lost boys mother for a few days until she begins getting homesick and wants to go home. But, she, and the lost boys get kidnapped by Captain Hook, Peter Pan's arch enemy. Just as they are about to be thrown overboard by the pirates Peter Pan comes in and saves the day. or does he?

I recommend this movie for EVERYBODY! I give it five out of five stars. The actors are all wonderful and the story is of course a story that will never be forgotten. If you know what I mean. There is this one moment of the movie where Tinker Bell is about to die after she saves peter Pan's life. Peter Pan starts crying and freaking out over Tinker Bell, and then he looks straight into the camera and tells us that the only way to save Tinker Bell's life is if we tell him that we believe in fairies. And then he tells us to clap and it's just such a perfect moment. It's bound to make anybody smile.


                                                    

                                           

Peter Pan played by Betty Bronson
Wendy played by Mary Brian
John played by Philippe De Lacy
Mrs. Darling played by Esther Ralston
Mr. Darling played by Cyril Chadwick
etc. There are a lot more people in this movie obviously. Here's a link to the movie (it's on youtube by the way)...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdnZUszqGOY

SEVENTH HEAVEN

The movie Seventh Heaven is about a girl who is abused by her sister who thinks that her life is over but with the hep of a very kind swage worker she finds that life is good and all that. I am not going to give the full summary cause I don't want to ruin anything, but I will give a short summary. 

The movie starts with a conversation between Chico, the sewage worker and his friend (who's name I forgot). During this conversation, Chico reveals that he wishes that he was street cleaner instead of being a sewage worker. Meanwhile, two sisters are having a more physical conversation in their small apartment home. There is a good sister, played by Janet Gaynor and an evil sister, played by Gladys Brockwell. A bunch of stuff happens and eventually the good sister, Diane, ends up looking dead in the street and Chico finds her and tells the police that Diane is his wife. The police tells Chico that he is going to be checking in on Chico to make sure that he isn't lying about being married. So... Diane comes up with the idea to stay with Chico until the police come to his house and then she will leave and Chico agrees. A whole lot happens, including Chico going to war and all that. It is a very exciting movie, kind of, and it has one of the best endings of any movie i've ever seen. 

So, if you don't hate romantic movies, and are looking for a good story and a touching ending... than watch this movie! 

There are two versions of this movie... one made in 1927, which is the version that I have been talking about, and another version made in 1937 with Simone Simon as Diane and James Stewart as Chico. I personally think that the 1927 version was much better than the 1937 version. I thought the acting was better and really just everything was better in the 1927 version. But, I suppose both movies tell the same story. If you really want the whole experience, watch the 1927 version.  If you aren't comfortable or whatever with silent movies, and you aren't so serious about this movie, than you can always watch the 1937 version. 

Now, I will give you some pictures...

This is a poster of the 1927 version

This is another poster of the 1927 version

This is a poster of the 1937 version

This is another poster of the 1937 version

I feel like if I give any other pictures I may spoil some of the good parts of this movie. If you want to see any more pictures... just search google, but!!!!!! before you do that, I recommend just taking the time to watch the movie. Either one... but the 1927 version is more... sophisticated I think. 

The 1927 version is rated 100% on rotten tomatoes, and the 1937 version is rated 55% on rotten tomatoes. I don't really understand what rotten tomato is really... but I know it rates movies and 100% is the best and 0% is the worst. Even though the second was only rated 55% it really doesn't mean everybody won't like it. 

Okay, watch this movie if you ever have the time. And leave a comment saying what you thought of the movie. 

PICTURES WATCHING ME

Do you ever feel like somebody in a picture is watching you? Because I can't help but feel like pictures are constantly staring at me. When I turn around their eyes stare straight into my back and whenever I turn back around and look at the picture, they are back in their original placement. I know that a whole lot of people feel this same way, but I feel like I may have this feeling much stronger than most people. For example, while many people, probably most people, can type some celebrities name into google images and scroll through all the images of the people without wincing or turning away their face. I can't scroll through a page of google images of a celebrity without wincing or feeling weird about doing what I'm doing.

 Maybe I didn't explain this so well, but I think you all kind of know what I mean.
Take a look at this picture.

I put this picture on my computer screen desk top about one or two years ago. And ever since then, whenever I use the computer, I make sure that a page of the internet or something is covering this picture. Why do I even have this picture if I feel so uncomfortable with it being where it is? Well, that's easy. Because I like the picture and I like Shirley Temple too. As i'm writing this i'm realizing that i've actually become quite used to this picture. But... lets say it was a different picture. One that I haven't seen before or at least haven't seen for such a long time as I have the first one...

I just feel like she is staring straight into my soul or something and I can't look into her eyes. I don't know if you feel the same way I do or if maybe you feel the exact same way but I just thought that maybe I should just write about this whole thing. 

Also, Whenever I am in the same room as a picture of somebody looking into the camera I can't act the same way I did when I was in the other room. For example, there is a picture of my grandfather on the mantle in the living room in my house and he is looking into the camera. So... if you look at his eyes, it seems like he is looking at you. When that picture was first put there I could barely even talk in front of the picture because I just felt like he was watching me. Eventually i got more used to it so it really isn't so bad anymore. Then, for christmas, my brother and his wife got me three movie posters. Two were Mary Pickford movies and one was a Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire movie. Both Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire were both looking in to the camera and the three posters were hung above the piano in my living room. I usually sing while playing the piano but when those posters were hung above the piano I couldn't sing at all because I was too nervous. The first few days they were there I was so self conscious of how I played the piano and how I sat down at the piano and walked to and from the piano. You can't even understand how free I felt when we took those posters down and replaced them with a bookshelf. I went straight back to singing like I did before the posters. 

SO, that's all I got to say. If you have the same feeling TELL ME! I want to know. Maybe you have a story to tell, kind of like mine... This was a little boring I think, but at least I wrote something. 

write a comment and I will most certainly read it and try to reply. I say try because lately I haven't been able to comment on things on the computer. I think maybe one of my friends reported me because she didn't realize that it was me when I left a creepy comment on a video. 

SNOW WHITE AND DISNEY PRINCESSES

How do you feel about the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? So many people, including my sister, believe that Snow White is just a great big step back for women in history. Both my sister and mother have frequently questioned me about what it is about Snow White that makes me love her so much, and I always tell them it is her beautiful singing. They haven't bought that for some reason, even though that is the truth. That and she is also very innocent and kind and friendly and everything nice that I think many many girls are forgetting about these days. They ask me, "You know, the prince has to save the princess every single time in all those princess movies that you watch. Don't you think that that is a little wrong?" And I honestly reply every time with a big fat NO! Because there is nothing wrong with a prince saving a princess.

I was talking with my friend and we both agree that really the whole thing with disney princesses is that love conquers everything and it can save you from any danger or situation. It is not that a prince has to save the day. Anyways, who even cares if it is a prince saving the day? Lately, there have been so many movies in hollywood where there is some "strong" woman character. Well, i'm sick of it! Everybody is a-okay with a girl saving the day, but if there was a boy saving the day now there would be millions of people would be angry and upset even though there is no reason to be.

Tell me what you think about all this down in the comments and I will reply and maybe we could have a conversation in the comment area or something fun like that.

SPARROWS 1926

I think that I should make a post or a few posts or even a whole bunch of posts about my favorite movies. I'm not some professional writer or something, so I'm not really going to be giving a whole lot of intelligent comments about these movies, but I will try and explain the things I think about them. Anyways... whatever.

I have a whole lot of favorite movie, but one of my most favorite movies is called Sparrows. The movie Sparrows is one of Mary Pickfords most perfect movies, according to me, and many other people. I will give a quick summary of the movie without ruining anything in the story.

The movie starts by introducing Mr. Grimes and his house/ farm in the swamps. He runs a baby farm. I had never heard of anything called a baby farm before watching this movie and i'm sure other people didn't know what it was either. I can kind of explain. It's pretty much a place where somebody takes care of a bunch of orphans. But Mr. Grimes isn't just any baby farmer... he is an evil one. There are ten children living at this swamp farm and Mr. Grimes forces them to work all day every day with a minimum amount of food. They "live" in the attic of the barn and have to hide there every time Mr. grimes rings the bell at the farm fence because he doesn't want anybody knowing that there are orphans living there. Anyways, Mary Pickford is the oldest orphan staying at the swamp and she spends her time caring for the nine other children. Mr. Grimes get tempted by a criminal Joe Bailey, to help him go through with a kidnapping. The plan is to have Bailey and his associate kidnap a baby girl until her rich father, Dennis Wayne, pays the ransom money.

There are touching moments, scary moments, sweet moments, funny moments for sure, and there is one of the most exciting chase scenes in all movie history! (pretty much). Mary Pickford, known as Molly or Mama Molly in the movie, leads her pack of orphans through the swamp. They swing on a vine, then climb trees, and they escape the jaws of horrific crocodiles!!!! What more could you ask for?

If you are a fan of Mary Pickford or want to be a fan of her, this movie will most certainly make a change in your life. Sparrows was the first Mary Pickford movie I ever saw. There are two versions of the movie. One you can find online. That version has an organ soundtrack that can get kind of dull and boring... Another version of the movie is the dvd version. I'm not sure whether you can find this version online, but the soundtrack is much lighter and happier. Whichever soundtrack you hear while watching, the movie is still always wonderful and definitely worth your time.

Here are some pretty pictures from the movie...
    
These are different movie posters... you know that though.

This picture is so pretty, don't you think so?

It is rumored that Mary Pickford actually wanted to adopt the rich baby in the movie. The babies name is Mary Louise Miller, and after being in Sparrows, she went on to be the baby of other famous stars in other movies. There were news reports that Mary Pickford offered to pay money to adopt the baby. But, it is not a proven fact, and Mary Louise Miller's grand daughter says that she finds it hard to believe that Mary Pickford would really put up money to adopt the baby and doubts that it ever really happened. The Grand daughter said that she was sure that Mary Pickford may have said, I would just love to adopt this baby, or something like that as a joking way, but never anything serious. 

Anyways, if you haven't seen this movie than I just don't know what you are doing with your life. Here is the link to the movie if you want to watch it right away... or maybe later...  http://www.veoh.com/watch/v17884839JXgDY5py

Leave comments and WATCH THE MOVIE!!! If you don't even have the smallest hint of a tear in your eye at any point in this movie, I'll be awfully surprised. And if you aren't smiling the biggest smile your mouth can handle by the end of the movie, then you didn't watch carefully enough. Or maybe you just don't get so happy at things like movie endings. 

RUTH ETTING

Along with Annette Hanshaw, I think that the singer Ruth Etting also has a perfect voice. I don't know so much about her but I have listened to many of her songs and think that I have heard enough of her songs to make a list of my favorites. Ruth Etting sings a lot of the songs Annette Hanshaw did and i'm not sure if I put any of those songs on the Annette Hanshaw song list. It doesn't really matter but I just want you to keep that in mind. I sort of forget how I came across Ruth Etting in the first place. I think I was searching an Annette Hanshaw song and found Ruth Etting's version of it and thought that it was okay. Then I began listening to more of her songs and realized that I really do like her singing. I forget which song that was but I have a feeling that it was the song "Shine on Harvest Moon" which is one of my favorite songs that she sings. Anyways, here is the list...

%1. Ten Cents a Dance  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpU-mcgBJxE
2. Shine on Harvest Moon  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxoNi8mJ2Yk
3. Out of Nowhere  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VItIWNxP9s4
%4. Sam, the Old Accordion Man  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLSONm3Phz4
5. Out in the Cold Again  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxXeEKn2cUk
6. Talking to Myself  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf1a1zx_CJs
7. Exactly Like You  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HcvUJkOFEM
%8. Ramona  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obn_IIRpU04
9. Love Letter in the Sand  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zhlr11dnTw
%10. Back in Your Own Backyard  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDi_I9nPMNo
11. It All Depends on You  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxAC3lONBMA
12. The Song is Ended  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83MGqfcHleo
13. I'm Good For Nothing But Love  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aazzQdYjOcM
14. It Was So Beautiful  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-Zi4VM3wK4
15. Sonny Boy  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dxJ0Ho8vMo
16. Try a Little Tenderness  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD00bcKOGJ8

I will put this -> % next to the ones I really love.
There are always more songs, but these are the ones I like best. I don't really know anything about Ruth Etting other than that her voice is nice, so if you are interested in her I recommend searching google for that.

Leave a comment saying what you think of my list.

PUBLIC SCHOOL IS A TERRIBLE MISTAKE

If you go to public school now I am sure that you have noticed all the tests that keep on pilling on to us. If you have noticed the same things that I have noticed then you have noticed how many times these big end of the year tests keep changing. It seems as if every year there are changes made on the state tests or whichever tests it is that you take at the end of the school year. One year we are told to focus on the essay questions and the next we are told that there are going to be multiple choice questions that are meant to fool us and make us choose the wrong answer so we have to study those kinds of questions. And other years the teachers just have no idea what to tell us to study. Or, maybe you have noticed that you are only being taught certain things because they are going to be on a test at the end of the year.

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT TO YOURSELF, WHY AM I LEARNING THIS? WHEN IN MY LIFE WILL I HAVE TO USE THIS? I certainly have. Somebody in my math class asked my math teacher why we were learning a formula for something we already knew how to do. And my teacher turned around and had a very stern face when she said "because it is going to be on the test at the end of the year". She very clearly had no example of how we would use this formula in our lives after school.

Let me ask you a question. What is the purpose of school? Tell me completely and honestly. DO we go to school so we can meet friends? No. Do we go to school so we don't stay at home all day doing nothing? No. Do we go to school to study for a test at the end of the year? NO! Do we go to school to prepare for our life after school? Yes! Are we going to school to prepare for getting a job when we are older? YES! IF YOU WERE TO GRADUATE FROM SCHOOL NOW DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD FEEL PREPARED TO HAVE A JOB? I doubt it. Unless you want to become a mathmatition(I can't spell it. I've been going to school how many years now? 10. And I can't spell mathmatition?). than half the things we learn in school in math class is useless to you. Unless you want to become a scientist in a real science lab you don't need to know how every single cell in your body works.

I just had to get all that out. I may have taken it a bit too far. But school gets on my nerves. Leave a comment about how you feel about these things.

ANNETTE HANSHAW

All my life I had never liked music. All the members of my family loved music and they played their songs all the time, but I always told them that I wished they would turn it off. I never felt that connection to music that everybody else around me was feeling. I didn't personally care. Who needed music anyways? I liked the peace and quiet. That is until my mind was blown and my eyes were finally opened to a WONDERFUL WORLD OF BEAUTIFUL SOUND!!!! This happened about one year ago. I was playing the piano and came across a song in a music book called "It's the Talk of the Town". I played it and found that it was very catchy and it caught my attention. I played it multiple times every day for a week or so before I thought of searching it on youtube. When I did type it into the search box one of the first videos that came up was Annette Hanshaw singing "It's the Talk of the Town". I had never heard of her and didn't have high expectations because music really wasn't my thing, even though I had been playing piano since second grade. Well, my expectations were all blown away because her singing that song had changed my life for good. When I got my iphone that was the first song of ten that I downloaded. Annette Hanshaw's singing changed my life and maybe it can change yours if you have never heard her sing. So, I will make a list of my favorite songs that she sings.

    1. It's the Talk of the Town  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS-Lv8fid4k
    2. We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkbqCM175_4
    3. I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MRDc2bgAzI
    4. Lover Come Back to Me  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb9qQM50ekY
    5. You're the Cream in My Coffee  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk_wVO7NBMQ
% 6. I Can't Give You Anything But Love  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufBLTay2cjs
    7. Say it isn't So  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O9bBS5_TC8
    8. Forgetting You  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIzYbV8ZhvI
    9. Get Out and Get Under the Moon  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k52oAH1VfZ0
%10. Moon Song  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkngzIO1cJg
%11. Daddy Won't You Please Come Home  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH49bFIZ5uA
%12. The Song is Ended  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yro1SAbHfQk
   13. Under the Moon  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5WO0kATepM
   14. Lovable and Sweet  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgOWbSkZQMo
   15. Ho Hum  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySN62DIr0EQ
   16. Little White Lies  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGgP8uhUtu0
%17. Give Me Liberty or Give Me Love  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGgP8uhUtu0
%18. I've Got 'It' but 'It' Don't Do Me No Good  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gWldO4jWv4
These aren't even all of my favorite songs but I don't want the list to be too long and overwhelming. I will put one of these -> % next to the songs that I really really just love and can't ever get enough of so if you want to quickly pick one to listen to you have a smaller choice.
Also, if you want a larger selection, just type in her name into youtube or google. Also, youtube has a playlist of Annette Hanshaw songs. Not all her songs, but a great deal of them.
Here's the link to that ->
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELlKVQtDYrM&list=PL21F92A7B0DBE200B

Just something interesting about her: she had a bad case of stage fright and that is one of the reasons why she retired from her singing career when she did. There is an interview with her on youtube that I didn't even mean to listen to but I did. She said that she was comfortable singing with the band in the recording space but was always so nervous when she had to perform in front of other people. She said that she ended up being only 90 pounds because she had such bad anxiety and she had to retire.
Just if you were wondering.
Tell me what you think about her singing and the songs I put on the list. Maybe make your own list if you have the time.

NO MORE FAN-FICTION

Okay, forget what I said about making a fanfiction. I never wrote any fanfiction before and I don't plan on doing one anymore. I started thinking up ideas and realized that I didn't have any good ones.  The idea just isn't interesting to me anymore. Anyways, I thought that I should actually start posting interesting things on this blog instead of useless things saying that I will start posting things and all that.  So, from now on it will only be interesting things.

I'M GONNA WRITE A FAN-FINCTION

I think that I have already mentioned that I love Disney Princesses. I just came up with a cool idea to start writing my own Disney Princess fan fiction. I have never written fan fiction before... so, who knows how well this will go? But, I won't know if i'm any good at it unless I actually try writing some. I know that I said this blog was for everything old fashioned and we could all discuss super cool things that we like, as in movies and songs and things, together. We can still do that. I don't think that anybody actually reads this blog yet, so, by the time you are reading this, I will already have started writing this fan fiction and everything will be different.

Now, because I love Snow White so much, I think that she will be the main character to my story. SO... here goes nothing. My next post will be chapter one of my fan fiction. And, I haven't planned any story, so I think that I will just go with the flow. And it will be fun and interesting to read. LEAVE COMMENTS SO I KNOW IF IT'S ANY GOOD OR NOT!!!

thanks for reading, bye.

If you are for some reason reading this blog, you might have some sort of longing for the past, right?
If you don't, then, good for you.
If you do, then, you're like me. I am always thinking about the past. Whether it be the Mary Pickford movie I saw the other day, or the strange tingling sensation I get when I hear anything about the 1890s-1940s, or maybe the 1950s. I know that a lot of people say that they feel like they should have been born in the past. Truthfully, I think that those people can be a little annoying and a bit stupid. (Sorry for the harsh words). But, I am also one of those people. I'm sure that to other people I am annoying and stupid. Of course, i've never really expressed my longing for the past and how much I really wish I could go back in time.

Why do I think those people are annoying and dumb? I don't think everyone who ever said that they wish they lived in the past is stupid. I think that people who say that they wish they lived in the past for a bad reason are a bit annoying. For example, many people my own age say that they would love to live the 1920s. (I can't stand when people say the "Roaring 20s". It really gets on my nerves. Why? I don't really know.) Why do you think they want to go back in time to the 1920s? So that they can be flappers and go out partying all the time. What's the point of going through all the trouble to get back in time just so they can do the same thing that people do today? Dress in tight, short skirts and dresses and go out drinking and partying bars all night. Or another example, when people say they wish they lived in the 1950s because they like the fashion. Liking the fashion is a fine reason. I don't think that should be your only reason, but it isn't really a bad one. The other which I don't like very much is when they say that they want to live in the 1950s because of the whole housewife thing. They act as if housewives weren't a "thing" until the year 1950. Housewives have been around since the first day of the human race, I think. They were around in the 1950s, the 1940s, the 1930s, the 1920s, the 1910s, the 1900s, the 1800s, etc. So, I don't think that that is a very good reason to want to go back in time. Heck, there are still housewives today.

Just to share a little bit of my knowledge, housewives became a really commercialized(Correct my if i'm wrong, which I probably am) thing. The second world war was just ending, and much of the population was dead. It was put in the hands of the married people to repopulate the country, which included a stay at home mother or I guess a housewife. (I read this somewhere on the internet).

I used to feel like I belonged in the 1930s, because I loved all the fashion and style and etiquette and everything.  I still do. I love it very very much. But, I later realized that the 1930s was really just the 1920s with lots of poverty. Kind of, right? There were a lot of inappropriate themes and all that that were being spread all over he place. Don't ask me for an example, because I really can't tell you any. I might be totally wrong, but that is just how I feel. Now, I have begun to feel pulled towards the very beginning of the 1900s. So, the year 1900 to around 1920. I have begun to wish that I was born in the year 1900 or maybe somewhere around it, or around the year 1910. Just so I could live through the 1900s, the 1910s, the 1920s, the 1930s, etc., unless I died early. I switched to an early time because I felt like people were much more proper and restrained or whatever in the 1910s and all.

I get either very excited and happy when I think about being transported back in time to the 1910s (or around there) or very sad and lonesome for it, because part of me knows that I will never be able to experience that kind of excitement and happiness. But, i'm sure i'm just crazy.

Do you have any feelings for the past? Do you feel like you had some sort of past life in the earlier years of time? Do you just want more then anything to go back in time? Tell me about it in the comments and I can write a new post about it and we could have a conversation or something.

Thank you.
-Tess Loucka

If I Had a Million Dollars

Today I came across a new song which I can't stop listening to. If you ever find a song that you want to listen to constantly, go to the website www.listenonrepeat.com. It's pretty much youtube, but you can watch things over and over again without clicking anything. I've used this website a lot.

Anyways, the song I found is called "If I had a Million Dollars" sung by the Boswell Sisters. If you know it, write a comment saying what you think. Or, maybe just go to youtube and listen to it again. I really like this song. I usually think that a group of people harmonizing, for example a trio, or quartet, etc. is a little cheesy. I usually think that because they were very famous in older days, and when people try to harmonize now, they think they are being so old fashioned, which I can't stand. If you know what I mean, I hope you can relate. If you don't know what I mean, I wan't you to know that i'm not crazy and I try not to be mean or anything. It's just what I feel.

But, the Boswell Sisters are from the past aren't they? So I can't dislike them for trying to be old fashioned. They are old fashioned. At least these days they are. But, the song is so nice and sweet and their voices go together so well. I've listened to it for about an hour, over and over. You should too.

While I was listening to it I had this vision of me putting my adopted daughter to bed and playing this song on a record player as she falls asleep. I don't know why, but it made me kind of sad. I wish I could have that vision come true in a few years.

Pretty crazy huh?

Dear Readers,
Today, i've decided to start this blog, hoping that maybe I can introduce things that I am interested in to other people. Now, at the moment, i'm only 14 years old, so I don't know very much about very much. Everyone has interests, and everyone wants to talk to them about somebody. My interests aren't very interesting to some people, (i've very often been reminded this by my mother and my friends). Well, sometimes I just feel like talking about them with somebody, so what better way to do that than write some of it down in a blog? And maybe people will read it and leave comments which I can read and respond to.

So, I guess whoever is reading this might be wondering, "Well, what are this persons interests?"Well, i'll tell you. Two years ago, when I was at sleep away camp, my camp put on a musical of The beauty and the Beast. I guess I thought it was really good, because the day after I got home from camp I found the Disney Beauty and the Beast online. I actually don't really like Beauty and the Beast, but it made me interested in other disney princess movies. I know a lot of people don't like disney princesses, but I do. After I watched Beauty and the Beast, I started watching all the other disney princess movies starting at the very beginning. I started with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, then Cinderella, then Sleeping Beauty, and The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, etc, etc, etc. I found that the more recent the movie was, the less I liked it. So, according to that, my favorite Princess movie is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, A.K.A Snow White.

Have you ever  seen those commercials for the Shirley Temple Little Darling movie collection? The first time I saw that commercial, I didn't think much of it. My mother would sometimes tell me that she used to watch Shirley Temple movies when she was younger. A few days after I re-watched snow white, I was sitting at the computer and remembered that Shirley Temple commercial that I once saw a few years ago. So, I googled her name and red about her. I went to youtube and searched her name, and I watched the first full movie of hers that showed up. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm was my very first Shirley Temple movie. It led me into a spiral of nonstop Shirley Temple movies.  I watched every free movie of hers that I could find on the internet.

After watching most, if not all of the movies of her as a child(aged 6-10), I started watching some of the movies of her as a 11and older movies. (Her teenage years). Every movie of hers was entertaining. Most of them were pretty funny and made me laugh. Some made me cry, but one of them that I loved the most was the movie I'll be Seeing You, which was really a Ginger Rogers movie, co-staring Shirley Temple. That was the first time I had ever seen Ginger Rogers.

After that movie, I began watching every Ginger Rogers movie I could find online for free, which was enough to make me a real fan of hers. I loved her dancing, her acting, her costumes, and singing and everything.

I can't really remember how I ever got interested in Mary Pickford, but once I found out about Mary Pickford, I couldn't stop watching her movies either! And now i'm reading her autobiography.

If you don't know who any of these people are, i'll tell you.
Shirley Temple is an actress (mostly a child actress) from the 1930s and a little bit in the 1940s.
Ginger Rogers is also an actress from the same time period.
Mary Pickford is a silent movie actress from the 19 teens. (1910-1920) and also the 1920s.

So, if any of you are interested in old movies like I am, or if you like old music, for example, Ginger Rogers songs, Annette Hanshaw songs, Marion Harris songs, or Jo Stafford songs, or Martha Tilton songs, or Helen Kane, or anything. Tell me what your interests are in the comments, and maybe we can talk about them together. Maybe you like old fashioned clothes. Post pictures of yourself in old fashioned clothes if you want. Send me links to your own blogs or youtube channels or cool websites that you think go well with my blog.

If you read all of that, I thank you for your patience and hopefully you were interested in what I have to say and maybe you can stick with me while I try and post interesting things on my blog.

Thank you and goodbye.
-Tess Loucka