New York City: In The Red

"NYC in the red" - not a smart clever economic swipe .....

 "Red" in a painty and bricky kind of way......

Paint The Town Red (Circe Link)

East Village

Brooklyn

Lower East Side

Harlem

Chelsea

... and a red shirt riding a bike through the park

An Art Nouveau beauty in Paris

Where are we today? A beautiful art nouveau theatre?

No - a beautiful Art Nouveau department store ... le grand magasin!

Galeries Lafayette on Boulevard Haussmann, Paris.  

Since 1905 the theatre of beautiful and expensive consumables.

Let's eavesdrop ...

 One can take a little break at the Louis Vuitton bar with a touch of Veuve Cliquot or a simple Nespresso

or admire Fashion Art as though in a gallery.

                                                                                                                                                                        Photo: pix.alaporte.net

Silly Smiling Time #2

Warning 1: full participation in this post may require you to sing AND dance. 

Warning 2: there are facts in this story (but no exam at the end).

ONE: THE FIRST HAPPY FEET.  

A long long time ago, British dance band Jack Hylton and his Orchestra were Europe's most popular show band, touring and recording constantly. In 1930 their big hit was a jolly boppy song called Happy Feet. 

 

This is Jack Hylton on a cigarette card. Happy chappy.

       petefaint.co.uk
 This is Jack's Orchestra at the Paris Opera House. Cruising.

TWO: THE SECOND HAPPY FEET
and
 THREE: THE FILM, THE SONG AND THE VIDEO. 

*Jump forward 60 years. 

*Jack's track was used in Baz Luhrmann's* film Strictly Ballroom in 1992

* And in 1998, Baz Luhrmann and Paul Mac* made a very jumping jolly boppy happy mix    which they called the Happy Feet High Heels Mix.

*Then in 2006 there was a happy film* called Happy Feet - which did NOT include the song Happy Feet. 

*But a Dutch YouTube fan made this video collage from the Happy Feet film and the Happy Feet High Heels mix. (Confused?)

Now - let's dance with the crazy penguins!!!

Want to sing along?? 

Happy feet!
I've got those happy feet!
Give them a lowdown beat
And they begin dancing!
I've got those
Ten little tapping toes,
And when I hear a tune,
I can't control 

My dancing heels,
To save my soul!
Weary blues
Can't get into my shoes,
Because my shoes refuse
To ever grow weary!
I keep cheerful on an earful
Of music sweet;
'Cause I got hap-hap-happy 

'Cause I got hap-hap-happy

'Cause I got hap-hap-happy

'Cause I got hap-hap-happy feet!

* SPOOKY FOOTNOTE. All the key creative geniuses in this story are Australian ...except for Jack Hylton....who... MARRIED AN AUSTRALIAN BEAUTY QUEEN when he was 70 and she was 19. (You may need to know that one day.)

Thank you for your attention.

Music: Jack Hylton & His Orchestra - Happy Feet (High Heels Mix, Paul Mac remix)

Video: syvler 1984 (Youtube)

A very Melbourne story

A story about a boy, his jocks* and Melbourne's central train network

A cast of thousands

And almost certainly true....

The Boy Who Lost His Jocks on Flinders Street Station (Painters & Dockers)

* Translation for our foreign readers: "Jocks" = "male undergarment"