The Last of the Follies Girls

I've been fascinated by the story of Flo Ziegfeld and his famous Follies since I first discovered a book about him at our local library back in the '50s. I now have a full collection of books tracing the story of man and his remarkable creative ability. He was particularly know for picking some of the most beautiful and talented women in the world to be Follies Girls. I was surprised to see in Tuesday's New York Times that Doris Eaton (Travis), the last of the Follies Girls, is still alive, well and literally kicking.

A right click on the picture of Doris in her heyday as a Ziegfeld girl will take you to the article. The vitality and spirit of the wowman, at 105, is amazing.

30 aprile - San Pio V Papa

And This Just Off the Newswire

Just after I put the previous post up this morning I was paging through the New York Times Online and what do I find:

A Private Dance? Four Million Web Fans Say No!

An article about the wonderful video Sageweb had posted and Matt Harding, the man who created it. The guy's a star in my book for creating so much joy around the world. Would that there were more!

08 lulgio - San Adriano

Gondoliera???????

It appears that Venice's macho Gondolieri - much fabled in Gilbert and Sullivan as the gay gondolieri but that's another story - are up in arms. These men's men of the canals - I've included a few pictures taken on a vacation back in 2000 to show just how macho these boys are and 'cause hell beefcake is beefcake - are horrified that a woman is attempting to break into their manly domain. Alexandra Hai - a foreigner and a "gasp" woman - has won the "limited" right to navigate through the waterways of la Serenissima.

An article in today's NYTimes quotes one veteran gondolier as saying "Let's leave one tradition intact." And Venice is a city that loves its traditions. However you will notice that none of these gentlemen are wearing the traditional straw boater with the long flowing streamers - guess it just isn't manly and besides it would get in the way of those traditional Armani sunglasses!