I was a little girl during the time of Bonanza, a long-running western starring Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon. The show was fun, although we were not huge fans of westerns in my family. The Bonanza I'm recommending today is not the retro tv show, but the site.
Bonanza is a great site and one that fans of vintage, handmade, and online selling/buying will enjoy. It is a beautifully designed site. You'll see a rotating hand-picked list on the front page. If you click on Community (top of the screen), you'll find a friendly and vibrant community of vintage sellers and buyers.
I have sold at Bonanza for a while. It is super easy to import eBay items (takes about 10 minutes a week). Listing there is free (!), and end fees are reasonable. The customer service at this site is friendly, responsive via email, and helpful. I've also purchased at Bonanza, with positive experiences. Sellers at this site tend to love it and have a great enthusiasm for the venue.
You can find my Bonanza booth (store) here: Birdhouse Books on Bonanza. I love the store layout, and the little "chat" box on each store page.
Of course, you'll also find the cute little vintage cowgirl Valentine on Bonanza as well!
Hope you enjoy exploring Bonanza!
So You Think You Can Dance showed Atlanta auditions this week! This is always fun to watch; I enjoy looking for local landmarks. Last night we saw the Fox Theatre, the Swan House, Piedmont Park, the Olympic Rings fountain, a MARTA train, and lots of good dancing!
The judges were Lil Buck and Jenna Dewan Tatum (pictured above). They joined regulars Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe.
Highlights from last night's show included:
Mariah - a jazz dancer with a bubbly personality and dance that included a sense of fun.
Kelly Mac Coy - another jazz dancer from a performing family. There was a silly, cheesy video about her background, including her mother's appearance years ago on The Love Boat.
Ricky Ubeda - my favorite dancer of the night! Ricky is a contemporary dancer from Miami. He is CUTE (girls will love him) and has a charming personality. His leaps and elevation were amazing.
Marissa Milele - the "Princess Warrior" - a powerful dancer, although her performance resembled a great gymnastics floor routine.
Angelina Granitz - a contemporary dancer who was inspired by her older brother. She has an odd, deadpan personality but is a very talented dancer.
Christina Moye-Palacios - a contemporary dancer inspired by her younger brother, who has many serious health challenges. Her dance was contemporary with a bit of ballet (nice extensions and lines).
On the down side, there was a belligerent dancer who couldn't take criticism (Brandon "Sideshow" from Dragon House), lots of long auditions, several dancers wearing striped hammer pants (shades of the 1980's, yikes!), and (yawn) another Justin Bieber segment. (Please, show, finish up this dance crew business and remove Justin Bieber from my tv screen!)
Next week is in California and features callbacks. By the end of the show we will meet the Top 20. I can't wait!
I love retro garage rock. "You're Gonna Miss Me" by 13th Floor Elevators is one of my favorite 1960's garage rock songs. It was recorded in 1966, and the fun video below was featured on Dick Clark's California series Where the Action Is. This is one of those songs that I hear and can't get out of my head for a day or two after!
Hi vintage friends!
If you read my blog regularly, you know that I love vintage ephemera, including Roadside Americana postcards. I always look through boxes of postcards at estate sales, flea markets, antique shows -- and enjoy selling them in my store's postcard department.
Often the postcards have a clear postmark, like the 1942 above. That is great! We now know an exact date of the card.
However, I frequently find postcards and envelopes with a smudged or illegible postmark. How to date that card? It's easy with The History of Postage Rates, a great website resource for ephemera fans. You can look at the postage stamp and get an idea of the card's date using the chart at the site. For instance, if you had a postcard with a 4 cent stamp, you could check the chart and see that this card was sent between 1963 - 1968.
Pretty neat, huh?
So You Think You Can Dance aired auditions from Los Angeles and Philadelphia this week.
The guest judges were Christina Applegate (in Los Angeles), and in Philadelphia, Misty Copeland (American Ballet Theatre prima ballerina - pictured above with Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe) and Billy Porter (star of Kinky Boots on Broadway).
This audition show felt long to me for some reason. Maybe a little too much contemporary dance emoting for my taste. There were some great dancers, though! They included:
Johnny "Waacks" Gibson - a returning dancer who auditioned in Season 9. He does a form of street dance called waacking. He was sent on to choreography, where he received a ticket to Hollywood.
Malene and Armen - ballroom dancers. Malene is a beautiful dancer, but she has struggled with depression. Armen appeared on the show last year but dropped his partner and was dismissed during Hollywood week. They were amazing - great chemistry! He reminded me a bit of Maksim Chmerkovskiy from Dancing with the Stars.
Amir Sanders - the "funky ballerina," as she called herself. Amir was classically trained at the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She brought some funk to her ballet audition -- and was easily my favorite dancer of the night. The judges sent her to choreo, which really surprised me, since she has such strong training. However, she got a ticket to Hollywood after choreography, so all is good!
Landon Anderson - a ballroom dancer who auditioned with Jenna Johnson, who danced in last year's competition. He looks like an "aw shucks!" young Ron Howard, but danced with lots of power. He went through, and Jenna also got an invite to be an All-Star on the show this year.
Stanley Glover - a contemporary dancer with a sad back story. His mother died when he was 4 years old, and he was shuffled around until he found a loving home with a family friend. Stanley danced a fun and creative contemporary number where he portrayed a mysterious creature. He was offbeat and fun, and his choreography was terrific! His dancing reminded me a bit of former contestant Mark Kanemura.
Next week the show will be in my hometown of Atlanta. I can't wait!
Did you watch last night? Do you have favorites, or any thoughts about the show you'd like to share? I hope you'll leave a comment below.
