The Whitsuntide Procession in Manchester, Helen Bradley, 1973

Oil on canvas-board 22 x 36 in. (55.9 x 91.4 cm)

Helen Bradley, Oh it's the King and Queen, date unknown. Oil on canvas laid on board

Hurrying Summer 

Helen Bradley

Susan Bradley (Judy Garland) Wedding dress... The Harvey Girls (1946).. Costume by Helen Rose.

Slipping through my my fingers

Gotham City: Year One (2022).

This is an original photo showing Col. E. R. Bradley leading Black Helen and Don Meade into the winner’s circle after winning the 1935 Coaching Club American Oaks. Black Helen was owned and bred by Col. Bradley and his Idle Hour Stock Farm. She was by Black Toney out of La Troienne by Teddy. Black Helen was the second foal of the great Foundation Mare La Troienne. She was a diminutive filly who fully grown barely made 15 hands and tipped the scales at less than 900 pounds. Black Helen made 22 starts with 15 wins 0 seconds and 2 thirds earning: $61,800. Bradley was not impressed with Black Helen and did not nominate her for any top two year old races. Furthermore she was consigned to trainer Bill Hurley, who at the time managed Idle Hour’s second string. At three in 1935, Black Helen won: the Florida Derby over Mantagna, the winner of the 1936 Widener Handicap, and Roman Soldier, the winner of the 1935 Detroit Derby; the American Derby over Count Arthur, the winner of the 1935 Saratoga Cup, and Tearout, the winner of the 1935 Latonia Derby, with Champion Nellie Flag finishing off the board; the Coaching Club American Oaks over stablemate Bloodroot, the 1946 Broodmare of the Year, and Good Gamble, the winner of the 1936 Queens County Handicap; and the Maryland Handicap over Bloodroot and Firethorn, the winner of the 1935 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Black Helen was named the 1935 Champion Three Year Old Filly. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991. This was the same year that Princess Rooney, who descended from Black Helen, was also admitted.

Horse racing Legends

I watched the Partner Track recently on Netix and it was a fun Friday evening watch so I thought I would read the book.

TLDR: the book is very different but still worth reading if you're prepared for essentially a different story

Netflix pretty much took the name Ingrid and that she's a lawyer.... and that's about it. I get that they're making a series (possibly mutiple) worth of content but the differences were jarring. Its still worth a read but fans of the show should be prepared for essentially a completely different book.

Spoilers:

Murphy is not an exalted English soul mate, he's an existing colleague and actually more sexist/racist/destructive than Dan in the series. In fact content warning for some of the things he says. They're ugly.

And if one of your fave things in the series was the friendship between Rachel, Tyler and Ingrid than the book will disappoint. Theyre mostly footnotes.

Another difference is Ingrid is Chinese American in the books, whereas she is Korean American in the series so people looking to see themselves represented in the book after watching the show might be disappointed.

It still delves into worthwhile topics about racism and sexism in law and Ingrid is a 3D, well written character. Arden Cho does her justice. But a lot of the popular elements of the show (cough Z cough) are not in the book.

TV Review: Partner Track

So I had fully intended to post a review of Partner Track before now, however, the first season launched in full on Netflix on the 26th August, for reasons I’d rather not elaborate on, August is a very hard month for me, and I had taken some well deserved time away from the site. So I had earmarked the review to go up in November, as part of my own little NaNoWriMo challenge to post at least one piece of content each day for all of November, as a way of coming back from my hiatus with both guns blazing. 

Unfortunately when I was putting the finishing touches on the post this morning, I discovered that Partner Track has been cancelled. As you’ll probably see in the review following this introductory paragraph, I think this was a huge mistake, and I hope that some vocal and visible fan support can bring it back…much like what happened with Lucifer. I urge all fans of Partner Track to post across all social media with the hashtags #SavePartnerTrack and #UncancelPartnerTrack so that hopefully we can save the show.

click here to read more

Nightmare Alley (1947, dir. Edmund Goulding)

Nightmare Alley (2021, dir. Guillermo del Toro)

Helen Bradley, Going home through the Park, 1969. Oil on canvas-board

ACTRESSES BORN IN 1913

Frances Farmer

Loretta Young

Grace Bradley

Marian Marsh

Marika Rökk

Helen Mack

Marjorie Weaver

June Knight

Vivien Leigh

Joan Marsh

Film after film: How It Ends (dir. Daryl Wein, Zoe Lister-Jones, 2021)

It took me a while to develop consistent feelings about this film's many quirks that color this sweetly straightforward storyline, helmed confidently by Lister-Jones and Spaeny playing the same character. The problem lies with the cameos: Armisen, Whitford, and Howerton, for instance, serve more as distractions than meaningful characters. They don't act, they show up. The exception is Sharon Van Etten, who, in my favorite scene, gently nudges the film and the performers to the edge of fourth-wall-breaking. The best summary line comes from the scene, where Lister-Jones holds a two-speaker cassette player above her head, while speaking out to her ex. He says: "I hear you because there's nothing coming out of the speakers." To which she replies: "I know, I found it on the street, but I thought it was a cool visual." That's exactly what the film cares the most: cool visuals.

Gotham City: Year One (2022).

Bad Movie I have Call Northside 777 (1948)