Red Lights

When we were in Amsterdam we had to stop at the famous (or infamous) Red Light District.  It's considered a must see in Rick Steve's guidebook.  According to his book, the neighborhood has hosted the world's oldest profession since 1200.  Oscar nominated director Quentin Tarantino reportedly wrote the script for Pulp Fiction while staying in a hotel there. 

We came across the Condomerie  (a veritable condom museum) first where they sell all manner of condoms.  While in the S&M sex shop we heard a man ordering some kind of gear.  We also had a tour of the Sex Museum to view sex down through the ages!  They even had a huge ceramic part of the male anatomy that people posed under to have their pictures taken.  I declined! 

We walked down the alleys where the hookers pose in the doorways of their little rooms.  If the light above their rooms are lit up then they are available for business.  They are not nude but what they are wearing leaves little to the imagination.  They are not all thin and gorgeous.  One prostitute had her door open and was looking at me.  So I said to her, "Nice shoes!"  She replied, "You just like the shoes?  What about me?"  Jackson and I regretted that we didn't engage her in more conversation as it would make a better story!  They all wear those ridiculously high-heeled hooker shoes. 

We witnessed an underage guy receiving a talking to by the police.  One of the cops said he looked like he was 15!  I'm not sure if he got arrested or just received a stern warning.  Can't blame a guy for trying I guess!  Since prostitution is legal (since the 1980's) the women don't consider themselves to be exploited.  We walked by a sex nightclub called the Banana Bar but I had no interest in going in!  The Red Light District was sure something to see!

La Vie En Rose

I was reminded of the beautiful song La Vie En Rose last night when we watched a sweet French movie from 2004 called Love Me if you Dare starring Marion Cotillard.  The song was played in the movie and Marion also won an Oscar for the movie called La Vie En Rose, which is the story of the French singer Edith Piaf.  Both are wonderful movies and here is the song sung by Edith Piaf -



Here are the lyrics in English -

Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose


When you kiss me, Heaven sighs
And though I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose

When you press me to your heart
I'm in a world apart
A world where roses bloom


And when you speak
Angels sing from above
Every day words
Seem to turn into love songs

Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La vie en rose

I also love Piaf's song No Je ne regrette no rien (I regret nothing) -



We visited Edith Piaf's grave when we went to the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.  Jim Morrison is also buried there (his grave is understated) as well as the famed Irish playwright Oscar Wilde.  Women famously put on heavy lipstick and kissed his tombstone.  I refrained from doing so!

No mistake about it - that's a pickle!

Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of "The Andy Griffith Show."  The reruns are being shown on TV Land and there is even a Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club which boasts over 2,000 members.  TV Land has been showing the most popular episodes lately. 

My favorite has to be "The Pickle Story."  Aunt Bee had made a batch of her pickles assuming they were better than those purchased at the store.  Unfortunately, they were not at all tasty and Andy, Barney and Opie were not looking forward to eating them.  Barney even said, "I don't know how I can face the future when I know there are 8 quarts of these pickles in it!"  He calls the pickles kerosene cucumbers.

You can find the episode on YouTube and I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

Andy Griffith is now 84.  Don Knotts (Barney Fife) passed away in 2006 of lung cancer.  He was 81.  Ron Howard (Opie) won the Oscar for Best Director for the movie "A Beautiful Mind."  He is 56.  Frances Bavier (Aunt Bee) died in 1989 from heart failure.  They will live on forever thanks to "The Andy Griffith Show."

By the way, this year is also the 50th anniversary of The Flintstones.  Here are some fun facts about the classic show -

http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/09/30/the-flintstones-50th-anniversary/

I wonder if any of today's shows will be around that long.  I think Seinfeld has a good chance!

Racquetball anyone?

Jackson and I went to the gym yesterday as always.  He has been teaching me how to play racquetball for months.  It's the game Jackson has played for many years.  I thought I'd like to try it since he has so much fun playing the game and it's something we can do together.  He coaches me on most Saturdays but when he is busy playing I practice on my own. 

Yesterday one of the guys asked if I wanted to play.  I told him I was learning and hadn't really played a game yet.  So he had me serve and I got better as we went along and he had a lot of tips too.  I got quite a workout and I feel with more practice and actually playing some games I will turn out to be a decent player.  I plan to keep trying!

Lilacs in London

I have posted a small picture of these gorgeous lilacs but I thought I'd add them again here so you can enlarge them.  These lilacs were outside of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.  We did not take the tour there but we have several photos of the outside of the church.  The lilacs were very fragrant and I have never seen this particular type before.

Lovely lilacs

Downtown

Petula Clark sang a wonderful song called Downtown.  This song was recorded in 1965 and it's been used in movies and TV shows.  I remember hearing it in Girl, Interrupted which was the movie that Angelina Jolie won her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.  The song was also used in the Seinfeld episode called The Bottle Deposit.  That's the one where George has to go downtown and mentions the lyrics of the song when talking to Jerry.  Anyway, it's a great song.  Enjoy!

Mind the Gap!

We took the subway (or the Tube as they call it) all over London.  We bought Oyster cards so we could just swipe them and not have to hunt for change each time.  It was very convenient and fun.  Jackson was good at finding the right route to the places we wanted to go.  Our hotel was close to the underground station.  We never took any other type of transportation during our stay.  The announcer would always call out "mind the gap" when the subway doors closed. 

Jackson waiting for the subway