
Pony Bridge on Route 66 in Oklahoma. Built in 1936, it is actually now endangered, slated to be destroyed for some ugly modern thing. ![]()
I’d been in the middle of putting this post together Monday when I flipped on the news to see what had happened in Oklahoma, so you probably can understand my uncertainty about posting this. Nor was I sure whether or not putting this up would seem disrespectful. But my girlfriend in Nashville, who writes the Stuff Heard On The Bus blog, suggested that this might be a good distraction and relief for those of us overwhelmed and heartsore because of the coverage. So here it is. All of the photos here are from Oklahoma, too. It is just one of the finest states in the nation.
That said, the people of Oklahoma desperately need our help. They’re strong folks, some of the best in America, and as I said to an Okie the other night, Oklahomans give real meaning to “the heartland of America”— they’re genial, generous, and courageous, even in the face of horrors such as the tornado. They are our HEARTland, in every sense of the word. So please, please—I know the economy is horrid right now and that we’re all strapped, but even a few dollars will go a long way.
Please Donate to Oklahoma Tornado Relief Here (Salvation Army)
News 9 Oklahoma is accepting donations as well, click or text FOOD to 32333 to donate $10
Brandi, a native Oklahoman, also has a good list of ways you can help Sooners affected by the tornado; a couple of jewelry artists have beautiful work and I think I may be picking one of these up for myself. And I will be happy to donate 50% of each sale between now and June 20 to the Salvation Army’s relief efforts, and 100% of each Oklahoma-related photo from my shop. Keep in mind, I’ve a LOT of photos of Oklahoma from my Route 66 trip; if it isn’t in my shop but you’ve seen it on (the new, uglier) Flickr and would like a copy, please send me an email (Jen *at* LibertyImagesPhotography.com) and I’ll order what you like. Please just understand that special orders will take about 14 days from order to your receipt (I do not drop-ship, but inspect, sign & send a COA with each photo, as they’re all limited-edition), especially when there’s a great amount of demand, but I’ll hustle things out the door for you as quickly as I can! Recently purchased software allows me to sell some large photos, too—I sent out a 20×30 of a Thunderbird back in April and it was…well, I was pleased with it. So now is a great time to pick up a limited-edition photo from my shop and do a lot of good, too!
The Entire Primetime Lineup—Spotlight On Harold Lloyd
Beginning at 8PM Thursday, May 23
TCM makes one pick (multiple picks, really) very easy, because tomorrow night it’s all Harold Lloyd, all the time (okay, ’til 6AM Friday morning), beginning with Safety Last! (1923) at 8PM.
Now, yes, these are all silent films, and I know silents can be a hard sell—even Robert Osborne has noted he’s not their biggest fan. And on one hand, I understand: for one thing, most of us are forced to multitask, and tend to work and half-listen, half-watch movies and television programs. Silent films require almost full attention (though this makes them good viewing if you’re working on embroidery or knitting or something of that nature) even with their sometimes slow storytelling.
But these are silent comedies, for the most part, and Harold Lloyd comedies at that. It’s difficult to get my husband to watch silent films, but he enjoys Buster Keaton films and the bits of Lloyd films we’ve seen; I think this is a good way to introduce someone to silent films and how they work, especially considering the, ah, adventurous nature of Lloyd’s famous stunts. These are made all the more impressive and thrilling when the viewer learns Lloyd was missing the thumb and index finger of his right hand, thanks to a prop explosion in 1919. Hanging from girders and clocks and grabbing onto moving trains was quite a feat if you ask me, though Lloyd doesn’t seem to have said much about it.
Safety Last! is probably one of Lloyd’s most famed films, thanks to the iconic image of the bespectacled-and-behatted Lloyd clinging to the hands of a clock, far above the city streets. TCM follows this up with quite a few shorts, then funny college football flick The Freshman (1925) at 11PM, more shorts, and wussy-boy-has-to-prove-himself Cinderella-ish story The Kid Brother (1927) at 1:45AM. No Speedy, but this is a fine linup indeed!
Listen, I can’t just pick one, and I’ve also not seen many of the shorts; Lloyd, unlike Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, didn’t want his films released for television (TCM not coming into existence during his lifetime), and his shorts didn’t get much play either. Therefore his work is not as well-known as that of the others, and silents are, again, often a hard sell. But if you want to see one of the biggest movie stars, and one of the best comedians, try and catch a few of the shorts and at least one of the delightful Lloyd features. Continue reading





