In my publication of pianoman JP’s itemized letter 5/18, I somehow forgot ITEM #8, which was --
“Enjoy yourself -- you‘ve got excellent tours coming up. Get familiar with Shorex on Deck 7. They need tour escorts, and we have the best schedule to take care of this!!”
At this writing (5/22) I’ve already been a Tour Escort - yesterday - as I rode the bus to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum on Cape Breton Island-- my dad worked for Bell Telephone for 32 years, so it seemed appropriate. My job as tour escort is to critique the tour, using a form provided by Shorex.
Bell lived on Cape Breton Island (part of Nova Scotia) the last 37 years of his life -- after patenting the telephone he could live where he damn well pleased of course.
His real passion in life was deaf people. He taught at a school for the deaf in Boston as a young man, his father had developed a sign language method…….his grandfather was a speech therapist..... And Bell married one of his deaf students at the Boston School. After which he developed the telephone. Bell knew and taught Helen Keller.
In the Museum was a photo of Bell and Keller and Ann Sullivan.
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While JP’s item #1 (air-conditioning) was quite a concern, I felt that the other issues (toilet paper, non-attention from front office, getting left on shore when the ship departs, playing ROV, maybe even the lack of TV) are small matters. But his letter was nonetheless a gem, and I will keep it and add something to it for the next guy.
Someone told me that the air-conditioning problem was investigated, and it was determined that the ship was too old for the problem to be fixed. As if air conditioning was invented only 20 years ago. I’ll probe this further before giving up, in the meantime it’ll be back & forth every night with the fan. Oh well, it’s better than going back & forth every night with an amplifier and an electric keyboard. The fan, and possibly the chilly weather on this run, have made the piano bar perfectly comfortable.
Up until yesterday I knew exactly zero about June Alyson. But now I know that
a) she christened the Maasdam and b) there’s a beautiful Framed 11” x 14” photo of her prominently displayed in the piano bar. Other than that, I still know zero about her.
This ship has two raspberry-colored pianos (one in the piano bar, one in the dance bar) to add to the raspberry-colored piano I used on the Ryndam last winter. I’d like to meet the person responsible for this and ask him What Exactly Were/are You Thinking. This color choice truly deserves a raspberry.
The piano bar is actually very very cozy and nice, a the raspberry Yamaha was tuned a few days ago. There’s 12 spots around the piano, and I used the typical tried-and-true tunes to grab a few people and have fun for a few hours.
I have knack for striking up conversations with priests on these ships, and this week’s Catholic chaplain is Wendell, a semi-retired priest from Boston whose been getting cruise ship gigs few times a year for the past 8 years. One mass a day and an occasional “last rites”. Best job on the ship.
Hardly an artsy venue -- Last night we did “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” for 5 minutes. It’s amazing how much full-grown adults get into that tune.
5 comments:
What is C deck?
it's the deck below B deck, it is exclusively living quarters for hundreds of Filipinos & Polynesians.
Hi Steve: I got this from Wikipedia: June Allyson was born Eleanor (Ella) Geisman in the Bronx, New York to Clara Provost and Robert Geisman on October 7, 1917. Her paternal grandparents, Harry Geisman and Anna Hafner, were immigrants from Germany. June was six months old when her alcoholic father who'd worked as a janitor abandoned the family. Her mother worked as a telephone operator and restaurant cashier. Allyson was brought up in near poverty. At eight, a dead tree branch fell on her while she was bicycling. Several bones were broken, and doctors said she would never walk again. She underwent months of swimming exercises and regained her health. After graduating from a wheelchair to crutches to braces, she was inspired to dance by obsessively watching Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire movies. In 1938, fully recovered, she tried out for a chorus job in the Broadway show "Sing out the News." The choreographer gave her a job and a new name: Allyson, a family name, and June, for the month.
The handprints of June Allyson in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park. Like other musical performers in New York, the 5'1" Allyson found work in movie short subjects that were filmed there. Her first opportunity came from Educational Pictures at its Astoria, Long Island studio. When Educational ceased operations, Allyson moved over to Vitaphone in Brooklyn, and starred or co-starred in musical shorts until that studio discontinued New York production in 1940.
Allyson returned to the New York stage. After her appearance in "Best Foot Forward" in 1941, she was selected for the 1943 film version, and followed it up with several other musicals, including "Two Sisters from Boston" (1946) and "Good News"
(1947). She also played straight roles such as Constance in "The Three Musketeers" (1948), the tomboy Jo March in "Little Women" (1949), and a nurse in "Battle Circus" (1953). In 1950, June Allyson had been signed to appear opposite Fred Astaire in "Royal Wedding", but had to leave the production due to pregnancy.
James Stewart was a frequent co-star, teaming up with Allyson in films such as "The Glenn Miller Story", "The Stratton Story" and "Strategic Air Command".
Allyson was an extremely active star in the 1940s and 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the comedy "Too Young To Kiss" in 1951. In 1955, she was named the ninth most popular movie star in the annual Quigley Exhibitors Poll and the second most popular female star (behind Grace Kelly). She starred in 1956 with a young rising star named Jack Lemmon in a musical comedy, "You Can't Run Away From It".
After her film career ended in the late 1950s, Allyson starred on television as hostess and occasional star of "The DuPont Show with June Allyson". The anthology series lasted two seasons. In later years the actress appeared on popular shows such as "The Love Boat" and "Murder, She Wrote".
Personal life
On August 19, 1945 she married Dick Powell, who was 13 years her senior. They had two children, Pamela Allyson Powell (adopted in 1948) and Richard Powell, Jr. born on December 24, 1950. The couple briefly separated in 1961, but reconciled and remained married until his death on January 2, 1963 which led to Allyson's effective retirement from the screen.
Allson twice married and divorced Powell's barber, Alfred Glenn Maxwell, who she claimed physically abused her. During this time, Allyson struggled with alcoholism, which she overcame in the mid-seventies. She was married to David Ashrow, a dentist turned actor, from 1976 until her death. The couple occasionally performed together in regional theater.
Allyson returned to the Broadway stage in 1970 in the play "Forty Carats" and later toured in a production of "No, No Nanette".
Dick Powell had been a major television player with his own production company, Four Star, owning several network shows. When he died, Allyson was left very well off and didn't need to work. She occasionally made appearances on talk and variety shows.
After Dick Powell developed kidney problems and died of cancer, June Allyson committed herself to charitable work on his behalf. She championed the importance of research in urological and gynecological diseases in seniors, and represented the Kimberly-Clark Corporation in commercials for Depend adult diapers.
Allyson made a special appearance in 1994 in "That's Entertainment III", as one of the film's narrators. She spoke about MGM's golden era, and introduced vintage film clips.
Allyson had been in failing health since undergoing a hip-replacement surgery, and died at her home in Ojai, California on July 8, 2006. She was 88 years old. Her death was a result of pulmonary respiratory failure and acute bronchitis. Her husband of nearly 30 years, David Ashrow, was at her side.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, June Allyson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1537 Vine Street.
this is a test of the emergency broadcast system...code red...red alert...
That's the rest of the story..on June Allyson most of us were little kids during her time. I benefit from ducking out on the daily forays into law to peek in on the lives of others. so thanks for the run down, Rosemary.
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