Monthly Archives: February 2014

Jules Verne – The Legacy

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Verne

Hello, Jeff again.  While Barbara wrote about the life of Jules Verne, I was more interested in his works and the lasting impact they have had.  In Barbara’s post she mentioned the fact that Verne wrote a series titled “Voyages Extraordinaires” which were published between 1863 and 1905. The series of 65 books strove “to outline all the geographical, geological, physical, and astronomical knowledge amassed by modern science and to recount, in an entertaining and picturesque format … the history of the universe.”  In addition, Verne was not interested in writing an encyclopedia.  He wanted to create works of literary merit.

So what was so special about Jules Verne?  First he was one of the first, if not THE first, author to incorporate the exciting scientific discoveries of the time into popular literature creating a new genre – Science Fiction!  Before we go into the details of his stories that eventually became reality, take a minute to think about the time he lived in.  The telephone had not been invented, no cars, no airplanes, no radio, limited knowledge of electricity, medicine was just learning about germs and astronomy was still in its infancy.  Against this background Verne’s imagination, intelligence, choice of friends and ability to research allowed him to envision things many of which weren’t created until long after his death!

So here are a couple of his visions:

  1. Submarine life – Verne’s description of the life aboard the Nautilus in his 1870 book “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, with the exception of the iconic organ played by Captain Nemo, is very close to life on modern-day submarine which have a double hull, use compressed air and are entirely run by electricity.    Many early submarine researchers-inventors such as Simon Lake, an early American industrialist and entrepreneur, credit Verne with inspiring them.  Walt Disney was so taken with the book that he made the 1954 “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” film. This was the only science fiction movie personally directed by Walt and it won two academy awards.(As Barbara mentioned in her post, Jules Verne’s Birthday, it is one of her favorite Jules Verne books and she also likes the Disney film)  Walt Disney - Nautilus
  2. Travel to the Moon –  In his 1865 book “From the Earth to the Moon” Verne predicted weightlessness in space, something that could hardly be imagined at that time.  He also predicted the approximate weight of “projectile” which turned out to be almost the same weight as Apollo 11 and cost of the “projectile” in 1865 dollars was only slightly off from the cost of the Apollo program.  In the book, the spaceship “launched” from Florida with a three man crew and also splashed down in the ocean upon its return to earth using parachutes to slow it’s descent.  All these things happened many years later in the 1960s.   On the way back from his mission to the moon Neil Armstrong said, “A hundred years ago, Jules Verne wrote a book about a voyage to the Moon. His spaceship, Columbia, took off from Florida and landed in the Pacific Ocean after completing a trip to the Moon. It seems appropriate to us to share with you some of the reflections of the crew as the modern-day Columbia completes its rendezvous with the planet Earth and the same Pacific Ocean tomorrow.”
    Jules Verne Projectile      Apollo 11

With 65 works to choose from, there are many, many more predictions including fuel cells, world wars and people addicted to the internet.  This being said, the real legacy of Jules Verne is not his predictions, but how he inspired generation after generation to dream beyond what was considered possible.  Neil Armstrong credited Verne with inspiring the moon missions.  Simon Lake, an early American industrialist and entrepreneur, was inspired by him to create his submarines.  HG Wells was inspired to write several of his own science fiction books.

I really enjoyed reading the books by Jules Verne, my favorite is “Around the World in 80 Days” followed by “The Mysterious Island”.   Many of his works are available for free on the internet as a quick search of “Jules Verne” will reveal.  Try to find one of the later translations as some of the early ones left a large portion of the text out of print and frequently botched is calculations / scientific explanations.

Jules Verne’s vision was extraordinary.  How is yours?  What are your predictions for the next 100 years?

Jules Verne’s Birthday

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Jules VerneAs a child, and even later as an adult, I enjoyed reading the books by Jules Verne.  Over the years several of the books have been made into movies, such as “Journey to the Center of the Earth” and “Around the World in Eighty Days”.  My favorite among the movies was the 1954 Disney film “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” starring James Mason as Captain Nemo and Kirk Douglas as Ned Land.  The movie actually inspired me to read my first Jules Verne book and I found the story about the mysterious Nautilus ship, a fascinating mix of action and drama with a little bit of science fiction.

In this post I will discuss the life and times of the French author, poet and playwright Jules Verne (Born: February 8, 1828 Died: March 24, 1905).  Verne was born in the tiny seaside town of Nantes, France.  His parents were Pierre Verne, a successful attorney and Sophie Allote de la Fuye, her family were a local seafaring family.  Verne had one younger brother and three younger sisters.

Verne was sent to boarding school at the age of six and later to a Catholic school, Ecole Saint Stanislas, were he enjoyed subjects such as geography.  As a child Verne loved stories about the sea and life aboard ships.  There is a story about an eleven year old Verne secretly intending to become a cabin boy on the “Coralie” which was scheduled to depart Nantes for a three year voyage to the Indies.  Luckily, his father found out just in time to rescue his son and Verne was urged to make a promise that the only way he was to travel in the future was in his imagination and his father also strongly suggested that the young boy stay close to home until he was much older.

During the following years the Verne family moved several times within the area of Nantes.  Verne was also enrolled in several religious schools nearby and he soon began to realize that he enjoyed writing stories.  By 1847, at the age of nineteen, Verne wanted to pursue a literary career and his father was greatly disappointed in the decision because he was hoping that his son would join the family law practice.

But, that was not the only problem and Verne would soon to suffer a great romantic loss when his cousin Caroline, who he had been in love with for many years, married a much older man.  Verne’s father quickly decided to take advantage of the situation and urged Verne to distance himself from his first love and he was sent to Paris to begin his studies in law school.  After his first year in Paris, Verne fell in love with Rose Grossetiere and using his writing skills he expressed his love to her in a series of thirty romantic poems.  Unfortunately, her parents did not approve of the relationship and she was quickly married off to a rich older man.  Verne took this new loss extremely hard and it seemed to deeply affect him not only on a personal level but also in his future literary works.

In 1848, upon returning to Paris for this second year of law studies, the city was in the midst of the French Revolution and the government had recently been overthrown causing great political changes.  With the use of his family connections, Verne now decided it was time to make his entrance into Paris society and he started attending literary salons (or parties).  While still continuing his law studies, Verne soon found a love of the theatre and inspired by the Victor Hugo’s play, “Notre Dame de Paris”, Verne began writing a series of plays.

Unfortunately during this time, Verne began experiencing health problems.  His severe stomach cramps were diagnosed as colitis and he also suffered from several mysterious attacks of facial paralysis which were later determined as being caused by an inner ear infection.  All these medical concerns prevented Verne from being required to enlist in the French military which was a relief since he had very strong views against war and these feelings were to remain with him throughout his life.

Given all his medical conditions, Verne somehow managed to continue attending the literary salons while also pursuing his writing.  He was very busy because in addition to these activities he was still continuing his law studies and after a few years he graduated with a law degree in 1851.  Even though he was set to start a career as a lawyer, Verne was soon offered a writing opportunity by Pierre Chevalier for a French magazine, “Musee des Families”.  Verne started researching and writing articles for the magazine about geography, history, science and technology.  The magazine job quickly lead to writing short stories and ultimately a position as secretary for the Theatre Lyrique.  Verne wrote and produced several comic operas.

With his literary career making progress Verne soon abandoned the thought of being a lawyer despite the fact that his father had given him an ultimatum to join the family lawyer practice.  It was while Verne was doing research for his stories that he met an explorer named Jacques Arago.  During his intense discussions with Arago, Verne was inspired because he had found a new topic concerning the subject of world travel for his future stories.  Verne was also developing an increased interest in the field of science and he was thinking of combing these two ideas into a new style for writing books.

On January 10, 1857 Verne married Honorine de Viane Morel, who a twenty-six year old widow with two young children.  During a trip to Sweden and Denmark, the trip was abruptly cut short when Verne was called back to Paris by his wife and he arrived back home shortly after the birth of his son, Michel.  By this time Verne had started a brokerage business in order to support his new family but he continued to write and develop his style for adventure books.  Then in 1862, Verne met the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel and through their collaboration Verne wrote a series of books known as the “Voyages Extraordinaires”.  His first book, “Five Weeks in a Balloon” was published in the beginning of 1863.  Several more books were published over the following years and these very popular adventure novels included the books “Journey to the Center of the Earth” published in 1864, “From the Earth to the Moon” in 1865, “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” in 1870 and “Around the World in Eighty Days” in 1873.  Unfortunately, the normally good relationship between Hetzel and Verne became strained over a disagreement regarding the storyline of “Twenty Thousand Leagues”. Despite their difficulties the professional collaboration between the two continued as Verne wrote additional books that Hetzel continued to publish.

Verne finally fulfilled his passion for travel and the sea by purchasing a small ship, the “Saint-Michel”, after the success of his first books.  Then, as his fame increased with more books published and his wealth continued to improve his financial situation, Verne bought and replaced several more ships over the years.  Sadly, on a personal level, Verne’s relationship with his son became very difficult due to his grown son’s bad behavior and his poor lifestyle choices and the two became distant but eventually the situation improved and the father and son became close again toward the end of Verne’s life.

Jules Verne tomb in Amiens, FranceIn 1888, Verne took a political position and was elected town counselor of Amiens, France which is located about 75 miles north of Paris.  He served in that position for the next fifteen years.  In 1905, Jules Verne died from complication with diabetes and he is buried in the cemetery in Amiens.

Craft – Miniature Bottle Necklaces

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I have seen a variety of miniature bottle necklaces on many different craft websites. These miniature bottle necklaces would make great gifts for children or adults and they could also make wonderful paper favors for a little girl’s birthday celebration.  For this post I will go into detail on the supplies needed for several themed miniature bottle necklaces with ideas for several more.

Supplies for miniature bottle necklaces

In general, the supplies need to make a miniature bottle necklace are very minimal but the important thing to remember is that the shape of the bottle, the content used inside the bottle, the selection of chain or ribbon used to wear the bottle and any additional charms attached to the bottle.  All these elements will create the unique style for each individual miniature bottle necklace.

Miniature bottles – Miniature bottles come in a variety of sizes.  The content of the bottle or personal preference should be taken into consideration when selecting a miniature bottle.  The bottles can be found in the jewelry section of most major craft stores and they range in size from very small to large.

CRAFT NOTE:  For the craft projects shown in this post I used miniature bottle sizes ranging in size from one inch to over two inches in length.

miniature bottles

Content for the miniature bottle necklaces – The content of each bottle is defined as the filling used inside the bottle necklace, some suggested contents can be glitter, sand, or maybe a liquid such as honey or colored water.  Here is another filling suggestion … who remembers those mustard seed necklaces from their childhood?  Others content ideas are small watermelon seeds, tiny seashells or pine cones or acorns.  The content selection is only limited by the imagination and the size of the bottle.

CRAFT NOTE:  The important thing to remember is that no matter what the content is used for the miniature bottle necklace, the lid needs to be securely attached to prevent the contents from leaking or spilling.
miniature bottle glitter

Necklace used to hang or wear the miniature bottle – The miniature bottle will be hung on a necklace to wear as a piece of jewelry.  The necklaces can variety in style, such as chains, thin ribbon or silk cords.  The length of the necklace is determined by personal preference.

Optional charms – A variety of charms can be attached to the bottle and the charm is usually suggested by the content of the bottle, such as a bottle filled with snow-like glitter has a snowflake charm or a bottle filled with sand has a starfish charm or a bottle filled with honey has a bee charm.  CRAFT NOTE:  The use of a charm attached to the miniature bottle necklace will add personality and interest to the jewelry’s appearance.

minature bottle charms

The following are few ideas for miniature bottle necklaces:

 Wish or Fairy-dust miniature bottle necklace

This is one of the most common of styles for a miniature bottle necklace.  Shown below are two wish miniature bottle necklaces.  The bottles are filled glitter (one silver glitter and the other gold glitter), worn on a silver chain necklace and with a special “wish” charm attached (one has a silver fairy charm and the other a silver wishbone charm)

Fairy-dust bottle necklace    Wish bottle necklace

Seasonal -themed miniature bottle necklace

This first seasonal miniature bottle necklace is filled with white glitter that is meant to resemble snow.  The bottle is accessorized on a silver chain necklace with a silver snowflake charm attached.

Snow-filled bottle necklace

This Valentine-themed miniature bottle necklace is a lovely idea for a present to give to a loved one or perhaps a gift for a child’s special teacher.  The bottle is filled with red glitter accessorized on a silver chain necklace with a silver heart charm attached.

St, Valentine's Day bottle necklace

Here is a cute idea to wear green on this Irish special holiday; it is a bottle filled with green glitter, worn on a silver chain necklace with a silver green enameled four-leaf clover charm attached.  Another idea for a St. Patrick Day themed miniature bottle necklace is a bottle filled with gold glitter with a small leprechaun charm attached.

St. Patrick Day bottle necklace

This miniature bottle necklace is a wonderful way to remember the beach or a special summer vacation.  The bottle is filled with sand, worn on a silver chain necklace with a silver enameled starfish charm attached.  Another idea for a beach-themed miniature bottle necklace is to add small seashells inside the bottle with just a little amount of sand.

Beach-themed bottle necklace

“Honey-pot” miniature bottle necklace

This sweet idea for a miniature bottle necklace, it is a bottle filled with honey, worn on a silver chain necklace with a bronze-colored metal bee charm attached.  When wrapping the bottle necklace as a present here is a special idea – put it in a small gift box and include a note referring to the “sweetness of life”.

Honey-pot bottle necklace

As you can see from the ideas above, there are endless combinations for making these simple and inexpensive miniature bottle necklaces for any occasion and holiday.

Clark Gable’s Birthday

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01v/24/arve/G1841/057When I was a young girl I remember watching Clark Gable in the old classic movies and two of my favorites were “Gone with the Wind” in which Gable starred with Vivian Leigh in the epic Civil War drama and “It Happened One Night” in which he starred opposite Claudette Colbert in a story about a wise-cracking newspaper reporter and a feisty heiress on the run to avoid her wedding.  I thought he was the most handsome man I had ever seen … except of course for my Dad!  A funny story is that I think my Dad looked a lot like Clark Gable when he was younger with his perfectly trimmed skinny moustache and the fashionable way of dressing in great suits during the 1940s.  (In his later years, my Dad started to look like Walt Disney to me … but that is another story for another time!!)

William Clark Gable was a born on February 1, 1901 in Cadiz, Ohio to an oil well driller father named William Gable and his wife Adeline Hershelman.  Sadly, when Gable was only 10 months old his mother died and in 1903 Gable’s father married Jennie Dunlap.  The young Gable was very tall for his age and because of his stepmother’s influence he always very clean and wore nice clothes.  His stepmother gave Gable piano lessons but he also like to work on cars with his father.  Gable’s father wanted him to hunt, fish and do hard physical work but Gable enjoyed reading and he liked to recite Shakespeare’s sonnets.  By 1917, his father had financial problems and the family moved to a small farm in Ravenna near Akron, Ohio.  Instead of working on the farm as his father expected him to do, Gable left to work in the Goodrich tire factory in Akron.

By the time Gable turned 21, his stepmother had died and his father mover to Tulsa.  Gable was inspired to become an actor and found work in several different theater companies that eventually had him moving to Oregon.  He supported his amateur acting career by working odd jobs as a logger and a salesman for a local department store.  It was while working in the local theater company that Gable meet Laura Hope Crews who encouraged him to pursue acting as a full-time career (many years latter Crews would play the part of Aunt Pittypat in Gone with the Wind).

Around this time Gable met a woman that would soon become a great influence in his life, she was Josephine Dillon a Portland theater manager and she later became his acting coach and personal manager.  She helped Gable to improve his stage presence by working on voice control, facial expressions and body posture.  She also offered him financial aid to improve his appearance by getting his teeth repaired, his hair styled and he started wearing better clothes.  With those personal improvements and better acting skills Dillon decided that Gable was ready to attempt a film career.

In 1924, Gable and Dillon, who were now married, went to Hollywood and for the next few years Gable was only able to find work as an extra in silent movies.  Unfortunately Gable was not offered any substantial film roles and he decided to return to the stage.  By 1927 Gable was working for a Houston theater company and with his good looks and improved acting skills he soon had moderate success as a local matinee idol.  Gable and Dillon now decided to try their luck in New York.

Clark Gable 1Gable received good reviews from his parts on Broadway but then the Great Depression hit and combined with a new form of entertainment, “the talking pictures”, many plays were cancelled making acting roles very harder to find.  On a personal level, Gable had recently meet a Texas socialite named Maria “Ria” Langham and he quickly divorced Dillon. Gable now decided to give Hollywood another try and in 1930 MGM studios offered him a small contract and he began playing supporting roles in low-budget films and Gable starting receiving attention from the movie fans.

In the beginning most of the roles Gable played were villainous characters but with the increase in fan mail to the studios, MGM started developing Gable into a strong, manly and rugged character for larger parts.  In some of his first leading man roles he played opposite many equally strong yet feminine women, such as Barbara Stanwyck, Greta Garbo, Marion Davies.  He went on to work with Joan Crawford in eight films; she was his personal favorite actresses to work with.  He also worked with Myrna Loy in seven films, Jean Harlow in six films, Lana Turner in four films and he worked with Norma Sherer and Ava Gardner in three films each.  His final film was “The Misfits” in which he starred opposite Marilyn Monroe.

Gable received his first Oscar nomination for his lead role in the 1934 movie “It Happened One Night”.  There is an interesting Hollywood story that goes as follows: MGM studio head, Louis B. Mayer, lent Gable to Columbia Pictures as punishment when Gable started refusing to take roles that he felt had bad movie scripts and deemed inferior to his newfound leading man status.  Gable was cast opposite Claudette Colbert with Frank Capra as the film’s director.  The movie went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture and both Gable and Colbert won for Best Actor and Best Actress.  Gable had his sweet revenge against Mayer and he returned to MGM an even bigger star!

Clark Gable - It Happened One Night

Gable was now on a roll and he received another Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of Fletcher Christian in the 1935 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty”.  He did not win but he was now receiving the recognition for his acting that he so rightly deserved.

By this time Gable was separated from his second wife and he had met the love of his life, actress Carole Lombard.  They had appeared in the 1932 “No Man of Her Own”.  At the time Gable was married to Langham and Lombard was married to actor William Powell.  Their romance started in 1936 after getting reacquainted at a Hollywood party and they were soon madly in love.  Gable felt that Lombard was a woman he could totally depend on for companionship and she learned to enjoy all the hobbies that he loved, such as camping, fishing and hunting.

Langham was giving Gable are difficult time in obtaining a divorce and it proved to be a very lengthy and expensive process.  Then the opportunity of starring in “Gone with Wind” came about by popular demand for the fans for Gable to play the character of Rhett Butler.  The movie was destined to be his most famous role and more importantly to Gable it was an opportunity for a larger salary and that allowed him to finalize a divorce settlement with Langham.  Happily, during the filming of “Gone with the Wind”, Gable and Lombard were finally able to get married.  Gable also received his third Academy Award Best Actor nomination for the role in the movie but he did not win much to the public’s disappointment.

Clark Gable - Gone with the Wind 1

The marriage of Gable and Lombard proved to be the happiest period in his personal life.  They led a very simple life and enjoyed their time together away from the pressures of Hollywood.  They lived on a farm in the San Fernando Valley just over the hill from the movie studios.  Sadly, their happiness was cut short when in 1942 Lombard was killed in a plane crash during a tour to promote the selling of war bonds.  Her mother and agent were also killed on the flight along with another 19 passengers.

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard

Gable went into a deep depression and following Lombard’s death he joined the U.S. Army Air Forces.  After his military training Second Lieutenant Gable was sent overseas to England.  Gable flew in five combat missions during World War II but after a close call during one of the flights MGM studio executives urged the military to have him reassigned to non-combat duties.  He returned stateside in 1943 to complete a film he had been previously working on.  In 1944 Gable was promoted to major but no further military orders came and he was relieved from active duty at his request and he was officially discharged.

After the war, Gable returned to Hollwood and made 27 more films.  Gable was to become involved in several affairs with young stars such as Virgina Grey, Paulette Goddard and Gene Tierney.  He also had an affair with Grace Kelly while they were filming the movie “Mogambo”.  He married again in 1949 to a British divorcee, Sylvia Ashley but that relationship quickly ended in divorce in 1952.

Clark Gable 3During the early 1950s things were changing in Hollywood and Gable was unhappy with the mediocre roles he was receiving from MGM and in 1953 he did not renew his contract with the studio and he began to work as an independent actor not afilliated with a particular studio.  In 1955, Gable married his fifth wife, Kay Williams and former model and actress.   Gable went on to appear in several unsuccessful movies and his health was being to fail.  Gable’s last film was the 1961 movie “The Misfits” costarring Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Cliff.  Many movie critics consider it on of Gable’s finest performances.

Gable died on November 16, 1960 from a coronary thrombosis ten days after suffering a severe heart attack.  At the time, his wife Kay was pregnant and sadly she gave birth to their son, named John Clark Gable, on March 20, 1961 at the same hospital where four months earlier she had lost her husband.  Clark Gable is interred in the mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California beside his beloved third wife, Carole Lombard.