Camille, The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas, fils

Wednesday, 2 February 2011

Reading poor Piglet's blog and hearing on Twitter how she is having troubles sleeping, I suggested she find a good book to read in those wee hours of the night when she can find no solace in sleep.

Recommending a good book led me to think of some titles, and one that popped into my head was The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas, fils (see my blog on his père). My incredible well-read Uncle Alvin offered this book to me a few Christmases ago. 

The Lady of the Camellias (La Dame aux camélias) is a heart wrenching story of a young man who falls in love with a courtesan named Marguerite Gautier. The young man's father, furious, ends the affair, and Marguerite dies soon after from tuberculosis. 

The novel mirrors young Alexandre Dumas' life in many ways, namely in how he himself fell in love with young courtesan called Marie Duplessis.

Young Dumas's life was filled with strife. He was the illegitimate son of novelist Alexandre Dumas and a dressmaker named Marie-Laure-Catherine Labay. When young Dumas was seven years old, his father recognized him as his legitimate son and took him away from his mother. His mother's agony over her son's loss inspired him to write about tragic female characters. 

  Alexandre Dumas, fils, (1824, 1895)

Claiming he needed money, Alexandre Dumas, fils, adapted his novel into a play. The Lady of the Camellias premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in 1852. It was an instant success, so much so that Guiseppe Verdi set the story to music in what would become the famous opera La Traviata. 

The role of Marguerite Gautier in the theater version of our story has been coveted around the world for decades and great actresses have performed the role: Lilian Gish, Eleonora Duse, Margaret Anglin, Gabrielle Rejane, Tallulah Bankhead, Eve Le Galienne, Isabelle Adjani, Cacilda Becker and, bien sur, the great Sarah Bernhardt. (Oh, feel a blog coming on, will have to write about her!)

Here is a Czech artist Alfons Mucha's poster of Sarah Bernhardt playing Camilla. Exquisite! (Went to Prague recently and saw a collection of his worked in the Mucha Museum - magnifique!)

So, voila, Piglet, if you need a good book, dive into Camille, The Lady of the Camellias, that should distract you. 

Gros bisous de littérature français extraordinaire et a demain!

Love, Charley

comments | | Read More...

1994 Rockies want list

Completed Team Sets - 54/113 = 47.8% COMPLETE


pending arrival = red

1994 Bowman - COMPLETE

1994 Bowman/Bowman’s Best Red - COMPLETE

1994 Bowman/Bowman’s Best Red Refractors

17, 43, 72

1994 Bowman/Bowman’s Best Blue - COMPLETE

1994 Bowman/Bowman’s Best Blue Refractors

11

1994 Church’s Chicken Hometown Stars - COMPLETE

1994 Classic - COMPLETE

1994 Collector’s Choice - COMPLETE

1994 Collector’s Choice Silver Signature

407, 530, 536, 618

1994 Collector’s Choice Gold Signature

52, 62, 74, 79, 126, 130, 203, 223, 238, 304, 312, 360, 396, 407, 417, 422, 488, 530, 536, 554, 576, 618

1994 Collector’s Choice Team vs. Team Scratch Off - COMPLETE

1994 Colorado Rockies Police

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27

1994 Donruss - COMPLETE

1994 Donruss Diamond Kings

7

1994 Donruss Elite

48

1994 Donruss Long Ball Leaders

3

1994 Donruss MVPs - COMPLETE

1994 Donruss Special Edition - COMPLETE

1994 Donruss/Triple Play

222, 226, 227

1994 Finest - COMPLETE

1994 Finest Refractors

14, 32, 35, 59, 72, 153, 186, 199, 259, 275, 282, 307, 327, 372, 374, 401

1994 Finest Pre-Production - COMPLETE

1994 Finest Jumbos

14

1994 Fleer - COMPLETE

1994 Fleer/Update - COMPLETE

1994 Fleer All Stars - COMPLETE

1994 Fleer League Leaders - COMPLETE

1994 Fleer Rookie Sensations

15

1994 Fleer Team Leaders - COMPLETE

1994 Fleer/Excel

186, 188

1994 Fleer/Extra Bases - COMPLETE

1994 Fleer/Extra Bases Major League Hopefuls - COMPLETE

1994 Fleer/Extra Bases Second Year Stars

15

1994 Fleer/Flair - COMPLETE

1994 King-B Discs - COMPLETE

1994 Kraft

21

1994 Leaf - COMPLETE

1994 Leaf Clean Up Crew

2

1994 Leaf Gold Leaf Rookies - COMPLETE

1994 Leaf Gold Stars

7

1994 Leaf MVP Contenders

3, 6

1994 Leaf MVP Contenders Gold

3, 6

1994 Leaf/Limited
100, 102

1994 Leaf/Limited Rookies - COMPLETE

1994 Oscar Mayer Round Ups

21

1994 Pacific - COMPLETE

1994 Pacific All-Latino

3

1994 Pacific Silver Prisms

20, 21

1994 Pacific Silver Prisms Circular

20, 21

1994 Panini Stickers

11, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178

1994 Pinnacle - COMPLETE

1994 Pinnacle Museum Collection

191, 446

1994 Pinnacle Artist’s Proofs

14, 43, 74, 103, 133, 181, 191, 229, 268, 346, 375, 418, 446, 467, 470, 486, 496, 518

1994 Pinnacle Run Creators

30, 40, 41

1994 Pinnacle/Select - COMPLETE

1994 Pinnacle/Sportsflics

55

1994 Pinnacle/Sportsflics Traded - COMPLETE

1994 Pinnacle/Sportsflics Traded Artist’s Proofs

13, 20, 23, 60, 135 

1994 Pinnacle/Sportsflics Movers - COMPLETE

1994 Post - COMPLETE

1994 Pro Mags

41, 42, 43, 44, 45

1994 Red Foley Magazine Inserts

12

1994 Score - COMPLETE

1994 Score Gold Rush
50, 76, 118, 148, 170, 207, 305, 336, 362, 374, 396, 472, 650

1994 Score/Traded - COMPLETE

1994 Score/Traded Gold Rush - COMPLETE

1994 Score Boys of Summer
15, 23, 29

1994 Score Cycle

7, 9

1994 Score Gold Stars
11

1994 Score Samples

8

1994 Score Gold Rush Samples

8

1994 Signature Rookies

21, 46

1994 Signature Rookies Draft Picks - COMPLETE

1994 SP - COMPLETE

1994 SP Die Cuts - COMPLETE

1994 SP Holoviews

10

1994 SP Holoviews Die Cuts

10

1994 Sports Illustrated for Kids

274

1994 Stadium Club - COMPLETE

1994 Stadium Club Golden Rainbow
21, 581, 640, 672, 701

1994 Stadium Club Member’s Only
21, 72, 77, 98, 132, 153, 185, 244, 249, 323, 332, 348, 366, 454, 475, 492, 507, 512, 560, 581, 622, 640, 672, 701

1994 Stadium Club First Day Issue
21, 72, 77, 98, 132, 153, 185, 244, 249, 323, 332, 348, 366, 454, 475, 492, 507, 512, 560, 581, 622, 640, 672, 701

1994 Stadium Club Draft Picks - COMPLETE

1994 Stadium Club Draft Picks First Day Issue

3

1994 Stadium Club Members Only 50 - COMPLETE

1994 StadiumClub Super Teams Cards - COMPLETE

1994 Stadium Club/Team

94, 95, 100, 102, 105, 118

1994 Stadium Club/Team First Day Issue

91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120

1994 Stadium Club/Team Finest

4

1994 Studio - COMPLETE

1994 Studio Editor’s Choice - COMPLETE

1994 Ted Williams - COMPLETE

1994 Tombstone Pizza - COMPLETE

1994 Topps - COMPLETE

1994 Topps Gold - COMPLETE

1994 Topps Spanish
18, 49, 77, 106, 135, 163, 186, 191, 229, 258, 286, 314, 343, 372, 407, 439, 468, 496, 525, 553, 562, 589, 627, 655, 712, 744, 780

1994 Topps/Traded - COMPLETE

1994 Topps Black Gold - COMPLETE

1994 Topps Superstar Samplers

15

1994 Topps/O Pee Chee

31, 69, 90, 114, 171, 190

1994 Topps/O Pee Chee Diamond Dynamos - COMPLETE

1994 U.S. Playing Cards Rookies

2C, 3S, 12S

1994 Ultra

187

1994 Ultra Hitting Machines - COMPLETE

1994 Ultra League Leaders - COMPLETE

1994 Ultra On Base Leaders

4

1994 Upper Deck - COMPLETE

1994 Upper Deck Electric Diamond
76, 105, 128, 270, 348, 438, 483, 545

1994 Upper Deck Diamond Collection West - COMPLETE

1994 Upper Deck All Star Jumbos

39

1994 Upper Deck All Star Jumbos Gold

39

1994 Upper Deck/Fun Pack

14, 49, 68, 86

1994 Upper Deck/Minors - COMPLETE

comments | | Read More...

RTP #5 - Special Guest Bo from Baseball Cards Come to Life!

Tuesday, 1 February 2011

Welcome to the fifth episode of The Rockie Trading Post.  Today's special guest is Bo from Baseball Cards Come to Life!.  For those of you that haven't had the pleasure of trading with Bo, he is a major set collector.  All that he is attempting to collect is definitely a challenge, but I hope my trade package and others from the community helps him out.  I sent him a 300 count box of mostly overproduction era dupes from many different sets.  In return he sent me help for a couple of sets and random Rockies.  Here are the highlights.

You may asking why I am featuring a reliever in a Dodgers uniform as the first card of this trade.  Simple because I learned the most from this card.  Seanez never played for the Rockies after being acquired for Jody Reed during the expansion draft, but he did have a surprisingly long career.  I was real surprised that his career lasted until 2008 with 4! different stints with San Diego.

Here we one of four 1995 Collector's Choice SE's that Bo sent.  We have a Charlie Hayes with an awesome face mask.  That is just a sweet card with the blue foil border, the mask, the bunting in the background.  The 1996 Topps is probably my least favorite Topps base design of the 90s.

AWESOME MULLET ALERT!  The third card in this trio of Rockies from the mid 1990s is Greg Harris and his mullet.  Actually I think mullet is an understatement for that hair.  We have to come up with a nickname for his hairstyle.

One of the two sets Bo helped me out with is 1993 Topps.  He sent me approximately 100 cards to bring me within 27 of knocking this set out (I am SLOWLY getting set wantlists together) .  I'll show off a few of the more interesting ones.

The Kirby Puckett is probably one of the more memorable (whether you love it or hate it) cards of this set.  I also like the Detroit Tigers cards of this year because a lot of them featured throwback uniforms.

This is Tim Wakefield's rookie set.  I haven't fully checked, but he has to be one of the last remaining active players from this set.  There are 14 manager cards featuring one NL and one AL manager.  This one features the great Don Baylor, Colorado's first manager.

In series 2 the first cards of the expansion picks of the Rockies and Marlins were depicted against some odd backgrounds.  The Tatum card would have worked 5 years later as the background for a DBacks pick, but Denver isn't a desert!  Andy Ashby is photoed in what appeared to be Greg Brady's bedroom.  Finally, we have Mr. Marlin Jeff Conine apparently chosen away from the Roman Gladiators.

The 1993 card I wanted to show is Sam Militello.  Why am I showing off a card of another over-hyped failed Yankees pitching prospect?  To rub salt in the wounds of Yankee fans?  Partially, but I was more interested in what it appeared Mr. Militello was saying to the camera.  Look closely, here I'll help.

That's right, Topps caught him (probably unintentionally) flipping the bird.  Just a couple of years after the Billy Ripken mess at Fleer and the Paul Gibson crotch scratching at Score, I wonder if Topps considered airbrushing the finger away.

Next we have 1988 Donruss, Bo sent me 50 or so to bring this set within 1! of finally being complete.  I was going to show off the best photos that I got, but there weren't any in 1988 Donruss, so I figured I'd go with a trio of great 80s players.  For fun, try and guess which card I still need from this set.

 

Finally we have these two.  Bo emailed me near the end of our trade with a few extra cards that he just got listed by set and card number.  I asked him to add the one 1980 Topps and one insert sight unseen.  I didn't even look up who they were, I just wanted a little surprise.  SURPRISE, they are both Yankees.  Oh well, I like the Gamble and he will the starter card for my 1980 Topps set.  The Hernandez I am going to ship off to a Yankee collector.

Thanks again Bo for the trade and also make sure you check out his blog for interesting cards such as this.  On Monday, I received 5 different trade packages from generous bloggers and readers, so the next few episodes of TRTP will be coming fast and furious.  Each trader will get their own post because I believe that if you take your time and money to ship out needed cards to me you deserve and will get FULL recognition.  So until next time, this is The Rockie Trading Post signing off.

comments | | Read More...