The first view of Number 28 Barbary Lane is a magical thing. Mary Anne Singleton is almost like Alice going down the rabbit hole, as she enters the leafy courtyard and the mystery of her future vanishes. Maupin’s words build intrigue, weaving a fable of San Francisco, compulsive for adventurers and dreamers alike.
See more Postcards From Barbary Lane here, and more posts about Tales of the City on this page.
Mona Ramsey’s cosmic chants are interrupted as an old friend phones to say he’s heading to Russian Hill. I love Chloe Webb’s expression here as she plays the spaced-out hippy designer…
This is the first in an occasional series of mementoes from Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, with visuals from the TV series and quotes from his books. Everyone has fond memories of the show from way back, and these are imaginary messages from 28 Barbary Lane. The vintage look illustrates the history of Tales which stretches all the way back to the 70s.
The cool thing about these is you can actually send them as postcards (by email of course) to your favourite Tales fan. Stay tuned for more Postcards soon.
If you haven’t popped over to my music blog High Tunes recently, this is what’s playing. It’s gorgeous but you won’t believe who it is…
The BBC is trying to censor a tidal wave of angry sentiment as the people of Britain speak out about the legacy of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who died this week. As far as I was aware, the job of the BBC is to report the news and educate people, informing them of current affairs. But the surging popularity of Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead from the Wizard of Oz OST shows the world (and the British government) that hatred of the former Premier is much deeper and more far-reaching than anyone could have predicted. The fact that the song may reach number one on the UK Charts is an uncomfortable situation for the BBC and the British media in general as they await the result of the new chart tomorrow (Sunday 14th April 2013.) The global media is already standing by, popcorn at the ready.
One thing I’ve learnt, particularly from Facebook, is that people will sympathise with extreme politics rather than risk appearing mean-spirited or unpopular. It’s a Miss Congeniality Contest now. It certainly wasn’t back in 1988.
In the scrapbook style of The Vibes, which is two years old today, here’s a diary of Gianni’s Grand Tour of Manchester. He came all the way from Katerini in Greece to stay with us for the week.
There were underground ghost walks beneath the city and gourmet burgers…
Krispy Kreme donuts and snowsports…
Oz the Great and Powerful in 3D…
And Cats the Musical in the flesh. I’m exhausted and high on junk food, but we sent Giannis home with a big smile on his face. Manchester rocks.
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© My artwork, photography and music are copyright Mark Wallis 2015
You may download and save my material but not redistribute without clear credit or a link back to The Vibes.
Music mixes containing copyright material owned by others are included here under Creative Commons License and no infringement is intended.
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