The 7x7 Blog Award!

Thanks to Margaret Perry for tagging me with the 7X7 Blog award!

One of my favorite pics, just for fun. (Mauritz Stiller, Greta Garbo, Lon Chaney, 
Fred Niblo, and Antonio Moreno).

The 7×7 Award is a kind of ‘gettin to know you’ award that allows bloggers to highlight their favorite pieces by answering a set number of questions, and then allows them to promote other bloggers by nominating/tagging them so that they can do the same. Really, a nice way to build the community and promote each other! Here are my responses to the stipulated instructions.

A. Tell everyone something that no one else knows about you:
Something that no one else knows??? Yeesh... I guess it would be that, despite the polite face, discussing the weather is pretty much my #1 pet peeve. Yes, this makes me a bad person. (That is why I normally don't disclose it).

B. My Seven Posts

1) Most beautiful piece: This one is hard to explain, but Where Have All the Cowboys Gone? has always held a special place in my heart. I think it expresses so much about the disappearing American hero from our cinematic culture and pays homage to the cowboy figure who so fully represented the courage and strength of this nation, even during times that we have often questioned or lost faith in who we are or what we stand for.

2) Most helpful piece: Helpful? That's hard to say... But, every year, I do make a quick blurb that I hope inspires people to fork over the dough for Mont-Alto Orchestra Silent Film Calendar. All proceeds go to silent film preservation, and if I can help that cause by even gaining them one sale, I'd be happy!

3) Most popular piece: I guess it is not at all surprising that those articles I have written regarding James Dean remain at the top of the pack. For this young man to have made such a lasting impact on our culture after three mere films is... impressive to say the least. What I do find interesting is that the post that consistently gets the  most hits on my site is the "Hot Spots" piece I wrote about my trek to the James Dean Memorial. I am proud of this, because the article includes an important moment in time I spent with my mother, but I find it fascinating that countless other individuals are apparently making the same pilgrimage to Dean's crash site. His death clearly impacted more lives that he could have ever imagined.

4) Most controversial piece: None of the pieces I have written have stirred up much controversy, mostly because I think I make it clear that I am here only to appreciate and discuss our past films and figures. So, for this one,  I will choose My Year with Bettie, simpy because it deals with supernatural elements that not everyone believes in. (I have trouble even believing it myself)!

5) Surprisingly successful piece: This one is easy! The "Take One, Two, Three" article I wrote, The Lady is a Tramp, regarding the character of Sadie Thompson in film, is my most surprisingly successful. I won an award for it via the Film Classics Community! I'm still in shock.

6) Most underrated piece: Hmmmm... I don't really know about this one. But, I have always liked Ladies in a Man's World, so if it drummed up more pro-feminist attention, I wouldn't be disappointed.

7) Piece you are most proud of: I think I will have to give this one to the "Personal Note" editorial piece that I did, titled YouTube Killed the Movie Star. We have all instigated and are suffering from a great disinterest in modern film, and understanding this transition may help us to recover some of the magic from the past that made films more communcative and emotionally evocative.

C. My Seven Favorite Blogs:

Hollywood Spy
Blonde Episodes
Defiant Success
O Falcoa Maltes
Strictly Vintage Hollywood
Out of the Past
B-Movie Heaven (my sister's scathing review site)