...barbara bel geddes - the plain miss ellie ewing...

Although she was the well-known matriarch on the popular nighttime soap opera, "Dallas" on television for thirteen years, as Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow, little known that the plain Barbara Bel Geddes was also an Academy Award nominee. Barbara had earlier scored success on stage and screen long before gaining more lasting fame on television.

Barbara (31st October 1922 - 8th August 2005) was born in New York, the daughter of noted theatrical and industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes, who staged more than 200 plays. After growing up amidst the theatre, Bel Geddes began acting on stage at age 18 and soon moved on to Broadway in 1942 and had her first major hit with "Deep Are The Roots" in 1944, winning a Theatre World Award.

She made her silver screen debut as the plain girl trying to convince fugitive Henry Fonda to surrender in "The Long Night" (1947). She was then Oscar nominated for her beautiful portrayal of the aspiring young Norwegian girl, Katrin whose life is chronicled in "I Remember Mama" (1948). She was then cast as the girl in love with Robert Mitchum in the western "Blood On The Moon" (1948) and the story of a desperate girl marrying into riches in "Caught" (1949).

"Panic In The Street" (1950) gave her not much of a screen time in a this good movie about a killer (the ever evil Jack Palance) infected with a deadly plague, playing hero Richard Widmark's wife and in "Fourteen Hours" (1951), trying to talk suicidal Richard Basehart out of jumping from a window ledge.

Though she achieved immediate success in films, Bel Geddes also continued to tread the boards on Broadway, since theatre was her first love. In 1952, she received the prestigious Woman of the Year Award by Hasty Pudding Theatricals USA, America's oldest theater company. She was also nominated for Tony Awardss as best dramatic actress for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1956 and for the lead in Mary, Mary in 1961.

She returned to movies in a supporting role in Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (1958) with James Stewart and Kim Novak, playing the plain-jane Midge. She was Danny Kaye's (as musician Red Nichols) wife in the moving "The Five Pennies" (though her singing voice was dubbed). She was one of the "5 Branded Women" (1960) a war melodrama; as Elfrem Zimbalist Jr.'s patient wife, watching him having an affair with the more sultry Lana Turner in "By Love Possessed" (1961). Barbara was seen in two 1971 films - "Summertree" and "The Todd Killings", in supporting roles.

Her greatest television role came as Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow on "Dallas" (1978), which enjoyed a run of thirteen years (1978-1991). She won the Emmy Award for best actress in 1980 and was nominated in the same category in 1979 and 1981. Bel Geddes left the show for health reasons during the 1984-85 season, with the more glamourous Donna Reed taking over the role of Miss Ellie. Barbara Bel Geddes returned for the 1985-86 season and continued on "Dallas" (1978) until 1990, when she effectively retired from acting. She did not appear in either of the two Dallas TV reunion movies.

On August 8, 2005, she died following a long battle with lung cancer.

...continental goes oriental...

Almost everyone in Penang knows how good (and expensive) the breads in Continental Bakery are, but there is something new that ought to be checked out - it's wolfberry and longan bread. Who would ever thought of the combination of these two make such a sweet and tasty bread. The sweetness of the bread comes from the wolfberries better known as "kee chi" which is known for its nutritional value for eyesight improvement and dried longan that is used in many chinese soups and sweets and you can trust the bakery, they give you a generous amount of both in one bread. The bread is moist and fresh and has a unique taste and fragrance.

Ratings : 7/10

...my wonderful lunch...

One of the best Koay Teow Tng up in Tanjung Bungah, is the one in Tanjung Bungah Cafe. Tanjung Bungah Cafe is along the main road of Valle of Tempe, at the junction of TAR college.

The coffee shop has a few nice hawker food...namely, the Koay Teow Tng, the Chicken Rice, the Sar Hor Fun and the Kopi Peng (iced milk coffee).

My favourite is definately the Koay Teow Tng. It has duck meat (it's hard to comeby Koay Teow Tng with duck meat these days), mince meat, fish balls and slices of fish cakes. My usual lunch over there is a bowl of the Koay Teow and bless the auntie's heart, she always gives me a bowl of duck legs, neck and sometimes...errr....butt...for free!!!

To top that off, a plate of chicken from the Chicken Rice stall. The pek cham keh is smooth and the roasted bird smells good. The rice is fragrant...and all this writing is making my mouth water!!!

Ratings for Koay Teow Tng : 8/10

Ratings for Chicken Rice : 7/10

Ratings for Sar Hor Fun with eggs : 7/10

Ratings for Kopi Peng : 7/10

...mamma mia!!!...

It's ABBA-mania all over again!!! Relive the songs from the disco 70s!!!

I was so curious about this movie musical. So much fanfare from so many people, I dragged myself to watch the most talk-about movie musical of the year..."Mamma Mia" (2008)!!!

It is actually a very simple movie, beautiful Greek sceneries, some big names in the movies and a large collection of ABBA songs and...walla...the movie that everyone talks about these days.

It's not a bad movie - light and frothy but nothing spectacular. A little over-rated but why the success??? Well, the ever popular ABBA songs are well associated with many who grew up from that era. I am sure the same success would be garnered if they make a musical with songs from Bee Gees or Bonnie M (except ABBA songs are catchier). This is not a big budget and not a stagy musical (unlike "Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street" (2007) or "Phantom Of The Opera (2004) or even "Moulin Rouge" (2001) which meant strictly for the stage). This is a fun-filled, sunflowery musical so who cares about the flaws. Some musicals are better left on Broadway.

The leading cast is not known for their musical talents, but who cares...it's a fun musical and they carried the songs well!!! I have to admit, Julie Walters and Christine Baranski almost ran away with the movie.

So, if you wanna stand up, sing along and shake your booty...watch this movie!!!

...edie adams - she worked the hard way...

The versatile Edie Adams who was adept to musicals, comedies and dramas died of pneumonia on 15th October 2008.

She was born Elizabeth Edith Enke on April 16, 1927, in the relatively small town of Kingston, Pennsylvania, but moved while fairly young to Grove City. Her family relocated again, this time to Tenafly, New Jersey, where she grew up. Following her graduation from high school, Edie aspired to become an opera singer and studied voice and piano at New York's Juilliard School of Music. She then went on to take acting classes at the Columbia School of Drama.

The winner of such contests as Miss US TV, Adams was hired to sing on Ernie Kovacs's variety series, "Ernie In Kovacsland" in 1951. After appearing together in the offbeat comedian's follow-up series, the two got married in 1955.

Subsequently she found fame on Broadway, billed as Edith Adams, winning a Theatre World Award for "Wonderful Town" and a Tony Awards in 1956 for playing Daisy Mae in the musical "Li'l Abner". Following that were more musical and dramatic ventures on the stage including "The Merry Widow" (1957), a show she would return to more than once, "Sweet Bird of Youth" (1960) and "Free as a Bird" (1960).

One of Edie's last pairings with Kovacs was in 1960 when they appeared as guests on the very last episode of "The Luci-Desi Comedy Hour." The pair appeared as themselves with one of the highlights having Edie crooning the lovely ballad "That's All". Kovacs' sudden 1962 death was a terrible reversal of fortunes for Edie. An inveterate gambler, he left her owing much money to the IRS. Instead of filing bankruptcy, however, she worked her way out of debt. In the process, her career received a second wind. Perhaps it didn't hurt that the public adored Edie and that she was a genuinely sympathetic figure in the wake of her private tragedy.

When she was ready for film she made an impressive debut as Fred MacMurray's vengeful secretary in the Oscar-winning "The Apartment" (1960). She had a good role in the Doris Day/Rock Hudson comedy, "Lover Come Back" (1961). Thereafter, she played off such comedy pros as Bob Hope in "Call Me Bwana" (1963); Sid Caesar in "It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World" (1963); and Jack Lemmon in "Under The Yum Yum Tree" (1963) and had a showy bit as a stripper in "Love With A Proper Stranger" (1963).

Adams had her own short-lived vareity series, "The Edie Adams Show" (1963 - 1964). She showed up as one of Rex Harrison's greedy mistress, a fading star, in the ensemble piece "The Honey Pot" (1967).

While growing noticeably heavier in later years, she never lost her trademark humor and sex appeal. Edie could still be seen from time to time on the stage in such shows as "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," the female version of "The Odd Couple," "Hello, Dolly!" and "Nunsense". She remained committed to the end to restoring/preserving her late husband's videotapes and kinescopes of his ground-breaking 50s TV work. She also recalled her offbeat life with Kovacs in the book Sing a Pretty Song, which was published in 1990.

Edie remarried in 1964 to photographer Marty Mills, with whom she had a son, Josh. That union ended in divorce in 1971. The following year Edie married jazz trumpeter Pete Candoli. She and Candoli, who died in January of 2008, divorced in 1989. In another eerie, tragic circumstance, daughter Mia was killed in a 1982 Los Angeles auto accident at age 22 -- exactly 20 years after her father's similar demise. Suffering from cancer and losing weight in recent years, the beloved Edie died of complications from pneumonia at age 81 in Los Angeles.

...dolores hart - holy starlet...

Her career as a beautiful starlet was blazing bright in the late 50s. She was one of those teenage star with a promising career, but who would believe, the beautiful Dolores Hart would give up acting and all to become a nun and today, a Reverand Mother.

Dolores Hart (20th October 1938) was born in Dolores Hicks in Chicago, Illinios to actor Bert Hicks and his wife. She was their only child. Despite their religious implication (they were Catholics), seperated and ultimately divorced. She is also the neice of Mario Lanza, who was married to her aunt. During her parents' marital problems, she turned to her grandfather, a movie theater projectionist for comfort, whose enthusiasm for films influenced her decision to pursue an acting career.

She was reported to appear in "Forever Amber" (1947) as child. In 1956, using the stage name Dolores Hart, she was signed to play a supporting role as the love interest of Elvis Presley in "Loving You" (1957). She then appeared in Anna Magnani 's "Wild Is The Wind" (1957) and heavy family drama "Lonelyhearts" (1958 starring Montogomery Clift, Robert Ryan and Myrna Loy). In 1958, she again partnered Elvis in his "King Creole". She has denied ever having had an 'intimate' relationship with Presley offscreen.

She was next put on a saddle with Jeff Chandler and John Saxon in western "The Plunderers" (1960). In 1960, Hart starred in "Where The Boys Are", a teenage comedy about college students on springbreak which developed a near cult-like following. In the film, Hart plays a co-ed who struggles to define herself when confronted with her newly-discovered sexuality and popularity with the opposite sex. Also in the film, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Hutton, Paula Prentiss, Frank Gorshin and introduced Connie Francis to the silver screen.

Hart was then in the biblical "Francis Of Assisi" (1961 with Bradford Dillman in the starring role) and the comedy, "Sail A Crooked Ship" (1961 starring Robert Wagner). There was a thiller with Stephen Boyd in "The Inpector" (1962). She was more at home in another teengage comedy "Come Fly With Me" (1963, this time with Hugh O' Brian, Karl Boehm, Pamela Tiffin and Lois Nettleton).

At this point she had made up her mind to leave the film industry, and after breaking off her engagement to Los Angeles businessman Don Robinson, the 25-year-old actress became a Roman Catholic nun at the Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut, ultimately becoming the Prioress of the Convent. She chants in Latin eight times a day.

In 2006, she visited Hollywood again after 43 years in monastery to raise awareness for peripheral idiopathic neuropathy, a crippling disease, that afflicts many Americans, including herself since 1997.

Today, the Reverend Mother Dolores Hart is Prioress of the Abbey, but has in recent years become the only nun to be an Oscar-voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

...my one day jalan~jalan cari makan in prai...

That is where we went recently...across the magnificent but under-construction Penang Bridge to the mainland...Prai!!! This is part of our gang's exploration. i get to revisit all those places that I enjoyed good food when I was working over there.

This time, we did not have to wake up and depart at 4.30am!!! We get to sleep in longer. We left Penang at about 9.45am. We took a slow drive across the bridge enjoying some light converstations.

First stop - dim sum at Jalan Tembikai (in Bukit Mertajam). Wong Chow is a corner coffee shop where I enjoyed the wantan noodles although it is more famous for it's dim sum. Although, they have extended the tables to a few doors away, the place is still jam packed. The wantan noodles is something that makes you wanna eat more than a share. The dimsum is good and very reasonably priced. The har kow (prawn dumpling) is great here.

Next, after having our tummy half full, we drove down to Kampung Benggali area. Although it was a little later than usual, we were estatic that the place is still open. Restoran Kim Seng is very famous for it's dry koay teow with roasted pork. The koay teow is served dry with beansprout, mince meat and fried garlic served with a very well blended chili paste.

Tai Cho Restaurant and Hotel is place where you must try the roasted duck (and I dont mean one that associates to the hotel!!!). It is off Kampung Benggali. The roasted duck is served with special sauce - bean paste (tow chneoh) with bird's eye chili (cabai burung/chili padi). You can have the duck and the roasted pork in that sauce. They serve "lor nooi" (spiced egg), "lor tau knua" (spiced beancurd), chai boay soup (mixed vegetable soup - nothing to hoot about here) and the fish ball soup (as they said...QQnen nen - in mandarin please!!!).








After forcing all these within hours...off we went to Simpang Empat to Hup Hoe biscuit shop. This shop is famous for the roti teow (bread stick, which you find in pink plastic bags). The confectionary shop carries and sells many types of biscuits and they are usually fresh - biscuits from the good-ol-days (roti chiat, roti kapai, pong pniah, sambal heah bee tau sah pniah, atap chi to the modern cream biscuits).


















It was a nice simple outing this time. Let's see where to next...:)