Peter Pan (03/01)

I have never even considered the possibility that the ‘Pan” in Peter Pan is based on Pan the Greek god of nature.

Pan is a figure who recurs through European culture, especialy after the Romantics. But he became a natural and pervasive Edwardian god: a playful wild outdorr hero that never ages, combining in one image the delights of rural and childhood retreat.

Mabel Lucie Attwell's illustration for "Peter Pan & Wendy" (1911)

Peter Pan, whose horned cap, rural attire and pan pipes are the only remnants of his descent from the Greek centaur, is the most eccentric  and the most human of all these creatures. He  could not have come about with out the cultural obsession with Pan, but he belongs as much to the popular archetype of the immortal young man which was developing in the 1880s when Barrie was forming literary ambitions.

From  Inventing Wonderland by Jackie Wullschlager

Maybe we should reconsider or consider some of our own cultural obsessions.

It’s gonna be that kind of mornin’ (02/28)

Remember when there was more to look forward to Saturday than a day off of work? Remember when they meant something? Do kids today even know what they are missing?  Well I have been trying to bring some of the magic back on Saturday mornings by watching season one of Pee Wee’s Playhouse –  & it’s just like 1987 all over again.

Oh the memories…and that voice. We all know that voice. It’s Cyndi Lauper, right?

Let me double check the credits to be sure…

see circled credit

Ellen Shaw?  Seems confusing but she and Cyndi Lauper are one in the same. The strange part is, Cyndi Lauper doesn’t use the “Ellen Shaw” pen name for anything else and I haven’t found out why she used it here. I will keep digging and keep you posted on what I find.