Here are the locations added in the last week:
The Goonies film locations in Astoria
December 10, 2011 peter bell
The 1985 film The Goonies has become something of a cultural touchstone. Chances are that if you grew up in the 1980s, you have seen this movie or at least heard it referenced through pop culture. The exterior shots for this movie were filmed in the Astoria, Oregon area, and popturf user crabapple has provided a number of Goonies film locations.
Steven Spielberg, who is also given the story credit for the film, directed the beginning sequence of The Goonies. This fast-paced sequence does a number of things: it introduces and gives individual attributes to all of the protagonists in the film (the Goonies), it introduces some of the antagonists (the Fratellis), and it sets up the location of the sleepy seaside town of Astoria. (*Spoiler alert from here on)
In the opening of the film, Mama and Francis Fratelli break Jake Fratelli out of the county jail. An action-packed police chase ensues through the streets of Astoria. We get to see the police car chase as it weaves through the lives of the various Goonies: past Mouth’s house on top of the hill, in the background as Andy leads cheer practice at the football field, flying by Rosalita outside the Stop and Snack Store, and past the bowling alley where Chunk is so enthralled with the action that he loses his lunch. The Fratellis’ truck finally loses the police as it enters into a race on Cannon Beach.
Birthplaces and childhood homes of The Beatles
December 8, 2011 peter bell
For many Beatles fans, traveling to Liverpool has become something of a pilgrimage. This English port city is the birthplace of the four members of The Beatles, and their childhood homes are in varying stages of protection by English Heritage (the bureau of the British government that protects areas with significant cultural contribution) or the National Trust for Place of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty (more commonly known as the “National Trust”). Popturf user elvis_crabs has provided a number of detail entries about the childhood homes of The Beatles.
John Winston Lennon was born at the Liverpool Maternity Hospital at 6:30 a.m. on October 9, 1940. His father away at sea, and both of his parents in their mid-twenties, Lennon spent the first five years of his life at 9 Newcastle Road. Lennon’s mother and father split up in a dramatic scene in Blackpool where a 5-year-old Lennon was asked by his parents who he wanted to live with. He initially chose his father, but after watching his mother walk away, he ran after her. Shortly thereafter, Lennon began living with his aunt, Mimi, and her husband at 251 Menlove Avenue (also known as Mendips). He would live there until the age of twenty-two.
Posted in music
Tagged birthplaces, childhood homes, george harrison, john lennon, paul mccartney, ringo starr, the beatles
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popturf weekly roundup 12/5/2011
December 5, 2011 matt
In case you missed any, here are the popturf locations added in the last week:
Posted in weekly roundup
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The Beatles locations in Hamburg
December 2, 2011 peter bell
There are some rites of passage that have become elevated to near ‘parable’ status in popular culture. There is Tom Sawyer cajoling and convincing his neighbors to paint the fence for him. There is Luke Skywalker’s transformation from apprentice moisture farmer into a Jedi. And then there are the Beatles stints in Hamburg, Germany during the early 60’s…
A significant amount of copy has already been written about this seminal period in the legendary band’s career. Macolm Gladwell focused on this era for a portion of his book, Outliers. The youth of the band, the squalid conditions, the unique culture of the St. Pauli quarter of Hamburg at that time, and the nearly super-human schedule of performances have all contributed to making the Hamburg performances nearly mythological in rock and roll lore. Popturf user elvis_crabs has been good enough to contribute a number of sites relating to the Beatles in Hamburg.