Well, I think we all figured it out?? Yes, indeed. Motion picture decency standards in the 1960 didn't allow for things like nude women being stabbed to death in showers. Consequently, Hitchcock was forced to create the impression of nudity and violence without actually showing a breast, a buttock, or a knife puncturing skin. The result is a terrifying masterpiece of a montage. And even though it's probably the most analyzed (and parodied) 45 seconds in film history, we're willing to bet the following tidbits slipped past you. Forget the bloody corpse in the bathtub: what really got "Psycho" censors worked up was the toilet. Just before stepping into that fateful shower, Marion tears up an incriminating note and flushes it. Hitchcock's close-up of the swirling commode water was the first ever allowed in an American film. What looks like blood funneling down the drain is actually Bosco chocolate syrup. Hitchcock thought it looked more real in black-and-white than the fake stuff. Tastier, too. The scene is composed of more than 90 shots seen in 70 different camera angles. It took Hitchcock and his crew an entire week to film it. To put that into perspective: The entire film took only six weeks. The woman who played Janet Leigh's body double in about half of the shower-scene shots was named Myra Jones. In a sad case of life imitating art, Jones was stabbed to death in 1988. Her killer? A mentally disturbed handyman who targeted older women. He'd murdered at least one other before her - that police know about. The film, btw, was made in 1960. On a lighter note, after the release of "Psycho," Hitchcock received an irate letter from a man whose daughter had refused to take baths after seeing the French thriller "Les Diaboliques" (in which a man is drowned in a tub). After seeing "Psycho," she refused to take showers as well. Hitchcock's reply? "Send her to the dry cleaners." Although popular with most audiences, "Psycho" was reviled by ophthalmologists. Eye doctors everywhere pointed out that a corpse's pupil dilate, yet - in a stark close-up of her face after her supposedly deadly shower - Janet Leigh's eyes remain contracted. Ever the obsessed technician, Hitchcock listened, using dilating eyedrops for stiffs in all future films. Probably more than you ever wanted to know!! So, for Cyn, Bobbie, Annette and Laura: Thanks again for playing. Come back next week to see where my mind has wandered!! Nancy.

Hi, I noticed a link to one of my blog posts here, so thought I'd say hello. My blog about design, gardening and art is based in sunny, hot, dry Southern California and my aesthetic bent is toward junk, industrial and flea market finds used in unique ways. Please feel free to check it out, I think your readers will find much to enjoy. Here're a couple of recent posts you might find interesting: Enjoy! http://ranchoreubidoux.com/2012/05/16/oxidized-opportunity/ http://ranchoreubidoux.com/2012/03/31/color-studies/ http://ranchoreubidoux.com/2012/03/11/backward-glance/ http://ranchoreubidoux.com/2012/02/08/strange-relations/ Here is a link that might be useful: Rancho Reubidoux

Well, a day later, I have switched gears. I've decided to put the mission rocker back in its place (where the cane chair is now) because DH actually does like sitting in it and in terms of decor, it works in a few ways including serving as a sort of reference to the other rooms on the first floor, which all have Stickley Mission pieces scattered around. So, never mind all of the above, but now I'm still going to move that cane-sided chair to the guest room and get a new chair for the living room. The trick is still going to be finding the right one. I'll take pics later and create a new thread!

Bomber suspect dead in Texas: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-blast/suspected-texas-bomber-kills-self-as-police-close-in-officials-idUSKBN1GX0YG