For Romance Without Any Stress, "Sleepless in Seattle" Is the Cure

If you were celebrating Valentines Day with a candlelight dinner for two at home and settled in to watch a movie, "Sleepless in Seattle" would be a great choice because it provides a pleasant experience and is already becoming a romantic comedy classic.

Your parents or grandparents experienced a similar story line in the now classic "An Affair to Remember" that was released in 1957 and paired Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Their characters fall in love and agree to meet in 6 months at the Empire State Building in New York.

Sleepless in Seattle, released 36 years later in 1993, pairs Tom Hanks as Sam Baldwin and Meg Ryan as Annie Reed. Sam is the recently-widowed father of 8-year-old Jonah Baldwin (Ross Malinger), who calls a nationally-broadcast radio talk show in an attempt to find his lonely father a partner.

A somewhat reluctant Sam talks to host Marcia Fieldstone and thousands of single women across America are suddenly drawn in to Sam's sense of love for his former wife, each wishing she could be as cherished as Sam's next special person. To wit:

Doctor Marcia Fieldstone: Tell me what was so special about your wife?

Sam Baldwin: Well, how long is your program? Well, it was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together . . .and I knew it. I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home . . . only to no home I'd ever known . . .I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was like . . . magic.

If that dialog does not melt every woman's heart she would need to go straight to "The Wizard of Oz" and receive a new transplant. Soon Sam is getting thousands of letters from wannabe partners, all of which are read by his son Jonah, who decides that "Annie" is the best choice.

Annie is engaged to marry Walter (Bill Pullman). Should she do so she would be making the first great mistake of her life. Walter is a decent enough chap, but Annie is missing any sparks in their relationship because Walter has the personality of an ashtray.

Annie goes to great lengths to meet Sam, flying from New York to Seattle only to discover Sam with another woman, whom she mistakes for a love interest. She never mails a letter she has written to Sam, but her friend does. In it she proposes to meet Sam on top of the Empire State Building.

Sam is not interested in going, but his son Jonah is, so, with the help of his new friend whose parents own a travel agency, he is able to book a flight to the Big Apple and ends up on the observation deck of the Empire State Building looking for Annie. Sam, in a panic, to find his son, follows him to New York. The rest you will have to see.

Hanks is very convincing as a forlorn widower and Ryan was at her peak of being cute and innocent. The chemistry between the two, who only share approximately 2 minutes of screen time together, is great.

The role of Annie was originally offered to Julia Roberts but she turned it town. Kim Basinger, who was also offered the part, turned it down because she thought the premise was ridiculous. Just recently in the news, a youngster in Jonah's peer group did exactly what Jonah did, managed to book flight on a major airline and fly undetected. Life is indeed stranger than fiction.

The screenplay for Sleepless in Seattle was written in part by Nora Ephron, who also wrote "When Harry Met Sally" (another great romantic comedy with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal). Ephron directed the film.

Ephron, David S. Ward and Jeff Arch (who did write the story) were nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay, and the film received another nomination for Best Original Song ("A Wink and a Smile"). Sleepless in Seattle also got Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Tom Hanks) and Best Actress (Meg Ryan).

Sleepless in Seattle cost $21 million to film and grossed $227 million worldwide at the box office, adding another $65+ million in rentals.

Tom Hanks is the gold standard in acting. He has been nominated for 5 Best Actor Oscars (Big, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan and Cast Away) and won twice for "Philadelphia" and "Forrest Gump". Hanks also has won 4 Best Actor Golden Globes for Big, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump and Cast Away.

His films have grossed more than $3.3 billion. He remains only 1 of 3 actors to have 7 consecutive $100 million domestic blockbusters; the other two are Tom Cruise and Will Smith.

Sleepless in Seattle is viewed by many guys as a "chick flick" but not by me. I consider it an outstanding relationship film with a great story line that proves to be a pleasant viewing experience every time I see it again. If a guy has ever been in love and felt the magic, he will appreciate this film a lot more.

bicycle

BICYCLE, open,two-wheeled vehicle popular in many countries of the world, and used for pleasure riding, light delivery, racing, and in many areas as a major means of transport. The name, which derives from bis (Lat.,”twice”) and kyklos (Gr.,”circle of wheel”), describes the design – two wheels supported by a tubular steel frame.

HISTORY.
The earliest known prototype, was built by Chevalier de Sivrac in 1790. It was in the form of wooden animals or serpents mounted on two wheels in a line, and was propelled by the rider’s kicking backward against the ground; it had no steering mechanism. The Draisine, invented in 1816 by Baron Karl von Drais, in Germany, was steered by means of a tiller that swung the front wheel. At the same time Nicephore Niepce, a Frenchman, invented a steerable two-wheeler, the Celeripede, which was not as well accepted; Baron von Drais became officially recognized as the “father of the bicycle.”
In 1838 Kirkpatrick Macmillan, a Scorsman, built the firsy bicycle to have pedals, levers, and cranks propelling the rear wheel: it also was equipped with handlebars and a brake. Public prejudice prevented its manufacture, but in 1855, a bicycle with pedals and cranks attached to the front wheels was designed by Pierre Michaux and his son Ernest, in Paris. It was called Velocipede-a name that had first appeared in von Drais’ patents.
The front wheel pedal led to larger front wheels and smaller rear wheels, beginning with the Ariel in 1870 and culminating in the familiar high wheeler of the 1870’s and 1880’s. some models had a small wheel in front and a large one in the rear, which was safer since it prevented pitching forward if it struck an object on the road. Between 1877 and 1879 H. Bate Croydon of England introducted the Flying Dutchman driven by pedals, cranks, and looped ropes on pulleys closely resembling the modern chain drive. Closer yet to the modern bicycle was the Bicyclette (1879) by H. J. Lawson; it exhibited the first sprocket and chain drive, but was laughed out on style as the “crocodile.” There were efforts to popularize chainless drives, but none succeeded. Then in 1885 J. K. Starley, an Englishman, presented his Rover with the first successful chain drive, it was the forerunner of todat’s bicycle.
Many accessories were developed in the 19th century: handlebar bells and bulb horns; brakes; kick stands; cyclometers (for registering mileage); and lamps, first oil, acetylene, then electric. In the 20th century came direction signals, tail lights, mudguards, and chainguards, found mainly on pleasure bicycles. Track racing bicycles are stripped of all nonessentials and weight from 16 to 20 lb. Road racers have brakes and gearshifts; both types use rattrap (nonslip) pedals, toe clips, and footstraps.

VARIANTS.
Although the bicycle is definition a two-wheeler, there are other forms with multiple wheels and seats; tandems for two persons, quintuplets for five persons, sextuplets for six persons, septuplets for seven persons, and the decetuple for ten persons. The only one of the latter ever built is in Henry Ford’s Greenfield Museum in Dearborn, Mich. The unicycle, consisting of one wheel with or without a saddle is used only for novelty or trick riding. The tallest bicycle was a 20-ft.-high tandem built in France and the smallest a 9-in. frame on 12-in, were used in Boer War in 1899. Other variants of the bicycle are the three-wheeled tricycle, the four wheeled quadricycle, and the milticycle, which has six two-wheeled units linked together and accommodates 12 persons.
(Encyclopedia)