ADOPT A RED PHONE BOOTH!
Jacqueline Bissett
Two Phone Booths ready to be "adopted"...
Photo: Sang Tan/AP
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Certain images come to mind when I think of my friends "across the pond" in London. When I still used cable TV, I actually enjoyed watching the Prime Minister debates in The House of Commons on C-Span. I always found the sparring amusing. Then of course there is Jacqueline Bissett, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, double-decker buses and yes--Britain's bright Red telephone boxes. The way I got it, the fate of 12,700 of the iconic red telephone booths looked pretty bleak last April, with plans to get rid of 9,000 of the iconic kiosks by BT PLC -a telecommunications company. But wait! British politician Alan Duncan has claimed a "victory" in saving them after BT agreed to allow local communities to "Adopt a Phone Booth"--minus the pay phones--which were losing money. Proposals include converting them to mini-art galleries, greenhouses or community notice boards. Lighthorne, a town about 90 miles northwest of London, became the first community in Britain to adopt a Red Phone Box from BT, paying 1 pound (I'm told this is slightly less than $2). It costs around $40 (US) to repaint the boxes. BT says more than half of them no longer turn a profit. Maybe so. But I can still see Roger Moore as James Bond making an "urgent call" (with humor) if his cell phone died for any reason. Bottom Line: The romantic in me just has a hard time thinking the Red Phone Booths would ever really go away. I hope they stick around. HERE, HERE!!!
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Have a nice Thursday.
Michael
posted by Michael Manning @ 8:42 AM
20 comments
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20 Comments:
oh COOOOOL. we should adopt them all.
ive been known to slip into phonebooths and come out flying.
:)
I love those red booths!! In NYC they'd be a studio apartment for $1800 a month.
Hey! there's an idea ...
ship them over here and rent them out
we could give the money to charity.
Only you could equate Jacqueline Bisett to a red phone booth and pull it off. Yes they are both national symbols of beauty and grace.
My favorite movie of hers is The Thief Who Came To Dinner.
Interesting post Michael - Remember Dr. Who? Perhaps adopt a TARDIS might also make an interesting program?
Glenn Bishop
public phone booths have become totally gross. still, there is a fair amount of people who, for one reason or another, don't have bank accounts or cell phones. i always thought that public phones booths should be made available for the needy, tourists, for emergencies, or for superman to change clothes in.
we all should share in this cost- subsidize the availability, in other words. it's a public convenience as well as a public safety. but but but... also, the booths should be better maintained, rather than neglected.
in particular, the red phone booths are a kind of histrical icon, and should be preserved on their own aesthetic merit.
so there.
You know we don't have phone booths anywhere here... even in our capital city..
so the first one i ever saw was in chicago one summer...
too cool...we should adopt them.
Have a great end of the week
As far as I can make out, the phone booths here in London are only used by tourists getting their picture taken with them peeking out of the door.
Aw, that's a shame that those beautiful booths could be scrapped! But I'll never have to worry, as one of my friends has one, with working phone, in his BASEMENT. It's really quite cool, although the arm that folds the door in doesn't work well.
Dari: Only YOU could do this! How fun! :D)
dianne: lol! And a nifty idea!!!!!!
p m: Yes! Thank God film director Peter Yates chose Jacqueline Bissett for Steve McQueen's girlfriend in "Bullitt". That's where I first saw her. I'm glad you enjoy how I "connect the dots" too! ;D)
Glenn: Honestly, I don't remember. But I DO recall Thomas Siefert's hysterical post of famous James Bond lines that had me laughing so hard, my sides ached! :D) See ya soon Glenn!!!
Seraphine: I concur! Well said!!! :D)
Jess: Oh, yeah! It must have been near Harry Carey's Restaurant near the Marina where Steve McQueen shot his final movie, "The Hunter". :)
Thomas: You have a way with words. Somehow, I also equate Red Phone booths WITH "making out"! :D)!!!!!!
Martini: I guess Bogart would say, "Nothing a little Bourbon and Soda couldn't fix". But there must be a solution to the fold in door. I'll drop by and check it out! :)
I haven't been across the pond yet, but I'm dying to go. I have to admit,t hough, when I first saw the picture of Jacqueline Bisset, I could only think of all the plastic surgery she's obviously had (am I bad?).
Becky: I'm not aware of any of that. So, I'll say yes! :D)
As most have been destroyed, there was a time we could have bought one and put it in our gardens.
jean-luc picard: Sorry to hear that. It seems to me that the red phone booths were a wonderful symbol of pride and prestige. But then, what can I say? I'm sentimental! :-)
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