Lizard Lick Towing on TruTV

Lizard Lick Towing reality television series can be seen on TruTV at 10PM ET on Monday nights.

The Lizard Lick Towing reality series on TruTV evolved from the All Worked Up series on the same network. The towing company had been featured on All Worked Up but was only in segments of the show.

Now Ron and Amy Shirley have a show of their own called Lizard  Lick Towing on TruTV with Ron’s co-worker Bobby Brantley assisting Ron in repossessing vehicles, motorcycles and in one case deer.

Like most reality shows we don’t know for sure how much is reality and how much is scripted. One thing for sure is that Ron and Bobby find themselves in some scary situations.

These bikers who had seen their motorcycle repossessed show up at the office demanding their bike back.

They still get the bike but not before fighting with the bikers. Then the bikers come to the towing company breaking the glass front doors with a chain demanding to have their bike back.

When Ron tells the bikers he had already dropped it off with the lender who held the title a fight ensues and the bikers who outnumber Ron proceed to work him over. His wife Amy gets between Ron and the bikers and tells them they can settle this another way.

Then after all is seemingly peaceful again Bobby comes running into the office and the fighting starts again since Bobby didn’t know the situation was under control and after Amy stops the fighting for a second time Bobby is shown with blood streaming down his leg and he is heard complaining about the bikers ruining his shoes.

Another episode shows Ron and Bobby trying to repossess a car and the man is infuriated when they start hooking up the car to tow it away. He jumps up on the trailer and drives the car off the trailer and parts of the front end are coming off the car.

Then he drives it into a lake. Then Ron and Bobby use some psychology on the guy and tell him that he won and that they were dumb and that if he would hook a chain up to the car in the lake they would pay him $250.

After hooking it up Bobby pretends to get money to pay the guy but instead of paying him pushes him into the lake.

That night Ron takes his wife Amy who is pregnant out to a local pizza place but makes the mistake of using the towing truck for the date. The same guy who had been pushed in the water passed by the pizza restaurant window and Ron knew he had to do something so he called Bobby to help him fight the dude.

Meanwhile Amy knew something was going on with Ron since he was acting so suspiciously. When Ron and Amy go outside on their way to the truck he is confronted by this guy again. Ron and the man start fighting and Ron’s wife Amy is not a happy camper as this date has turned out to be a disaster.

She drives off leaving Ron there by himself but Bobby takes him to his house to see if he can calm down Amy but she won’t let him in the house so he has to spend the night at Bobby’s house.

My question is that it seems suspicious that the guy knew Ron was at the pizza restaurant and Ron may have been told by producers to make sure to drive his towing truck so there might be a confrontation at the restaurant since if he had driven a car the guy may never have known Ron was inside the restaurant.

The show is filmed in the Wendell, N.C. area .

Swarm of Arkansas Earthquakes

Farmland that shifted due to earthquake in New Madrid faultline.

A 4.7 magnitude earthquake hit Greenbrier, Arkansas Sunday night at 11PM. Three more earthquakes had hit the city with the last one a 3.2 magnitude quake at 7:06 this morning. Greenbrier is located in central Arkansas.

Residents of Oklahoma, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee also felt the quake.

The Earthquakes Hazards Program website states that earthquakes are not uncommon today:

There’s a 100 percent chance of an earthquake today. Though millions of persons may never experience an earthquake, they are very common occurrences on this planet. So today — somewhere — an earthquake will occur.

There has been a swarm of earthquakes in Arkansas as this list of Arkansas quakes from the U.S. Geological Survey website show. The list is not current as the last listing is for February 21 but still shows earthquakes have been prevalent in Arkansas lately.

http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/qed/

The list shows 21 earthquakes have been recorded from February 16 to February 21. These lists really need to be more up to date since we can’t see what earthquake activity led to the 4.7 earthquake yesterday.

However this article from Arkansasmatters.com reports that nearly 60 earthquakes have been recorded in the Greenbrier, Arkansas from Monday to Saturday of last week.

http://arkansasmatters.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=396376

The USGS will more than likely be watching this area closely in the coming days and weeks to if this earthquake activity in Arkansas slacks off or worsens.

Freddie King: I’m Tore Down

Freddie King singing Tore Down in Dallas, Texas in 1966. King died ten years later at the age of 42. He died 35 years ago but his music lives on.

The Very Best of Freddy King album which I own and have recorded into my MP3 player.

Freddy King also went by the name of Freddie King explaining why some of his albums have him as Freddy and other as Freddie. The album above is one of my favorite albums and even though my new MP3 player has limited space I made sure to download the whole album into the player.

The album includes some instrumentals along with the tracks that have him singing. His instrmentals are so good that you don’t care that he isn’t singing on them.

You can listen to clips from all 25 songs on the album:

http://www.deepdiscount.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/productID/E7FE7E60-8893-41E6-83A9-F7CCF246DDED/

Freddie King at his best singing Have You Ever Loved a Woman with one of the best guitar riffs I have ever heard before he starts singing.

 

American Idol – X Factor : Different Attitudes

Simon Cowell will start his new show X Factor this fall on Fox.

American Idol seemed to be in line for a huge drop in the ratings after the departure of Simon Cowell last May. The ratings for the American Idol juggernaut have dropped but the show still is drawing more viewers than their competition by a large margin.

It was thought that Simon Cowell was the main attraction for viewers with his catty remarks about singers being karaoke, cruise ship singers and singers in a seedy hotel.

None of that kind of negativity remains with the current lineup of judges. With a few exceptions when Randy Jackson has made some scathing remarks about the contestants the show is mostly free of the cruel remarks that hurt not help an aspiring singer.

Jennifer Lopez showed her emotional side when she broke down after revealing to Chris Medina his road to being the American Idol had stopped in Las Vegas. I thought she had told him in a very kind way his dream of becoming the American Idol but she asked her fellow judges Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson if she had made her statement in the best way possible under the situation.

Medina was touched when he saw the replay on television of how she reacted after telling him the bad news. Some people have questioned his motives about having the story of his girlfriend told but I believe he only did it to try to help her since he had the chance and jumped at it as did the Fox network producers who featured the story and the judges had her meet them after Medina had sung at his audition.

That was only one example of a kinder American Idol this year. It isn’t fair to compare X Factor since it hasn’t even aired yet but with the presence of Simon Cowell viewers can expect the same vitriolic criticism he leveled at American Idol contestants but his fans expect to hear his pithy remarks to the contestants.

A major difference in the two shows is that while American Idol may award a recording contract to the winner the X Factor will reward a $5 million contract to the winner. It is possible a 12 year old could win that contract or someone more than 100 years old since the age limit is 12-whatever age shows up for the auditions as opposed to the 15-28 age limit for American Idol

Fox network will be a winner either way since they will carry both shows this year and both shows should be ratings behemoths that will enrich the Fox coffers by the end of they year.

The judges for X Factor are still not set the last I knew with Cowell the only one sure to be on the panel. Among names being rumored to have a chance to be judges are Cheryl Cole and Paula Abdul having a chance if her CBS show Live to Dance does not return for another season leaving her free to join the judges on X Factor. I believe Cowell would like to have Paula at his side since their chemistry before Paula left American Idol was volatile at times but I think they really get along well for the most part.

Relics of the Past: Commodore 64 Computer

 

Commodore 64 computer keyboard.

It has been 29 years since the Commodore 64 computer was sold in 1982. It became the best selling personal computer ever.

From 1983-1986 it dominated the personal computer market selling between 30 and 40 percent of all personal computers sold during that span.

My mom bought a Commodore 64 computer in the 80′s from a computer store in Alexandria and gave it to her grandkids. If I remember right it cost $159 but the Commodore 64′s were selling at $595 when first introduced. The first models were only costing the Commodore company only $135 giving the company a huge profit margin.

It was not as user friendly as the computers today. We would buy Commodore 64 themed magazines and copy the programs line by line to get them to work on the computer. It was a lengthy process for some of the longer programs but when it worked after all the typing it was worthwhile.

It seemed like the Commodore keyboards were not made that well since the keyboards seemed to stop working in a very short time compared to the keyboards of today. The keyboard I am typing this on has lasted at least five or six years already while a Commodore 64 keyboard might stop working after a year or two at least in my experience using them.

One of my sons has a working Commodore 64 system today comprised of a keyboard, monitor and 1541 hard drive. He uses the GEOS (Graphic Environment Operating System) with the computer.

Today on ebay there are 106 Commodore 64 related products for sale at the website including keyboards, disc drives, monitors, software and other accessories.

We never had access to the internet with the Commodore 64 but if we had the right setup it might have been possible to go online.

Personally I think the Commodore 64 played a large part in the coming computer revolution since it brought computers into the home at an affordable price.

When more powerful computers were introduced Commodore 64 users opted for the new technology and the Commodore 64 gradually faded out of the popularity it had enjoyed during the middle 1980′s.

Even at $595 Commodore’s competitive pricing left Apple and Atari in the dust with the Apple IIe selling for $1,200 and the Atari 800 computer was selling for $899.

There were plans to release a Commodore 65 computer but they never materialized.

The Commodore 64 played a part in helping Americans become more computer literate thus leading to most home in the United States having at least one computer except for those who don’t embrace the new technology and wouldn’t use a computer if it was given to them.

Maybe the Commodore 64 is not a relic in the strictest sense of the word but the last generation has probably not even heard of them.

Western Stars of the Past: Roy Rogers

 

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1989.

Roy Rogers was born as Leonard Franklin Skye November 5, 1911 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He claimed to have been born at second base at Riverfront Stadium since he lived on the site of the stadium early in his life. He joined the Sons of the Pioneers singing group and changed his name to Dick Weston.

He appeared in many of his early movies as a member of the Sons of the Pioneers starting in 1935.  Then he received his big break when Gene Autry walked off the set of a movie he was making and Leonard Slye became Roy Rogers for the first time in a starring role in Under Western Stars in 1938.

Rogers had been married twice before marrying Dale Evans. He was married to Lucille Ascolese from 1933-1935 and married in 1936 to Grace Wilkins who died in 1946 due to complications after giving birth to Roy “Dusty” Rogers Jr.

Dale Evans appeared in her first movie with Rogers in Cowboy and the Senorita in 1944. They would marry after the death of his wife in 1947 and remained married till the death of Rogers in 1998.

In addition to appearing in movies he also could be heard on old time radio for ten years in the 40′s and 50′s. One of the most important old time radio sellers online lists only 77 shows remaining from the ten year run for sale.

He bought his famous horse Trigger in 1938 according to Wikipedia and he trained Trigger to do 60 tricks since he had grew up training animals. B-westerns.com contends that he bought Trigger in 1943 for $2,500. The 1943 date is probably the accurate one since B-westerns.com has seen the bill of sale.

His last credited appearance as Roy Rogers was in the 1951 movie Pals of the Golden West in which he portrayed a border patrolman.

The Roy Rogers television series aired from 1951-1957 and 100 episodes were filmed. When I think of cowboy western stars that appeared on television his show is the one I remember best.

Mackintosh and T.J. released in 1975 would be his last movie appearance. He played a ranch hand and a drifter since by now he was in his 60′s.

He played himself in his last television appearance on The Fall Guy in 1984.

Fourteen years later Rogers died of congestive heart failure on July 8, 1998 in Apple Valley, California at the age of 86. Three years later his wife Dale Evans died at the age of 88.

Gravesites of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

It was interesting to see on the graves the birth names of  Roy Rogers and Dale Evans along with their birth names.

Not only were they were radio, television and movie stars they were also excellent role models who personified America at its best.

Roy Rogers is shown in this photo after getting out of his motorboat on the Red River in Alexandria, Louisiana and would stay at Hotel Bentley that night.

I was there the day Roy Rogers arrived in Alexandria. We must have known ahead of time he was coming because we were there when he arrived. I can remember my mom taking photos of the event.

Hotel Bentley was in its heyday then and was on the other side of the Red River levee so Rogers had a short walk to the hotel.

The world lost two of my favorite people in Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Their memory will live on though through the old time radio shows, movies and the Roy Rogers television shows they left behind.

 

American Idol Secrets No Longer Secrets

Online sources are telling who made the Top 24 in Las Vegas auditions for American Idol. Fox can’t be happy with this development with many who had a favorite that they know had been eliminated may not even watch the show when it actually airs this week.

Personally, it doesn’t bother me because I like to know ahead of time what is going to happen but for some people who like to live in the moment they don’t want to know who won in advance.

Apparently there are spies divulging the secrets to online websites making it possible to know before airtime who will survive the latest cuts.

Joesplaceblog.com has posted the names of the 24 finalists with a photo of each singer.

Don’t click on this link unless you want to know ahead of time who the 24 survivors are.

SPOILERS ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.joesplaceblog.com/2011/02/the-top-24-of-american-idol-10/

David Archuleta Explains Reason For Leaving Jive Records

David Archuleta is now saying he left Jive Records due to his career taking a new direction. Earlier it had been reported that Jive had dropped him from the roster of artists due to poor album sales.

Archuleta said he wants to take his music in a different direction. It will be interesting to see what kind of music he will embrace when making this change.

He also dropped his management agency saying he wants to take control of his life. Hopefully these changes will help him advance his career after his last album failing badly in total sales.

This article at USA Today better describes his reasons for the changes:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/idolchatter/post/2011/02/david-archuleta-goes-on-the-record-about-leaving-jive/1?csp=34

Archive.org: Great Multimedia Website

Archive.org will keep a reader entertained for hours.

Archive.org is probably the best source for audio and video online this side of YouTube.  The home page for the website as I write this article has a link to an audio version of a Grateful Dead concert at Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum at New Haven, Connecticut on May 11, 1981.

The concert is only one of 803,305 audio recordings at the website.  There are 2,214 old time radio related links to old time radio shows and magazines that were printed during the height of the popularity of old time radio.

One Roy Rogers episode has been downloaded 74,882 times showing that the website is available for downloading many of the old time radio shows we grew up with.

Old time radio fans will love looking at list after list of old time radio shows available for downloading including some of the more obscure shows which have very few episodes in existence.

The live music archive features 88,813 archives while the moving image archives total 451,934.

Avid readers will enjoy knowing that there are 2.694,639 texts including books and ebooks. The new Bookreader at the site includes Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin and is the example shown of how the Bookreader works.

http://blog.archive.org/2010/12/10/2685/

There is an audio version of some books but the one I listened to was not of the best quality and seemed to be a computer generated voice which probably would be tiring to listen to for an entire book.

Most readers may not enjoy the voice and instead opt to read the books without sound. For those that like the audio they should enjoy the feature that highlights the portion of the book being read by the voice.

The Mega Reader iPhone app provides access to the 1.8 million free books at archive.org so they each iPhone user can have their own personal reader.

Each volume of the Warren Report investigation of the assassination of  President John F. Kennedy is available to read.

The site is an excellent source of reading material for educators and students who are looking for books that are no longer copyrighted.

One word of caution: it could take hours just to look at what is available at archive.org. This website may have the most content of any website online and is worth going to the website to see for yourself what is available.

http://www.archive.org/

Shipley Donut Shops: 75 Year History

Shipley Donuts shop located in Spring, Texas.

Lawrence Shipley Sr. made his first Shipley Donut in 1936 in Houston, Texas. They sold for five cents a dozen. 75 years later you can’t even buy one donut for five cents much less a dozen. They were sold exclusively at wholesale prices before becoming a retail store.

The first Shipley Donuts retail store was opened in 1940. Today there are about 220 Shipley Donut shops  located in six states. Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas are the only states with Shipley Donut shops.

Shipley Donuts sign in Alexandria, Louisiana.

The first Shipleys in Alexandria according to mantra.com was opened in 1966. The website lists Greg Pebbles as the owner and Dallas E. Pebbles as the president of the Alexandria company.

Shipleys has had a presence in Alexandria for 45 years and has been frequented by customers who love donuts  and love to talk to other Alexandria citizens in the shops while drinking coffee with their donuts.

 

Tommy McLain: Best Version of Sweet Dreams

Tommy McLain

Even though more famous singers have recorded Sweet Dreams the Tommy McLain version sold the most copies.

The song which was written by country singer-songwriter Don Gibson was sung by Gibson first but it didn’t sell well or get much notice.

Four years later when Gibson was better known he recorded it again and it charted in the No.9 spot among the  Top Ten country songs.

However before that Faron Young a Shreveport, Louisiana native had recorded it also in 1956 and took it to No.2 on the country charts.

Then in 1963 Sweet Dreams surfaced again when Patsy Cline had recorded it before her death but wasn’t released on the album she was working on but on Patsy Cline Story album and it topped out at the No.5 spot on the Billboard Country Singles chart.

Sweet Dreams would later be the title of  the movie about her life story.

By the end of 1963 the song had been recorded by three artists who took it to  No.2, No.9 and No.5 on the record charts.

The song just wouldn’t die and Emmy Lou Harris took it to No.1 on the country charts in 1976. Three years later Reba McEntire’s version would reach No.19 on the country singles chart.

Tommy McLain singing his version of Sweet Dreams with lyrics on the screen.

Meanwhile in 1966 swamp pop singer Tommy McLain recorded his version which went to No.15 on the pop chart and sold three million copies.

The song had been recorded twice in 1956 by Don Gibson and Faron Young, 1963 by Patsy Cline, 1966 by Tommy McLain, 1976 by Emmy Lou Harris and 1979 by Reba McEntire.

Even though Tommy McLain was the least known among those that recorded it his version would sell the most copies.

For a song to be recorded five times by major artists in 23 years is a testament to how great a song Sweet Dreams was. Jerry Lee Lewis also recorded the song along with many others.

Tommy McLain recorded his version 45 years ago and will be 71 years old next month.

Jive Records Dumps David Archuleta

 

 

David Archuleta has been dumped by Jive Records after his sophomore album Other Side of Down sold only 63,000 copies since being released last October.

The album is currently 1,640th in sales at Amazon.com. It has to be disheartening for the 20 year old Archuleta to lose his record contract at such an early age.

The 2008 American Idol runner-up is probably one of the nicest and most humble contestants ever on the show. He even kept his poise when American Idol hyped the finale to be a duel between the two Davids, Cook and Archuleta.

He lost to David Cook in the 2008 American Idols final but Cook’s sophomore album is not selling well with his latest album David Cook Pathway is 44,850th in sales since being released in December. If it that far down the list only two months after its release it would not surprise me to see Cook lose his record deal at anytime.

Lee DeWyze  Season 9 winner has garnered great reviews on Amazon.com but his album Live it Up is only 813th in sales. He has received 77 five star votes while tallying only six one star votes.

Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry and Carrie Underwood are the only three American Idol winners to sell millions and millions of albums.

Simon Cowell’s new American Idol type show X-Factor will reward winners with $5 million record deals. The pressure to sell their albums will be heightened because of the $5 million and the contracts will probably be written in a way to insure the record label will have a clause to end the contract with a minimal loss to the label if the winner doesn’t sell records in the millions.

Winning on either show only insures a chance to succeed and David Archuleta has found out it also means he can lose the chance just as easily.

Archuleta will go on and perform in person but without the record contract he will never make the money a Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry will make during their career.

The record business is a cutthroat industry and nobody knows it better than David Archuleta.

Louisiana: Third In Moviemaking

Louisiana is third in movie production behind Los Angeles and New York due to generous tax credits for companies producing those movies according to Lake Charles (La.) American Press.

It is surprising more states haven’t used the same strategy to attract film producers to film in their state. Anyone watching the credits roll after a movie see the list of those involved in the filming of a movie.

Most of those people live in that state while the movie is being filmed. Those people have to have a place to live and most go out to eat so they can have a hot meal. With 150-200 or more cast and crew staying in a motel for differing lengths of time it has to be a tremendous boost to the economy of that city and state.

With hundreds of actors and crew in a city they have to have a place to sleep and a place to eat a hot meal so the motel industry, restaurants and fast food places thrive while a movie is being shot.

Local stores also would see a marked increase in sales as the out of town visitors have to go to the store to buy necessities, snacks, clothes and etcetera. The tax breaks received by the production companies probably don’t come close to the money pouring into that state because of the cast and crew spending huge amounts of money while making the movie.

The Ghosthunters television series filmed an episode in Alexandria, Louisiana in December which took sixteen days to shoot and it will be shown on they Sy-Fy network on February 23.

There are many television series and movies currently in pre-production or being filmed as of today. Some of the movies may not be what Louisiana had in mind when attracting film makers to Louisiana like Abe Lincoln – Vampire Hunter but they still will take the money that goes along with the movie.

Bad Girls 7 is in the process of being filmed in Louisiana and will be shown on television later this year more than likely. This list at Louisianaentertainment.gov gives a list of movies and television series currently being filmed and those planned in the near future.

For instance Val Kilmer will be in Alexandria to film Seven Below Zero which begins filming in Alexandria on February 21.

Mickey Rooney Allegedly Being Abused by Stepson

Mickey Rooney reportedly being abused by stepson.

Mickey Rooney’s attorneys have secured a restraining order to prevent his stepson Chris Aber from coming closer than 100 yards to Rooney after the attorneys said that his stepson was preventing him from eating and taking his medicine.

Rooney is claiming to be living in fear of his stepson who is alleged to have done the following in this statement to the court:

“Chris is verbally abusive toward Mickey,” the court filing states. “He yells and screams at Mickey. He threatens, intimidates, bullies, and harasses Mickey.

“Mickey is effectively a prisoner in his own home,” the filing states.

His attorneys also took steps to protect his financial interests.

It is sad that the 90 year old actor couldn’t live his golden years in peace without the alleged abuse from his stepson.

My question is how this could have happened with his eighth wife Jan Chamberlin living in the house or did the abuse happen while she was away from home. It makes me wonder if she was being terrorized too and scared to report this. Another question is how long this has been going on.

This story reminds me of other Hollywood celebrities who were physically and/or financially abused by a relative or a caretaker.

It reminds me of Erin Fleming and the way she mistreated Groucho Marx before his death. This paragraph from her Wikipedia page is an example of the way she treated Marx:

In the years leading up to Marx’s death in 1977, his heirs filed several lawsuits against her. One allegation leveled against Fleming was that she was determined to sell Marx’s favorite car, a Cadillac, against his wishes. When Marx protested, it was said, Fleming threatened, “I will slap you from here to Pittsburgh.”

Now many years later Mickey Rooney is enduring the same kind of treatment that Marx received. After all the years that Rooney entertained his fans in his movies 70 years ago while making the Andy Hardy movies he deserves a better fate than to be terrorized by a stepson.

It will be interesting to see what happens at the February 24 hearing that could extend the restraining order. It is a mystery to me how this could go on without his wife notifying someone about the abuse.

Mickey Rooney deserves to live his last years in peace and hopefully the restraining order will be the first step in assuring him that the alleged abuse is over.

The following article from the Baltimore Sun and a video from KTLA in Los Angeles give more details. The stepson is shown in the video denying the charges of abuse.

One of Rooney’s attorneys said that his client had to sneak out of the house at night to meet with the attorneys and showed them an empty wallet with no money or any forms of identification.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/ktla-mickey-rooney-court-protection-stepson,0,3091099.story

Jackie Gleason Orchestra: Laura

 

The Jackie Gleason Orchestra playing Laura.

The same Jackie Gleason that portrayed Ralph Kramden on the Honeymooners had his own orchestra and his Music For Lovers Only album was on the Billboard charts for 153 weeks which was about about three weeks short of being on the charts for three years.

He couldn’t read or write music but he could play a song while a composer would write down the notes. There are conflicting reports on the internet about whether he actually played an instrument yet he is shown playing the bass many years ago in a band but then other reports said he never played an instrument.

Bobby Hackett who was a member of the Jackie Gleason Orchestra has this to say about Gleason’s musical knowledge in this paragraph from suite101.com.:

One might ask how somebody who does not know how to write music could compose it. The great trumpeter, Bobby Hackett, had this to say about Gleason’s musical ability. “Jackie knows a lot more about music than he is given credit for. I have seen him conduct a sixty-piece orchestra and detect one discordant note in the brass section. He would immediately stop the music and locate the wrong note. It always amazed the professional musicians how a guy who technically didn’t know one note from another could do that. And he was never wrong.”

Capitol Records only offered him a $1,000 contract for his first record album. Gleason had no part in conducting the orchestra. His first ten albums made over $10 million each showing there was a market for romantic music.

Gleason hired Bobby Hackett to play the trumpet and combined his trumpet players with forty mandolin players to get the sound he wanted. Easy listening is a perfect description of his music.

He would release 53 record albums from 1952-1971. Six of those albums held the No.1 position in the Billboard 200 chart.

His albums earned $120 million showing that Gleason was not only a successful actor in television and the movies but his love for easy listening music gave Americans some of the greatest music ever recorded.

Sadly orchestra music was on the way out by 1957 with the advent of rock and roll and the popularity of romantic music waned as the new rock and roll sound took over the record charts for the most part as Elvis Presley changed music as did the Beatles six years later in 1964.

The Jackie Gleason Orchestra playing Misty which a fine example of easy listening music at its best.

Pat Brady and Nellybelle

When the name Pat Brady is mentioned most Roy Rogers fans instantly think of Brady and Nellybelle his jeep.

Pat Brady was born on December 31, 1914 in Toledo, Ohio as Robert Ellsworth Patrick Aloysious O’Brady. When the Sons of Pioneers hired him to replace Roy Rogers he was hired and agreed to change his name to Pat Brady.

Brady appeared in his first movie Outlaws of the Prairie in 1937 as a singing ranger. He made several movies as a singing cowhand or singing rancher and was seen in many films that the Sons of Pioneers sang in.

Pals of the Golden West was his last movie which was released in 1951. That same year he appeared in his first Roy Rogers television program and never acted in movies again.

He was known for saying “Whoa Nellie” when driving the Willys CJ 2A jeep.

He played himself in the series from 1951-1957 and appeared in 100 episodes over that span. The Find A Grave website has this tribute to Brady:

If it were not for this man I would not be on this earth as he saved my fathers life during WWII. This man will always be a Hero to me.
- Rick T
Added: Jan. 10, 2011

He received two Purple Hearts in Germany and served with General Patton’s 3rd Army.

After leaving Roy Rogers television series Brady was only seen in one episode of four different western themed television shows making his last appearance in 30 Minutes at Gunsight in 1963.

For even more information and photos related to Pat Brady this website is an excellent source:

http://www.bobnolan-sop.net/Biographies/The%20Story%20of%20SOP/Pat%20Brady/Pat%20Brady.htm

It Happened One Night: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert

This trailer from It Happened One Night shows Clark Gable giving Claudette Colbert tips on how to get drivers to pick up a hitchhiker.

The 1934 movie was released 77 years ago yet the trailer is a high quality clip considering how old it is.

Both Gable and Colbert would win best actor Oscars for the movie while director Frank Capra would win the Best Director award and the film received best picture award in 1935.

They would later appear on radio in the same roles for a radio version of It Happened One Night on Lux Radio Theater.

Ward Bond who later would star in the television series Wagon Train portrayed a bus driver in the movie.

Claudette Colbert said after completing the movie that she had just made the worst movie ever but it turned out to be a huge hit showing she knew more about acting than the business side of making movies.

Marilyn Scott: You Don’t Know Me

Marilyn Scott singing You Don’t Know Me.

It has been 32 years since Marilyn Scott recorded her first album in 1979 yet she is not that well known. Still despite her lack of recognition she is to me one of the best vocal jazz singers today. The jazz background music in her recordings makes her music stand out even more.

This audio version of Close Enough is an excellent example of Marilyn Scott’s music. I can’t think of any other contemporary singer that comes close to the sound of Scott.

Marilyn Scott was 30 before she recorded her first album and has recorded only twelve albums during her 32 year recording career. She is now 61 and it is sad that her music isn’t better known among mainstream music fans.

Western Stars of the Past: Bob Steele

 

Bob Steele 1907-1988

Bob Steele was born Robert Adrian Bradbury on January 23, 1907 with his twin brother William Curtis Bradbury in Portland, Oregon.

From 1933 to 1945 Steele would appear in a staggering 104 movies which averages out to eight movies a year with him appearing in nine movies in 1935 and 11 movies in 1941.

Starting with the Under Texas Skies in 1940 he would portray Tucson Smith in 19 westerns from 1940-1943.

During 1943 and 1944 he would play himself in six movies but after 1944 he would never appear as himself again.

He would sign a contract with Mongram in 1932 in which he was to appear in eight movies a year at a salary of $500 a week which totaled $26,000 a year. Compared to today’s stars it is a very small sum but with the country in the throes of  a severe depression it was more money than most people made if they were fortunate to have an income of any kind.

Steele would continue to make movies but with the advent of television he could be seen in both mediums. 1955 would mark the start of his television career with an appearance in Screen Director’s Playhouse as a deputy sheriff.

Later that year he could be seen in Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. This would lead to appearances in several of the westerns which were very popular at this time.  He acted in Cheyenne, Colt .45, Sugarfoot, Have Gun Will Travel, Cimarron City, Tales of Wells Fargo, Maverick, Death Valley Days, The Californians, Lawman, The Rebel, The Deputy, Hotel de Paree, The Texan, Overland Trail and Rawhide.

He continued to appear in Rawhide, National Velvet TV series, Whispering Smith, The Wide Country, Temple Houston, F Troop, Then Came Bronson and made his last television appearance in Family Affair in 1970.

While making all those guest appearances on television he was also seen in movies in some of the better known movies of the time like Rio Bravo, Pork Chop Hill, The Longest Day (as a paratrooper), McLintock, Rio Lobo and his last movie Nightmare Honeymoon in 1974.

Bob Steele appeared in his first movie in 1920 and his movie career ended in 1974 after making 234 appearances in either television or movies.

Fourteen years after his appearance in Nightmare Honeymoon he would die on December 21, 1988 in Burbank, California from emphysema.

Because of his lengthy career there is much more information and many photos about Bob Steele at this website:

http://b-westerns.com/steele.htm

MP3 Players: Then and Now

Creative Nomad Zen Xtra Jukebox

It has been seven years since I purchased my Creative Nomad Zen Xtra Jukebox MP3 player and it is still working great in 2011.

The 40 GB player may not be as slim as the MP3 players being sold today but it has 4,092 songs in it that I recorded from CD’s I had in my collection which has used only 14 GB of the space in the player.

I have found that Windows Media Player is best for ripping the songs from a CD into the computer and then after that process is completed going to My Computer will find the music in the My Music folder.

Right clicking on the music folder for the album and sending it to the player is all that is needed for it to copy the music into the player.

The sound quality to me is excellent and the music can be listened to in many ways. FM transmitters can be used to play the music in a stereo system, from non MP3 radios and other music sources.

However I have encountered problems getting the exact frequency on the transmitter to listen to the music so seldom even try to use them.

When my wife bought me a record player a couple of years ago it had an MP3 connection in the back enabling me to just plug one end into the MP3 player and the other into the MP3 connection on back of the record player.

There are many speakers today that are easily connected to a MP3 player. At one time Dollar Tree had one for a dollar that while it wasn’t the best sound but it did work.

Last year I found a I-Pod radio selling at a garage sale for only $3 which also has a MP3 connection in the back and it is great to listen to music and old time radio shows.

The old time radio shows on MP3 CD’s go directly into the My Music folder in Windows after the CD has been inserted into the CD drive. So with the MP3 player connected to the computer and the folder for the old time radio shows on that CD open right clicking will send the shows to the MP3 player.

Most MP3 CD’s will hold 100 old time half hour radio shows which is 50 hours of listening pleasure. For instance I have over 800 Jack Benny episodes on 8 or 9 discs.

One MP3 CD in my collection has an entire baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees in 1934 with legendary Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson as an announcer. 77 years later it is still possible to listen to a game in which Lou Gehrig is playing but Babe Ruth was out with an injury that day.

There are also MP3 CD’s that are packed with radio shows that announce the bombing of Pearl Harbor and another about the Normandy invasion and you can hear the news broadcast those days over 60 years later.

Another MP3 CD includes a typical broadcast day from 1939 which includes every show that day that was broadcast from sign on till sign off and gives an idea of what it was like 71 years ago.

With my collection of over 17,000 old time radio episodes of many different shows it is easy to transfer several episodes of a particular show to the MP3 player and then after listening to them delete them from the player since they are on a MP3 CD so I can tell immediately if I have heard a show since I have heard it the episode would have been deleted.

If someone wants to buy old time radio shows it is much cheaper to buy them in MP3 form than on a regular audio CD since an audio CD may hold only four half hour shows and a cassette tape will only have a half hour show on front and back of the tape depending on how much the tape will hold.

2GB MobiBlu Cube MP3 player.

Move the calendar ahead to 2011 and MobiBlu has on the market a very small 2GB MP3 player that  only weighs .063 ounces and it is a .94 of an inch square.

The MobiBlu player shown in the photo is currently being sold at Amazon for $111.22 which seems a bit too pricey for such a small player.

The player includes an FM radio and a clock. It also includes a built in microphone and a voice recorder.

The radio also can save music or talk shows into the player for later listening.

The price still is a little steep for a player that holds only 32 hours of MP3 music and 64 hours of WMA music.

To me it is more of a novelty than a practical MP3 player.

 

My clunky looking Creative Nomad Zen Xtra Jukebox may not be as small as the MobiBlu player but it has provided a lot of listening pleasure the last seven years.

Someday my Creative player will be obsolete since it is not compatible with Windows 7 the last I knew and I am already getting not compatible with Windows Media Player messages already but it does still work with it.

The only problem is that I have misplaced the installation CD for the player and since our computer was repaired after the virus the software is no longer in the computer so I can’t download music and old time radio shows till I find the missing software.

However I can still listen to the music and old time radio shows in the player for many years to come. Buying electronic products can produce a myriad of problems but I can truthfully say the Creative Nomad Zen Xtra Jukebox is working as well today as when I received it in the mail back in 2004.

1941 Philco console radio.

I can still listen to old time radio shows that go as far back as 1928 which is 83 years ago. The MP3 CD’s have been a amazing development that enable listeners in 2011 to go back in time to the good old days of old time radio which lasted from the 20′s till September 30,1962 the day old time radio died.

I can still recall visiting my grandparents at their Allendale, Missouri farm in 1959 and listening to radio shows and Kansas City Athletics baseball games as they were broadcast on a radio similar to this 1941 Philco console radio.

However the MP3 player enables me to relive those days 53 years later as I listen to the same great old time radio shows that were being broadcast back then.

It is exciting to listen to the old comedy shows like Fibber McGee and Molly, Great Gildersleeve, Amos and Andy and the Jack Benny show.

Detective shows of that era come alive again as Boston Blackie, Dragnet, This is Your FBI and dramas likk the Family Theater and Lux Radio Theater can be heard today bringing back memories of the good old days when life wasn’t so fast paced.

Listening to the Christmas shows from those days are a special treat like A Christmas Carol, Amos and Andy Christmas show in which Amos recites the Lord’s Prayer to his daughter on Christmas Eve. Another favorite was the Lum N’ Abner show where neighbors walk through the snow to help a destitute family.

The Family Theater Christmas episode of A Daddy For Christmas will bring tears to your eyes as a mother and her son try to make it after her husband is killed in World War II and the son’s mom winds up marrying a department store Santa Claus.

MP3 technology has made it possible for us to hear those shows on MP3 CD’s that are nominally priced with Ebay showing  621 items under the old time radio CD’s listing.

Some of the sellers are selling huge numbers of shows on MP3 CD’s and DVD’s. One seller is selling 852 episodes of Jack Benny shows for $4.89 using Buy It Now with only a $1.69 shipping charge. The only caveat is that these episodes are all on one DVD while it would take about nine MP3 CD’s for these same episodes which would drive the price higher.

These shows will play on a computer but it will take more technical knowledge than I have to play these shows on other devices but most audiophiles should have no problem.

Anyone who misses the good old days of radio can listen to the old shows at several websites if they can’t afford or don’t want to purchase an MP3 player.

OTR.NET is one of the best to listen to old time radio programs for free with over 12,000 free shows to listen to including 610 Jack Benny shows.

OTRCAT.com is one of the best places to sample shows where almost every show sold on the site has a free sample of that show.

Happy old time radio listening!!

 

Beyond Scared Straight Good or Bad?

Beyond Scared Straight airing on the A&E Network has stirred up controversy from those thinking the confrontational tactics seen on the show only make things worse for at risk kids.

Beyond Scared Straight which is being shown on the A&E Network which shows teenagers being confronted at prisons by inmates telling them what to expect if they are imprisoned.

The inmates are very confrontational with the teenagers especially with anyone that smiles or has a smirk on their face. They tell them in no uncertain terms what they can expect if they are given a prison sentence.

The inmates also talk to the teenagers one on one giving them guidance and what to expect in a more low key conversation simply telling them about the mistakes they made and how some of them in for murder will spend their entire life in jail.

I have seen some followup stories on some of those kids after they return home from their prison visit and the ones I have seen seem to have changed their attitudes. They also have learned to say no to those who might lure them into situations which could land them in prison.

One teenage boy is looking into qualifying for the Marines after graduating from high school. Joining the service sometimes is the only option for some teenagers to avoid a life of crime and ultimately a prison sentence.

An even younger boy was shown working in the yard and was telling how if others teenagers wanted to do something that could get him in trouble he told them no.

Speaking for myself  I think this is a good program but there are those who oppose the program saying it will only make things worse for them.

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges has issued this statement regarding the broadcast of shows which bring kids into a prison environment to scare them.

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges is concerned that the A&E program “Beyond Scared Straight” misrepresents the effectiveness of such interventions with youthful offenders. Although advertisements for the show claim Scared Straight! is “an effective juvenile prevention/intervention program,” social science research clearly demonstrates the opposite. In fact, research strongly suggests Scared Straight! and similar programs have a harmful impact on youth and are associated with increased risk for continued delinquent/criminal behaviors. Further, it is clear these types of interventions as portrayed are neither developmentally appropriate nor trauma-informed.

My viewpoint is that these shows cause no harm and if they keep one teenager out of prison they are worthwhile. Sometimes being scared is a good thing if it keeps someone from a life of crime.

Producer Arnold Shapiro of Beyond Scared Straight was the producer of  Big Brother from 2001-2006. He defends Beyond Scared Sraight with this statement:

“The kids in Beyond Scared Straight are chosen by youth counselors, teachers, family members.  If these people saw no results they would stop doing it,” Shapiro adds.  “The kids show an array of reactions in the prison.  But they didn’t just walk out and forget about it.”

He goes on to explain, “We talk to the kids on a weekly basis, sometimes up to a year after filming, before we lock the final edit. We checked in with them and they were doing just fine.”

Shapiro also admits that Scared Straight shouldn’t necessarily be the first choice for those seeking to help troubled kids.  “It’s a last resort.  Counselors will tell you it’s a valuable tool in an arsenal of tools,” he says.

Now California and Maryland have suspended the “scared straight” programs in those states after the U.S. Justice Department warned they could lose federal funding if they continued the programs.

If all else fails the U.S. government will and in this case has pulled out  the old “we will stop your funding threat” card.

Whether these programs continue or not apparently is at the mercy of the federal government. Threatening to withhold federal funding will probably bring any scared straight programs to a screeching halt.

Once more the federal government has decided for us what is good and what is bad for us. The families who have seen a change in their kids after they participated in the prison visits can only be thankful they were able to enroll their kids in the program before the Justice Department decided we don’t need programs that help our kids change into law abiding citizens before they embark on a life of crime.

My opinion for what it is worth is that the scared straight programs serve a useful purpose in preventing kids from hanging out with the wrong crowd and appreciating their parents and other adults who are looking out for their best interests.

Know the Face, Can’t Place the Name: Allan Melvin

Allan Melvin seen as the jeep driver in this Camels commercial with other cast members of the Phil Silvers Show. His first television work was in the Phil Silvers Show on September 12, 1955 as Corporal Steve Henshaw. His last appearance was on June 17,1959. He was seen in a total of 48 episodes.

He then started to appear in cartoons as the voice of many characters including Flintstones, Banana Splits,  Adventures of Gummi Bears, Yo Yogi and too many other cartoon shows to mention them all.

Melvin was seen in eight episodes of the Dick Van Dyke show appearing as several different characters from 1961-1966.



Allan Melvin playing a storeowner in one of eight Andy Griffith episodes he appeared in  and is shown threatening Deputy Barney Fife telling Barney he will beat him up if he ever catches him out of uniform in this November 9, 1964 episode.

Allan Melvin shown in this scene from Gomer Pyle USMC teaching Gomer about cooking. Melvin appeared in 16 episodes of the show from 1965-1969.

Allan Melvin shown in a scene from the Brady Bunch and can be seen at the 5:45 mark of the video. He also appeared in eight episodes of this show from 1969-1974,

This All in the Family video features Melvin as Barney Hefner. He appeared in 25 episodes sporadically from 1971 till 1979. He would appear in 59 episodes of Archie Bunker’s Place still portraying Barney Hefner.  After leaving the show he would only be heard as a voice in several cartoon shows till 1991.

Allen Melvin was born February 18, 1923 in Kansas City, Missouri and died on January 17,2008 at the age of 84 in Los Angeles, California and was survived by his widow Amalia Faustina Sestero his wife of 64 years.

Melvin was a typical character actor in that most television viewers remember his face but few knew what his name was in real life.

I remember him best playing a prison escapee on Andy Griffith and the episode in which he had Barney so scared he wouldn’t take his uniform off after Melvin’s character threatened to beat him up if ever caught out of uniform.

He also played Sgt. Carter’s rival on Gomer Pyle USMC.

 

 

 

 

Western Stars of the Past: Tim McCoy

Tim McCoy and John Wayne seen in Two Fisted Law in 1932 in the first part of the movie. Wayne was 25 at the time of the filming and another veteran actor Walter “Real McCoys” Brennan was 38.

Tim McCoy was born on April 10, 1881 in Saginaw, Michigan as Timothy John Fitzgerald “Tim” McCoy.  He was the son of an Union soldier and served in World War I and World War II.

McCoy appeared in 20 films during the silent movie era. 1927 would find him in five movies, six movies in 1928 and he made nine movies in 1932.

At one stretch from 1926 to 1936 he made 26 movies and was paid $4,000 for each movie. This was during the height of the depression earning $104,000 during that span.

The Internet Movie Database lists McCoy as having been in 91 movies during film career spanning from his debut in The Thundering Herd in 1925 till his last movie appearance 40 years later in 1965 in Requiem for a Gunfighter.

During various points in his career McCoy would appear in a circus and different wild west shows one which he had a financial interest in lost $300,000 according to McCoy.

He married Inga Arvad in 1945 after divorcing his first wife Agnes Miller in 1931. Arvad had a very controversial past before marrying McCoy.

Arvad who was a Danish journalist had been investigated for being a possible Nazi spy since she was seen with Adolf Hitler at the 1936 Olympics. She been married several times before their marriage.

She had enough connections with Hitler henchmen Hermann Goring and Joseph Goebbels to be the first to scoop the news of the  wedding of Goring and arranged through Goebbels an interview with Hitler. In her article after the interview she stated about Hitler:

 ”You immediately like him. He seems lonely. The eyes, showing a kind heart, stare right at you. They sparkle with force.”

Her being shadowed because of her Nazi connections led to her being discovered that she was having an affair with John F. Kennedy in 1942. FBI director had the couple photographed and had hidden microphones installed in the bedroom but they apparently knew they were being taped since they would sometimes say “whoever is listening.”

It is a mystery of how a Danish journalist who had been seen with Hitler and  had an affair with John F. Kennedy would wind up marrying a cowboy hero in Tim McCoy. She died of cancer in Nogales, Arizona in 1973.

Tim McCoy died on January 29, 1978 at the age of 86 in Fort Huachuca, Sierra Vista, Arizona.

McCoy was another of the early cowboy stars who appeared in both silent films and talkies. B-westerns.com has an excellent website with pages and pages of information and photos about Tim McCoy.

http://www.b-westerns.com/mccoy.htm