This is the most read article in the history of Nostalgia and Now with 31,634 page views as of April 21, 2013. Some links were dead since the article was so old, so inserted a photo and video.
Ron Shirley owner of Lizard Lick Towing was arrested in 2008, for telling an employee to impersonate a sheriff's investigator while repossessing cars.
I started the Nostalgia and Now blog four years ago this month. This morning the 500,000th viewer visited the blog. Half million is a real landmark to reach and I want to thank all the viewers who took time to stop at the blog and read the articles.
There are about 925 articles now posted at the blog dating back to April of 2009.
Thank you again to all the viewers of the blog.
Andrew
Juan Martinez prosecutor in the Jodi Arias trial is frustrated with the defense expert Alyce LaViolette being unresponsive.
Juan Martinez the prosecutor in the Jodi Arias murder trial has been frustrated with Alyce LaViolette, who has avoided for the most part giving direct answers, when being questioned by Martinez.
LaViolette has even went so far as to ask Martinez if he was angry at her and then earlier this week she told him, that if he was in her group that she would need to put him in timeout.
Can you imagine a witness in the O.J. Simpson trial telling Johnny Cochran that he needed to be put in timeout? Martinez is a bulldog in the courtroom relentlessly questioning witnesses and it seems to be working. LaViolette actually admitted that Travis Alexander was afraid of Arias, which could derail the self-defense theory espoused by the defense.
LaViolette has continuously refused to answer yes or no questions posed by Martinez and instead started talking about unrelated topics. Martinez then comes back and says he is not asking her about the unrelated topic. Martinez has several times complained to the judge, about LaViolette being unresponsive and Judge Sherry Stephens admonished her for her unresponsiveness.
The defense will have problems answering why LaViolette more or less took Arias at her word. She talked to Arias for 44 hours, yet never checked with anyone to see if what Arias was saying was true, since it is a well-known fact that Arias is a chronic liar, that will answer questions, in a way which correspond with her self-defense story.
Defense attorney Jennifer Willmott shown at the right of Jodi Arias is now trying to rehabilitate defense expert Alyce LaViolette after being questioned by Juan Martinez.
Jennifer Willmott one of the defense attorneys has the job, of now trying to rehabilitate defense expert LaViolette, after she admitted that Travis Alexander was afraid of Jodi Arias. Willmott also addressed the stalking issue, which was brought up by Martinez.
Stalkers are known to be serious threats to whoever they are stalking. If Arias slashed the tires of Alexander, then it stands to reason that she wouldn’t stop at anything, to exact revenge on the man who broke up with her.
The closing arguments of the prosecution will almost certainly be the death knell for the self-defense claim, since it will detail how Arias planned the trip to Mesa and how she stole a gun from the house of a relative. Personally, I don’t buy the Arias story of getting a gun off a shelf, without falling or leaving the bookshelves disheveled. Even if she did get the gun off the shelf it would have been her stolen gun being in a hiding place on the shelf, so when she needed it she would know where to retrieve it, without it being seen by Alexander.
We may never know exactly what happened during the murder, since we only have the word of Arias, on what events took place and in what order. It would make sense that she would shoot him first and then proceed to stab him, when he would offer the least resistance. If she was in any danger it seems that she could have left the house with neither of them being hurt or killed.
I can’t even begin to understand the rage she was in to shoot him, stab him almost 30 times and then slit his throat. Nobody stabs someone 30 times in self-defense. By that point it becomes overkill, eliminating any self-defense claim.
You can see that Arias is starting to realize, that she could be given a death sentence, since her defense experts have crumbled during their questioning by Martinez.
If all goes well this trial will be over in a couple of weeks, but with the way this trial has been so drawn out it may continue for another month.
The closing arguments by the prosecution should seal the fate of Jodi Arias. However, we won’t know what the jury is thinking, until they render their verdict. If Arias is sentenced to death it doesn’t mean she will be put to death. There hasn’t been an execution of a woman in Arizona, for the last 83 years and that was in 1930.
It would be a shocker of the first magnitude if Arias were to be acquitted, since there is so much evidence against her including her confession that she killed Travis Alexander, but in self-defense.
I would like to commend HLN for their excellent coverage of the trial, but it may be better to record the trial and watch it later, to prevent so many commercial interruptions.
There will be electricity in the courtroom, when the jury enters the courtroom to reveal their verdict. Let us hope justice will be served.
Nicki Minaj took to Tweeter lecturing Devin Velez that he should be gracious for being on the show. When Velez sang I Can't Help Myself on Wednesday night, with Lazaro Arbos and Burnell Taylor Minaj compared their singing to that of Hollywood week. Even worse, she ordered the group off the stage, which to me was extremely mean. They had to feel bad enough, after being trashed by Minaj, without her ordering them off the stage.
This has been posted again back in the early days of this website when there less than 1,000 readers a month. With over 6,000 visitors in September this will give more visitors a chance to see these great Lindy Hop dancers from the 2006 Fast Dance Championship.
Father Knows Best was pictured as the perfect family during its run of 203 episodes from 1954 to 1963 on CBS and NBC. The show also ran during the days of old time radio with only an entirely different cast except for Young who also portrayed the father in the radio version.
Robert Young portrayed the father Jim Anderson while…
One of my first memories after arriving in Vietnam was working in the post office and hearing a loud noise over our post office. Turned out it was our outgoing artillery being fired toward the enemy.
I can recall a soldier working in the mortuary asking to be sent to the infantry because he couldn't handle the stress of working with dead bodies.
This is the best jazz organ song I have heard. Jimmy Smith was my favorite jazz organist.
Chase Rogan of the Joe Schmo Show is shown with his “Spirit animal” llama from the show.
Chase Rogan of the Joe Schmo Show recently was interviewed about his experiences on the Joe Schmo Show. The interview was apparently filmed at his Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania home.
It is fun hearing Rogan relate his experiences from the show and telling of some situations, which made him wonder what was going on. The following article and interview tell in Rogan’s own words, what it was like to be the only real person in a reality show, with everyone else being actors.
The following article is about Rogan’s wedding to Taylor and includes a wedding photo:
http://www.goerie.com/article/20120325/LIFESTYLES16/303259941/Taylor-Baker-Chase-Rogan
This is Chase Rogan’s website for his business and includes some photos from the party, after he was told he had won $100,000 on the Joe Schmo Show. He is planning on assisting gardening enthusiasts with their vegetable gardens..
http://www.pureturfconsulting.com/Home_Page.html
Watching Rogan watch himself on television makes this video worth seeing, as it gives us an idea, of how he was feeling in certain situations on the show.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/tv-radio/reality-show-a-blast-for-local-joe-schmo-677651/
We didn’t miss an episode of the Joe Schmo Show and we were happy to see Chase Rogan win the $100,000, because he deserved every penny of it, for being such a good sport after he found out he was only non-actor on the show. The producers couldn’t have picked a more deserving person than Rogan to be on the show.
It is becoming more and more evident that all reality shows are fake, to create the maximum drama from any situation. The Joe Schmo Show has a cast of characters, who know the show is fake, but Chase Rogan, who is the Joe Schmo this season doesn't have a clue, that he is being duped by the entire cast.
There was a close call when a girl who was supposed to be deaf answered, when Chase asked her question, which could have brought the show crashing down to earth.
Quinn Sullivan singing on Ellen show at the age of six in 2006.
Sullivan playing on stage at a Buddy Guy concert at the age of eight. Guy is amazed at his guitar skills and can't get over how good he is at such a young age.
Sullivan three years later playing at the House of Blues with Buddy Guy at the age of 11.
1961 – Entered the 12th grade, after spending two years in the 10th grade at Pineville High School, due to going to summer school for the third straight year.
John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th president on January 20.
Remember listening to Chicago White Sox games on KSYL AM, out of Alexandria, Louisiana, with Bob Elson and Milo Hamilton as the announcers. This was the summer that Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle were battling to break Babe Ruth’s season home run record of 60. Bob and Milo would give updates during the White Sox games, about what Roger and Mickey were doing in the home run race. Maris would hit his 61st home run on October 1, which broke the 34-year-old record of Ruth. Surprisingly only 21,000 fans were present to see the achievement of Maris.
The ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion ended two days later. It was a failed attempt to remove Fidel Castro from power. He had taken power in 1959 and is still in power today 54 years later.
1962 – K-Mart would open its first store in Garden City Michigan on March 1 and the company is now 51-years-old. July 2 would see the first Wal-Mart store opened in Rogers, Arkansas.
My senior class graduated in May, but it would be September before I received my diploma, because I had failed English IV.
I joined the Army Reserve in Alexandria, Louisiana and was sent to Fort Polk for basic training in October. We were kept so busy at Fort Polk during basic, that we had no clue of the magnitude of the Cuban missile crisis that October. The only clue we had been what we said when we marched:
I don’t know but I believe
I’ll be in Cuba by Christmas Eve
Little did we know we were on the brink of a nuclear disaster and we didn’t know about it till we finished basic training in December.
I won’t mention any names, but a soldier from Wardville thought it would be fun, to yell from the barracks upstairs at a sergeant saying “Hey nutbrain”. That was not a smart thing to do on his part. That sergeant did not waste any time, as he made his way up in the stairs in record time. The soldier was told in no uncertain terms, that calling his sergeant “nutbrain” was not acceptable behavior.
1963 – Was on leave when the year started, but would board a passenger train for Indianapolis, Indiana at the Missouri Pacific depot in January. That depot was later torn down, but assembled in a new location in downtown Alexandria.
I can remember seeing snow falling when we went through St. Louis, then after arriving in Indianapolis saw several inches of snow on the ground. I learned what a Indiana winter was like, while being stationed at the Adjustant General’s School at Fort Benjamin Harrison. Some soldiers called it “Uncle Ben’s Rest Home”. Attended the postal school there from January through April, before returning to Louisiana having finished my six months of active duty.
It took attending a few Army Reserve meetings, before I decided to join the Regular Army and joined in May of 1963. I requested to be sent to Germany or Hawaii and received orders for Hawaii. Was flown to San Francisco and took a helicopter to the Oakland Army Terminal.
Spent eight days at the terminal before boarding flight to Hawaii. We were on a slow MATS transport plane, so the trip took several hours. When I arrived at Schofield Barracks the home of the 25th Infantry Division I heard some of the soldiers talking about having just a few days left before being discharged. I figured out that I had only 1,095 days left and they got a big kick out of that.
Hawaii is a beautiful state and liked being stationed there. The Army Service Club conducted tours of the island of Oahu and would take us on a bus trip around the island. Wish I had taken some color photos of the scenery, but only took black and white photos.
One of my first memories was seeing the Beach Boys at Conroy Bowl, the arena where entertainers appeared. Remember seeing Johnny Cash and June Carter and Sue Thompson there. It was a highlight for me, when Sue Thompson shook hands with me, while singing one of her songs.
I loved going to the beach, since the Service Club took the soldiers on busses to the different beaches each weekend. I would listen to music on my radio, while looking across the ocean toward California. Surf music was at its height in 1963 and even today I Heart radio has a station, with only surf music being featured.
By far the biggest event of 1963 was when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22. The regular company postal clerk was on leave, so I was the temporary clerk while he was gone. I had my radio on in the post office, when I heard the announcement that JFK had been shot. I immediately informed the company commander, who had not heard about it yet.
Meanwhile the postal clerk on leave to New York was flying standby and his flight was rerouted from California to Texas, which landed in Dallas about the same time as the assassination. So he got caught in the middle of all the commotion, even though he wasn’t even thinking of having to go through Dallas.
Just missed by a few minutes of seeing Lee Harvey Oswald gunned down in the Dallas Police station on the TV, in the dayroom but not too disappointed since I didn’t really want to see it anyway.
A few days later we would march in a memorial observance of JFK’s death and it was a surreal experience, knowing that the president of the United States had been assassinated and marching on the parade grounds brought it home.
Went to a Christmas show in December, that really made me homesick, when they sang “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”.
1964 – Went on temporary duty to Molokai, the island on which Father Damien established his leper colony. The ride there on a boat was a rocky one and wound up getting very sick, even if was only a 20 something mile trip from Oahu.
Can remember it pouring down that week a lot and that I heard on the radio, that Lyndon B. Johnson had defeated Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election.
I can remember flying home to Pineville in October of 1964, my first trip home since leaving in May of 1963. I took my leave in October, so I could see the World Series while I was at home. I think it was this trip, that when flying back saw professional wrestler Sputnik Monroe aboard the plane. Coincidentally, he and his wrestling brother Rocket both lived in Alexandria and had performed at Jimmie Thompson’s Arena. That reminds me of the time when my brother, who knows sign language saw a deaf wrestler Silento Rodriguez being knocked from the ring and went over and signed to him, asking if he was OK and the wrestler signed back that he was OK.
1995 – This was the year that I was sent to the Big Island named Hilo, to work at the Camp Pohokoloa (sp) post office. I remember one payday, that we sold $28,000 worth of money orders and that I came up $107 short at the end of the day. The other postal worker working that day later was court-martialed, for stealing money from the post office, so I have always wondered if he didn’t take the missing money. Worst thing is that my wages were garnished till the $107 was paid back to the post office.
The post office was at a high altitude and I could see snow-capped mountains in the distance. It was cold there, even if it was Hawaii. Tsunamis hit Hilo in 1946 and 1960 killing 160 and 61 people respectively.
Saw a missionary from Pineville who was living in Hilo at this time. My mom had told me where to find her and I had a nice visit with her.
When the surgeon that performed my cancer surgery told me in November, that my duodenal cancer has a history of returning it reminded me of my immortality. It may have been negative news, but it also reminded me of many events of my 68 years of living, that were either positive and negative.
1944 – Was born on October 14, just four months after the D-Day landing and World War II would be over in Europe, about six and-a-half months later in April of 1945.
1950 – My first memory is of walking to school with my brother on the first day of school to Pineville Elementary. I remember Mrs. Price was my first grade teacher. School lunches were only 10 cents at the time.
1951 – This is the year I rode my last school bus in the second grade, when I accidentally got off the bus in Libuse, instead of five blocks from Louisiana College, so walked home that day from Libuse to Pineville. I never rode another school bus after that day.
1952 – We moved from Holloway Drive to Burns Street in February of 1952, moving from a small house to a very large house. The house payment was $55 a month, which was a bargain at the time.
1954- Think this is the year when my dad purchased our first television, when I was nine years old. He didn’t buy it for entertainment reasons, but because my sister had a lazy eye and a special screen was placed over the TV screen, that made her use her lazy eye. We bought it at L.B. Henry’s store on Main Street, when they were selling televisions. Our first TV was an Admiral.
This is also the year I really became interested in baseball and remember listening to the 1954 World Series between the New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians. Willie Mays made his famous catch in one of those games on a ball hit by Vic Wertz of the Indians.
1955 – Ray Kroc opened his first McDonalds fast food restaurant (the McDonald brothers opened the first eight, before selling out to Kroc.) Once after he bought the San Diego Padres they were playing so badly, that Kroc said over the public address system that his short order cooks at McDonalds could play better the Padres.
This was the first year I played Little League baseball. I went to a local hardware store to buy a baseball glove and wanted to buy a $6.50 glove. Only problem was that I only had $6, but the owner Mr. Brister let me have it for $6. It was a Nokona brand glove.
1956- My main memory of 1956 was when Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series. He recently sold his uniform from that game for $756,000 and is using part of the money to pay college education expenses for his grandchildren.
1957 – Elvis Presley buys Graceland for $100,000, since their last Memphis home had attracted too many fans, with no way of keeping them off the grounds. This was the year my baby sister was born on March 23. Three months later the worst hurricane to hit Alexandria-Pineville area in my memory hit the area, with full force when Hurricane Audrey hit. Audrey had earlier killed 500 people in Cameron, Louisiana. I remember Jim Gaines of KALB Radio telling, about the progress of the hurricane and the damage being done. We had a very tall pine tree fall in our yard, but was not close to the house.
August of 1957 would bring many memories when my dad, older brother and me took a road trip in our 1949 Packard, from Louisiana to Maine. We made the usual tourist stops like Rock City, Lookout Mountain, Mount Vernon and other tourist attractions. We visited the most tourist attractions in Washington, D.C. We visited the National Archives Building, Capitol building, White House (just saw it from the fence), Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of Mint and Engraving and watched the workers print sheets of currency.
We visited the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and saw a show at the planetarium, plus visited the site of the Liberty Bell. However, the main thing I remember from the Philadelphia visit was seeing my first major league game. The hometown Phillies were playing the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates in Connie Mack Stadium. I remember fans bringing paper bags with bottles in them to the game. I can only imagine what was in those bottles. I also remember the Phillies fans booing their own players. The highlight of the game was when Bill Mazeroski hit a home run that hit the tin roof over our heads, in the left field bleachers. Three years later Mazeroski would hit a walkoff homer that defeated the New York Yankees in the 1960 World Series Game 7.
Saw my grandpa for the only time in my life in the hospital. Not sure where the hospital was located. It was either New Jersey or Pennsylvania. My dad’s folks were living in Millville, New Jersey.
Will never forget my dad driving through the Bowery district in New York City and seeing men laying on the sidewalk. That would be the only time for me to visit New York. Then we went on to Beverly, Massachusetts and ate at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant, with the classic orange roof. My dad was in town for an American Chemical Society convention, then after the convention ended we went to Maine, to see my uncle and aunt and their family. It was the only time I saw my cousin alive, since he was piloting a helicopter in Vietnam, when he was shot down and killed.
Then we raced back to Louisiana, stopping only one night at Warsaw, Kentucky, then my dad drove almost non-stop since school started the next day at Pineville Elementary. The next month the Milwaukee Braves would win the 1957 World Series.
1958 – Played Pony League baseball in 1958, which would be my fourth and last year of playing baseball. One night when we were playing a game, someone hollered “That plane is going to crash” and we saw a plane plummeting to the ground, about two miles from the park. It crashed about a block or two off of Main Street near a National Cemetery, but not positive about the exact crash site.
This was also the year I entered Pineville High School. It is difficult to believe that this was 55 years ago. Finding classes was not easy that first day, since I wasn’t used to attending such a big school.
The Milwaukee Braves took a three games to one lead in the 1958 World Series, but would let the Yankee,s that they had defeated in 1957 come back to win the World Series.
1959 – I remember this being the year my older brother graduated from high school. February of 1959 would see Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper go down in an airplane crash in Iowa. The Big Bopper had appeared in Alexandria, Louisiana about 1958, at a KALB Radio record hop. 1959 was also the year the White Sox won the AL pennant but lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
The highlight of 1959 was our trip in a Volkwagen Micro-bus, which took us to Missouri, Canada and back to Louisiana. My dad was taking classes at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, so we stayed mostly in Missouri at the 80 acre farm of my grandpa and grandma. They had only recently installed indoor plumbing in their home. I will never forget the huge console radio on the living room floor. The sound was great and I could hear the Kansas City Athletics baseball games on the radio. Saw Leave it to Beaver for the first time on their television. Don’t think it was on KALB TV in Alexandria, La., since it was on another network.
We spent part of the summer at the Chateau Cottages near Devils Lake in Wisconsin. We were on a tourist boat, when the captain asked me to pilot the ship. He sold souvenirs, while piloted the boat up the Wisconsin River. It was a relief when he took over the helm, since there were a lot of duckboats on the water.
Then after my dad finished the summer classes we drove to Chicago. It was amazing to look up at the tall buildings on the Loop and we went to a church in Berwyn, Illinois. Then we drove to Detroit and visited the Ford headquarters and also toured Post Cereals factory and can’t remember if we also toured the Kelloggs plant. We crossed into Canada at Windsor and journeyed to Brantford, Ontario where my mom had relatives. We then went to Niagara Falls and crossed back into the United States.
My dad was stopped by the Canadian Mounties, because our Volkswagen micro-bus resembled a vehicle they were looking for. At one point during our trip while driving in the United States a driver hollered “Governor Long” at us, when he saw the Louisiana license plate. This was the same year he managed to escape from a mental health institution, so Louisiana was in the news a lot that summer.
1960 – Nothing stands out about this year for me, except for the Pittsburgh Pirates defeating the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series. Bill Mazeroski, who I had seen hit the home run, in Philadelphia three years earlier hit a walkoff home run over the left field wall, that made Pirates the world champions of baseball.
Stuckey’s was a place where you could fill up with gasoline, go to restrooms and shop for souvenirs and the famous Stuckey’s pecan candy.
There was their famous pecan log rolls, pecan divinity and of course pecan pralines. I have to debate with myself whether my favorite was the divinity fudge or the pralines.
First Stuckey’s Physical Building Opened in 1937
The first Stuckey’s building was opened in 1937 and expanded into 350 stores. Stuckey’s merged with Pet Milk in 1967 and the 350 stores dwindled into 75, during the Pet Milk operation of the company. Most of the Stuckey’s stores sold Texaco gasoline back then.
William S. Stuckey Sr., got the idea for the company when he had a bumper crop of pecans in 1930. His wife went to work in the kitchen and experimented with different candy recipes, which were the main drawing card for Stuckey’s, when they opened their first physical store in 1937.
Box of Stuckey’s Pecan Pralines on display.
After the fortunes of the company declined during the Pet Milk ownership period, the son of Stuckey, who was U.S. congressman William S. Stuckey restored the Stuckey’s name by purchasing the company and there are now 200 Stuckey’s in the United States at the present time.
Stuckey’s are found as far north today as Connecticut, but surprisingly there are no stores in either New Jersey or New York. Most of the stores are concentrated in the southern states, but there are stores in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Indiana.
Stores are only located in 20 of the 50 states. I was surprised recently to see a Stuckey’s returning on a trip to Houston and the store sold gasoline, souvenirs and had a Popeye’s Fried Chicken place inside the store. There are nine Stuckey’s located in Texas, but the only Stuckey’s in Louisiana according to their website is a store in Opelousas.
It was exciting to see signs for Stuckey’s, since we knew we could get off the road for a while, while we browsed the souvenir shop and found candy to munch on as we continued on down the highway. It is great to know the company still exists 56 years after our 1957 trip from Louisiana to our eventual destination of Maine to visit my uncle and aunt and their family.
Stuckey’s has had its ups and downs since the first store was opened in 1937, but it is good to know, that the company is thriving again, now that the Stuckey family once again own the stores. We want to thank them for restoring our memories of that 1957 trip, when Stuckey’s were a mainstay on the U.S. highway system.
The year 2012 will go down as the year, that I learned I had cancer. I had duodenal cancer surgery on Oct.16 at the Houston VA Hospital and it was successful, but as a precaution I am undergoing chemotherapy for 24 weeks.
I am cautiously optimistic as we embark on the year 2013 later tonight, hoping and praying that the chemotherapy will be non-eventful. I hope to post more often in the coming months, if the chemotherapy continues to go well.
Lime Sherbet Punch, Chips and Dip Tradition
On a happier note, this will rekindle memories of some New Year’s traditions. One tradition that has been in our family for years is the making of lime sherbet punch with lime sherbet and ginger ale. It makes for an excellent drink, but it is almost addictive, since it tastes so good. Another element in our New Year’s tradition is chips and dip, which goes well with the lime sherbet punch. The combination of chips and dips are great for watching the football bowl games and watching Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve.
Guy Lombardo New Year’s Eve
Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians band were featured on New Year’s Eve programming on old time radio, as far back as 1929 and were later seen on television. Lombardo’s New Year’s Eve program was on the air continuously from 1929-1976. His program went head to head against Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve until his death. Lombardo was most famous for playing Auld Lang Syne on his program.
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve
It will be sad to watch the show tonight with Dick Clark having died in 2012 and his wife Kari said on television this weekend, that she will miss kissing him this New Year’s Eve. Dick Clark created the show and it has aired continuously since 1974, but Clark missed the 2005 show, due to having suffered a stroke. His speech was altered by the stroke and he seemed to gradually improve his speech, in the years since the stroke. Dick Clark counted down the last few seconds for the last time before the ball dropped in Times Square in the last show. Ryan Seacrest who has been on the show since 2007 and did almost all the hosting duties anyway will now take over the show.
It doesn't seem possible that it has been 57 years since the Lennon Sisters first appeared on the Lawrence Welk Show on Christmas Eve of 1955.
Who can forget the great harmony of their voices on Lawrence Welk Show and on their recordings? They were on Lawrence Welk Show for 13 years before embarking on their own path.
The oldest sister Dianne will be 73 in December while Janet who was the youngest Lennon Sister is now 66.
When I started work at the Alexandria Daily Town Talk in August of 1966 the paper was still using hot metal for each line of type produced.
My first job was working on the type dump. The linotype operators operated a huge linotype machine that produced a slug for each line of type seen in a newspaper. The slugs were extremely hot after being produced by the linotype machine.
It is only fair to notify readers of this blog, why there have been so few blogs lately.
I have been diagnosed with duodenal ulcers, after losing 25 pounds without any reason. However, the doctors are still testing for other causes of the illness. Having stomach pain most of the day has prevented me from feeling well enough to post new content on the blog, as often as in the past.
Yesterday, I had upper GI x-rays and will have lower GI x-rays next week, after having a CT scan of stomach last week. I am at the point, where no food looks appetizing and eating food often causes vomiting.
So until this health situation is cleared up, there will be very few if any new blogs, since I don’t have the energy, to take the time necessary to write a blog. I know this notiification will reduce my readership numbers, but it is unfair to readers to return to blog looking for new content and find none, which is wasting their time.
I am hoping doctors will find these health problems are not of a serious nature, but as of today there are no real answers to what is causing the health problems. Evidently, there is a more serious problem than ulcers, but can’t say for sure until medical tests and procedures are completed.
God bless everyone who has visited this website and I hope to continue writing the blog, after the medical situation is cleared up.
Thank you for understanding.
Andrew Godfrey
The Voice begins its third season tonight on NBC. Chairs will be turning around tonight and the next three nights. This may be overkill to telecast the show on three consecutive nights.
To make matters worse The Voice, battles X-Factor head to head at 8PM ET. Simon Cowell was furious to learn that NBC had scheduled The Voice in the same time slot and called it “dirty tricks.”
Both shows have not produced a well-known singer as of yet. Quick, name the winners of The Voice in its two seasons and the winner of X-Factor last December.
The two shows are still American Idol wannabes, but that could change the way American Idol seems to be slipping. I just can’t see Mariah Carey matching any of the three judges from last season.She is reportedly earning $15-$17 million, while latest reports say Keith Urban is being offered only $3-5 million, which would be a third of Ryan Seacrest’s salary. Enrique Iglesias is reportedly in the running for another judge slot, while Nicky Minaj could also be hired anyday now.
Randy Jackson won’t be returning as a judge, according to the latest reports, but could be a mentor next season.
I look for American Idol ratings to tumble again next season, due to the fact that The Voice and X-Factor will probably end their seasons in December. Then American Idol will have their 2013 debut in January and won’t end till May, while the The Voice could return in February again, since they opened their season on Super Bowl Night in 2012.
So American television watchers will be seeing a steady diet of singing competition shows, each month from September of 2012 till May of 2013. Nine continuous months of these shows may be too much for television audiences, who would like to watch other shows.
Television moguls like to ride a winning cycle and that cycle right now is singing competitions. The question is how much is too much of a good thing.
We have seen the days when television was featuring westerns, but today I don’t think there is one western TV show on during prime-time.
Doctor shows were the rage in the days of Dr.Kildare, St.Elsewhere, Ben Casey and Marcus Welby MD. The doctor shows fizzled out.
All I am saying is that singing competitions may be a thing of the past, much sooner than we think. The ratings will tell the story on Wednesday night when X-Factor and The Voice go against each other, while both shows will battle Big Brother 14, which also will be in the same time slot on CBS.
Will be interesting to see if ratings fall as the season goes on. Britney Spears may help X-Factor initially in the ratings, but the question is will she able to draw viewers all season long.
We will know in December which show has had the best ratings,so all we can do now is watch and wait.
Note: This will be the last Nostalgia and Now post for a while, unless a huge story breaks between now and tomorrow. We will be moving 50 miles from here and it may take a while to find new internet service, so could be back online next week or it could be even longer.
A mother and her daughters sang this song at our church recently and I liked the song so much, that I found it to share with readers. The Collingsworths sing this version:
Last week I visited David Gasten's website This Is Vintage Now website and listened to Beverly Kenney a singer I had never heard sing previously.
As soon as I heard her sing the first few words of Tea For Two I knew she was special and that her voice reminded me of Joni James.
Beverly Kenney sings the American songbook classic…
Alma Cummings started the dance marathon craze after outlasting six partners in 1923. Spectators were charged admission and the winners would receive a cash prize.
The marathons would become grueling tests of endurance for the participants trying to outlast the other couples. Attendants at the scene would try to keep the contestants awake by dabbing wet towels on their faces.
Rosemary Timotea "Timi" Yuro
Born: August 4, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois
Died: March 30, 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada
Hurt is one of my alltime favorite songs from the 1960's and even though Roy Hamilton had released it earlier Timi Yuro made it a huge hit as it topped out at No.4 on the record charts.
She also was the first to have recorded Make The World Go Away which went to No.24 on the charts.
JD Hay’s Crooners is a great resource for music from the past. The fastest way to see whose music is on the site is to go to home menu and then click on full list. This will open up a window that lists Male Crooners, Female Crooners, Groups, Instrumentals, Vintage and Top Hits of the 50′s.
The list shows under Male Crooners, such diverse singers as Gordon Lightfoot, Tony Bennett, Ricky Nelson, Frank Sinatra and Bobby Vinton, plus many more male crooners.
The Female Crooners include Connie Francis, Dinah Shore, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin and Loretta Lynn and many additional female crooners.
The Groups category includes the Mills Brothers, Andrew Sisters from the 40′s and the Lennon Sisters and Four Tops and others.
The Instrumentals category ranges from Guy Lombardo to the Ventures to the Glenn Miller Orchestra to Booker T and the MG’s.
The Vintage category includes the music of Jeanette McDonald and the music of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.
The 50′s category shows the Top 30 songs of each year of the 50′s. You can see in 1953 that there was still no rock and roll songs, but in 1954 Bill Haley had Rock Around the Clock and in 1955 he made the Top 30 with Rock Around the Clock. 1956 was the first year that rock and roll started making inroads into the Top 30. Elvis Presley had four songs in the Top 15 of the Top 30, while Carl Perkins and Gene Vincent had two more songs to reach the Top #30.
By 1957 the only singers or orchestras from the past in the Top 30 were Jimmy Dorsey, Perry Como, Harry Belafonte (not really from the past but not a rock and roller), who was the last one on the list, that wasn’t part of the new wave of rock and roll music. So it is safe to say that 1957 changed the world of music from the music our mom and pop listened to…to rock and roll which took 27 of the Top 30 spots that year.
1958 showed the new era was in full force, as songs that really meant something were being sung by the younger singers. Some of those songs were named Purple People Eater (which always made me cry) and the Everly Brothers were singing about their Bird Dog. Danny and the Juniors were really rocking At The Hop, while the Coasters were singing the tear-jerker Yakety Yak.
By 1959 there was all rock and roll, with the exception of three instrumentals, with Sleep Walk by Santo and Johnny, Quiet Village with exotic jungle sounds by Martin Denny and Dave Cortez and is Happy Organ song.
There is one last category called Inspirational which includes a page of inspirational music and a few pages of Christmas songs.
There must be a thousand songs on the website if not more to listen to.
A lot of people have visited this site. Matter of a fact 1, 421,962 have visited the site since 2002.
Reggie Jackson stated last week that Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez should not be in the Hall of Fame due to his admitted use of steroids.
Reggie Jackson made the classic mistake, of not knowing when to shut up. He questioned whether Alex Rodriguez should be admitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame, because Rodriquez admitted using steroids during his career.
Jackson must have momentarily forgotten that the Yankees are signing his paychecks, since he is a special advisor for the club. Statements like he made only cause friction between him and Alex Rodriguez. It is a given that Rodriguez used steroids for many years, but it was not the place of Jackson to publicly throw Rodriguez under the bus.
Rodriguez will find out like most Hall of Fame eligible players, that Hall of Fame voters have long memories, when it comes to voting on Hall of Fame candidates who have used steroids.
Then to compound an already bad situation, Jackson goes on to trash six present Hall of Famers, Phil Niekro, Kirby Puckett, Gary Carter, Don Sutton, Bert Blyleven and Jim Rice. He stated that none of the six players deserved to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The family and friends of Gary Carter and Kirby Puckett can’t be too happy, to hear another Hall of Famer saying that their relative doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame.
How can Reggie Jackson face these players at the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies this summer, after trashing them publicly?
Knowing that Jackson doesn’t think they belong in the Hall of Fame, should make for some awfully awkward moments at Cooperstown this summer.
If they have a dinner for the Hall of Famers, hope they sit Jackson between Jim Rice and Don Sutton. Those three won’t have much to say to each other. Jackson may issue an apology to those players and the families of Puckett and Carter, but the damage has been done and his words won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
Jay North was eight years old, when he appeared in Dennis the Menace from 1959-1963. The show left the air 49 years ago and North will be 61 in August.
26 years have passed since his last acting role in 1986.
His first television appearance was in Wanted: Dead or Alive in 1957.
North played the mischievous Dennis Mitchell on Dennis the Menace and character actor Joseph Kearns was perfectly cast as the first Mr. Wilson.
Joseph Kearns was perfectly cast as Mr. Wilson, the next door neighbor of the Mitchell family and was a perfect foil for the antics of Dennis.
Jay North seen less than a year ago at the age of 60 and you can still see the resemblance to a young Jay North.
Jay North was only four, when his father left home and never saw him again. His mother, Dorothy North was contacted by an agent, who thought her son would be marketable, in the entertainement industry. She knew about the stories of child actors, who had troubled lives, so was wary but signed the contract.
Hundreds of boys tried out for the part of Dennis Mitchell on Dennis the Menace, but North won the role and would be forever known as Dennis the Menace. He won the part and was paid $500 an episode, which was far less than what actors make today per episode. His mother was not a typical stage mother, since she continued to work and live off her earnings. North makes it clear that his mother did not live off of his earnings.
Even more, Mrs. North didn’t hang around the stage, leaving that up to her sister and husband, as they were there for Dennis. His salary escalated to $2,500 an episode in 1961.
Aunt Abused Him On Set
His Aunt Marie was cruel to Dennis on the set, physically and verbally abusing him, when me made mistakes. He lived in a state of fear on the set, smiling to mask his true feelings. His mother nor the rest of the cast knew how his aunt was treating him.
It is surprising that he didn’t tell his mother how his aunt was treating him, but at his age he was probably afraid of repercussions, from the aunt for disclosing what was really going on.
North earned $3,500 an episode during the fourth and last season. The pressure he was going through backstage, because of his aunt and the loss of Joseph Kearns turned North into a very serious kid. He was thankful the show ended, so he could get away from the backstage tension..
Typecast As Dennis Mitchell
North struggled to find acting jobs. He did secure one last starring role in The Teacher in 1974, which was an R-rated movie, that was as far removed from his role as Dennis Mitchell as possible. North finally tired of waiting for acting roles to come his way, joined the U.S. Navy in 1977. However that didn’t go well, since his shipmates taunted him about being a child star and he was honorably discharged in 1979.
1986 would be the last year that North would be seen on film, when he appeared in a Yugoslavian movie, which ended his film career 23 years after his last appearance on Dennis the Menace.
His personal life wasn’t going well with two marriages which lasted less than a year, but he married Cindy Hackney in 1993 and they are still married 19 years later. They are reportedly well off due to his mother’s investments of his earnings while he was a child actor.
North was working in health food industry for a few years and has worked as a juvenile correctional officer in Florida.
He has been through a lot over the years, but seems to be at peace now, after receiving much support from Paul Petersen, former child actor from the Donna Reed Show, who started an organization that assists child actors, who need some support from former child actors.
Don Grady 1944-2012
Don Grady died of cancer June 27 in Thousand Oaks, California at the age of 68.. His survivors included Virginia Lewsader, his wife of 27 years and two children, Joey and Tessa.
His first television appearance according to imdb.com was in the Spin and Marty series in 1957 for Walt Disney.
He appeared in many television westerns, before appearing on My Three Sons (1960 -1971) at the age of 16 and was 27 when the show ended in 1971.
Grady became involved with music after the run of My Three Sons ended, His last acting appearance was in an episode of Simon and Simon in 1964.
He has acted only four times in the last 41 years, since he ended his run as being Robbie Douglas.
The following obituary from the Los Angeles Times tells more details of his life.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-don-grady-20120628,0,7035373.story
The Tropic Lightning patch represents the 25th Infantry Division and I wore that patch proudly from June of 1963 to May of 1966, when honorably discharged from the Army.
I had re-enlisted in the regular Army in May of 1963, after having served six months of active duty with the Army Reserve. Left Alexandria, Louisiana on a bus in October of 1962, headed for Leesville, Louisiana and eventually the final destination of Fort Polk, Louisiana.
One of the other recruits on the bus made a big mistake right off, after arriving at Fort Polk. He found out that yelling nutbrain at a sergeant, from a second story window was not acceptable behavior. That sergeant let him know in no uncertain terms, that that kind of behavior would not be tolerated from a soldier in the United States Army.
We went from the brutal October heat of Fort Polk, to freezing temperatures, while on bivouac in December during basic training. Without giving the gruesome details of basic training, will move ahead to finishing basic and going home for Christmas.
After Christmas I boarded a Missouri Pacific train in Alexandria, Louisiana for Indianapolis, Indiana and the ultimate destination of Fort Benjamin Harrison, where the Adjustant General’s School was located.
When the train rolled into St. Louis, it was snowing and snow covered the ground. It was amazing to see snow for a 18 year-old kid who seldom saw snow in Louisiana. Later on the train arrived in Indianapolis and I took a taxi to the base. The ground was covered with several inches of snow, when I arrived.
Learned that winter how brutal Indiana winters could be and even had a case of frostbite, while walking to a movie on base one night. School went well and graduated in April of 1963.
After returning home and attending a few Army Reserve meetings, decided I would rather serve a full three-year enlistment, rather than go to Army Reserve meetings for several years.
So in May of 1963 I re-enlisted for three years. I requested to be stationed in Germany or Hawaii and received orders for Hawaii. Boarded a plane for San Francisco and was helicoptered to the Oakland Army Terminal, where I would stay about eight days.
Finally we boarded a MATS plane for Hawaii and if I remember correctly it took nine hours to make the flight to Hawaii. We headed to Schofield Barracks, after leaving the plane and wish I could remember my first impression after arriving there, but that was 49 years ago and can’t recall now.
One of the things I do remember about Schofield Barracks were the quads, in which the soldiers were housed. The doors were left open at night, so each cot had a mosquito net to prevent mosquitoes, from ruining a night of sleep. James Jones was stationed at Schofield Barracks and when his book From Here To Eternity became a movie, scenes were filmed at Quad C of Schofield Barracks.
This photo of a quad where the soldiers stayed reminds me of the quad, where I lived for about two and-a-half years at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Conroy Bowl an outdoor area holds many memories for me 49 years later, after seeing the Beach Boys in my first concert there. Saw the Christmas show with Hollywood entertainers, such as Julie Newmar and Stefanie Powers. It was a bittersweet experience though, hearing them sing Christmas songs while knowing I would be in Hawaii that Christmas.
I can remember they held a Battle of the Bands at Conroy Bowl and band after band played Louie, Louie by the Kingsmen. I was sick of that song by the end of the night.
Another highlight was Sue Thompson, known for Sad Movies Always Make Me Cry and Big Daddy’s Alabamy Bound shaking my hand, while singing the classic ballad You Belong To Me. A reminder of how long ago this was hit me, when I saw that she will be 86 on July 19.
It would be 16 months after arriving, before I would make my first trip home to Louisiana in October of 1964.
One of my favorite concerts at Conroy Bowl was when the Beach Boys entertained there, at the height of their popularity in the 60′s. Johnny Cash also appeared there, but seemed to be slurring his words, while singing and may have been still under the influence of drugs at this time in his life.
Several years before my arrival in Hawaii, Elvis Presley appeared in concert there in his last concert appearance for many years, before being drafted. It was over ten years before he would appear in concert again, after completing the filming of over 30 movies.
This website owned by Scotty Moore, who was with Elvis in the early days, shows many photos of Elvis at the Conroy Bowl. The website also tells how General John Schofield, who was a Union General in the Civil War foresaw the need, for the use of the Hawaiian Islands as a base to protect American interests. That was in 1872 which was 69 years before Pearl Harbor was attacked.
http://scottymoore.net/conroybowl.html
Visiting the Arizona Memorial was one of the most memorable events while serving in at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii and will never forget reading the names of those who had died on the Arizona. Oil was still coming up from the Arizona in 1963.
A night-time view of Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head seen in the background.
Spent many a weekend day at Waianae beach looking across the ocean and knowing California was on the other side while listening to songs like Surfer Girl.
I heard a lot of Hawaiian music during my time in Hawaii and these are some of the songs I remember best:
Beyond the Reef, one of my favorite Hawaiian songs being played on a lap steel guitar.
Hawaiian girls dancing to My Little Grass Shack
Mele Kalikamaka is Hawaii’s way to say Merry Christmas to you.
Hawaii is usually thought of as a tropical paradise, but I found out different, when sent to the Big Island (Hilo) on temporary duty. I was assigned to a post office at the Pohakuloa Training Area that was at a high elevation. We could see snow capped mountains from the post office.
Snow can be seen atop the Mauna Kea Mountain on the Island of Hilo.
All good things come to an end and my paid vacation to the tropical paradise of Hawaii came to a screeching halt when we received word, that our postal unit was being sent to Vietnam.
This photo was taken the same day that we boarded the USNS General Walker to Vietnam on a voyage which would take 14 days traveling 500 miles a day, before we disembarked in Vietnam.
I didn’t know the above photo even existed until today and was shocked to see it was a photo, of the 25th Infantry Division troops boarding the USNS General Walker, the same day that we boarded it.
Once the ship was on the way to Vietnam, I couldn’t help but wonder how many aboard that ship would never make it back home alive. We had too much time to think on the long ride to Vietnam, about what fate held for us once we left the ship in Vietnam.
We left one tropical paradise behind to go to another tropical paradise, that was a country 7,000 miles from Hawaii, in a country which offered only danger from a ruthless enemy, as we disembarked from the ship. I can remember how it took awhile to get used to being on land again, after two weeks of drifting across the ocean.
I can remember the stifling heat of Vietnam and how I drank several Coca-Colas to keep from being dehydrated, almost immediately after leaving the ship.
Memories of Hawaii
Hawaii was a distant memory, but 49 years later I think of the Hawaiian sunsets, the Hawaiian music and the musicians using their steel guitars to play songs like Beyond the Reef and My Little Grass Shack.
I can remember going to the service club and being entertained by various entertainers including the cowboy star of many westerns Jimmy Wakely.
I can remember like yesterday the beautiful sunsets on Waikiki Beach….the Service Club personnel taking on tourist excursions around the island seeing various attractions, that we may not have seen otherwise….the pecan twirls out of the vending machine at the service club….seeing the concerts at Conroy Bowl….the palm trees on the grounds of Schofield Barracks….working at the USARHAW post office and seeing the pro basketball player Terry Dischinger of Purdue and Detroit Pistons fame, who was working in the chemical department….working with the Hawaiians at the post office and how they freaked out when the temperature dipped to 59 degrees one day and showed up for work wearing jackets….remembering the day that JFK was assassinated, that I was substitute company mail clerk that day and listening to the news flash on the radio. I was the first to tell the company commander the news….also remember just missing seeing Lee Harvey Oswald shot by Jack Ruby on the television in the day room.
I also remember watching Shindig on my portable television seeing the musical greats of that era….spending Thanksgiving with Sgt. William Brannon and his family and wondering all these years, what happened to him after he left the Army….telling short-timers who had only a few days left, that I was going to be out soon myself….in 1,096 days….seeing the buildings at one of the airbases still showing damage from being hit during Pearl Harbor….meeting General Frederick Weyand, commanding general of the 25th Infantry Division, who was not happy with the direction of the war in Vietnam when he made this statement:
General Weyand, then commander of III Corps in Vietnam, was the unidentified high-ranking officer, who told Apple and Fromson (reporting the same story for CBS) that “I’ve destroyed a single division three times . . . I’ve chased main-force units all over the country and the impact was zilch.
I had often thought the war was not being fought conventionally. In past wars our military had swept across countries, instead of seeming to be going around in circles in Vietnam. However, that is just my opinion and others with more knowledge may be able to address that situation with more clarity.
Sorry from straying from the Hawaiian theme, but the encounter with General Weyand reminded me of the Vietnam situation.
I may never return to Hawaii again, because of the extremely high cost of being a tourist there, but it may be better that way, so I can remember it the way it was as those two years and eight months there were one of the happiest times of my life. I almost felt guilty being paid there, since it was such easy duty.
Hawaii….Thanks for the memories.
Eight years ago my wife and me were both working nights and thought it was safe to leave our ten year-old son alone, since there was only a thirty minute gap between me getting off work and her going to work.
However, the burglar had cased the joint and knew our schedule. Anyway the burglar had broken into our bathroom window, thinking nobody was home. Since both vehicles were gone he didn’t realize that my son was in the home alone.
The burglar was rifling through the drawers in the kitchen, which was adjacent to our den, when my son woke up and that startled the burglar, who dropped some stuff he was holding.
This burglar was not going to let a ten-year old boy deter him from his appointed rounds, so proceeded with the burglary. The amazing part of the story is that my son, thought the burglar was a relative or family friend, so followed him from room to room and was not unduly alarmed or frightened. The burglar told our son, that his mother owed him some money, so he was getting some stuff in return.
When the burglar tried to make friends with our family cat, there was a scream of “Ouch!!” by the burglar, when the cat decided to introduce herself to the burglar by scratching him.
The burglar’s parting words to our son were to tell his mother, that he would be returning the next night.
After the burglar departed the premises with his haul, my car pulled into the driveway minutes later and I knew something was wrong and called my wife at work. If I remember correctly she came home and we reported the burglary to the police, that night or the next morning.
The burglar thankfully didn’t keep his word and didn’t return the next night. Not that we didn’t look for him, as we had a terrible night of sleep.
I had remembered a man knocking on our door earlier in the week and asking if anyone lived in the mobile home next door. I assume now he was making sure, that he could break in the bathroom window, on that side of the house, since I told him nobody was living in the mobile home.
A investigator showed my son and me a photo array, but we couldn’t identify the burglar. My son may have been too scared, to identify the burglar and I saw nobody in the photo array, that looked like the man I had spoken to earlier in the week of the burglary.
Turned out that the burglar lived up the street from us, when he made a huge mistake and passed out from a drug overdose. An ambulance was called and the EMT’s noticed he had pain killer prescription bottles, that had been scattered around his trailer, including ones he had taken from our house. That turn of events resulted in his arrest.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Looking back, it was good that the burglar somewhat resembled persons, that my son knew. It could have ended tragically, if the burglar felt that my son knew he was a burglar.
Needless to say our son was never left alone again, even if it was only a few minutes, between me returning home and my wife going to work.
Glass House which debuted on ABC network last night showed no sign of being a serious threat to Big Brother. CBS who had filed suit to prevent Glass House from debuting last night, but losing their case for now at least, should be able to compete with Glass House, even if it is allowed to run the full season.
Only 4.1 million fans watched the debut last night. In contrast the Big Brother 13 season opener in 2011, drew 7.8 million viewers and was No.1 in their time slot, for all but the next to last show of the 2011 season.
Glass House is like Big Brother in a lot of ways, but on the other hand the pace of the show was a little faster than of Big Brother for me at least. I can’t recall ever falling asleep during a Big Brother show, but was dozing before Glass House ended last night.
It will be interesting to see if Glass House ratings drop in their second week. The main difference in the two shows is that the viewers decide who goes home on Glass House. So if a particular house guest is unlikeable, they could be leaving the show in short order. On the other hand, if the viewers want a lot of drama they will let contestants who are unlikeable and mean stay on the show, so they can see more drama.
Glass House has about a three week head start on Big Brother. I don’t know why CBS is so worked up about the Glass House. They might be wary of overkill in Big Brother type shows.
X-Factor to me is a direct rip-off of American Idol, but there is no animosity between the two shows, because they both are on the Fox network.
The Voice at least has the rotating chairs and battle rounds to differ, from the Fox singing competitions.
If Glass House ratings drop from week to week and drop to the 2-3 million viewers range, they may not even last the entire summer.
Big Brother 14 will start in only 23 days on July 12, so Glass House would have already been on the air, for 24 days by the time Big Brother starts.
Meanwhile we will wait to see if the Glass House-Big Brother 14 battle continues in the courtroom, or whether the battle will be only on television screens in America.
http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/06/19/abcs-glass-house-not-so-spiffy-in-ratings/
Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, Art Carney and Joyce Randolph starred in The Honeymooners from 1955-1956.
The Honeymooners was typical of 50′s television. Nobody can ever say that the set on the show was extravagant, since the scenes at home only showed a sparsely decorated kitchen with a very rudimentary sink and icebox..
The Honeymooners television show was never known for its lavish set which is shown in this scene.
It is difficult to believe that Jackie Gleason decided to cancel the show after the first season. He thought the show was running out of ideas.
Today, shows run many more years, before using that excuse to cancel a show. The interplay between Gleason portraying bus driver Ralph Kramden and his wife Alice played by Audrey Meadows was the highlight of the show to me.
Art Carney as Ed Norton the sewer worker was a perfect foil for Gleason. Ralph Kramden was driven to distraction by the actions and the words of Ed Norton.
Kramden Panics Over $9 Electric Bill
One of my favorite shows is when Ralph goes ballistic, because he receives a $9 electric bill. He starts ranting about having to cut back with high electric bill. 55 years later that show seems very outdated, since it is not uncommon to have a $300 electric bill during the summer months.
Alice is constantly trying to talk Ralph out of his latest hare-brained schemes, which never work and only waste time and money.
When the last show was telecast in September 1956, it may have ended its CBS network run, but the show has been seen sporadically, on many various channels for the last 56 years.
The Jackie Gleason Show still featured The Honeymooners, after the show left the air, but to me the Honeymooners shows of 1955-1956 were the best ever produced.
Imdb.com states that only Audrey Meadows of the original cast receives royalties, from each episode shown on any network. Her manager realized, that this could be a source of income, for many years for his client.
Robert Strauss
1913 -1975
Character actors have memorable faces, but not such memorable names.
Robert Strauss is familiar to those who watch gangster movies. His face was perfect for hardened gangster roles. He is shown in an episode of My Mother the Car, perhaps the worst show in television history, but Strauss saves the show as a criminal that holds a family hostage. It is mindless fare for the most part, but the acting of Strauss makes this show special.
The girl accomplice of Strauss is actress Barbara Bain, who is best known for her role in Mission Impossible. Dave Willock who was the storekeeper on The Waltons is the neighbor that is thrust into the middle of the kidnapping.
Before the show starts, viewers are told there will be limited commercial interruptions, but it turns out to be false advertising.
http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi4080337433/
Kathleen Freeman
1919-2001
Kathleen Freeman is best known for playing the role of Sister Mary Stigmata in The Blues Brothers in 1980 and in Blues Brothers 2000 in 1998.
She played five different characters on Wagon Train, including Clara Pumfret, Dolly, Mrs. Benson, Lolly and Sairy Hogg.
Most of her roles were comedic, but she had the ability to turn any role into a comedic role. She was seen in eleven Jerry Lewis movies during her career. Freeman appeared in one episode of Gomer Pyle as the mother of Sgt. Carter.
The following page says that Freeman was born in 1923, while Wikipedia and Imdb.com say she was born in 1919. It still is a loving tribute to Kathleen Freeman, who knew how to light up a stage and knew how to make people laugh.
The Bosch robot lawn mower is just one of many robotic mowers being manufactured today. Just like the robot vacuums have saved time vacuuming, the Bosch robotic mower will allow its owner, to sit in the shade or take a swim in the pool, while the robotic mower is slaving away in your yard, fighting the heat, while you drink a nice cold orange drink.
Of course there are some yards, that can’t be mowed by this lawn mower. For instance our yard has a ditch, that has to be traversed by going up and down the length of the ditch. I would be surprised if this mower could handle this, as there are obstacles like electric poles and wires to avoid.
However if you have a more conventional rectangular or square yard, this could work well. One drawback for this robotic lawn mower is that it only mows for 20 minutes, before needing to be recharged. Then it needs 90 minutes to recharge.
For example if you start the mower at 9:00 AM, it would run till 9:20 AM, then it would be 10:50 AM, before it could be used again for another 20 minutes, which means it would stop running at 11:10 AM. It would be 12:40 PM before it could run again for another 20 minutes, stopping at 1:00 PM and then not starting again, till 2:30 PM. If you have a huge yard, this could be a lengthy process, before the entire yard has been mowed.
It might be smart to find another robotic lawn mower, which mows longer before needing charged again. The main advantage of the mower is that you would not need to use gasoline. The $2,000 price tag may prevent a lot of potential customers from buying it.
However, elderly people could save money, that they would have spent paying neighborhood kids to mow their lawn, once their initial investment is covered by savings on gasoline and not paying someone to mow their yard.
What will be next invention to save the already lazy American more work? We already have self-cleaning ovens, robotic vacuums, robotic lawn mowers, remote controls for televisions that save endless trips to change stations manually, automatic dish washers that save washing each dish individually and microwave ovens that take seconds to warm food, which otherwise would take minutes.
Too much automation in our lives has to have an effect on our health, either now or years from now. Someday in the future conventional bicycles will be replaced, by motor-driven bicycles which will take less exertion and end the health benefits of riding a bicycle.
As time goes by, there will be more and more products that save time and money, but they are only a detriment to our health and well-being.
The video in the article below shows how the mower operates:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57451584-1/bosch-robot-lawn-mower-gives-you-more-hammock-time/
Just when you think you have heard of every fast food imaginable, Burger King has come up with a bacon sundae.
I like ice cream sundaes and I like bacon, just not served together. I will be surprised if this concoction will ever be as popular as the Whopper.
Some foods are just meant to be served by themselves and bacon and ice cream sundaes are both meant to be served alone. Bacon crumbles on top of an ice cream sundae don’t thrill me at all and even sound revolting to me.
To read the gruesome details and see a photo of this unusual combination of sweet and salty:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47784681/ns/business-us_business/#.T9eaPhembaw
The trail of lies and deception continues to grow as Timothy Poe’s back story on America’s Got Talent is questioned., since his emotional appearance on America’s Got Talent last week.
Poe had stated on last week’s show, that he had been injured in Afghanistan by a grenade. After that story has been refuted by the Minnesota National Guard, with whom he was serving at the time, it appears the only time Poe isn’t lying is when his lips aren’t moving.
Now the latest news is that Poe has an outstanding warrant for his arrest, in a case in which he is charged with assault, against a family member in 2002.
http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/06/09/060912-news-singer-fibs-1-2-zzfpvzz/
Almost everything that Poe stated in his back story for America’s Got Talent has turned out to be a lie. The most flagrant lie to me is that he fell on a grenade, to save the lives of his buddies. You would think some of his friends would remember this happening. If he had indeed fell on a grenade, then he would have visible injuries, resulting from the grenade exploding. If you take Poe’s word, the grenade only caused his stuttering, which his ex-wife questions if it is real.
The only thing real about his appearance on America’s Got Talent was when he sang If Tomorrow Never Comes, the Garth Brooks hit. Everything he said on the show has been refuted.
Last I knew the United States does not award medals for an ear infection, while being in Afghanistan for only one month. It is a slap in the face of every veteran, who was in a combat zone during a war, for him to declare himself a war hero, when he did nothing to merit him being a war hero of any sort. For him use the photo of another veteran, tells me that Poe has no shame, by representing another soldier as himself.
It is amazing that Poe could keep a straight face, while telling lie after lie. He said he had only started singing recently, which has been denied by those, who knew he has been singing in bands for many years.
It is safe to say that the only time Poe wasn’t lying on America’s Got Talent was when his lips weren’t moving.
The panel of judges on the show fell for his story, which is logical for them to do, since if you can’t trust a serviceman, then who can you trust. Apparently Poe is one that never should have been trusted.
The following article reports that Poe may have already been eliminated from the show. The judges will look with more jaundiced eyes at the other contestants, who have back stories, since they were told so many apparent lies by Poe.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/06/08/agt-contestant-timothy-poe-getting-boot-source-says/
Surely Poe didn’t think he could get away with his myriad of lies. He has found out that the old Sir Walter Scott’s quote, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive” still rings true today, as he been caught in his web of lies.
Timothy Michael Poe elicited sympathy from the America’s Got Talent judges, after telling viewers and the judges, that he had received a brain injury during the war in Afghanistan.
He said that he had been injured by a grenade, which led to him having a stuttering problem. He then sang the George Strait hit without stuttering, but that by itself doesn’t prove anything, since Mel Tillis had a stuttering problem, but it never affected his singing.
The Minnesota National Guard is denying Poe’s claim that he was injured by a grenade.
If it is true that Poe lied to gain sympathy from the American people and the judges, then he owes every American veteran that really sustained a war injury a huge apology.
His fate hasn’t been determined by NBC at the time this is being written. I am sure NBC is investigating the veracity of his war injury claim. If it turns out he is guilty of lying, then he should be taken off the show and his name should never be mentioned again on the show.
The old adage, innocent till proven guilty applies in his case, but right now the indicators are pointing toward his guilt, as NBC searches for the truth in Poe’s situation.
I don’t condone anyone purporting to be a military hero, when there are thousands that have sustained serious injuries or lost their lives in wartime.
That is why I am quick to mention that I was a postal clerk in Vietnam, because I don’t want anyone to get the impression I was an infantryman, because those are the real heroes. They are face to face with the enemy and see their fellow soldiers being shot by that enemy.
We can only imagine what infantrymen go through during a gun battle with the enemy.
I had a cousin who never served in wartime, who was trying to impress girls, by saying he served in Vietnam. Another cousin of mine made the ultimate sacrifice, when he was shot down, while piloting a helicopter in Vietnam. There is no doubt which cousin, that I have the most respect for.
Personally, I have zero tolerance for anyone lying about their military service, since it is a slap in the face to every American veteran who served their country, from the Revolutionary War to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Glass house being used for Glass House reality series on ABC television network which debuts on June 18.
The new ABC televsion reality show will debut on June 18 at 10 PM EDT and 9PM CDT. The show will feature 14 house guests, who will be vying for a $250,000 prize. It will differ from the Big Brother 14 to be shown on CBS, in that the viewers will have some input, as to what goes on in the house. CBS is trying to prevent the show from being telecast, since they claim it is a ripoff of Big Brother, but time is running out fast since the show debuts in 12 days. This link will take you to the official ABC website with photos of all 14 contestants. http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-glass-house
It was just yesterday that I learned Josh Ledet would be appearing, in Heritage Square in Sulphur, Louisiana. We got there early about 1:20 PM, before the 2PM concert. We live only about a mile-and-a-half from Heritage Square, so it took about three minutes to arrive at the venue.
Jason Ledet, the brother of Josh was the host of the show and introduced all the acts and thanked the sponsors and workers, who did an amazing job, considering they only had two days to set up for the concert.
Richard Dawson best known for appearing in Hogan’s Heroes and hosting Family Feud has died in the UCLA medical center, in Los Angeles at the age of 79. He reportedly died of complications from esophageal cancer.
Richard Dawson
1932 -2012
Dawson was born Colin Lionel Emm in Gosport, Hampshire, England on November 20, 1932. He died on Saturday in Los Angeles, California.
He portrayed Corporal Peter Newkirk on Hogan’s Heroes from 1965-1971 in 166 episodes.
Dawson also appeared in 73 episodes of Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-in.
He did very little acting after leaving Laugh-in and was host of Family Feud from 1976-1985 and 1994-1995.
It is ironic that his death was exactly 16 years after his successor Ray Combs died. Combs had committed suicide.
He was married to Diana Dors, who was the British version of Marilyn Monroe from 1959-1966. He married Gretchen Johnson, a contestant on Family Feud and they were married from 1991 till his death.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/obit/story/2012-06-03/richard-dawson-death/55357952/1
