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First Film to Primiere on Both Sides of the Iron Curtain
On this day in 1958 – A historical day in the Motion Picture Industry … “On The Beach” is the first movie to premiere on both sides of the “Iron Curtain”. That means it was shown on movie screens in the “free world” as well as on screens in communist Russia (USSR). The subject matter […]
I Tip my Hat to the Youth …
… for they carry a heavy burden being forced onto them. (editorial cartoon from the 1930s)
Happy Birthday Henry with the Magnetic Personality
What is the opposite of “resistance” ? Inductance … which we measure in “henrys”. And if Joseph Henry had been quicker on the draw and published first – then maybe we would be measuring capacitance in “josephs” rather than “farads” after Michael Faraday … the guy who published his findings first. Henry was the first […]
Who’s the biggest bully of all ?
I’m getting pretty tired of these new anti-bully campaigns … It’s just the new “flavor of the month” money raiser and book selling sensation. Bullies are not new – they are the subject of classic television and even classic literature. There is one way to deal with a bully head on. We all know what […]
Around the World in 1986
Imagine taking off with a little over 7000 pounds of fuel in a craft, flying around the world without stopping and having only 108 pounds of fuel upon landing after several days … That’s pretty good figurin’ to me ! Considering both wing tips fell off during the trip … Two pilots in this craft […]
Big Bad John’s Anniversary
Jimmy Dean had the first “Country song” to make gold in 1961 … “Big Bad John” 1961 !?! That’s not a pile of sausage either ;-)
Happy Birthday ~ The State of Alabama
Providing America with pretty things to see and hear since December 14th, 1819
Peter Jackson at 48 fps
48 frames per second ?!? That’s supposed to make the new version of 3D look more “realistic” … Gimmicks … Passing fads … Like YOYOs / MySpace / Facebook / transfat / stuffing phonebooths / granola / tree hugging / Disco / Marxism / Etc … Hollywood should try making actual STORIES like used to […]
Happy Birthday Aunt Pitty-Pat
December 12, 1879 Laura Hope Crews – a magnificent actress who played many unforgettable supporting roles in movies of the 1930s. Primarily a character actor – she came from a family of actors and people involved in the theatrical arts. Quite the looker when young and on the stage live before motion pictures. I wonder […]
Chuck at Mach 2.43 in 1953
It happened on this day in 1953 … US pilot Chuck Yeager took the experimental X-1A to Mach 2.43 and reached 90,000 feet ! All did not go smoothly – Inertial coupling caused Yeager to loose control – as the craft pitched, yawed and rolled, it fell 51,000 feet in 51 seconds until Yeager pulled […]
Tex Avery and the Cars Of Tomorrow
Using the current trends of the late 1950s and very early 1960s, Animation Director Tex Avery gives his vision of what cars would be like in the near future … Tex Avery is my favorite Animation Director of all time. He’s the one who gave the world of pop animation many gimics such as the […]
New Season of Shows on TLC
Cool ! The new season of show lineups are being announced for TLC ! You know TLC – “The Learning Channel” Here’s the new ad banner teaser for the new TLC season –
10 million Fords
A hundred years ago was a prolific time in history for American Industry. We had all kinds of contraptions coming out – mostly made of American Steel by American entrepreneurs, American workers and designers. This day in 1915, the 10,000,000th Model T Ford rolled off the assembly line. That’s a lot of steel !
Grand Ole Opry Goes On The Air 85 Years Ago Today
Wow – 1927 on this date was the very first broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry live from Nashville, the real center of the musical universe. 85 years – and curiously the Opry’s web site makes no mention of it … It was fun being involved with a lot of the opry folks and recording […]
Cut the Cake Tommy …
Remember the movie “Old Yeller” ? How about “Swiss Family Robinson” ? Of course “Mars Needs Women” ! Maybe not that one … Kirk was born this day in 1941 … Where is he now? I hear he’s been cleaning carpets.
Hey – Hey – Hey !
I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” – Bill Cosby
Happy Birthday Coaxial Cable !
If it weren’t for coaxial (COAX) cable, radio would have never been what it is … Coaxial Cable’s creation was probably inevitable due to the needs of the day … 81 years ago it was patented, so this is basically it’s birthday … 1931 – like it was only yesterday ! (Thanks Omegatron for the […]
Ziggy Southdust and the Positrons from Texas
I was trying to stay away from this place becoming an obituary column …. I purposely omitted mentioning Zig Ziglar last week. But now I just can’t help it. If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what […]
For Sale – 1927 Ford Model T – $385
Got ya – didn’t I ? It was this date in 1927 that the last year of production of the Ford Model T went on sale. It was at the amazing price of only $385 ! But that was in 1927 dollars. Do the math … that was a tremendous bargain. And what about color […]
A Unique take on the Personality test –
Gaining employment requires an interesting, yet challenging proposition these days … I have read where companies use modern ways to decipher the abilities and potential pitfalls for applicants. Giving potential candidates a personality test is a good way to provide insights into a person’s way of thinking. Especially when there are no right or wrong […]
Sir Winston Churchill at 138 Today ~
How different would the world be if we lived twice the years we do now and age twice as slow as we do? If this were true – Winston Churchill would still be giving us all the ability of more courage and there would be a lot more reason and balance in the world today. […]
A historic day for WSIX TV Nashville
It’s Nashville Television History Day ! (I just declared it hehehe) WSIX TV 8 went on the air today back in 1953. My main question is – if it was on channel 8, why did they get the call letters W-S-I-X ??? No one seems to be able to answer that question for me. Anywho […]
Happy Birthday John Wesley Hyatt
Who the heck is John Wesley Hyatt you ask? If it wasn’t for his invention of celluloid … … we wouldn’t have – cheap billiard balls, piano keys, false teeth, etc … … and pretty much anything else made of celluloid which was an early plastic in the middle to late 1800s. Those who created […]
Goodnight Larry …
If there was ever an award for the best “straight man” in a TV comedy it would have to be Larry Hagman in “I Dream Of Jeannie” … But he was a very comical straight man. Most may remember him best for J.R. – but I have always seen him as Major Nelson. I guess […]
You’re Fired
Uncle Joe got fired from his construction job. His nephew asked him what happened. “You know what a foreman is?” Uncle Joe asked. “The one who stands around and watches the other men work?” the nephew asked. “What’s that got to do with it?” “Well, he just got jealous of me,” Uncle Joe explained. “Everyone […]
Waiting for the Bird to Cook
I had a brilliant idea – … mainly because we do not have a full, metal covered oven container like Great Granny had … which is 650 miles away … a real antique! And so we cannot do the super secret family recipe from the 1800s turkey cooking method that is absolutely the best and […]
The Lost Colony of Roanoke
American History is a favorite subject of discussion around the kitchen table. We began discussing the lost colony of Roanoke – so it is a real treat to find the old “In Search Of…” episode on this subject –
DEVO – Genius is rarely understood – Raw Footage
How to get hooked up with Brian Eno ~ Mark Mothersbaugh and warm up sound check 1982 raw footage ~ Misunderstood brilliance and positive uplifting lyrics … genius is rarely understood ~ It’s difficult to be ahead of your time and see further ahead ~
What Planet are you From ?!?
Digging for worms is the first step to a successful day of fishing. Grandad and his five year old granddaughter were in Granny’s garden digging for worms for fishing bait. The kid dug up a multi-legged creature and proudly dangled it before Grandad. “That won’t work, honey,” Grandad lovingly and wisely instructed. “He’s not an […]
Good Night Broadcasting Pioneer Sonny Eliot
Imagine working well into your 80s doing what you love to do. That’s what broadcasting pioneer Sonny Eliot did at WWJ-AM He is of the generation of America who saw it all. He was a prisoner of war by the nazis in World War Two. He lived in a time when Detroit was the greatest […]
Thanks to our Military and Veterans
A short film from me to honor our Veterans. This was a wonderful day in celebration.
In Memorial ~ Nova the Mantis
Rest In Peace Nova the Mantis … 2011 ~ 2012 “She had a happy life with us. She ate very well and grew really big. I was so sad. But I know the life span of a mantis is less than a year. So she lived very long.” – Misun (Nova’s trainer) ___ “She was […]
Ever Changing Face Of Business
There was a time when one got their newspaper from fellows like this – Girls sold newspapers too, not just the boys – Then came along the big, metal box and there were no more Newsboys … Is this an example of the evils of technology displacing hard working people? Was this an answer to […]
Digital Killed The Newspaper Star
As the BUGGLES once sang: “Video Killed the Radio Star” When the telephone was being first installed, office businessmen said “I don’t need one of those things – I have messenger boys!” The radio was supposed to be killed by Television … as well as the movie theaters. Radio didn’t die – it re-invented itself. […]
Enter the Smile Box
I remember when TCM was a basic cable channel showing old, obscure movies that were collecting dust in the film vault that Ted Turner bought. TODAY – TCM is a real savior for anyone who wants real movies as modern movies have no heart and soul. (of course there are always exceptions) And it’s now […]
Sing … Sing … Sing …
Aside from everything else, I am really enjoying (for lack of a better term) the excitement of this election year. The post production on the new film project is going well – and on top of all that it’s quite an exciting time to be alive. But just like any other roller coaster ride, I’d […]
Home Education Referee
We prefer to use the term “Home Education” rather than “Home School” … That said – I am often called upon to explain any possible skewed facts, disinformation or plug into my “bigger picture view” of history and education. The question was: “Canada is the leading world producer of __________” My answer: “Canadians” That one […]
Two Subjects ~ Paying Your Dues / EPIX Gets It
There is an old saying … … at least older than me because I heard it come from a lot of my mentors when they were long in tooth and I was still wet behind the ears – Paying dues … There’s a lot of frogs to kiss before finding the princess. (this alludes to […]
Happy Larry Monty Bond Fine Python Anniversary
I had planned on posting all this on Friday, but our local internet provider went offline due to a leaf falling on their tower. So I missed the window of opportunity to post anything – as my “personal” website is the last thing I have the time to get to. So I get to do […]