Tony Rollo Blog
Is there a Book Renaissance Underway? Is Print Dead?
It really infuriates me to see an antiquarian book handled with bare hands! Put on some cotton gloves, would ya, pal ?!? It is said that printed books are dead. When can you sell your book for $14,165,000.00 ??? Simple … Print it then wait 374 years and sell it at auction. The Bay Psalms […]
Ad Production for Bill Anderson’s Grand Champion Southwest BBQ Rub
An ad spot to stream on the web for Barbecue Bill Anderson and his Grand Champion Southwest BBQ Rub. I had some of Bill’s amazing beef brisket for myself. No wonder he won the National Championship this year! Bill was also guest on The American Age Radio which I host and we had a ball […]
Home, Home on the Range Anxiety
There will always be those who drive the advancement of technological toy making by wanting to be the one who has the latest toy. Folks these days believe the electric car is something new. Electric cars and trucks have been with us since there were cars and trucks. Yep – over 100 years ! What […]
New Book Trailer for the Fantasy Adventure novel Balatar
Balatar by Robert Marcoccio Another book trailer I produced for Great Books Alive See the Book Trailer Production information by CLICKING HERE
Happy Thanksgiving (sans turkey)
Do we have to have turkey on Thanksgiving?!? No … I need to stay awake. This is a very productive time actually. I have a tradition of staying out of malls and big box stores in the months of November and December going back to the 1970s. Actually it has been my tradition ever since […]
You never forget your first Doctor –
Tom Baker was my first Doctor … Apparently, that is the primary factor in what makes a Whovian consider who is their favorite doctor. This is the 50th anniversary of the first airing of Dr Who way back in 1963. Intended at first to be just a six episode mini-series. It took a break during […]
We choose to go …
Today for some is a day of morbid curiosity. To others it is a day that represented great loss personally and to our nation. To others it is a day to reflect and remember achievements and to be thankful for what we have and where we came from. The more times change … … the […]
Veterans Day of 2013
“This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” – Elmer Davis (American Journalist)
Aristotle, Bacon, Descartes and even my Great-Granny all knew that Hot Water Freezes Faster Than Cold Water
It is a strange phenomenon … Warmer water will freeze faster than colder water. Aristotle may have been the first person we know of to have written about this phenomenon. Bacon and Descartes wrote about it. But even my Great-Granny knew it. Perhaps this could explain the confusion in the news today and all those […]
USMC on their 238th Birthday – The United States Marine Corps
On November 10th, 1775 in Philadelphia two battalions were created and formed to perform as infantry for our Navy. The new Continental Marines were led by Captain Samuel Nicholas and eventually became known as … The United States Marine Corps … … or as most know them as … The Marines. They are celebrating their […]
Free Car !!!
What if you saw an ad on television, radio or in a magazine from one of the big car makers that offered a brand new car for free ? “Get a car built for free!” That would probably grab your attention. No doubt many people would make a bee-line to the car dealership. Then, at […]
University of Oxford study says Sir-Mix-A-Lot is Right
Yes – it’s official. Why? Because Oxford has a wonderful department of Women’s Studies and they have spent years sorting it out for us all. Nature has shown us for years. We already knew it – we didn’t know exactly why – but we knew it down deep inside. I’m sure it is like knowing […]
Civil War Opponents Share a Birthday
Brigadier General Raleigh Edward Colston was known as “a gentleman and slow to believe evil about his fellow man” … Major General Daniel Butterfield wrote the bugle call “taps” heard at military funerals … Both share the same day of birth, but in different years apart in the early 19th century. They served on opposite […]
Remember that guy that was in that movie ? He was Ed Lauter.
Character actors are always with us. Leading men and leading ladies come and go like the flavor of the month. But character actors get seen again and again. Their careers go on almost forever. We know them. They are reliable. They just don’t have that chiseled look that is so disposable as popularity dictates. So […]
Busiot … my new word.
I coined a new word – “busiot” … Quick – call Websters !!! Think of the word “business”. People pronounce it as “biz-ness”. It relates to work and how we make a living. But it literally means “a state of being busy” if you break it down into its components. It’s good to be busy. […]
88 Years For the The Opry / Goodnight Tom Clancy
When I get deep into a work phase, it can be amazing what has been going on when I come up from the cave for some air … It is with sadness when we learn of a talent passing from us. Especially when it is such a talent for creating narratives and stories that entertain […]
“Cord Nevers”? What about “Cord No Mores” ?!?
Yet more changes are coming to a dictionary near you … A new group is rising: “Cord Nevers” These are folks in their early to mid twenties who have never subscribed to “cable”. They have been streaming things via the internet and have not given into subscribing to “cable television”… Who subscribes to “cable” anymore […]
September 11th 2001 ~ Always Remember ~ Never Forget
A dozen years go by and it can seem like yesterday. Especially when your life was touched by such tragedy. Always remember … never forget … Honor heroes by living to make a better future for all.
Back to the Moon We Go !
Finally … back to the moon we go! God speed m’LADEE … Think of the wealth of minerals there could be used for the advancement of our world for industry and the benefit of all mankind. It would probably also be a good idea to send up a fence building robot to run some barbed […]
A Conversation about America between Stephen Fry and Craig Ferguson on the CBS Late, Late Show
Who are those two people you may ask ? Stephen Fry would be well known to you if you were living in the UK and had been keeping your television license paid up. Or maybe listen to Harry Potter on audio book. The last I saw of him was driving badly on an episode of […]
See America … Not just one City
I always find it frustrating when someone from Europe – especially the UK – who flies into JFK Airport and stays in NYC for a week or so and claim they have “been to America” … They have been to New York City. Would the British agree if I flew into Heathrow, took a taxi […]
Why is what Bono said so shocking to some?
Bono said something shocking ?!? The lead singer of a rock band said something shocking ?!? Isn’t that what rock stars do ? Shock ? It is amazing that some people are shocked about what Bono said about the best way to get people who are impoverished out of it. “Capitalism” … It’s also funny […]
August 28th ~ Time and History Stops For No One …
As the years roll on, we keep adding to our American History. History, like time, stops for no one. Of course, the more important an event was depending on the importance we put on an event makes that moment in history live on. Some events transcend everything else. Some moments in history go beyond what […]
The Discovery of Goat Hatred Lives On …
There was a particular article of mine from just a half year ago that generated quite a bit of interest and chuckles out there … Got Goat?!? Here is another fellow who no doubt thought goats were a cute critter to have around: (a listing found on CraigsList from a certain northern Florida Capital city […]
It’s a Man’s Life in U.N.I.T.
. Yes – It’s a man’s life in U.N.I.T. … I remember one day the Brigadier said to me: “Pick up that box and put it in that truck.” … and … “Remember, it’s five rounds – rapid!” But that never worked on the Daleks … Dr Who turns 50 this year in November. We […]
Chill out Chicken Little – it’s only the Perseids !
Nope – the sky is not falling … Well, yes it is. It’s time for the Perseids !!! For those who have never experienced this, it is a time when we pass through the debris left by the comet Swift-Tuttle. They are falling right now – but they peak out this weekend. Unfortunately, the best […]
The Future ? Jane ~ Stop This Crazy Thing !!! Technology is Wonderful, but People Embrace the Familiar.
During the CBS Late Late Show, host Craig Ferguson sings the line during the opening theme song … … “Tomorrow’s just your future yesterday.” Devo encouraged … … “Duty now for the future.” I agree with George Jetson … … “Stop this crazy thing!” But of course this is all intended by me to get […]
Happy National Ice Cream Sandwich Day !!!
Nobody knows who started National Ice Cream Sandwich Day … Believe me – I tried !!! Who cares who started it? Just enjoy it. Like this neapolitan style Germanic creation known as Erdbeer, Vanille und Schokoladeneis zwischen Waffeln Fürst-Pückler-Schnitte. Imagine asking for one of those by name at your corner convenient store ! Apparently, it […]
Wer Kraftwerk Ist ? Musik Fur Jeder !
Es ist ein deutscher, echte Musik mit Technologie … Was ist das ? … Que ?!? Portugiesisch !?!
Milton Friedman born on this day in 1912
I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have been born in the early 20th century and experiences the tremendous growth in knowledge and technology over a lifetime in that century. I find myself believing that the best time and place to have been born across the entire history of the world would […]
HELP! The Movie Premiere in 1965
It was this day in 1965 that the second movie from The Beatles was premiered. Even the Queen attended the premiere !!! After the ground breaking success of their first effort, the black and white pseudo-documentary “A Hard Day’s Night”, there needed to be a follow-up. This time it would be in color … but […]
Korean War 60th Anniversary since the Armistice
An armistice is when the opposing sides in a war agree to stop shooting. Neither surrender. The conflict continues, it’s just that bullets cease to fly. I have personally interviewed and spoken with people who had first hand experience during the Korean War. Many of them were in South Korea (ROK). First hand accounts from […]
Anniversary of the First Photos from Mars by Mariner IV
It seems unbelievable that it was 1965 when we took the first close-up photographs of the planet Mars. Mariner IV sent these first photos on this date in 1965. It is just as amazing to find out just how many folks believe we did not have a spacecraft go anywhere near Mars until the 70s. […]
A 1971 Time Machine ~ I Remembered the Theme Song but Not the Show
A song can be powerful. Sometimes it is like a time machine. There I was, listening to a mix of “Martini Music” … I have to explain – “Martini Music” is a type of music (not really a genre but it kinda is) that represents a certain type of mood and style. Usually found in […]
Chinese Web Spammers Trying to get us to order Fake Products
For almost two months now the spam from the chicoms keeps flowing in. It’s a simple matter to just mark it as spam – but they appear to have as many IP addresses as there are chicoms! They all point to sites selling fake products – mainly sunglasses and women’s bags … It is really […]
Happy Birthday Ed Ames ~ Always MINGO to me …
One of the coolest television shows on when I was a kid in the 60s was Daniel Boone. Maybe the coolest character on television was Mingo – Boone’s Native American Indian friend who shared many adventures. Mingo to Daniel Boone was like Spock to Captain Kirk. An indispensable companion. Mingo was much cooler than Mr […]
Enjoying the Anamorphic Bliss …
It seems like only yesterday that all the movie channels were showing standard definition 4×3 “pan and scan” edits on high definition channels. It was so very annoying ! TV screen crops are like watching a baseball game through a knot hole in the back field fence ! Yet – what I am always after […]
A Web Missteps ~ Anagram of Spam
Anagrams … Love ’em ! Of course “A Web Missteps” is an ironic anagram for “Website spam”. Yes – the spammers are at it again … For cryin’ out loud !!! I have been getting the weirdest comment posts lately. This week is is mainly from the chicoms but a couple are from br*zil. The […]
The 21st Century Parasites
Spam … Spammers … How did a pack of parasitic, despicable, loathsome losers who attempt to promote their unwanted garbage on others’ money and works be equated by moniker to an edible meat product ?!? Lately, there have been loads of idiots from France, Russia, China, India and the other usual suspect loser nations flooding […]
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
Has wisdom become unfashionable ? “Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.” We live in a time where a channel on television named for learning is in reality full of freak shows and the dregs of humanity. The universal truth in cinema was once understood that movies make stars, stars do not […]
Awww, shucks … Corny but dadgum easy !!!
Some of our corn finally matured and we harvested about half a bushel. My mom had found a video of a fella who found a way to easily cook corn on the cob in a microwave oven and sent it to me – It’s amazing how easy this is – and it works like a […]
Combatting the High Cost of Sauce
I was inspired to try a recipe for an interesting cocktail weenie concoction that called for Chili Sauce. I didn’t need a “blow yer face off” hot chili sauce – or an asian style sweet/hot kind … something more like regular chili sauce that is tangy and tasty that will not destroy the taste buds […]
Gene Wilder is Still Alive !
Yes – he is … Don’t listen to those rumors flying around the internet last week… He’s 80 years old TODAY ! As far as I know he still drinks Woolite and loves sheep. He still shoots with his shaky hand. He doesn’t like evil little girls like Veruca Salt and kids who steal his […]
The Wonderful Tennessee State Museum ~ Our Spring Bok Choi Harvest this year ~ and Goodnight Esther Williams
Being quite busy these weeks with everything and the CMA Music Festival in full swing ~ I decided to shotgun post several things at once to hold us for a week or so … We have a fantastic State Museum located in downtown Nashville. My favorite display is the printing press from 200 years ago […]
What You Think You See Is Not What You Think You Get
Comic book ads back in the 1960s were quite amazing … When I found out I could pick up bottles from soft drinks that were discarded along the roadside and turn them in for 3 cents a piece at the corner store and immediately support my comic book habit, I was in heaven ! RC […]
Remembering ~
Decoration Day by illustrator John T. McCutcheon – 1900 There are many stories about when Memorial Day began in the United States. There is one tie that binds … it began to honor those who gave their lives in the American Civil War. First known as Decoration Day, we now remember all who gave their […]
Creating New Words vs Destroying Old Words
There is only one cause of unhappiness: … the false beliefs you have in your head, beliefs so widespread, so commonly held, that it never occurs to you to question them.” – Anthony De Mello So … Now we are supposed to think of chocolate and overly sweet sugary deserts when we hear the word […]