Edgar Bergen and the Epiphany

Ok the title above may be missleading. Mr. Bergen has nothing to do with the Epiphany. This is actually two stories. This first takes place in the late 70's. Mr. Bergen was on his farewell tour before he retired. My friend Jeff, my cousin Randy and I were all fans of his. You have to be very funny to have 3 teenage boys as your fans when you are a ventriloquist from the golden days of radio. Randy had another attraction to Mr. Bergen besides the comedy. He was an amateur ventriloquist and later, for a brief time, he became a professional. Anyway on the tour Mr. Bergen was coming to our area. He was to be the opening act for a comedian who was quite popular at the time but I don't remember him now. Randy and Jeff got tickets to see Edger Bergen. I however didn't have the money and was kicking myself for not being able to go. Turns out I was the lucky one. You see sadly Mr. Bergen passed away before he could finish his farewell tour and never got here. Randy and Jeff found out it is pretty hard to get your money back when you were only going to see the opening act. Randy said the woman at the counter kept telling them that they couldn't give them the money back because the headliner was still going to be there. They kept telling her that they were going to leave after Mr. Bergen was done as they didn't like the headliner. She kept saying that they might have decided to stay. Finally they convinced her that they were only there to see Edger Bergen and they got their money back.
The 2nd story has to do with Randy's daugther Amy. Recently she was at school before the Christmas break. Her teacher asked the class who gets presents on January 6th? Amy looked around then slowly raised here hand. The teacher said to Amy then you must be Catholic. Amy said no I'm Baptist. She ask Amy why do you get presents on January 6th if your Baptist. She said because it's my birthday. The teacher looked at the class again and said does anybody besides Amy get presents on January 6th? After this the teacher explained the epiphany. It is the day that the three kings arrived to give their gifts to Jesus and is therefore the 12th day of Christmas. This site explains it quite well http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/3kings.htm 

Roy Lichtenstein

Let's talk about pop art for awhile. Well actually I do talk about pop culture but it usually revolves around comic books or the Monkees. This one does have to do with comic books. Roy Lichtenstein was an artist who was very talented. He worked as a draftsman by day and painted at night. Let's face it if you want to do anything artistic you see very little money to begin with. Some unfortunate souls don't even see it as their work isn't woth anything till they are dead. So you have to love painting or writing or whatever it is that you do. Roy Lichtenstein, from what I have heard, was one who saw some of that money when he was alive. As the title of the book about him above says, he was an image duplicator. In the editoral review of the above book it says that Lichtenstein is "a shrewd if occasionally ironic manipulator of lowbrow cultural ephemera who struggled with the paradox of being a painter in the age of mechanical reproduction and who, consequently, transformed elements of mass culture into sly, sometimes self-effacing intellectual puns." This may be a compliment to Mr. Lichtenstein and his fans but I think it is an insult to people like me. You see Mr. Lichtenstein was most famous for bringing comic book art into the museums. The art on the cover of the book is a pretty good example. It looks like an extreme close up of Magneto to me. To call one of my favorite forms of art low brow is a slap in the face. Some might say that he was doing an homage to the comic book art. That does sound better. However, there is a fine line between homage and rip off. While his work may have been ment as an homage, he did come dangerously close to being a rip off. It was on an Archie comic book cover that put my thoughts into pictures quite well. I don't have a copy of it on hand to show you. Dilton is caught reading a comic book in art class. Miss Grundy tells him to pay attention to the lecture on modern art. The painting they are studying has a generic superhero punching out a generic supervillian. Dilton probably could have taught the class.
If you would like a copy of the book then you can click here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300087624/ref=ase_texasnetmuseumof/104-6281411-6542349?s=books&v=glance&n=283155&tagActionCode=texasnetmuseumof
to purchase it from Amazon or click on the title above. 

Cactus Flower music soundtrack

I just watched the movie Cactus Flower on AMC and couldn't believe what I heard. It was an instrumental version of "I Wonder What She's Doin' Tonight" by Boyce and Hart. Later, I heard and instrumental version of "I'm A Believer". Both were played in a restaurant scene. I guess Don Kirshner was in charge of the music on the movie.

Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg

One of the smartest and enjoyable talk shows on tv this season is Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg. It is on TV Land and alot of fun to hear what his guest have to say. So far the guest have been Mike Myers, Larry David and Bob Newhart. Next week it is Martin Short. Others are Jon Lovitz and George Lopez. The best one so far was with Mike Myers. I have not laughed so hard since Steve Allen did a similar show on the Disney Channel and his guest were Harvey Korman, Tim Conway and Pat Harrington. All the on the same show at the same time. But enough about that show, as Mike Myers would say, lets talk about David's show. On Sit Down Myers told a funny story about how he met his wife. Larry David told a funny story how he was a chauffeur for living before he became a comedian. Newhart told how on his first nightclub date he did all his bits. When they wanted an encore he went out and asked which one they wanted to hear again. Funny stuff. Tune in next Wednesday at 10pm to hear Martin Short. Or you can click here http://www.tvland.com/originals/sitdown/ to read more and you can also download the episodes you have missed. The above photo of Mr. Steinberg when he was younger I got from an auction on e-bay. You can go there to bid on it at http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Autographed-Photo-DAVID-STEINBERG_W0QQitemZ7576151506QQcategoryZ32988QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem or click on the title above. 

Happy Birthday Mike Nesmith and Davy Jones

Well I am getting ready to go to bed but I can't pass up this chance to wish two of my favorite singers Birthday well wishes. Happy Birthday to Mike Nesmith and Davy Jones. They were both born on December 30th but 3 years apart. Mike is 63 and Davy is 60. They look pretty good for their age don't they?

Is this fair?

There has been a trend in the past few years that I like. That trend is to take less popular superheros and give them action figures as well as the more popular ones. Before you would see Superman, Batman, Spider-Man or the Hulk. That for about 30 years summed up the heros you would see on the toy shelves. But now anyone who has ever worn spandex has a figure. I think that is great because when I was a kid I would want Green Lantern, Iron Man or Captain Atom. Yet none were to be found but now you can get them. Yet something strikes me as unfair in the above photo. I am a big fan of the Hawk and the Dove. I was happy to see them on Cartoon Networks Justice League but I don't recall them ever being members in the comic book. The best they ever did was the Teen Titans. Anyway this now makes them popular enough to give them their own action figures. However, in the comic books Hank Hall and Don Hall aren't the Hawk and Dove anymore. Instead of brothers it is now two sisters. Don Hall was even killed of in the Crises On Infinate Earths mini series. Something just doesn't seem right about this. But I hope it starts something that will bring back Hank and Don as Hawk and Dove. Maybe their own cartoon series and comic book again. Don may be dead but in comic books that doesn't mean he has to stay dead. It is just what was on my mind. The above photo was from collectors paradise. You can go to them by clicking here http://www.collectorsparadise.com/juleunwowoha.html to purchase the above set. 

Happy Birthday Stan Lee

I saw on Mark Evanier's News from ME site http://www.newsfromme.com/that today is Stan's Birthday. So since I am a fan of his I thought I would add my well wishes. Stan Lee is the co-creator of Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, Dr. Strange, The X-Men and others. Some people doubt that he really created anything. I have heard peopls say that Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko did all the work. I think he did but even if he didn't Stan was in a position to help get them published. So the world of comic books is richer for him being in it. Thanks all the good times and Happy Birthday Mr. Lee.

Ron Dante Monkees audition

Ron Dante http://www.rondante.com/of The Archies, The Cuff Links and co-producer of many early Barry Manilow albums audtioned for the Monkees. This was a surprise to me but not too big of a surprise. He was the right age and talent they would have been looking for at that time. I just found out on an e-mail from Brad Waddell of The Monkees Home Page http://www.monkees.net/ sent it out in his mass e-mailing. It was from a place called the 60s shop @ aol.com Here is what it had to say.
From: The60sshop@aol.com
In our recently published online poll of our readers' ALL-TIME TOP
20 PSYCHEDELIC SONGS, THE MONKEES were nominated FIVE times!!! Although
none of their tracks made the final countdown, votes were cast for ZILCH,
FOR PETE'S SAKE, WORDS, PLEASANT VALLEY SUNDAY and DAILY NIGHTLY. DAILY
NIGHTLY WAS featured as a bonus track during the month-long series. (I'm
sure you all recall the ultra-cool black and white MONKEES' video for DAILY
NIGHTLY that ended a couple of episodes of the series ... MICKY DOLENZ,
seated at one of the very first Moog Synthesizers ever made, looks at the
camera as the very last note resonates and says, "Psychedelic!")
In related MONKEES news, FORGOTTEN HITS will be running an
exclusive interview with RON DANTE next month in which he discusses
auditioning for THE MONKEES and working with DON KIRSHNER on THE ARCHIES
project. Many of your readers contacted us a year ago when we ran our
lengthy TOMMY BOYCE AND BOBBY HART series ... and have remained loyal
FORGOTTEN HITS readers. Here's another chance for some of you faithful
'60's music fans to see what we're all about. If you're interested in
receiving a copy of the RON DANTE series, please
contact: The60sShop@aol.com no later than January 23, 2006!!!
I have already e-mailed them and you can too. Also don't forget to wish Mike Nesmith and Davy Jones a happy birthday this week as on Dec. 30 Nez turns 63 and Jones 60. 

Blondie postcard

Hey I thought that some of you might want to see this. It is a post card that I got a few months ago when I went to the Official Blondie website and entered a caption contest. Saddly I did not win but the consolation prize was pretty good. This strip has had a marvelous run. When it started out it was about how the golddigging flapper girl Blondie was chasing the then rich Dagwood Bumstead. Once married Dagwood was out of the family will and they had to try to make it as middle class Americans. Who knew it would last into the 21st Century? The strip started in 1930 and this year celebrated it's 75th anniversary. The son of the creator now does the stip so along the way it became a family business. My blog started after the celebration so here is a belated Happy Anniversary to Blondie and Dagwood. Dag I think she kind of likes ya. You can get to the Official Blondie site by click by clicking here http://blondie.com/dailies/index.asp or, altogether now, click on the title above.

Peter Tork A Beachwood Christmas

Hey I know it is too late for Christmas this year but you can still get the CD "A Beachwood Christmas" It is the record label that Peter Tork is on and he has 3 songs on it. They are "I Remember Christmas", "Angels We Have Heard On High" and "PT's Noel". You can order it from his site by clicking on the title above or you can click here http://www.petertork.com/
Again sorry for the late notice but it is very early for next year. Merry Christmas!

Praying Santa Merry Christmas to all

I use to see a statue of this in alot of people's homes not too long ago. I have not seen them since. This site, Miles Kimball is selling pins of them. You can go there by clicking here http://www.mileskimball.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=6842&itemType=PRODUCT or on the title above. Merry Christmas and Happy New year. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!