A Funny Christmas Picture

A friend e-mailed me this funny photo. I thought I would share it with you here.

This Day In Music History: Marvin Gaye and I Heard It Through the Grapevine

I Heard It Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye was the #1 song on the Billboard charts on this day in 1968. It is one of the longest runs at #1 that a Motown Record has had. It held down the top spot for 7 weeks. When it reached #1 Motown captured the top 3 spots on the chart. Diana Ross and the Supremes were at #2 with Love Child and Stevie Wonder was at #3 with For Once in My Life.
It was surprising at the time that Motown would release Marvin’s when they did as Gladys Knight and the Pips had a hit with it the year before. However, Marvin recorded his before they did and the arrangement was completely different then the one the Pips used. Other performers recorded the song before Marvin did. Performers like Smokey Robinson and the Miracles who released it on their Special Occasion album and the Isley Brothers whose version has not yet been released.
The song has been recorded by so many artist that the song has made the hit charts at least 5 times. However, it is Marvin Gaye’s that the others are measured against. It was the 18th single of Marvin’s to make the charts and his first #1 hit.

A Nice Santa Story

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike one day to hear my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"
My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true. Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?"
She snorted...."Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go."
"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun.
"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car. "Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.
I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, and the people who went to my church. I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's second grade class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.
"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."
The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.
That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it(a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible). Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers. Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."
I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby. Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.
I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.
May you always have LOVE to share. And may you always believe in the magic of the spirit of Santa Claus.

The Three Stooges Christmas Record

For me it isn't Christmas if I don't hear the Three Stooges Wreck the Halls and their version of Jingle Bells. This record is from the 1960's version of the comedy team. Thought you might like to see it.

That Girl On TV Land

Well TV Land has just finished airing 48 hours of That Girl to celebrate that series joining their network lineup. First off from what I saw the series really holds up. Of course the fashions are a bit dated but that is to be expected. It is a sweet romantic comedy about a young woman named Ann Marie trying to make it as an actress in New York while dating her reporter boyfriend Donald Hollinger. The chemistry between Marlo Thomas as Ann and Ted Bessell as Donald was just the right mix. Add in Lew Parker as Ann’s Father Lou Marie who was always being protective of his daughter and this comedy had all it needed to be a hit. The love and respect the characters had for each other came through every week. The casting director must have been the best in the business as many other up and coming actors made appearances during its run. Future and current comedy greats like George Carlin, Dabney Coleman, Bernie Kopell, Ronnie Schell, and Ruth Buzzi were all cast members at one time or another. There were even guest appearances by actors like Bill Bixby, Carroll O’Conner, etc. Maybe they were joining the show to get approval from Marlo’s Daddy. Danny Thomas was a big star and powerful TV producer himself with hits like Make Room for Daddy, The Dick Van Dyke Show and the Andy Griffith Show, just to name a few, behind him. The show was very well produced. I always love the beginning. I couldn’t wait to see how they would work in the title of the show on each episode. For those of you who have not seen That Girl it went something like this.
A TV producer is walking down the street with a director.
TV Producer: We need a new face for the show. A young woman who is pretty and bright with sex appeal.
Director: Don’t forget she has to have that girl next door quality. Where are we going to find someone like that?
Suddenly they see Ann Marie coming down the street.
TV Producer: We need someone like (he points to Ann)…That Girl!
Cue the theme song.
I always loved that. The setting might be different but you always knew they would point to Ann and call her That Girl.
Seasons one and two are now both out on DVD but I don’t plan to rush out and buy either one right now. I love TV and I love that I can now have my favorites on DVD. Perhaps one day people like me can have their own internet TV station. However, some shows are best seen on TV. To know that if you don’t watch it now then it may be months or years before you see it again has something of a thrill about it. I have no doubt I will one day buy That Girl on DVD but for now I will wait.
This marathon showing brought back some happy memories. I did see most of the shows on its first run but one memory of the show is from when it was rerun in my area. Every once in a while my Mom and my Aunt would take me and my cousin Rachel and go visit my twentysomething cousin Toni. She was a young wife and mother. The three of them would usually talk in the other room. Rachel and I would be in the living room. We both liked music but for some reason Toni would not let us play her stereo. She would let us watch TV. Usually it had on Captain Kangaroo or the local children’s show Uncle Al. There were times they were showing reruns of Here’s Lucy and That Girl. Some of my memories of the show come from watching it on Toni’s TV.
You can go here to a posting about the shows 40th anniversary. or click on the title above.

Remembering John Buscema

On December 11, 1927 John Buscema was born. He spent most of his comic book career at Marvel. He was mostly known for his wonderful art on Conan. Mr. Buscema gave a lot back to the art community when he opened his own art school in the 1970’s and later when he wrote with Stan Lee the best selling book How to Draw Comic’s the Marvel Way. In September of 2001 he produced his last comic book. It was for DC comics and called Just Imagine Stan Lee with John Buscema creating Superman. He was staring work on a five issue mini series with Roy Thomas when he passed away from cancer in January of 2002. He may be gone but he will never be forgotten.
You can click here
or on the title above to go to his site that is dedicated to his work and memory.

Bob Denver

Lately what I have had on my mind is Bob Denver and Dusty’s Trail. For those of you who have never seen this TV show it was really a western version of Gilligan’s Island. In his autobiography “Gilligan, Maynard & Me”, Mr. Denver admits that it was Gilligan goes west. Mr. Denver played Dusty the guide of a wagon train headed to California. Of course it turned out Dusty was a rotten guide and they were just going around in circles. Forrest Tucker was the Wagon Master. He was like the Skipper on a horse. Ivor Francis and Lynn Wood played Mr. & Mrs. Brookhaven the wealthy Howell types. Jeannine Riley played Lulu the saloon girl. She was something of a less glamorous Ginger. Lori Saunders was the Mary Ann of the show as the school teacher named Betsy and Bill Cort the Professor as the engineer named Andy. Ironically both Jeannine Riley and Lori Saunders had starred in Petticoat Junction in the 1960's. Miss. Riley was on it from 1963-1965 and Miss Saunders was from 1966 till the end of the series run. Dusty's Trail was shot on a syndicated budget since it was not on the network schedule. The humor was the same but the quality, and yes for the 60’s Gilligan’s Island was a very good quality show, was not. The chemistry between the actors is good but at times it seemed forced when compared to GI. Rumor has it that Forrest Tucker was half drunk when they shot the episodes. Only 26 of them aired in 1973 and then the show was seemingly forgotten.
One of Mr. Denver’s best memories from the show was the run bys. It meant that all of them had to run by the cameras in one shot. It was so huge they had to stop traffic on the lot and people came from all over to watch. Forrest Tucker rode out first then Bob. The stagecoach was next and finally the covered wagon. As the wagon came out one side Forrest Tucker has circled around and was re-entering on the other side. When the covered wagon was coming back in Mr. Tucker and Bob were coming out on the other side again.
Bob said the show was canceled as it was seen by few and disappeared. He said he hoped that it would be resurrected one day as some of the episodes were pretty funny. He is right. While it pale when compared to GI there were some funny moments. Unfortunately Mr. Denver is dead but I did find some of the episodes on DVD. You can get them if you click here. Also you can get some of the episodes edited together as a movie called the Wackiest Wagon Train in the West.
Bob Denver’s career in TV started out on a high note when he played Maynard in the Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. He was the break out character as he played Jughead to Dwayne Hickman’s Archie like character of Dobie. His next show was Gilligan’s Island when he was cast after Jerry Van Dyke turned down the part to star in My Mother the Car. GI was a big hit with kids and stayed on for three years but runs forever in syndication. Since then Mr. Denver had a hard time getting cast in anything that didn’t resemble Gilligan’s Island. Even as Maynard he was a little bit like a teenage Gilligan and Dobie like the Skipper. Except Gilligan didn’t mind working but Maynard worked hard to avoid working. Other people who stood next to him in the Skipper type of role were Herb Edelman on the Good Guys, the above mentioned Forrest Tucker, Chuck McCann on the live Saturday Morning show Far Out Space Nuts. That was sort of like Gilligan and the Skipper in space. Alan Hale Jr. played Skipper once more in the TV movies as well as on the two cartoon versions. One was the New Adventures of Gilligan which was a faithful transition of the show for Saturday morning audiences. Later they took them on another cartoon adventure to Gilligan’s Planet.
Mr. Denver was a good actor but never got to do any drama. The closest that he got was when he played himself on the comedy Evening Shade and gave a speech to the high school graduation class. He did make people laugh and was closely associated with two successful characters. That is pretty good for any actor.

Remembering Lennon

On December 8th 1980 John Lennon was leaving that morning to work in the studio. Just outside his front door he met a man who asked Lennon for an autograph. As always Lennon signed the album that he had. He asked the gentleman if that was all. The man said yes and John got in his limo and drove away. The autograph seeker was Mark Chapman and John narrowly escaped death. As we all know Chapman was there to kill John Lennon. That morning he had the gun with him but was having second thoughts. Later that day when Lennon came home Chapman changed his mind again and shot Mr. Lennon to death. A tragic ending to a musical life.
In the sixties Lennon and Paul McCartney were the songwriting talents behind the Beatles. Paul was the pop music showman with business sense. Lennon was the personality with the wit and some would say a brilliant madman. With McCartney’s business sense, Lennon headline grabbing antics on social issues and both of their talents in music the Beatles reigned over the music world for 10 years. They continued that reign as four individuals after the band broke up. While McCartney, Harrison and Starr all seemed to become just three more pop musicians, Lennon continued as the voice of his generation. He was always challenging the government. He did it so well that they tried to kick him out of the country.
Paul McCartney is my favorite of the Beatles. However, John was their leader who brought them all together and spearheaded the changes that came about in the 1960’s. Without realizing it John Lennon became a world leader and found out the hard way that he should weigh his words carefully and that actions really spoke louder then words. While most of the world may not agree with how John did things he did bring to light things that the public would not know about otherwise.
John died while coming out of five years of retirement from the music business. He said he heard some of the music that was being made back then and didn’t like the path pop music was taking. In true Lennon style he took an active part to show the younger generation the path they should be taking. Turn on top 40 radio today and you may think we still need someone like Mr. Lennon to lead us down the correct musical path.

The Pledge of Allegiance.

In honor of our troops over seas and in memory of those who were at Pearl Harbor and the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 I am directing you to this site. It is where Red Skelton tells about the pledge of allegiance.

Justice League Spin Off From Smallville?

According to Comics Continuum there may be a Justice League spin-off from the hit show Smallville. My bet is that there will be a Green Arrow series but perhaps it will be the JLA. Click on the name or the title above to read the article.

Happy Anniversary to The Defenders

This month is the 35th anniversary of Marvel Comics super team The Defenders. They were first published in Marvel Feature #1 in December of 1971. They were billed as a non-group. The super team book for people who hate super team books. That last statement never made much sense to me but that is one way they were billed. While my heart for super teams belongs to the JLA and the Avengers I have a feeling if I were a superhero I would be more at home in the Defenders. When I was in high school I never fit in with jocks as I never cared much for sports. I tried out for football and basketball teams only because my friends did and it was something to do. I didn’t have the heart for sports and it showed so I never made the teams. I was asked to be the manager of our freshman basketball team. I guess Coach Davis figured since I was tall I would get better and make the team next year. However, I didn't even try out for the team after my Freshman year. Now in my school the more popular kids were the smart kids. While I was never dumb, it would have been a closer fit to be in this clique. But they were also more into partying then I was and therefore I really didn't fit into that group either. The group I wound up fitting into more was sort of a non-group like the Defenders. The guys and girls I ate lunch with and hung out with after school for a year or two were the ones who didn’t fit into the above mentioned cliques. As a result most of their personalities were close matches to mine at that time in my life. That is why I think I would have fit better into the Defenders. Namor and Hulk proved they would never fit into Fantastic Four or the Avengers. With Dr. Strange and company they were considered welcome additions. Like my group in school they welcomed any new members. Membership was very fluid in the Defenders.
It started with Dr. Strange, Namor and Hulk joining to fight a common evil. They agreed to a loose knit friendship and to join each other when ever called to fight evil. As time went on it seemed like almost every character in the Marvel universe had been a Defender at some point in their careers. When you ask two fans who the line up of the Defenders were you won’t get the same answer between them. They almost will certainly say Dr. Strange, Hulk and Sub-Mariner but the rest of the group is up for grabs. For me the others are Nighthawk and Valkyrie. The rest of the line up over the years was Silver Surfer, Hellcat, Luke Cage, Cela, Moondragon and others. By the time issue 152 came around the ride was over and the book was canceled. When the series ended even the three mainstays were gone. It’s members at the end were Valkyrie, Angel, Beast, Iceman and Gargoyle. The membership now made the book look like it was a spin off of the X-Men.
There seems to be renewed interest in The Defenders. In the past few years there have been new mini-series based on the group. I tried them but the fun was no longer there for me. It is nice to know they are fondly remember by others and I hope for new comic book fans they will be back on a regular basis. Till then you can buy the Essential Defenders and go to this Defenders message board.

Self-portraits

Hey remember seeing these advertised in Marvel Comics. They were self portraits of the artist who worked on the comic books that we all loved so much. I remember seeing this one of John Romita Sr. and couldn’t help but notice he drew himself to look like Peter Parker. Years later I saw a photo of John Romita Jr. and he must look like his Father because he looked like a real life Peter Parker. The first time I remember seeing this one and other of Kirby and Trimpe was when I was part of the Merry Marvel Marching Society. It was in catalogue that they mailed out to the members. I was about 6 or 7 at the time and couldn’t afford to buy anything from the book but I loved getting it. It felt like I was seeing something before the rest of the world got a look at it. To see the creators surrounded by all of the characters they created each month was fascinating. I imagined that was the way it really felt when they were working with well defined characters. This drawing brings fond memories to me and I hope it does to you too.

Batman/Spirit

This book brings the Spirit into modern times as he and Batman meet for the first time. They team up to get their friends Commissioner Gordon and Commissioner Dolan out of trouble. In order to properly view this book I had to try and ignore my memories of the Will Eisner stories. Those stories may have taken place in the 1940’s but they were so well done that they still stand up in todays market. The real star of the book was The Spirit not Batman. You could have teamed him up with Hourman and gotten the same reaction.
With the updating nothing had to change. Ellen still pines away for The Spirit. The Spirit still live underground in the graveyard and Dolan still keeps The Spirit’s secret. I’ve always wondered how much of a secret it could be when he goes out in the daytime. The idea to update The Spirit was given the thumbs up sign by Mr. Eisner before he passed away. So I am sure that he would be happy with the way the art turned out. It is almost as good as Eisner’s but not nearly as close as when Kitchen Sink produced new stories based on The Spirit. One aspect that I am glad to see the artist kept in was the inventive way he used the Spirit’s name on one of the splash pages. That was one of Eisner’s signatures on the series. In this one the Spirit falls from the top of a building and the letter from the sign that fall with him spell out Spirit as they fall to the ground.
As you can see it was impossible for me to ignore memories of Eisner’s version. However, I did enjoy reading this book. It was well written and drawn and I can’t wait for the new series to come out later this month. I just hope they don’t turn Ebony into a computer whiz.

If you want to buy it you can go to it's auction site by clicking on the title above.

My Two Cents: Deck the Halls

Well Christmas is almost here and Hollywood is giving us as many Christmas movies as we can handle. To the best of my memory I only recall one Christmas movie per year in the past. So for this year there seems to be four. This seems to me like a major break through. Those movies are the Santa Clause 3, Deck the Halls, Unaccompanied Minors and The Nativity. Today I am giving my two cents on Deck the Halls. I really liked this film. Now the plot was predictable but its heart was in the right place and it had one of my favorite types of comedy. Slapstick! I may be a bit over protective when it comes to what kids see on the screen but a couple parts of it I would have rated PG-18. For most the PG rating is appropriate. Matthew Broderick is Steve Finch and is the local eye doctor in town. He is so organized about Christmas and is love for the holiday is well known in town. So he is the citizen who always puts together the towns Christmas activities. Buddy Hall is played by Danny DeVito. The Hall family moves to town when they lease the house across the street from the Finch family. While both men share the star roles, it is Mr. DeVito who is the star in the old Hollywood style. That style is if an actor’s character is mentioned in the title then that actor is the star of the film. So Mr. DeVito is the star as Mr. Broderick’s character gets angry at them and wants to Deck the Halls.
Buddy Hall moves to town to take a new job as a car salesman. He is a great salesman but can’t keep a job as he is still searching for something to fulfill his life. He wants recognition that he doesn’t feel he is getting at his job or at home. When his two daughters find a site that shows what everybody’s home looks like from space but they can’t find their own home it adds to his feeling of being invisible. He decides to do something about it. He wants to light his home so it can be seen from space. He does it so well that it makes the news and the town starts thinking of him as Mr. Christmas instead of Steve Finch. Steve Finch’s reaction to this is beautiful and very funny. Buddy gets back at him by having the lights and loud music stay on till 4am. Now Steve can’t get any sleep. He strikes back by buying fireworks and shoots them at Buddy’s home. However, one gets away from Finch and goes down his chimney. He does more damage to his home then to Buddy’s. In the end both men see that their fighting is hurting both families and they try to be friends.
Does Buddy ever get his house seen from space? Buy a ticket and see the movie to find out. You won’t be disappointed. This is one movie that is worth the price of the ticket. You can’t say that about most movies these days.

This Day In Music History:The Beatles and Come Together/Something

On November 29th 1969 this day in music history the Beatles had their first two-sided number one single on the Billboard charts. Recently I found out that this had something to do with a policy change at Billboard. Previously I stated in an earlier posting that stations put a b side on the charts due to having a lot of request for that song. I now believe that was only for the local station charts. It seems that Billboard back when it started had standard operating procedure to list both sides on the charts in separate positions. It is that procedure Billboard was using when the Beatles single Come Together with Something as the flip side came out.
Both songs competed on the charts and seemed stalled the week of November 15th with Come Together at number two and Something at number 3. If this procedure continued neither one may have made it to the top of the charts. Then Billboard changed its method on how they put together their chart rankings and listed all two-sided hits in the same position. Under this method the Beatles had both songs were listed as number one the week of November 29th of 1969. This was only the second time both songs of a two-sided hit reached the top spot since Elvis did it in 1958 with Don’t and I Beg of You.
In England Come Together/Something only reached number 4. It was the Beatles lowest ranking in their home country since Love Me Do only went to number 17. Come Together/Something was the Beatles 18th number one record. It broke the record that Elvis set when he reached his 17th number one record earlier that month with Suspicious Minds.

Catching up with Jack

Well last spring I finally got hooked on 24. So much so that I had to find out what happened the previous 4 years. Thanks to a friend at work and to the public library I have been able to catch up on them with DVD's and video tapes. Who knew Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer was North Americas answer to James Bond? The only probelm I have with the show is that ion the last episodes of each season it ends in cliff hangers that get resolved off screen. For example season two had the terror threat resolved but a new one came up when the President shook hands with a terriost who infected him with a deadly virus. At the beginning of season 3 that has already been taken care of and the President is running for re-election when a drug lord threatens to release a virus in L.A. unless his brother is released from prison. How did they take care of the terriost who infected the President? Why start a new story when you really had not finished the first one? Other then that the series is very well done. I can't wait till season 6.

This Day In Music History: Tennessee Ernie Ford and Sixteen Tons

Ok this should have been put up earlier. I got my dates mixed up and thought that this song was #1 starting on November 29th of 1955. However, it started its run on November 26th of 1955. It was still the #1 song on this date and stayed there for an incredible 7 weeks. It is of course Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford. Mr. Ford had a popular television show in the 50’s and I am sure that helped sales. The previous sales record was held by Mitch Miller and the Yellow Rose of Texas. Sixteen Tons beat that record when it sold more then a million copies in 3 weeks and reached the top of the Billboard charts.
Mr. Ford was a country singer with a booming baritone voice. However, when he was acting on shows like I Love Lucy or any other shows of the day he would talk in a high pitched voice with a southern twang and called everybody cousin. This must have endeared him to his audience but there was a startling change when he started to sing. Out came this deep and powerful voice that could give Bing Crosby, Dean Martin other male singers of the 50’s a run for their money. You would see the same thing happen in the 1960’s with Jim Nabors.
Sixteen Tons was written by Merle Travis in 1947. He was recording his album Folk Songs of the Hills when his label asked him to include some songs about miners. When he could not find any he wrote some of his own. Sixteen Tons was one of those songs. Mr. Travis’ Dad worked as a coal miner in Kentucky. Everyday he would come home and say “another day older and deeper in debt.” He included that phrase in the chorus of the song.
Mr. Ford was so busy with his new TV show that he didn’t record new material for his record label. When they told him he had to record something for them to release he picked two songs that he sang on his show and went into the studio to record them. The songs he picked were “You Don’t Have To Be a Baby to Cry” and of course “Sixteen Tons.”
Ford got his start in show business as a country music DJ. He worked at KXLA in Pasadena and just for fun, when Ford had the time, he would rush over to his friend Cliffie Stone’s show. They would tell jokes and Ford would sing a hymn and then leave. He said “It was all for fun and didn’t pay a thing.” At least it didn’t when he started doing it. He became so popular on the show that they asked him to become a regular on their Saturday night show.
One morning while driving to work the A&R man for Capitol Records heard Ford singing along with a record on the air. Once he got to his office at Capitol he called up the station and asked to see Ernie right away. Later Tennessee Ernie Ford was signed to Capitol Records and began recording a string of hits for the label.
His biggest success in music was Sixteen Tons. He had continued success in television well into the 1960’s. Most of it in the 60’s was as a guest star on other peoples programs. He was the star of his own program in prime time for NBC from 1956 to 1961. In a strange twist of irony the program was called The Ford Show but it was not named for Tennessee Ernie Ford. It was named after the programs sponsor, Ford automobiles.

I think I can now add photos

See that smile on my face. Well it is on my face in that photo because I was graduating from high school. If you could see me now I would have a smile bigger then that because I think I have figured out how to add photos to my postings. I have already added two new photos to previous post and will try to do that for others. So look to other postings you have read before to see the pretty pictures. You may even find something that you missed the first time.

Rest in Peace Dave Cockrum

I just heard the sad news of the passing of artist Dave Cockrum. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Cockrum at my local comic book shop. I believe it was in the mid to late 90's. I had a plesant conversation with him as did many people who were there at the time. I forget what we talked about but I was left with a good feeling and hoped to see him at the store again someday. That was the only time he would be there and only time I would ever see him. It was the first time I bought original art. He sold me and signed a page of art that he did for a promo for the X-Men series on the Fox Network. Unfortunately I don't have the art anymore. Last I heard is that it was hanging in a comic book shop in Lexington, Kentucky. It was a thrill to meet such a famous and well respected artist like Mr. Cockrum. It was a great feeling to meet one of the creators of the New X-Men as well as the artist for the Legion of Super-Heroes. I was never a big fan of either but I loved seeing his art on them. From time to time I would buy the X-Men and I would sometimes read Legion when I would be at my cousin Randy's house. They were one of his favorites so they would always be around somewhere. Dave Cockrum you will be missed.

Would you believe Get Smart on DVD?

It's the old releasing the entire box set first trick. Most of the time they release the DVD's of tv shows season by season and then give you the entire series run in a boxed set. However, is releasing the boxed set first and then releasing the seperate seasons. The box set is coming out on November 15, 2006 for $199.96. The seperate seasons are being released next year at $40 each. Just an FYI for Get Smart fans.