The other side of the island

Christmas with Daniel 2011

2011-12-15T10:29:00.001-08:00

Well, it's been an exciting year in many ways, as you may be able to tell by the lack of 2011 posts. This blog, like so many other blogs, is caught in the bog of real life keeping the blogger too busy to update regularly. I enjoy writing, so I keep hoping things will change. You loyal readers are a blessing to me & I thank you for taking the time once in a while to check in. It's time once again for a holiday tradition. "Here's "Christmas with Daniel", but it's not Daniel O'Donnell this time. . .it's the star of children's TV, Daniel Striped Tiger.:

Christmas is where you find it. This Christmas story has nothing to do with the actual holiday – and everything. The story is from episode 1550 of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the classic PBS series.

Since Fred Rogers' death, I have collected several episodes of the show. This episode aired earlier this year and hopefully will be rerun for many years to come. That's assuming MRN will stick around. Sadly, many stations have dropped it from their schedule.

Anyway, the story opens with Daniel S. Tiger attending a bass violin festival (long story, folks). During the festival, two of the characters decide to put on a puppet show using bass violin puppets. The play begins with the two bass violin puppets talking to each other – the tall one is the older brother, the short one the younger brother. The older brother decides he doesn't want his younger brother playing second fiddle to him anymore, so he tells him that he is going away to play with his older friends.

“But I want to play with you!” the younger brother cries. “Sorry,” the older replies as he walks (slides?) away from the younger brother. Alone on stage, the younger brother begins to cry. “Boo-hoo! Boo-hoo-hoo!” After a few moments, forgetting that it's only a play, the shy Daniel Tiger walks up to the crying bass violin. “I'll play with you,” Daniel says.

If all we ever do this holiday season is make someone feel that they are not alone, and that we care for them, then we probably will have fulfilled more of the work of Christ than we could ever imagine. But heed a word of warning: it will only work if you meet THEIR needs, not just your own. Don't kid yourself: True love involves bravery. I wish we could always be guaranteed that we would be loved in return. That would certainly make the job easier.

If I were in charge of Heaven, the first rule I would make is, “All right, from now on, nobody will ever be without love again. Everybody will always have someone special to hold them and help them when they need it. Everybody will always be loved.”

This holiday season, I wish for you – and for me – the love of someone very special to fill your heart, whether that someone be a family member, a friend, the Lord, yourself, a fantasy, or even a certain striped tiger.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and holiday season.

New music (not new music) and Nessie (not Nessie)

2011-10-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

While scrounging through some music CDs on a recent visit to my parents' home, I was surprised to find a Katy Perry CD. No, no, I said. This is not possible. My parents like old 1950s music, not Katy Perry. Katy Perry is too hip. Even I don't have a Katy Perry CD! How could my parents have one? This must be an episode of the Twilight Zone.

But no, it was reality. My mom says that she heard Katy sing "Firework" on TV and enjoyed the song so much that she bought the CD. It's far different from 1983, when I would have to beg for $1.69 to buy a 45 rpm single. Now, they just go out and buy the whole CD. As mentioned before, I don't know where you would even buy a music single these days. Today, if you don't use itunes, you just go out and buy the whole CD. I'm thankful my parents (and I) are in a position to do such things.

My trip home also gave me some exposure to some new music artists that I wanted to share with you (In this case, "new" means I'd never heard of them before, which means they've probably been around for several years. So I beg of your patience if you've already got five albums by these folks. I just enjoy what I enjoy, and here's some of what I enjoy). For examples of their work, the easiest option is just to watch them on YouTube. I'll also list a few music artists that I have more recently discovered elsewhere.

1. JACKIE EVANCHO. Like many others, I heard the voice and thought it belonged to a great operatic singer who'd been at the met for years. But no, it belonged to a little girl who hadn't really known of her talent until she began to sing along to the movie version of "The Phantom of the Opera." Jackie Evancho is a great singer for all ages and I enjoyed her recent PBS special.

2. STRAIGHT NO CHASER. These guys, like their suits, are very cool - they demonstrate that vocal harmony is very vital to musical success. I really enjoyed their show as well. Check out their Youtube videos for "Africa" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Great stuff.

3. MUSIC GO MUSIC. If you like Abba, you'll like them. They also use harmony to their advantage.

4. LA ROUX. Speaking of Abba, synth music plays a key role for La Roux as well. If you enjoy the single "Bulletproof", you'll enjoy their debut album.

In other music news, I was saddened to hear of the breakup of R.E.M. While it may be true that they've reached the "peak", it's just as true that we enjoyed having them there. Like many great bands, their best work is classic, and their mediocre work isn't too painful. As one of the band members once said, they have been able to do things their own way. That's a blessing for them. The fact that we liked it so much was a blessing for us.

What is not much of a blessing is the recent bankruptcy and closing of Borders bookstores. Remember my posts about making your own music CDs at Borders? Well, forget them! I believe it's still possible at some FYI stores, but none of them are near me, and it's just too much of a hassle to do it any other way but online. Nothing wrong with that per se - I just like to have options. It's like the idea of the Post Office closing on Saturdays. I understand the need to save money - but I don't like the idea of losing the option of mailing things on a Saturday. And I liked the option of making my own music cDs in a store. I'm obviously not against the Internet at all - but I hate to think of a world where there are no other options.

==============================================

NESSIE SPOTTED IN UTAH: I took a very rare (for me) business trip recently which gave me the chance to fly over Nevada and parts of Utah. As I looked out the window, I saw several large lakes. In one of these lakes, I noticed a white object swimming in the lake which appeared to have at least three long legs behind it. A giant white squid? As I watched, I remembered the picture of the "Loch Ness Monster" that was reported on Google earth & that I had blogged about in the past. This creature looked almost exactly like it! A little while later, we flew over another lake, and I saw several more monsters that looked almost exactly the same! Wow! I must be the luckiest guy in the world!

Uh, no. They were boats. Clearly they were boats. And as I remembered the Nessie Google earth image, I can't believe nobody (including myself) ever positively identified it as a white boat with wakes flowing to the side and behind it! Surely people who do a lot of flying would have been able to say, "It's a white boat. That's how they look from an airplane." I guess it's just so much fun to believe in the Loch Ness monster that we overlook obvious solutions in favor of what we want to see. I kind of liked the idea of Nessie swimming butt-first in protest of everyone trying to bug her all the time.

Here's one site that got it right:

http://www.scientificanews.com/2009/08/its-nessie-on-google-earth-or-is-that.html

========================================

QUICK THANKS: To the few (and I do mean few) of you who know about all the garbage I'm going through right now, thank you for your continued prayers and/or good vibes. They are much appreciated, as are you.

=========================================

PAST MINUTES: In keeping with our "all Carolyne Heldman all the time" mantra, I'd like to point out a new webpage dedicated to the MTV show "120 Minutes," which Carolyne hosted a few times. (Check out the year 1988 in the archives for a playlist from an episode that she hosted). They're seeking contributors (and so am I), so if you happen to have a video of an older episode, please contact them, and then contact me. :) I have a little bit of footage to trade with.

http://tylerc.com/the-120-minutes-archive/

So Many Dreams

2011-07-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

In keeping with the trend of listing tracks from some of my mix tapes, I'd like to offer you this mix from circa 1992. It is a fun album and it features something I don't do very often - cover art drawn by me. The picture is of Ginger from "Gilligan's Island" and Grover from "Sesame Street" enjoying a sunny day in the enchanted forest. Of course. Neither Ginger, Grover nor the enchanted forest actually perform on this album, but it's a cool picture anyway. (Although if they WERE to sing a song, they could probably sing the "two g sounds" song from the alphabet album, since their names have both sounds. . .but I digress). The picture is here reproduced so that all my die-hard fans can enjoy it.

It's my blog. Let me dream.

On a day of jury duty not long after this tape was finished, I found myself writing out the lyrics to EVERY song on side one of the album. Yes, I was bored. But it demonstrates how much "into" the album I was at the time.

The album title comes from a lyric in the famous song "You Light Up My Life", which is of course on the album. It is true that the lyrics to my mix tapes are somewhat important to me. I don't like to put songs on them that I find objectionable. It's a rare problem, but I have sometimes had "fights" with myself over songs that I felt were OK musically but wrong for an album of mine due to lyric content.

1. If - Bread
2. Losing my religion - R.E.M.
3. A Teenager in Love - Dion and the Belmonts
4. Island of Dreams - The Seekers
5. I Started a Joke - The Bee Gees
6. Caribbean Amphibian - Kermit the Frog
7. You Light up my Life - Debby Boone
8. World where you live - Crowded House
9. Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
10. California Dreamin' - The Mamas and the Papas
11. Duke of Earl - Gene Chandler
12. Bless this House - Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians
13. Evening Falls. . . - Enya
14. River - Enya
15. If I were - Kermit the Frog
16. We can work it out - Beatles
17. Perhaps Love - John Denver and Placido Domingo
18. Someday My Prince will Come / Finale - Snow White soundtrack

Looking over the list, I can identify the trend of putting a few songs on from the same album. (Enya's "Watermark"; Jim Henson: A Sesame Street Celebration; Snow White soundtrack). I can also ID some cassette singles from the time that were purchased (R.E.M.; Dion). Yes, this was before CDs were the big thing in our house, and everything is from an LP or a tape.
Listening to this again today, I still love it a lot. The songs are fun and full of emotion and often full of longing, and the finale to Snow White is a symphonic masterpiece. It's hard to believe I did this almost 20 years ago. "Boy, you old."

The version of the finale to Snow White on this tape is the one from the Disneyland LP, which is slightly different from the version made available on CD. Read more about that here:
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2009/10/snow-white-and-seven-dwarfs.html

Ginger's fans can read more about her here:
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/02/gingers-i-mean-gilligans-island.html

======================================================

EAT YOUR HEART OUT, MAPQUEST: We are finally able to answer one of the greatest geographical questions of all time. "Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?"
According to the 1971 Year Book of the World Book Encyclopedia, in article on page 485 by Allan Davidson, "Sesame Street is near 104th Street and Second Avenue in New York City's East Harlem." He then goes on to say that it not a "real" street (no way!) and talk about the show, which at that time was quite a force in the TV world. So now we have a much better general idea than we've ever had before. I feel like I've discovered a boat on Mount Ararrat.

=====================================================

ON YOUTUBE: DARTH VADER'S VISIT TO DISNEYLAND. Friend Jenny pointed out this video recently & I thought it would be fun to add it to my page as well. The new Star Tours is here, and this video from Disney Parks explains exactly why good things come to those who wait and have knowledge of the force. A fun and funny video that you can watch on my Youtube page in my favorites folder.

Won' t you be his neighbor?

2011-06-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

Are you in the market for a new home? Well, if you're willing to do a bit of digging, you may be able to buy Mister Rogers' home! (Or at least, a home in the Mr. Rogers style.) That's exactly what blogger TL of the Nieghborhood Archive did. He now owns an exact replica of Mister Rogers' television home - that is, the tiny model one you see at the beginning of his TV show! Okay, so it's a bit small, and unfurnished. You will probably have to put in your own plumbing and electicity lines as well. But how cool. I urge you to read his post about how he found and restored the home. It's much funnier than this post.

http://neighborhoodarchive.com/blog/?p=375

Speaking of Mister Rogers, now is the time for all die-hard Mr. Rogers video collectors to shell out the big bucks and buy some copies of their favorite episodes, most of which are being made available on home video for the first time from the Fred Rogers company. Most of the episodes are only available as downloads to your computer or iPod, but some are available as DVDs. TL has a link to a page where you can pick out the exact episodes you want. This is a real treat for "old school" Mr. Rogers fans who want to peek at the older episodes again. It's almost like the "Noggin" revolution of 1999-2000. Old school PBS rules!

http://www.neighborhoodarchive.com/merch/other/buyeps/index.html

=================================

HOW TO DISAPPEAR: I have a great excuse for not keeping up with the blogging. This is a long story, but for the moment I do not have a working Internet connection. And this very long moment has lasted for several months now. So now I'm without live TV or the Web. I'm missing the Web a bit more. What I miss most is the ability to get information quickly. That's probably the best luxury the Web has to offer us, and the reason why sites like Google and Wikipedia have been so successful.

It also may be the reason why within the past two months, no less than four local stores/companies have decided to close up shop. The stores have one thing in common - they sell CDs and DVDs. At one going out of business sale, there was a DVD set of the old "Superman" TV show "on sale" at 20% off. When I did a search for the same item on Amazon.com, I found that its normal price on Amazon was the same as the sale price at the store. There you have it - the reason why the store went out of business. If the Web offers items at a lower price, why buy it at the store? I'm losing four favorite shopping haunts. Obviously, the Internet is not completely to blame - but when so many similar businesses leave the scene, you can't deny its impact.

So if I don't immediately answer your messages, there's a good reason for it. I do have computer access, so I can occasionally check in to see how things are going. It sucks, I know. I won't bore you with the details (too late, I know), but I'm going through some bumps in the road of life. But I'll get through this. So thanks, dude, for letting me borrow your computer so I can do this post.

=====================================

POKER FACE: One of the stores going out of business is a local Borders, which is the one that had the mix and burn station where you could burn your own music CDs. Darn it, we finally get this awesome technology, and now it's out of my reach! :) Again, you can look at the Web and say that music can be downloaded from home, so why go to the store to do it? A good point - well, what about folks like ME who don't have Web access, huh? Sigh. The Internet has revolutionized the music business, both in good ways and bad.

But I digress. I wanted to give you another playlist of songs from one of my Borders albums that you may enjoy looking at. At the time I mentioned Lady Gaga in a post last year, I was more familiar with her image than her music. But a local radio station has been playing some of her "hits", and I must admit to enjoying much of what I've heard, as this song list will show. This is one of my favorite "Borders albums."

1. Poker Face - Lady Gaga

2. Wonderful Woman - The Smiths

3. Hearts Courageous - Azure Fields

4. Boa Constrictor- Marylee

5. Haven't met you yet - Michael Buble

6. Come Harvest Time - Steve Amerson

7. Love Never Dies - From the musical

8. Alejandro - Lady Gaga

9. Hi Friend - Bob McGrath

10. A smile connects us - Kermit the Frog

11. Paparrazzi - Lady Gaga

12. Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel

13. Already Gone - Kelly Clarkson

14. Jenny Dreamed of Trains - John Denver

15. Bigmouth Strikes Again (Live) - Morrissey

This album is fun to listen to. At times quiet, at times rocking. It's almost exactly an hour long, making it a good fit for a recording. But I don't think the cursing in "Paparazzi" is necessary. It's there to try to sell records to sheltered teenagers who think that cursing is so grown-up and will make them cool. Couldn't she have sung, "Snap snap to that crap on the radio?" It means the same thing, and it almost rhymes!

Sesame scandals

2010-11-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

By the time I get around to blogging, things that happen “now” actually took place a few weeks ago. The real Internet is about five times faster than this wee little blog. I hope you'll be patient with me as I comment on an old story- namely the one about Katy Perry not being allowed on Sesame Street for showing a little too much "skin." It's nice to know that those overprotective parents are still on the job. Just a few comments on that situation.

If you knew that something illegal was going on in the city hall of your hometown, you'd be upset and demand the illegal action stop. It is, after all, your city, and you want it to be run the right way. Well, Sesame Street has become an institution that everyone thinks they “own.” The show finds itself in the unfortunate position of trying to please everybody. This is particularly important for Sesame Street, since the show relies very much on input from the children who watch it. While it's true that this can be a great benefit in some ways, “too many cooks spoil the broth,” as they say. With so many people keeping an eye on the show, something like this is going to happen from time to time. It's happened before – songs and skits have been edited or dropped altogether due to complaints and concerns. Here are the two most notable:

1. The “I want a monster to be my friend” song - the original version was dropped due to worries that it promoted child abuse. Ugh.
2. The divorce episode. In an effort to deal with the issue of divorce, an episode was created dealing with Snuffy’s parents getting divorced. Because the test audience of kids did not fully grasp what was going on, the show and the subject were dropped. That decision marked an important turning point in the history of the show. Up until then, Sesame Street had tackled some somewhat complex subjects for kids - death, marriage and having babies being the big three. But when they chose not to press the issue of divorce, they sort of decided not to press any more similar issues. Sesame Street certainly doesn’t push the envelope anymore. Now they are part of the “establishment,” if you will, which is actually not necessarily bad. But it was a radical show for its time. I fear we won’t be seeing anything too radical from them in the future.

As an aside, do you recall the worries about Cookie Monster “not liking Cookies anymore?” I wasn’t too worried about it, because I knew that it was already established that Cookie didn’t only eat Cookies. (Cookie actually eats just about anything). And indeed, today he still eats Cookies. If they really were concerned about Cookie, they would just drop the character, as they have done with so many other characters on the show. But sadly, I think that the “A cookie is a sometimes food” deal was more of a PR thing than anything else. It was meant to get people worried, to make some money, then to let things get back to normal. Kind of like Superman’s death. Kind of like Spider-Man’s new costume. Kind of like. . .well, hopefully you see where this is going.

Perhaps the Internet has been a great blessing to the show because it has prevented this skit from “corrupting our youth.” Maybe this is the new way that questionable material can be eliminated from the show. Just pull it when Internet viewers complain. It's a reasonable idea – how much worse would it have been if this “horrid” material had aired in front of billions of kids? Better to “nip it in the bud” and stop it before it even airs on TV. Consider how quickly the uproar arrived over the skit. If there are enough people peeking into the Sesame Street website, maybe they can be the de facto guards and give the final “yea” or nay” as to what airs. That seems to be what they're doing now, anyway.

=================================================
　
VIVA VARIETY: Let’s go back in time to. . .well, to just about any time between the 1950s and the 2000s. You’re in a record store, or if it’s post 1990, you’re in a CD store. You find an album that has a song that you like. You find another album that has another song that you like. The problem is you only have enough money to buy one album. You have to make a decision which song you’d prefer. “Wouldn’t it be nice,” you say to yourself, “if I could somehow put both of these songs on the same album?”

Fast forward to today, when such a thing is possible. I don’t work for Mix & Burn, but the technology is finally here to walk into a store and essentially create your own album mix without having to buy ten separate albums. Mankind has waited for this day for far too long. I thought I would share with you the play list from my latest CD to give you an idea of the wide selection of tunes available. All these tracks are available at the stores that have the mix & burn technology. Here’s “Popcorn”:

1. Reminiscing -Little River Band
2. Take up your cross- John Michael Talbot
3. Popcorn - The Muppets (specifically, the Swedish Chef)
4. Bulletproof - La Roux
5. Waiting on the world to change - John Mayer
6. Eagle - ABBA
7. 17 Again - Eurythmics
8. It’s just a matter of time - Randy Travis
9. Genie in a bottle - Christina Aguilera
10. Saturday in the Park - Chicago
11. Morning has broken - Art Garfunkel
12. We See - Thelonious Monk
13. It’s a Heartache - Bonnie Tyler
14. Angel - Sarah McLachlan
15. Adios, Au Revoir, Aufwiedersehn - Lawrence Welk
16. Viva La Vida - Coldplay

Pretty cool variety. Of course, they don’t have everything, and I have found myself making a list of all the songs I like that they don’t have. But despite its limitations, this is very cool. I get the music I like and I save money. See, life isn’t so bad.

===================================================

FOUR TIMES FOUR: Just a few quick additions to the last post about the Melody Four, based on some recently found album notes. How did they get their name? Rather quickly, it turns out. Just before they were about to make their debut on the radio, someone asked what their name was. They didn’t have one, so the someone told the announcer, “Call them the Melody Four.” The moral: Don’t waste too much time thinking of a name for your band. Also, it turns out that Bill Pearce wasn’t just a member of the 16 Singing Men - all four of the Melody Four were as well. That is in fact, how the 16 Singing Men were formed - They took each member of the band and added three other people who could sing their same parts. Hence 16 singing men. The moral: Mathematics and music go together. And consider this revelation: The 16 singing men weren’t all men! Well, the men were, but the women weren’t. It turns out that some ladies helped them out on some of their albums. This is somewhat misleading, of course. I realize that “16 singing men and a few singing women thrown in for good measure” is kind of a long name, but it would have been more accurate. The moral: Even Christian bands can lie if there’s not enough room to fit their name on the album cover.

==================================================

FRIENDS NO MORE? Courteney Cox and David are breaking up? Boy, talk about mixed feelings. :) Actually, they’re not so mixed. When you like someone, you want them to be happy, regardless of who - or if - they choose to marry. I’m hoping against hope that it’s not too late and they’ll try again to make it work. It’s like the advice I once gave to a friend whose marriage was breaking up. Do everything in your power to make it work. That way, even if it doesn’t work, you’ll be able to walk away saying, “I did everything I could.” I hope Courteney and David do everything they can.

=================================================

POST, ALREADY: Here’s a philosophical question for you: If I spend all my time blogging, tweeting and texting, does that mean I don’t have a life, or if I DON’T spend all my time blogging, tweeting and texting, does that mean I don’t have a life? An argument could be made either way, if you think about it. And if you think about it, does that mean you don’t have a life?

In the long list of suspects that keep this blog from being updated, the usual culprits abound: family, friends, home movies, computer troubles (sorry about all that spam I’ve been sending you), work, homework, work on my home, work at my home, etc. It’s frustrating for me, because ideas for posts arise, but time keeps me away. Most recently, a new writing project is eating away all my free computer time. I’m having fun writing, but blog posting is getting pushed aside again. Hopefully you’ve figured out that an abundance of words doesn’t necessarily mean anything. And with that in mind. . .
　

The constant disclaimer

2010-08-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

It all began when I was going to focus on someone for my latest blog post. I was going to put up a link to their site, when suddenly I realized that I didn’t always agree with everything that this person said or did. In fact, there were a few things this person said that I didn’t like at all. So I considered putting up a “disclaimer”- basically something explaining that I didn’t endorse everything that the person said or did. Simple idea, right? You’ve seen disclaimers before. They are basically there to keep people from being sued.

But then I realized that if I really wanted to be complete, I would need to put a disclaimer on just about every link and post in this blog. Because there’s not ANY one thing here that completely expresses my views. Even if I totally agree with a post, there’s almost always more to tell. I think that may be one reason it can be so difficult to share your political or religious views with someone. There are “too many howevers”, as Charles Schulz once said. And it’s easy to be misunderstood by those who aren’t very imaginative, and think that every cowboy has to ride a horse. Even to say something simple like “I am a man” can carry with it a bad connotation for those who seek to find faults with someone. “You’re a man? That must mean you’re brutish and uncaring.” “No, that’s not true at all!” “Then why point out that you’re a man? Why not just keep your mouth shut so I can continue to believe my prejudices?”

The following story is true, but the names have been changed to protect the stupid: I once listened in on two people talking with each other about another person who is (reportedly) gay. Friend number one said, in complete seriousness, “I knew he had to be gay because he liked Barbara Streisand.” Friend number two nodded in agreement. I felt like throwing up. That’s called prejudice. To state what must be obvious (to everyone but my friends), not every Barbara Streisand fan is gay! What do you suppose statements like that do to all the straight guys who like Barbara Streisand? They’re going to keep it a secret because they don’t want to be misunderstood.

Let’s suppose that you know two people who have been hanging out together quite a bit. Does that mean they’re sexually intimate? Folks, we don’t have enough information, so we just can’t say that for sure. They might be intimate, but we just don’t know. I’m not going to say that they are intimate if I don’t know the answer. I’m not going to jump to conclusions. That’s kind of the point- prejudice is assuming that everyone falls into a neat little cubbyhole, and that every Republican believes the same thing as every other Republican. That’s not true. That’s as foolish as saying that every Barbara Streisand fan is gay. That’s as foolish as saying that everyone who hangs out together must be intimate. Wouldn't it be foolish to let your prejudices keep you from enjoying or learning from someone else?

I’m not against trying to be polite, or politically correct. But if I REALLY wanted to not offend anyone. . .then I probably shouldn’t have been born, and neither should you have been born. Because all it takes is two people. I’ll never be you, and you’ll never be me. Be patient with me and I will try to be patient with you. Understand that I will make mistakes and you will, too. Please don’t jump to conclusions about me based on anything here you don't like. I'm definitely not trying to offend, but sometimes it just happens. Don't let prejudice keep you from enjoying or learning from others.

==========================================================

A JOYFUL NOISE: Sometimes as you listen to & collect music, you learn about artists that you had never heard of before, and you begin to appreciate their work. This post is about a case of that. I’ve never considered the trumpet and trombone to be the best-suited instruments for “easy listening,” but I was forgetting about the soft tones that can be produced by an expert in the field like Bill Pearce was. I had never heard of him either. But sometimes a person’s influence is greater than you realize, and that seems to be the case with Bill.

Bill, who passed away earlier this year, was a member of the “Melody Four” and “16 Singing Men.” If you are interested in Christian music from the 1950s on up, you have hopefully heard of those groups. For some reason, the “16 Singing Men” are among the hottest-selling (and hardest to find) Christian artists whose work is out of print. One of their out-of-print CDs routinely sells for over $100. That’s out of my league, and it’s unfortunate that it’s so hard to find work by those guys that the average guy can afford to buy.

Bill also hosted his own radio show (“Nightsounds”) heard nationally, and was arguably the most important trombone player in Christian music. At least he was well-known enough that a popular trombone website featured an in-depth interview with him. The interview reveals a man who deeply loves the Lord and wanted to serve him. He certainly succeeded as far as I can see - two popular Christian groups AND your own radio show, offering comfort to listeners? Sounds like success to me. Again, I hadn’t heard of Bill before, but I’m sure the Lord knew him. I look forward to meeting him one day.

http://www.nightsoundsradio.org/index.cfm

http://www.trombone.org/articles/library/viewarticles.asp?ArtID=105

=========================================================

ON YOUTUBE: YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW. One of my favorite "lost skits" from Sesame Street is available on YouTube (and on the Sesame Street website) for our viewing pleasure. The song was available on the old "Stars come out on Sesame Street" album, but now the video has resurfaced, and I'm glad to see it again. You can find it in the favorites folder on my YouTube page, the link to which is in the links section.

　

To be continued? Not again. . .

2010-07-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

One of my silly home movies features a coloring book with a story that basically ends right in the middle. The hero gets captured, then the coloring book ends. Pretty stupid, huh? It just doesn’t seem right to end a story at such a point. And yet this is nothing new. Back in the day, buying or reading comic books was somewhat of a problem for me, since we never subscribed to them, and we weren’t always going down the street to buy them. So if a comic book ended with a cliffhanger (as most of them did), I hardly ever got to find out exactly what happened next. It was not until years later when comic collecting became more intense that I finally began to find out what happened to those characters.

But sometimes, we never found out. Fans of the old “Jack and Jill” magazine may recall the character of “Perky Puppet.” Perky and friends went on an adventure one day and were never heard from again. Another character (Rufus Crustbuster, somebody else you‘ve probably never heard of) took over the storyline, and Perky sort of disappeared into the ether. Sad. And very lazy writing. You may never have heard of Perky Puppet, but now a similar thing has happened to a character you probably have heard of.

The comic strip “Annie” came to an end on Sunday, June 13, 2010. But worse than the fact that Annie is ending is the fact that Annie ended on a CLIFFHANGER! We aren’t going to find out (right away) how Annie gets out of her latest predicament! The last panel in the last strip says “And this is where we leave our Annie. For now-” Great. Just great. Exactly WHEN and HOW we find out what happens to Annie is a complete mystery which I don’t think even Annie’s creators know for sure. Folks, this is not only lazy writing, it’s bad policy. It makes the readers angry. If you only got half of your hamburger when you paid for a whole one, you’d be upset. (Yes, I know we didn’t have to pay much to read Annie, but work with me here).

I’m thinking of some other major shows that have come to an end without everything being completely resolved- namely "Lois and Clark", “Lost” and “The Sopranos.” Is this the latest trend? End with MOST of the questions answered, but not all of them? Or end with some answered and some unanswered? Or, like Annie and so many other comics, end with nothing at all answered? There’s another great comic strip about a one-eyed sailor that has run for many years now. If Annie can end, why not Popeye? With Popeye it will probably be less painful, as the strip (to my knowledge) doesn’t use a storyline as much as it used to. So it likely won’t “end in the middle of the story,” because there isn’t a story.

But meanwhile, we still await word on both Perky Puppet and Annie. Maybe it’s because I’m a bit of a creative guy myself that I don’t like the characters (or the audience) being treated this way. But Kermit’s advice of “write your own ending” is sometimes very wise. And it could be that if you really want to know how Annie gets out of her latest predicament, you’ll have to discover it for yourself. Good luck, and let me know how it all turns out.

　
TV OR NOT TV: I’m in the middle of a grand experiment here at my place. It’s something I’ve thought about doing for a while now, and now I actually am doing it. For the past 2 months or so, I’ve dropped my cable company, and I haven’t been watching live TV. This actually isn’t the first time I’ve done it, but this is the first time I’ve done it where I wasn’t able/willing to have somebody else tape something for me. :) The good news is that I really don’t miss it that much. I’m not against TV at all, but it was getting foolish to spend money on something that was hardly ever used. As vital as we sometimes think it is, TV is a luxury. We sadly haven’t been using it as a luxury, but as a necessity. It’s time we changed that. We don’t have to watch something just because someone else says we should.

You’ve probably heard of Bruce Springsteen’s “57 channels and nothing on.” Actually, aside from the loads of junk, there’s a lot of fine stuff on TV. But for me, there’s not a lot on TV that makes me want to watch it- and a lot less that makes me want to pay the bills to watch it. I’ve actually “done the math” on this. If you’re paying $60 or more per month for television, and there are only three things on per month that you want to see, that’s like paying $20 to watch something on TV! Indeed, why not just buy the DVD if you can? It honestly is a good question to ask yourself as you’re lounging around complaining about the stupid show you’re watching. . .and then not changing the channel. You just sit there complaining about what’s going on. But you don’t do anything about it, even though you have the power to change things. You remind me of several people I know. Get up. Turn off tube. Do something better. Heck, you might even want to give up surfing the Internet if you really want to.
Wait, where are you going?

　
NO MORE HOT PANTS? A lot of comic book fans are feeling pretty patriotic these days. They're upset that Wonder Woman is losing her star-spangled blue shorts! I'm only a bit upset, as it has been pointed out that at least you can still see the outline of her legs. I suppose we haven't lost too much. Although I should point out that both WW and Captain America have seen some changes recently- and that both characters traditionally wear patriotic clothing. Are comic book writers turning against patriotism? Is this a plot to reduce the value of the red, white & blue? Well, actually, Wonder Woman changed her outfit for the same reason that Captain America died, and Superman died. To sell comics. I think we'll be seeing the hot pants again. Superman died, and we saw him again. Captain America will be starring in a movie, even though he died. Spider-Man changed his costume. Then he went back to the old one. Pardon my cynicism, but when you've seen it all before. . .It's just like Lady Gaga. I look at her and see Madonna. Some people look at Madonna and see Peggy Lee. Some people look at Peggy Lee and see whoever played the “provocative blonde solo singer” role before she did. I'm not sure who that was. I'm not quite that old. Close, though.

AT LAST WE KNOW: Oh, you lucky reader. I know you thought you were just wasting your time reading my blog, but I am going to reward you handsomely for your efforts. I am going to tell you THE MEANING OF LIFE! It isn't going to be as deep and profound as you'd hope, but it's going to be quite meaningful. I figured it out last week as I went to attend a meeting that I thought was taking place at a local library. I went to the library, but there was no meeting. Kind of reminded me of another event (check out the January 2006 archives for that one). So I decided to use my free time to do some shopping. Went to a store I wanted to go to for a while. It was closed. Went to another store nearby. It was closed. Went to Goodwill to shop and drop off a donation. They were closed - but the lady who was there was glad to take my donation. At this point I was getting mad. Why is nothing going right today? I thought about another nearby store, and immediately thought to myself, “Why bother? They're closed.” Which they were!

Now I realize that this seems like a petty thing to complain about in the big scheme of things. So what if I went out shopping and the stores were closed? Well, it's easy to say that now, because it's over. But it wasn't fun at the time. In the midst of my anger, I decided to stop in at Rite Aid and have a chocolate chip ice cream cone. It was good. Yum. I was reasonably happy again. As I walked along the parking lot eating the ice cream, the secret of life occurred to me. No, it's not ice cream. Life is making the best out of a bad situation. Think about all the people you know or have ever heard of. No matter how much they were blessed or cursed, no matter what they had to go through, they had to make the best they could out of a bad situation - life. Life has always been a challenge. It always will be. We meet the challenge every day and - even to a very small degree - we overcome the challenge. We don't overcome everything, but I think we should be proud of what we do overcome. Life gives us lemons, and we make lemonade. But we MAKE the lemonade. It doesn't appear naturally. The good that we find in this life comes only if we look for it. Most of us are only looking at the lemons and saying, “This sucks,” and going home. It never occurs to us that we have to do something. In a day filled with bad things, I did one thing to make me happy. I overcame. I made it a good day. I'll try to keep doing that, and hopefully next time I won't even need the ice cream.

　

Star Tours closing- for a while

2010-05-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

Since its debut in 1987, Star Tours has been one of my favorite rides in the Disneyland park. But the ride will be closing in a few weeks to re-debut in 2011 with a new version. The usual mixed feelings arise- although I should know by now that whatever they do, it's going to be fun. I think that for the most part, the Disney & Star Wars team-up has been a great success. They've been able to create things that are both fun for Star Wars fans and for Disney. I had great fun watching the YouTube clips of the Star Wars fan days at Walt Disney World. You haven't lived until you've seen Darth Vader dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller!" Silly? Of course. But fun. I sometimes think we need to be careful not to make fun of Jar-Jar Binks. Who is to say that Star Wars fans aren't just as silly as he is?

I had hoped to visit Disneyland earlier this year, but the usual real-world issues crept in, and it's likely that my last visit to the old "Star Tours" was just that. But I look forward to next year's new ride.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Tours_(real-world)

http://disneylandnewstoday.com/2010/05/13/star-tours-closing-dates-announced/

====================================================

EVERYONE ELSE IS BORED: This is my 100th post. But you don't care. :) That's fine! I understand. The Web is full of a lot of stuff and our lives don't allow much time for unimportant things, like a blog that's only updated every few weeks.

A few weeks ago at work, we listened to a presentation from somebody in the Web department. No, not Spider-Man. It was an Internet person who wanted to tell us about how we can attract more people to our websites. It was certainly a good presentation for anyone who wanted to attract a lot of readers to their sites. But what the speaker may not have understood is that not every website has the same goal. The “goal” of this blog is not necessarily to attract thousands of readers.

A real goal of blogging was made clear recently in a post by Lee from the “Music you (possibly) won't hear anywhere else” blog. In his comments section, someone had snidely posted something like, “Jesus loves you, everyone else is bored.” After some consideration, Lee put the comment up in its own posting. Why? Because he realized that it was true. And it is (no offense, Lee!). And it's true for me as well. The Lord and I have been through a lot of happy, sad and angry times together. The fact that He cares for me after all the crap I've given Him means the world to me. With Him, it doesn't matter to me that everyone else is bored.

Sesame Street political dreams

2010-04-19T16:24:00.000-07:00

By request from the Muppet Central forums, here's a picture of Big Bird when he ran for president in a 1970s episode of Sesame Street. I don't own the original picture, so thanks go out to whoever first took the time to scan this in. I'm guessing that it was part of a press kit or press release.

Years after Big Bird's run for president, Oscar showed Cookie Monster a crumpled-up copy of Big Bird's presidential poster. This inspired Cookie to run himself, and sing the immortal "If me were president Cookie." It was a good song that might never be heard again. :) Oscar accompanied Cookie Monster to various speeches in front of an anything muppet audience. The one quote from Cookie I recall: "Give me liberty, or give me cookie." In the end, both Cookie and Big Bird dropped out of the race for the same reason: It's really hard to run for president.

Years later, Oscar would run for mayor of New York City. His campaign ad began with a voice-over from Telly Monster:

TELLY: Oscar, do you think this city is a mess?

OSCAR: Yes. This city is a mess. But it's not enough of a mess. Vote for me and the Big Apple will become the rotten apple!

Again, Oscar dropped out of the race within one episode, I think mostly because of all the good things he realized he would have to do.

Some other notable fictional folk who have run for president: Snoopy (In a promotion with Dolly Madison, I think), Winnie the Pooh (in a promotion with Sears, I think) , Olive Oyl (in a dream sequence from a cartoon) .

When it isn't on itunes

2010-04-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

Record Store Day is this week, on Saturday. Why does it matter? Well, let me tell you. . .

Two favorite albums from my youth were released on CD in March- the “Sesame Street Old School CD set volume 1” is a must-have for “Sesame Seeds” like myself. It includes the first Sesame Street album, as well as “Bert and Ernie sing along,” which I believe is the funniest children’s album ever made. It is certainly one of the most creative. (The set also includes “Big Bird Sings,” which while not a specific favorite, deserves mentioning.) So this was a set I wanted- but I decided to buy it locally rather than online. I’m not against ordering online, but when you buy things locally, you get them into your greedy little hands faster. Yes, you do. But this created an issue- exactly where should I get it? This isn’t an easy question to answer. Here’s what happened on my escapade:

1. My first attempt was at secondspin.com. Their store is easily the largest in my area, and while they don’t have everything, they’ve got a lot. It’s easy for a music browser to waste an hour or two looking around. I felt that this was a reasonable first choice. But no dice. The album wasn’t there.

2. While I didn’t really expect to find it at Wal-Mart, I felt it was at least worth a peek. Wal-Mart is the 21st-century answer to the “general store.” You can generally find everything you will generally need. Need a shirt? Need a book? Need a movie? You can find them all at Wal-Mart. The problem is, you may not find THE shirt, THE book or THE movie that you were looking for. The more specific you get, the less likely you are to find it at Wal-Mart, or Target or any of the similar stores. This case was no exception, I couldn’t find the CD set there.

3. At last, success. The “Old School” set was found in. . .a local independent music store. Not a children’s store. A store for music fans. This store isn’t the biggest music store in town. But biggest isn’t always best. I don’t think the store was making a specific effort to bring Sesame Street to the masses (in fact, there was only one copy in the store). But I do think the store was trying to have as good a selection of music as it possibly could. If that means offering a Sesame Street CD set, so be it. And in this case, they found someone eager to buy. I’m glad I was able to buy it at an independent store. I wish that other stores would see the importance of trying to offer as much as they could in store. It works.

The saga of music stores over the past few years has been interesting. Incidentally, Hollywood Video has been having some issues as well, closing several stores in an effort to bounce back from bankruptcy. Their struggles demonstrate how even the movie rental industry has changed. Check my archives for more about music stores.

================================================

BEYOND THE POINT OF NO RETURN: Longtime comic book fans will remember the “What if” series of comics. They featured stories that tried to answer what would happen to a particular character if things were slightly different. For example, the first issue was titled, “What if Spider Man had joined the Fantastic Four?“ Another was titled, “What if Wolverine had killed the Hulk?“ It was a fun series, but composer Andrew Lloyd Webber may have just created the most elaborate and expensive “What if” of all.

In the movie “Phantom of the Opera,” based on Lloyd Webber’s hit musical, there is a point where the Phantom has the opportunity to make love to Christine. (It isn’t the best opportunity, as Christine has just fainted). But he doesn’t do it. He draws the curtain down and lets her sleep. Well, in the new musical play “Love Never Dies,” we are given a “what if” scenario. What if the Phantom and Christine had been intimate? Or perhaps a better title would be, “What if everyone strongly suspected that the Phantom and Christine had been intimate?” It’s an interesting idea, and it has many longtime “Phantom Phans” in a bit of an uproar. Admittedly, it doesn’t seem to fit with the original story very well. I can just see the Phantom drawing the curtain down, then saying, "Oh, what the heck?" and pulling it up again.

But to be fair, it isn’t the first time someone has had the idea for this plot twist. It appears notably in Susan Kay’s novel “Phantom,” although in that case the story was changed slightly to allow a time and place for the intimacy. I’ve read Kay’s novel & enjoyed it- it certainly should also be viewed as a “What if” when compared to the musical, as it contains events and characters that weren’t included in that production. If the phans can accept phantom phiction like “Phantom”, perhaps they can phind it in their hearts to phorgive this latest production. Phew!

If you check out the forums at phantomoftheopera.com, you can see some pictures from the “Love Never Dies” production. One of these pictures features Christine and the Phantom standing in front of what one poster says looks like. . .a part of the female anatomy. As the poster says, “I can’t make this up.” The play has debuted in England to mixed reviews. At least the music seems to be quite beautiful (you can hear one song in my Favorites folder on my Youtube page). I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing this play, but whether it will affect me the way “Phantom” did remains to be seen. But if it’s an enjoyable show, Mr. Lloyd Webber, that’s all I can ask of you.
　
========================================================

ON YOUTUBE: ERNIE AND BERT GO THEIR SEPARATE WAYS. It’s about time I featured this one. The audio comes from my own recording, posted to YouTube by jonnytbirdzback. It’s one of many fun lost Sesame St. skits that as of now hasn’t been added to the clips on Sesame Workshop’s site. But it’s still early. . .You can check it out in my favorites folder on my YouTube page, and if you want to see more of the same you can check out Sesame Workshop’s site for cool classic clips.

　

March musings part 2

2010-03-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS: I first visited Hollywood on a very brief trip back in 2006 or so. I basically walked down Hollywood Boulevard taking pictures of the stars in the street. I made it all the way to the classic Mann’s Chinese Theater, but time prevented me from looking at the legendary hand and footprints in cement. I basically had to leave right then and there. A few weeks ago, I got another chance to go to Hollywood, and this time the cement prints were a must see. It was fun- I got to compare my handprints to Humphrey Bogart, Robin Williams and Deanna Durbin. and it also led me to a bit of a mystery. It seems that a penny was put into the block with Deanna Durbin’s cement prints. Why? It took a little bit of searching, but it seems that Deanna played a character named “Penny” in a film around that time. Here’s a quote from an article that someone was kind enough to post:

"They're organizing an expedition to dig up the penny at the Chinese Theater," explained Deanna (Durbin). When they took my footprints for the theater someone exclaimed, 'Oh, we should have a penny to put in the cement with her footprints!' Because my name is 'Penny" in the picture, you know. And some elderly lady brought one up and they used it. I tried to find her afterward, thinking I'd like to know more about her-she was so sweet to us. But she had gone home."
- HOW KIDS GROW UP IN HOLLYWOOD, Oakland Tribune, February 26, 1939, By Alice L. Tildesley

This is a fun example of change that has been laying on the ground for the past half-century or so. My friend Bert, obsessed with finding pennies (long story, folks), urged me to try and pick it out of the cement. No such luck; it was wedged in there pretty deep. He then suggested I take out the entire block of cement and bring it home. I responded, "Who do you think I am, Lucille Ball?"

I’m not sure about this, but I’d bet that the Star Wars characters have the shortest amount of time between their first movie and getting their feet in cement at the theater. The date on their cement block is August 3, 1977- which is LESS THAN THREE MONTHS after Star Wars debuted! How would you like to get your footprints in cement at the theater less than three months after you debuted as a movie star? Not too shabby, boys. It’s quite a testament to how popular the film was at that time.

It was a fun visit - I’d recommend you to go early, and be aware that you’ll be ambushed by several people who want to give you a tour of the town. You can view a few of the classic prints in cement on my Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sesameguy/sets/72157623674734072/

====================================================

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE: I picked up a copy of Fantastic Four 400 at a flea market recently, and got a real kick out of it. It was a fun read, and it immediately brought me up to speed (well, at least more up to speed) on what has been going on in the comic. Reed is dead. Reed’s dad has taken his place. Ben has a weird face deformity going on. I‘m sure he doesn‘t sweat it too much. Dr. Doom’s son Kristoff has taken Doom’s place. Johnny is apparently getting over a bad relationship. Susan is trying to get over Reed’s death. The Watcher has been demoted to the laughingstock watcher. In spite of these significant changes, things are pretty much the same for the FF. The comic broke ground in that it was one of the first to present the characters as “real people” with personal issues that affected their work. Those personal issues remain an important part of the comic, and hopefully always will.

More about my thoughts on comic books here:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/03/thing-about-comic-books.html

======================================================

LET’S ROB SAN DIEGO: Now look, folks. I’ve got nothing (major) against Los Angeles. It’s a fine town. But coming from San Diego, I have a few concerns. First there are rumors that the San Diego Chargers will move up to the L.A. area. That would leave San Diego without a football team and the possible demise of Qualcomm Stadium into housing tracts. NOW there’s a rumor that the Comic-Con will be moving to Los Angeles! Please folks, one crime at a time. Give San Diego a bone, here. I know L.A. is trying to be the big “hub” of entertainment, but it’s not fair to say that ALL entertainment has to take place in L.A. Keeping the Comic-Con in San Diego is no big loss to L.A., and based on the Comic-Con’s past success, keeping it in San Diego won’t prevent the fans from coming to visit. My only fear is that somehow, the Comic-Con suits will smell more money by moving to L.A. Their gain will be San Diego’s loss. That could be what the folks in charge of the Chargers are going through as well. But when talking about L.A., anyone who lives in San Diego will tell you- bigger isn’t always better. If they do move to L.A., it will be for the money.

Come to think of it, that’s why I moved to L.A. . .

March musings, part one (I hope)

2010-03-12T10:15:00.000-08:00

MEET BARBARA SIPPLE: My music collecting hobby has introduced me to another great artist that I enjoy a lot. Barbie Sipple produced a pair of Christian folk albums from back in the day that make for some beautiful listening. She sings some great songs, and anybody who likes Bert is a friend of mine. You can enjoy a few of her songs here:

http://waxidermy.com/barbara-sipple-barbara-sings-for-life/

http://heavenly-grooves.blogspot.com/search/label/Artist%3A%20Barbie%20Sipple

=========================================================

WHILE NO ONE WAS WATCHING: On March 6, 2010 at 8 p.m., Walt Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” made its broadcast television debut on ABC Family Channel. You missed it? Don’t feel bad, I almost did, too. If I hadn’t seen it while glancing through the newspaper TV listings, I’m sure I would have missed it. It wasn’t on the news. I didn’t see any ads for it in the paper or on TV (I must qualify this by saying that these days, I seldom spend much time watching TV). In order to understand why this is significant, consider the following:

* When Walt Disney’s “Dumbo” made its broadcast TV premiere, it was preceded by an hour-long special about Walt Disney productions.
* When “Star Wars” made its broadcast TV premiere, it was preceded by a special about the making of the film (this despite the fact that Star Wars had already debuted on home video and on pay cable TV).
* For decades, the annual TV broadcast of “The Wizard of Oz” was a rite of passage for kids & fans, sometimes preceded by specials about the making of the film.
* When “Pinocchio” and “Mary Poppins” made their debuts on the Disney Channel (in the days when it was a “premium” or extra cost cable channel), they each made the front cover of the Disney Channel magazine.
*"Gone With The Wind" was, for several years, almost as big a TV event as “Wizard of Oz.” The film was usually split into two parts over two nights. I recall it being on the front page of the local TV guide.

I bring these things up to try to demonstrate how much TV has changed. This super movie makes its broadcast debut, and everybody says, “Ho-hum! Oh, well. I’ll just rent it on Netflix.” It’s a far cry from the days when there were only three networks, and only two of them had a clear signal. Back then, the TV debut of a special film was something to celebrate. Today, the product is so cheap that we not only surround it by commercials, but we interrupt it with a little note at the bottom of the screen promoting another TV show.

Remember when we found out “Who shot J.R.?” My family and I never watched “Dallas,” but the hype around the event was so huge that you couldn’t help but be interested to find out who did it. I recall watching the show for about ten minutes before shutting off the set and going to bed (no muppets, you see). Of course there are plenty of shows today that still carry that “must-see” feeling along, notably “Lost,” “24” and “American Idol.” The difference today is a lot more choices. More shows means more to watch - even if it’s not what you really want to watch. It’s like food. There are thankfully many options for getting food today, even if it isn’t really what you want to eat. And because of this, we tend to take food for granted- even after we’ve had a wonderful meal. It’s hard to appreciate something that’s so readily available, almost like the air we breathe. Sometimes, it takes skill to be thankful.

I’m thankful when something cool comes on TV that I’d like to watch. The problem is that these days, with so many choices, and with the product being treated so cheaply by the stations, that doesn’t happen too often. I was thankful to see “Snow White” make its broadcast debut, but as I zipped through the teeny-bopper commercials and endured all the little “bugs” on the screen, I began to wonder how thankful ABC Family was to be running it, and how thankful everybody else was to be seeing it.

More about this fabulous film here:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2009/10/snow-white-and-seven-dwarfs.html

====================================================

WHY HAS THE MUSIC STOPPED?: This partial post from Dartman sums up perfectly everything I could say about the subject:

In case you haven't heard, MTV took the "Music Television" out of their name last week. It makes what most of the world has known for years official: MTV is no longer a music channel. It's sad and very depressing. When MTV first hit the airwaves, it was a revolution and a phenomenon. It was very similar to the first wave of Rock and Roll back in the 50s. Kids loved it and parents hated it. It gave rise to a new form of musician and started a whole new era of music. Then, somewhere along the way, it became home to a bunch of really sophomoric programs that had nothing to do with music. . .Today's youth and all future generations have no clue just how great MTV once was. MTV has become the rebel that became part of the establishment when the sound of money clinked in their ear.

http://dartmansworldofwonder.blogspot.com/2010/03/music-television-rip.html

Just one P.S.: There are an awful lot of talented musicians that I never would have heard of if they had not been on MTV. Today, I don’t know of another venue that could present those artists to such a wide audience. The music industry is, sadly, very fragmented. Everyone seems to “already know” who they like, and while people might be willing to listen to new artists that aren't on the radio. . .there’s really no good way for them to actually do it. Not anymore.

=============================================================

NO HAIR? DON'T CARE: Here's a recent column from friend Steve Lambert. I am not, as he is, one of those who has been given the gift of a bald head, but after you read his words, I'm not going to be too worried about going bald. Here are some excerpts:

"When it comes to aging's effect on men's hair, there is no hiding. We've all known guys who thought they'd be the exception - that they'd fool Mother Nature with their bad dye jobs, plugs, creepy-looking hairpieces or comb-overs.

"Some joke about it, as Art Garfunkel did (yes, those curly locks are fake) during his recent concert in San Bernardino. Which may be stranger still - "I'm bald, I'm going to cover it up with a bad wig, then tell you all I'm covering it up with a bad wig." Why not just stay bald?

"Telly Savalas did. Michael Jordan did. And if you ask women which version of Sean
Connery they find sexier - the buzzed, confident street cop in "The Untouchables" or the badly-touped submarine captain "The Hunt for Red October," it's not even close."

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/rds_search/ci_14528100?IADID=Search-www.pasadenastarnews.com-www.pasadenastarnews.com
　

Valentine for Wonder Woman

2010-02-09T18:15:00.001-08:00

Yes, I’m a blogger. Just because I haven’t done it for a month or two, people give up on me. Sad. But at least let me explain what Wonder Woman is doing here.

If you check out the Cinema Cervello blog on a semi regular basis (and please do if you enjoy fun film reviews, along with links to other cool sites), you’ve noticed the “character assassination” game going on. Basically, the idea is to list several popular fictional characters and eliminate the “lesser” ones until “there can be only one.” Readers are invited to cast votes for the character they like the best. So far in the competition, Benjamin Linus from “Lost” has won, managing to win out over the king from “Lord of the Rings,” Han Solo, Commander Adama from “Battlestar Galactica,” Willow from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,“ and Treebeard. (That Treebeard loss really gets to me, man.)

What would happen if we were to do such a thing on this blog? I can see the competition now: Underdog vs. Carolyne Heldman vs. Mister Rogers vs. Meredith Vieira vs. George the Lobster. (Thankfully for both of us, there won’t be such a competition. To paraphrase one of the Wayans brothers, “This is a dictatorship, and I’m Dick.”) But I couldn’t help but thinking, who WOULD be the person/creature best suited to lead all the ragtag fictional characters I love? As I see it, the goal is not necessarily to vote for your favorite person, but for the one you feel would be best able to lead. The one with the most well-rounded set of skills and personality. That’s a lot to ask for when you consider the myriad of different characters to choose from. Not an easy task. Everyone has strengths in many different areas. Nobody’s perfect, even in the “fantasy world.” That may be because in the largest sense, perfection itself is a fantasy. Hang on, I’m getting profound. I need to get back to the pointless point.

My first choice was Superman, knowing that he had the physical, emotional and intellectual strength to conquer just about anybody. (The Hulk may theoretically be stronger, but would you trust him to rule?) But as I thought about the Cinema Cervello competition, and specifically how Willow initially won out over Commander Adama, I had to admit that looks count for something. I had to admit that there was someone who I would rather watch in action than Superman. Someone also physically strong, smart and emotionally strong. And gorgeous. Yep, WW. Not as strong as Superman, but if you’re looking for a well-rounded heroine who is physically strong enough to whip just about any bad guy, it’s hard to top her.

Picture this. You’re a German general in World War 2. You are fighting the enemy on the battlefield. You have plenty of ammunition and grenades at your disposal. An American soldier charges at you. You raise your rifle. BANG! He’s dead. A group of soldiers come at you. Again, your rifle comes to your aid. BANG BANG BANG! Down they fall. Suddenly, you see a tank headed your way. You throw a grenade at it. BOOM! It’s enough to disorient it at least. You keep fighting. Then a half-naked woman wrapped in an American flag runs toward you. “What the. . ?” You drop your rifle and grenade. Even if you’re not overcome with lust, you’re wondering how this is possible. You just don’t expect to see something like this. Not on the battlefield, or anywhere else. You’re stunned just as much as if you had been hit in the face. And before too long, you literally ARE hit in the face by the beautiful woman that you were too shocked by to attack. You fall to the ground, defeated by a weapon that was the last thing in the world you were expecting. If you had never heard of Wonder Woman before, you could not possibly have been prepared for this.

For a time, in the comic books, Wonder Woman was taken out of her traditional costume and put into - well, basically regular clothes. They were nice enough clothes, but it was clearly a bad move! They were trying to make it a more realistic situation, but in this case it didn’t really work and the traditional costume finally won out. I mention this to demonstrate how important the costume is. Without it, you don’t really have the heroine. You know WW immediately by her costume. That German soldier probably wouldn’t have been too impressed by WW had she attacked him while wearing regular army fatigues.

As usual, so much more to write and so little time. Let’s just say that WW is a heroine for everyone, man or woman. And guys, if you’re only interested in her beauty, you’re not looking at her hard enough.

================================================

THE SEARCH FOR ‘THE SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS’: For me, music collecting is not limited to record collecting, or CD collecting, or mp3 collecting. It includes music that in some cases has never been released commercially. That’s part of the challenge and the fun, of course. Here’s a good example of how something like that can eventually be found.

Back in my grade school days, there was a film series (dang, remember when schools used movie projectors to show movies?) called “The Search for Solutions.” I’m sure we didn’t see the complete series, but we saw some of it, and it included a short music piece that has stuck with me to this day. I filed it away under “you’ll never find that one” for many years. When the Internet came along, I was pleased to find that it at least knew what “Search for Solutions” was. That’s a big plus. Often, the Internet will be pretty much clueless as to a particular short movie that you saw in school. While the series was still in school circulation, I don’t own a projector, and I probably wouldn’t be able to rent them anyway. I can hear the librarian now. “You’re not a teacher, or a student, but you want to rent this film? How do I know you’re not a movie destroyer intent on cutting up this precious masterpiece?”

But in my spare time one day (and incidentally, that’s something that the die-hard music collector is going to need), I did a “Search for Solutions” search again and found out that the music had actually been composed by Lyle Mays and. . .Pat Metheny! It was neat to realize that someone I had heard of composed the music. On Pat’s site, it not only includes a video clip from the series featuring a cute balloonist (there’s something about me and brunettes, I know), but at the end of the clip, we get to hear the music that I heard way back in school. It has taken nearly 30 years for me to hear this music again. That’s how much spare time you’re going to need. And that’s why music collecting - or any hobby - must only be a hobby, and not your whole life. Enjoy the clip.

http://www.patmetheny.com/media.cfm?categoryid=4

===============================================

CONAN’S LAST REQUEST: I’m not much of a fan of late night TV. But when I had the chance to catch the last few minutes of Conan O’Brien’s final “Tonight Show”, I had to tune in. I’m not much of a fan of Conan either, but I really like what he said before signing off:

"To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: Please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism - it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

For the past few weeks, NBC has reminded us of the fact that it (and life) is not fair. It has put the quest for ratings on a higher level than a man’s career. Nothing new there, of course - TV is notorious for dropping shows and people that don’t make the “cut.” Which is probably why so many people have grown cynical about it. What’s the use of doing your very best on a TV show only to have it yanked off the air whenever someone decides they don’t like you? A lot of talented people probably look at the entertainment industry and realize it isn’t for them - because their talents will not be truly appreciated by the people who pay them. Who knows what kind of talent we’re missing out on?

But as he exited the show, Conan asked us not to be cynical. That means a lot. Conan is smart. He realizes that he has been very blessed and chooses to focus on that rather than on his exiting the show. That’s the way it ought to be for all of us when something good has to end. And perhaps most important point of all: When Conan encouraged us to not be cynical and to be kind, it was an indirect way of saying, “Don’t be like NBC,” which is an indirect way of saying, “Don’t be like the world.”

I can’t help but like that.

=================================================

ON YOUTUBE: MORE RARE CAROLYNE
A few more seconds of Carolyne Heldman from late 1980s MTV has made it to YouTube. This will have to suffice until the long-awaited “Best of Carolyne” DVD is available sometime in my wildest dreams. Enjoy the clip from MTV of old on my YouTube page in my favorites folder.

An early Christmas

2009-12-19T10:21:00.000-08:00

I'm lucky enough to live relatively close to my family, but my holiday work schedule has made Christmas hectic for me this year. There's not a lot of time to spare. So I told my family last week that I'd visit them a little early so we could spend some quality time before the hectic holiday, when I probably wouldn't have a lot of time just to hang out with loved ones. Not long after I arrived, my family indicated that they wanted to have Christmas early - as in while I was right there - so that my holiday wouldn't be quite so hectic. I was resistant at first, but you know how it goes, you see those presents. . .well, no, that's not how it goes. It goes that my family went out of their way for me just to make things easier on me. This is a wonderful gift in itself. I am very blessed. Thank you wonderful people so much, I love you.

=================================

CHRISTMAS WITH DANIEL: This has become a favorite post of mine and I look forward to reading it again. I hope you enjoy it:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/12/christmas-with-daniel.html

Christmas is where you find it. This Christmas story has nothing to do with the actual holiday – and everything. The story is from episode 1550 of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the classic PBS series. Since Fred Rogers' death, I have collected several episodes of the show (anybody have any really early episodes? Contact me for a trade!). This episode aired earlier this year and hopefully will be rerun for many years to come. That's assuming MRN will stick around. Sadly, many stations have dropped it from their schedule.

Anyway, the story opens with Daniel S. Tiger attending a bass violin festival (long story, folks). During the festival, two of the characters decide to put on a puppet show using bass violin puppets. The play begins with the two bass violin puppets talking to each other – the tall one is the older brother, the short one the younger brother. The older brother decides he doesn't want his younger brother playing second fiddle to him anymore, so he tells him that he is going away to play with his older friends.

“But I want to play with you!” the younger brother cries. “Sorry,” the older replies as he walks (slides?) away from the younger brother. Alone on stage, the younger brother begins to cry. “Boo-hoo! Boo-hoo-hoo!” After a few moments, forgetting that it's only a play, the shy Daniel Tiger walks up to the crying bass violin. “I'll play with you,” he says.

If all we ever do this holiday season is make someone feel that they are not alone, and that we care for them, then we probably will have fulfilled more of the work of Christ than we could ever imagine. But heed a word of warning: it will only work if you meet THEIR needs, not just your own. Don't kid yourself: True love involves bravery. I wish we could always be guaranteed that we would be loved in return. That would certainly make the job easier.

If I were in charge of Heaven, the first rule I would make is, “All right, from now on, nobody will ever be without love again. Everybody will always have someone special to hold them and help them when they need it. Everybody will always be loved.”

This holiday season, I wish for you – and for me – the love of someone very special to fill your heart, whether that someone be a family member, a friend, the Lord, yourself, a fantasy, or even a certain striped tiger.

I'm thankful for each of you who takes time to peek in on this blog & I wish you a very happy holiday season!

Rare Sesame audio

2009-12-09T17:34:00.000-08:00

Years before home video recording was possible, there was. . . home audio recording. And it was pretty low-tech (at least for me). It involved putting my tape recorder next to the TV set and recording the sound from the speaker. You had to be quiet so that your voice wouldn’t be recorded on the tape. This was not easy when you are a little kid with other people in the house who you have to tell to shut up. (And worse when those people wouldn’t.) But this was how I recorded many classic shows & clips from way back when. I have had a small collection of Sesame Street-related audio clips that I put onto my own CD. “Sesame Street Rarities” is its official title. Here’s the track list:

Selections from: SESAME STREET CAST ON EVENING AT POPS with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops orchestra, circa 1971

1. Sesame Street theme/ Toy Symphony with Cookie Monster/ I’ve got two
2. ABC-DEF-GHI - Big Bird & the cast
3. Rubber Duckie/ Big Bird conducts/ Song of five/ Sesame St. theme reprise

RARE CLIPS
4. “Yes”- Judy Collins, Biff and Sully
5. Ernie and Bert imagine going their separate ways
6. Maria and Bert’s imaginary helicopter ride
7. “Snooky” (Beautiful Day monster) tries to go through a hoop (incomplete)

8. SESAME STREET FLIES: Audio clips from an episode circa 1982
Big Bird and Poco Loco the parrot talk; “Flying” by Joe Raposo; Music from film about building blocks (incomplete); Big Bird as an airplane; Cartoon- Counting planes on the runway; Grover’s airplane; Marlena, Kermit and Grover; Anything muppets - “Rocket”; Luis’ serenade /Pat the pilot cartoon (incomplete); Big Bird and Maria in a balloon - “I’m flying” song; Bald Eagle film (slightly different dialogue); “Danger” film music of man narrowly missing danger (incomplete); Dark clouds cartoon with scary cats (incomplete, unfortunately!); Pinball count- 12 (incomplete); Big Bird and Maria land.

With my slow connection, it has been impossible to share these tracks with others. Until now. The album is currently available to download on the Sesame Street Block Party site! As you can imagine, the audio quality is often not very good. But it is listenable, and it is a treasure for fans of these skits that are currently unavailable anywhere else.

This project has been a long-time coming due to my inability to share the files myself. But again, Bob at the “Sesame St. block party” Web site has been kind enough to post the files, and my friend Peter has been kind enough to upload the files. So very special thanks go out to Bob and Peter for making it all possible.

You can check out the album at the post below:
http://sesamestreetblockparty.blogspot.com/2009/12/sesame-street-old-school-tv-clips.html

To learn more about Sesame Street‘s appearance with the Boston Pops, click here:
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Evening_at_Pops:_1971

From Sesame Street Unpaved: "According to Danny Epstein, musical coordinator for Sesame Street, when the cast played ["Rubber Duckie"] with the Boston Pops (Big Bird conducted), the musicians were not allowed to squeeze rubber duckies in addition to playing their own instruments unless they were paid extra. Apparently, a rubber duckie was considered to be a second instrument, and each musician was supposed to receive additional pay if they played a second instrument. When it came time for the actual performance, only the percussion players squeezed the ducks. It was determined that the rubber duck was to be considered a percussion instrument."

==========================================

UNCENSORED, BUT INCOMPLETE: In my Christmas shopping I came upon a book called “MTV Uncensored.” It is several years old now, but it seemed at first glance to be an excellent history of MTV’s early days. I thumbed through it, and it does seem like a great book, with many great historic photos. But there’s one important element missing. I thumbed through this thing looking for one person, but . . . Nope, I couldn’t find Carolyne Heldman in it anywhere! DANG! Not even her name seemed to be included in the book! This is particularly upsetting when you realize that several other Vjs, including others from the “Carolyne” era, are included in the book. That stinks, man. I hope I’m mistaken, but I really couldn’t find her mentioned in this book which is supposed to be “uncensored.” Phooey.

You know what this reminds me of? You know that person who you knew in high school but who somehow never got their picture taken for the yearbook? It’s like that. I know that person existed, but there’s no photographic proof. Despite the lack of evidence, I know that I am not mistaken in my memories. Yes Virginia, there is a Carolyne Heldman.

Just for revenge, I think we should go over to the Aspen Public Radio site and listen to Carolyne read from one of my favorite books of all time, “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Marjery Williams. There are plenty of other cool readings available at the site, too:
http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/storytime.php

===================================

POPEYE ON GOOGLE: Hey, did you happen to catch Popeye’s appearance on the Google homepage? It’s been a pretty cool month for Google fans - first the Sesame Street muppets, now Popeye! His appearance was in celebration of the birthday of E.C. Segar, the cartoonist who created the legendary sailor. Read all about Popeye here:
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/04/popeye.html

=====================================

ANOTHER YEAR: Sigh. I had a good streak going there, didn’t I? I was posting at least once a week for several weeks. Then it stopped. Life happens, and it pushes blog posting way back on the list of things to do. That's true even as the blog celebrates its anniversary this week. No offense folks, but I hope that the blog will always be pushed back. I enjoy it a lot. . .but it’s not all I enjoy. Among other things are spending time with family and friends and wishing them. . .a very Merry Christmas!

Carolyne update

2009-11-13T09:44:00.000-08:00

At last I can update you on the status of Carolyne Heldman. This being the best “unofficial” Carolyne Web page in the world, it is only my duty to do so. I’m glad to report that Carolyne is doing very well, as you can read in this clip from her bio page at Aspen Public Radio:

Carolyne was the Station Manager for the Aspen Skiing Company's television station, Channel 16, producing and directing the award-winning, live morning show, Aspen Today for 3 years. She then returned to radio, hosting the morning show on local radio station KSNO. She left the valley in 2005 and for the past three years, Carolyne has been concentrating on raising her two daughters and teaching yoga. Carolyne is thrilled to be back home in the Roaring Fork Valley.

http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/bioPop.php?nick=carolyne
　
So she’s not on MTV, but radio is still cool. Carolyne is hosting a radio show called “Crosscurrents” that you can listen to online at the site below:

http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/listen_archive.php?prog=cross

I haven’t heard them all yet, but being a Carolyne fan I will try to find time to enjoy them. As a John Denver fan, I’d recommend the show from October 9 which features an interview with Barry Ehrmann, the producer of a new DVD box set of John Denver's concerts. Very interesting talk about how older footage of John was restored for the current release. Also, Carolyne shares a cool memory of John Denver.

If you’d prefer some shorter clips, Carolyne recently took part in “The Big Read” for Aspen Public Radio. Each week, a different reader would read excerpts from the classic novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” on the radio. Carolyne joins a prestigious list of readers including John Oates and Robert Wagner. To listen to “The Big Read,” visit the pod cast section of Aspen Public Radio’s Web site:

http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/listen_archive.php?prog=read

In the chance that you haven’t read or seen or listened to “To Kill a Mockingbird,” you may want to do so before listening to Carolyne’s clips, as she gives a summary of the end of the book. And I recommend that book. It’s a classic story that is worth enjoying.
For more about Carolyne Heldman, enjoy my post here:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/12/carolyne-heldman.html

For more about John Denver, enjoy my other post here:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/02/john-denver.html

================================================

IS SOMETHING GOING ON? Hello? Yes, this is he. Yes, I have noticed the muppets on the Google home page. So what? You mean something is happening this week? Yes, of course, Veterans Day. What? Something else? I’m not sure. It’s not some other holiday, is it? Thanksgiving is still a few weeks away. . .An anniversary? Whose? Not my parents’. I’m not sure what you. . .YOW! 40 YEARS OF SESAME STREET and I haven’t got time to write about it! But luckily, a friend has pointed me to an article on the CNN Web page that sums up how many of us grown-up fans are feeling:

For better or worse, today's preschooler is very different from the 1969 version. And children's television programming simply has to reflect that.

But one thing hasn't changed on "Sesame Street": the unflinchingly genuine attitudes of its residents. For 40 years, they have taught us that sometimes we are going to get hurt, cry and be lonely. They've taught us that there'll also be times when we're downright jovial. All the while, those characters have remained sincere.

We may never see Cookie Monster eat a pipe again, but luckily the memories are preserved on DVD, and in our hearts.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/04/sesame.street.anniversary/?imw=Y

Here’s the posting I left at MuppetCentral forum about the 40th anniversary:

Sesame Street has left a huge impact on my life. Even today, not actively watching the show, I still find myself remembering little skits now and then, and collecting some of the old songs and toys from back in the day. I think it, along with some other notable shows, helped me to grow into the person I am, and I'm very thankful for that. When I draw comics, there's almost always Ernie and Bert and some of the other characters hanging around. In my silly home movies, there they are- Ernie, Bert, Cookie and others. My memories and stories of Sesame St. bring me joy to this day, and probably always will. Here's to their first 40 years. . .and it looks like I'd better brace myself for mine. :)

============================================================

AND SPEAKING OF ETHICS: I caused an unintentional controversy when I used some quotes from the Mouseplanet message board in my monorail post last week. It was not my intent to break the rules of the message board, and it was definitely not my intent to misrepresent or insult the posters on the board. I've apologized for my stupidity, but for folks in charge of things that's never enough. What upsets me is how everything worked exactly the opposite of what I wanted. In an effort to reach out to others, I get told that I shouldn’t do it that way - at least not on that board. What they don’t explain is exactly how I should reach out to others. That’s my problem, not theirs. And it is a problem I will be working on.

But I would like to welcome our five new readers. . .

　

One-track minds

2009-11-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

This post features three ethical dilemmas that have become known to me within the last few days. I thought I’d share them each with you and then allow you to make your own judgments on what the best course of action should be in each case. One of them involves YouTube, but they all, to some degree, involve YOU.

A while back, I joked that the visitors of Disneyland were being treated like second-class citizens. But little did I know how accurate my joking would become. Case in point: there are plenty of rides at Disneyland that us old-timers wish would return. But what happens when you close a Disneyland ride to everyone but a select few? What happens when a particular ride becomes only available to those who are willing to pay more? I’m sorry to say that has just about become a reality.

It involves the monorail, one of the most unique rides in the park. Back in the day, any guest in Disneyland could board the monorail for a short trip through the park, then out of the park over the parking lot (sigh, remember the parking lot?) and to the Disneyland Hotel. Hotel guests could then exit or enter, and then the monorail would head back into the park where we could get off and resume a day at the park. That’s how it used to be, but I’m sorry to say things have changed. On my recent visits to Disneyland, I’ve been unable to get on the monorail, as it was being used for a “one-way” trip to the hotel, and therefore only meant for hotel guests. I live too close to the park to justify staying in the hotel just so I can ride the monorail. A ride has been effectively closed off for me.

Compare this situation to what is going on at the San Diego Zoo. The elephants have been moved to a different location (check out my flickr post to see a bit of it). So what happened to the old elephant enclosure? Well, part of it is now a VIP area. For more money, you can have a little lunch there and have one of the keepers bring out some animals for you to look at up close. As I was riding the tour bus around that area, the bus driver told us that she had to be quiet as we drove past so that she wouldn’t interrupt whatever was going on in that area. Even the bus drivers are having their rights taken away from them so that the zoo can make a little more money. I think that’s similar to what is going on with the monorail.

I’m hoping that none of this is intentional on the part of Disney- but can we really assume that they never thought people might feel a little inadequate because they couldn’t afford a night at the Disneyland Hotel along with their Disneyland tickets? Can we really assume that no little kid would want to ride the Monorail, only to hear their parent say, “I’m sorry, but we’re not allowed to ride the Monorail?” I understand the policy, but I am frankly disappointed with it. It goes right along with charging people to have their names printed on the mouse ears. Despite the benefits to hotel guests, this policy is creating the "second-class citizens" feeling that I joked about earlier.

==================================================

YOUTREACHERY? The Internet was designed to bring information to others. As such, there’s a lot of information out there these days - “too much” as Duran Duran would say. And it’s not just written information, but audio information and video information. YouTube is probably the most popular spot for enjoying “video information.” And while the company seems willing to bend the rules for its viewers, it also seems willing to bend the rules to its own profit.

Here’s part of a great blog posting that sums up “The ethical dilemma that is YouTube“:

I received an interesting e-mail today from someone who had seen a video I posted to YouTube some time ago. It probably was embedded in one of my posts about Soupy Sales, who, sadly, passed away last week. This blog usually gets 200-300 hits per day. On Friday, the number of visitors increased tenfold. That's a tribute to Soupy, of course, that has nothing to do with me.

Anyway, here's the e-mail:
...I have a video that was recorded from television back in 1978......the guest was [someone] I used to work for. Upon [that person's] death, I created a memorial w/photos and such for his family, and also put the interview [into] this. I'd like to put it on YouTube, and have no idea... if I do this, will it be OK? Just a regular guy trying to share this w/the world.....your thoughts? Thanks.

And here's my reply:

YouTube requests that anyone who posts a video on their site be the person who created the video or owns the rights to the video. Everyone ignores this, most especially YouTube itself, which, once you subtract the funny home videos, is an empire built on copyright infringement. Don’t listen to anyone who says “it’s OK,” because it’s not. But YouTube usually looks the other way.

I think many people who post to YouTube, myself included, simply want to share something they have that others might like to see. Legally, it makes no difference whether you post something in order to make money or you’re just looking to share. But reasonable people can draw a distinction between something shared just for the pleasure of doing so… versus something posted in an attempt to capitalize on someone else’s creative work.

YouTube actually sent me an e-mail today about the Soupy video. Incredibly, here's what it said:

"Your video has become popular on YouTube, and you're eligible to apply for the YouTube Partnership Program, which allows you to make money from playbacks of your video.

"Once you're approved, making money from your video is easy. Here's how it works: First sign into your YouTube account. Then, complete the steps outlined [at a web address]. Once you're finished, we'll start placing ads next to your video and pay you a share of the revenue as long as you meet the program requirements. We look forward to adding your video to the YouTube Partnership Program. Thanks and good luck! "

Wow! If the video was mine, I might take them up on their offer. But I won’t do that in this case, because there’s no reason I should profit from something I didn’t create. I’m simply sharing something I like; I’m saying have a look, isn’t this great? Oh, I'll make a few comments, but really, this has nothing to do with me, and to turn it into a source of income would be wildly disrespectful to the memory of Soupy Sales – an entertainer I loved.

- Don

http://www.isntlifeterrible.com/2009/10/ethical-dilemma-that-is-youtube.html

I may hold the record for procrastination when it comes to YouTube videos. I’ve been on the site for years, and have still not posted any of my own vids! That will (I hope) change someday, but issues like this have to give me pause. I obviously have some video clips that I’d love to share that I do not own the copyright to. I doubt if any of them will be popular enough for me to get an e-mail about advertising. But what if they are, and what if I do? Something I thankfully don’t have to worry about yet. Something to file in the back of my mind along with cleaning the place, writing the great American novel, visiting more national parks. . .

=================================================

ATTACK OUR EMPLOYEE, GET PAID FOR IT: Back when I worked with the college newspaper, I had to endure a letter from a reader telling me what an idiot I was. That’s part of sharing your ideas sometimes - you have to put up with a lot of idiots who don’t get it. I think most of those who work at newspapers understand this. But what happens when somebody writes something that is critical of a reporter. . .and then that somebody gets paid by the newspaper for doing so? Check out this posting:

The Torrance Daily Breeze ran an unusual advertisement on Sunday. A local condo association bought five pages in the middle of the main news section to deliver a long screed about a bitter power struggle for control of its board.

But that's not what made this ad unusual. It's the fact that the ad singles out for criticism the Breeze reporter who covered the story. The ad's author, Cyd Balque, president of the Scottsdale Townhouses Association, makes repeated references to the reporter, Gene Maddaus. She characterizes his work as sensationalistic and biased.

It is not unusual for someone in the middle of a public controversy to be unhappy with the coverage. It is unusual for a publisher to sell that person an expensive platform ($10,000? $15,000?) to attack the reporter. After all, Balque could have written a letter to the editor. And if the stories were incorrect in some way the paper would have run a correction. On the contrary, the editors ran an editor's note in Sunday's paper saying they stood behind the coverage.

Should the other side in the condo dispute get five pages to vent their concerns? Should other reporters worry about retribution if they take on special interests with deep pockets? What about editorial independence?

http://reporter-g.blogspot.com/2009/10/adversarial-advertorial.html

The ethical dilemma here has to do with the work of the reporters and how that work is perceived by both the reporter and his bosses. I’m sorry to say that many in the newspaper industry consider reporters to be “moneymakers” rather than reporters. They see reporters as helping them make money, not as performing a valuable service. It’s easy to understand how they could “sell out” and allow such an advertisement to be published.

So did the paper do wrong? I think only the reporter himself knows the ultimate answer to that question. Hopefully, the reporter understands where the bosses are coming from, and has no real hard feelings about any of this. On the other hand, if the reporter is upset about it, then we have a big issue. For it doesn’t matter if the advertisement is justified or not - someone is upset. And nobody wants to work for a company that upsets its employees so it can make more money.

Are you listening, Disneyland? YouTube? Torrance Daily Breeze?

Snow White and the seven dwarfs

2009-10-29T11:17:00.001-07:00

The re-release of Walt Disney's “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” on DVD (and first time on Blu-Ray) this month has served to reconfirm what many have said already - this is one of the best movies ever made. The film is every bit as moving and entertaining as it was when it debuted in the late 1930s. If you haven't seen it yet. . .it just means that you're very frugal. :) As far as I know the film has never been shown on television, so you won't find it on Disney channel or TCM or AMC or pay-per-view or anything like that. Your options are to see it in the theater or to buy the home video versions. I missed the first DVD release of Snow White, as did many other people, which quickly drove the price of the DVD up higher than most of us would like to pay for it. Thankfully, this re-release brings the film classic back down to fit our budgets. (It can be frustrating to not be able to buy a particular film just because they've decided to release it again five years from now.)

The quality of the DVD itself is excellent. It's hard to believe, but you really can't see too many flaws in the picture or hear too many flaws in the audio. It's as if the film were made this year. The only giveaway technically is that it remains in its standard “square” format that it was first shown in. Such was not always the case. When I first saw Snow White in the theater in 1987, they “cropped” the square so that we got a “widescreen” version of Snow White. This wasn't that bad to watch - everything important was in the picture. But time has brought out the “purist” in me that says, “we want to see it the way it was originally seen.” If that's the case for you too, please buy this DVD. (Look for the RKO logo at the end!)

I have to talk about the music. This is one of the best film soundtracks of them all. It not only matches the action and mood of the movie, it is beautiful. You could listen to the soundtrack by itself and enjoy it. If you're a casual fan, the official CD soundtrack will be fine. But if you're a nut like me (and who isn't?), you should also try to get the original LP or cassette of the soundtrack that was produced before CDs came out. Although there is less music, the recording contains slightly different music cues than can be found in the CD soundtrack. The violins before “Someday my prince will come” are heard without the dialogue, and the beautiful conclusion is presented with a different choral arrangement that is more faithful to the film version (but interestingly, still not the same!)

Prior to seeing the movie, we had seen “Snow White Live” broadcast on cable TV. It was a stage version of “Snow White” put on at Radio City Music Hall, and it was pretty terrific in its own right. It contained the best of the movie while adding a few new plot items here and there. Some of those plot points included the prince's search for Snow White and the Dwarfs ringing the bells at Snow White's wedding. And the cast was excellent. Even those who had to wear masks shone on stage. It's a real treat that has not been released on video in decades! The time has come, Disney! Don't make us wait another 20 years!

Sometime in late 1983 (I think), my dad, brother and I went to a drive-in theater to see “Return of the Jedi.” “Snow White” was playing at the same theater on a different screen. A couple of times during the movie, I would turn around and watch scenes from “Snow White.” It's kind of neat now to realize that two of my favorite films were playing at the same time in the same theater, and I sort of got to see a bit of both of them at the same time!

My brother and I were lucky enough to meet Snow White in person. It's one of my earliest memories. It was at Disneyland, and she said, “What a brave boy!” as I walked up to shake her hand. Dopey was with her, and we have photos. A very cool kid moment. It's actually pretty rare to see the dwarfs in the park these days. I got to shake hands with Grumpy once during the parade. That's the last time I recall seeing him in the park.

It's kind of difficult to believe today, but in its day, “Snow White” was likely the scariest film of its time. (I've heard it said that it would have been “PG” if there had been a ratings system at the time.) That scary aspect seems to run completely apart from the “cuteness” of the film, yet it is obviously an important element. The queen turns herself ugly so that she can become beautiful. Its lesson is that true ugliness is not physical, but spiritual. When the queen becomes a witch, it is frightening, but you later realize that this is who she truly was all along. When she cries out, “now I'll be the fairest in the land!” you can't help but realize how blind she is. Her obsession with beauty has only brought out ugliness. And as for that “cuteness”- it continues today in so many things that Disney is doing. Walt once said something like, “It may be corny, but I like corn.” And apparently many others do, too.

It's also frightening to realize that if “Snow White” had failed, as many people at the time said it would, we would not have the Disney company today – that's how much money had to be invested in it. But thankfully Walt knew his stuff, and the film basically became a cornerstone for all of the Disney movies and an inspiration for so many other films at the time, most notably “Wizard of Oz”, “Gulliver's Travels” and “The Blue Bird” with Shirley Temple. Both “Wizard” and “Gulliver's Travels” have some excellent songs, too.

I'd like to hope that people are beginning to realize what the first audience for “Snow White” realized back in 1937 or so. This film isn't just another cartoon. This film isn't just for kids, and in some cases can be too scary for kids. This film is a work of art. This film moves the heart. This film is more entertaining than most films with “real people.” This film breaks rules. This film creates rules. This film rules.

===========================================

THE TERRIBLE FOE: You would think that losing some relatives to cancer would make me realize how devastatingly common it is. The news that Andrew Lloyd Webber has prostrate cancer is worrisome to say the least, knowing that many have not survived it. Thankfully it is in its early stages, and can hopefully be treated with success. Our prayers and good wishes go out to him.

==============================================

THE STARS ALLIGN: When the moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with the Hollywood sign, we find that there is a date which stands out among sitcom fans everywhere. October 18 is the birthday of Erin Moran (Joanie of “Happy Days”), Pam Dawber (of “Mork & Mindy”) and Dawn Wells (Mary Ann of “Gilligan's Island”). I consider this too much to be a coincidence. I suggest we name October 18 as “cute sitcom girl day.” It may not become a national holiday, but it would give us a good excuse to watch “Mork & Mindy” again. For more on Gilligan's Island, enjoy my post here:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/02/gingers-i-mean-gilligans-island.html

And in a post such as this, I would be amiss not to note that “Joanie” on Happy Days played “Snow White” in a Halloween-themed episode. And what a startling coincidence, but this week is Halloween as well! For us grown-ups without kids, the holiday can be more of a pain than anything else. But I still try to find the fun in it with the help of my friends – and a few pieces of extra candy here and there. You know, there's always a bit extra left over. . .especially if I happen to accidentally go out and forget about passing it out on the 31st. . .you never know. I'm a busy guy. Things happen. You know, I've often wondered. . .how many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop? Perhaps this year, I will finally find out. (“The answer my friend, is blowin' in the wind. . .”)

The muppets are real; Soupy Sales

2009-10-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

The muppets are real. They said so on TV.

On Wednesday evening, the show “Dinner Impossible” on Food Network featured not only host chef Robert Irvine trying to cook dinner for over 200 people in eight hours, but Maria, Elmo and Cookie Monster from “Sesame Street.” At the beginning of the show, a disclaimer came up over a black screen. It read, “What you are about to see is real.” Well, among the things we saw were Elmo and Cookie Monster. If what we are about to see is real, then that means that Elmo and Cookie Monster are real. QED. For that matter, it also means that Sesame Street is real, and Maria is real (she didn’t go by Sonia Manzano, but by Maria! So Maria is real!) The alternative is that the disclaimer is lying to us, which would be pretty horrible, and would mean that the network could be sued. I suggest they come up with a new disclaimer. “Most of what you are about to see is real.” Or how about “The food is real, real good.” Or maybe the best of all, “You folks need a real life.”

====================================================

MESSY SITUATION: When I heard the news this morning that Soupy Sales had sailed to a better place, I immediately thought of Fred Hembeck, the biggest Soupy fan I know. He’s already shared some of his thoughts on his “Fred Sez” posting for this morning. Check it out:

It wasn't necessarily Soupy's material that sparkled but the absolutely joyful--and infectious--manner in which he delivered it. THAT was his particular brand of genius. After all, if Soupy himself was having so much fun, how could we viewers help but not join in?

You'll be sorely missed, funny guy.

Check out more in Fred’s blog in my links section.

Soupy was before my time, so I have more memories of folks like Fred Rogers. And here’s where things get a bit messy- messy as in pies in the face and slapstick.

In several interviews, Fred Rogers stated that one of the reasons he got into children’s television was that he hated the children’s television shows that were on the air. He (as far as I know) never named any of those shows, but he described them as having “pies in the face and slapstick.” Now from what clips I have seen from the Soupy Sales show, if I had to describe it in a few words. . .yep, pies in the face and slapstick. Fred Rogers believed that children’s shows could be - and should be - much more than that. So he created one of the greatest children’s shows of all time.

I think the problem is that Soupy’s show was more geared toward “entertainment” than children. It was passed off as "kids’ TV" not so much because it was for kids, but because it was silly and seen as "harmless". It’s understandable that someone seeing this would see a big void in kids’ TV and try to fill it with stuff that actually helped kids. Soupy Sales' goals were different from Fred Rogers' goals. Likewise, his show was different. I’m sure Soupy and company (and his viewers) had a lot of fun. But if we’ve learned anything from children’s TV in the past 40 years (hint hint), it is that children learn things from television, and any programming for kids needs to take that into consideration. Soupy was likely a great talent, but I fear that if he were around today, they’d have to put him at late night on “Cartoon Network,” as he would be performing material that we would recognize as being unfit for young kids. It would likely still be a fun show. But it wouldn't be the same.

COMING SOON: Someday her prince will come.

Carrie and the captain

2009-10-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

If you’ve been keeping up with the Neighborhood Archive blog (and please do if you’re a Mister Rogers fan), you’ve seen some pictures from when Fred Rogers visited Captain Kangaroo (The Captain also visited Mr. Rogers on his show). Not to be outdone, I wanted to put up an image from when Carrie Fisher visited the Captain, taken I believe from the same book (“Good Morning Captain”) that the Fred Rogers pictures were taken from. Speaking of Captain Kangaroo, I’ve been disappointed to realize that virtually NO episodes from the classic show are available to buy, rent or trade. Nobody seems to have any extra episodes of Captain Kangaroo. There are probably more episodes of “Kukla, Fran and Ollie” currently available than “Captain Kangaroo.” It’s sad because it is such a historic show- almost everyone who knows anything about TV history has heard the name “Captain Kangaroo.” But if you’re looking for examples of his work, they haven’t been seen in years. This is one classic show I definitely wish we could see more of. Blu-ray release! Blu-ray release! If by any chance you have rare episodes of Captain Kangaroo, please let me know! We might be able to work out a video trade. You can contact me on my YouTube channel (in the links) or through my face book page. Search for “Steve Sesameguy.”

====================================================

THE RETURN OF MUSIC STORES: A new music store has opened in the Ontario Mills Mall. Called “Secondspin.com,” it is obviously linked in with the Web site and owned by the company that owned Warehouse music, which has now since gone away. If you remember what it was like shopping for used music and DVDs at Warehouse, then you know what it’s like shopping for used music and DVDs at Secondspin. Even the price tags still look the same! Anyway, I see this store opening as a good thing. Even if most of the music is used, the fact that there’s a store there at all points to a desire to keep physical music stores around for a while. The store seems to be relatively successful as well, with several people almost always browsing the racks of Cds. It’s a nice change of pace that I hope will continue. You can see what the new store looks like here:

http://www.secondspin.com/stores/ss/about/about-ontario.jsp

=============================================================
　
BAD VIBRATIONS?: And speaking of music, you may have heard that Brian Wilson will be completing a few unfinished compositions by George Gershwin. I heard “Smile” for the first time this year and enjoyed it a lot (classic Beach Boys fans, get it!). But despite Wilson’s talent, not everyone is pleased at the idea of him going Gershwin. Lee Hartsfeld from MY(P)WHAE blog has voiced concerns over this situation, pointing out that it seems to be more money-driven than artistically inspired. Plus, of course, there’s the fear that “Rhapsody in Blue” and “Good Vibrations” just aren’t going to mix. I definitely understand the money-driven angle as well. You have to wonder which is more important these days. . .product or publicity. So there’s definitely mixed feelings about all this. My attitude, though, is inspired by Fred Rogers - wait and see. It might work, it might not. Admittedly, Brian has big shoes to fill - but that doesn’t mean he can’t do it. He’s got talent, and perhaps this is a chance for him to shine. Again, we’ll see. But be sure to read Lee’s take on the situation at his blog post here:

http://musicyouwont.blogspot.com/2009/10/rhapsody-in-coup-or-give-em-money-thats.html
“Is Wilson's talent comparable to Gershwin's? No, not remotely. Wilson made some fabulous Top 40 singles that I love (and will always love) but every time he's tried to move "beyond" the pop song format, the results have been mediocre to unfortunate.”

==============================================================

ON YOUTUBE: TILL I HEAR YOU SING (ONCE MORE): And speaking of “Wait and see,” we won’t have too much more of a wait to see the sequel to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera.” It’s a production which is unfortunately upsetting many fans who think that Webber should leave well enough alone. Admittedly, I don’t see much of a need for the sequel either. . .unless it’s really good, which it might be! I think “wait and see” should definitely set the tone for this one as well. Incidentally, I’ve been good and put off listening to the reading of “Phantom of Manhattan” so far, but that may change next year, when “Love Never Dies” debuts in England, then later that year on Broadway! I did, however, listen to the first song released from the soundtrack. Titled “Till I hear you sing (once more),” it’s a great tune which hopefully is just one of many from the show. It’s in my favorites folder on myYouTube page. Check out my links section to find it.

=========================================

COMING SOON: One song, I have but one song, one song, only for you. . .

Carrie Fisher

2009-10-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

Carrie Fisher is currently starring in a one-woman show on Broadway. Titled “Wishful Drinking,” Carrie basically gives a summary of her life story, which is not too difficult when you consider that her life story is already pretty much open for the world to see. She has literally grown up in the spotlight, and has found success both as an actress and author. In honor of Carrie’s show, and in celebration of her birthday this month, this would be a good time to talk about my undying love for. . .I mean, my deep feelings for. . .I mean, my former relationship with. . .I mean, my deep respect for. . .Folks, it’s not easy to describe the importance of Carrie Fisher to me. But I’ll try.

Like almost everyone else in the galaxy, I first learned of Carrie as Princess Leia from “Star Wars.” I was very young at the time, and she was one of many grown-up ladies that I liked. Especially in the trash compactor scene, when she raised her leg up against the wall. . .arrgh. Ahem. Anyway, I only got to see Carrie in the Star Wars movies, so while I admired her, I seldom got to see her on screen, and our “relationship” waned.

In 1983, just before “Return of the Jedi” debuted, our local newspaper ran some photos from the movie. One of them featured Leia wearing. . .practically nothing. It was my first encounter with Leia in the metal bikini. Then another magazine printed another metal bikini shot. Then another, and another, and slowly my collection was growing. . .heeheeheehee. . . Then there was that Rolling Stone cover. . .damn it, Dad, why don’t you buy THAT one? And then there was the Marvel comics adaptation of the film, which featured a scene of Leia trying to escape from her captor, straining her gorgeous. . .I’m going to stop here in the hopes that you know where this is heading. Incidentally, did you ever consider that the little boys who were six and seven when “Star Wars” came out were entering their teens when “Jedi” debuted. . .and subjected to the metal bikini? Coincidence? A master plan by George Lucas to keep “Star Wars” imprinted in the minds of its young audience? An interesting point that should be pondered at some other time.

Then People magazine had a cover story on Carrie, and included some photos of her hanging around her Hollywood home. Now here’s the most important part of this post. As I read the interviews with Carrie, I felt that she seemed like a fun person. Then I realized that I liked Carrie herself, and I liked the idea of just being her friend. This is important. Prior to this, many of the female movie and TV stars that I liked were liked for the wrong (but natural) reasons. But with Carrie, I didn’t dream of a “one-night stand.” I dreamt of a friendship. I realized that I liked her not only for her beauty, but for who she seemed to be. It was, in a sense, the first “mature” relationship with an adult woman that I ever had (or wanted to have, I know, bear with me). That was an important step. I was slowly growing up and understanding that natural attraction is only part of the picture.

In late 1984, Carrie starred in Faire Tale Theatre as "Thumbelina." And dang, she was cute. I liked that show a lot, although it was embarrassing to try to record it. Remember, there’s only one VCR in the house, and I have to beg to get permission to use it. But I remember watching it in the wee hours of the morning, and enjoying seeing Carrie as a “Disney Princess.” This was one of those times when you wished you could enter the TV picture.

For a kid who didn’t have any friends, my imaginary friendship with Carrie was something quite wonderful. It gives a guy a lot of courage when he’s always surrounded by a sexy slave girl. Well, she wasn’t always a slave girl. She usually just dressed that way for my rock band. I was lead vocal and occasionally guitar, Leia was backup vocal and occasionally guitar, and Ernie was on the drums. Bert would sometimes play backup guitar as well. Courteney Cox or Justine Bateman would occasionally take Leia’s place when she was busy. Oh, it was heaven, man. You should have heard us. I’ll have to make that compilation CD one of these days.

Prior to this, I had written a comic book story featuring Leia. It was quite a feat for me to draw a story with Leia in the bikini. It was a big leap for my cartoon stories, as this was the first “sexy” element I had ever drawn in them. It was (and is) embarrassing, and not very sexy as far as the art is concerned! But my “imaginary world” of comics now included an element of sexuality that wasn’t there before.

At the Del Mar Fair, somebody included an autographed photo of Carrie in their “Star Wars” collection. I was jealous! I wrote a fan letter to Carrie asking for an autograph- one of the first fan letters I ever wrote. A few weeks later, I received an autographed photo of Carrie myself. I immediately put it in a frame. It is one of my treasures to this day.

After “Jedi,” Carrie continued to act, appearing in many more films, most of which sucked. There’s no nice way to say it! There are notable exceptions (including a TV movie called "Liberty" that I‘d love to see again), but for the most part, Carrie’s films left a lot to be desired. It was hard being a Carrie fan, because you had to sit through so much garbage in order to see her.

In the summer of 1988, an auction fundraiser was scheduled to be held at Sea World in San Diego. Among the stars doing the auctioning would be Carrie Fisher. On the day it was to be held, I made an incredible announcement. I was going to try to attend! Then my brother said he was going to go with me! I called to reserve our places, and we drove down to Sea World. It was our first trip to Sea World without our parents. It was fun, but crowded. We saw Shamu and some other shows, waited in line for an hour to eat, etc. I had assumed that the auction would be held in a large stadium-like area at the Southeast corner of the park. But we later figured out that it would be held in a much smaller building near the center of the park.

After a few opening performances, the auction began. We saw Terri Garr and Dana Delaney and. . .there she was in person, Carrie Fisher! Be still my heart! I took several photos, most of which came out too shaky! Then the auction ended, and my brother and I did something amazing. We got up and walked up to the stage just as Carrie Fisher was walking off. There she was, right in front of me. I tried to say, “It’s an honor,” but it came out more like, “ahhhhhhhh. . .” I shook her hand. Her hand was small, and her skin was soft. She gave me her autograph, and handed the paper to my brother. We walked away from the stage and drove home. I was happy, but tired. My parents told us that evening that they had been worried sick about us. This, you see, was our first “big trip” somewhere without them. Carrie did not smile at me, nor run off with me at the sight of my handsome face. But I understood that this was too much to hope for, and I was not disappointed with our brief encounter. Once again, Carrie Fisher was helping me grow up.

Years later, Carrie would conquer the literary world with her first novel, “Postcards from the edge”, which featured an attractive photo of Carrie in the paperback edition, which is somewhere around here. . .anyway. It was loosely based on her life, which again has been covered by the media literally since the day she was born. The daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, Carrie has endured the trials of being famous as well as the triumphs. She has abused drugs, and in some ways they have sadly abused her. She is bipolar, and goes through strenuous therapy to control it.

Carrie knows everybody in Hollywood. Seriously. You could probably meet just about every star you ever wanted to meet if you knew Carrie Fisher. One of my goals is to get invited to one of Carrie Fisher’s parties. It would be a star-studded event. I would probably be kicked out for asking for too many autographs.

Who do I like more- Carrie or Leia? Actually, I don’t like either of them “more”, because I don’t literally know either of them. The “Carrie” I have in my mind’s eye is different from either Leia or the literal Carrie. It is an ideal of the person who looks like Carrie that I would like to have as a friend. It is a dream.

I care very much for Carrie, and although any “romantic dreams” are pretty much history, the affection and happiness that she radiates still shines. I still would be happy just being a friend. That can’t happen, of course, but as far as imaginary friendships go, I’m thankful she is one of mine. I’m also thankful I had a very, very, very small moment with her in person. She likely doesn’t remember (especially after all that shock therapy). But she has had a role in my life that is almost as important as any of the real friends I have. At a time when nobody in the real world gave a damn about me, she did, if only in my dreams. Someday, I think we’re all going to understand that imaginary love is far better than no love at all. And Leia and Carrie makes a great imaginary lover.

I can see me now, sitting near the stage in the audience of her Broadway show. She looks down and sees me there. “Hi, Steve!” she says. “Hi, Carrie!” I reply. She turns to the crowd and introduces me as an old friend. Polite applause echoes through the theater. She urges me to stand. I do, and the light applause lasts a bit longer. I bow to the crowd and take my seat. The show continues. Later, after the show is over, I meet her backstage and we talk a bit. Then we hug and I go home. And I feel in my heart that I’m a lucky man for having a famous friend who cares about me. In real life, I won’t be able to attend the show, and Carrie doesn’t care about me this way. But it’s interesting. In my heart, I still feel that I’m a lucky man for having a famous friend who cares about me.

=========================================================

YAY VAL: Speaking of special girls, my friend Val became a mom this past week. She is a co-worker who appeared in my music video for “There is a light that never goes out.” Congratulations Val and family, and enjoy your complementary time off!

========================================================

ON YOUTUBE: THE IMAGINARY HELICOPTER RIDE (AUDIO ONLY): Among my rare treasures is an audio recording of the famous “imaginary helicopter ride” with Maria and Bert from Sesame Street. You remember it, don’t you. DON’T YOU? Hmm. Well, even if you don’t, if you’re a fan of classic Sesame Street, you’ll enjoy listening to this. It captures some of the fun that the actors had together in the “good old days” on the show. It’s been posted by Johnnytbird and can be found in my favorites folder on my YouTube page.

The Loch Ness Monster

2009-10-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

Since I was but a wee laddie who liked dinosaurs, I’ve been a fan of the Loch Ness Monster. I’ve sometimes found myself jealous of a gentleman who parked his RV at the edge of the loch and has devoted his life to trying to spot the monster. What a cool life. I don’t think he’s had much success yet, but talk about relaxing. Living at the edge of the water, watching the waves all day. I’ve been watching those waves via documentary for years. The child in me loves the idea that there might actually be something there. And why not? Any monster hunter can give you a list of reasons why it might be possible, despite all the supposed evidence that it isn’t possible. This is a good point. If you REALLY want to believe in something, you can almost always find proof for it. You can believe in Santa Claus if you REALLY want to. In fact, I’ve never been able to have anyone prove that Santa doesn’t exist! Unlikely, perhaps. But that doesn’t mean he’s not there! It’s the same with Nessie, Bigfoot and so many other things.

There was a recent documentary on Discovery channel (that I missed most of, darn it) about the monster which kind of demonstrates the problem. They were trying to figure out exactly what Nessie might be, and they came up with a theory: Nessie is a large sea turtle that has evolved a long neck. Okay. . .but sea turtles lay their eggs on land. So, they theorized that Nessie had also evolved the ability to lay its eggs in the water. Okay. . .but that would mean a breeding population of monsters in the loch. So, they theorized that Nessie also had the ability to lay pre-fertilized eggs, the way that Komodo dragon recently did. Hmmm. Even for evolution, this is a hell of a lot to ask. It’s stuff like this that makes you realize that evolution involves faith as well. This is one of many theories about Nessie that just doesn’t seem to hold water.

Here’s a theory you may not have heard before: Nessie is actually an orm. Of course, how obvious! Eh. . .what’s an orm? An orm is “simply a giant version of the common garden slug, an ancestor of the squid and octopus. A type of ‘Tullimonstrum gregarium, a creature with a shape of a submarine, with a broad tail.’ ” This was the theory of Ted Holiday, who studied the Loch for a time in the 1960s. Pictures of what the prehistoric orm may have looked like do indeed resemble Plesiosaurs. Why haven’t you heard of this theory before? Probably because later in life, Holiday began to believe that Nessie was actually a kind of paranormal vision rather than a real creature. So in a sense, he destroyed his own theory with another one that was probably a lot more crazy.

It’s important to note that Nessie was really made popular by newspapers in Britain. They’re the ones who published the earliest photos of Nessie, including the famous “Surgeon’s Photo,” seen above, which has now been pretty much proven as a fake. That fake photo was used as “proof positive” for many years. I recall one Nessie book going into great detail about how the waves seemed to indicate a large body underneath, and perhaps even another creature underneath. But the guy who helped prove that photo as a fake claims to have actually seen the monster himself. The mystery isn’t over.

If there’s a single spokesman for Loch Ness, it’s probably Adrian Shine. A John Muir look-alike, Shine came to the Loch to find Nessie, and instead found something just as beautiful- the Loch itself. He is an expert on the lake and is often interviewed by people looking for Nessie. Shine is the guy in the old Toyota commercial where a computer-animated Nessie attacks a Toyota truck, and the truck lives to tell the tale. Shine doesn’t believe in Nessie, but during “Operation Deep Scan,” a project he helped create, some unusual sonar readings were taken of moving objects deep within the Loch. But as he said they likely weren’t Plesiosaurs.

Some documentaries don’t go far enough. One Nessie documentary points out that the Plesiosaur needs to come up for air to breathe, and since we don’t see it happening more often, this proves that the Loch Ness monster does not exist. Wrong. It proves that the monster may not be a Plesiosaur. You need to be careful about the conclusions that some of these documentaries make. It may not be the final word.

One of my favorite documentary moments features an unusual reaction to seeing the “monster.” One woman, upon seeing the monster in the loch, took out a gun and shot at it! “In a panic, she reached for her gun,” the documentary states. Now unless the monster was heading directly toward you and licking its chops, I don’t see much of a reason to shoot at it! But the next day, she says that they did find a large sturgeon fish washed up on shore that had been shot. This adds to the theory that the “monster” may be nothing but a natural creature, like a large fish or an eel.

One seldom-seen documentary actually featured some folks documenting a Nessie practical joke. They took part of an overturned boat, and swam with it underwater until they got to the center of the Loch, then pushed the boat above the water for a time, making it move through the waters before submerging. Viewers on the shore did indeed consider it a Loch Ness Monster sighting. The documentary pointed out how easy it can be to create a Nessie hoax.

Let’s do our own mini-Nessie investigation. A photo above Loch Ness recently taken from Google Earth revealed an image of something unusual in the Loch. Is it Nessie? Let’s look at the photo:

The first item that we should notice is that this thing is white. I don’t think most monster hunters would describe Nessie as bright white. Most of what I’ve heard indicates that the monster has a dark skin. (Or does it? According to the article on coverups.com, some people have said that the monster is white. Of course, these are the same folks who began to think that Nessie was a paranormal vision. So let the buyer beware.)

The second item we should notice is that there’s another weird white shape in the water below and to the left of the supposed monster! What is that? Another one? It doesn’t appear to have the shape of the first one. The fact that there are two weird white shapes in the water means that both likely have the same qualities - whether monsters or just reflections. Yet I haven’t heard anyone talk about the other weird shape. That’s probably because it doesn’t look like Nessie. They only want to look at the evidence they want to see.

The third item we should notice is the unusual way of “swimming” that this object has. Assuming it is heading to the Northwest of the photo, and taking into account the Plesiosaur theory, it means that the monster either has his head and neck down underneath the water, or he is swimming butt-first. I vote for butt-first. I think it’s Nessie’s way of saying, “Take that, you stupid people trying to take my picture!”

My beliefs on Nessie? It’s incredibly unlikely that something like a large unknown animal could live in the Loch without having been proven to exist by now. My logic says “no.” But the Loch is a mysterious place. I think there will always be a monster in the Loch, as long as people keep looking for it. If I ever get lucky enough to visit the Loch, I’ll look out over it and enjoy the beauty. I hopefully will have several hours of fun doing that. I likely will not see the monster. But that will not prove to me that he isn’t there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Loch_Ness_Monster
　
===============================================
ABE AU NATUREL: I wasn’t able (and barely willing) to attend the first D23 Expo in Anaheim. As someone put it, it was Disney’s version of the Comic Con. But everything I’ve seen makes it seem like it was a great event for all involved, with cameos by the muppets, Johnny Depp and others. One notable cameo was none other than Abraham Lincoln. Actually, it was the audio-animatronic robot of Lincoln that was used at Disneyland for many years. (And I understand Abe is scheduled to return to the Disneyland opera house very soon. I eagerly await his return.) Unfortunately, Mr. Lincoln did not give his stirring speech. He didn’t even bother to get dressed! Visitors could see the Lincoln figure with all its gears and wires fully exposed to the world. This must have been rather embarrassing for Abe. How would you like to have a bunch of people looking at your gears and wires all day? It also makes me realize that with its Hall of Presidents in Orlando, the Disney company has one of these figures for EVERY U.S. president. Which creates a rather scary picture. Whose gears and wires will we get to see next time? Reagan’s? Taft’s? Both Roosevelts? Both Bushes? We’ve already had “Let it be. . .Naked” by the Beatles. Is it time for “The Hall of Presidents. . .Naked?” “The Pirates of the Caribbean. . .Naked?” Let’s hope not. But you can enjoy some great photos and commentary on the D23 expo by checking out Todd’s fun post here:

http://neatocoolville.blogspot.com/2009/09/disney-expo-d23-was-big-hit.html

Now you can call me Ray. . .

2009-09-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

And now we present a story that could only have happened in the world of music collecting. A while back I came upon an album by Ray Hildebrand that featured a song I had heard years ago called “If I live well praise the Lord.” It was a blessing to find the song and I enjoyed many of the other great songs on the album. I kept Ray’s name in mind. Several months later, I came upon another album by Ray. . .or did I? The album indicated that Ray was an artist at the Oak Room at the Disneyland Hotel. Interestingly, it was not a “Disneyland” album, but seemed aimed at a more grown-up audience. The songs on the album were not religious at all. (“Mack the knife”, “Bim Bam Bum”, “Besame Mucho”) Remember, both guys had the same name and looked somewhat similar. Wasn’t this the same person?

The answer: Nope! That would be way too easy.

First let’s look at Ray Hildebrand number 1, or “Guitar Ray.” Here’s Ray’s biography as written on the back of the “He’s everything to me” album:

In 1964 Ray wrote and sang a tune that sold three million copies called “Hey, Hey, Paula.” This flash of success took him to distant lands as a teenage idol. But let’s back up just a bit. Life was music and sports for Ray in high school and, when he got to college, he organized a group called THE PRISONERS. He was also captain and most valuable player on the conference championship basketball team. Today, along with his singing, Ray is the Southwest Regional Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. This work fits him perfectly. It’s marvelous to see how athletes respond to this musician-athlete who knows and speaks their language.

Yes that’s right, Ray was “Paul” of “Hey Paula!” Never would have guessed that. And Ray’s career is not over. His Web page points out that he has had three successful music careers: as the “teen idol” of “Hey Paula”, as the Christian singer of “He’s everything to me” and as part of the duo of Land & Hildebrand. You can find out more about Ray #1 on this site:

http://www.rayhildebrand.com/
　
Ray Hildebrand #2, or “Piano Ray”, is a greater mystery. Here’s his biography from the back of the “A night at the Oak Room” album:

Ray Hildebrand has had a widely varied musical career, beginning with a combo at the University of Connecticut. Following college, Ray played with such name bands as Shep Fields and Blue Barron. During service in World War 2, Ray broadcast nightly at the New Albany Hotel in Albany, Georgia, over station WPGY and later over the Armed Forces network in San Juan, Puerto Rico. During civilian service in Tokyo, Japan, after the war, Ray was musical director at General MacArthur’s Officers’ Club, conducting a 12-piece orchestra composed entirely of Japanese musicians. Ray has played piano at the Disneyland Hotel since its opening in 1956. When the exclusive OAK ROOM, a private club in the hotel opened, Ray was chosen to provide the music for dancing.

The so-called Information superhighway did not seem to have any kind of information on this Ray Hildebrand. I contacted Don Ballard, an expert on the Disneyland Hotel, to see if he could provide me with some insight. He had heard of Ray, but didn’t have any new information about him. He did tell me that the Oak Room is sadly not a part of the hotel anymore. After the Disneyland Hotel went through a major renovation, the Oak Room was chopped out. Don has some excellent information and historic photos of the hotel itself, though.

Here’s a peek at his book about the Disneyland Hotel and its history:

http://www.magicalhotel.com/index.html

And check out his blog for more historic images from the hotel:

http://magicalhotel.blogspot.com/

A question remained. With two musicians named Ray Hildebrand, and one looking a bit older than the other, was it possible that Piano Ray was a relative of Guitar Ray? Again, apparently not (well, not a close relative, anyway). Guitar Ray did not recognize Piano Ray. So Ray’s life post-Disneyland hotel remains a mystery. So “Piano Ray”, if you happen to be reading, please contact me via my YouTube channel or better yet Don and share your memories of the hotel days & what other stuff you’ve been doing since.

For Oak Room fans, here’s a peek at how it used to look, courtesy of the Kittle family:

http://www.thekittles.com/some_good_memories.htm

============================================

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?: Congratulations are due to Benjamin Wagner and his crew for raising enough funding to complete the “Mister Rogers and Me” documentary he has been working on for years. Benjamin recently gave an interview over the radio that began with a rather unusual question. He writes about it here:

It took a minute to get my bearings: 'You're in Vermont,' I thought. 'Time for your "Saturday Light Brigade" interview.' I tiptoed around the bedroom, quietly putting on a few layers of clothes; with a dozen friends sleeping in bedrooms on every floor, I'd have to do the interview outside where the current temperature is 46°. I pulled on a cap and gloves, slipped my headphones into my ears, dialed the radio station's number, and stepped out into the crisp, morning air."Hello," I said, half asking. "This is Benjamin Wagner calling for my 'Mister Rogers & Me' interview."

"Oh, Benjamin!" the woman at the other end of the line said. "I was just about to call you. Good morning! May I put you on hold? We're just finishing a puzzle segment, then Larry will take a call, then he'll speak with you. Ok?"

"Ok!" I said, endeavoring to make sense through my gravelly, three hours of sleep voice.She put me on hold where I was able to listen to the show. The host, Larry Berger, was reading a brain teaser over acoustic bluegrass music in a cadence and tone not unlike Mister Rogers himself.

"Imagine that you're in a room with only two exits. One is blocked by a thousand magnifying glasses that focus the sunlight to a super-hot ray of sunshine that will burn you alive. The other is guarded by a fire-breathing dragon that will also burn you alive. What do you do?"

He paused a second, then said, "We have Benjamin on the line. Benjamin, what would you do?"

"Oh my," I said, startled, confused and scrambling to make sense of the riddle. "G'morning, Larry! Well, I suppose I would try to make friends with the fire-breathing dragon and ask him to make an exception and let me pass."

Larry too was startled."I'm sorry, this is Benjamin Wagner on the phone, kids. I thought you were a listener calling in with the answer. Hello, Benjamin."

"Hello, Larry!"

"Well, Benjamin, the answer is, leave at night."

I still think the dragon would have helped me out. . .

I agree, Benjamin. At least it would have been worth a try.

This fun story was taken from Benjamin’s post on his “Making Mister Rogers and Me” blog. You can read the original post here:

http://mrrogersandme.blogspot.com/2009/09/mister-rogers-saturday-light-brigade-me.html

Here’s the main page where you can keep track of the production:

http://mrrogersandme.blogspot.com/

=============================================

QUICK REVIEW: PETE SEEGER CONCERT: Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday concert aired last month on PBS. I tuned in mostly just to catch a glimpse of Oscar the grouch (see my post), but found a true treasure - the concert itself. This is one of the greatest concerts I’ve ever seen. I knew many of the songs, and the songs I didn’t know were just as great! And the performances were, for the most part, excellent, There’s very little “filler” in this concert. I suppose it’s possible that any “mediocre” songs have been edited out. But what aired on PBS is a real classic. Oscar was only a minor highlight. I loved Richie Havens and Ani Defranco. I loved “Gather round the stone.” I basically loved the whole thing. PBS is making a DVD of the concert available. It’s worth contributing just to get a copy of it all. Or at least keep your eye on PBS for when it reruns. And it should!

================================================

ON YOUTUBE: ERNIE’S TEAR

This particular Ernie and Bert sketch has become important to me because of something I noticed years after I first saw it. There is a tiny moment in this skit that I’m pretty sure is intentional. Once I point this out to you, you’ll never look at this skit the same way again.

The skit involves the gang rehearsing a pageant about feelings. Bert’s role is to get into his pajamas and play cupid. Bert reluctantly sings his lines about love, then decides he’d rather sing about what love means to him, personally. He does so, and sings about the things that he loves. At the end of the song, he sings that he’ll always have a special place “for Ernie in my heart.” As he sings those words, Ernie looks down a bit. We see a bright dot of some kind on Ernie’s nose. He wipes it away. Is this a stray piece of paper that somehow accidentally landed on Ernie’s nose, or is this what I believe it must be. . . A tear? An intentional moment of Ernie showing his emotions at Bert’s words? That’s what I’m voting for. No accident could have worked out as good as that. I vote for the tear. I hope you will too. You can find the clip in my favorites folder on my YouTube page. The link is in the links section to the right.

Here’s a page that lists the great pageant skits from Sesame Street. See if you can remember some of these:

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Sesame_Street_Pageants

Peter, Paul and Mary

2009-09-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

This photo is from the official Peter, Paul and Mary Web page, which at the moment includes photos of Mary & the band and statements from Peter and Paul and others about the recent news.

http://www.peterpaulandmary.com/

We lost a piece of music history last night when Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary died. She was a part of one of the most important bands in the history of American folk music, and seemed to be a treasure of a person as well. It’s no use to ask if Peter, Paul and Mary will ever perform together again - the answer is painfully clear. It’s like asking “Who is buried in Grant’s tomb?”

When compact disks first began to appear on the scene in the late 1980s, my family and I were not immediately drawn to them. We were die-hard record collectors, for goodness sake. But I also knew that the times, they were a-changing, and we should keep our eyes on this new technology. When the classic “10 Years Together” album by Peter, Paul and Mary was released on CD a bit later, I realized that this was the sign I had been waiting for. CDs were here. I had to put that one on my wish list.

The band has an important hold in the history of my family. Before my father met my mother, they both collected albums by Peter, Paul and Mary. When they met, they found that the albums my Mom had were the ones Dad was missing, and the ones Dad had were the ones Mom was missing. It was meant to be, I tell you.

After John F. Kennedy was assassinated, the news media focused their attention on the tragedy for the next several days. After the coverage was over, and the radio began to return to regular programming, the first song that was played on “the sound of inspiration,” a radio station Dad listened to, was “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Peter, Paul and Mary. Here it is again, written by Bob Dylan and in tribute to Dad and my teacher Mr. Kaye and everyone else in the 5th grade who sang along with him.

But first by way of introduction: Once upon a time, there was a man who wanted to know the secrets of life. He climbed a high mountain and asked a wise guru who lived there what the answer to life was. The guru wrote down the answer on a piece of paper, and the man carried it down the mountain to read it later. It was a windy day, and as the man walked down the streets to his home, the paper flew out of his hands. He raced furiously to try to catch it, but to no avail. Eventually, he was stopped by another man who held his shoulders and said, “Be careful! What is it you’re trying to find?” The first man replied by singing this song.

BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND

How many roads must a man walk down before they call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail before she sleeps in the sand?
How many times must the cannonballs fly before they’re forever banned?
The answer my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist before it is washed to the sea?
How many years can some people exist before they’re allowed to be free?
How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?
The answer my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

How many times can a man look up before he can see the sky?
How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?
How many deaths will it take ‘till he knows that too many people have died?
The answer my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

============================================================

HE LIVES, PRESENT TENSE: The songs of Peter, Paul and Mary exemplify the kind of entertainment that I’ve found I enjoy quite a bit. They are simple songs, but not so simple. There is a depth of meaning in them that makes them truly timeless. As an example, it would be careless of me to post about PP&M without talking about Puff. Like “Blowin’ in the wind,” I don’t recall the first time I heard “Puff the Magic Dragon.” I do recall one of the first times, though. Back in 2nd grade or so a young lady came to our classroom in the round building to perform some songs on her guitar. “Puff” was the one I remember and enjoyed. I also remember my Grandma and I serenading my Dad with the first two lines of the song. Lots of fun. I’m glad we didn’t do the whole thing, though.

There was a “Puff” animated TV special in the late 1970s that I still enjoy to this day. It’s a kind of tearjerker for me due to obvious reasons. It’s about a boy who must learn to come out of his shell and grow up. Puff helps him along the way at the start, but at the end he must leave the boy and let him do the rest of the growing by himself. The special also features “Weave me the sunshine” at the end, another great song. And the legendary Burgess Meredith was the voice of Puff.

Leave it to the stupid grown-ups to come up with a theory that the song “Puff” is actually about illegal drugs. Desperate, man. As Peter Yarrow said during a comic intro to the song, “There was never any meaning intended other than the obvious one!” Here’s the obvious meaning for you, written by Peter Yarrow and Leonard Lipton.

PUFF, THE MAGIC DRAGON

Puff, the magic dragon, lived by the sea,
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee.
Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff
And brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff

Oh, Puff, the magic dragon, lived by the sea,
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee.
Puff, the magic dragon, lived by the sea,
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee.

Together they would travel on a boat with billowed sails.
Jackie kept a lookout perched on Puff’s gigantic tail.
Noble kings and princes would bow whene’r they came.
Pirate ships would lower their flags when Puff roared out his name.

A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys.
Painted wings and giant’s rings make way for other toys.
One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more,
And Puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar.
His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain.
Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane.
Without his lifelong friend, Puff could not be brave.
So Puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave.

Okay folks, as I was typing in those lines that begin with “a dragon lives forever,” I found something unusual appearing out of my eyes. It appears to be water of some kind. I’ve wiped them away now. I share that with you to make the point of how incredibly wonderful the song is, and how deeply I love it. That stuff in my eyes has been coming out a lot lately. . .

=============================================================

SO CLOSE: I very rarely go to concerts, but Peter, Paul and Mary were one of the few bands that I had a strong desire to go see live. It wasn’t meant to be, but I came very, very close. A few years ago, they planned to perform at the California Center of the Performing Arts in Escondido, not too far away. I excitedly bought two tickets for the show, only to receive a letter from ticket services manager Erin Peck dated September 26, 2007 that the show was being postponed:

You may have already heard from us by phone, but just in case we wanted to notify you by mail as well. Due to Mary’s recovery from a back surgery, the CCAE performance of PETER, PAUL & MARY on Friday November 16, 2007 has been postponed to Friday April 18, 2008 at 8pm.

This was not a big deal for me. I was willing to wait, and it gave me more time to try and find a date. But sadly, I received another letter from Ms. Peck dated February 29, 2008:

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the upcoming performance of PETER, PAUL & MARY on April 18, 2008 has been cancelled. We have been informed that Mary Travers has undergone two back surgeries and, while her doctors anticipate a full recovery, the healing process is taking longer than hoped. On her doctor’s advice, regrettably, the Trio has had to cancel all of their upcoming concerts.

Thankfully, the venue was very good about giving my money back. Also thankfully, I think Peter, Paul & Mary were able to give a few more concerts in these last few years - just not at the Escondido venue. And for you die-hard pack rats like me, here is the ticket to the Peter, Paul & Mary show that never was.

===============================================================

THINGS TO WATCH FOR: There is a Christmas special with Peter, Paul and Mary that stands out as one of the best concerts I’ve seen on TV. It’s PP&M singing along with a choir in the background for many of the songs. It’s a marvelous show that I hope PBS brings back one of these years. It was made available on home video for a time as well. A great demonstration of how their timeless music fits in so well with the timeless tunes of Christmas. You also might consider their “Flowers and stones” album. From the late 1980s, I think, it’s one of their lesser-known albums, but it has a few really good songs on it, including “No man’s land” and “Coming of the roads.”

CARRY IT ON: In an interview with PP&M not long after their albums were first released on CD, Peter Yarrow said that Warner Brothers had made a commitment to keep the music of PP&M, as well as other bands, a part of their music library for the long-range future. Assuming they’re still behind that, I breathe a sigh of relief that generations after our own will enjoy their beautiful music. In fact, even if somehow we lost all of the PP&M music, their music would still live on. No, that isn't a typo. You see, their music goes beyond what they played as a trio. It is the spirit of folk music itself, the beauty that comes from three people using their talents to create something that speaks to every generation and stays in the hearts of the listeners long after the music is over. Their music is very much a part of my life forever.

FAVORITE PP&M SONGS: Blowin’ in the wind; Puff the Magic Dragon; Day is Done; Too much of nothing’; Stewball; Light one candle; Coming of the roads; No man’s Land; Danny’s Downs; If I had a hammer; Kisses sweeter than wine; Wedding Song; Weave me the sunshine; 500 Miles; I dig rock & roll music; Leavin’ on a jet plane; The great Mandala; El Salvador;

COMING SOON: A musical mystery regarding the Disneyland Hotel and the man who made “Hey Paula” famous.

Marvel meets mouse

2009-09-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

On August 31, the Walt Disney company announced that it was going to buy Marvel for about $4 billion. Is it a good thing? (The deal that is, not the $4 billion) I think the deal is a good thing - as long as Disney treats Marvel with at least as much “reverence” as it has its other major buyouts. The Disney buyout of the muppets did not really hurt the muppets - that’s a matter of debate, I know, but we’re speaking generally here. Aside from some issues, the relationship between the two companies is friendly. Likewise the relationship between Disney and Lucasfilm has not really hurt any of the Lucasfilm properties (Star Wars, Indy). I think that if Disney treats Marvel the same way, we can still enjoy Marvel without feeling like they’ve “sold their souls” to Disney. So I think things will work out as long as both Disney and Marvel can remember that “with great power comes great responsibility.” Or has someone already said that? Probably.

That Spidey image comes from an MTV news report on what the buyout may mean for fans:

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1620459/story.jhtml

It’s clear that Disney wants a “piece of the pie” of many already successful enterprises. It’s like a larger company buying up a smaller one to reap the benefits. The only real downfall that’s clear is that it’s not really a good idea for one company to control every form of entertainment, and sometimes that seems like what Disney is trying to do. But again, as long as Marvel remains “Marvel,” the fans should be content.

======================================================

CODE BARF: A recent post on the “Mouseplanet” message boards along with my recent foray into the world of Facebook has given me the inspiration for a rather disgusting survey question. Before we get to the list, take a look at this posting from poster twindaddy involving a rather disgusting incident at Disneyland:

We were on main street, on the porch that I think used to be known as the "Bra Shop" letting my girls conk out in the stroller while we stake out good parade viewing spots. All of a sudden we see a mom with a toddler in her arms running past us to get to the bathroom next to Carnation Cafe. He is barfing all the way along.

So there is this huge pile of barf right in front of us, right in the middle of the sidewalk. I don’t want anyone to step in it, so I grab a trashcan that is about 5 feet from the pile and put it over it. No sooner is the can out of my hand, about 30 seconds after the barf hit the ground, then a nicely dressed guy who would EASILY blend into any crowd is behind me directing people. I wonder "who is this guy?" He asks me why I moved the trashcan, and then I explain and he says "good idea!" He then realizes I am looking at him funny until he flips his collar to show his CM (cast member) name tag and a see his radio ear piece (ala secret service).

He radios the code barf (they had a code for it) into control, about two minutes later two uniformed security guys show up, and about six minutes after the chunks hit the ground a janitorial CM is there going through an elaborate bio hazard process to clean it up. A short while later the mom shows back up apologizing, and we explain it has already been handled.

Code barf. I love it. Well, I love the idea of it. It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it. The story gave me a disgustingly fun survey question that I would like you to consider: Name the most memorable places you have thrown up. For me, the list is a great summary of my life in general. Embarrassing and messy and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

1. While coming in for landing on a friend’s airplane. I think they’re still my friends.
2. While walking home with a friend. Thankfully, I missed her. She never really hung out with me after that. . .
3. While driving home on New Year’s Eve. . .and it was the afternoon and I hadn’t drunk a thing!!

All these joyful memories almost prompt me to send out one of those Facebook things. “Name the three favorite times you vomited!” I only hesitate because I know my friends have put up with me for so many other ridiculous things. I don’t want to push my luck. But dear reader, I ask thou to consider well the times you have created a mess in this way, and be thankful, as I am, that you were there to make the mess.

========================================================

WHERE TO SEND THE MONEY: Okay, now that the recession is over (yeah, right), we have a little bit more money to spend (yeah, right). So what worthy causes can we contribute to? Here’s one that interests me: Benjamin Wagner has been working on his documentary on Mister Rogers for the past few years. Based on his behind-the-scenes info documented on his blog, this looks like a very entertaining and professional production. Ben’s now almost done and he needs - yes, contributors to make the film a reality. For a $25 donation, you can get your name briefly in the credits of the movie. For bigger donations, there are bigger perks. Read all about it here:

http://neighborhoodarchive.blogspot.com/2009/08/mister-rogers-me.html

I support this project, but I feel a bit small because I can’t contribute nearly as much as I’d like (I want that autographed DVD, darn it!). I feel like I’m watching a PBS special and I want the big present that they give you for donating a lot of money. But I don’t have the money, which makes me feel that my small contribution won’t amount to much. But every bit helps, and based on the numbers, it looks like they’re nearly there. I wish them luck and I look forward to seeing this production someday.

=========================================================

WHERE NOT TO SEND THE MONEY: There is apparently going to be a new compilation of Cds by Morrissey, and Morrissey doesn’t want you to buy them. Here’s a brief clip from an article that was also posted on “The Vinyl Villain”:

“Lyricist and sardonic crooner Morrissey has urged loyal fans to steer clear when the big music labels re-release his old tunes. Mozzer has asked fans not to buy either a planned boxed set of his solo work or a re-released set of CDs and vinyl from his days with the legendary Smiths. The EMI, HMV and Parlophone record labels in November plan a boxed set of Morrissey singles and B-sides from his post-Smiths years spanning 1985 to 1999. But Morrissey told the True to You site: "Morrissey does not approve such releases and would ask people not to bother buying them. Morrissey receives no royalty payments from EMI for any back catalogue, and has not received a royalty from EMI since 1992."

As the “Vinyl Villain” himself hinted, any die-hard fan who really wanted to get that material shouldn’t feel bad about buying it. I’m a fan and I wish no ill will toward Morrissey, but please don’t make us feel bad about buying your own stuff! It’s kind of a compliment when you think about it. His fame is greater than he’s able to write a check for. Incidentally, I had no idea his name was “Steven!” I knew we had a few things in common, but wow!

http://thevinylvillain.blogspot.com/2009/08/dear-vinyl-villain.html

=========================================================

I’M LOUVIN IT: In my quest for old-fashioned Christian music, I have come upon an interesting duo which seem to create a problem. It’s actually kind of an image problem. The Louvin Brothers seem to personify everything that is unintentionally corny about old Christian music. You need only look at the cover of their “Satan is Real” album to see what I mean. It features the two brothers dressed in white suits smiling merrily as they dance around the flames in Hell in front of a cheap cutout of Satan. (The cover has made a few “worst album cover” lists.) Sadly, the corniness wasn’t their only fault- they weren’t always perfect Christians. Upon meeting Elvis Presley, one of them called him a name that is a curse word as far as I’m concerned. It’s the word in “Huckleberry Finn.” Yep, that one. But based on the sample track that I’ve heard, they seem to have a talent for harmony. And their song “The Christian Life” has a lyric that I think every Christian can take to heart:

“I won’t lose a friend by heeding God’s call,
For what is a friend who’d want you to fall?”

I’ve had a few “friends” who not only wanted me to fall, but tripped me. Literally. I think I’d rather sit around listening to the corny Louvin Brothers than spending time with those “friends.” Wouldn’t mind throwing up on them.

Special thanks to “Any Major Dude” for his summary of the Louvin Brothers:

http://halfhearteddude.wordpress.com/2009/08/18/satan_is_real_cover/

For more old-fashioned Christian music, I’d recommend checking out “Old Fashioned Christian Radio” or “Music you (possibly) won’t hear anyplace else”. Both are in the links section to the right.
　

A word from the zoo

2009-08-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

Please enjoy a collection of photos from the San Diego Zoo on my new flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sesameguy/sets/72157621973928647/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sesameguy/

Three ladies

2009-07-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

ERIN GRAY: My friend Amy is lamenting the fact that she wasn’t able to attend the ComicCon in San Diego this year. She’s certainly not alone- the event is a lot of fun, but if you’re claustrophobic, you probably shouldn’t attend. It’s “wall-to-wall people” as another friend said recently. But I’ve been lucky enough to visit the ComicCon a few times, and on one of those visits I was privileged to meet one of my favorite attractive chicks from. . .I mean, one of my favorite actresses when I was but a young lad. Oh, I can remember all the fun we had. Super Grover, Wilma Deering and I were traveling through the cosmos in search of adventure, when we were captured by an enemy and sent to the dungeons of. . .I’m sorry, you’ve never heard this story, have you? I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait until I write my memoirs for that. Let’s just say I was a very imaginative kid.

Back to ComicCon- When I heard that Erin Gray (from “Buck Rogers” and “Silver Spoons” among other things) was going to be signing autographs at ComicCon, I knew I wanted to go. It took me about ten minutes to get up enough courage to talk to her. (I was a very shy kid, too). But I’m glad I did. She was very gracious and easy to talk to. In fact, I realized later that she had tricked me- she made me talk more about myself than about her. She seems to be a great person and I enjoyed meeting her very much. This photo was taken at our meeting.

Erin was back at ComicCon this year, along with Gil Gerard, Margot Kidder and several other celebrities in the autograph section. I couldn’t be there, but if I do get lucky enough to go again, I’d definitely like to talk to Erin. Here’s to hoping we meet again!

=================================================

MARA JADE, DANCING GIRL: I must confess that I haven’t read many of the Star Wars novels. That’s a shame, because I understand that many of them are quite good. I have picked up a few things here and there, however. I at least have heard of the name “Mara Jade.” She was “recruited” by the Emperor to kill Luke Skywalker. She didn’t, but her story doesn’t end there. She eventually marries Luke! I won’t give anything more away, but you can peek online to find more information on her. I mention her because I recently became aware of a photo of Mara Jade that stopped me in my tracks. It’s this one:

Holy. . .she was a dancing girl for Jabba the Hutt? She apparently disguised herself as a dancing girl in an effort to kill Luke. Unfortunately, she was not aboard the sail barge that took Luke & company to the Sarlacc pit, so her attempt to kill Luke failed that time. But wow! I suddenly have gained a little more interest in this person. I guess I just have a thing for dancing girls.

More about Mara here:
http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/marajadeskywalker/

=====================================================

TALK ABOUT A COMEBACK: It was at least five years ago, as I was driving to work, that I heard on the radio that Hope Sandoval, the lead singer for Mazzy Star, had died. It was sad news, as I enjoyed some of Mazzy Star’s work, most notably the song “Fade into you.” I was sorry that she wouldn’t be putting out any more albums. So perhaps you can imagine my surprise when I heard that she had made a new album and was planning a tour! Youch! I’m so glad the radio DJ was wrong. But why was he wrong? I can only think of three reasons:

1. The DJ was somehow given incorrect information.
2. The DJ was an a***ole
3. It was April Fool’s Day.

Anyway, I’m glad she’s still around. I would recommend the song “Fade Into You” if you’re into that download sort of thing.

http://captainsdead.com/tag/hope-sandoval-and-the-warm-intentions
　
　
　

Apollo 11: Man on the moon

2009-07-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

40 years ago this week. I’m not old enough to remember Apollo 11, but its impact is certainly felt. I recall listening to recordings of the astronauts & watching video from various documentaries and TV specials. So the moon landing has always been a “rerun” for me, albeit an exciting one. Even at the close of the "Space Shuttle era," the moon landings seem incredibly amazing. Perhaps it’s because we haven’t been there for so long. And we very rarely even see spacewalks covered moment-by-moment on TV. So to watch spacemen on the moon still brings a thrill.

Some of you lucky (?) friends may recall when my brother and I created our own trip to the moon. We used footage from the Disney “moon flight” cartoon combined with recordings of the flight. And we even let you touch the moon! Yes, I know it felt a little bit like Johnson’s baby powder, but that’s what Neil Armstrong said too, if you recall! That recording, by the way, featured Walter Cronkite, who recently passed away. His influence was great as well, and I hope he’s looking down at the moon right now and remembering that day when the lunar module landed.

Here’s another post about space travel which you may find quite relevant to today:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2008/12/looking-above.html

===================================================

LOST FOOTAGE: I feel a lot better about myself upon hearing that the original master tape of the moon landing has apparently been recorded over. I don’t feel nearly so bad about all the stuff I’ve taped over! If NASA can screw up, so can I! But you can’t help but wonder what on Earth (or on the moon) was recorded over the master tapes. One friend at work thought it might be porn. Since home video recording wasn’t really available at that time, I tend to disagree, unless it somehow involved the girlfriend of one of the NASA scientists. This is something we’d better stop trying to think about right now.

However, something we can think about is how many OTHER classic moments have been lost to time. It’s kind of sad, but here are the ones that come to mind:

1. TONIGHT SHOW CLASSICS. Johnny Carson often lamented the fact that so many early episodes of the Tonight Show were basically thrown out. They included footage of some incredible entertainers, including Groucho Marx, and Johnny’s first appearance as host!

2. LITTLE RASCALS DEBUT: According to film historian Leonard Maltin in his book “Our Gang: The life and times of the Little Rascals”, the original silent film of Hal Roach’s “Our Gang” is a lost film. This was before Alfalfa & Spanky and the gang made the series the classic we know it as today. But even so, it’s such a historic item that it’s sad that it no longer seems to exist.

3. D-DAY FOOTAGE: On June 6, 1944, when the allied forces invaded France, there were people with cameras trying to capture all the devastation. But there’s not much actual footage of the event. Why not? As one of the photographers handed the film to someone else, it dropped into the waters off Normandy beach! The historic footage was lost, and we are dependant on a few short clips and some photographs to document the Longest Day.

So the next time you make a mistake while recording something (which happened to me this week as well), just remember that you’re in good company. You’re right in there with NASA and “The Greatest Generation.” Everyone makes mistaykes. Uh, mistakes.

=========================================================

I DON'T WANT TO LIVE ON THE MOON: There are plenty of bloggers who will talk about the moon landing this week, but how many, I ask you, will also include the lyrics to "I don't want to live on the moon?" I claim to be the only one! This is one of my favorite songs. It was written by Jeff Moss, who also wrote "Rubber Duckie:" And the video will be available in my "favorites" list on my YouTube page.

Well I'd like to visit the moon on a rocketship high in the air.

Yes I'd like to visit the moon, but I don't think I'd like to live there.

Though I'd like to look down at the Earth from above, I would miss all the places and people I love

So although I might like it for one afternoon, I don't want to live on the moon.

I'd like to travel under the sea, I could meet all the fish everywhere.

Yes I'd travel under the sea, but I don't think I'd like to live there.

I might stay for a day there if I had my wish, but there's not much to do when your friends are all fish

And an oyster and clam aren't real family, so I don't want to live in the sea.

I'd like to visit the jungle, hear the lions roar, go back in time and meet a dinosaur

There's so many strange places I'd like to be, but none of them permanently.

So if I should visit the moon, well I'll dance on a moonbeam and then,

I will make a wish on a star, and I'll wish I was home once again.

Though I'd like to look down at the Earth from above, I would miss all the places and people I love

So although I may go, I'll be coming home soon, 'cause I don't want to live on the moon.

No I don't want to live on the moon.

http://members.tripod.com/tiny_dancer/moon.html

===========================================================

MISSING LINKS FOUND, NOW NEED READERS: The problem with the links was simply solved by upgrading my page to the new blogger design. Looks pretty good. And there’s even a space to list the followers of my blog. Let’s see how many thousands of people have signed on to be followers of my blog. . .hmmm. Argh. Uh, I wonder if I could possibly follow my own blog? Is that within the realm of possibility? And maybe I can bribe a few friends to pretend to read the blog. I’ll have to look into this carefully, as I’m sure you’re as concerned as I am about this issue. :) See you next time!
　

The Twilight Zone

2009-07-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

You’re traveling through another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. That’s the signpost up ahead! Your next stop, one of the greatest shows in the history of television.

Submitted for your approval: The first episode of “Twilight Zone” that I recall was “What’s in the box,” about the guy who watches himself kill his wife on television. SCARY! I stayed away from that show for years, until I was old enough to handle scary. Then I began to really enjoy what I saw. But I won’t tell you which episode I still refuse to watch all the way through! It’s an incredibly creative and often moving show. Fans should pick up “The Twilight Zone companion,” easily the best book about the TV series. And if you look hard, you might find “From the Twilight Zone,” a series of short stories by Rod Serling (pictured, the narrator of the classic series) based on some of the classic episodes.

Some of you might have watched the Twilight Zone marathon on the Sci-Fi channel on July 4. Just to clarify, it was KTLA here in SoCal that began the tradition! (Well, as far as I know, anyway). The local station would run several episodes of the series every July 4. I got to peek at some of the episodes at work this year (no, that‘s not all I do), and saw many familiar faces (Burgess Meredith, Billy Mummy, etc.) and heard many familiar lines (“It’s a cook book!” “Where is everybody?”) and reflected on the show. I was delighted to realize that I wasn’t the only one who knew several episodes well. Several of my co-workers would chime in whenever a “good one” came on. It was quite a testament to the popularity of the show, even after all these years. But on reflection, I also realized why I grew out of the show. Thinking about show for the past few days, I’ve realized something very significant.

For a bit of a preview, you might like to read about my “comic book” years and why I no longer actively collect or read them. Then you can come back here and we’ll talk Twilight Zone again.

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/03/thing-about-comic-books.html

Have you ever noticed how many episodes of “The Twilight Zone” have unhappy endings? Think about it! With some notable exceptions, the show almost always ends with the main character in a bad situation. Folks, that’s hard to take! It’s hard to sit there and watch someone suffer and say that you’ve had a good time. That’s true even if the person deserves to suffer.

Thinking back, I felt the same way watching “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” when I was a child. I didn’t like seeing those kids nearly drown or burn or shrink or whatever the case may be! Yes, I know they deserved it. But I didn’t want to watch it! It’s kind of like watching a serial killer be put to death. Yes, he deserved it. But I don’t take pleasure watching it. I’m not going to yell out “yay!” when he dies.

I’m thinking of the character that Telly Savalas played in the classic “Talky Tina” episode. He certainly was a jerk. Yet for a reason I can’t completely understand, you just don’t enjoy seeing him suffer either. You don’t yell out "hooray" when he dies. And watch what happens after he dies. “Talky Tina” threatens the guy’s wife! What the h**l did she do to deserve that?! Why can’t things just go back to normal now?

Just as comic books began to lose their appeal because they weren’t “being true”, the same was true for “Twilight Zone.” Now I know the Twilight Zone isn’t a place where reality has much credence. But is it unreasonable to ask that once in a while, cruel fate might allow for some happy endings? That’s the way it happens in real life sometimes. Just like the horror and crime comics of the past, the Twilight Zone seems to focus on the bad more than the good, to the point that any adult reading it has to tell themselves, “all right, prepare for another weird tragedy.” Sometimes that’s fine, but you’d think the Twilight Zone would have a bit more variety.

None of this is meant to take away from the classic series. Indeed, the focus on tragedy is probably part of its appeal. My only point is to demonstrate how even a classic show can lose its appeal as we grow. Yeah, I know, “who are you to talk, muppet fan?” I guess I’ve learned to enjoy the limitations of everything I enjoy. That may be the key to keeping them going.

FAVORITE EPISODES: Where is everybody?; Monsters are due on Maple Street; Obsolete Man; Time Enough at Last; One for the angels; Miniature; The Incredible World of Horace Ford; The Eye of the Beholder; A Game of Pool; Back There; A Most Unusual Camera; Old Man in the Cave; A stop at Willoughby; A World of his own; An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge; Nick of Time

BONUS: There have been a few revivals of “Twilight Zone” on TV, and here are my favorite segments from the late 1980s CBS revival: To see the invisible man; Children’s Zoo; the one with Danny Kaye and the stopwatch (that’s not its title, but. . . Well, you know. This blogging cuts down on your time, man.)

===================================================

NAME THAT TUNE: Speaking of the “Twilight Zone,” I had a rather interesting experience as the “Weather Channel” was playing in the background recently. They play some background music during the “Local on the 8’s” segment, and this time they happened to play the Smiths’ “Oscillate Wildly”. The Smiths on the Weather Channel? A quick Internet search confirmed that I was not hearing things. Here’s a posting from NoPhoneNoPoolNoPets from imwan.com:

Interesting tunes this month accompanying the "Local On The 8's".June's music has featured "Blue Sky" (such an obvious choice ) by The Allman Brothers, the instrumental latter portion of The Stones' "Cant You Hear Me Knocking", "Oscillate Wildly" by The Smiths, and even some Clash and Devo !! I know that I've heard some Pink Floyd recently as well (from "Wish You Were Here", IIRC)

http://www.weather.com/tv/music/jun2009.html?from=tv_music_welc

The Weather Channel shows the local forecast for the area on the 8's of most every hour (e.g. 10:08, 10:18, 10:28, etc), and uses an eclectic mix of background music.

Way cool. I may find myself checking out that link once in a while if I hear something on the Weather Channel that I want for my collection! I can see it now. “The Weather Channel’s Greatest hits. . .”

======================================================

MISSING LINKS: If you’re able to see that list of links on the right at the top of this Web page, consider yourself one of the lucky few! For some reason, the latest version of Internet Explorer puts the link list at the BOTTOM of the page rather than the top. Why? I don’t know. If I can solve this dilemma I will. In the meantime, please scroll to the bottom of the page to see the links.

Remember the time

2009-07-01T22:02:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson was such a superstar that it’s hard to find someone who isn’t at least familiar with the man & his music. I was one of many casual fans, and despite any failings, he will be missed. One of his greatest triumphs may be Captain Eo! Think about it. Who else could have gotten away with that? (Imaginary superheroes don’t count!) Michael Jackson was able to join up with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola to make a short film for Disneyland. Even today, it’s kind of amazing to think about them working together. Watching the film, I can recall the applause from the audience after the captain began to rise up onto the deck. I can remember the brief applause at the end. I can remember buying the shirt. You know, the shirt he wears at the end of “Captain Eo” as he sings, “You’re just another part of me!” That shirt. It could glow in the dark. I wish I still had it - I could send it over to “Neato Coolville!”

I first began to become aware of Jackson during an unfortunate event. I recall the numerous news reports after he was accidentally burned filming a Pepsi commercial. Not the best introduction to MJ, I know! But when we finally did see the commercial, we loved the song. We hadn’t heard “Billie Jean” yet, so this was our introduction to the tune that would prompt the purchase of “Thriller.” (This was also before I got my MTV. I wanted my MTV, but I didn’t get it until about 1986 or so). Then to watch the “Making of Thriller” video, which included the classic moment from “Motown 25” when he “seemed to defy the laws of nature,” as many have said recently.

In the past few days, I’ve realized at least two things that I’ve picked up from Michael Jackson. First is the habit of wearing white socks when I wear jeans. Second is the habit of twirling around in a circle when I dance. I don’t do it as well as he did, that’s for sure. His dancing brought him the respect & friendship of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. His music brought him the respect of just about every other artist in the 1980s, and many more beyond. My Captain Eo shirt is gone, but Michael Jackson’s talent lives on, and always will.

Cartoonist Fred Hembeck has written about something that happened on Tuesday that I thought was pretty horrible. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought so:

So I watched some of the videos and listened to some CDs, newly freed from storage, watched some more news reports--until, up on my TV screen, Joe Jackson appeared, being interviewed about his son's untimely death on the red carpet at a BET event by a CNN reporter, blithely using the opportunity to slip in a plug for his new record label!! Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.

Thanks for the comments, Fred. Check up on Fred’s latest blog postings and artwork here:

http://www.hembeck.com/FredSez.htm

And a final note: Could we PLEASE stop all these celebrity deaths? Karl Malden passed away today! Knock it off, guys! Uh, stop dying, that is! (I know you don’t have ultimate control over those things, but please, do all you can!)

=====================================

SIGNING IN: In my May “Star Wars” postings, I didn’t mention that I happened to have a photo of Michonne Bourrigue, who played Aura Sing in “Phantom Menace.” I didn’t mention it because I didn’t have it! But after digging through the archives, I’ve managed to uncover this shot of Michonne signing autographs. Anybody know what she’s doing these days? Still an actress? Still alive? Still hot? Okay, ignore that last one. Anyway, here she is from the San Diego Comic Con a few years ago. They’re doing it again this year, of course, and scheduled to be there are talents such as voice artist June Foray and comedian Stan Freeburg. Read all about it here:

http://www.comic-con.org/

=========================================

MY BRAVE FACEBOOK: In an effort to locate someone (who could possibly be interviewed for this blog, no less!), I joined the Facebook service. I didn’t find the person I was looking for, but I did find many friends from MuppetCentral and even a few old friends who I’ve wanted to stay in contact with. It’s very cool, and now you can visit the “other side of the face.” You would just do a Facebook search for “Steve Sesameguy” and I should show up. Good luck. Hope you have better luck finding me than I did trying to find someone else!

========================================

COOL NEW LINKS: For some insight into the latest happenings in the Disneyland resort in California as well as Disney World in Florida, it’s hard to do better than to check out the Mousepad forums on Mouseplanet dot com. Check it out in the links. And if you like good film reviews, you’ll enjoy Cinema Cervello. It also features a weekly poll. It’s new to the links as well! I’ve been visiting these sites recently and you can sometimes find my comments there. See you there!

===========================

GO LAKER: Disneyland held a parade for the Los Angeles Lakers to celebrate their big win, and the only one who showed up was Kobe Bryant! Well, at least the Disney characters were there, including the “rarely seen” Daisy Duck. Enjoy the blog posting with photos here:

http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/blog.php?b=451

=============================

ON YOUTUBE: CAROLINE, COOKIE AND YOU: Former MTV VJ and (sigh) high school dream date Carolyne Heldman produced some yoga videos for Expert Village a few years back, and they can finally be watched on YouTube. You can see one of them in my favorites folder. There you’ll also find the standard Sesame Street clips, including the rarely seen Bruno and the Trashmen, and the classic “smallest one gets the cookie” skit. They‘re on my YouTube page. (And needless to say, check out SesameStreet dot com to find a treasure of other rare skits.) And if I haven’t mentioned it already, check out two friends of mine singing the “California furlough blues,” a tune that rings loudly in the ears of many working people these days, who are just thankful that they’re working.

Star Wars, episodes 4-6

2009-05-28T17:49:00.000-07:00

Do you know what happened on May 25?
1. In 1977, “Star Wars” (Episode 4) debuted.

2. In 1983, “Return of the Jedi” debuted

3. I graduated from college! (Can't remember what year. :))

4. And most important of all, in 2009 we celebrated Memorial Day. More on that later.

Today we continue our look at the trilogy with a look at the “original” trilogy from 1977-1983. These are three of my favorites of all time, and we have so little time to talk about them. But here, I hope, are the most important facts:

EPISODE 4: A NEW HOPE
This one will likely always be just “Star Wars” to me. Unlike so many fans, my first memories of “Star Wars” aren't very happy ones. My aunt scared me for it by talking about the “snake” in the trash compactor. I dropped my Dad's watch during one showing and forced him to look for it under some people's seats, prompting him to threaten to spank me when we got home. What fun. I got a lot more out of it later on, when I slowly began to read the Marvel Comics adaptation of the movie. I began to understand the story better and appreciate the creativity and adventure. Slowly, after two more theater viewings, it began to turn into the classic it is.

Then one day, we happened to be shopping in Toys 'R' Us and saw that some new toys were coming out based on Star Wars. My parents bought. . .yes, the Early Bird Star Wars figure box! It's a classic item for collectors (and long lost to me now, of course), and it was the beginning of a beautiful business relationship between our family and Kenner Toys. I wrote a little bit about the Star Wars figures in an earlier post. You can read it here:
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/08/star-wars-toys.html

My family also bought the Super-8mm film version of Star Wars. It was silent with subtitles and only featured two scenes from the movie (Obi-Wan talking to Luke at his home and the escape from the Death Star), but wow, there was certainly enough there to entertain at birthday parties. We also bought the soundtrack album (with some of the most majestic film music ever written), and I have fond memories of my friends and I playing “Cantina Band” over and over, sometimes on 45 and 78 rpm.

Now hang on, we're going to make the jump to light speed to 1982, when “Star Wars” debuted on home video for the first time. It quickly became our favorite rental, being rented once a month for what seemed like the next year or so. And more importantly, my family and I began to appreciate it cinematically. It was always a good movie, but by watching it over and over, we began to understand WHY it was a good movie. We could see all the elements coming together to create the whole. That's one of the greatest benefits of home video- the ability to view it again. Movies began to become more like books. We could put them down for a minute and come back to them later. That's something that certainly isn't possible in a play or theatrical film! Star Wars cemented itself as a true classic thanks to home video.

As noted by Mark Hamil years later in the “Star Wars to Jedi” documentary, the central irony of Star Wars is that it uses high technology to present an anti-technological theme. We see these powerful spaceships and weapons. We see these incredible creatures and places. But through it all, we begin to understand that our eyes can deceive us, and that there is another, spiritual level to life. It is this spiritual level that sells the story, as far as I'm concerned.

EPISODE 5: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Again as noted by Mark Hamil, “Empire” was a big gamble. With its more serious tone and themes, it was not the same as “Star Wars.” Many feel it's even better. It certainly is a favorite of the actors, and it's easy to understand why- there's a lot of drama going on in “Empire,” and the actors got to stretch their talents to the limits. There's a lot of pain to go through for our heroes and a lot of growing up for Luke. We also are introduced to one of the most important puppetry moments in movie history. Yoda holds his own against the real-life actors, and with the possible exception of E.T., this may be the pinnacle of how far puppetry in films can go. Read more about my hero Yoda here:
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/06/who-you-callin-yoda.html

Of course, the big shocker was what Darth Vader told Luke at the end of their epic lightsaber battle. A friend “spilled the beans” to us before we saw the film. But even if you knew about it, it didn't take away from your enjoyment of the movie. It is a very dramatic moment, of course, and it could be the most important one in the series. It certainly emphasizes the spirituality of Luke's battle. “Empire” shows us the spiritual side of Star Wars like we'd never seen it before. The scene in the cave is a great foreshadowing experience and helps us understand the battle that Luke must face. And here we come to an important point. It's probably the most important thing we can learn from Star Wars. Are you ready?

“Star Wars” is not about wars in outer space a long time ago. “Star Wars” is about the wars that you and I face every day of our lives. “Star Wars” is about battles inside the heart. We watch these battles, but as Yoda says, “Wars don't make one great.” That's because we ALL go through wars. On May 25 we celebrated Memorial Day, where we remember those who have given their lives for their country. As honored and revered as these men should be, and although they are greater than the rest of us in many ways, they are not alone when it comes to war. The most important wars in “Star Wars” are the spiritual ones. Those are the same ones you and I face each day.

“Empire’s” biggest flaw is that it ends on such a cliffhanger. We feel cheated at the end by not knowing what will happen to our heroes. Yet it also ends with a glimmer of hope, as the story is obviously not over yet. There’s still a chance for things to be good.

EPISODE 6: RETURN OF THE JEDI
“Jedi” is the graduate thesis. Despite its flaws, it is probably my favorite of all the Star Wars films. It wraps up the story in a way that is satisfying and also demonstrates what makes “Star Wars” so wonderful. Remember, it's 1983, just after “Star Wars” debuted on home video. We've begun to appreciate what a great film it is. Now, with “Jedi”, we not only see many of the same elements, we see them improved upon and presented in their widescreen, stereo glory. (It's interesting to note how many of the scenes and plot elements in episode 4 are revisited in “Jedi.”) And I was finally old enough to appreciate movies as an art form.

We are taken to the palace of Jabba the Hutt, intergalactic crime lord and, as my friend said, “I would describe Jabba the Hutt as a rising pancake.” Our heroes put on disguises in an attempt to rescue their friend Han from Jabba, but Jabba won't be fooled, and ends up taking our heroes hostage, including. . .oh God. . .Princess Leia in a slave girl outfit. . .The boys who were seven when episode 4 came out were 13 when “Jedi” came out. Hmmm. If there were any doubt that this film would become a legend, the gold bikini made it official! This is actually quite significant. For by including a sexy chick, “Jedi” becomes more complete. We gain not only the spiritual side of a story, but the sensual as well. We get “turned on,” but not in only one way!

Anyway, because Jabba isn’t fooled by disguises, Luke must confront him face to face. He walks into the lair of monsters to save his friends. They send a big monster called the Rancor to eat him. It looks like Luke is out of luck, but he not only survives, he kills the monster! Jabba orders Luke and Han to be thrown into the Sarlac pit, keeping Leia for himself, for obvious reasons. I won’t tell you what happens, you have to watch the film and enjoy the technique of one of the great fight sequences in the saga.

Anyway, Luke must confront the truth about Darth Vader, and in the process the truth about himself and how easy it would be to go over to the dark side. Luke knows he must face Vader again, but also that he can’t kill his father. He can’t win. There seems to be no way out. Or is there? Is it possible that the weapons of war and the powers of good go beyond anything the Emperor can understand? Remember this telling dialogue?

VADER: A small rebel force has penetrated the shield and landed on Endor.
EMPEROR: Yes, I know.
VADER: My son is with them.
EMPEROR: Are you sure?
VADER: I have felt him, my master.
EMPEROR: Strange that I have not. . .

Well, I suppose if you didn’t understand love, you might not feel anything either. . .

Ah yes, the “cute and cuddly” Ewoks. These guys may not look very powerful, but they basically helped defeat an Empire. Again, the lesson is not to judge a book by its cover. Don’t believe a disguise. It was so easy to believe that Darth Vader was nothing but a bad guy. . .

Jedi is one of the few action films out there that promotes non-violence. It shows what all the other movies have been hinting at. Just “obeying your heart” is not always the way, because sometimes obeying your heart gets you in trouble. “Jedi” presents the inner battles we face and shows how physically destroying your opponent is not always the best answer. Probably the most important moment in all the films comes when Darth Vader threatens to turn Leia to the dark side. The gorgeous music swells, and the drama takes on a spiritual tone that can be tasted. (I was very glad when they finally released that piece of music on CD! It wasn’t included in the original soundtrack recordings of “Jedi.”) It can almost bring you to tears when you begin to understand all that is going on in that moment.

And then, “Go my son, leave me.” “No, you’re coming with me. I’ve got to save you!” “You already have, Luke.” The spiritual side - the good side- has triumphed in the lives of Anakin Skywalker and his son. And to prove it, as our friends gather together at the ending, and they sing and dance and hug and talk, we see Anakin joining all the other loved ones. You know, Heaven is going to be something like this. . .

But my favorite Jedi memory of all time may be right after the first time we saw it, when my mom, brother and I walked out of the theater and towards the car. We each kind of glanced at each other, smiling. We knew we had just seen one of the greatest things we'd ever seen in the theater. That's true for me to this day.

SPECIAL EDITIONS: The Special Edition of the trilogy came out in 1997, and featured improved special effects and a few formerly deleted scenes. It was a lot of fun seeing the films in the theaters again, but I don't think the special editions improved the story much. As Lucas said, “A special effect is just a tool, a means of telling a story. . .a special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing.” While the new effects were certainly great, the original story is what mattered most, and that's what we all need to remember. . .including Mr. Lucas. Read on.

ENOUGH ALREADY: While peeking at the recent showing of Episode 4 on MTV, I noticed something unusual. The scene that was added for the special edition had been re-done! Jabba looked different than he did in the original special edition release. It was a neat effect. . .but hang on here. Exactly how many times are we going to “fix” these movies? Shouldn’t we close the book at some point? Look, I don’t want to wake up in the year 2525 and find that none of the original film is still alive! “Oh, but we can make Princess Leia look so much better now! Isn’t this actress prettier than Carrie Fisher? Well, isn’t she?” I will kill you now. We need to keep the originals alive in some form until the end of time, if for no other reason than to let people see how things were “a long time ago.”

SOLD OUT: Just this afternoon, I saw a poster advertising a “Star-Wars” related event in my local library, featuring guys in costumes and talks about some of the great Star Wars science fiction books. While the tickets were free, they were limited, and I was unable to get one, as they had all already been given out. It’s been over 30 years, and Star Wars still has the power to “sell out” venues. It’s a testament to our love for the stories and our desire for adventure and romance and fun, as well as for the spiritual side of life. The force is going to be with us for a long time to come, and I’m thankful. Thanks for riding along.

Star Wars trilogies, Episodes 1-3

2009-05-19T00:35:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to believe that “Phantom Menace” debuted ten years ago this month, and in honor of that occasion, I’d like to present some of my thoughts about the greatest science fiction motion picture saga in the history of the medium. My comments will, of course, be, uh. . .forced to be short. And I’ll try to make that the worst joke you have to put up with during this whole thing.
Bear in mind that “Star Wars” is, of course, as popular as a cultural phenomenon as a movie series. Even those who haven’t seen the movies can’t ignore their impact. (I haven’t seen “High School Musical” yet either, but I can’t ignore its impact!) But the phenomenon is deeper than just “cowboys in outer space.” The excitement and special effects are all spectacular, but it takes more than those things to create a masterpiece, and hopefully I’ll be able to touch on all the parts of the saga that matter most to me.

EPISODE ONE: THE PHANTOM MENACE
Every saga has its beginning. And the debut of episode 1 was certainly met with more eager fans than episode 4 had been. (Access Hollywood began counting down the days more than 100 days before the debut!) Many of those eager fans, sadly, weren’t too happy. But it was wrong to expect “Phantom Menace” to be better than any of the other films. Contrary to what the naysayers said, it was “star wars.” It keeps the spirit of the films alive. It’s just different! Many of the elements we enjoy aren’t there. No wisecracking Han Solo. No Darth Vader yet. Not much of a romance factor.

The film begins with two wise masters of “the force” called Jedi. They make an attempt to visit the planet of Naboo, which is being held under blockade by the greedy trade federation. When the evil Darth Sideous hears that the two Jedi have arrived. He gives the immediate order to have them killed. We immediately know who the good guys and bad guys are! But the Jedi aren’t easily gotten rid of. They escape to the planet and begin the process of trying to get the trade federation out of the way. Along their journey, they meet up with several characters who help them out. To make a long (and some would say painful) story short, the Jedi are victorious, and relative peace returns to the galaxy.

Along the way we meet Anakin Skywalker, young farm boy from the planet Tatooine, Padme Amidala, the young queen of Naboo, and the legend himself, Jar-Jar Binks. Binks is an alien with a funny voice and a “cutesy” attitude that drove some fans nuts. Well, at least the fans without kids. (Think Elmo for the Star Wars world and you get the idea) And unfortunately, many Star Wars fans don’t have kids. I loved what a radio DJ said later about “Phantom Menace:” “That movie would have made twice as much money if everybody who went to see it didn’t only buy one ticket!”

The “Phantom Menace” is never specifically named in the Phantom Menace. Logic says that it must be Darth Sideous, who sometimes appears as a “phantom” when he is broadcasting to his “helpers.” But the phantom menace can also be something else. It’s what Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi felt at the beginning of the film. The idea that something was making him uneasy, but he wasn’t exactly sure what. This idea of something going on that we don’t completely understand is borne out in the next two films, as we see that Darth Sideous has some serious ego issues and some serious plans for destroying the Jedi so he can gain power.

I was lucky enough to get to meet an actress from “Phantom Menace”. . . no, not her. It was Michonne Bourrigue, who played Aura Sing. Aura Sing was the tall lady with the Mohawk who can be seen briefly watching Anakin’s pod race. She was in the film for about 5 seconds or so, and I got her autograph! We met her at the San Diego Comic-Con. My brother pointed out that she was there. “Wow!” I said. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice her.” “She wasn’t wearing a costume,” he replied. “Wow,” I said, “no wonder I didn’t notice her.” :) But I should have. She was quite attractive and gracious with her time. I asked about any chance of seeing Aura Sing again. “It’s possible,” she replied. “The script (for “Clones”) hasn’t been written yet.” Sadly no Aura Sing appearance materialized, but I obviously won’t forget Michonne Bourrigue and the pleasure of meeting her.

The film holds its own and is ultimately worth it, especially if you are a fan. But there is one great unanswered question: WHERE IS LINCOLN GASKING? Lincoln Gasking was the gentleman who was the first in line to see the new film, waiting several months (ah to be young and jobless again) to see “Phantom Menace” when it debuted. Then it debuted, and we never heard from him again! Did he go into hiding? Is he still in the restroom? Was the movie so awful that he didn’t want his face to be seen? Is he hanging out with Rodney Allen Rippy? Is he hanging out with Michonne Bourrigue? I’m hoping that someday I’ll be in a bar or something and somebody will say “Oh yeah, I remember him. He got a job and got on with his life. Just like we all did.”

EPISODE TWO: ATTACK OF THE CLONES
I never knew how romantic a guy I was until I saw “Attack of the Clones.” It reaffirmed what most ladies probably already knew - the romance factor is very important to “Star Wars.” It definitely adds something to “Clones,” which is probably my favorite of episodes 1-3.

It’s years later, and Anakin and Padme are now youths who are old enough to legitimately begin to, well, notice each other. As their romance begins to bloom, the republic is facing new dangers, including assassination attempts on Padme. Anakin is assigned to protect Padme, and they spend some time alone in some beautiful places, and. . .well, fortunately they both have at least a little bit of self-control, something that is sadly lacking from so many of us these days. . .Anyway, their career paths seem to make it impossible for them to enjoy a life together. But as Amy Grant sang, love will find a way. Even if it ultimately leads to a terrible downfall. There‘s a danger to love. That’s one of the hidden messages of the “Star Wars” saga. Sometimes the love you have for someone can be used against you to make you do some terrible, horrifying things. . .
I actually came close to crying in “Clones.” It was the scene where Anakin and Padme are about to be led out to be attacked by a trio of monsters. “I’m not afraid to die,” Padme says. “I’ve been dying a little bit every day since you came back into my life.” Her declaration of love prior to what may be their deaths is beautifully romantic. I love it. Sorry folks- just remember that I’m a big “Phantom of the Opera” fan, too. And this little interlude of a movie shows us that even in the midst of chaos, love is there, and playing a very active role. I’m not just talking about romantic love- watch as Anakin rushes to save his friend Obi-Wan from being killed by the villain. Watch as Yoda saves the lives of both Anakin and Obi-Wan.

Also, very cool “running through the grassy field” clips. This reminds me of the dream sequence with Kermit and Miss Piggy from the Muppet Movie. I’m sure I’m the only person in the world who noticed, but hey. . .

We definitely get the feeling in “Clones” that the Jedi aren’t exactly being completely honest with everybody. Watch the look on Yoda’s face when Obi-Wan mentions Jedi master Siphodeus (I hope that’s how you spell it). There’s definitely some “we’d better keep it quiet” stuff going on with the Jedi, and it serves to demonstrate their imperfections, which will become incredibly important in the next film.

But just as a preview: Have you noticed how terribly the Jedi treat Anakin? When he gets the right answer, they don’t say, “good job, kid.” Being loving in that way is just not the Jedi way, and it certainly works against them. (Hey, these guys apparently aren’t even allowed to love romantically.) On the other hand, have you noticed that the only person who is really kind to Anakin is. . .Senator Palpatine?

EPISODE THREE: REVENGE OF THE SITH
War! No kidding! Some consider this the best film in the series. It is certainly one of the most dramatic, with Anakin facing one of the toughest tests any of us can face. As tragic as this is, it is ultimately Anakin’s love for Padme that brings him down. The fear of losing her traumatizes him, and he vows to do everything to keep her alive. Everything. Kill little kids? Sure. Help kill the JedI? No problem. He can’t see what we can. He doesn’t see what Padme sees, either. “You’re going down a path I can’t follow,” she cries. His love has turned to evil. He is perhaps the best demonstration I’ve ever seen of why love isn’t always the answer. I suppose we all understand that love causes pain sometimes. But love shouldn’t cause THIS much pain! When you have to start killing people just so you won’t be lonely. . .

Don’t think for a minute “it won’t happen to me.” Even JedI master Yoda, who urges Anakin not to miss those people we lose through death, finds himself incredibly pained at those who he loses through death. He cares. We see it at the end of “Clones,” too, when Yoda saves the lives of Obi-Wan and Anakin, two people he obviously cares about. But as he does that, the villain makes his escape, thereby creating much more pain and agony later on. Should Yoda have let Obi-Wan and Anakin die so that he could stop the villain? What would YOU have done?

Then, after we watch Padme die, we watch Anakin die.

A tragic ending to a tragic romance, and a warning to all the world. And the groundwork for the next three films, which are among my most enjoyable movie memories of all time.

Some final thoughts on the Episodes 1-3 saga: I enjoyed all three. All three were fun. But I feel that many fans were let down. They wanted the films to be even grander than they were (which is pretty amazing when you think about how grand they already are!). We have to remember that we were seven to thirteen or so when the first movies came out. We’ve changed a lot since then. We’ve seen a lot of other good movies since then. I did not expect perfection when I watched episodes 1-3. I simply hoped for a good series that would equal or better the episodes 4-6 that I grew up with. Episodes 1-3 aren’t perfect. Neither are episodes 4-6. But they’re all good. And they’re all worth watching at least once. It’s kind of disheartening to hear people badmouth the first three and say that the newer saga ruined the first. Relax. It’s only a movie. The glory of the “original” saga still shines, which is what I’m going to talk about next time, Lord willing. Thanks for riding with me.
=========================================

The cool Padme and Anakin image at the top of this posting is from “The Padawan’s guide to Star Wars costumes,” which is definitely worth a visit and could become a favorite of my Mom’s after I tell her about it. Check it out!

http://www.padawansguide.com/index.shtml

Speaking of those great costumes, I was also lucky enough to visit Trish Biggar's “Dressing a Galaxy” costume exhibit in Los Angeles in 2005, which featured not only many costumes from the Star Wars films she worked in, but costumes from the other films as well. It was a lot of fun, and I wish that every Star Wars fan could have seen it. Even without the “props,” the costumes bring a lot to the Star Wars movies, and are entertaining in and of themselves. It was also Heaven on earth for Padme fans. Virtually every one of Padme’s dresses was here! There were at least a good forty mannequins set up in the middle of the hall facing each other, each wearing one of the dresses Natalie Portman wore in the films. You can check out some pictures from the exhibit here:

http://starwars.fidm.edu/

http://www.padawansguide.com/fidm2.shtml

The return of Oscar

2009-05-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

A cousin of mine is a fan of Oscar the Grouch. But who isn’t? The guy is a perfect example of a crusty TV character that everyone enjoys, even as he insults them. While “The Return of Bruno” will have to wait (sorry about that, Mr. Willis), everyone’s favorite grouch seems to be gaining more time in the public eye. The most recent was his recent cameo at Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday concert. He appeared with Tom Chapin to sing “Garbage.” (Pete is no stranger to Oscar. He appeared on Sesame Street back in the 1970s and he even put out an album with them). Thanks to the keen-eyed folks at Muppet Central for letting us know about this! Here’s a link to a bigger, better picture courtesy of Getty Images:

http://www.gettyimages.es/detail/86362672/WireImage

OSCAR MEETS VADER: It is somewhat amazing to me that two of the classic bad guys from childhood are going to team up for a brief appearance in “Night at the Museum 2,” but apparently Oscar the Grouch and Darth Vader will be sharing the screen in the new film. Classic. It almost makes me want to buy a ticket. And Robin Williams and Dick Van Dyke are there as well. This is getting better all the time. All we need now is a Courteney Cox cameo and to have Mr. Rogers’ puppets come to life & I’m there. (Film cameo check: Oscar also appeared in “Great Muppet Caper” and Darth was in “Indian in the Cupboard.”) Here’s the post about Oscar:

http://www.muppetnewsflash.com/2009/04/oscar-grouch-comes-to-life-in-night-at.html

THE MAKING OF A MASTERPIECE: Many of the clips from my own video collection have been used by other posters in the past. (You can check some of them out in my favorites folder on my YouTube page.) But these have all been clips from other sources, and not a literal home movie that I made by myself. That's where the recent YouTube posting of the “Ernie and Bert appliance war” skit comes into play.

I received a copy of the skit in Spanish from a video trader a few years ago. It was great to see this lost clip again, but not having it in English made it like a victory that was only half won. The obvious solution- do a re-dubbing of the skit with the English audio, with the dialouge reproduced to the best of my memory from the original clip. So I did that for the introduction to one of my home movies. It wasn't perfect, but neither are any of my movies, or any of your movies, but that's a long story. Anyway, YouTube poster applejax recently posted my re-dub of the scene, this time with a slightly better picture from his collection. So the question is this: does this count as my first official YouTube video or not? My vote: Close, but no banana. The dubbing is mine, but the cleaned-up video and re-re-dubbing makes this an applejax/Sesameguy production.

Trivia buffs: Can you identify the two songs played by Bert & Ernie in the re-dubbed clip? Think about it, now. Take your time. Decide if you need to call a friend. . .Okay, give up? They are “Vacation” by the Go-Gos and “Baby I need your lovin'”. These are obviously not the same songs that were in the original clip (It was just some nameless Sesame St. background rock music, kind of like the stuff we hear in the E&B volume control skit). “Vacation” was part of my collection, but “Baby I need your lovin'” just happened to be the song on the radio when Ernie turned it on.

THE MAKING OF ANOTHER MASTERPIECE: As opposed to the re-dubbing, two friends of mine have created a true YouTube video: Completely new footage, new song, the works. The song is “California furlough blues” and features friends Peter and Edgar singing about the plight of workers everywhere these days who are being forced to take time off just because the company is too cheap to. . .I mean, just because the economy is so bad. Yeah, that's it. It's the economy, stupid. Yeah. Sure. Okay. Yes, master - I mean, boss. It's a good little tune that might remind you of another good little tune. You can find it in my favorites folder.

SUPPOSE A STORE GAVE A 50% OFF SALE, AND NO ONE CAME? I guess the time has come to let you music fans in on a secret. Well, it was a secret a few months ago, anyway. Some of the Borders' bookstores in my area began selling their CDs and DVDs at 50% off! Wow, cool sale, huh? Well, sort of. I went shopping there a few days before the remaining CDs were taken away to CD heaven, and there were still plenty of items for sale. The selection wasn't perfect – mostly classical titles and unique things, not necessarily big names in the music biz – but the bins were still reasonably full. If a music store can have a 50% off sale for a month and still have a fairly good amount of CDs left over, that tells you something about the state of the industry. Even at an incredible discount, not everyone is lured into buying CDs. But to be fair, not everybody thinks about shopping for music at a bookstore. Borders probably understands that, so it has shed some of its extra benefits to focus on what people really want from a bookstore - books. That's good for them and not so great for us- we're losing another option when it comes to buying music.

For more on the slow demise (argh!) of music stores, see my postings here:
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2008/01/fyi-on-fye.html

A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD: There's a new blog that pays tribute to Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood (amazing how these things have been growing the past few years after MRN has all but left the airwaves). You can check it out in the links section to the right, and be sure to visit his YouTube page for clips from some classic episodes (In black and white! Even I don't remember that far back!)
http://neighborhoodarchive.blogspot.com/

Playing your song

2009-03-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

Although it may look like Lee Hartsfeld is about to destroy that record, he is actually giving us a demonstration of how tricky it can be to restore music. Lee's blog is titled, “Music you (possibly) won't hear anyplace else,” and it truly lives up to its name. Lee loves old 78 rpm records, and shares many of them in downloads from his Web site. You can check out current postings in the link section to your right.

As a music collector, I can appreciate all the tricky work that goes into preserving older recordings. I've had to do it myself with some home recordings, and sometimes it can be difficult. Thankfully, software makes the job easier by taking out clicks and some hiss. But it's still a labor of love in many ways, forcing us to consider which recordings are worth the effort to preserve. It's not always easy to decide. As a rule of thumb, I try to make copies of recordings that feature me or my friends and family. That's the most valuable to me. Then I branch out to many of my favorite artists.

I think that the CD industry has done a pretty good job of preserving historic recordings. But they are far from complete, as any record collector will tell you! There are plenty of fine albums that probably won't see an official CD release. This is the stuff that needs to be preserved by ourselves. This is what Lee does with his Web site, and we are quite thankful. But now comes our turn. Now we must preserve the stuff that's most important to us. Below is a list of what are probably the most important kinds of recordings for individuals to save.

1. Home recordings. These are audio tapes (and in some rare cases, records) that include the voices of family or friends. These are preserved for history if nothing else. Today, with the advent of camcorders, most of our family's voices come from videotape or CD recordings rather than tapes. But you may want to consider transferring some of that to CD as well, just to diversify your collection. Admittedly, I haven't done that either! But if you happen to have an extra lifetime, it may be worth considering!

2. LPs and tapes that haven't been commercially released. These include some of my favorite rare collections, including old-fashioned Christian music, older children's music (including, of course, Sesame Street), and rare commercial recordings. The Internet is turning into a treasure chest of unusual and unique recordings posted on blog sites. It's worth a peek, but don't be surprised if you can't find the specific album you want. You'll probably be forced to buy it yourself or to record it to CD yourself.

3. Tape collections – that is, music albums that you have created yourself from different albums. These can be tricky, depending on your albums. Sometimes, the songs will be available on CD, and sometimes they won't. And it could cost a pretty penny to buy every single official album you need just to recreate your own album. It is usually easier just to copy the recording from your tape, making minor adjustments to lower the noise issues. I hadn't done this myself until recently, and I found that I enjoyed it very much, despite the tricky work involved.

IN SEARCH OF: SHAMROCK SHAKES. Speaking of things that are rare and unique, let's talk about McDonald's shamrock shakes. Yes, apparently they still make them, but you will likely have to do some driving. Is it worth it? Well, probably not for the taste value (sorry, Uncle O'Grimacy), but the novelty value makes this a lot of fun. I wonder how many people are going to order a few hundred of them and keep them in the freezer.

This fun blog posting documents one person's heartbreaking experiences trying to locate the valuable green beverage.

A quick Google search led me to ShamrockShake.com, a site where people post Shamrock Shake location queries and findings. Sadly, I had no luck for New York City. C'mon tipsters, get on it! We have to be hipper than Milford, Connecticut, right? Next, I called McDonald's headquarters. They said they don't have that information because, as most McDonald's are independently-owned, they have no control over who sells the shake and who doesn't. Sigh.
Finally, I looked up all the McDonald's locations in the SE HQ zip code and started cold calling. At one point I had to start speaking Spanish because the woman couldn't communicate in English. Good thing I had just spent a term in Barcelona! Unfortunately, that was probably one of the demoralizing conversations I had—she initially said she had it, then she didn't, then I was on hold for three minutes, then an English speaker came on the phone and just said, "No." Hopes dashed and dreams crushed, I persevered.

After twenty-four phone calls, I achieved success! Or did I? As I approached the McDonald's, I was hopeful. After all, the manager I spoke to on the phone had doubly confirmed this location had the Shamrock Shake. I entered through the shamrock-laden doors and entered the McDonald's where leprechauns go to die. Shamrocks hung from the ceiling and there was a small wall with shamrock charity stickers all over it. I approached the counter and excitedly said, "One Shamrock Shake, please!" The cashier replied, "What?"
Uh-oh.

Apparently, they weren't selling Shamrock Shakes, and the manager I had spoken to on the phone had conveniently left already. Is this some sort of Irish conspiracy? Is this an IPO (Irish People Only) thing? What does it take to get a Shamrock Shake around here?
After that final dream crusher, I trudged back to SE HQ. After a bit of Googling, I found this New York Daily News article from 2007 that says New York is a dry state for Shamrock Shakes. Has anything changed in the past two years? Or do I need to investigate cheap airfare options?

Mickey D, I curse you and whatever marketing genius thought up the Shamrock Shake.

http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2009/03/my-mcdonalds-shamrock-shake-journey-an-emotional-roller-coaster-nyc-st-patricks-day.html

This Web site attempts to locate all the McDonald's that currently serve the shamrock shakes. But since most of the information comes from individual posters, the accuracy of the list can't be depended upon. Drink at your own risk!

http://www.shamrockshake.com

ON YOUTUBE: SHAMROCK SHAKES COMMERCIAL: A classic McDonald's commercial for shamrock shakes is on my YouTube page, along with Helen Reddy singing "Wonder Child." Watch for more repeats in the coming weeks!

COINCIDENCE? Here's something I never thought of before. It's Girl Scout cookie time again, and my favorite thin mints will be available for a limited time. Did you notice that the mints come in a green box? And did you also notice that St. Patrick's Day is this month? And did you notice that most girl scouts are dressed in green?

Yes, I know, I know. It doesn't mean a thing. Just thought I'd bring it up. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to find a McDonald's that still sells shamrock shakes. Top o' the morning to you all.

Frog for February

2009-02-14T16:36:00.000-08:00

BEST FROG: Hat Sharpener from the Muppet Central forums recently shared some of his wedding pictures with other forum members. Why? Because among the guests at the wedding was none other than Kermit the Frog! Very nice photos, and cool that everyone played along with the idea that Kermit was hanging out with them. I hope he’ll be able to make it to the next wedding I attend. You can check out more photos of Kermit at the wedding at this site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hatsharpener/sets/72157612861065543/

UNLUCKY OR JUST NOT SMART? This blog was written on Friday the 13th. Some say this is an unlucky day. It isn’t. Do bad things happen ONLY on Friday the 13th? Nope. Bad things happen all year long. It’s really not smart to single out one day as being more unlucky than any other day. So don’t worry. Be happy.

OUT OF TUNE: Sigh. Did you ever feel like you were being left out? Like you were such a small minority that nobody could ever identify with you? I’m sure we all feel like that sometimes. But recent happenings at the “Old Fashioned Christian Radio” Web page have brought on those feelings again for me.

Most of my Web surfing is done on a computer with a very, very, very slow connection. There aren’t too many sites that offer to stream music at a slow speed that matches my slow computer. One of them was “Old Fashioned Christian Radio.” I enjoyed having it on in the background as I did my Web stuff. Unfortunately, I can’t do that anymore. Here’s the announcement from the site:

The LOW band station is shutting down permanently on January 31, 2009 at midnight Central Time. This is because over 95% of all OCR listeners are tuning in with the HIGH BAND station. Therefore, it is no longer cost effective to maintain two stations. (If you have dial-up, consider upgrading to a high speed connection so you can listen.)

Hmm. So the station is closing its low-band site because only 5% of listeners used it. That makes me a minority among minorities. I feel like Yukon Cornelius from the “Rudolph” Christmas special. “Even among misfits, we’re misfits!”

The low-band site is going away in an effort to save money? Well, I can understand the motive. Especially these days, it’s good to save as much as possible. But the thing is, I will have to pay MORE if I want to listen to the station. So the site is saving money, but I will have to spend more. Wheee.

Add to this the fact that so much of the music on the site is really difficult to find on the air elsewhere. (Thank goodness for the music listing on the site, which offers most of the music for sale). I don’t have too many options now. It’s either pay more for the Web, or pay more for the Cds. Whoopie.

Although I’m sure that the webmaster didn’t intend any harm by this action, I fear that there may be others out there who are also being left out in the cold. While dial-up is getting rare, it’s still out there. But I obviously can’t help but wonder how long it will take to vanish if so few sites see the need to keep it simple. (Just for the record: Feb. 1 was actually the last day for the low band site.) For you high-band folks, you can enjoy some beautiful tunes at the site. It’s in my links section to the right. Out of sight! Good night.

DARK DAY OF VALENTINES: No, actually, Valentine’s Day is a fine day, even if you don’t have a valentine. Remember my Friday the 13th rant? Well, the same thing applies to Valentine’s Day. It can be a good day no matter what. Just remember the story of the thief who stole Valentine’s day. You can read it here:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2008/02/thief-who-stole-valentines-day_13.html

ON YOUTUBE: LITTLE JERRY LIVES: The song “Sad” hasn’t been heard in several years on the show, but you can finally hear it again thanks to Bahgwan on his YouTube channel. It’s worth watching if only to see the wonder that is Little Jerry’s hair. :) The clip itself is in my favorites folder, along with some more classics. Keep watching for more videos in the favorites section soon.

New year, new prez

2009-01-26T08:56:00.000-08:00

When you’ve got a big production that more than a million people show up in person to see, it’s probably understandable that not everything is going to be perfect. Despite any slip-ups, Barack Obama is now our president, and is off to a running start. Good luck sir, and good luck U.S.A.

GEORGE’S PARDON: No, I’m not talking about Bush, I’m talking about a lobster! Read all about it in clips from this CNN report:

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A giant lobster named George escaped a dinner-table fate and was released Saturday into the Atlantic Ocean after a New York seafood restaurant granted him his freedom, according to a statement from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The lobster, which PETA said was 140 years old and weighed 20 pounds, had been confined to a tank at City Crab and Seafood restaurant in Manhattan when two customers alerted the animal group.
The PETA statement did not say how the extraordinary age estimate was determined, but restaurant manager Keith Valenti told CNN that lobsters can grow a pound every seven to 10 years, and he put George's weight at 18 to 20 pounds.
"I've been here for 12 years, and that's the biggest lobster I've ever seen," Valenti said.
He said the lobster had been "sitting in the restaurant's tank and acting as a sort of mascot," but when PETA got involved and requested the release, it "seemed like the right thing to do."

Survival of the fattest. I’m glad George is back in his home town, but I fear he may be having trouble finding other lobsters in his generation. If he’s really 140, that means he’s seen all of the 20th century and its highlights and lowlights. I wonder what he would think about some of the memorable events? Let’s ask him.

STEVE: Uh, George? Hello?
GEORGE: I hear you loud and clear, my son. What wisdom do you seek from me?
STEVE: Just briefly, can you tell me what events from the past 140 years stand out most in your memory?
GEORGE: Janet Jackson exposing her breast at the Superbowl.

(LONG PAUSE)

STEVE: Huh? Nothing else?
GEORGE: It was the event of the century.
STEVE: I’m almost afraid to ask, George, but why does that event stand out for you?
GEORGE: First it was radio, then movies, then TV, then the Superbowl, then the boob. Everything prior to it led up to that event. Why do you think they called it the “Boob tube?” There’s nothing else to watch on TV anymore. TV reached it’s highest moment with that moment. Gurgle.
STEVE: But what about all the other stuff? Surely you saw some other things that stood out in your mind.
GEORGE: Not really - at least nothing that gets to the point quicker than the boob incident. Take a look at TV today. Soft porn is everywhere. They tease us all the time with the stupid idea that maybe we’ll see some action. But with the boob, we actually SAW some action! I don’t waste my time on empty promises. And I don’t waste my time watching s**t that promises action but never delivers. That’s why television isn’t relevant anymore. Gurgle.
STEVE: Thanks, George. You’ve given us a lot to think about.

And for more on the superbowl, enjoy my post here:
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/02/super-ads-square-one-and-silver-surfer.html

REVIEW: THE NEW ELECTRIC COMPANY: They’re gonna turn it on, and so they have with the new Electric Company TV show that debuted this month. It’s a far cry from the classic series us 1970s kids grew up with, but what they’ve dropped has been replaced with other fun stuff. Think of a cross between “Ghostwriter” and “Beakman’s World” and you get an idea of how the show is structured.

This time around, the “electric company” is literally electric- they’re a group of city kids who have special super powers that have to keep the neighborhood safe from the mean pranksters who want to ruin everybody’s day. Kind of a cross between “Misfits of Science” and the Jedi vs. Sith. (Maybe a little bit of the Power Rangers in there as well.) Despite some cool throwbacks to the old days, this show has a different vibe overall. Still fun, though, with a few fun short films in the mix of the still unique show. Overall a thumbs up. But you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t watch every week- being a grownup takes time. As I’m sure Julia Grownup would agree. She’s not on the new show, unfortunately, but let’s take the good and run with it.

You prefer the old series? Enjoy my review of the Electric Company’s Greatest Hits and Bits. Just follow the link below.
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/11/review-electric-companys-greatest-hits.html

I’M GETTING WORRIED NOW: Circuit City is going out of business. Argh. While I didn’t always shop there, the fact that a major electronics retailer is vanishing does not bode well with me. There aren’t too many major chains left that sell turntables! Or cassette tape decks! Or hard-to-find accessories! Or DVD sets of the old Electric Company series! It’s always good to have options, and now we’re losing some of them. I hope we get some new electronics stores back soon. Here are some past posts about some of our other recent losses in the music business.

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2008/01/fyi-on-fye.html

ON YOUTUBE: BEAUTIFUL DAY GOES THROUGH THE HOOP: At last! After almost two years, I’m finally able to present my first video on my YouTube channel!

Well. . .sort of. It’s actually a cooperative effort between applejax2006 and myself. He has still images from a rare Ernie and Bert skit, and I have an incomplete audio clip. He has edited together his images and my audio for a fun recreation of the sketch. It will have to suffice until we get to see the full version again. The audio was recorded off the air in about 1982. I am currently working on a project of putting together some rare audio clips from the show from my cassettes. As you can imagine, the audio isn’t perfect, but at least it’s there. You’ll hopefully be hearing more of it once I get the CD made.

Enjoy this clip, along with a classic sketch of Ernie asking Herbert Birdsfoot (remember him?) for a favor. They’re both in my favorites folder on my YouTube page:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=sesameguy2000

BLOG/YOUTUBE CHANGES IN STORE: I plan to rerun some of the classic clips that were on my YouTube favorites page for a time and were later deleted. So you will hopefully be seeing the alternate theme to “Big Blue Marble” and the Friends underwear ad again. That underwear promo kind of relates to what George was talking about earlier, but we’ll post it anyway. Those clips will be returning within the next month, along with new posts for Valentine's day. Also, some of my blog postings are going to be deleted to make room for new ones (don’t worry, nothing cool will be cut!), as well as some additions to my links list. Stay tuned!

Looking above

2008-12-28T09:57:00.000-08:00

The other night, my Dad walked up next to me as I was working on the computer. He asked me, “Do you realize that the computer you’re working on now is better than the one they used when they first went to the moon?”

That sounds incredible, but do you realize that the first space visits to the moon took place nearly 40 years ago? 40!!! It’s amazing how much technology has changed since then. Space travel is, of course, still quite risky. But those risks have gone down considerably, to the point where certain rich people are paying for the right to go into outer space for a day.

With all this in mind, I’d like to share with you an article by Joe Blackstock of the Daily Bulletin newspaper. Joe has some memories of that time 40 years ago, and shares them in this column:

http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_11289002

Let's face it, these are pretty hard times, but it's important sometimes to recall we've been in tough straits before and eventually rebounded from them all.
With that in mind, I thought I'd send along a type of Christmas card with an encouraging message from the past.

If you're looking for a depressing time in our history, it's hard to beat 40 years ago in 1968.
America was still reeling from the assassinations earlier in the year of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy and riots at the Democratic Convention that summer. Newspaper headlines talked about the violence and uproar over the civil rights movement and anti-Vietnam protests.

Consider some of the events of the last week of that forgettable year:
- The worst freeze in nearly two decades over three days ruined a quarter of the Inland Valley's citrus crop. On Dec. 21, the temperature held at 23 degrees for nine hours.
- The uneasy holiday truce declared in Vietnam exploded on Christmas eve with several bombings and small battles breaking the peace.
- The crew of the Pueblo, a Navy ship that had been captured when it allegedly strayed into North Korean waters, was released but the men had many ugly stories of abuse during their captivity.
And not surprisingly, a wire service story reported that due to a large number of American tourists in the Holy Land on Christmas eve, innkeepers in Bethlehem were again turning away pilgrims seeking lodging.

With these sobering events as a backdrop, three men on a long trip provided a little hope 40 years ago Wednesday.

They were at the apex of the flight of Apollo 8 which brought men into orbit around the moon for the first time. They never actually got to the surface, the trip serving as a stepping stone for the first successful moon landing by Apollo 11 the following July.

On that Christmas Eve, astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell and William A. Anders made 10 trips around the moon, looking at sights never before viewed by people of Earth.
Their trip to the moon certainly got people starting to look up, literally and figuratively.
NASA in Houston was inundated by calls from people asking if the white spot near the moon was Apollo 8, the Ontario Daily Report noted Dec. 24.

Officials had to patiently explain that dot was actually the planet Venus.

One of my own most vivid recollections was the photo they took of man's first "earthrise" from lunar obit, as the Earth majestically rose above the moon's surface. And the picture didn't show even a hint of the troubles going on 230,000 miles away back home.
Before being assigned to the mission, Borman was originally scheduled to read a Christmas Eve prayer at his church in League City, Texas. Instead he read the prayer from orbit that was recorded for his church and offered "actually to people everywhere."

It read:
"Give us, o God, the vision which can see thy love in the world, in spite of human failure. Give us the faith to trust the goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness. Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts, and show us what each one of us can do to set forth the coming of the day of universal peace."

That evening, the three astronauts put on one of the most remarkable television programs ever attempted, showing live close-up photos of the moon's mottled surface as they flew 70 miles above.

The crew members described the view in wonder and then each read excerpts from the book of Genesis.

Making everyone forget for a few faint moments all the sorrow and despair and pain that 1968 had brought the world was Borman's poignant farewell words that Christmas eve:
"And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you all of you on the good Earth."

Joe Blackstock writes on Inland Empire history. He can be reached at joe.blackstock@inlandnewspapers.com or by calling (909) 483-9382.

A Merry days after Christmas to all of you as well. Here’s to a fine 2009!

Alfie, the Christmas tree

2008-12-22T10:10:00.000-08:00

ALFIE, THE CHRISTMAS TREE

by John Denver and Lee Holdridge

Did you ever hear the story of the Christmas tree

Who just didn't want to change the show?

He liked living in the woods and playing with squirrels

He liked icycles and snow

He liked wolves and eagles and grizzly bears

And critters and creatures that crawl

Why, bugs were some of his very best friends,

Spiders and ants and all

Now that's not to say that he ever looked down

On a vision of twinkling lights

Or on mirrored bubbles and peppermint canes

And a thousand other delights

And he often had dreams of tiny reindeer

And a jolly old man in a sleigh

Full of toys and presents and wonderful things

And the story of Christmas day

Oh, Alfie believed in Christmas all right

He was full of Christmas cheer

All through each and every day

And all throughout the year

To him it was more than a special time

Much more than a special day

It was more than a beautiful story,

It was a special kind of way

You see, some folks have never heard a jingle bell ring

And they've never heard of Santa Claus

They've never heard the story of the son of God

And that made Alfie pause

Did that mean that they'd never know of peace on earth

Or the brotherhood of man

Or know how to love, or know how to give?

If they can't - no one can

You see, life is a very special kind of thing

Not just for a chosen few

But for each and every living, breathing thing

Not just me and you

So in your Christmas prayers this year

Alfie asked me if I'd ask you

Say a prayer for the wind and the water and the wood

And those who live there, too

Gonna paint a legend

2008-12-15T00:10:00.000-08:00

Ah, the power of the Internet. I never would have imagined that someday I would find out the name of the actor who played the “mad painter” on Sesame Street. His name was Paul Benedict, and he sadly recently passed away. The short films he appeared in on the show were shown for decades, and always brought a smile. Here's a list of them:

GONNA PAINT A TWO: He paints a “2” on the sail of a small boat, only to be chased away by the bald guy

GONNA PAINT A THREE: He tries to paint a 3 on some bread using mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup.

GONNA PAINT A FOUR: He paints it on a woman's umbrella, only to be drenched when she puts the umbrella down.

GONNA PAINT A FIVE: He crawls into a cage at the zoo (how the heck he could do that I don't know) and is confronted by a gorilla, who fortunately, also knows how to paint. (It's possible. Remember Koko?) Together, they paint a 5 on a large yellow ball.

GONNA PAINT A SIX: He uses cake icing to paint a 6 on a small white cake. The bald guy arrives, and unfortunately the cake was probably not meant for a 6-year-old, because he pushes the cake into the mad painter's face.

GONNA PAINT A SEVEN: He tries to paint it on the door of an elevator, but the 7 keeps disappearing as the door opens and he paints it on the people riding the elevator. It's hard to appreciate this one if you've never seen it!

GONNA PAINT AN EIGHT: My favorite. He puts on scuba gear to swim in a large pool to paint a large 8 onto the bald guy's head. The chase at the end is classic.

GONNA PAINT A NINE: He paints it right in the middle of a street, just before the bald guy drives up with the street cleaner.

GONNA PAINT A TEN: He paints it on the seat of a stool, right before the bald guy sits on it.

GONNA PAINT AN ELEVEN: He's in a waiting room, trying to paint an 11 on the small window of a door. He succeeds, but the bald guy shows up and washes the 11 away.

For images from each of these films, check out the Muppet Wiki page dedicated to the mad painter:

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Mad_Painter

Special thanks to those who first downloaded these pictures and video clips. I appreciate the ability to present them here to other fans.

BEST FOOT FORWARD: Okay, look. Just because you don't like somebody, that doesn't give you the right to try and hurt them. You don't throw shoes at people. You might hurt them. You don't hurt people just because you disagree with them.

Sounds simple, right? Unfortunately, a reporter in Iraq was unable to grasp this concept, and threw some shoes at George W. on Sunday. Look, I don't approve of Bush either, but let the man be! To throw shoes at the president demonstrates that you have truly lost your sole.

Hang on, I need to sneeze. . .ah. . .ah. . .A-SHOE!!!

Here's how the BBC reported the event:

In the middle of the news conference with Mr Maliki, Iraqi television journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi stood up and shouted "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," before hurling a shoe at Mr Bush which narrowly missed him. Showing the soles of shoes to someone is a sign of contempt in Arab culture.

With his second shoe, which the president also managed to dodge, Mr Zaidi said: "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq." Mr Zaidi, a correspondent for Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV, was then wrestled to the ground by security personnel and hauled away. "If you want the facts, it's a size 10 shoe that he threw," Mr Bush joked afterwards.

Al-Baghdadiya's bureau chief told the Associated Press that he had no idea what prompted Mr Zaidi to attack President Bush, although reports say he was once kidnapped by a militia and beaten up. "I am trying to reach Muntadar since the incident, but in vain," said Fityan Mohammed. "His phone is switched off." Correspondents said the attack was symbolic. Iraqis threw shoes and used them to beat Saddam Hussein's statue after his overthrow.

Needless to say, this journalist was not trying to be fair and unbiased. Bush's policy is certainly not popular with many, and while perhaps we can't blame the reporter for being upset, we also have to realize that we must tame our inner demons before we can unleash them on somebody else.

Inner demons? Sure - you've probably heard of anger and sorrow. And depression. And vengeance. And lust for the flesh. And covetousness. (I'm good friends with some of these guys). And greed. How do we gain control of them? Well, a long life helps. But for the short run, we simply have to look beyond ourselves – not forever, just for a little bit – and understand how foolish our actions would ultimately be. Admittedly, this often isn't easy. But it's probably the only way we can live in the world without killing everybody.

I am not sure if the journalist will be fired for this. But he probably deserves to be.

A brief pause with Mr. Claus

2008-12-08T23:20:00.001-08:00

SANTA: Steven? Steven, wake up. It's me, Santa Claus.

STEVE: Huh? Oh. Good morning Santa.

SANTA: I just wanted to compliment you on your blog. I read it often.

STEVE: Really? Wow, thank you! I didn't think too many people cared about it. I've wanted to update it more regularly, but things get in the way. Real life takes time.

SANTA: Indeed. It will be three years old this year, right?

STEVE: Right, on Wednesday, December 10.

SANTA: A little bird told me that you want to have a bigger presence on the Web. He said you wanted to download your art, stories and poems- and even some of your audio and video work!

STEVE: That's right- How on earth do you know these things?

SANTA: I have friends in low places. Of course, living on top of the world, most of my friends are in low places.

STEVE: Say, has global warming affected your work at the North Pole?

SANTA: Just a little bit. The reindeer have to be more careful in their reindeer games. And more and more of my volunteers are polar bears and penguins. Apparently they prefer living with me than trying to brave the sinking ice of their homes. My fear is that someday, they'll ALL have to live with me, and they won't have homes of their own anymore.

STEVE: That would be terrible indeed. They would change from animals into mythology. Just like the elves who help you out.

SANTA: It's very difficult for those elves to find work elsewhere. It's an age thing, I think. Some of them are 200 years old. No one wants to insure a 200-year-old elf.

STEVE: Santa, what do YOU want for Christmas?

SANTA: I ask for the same thing every year. I want the children of the world to share their love with others, just as I share my love with them.

STEVE: By giving presents.

SANTA: And by listening to them. And by letting them know that they are loved.

STEVE: You might enjoy my holiday blog posting about Daniel Striped Tiger. It's about sharing love as well:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/12/christmas-with-daniel.html

SANTA: Yes, I love that post.

STEVE: It's turning into a Christmas tradition for me to link to it.

SANTA: Enough about me. What do YOU want for Christmas, Steven?

STEVE: Well. . . the problem is. . .most of the things I really want are spiritual. They can't be wrapped up in a box. They can't be bought at the store.

SANTA: You'd be surprised how often I get such requests. I certainly can't always make someone's dreams come true. But I can do one thing. I can offer who I am. I can let people know that I love them.

STEVE: Santa, that may be the most important work you do. When people see you, they should think of love. Like an old friend or relative, they should feel at ease with you, and willing to share in your dreams.

SANTA: I've got to hurry and make more deliveries. But I always enjoy talking with you, Steven.
STEVE: Thanks, Santa. It means a lot for me to spend time with you. Good luck!

SANTA: Goodbye until next year! Ho, ho, ho!

STEVE: Adios, amigo. Buenas noches! Feliz Navidad! Oingo Boingo! Duran Duran! Na-No, Na-No! Arivaderche! See yaaa!

SANTA: Quiet, you'll wake everybody up!

STEVE: Oh, sorry. To all, a good night!

Obama, Ebay and where's the music?

2008-12-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

Long time, no blog. A lot to catch up on! Here we go. . .

POOR FEEDBACK FOR EBAY: I'm not a very active buyer or seller on eBay, but the auction site has always been fun to visit, even if I don't buy anything. It also gives one a good example of what kinds of rare items are out there and how much they usually cost. But I don't think I'll be buying anything listed on eBay anytime soon, and I want to explain why.

Years ago, eBay began the “Paypal” system, where prospective buyers and sellers could send out funds through their credit cards (using Paypal as a middleman between accounts). I never signed up for it, preferring to buy items with a check or money order. Well, guess what? From now on, Paypal will be the only way to buy anything on eBay. And that sucks. This new policy will actually prevent some people from bidding. By making eBay a Paypal-only site, the people who can't (or don't want to) use their credit cards will be shut out. That's potentially a huge loss of bidders! Why are they doing this?

I wish I could send eBay an e-mail about my concerns. But when you click on the “contact us” tab, you are presented with a series of statements which they think you want to ask them. (“How do I bid? Can I take back a bid?”, etc.) Unfortunately, none of these statements is what I want to say. But I can't do anything about it. There's no direct e-mail address for eBay! ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR SITES ON THE INTERNET DOESN'T HAVE A DIRECT E-MAIL ADDRESS! I actually tried to type in something like, “There isn't an option for what I want to say, s***heads.”

So they take away my ability to bid, and there's no way I can talk to them about it, which is evidence that they really don't care about the hundreds, if not thousands, who will be shut out. Thanks a lot, s***heads. This is sad. I'm watching a good site get a little bit worse. This change just isn't good. It's based on pure greed. It only benefits Paypal, not us. Ebay, if you read this- please rethink your strategy.

OVER AT LAST: There's not much to say about the recent election that hasn't already been said. (Except perhaps, “whew!”) We made history, and now Barack Obama will inherit all the glory and pain of being a U.S. President. I wish him well & hope we can help him change our country for the better.

I think the best judge of a president’s character will be if he or she is willing to give a press conference. Remember press conferences? They were a quaint little tradition begun by John F. Kennedy. The president would meet with the press. Reporters would ask him questions, and he would try to answer them. Yes, that was a pretty cool thing, but I don’t blame you if you can’t remember. We haven’t had a real press conference since George W. Bush, the worst president in our nation’s history, came into office. He was so terrible that even the Republican candidate for president in 2008 called for big changes.

If we can just do a little bit better in the next four years, everything should work out OK. Something tells me that that won’t be too difficult. The bar is already so low that things can only get better.

If you like political commentary, You might enjoy reading some comments from the blog of my friend John Bruno:

In his concession speech, McCain said the fault was his. Yep. His first major decision as a presidential candidate was choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. With all her faults, this isn't one you can blame on her. McCain's decision was impulsive -- and he continued to be just that throughout the campaign. Up front was how he dealt with the financial crisis. Whereas Obama was calm and insightful, McCain was erratic -- foreshadowing how he might govern. Voters picked up on the different styles of the candidates and eventually became comfortable with Obama as a potential president. When McCain called a press conference to say he was suspending his campaign and maybe skipping the first presidential debate to work on the financial crisis, Obama responded by saying a president needs to multi-task. A lot of us can identify with multi-tasking -- and a potential president should be aware of that.

http://www.insidesocal.com/brunopinions/2008/11/one-giant-leap-for-humankind.html

WEEKENDS WITH FRED: Unfortunately, my cable company has given in. “Mr. Rogers” is now only being shown on weekends. Sigh. I'm just glad they're showing it at all. While we may not get a week's worth of Fred, we can at least enjoy his classic episodes once in a while. That's more than can be said about many other fine kids' shows. Remember “Captain Kangaroo?” Where is he now? (Yes, I know he's in heaven, but I'm talking about his show!) If we can only get our fix of Fred on the weekends, at least it's better than nothing. Let's hope his show continues to be rerun until the end of time. You can peek at the Mister Rogers schedule for 2008-2009 at the Family Communications Web page (but keep in mind that only one of the five episodes will be shown if your station only has the weekend version of MRN):

http://www.fci.org/

PEEKING AT HD: One of my video recorders is equipped with a cable box that can pick up some of the HDTV channels offered by my cable company. I've been recording and watching them a bit. The picture does indeed look good, even on my tiny 10-inch screen. The picture switches easily from widescreen to small screen, depending on how the original material was taped. I recorded something on PBS that wasn't originally taped for the widescreen HDTV format, yet it still looked quite good. So far, so good. The big switch begins in February.

THAT JOKE ISN’T FUNNY ANYMORE: At the beginning of this year, I jokingly said that 2008 would be the year that the music stores closed forever. I was kidding. But now the Virgin Megastore nearest to me is going to close up shop sometime in January. Yes, they’re having sales, but again, the prices usually aren’t too much lower than usual. So as another one bites the dust, let’s count up how many other music stores are near me. Well, there’s Best Buy - but Best Buy doesn’t always have the best selection. There’s Circuit City, but they have the same problem. So aside from those two stores, that makes. . .uh. . .zero stores nearby.

ZERO!! My gosh, all the good music stores near me are now gone! There are some good ones further away, but man, what a drive! This really is bad news. I think every town ought to have at least one good music store. Now, I need to leave town to browse the record aisles. For more on this subject, read about the closing of Tower Records in this 2007 post:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/12/farewell-tower-records.html

ON YOUTUBE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM KERMIT: The YouTube page continues to be sporadically updated with various gems from Sesame Street and. . .well, from Sesame Street. :) I’m afraid you folks will have to wait for me to branch out and post some other gems over there. You will note that some of the clips come to us courtesy of Sesame Street.com. At last Sesame Workshop is officially sharing clips from its vast library. (Just in case you didn’t know, you folks with fast Web connections should take a peek at Sesame St.com and enjoy highlights from the past 40 years of the show. Us folks here with slow connections will just have to load up our DVD copies of “Old School” Sesame Street.) Check out the "Youtube page" link on the left to see some of the clips.

Save Mister Rogers

2008-08-03T10:05:00.000-07:00

Yep, I’m still around, folks. Just incredibly busy, and a bit “shaken up“ by the recent earthquake. It sort of puts things in perspective. Remember, you can reach me by leaving a message for me on my YouTube channel, or leaving a message for “sesameguy” on the Muppet Central forums.

Okay everybody, I want you to get out your local TV listings and check and see if “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” is on the air in your area. It is? Okay, now listen very carefully. Set up your video recorder to record every single episode you can over the next few weeks in August. Why should you do this? Because there’s a chance you will never be able to do this again. Take a look at this message from Family Communications, the producers of "Mr. Rogers":

The Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood broadcast schedule will change beginning in September. Rather than being part of PBS national schedule, each local PBS station will choose when to air the Neighborhood series. They might choose to make room in their schedule to air the program daily as they have in the past -- or they may choose a weekend broadcast of one specially selected episode.
“Weekends with Mister Rogers” offers PBS stations one featured episode from each week of Neighborhood programs, for stations to air as part of their Saturday or Sunday children’s lineup.

http://www.fci.org/newsletter/readnews.asp?ID=107&newsletterid=27

I don’t know yet if I will lose the Mr. Rogers show in my area, but I am hoping that I don’t. I’ll know for sure near the end of this month, when the September schedules begin to appear. While the “Weekend” show sounds like a good idea, we would miss out on the usual format we’ve grown accustomed to.

Or will we? A concerned parent has started a campaign to keep the daily episodes of “Mr. Rogers” on the air. He’s not alone- others have voiced their concerns and are currently contacting their local stations to keep the daily version of the show running. Read all about it here:

http://savemisterrogers.com/

While most grown-ups like me enjoy the show for its nostalgia value, according to the Web site, that’s not what this movement is about:

I’ve just read a blog piece linking to our site that cites nostalgia as the driving force behind our campaign. While we appreciate the link, make no mistake about it… This isn’t about nostalgia. It is not about the fact that Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood is a timeless children’s television classic. And it is not even about the fact that the man himself is considered a national treasure. What our campaign is most certainly about is the enduring ability of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood to have a unique nurturing influence on the lives of today’s (and tomorrow’s) children. This is needed today as much as ever.
- Brian

I’m all for saving the daily show, but I hope Family Communications is as well. For if the stations decide to keep airing it, they will (I assume) need Family Communications to keep sending it out to them. Will the producers of the show be willing to change their plans on short notice? Only time will tell. In the meantime, I will hope for the best, not only for my sake, but for the sake of all the kids out there who need a gentle neighbor.

=======================================

FRED ON FILM: There are a few (and I do mean few) episodes of Mister Rogers that have been made available on DVD or VHS. A quick search on Amazon or eBay would reveal some of them, including a good series of them from CBS/Fox Video that was made available back in the 1980s-1990s. There are also video traders who offer a few of the older (pre-1979) episodes for trading. I suggest visiting the Square one forum, N. Aczel’s trade page or the Misterrogers trade page. You’ll find them listed in the links section to your right.

==================================

SPEEDY DOCUMENTARY: While Ben Wagner puts the finishing touches on his Mister Rogers documentary, he has been beaten to the finish line by none other than the “Speedy Delivery” man himself, Mr. McFeeley! A documentary has been made about David Newell and the ups and downs of playing Mr. McFeeley through the years. (Please note that if your Internet browser is as old as mine- which isn’t really that old- you may have some troubles opening up the page. Be patient.)

http://www.speedydeliverymovie.com/

The site offers some stills from the production, but notably does not seem to offer the video for sale. We have to wait and see it at a few selected film festivals. Shucks. Let’s hope this is someday seen on PBS. Although with Mr. Rogers leaving the air, some kids are going to be asking “Who is this Speedy Delivery guy? Does he work for UPS? Why is he dressed that way? Is he from the Civil War or something?”

===============================

IN TROLLEY WE TRUST: Ben Wagner recently pointed out on his blog something that I had never noticed before.

http://mrrogersandme.blogspot.com/2008/06/mister-rogers-on-penny.html

===============================

INDY 4: “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls” has come and gone from the movie theaters, destined (I hope) to be available on home video soon. The short review: It’s great, see it! It keeps the spirit of the other films alive and well. A worthy sequel. If you’d like to read more about the Indiana Jones films, enjoy my blog posting from a while back:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/07/indy-and-me.html

===================================

ONE-LINE WILLIE: Kermit Love, the puppet builder who also played Willie the hot dog vendor on “Sesame Street,” recently passed away. By the late 1970s or so, the character of Willie was very rarely seen on the street. But then one day, there was an episode where Oscar the Grouch announced that he was going to run for mayor. When Willie walked by, Oscar showed him his usual courtesy:

OSCAR: Hey Willie! Santa Claus! Whisker Face! I’m running for mayor and you’d better vote for me! Understand?

WILLIE: (With anger) WELL!!!!

That line, “Well,” was, well, it was the only line that Willie had in the several years of Sesame Street that I had been watching! Seriously! His character was just seldom used on the show (as a speaking role), and this one line became practically the only word he had spoken on camera within at least the seven or eight years that I had been watching the show. Pretty amazing. I decided to call him “One-line Willie” after that! I honestly don’t recall him having another line on the show after that. That was his last word to us. But thankfully, he was a small part of a greater good. I’m hoping the old-school fans never forget him. Willie can be seen briefly in the “Old School” DVD collection. There are some cool pictures of him in this post at the Sesame Street Block Party site:

http://sesamestreetblockparty.blogspot.com/2008/06/sad-news-for-sesame-street-fans.html

==========================================

I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY: Besides my Sesame Street and Star Wars obsessions, I’m also interested in older Christian music. That’s the type of music that was pretty common in my home while growing up, and it still rings in my heart. You can hear some of it by visiting the “Old-fashioned Christian radio” site in my links. I’ve picked up info on a singer named Jerome Hines, whose low voice almost rivals that of Darth Vader. But Hines is definitely a good guy, who it seems also sang in several operas besides his religious albums. While searching for data on Hines, I came upon the following Web page from singer Joseph Shore. It features an obituary for Hines, and - well, a link to mp3 files of practically every recording of Hines!

http://www.josephshore.com/Hines/mp3s.htm

For a Hines collector, that’s quite an awesome find. There are other artists who I wish would have a large collection of their work available for free download. Mr. Hines is no longer with us, but his voice will live on thanks to these recordings. Check out the rest of Mr. Shore’s site for some recordings from other fine singers:

http://www.josephshore.com/index.html

Attack of the new Star Wars movie

2008-03-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

"Hey Rocky, watch me pull a new Star Wars movie out of my hat!”

This is a bit of news that I definitely wasn’t expecting. Most die-hard Star Wars fans are aware that a new animated TV series featuring “Star Wars” characters was in the works. But to find out that another MOVIE is coming out later this year?! The same year that a new Indiana Jones movie is due to arrive? Amazing.

The movie, like the future TV series, will feature computer animation rather than real people in the roles. It takes place during the “Clone Wars,” after “Attack of the Clones” and before “Revenge of the Sith.” Apparently, while working on the series, George Lucas decided that it was possible to make a theatrical film out of it, and so he has done. I assume that the film will be able to stand on its own, and not be called “Episode 2 and a half.”

I have sort of mixed feelings at this point. Animation is great, but it’s not the same as “reality.” We may miss some of the dramatic tension that only a live actor or actress can give. But we shall see. It certainly sounds like a good time. Back when “Phantom Menace” came out, some radio Djs joked that the film would have made twice as much money if everyone who saw it hadn’t only bought one ticket. Ouch. Well, this “Clone Wars” film, along with “Indy 4”, changes all that. It means I’ll have to buy two movie tickets this year instead of one.

http://www.starwars.com/

=============================================

TAKE A BITE OUT OF CRIME: The latest installment of “Just My Show” has an interview with Jack Keil, the voice of McGruff, the crime dog. Here’s where you can listen - and be sure to check out some of their past shows in the reruns section!
http://www.justmyshow.com/PSA_Paradise.html

=============================================

DINKY:1, POPEYE 1: It looks like some episodes of “The All-New Popeye Hour” will be making it to DVD after all. Read all about it here:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/All-New-Popeye-Hour-Volume-1-Trailer/9171

And speaking of strong people, future seasons of “The Incredible Hulk” are coming your way:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Incredible-Hulk-Seasons-3-and-4/9168

============================================

NOT MARY ANN! Sigh. Dawn Wells, the actress who played Mary Ann on “Gilligan’s Island,” has been arrested on drug charges. Sigh. Ginger, I could understand, but not Mary Ann! The Skipper, maybe. But not Mary Ann. Sigh.
Read more about Gilligan’s Island at my post:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/02/gingers-i-mean-gilligans-island.html

And attention K-Mart shoppers: You may have noticed that a “Complete Series” set of Gilligan’s Island is now available for purchase. It’s what we have to rely on until Gilligan returns to a TV set near you.
==================================

CAROLYNE, YOGA AND YOU: As the unofficial leader of the “Carolyne Heldman fan club” (yes, I know there wasn’t any such thing until I made it up just now), I’m proud to announce that you can now watch clips of Carolyne online! No, not from her MTV days. This is the new Carolyne, the yoga instructor. She’s teaching yoga classes, and you can see her demonstrate some yoga moves on Expertvillage.com. Her series is on how to avoid common yoga injuries. The site has a brief biography of Carolyne since her post-MTV days:

In 2001, Carolyne Heldman discovered the healing and transformative powers of yoga. She soon became hooked and began studying with some of the preeminent teachers of our time: John Friend, Sean Corn, Ana Forrest and Rodney Yee. However, Heldman derives special inspiration from the teachings of Shiva Rea, director of yoga at Sacred Movement in Los Angeles. Carolyne teaches in three Denver-area yoga studios and has been teaching for two years.

http://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/4267_avoid-yoga-injuries.htm

I practice what I call “poor man’s yoga”. It’s basically just some simple stretching exercises. When it starts to hurt, I stop. I’m thinking that watching Carolyne’s videos will ensure that it never starts to hurt!

For more about Carolyne, click on “December 2007” in my archives.
===============================================

The suite life at Disneyland

2008-03-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

Most visitors to Disneyland are completely unaware of the fact that they are, for all intents and purposes, peons. They are the lower class. They are the adoring masses who slave for the benefit of the power elite. Hey think about it. All the “important people” there are either big movie stars (Mickey, Donald, etc.) or royalty (Snow White, Cinderella, etc.) or both! This blatant inequality is evident regardless of the fictional characters. First there was “Club 33,” an exclusive dinner club for the upper crust right above the Pirate ride in New Orleans Square. No one is exactly sure how you can join this club. Honestly! Nobody seems to know! Or at least, nobody is telling. Talk about sinister! What do I have to do, bring back Snow White's heart in a box?

Now, we have word of the Disneyland “Dream Suite”. It's actually a beautiful suite that was apparently once intended to be Walt Disney's apartment in the park. (I thought that Walt's apartment was over the Main Street fire house. Two apartments in the park? Hmmm. One for Walt's wife, the other for Julie Andrews. . .I'M KIDDING, I'M KIDDING!!) Take a look at these awesome pictures of the suite, courtesy of Mouseplanet.com:

http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=mm080131av

But how exactly does one get the chance to spend the night in this lavish suite? How much does it cost? Well, for the time being it's FREE- assuming you are very, very lucky and win a night there in their current promotion. Beyond that? Not even the folks at Mouseplanet are sure what this room will be used for. It makes me wonder if this room could be used as a dealmaker. For example:

DISNEY: We want to build another theme park over the freeway.
ANAHEIM: Well, I don’t know. . .
DISNEY: We’ll pay the city a gazillion dollars!
ANAHEIM: Well, I don’t know. . .
DISNEY: We’ll give the entire City Council admission to Club 33!
ANAHEIM: Well, I don’t know. . .
DISNEY: And we’ll throw in a weekend stay at the dream suite!
ANAHEIM: Well. . .okay.

Walt Disney once said “Disneyland is a show.” It certainly is. There are so many things to see and do that you could spend days there and not take it all in. But how would you feel if someone told you that you weren’t allowed to go on a particular ride? And when you asked why not, they said “because only special guests can do that.” By allowing Club 33 and this dream suite, Disney is (perhaps unintentionally) creating an “upper class” in the “happiest place on Earth.” I’m not sure how happy I would be knowing that I wasn’t allowed to enter a certain fine restaurant or check into a certain suite. Disney people, please don’t treat us like trash. That’s not what Walt would have wanted.

CAN YOU PICTURE THAT? : My family rarely if ever used Polaroid cameras. But when they first came out, they created quite a stir. For it was no longer necessary to drop off your film at the store and wait a week (!) or more to get your prints. Amazingly, a print would appear within a few minutes after you took the picture. It would come right out of the camera! True, you couldn’t make copies of it, but there it was! Your own picture within minutes! Amazing!
While checking out Todd Franklin’s “Neato Coolville” blog, I found out that Polaroid camera film is about to “fade away.” No more instant photos! Perhaps in this digital age, “instant” photos have become old-fashioned. But they’re not going away without a last look. Enjoy Todd’s Polaroid photos below:

http://neatocoolville.blogspot.com/2008/02/where-have-you-gone-polaroid.html

YOUTUBE, YEAR TWO: Yep, I'm getting older. It's hard to believe that my YouTube page will be a year old this week. Even sadder when you consider that I still don't have any videos posted! But thankfully, other posters have continued to put up their treasures for us to enjoy. I've only put a few of them in my favorites folder. There are many more, and I would encourage you to do your own search. Here are just a few of the things I've enjoyed in the past year on YouTube:

The "Jedi training academy" at Disneyland

John Denver and "The Lord's prayer"

Seekers concert footage ("Georgy Girl" and "Morningtown ride")

Ed Ames: They call the wind Mariah

Commercial: Sparkletts Water ("Me and Sparkletts water makin' friends!")

Commercial: McDonald's shamrock shakes (remember the Green Grimace?)

Also, it seems that YouTube and Viacom have come to terms with each other. At least there hasn't been much talk lately about shutting down the site due to copyright restrictions. Let's hope we've reached the end of all that. Or perhaps by this time next year, it may not matter, as the "world" makes the transition to digital broadcasting. Ugh! Will we have to convert everything to a new format again? I still haven't copied all my VHS stuff to DVD! Please, oh leaders of the video world, take pity on us. Don't change formats on us every decade! We can only handle so much.

The Thief who stole Valentine's Day

2008-02-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “Where is that special Valentine’s Day post that he was talking about?” Unfortunately, this post isn’t going to be as colorful as I had hoped. I found out the hard way that scanning comics onto my blog makes them come out in “teeny-tiny” mode, making them next to impossible to read. So I’ll just have to tell you the story with WORDS! What will they think of next?

Several years ago, “The Electric Company” magazine would publish a short Spider-Man comic called “Spidey Super Stories”. Like the comic book of the same name, these stories would include characters from the Marvel Comics universe along with characters from “The Electric Company.” They would run for five pages in each issue, including a “cover page.” Despite the short length of each story, these stories were actually quite fun! They are excellent examples of short storytelling. They were often more “in-depth” than the actual Spidey segments from “The Electric Company” TV show. On the show, just about every villain could be defeated just by trapping them in a web! It was usually kind of easy to defeat the villains in the "Electric Company" world. But in the magazine, Spidey often had to rely as much on his wits as his webs. (This isn’t to take away from the awesome clips from “Electric Company!” I’m just pointing out that the Electric Company magazine stories were different.)

The story I want to tell is “The Thief who stole Valentine’s Day.” Written by Steven Grant, it can be found in the February 1980 issue of “Electric Company” magazine.

On one recent Valentine’s Day, as Peter Parker was going through his mail, he realized that he didn’t receive any valentines - not even from his beloved Aunt May. A few minutes later, an angry Mary Jane Watson comes to his apartment. “I used to think you were nice, Peter!” she screams. “I don’t mind that I didn’t get a valentine from you, but you should have given one to your Aunt May!” Mary Jane walks out in a huff, as Peter thinks, “But I did send a valentine to Aunt May, and Mary Jane, too!” What could be going on?

As Peter looks out the window to ponder this dilemma, he sees a woman walking into the street right in front of a fast-moving truck! A quick change of clothing, and Spider-Man jumps to the rescue! He stops the speeding truck with his bare hands, and asks the woman why she wasn‘t watching where she was going. “I was upset. My husband promised me candy for Valentine’s Day, and he didn’t send any!” The driver of the truck says that he is upset as well. He was going to deliver several tons of valentines and candies today, but they were all stolen from him!

Then, in an incredible stroke of luck, another large truck goes by with several tons of valentines and candies in the back! Spidey stops the truck by shooting a web over the truck’s windshield, forcing the driver to stop. Spidey runs up to the truck and pulls the mask off of the driver. Incredibly, the Valentine’s Day bandit is none other than TV heartthrob Curt Fellows! But why did he do it? “I’m not the man everyone thinks I am,” he explains. “I’m very shy. My co-star Jeanne Hornet, is really nice. If I give her all of these gifts, maybe she’ll go out with me.”

“You can’t buy friendship, handsome,” Spidey says. “Why don’t you just ask her to go out with you?”

“You mean-TALK to her?” Curt asks. “I can’t! I just can’t!”

“Sure you can,” says Spidey, who picks up Curt with one arm and swings on a web with the other. They arrive at Jeanne Hornet’s apartment. With sweat dripping off his brow, Curt asks Jeanne, “Would you like to go out with me?” Jeanne rushes into Curt’s arms. “Of course I would!” she says. “I never thought you’d ask!” Spidey bids adieu to the two lovebirds, knowing that he’s got a lot of valentines to deliver.

Not a bad story. Nice job, Curt. Hope you’ve learned that you can’t buy me love. Congrats, Jeanne. You’ve found a guy who was willing to rob thousands of people just to go out with you. Hey- you may want to keep that in mind if your relationship starts to get more serious. Psychiatry can be expensive. And hats off to Spider-Man! You’ve saved Valentine’s Day for millions of lovebirds around the city. And dear reader, just in case you don’t receive a valentine this year, don’t think that means nobody cares. It’s just another thief stealing Valentine’s Day. It happens all the time around here. Spidey will be arriving soon. And just in case he can't make it for some reason. . .it means your heart is stronger than usual. Regardless- have a happy Valentine's Day!

======================================

If you have some old issues of "Electric Company" magazine with the Spidey stories intact, please contact me. I'd enjoy posting more of Spidey's adventures. You can send a message to "sesameguy" on the Muppet Central forums, or you can leave me a message on my YouTube page. Just be sure to include your return address so I can write you back.

Larry and Dinky

2008-02-08T11:44:00.000-08:00

Back in October, during the Southern California wildfires, I wrote that nobody I knew had lost their home. Unfortunately, I learned months later that I was wrong. Larry Himmel lost his home in the fires.

I've never met Larry, but like so many people growing up near San Diego, I feel as though I know him. Officially, Larry is a reporter for channel 8, the CBS affiliate in San Diego. But that's not exactly all of what Larry does. Think of Larry as a humor columnist for a television station. His fun commentary has been a part of San Diego newscasts since before my high school days.

Larry was the host and I think the head writer for “San Diego At Large,” a fun show that included comedy and parodies and featured many local celebrities and stories. Imagine a public access comedy show with a slightly higher-than-usual budget, and you've got “San Diego at Large.” The show ran for a few years in the 1980s and may (unfortunately) go down in history as one of the last locally produced entertainment shows in San Diego. Like just about every TV station in the nation, the local programming in San Diego is pretty much limited to news and PBS pledge breaks. That's it! Everything else on the air that isn't a commercial comes from Hollywood or from reruns. Larry is one of the few local celebrities to change the trend. That's pretty impressive, when you think about it. Even though the show is long-gone, the fact that it survived for as long as it did was impressive.

If you have a good memory, you may recall Larry being featured on a prime-time “bloopers” show hosted by Steve Allen. (It wasn’t officially a bloopers show, but essentially that’s what it was!) Larry is shown doing his best trying to get through one of his commentaries, but it being “one of those days,” he keeps making mistakes. At one point, about half way through, he asks, “Can we just end it there?”

If you have a really good memory, you may recall that Larry's co-stars on “San Diego at Large” included Rick Rockwell. Rick would later go on to infamy as the multi-millionaire in “Who wants to marry a Multi-millionaire?” Actually, the perfect title would be “Who wants to get married just so they can get TV exposure?”

If you have a REALLY REALLY good memory (and a good imagination), you may remember my appearance on “San Diego At Large.” Larry visited my high school back in 1985 for a show about the school's homecoming. I wasn't really visible, but the camera did pan over to the crowd of students where I was sitting. I can still point to where I “sort of” was. They actually got a better shot of one of my friends dancing the night away at the homecoming dance. And they interviewed old pal Darren from grade school! Way to go, Darren! That particular show is a real treasure for me, since it contains scenes of people and places from my high school days.

But Larry's reporting isn't always funny- like when he actually stood in front of his burning house while the cameras were rolling. It's not always good for a reporter to get “too involved” in a story. But in this case, can you blame him for wanting to be there? As the structure was overcome with flames, he turned to the camera and said, “Ordinarily I would say, 'Welcome to my home...'”

Thankfully Larry and his family were OK. After the fires were gone, they returned to their home site to look at what little had been left behind. There wasn't a lot to see. It's a scary situation that most of us hope never happens to us. But now it has happened to “someone I know,” and that brings it home. By this time, I assume Larry's life is slowly getting back to normal. But it definitely makes you realize that you can't take it with you. My best to you and yours, Larry. I'm glad the important things were saved (namely you and yours). Thanks for many years of fun times, and here's to many more.

Keep up with this story by reading Larry's blog:

http://www.cbs8.com/blog/?cat=6

============================================

DINKY'S REVENGE: This portion of our post is dedicated to my Grandmother, who loved Dinky. Let's take a pop quiz. Which of these two characters would you expect more people to recognize?

Popeye the sailor
Dinky the dog.

I'm guessing most would pick number one. For the uninitiated, Dinky the dog started out as a tiny puppy who grew to gigantic proportions (not quite Clifford-size, but more like Barkley. And maybe just a step above Marmaduke). Dinky the dog was actually a “fill-in” during the “All new Popeye hour” on Saturday mornings. You know, kind of like the “Go-go gophers” or “Klondike Kat.” It was one of those shows that really was a “co-star” to the main event. So why, WHY is Dinky getting his OWN DVD RELEASE WITHOUT ANY POPEYE CARTOONS? Well, blow me down! According to the article at tvshowsondvd dot com, there was a "Dinky" series, but again, why Dinky and not Popeye?

Don't get me wrong- I'm not against this release at all. But Dinky seems so obscure compared to “Mr. P.” It's as if someone took all the veggies out of your dinner and just gave you the meat. Well, meat is fine, but without veggies, you can't get a healthy diet! Watching these Dinky cartoons won't be the same without Popeye!

The long answer I think has to do with copyright issues, but the short answer? Probably “because it's there.” Since they have access to these cartoons, why not release them? Sounds fine to me. I'm just wondering how successful this release will be without Popeye. It’s going to be an interesting experiment. Good luck, Dinky. Hope your sales don't match up to your name.

Read more about the Dinky issue below.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/All-New-Popeye-Hour-Complete-Series/8869

You prefer Popeye? Enjoy my post about him:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/04/popeye.html

==================================================

ON YOUTUBE: THROUGH, THROUGH, THROUGH. A few days ago, I had never heard of Robert Cunniff. Now, thanks to a poster on the Muppet Central site, I know that he had much to do with the early "golden age" of Sesame Street. Sadly, he recently passed away. He also worked on many other classic TV shows. Apparently he had much to do with "The Ballad of Casey McPhee," which featured Cookie Monster trying to get the train through the dangerous mountain pass. For a limited time, that clip can be seen by clicking on it in my "favorites" folder on my YouTube page.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=sesameguy2000

Spaghetti - To eat, not worship

2008-02-01T12:17:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite foods is spaghetti. One of my favorite places to take a date is “The Old Spaghetti Factory” (No, they don’t serve old spaghetti, it’s . . .well, that’s just its name, that’s all). Yes, spaghetti - particularly my Mom’s spaghetti - has always held a special place in my heart. (Love you, Mom!) But I had no idea that I was unwittingly worshipping a deity. Yes, friends, according to certain people, spaghetti created the heaven and the earth.

It all began with a student’s concern about “intelligent design” being taught in his college. Intelligent design is the idea that the universe came into existence by intentional creation rather than by completely natural processes. But as it is being taught in many schools, intelligent design doesn’t say specifically that “God” did it. So why couldn’t it have been a spaghetti monster? Bobby Henderson sent a letter to his school board regarding this issue. Here are some quotes from the letter:

Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him.

It is for this reason that I’m writing you today, to formally request that this alternative theory be taught in your schools, along with the other two theories. In fact, I will go so far as to say, if you do not agree to do this, we will be forced to proceed with legal action. I’m sure you see where we are coming from. If the Intelligent Design theory is not based on faith, but instead another scientific theory, as is claimed, then you must also allow our theory to be taught, as it is also based on science, not on faith.

http://www.venganza.org/about/open-letter/

Here’s the short version of the argument: Since there’s no way to prove how the universe came to be, we might just as well believe that everything was created by a flying spaghetti monster, or FSM for short. If you’re going to be fair to all religions, you would need to include the spaghetti monster belief along with all the others. Sadly, some people can’t take a joke- but in this case, that includes the people who made up the joke in the first place! Here’s what Bobby says about the spaghetti monster theory that he made up himself:

Some claim that the church is purely a thought experiment, satire, illustrating that Intelligent Design is not science, but rather a pseudoscience manufactured by Christians to push Creationism into public schools. These people are mistaken. The Church of FSM is real, totally legit, and backed by hard science. Anything that comes across as humor or satire is purely coincidental.
http://www.venganza.org/about

He has to say that, or his threats of “legal action” would have no basis. As ridiculous as the idea sounds, there is some validity to the idea that this faith can be- and should be- considered valid. In the history of the Christian church, there are examples of denominations that have seemingly “cropped up” from the soil and become a part of the culture. These faiths are all “legit” in the sense that they are things that people believe. Whether you or I believe them is not the issue. SOMEBODY believes them. So if we deny the FSM, then shouldn’t we also deny EVERY other faith that isn’t exactly like ours? Spaghetti can be messy, can’t it?

But I wouldn’t look for too many spaghetti monster churches soon (unless of course you count the Old Spaghetti Factories). Here’s a quote from an “Answers in Genesis” article about the FSM:
We are not worried that Flying Spaghetti Monsterism is going to lure away Christians; rather, the religion’s obvious primary purpose is sardonic humor. Nevertheless, it reflects a growing attitude of mockery toward not just organized religion, but also toward any suggestion that there is something—or Someone—“out there,” beyond ourselves and our fallen notions.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2008/01/22/flying-spaghetti-monster

One of my favorite comments from Bobby about the FSM comes from a recently-written article that was quoted on the FSM site:
Religion doesn’t have to make sense. You have to have faith. There’s all sorts of things that don’t make any sense in FSM. It’s fine. I contradict myself all the time. You can get away with anything in the religion business.
http://www.venganza.org/2008/01/19/online-worship.htm

“The religion business.” I’m afraid many of us are guilty of thinking of religion that way. It’s not a business, folks. Your heart is more precious than that. And the words “I contradict myself. . . you can get away with anything” seem to validate the point. When all is said and done, he’s not serious. In order to really believe and support something, you have to take it seriously. You can’t be intellectually honest if you knowingly contradict yourself. You can’t lie to yourself - at least not forever. This too shall pass. The people who “worship” the spaghetti monster do so for the reason that he truly is a joke. Take him seriously and the humor is gone, as is any reason to “worship” him. Andy Kaufman would have loved the spaghetti monster. Indeed, we don’t have much to fear, except perhaps heartburn. (I would like to suggest that the FSM is actually the “Smog Monster” from the classic motion picture “Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster.” Note the stunning similarity! You disagree with me? Prove I‘m wrong. Hence, the point.)

=================================================

A REAL RACE: A favorite movie of mine growing up was “The Great Race” starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood. It's my favorite Blake Edwards film and it's a lot of fun. But I never thought it was anything other than a make-believe story. It just seemed to fanciful to be true. You can imagine my surprise when I recently learned it was based on an actual race!

Okay, so there probably wasn't a pie fight, and I don't think they stopped in some country where the king looked exactly like one of the drivers! But there really was a “Great Race” from New York to Paris that took place 100 years ago this month. It certainly doesn't sound as “funny” as the movie, as it includes a few tragedies as well as triumphs. Columnist Joe Blackstock writes about it at the site below:

http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_7971392

It was part of a spectacle later dubbed "The Great Race," made famous by the 1965 Blake Edwards comedy of the same name starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Natalie Wood. Some scenes were filmed in the San Bernardino Mountains.
An Italian-made Zust automobile and five other cars left New York on Feb. 12, 1908, and headed west into the dirt trails that served as "highways" then.
Carrying two drivers and a mechanic, the Zust overcame snow, subzero temperatures and plenty of mud, crossing the Cajon Pass more than six weeks after leaving New York. The Zust's arrival in the Inland Valley was little consolation for residents upset over missing the American entry and race leader, the Thomas Flyer, 10 days earlier.

There's more. They're going to do it again! 100 years after the original race, drivers are preparing for another New York to Paris trek. You can read more about it below:

http://www.greatrace.com/

The next thing you know, we'll find out that “Pete's Dragon” is based on a real story!

==============================

SALE AWAY: Just a quick FYE update as promised: The sales never got any better than the 20% off every CD or DVD. You have to remember that FYE probably wasn't under any great stress to sell everything in the two closing stores. They've got plenty of other locations where they can store their stuff. I bought a few more goodies, including some extra empty CD cases (probably the best buy in the store) and said farewell FYE – at least in my area. Let's hope it's not farewell forever.

Stay tuned to this station for a Valentine's Day treat!

Christa McAuliffe

2008-01-17T11:51:00.000-08:00

Everything I write in this posting is written with very sincere admiration and respect for Christa McAuliffe, her family, friends and admirers. As always, no offense is intended to anybody.

On January 28, 1986, I had just come home from high school after taking a final exam. As I walked in the door, my mother told me that the Space Shuttle Challenger had exploded. I was surprised on a few levels - I wasn’t aware that the shuttle was taking off that day. I knew there was going to be a launch soon with some teacher on board, but that’s about it. I remember tuning in to watch a replay of the launch. As Challenger took off, I remember thinking, “I’m not sure if I want to see this!” But I did, and the images of the disaster are stuck in my memory forever, as they are in everyone who lived through that day. Those who died in the disaster were F. “Dick” Scobee, Mike Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnick, Ron McNair, Greg Jarvis and S. Christa McAuliffe.

Other notable memories from that day include Dan Rather with a model of the space shuttle on his desk, trying to explain what might have gone wrong. Later on, I got to endure a few sick Challenger jokes from my high school “friends.” It’s better to be alone, man. It really is. Okay, I need to save that rant for later. Ahem. Later that year, my family took a trip to Florida and we got to see Cape Canaveral and the launching pad for Challenger. I bought a Challenger patch and some buttons with the crew on them. I made sure to buy the one with Christa alone on the button as well.

Now why do you suppose they did a button with just Christa on it and none of the other crew members? Well, obviously Christa was the “celebrity” on the flight, being the first civilian set to go up in space. But there’s another reason. A secret reason. A reason nobody has ever dared to mention - until now. Christa makes a pretty picture. Because Christa McAuliffe was pretty. In fact, she was gorgeous! You hear me, world? CHRISTA MCAULIFFE WAS CUTE!

Dang, it feels so good to get that off my chest.

I don’t think that “attractiveness” was the criteria that NASA was using to choose who would be the first civilian in space. However, I don’t think it hurt that Christa was attractive. NASA obviously wanted someone who wasn’t particularly camera-shy, who would be able to present herself to the world with some degree of poise. They couldn’t pick just ANY teacher.

Sadly, there’s some degree of truth to the idea that the “teacher in space” plan was a big PR stunt by NASA. Remember that at first, they were considering taking up a celebrity. John Denver was considered, as was “Big Bird” puppeteer Carroll Spinney! (See the links below for more about that) And while they thankfully chose to focus on sending a “non-celebrity” up there, you can’t help but consider that they would want that “non-celebrity” to be someone who had the potential to be a celebrity. Think of it- the same skills that are used to hold the attention of a class can be used to hold the public’s attention on a grand scale. A teacher who can present her views clearly to a class can also present those views to the American public.

There’s not one particular thing that made Christa attractive. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Look, if I were going out on a blind date, and Christa McAuliffe showed up, I would not be disappointed! She was pretty, smart, seemed to have a good personality - dang, what more could you want?! Of course, Christa was a wonderful person no matter how she looked. Note the word “personality”. When I think about girls that I like, I realize that attractiveness alone isn’t enough. All the beauty in the world won’t work if the person isn’t right for me. I never met Christa, so I can only pretend what she might have been like to know. It seems like at the very least, she would have been a wonderful friend.

I refuse to believe that I’m the only guy (besides her husband) who thinks Christa was attractive. Come on, guys, I KNOW you’re out there! I guess out of respect for Christa and for what she did, we guys don’t want to “take away” from her legacy by adding her to our list of “hot chicks.” It’s commendable to remember Christa for her bravery instead of her beauty. But in the teeny tiny footnotes of history (where this blog probably will eventually go), someone needs to note, “and she was pretty, too!”

Christa was obviously a strong woman in many ways. She was a teacher, first and foremost, and wanted to use those skills on the Challenger. Her intent was to write a diary of the trip. How I wish we could have read that diary. But someday, I believe I’m going to get to actually meet Christa (along with several other people I never got to meet in this lifetime). When I do, I hope to tell her that I cared for her and that she was an inspiration to me. I’d like to think that Christa would forgive me for this blog. :)

Here are some more sites with information about Christa:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/mcauliffe.html

http://www.starhop.com/cm_bio.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christa_McAuliffe

http://www.life.com/Life/space/mcauliffe/mcauliffe01.html

The documentary “Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars” is probably the best one about Christa herself. You can learn more about it at the site below:

http://www.traipsingthrufilms.com/

For more about the celebrities who almost got to ride on the Challenger, enjoy my previous post.
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/05/big-bird-and-space-shuttle-challenger.html

=======================================================

THEY SAID IT: While researching this post, I came upon an interesting page of quotes about space and space travel that I hope you will enjoy. It features quotes from Christa and many others, and asks a notable question about Neil Armstrong’s famous “one small step” quote. Could it be he got it wrong? Check it out.

http://www.skygod.com/quotes/spaceflight.html

Space is for everybody. It's not just for a few people in science or math, or for a select group of astronauts. That's our new frontier out there, and it's everybody's business to know about space.

— Christa McAuliffe, December 6, 1985.

=====================================================

PHANTOM DISAPPEARS, THEN REAPPEARS: Once upon a time, there was a Web page dedicated to the “Phantom of the Opera.” Although it was obviously inspired by the Andrew Lloyd Webber production, it welcomed comments about all of the various phantom-related items over the years. From the original novel to the Lon Chaney film to the recent high school productions, this site was a valuable resource for Phantom fans. And it even had an easy address to remember: phantomoftheopera dot com.

But as 2008 began, the Phantom site disappeared. There was nothing there but a message saying “this account has been suspended.” And the fact that it was there for a few weeks seemed to verify that the site wasn’t coming back. It was quite a popular site, with several new comments from readers coming in every day, and updates on “Phantom”-related news. (Think “Muppet Central”, only about the Phantom) It makes you realize that not every site is going to be around forever. We all have those sites that we really enjoy visiting - our little “neighborhood” on the Web where we can keep up with certain people or things. So let’s take a moment to be thankful for those who keep our favorite sites going. And uh, by the way. . .thanks for stopping by here every once in a while as well.

But by mid-January, the Phantom site had returned in all its glory, much to the relief of Phantom fans, teenage girls and theatre critics worldwide. There seems at this point to be no official explanation of what exactly happened. Obviously, there was some kind of billing issue at stake, but how that issue appeared in the first place is another mystery only the Phantom can answer.

Have you noticed how many Web sites are only managed by a handful of people? Whereas a movie or TV show can have thousands of people working together to make it happen, a Web site doesn’t really need all that many. Even a regularly updated site only needs a handful of people to make it work. In some ways, that’s a big plus for Web sites. “One man” can make a difference. You don’t need a crowd to shout out loud. But then there’s the down side: If that one person goes away. . .

Check out the 2004 movie to find out why “Phantom” is so popular. You can read about it in my post here, which also has a link to the Phantom site mentioned above:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/08/phantom-of-opera.html

==============================================

MEREDITH IN TRAINING: You didn’t think I could just let THIS one go by, do you? Meredith Vieira mentioned Sesame Street in her blog!

http://meredithtoday.ivillage.com/entertainment/2008/01/friday_qa_manny_blogging_sesam.html
Sharp-eyed fans will note that Meredith appeared in an episode of Sesame Street this season. You can read about that here:

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Meredith_Vieira

=============================================

BROCKETT’S BATHING SUIT: Who could have known that mild-mannered Don Brockett, who played Chef Brockett on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”, had a wild side? Well, at least I think he did. You’ve got to be a teeny tiny bit wild to run around in a tiger-skin swimsuit, right? Just think about Ginger from “Gilligan‘s Island.” I do it all the time. Uh, think about Ginger, that is. And Courteney and Meredith and . . .Well, anyway, you can see a photo of Don in his swimsuit in this entry from the “Making Mister Rogers and Me” blog. And be sure to read that great quote from Linda Elerbee on why TV is “often so shallow.”

http://mrrogersandme.blogspot.com/2008/01/mister-rogers-chef-brockett-me.html

FYI on FYE

2008-01-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

Hi and welcome to 2008, the year the music stores closed forever!!!!

Okay, that’s an exaggeration. They’re still around and will likely be around in SOME form for a long time. But with the announcement that two FYE stores in my area will be closing their doors, I can’t help but remember the closing of Tower Records last year. (Note that FYE itself is not going out of business- yet). Oh, by the way, do you know what FYE is? It’s the former Wherehouse Music stores. You say you’ve never been to one? Hmmmm.

When I visited the Tower Records stores prior to their closing, I found them relatively exhausted of all the "good stuff." (There were a few gems to be found, but “few” was the operative word.) So when I heard about the FYE closings, I decided to go and visit one of the stores that weekend to see if I could find anything special. I kind of expected a small crowd of some kind. Wrong! It was a relatively normal day, except for the signs indicating that a sale was going on. It was an OK sale, I suppose. . . Buy two used Cds, get one free. 10% off every new CD. Not bad, I guess. But they certainly weren’t being attacked by rabid music fans. That, I suspect, will come later, as the stores try to release more and more of their inventory. Now I begin to see the economic impact of cell phones. “Hey Louie! Get over here, they’re finally selling the stuff for half off!” So those folks will get the good stuff, and us normal guys will have to pick up the leftovers.

In the tower records posting, I talked about how high costs and lack of good material were keeping me from buying many Cds. Well, the same rules still apply. Even at lower-than-usual prices, there wasn’t much there that spoke to me. Nothing that made me go, “I’ve gotta get this!” I’ve been blessed in many ways. I can afford to say “no” to what may be a good album, because I’ve got other good albums already.

I’ve begun to buy some Cds for one of my “home-made” albums. During my music store shopping, I was only able to find one out of four that I was looking for. But when I look for those albums online at amazon.com, there they are. Good news for amazon.com, but this is a textbook example of why music stores are in trouble. I came in as a customer ready to buy something, but couldn’t find it in your store. So I had to go to another “store.” All the sales in the world aren’t going to make me buy a bunch of things I don’t want or need.

But to be fair, I did decide to check out the other closing FYE store, one I had not visited before. While there, I did give in and bought some things. By this time, the DVDs were 20% off. Man, if I could just time it right, I could really splurge. But again, they didn’t have much in the way of specific things that I was looking for.

I’ll try to report back when the prices get lower. If the prices don’t get lower, then I’m sorry to say that FYE will have to make some room in their warehouse. In the meantime, here’s my look back at the last days of Tower Records:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/12/farewell-tower-records.html

==================================================

STILL WE LIKE THIS SHOW: On to happier things. As Grover has recently announced, the beta version of the Sesame Street video player is now online and serving the whims of die-hard classic Sesame Street fans! One of my favorite "missing clips" has been found there: Grover singing "Still We Like Each Other." It’s great to see it again. If you’d like to enjoy it too, visit the site and type in “still we like each other” in the search field. Or you can take Grover’s advice and click on his loveable, furry image at the top of the site. Nice song - and no, Mike, the girl is not Farley in a wig!

http://video.sesameworkshop.org/

This new site really is a dream come true in many ways. We’ve gone from despairing of ever seeing this stuff again to watching it at our leisure whenever we have a free moment at the computer. You can actually type in keywords to find a specific clip. It really is amazing how far we’ve come. It’s also important to note that this video player is evidence that Sesame Workshop is aware of the numerous adult fans of the show (well, at least of the early show) and wants to try and help them out. Way to go, SW! The video player is a success. Keep up the great work!

From a technical note, the Sesame Street video player is not quite the same as the YouTube video player. Whereas a YouTube video will download temporarily to your computer memory (and thus can be played again without having to reload every time), the Sesame Street video player doesn‘t seem to work exactly that way. To make a long story short, you really need a high-speed connection to appreciate the video player. While it’s sometimes possible to watch the videos on a slower connection, they usually don’t look very good and are often “choppy”. That’s good news for fast connections, but bad news for the handful of us who use slow connections sometimes. All I can say is that if you’ve been putting off getting a fast connection, this site may be what changes your mind. Time to bite the bullet - or at least find a friend with a fast connection! (As an aside, Sesame Workshop should consider that not all inner-city kids have high-speed connections, either.)

Speaking of friends, have you considered what a good opportunity this is for us to show others why we like this show? Now you can direct somebody to the exact clip you like and say, “You want to know why I liked this show? Here’s why.” We have a chance to show them the clips we haven’t been able to before. With any luck, people will slowly begin to understand why the show was so much fun. Maybe they’ll even get “hooked” and watch some clips on their own without telling anybody.

==========================================

BIRD'S WORD ON ELMO: Big Bird muppeteer Carroll Spinney was interviewed last year, and we’re just now finding out about it! Here are some quotes from this short but sweet interview.

Q: When did his worm Slimey first appear on the show?
A: As many as 15 years --- the last few years, he’s been much more prominent because each show ends with Oscar reading him trash stories. It’s the only time you see him being very understanding and never negative, like he is to the humans.

Q: Why is Elmo’s World given so much importance?
A: What a good question. I never got a “Bird World.” I guess they just felt that it was a good idea. The thing that made Elmo a big success was the Tickle-Me-Elmo doll. Of course, we do need the money to keep on the air. They thought, ‘OK, Elmo is where we should go to keep the show popular.’

Q: How much longer do you think you’ll be on Sesame Street?
A: I have a new three-year contract, so I’m doing it until the 41st year of the show, and I would love to go on beyond that.

Mr. Spinney seems to understand the true nature of the rise of Elmo. "Follow the money. . ." Well, that’s not the WHOLE story, but it’s certainly part of it. Here’s the site where you can read more. Thanks to SSLFan from MuppetCentral for directing our attention to this!

http://www.townonline.com/parentsandkids/news_coverage/8998922769647271935

Later this month will mark the anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy. There’s a Big Bird/Carroll Spinney connection to that as well! You can read about it here:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/05/big-bird-and-space-shuttle-challenger.html

===================================================

STAYING STRONG: Again, I’m thankful for all of your good thoughts as I endure an illness. Along those lines, Meredith Vieira’s husband Richard Cohen has written a book chronicling five people who live with chronic illness. Meredith blogs about it below:

http://meredithtoday.ivillage.com/entertainment/2008/01/a_shameless_plug.html

Keep an eye on Meredith’s blog for answers to some viewer questions, including this one about hats:

I like hats, actually. The problem with wearing a hat on the show is that every time you go back inside, you have to have your hair fixed all over again. And there’s never enough time. I like berets, and I also like those Irish caps, and the British bollers--those rounded ‘top hats. But I look particularly fetching in a dunce cap…

And in a bikini, and . . .sorry. :)

Carolyne Heldman

2007-12-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

Well folks, I’ve finally made it to the big time - thanks to help from former MTV VJ Carolyne Heldman. Remember her? She used to host music videos back in the days when MTV seemed to care about music. Okay, I need to save that rant for another time. Anyway, I used to watch Carolyne on MTV back in the late 1980s. There were quite a few times when I preferred watching her more than any of the bands.

Every once in a while, I like to do a Google search for some of my favorite lesser-known subjects/celebrities just to see how things are going with them. A few days ago, I typed Carolyne’s name into the Google search engine. Can you guess whose Web site came up first in the comprehensive search of millions of Web sites? No, it wasn’t MTV, or even a classic TV Web site.

It was this site.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I would like to see Carolyne again. Well, the Google search engine caught on to Carolyne’s name, and at least for the moment that post is the “most relevant” Carolyne Heldman site on the Web according to Google!

In the world of the Web, getting to be the first site on a Google search is a pretty big deal. There are a lot of advertisers out there who would love to be the first site on a Google search. If you sold umbrellas, you would want your site to be first when somebody did a Google search for “umbrellas.” It’s the same for almost any well-known product or person. First in Google (they hope) means that the site is the most relevant to your search. It obviously doesn’t always work out that way, but that’s the goal.

My site is the top Carolyne web site? This is an honor! I think Carolyne is one of those talented people who unfortunately is not as well-remembered as they should be. She was seen by literally millions of people for a few years in the late 1980s, but today, if you asked 100 people, you’d probably be lucky to find two or three who recognized the name. There are quite a few celebrities like that. They’re not “superstars,” they’re just people who happen to be celebrities!

I just wish I could tell you more about Carolyne. I know that since MTV she has worked on local TV in Colorado and that she is living there with her husband & family. I only know this because in the late 1990s she appeared in the MTV Ultra Sound episode, “I was an MTV VJ, too” along with other classic Vjs like Adam Curry and Kevin Seal.

Carolyne is attractive, smart and quite down-to-earth. On the “Ultra Sound” episode, she lamented the fact that she didn’t seem to be “cool enough” for MTV. But she didn’t have to be. She was fine just as herself. She didn’t have to do silly things or act like someone who she wasn’t, like some other Vjs seemed to be doing. She was more or less her honest self, and that was admirable. Carolyne, if you happen to read this, I wish you and yours all the best. And could you please contact me? I’d love to let everybody know how you’ve been doing. And I’d like to have your autograph. :)

If you happen to have any footage of Carolyne from her MTV days, I’d enjoy doing a video trade with you. You can contact me via my Youtube channel (see links) or you can leave a message for Sesameguy on the Muppet Central forums.

======================================

MY FAIR CHAUVINIST: Two friends of mine have been lucky enough to have their work published in a magazine. If you’re a fan of “My Fair Lady,” you might enjoy their views of this musical, and why Eliza may not have gotten the best deal in the world. Plus, they get bonus points for making reference to both the Muppets and Star Wars in the same column.

http://www.inlandlivingmagazine.com/nov_dec_07/more/arts_culture.php

==========================================

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Way back in ye olden days of the early 1970s, the first Sesame Street calendars contained birthdays for many of the major characters. Well, since a new year is on the way, this might be a good time to take note of whose birthday you’d like to celebrate in 2008! Here, courtesy of MuppetCentral, is the list of Sesame birthdays:

Jan 13: Rubber Duckie
Jan 28: Ernie
Feb 3: Elmo
Feb 23: Gordon
Feb 29: Kermit
March 20: Big Bird
April 17: Sherlock Hemlock
May 3: Susan
May 23: Sam the Robot
June 1: Oscar
June 7: The Amazing Mumford
June 25: Maria
July 1: Guy Smiley
July 26: Bert
Aug 3: Prairie Dawn
Aug 19: Snuffleupagus
Aug 20: Bob
Aug 31: Herry
Sept 19: Slimey
Sept 29: Telly
Sept 30: Zoe
Oct 4: David
Oct 9: Grover
Oct 14: The Count
Oct 29: Betty Lou
Nov 2: Cookie Monster
Nov 14: Luis
Dec 17: Little Bird

I hope that the omission of characters such as Roosevelt Franklin and Don Music will be corrected in future Sesame St. calendars. :)

============================================

I’d like to direct you to a Christmas wish from my friend Daniel S. Tiger. Like he, I wish you all a wonderful holiday and a great new year ahead.

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/12/christmas-with-daniel.html

They're baaaack!

2007-12-09T00:12:00.000-08:00

Uh-oh. It’s those Santas again! It’s December already? Dang it. . . It’s time to utter a few four-letter words.

December 10 is the two-year anniversary of this blog. Whether I like it or not. I’m sorry to say that a certain four-letter word comes immediately to mind, and that word is: TIME. Or the lack of it.

I enjoy writing and I enjoy posting on this blog. But there’s this thing called LIFE (another four-letter word, you will notice) that keeps getting in the way. I enjoy having a little space here on the world wide whatever where I can share my views and keep in contact with others. But there are other things happening besides this site, and they’re just about all more important than this site! So this poor site gets pushed aside rather easily.

It wasn’t meant to be this way. In my blogging dreams, I planned of posting at least three or four times a week, with photos and extensive data. Alas, it was not to be. Time isn’t on my side in this one. I had to remove the words “updated weekly” from the mast head when it became clear that I would be lucky if I could update monthly!

The writers in Hollywood went on strike a few weeks ago. That’s because writing is work. Even those who enjoy it must confess that it takes time to do well. It’s not something that can be taken for granted, as some people are disposed to do. Good writing takes time. If I’m having trouble putting together a simple blog, imagine how much work it must be for good writers to put together a TV show every week - or even every day, in the case of soap operas! Thankfully, they are given some time (and cash) to write. But I don’t have that luxury. That puts this blog on the same level as cleaning out the attic or buying the latest gadget. It’s something that should be done, but that doesn’t have to be done immediately.

What’s the next step? Well, just as those Santas are moving one step at a time, I will do the same. I definitely will keep posting once in a while, and hopefully you can find something here that you will enjoy. You’ve probably figured out that you don’t have to check in every week. But hey, there’s always every other week. As I’ve said before, thank you for your patience. Your prayers and good wishes for me are very much appreciated.

Also, please keep checking my YouTube page every few weeks. I have been posting new videos there (Most recently Ernie and Bert‘s "what happened here" and "The King‘s Nose"). You just might find something fun over yonder.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go clean the attic. . .

==========================================

DUSTY, BUT THERE: We have an update to the November posting about “In search of: Retired Puppets”. As mentioned before, a fellow named Benjamin Wagner is working on a documentary about Fred Rogers. He recently visited the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, and in a blog posting he confirms that the Mister Rogers puppets are on display there. He writes:

The Museum has been home to "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" exhibit since 1998. Developed in partnership with FCI, it replicates the show's set -- it's all there: King Friday's castle, X the Owl's tree -- but in a hands-on way. Kids can be on or behind the camera, drive trolley, put on their own puppet show, or play Mister Rogers' piano.

Picture Picture's there too. We watched a video on the making of the exhibit narrated by David Newell. There was Mister Rogers wearing an overcoat and glasses, standing next to Bill Isler and smiling.

Mister Rogers' spirit was everywhere. And smiling.

Still -- and I've felt this way numerous times throughout the making of this film -- his absence was palpable too.

Puppets from The Land of Make Believe stood in glass cases in the hallway next to the exhibit. And while it was exciting and even moving to see the real Daniel Striped Tiger and King Friday, it made me sad to see them staring back at me all glassy-eyed, lifeless and dusty.

I miss Mister Rogers, and often wish he was here to help Chris and me.

You can read the complete blog posting here:

http://mrrogersandme.blogspot.com/2007/11/mister-rogers-danny-me.html

You can read about Ben's meeting with Mister Rogers here:

http://www.benjaminwagner.com/news/mrrogers.html

Now we need somebody in Chicago to visit the historical society and see if the Kukla and Ollie puppets are on display!

======================================

FELIZ NAVIDAD FROM BOB: In the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade this year, we saw an appearance of the legendary Bob McGrath. Yes, Bob is still on the street! You may have seen him singing “See you tomorrow” to Big Bird in a more recent clip. I like to promote the “old school” stars whenever I can. Bob also has a new Christmas album, but don’t click on the link below if you’re in a library. It plays a clip of Bob singing. You’ll bother all the non-believers sitting around you. I guess Bob took a lesson from Maria (Sonia Manzano), whose site also has a song clip.

http://www.bobmcgrath.com/

I wonder if Bob’s Christmas sing-along is a tribute to his days singing with the Mitch Miller singers. Remember Mitch? They did a few sing-along Christmas albums as well. I’m not sure if Mitch Miller ever went on tour, but Bob did! Bob performed some of his songs at a few Barnes & Noble bookstores in the last few weeks.

===================================

AND, OH YEAH, BY THE WAY. . . I would assume that all my web-savvy muppet friends have discovered the Beta version of the Sesame Street video site! I haven’t been having much luck with it so far, but that’s probably more due to my connection than anything else. I can’t wait to test-drive it on a fast modem. I shall report back when I have more luck. In the meantime, enjoy some superb classic Sesame St. clips from yesteryear on this site.

And hats off to Sesame Workshop. With the “Old School” releases plus this Web site, they demonstrate that they have a desire to share the classic material. They are definitely on the right track.

http://video.sesameworkshop.org/

In search of: Retired puppets

2007-11-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

Somewhere in my parents’ attic, there’s a trunk with several of my old toys in it, including an old Winnie-the-Pooh. I’ve been fortunate enough to still have some of my old toys. (You can read about some of them for yourself by clicking on August 2006 in my archives section to the right). But have you ever wondered whatever happened to the REAL puppets or dolls that inspired some of our favorite toys? Where is the FIRST Winnie-the-Pooh, the one owned by Christopher Robin Milne?

The question was asked by Fozzie Bear (no, not Fozzie Bear from the muppets, that’s just his Internet name!) on the Muppet Central Forums. Here is his original post from October 2007: (follow his links to find out where Winnie the Pooh is today!):

I figured something like this would be interesting to discuss. We all know that the tales of Winnie the Pooh were based on actual dolls owned by the real-life Christopher Robin.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u95/kmessner/100_5943.jpg

Now on permanent display at the New York Public Library

http://www.nypl.org/branch/central/dlc/dch/pooh/timeline.html

There is also an actual 100 Aker Wood:

http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/winnie-the-pooh/what-next/places-to-go

One of the Howdy Doody puppets is on display at the Smithsonian.

But:Where are the puppets from the Neighborhood of Make Believe? Where is Kukkla Fran and Ollie (at least the puppets)? Beanie and Cecil (?) - Wasn't that a TV show? Where is the puppet? I'm 100% sure I'm forgetting missing puppets--who or what, and where? Obviously, this isn't discussion about Muppet Characters that have disappeared over the years, but the other puppets in the entertainment industry that have gone the way of mystery. If you know information or have links, please share. Any others missing from here, likewise: Post away!

Poster Winslow Leach added:

I got to see Howdy (and Kermit) at the Smithsonian.

As for Kukla, Fran and Ollie, Fran Allison died in 1989, and Burr Tillstrom, the only puppeteer on the show, passed away in 1985. In his will, Tillstrom prohibited anyone else from performing Kukla, Ollie and the other characters from the show. I assume the puppets still exist, as in the years since Tillstrom's death, people have expressed interest in reviving the characters. His estate must have them in storage...just a guess.

But Kukla and Ollie remained in the public eye long after their series ended in the 1950s. They appeared on numerous TV shows and specials throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Tillstrom even made live appearances with Kukla and Ollie, including a run on Broadway in Side by Side by Sondheim (1978). In 1979, Kukla and Ollie were panelists on Match Game.

It’s cool to know that puppets were on Broadway long before “Avenue Q” came along. It would have been great to see Kukla and Ollie live.

Fozzie's question inspired me so much that I decided to do a little Internet searching of my own. Here’s what I’ve found so far:

Let’s start with the muppets. The Jim Henson company is alive and well, and (I assume) the home for all the muppets. As mentioned earlier, The Jim Henson company is donating several puppets – along with sketches and artwork – to Atlanta's Center for Puppetry Arts. The exhibit will be housed in a wing of the museum that won't be ready until 2012, but when it is, it promises to be a Muppet fan's paradise, featuring puppet characters from several Henson productions. A definite thing to look forward to in 2012. Read about it here, along with some links:

http://muppetnewsflash.blogspot.com/2007/07/henson-collection-moves-to-atlanta.html

According to the site below, many of the Mr. Rogers “Neighborhood of Make Believe” puppets are “on permanent loan” to the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.

http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/is/enroom/mrrogers/mrrogrs.htm

However, when I visit the Web site for the museum, I’m unable to find specifically where the puppets are on display. I suppose it’s possible that they are currently in storage, as many museums keep some of their treasures under wraps for much of the time. Here’s the museum link, but note that “The chicken dance” music plays in the background. Try to remain seated.

http://www.pittsburghkids.org/

Moving on to Kukla and Ollie, the site below says that Burr Tillstrom’s puppet collection was willed to the Chicago Historical Society.

http://www.tvacres.com/child_kuklafran.htm

But once again, I can’t find specifically where the puppets are on exhibit when I visit their Web page:

http://www.chicagohs.org/

This Web page below is easily the best “Kukla, Fran and Ollie” fan page I’ve found so far:

http://kukla.tv/

No luck yet on finding Beany and Cecil, but you can see what the puppets looked like at the site below:

http://www.tvacres.com/puppets_beany_cecil.htm

Remember Paul Winchell? I couldn’t find anything specifically on his puppets, but I did locate an interesting Web site about him and his career:

http://www.paulwinchell.com/

On the subject of famous teddy bears, you may recall that Elvis Presley’s teddy was destroyed by a distraught dog. I posted about that on my blog:
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/08/elvis-teddy-bear-and-yours-too.html

Even Mr. Potato head appeared in puppet form on a T.V. show. Couldn’t find anything on where the Mr. Potato Head puppet is, but here is a great site for Potato Head data that has a small picture:

http://www.mrpotatohead.net/tv/tv.htm

For Eureka’s Castle, a search revealed that the topic has been covered before on a certain Web site:

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/archive/index.php/t-2199.html

On the Eureka’s Castle puppets, Buck-Beaver writes:

“The puppets were built by 3-Design Studio Inc, the same folks who created puppets for "Wimzie's House", "Groundling Marsh", "The Puzzle Place" and most of the non-Muppet shows coming out of NYC. I've been trying to dig up info on 3-Design for years with little success, but I think a lot of the builders come from the Muppets. They also design toys and do costumes I believe.”

I couldn’t find a specific site for 3-Design either, but I did locate a page with a photo of Jim Kroupa, one of the designers:

http://www.oneillpuppetryconference.com/master.html

Remember Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop? Shari Lewis has passed away, but her daughter Mally Lewis is currently performing with Lamb Chop! You can read about it at her site:

http://www.lambchop.tv/

But what happened to Shari’s lamb chop puppet? According to the site below, Shari’s grandson Jamie Hood . . . is sleeping with it. Cute.

http://www.lambchop.tv/sharilewis/index.shtml

So I would guess that all of Shari’s original puppets are still with the Lewis family. I’m not sure if anyone is sleeping with the other puppets, though.

So basically, it seems like many of the puppets are (I hope) in storage waiting to be displayed in a “special exhibit” someday. I guess I’m just glad that they still exist!

==============================================

SPIDEY IN "STAR JAWS": It’s always fun when some of your favorite characters from one show/movie/book team up with characters from another show/movie/book. Here’s a fun example of Spider-Man teaming up with Sam the Robot from Sesame Street. And as if that weren’t enough, they’re doing a parody of “Star Wars!” Man, what’s not to like?

BTW, although Doctor Doom may look like a rip-off of Darth Vader, Dr. Doom actually came first. He first appeared in the Fantastic Four comic book in the 1960s. As a matter of fact, Sam the Robot actually came just a little bit before C-3PO and R2-D2. Hmm. I wonder who’s doing a parody of whom.

http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/2697880.html

The War of the Worlds

2007-10-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

Forget “Carrie.” Forget “The Exorcist.” Forget “Silence of the Lambs.” The scariest movie of all time is the 1953 version of “The War of the Worlds!” Well, at least that’s the case if you’re a little kid growing up in the 1970s. This film scared the you-know-what out of me as a child, and since Halloween is here again, I thought this would be a good time to revisit the Martian invasion. Again, I’ll try not to give away the complete story. I’ll just give you enough to get you interested and let you know why I love this film.

The movie begins menacingly, with a look at the other planets in our solar system (this was back in the days when Pluto was officially a planet and Uranus had the embarrassing pronunciation). The Martians determine that Earth would be the best world to colonize, and so begins their complicated invasion. You see, rather than just arrive and start shooting people immediately, their spaceships arrive disguised as meteors. Since everyone generally knows what a meteor is, nobody suspects anything too unusual. . .until the spaceships come creeping out of the meteors.

And when the machines creep out, they kind of look like a street light. . .they kind of look like the street lights next to my house! AAAAA!!! For a while, I was creeped out by those street lights, since they reminded me of the Martian spacecraft. All I had to do was look at them and imagine the hissing noise of the spaceships, and I was gone.

Anyway, the Martians come crawling out, and the first people to see them try to be friends with them. But it doesn’t quite work. The Martians blast them to dust with the now familiar sound of their ray. (Incidentally, the sound effects from this movie are ingrained into my memory forever!) Then they (somehow) cut off all electricity and communication lines as their spacecraft begin flying across the countryside destroying everything that might be a threat. More meteors land, and the true war begins. The special effects are still pretty special, even in this age of computer graphics.

But not everyone is quick to fight. Someone asks, “Shouldn’t you try to communicate with them first, then shoot later if you have to?” What sounds like a reasonable idea is swiftly ignored, and so this person has to take matters into his own hands - in one of the most dramatic and touching moments of the movie.

Conventional weapons seem to have no effect on the Martian spacecraft. Ah, but what about atomic weapons? Surely they will save us! Everybody knows that nothing can withstand atomic weapons! Right? Right? As we shall see, mankind doesn’t know everything. Incidentally, the footage that you see of the “Flying Wing” in this movie is some of the only footage of that particular aircraft that is known to exist. And that voice. . .yes, it’s Paul Frees! The vocal artist who helped make the Disneyland attractions so memorable has a brief role in the movie. (Frees narrated the original “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” and the “Adventure through Inner Space” rides. He also voiced a few pirates in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride).

As in the Star Wars films, the romance factor is actually an important part of the story. As they flee the Martians, Dr. Forrester and Sylvia fall in love. But they never kiss each other in the film. Their love is demonstrated in other ways through the plot. The scene where they meet up together near the end is very moving. It’s a great example of romance without being “mushy”. Although I like the Tom Cruise version as well, the romance factor is missing from that version. (In that version, a different kind of love is promoted - family love).

Anyway, Dr. Forrester and Sylvia hide in this abandoned house, see, and the aliens land right outside the house, and . . .AAAAA!!! Creepy, snake-like Martian machines come crawling in, followed by creepy Martians! It’s hard to convey just how scary this is to a little kid. But just imagine if you were in a house at night and you happened to peek out the window and see a Martian running across your lawn! And then, to feel a hand reach up and touch you on the shoulder. . . After this movie, nearly all of the evil things that go bump in the night that I could imagine looked something like the Martians.

Then the black car comes driving slowly down the street. “Everyone, please listen. The Martians are coming this way! Take food and water with you.” The evacuation of the cities adds to the feeling of helplessness. And the fear that it could actually happen.

Some have said that the movie’s (and book’s) ending is a “cop-out.” But it isn’t really. If you watch the movie carefully, you begin to see that one of the points of the film was to say that little things that seem unimportant and not powerful are actually very important and powerful. Trying to communicate before going to war. Picking up a ball that a little girl has dropped. A square dance. Fried eggs. Horses. Flocks of birds. All these little things appear briefly in the movie, and they’re all important in their own way. It may seem like prayer is a last resort for dealing with such a menacing foe. But it was the little things that destroyed the Martians.

The film is a rare and wonderful example of a scary film with a good message. The modern horror films don’t seem to have any point other than to scare and/or disgust. This movie has a point about hope. Corny as it sounds, it has a very real meaning for mankind. It conveys that we shall overcome, even if we don’t seem to be overcoming. It conveys that when our cause is just, we will succeed. Good message, moving story, great production. . .hey, this is a wonderful movie. Whether you get scared or not.

“War of the Worlds” is available on DVD and VHS. It also occasionally shows up on television. Please “watch the skies” and keep your eyes open for it. The Wikipedia article below contains some more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_%281953_film%29

======================================

Now let’s talk about some REAL scary things, like the wildfires here in Southern California. I was delighted to hear from a few people asking if my family was okay during the recent wildfires. Thankfully, everything is OK in my world. Thanks to the special folk who took time to ask! I definitely appreciate you & I hope all of this comes to an end quickly.

While driving home with a friend one evening recently (we don’t often get to carpool, but hey, we do what we can), a person ran across the street right in front of us. It made me realize the “true horrors” of Halloween. Martians? No. A vampire? No. Stupid people crossing the street right in front of a moving car? Yep. Please be careful out there, folks. And not just on Halloween.

Hey, let's rent out a theater!

2007-10-21T00:10:00.000-07:00

A while back, Todd Franklin shared a blog posting and some pictures from a fun event. He was able to rent out a small theater and show “Star Wars” to his friends! You can read about it at the link below. (Yes, this is the same guy who found the original “Death Star” prop. Some guys have all the luck!)
http://neatocoolville.blogspot.com/2007/09/revisiting-star-wars-movie-theater.html

Todd’s post reminded me of a time when another group rented out a theater for a “Muppet Movie” sing-along. Danny at Tough Pigs wrote about the experience, and his story is required reading for all Muppet Movie fans. You can read about it here:

http://www.toughpigs.com/journalsingalong.htm

All this got me to thinking. If I could rent out a theater for one night, and invite all my family & friends, which movie would I choose? I realized quickly that I probably wouldn’t choose a movie- I’d probably try to make one. Hey, what better time to take pictures of the people you care about? I’d definitely try to bring along a camera.

What else could we do? Maybe we could all play “Simon Says.” Or if I can find a big enough mat, perhaps we could play “Twister.”

Now here’s another fun thing to think about. If you were to give a speech to a theater full of your family and friends, what would you talk about? I’d certainly try to fit in there somewhere how thankful I am for all of them. And I’d probably do a few corny jokes and maybe share a few minutes from some of my cheesy home movies. If I’m feeling really brave, I might sing for them. (Not too much, though. I don’t want to overwhelm them with my vocal abilities.) Hmmm. . .Maybe I could finally play the Phantom! Now that would be a dream come true. . . Well, for me, anyway. :) I suppose I could pass out earplugs just in case.

It’s fun to imagine things like this - especially when you think about everybody in the audience. They’re the ones that help make the “show” worth watching.

===================================

THE (NEARLY) COMPLEAT FRED: If you’re a fan of comic books (particularly from the silver age to about the late 1980s or so), then you may know about Fred Hembeck. Fred was providing comic book commentary long before the Internet was invented (well, actually, it had been invented, but it just hadn’t been discovered by advertisers yet.) Fred’s comics are insightful and funny, and he’s shamelessly plugging a retrospective collection of his work due to come out next year. You can read all about it at the link (and be sure to visit Fred’s site to keep up to date on what’s going on in his world - it‘s in my links sections):

http://www.hembeck.com/More/HembeckOmnibusInfoPage.htm

=======================================

FACE ON THE COVER: Speaking of Fred, on a recent post to his blog, he casually mentioned the grand comic book database. This web site offers something that the great Overstreet comic book price guide doesn’t - cover images of over 300,000 comic books. This is significant for those collectors who have been saying for years, “Gee, I wish I could get a copy of that issue of ‘Wonder Woman,’ but all I can remember about it is what the cover looked like. . .”

Okay, so maybe there aren’t many people out there like that. But hey, if you happen to be one of them - or if you just enjoy classic comic book cover art, then this is the site for you. Check it out.

http://www.comics.org/index.lasso

==============================================

THEY’RE HERE AGAIN: The series “Happy Days” is airing again on station WGN. Why should you care? Well, now’s your chance to enjoy the series with the original music still in there! The recent DVD sets have changed many of the music tracks due to copyright issues. You can read about that problem in the post below:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/05/damsels-optional-or-not.html

Happy Days airs VERY early in the mornings on WGN. You’ll probably have to record them so you can watch them later. But aaaaay, I mean, hey, it’s worth it. It’s a fun show.

===================================

OLD SCHOOL SESAME VOLUME TWO: Ah yes, it’s on the horizon, and it looks like it may include the first early “test” episode that I mentioned in an earlier post. You’ll get to see the prototype Ernie and the “Man from Alphabet” in all his glory. Most important, you’ll get about five classic episodes that no 1970’s Sesame Street fan should be without, and it sounds like a lot of great extra clips. Oh, yeah! The DVD set is scheduled for release later this year. Read all about it below:

http://muppetnewsflash.blogspot.com/2007/09/new-old-school-information.html

Since we’re talking about Sesame Street clips, I thought it might be cute to list some of my favorite “lost” Sesame Street clips that I’d like to see again. Some of you may have read this list of mine before, but here it is again. I’m thankful to say that this list is getting shorter all the time. So many classic clips have been brought back (by collectors, mostly) in the last several years that it’s much easier to find that rare clip you recall from way back. Just take a look at YouTube and you’ll see what I mean. But here are a few classic clips that haven’t been seen in years that we need to bring back:

1. Bert and Maria flying the imaginary helicopter. Bert is sitting outside the playground area of Sesame Street. He is wearing goggles. Maria sits next to him and asks what he’s doing. Bert says he’s pretending to be a helicopter pilot. Together, Bert and Maria imagine that they’re flying a helicopter. As they do, the background changes from the street to a grassy field, where the helicopter takes off from. Unfortunately, it’s not an easy flight, with Bert narrowly missing several trees and getting lost in a cloud among other things. When they finally “land,” Maria says, “Next time, I’ll fly the helicopter!”

2. The Fonz and Richie count to ten. Henry Winkler and Ron Howard made some cameos on Sesame Street in the late 1970s and early 1980s as the Fonz and Richie Cunningham from “Happy Days.” If you love Happy Days, you’ll love those clips, and this clip is probably the funniest. It features the Fonz teaching Richie the “cool” way to count. Watching these two work together gives you a great idea of their talent and chemistry together.

3. Krazy Kat “love” cartoon. The characters from the classic comic strip made an appearance in a Sesame Street cartoon. Since learning more about comic strips, I’ve come to appreciate the artistry of “Krazy Kat” and this cartoon captured much of that. I’d "love" to see it again.

4. Grover sings “Still we like each other.” This song appears on the Sesame Street “Concert-on stage live!” album. But this is not that version. This version features Grover singing to a girl anything muppet in a park setting. It is slow and beautiful. A very nice clip.

Like the Energizer Bunny, we could keep going and going, with clips of Grover flying in his airplane, of Ernie and Bert imagining what life would be like without each other, and with great music clips from Judy Collins, Paul Simon, Jose Feliciano, etc. Let’s hope a few of these classic moments make it to the new DVD set. And as usual, if anyone HAS any of these clips, please let me know!

Yogi Berra quote collection

2007-09-16T01:30:00.000-07:00

One of the mentors in my career was a gentleman by the name of Tim A. Tim was often stern, but never without a sense of humor. He made a very challenging job a lot of fun. Although my friend & co-worker Eric and I were (relatively) much younger than he, he seemed just as much a member of the gang as anyone. He was definitely a great help to me.

Tim's favorite ball team was the New York Yankees. I know because he would sometimes harass other co-workers by wearing Yankee jerseys to work.

I was saddened to learn a few years after I left that position that Tim had passed away from cancer. It was both sad and surprising. He was a very strong man. I miss him quite a bit.

Next to my desk at work, I have the following list of quotes from one of Tim's Yankees - the great Yogi Berra. These quotes are legendary, as is Yogi. What's amazing about all these quotes is the fact that we can all understand them, even though they make no sense at all. So in honor of two legends - Tim and Yogi - here are some of Yogi's most memorable quotes - so far.

"A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore."

"Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical."

"He hits from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious."

"I always thought that record would stand until it was broken."

"I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did."

"I never said most of the things I said."

"It gets late early out there."

"I think Little League is wonderful. It keeps the kids out of the house."

"It's like deja vu all over again."

"Nobody goes there anymore because it's too crowded."

"So I'm ugly. I never saw anyone hit with his face."

"Take it with a grin of salt."

"The game isn't over until it's over."

"The towels were so thick there, I could hardly close my suitcase."

"You can observe a lot just by watching."

"You should always go to other people's funerals, otherwise, they won't come to yours."

"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going, because you might not get there."

"We made too many wrong mistakes."

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

==========================================================

My relatives recently moved up from a dial-up Internet connection to a high-speed connection. I got to test drive it myself a few days ago. The YouTube videos that used to take hours to upload now upload within minutes and play almost immediately. NIIIIICE! I mention this because this morning, as I tried to hook up with my dial-up connection, I kept getting the error message that my username & password were invalid. It’s not just the speed issue that makes high-speed Internet so inviting. It’s the (relatively) hassle-free sign on. No more password blues.

==================================

ON YOUTUBE: PETER PIPER “P” PRODUCTS. The fast-talking guy from old commercials made a few memorable appearances on “Sesame Street,” and this is one of the best. Also a great example of the writers doing everything they can to get a “P” word in the script! It’s in my favorites folder on my YouTube page. You can get there by clicking on the link in my “links” section at the right.

25 years of CDs

2007-08-27T00:44:00.000-07:00

A somewhat significant anniversary took place on August 17, 2007. It was the 25th anniversary of the compact disk. Those little plastic circles that changed the way we buy music have reached the quarter-century mark. Not a bad record! (Just FYI, according to my local paper, the first mass-produced CD featured Richard Strauss' Alpine Symphony).

For me, the CD craze actually began circa 1989. Prior to that, everything my family had was on vinyl or on cassette tape (or on reel-to-reel, but that's another long story!). Why didn't we jump on the CD bandwagon right away? Yep -how'd you guess?- it was money. But it was also the fact that most of the music we bought came from thrift stores, not “real” music stores. I, like so many teens before me, had to beg my folks for my music. Maybe “beg” is too strong a word, but when you don't have a job, you really aren't in a position to demand everything you want.

So it began with my parents' old collection. I listened to what they listened to, and I liked it. And not because I had to! It was good music. John Denver, the Seekers, Peter, Paul & Mary, Simon & Garfunkel, etc. And of course, there were those Sesame Street albums. And the Bill Cosby comedy LPs. Ah yes, a golden age. I had a beautiful blue Lionel record player. That's right, the same folks who made toy trains made some record players as well. And they could do things that record players of today can't do – such as play records at 16 rpm!

My teen music years began with buying hit singles. “Business as Usual” by Men At Work is regarded as the first “teen rock album” I managed to talk my parents into buying. After that came such classics as “Toto IV,” “Sgt. Pepper,” “Rio”, etc. The first CD I managed to obtain? Probably “Bridge over troubled water” by Simon & Garfunkel. I think when Peter, Paul & Mary's “10 Years together” album debuted, that was when I realized that I needed to take this CD stuff seriously. Prior to that, most of the albums that I wanted to get on CD were just not available. There was no “Best of Seekers” CD. No “Best of Ed Ames.” Without the artists that I wanted to hear, there seemed little reason to delve into this new technology. But as time went on, favorite artists/albums began to “convert” to CD, and I (and everyone else) decided to start collecting them all over again. And so began the golden age of the CD.

There's a chance that that golden age is behind us. With the advent of iPods and the demise of Tower Records, much of the music-minded masses today get their music from online downloads and not from CDs. CDs are certainly still popular, though, and their demise – if it is coming – is probably still several years away. In the meantime, I relish in the fact that I can now pick up a CD at Goodwill for $2.00. That's almost the price of an LP there. How times have changed.
For more about the fall Tower Records (and why it fell), read this post:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/12/farewell-tower-records.html

======================================================

ON YOUTUBE: WONDER CHILD
As noted by Nantoreturns, Helen Reddy's “Wonder Child” - a song she performed on Sesame Street (and originally available on the “Stars come out on Sesame Street” LP) - is finally available on compact disc. It's on a 2006 collection titled “The Rest of Helen Reddy.”
Why is this important? It is a rare example of an artist's track from “Sesame Street” appearing on the artist's official album. It's a good sign – if this keeps up, we may get to hear more rare tracks from Sesame, including songs by Paul Simon, Judy Collins, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, Jose Feliciano, etc. that haven't been released commercially. Let's hope! In the meantime, you can watch Helen sing “Wonder Child” on the clip in the favorites folder of my YouTube page.

==============================================

THE BUZZ FROM TODD: You can blog about anything. And I do mean anything. The slightest, tiniest little bit of news can become a blog posting. You want a perfect example? Fly on over to “Neato Coolville” by clicking on the link below and see what I mean. But bring along a can of Raid. Maybe this blogging stuff is easier than I thought.
http://neatocoolville.blogspot.com/2007/08/ok-i-know-its-long-pass-midnight-and-i.html

===================================================

DOUBLE YOUR. . .PLEASURE? Have you ever walked down the street and run into somebody who looked exactly like yourself? It happened to Fred Hembeck. He writes about it on his blog – scroll down to August 21, 2007 to read all about it:
http://www.hembeck.com/FredSez.htm

=====================================================

MISTER, WE SHRUNK OUR MOM. The problem with having an overactive imagination is that sometimes it makes you see things that don't exist. . .Or do they? For example, I came upon this description in the alt.video.tape-trading newsgroup of a video that someone is looking for:

I was writing this in the hopes that someone could help me find a video I have been wanting to find for a long time. The video was called "Mister, We Shrunk Our Mom," and it was a promotional video distributed for Kirby Brand Vacuume (sic) Cleaners in the early 90's. The Kirby Company has since stopped distributing the video, and I have been unable to locate it. If anybody out there has this video or knows where I can find it, I would GREATLY appreciate it if they would please give me a reply.

Now I have never seen this video. But given only this tiny bit of information, I think I can describe pretty much exactly what this video is like!

A vacuum cleaner salesman walks up to a house & knocks on the door. Two kids answer the door.

SALESMAN: Hi there, kids! Is your mother home?

KIDS: (In unison) Mister, we shrunk our Mom!

SALESMAN: What?

KIDS: We shrunk her so small that we can't find her!

SALESMAN: Well, that's no problem, kids! I just happen to have the new Kirby Brand Vacuume cleaner with me! This handy, economical machine will find your mom with no trouble at all!

KIDS: You mean we have to do our homework after all? That sucks!

SALESMAN: Exactly! Just look at how well this Kirby Brand Vacuume cleaner sucks up all the grungy, grimy things within your carpet! Including your mom!

KIDS: Be careful!

SALESMAN: Don't worry, kids. The Kirby Brand Vacuume cleaner won't harm your carpet or your hard-floor surfaces.

KIDS: We're talking about our Mom, you dufus!

Cut to a scene of the Mom standing next to a strand of carpet that is twice her size.

MOM: Gee, it's a good thing my clothing shrunk with me. . .Wait, what's that?

CUT TO GIANT VACCUM CLEANER SUCKING UP MOM

MOM: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

CUT BACK TO KIDS AND SALESMAN

KIDS: Gee, did it work, mister?

SALESMAN: We'll find out soon, kids. But first, let's talk about payment options. . .

If anyone really does have this video, which sounds like a future cult classic for MST3K, please let me know. And let me know how accurate I was! (Just contact "sesameguy" at the Muppet Central forums.)

=======================================================

YouTube: Is change good?

2007-08-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

MORE MARION. A production photo from the next “Indiana Jones” movie shows the cast standing next to director Steven Spielberg. Among the cast are (of course) Harrison Ford and – a drumroll please - Karen Allen! Marion will return! YAY! For Marion fans like me, this is great news. I suggest the film be titled, “Indiana Jones and the cute girl.” I realize that “cute girl” doesn't have the same feel as “temple of doom”, but girls can get Indy in trouble too, can't they?

Check out the pictures on the official site.

http://www.indianajones.com

===================================================

NEW HOME FOR MUPPETS. Those of us waiting impatiently for the coming Jim Henson exhibit to arrive at a nearby museum soon will have another option. The Jim Henson company is donating several puppets – along with sketches and artwork – to Atlanta's Center for Puppetry Arts. The exhibit will be housed in a wing of the museum that won't be ready until 2012, but when it is, it promises to be a Muppet fan's paradise, featuring puppet characters from several Henson productions. This is great – a wonderful way to allow fans the chance to see the classic puppets up close. A definite thing to look forward to in 2012. Read about it here, along with some links:

http://muppetnewsflash.blogspot.com/2007/07/henson-collection-moves-to-atlanta.html

===================================================

BART AND ART: I do not regularly visit the Christianity Today web page, but a recent web search led me there, and I couldn't help but see that they had a link to a review of the new “Simpsons” movie. “Oh great,” I thought. “They're probably going to have a cow.” Knowing the humor of the Simpsons, I felt that a Christian organization would probably not shower the movie with praise. But I was wrong! The movie actually got a pretty good review. I guess it's because they realize that it's all in fun. That's the kind of attitude that is necessary to enjoy a lot of things. You need to be willing to accept that it is “ridiculous” in order to relax and enjoy it. Homer Simpson, for example, is so absurd as a character that he couldn't exist in the real world. His character is just that - a caricature. You laugh at him because you know that no normal human being would do what he does. The antics of the Simpsons mock just about everybody, and if you're ready to accept that, you'll probably survive the movie.

Blogging pal Fred Hembeck enjoyed the Simpsons movie, but he seems a lot more excited about what he saw in the previews. Bean! Read about it on his “Fred Sez” blog site. You can get there from the “Fred Hembeck's page” link in my links section.

=====================================

YOULOSE? For the five of you who visit my YouTube page - (sorry, I couldn't resist)- you may have noticed that some of the favorite videos are missing. Many YouTube users are switching their videos to “private” in an effort to avoid what may be the demise of “copyrighted” material on the site. One user has actually moved some videos onto a different video site. The loss of such videos may mean big changes for YouTube – changes which I'm afraid may not help the site's popularity.

A few weeks ago, I found a rare clip of Ed Ames (who I will have to do a blog about someday!) on YouTube that I considered putting in my favorites folder. The video was originally posted on a Sunday, and by Wednesday YouTube had removed it. That's not too bad a turnaround when you consider the hundreds (thousands?) of videos uploaded to YouTube every day. They're cracking down, folks, and unfortunately, it may mean the end of the site as we know it. I have to admit that what first drew me to YouTube was the chance to see material from broadcast TV or film that wasn't available anywhere else. I really didn't come there to watch home movies, or parodies. But that's what YouTube will have to become if they eliminate all copyrighted material.

Is there a silver lining? Well, you can still upload your (G-rated) home movies to YouTube, which could double as a place to store your valuable memories. Perhaps this is the chance for us home-movie makers to really shine and present material that can compete with some of the best cartoons/short films out there. YouTube's crackdown may force more innovative videos, but only from those of us who are blessed with the time and desire to do it. That's not too many people. It's just easier to put on an “Electric Company” clip than it is to think of something that's just as good, and then beg your friends to help you film it. If YouTube succeeds in keeping copyrighted stuff out, it will only be a boon to those who are patient enough to create good home movies – and those who are patient enough to watch them.

The other big winners are “web bloggers” and musicians who are able to produce a lot of material that can be uploaded quickly. If the “big names” of music don't want to be on YouTube, it means the little guys may rise to the occasion. It's like what happened at the “Old Fashioned Christian Radio” site. The “big guys” go away, but the small guys take their place. It may become easier for independent artists to make a name for themselves online. It may also create more of a challenge to TV & other media to compete for our attention.

Just this morning, I was going to look at some clips of classic TV material, only to find that those clips (and the poster) were gone from YouTube. If this keeps up, I'm not going to want to visit the site anymore. Why should I when there's nothing there I want to see?

======================================================

This blog is quickly turning into the “Mister Rogers story,” but I can't resist letting you folks know about a new production in the works. A fellow named Benjamin Wagner was lucky enough to visit with Fred Rogers at his summer home on Nantucket Island. Their friendship – and a certain conversation in particular - has inspired a documentary that is scheduled for next year titled “Mr. Rogers and me.” (Apparently no relation to “Roger and me.”) Judging from the preview, this film should be something very enjoyable and a fine tribute to Fred. You can learn about the show at the site below, which has a link to a blog about the making of the production.

http://www.benjaminwagner.com/news/mrrogers.html