Cashmere

a wool made from the fur of the Kashmir goat.

A few years ago my sister gave me two of her old cashmere sweaters. I had never wore cashmere before and could not believe how comfy warm it was once I put one on. Not long after that I brought two cashmere sweaters on sale at Loehmann's. About two month ago when I was up at my father-in-law's house I found Little Sally Pumpkinhead having a great time playing with one of my cashmere sweaters (She pulled it out of my open suitcase.). By the time I got it away from her she had punched a couple of holes through the shoulder. I used that mishap as an excuse to buy two more cashmere sweaters. Now I owned four six sweaters, even though I only wore three five of them since one of the two I got from my sister was not a good color on me. Then one cold night while getting ready for bed I happened to glance at the sweater I never wore and thought, "Why don't I wear it to bed?"

Let me tell you sleeping in cashmere is wonderful. As I pointed out before, it is warm and comfy but it is also gentle in a way cotton can never be. Cashmere gives when you move around and never binds you the way cotton pajamas can and it never catches on the sheets the way flannel pajamas can. When I win the lottery this will be one of the first things I buy.

Rest In Peace Gladys Horton

Gladys Horton lead singer of the Motown group The Marvelettes died last Wednesday. In remembrance of her I give you three of my favorite Marvelettes songs.

...I said, there's short ones, tall ones, fine ones, kind ones
Too many fish in the sea...

...Hear what I say, girls keep away, ah ah ah
Don't mess with Bill...

...And my number is Beechwood 4-5789
(Beechwood 4-5789)
You can call me up and have a date any old time...

(Spoken)
Listen here, girls
Take this advice, and remember always in life:

Into each heart some tears must fall
Though you love and lose, you must stand tall
'Cause we all got to cry sometimes
I said, sigh sometimes
Pull yourself together
No use crying forever

Because there's too many fish in the sea
Too many fish in the sea
I said, there's short ones, tall ones, fine ones, kind ones
Too many fish in the sea

My mother once told me something
And every word is true
Don't waste your time on a fella
Who doesn't love you
He'll only mislead you
Only grieve you
Don't worry about him
Do without him

Because there's too many fish in the sea
Too many fish in the sea
I said, there's short ones, tall ones, fine ones, kind ones
Too many fish in the sea

Well, if the fish isn't on your line
Bait your hook and keep on trying
Don't let him get you down
There's other boys around

Because there's too many fish in the sea
Too many fish in the sea
I said, there's short ones, tall ones, fine ones, kind ones
Too many fish in the sea

I don't want nobody that don't want me
'Cause there's too many fish in the sea

Ain't gonna love nobody that don't love me, now
'Cause there's too many fish in the sea

I don't need nobody that don't need me
'Cause there's too many fish in the sea

I don't want nobody that don't love me, now
'Cause there's too many fish in the sea

Don't mess with Bill
(No, no, no, no)
Don't mess with Bill
(Don't mess with Bill)
Say it one more time!
(Don't mess with Bill)

Now I know he's a guy who put tears in my eyes
A thousand times or more
Oh, but every time he would apologize
I loved him more than before

Hear what I say, girls keep away, ah ah ah
Don't mess with Bill
(No no no no, Don't mess with Bill)
Leave my Billy alone
(Don't mess with Bill)
Get a guy of your own
(Don't mess with Bill)

Now there's Johnny, there's Joe
and there's, Frank and Jim
Just to name a few
Now, Bill's got me and I've got him
I'm sure there's one for you

Hear what I say, girls keep away, ah ah ah
Don't mess with Bill
(No no no no, Don't mess with Bill)
He's mine all mine
(Don't mess with Bill)
I'll say it one more time
(Don't mess with Bill)

(musical interlude)

Though I tell myself he wants no one else
'Cause he keeps coming back to me
Now I'm in no position to want competition
I want to be sure as can be

Hear what I say, girls keep away, ah ah ah
Don't mess with Bill
(No no no no, Don't mess with Bill)
Leave my Billy alone
(Don't mess with Bill)
Get a guy of your own
(Don't mess with Bill)
'Cause he's mine all mine
(Don't mess with Bill)
I say it one more time
(Don't mess with Bill)
Hey yeah yeah yeah
(Don't mess with Bill)
Hey yeah yeah yeah

(La, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Hey-ah-ay-ay
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Oh, baby
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Hey-ah-ay-ay

You can have this dance with me
You can hold my hand and whisper in my ear sweet words
That I love to hear

(Whisper sweet words in my ear)
Oh, baby (Sweet words that I love to hear)
Don't be shy
(Don't be shy)
Just take your time
(Just take your time)
I'd like to get to know you
(Like to get to know you)
I'd like to make you mine
(Like to make you mine)

I've been waiting, sitting here so patiently
For you to come over and have this dance with me
And my number is Beechwood 4-5789
(Beechwood 4-5789)
You can call me up and have a date any old time

(La, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Hey-ah-ay-ay
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Oh, baby
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Hey-ah-ay-ay

Don't be shy
(Don't be shy)
Just take your time
(Just take your time)
I'd like to get to know you
(Like to get to know you)
I'd like to make you mine
(Like to make you mine)

Beechwood 4-5789

You can call me up and have a date any old time

And my number is Beechwood 4-5789
(Beechwood 4-5789)
You can call me up and have a date any old time

Beechwood 4-5789
(Beechwood 4-5789)
You can call me up and have a date any old time

New York Times obituary here.

Sky King

Out of the clear blue of the western sky comes Sky King.
-Opening line from Sky King

Another half hour show but this time from NBC. Sky King was right up there with Sea Hunt as one of my favorite shows from my childhood. Back in August I wrote a short post about the show after the death of one of its actors, Gloria Winters. It mainly consisted of the following paragraph:

One of my first women role models was a teenage girl named Penny King, niece of pilot and rancher "Sky" King. Penny was brave, resourceful and, the thing I admired most, a pilot herself. I envied that ability and the fact that she got to fly the Songbird, Sky's Cessna T-50 Bobcat or Cessna 310B, depending on which episode you were watching. She, along with Amelia Earhart, sparked my interest in aviation.

That above paragraph tells you all you need to know about why I loved this show. I would change that last sentence though, Penny and Amelia Earhart didn't spark my interest in aviation they just showed me that girls could be pilots too. I already loved airplanes and Sky King had two cool ones.

Sky's Cessna T-50 Bobcat

Sky's Cessna 310B

I watched the below episode yesterday and I still got the thrill of excitement I always felt as a child whenever the Songbird was in a scene. This episode stars the 310B, an aircraft with fuel tanks (called tip tanks) on the ends of the wings, In a nice bit of symmetry the 310B was Cessna's first two engine metal aircraft and a replacement for the wooden T-50.



So, what do all the shows this week have in common? Means of escape; the highway, under water, and in the air. They also have strong men, men who knew how to take care of people and keep them safe. Chief Matthews, Mike Nelson, Clark Kent and Sky King were father figures to me. They were my ideal fathers, the ones who made me feel safe when my own father could not.

The Adventures Of Superman

Faster than a speeding bullet.
Opening line from The Adventures of Superman

What do you know another syndicated half hour show. Are you beginning to see a pattern here? The Adventures of Superman (a.k.a. Superman) was first produced as a 67 minute movie called Superman and the Mole Men and released to theaters in 1951. It did so well the producers decided to turn it into a television series with Superman and the Mole Men making up the first two episodes. I don't remember seeing Mole Men on television but this may be because when I was a child reruns were not shown in order and the two episodes seen on their own would not have make much sense.

I did see Mole Men at around age 10 at the Aurora Fox Saturday Kiddie Matinee and I understand now just how much a child's imagination fills in the empty spaces of movie magic. Those mole men creeped me out as a child but I can instantly tell now that they are just actors wearing bald men caps, very bushy eyebrows and dressed in dark faux lambs wool pajamas.

Scheduling episodes out of order meant that you never knew which Lois Lane you would be seeing each day. Phyllis Coates was Lois Lane in Mole Men and during the first year of the series. Noel Neill took over at the start of the second year and played Lois for the rest of the series run. A interesting thing is the difference between the Phyllis Coates Lois Lane and the Noel Neill Lois Lane. Phyliss Coates' Lois was a women while Noel Neill's Lois was a girl. This may be because Superman was first produced as a show for adults but when it became a hit with children the violence was toned down and both Superman and Lois Lane became more children friendly.

Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane

Noel Neill as Lois Lane

Phyllis Coates was my favorite Lois Lane. Her Lois was strong and dressed in a post World War II style suit that consisted of tight jacket over a narrow pencil skirt that stopped at mid calf. She looked like a woman who could take care of herself. Noel Neill was more girlie and as the series progressed her clothes reflected this. You can go here to see a preview of the 1953 season of Superman with clips of Noel Neill as Lois Lane but since Phyllis Coates was my favorite Lois the episode below is one with her playing the part.

Oh, and since this is a Google video there are no commercials.

Sea Hunt

By this time, my lungs were aching for air.
-Lloyd Bridges

Sea Hunt was another one of those syndicated programs that I watched as a child. In fact, a lot of the programs I watched as a child were syndicated programs. I am sure this was because syndicated shows cost much less than network shows. Remember, this was back when Denver only had five television channels; ABC, NBC, CBS, NET (National Educational Television, predecessor of PBS), and KWGN, an independent channel. As an independent station KWGN had a lot of air time to fill using a smaller budget than the network channels.  Syndicated shows or repeats of syndicated shows were the only way to go.

Sea Hunt starred Lloyd Bridges as professional SCUBA diver Mike Nelson. Mike did savage work, rescue work, and hunted down criminals. He also dived alone which is a major no-no in the skin diving world but, hey, as we all know the rules don't apply to television heroes.

Lloyd Bridges is as some of you know the father of actors Jeff and Beau Bridges and one of the perks of being the sons of an actor with a hit show is that you get to be in the show yourself. In this episode 9 year old Jeff Bridges plays a young boy who has to be rescued by Mike Nelson after he and his sister become trapped in an underwater cave. In another bit of nepotism Lloyd Bridges' wife and Jeff's mother plays the part of the children's mother. Fair warning, this is a Hulu.com download so there will be commercials.

Highway Patrol

Ten-four!
-Broderick Crawford

Jack LaLanne's death got me thinking about other TV programs I watched as a child. A lot of them were programs not produced by the three major broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) but one's that were syndicated. Syndicated shows were sold by their makers directly to individual television stations. Each episode of Highway Patrol, like most of these syndicated programs, was a half hour long. The show starred actor Broderick (All The King's Men, Born Yesterday) Crawford as Chief Dan Matthews. What the head of the Highway Patrol was doing running around chasing criminals was never explained.

Highway Patrol opened with an overhead shot of a 1954 Lincoln Capri convertible heading down a highway toward a Highway Patrol roadblock. Funny thing, I remember Broderick Crawford as being there but I see now that this is not true. Each episode ended with Crawford giving a safety tip, the episode below ends with Crawford saying, "Until then (next week's show), remember, the clowns at the circus, they're real funny, but on the highway, they're murder."

One of the greatest pleasures you can get from watching these old shows is recognizing a future star in a small part. This episode , Motorcycle, is no exception. Since I downloaded this video from hulu.com you will have to sit through a couple of commercials but stick with it, it's worth it just to see a major film star and director at the beginning of his career. He shows up about 2:35 minutes into the program.

Jack LaLanne

I don't care how old I live; I just want to be LIVING while I am living!
Jack LaLanne


Jack LaLanne one of the first physical fitness instructors on television died yesterday at age ninety-six. I remember watching Jack as a child during summer vacations and whenever I was home sick from school. On the screen, in fuzzy black and white, would be a good looking man dressed in a one piece, short sleeved, jumpsuit wearing ballet slippers. He did his exercises on an almost bare studio set using only a kitchen chair or a broom. Music and sound effects were provided by an offstage organ. My favorite effect was the organ player's interpretation of what deep breathing sounds like.

As he made his way through the workout routine I could not keep my eyes off those slippers. Why was he wearing them and how did he keep them on? I can see now that the shoes had a strap on them but when I was young that was not so obvious to me. One of life's mysteries solved.

Below is the beginning of one of Jack LaLanne's shows. This would be sometime between 1959 and 1969 which makes Jack somewhere between 45 and 55 years old.



(His New York Times obituary is here.)

Look, Squirrel!

Mixed media (glass and drool) by Little Sally Pumpkinhead
Click on photo to enlarge.

Anthony Weiner Is My Hero

"Ladies and gentleman, pick your side."  
-US Congressman Anthony Weiner

In a "symbolic" (their word, not mine)  gesture the Republican members of the House of Representatives hued the party line and voted to repeal Health Care Reform even though they know they cannot get this bill approved by the Democratic held Senate. The bill must be approved by both houses before it can go into effect and  this vote is just another example of the Republicans smoke and mirrors tactics.  Their motto has always been, "If we say it's true, it is true."

As you know, the Republican Party's animosity toward this bill, referred by them as Obamacare, has been almost rabid with phrases like "socialized medicine" and "death panels" being thrown around like  Mardi Gras beads. Remember, the Party motto is, "If we say it's true, it is true."

Well, yesterday a Democratic Congressman from New York's 19th District Anthony Weiner called them out on their lies during the debate about the repeal bill and he did it beautifully- saying at one point:

There have basically been three formations of the argument by the Republicans. First, they start by making things up, you kind of have to wonder if any of them actually read the bill..."130,000 new agencies" - NOT TRUE. "New IRS agents" - NOT TRUE. "Death Panels" - NOT TRUE. "Members aren't covered" - NOT TRUE. "No Tort Reform in it" - NOT TRUE. You know, I want to just advise people watching at home playing that now popular drinking game of "you take a shot whenever Republicans say something that is not true," please assign a designated driver, this is going to be a long afternoon!

 Enjoy the full speech below.

It's One Of Those Dreary January Days

Time to mellow out and listen to one of those groovy drug songs from the sixties. This time it is Paper Cup by The 5th Dimension:

Here inside my paper cup
Everything is lookin' up
No one comes in, no one goes out
Nothin' to get hung up about

I'm free and it's so easy to get by
'Cause I don't try

In my paper cup, I have installed
A shower stall across the hall
Running water and a den
It's looking just like home again

I'm free and I've installed refrigerated air

You'd have to look inside
Before you know that I was there

And everybody says I'm quite insane
And someday I'll be going down the drain
I know they're right (but I don't care)
I feel no pain

(music interlude)

Here inside my paper cup
Everything is lookin' up
No one goes out, no one comes in
It's lookin' just like home again

I'm free and it's so easy to get
The things I've always wanted
'Cause I don't really want 'em anymore

An' living ain't so bad without a rudder
An' life is kinda groovy in the gutter
If you know how, (and I do)
Yeah, and I do, (we do too)

So if you'd like to come along
We'll sing a little paper song
About a lonely paper plate
Who couldn't find a paper mate

I'm free, yes I'm free

And my life is lookin' up
From inside my paper cup
And I'm always lookin' up
From inside my paper cup
And my life is lookin' up
From inside my paper cup
And I'm always lookin' up
From inside my paper cup

BJ And The Bear 2

Remember this photo of my husband and the bear?

They ran into each other again.

Martin Luther King Day

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

Things I Truly Like

TGIF

Because We All Need A Cute Puppy Photo Right Now

Blood Libel

-False charge that Jews use the blood of Christian children in certain religious rituals.

After being missing in action for four days Sarah Palin has finally commented on the Tucson shooting in a presidential speech she uploaded to her Facebook page. The timing of this video is suspect since it is deliberately being released the morning of President Obama's planned speech in Tucson. I am sure this was done in order to deflect attention away from him. Even during a public tragedy sticking it to your political rival is more important to some people than any sincere expression of sympathy.

I think what I disliked the most about the speech is the fact that it is glaring clear that Palin did not write it herself and that whoever did so was trying to get away from that folksy signature style of hers. Using words like apportion, purport, apolitical, discourse, pretext, cordial,and stifle along with phrases like, our Republic’s core values, bittersweet irony, acts of monstrous criminality, sacred charter of liberty, and blood libel, is, in a phrase used by Palin herself, like putting lipstick on a pig.

That phrase, blood libel, is part of this statement,..journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. I find it a very riveting phrase since whoever put it in the speech decided that "blood libel" is equivalent to cause and effect. Blood libel is a highly charged phrase and the use of it in this speech is appalling. Have you no shame Ms. Palin? At long last have you no shame?

I guess not. For awhile there I was actually sympathetic toward her because I thought her silence was due to the fact that she had her own stalker to deal with and that she had finally decided her own safety, and her family's safety, were more important than any political ambitions on her part.  In the end she is nothing but a puppet for the the far right.

Pull the string and I'll wink at you
I'm your puppet
I'll do funny things if you want me to
I'm your puppet

I'm yours, to have and to hold
Darling, you've got full control
Of your puppet

Pull another string and I'll kiss your lips
I'm your puppet
Snap your fingers and I'll turn you some flips
I'm your puppet

Your every wish is my command
All you got to do is wiggle your little hand
I'm your puppet
I'm your puppet

I'm just a toy, just a funny boy
That makes you laugh when you're blue
I'll be wonderful, do just what I'm told
I'll do anything for you
I'm your puppet
I'm your puppet

Just pull them little strings and I'll sing you a song
I'm your puppet
Make me do right, or make me do wrong
I'm your puppet

Treat me good, and I'll do anything
I'm just a puppet, and you hold my string
I'm your puppet

Your walking, talking, kissing, loving puppet
I'm hanging on a string
I'll do anything

Love you 'n' kiss ya
(unintelligible)

Brrrrrr!

We seem to be the only water source in our neighborhood.

Winter Ornaments

Coffee Klatch

You Looking At Me?

Dusting Myself Off

Four long months, two fast weeks. Four months ago tomorrow my father-in-law entered the hospital and two weeks ago tomorrow he died. I know the last two weeks passed rapidly for me because so many things had to be done quickly. This included two memorial services, one in Fort Collins and one in Denver, as my father-in-law lived in Fort Collins for only the last eight years of his life and in Denver for decades before that.

Something happened during the Fort Collins memorial which will stay with me even though I did not witness it. My father-in-law's World War II uniform jacket, along with the American burial flag he received for being a war veteran, lay on the steps leading up to the altar. When the services ended we, the family, were led out of the sanctuary and then the other mourners followed. One older man did not follow but headed toward the altar and when he got there he stood at attention in front of the uniform and saluted. Two other older men saw this and one at a time they also walked up to the altar, stood at attention, and saluted. It was a wonderful gesture that causes me to tear up as I write about it now.

The memory that will stay with me from the second service again happened after the service was over. The second service was shorter and ended with my husband's father's ashes being interned with his mother's ashes at the family church in Denver. We the family were the only people still there when the crypt was sealed and the old memorial stone replaced. My husband's sister-in-law read the old stone and said she had not remembered that her mother-in-law had died on Halloween. The man who had resealed the crypt and replaced the stone said his mother had died on Halloween, too. Then we discovered, not only had his mother died on Halloween, she had died the same night as my mother-in-law. As you can imagine, this bit of information caused us to pause and wonder just who brought us all together so many years later.

So, live is slowly returning to...I was going to write the word normal but death is a normal part of life so I won't. My life is slowly returning to the rhythms it operated at before my father-in-law's illness and death. My memories of him are now embedded in the fabric of my life which means, although he is physically gone, he will always be a part of me. I feel honored to have known him.

Today is Twelfth Night or Epiphany

Come, they told me
Pa rum pum pum pum,
A new born King to see
Pa rum pum pum pum

Our finest gifts we bring
Pa rum pum pum pum,
To lay before the King
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum

So to honor Him
Pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.

Baby Jesus
Pa rum pum pum pum,
I am a poor boy too
Pa rum pum pum pum

I have no gift to bring
Pa rum pum pum pum,
That's fit to give our King
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum

Shall I play for you
Pa rum pum pum,
On my drum?

Mary nodded
Pa rum pum pum pum,
The ox and lamb kept time
Pa rum pum pum pum

I played my drum for Him
Pa rum pum pum,
I played my best for Him
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum

Then He smiled at me
Pa rum pum pum pum,
Me and my drum.

Happy New Year!

Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

And there's a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o thine,
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!