Carnival

Flash Cube Faces

My Favorite Time of Day

One of My Favorite Sixties Sounds

Christmas Eve With Kate Smith

My Favorite Christmas Cartoon

Charlie Brown: My Favorite Blockhead

My Favorite TV Show Ever

Star Trek — The Original Series

1966-1969

Neil Armstrong: American Hero

Neil Armstrong — First Man on the Moon

"One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

Apollo 11 Moon Landing — July 20, 1969

In memory of Neil Armstrong

August 5, 1930 — August 25, 2012

Neil Armstrong Dies at Age 82 — BBC Breaking News New Story

Click on Mission Insignia

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Phyllis Diller: Pioneer Stand-Up Comic

Phyllis Diller at Retro Comic Spotlight

Phyllis Diller

July 17, 1917 — August 20, 2012

Phyllis Diller Dies at 95

Bringing It On: The Andy Griffith Show

In Memory of Andy Griffith

June 1, 1926 — July 3, 2012

a related post

Funny Books

When I was old enough to read, back in the early 1950s, I took a keen interest in reading comic books, like most American kids. And, like most American boys, I liked to read action/adventure comic books that weren't really funny. But my interest in comic books didn't stop there. I liked all kinds of comic books and got a real charge out of the "funny" ones.

Eventually, all comic books became "funny books" to me, just like I called the Sunday comics in the newspapers "the funny papers". The funny papers would make another fun topic for this blog but, right now, I want to list some of the "funny books" that I read on a regular basis. And, yep, some of them were probably for girls, but when you grow up around girls, you often read what they read and then you find out that most "funny books" were meant for everybody. Even grownups.

Rather than make this blog post a mile long by going into detail about why I liked reading these "funny books", I'll just list the ones I was able to remember reading regularly, or at least more than once. One thing the comic books or graphic novels or funny books — or whatever you want to call them — did for me was to show me the lighter side of life and the creative, fanciful side of others that made me feel good about having a big part of me that could forego reality for a spell and enjoy action, fantasy and humor. Here are some "funny books" from my youth:

DC Comics

Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Robin, Sgt. Rock, Superman, Swamp Thing

Dell Comics

Combat, Beetle Bailey, Bugs Bunny, Daffy [Duck], Donald Duck, Huckleberry Hound, Little Lulu, Tom and Jerry, [Marge's] Tubby, Tweety and Sylvester, Uncle Scrooge, Walt Disney Comics

Harvey Comics

Baby Huey, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Hot Stuff the Little Devil, Little Dot, Little Lotta, Richie Rich, Sad Sack, Spooky, Stumbo the Giant, Wendy the Good Little Witch

As you can see, the "funny books" from my past outnumber the action/adventure "comic books". But that never mattered to me. I wasn't keeping track of them. I wasn't counting them or categorizing them or looking over my shoulder to see who was watching me. I was too busy reading them. Over and over again.

Bringing It On: The Twilight Zone

My Slant on the Slinky

At a Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia in 1945, the Slinky toy made its American debut and by 1946 it was introduced to the American toy market. Developed by a naval engineer from Pennsylvania, the Slinky was basically a helical spring made of steel. In its heyday, Slinky was manufactured in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, a bustling borough seven miles south of Altoona.

The Slinky's main claim to fame as a toy was that it could go down a flight of stairs all by itself, with a little push from a kid at the top of the stairs. Other than this, the Slinky was probably the most fascinating and also the most boring toy ever produced in the 20th Century. It was eventually made of plastic, which made it cheaper, tackier and even more boring than before.

No matter how you felt about it, the Slinky toy from James Industries, Inc. was one of the most popular kid-and-gravity-powered toys in 20th-Century America, along with the baseball, football, Frisbee and the plain old rock. Now manufactured by Poof-Slinky, Inc. — a result of the 2003 merger of James Industries, Inc. and Poof Products, Inc. — the Slinky was one of the few baby-boomer toys that wasn't manufactured by Mattel, Marx or Ron Popeil (Popeil, Ronco).

Leave It To Beaver Theme Song 1957-1963

See earlier post about this Classic TV sitcom

The Great Society in 25 Words

President Lyndon Johnson's political pipe dream about ending poverty and racial injustice that was squashed by the big-business of Vietnam, Johnson's poor health and Richard Nixon.

When Guys Could Still Sing

Before the British rock invasion took America completely by storm, male rock vocalists still knew how to sing. Maybe they weren't Sinatra or Crosby or Dean Martin but these guys knew how to deliver a uniquely-styled song. That was between 1960 an 1966, before singing was edged out by hollering and screaming.

Whether or not you liked the person behind the singer or despite the fact that their style of music wasn't exactly your cup of tea, you had to admit that these guys knew how to sing. On top of that, people still knew how to write music for male crooners who represented the "other side" of the 1960's music scene. Here's a baker's dozen of songs that'll show you what I'm talking about.

1. Elvis Presley – It's Now Or Never (1960)
2. Gene Pitney – Town Without Pity (1961)
3. Elvis Presley – Such A Night (1961)
4. Elvis Presley – Suspicion (1961)
5. Del Shannon – Runaway (1961)
6. Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons – Walk Like A Man (1963)
7. Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons - Rag Doll (1964)
8. Bobby Vinton – Blue Velvet (1963)
9. Bobby Vinton – Blue Moon (1963)
10. Bobby Vinton – Mr. Lonely (1964)
11. Righteous Brothers – You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (1965)
12. Lou Christie – Lightnin' Strikes (1965)
13. Neil Diamond – Cherry, Cherry (1966)

Thank you, YouTube, for helping to keep these male rock vocalists and their unique music alive.

"The Andy Griffith Show" in 50 Words

A popular 1960's sitcom — and the best TV show ever made — about a competent but know-it-all southern sheriff who was stubborn and resistant to change, an incompetent know-it-all deputy, a town filled with stupid gossips, a cute but troublesome freckle-faced boy and the touchy, defensive aunt who helped raise him.

Why Rock Once Ruled

Although I'm a 58-year-old, over-the-hill recluse whose favorite music is jazz and big band (most of it before my time) and some classical, I'm still aware of how and why Rock music once ruled the airwaves in the 1960s and 70s.

It wasn't simply because Rock (or, Rock and Roll, if you will) was the banner music of Baby Boomers, the biggest generation in Earth's history, and that this was a generation in rebellion because of all the lies and deceit and corruption they had been born into. That was merely the catalyst. Rock music was a secret recipe for feeding the strongest human emotions of impressionable and vulnerable youths with more emotion. Rock was an addictive pabulum for the uncontrolled and seemingly uncontrollable thoughts, actions and hormones of a new generation of movers-and-shakers whose courtship with life had scarcely begun.

The formula for Rock music was to take two parts "anger", one part "personal discovery", add a dollop of "revelation about life" and a generous helping of "sex". Blend together with a driving beat, adding addictive guitar runs and tantalizing licks as you go. Sweet and sour vocals, spicy flute and exotic keyboards are optional. Bake uncovered at 98.6 degrees for about 20 years. Sprinkle with your favorite herb and serve immediately.

A Baker's Dozen*
Song Title - Artist (Release Date)

_1. Satisfaction - Rolling Stones (1965)
_2. Under My Thumb - Rolling Stones (1966)
_3. Somebody to Love - Jefferson Airplane (1967)
_4. All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix (1968)
_5. Born to Be Wild – Steppenwolf (1968)
_6. Layla - Derek and the Dominos [Eric Clapton] (1970)
_7. Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin (1970)
_8. Locomotive Breath – Jethro Tull (1971)
_9. Rock and Roll – Led Zeppelin (1971)
10. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who (1971)
11. Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress) – The Hollies (1972)
12. Barracuda – Heart (1977)
13. Heartbreaker - Pat Benatar (1979)

*These music links were chosen for audio quality, not video quality. Video images may not reflect the release date of these songs. Headphones are recommended. I apologize beforehand for links that have changed. YouTube video links are not carved in stone. I'll monitor these links as best I can. It is also recommended that you ignore the comments posted by YouTube viewers. Many of these comments are unnecessarily crude and improper for a public forum.

The Old Swimming Hole

Back in the 20th Century every rural community had a natural place for people to swim. They were called "swimming holes". Why a pool of water was ever called a "hole" was something I never understood but then I don't have to understand something in order to enjoy it.

Some swimming holes were dammed-up creeks where the water would be just over a grownup's head. Others were nothing more than a deep pool of water, often at a curve in a stream where the water flowed slowly in the summertime. Often there was a large tree shading the pool. Some of the "neatest" swimming holes were beaver dams. If you could swim with beavers and get past the smell, you were on your way to having a lot of fun.

Then there were the big community swimming holes where townspeople would get together and build a big earthen dam with bulldozers and divert a natural creek into it. A week later the dam would be full of water, sometimes ten feet deep or more at the breast of the dam. Big pipes let water in and out so that the water would never become a stagnant home for mosquitoes. The dammed-up water would usually be muddy until the following year. Then boardwalks and diving boards would be erected and sand brought in from elsewhere. A lot of people brought picnic lunches and families would spend entire afternoons at the old swimming hole.

Then along came the environmental do-gooders in the 1960s and the American swimming hole tradition went down the pipe. We were convinced by people with college degrees and new ideas about fun and health and the environment that we were stupid hicks who needed to be shown. These folks also had the elected or appointed authority to enforce the laws that other do-gooders with even more power had signed into law. Nobody could legally swim in a stream, creek or river anymore because of so-called concerns for the public health and the environment.

As a mere boy in the 1960s, I don't recall anyone being harmed by a swimming hole or a single fish being injured or killed because of a kid or a mom or a dad or even an uncle swimming in the water alongside it. But then I never understood why these same do-gooder types tore up all the rural railroad tracks in the 1960s and built concrete highways to replace them. Concrete super highways that were built at the cost of millions of acres of natural woodland and fields. Wild places that used to be homes for countless animals living in their rightful and natural environment. So much for the environmental issue there.

We were convinced by the people in power that swimming in a chlorinated concrete pool would be a lot safer for us. Herding us into big community concrete pools became mainly a public health issue when these goody-goodies realized that we weren't buying the "good for the environment" lie. At least nobody in my state gave a damn about the environment back in the 1960s. That was obvious after the interstates were built. But what they did care about was money. The bottom line.

Before the environmental and health officials let the water out of our swimming holes, we all swam for nothing. Now we all pay for the privilege of walking on blazing-hot surfaces and swimming in fake-blue water that smells like toothpaste and tastes like medicine. This is a sad but true American saga where the winners were the cash registers and the losers were everyone else.