Time Line

Birthdays

April: 15th – Terry Grant; 30th – Kathy O'Brien Henderson.

May: 13th – Bob Valois; 14th – Dennis Kilcoyne; 29th – Brooks Henderson.

June: 8th – David Willis; 8th – Betsy Radebaugh Knight; 19th – Bob Macy.

Anniversaries

April: We do not have a record of any.

May: 11th – Bob and Irene Adams (1963); 31st – David and Donna Willis (1980).

June: 30th – Gene and Bert Vaughn (1977); 30th – Bill and Cindy Holland (1978).

If we don't have your birthday and/or anniversary listed, it's because you haven't sent it to us yet! Please do!

All Your Childhood Memories in One

Come with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. Enjoy seeing things we all experienced while growing up. How many do you remember?

TRIVIAL TOPICS

In case you haven't seen the ads, all Disney theme parks will waive your admission on your birthday throughout 2009.

There was a Friday the 13th in both February and March. The next one this year won't be until November. Friday the 13th always occurs in months when the 1st falls on a Sunday.

Ever hear of The Howland Effect? It seems Harvard Professor Carl Howland once gave two groups of students an identical newspaper editorial. He told the first group the article was from the Russian newspaper Pravda, but let the second group believe it was from the N.Y. Times The first group attacked the editorial as being full of lies and propaganda, while the second group praised it for its truth and insight.

More forgotten things from our past:
Py-Co-Pay toothpaste
Kinescope
Filling stations
Necco Wafers (still around)
The Rare Bird Farm
Fluid drive
Shell pest strips
The Dumont TV Network (home of Captain Video)
Blatz Beer (sponsors of Amos & Andy)
Heliotrope
10 inch LP's
The Bookworm
Clure Mosher
Vaseline Hair Tonic and Wildroot Cream Oil
Loffler Brothers Oyster House
Omnibus (hosted by Alistair Cooke)

Sign at a recent Detroit Auto Show: "if there were no cars, how would the world know your child/grandchild is an honor student?"

Speaking of bumper stickers, how about this one: "Honk if you love quiet."

People in the south are upset because Spell Check doesn't recognize "Y'all".

Isn't it strange that the word "phonics" begins with a "p"? And who is the practical joker who put the "s" in "lisp"?

Do you like that AT&T commercial with the cute little girl getting visual phone messages from her travelling daddy? The song they use is called "Sweet Pea", and it's by Amos Lee, from his 2006 CD "Supply And Demand". Available from Amazon.com.

Another music tip: Check out "The Mighty Handful", a group of seasoned rock&rollers reunited to redo some of the classic hits of the 50's and 60's. Produced by Elvis Presley's legendary guitarist Scotty Moore. Available through Amazon.com.

In 1932 U.S. postage stamps went from 2 cents to 3 cents, and stayed at that price 26 years, until 1958. Since then they have steadily climbed to the current 42 cents. This May 11 they go up again to 44 cents.

Signifcant events in 2009:
The 15th anniversary of Turner Classic Movies. Here's to many more years!
The 50th anniversary of the untimely deaths of rock stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (J.P.Richardson). The 50th anniversary of Motown Records.
The 60th anniversary of Nascar Racing's oldest track in Darlington, S.C.
The 80th birthday of Popeye, The Sailor Man.
The 70th anniversary of "the greatest year in movie history", celebrating the likes of "Gone With The Wind", "The Wizard Of Oz", "Stagecoach", "Gunga Din", "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington", etc. (see our newsletter #8).
The 250th anniversary of Macy's Dept. Stores.

TV - In The Beginning

An Unsung Florida Getaway

An article from the Wall Street Journal reports on a new resort in Vero Beach.
In a column called the Finicky Traveler you can read all about it by clicking on the above link.

A STUNNING SENIOR MOMENT

A self-important college freshman walking along the beach took it upon himself to explain to a senior citizen, resting on the steps, why it was impossible for the older generation to understand his generation.

"You grew up in a different world, actually an almost primitive one," the student said loud enough for others nearby to hear. "The young people of today grew up with television, jet planes, space travel, man walking on the moon. We have nuclear energy, ships and cell phones, computers with light speed...and much more."

After a brief silence, the senior citizen calmly responded as follows: "You're right, son. We had none of those things when we were young... so we invented them! Now, you arrogant little sh*t, what are you doing for the next generation?"

The applause took them both by surprise.

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