Monday, October 31, 2005

Chewing Gum Day

I remember that November 1 was notable because, as a school teacher, I had to confiscate chewing gum all day long.

Nonsense

They say I have lost my Halloween spirit just because I didn't streak the old folks home this year.

Nonsense.  Behold.

Holiday

A friend suggests the following:

And then, there is tomorrow..... I think Novemeber 1 should be a legal holiday.  Let the kids stay home and the parents deal with their sugar-induced high strung whining....

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Shall We Dance - Movie Review

Shall We Dance, 2004, with Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, and Jennifer Lopez, astounded me.  I thought I would hate it.  A businessman has a mid-life crisis -- so who cares.  And he solves it by learning to ballroom dance -- oh, come on.
But it is fascinating, yes, even the dancing. It reminded me that I was a good dancer, once, in high school, before W.W.II. I even had the ambition to at some time in my life, go to a dance in full formal, not just tux, full formal tails, pure white, like Fred Astaire. (That's laughable now, but back then, well...)
Susan has a line that brought me up short, woke me up.  She says, "We each need a witness to our lives."  We need someone to watch our successes and crises.  Wow, I thought, that's why we pair off in daily lives and online.  We need someone to be a witness to the things we are proud of, and even the pains we bear. How come I hadn't thought of that before?
Oh, and Jennifer Lopez wears a dress in the last scene that rivals the one that brought her to our attention at the Oscars or Emmys a few years back, the one that made Time and AOL pages.  And little J-Lo can act with the likes of Gere and Sarandon.
A happy surprise on a Saturday afternoon. 

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Let’s make up a game together.

Think of common expressions and products with proper names in them. . List them in comments. I’ll compile them into a super-game of  “fill in the proper name”

Here are some starters: (Drag your cursor over the blanks to see the answers.)

Jack Frost

John Doe

Jane Doe (girl)

John Q. Public

Uncle Sam

G.I. Joe

Sheriff John

Charlie’s Dead (“Your fly is open”)

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Colonel Sanders Chicken

Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix

Mrs. Butterworth’s Syrup

Mrs. Paul’s frozen fish

Johnny Reb

Dr. Scholl’s Cornplaster

Hitch old Dobbin to the Sleigh

Elleme2 adds:

A cup of Joe (coffee)

Porta-John public potty

Sara Lee cheesecake That nobody doesn't like  

Mrs. Smith's pies;  

Jim Beam whiskey brewed in a dry county so cant drink it where it is made;

   Johnny Come Lately;

   Harvey Wallbanger (mixed drink--alcoholic);  

Shirley Temple (do theystill serve those non-alcoholic drinks anywhere?-

Oscar,  Best movie award

   Emmy, Best Television award

   Edgar Best mystery writer named for author of Tell Tale Heart

Dr.  Dentons (footed pajamas);  

Roger Wilco Message received (as a WWII vet, you know that one)  

There are zillions!  Comment from elleme2 - 10/27/05 1:37 PM

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Breakfast at the Old Folks Home

When you are stuck for an entry, tell about breakfast.

I skipped the so-called pancakes. Jason, the good pancake maker, seems to be off duty today. I skipped Farina. Who eats Farina? They don't serve plain old grits anywhere west of the Mississippi or north of Dixie.

I skipped the so-called omelet they bake in a pan like a quiche and call an omelet, and they never put out enough muffins to serve everyone.  The bacon and sausage are good-- but not good for me. 

Bless me, I had orange juice, extra large, and toast - plain old toast with jam and cocoa.  The cocoa is wonderful.  Comes from a machine that whips it and serves it hot, and no one can screw it up.  The orange juice and coffee come from a machine too; this is the machine age. Juice good, coffee so-so.

I had to hunt through twenty little packages of jam to find the lone blackberry serving. One packet of blackberry and one packet of strawberry and I got 'em both. There are lots of grape and mixed fruit packets for the next guy. How come everyone skips the grape and mixed fruit?

With a little diligence one can get a good breakfast, even in an old folks home.

Then this afternoon, had a l-o-n-g nap from one to three-thirty.  Still groggy.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Wright Brothers

What do you know about the Wright Brothers, inventors of the airplane. Here are some multiple choice questions about them and their airplane. Dragging your cursor over the questions will show you the correct answer…. As if you needed the help.

Orville was older ________________________

Wilbur was older_________________________correct

They were twins__________________________

The “brothers” were actually cousins _________

 

Orville made the first flight________________CORRECT

Wilbur made the first flight________________

A chimpanzee made the first flight__________

Glenn Curtis made the first flight___________

 

Orville died in an airplane crash____________

Wilbur died in an airplane crash____________

Orville lived to see jet planes fly____________CORRECT

Wilbur lived to see jet planes fly____________

 

The first flight was in North Carolina________CORRECT

The first flight was in South Dakota_________

The first flight was in West Virginia_________

The first flight was in Akron, Ohio__________

 

The Wright Flyer never flew again__________

The Wright Flyer is in the Smithsonian______CORRECT

The Wright Flyer was named the Spirit of Saint Louis

                                                   _________

The Wright Flyer crashed and burned in 1912                                            _________

 

The first flight was over a mile_____________

The first flight was just under a mile_________

The first flight was half a mile______________

The first flight was 120 feet________________CORRECT

 

Orville was 32 when he made the first flight___CORRECT

Wilbur was 67 when he made the first flight___

The brothers were 22 on date of first fight_____

Wilbur lived to age 81____________________

 

Here are the facts>>>Wright brothers—Wilbur (1867-1912) and Orville (1871-1948)—invented and built the first successful airplane. On Dec. 17, 1903, they made the world's first flight in a power-driven, heavier-than-air machine near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. With Orville at the controls, the plane flew 120 feet (37 meters) and was in the air 12 seconds. The brothers made three more flights that day. The longest, by Wilbur, was 852 feet (260 meters) in 59 seconds.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

The Waiter - A One Act Play

WAITING

A One Act Play by Maxwell Smudgepot

Customer    Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup

Waiter:       Don’t worry, he won’t eat much

Customer   That fly is in my soup

Waiter       Shh, not so loud, sir all the customers will want one

Customer  What is the fly doing n my soup?

Waiter       I believe it is the backstroke

Customer  I can’t believe this. A fly in my soup.

Waiter      This morning he was in the gravy

Customer  Aren’t you gonna tell the cook?

Waiter      Hey, Eddie, Fuzzy is in the soup again.

Cook          That ain’t Fuzzy, Fuzzy is in the stew,

Waiter      Sir, that fly is an imposter.

Customer  Soup in a bowl please, but without a fly.

Waiter      There you are sir. Soup in a bowl without a fly

Customer  I can’t eat this soup

Waiter      Sir, there is no fly in that soup

Customer  I can’t eat it

Wairer      Why not?

Customer  Just taste it

Waiter     Well, all right. Ah, where’s your spoon?

Customer  Aha. Precisely.

Waiter      I’ll get you a spoon.

Customer Never mind. I‘ll have hot apple pie and black coffee

Waiter     Do you want that heated?

Customer Yes, please. HOT apple pie and black coffee

Waiter     Do want something to drink?

Customer Yes, please. Hot apple pie AND black coffee.

Waiter     Do you want cream and sugar with that?

Customer Hot apple pie and black coffee without cream

Waiter   Sorry, sir, we are out of cream. You’ll have to have it without milk.

Customer I have never been in a restaurant this awful.

Waiter Oh, I am sorry. I thought you had been here before

Saturday, October 22, 2005

How I Make My Invisible Ink

I have been asked How I make invisible ink.

   First I enter the whole document with the parts that I want to become invisibile still showing.

    Then I select the part I want to be invisible, and hit the text color button -- the colored A on the tool bar -- and color the text the same as the background color, in most cases, white.

    When it prints, the text become invisible against the same colored background.  When you drag the cursor over it, it becomes "highlighted", and visible.  

Example >>> Isn't that fun? <<<

Who Was That Masked Man?

Another one of those quiz games, and this one designed to drive you nuts -- cuz you know you know the answer, just can't remember it.

It is simply a list of presidental elections since WWII, with some of the names printed in invisible ink.  Your job, wrack your brain and remember the names that are blanked out.  I have even left some of the inital letters to ease your pain. As always, drag your cursor over the blanked out name to reveal it.

ELECTIONS

52 Eisenhower-Nixon beat Stevenson-Sparkman

56 Eisenhower-Nixon beat Stevenson-Kefauver

60 Kennedy-Johnson beat Nixon-Lodge

64 Johnson-Humphrey beat Goldwater-Miller

68 Nixon-Agnew beat Humphrey-Muskie

72 Nixon-Agnew beat McGovern-Shriver

76 Carter-Mondale beat Ford-Dole

80 Reagan-Bush beat Carter-Mondale

84 Reagan-Bush beat Mondale-Ferraro

88 Bush-Quale beat Dukakis-Bentsen

92 Clinton-Gore beat Bush-Quale

96 Clinton-Gore beat Dole-Kemp

2000 Bush-Cheyney beat Gore-Lieberman

04 Bush-Cheyney beat Kerry-Edwards

Searching the Dusty Files

When I am bored, I open Windows Explorer and look at my documents file.  There, in alphabetical order, is EVERYTHING, I have written and stored on the computer.  My gawd, how I ramble on, chattering to my computer and myself, Sometimes late at night.

In 2002 I spent six months in Hesperia, California, in the Mohave desert with my cousin, Bertha.  She calls her home Desertina. One night, I got up and wrote this.

DESERTINA

 

It got up to 100 today. I think it did. Mostly I stayed inside. I like to get out and roll around the garden as much as possible. I like to pick tomatoes off the vine and eat 'em right there. There are little cherry tomatoes that taste so good warm. You pop 'em in your mouth and each one makes only one bite. And there are big ones, called Early Girls, that dribble down your front when you eat 'em like apples.
And there are apples. I am a city boy. All I knew about apples is that they come from the supermarket. But here they grow on a tree. You pluck 'em right off the tree and bite into them, and there they are, real live apples. They are green and tart.
And some apples are orange and tart and tiny. They are crab apples. I never ate crab apples as a kid. Grandfather did, and now I know why. You pick 'em off the tree or pick 'em up off the ground. The ground is covered with real eatable, tiny, crab apples.... lying on the ground. The ground is covered with food.
Last month there were apricots. Next month there will be grapes. The yard is filled with food, free food.
Well, far from free. Growing things in the desert takes water, precious water. $125 worth last month.
But it was too hot to be outside very much today. But when the sun goes down, it gets cool, and a breeze comes up. And it grows quiet, and then there is free, really free, food for the soul.
It is one am now. I sit by an open window and listen to the quietness. A car goes by on Cottonwood Avenue and i can hear it as it drives on by, and on, and on... for a mile or more I can hear it. It is so quiet I can hear dogs barking half a mile away. More than one... bass barks and little yips. What are they barking at? Lizards perhaps, or ground squirrels, or cats. The moon, maybe. It is full and bright and right overhead. I saw it rising as I went to bed, and now it keeps me company from straight up.
Except for the moon, it is dark in the desert. It is quiet, and dark, and food lies on the ground and grows on vines. It is hot in the daytime and cool at night.
No wonder Bertha calls it home.

Friday, July 26, 2002

Friday, October 21, 2005

Tooth Trivia

There is nothing trivial about teeth, but here is quiz about some trivia about teeth.  As always, drag your cursor over the answers which are printed in invisible ink.

How many teeth in a full adult set?

32

How many adults have a full set?

Not many

What are the types of teeth?

Incisors, cuspids, bicuspids, molars

What the third molars called?

Wisdom teeth

Why are they called that?

Because they come in after you are adult…supposedly wise

What is a tooth “coming in” called?

Erupting

What are cares?

Cavities

What are crowns?

The tops of teeth…real or artificial

What are snakes’ teeth called?

Fangs.

What are Incisors for?

Cutting, biting

What are canine teeth for?

Tearing

What are Molars for?

Grinding

What is the hard surface called?

Enamel

What holds the teeth to the jaw?

Roots

What is an extraction?

Pulling a tooth

What are deciduous teeth called?

Baby teeth

How many deciduous teeth do you get?

24

How many “sets” of teeth do you get?

Two

Where do deciduous teeth go?

Under your pillow for the tooth fairy.

What does the tooth fairy leave?

Penny, nickel, dime, quarter, dollar, or five dollar gold piece, depending on how rich your parents are.

What is “hounds’ tooth”?

Fabric

What are you doing when you “look a gift horse in the mouth?”

Checking his teeth to see how old he is.

Why is it not good “to look a gift horse in the mouth”?

It is like looking for price tag on a present…it is rude.

Do fish have teeth?

Some do, sharks for instance.

Do clams have teeth?

No

Do hens have teeth?

No

What are “hens teeth”?

Scarce items or things there are none of. You might hear someone say, “Really good television shows are scarcer than hen’s teeth

What is Sensodyne?

Toothpaste that makes your teeth less sensitive to heat or cold.

A drop of what oil sometimes stops toothache.

I forget, but someone will remind me. Check the comments

Chuck

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

You Have Probably Wondered Why

There are no entries for past five days. I dunno why.

There are always the starter ideas of the Saturday Six, or the Sunday Seven, or "By the way's" Weekend assignment, or the Photo Scavenger Hunt, or the Round Robin, or the Photo Assignment, or the Jabber Jar. Perhaps that's the problem, knowing where to start.

Wilma took her first outing on her new scooter. I went too, to Starbucks.  Then the next day we took an adventurous ride across M and Olive streets to the Mall.  We navigated Longs drug store successfully, and decided to try Baskin and Robbins 31 Flavors Ice cream but it was crowded with people no place for two scooters.

On through the mall we went to the food court.  Wilma was oohing and ahing at her new freedom. We found a frozen yoghurt store and each got a chocolate cone. We pulled into a corner and licked as fast as we could to keep them from dripping down our sleeves. We ate so fast we got "brain freeze", that horrible pain you get when you eat ice cream too fast. We each chucked the last half away and started home.

When we got home we were greeted by new resident, Bob, who asked where he could get a haircut. "Oh,"  I said, "Wilma and I have just come from the mall.  There is a barber shop open at the far end."

"Can I walk there? How do I get there?" Bob asked.

I went with him to the sidewalk and explained the directions, but he seemed a bit uncertain, and I repeated them. He was about to depart when a caregiver came rushing toward us.

Bob said, "Oh, oh, here comes that woman.  Don't say anything. She's gonna talk me out of going." 

"He's not allowed to leave the premises," the caregiver told me.

It is ironic.  Bob is tall and stands straight and walks without any support, one of the few residents who could walk the six blocks to the barber shop, but he can't because he would get lost.

The only other resident, tall and straight, and walking unaided is Nancy, and she is already lost between her room and the dining hall.

In fact, the second most common question asked at the old folks home is "which way is my room?"  The first most common question, and the most popular topic of conversation at the dinner table, is "What day is this?"

And we argue about it.  What sense is there in arguing about the day of the week?  Either it IS Tuesday or it ISN'T, and arguing won't make any difference.

There is no sense arguing about being old, either.  Either you ARE or you AREN'T.  And we ARE.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Rerun: Name that Horse

Here's another quiz.  I name the celebrity or character, and you name his horse. The answers are written in invisible ink following the name.  Just drag your cursor over the space for the answer.

Person or character                   Horse

Roy Rogers                                Trigger

Dale Evans                             Buttercup

Hopalong Cassidy                       Topper

Gene Autry                             Champion

Lone Ranger                                Silver

Tonto                                           Scout

Wilbur Post                                Mr. Ed

Peter (Donald O’Conner)           Francis

Duchess (Pet)                   Black Beauty

Tom Mix                                        Tony

Barney Google                      Sparkplug

Extra credit:

Bill Clinton’s cat                           Socks

Pig on Green Acres                    Arnold


 

Name that Dog

Another rerun from last March: Name that dog 

I give you the name of a celebrity or character and you name his dog.  This time the answers are written in invisible ink right after the question.  Just drag your cursor over the question and the answer will appear.

Person or Character                                                     Dog

Mickey Mouse                                                             Pluto

Dagwood Bumstead                                                    Daisy

Dennis the Menace                                                      Ruff

Timmy                                                                        Lassie

Buster Brown                                                              Tige

Orphan Annie                                                            Sandy

Wendy Darling (Peter Pan)                                         Nana

Nick and Nora Charles                                                 Asta

Uncle Elby                                                              Napoleon

Martin Crane (Frazier)                                               Eddie

Lyndon Johnson                                                 Him and Her

Richard Nixon                                                         Checkers

Franklin Roosevelt                                                           Fala

Dorothy Gale (Wizard of Oz)                                         Toto

Skip, Robbie, Chip (My 3 Sons)                                    Tramp

Roy Rogers                                                                    Bullet

Our Gang                                                             Pete the Pup

Cindi, Paul Chapman                                                        Benji

Corporal Lee Duncan                                               RinTinTin

Cosmo Topper                                                                Neil

Homeward Bound Shadow, Sassy, Chance

Tomorrow, another rerun... Name that Horse.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Wilipedia and the Residents of J-Land

Oh, you wonderful fellow residents of J-Land, you know everything.  I made my silly quizzes, such as the entry below this one, filled with little tidbits from my own memory, and the collective memories of all of us together, fills the gaps.

I made lots of errors in my last lines quiz, and people who found them put corrections in the comments section.  When I make a statement that I do not remember something, someone else remembers and comments or emails me. 

It is really great that our collective memory is so much better than one individual one.  That is what makes Wikipedia so fantastic.  Here is an encyclopaedia that everyone contributes to. When you have an update or correction to an article in Wikipedia, you enter it, and it become part of the encyclopaedia.

That is how I found the grand Ferris wheel in London.  I had looked up the history of Ferris wheels, my last name being Ferris, and found not only the story of the original one in Chicago, but, in an added comment, the fact that the world's largest Ferris wheel was in London.  Then I looked that up, and found pictures of it, its construction, and a grand panorama of London, taken from the top of the wheel. I'll bet Britannica nor World Book have not included them.

On the internet I have looked up all kinds of obscure facts that I could not have found in a month's prowling of the local library.  I find lyrics of long forgotten songs, facts about bugs, and how snakes mate. I can name the weeds in the garden, stars in the big dipper, and the date of next full moon (October 17).

Hail, internet, Wikipedia, and fellow journallers.

PS  I forgot to mention, I start getting comments within MINUTES of posting an entry.  Thanks, Sylvia, Deb/

Saturday, October 8, 2005

Last lines of songs

Here  are the last lines of some songs.  Can you tell the name of the song from its last line?  The answer is printed in invisible ink right after the last line.  Just drag your cursor over the line to see it.

I know... this is a rerun, but I like it too much to let it lie fallow.

 

The home of the brave STAR SPANGLED BANNER

From sea to shining sea AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

His truth is marching on BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC

That I overlooked before FOUR CLEAF CLOVER

Let freedom ring AMERICA

And the band played on STRAWBERRY BLOND

My home sweet home GOD BLESS AMERICA

I owe my soul to the company store SIXTEEN TONS

Clippoty Clopping to the top MULE TRAIN.

With my banjo on my knee OH SUSANA

So I lost my Clementine CLEMENTINE

We will kill the old red rooster when she comes SHELL BE COMING ROUND THE MOUNTAIN

Ours will still be hot FRIENDSHIP

Betrayed by a maid in her teens DARING YOUNG MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE

On our golden wedding day PUT ON YOUR OLD GRAY BONNET

Playin on the old banjo WORKING ON THE RAILROAD

Love my baby, Deed I do FIVE FOOT TWO

Truly, Dear I LOVE YOU TRULY

Tell ya boys don’t we have fun LITTLE BROWN JUG

I do hope that doggie’s for sale HOW MUCH IS THAT DOGGIE IN THE WINDOW

Put them turnips in my soup TRICK QUESTION NO SUCH SONG

So If she’s the one, don’t let her run away april love (thanks Silk)

I’d lay me down and dee (die) ANNIE LAURIE

Spend a little time with me HEY GOOD LOOKIN

Without a love of my own BLUE MOON

Wont you please come home? BILL BAILY

King of the wild frontier DAVY CROCKETT

Wont you choo choo me home? CHATENOOGA CHOO CHOO

Just waiting for you  (I don't remember what this song was.)

Makes the world taste good CANDY MAN

Hear the wind blow TOM DOOLEY

Disturb not my slumbering fair FLOW GENTLY SWEEET AFTON

Has anybody seen my gal FIVE FOOT TWO

The old gray goose is dead GO TELL AUNT RHODY

Learning about you day by day Getting to Know you (King and I)

And I’ll give it right back to you GIMMIE A LITTLE KISS

I’ll be there ere long GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY

O’er the deep blue sea GOOD NIGHT LADIES

I hope you’re satisfied you rascal you GOODY GOODY

The skies are not cloudy all day HOME ON THE RANGE

Your golden sun will shine for me SAN FRANCISCO

Deed I do IDA, SWEET AS APPLE CIDER

None other has ever known IN THE GARDEN

You oughta see me do my stuff I’M A DING DONG DADDY FROM DUMAS

Waiting to find a little blue bird in vain I’M ALWAYS CHASING RAINBOWS

You aint no friend of mine HOUND DOG

My knapsack on my back THE HAPPY WANDERER

I’ll be waiting at the k k k kitchen door…K K K KATY

And you’ll be my queen LAVENDER BLUE

Meet me at the fair MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, LOUIS

A word that means the world to me MOTHER

Listen to the Jazz come out MUSIC GOES ROUND AND ROUND

It’s a grand old name MARY IS A GRAND OLD NAME

The One day I need a little rest NEVER ON SUNDAY

Everything’s going my way OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING

E I E I E I O OLD MACDONALD

Many long years ago THE OLD GRAY MARE

Why, oh why, can’t I? OVER THE RAINBOW

Come make your home inmy heart PEG O MY HEART

Make it mine, make it mine make it mine THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN

Like a diamond in the sky TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR

I’ll be there WHEN THE ROLL IS CALLED UP YONDER

Baa baa baa THE WHIFFENPOOF SONG

I’ll tell you mine YOU TELL ME YOUR DREAM

Wonderful feeling, wonderful day ZIP A DE DOO DAH

All the years are met in thee tonight . O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM

I think I'll marry him, though he's 83, think what wealthy widow I'll be,oh Charley my boy

Thursday, October 6, 2005

Fall in California

Valerie noted that the leaves are turning red and gold in the East and asked me if there were any signs of Fall in California.  These are the ones I noted.

  1. I caught my winter cold early, and hope it will not hang on until spring this year.  In fact I had pneumonia last winter.  

2. Hot soup with every supper.  

3. West Wing returns to TV and new shows premier  

4. Almond trees go bare and stay that way until a particular day in the spring when all bloom on the same day. (How do they know?)  

5. Here and there a tree turns golden, but palms and firs and Redwoods do not.  

6. Sun rises too far south to shine in my window at dawn, which comes at 7 am these days.  Sun sets to the south too, diving steeply down and causing NO twilight.  Dayiight to dark in short order.  

7. Ladies in San Francisco change from white to black gloves  

8. Swallows have all left La Paloma bridge, and Capistano, for South America  

9. Governor Arnold Swartzenegger starts campagning for law to make teacher tenure harder to get by two years.  

10.  Fall, in California, is mainly on the calendar

More Radio Trivia

Who's the little chatter box

The one with all the curly locks

Who can it be?

It's LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE.

 

Raise the banner high boys

Show them where we stand

We are Hudson High boys,

Known throughout the land.

JACK ARMSTRONG, THE ALL AMERICAN BOY

 

The Atlanta Journal covers Dixie like the dew,

Both near and far away

Daily it reviews

All that is the news

It will tell you what you want to know

We're telling the world that if you want

That Dixie flavor in your mouth

Tune in on Atlanta and the voice of the south

The Atlanta Journal covers dixie like the dew

And it's Hail from down in Georgia

WSB SIGN OFF JINGLE (with a couple of lines missing)

 

HELEN TRENT showed that for a woman, romance is possible at thirty five and beyond.

SHAFTER PARKER would try to expain something and fail, and someone would prompt him to "start at the beginning" and he would... saying, "When I first come to California I didn't have no saxophone... and..." But someone always stopped him there and we never got to hear how he got his saxophone

Andy's office in AMOS AND ANDY got wired backwards, and the secretary would not respond unless she was buzzed on call system.  So Andy would call, "Buzz me, Miss Blue. Now, come on in here."

Well, we used to think these things were funny.  The lines haven't changed, so I guess we have.

Saturday, October 1, 2005

Life Before Television

Yes, Karen, there was life before television.  It was called Radio... or "rad ee oh".  They had situation comedies and variety shows, though without pictures. If you are as old as I you may know the answers to these trivia questions.

1. What situation comedy always started with the announcer saying, "Y'deah?"

2. What comedian borrowed a line from burlesque and featured the question, "Do yo wanna buy a duck?"

3. What comedian kept yelling at band leader Phil Harris, "There's no such place as Do Wah Diddy."

4. Who lived at 79 Wistful Vista?

5.  Who was married to Portland Hoffa?

Just drag your mouse over the invisible answers below.

1. Amos and Andy

2. Joe Penner

3. Jack Benny

4. Fibber McGee and Molly

5. Fred Allen

One question I wanted to ask, but couldn't remember the answer to was Who played the hapless door-to-door salesman who knocked on the door and then said, "Nobody's home, I hope, I hope, I hope." 

I wracked my brain, but cannot remember, but maybe you can.

P.S  I've just been reminded, thanks to ryanagi, it was Al Pearce as Elmer Blurt.

I Have Arrived

Finally, after nearly two years of blogging, I am deemed popular enough and with readership sufficient to be worthy of bootlegging. 

Someone started posting spurious links and illicit advertising in the comments sections of my journals.  I have gone from beneath notice to being worth kidnapping.

I have removed as many as I have found, blocked them from future comments, and will report them to AOL Terms of Service, and meanwhile bask in the limelight of fame.  I've been deemed worthy of stalking.