It's been four week since I've been able to go to the gym. Work has been more intense than normal, and the few hours I have each night on rough days are better spent with the family. But I do so love going to the gym. I love the way I feel afterwards, I love feeling like I'm physically more capable than I was ten years ago. And I love listening to Jack Benny on the treadmill.
Today's experience was another view of history through entertainment. Jack and crew had an annual tradition of putting on a play on New Year's Eve. Jack would play the outgoing year, they would get a child actor to play the incoming year, Don Wilson would play the World. Phil Harris would play Uncle Sam. Mary Livingston would play Columbia. And they would talk about the outgoing year and what they'd like to see in the incoming year. As you can imagine, it was current and topical when the enormously popular radio show would first air these episodes. Today, it's a lesson in learning history from the viewpoint of those actually living in it. Like a time machine.
The episode was from December 31st, 1950. And I found this exchange particularly interesting:
Columbia: "Say, World, you don't look too happy."
World: "Well,,, I haven't been feeling so well lately. You remember how sick I was from 1914 to 1918?"
Uncle Sam: "Uh huh."
World: "And then I had a relapse from 1939 to 1945."
1950: "Yup. I heard about it but I thought you were all over that."
World: "A few months ago I suddenly developed a big pain around my 38th parallel."
(Laughter)
Columbia: "Well, why don't you go see a doctor?"
World: "I did and he knew what was wrong with me as soon as he took my blood count. Too many red cells."
(Laughter, applause)
From there, Jack and crew in their guises as the state of affairs at the end of 1950 take a peak into the U.N. and see the Russian dignitary addressing the assembly and seeming very foolish in his criticism of the American way of life.
The 38th Parallel line is, of course, a reference to the Korean War, which had started in June of 1950.
I've never really understood the red scare. I know the facts, but my mind always likens it to the Salem Witch hunts, McCarthyism, and Dr Wertham's war on comics. I'm annoyed at the thought that we have to denounce and vilify any other way of life that's different than the way of life we choose to live as Americans. We're the "reds" also denouncing and villifying the American way of life? I've read that they were. I know I'm oversimplifying things, and living here in 2013 will never give me the perspective of those living in 1950. But when I read about the red scare it just seems we were so pumped by defeating the obvious villain that Hitler presented that we were just looking for the next heroic act we could find to perform.
We were trying to make the Russians villains. The Russians were trying to make us villains. Where's James Bond to help clarify things?
Star Trek tries to teach us "IDIC". Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. And as a child of the seventies, Star Trek played a huge role in my moral development. Is it my perception that's skewed?
Here in 2013, America's enemies are performing acts of terror on us because they don't like our way of life and think we should live more like them. The very idea disgusts me.
And now things have gotten entirely too serious and my head hurts. I'm off to read a comic book from 1976.
Thanks,
DCD
Showing posts with label Jack Benny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jack Benny. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Radio Shows, Comedies, the Gym, and Stillness of Mind
I'm on record quite clearly as loving old time radio shows. Jack Benny being my hands-down favorite. So much so, in fact, that when I went to load the 1950 'season' of Jack Benny on my iPod, I freaked out a little when I realized I only had three seasons left of the show.
So? What's the big deal? It's my favorite radio show, sure. But there is a ton of radio show material available to me through my membership with RUSC.com. So much that I can move on to something else for my gym time on the treadmill. Not only that, but there's my newfound love of podcasts to consider as well. So what's the problem?
Most people have to listen to music when running or doing their cardio. For Lorie, it's the beat that helps her maintain a pace. I completely understand that, as I feel running is much easier with music. It's just that I love the radio shows so much and my commute isn't long enough to support everything I want to listen to. So the cardio machines are where I do the radio shows.
Years ago when I first started going to the gym, I would rotate through several different radio shows. Jack Benny, George and Gracie, the Great Gildersleeves, Inner Sanctum, the Shadow, Blackstone the Magician, Superman, Flash Gordon, and Tarzan. Something quickly became apparent to me. I'm just not paying attention to the story! When I'm on the elliptical or treadmill or stationary bike, I'm having difficulty keeping my attention focused on the radio show and not letting my mind wander to the thousands of things that clamor for it's attention all day long.
The comedy shows are quick, funny, interactive, and don't rely on a complete plot. It's easier to listen to them than it is the Shadow or Superman. I was shocked at this information. If you had asked me then what my favorite show was, I would have said the Shadow without hesitation. But when I'm sweating through thirty minutes of movement on a machine, I just don't pay attention to the story.
So Jack and his crew work their show in such a way as that you feel you're hanging out with friends. And if your attention wanders for a few minutes, you can snap back without really having missed anything important.
I wonder if this is an increasing problem in our culture or just for me in my age. I much prefer sitcoms right now, because I feel I have too much to do to sit in front of the TV for an hour long drama. I've got writing, reading, collection tinkering, and dozens of projects I would rather be working on then sitting in front of the TV forcing myself to watch an hour of anything. It's a new problem. I think my mind has become busy to the point of being unable to sit still.
I've been implementing a plan for this at the gym, coincidentally enough. If you're running, you start out with a slow, short pace and work your way from there. So I'm taking the same tact with mind exercises.
After thirty minutes on the treadmill, I usually move to fifteen minutes on the elliptical or stationary bike. So I've loaded the iPod with the Superman radio show. It's a short show, only about ten minutes per episode. And I challenge myself to stay focused on the show while maintaining my pace. I try to keep my eyes on a blank spot on the wall, and I start the exercise with a pace-setting piece of music and then move into the radio show. I mentally 'table' any thought that comes along that tries to vie for my attention. It's been working so far. I've followed through ten episodes with only minor incidents of mind-wandering.
What I really need to do is work out a system for relaxing at home. The days are starting to slide by too quickly. I'm not reading enough, writing enough, or not spending enough time sitting in the yard in Spring doing nothing. And there are some good shows out there that I want to watch. I just need to implement a process to 'still' my mind.
Maybe alcohol is the answer!!!
Thanks,
DCD
So? What's the big deal? It's my favorite radio show, sure. But there is a ton of radio show material available to me through my membership with RUSC.com. So much that I can move on to something else for my gym time on the treadmill. Not only that, but there's my newfound love of podcasts to consider as well. So what's the problem?
Most people have to listen to music when running or doing their cardio. For Lorie, it's the beat that helps her maintain a pace. I completely understand that, as I feel running is much easier with music. It's just that I love the radio shows so much and my commute isn't long enough to support everything I want to listen to. So the cardio machines are where I do the radio shows.
Years ago when I first started going to the gym, I would rotate through several different radio shows. Jack Benny, George and Gracie, the Great Gildersleeves, Inner Sanctum, the Shadow, Blackstone the Magician, Superman, Flash Gordon, and Tarzan. Something quickly became apparent to me. I'm just not paying attention to the story! When I'm on the elliptical or treadmill or stationary bike, I'm having difficulty keeping my attention focused on the radio show and not letting my mind wander to the thousands of things that clamor for it's attention all day long.
The comedy shows are quick, funny, interactive, and don't rely on a complete plot. It's easier to listen to them than it is the Shadow or Superman. I was shocked at this information. If you had asked me then what my favorite show was, I would have said the Shadow without hesitation. But when I'm sweating through thirty minutes of movement on a machine, I just don't pay attention to the story.
So Jack and his crew work their show in such a way as that you feel you're hanging out with friends. And if your attention wanders for a few minutes, you can snap back without really having missed anything important.
I wonder if this is an increasing problem in our culture or just for me in my age. I much prefer sitcoms right now, because I feel I have too much to do to sit in front of the TV for an hour long drama. I've got writing, reading, collection tinkering, and dozens of projects I would rather be working on then sitting in front of the TV forcing myself to watch an hour of anything. It's a new problem. I think my mind has become busy to the point of being unable to sit still.
I've been implementing a plan for this at the gym, coincidentally enough. If you're running, you start out with a slow, short pace and work your way from there. So I'm taking the same tact with mind exercises.
After thirty minutes on the treadmill, I usually move to fifteen minutes on the elliptical or stationary bike. So I've loaded the iPod with the Superman radio show. It's a short show, only about ten minutes per episode. And I challenge myself to stay focused on the show while maintaining my pace. I try to keep my eyes on a blank spot on the wall, and I start the exercise with a pace-setting piece of music and then move into the radio show. I mentally 'table' any thought that comes along that tries to vie for my attention. It's been working so far. I've followed through ten episodes with only minor incidents of mind-wandering.
What I really need to do is work out a system for relaxing at home. The days are starting to slide by too quickly. I'm not reading enough, writing enough, or not spending enough time sitting in the yard in Spring doing nothing. And there are some good shows out there that I want to watch. I just need to implement a process to 'still' my mind.
Maybe alcohol is the answer!!!
Thanks,
DCD
Monday, March 18, 2013
Jack Benny and Senator McCarthy
When I first started this blog, my rough, informal mission statement was to explore what we could learn about our history and culture by looking at pop culture from previous decades. It's probably what I love best about listening to radio shows, watching old movies, and reading old comics.
Today at the gym I almost fell off the treadmill when Jack Benny made a crack about Senator Joe McCarthy.
Senator McCarthy is famous for his witchhunt-style brand of exposing communists in the United States government. It was called 'McCarthyism'. I'm very familiar with McCarthy and his effect on the 1950's. Maybe not because of what he did directly, but what he did indirectly. It was suddenly okay to attack anything which was perceived as un-American. Without first clearly defining what being American was. I view it as a dark, ignorant time in our nation's past. It's because of McCarthyism that Dr. Frederick Wertham was able to attack and cripple the comic book industry with poorly researched facts and a poorly written book. And it's because of the influence of McCarthy that the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was able to attack Hollywood and get the practice of blacklisting started up again.
Which is one of the reasons I was surprised to hear Jack mention McCarthy.
It was the April 16th, 1950 episode. Jack was going down into his basement vault for some money. A reoccurring bit that involves Jack's security guard, Ed, who hasn't seen the light of day in decades. Jack asks Ed to turn around while he works the combination lock. Ed asks Jack if he'd like him to "recite an oath of loyalty". Jack says "No, Ed, Senator McCarthy hasn't listed you yet."
The studio audience loved it.
This struck me as odd for several reasons. My first thought was that it was just too close to home. Why poke the bear that's indirectly responsible for Hollywood blacklisting? My second thought was how odd it was to hear Jack Benny mention politics.
But this was me jumping to mid-treadmill-based conclusions. First, Jack wasn't getting political. Like comedians of today, he was merely being topical. Senator McCarthy made a speech in Wheeling, WV in February of 1950 that made reference to a list he had of employees in the State Department that were communist sympathizers. According to the minimal research I've done, that's what got the McCarthy witch hunt ball rolling. And it must have been a really big deal in the minds of the American public for Jack to make the joke in April of that same year and the audience to have such a big reaction to it.
As for HUAC, that madness wasn't to start until 1951. So at the time Jack made the joke, he didn't know he had anything to worry about. He wasn't "poking the bear", he was "referencing the public figure".
I obviously feel very strongly about Senator McCarthy and what happened back then. And I've read a lot about that particular time period. But this is the first time I've stumbled onto it through the pop culture of the time. I wasn't expecting it from Jack Benny. Hence my treadmill stumbling and recovery. Just thank goodness that this time I recovered.
Thanks,
DCD
Today at the gym I almost fell off the treadmill when Jack Benny made a crack about Senator Joe McCarthy.
Senator McCarthy is famous for his witchhunt-style brand of exposing communists in the United States government. It was called 'McCarthyism'. I'm very familiar with McCarthy and his effect on the 1950's. Maybe not because of what he did directly, but what he did indirectly. It was suddenly okay to attack anything which was perceived as un-American. Without first clearly defining what being American was. I view it as a dark, ignorant time in our nation's past. It's because of McCarthyism that Dr. Frederick Wertham was able to attack and cripple the comic book industry with poorly researched facts and a poorly written book. And it's because of the influence of McCarthy that the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was able to attack Hollywood and get the practice of blacklisting started up again.
Which is one of the reasons I was surprised to hear Jack mention McCarthy.
It was the April 16th, 1950 episode. Jack was going down into his basement vault for some money. A reoccurring bit that involves Jack's security guard, Ed, who hasn't seen the light of day in decades. Jack asks Ed to turn around while he works the combination lock. Ed asks Jack if he'd like him to "recite an oath of loyalty". Jack says "No, Ed, Senator McCarthy hasn't listed you yet."
The studio audience loved it.
This struck me as odd for several reasons. My first thought was that it was just too close to home. Why poke the bear that's indirectly responsible for Hollywood blacklisting? My second thought was how odd it was to hear Jack Benny mention politics.
But this was me jumping to mid-treadmill-based conclusions. First, Jack wasn't getting political. Like comedians of today, he was merely being topical. Senator McCarthy made a speech in Wheeling, WV in February of 1950 that made reference to a list he had of employees in the State Department that were communist sympathizers. According to the minimal research I've done, that's what got the McCarthy witch hunt ball rolling. And it must have been a really big deal in the minds of the American public for Jack to make the joke in April of that same year and the audience to have such a big reaction to it.
As for HUAC, that madness wasn't to start until 1951. So at the time Jack made the joke, he didn't know he had anything to worry about. He wasn't "poking the bear", he was "referencing the public figure".
I obviously feel very strongly about Senator McCarthy and what happened back then. And I've read a lot about that particular time period. But this is the first time I've stumbled onto it through the pop culture of the time. I wasn't expecting it from Jack Benny. Hence my treadmill stumbling and recovery. Just thank goodness that this time I recovered.
Thanks,
DCD
Friday, December 28, 2012
Robin Hood
When sitting here writing and thinking about characters that have been able to transcend through the decades, I've been remiss in mentioning Robin Hood. Yet another character whose story gets told and re-told and re-imagined for new audiences constantly.
My first introduction to Robin Hood, and for many years my only knowledge of the character, was from the 1973 Disney movie that used anthropomorphic animals as the characters. Robin Hood, most fittingly, was a fox.
We recently bought the movie as a Christmas gift for Brynn, my friend Steve's daughter. She also happens to be my six-year-old son Alex's girlfriend, but that's a blog for another day. The acquisition, wrapping, and giving of the gift had the movie high in my thoughts. And I recently watched it again with my own kids.
I must have seen the movie as a child sometime in 1974, as it released in late November 1973. But this was at a time when the only option for seeing movies was in the theater. There were no digital releases or DVD's or VHS tapes for me to play the movie over and over again to become so familiar with it. Instead, I learned the movie so well from yet another Christmas gift early in life.
I had a copy of this record featuring 'songs and stories' from the movie. I must have played it a dozen times and memorized the artwork from the storybook. I had many records that constituted songs and stories from another source. Most notably Power Records that would re-hash super hero adventures. This form of childhood entertainment is one of the mediums that has been made completely obsolete by advancements in technology. Why listen to a record while reading along with the story when you can get the actual movie on your Apple TV months after the release?
To me, if you were going to go Disney, Robin Hood was the most manly way to do it. He was an adventurer, a fighter for justice. It was something I could wrap my head around. Peter Pan seemed to be a shiftless layabout that was only spurned into action for selfish reasons. Robin Hood did the right thing no matter the personal consequences and for no gain of his own.
In re-watching the movie I got a few surprises in the cast. As I was watching the opening credits, Andy Devine was listed as the voice of Friar Tuck. This was a surprise because I was familiar with Devine's jarringly scratchy voice from early episodes of the Jack Benny show. In the late 1930's, early 1940's, Andy Devine was a semi-regular on the show. So seeing him here was a pleasant surprise.
But then, while doing some looking into the history of the movie, I found something I hadn't noticed in the initial credits. Phil Harris played Robin's right hand bear Little John! Phil Harris was Jack Benny's band leader for many many years. Even going on to marry Alice Fey, earn a radio show of his own, and become a comedian in his own right. Having become familiar with Phil Harris in my adulthood, I was floored to learn that he was the distinctive voice of a childhood favorite.
Robin Hood joins the ranks of Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, and Superman as a character that gets reinterpreted many different ways for many different audiences. He's become an eternal, iconic piece of our shared culture and even stretches this sharing past American shores. But despite the movies, books, comics, and TV shows, when someone mentions the character this is the version that comes to my mind.
It really is the things that hit us in our childhood that form us as adults.
Thanks,
DCD
My first introduction to Robin Hood, and for many years my only knowledge of the character, was from the 1973 Disney movie that used anthropomorphic animals as the characters. Robin Hood, most fittingly, was a fox.
We recently bought the movie as a Christmas gift for Brynn, my friend Steve's daughter. She also happens to be my six-year-old son Alex's girlfriend, but that's a blog for another day. The acquisition, wrapping, and giving of the gift had the movie high in my thoughts. And I recently watched it again with my own kids.
I must have seen the movie as a child sometime in 1974, as it released in late November 1973. But this was at a time when the only option for seeing movies was in the theater. There were no digital releases or DVD's or VHS tapes for me to play the movie over and over again to become so familiar with it. Instead, I learned the movie so well from yet another Christmas gift early in life.
I had a copy of this record featuring 'songs and stories' from the movie. I must have played it a dozen times and memorized the artwork from the storybook. I had many records that constituted songs and stories from another source. Most notably Power Records that would re-hash super hero adventures. This form of childhood entertainment is one of the mediums that has been made completely obsolete by advancements in technology. Why listen to a record while reading along with the story when you can get the actual movie on your Apple TV months after the release?
To me, if you were going to go Disney, Robin Hood was the most manly way to do it. He was an adventurer, a fighter for justice. It was something I could wrap my head around. Peter Pan seemed to be a shiftless layabout that was only spurned into action for selfish reasons. Robin Hood did the right thing no matter the personal consequences and for no gain of his own.
In re-watching the movie I got a few surprises in the cast. As I was watching the opening credits, Andy Devine was listed as the voice of Friar Tuck. This was a surprise because I was familiar with Devine's jarringly scratchy voice from early episodes of the Jack Benny show. In the late 1930's, early 1940's, Andy Devine was a semi-regular on the show. So seeing him here was a pleasant surprise.
But then, while doing some looking into the history of the movie, I found something I hadn't noticed in the initial credits. Phil Harris played Robin's right hand bear Little John! Phil Harris was Jack Benny's band leader for many many years. Even going on to marry Alice Fey, earn a radio show of his own, and become a comedian in his own right. Having become familiar with Phil Harris in my adulthood, I was floored to learn that he was the distinctive voice of a childhood favorite.
Robin Hood joins the ranks of Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, and Superman as a character that gets reinterpreted many different ways for many different audiences. He's become an eternal, iconic piece of our shared culture and even stretches this sharing past American shores. But despite the movies, books, comics, and TV shows, when someone mentions the character this is the version that comes to my mind.
It really is the things that hit us in our childhood that form us as adults.
Thanks,
DCD
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Jack Benny and the Two Thanksgivings
Thanksgiving. So starts the time of the year when I REALLY start to get nostalgic for times that I never lived in. I'll explain that by starting with Jack Benny and the two Thanksgivings.
I was on the treadmill at the gym listening to Jack Benny radio shows, as per usual. The cast was telling jokes about the two Thanksgivings this year. Huh? What? Jack was debating how to best use this situation in order to save some money and still come out looking generous. Huh? Two Thanksgivings?
I learned from the cast that the President, Franklin Roosevelt at the time, had changed the date of Thanksgiving. Furthermore, despite this Presidential decree many families were still celebrating the old date for the Holiday.
So I hit Wikipedia to learn some more. It's kind of an ironic story. Apparently, in 1939 Thanksgiving was landing on November 30th. The Thanksgiving tradition until then had been to celebrate the holiday on the last Thursday of the month. The retail community was complaining because this would put the holiday too late into the year to properly kick off the Christmas shopping season. And with the depression on, retailers needed to get every little bit of help they could get.
And... get this... it was considered wrong to decorate and start selling Christmas product before Thanksgiving.
...
HA!
Lemme repeat that from a different angle. Retailers in 1939 were so concerned about sales that they actually lobbied to have the holiday moved, rather than show bad taste and start decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving.
HA!
This is a beautiful way of learning about history and the differences in our culture through entertainment.
My buddy Larry Lineberry always complains loudly whenever we see Christmas decorations up too early. Complains to the point of wanting to boycott the store. I always brushed him off about this, thinking that the viewpoint was naive. Retailers in this day and age would do absolutely anything to increase sales, and there's very little we can do to stop that juggernaut.
But back then, it was considered bad taste to decorate before Thanksgiving. I love it. Larry would love it.
Jack Benny was famous for his holiday broadcasts. He gives Easter and the Easter parade a slight mention. But he always seems to have a Halloween party, everyone comes over for Thanksgiving, his Christmas shopping episodes are classics and well remembered, and I love his New Year's episodes where he closes out the old year and greats the new one.
My own Thanksgivings don't really seem to stick out in my memory. When I was a kid, we made it a point to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade every year. Mom would buy comics for me and coloring books for my sisters to keep us occupied and out of her way while she prepared the Thanksgiving feast. So there are some fond feelings and traditions that I do follow.
My own children won't sit still for Macy's parade. They get bored out of their mind and end up wandering off. So most Thanksgiving mornings, I end up sitting and watching the parade alone while everyone else is off doing their own thing.
But I usually have some Christmas themed comics sitting in my lap while the parade is on.
...more on that later.
Thanks,
DCD
I was on the treadmill at the gym listening to Jack Benny radio shows, as per usual. The cast was telling jokes about the two Thanksgivings this year. Huh? What? Jack was debating how to best use this situation in order to save some money and still come out looking generous. Huh? Two Thanksgivings?
I learned from the cast that the President, Franklin Roosevelt at the time, had changed the date of Thanksgiving. Furthermore, despite this Presidential decree many families were still celebrating the old date for the Holiday.
So I hit Wikipedia to learn some more. It's kind of an ironic story. Apparently, in 1939 Thanksgiving was landing on November 30th. The Thanksgiving tradition until then had been to celebrate the holiday on the last Thursday of the month. The retail community was complaining because this would put the holiday too late into the year to properly kick off the Christmas shopping season. And with the depression on, retailers needed to get every little bit of help they could get.
And... get this... it was considered wrong to decorate and start selling Christmas product before Thanksgiving.
...
HA!
Lemme repeat that from a different angle. Retailers in 1939 were so concerned about sales that they actually lobbied to have the holiday moved, rather than show bad taste and start decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving.
HA!
This is a beautiful way of learning about history and the differences in our culture through entertainment.
My buddy Larry Lineberry always complains loudly whenever we see Christmas decorations up too early. Complains to the point of wanting to boycott the store. I always brushed him off about this, thinking that the viewpoint was naive. Retailers in this day and age would do absolutely anything to increase sales, and there's very little we can do to stop that juggernaut.
But back then, it was considered bad taste to decorate before Thanksgiving. I love it. Larry would love it.
Jack Benny was famous for his holiday broadcasts. He gives Easter and the Easter parade a slight mention. But he always seems to have a Halloween party, everyone comes over for Thanksgiving, his Christmas shopping episodes are classics and well remembered, and I love his New Year's episodes where he closes out the old year and greats the new one.
My own Thanksgivings don't really seem to stick out in my memory. When I was a kid, we made it a point to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade every year. Mom would buy comics for me and coloring books for my sisters to keep us occupied and out of her way while she prepared the Thanksgiving feast. So there are some fond feelings and traditions that I do follow.
My own children won't sit still for Macy's parade. They get bored out of their mind and end up wandering off. So most Thanksgiving mornings, I end up sitting and watching the parade alone while everyone else is off doing their own thing.
But I usually have some Christmas themed comics sitting in my lap while the parade is on.
...more on that later.
Thanks,
DCD
Monday, November 19, 2012
Royal Threads
This summer for the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Queen Elizabeth II made what is considered her first acting appearance by appearing with Daniel Craig as James Bond in a short six minute sketch promoting the new Bond movie Skyfall. The sketch was about Bond escorting the Queen to the Olympics via helicopter.
You can catch that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AS-dCdYZbo&sns=em
Princess Diana died on August 31st, 1997. I remember being extremely angry about it, as the news said it was a senseless car crash caused by a chase with the paparazzi. The idea of that still makes me angry. When it happened, Lorie and I were in the months before our wedding and undergoing preparations. Marriage and responsibility and commitment were high on my mind at the time.
In July of 1981 we were at Ocean City, New Jersey with my grandparents, aunts and uncles on my father's side. My mother made such a big deal about getting up in the middle of the night to watch the Royal Wedding between Prince Charles and Lady Di. I didn't really quite understand it at the time. But my mom was excited so I was excited. Plus... we were at Ocean City. So everything was perfect. When I got up that morning, Mom had been crying. Not sad or upset, but the girly kind of tears that women like my mother are likely to burst into during fairy tale weddings.
I was on the treadmill at the gym on Friday listening to the Jack Benny broadcast from December 5th, 1948. During the broadcast, Mary turned to Jack and told him that Princess Elizabeth had called. Jack got all excited until he learned that it was to refuse his offer of a diaper service.
"Why are you running a diaper service anyway?"
"I grew out of them and realized I had all these diapers that were just going to waste. So..."
Queen Elizabeth didn't ascend until 1953. In fact, hers was the first coronation that was televised. So in December of 1948 she was still a princess. Not only that, but Prince Charles was born on November 14, 1948, just a few short weeks before the broadcast.
I feel no connection to the Royal Family at all. Yet it's neat to see them intertwine through history and make themselves into benchmarks of life and entertainment. They have staying power much more than any celebrity or politician. Comedians start making jokes as soon as they're born, we celebrate their marriages, judge their divorces, and mourn their deaths. And when they stroll out to see the opening of the 2012 Olympics, the crowd in London goes absolutely freaking crazy; more so for the queen than for the fictional super-spy from fifty years of movie-making. They’re part of our culture.
Thanks,
DCD
You can catch that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AS-dCdYZbo&sns=em
Princess Diana died on August 31st, 1997. I remember being extremely angry about it, as the news said it was a senseless car crash caused by a chase with the paparazzi. The idea of that still makes me angry. When it happened, Lorie and I were in the months before our wedding and undergoing preparations. Marriage and responsibility and commitment were high on my mind at the time.
In July of 1981 we were at Ocean City, New Jersey with my grandparents, aunts and uncles on my father's side. My mother made such a big deal about getting up in the middle of the night to watch the Royal Wedding between Prince Charles and Lady Di. I didn't really quite understand it at the time. But my mom was excited so I was excited. Plus... we were at Ocean City. So everything was perfect. When I got up that morning, Mom had been crying. Not sad or upset, but the girly kind of tears that women like my mother are likely to burst into during fairy tale weddings.
I was on the treadmill at the gym on Friday listening to the Jack Benny broadcast from December 5th, 1948. During the broadcast, Mary turned to Jack and told him that Princess Elizabeth had called. Jack got all excited until he learned that it was to refuse his offer of a diaper service.
"Why are you running a diaper service anyway?"
"I grew out of them and realized I had all these diapers that were just going to waste. So..."
Queen Elizabeth didn't ascend until 1953. In fact, hers was the first coronation that was televised. So in December of 1948 she was still a princess. Not only that, but Prince Charles was born on November 14, 1948, just a few short weeks before the broadcast.
I feel no connection to the Royal Family at all. Yet it's neat to see them intertwine through history and make themselves into benchmarks of life and entertainment. They have staying power much more than any celebrity or politician. Comedians start making jokes as soon as they're born, we celebrate their marriages, judge their divorces, and mourn their deaths. And when they stroll out to see the opening of the 2012 Olympics, the crowd in London goes absolutely freaking crazy; more so for the queen than for the fictional super-spy from fifty years of movie-making. They’re part of our culture.
Thanks,
DCD
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed
The first time I heard the phrase “so round, so firm, so fully packed” was in this page of Tales of the New Teen Titans #3:
As you can see, the character that uses the phrase was NOT referring to cigarettes. Technically, he was referring to hot dogs. But this being 1982 and me being 13 years old, all that I remember about the phrase is that he used it to comment on his curvaceous team mate.
So, ever since then I’ve been thinking that the phrase refers to well-built women. Or… impossibly built women.
But now it’s 2012, and I’m … not 13 years old anymore. And I’ve been listening to Jack Benny’s radio show on the treadmill at the gym, as you all know. It’s 1948 in Jack Benny time and he’s been hocking Lucky Strike cigarettes for a couple of seasons now, having switched over from Jello. The phrase “So round, so firm, so fully packed, so free and easy on the draw” is pelted at me pretty regularly over the program. As is the phrase “LSMFT… LSMFT… Lucky Strikes Mean Fine Tobacco”. It’s really a case of repetition in advertising. They repeated the phrase so much that it became part of our cultural lexicon. Chances are you’ve heard of the phrase, even if you were ignorant of the origin, like I was in 1982.
As an experiment, I asked my Mother if she knew what ‘LSMFT’ meant when we were at the beach together last June. She rattled off “Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco” immediately.
Now… cigarettes aren’t being advertised on the radio or TV anymore. I don’t think it’s even legal. So it’s not as if my mother was exposed to the phrase recently. It was probably repeated so much on the television and the radio back in the day that it just became part of the cultural lexicon.
And chances are, in twenty more years it’ll be unheard of.
It’s kind of disconcerting to hear Jack Benny and the gang hock cigarettes like they do. And they have such fun while doing it. Don’t they know that’s considered taboo now? Don’t they know they’re promoting sickness and death wrapped up in a disgusting habit? Yet they go about it the same way as they pushed Jello on us a couple of years previous. The Jack Benny cast of my treadmill runs are COMPLETELY unaware that it’s 2012 now and we have different sensibilities.
Odd. So I think about that a lot.
Natch.
Thanks,
DCD
As you can see, the character that uses the phrase was NOT referring to cigarettes. Technically, he was referring to hot dogs. But this being 1982 and me being 13 years old, all that I remember about the phrase is that he used it to comment on his curvaceous team mate.
So, ever since then I’ve been thinking that the phrase refers to well-built women. Or… impossibly built women.
But now it’s 2012, and I’m … not 13 years old anymore. And I’ve been listening to Jack Benny’s radio show on the treadmill at the gym, as you all know. It’s 1948 in Jack Benny time and he’s been hocking Lucky Strike cigarettes for a couple of seasons now, having switched over from Jello. The phrase “So round, so firm, so fully packed, so free and easy on the draw” is pelted at me pretty regularly over the program. As is the phrase “LSMFT… LSMFT… Lucky Strikes Mean Fine Tobacco”. It’s really a case of repetition in advertising. They repeated the phrase so much that it became part of our cultural lexicon. Chances are you’ve heard of the phrase, even if you were ignorant of the origin, like I was in 1982.
As an experiment, I asked my Mother if she knew what ‘LSMFT’ meant when we were at the beach together last June. She rattled off “Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco” immediately.
Now… cigarettes aren’t being advertised on the radio or TV anymore. I don’t think it’s even legal. So it’s not as if my mother was exposed to the phrase recently. It was probably repeated so much on the television and the radio back in the day that it just became part of the cultural lexicon.
And chances are, in twenty more years it’ll be unheard of.
It’s kind of disconcerting to hear Jack Benny and the gang hock cigarettes like they do. And they have such fun while doing it. Don’t they know that’s considered taboo now? Don’t they know they’re promoting sickness and death wrapped up in a disgusting habit? Yet they go about it the same way as they pushed Jello on us a couple of years previous. The Jack Benny cast of my treadmill runs are COMPLETELY unaware that it’s 2012 now and we have different sensibilities.
Odd. So I think about that a lot.
Natch.
Thanks,
DCD
Monday, September 17, 2012
The Freedom Train
I’ve never been a fan of TV news shows. As a kid, the evening news was on every night and went largely ignored by me. As an adult, now that we have such wonderful things as CNN and Fox News, televised news has elevated into a migraine-inducing torture scene! It’s on all the time at work, at varying levels of volume depending on which security guard was on duty that morning. The term ‘talking heads’ no longer applies. It’s “screaming hate masks” now.
The big joke about me and the news with my parents is that I’m completely oblivious. I’ve turned a blind eye to the world around me and I’m only involved with my own little bubble. That was very true of Chuck-in-his-twenties. But now that you can choose a variety of ways to get your news, I keep well informed. Unaffiliated news websites, if there is such a thing, is my preferred method. Google News being my first stop. My iPhone chirps all the important news at me. That’s how I found out about Steve Jobs passing away.
For years my only source of news was late night comedians. The Tonight Show or Letterman’s show. I loved Conan O’Brian for quite awhile. The Daily Show is great the few times I caught it. But Lorie’s not really a fan of those shows so I rarely see them anymore.
I AM learning that getting your news from comedians on their talk shows is nothing new. And, in fact, is an excellent example of elements of our entertainment reflecting our culture. Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update is always good. I’m watching 1976 re-runs of SNL with Netflix Streaming and the Weekend Update portion is traditionally the strongest part of the show. Watching a comedic take on news of the day from 1976 has been teaching me things about history and politics and culture of the era that I didn’t learn from comics or remember from my childhood.
As I’ve mentioned before, my favorite old time radio show is Jack Benny. I listen to him while on the treadmill at the gym. I’m up to 1948, at the moment. And I’m constantly getting little news and cultural tidbits from the show that was pertinent to the time they lived in. I was listening to the New Year’s Eve broadcast from December 28th, 1947. The standard New Year’s Eve bit was that Jack played the outgoing year schooling the incoming year on what he had to worry about. One of the things Jack talked to young 1948 about was the Freedom Train.
The Freedom Train was a train attraction in the forties that carried elements of our nation’s history across country to different cities in all forty-eight states. Its first stop was on September 17, 1947 and its last was on October 26th, 1948. The train carried things like the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, one of the original copies of the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, the Iwo Jima Flag, and other such historically significant items. The train had a Marine escort to see to the security of its cargo.
You can read more about the Freedom Train here, or here.
One of the things that caught my attention about this was that it wasn’t the first time I was hearing about it. But my first introduction of the Freedom Train didn’t come from a dusty history book or a Wikipedia article or a Today in History entry from my iPad. It came from reading All-Star Comics #41, cover dated June-July 1948. In that comic, the Justice Society of America had to recover the Freedom Train, which the comic refers to as the “Liberty Train”. Apparently the train had been ingeniously stolen by the Injustice Gang of the World. Those tricky bastards.
The comic takes the time to explain to readers what the train is all about.
I find the concept of the Freedom Train extremely interesting. I can’t imagine anything like it today. First, with our technology in both travel and the internet, we don’t face the same obstacles that were present in 1948 if we decided we wanted to see such things. Second, the government decided to do this! Doesn’t that boggle your mind? One of the reasons I read was that it was to help remind Americans what they just got done fighting for, in the aftermath of a devastating war. If that’s true or not, I don’t know. But I love that reason.
I imagine that word of the Freedom Train was all over the news venues of the time. But I didn’t learn about it from that, not actually having been around in 1948. And I didn’t learn about it while studying history in 2012. I learned about it from comics and comedians, the entertainment of the time.
Some people find this aspect of reading, watching, and listening to past entertainment annoying. They feel like they’re missing out on an in-joke. Lorie doesn’t like those old Saturday Night Live’s. But I’ve grown to love that part of older entertainment; seeing that ‘reflection of culture’.
Thanks,
DCD
The big joke about me and the news with my parents is that I’m completely oblivious. I’ve turned a blind eye to the world around me and I’m only involved with my own little bubble. That was very true of Chuck-in-his-twenties. But now that you can choose a variety of ways to get your news, I keep well informed. Unaffiliated news websites, if there is such a thing, is my preferred method. Google News being my first stop. My iPhone chirps all the important news at me. That’s how I found out about Steve Jobs passing away.
For years my only source of news was late night comedians. The Tonight Show or Letterman’s show. I loved Conan O’Brian for quite awhile. The Daily Show is great the few times I caught it. But Lorie’s not really a fan of those shows so I rarely see them anymore.
I AM learning that getting your news from comedians on their talk shows is nothing new. And, in fact, is an excellent example of elements of our entertainment reflecting our culture. Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update is always good. I’m watching 1976 re-runs of SNL with Netflix Streaming and the Weekend Update portion is traditionally the strongest part of the show. Watching a comedic take on news of the day from 1976 has been teaching me things about history and politics and culture of the era that I didn’t learn from comics or remember from my childhood.
As I’ve mentioned before, my favorite old time radio show is Jack Benny. I listen to him while on the treadmill at the gym. I’m up to 1948, at the moment. And I’m constantly getting little news and cultural tidbits from the show that was pertinent to the time they lived in. I was listening to the New Year’s Eve broadcast from December 28th, 1947. The standard New Year’s Eve bit was that Jack played the outgoing year schooling the incoming year on what he had to worry about. One of the things Jack talked to young 1948 about was the Freedom Train.
The Freedom Train was a train attraction in the forties that carried elements of our nation’s history across country to different cities in all forty-eight states. Its first stop was on September 17, 1947 and its last was on October 26th, 1948. The train carried things like the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, one of the original copies of the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, the Iwo Jima Flag, and other such historically significant items. The train had a Marine escort to see to the security of its cargo.
You can read more about the Freedom Train here, or here.
One of the things that caught my attention about this was that it wasn’t the first time I was hearing about it. But my first introduction of the Freedom Train didn’t come from a dusty history book or a Wikipedia article or a Today in History entry from my iPad. It came from reading All-Star Comics #41, cover dated June-July 1948. In that comic, the Justice Society of America had to recover the Freedom Train, which the comic refers to as the “Liberty Train”. Apparently the train had been ingeniously stolen by the Injustice Gang of the World. Those tricky bastards.
The comic takes the time to explain to readers what the train is all about.
I find the concept of the Freedom Train extremely interesting. I can’t imagine anything like it today. First, with our technology in both travel and the internet, we don’t face the same obstacles that were present in 1948 if we decided we wanted to see such things. Second, the government decided to do this! Doesn’t that boggle your mind? One of the reasons I read was that it was to help remind Americans what they just got done fighting for, in the aftermath of a devastating war. If that’s true or not, I don’t know. But I love that reason.
I imagine that word of the Freedom Train was all over the news venues of the time. But I didn’t learn about it from that, not actually having been around in 1948. And I didn’t learn about it while studying history in 2012. I learned about it from comics and comedians, the entertainment of the time.
Some people find this aspect of reading, watching, and listening to past entertainment annoying. They feel like they’re missing out on an in-joke. Lorie doesn’t like those old Saturday Night Live’s. But I’ve grown to love that part of older entertainment; seeing that ‘reflection of culture’.
Thanks,
DCD
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