Nostalgia
Silver Screen, Golden Years
Easter Noir – Dead Reckoning
One last image of a billowing parachute in the blackness is seen, carrying the weird juxtaposed themes of afterlife, parachuting, guilt and punishment, but oddly without of any suggestion of redemption, which would be all we need to tie up the Easter message. But this is where the noir finally kicks in: there is no redemption in film noir, just settling scores.
To EPCOT and Back to the Fair
EPCOT's space ride couldn't duplicate the fascination and wonder I felt when I saw on television American astronauts stand on the moon. The ride into the future had been done weekly on television's "The Jetsons,” and advertiser sponsors' logos were reminiscent of the World's Fair. I guess I expected to be transported into magic not media.
Wearing Nothing but a Smile
There was a building up ahead on the left and I decided to stop and ask directions. I pulled the VW to a stop and hurried into the building, leaving the engine running. An attractive young woman was seated behind a desk. She was wearing nothing but a baseball cap and a smile.
Silver Screen, Golden Years
Alice Faye’s on the Phone: Hello, Frisco, Hello
Alice Faye sings on the telephone a song of long-distance love and longing to which every pair of lovers during the years of World War II could relate. The scene became instantly modern, an incandescent moment forever linked more to the 1940s than to the turn of the 20th century.
Vintage Vibes
April Fool’s Bull
In one of those sudden, creative inspirations that April 1st seems to bring out in me, I impulsively said, “I’m so glad you called because something’s wrong with T-Bone (the bull’s oh- so-original name). He’s lying out in the pasture with his feet up in the air, and hasn’t moved for an hour.”
‘Abraham,’ A Song for Lincoln’s Birthday
She has dignity, and this was Abraham Lincoln’s great gesture to his fellow Americans of every color – the idea that human beings were born with innate dignity and nobody could take it away from them, even if they took away their freedom. People can only give up their dignity willingly, which is what Bing and Marjorie are doing in this scene.
60 Minutes — It Ain't The Same Without That Old Codger
I think with him speaking with such assurance and authority, TV listeners automatically believed everything that came out of his mouth – that mouth that seldom, if ever, was framed in a smile and so there wasn't any need to question his every word. With all the exaggerators and liars out there, it was so refreshing to believe somebody, anybody, about anything!
A Tranquil Sight
One would be hard pressed to find many reminders from the era immediately following WWII. Hardly anything appears the same, including the once familiar surroundings where I grew up. Sometimes it is hard to realize that some things will never again be as we remember them.
Silver Screen, Golden Years
The Third of February
Buddy Holly captivated the rhythm of my soul and drew me into the new world of rock and roll. Elvis was for girls, Buddy was for guys and this boy. And I still have his albums I bought way back then for about $1.49 each.