Annette Funicello . . .

     

Tucson Weather Today


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We had some extremely high winds in the Tucson region yesterday, around 40 mph I'm told, with gusts as high as 60 mph. During my daily walk I could only see the outlines of the mountains because of the amount of dust blowing in the air. Then, for the rest of the day I could hear the roaring wind blowing and howling through my open windows. A bit of excitement in my somewhat humdrum old-man's life.

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I was disappointed in yesterday's TV news. There was so much coverage of England's former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's death and only scant mentions of the passing of 70 year old Annette Funicello

Annette

Annette

But then today the networks did air a goodly number of clips from the early days of the Mickey Mouse Club, concentrating on Annette.

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On April 9, 1865 at Appomattox, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his 28,000 troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War.

Details

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WORD FOR TODAY

humdrum
Adjective
Lacking excitement or variety; dull; monotonous.
Noun
Dullness; monotony.
Synonyms
adjectives monotonous - dull - tedious - prosy - drab - flat - tame
nouns monotony - monotone - sameness - boredom

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


Hugh Hefner
(born April 9, 1926)

Hugh Marston Hefner is an American magazine publisher, as well as the founder and chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises.

Keshia Knight Pulliam
(born April 9, 1979)

American actress. She is best known for her childhood role as Rudy Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show and as reformed con artist Miranda Lucas-Payne on the TBS comedy-drama Tyler Perry's House of Payne.

Dennis William Quaid
(born April 9, 1954)

American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. Some of his notable credits include Breaking Away, The Long Riders, The Right Stuff, Enemy Mine, Great Balls of Fire!, The Big Easy, Far from Heaven, The Rookie, The Day After Tomorrow, Traffic, Vantage Point, Footloose, Frequency, Wyatt Earp, The Parent Trap, Soul Surfer and Innerspace.

Cynthia Nixon
(born April 9, 1966)

American actress, best known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City (1998–2004), the movies Sex and the City and its sequel Sex and the City 2. Some of her other work has included starring in the films: The Manhattan Project, Baby's Day Out, Let It Ride, Warm Springs, Little Manhattan, The Babysitters, Rampart and a recurring role in the television show The Big C.

I am adding the following paragraph regarding Cynthia Nixon's personal life (copied from Wikipedia) simply because I found it interesting and thought-provoking.

From 1988 to 2003, Nixon was in a relationship with teacher and photographer Danny Mozes. They have two children together, a daughter born in 1996 and a son born in 2002. In 2004, Nixon began dating education activist Christine Marinoni. Nixon and Marinoni became engaged in April 2009. Marinoni gave birth to a son in 2011. Nixon and Marinoni were married on May 27, 2012. Regarding her sexual orientation, Nixon remarked in 2007: "I don't really feel I've changed. I'd been with men all my life, and I'd never fallen in love with a woman. But when I did, it didn't seem so strange. I'm just a woman in love with another woman."


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"Writing about the real world feels so humdrum,"
--Graudin
  

The Rich Get Richer And . . .

Tucson Weather Today

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The divide between the HAVEs and the HAVE NOTs is said to be ever widening. There are wealthy citizens of several nations who have personal fortunes of millions and even billions of dollars. And there are many, many more people who live in almost unbelievable poverty with no hope of ever escaping it.

For the mos part, the rich posses power along with their great wealth, and they know how to use it and to hold onto it.

For the most part, the poor possess no power and little or no money, and would neither know how to use money and the power if they did obtain them, nor how to hold onto either of them. The Earth's total wealth will not be equitably redistributed.

The poor cannot do so, and the rich will not.

That's how things are and will continue to be.

Unless some unforeseen event should occur.

(extraterrestrial alien invasion, international biological pandemic, thermo-nuclear war, or sudden ultra-severe global warming)

Or an unlikely miracle happens and some GOD appears to set things aright.

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All the disingenuousness and downright lies in the form of misleading sound bites from bloated political speeches emanating from the candidates running for office in the upcoming election will change absolutely nothing for the better.

*Copied from Anthony Dauer, on Facebook

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WORD FOR TODAY


redistribute
verb
allocate, distribute, or apportion anew

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 BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

 Annette Funicello

  Born Oct 22, 1942

Age: 70 years old.

Annette Joanne Funicello is an American actress and singer. Beginning her professional career as a child performer at the age of twelve, Funicello rose to prominence as one of the most popular "Mouseketeers" on the original Mickey Mouse Club.

 As a teenager, she transitioned to a successful career as a singer with the pop singles "Tall Paul" and "Pineapple Princess", as well as newly establishing herself as a film actress, popularizing the successful "Beach Party" genre alongside co-star Frankie Avalon during the mid-1960s.

Personal Note:
 When I was a teenager back in the 1950s I was captivated by the young Mouseketeer known as Annette Funicello. In later years I would never miss any of her Beach Party movies. Remember the old song, Puppy Love?

Now, as a doddering old man, I am still mesmerized by the memories I have of Annette, and the fact that she, at 70, is still alive but caught in the clutches of Multiple Sclerosis.

There is a video, that when I first viewed it, struck me emotionally; it struck me HARD. I am a product of the mid-20th century, back when we were taught that "Men Don't Cry" -- but, when I watched the video, well ... well, that's enough about that.

LINK to video

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Curly Howard

Birthday: October 22, 1903
Date of Death Jan 18, 1952

Jerome Lester "Jerry" Horwitz, better known by his stage name Curly Howard, was an American comedian and vaudevillian. He is best known as a member of the American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges, along with his older brothers Moe Howard and Shemp Howard, and actor Larry Fine.

Curly is generally considered the most popular and recognizable of the Stooges. He is well known for his high-pitched voice, vocal expressions ("nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!", "woo-woo-woo!", "soitenly!" and barking like a dog), as well as his physical comedy, improvisations, and athleticism.

Christopher Lloyd

Born Oct 22, 1938
Age: 73 years old

Christopher Allen Lloyd is an American actor. Among his best-known roles are Emmett "Doc" Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and its sequel Addams Family Values, and Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as Jim Ignatowski in the television series Taxi.

Jeff Goldblum

Born Oct 22, 1952
Age: 59 years old

Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day. He starred as Detective Zach Nichols for the eighth and ninth seasons of the USA Network's crime drama series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

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. . . man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life.
--John F. Kennedy

"Ain't Nothing But A Hound Dog"

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I have mentioned many times in earlier blog entries that I was born in 1939, but did you know that there were a great many noteworthy events and subjects of great interest at that particular time in history? Well, it's true.

For one thing, 1939 was the year when World War II began in Europe when Adolph Hitler's German army troops invaded Poland. Also, a Douglas DC-4 began passenger service between Chicago and New York carrying 40 passengers. A refrigerator cost $22.98 - A man's suit cost $13.95 - A washing machine cost $39.95 - A bicycle cost $28.95. And only 3% of Americans qualified to pay income tax

In 1955 I turned 16 and the Hot Songs were: Rock Around The Clock by Bill Haley and The Comets - Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White by Perez Prado - Sincerely by The McGuire Sisters - Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford - Love Is A Many Splendored Thing by the Four Aces - Yellow Rose Of Texas by Mitch Miller - and The Ballad Of Davy Crockett by Bill Hayes.

In 1955 the popular movies were: Battle Cry with Van Heflin - Blackboard Jungle with Glenn Ford - Marty with Ernest Borgnine - and To Hell And Back with Audie Murphy. More than one person (teenage girls) at that time told me that I looked a lot like . . .

Audie Murphy

Who was I to dissuade a teenage girl?

Read all about Audie Murphy here

Also in 1955 (when I was 16) came the debut of . . .

THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB

And speaking of girls . . . I was captivated from the beginning by . . .

Annette Funicello

And my awe of her lasted through the years, all throughout the later Beach Movies (I was always so jealous of Frankie Avalon.)

Annette as an adult

Here is a link to a Youtube video of the Mickey Mouse Club singing "Now it's time to say goodbye."

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My hometown back in the so called good ol' days.

Rensselaer, Indiana, mid-twentieth century

(Notice the old cars parked along the street)

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Two Words For Today

bathos
noun
1.
a. An abrupt, unintended transition in style from the exalted to the commonplace, producing a ludicrous effect.
b. An anticlimax.
2.
a. Insincere or grossly sentimental pathos.
b. Banality; triteness.
Synonyms:
sentimentality, gooeyness, lovey-doveyness, mawkishness, mush, mushiness, saccharinity, sappiness, sentimentalism, sloppiness, soppiness.


pathos
[pey-thos, -thohs, -thaws]
noun
1.
the quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature, music, speech, or other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of pity or compassion.
2.
pity.
synonyms
desolation, emotion, feeling, passion, pitiableness, pitifulness

Pathos is a word that throughout my lifetime I have pronounced 'PAH - those' but now (at age 72) I find it should be pronounced 'PAY - thaws' -- Oh well, live and learn.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Edward Everett Horton

Born March 18, 1886
Died Sept. 29, 1970

Edward Everett Horton narrated 'Fractured Fairy Tales' on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, and in a scene in Friz Freleng's cartoon Hare Trigger, Yosemite Sam (in his debut) calls himself "the meanest, toughest, rip-roarin'-est, Edward Everett Horton-est hombre what ever packed a six-shooter!"

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I prefer the mystic clouds of nostalgia to the real thing, to be honest.
--Robert Wyatt