Soaring High in a Hot Air Balloon

November 21, 2017

From the moment people could harness their imaginations, there has been no greater desire than to be able to soar like birds, high above the ground. Today, of course, we find air travel utilitarian and, perhaps, a bit mundane. But on November 21, 1783, it was anything but mundane when two Frenchmen, Jean-François Pilâtre deRozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes, became the first humans to travel in a ship through the ‘air.’

DeRozier balloon

DeRozier can credibly be dubbed the father of flight. He became interested in chemicals, specifically gases and how they reacted and interacted; he parlayed his obsession to a career as a teacher and scientist and, as such, opened a museum for nobles to come and witness his experiments.

When, in June 1783, he observed a tethered balloon ‘flight’ of a duck, a sheep and a cockerel, his desire to fly was ignited.

From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“After several tethered tests to gain some experience of controlling the balloon, DeRozier and d’Arlandes made their first un-tethered flight in a Montgolfier hot air balloon on 21 November 1783, taking off at around 2 p.m. from the garden of the Château de la Muette in the Bois de Boulogne, in the presence of the King. Their 25-minute flight travelled slowly about 5½ miles (some 9 km) to the southeast, attaining an altitude of 3,000 feet, before returning to the ground at the Butte-aux-Cailles, then on the outskirts of Paris.”

By all accounts, DeRozier was fearless and continued his experiments with what we know as ‘hot air balloons.’ Several successful balloon flights followed and, in June 1785, he took on his most ambitious journey which was to travel from France to England across the English Channel. Because of the distance involved, DeRozier determined that using just hot air (powered by stoves set up in the balloon basket!) would not be enough to make the journey. Instead he developed his own balloon – called the DeRozier Balloon – which was powered by use of hydrogen fuel to heat the air. By all accounts it should have worked. But a sudden change in wind direction pushed the balloon back, and caused it to rapidly deflate. It plummeted 1500 feet to the ground, killing DeRozier and the two others onboard. Rozier death

The accident ended the adventurer’s life and research, but the “modern hybrid gas and hot air balloon is named the Rozière balloon after his pioneering design.”

So the next time you fly remember how very far air travel has advanced in just 234 years.

Update November 21, 2020: I was so very fortunate to attend the Albuquerque Balloon Festival in 2018. What an incredible experience! It was a visual feast of balloons. Although I did not get to ride in one, it was fascinating to watch as wave after wave of balloons puffed up to life and lifted into the sky. If you ever have a chance to attend such an event, I highly recommend it.

To read more about DeRozier and balloon flight:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Pil%C3%A2tre_de_Rozier

And a general history of Balloon flight: http://bellestar.org/faq/default.html

A link to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta: https://balloonfiesta.com/

*The hubby and I at the Albuquerque Balloon festival 2018.*

*So many whimsical balloons like this penguin.*

Taylor Swift

Nov14

November 14, 2017

Teardrops On My Guitar

One could say that she is the most successful female recording artist of all times. As such, it was on November 14, 2009 when six songs from her album, Fearless, were all in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 40.

TS Fearless That artist: Taylor Swift.

She has inspired a generation of young women, capturing the angst and emotion of the teenage years through her catchy country tunes, and has since grown up to become a bona-fide pop diva.

Amazing to think, that at the ripe old age of 20, the Fearless album spawned 12 songs which reached the top 40, the most ever for any album.

During her career, she has (thus far) had 52 singles chart on the Billboard Hot 100, the most of any female performer ever. According to the infallible Wikipedia, she comes in fifth place as follows:

Most top 40 singles

114 – Elvis Presley(Pre–Hot 100 charts included)
69 – Lil Wayne
57 – Elton John
56 – Drake
52 – Taylor Swift
51 – GleeCast
50 – The Beatles
49 – Madonna
47 – Rihanna
46 – Stevie Wonder
45 – Jay Z

No doubt that number will increase this week as her latest album, Reputation, was released on November 10th and sold over 717,000 copies on the first day alone. It is expected that by the end of the first week it will have been purchased over one million times.

A search through the first linked Infallible Wikipedia article shows an impressive career. By holding down the CTRL plus “F” key (to do a search) and then typing in Taylor Swift produces 22 references to her accomplishments. One other notable ‘first’ in the article is that she possesses the all-time record for most top ten debuts on the Hot 100, with 14.

My daughter has been a huge fan of the artist since about age 12 and, as an advisor for the Rainbow Girls during those years, my car was often filled with Taylor Swift’s music with the girls – and their chaperone – singing along.

Taylor Swift mania reached its peak in our household, though, in 2013 when it was announced the artist would be coming to the Tacoma Dome at the end of August. My daughter sprang into action and put out the all points bulletin to her network of friends and found others who wanted to attend the concert with her. I bought the 6 tickets (all that were allowed any one purchaser) and then Michelle collected the funds from her friends. At some point prior to the concert, Michelle was entered into a ‘drawing’ for the opportunity to purchase two additional tickets. But these were not just ANY tickets. These were tickets to the Pit, that coveted area just in front of the stage. And she was chosen so now two additional lucky girls were added to the mix.

The day of the concert, we held a going away party for Michelle, as she was literally leaving to move to Nashville the next day. I drove some of the girls to the Tacoma Dome and the rest rode with her. No doubt that concert was a highlight for all of them.

These two photos of Taylor were snapped by Michelle with her phone from the “pit.” Taylor Swift Red Tour 2

Then, on September 1 as we made our way east on Interstate 90 the most amazing thing occurred. We came up behind and subsequently passed truck after truck which all bore huge photos of Taylor Swift and were carrying the staging, lights, sound, and other equipment. It became a game of sorts, to see how many Taylor Swift trucks were on the road. We saw the biggest number in Post Falls, Idaho, late in the afternoon as a six pack of them were parked in a trucker’s parking lot just to the north of the freeway.

We spent the night near Coeur d’Alene and the next day stopped at a rest area just east of the Continental Divide on I-90. There in the parking lot was an unmarked tour bus, its darkened windows a detriment to prying eyes. Was Taylor Swift on that bus? I like to think so. It is highly possible as the next stop on her tour was just five days away, September 6th, in Fargo, ND.

The tour bus was the last thing we saw that might possibly be related to Taylor Swift before we dropped south to go to Lewis and Clark caverns and Yellowstone National Park. From there Michelle and I traveled on through Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky and, finally, Tennessee.

It was a magical week and a memory worth keeping. And in the two years Michelle was in Nashville not once did she ever see Taylor Swift.

And my favorite Taylor Swift song… has to be Teardrops on My Guitar.

As always, a couple links for your further education:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_chart_achievements_and_milestones

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Swift

The Tale of Galloping Gertie

Nov7

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge

November 7, 2017

Galloping Gertie Gif Last week we explored the world of horseracing and author Dick Francis. This week we will be discussing galloping. But unlike how a horse gallops, this galloping took place on November 7, 1940 and has since become a text-book example of what NOT to do when building a bridge.

We are talking, of course, about the Tacoma Narrows Bridge which sank on this date. It was dubbed ‘Galloping Gertie’ as even the most gentle of breezes would cause the roadway to sway. I can only imagine the feeling of unease one had when driving over the structure.

For a local newsman it proved terrifying. From the infallible Wikipedia:

“Leonard Coatsworth, a Tacoma News Tribune editor, was the last person to drive on the bridge:

‘Around me I could hear concrete cracking. I started back to the car to get the dog, but was thrown before I could reach it. The car itself began to slide from side to side on the roadway. I decided the bridge was breaking up and my only hope was to get back to shore.

‘On hands and knees most of the time, I crawled 500 yards or more to the towers… My breath was coming in gasps; my knees were raw and bleeding, my hands bruised and swollen from gripping the concrete curb… Toward the last, I risked rising to my feet and running a few yards at a time… Safely back at the toll plaza, I saw the bridge in its final collapse and saw my car plunge into the Narrows.’”

The bridge had opened only four months earlier! In reading about everything that went wrong the biggest mistake seemed to have been that in a desire to save money on what was perceived as a bridge which would be lightly used, the design was flawed from the beginning.

Ultimately they determined the bridge failure was due to ‘aeroelastic flutter’. Unless, of course, you are an engineer the term means little. The film of the event for us laypeople, however, reveals a structure bucking like an unbroken stallion during its first ride.

hood canal bridge Although I was not around in 1940, I was going to school in Tacoma on February 13, 1979 when another bridge met the same fate as Galloping Gertie. It was then when I grasped the power of a Pacific Northwest windstorm. During the night prior to its sinking, sustained winds of 85 mph buffeted the Hood Canal floating bridge . They estimated gusts up to 120 mph (called a ‘hurricane’ most anyplace else as any sustained wind over 72 mph is classified as such) had occurred. The structure was swamped and at 7 a.m. that dark, windy and rainy morning, the bridge sank.

I90 November 25 1990 Fast forward to November of 1990 and yet a third Washington state bridge met a similar doom. We watched in fascinated horror live TV news on the morning of November 25^th as the floating bridge – being resurfaced to continue carrying traffic while a new span was constructed – which connected Mercer Island to Seattle was inundated. As my husband no doubt said at the time: “surf’s up!”

In the 30 plus years I’ve lived in Western Washington there are a couple things you can count on me doing. First, I will do anything I can to avoid driving in windstorms. I’ll drive in rain, snow, sleet and dark of night but the wind stops me. Second, I will move to the northeast corner of any structure, especially one with nearby tall trees. The worst winds hale from the southwest so if a tree is going to come down it will fall from that direction. When we still lived in Kirkland, my family knew that a heavy wind meant ‘going to the mattresses’ and sleeping on the floor of the living room as far from the trees as possible.

Now that we are in windstorm ‘season’ remember to batten your hatches when the wind blows and you just might want to avoid driving on bridges.

As always some interesting links PLUS a video from the Washington State History museum which tells the entire Galloping Gertie story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge_(1940)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_windstorm

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/TNBhistory/Connections/connections3.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqqyAZDpV6c

Galloping Gertie after her historic collapse

Dick Francis

Oct31

Definitely a Halloween ‘Treat’

October 31, 2017

Witches, goblins and small children in costumes begging for candy. Ah, it must be Halloween. It’s a ‘hard-to-miss’ day and all of us, no doubt, know of its history.

dick francis signing books So, instead of a rehash, today’s topic involves one of my favorite authors. Born October 31, 1920, he wrote more than 40 novels in his lifetime. He did not begin his novel writing career until he was 40 years old. All of his books centered around the world of horseracing. That author: Dick Francis.

From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“In 1962, he published his first thriller, Dead Cert, set in the world of racing. Subsequently he regularly produced a novel a year for the next 38 years, missing only 1998 (during which he published a short-story collection). Although all his books were set against a background of horse racing, his male heroes held a variety of jobs including artist (In the Frame and To the Hilt), investigator for the Jockey Club (The Edge), pilot (Rat Race and Flying Finish), wine merchant (Proof) and many others. All the novels are narrated by the hero, who in the course of the story discovers himself to be more resourceful, brave, tricky, than he had thought, and usually finds a certain salvation for himself as well as bestowing it on others. Details of other people’s occupations fascinated Francis, and the reader finds himself or herself immersed in the mechanics of such things as photography, accountancy, the gemstone trade, restaurant service on transcontinental trains—but always in the interests of the plot. Dysfunctional families were a subject which he exploited particularly well (Reflex, a baleful grandmother; Hot Money, a multi-millionaire father and serial ex-husband; Decider, the related co-owners of a racecourse).”

Wild Horses and Straight (2) My favorite book of his is titled “Straight” and tells the story of a man who inherits his brother’s life when the latter dies in a freak accident. Francis was one of my mother’s favorite authors also. So beloved, in fact, that she collected all of his books which, perhaps, I will inherit one day.

In 1995 I learned that Dick Francis was doing a book signing at Tower Records and Books on Queen Anne hill. So I took my two year old daughter and drove to Seattle to purchase and get signed a copy of the book to give to my mother for Christmas. There was a line when we arrived. I learned a couple things about Dick Francis that day. First, that he didn’t much like chitchatting with his fans; and, second, that it required a glass of Merlot

Wild Horses autograph page (4) to get through the event. The store manager brought him one glassful while I was there.

So my daughter and I

made it through the line and I handed him the book with the request that he sign it for my mother. He questioned as to why I wasn’t getting a second book for myself. Well! That would have required going and buying the second book then getting back in line once again while trying to keep a two year old entertained. I only bought the one book.

On the title page of Wild Horses he wrote “Hi Janet” and then signed his name. Here’s a photo of the page.

If you have not read any of his books they are, I think, a good example of how to mix narrative, dialogue and action. His research, the character development, and the details are always outstanding. So get one of Francis’ books the next time you want to curl up with a good one for the weekend! Well worth the time.

A couple of interesting links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Francis

His son, Felix, who co-wrote with Dick for ten years, carries on with writing novels in the same style. I’ve read a couple of his solo novels and I think he’s a good writer too! http://www.felixfrancis.com/index.php

John Cougar

Oct24

October 24, 2017

Jack & Diane

Perhaps the most powerful medium a person experiences is music. After all, I imagine each of us has at least one song we associate with a specific time, event and person. And then there are songs which, although they may not inspire a specific memory, become so much an ingrained part of our culture, they transcend place and time.

Jack and Diane One such song spent four weeks at number one in October 1982 and, in 2012, made the Recording Industry of America’s list of top songs of the century.

The song starts with the words ” A little diddy about Jack and Diane…”

And it continues on to tell the story of two American teenagers trying to figure out life. I think the song resonates because the experience is universal. It matters not if you were a teenager in 1962, 1982 or in 2012, a part of you yearns to break free of that place where you grew up; and a part of you longs to be loved and find that one other person who you can share your life and your love.

Jack and Diane – by John “Cougar” Mellencamp – effectively captures the ambivalence of first love. From the song:

Oh yeah, life goes on

Long after the thrill of livin’ is gone

Oh yeah, I say, life goes on

Long after the thrill of livin’ is gone

Gonna let it rock

Let it roll

Let the Bible Belt come

And save my soul

Hold on to sixteen as long as you can

Changes come around real soon

Make us women and men

jack and diane music The song was almost never recorded. According to Mellencamp, he struggled with how to perform the song to achieve the sound he desired. From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“ Jack & Diane was based on the 1962 Tennessee Williams film Sweet Bird of Youth. He said of recording the song: ‘Jack & Diane was a terrible record to make. When I play it on guitar by myself, it sounds great; but I could never get the band to play along with me. That’s why the arrangement’s so weird. Stopping and starting, it’s not very musical.’ Mellencamp has also stated that the clapping wasn’t supposed to be included in the finished song. It was recorded with the clapping in order to help keep tempo and then it was to be removed. However, he realized the song did not work without it.”

For me, the song does not inspire specific memories but, instead, evokes the emotion of loss. At 16, 17 and 18 years old, there’s nothing quite like that first love. It’s a heady time in life when one’s first real love takes control and you think it will always be like that. And yet there’s a melancholy to a warm summer’s night, or a blustery fall day, spent with that person when you try to cling to that moment, only to have it slip away. It’s this quality which makes the song so enduring.

I know you would all be disappointed if there’s not a Wikipedia link, so here it is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_%26_Diane

The video is worth four minutes of your time:

The Princess Bride

Oct17

all time; it earned the same ranking in the Guild’s 2013 update. The film was selected number 88 on The American Film Institute’s (AFI) “AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Passions” listing the 100 greatest film love stories of all time.”

miracle max My brother purchased the Videocassette for our family when my children were little. We’ve since upgraded to DVD. Although they enjoyed it, I loved the film from the moment I saw it and often quote from it. A few of my favorites:

I never tire of the film and the final scene of the movie between Peter Falk and Fred Savage (The two are cast in the roles of a grandfather reading a book to his sick grandson) is guaranteed to bring a lump to my throat every time. So if you have a chance the next couple of days (I’m not sure how LONG it will be in theaters, so go very, very soon!), go see “The Princess Bride” in the theater. For those unfamiliar with the movie (Inconceivable!), an overview of the plot is found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_Bride_%28film%29

And here’s a link to AMC theaters : https://www.amctheatres.com/movies/the-princess-bride

Peter Falk Fred Savage PB p.s. – This was posted in 2017. Alas, I am unaware of any showings of the film, especially in light of this year’s pandemic lockdowns. But it’s still worth a look on Netflix or other video streaming service. I checked on Amazon Prime Video (which is our service) and found it available to watch for $3.99.

Pac Man Fever

Oct10

…and the Kong who was King

October 10, 2017

Arcade room games It was in October of 1980 when the United States was truly invaded by the Japanese. We are not talking about military here. No, this invasion featured four ghosts named Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde and a round yellow fellow with a huge pie shaped mouth dubbed Pac-Man. (There are articles which place the release date on October 10 but that date is disputed)

The game, which had been released in Japan a little over four months earlier, was an instant hit. Young people flocked to arcades and taverns where Pac-Man eagerly gobbled up their quarters.

Soon, Pac-Man merchandise flooded America as did other Japanese companies looking to capitalize on Pac-Man fever.

From the infallible Wikipedia:

pacman screen “When Pac-Man was released, the most popular arcade video games were space shooters—in particular, Space Invaders and Asteroids. The most visible minority were sports games that were mostly derivatives of Pong. Pac-Man succeeded by creating a new genre. Pac-Man is often credited with being a landmark in video game history and is among the most famous arcade games of all time. It is also one of the highest-grossing video games of all time, having generated more than $2.5 billion in quarters by the 1990s.

The character has appeared in more than 30 officially licensed game spin-offs, as well as in numerous unauthorized clones and bootlegs. According to the Davie-Brown Index, Pac-Man has the highest brand awareness of any video game character among American consumers, recognized by 94 percent of them. Pac-Man is one of the longest running video game franchises from the golden age of video arcade games. It is part of the collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and New York’s Museum of Modern Art.”

Donkey Kong Pauline My hubby was hired by a CPA firm in Burien who had a client that needed an auditor. So they sent him out to do the job and thus began a seven year run with a different Japanese invader: Donkey Kong. While many think of Nintendo as a behemoth company, when Donkey Kong was first being sold into the US market they had six employees: two Seattle based salesmen, the company president, a couple of Japanese developer/engineers, and one American to make the build’s happen.

It was in 1982, after Donkey Kong’s popularity skyrocketed (and made the two US salesmen millionaires) that the hubby was hired as the company’s US controller. Those were crazy days with incredible long hours but also a real sense of family within the fledgling company.

We hosted an April Fool’s day party several years the theme of which was bad jokes and to play video games. We even brought in full size arcade games (borrowed from Nintendo) for the attendees to enjoy.

When he left the company in the late 1980’s we had acquired a variety of Donkey Kong themed items: mugs, cups, socks, both electronic and board games, shirts, a bulletin board, an aped shaped ‘bank’ and, the most prized possession of all: an electronic cocktail tabletop game.

Yes, we still have all those things including the game table. But, unlike the days of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong fever, quarters are no longer needed. All you have to do is plug the thing in, press a button to load the game, and escape back to the 1980’s when arcade games were king and the Japanese took the country by storm. pac man blinky

To read more about these two arcade phenomenon click here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_Kong_(video_game) (there are some errors in this article. Specifically, Nintendo’s first headquarters were in Tukwila, not Redmond, Washington)

October 10, 2022 Update: When the daughter and her (then boyfriend) hubby moved back to the PNW, we gifted them the cocktail table Donkey Kong Game which we can visit pretty much anytime we want. As I organized things I put all of the Donkey Kong collection together and here’s a photo of most of the items we collected.

Biosphere 2

Sep26

Invasion of the Terranauts

September 26, 2017

bios 2 It was the stuff of science fiction when, on September 26, 1991, four women and four men entered the project known as Biosphere 2.

Located in the Arizona desert forty-one miles northeast of Tucson, the facility was developed in hopes of learning how colonization on other planets might work. The idea was that these eight scientists would live within the biosphere complex for two years and would grow their own food and manage all aspects of their world without help or interference from outside sources.

Inside Biosphere 2 were five distinct ecosystems. From the infallible Wikipedia:

biosphere 2 map “Its five biome areas were a 1,900 square meter rainforest, an 850 square meter ocean with a coral reef, a 450 square meter mangrove wetlands, a 1,300 square meter savannah grassland, a 1,400 square meter fog desert, a 2,500 square meter agricultural system, a human habitat, and a below-ground infrastructure. Heating and cooling water circulated through independent piping systems and passive solar input through the glass space frame panels covering most of the facility, and electrical power was supplied into Biosphere 2 from an onsite natural gas energy center.”

For those of us not trained in meters, I did the approximate calculations. Rainforest= 6,000 square feet. Ocean=2,800 square feet. Mangrove=1476 square feet. Savannah = 4300 square feet. Fog Dessert=4600 square feet. Agricultural =8200 square feet. That adds up to 27,376 square feet or over five square miles.

biosphere ocean As one can imagine, the project was beset with problems including not enough oxygen, dietary issues and – when one of the biospherians became ill and was removed from the project for a time – if outside intervention was justified. When the first experiment ended on September 26, 1993, plans were already underway for another set of scientists to participate in a second project:

“Biosphere 2 was only used twice for its original intended purposes as a closed-system experiment: once from 1991 to 1993, and the second time from March to September 1994. Both attempts, though heavily publicized, ran into problems including low amounts of food and oxygen, die-offs of many animals and plants included in the experiment, squabbling among the resident scientists, and management issues.”

Personally, I find it difficult to envision what it would be like to exist for two years in only five square miles and with the same 7 people as your daily companions. From a writer’s perspective, however, I think this is a fascinating premise for a science fiction book (with romantic elements perhaps?). Had someone researched and written such a book? I wondered. Indeed they have. The Terranauts, by TC Boyle, was published in October 2016 (hardback) with the paperback version set to be released on October 3 this year. Although I have not yet read the book I have requested it from the King County Library. It will be a perfect diversion for some upcoming blustery day when I can enjoy the wonderful changing seasons from inside my climate controlled dwelling on this planet which is Biosphere 1.

Here’s the links to Wikipedia and Amazon where you can read more about Biosphere 2 and read reviews on the novel:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_2

https://www.amazon.com/Terranauts-Novel-T-C-Boyle/dp/0062349414/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506197342&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Terranauts

Mary Tyler Moore

Sep19

You’re Gonna Make It After All

September 19, 2017

MTM hat in the air As an impressionable 13 year old on September 19, 1970, the premiere of one particular show – more than any other – no doubt helped to mold who I was and my view of the world.

For the next seven years I kept rooting for Mary Richards to find the love of her life but, alas, she never did. As a romantic I thought this was a tragedy beyond the pale. So every week I would tune in to see what was happening on WJM TV and to see if poor Mary’s love life would ever get launched.

In the course of the series run, it never really did. Certainly Mary had several encounters; and the show pushed many boundaries in the exploration of relationships which were not defined by marriage.

For the life of me, my 13 year old psyche could not understand how a 30 year old attractive woman would not WANT a husband and a family. From a perspective 40 plus years later I understand that not everyone needs or desires the same things.

The Mary Tyler Moore show was groundbreaking. A single woman, pursuing a career rather than choosing the then traditional route of marriage and children, was a foreign concept. From the infallible Wikipedia:

“Mary Richards (Moore) is a single woman who, at age 30, moves to Minneapolis after leaving her fiancé of two years. She applies for a secretarial job at fictional television station WJM, but that is already taken. She is instead offered the position of associate producer of the station’s Six o’clock News. She befriends her tough but lovable boss Lou Grant (Ed Asner), news writer Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), and buffoonish anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). Mary later becomes producer of the show.

Mary rents a third-floor studio apartment in a 19th-century house from acquaintance and downstairs landlady, Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman), and she and upstairs neighbor Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper) become best friends. Characters introduced later in the series are acerbic, man-hungry TV hostess Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White), and sweet-natured Georgette Franklin (Georgia Engel), as Ted Baxter’s girlfriend (and later, wife). At the beginning of season 6, after both Rhoda and Phyllis have moved away (providing a premise for two spinoffs), Mary relocates to a one-bedroom high-rise apartment.

In the third season, issues such as equal pay for women, pre-marital sex, and homosexuality are woven into the show’s comedic plots. In the fourth season, such subjects as marital infidelity and divorce are explored with Phyllis and Lou, respectively. In the fifth season, Mary refuses to reveal a news source and is jailed for contempt of court. While in jail, she befriends a prostitute who seeks Mary’s help in a subsequent episode.

In the final seasons, the show explores humor in death in the episode ‘Chuckles Bites the Dust’ and juvenile delinquency; Ted deals with intimate marital problems, infertility, and adoption, and suffers a heart attack; and Mary overcomes an addiction to sleeping pills. Mary dates several men on and off over the years, two seriously, but remains single throughout the series.”

The thing I remember best is that my mother loved the show. At the time of the premiere she was 45 years old and, I know from my own observations, struggling to define who she was going to be since her youngest child was 13 (the others were 15, 17 and 22) and daily chores were no longer all consuming or fulfilling. So she went back to college to study music and find activities which interested her. Somehow she managed to do what she wanted despite push back from my oh-so-traditional father. My mother often felt as if she had been born into the wrong era as she always wondered what it would be like to pursue a career.

But every Saturday evening – when at home – my Mom and I ALWAYS watched the Mary Tyler Moore show together! No doubt it WAS her favorite show and I imagine that if they were to air reruns she’d still love it today despite her advanced dementia and failing health.

For those who don’t know she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer so I know her time is short. In many ways I ‘lost’ my mother years ago with the dementia, then a stroke, and her continuing decline.

I’ve had more than one person say how ‘lucky’ I am to still have both my parents. My response is that I miss the woman who I remember as my mother. The true essence of that woman has, sadly, been gone a long time.

I checked the TV in her room today and confirmed that there’s a DVD player. I may just buy her the complete 7 season set of the Mary Tyler Moore show so she has something to enjoy in these final months.

To read more about this groundbreaking show, click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mary_Tyler_Moore_Show

And for a short segment that’s wickedly fun:

The Monkees

Sep12

Here We Come, Walkin’ down the street…

September 12, 2017

Crazy Monkees

The argument could be made that this group – a made for TV boy band – was like the Rodney Dangerfield of rock and roll: “I don’t get no respect.”

And now, 51 years after their TV program debuted, one could also argue that perhaps there was a bit more to them then the critics said at the time.

I’m talking, of course, about the Monkees. The TV show premiered on September 12, 1966 and, in combination with the release of their first single “Last Train To Clarksville” was an immediate hit with girls of a certain age. That age would have been from about 8 to 14 years old.

mickeydolenz1 davy-jones But back to the critics and how the group came to be. The idea was to put together an American based band of four guys in an attempt to capitalize on, and compete with, the success of the Beatles. The four (pictured here clockwise starting top left – Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith – were all musicians and actors. All took themselves seriously in their pursuit of a career. At the time Jones was a somewhat successful actor having played the role of the Artful Dodger in the musical “Oliver” and with his British accent and good looks was already cast for the TV show. An ad was run in the Hollywood Reporter for the rest of the band.

7a3e8466382e345cbf067b5d71d5a7d7 According to the infallible Wikipedia:

“Madness!! Auditions. Folk & Roll Musicians-Singers for acting roles in new TV series. Running Parts for 4 insane boys, age 17-21. Want spirited Ben Frank’s types. Have courage to work. Must come down for interview.

Out of 437 applicants, the other three chosen for the cast of the TV show were Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz. Nesmith had been working as a musician since early 1963 and had been recording and releasing music under various names, including Michael Blessing and ‘Mike & John & Bill’ and had studied drama in college. Of the final four, Nesmith was the only one who actually saw the ad in Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. Tork, the last to be chosen, had been working the Greenwich Village scene as a musician, and had shared the stage with Pete Seeger; he learned of The Monkees from Stephen Stills, whom Rafelson and Schneider had rejected as a songwriter. Dolenz was an actor (his father was veteran character actor George Dolenz) who had starred in the TV series Circus Boy as a child, using the stage name Mickey Braddock, and he had also played guitar and sung in a band called the Missing Links before the Monkees, which had recorded and released a very minor single, ‘Don’t Do It’. By that time he was using his real name; he found out about The Monkees through his agent.”

No doubt the four must have felt as though they hit the jackpot. Their success was almost immediate as their music resonated with the pre-teen group especially, catapulting them to the top of the music charts. As it turned out it was their music – and not the zany TV show – which proved to be the foundation for their success.

The entire Wikipedia article is worth a read if for no other reason than to gain a better understanding of the almost unbelievable story of the Monkees and their quest to be taken seriously: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkees

Monkeemania gripped me when, as a pre-pubescent 9 year old in the fall of 1966, all my friends were enthralled by the group. My mother, however, was appalled and banned my sister and me from watching it. But that didn’t stop us. Somehow we managed to show up at our neighbor Diane’s house at 7:30 p.m. on the appropriate week night to watch the contraband program.

Our little neighborhood group was so gripped by Monkees fever that we even pretended to BE the group. Diane – our ring leader – got to be Davy Jones; my sister, Susan, wore a stocking cap and assumed the role of Michael Nesmith; our year younger neighbor, Andi, was Micky Dolenz; and, me, because of my straight blonde hair, was assigned the role of Peter Tork. I was not thrilled with that assignment as, like most of the girls, Davy was THE one we thought was the best. But then again I did get to be a member of the band!

Although the TV show only ran for two seasons, the Monkees music still resonates today. I think you could argue that it was Nesmith who seized the opportunity to make the band more than a silly sitcom. He pushed and fought for legitimacy his entire career. And although there are still naysayers it’s hard to argue with the band’s success:

First music artist to win two Emmy Awards.
Had seven albums on the Billboard top 200 chart at the same time (six were re-issues during 1986-1987).
One of the first artists achieving number-one hits in the United States and United Kingdom simultaneously.
The only recording act to have four No. 1 albums in a 12-month span.
Held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard album chart for 31 consecutive weeks, 37 weeks total.
Held the record for the longest stay at No. 1 for a debut record album until 1982 when Men at Work‘s debut record album Business As Usual broke that record.
Received their star on the Hollywood Walk of fame in July 1989. All 4 members were present for the ceremony.
In 2008, the Monkees were inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.
In 2014 the Monkees were inducted into America’s Pop Music Hall of Fame.
The Music Business Association (Music Biz)honored the Monkees with an Outstanding Achievement Award celebrating their 50th anniversary on May 16, 2016.

8d979e4ef5da6cd6f1e6e6044c01001e The boy bands of today have nothing on the Monkees.