MUSIC FROM THE PAST: WHO AM I (TRIPITENA'S SONG)

Lou Reed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDJ_X0Rqhsk&index=39&list=PLiaOytEHao7FIZMn374j6v54YQeUghwYx

OLD TIME RADIO -- THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM: DENNIS' MOTHER INTERFERES WITH THE SHOW

We're deep into the last week of the Presidential election and I need a break.  I suspect you do, too.  So here's an episode of The Jack Benny Program from October 15, 1939.

Since we all seem to be afraid that one of the two main candidates is going to win this election, we need a few laughs.

Have at it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ8i5mIOMBE&list=PLJm2etPj4-MaFhQ66SDXHxw_cvj4lMCPD&index=20

ED GORMAN DAY

Today is Ed Gorman Day on the blogisphere, a chance to honor the man and his writings on what would have been his 75th birthday with memories, thoughts. discussions of his books and stories, and so on.

I never met Ed, never talked to him, never communicated with him, but through his writings he became an important part of my life.   Ed was a fierce, honest, funny, and kind curmudgeonly sort.  He didn't like crowds, hated to travel, and loved to talk to people over the phone during late night calls.  He loved story, the ability to translate experience and thought into words.  He especially loved story that spoke to real people, the type of story that's rarely found in film or novels but could be found in the movies of Budd Boettticher or in forgotten Gold Medal paperbacks.  With Robert Randisi, he founded Mystery Scene magazine to help promote those underappreciated authors as well as new and current writers.  He worked with his good friend Martin H. Greenberg to bring attention to these writers.  He encouraged, sympathized, and aided other writers.

Ed wrote like a dream.  He poured his deep understanding of the human soul into his characters; they were flawed but oh so human.  He wrote some of the best westerns going.  His mystery and suspense novels gave us such unforgettable characters as Jack Walsh, Anna Tobin (the first real-life female police officer in Cedar Rapids), Robert Payne, Sam McCain, and Dev Conrad.  His horror novels, written under his "Daniel Ransom" pseudonym were chilling -- despite the fact that he was disappointed in them because (he said) he never knew how to end them properly.  His short stories were heart-wrenchingly honest and sympathetic to the ordinary man.  He ghosted a lot of books, many of them under house names and -- for the most part -- they were enjoyable.  (Best to avoid the ones he wrote for ghost-hunting hucksters Ed and Lorraine Warren, though.)

For a dozen years or so he suffered from multiple myeloma, the evil sonofabitch disease that finally claimed him.  Like the Energizer Bunny, Ed kept going and going.  Writing, helping, advising, consoling, befriending, and touching every one he met.

He didn't have a charmed life; there were some ugly years early on.  I think the last forty years or so were charmed, though, because of three things:  he found his writing voice, he found many friends, and he found his wonderful wife Carol.

I had originally written a long, long, long appreciation for Ed Gorman Day.  I scrapped it when I realized that it was as much about me as it was about Ed, and because there are many others more qualified than I to write about him.  You'll find links to them all at Patti Abbott's blog at pattinase.com.  Go there and see what sort of person Ed Gorman was and why he was so loved..

MUSIC FROM THE PAST: HE MAY BE YOUR DOG BUT HE'S WEARING MY COLLAR

From 1923, Rosa Henderson, with Fletcher Henderson (no relation) on piano.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XuNkxxQx4s

BAD JOKE WEDNESDAY

So there were two cats -- an American cat named "One-Two-Three" and his French cousin named
"Une-Deux-Trois."  They were taking a leisurely stroll in the woods one day when they came across a very bad-tempered, cat-hating bear.  The bear gave chase and the cats ran for their lives.  They ran and ran and then, in front of them...a raging river!  With the bear gaining on them, the two had no choice but to jump into the river and try to make it to the other side.

Sadly, only one of them survived.  One-Two-Three made to safety but the Une-Deux Trois cat sank.

MUSIC FROM THE PAST: LITTLE LOG CABIN IN THE LANE

Uncle John Scruggs.  Filmed in Powhattan, Virginia; the set is phony, the kids are actors, Uncle John is falsely stereotyped, but this all fed into prejudices common in 1928.  Scruggs, born a slave, was an important influence in roots music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TgIeaGzeLQ

OVERLOOKED FILM: THE ARIZONA KID

This 1939 oater stars Leonard Slye and George Hayes as Confederate scouts in 1861 Missouri.  The Civil War has broken out and Missouri, although a Union state has a lot of Southern sympathizers.  Roy and Gabby's job is to stop Val McBride (Stuart Hamblin) and his gang of mercenaries.  Hamblin has been using his Confederate uniform to pillage the countryside for his own gain and the Confederate army has disavowed him.

One sticking point:  Roy's friend Dave Allen (David Kerwin) is part of McBride's gang.  Roy tries to talk Dave into leaving the gang but the lure of easy money is too much of a temptation to Dave.  Complicating the relationship are 1)  Dave has saved Roy's life, and 2) Dave and Roy are both in love with the same girl, Laura Bradford (Sally March).  The subplot of Roy and Dave ends when Roy has to make a terrible decision.

Guns blaze.  Roy sings.  Gabby is Gabby.  What more can you ask for?

One nagging question remains.  Why the "Arizona " Kid?  99.99% of the movie takes place in Missouri, where Roy is supposed to hail from.  Yes, the movie opens with Roy and Gabby driving horse from Arizona to Missouri but that's about the only Arizona reference in the film.  I'll admit that Arizona sound more westerny than Missouri, but what the heck?

This one was directed by Joseph Kane and scripted by Luci Ward and Gerald Geraghty.

Enjoy.


https://archive.org/details/arizona_kid