HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KITTY

I have loved her for 54 years and, before this month is over, will have been married to her for 49.  I am the luckiest man on earth.

Today she turns 70.  To her that is a magical age, a new chapter to be enjoyed and explored.  She has been looking forward to this day for reasons that are difficult to explain; whatever her reasons, she will go forward treating every day with excitement and wonder.

In some ways the years have taken their toll.  Her knee replacements have limited some of her activity.  A fall when entering an elevator that did not quite reach its floor left its mark.  A recent and surprise bout of anemia turned out to be very serious and she is till working on recovery.  But in every way that matters she is still the same person I fell in love with when I was 19.

She was beautiful then and she is beautiful now.  I still get lost in the brightness of her eyes and her smile reflects all that is good in this world.  Her laughter can dispel any type of gloom.  Her kindness, empathy, and intelligence far outshine mine.  I still scratch my head wondering how such a person could fall in love with such a galoomph like me.  But somehow she does love me and together we have traveled the decades through good times and bad.  We never made much money but her common sense ensured that we maintained a decent living style.  Her quick and sure instincts and determination helped save our oldest daughter when she was five as she battled doctors who told her she was being a nervous mother until the doctors finally determined that Jessie had a very rare pre-cancerous condition that few with it reached puberty.  No matter what, Kitty always knows what to do and how to react in an emergency, as she has shown time and time again.  Me?  Despite the best intentions, I'm useless.

Kitty has given us two remarkable children who, in turn, have given the world five remarkable kids.  She has given me years of happiness.  Now, as we enter her eighth decade, there lies ahead more joy, more adventure, and assuredly some sadness.  She's looking forward to this and I'm looking forward to holding her hand during the journey.

God, I love that woman.

THE ADVENTURES OF ELLERY QUEEN: THE CASE OF THE GREEN GORILLAS (JUNE 1, 1947)

The Adventures of Ellery Queen premiered on CBS radio in June 1939 and ran for 67 episodes (36 hour-long programs and 31 half-hour programs), ending in September of 1940.  In January 1942, it began a run on NBC radio, ending on December 30, 1944, having aired 143 half-hour episodes.  The next month (January 1945) CBS radio took the ball again, airing 110 thirty-minute episodes through April 16, 1947.  NBC radio then snuck in with ten half-hour Ellery Queen episodes from October 1946 through September 1947 -- overlapping several episodes during the last CBS run.  At the end of November 1947, the show premiered on ABC radio for a half year run with 27 half-hour episodes.

Over the years, Ellery was played by Hugh Marlowe, CarletonYoung, Sydney Smith, Lawrence Dobkin, and Howard Culver.  The role of Nikki Porter was taken (respectively) by Marian Shockley, Gertrude Warner, Joan Banks, and Virginia Gregg.  Santos Ortega and Herb Butterfield played Inspector Queen at different times and Ted De Corsia and Allen Reed played Sergeant Velie.

"The Case of the Green Gorillas" features Lawrence Dobkin as Ellery.  Tom Victor directed the episode from a script by Manfred B. Lee and Anthony Boucher.  Don Hancock was the announcer.

Ellery and his father are using a young informant to get information about the juvenile street gang called The Green Gorillas but things go askew when someone tells the gang about the informer.  what can Ellery do to rescue the situation?

Enjoy.


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

MUSIC FROM THE PAST: I TALK TO THE TREES/DANCE, BOATMAN, DANCE

The Smothers Brothers.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LEfWjHCPVY

BAD JOKE WEDNESDAY

Some clean high school jokes my daughter heard while walking the hallway at work:

Why is Peter Pan always flying?

Because he Never-lands.

What do you call a nun in a wheelchair?

Virgin Mobile.

Then my other daughter chimed in with this one:

What do you call a fairy that never showers?

Stinkerbelle.

MUSIC FROM THE PAST: AT THE DARK END OF THE STREET

Ry Cooder and The Chicken Skin Band, 1977..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qiaksN_9HY

OVERLOOKED FILM: DAY OF THE OUTLAW (1959)

This is a darn good movie that could have been great.

Robert Ryan stars as Blaise Starrett, a tough cattleman at odds with settlers in the gloomy western town of Bitters, Wyoming.  His feud with local farmer Hal Crane (Alan Marshall) is about to erupt with blood.  Crane's wife Helen (Tina Louise), who was once linked to Starrett, begs him not to kill her husband.  Tina is willing to renew her relationship with Starrett if he leaves Crane alone.

Just as things are about to explode, Captain Jack Bruhn (Burl Ives) and his violent gang of outlaws ride into town, pursued by the law after robbing a bank.  Ives is wounded and dying but is determined to hold rein on his gang as they hold the entire town hostage.  Starrett must find a way to save the town and to redeem himself.

Day of the Outlaw is a dark and powerful movie.  Both Starrett and Bruhn are complicated and conflicted characters, brilliantly brought to life by Ryan and Ives.  With a solid script by Philip Yordan (The Naked Jungle, Johnny Guitar, El Cid) based on the Lee E. Wells novel and amazing cinematography by Russell Harlan (To Kill a Mockingbird, Run Silent Run Deep, Rio Bravo) director Andre de Toth created a near classic film.  The budget, however, was very low and de Toth was bringing some personal problems to the set.  Both snow storms and Ryan coming down with pneumonia delayed filming, and de Toth -- a perfectionist -- had the town he built for filming torn down and replaced because it ws facing in the wrong direction.  De Toth also demanded some scenes be re-shot from interior to exterior locations.  As the production ran out of money, bags were packed and it was back to Hollywood.  Philip Yordan said the film had the best script he had ever written but the problems with filming made this one a "what might have been."

Also in the top-notch cast were David Nelson, Nehemiah Persoff, Jack Lambert, Frank Dekova, Elisha Cook, Dabbs Greer, Helen Westcott, and William Schallert.

Enjoy.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxMVKCRH0Qc

MUSIC FROM THE PAST: THEME FROM BEVERLY HILLS 90210

Rest in peace, Luke Perry.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY-IFU9LFkY