Right before this Comet TV had Cowboys vs Vampires, I’m sensing a trend here. I had always thought Ray Milland in the 1972 classic ‘Frogs‘ was the worst movie ever made. I think I was wrong. Sure there are those fancy movies with budgets and name actors, but! There’s one thing they ain’t got! An original story. As an example I’ve long railed about CBS’s lineup, remakes from 35 years ago: Magnum PI, MacGyver, Hawaii 5-0. Now they even have one more remake! Walker Texas Ranger. I am not shitting you. But I’ve noticed on Comet and the Sci-Fi channel they have original scripts. There’s a lot to be said for that.
Plus, even the reruns on that channel were original for their time. Shows like the Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. A few years after those shows was another original, Star Trek. A couple of years after that was Star Wars (the first was original anyway). I was channel flipping last night and it hit me the 70s were the decade of the cop show/detective show. Barney Miller, Kojak, Starsky & Hutch, Baretta, Toma, Canon, Barnaby Jones, Adam-12, Mod Squad, Rookies, Ironside, Rockford Files. Even worse, I just realized they’re still that way! And even going back over the years. And all their spinoffs! I don’t even know how many versions there are of them. The NCIS’s, Law and Orders…
Its similar to what I started to discover going to film festivals the past dozen years. A 16 yr old with a Hand-i-cam generally has more creativity and originality than all the million dollar babies in Hollywood. I don’t know, I can’t nail it down exactly. I’ve just got the sneaking feeling Americans have wasted a lot of money on movies, and a lot of time on TV, for some really substandard crap. And whether its ones like the Shark-nado series or these Cowboy vs ones, the CGI is pathetic. Sophomoric.
Great little video here on the age old dilemma: Do you do more weight less times? Or less weight more times? Once again, this would benefit young people the most. We’ve already wasted 40 years. Ryan Humiston’s conclusion is the same as most of the commenters: More reps, i.e. 15/20/30. His thought process is pretty good on it too. Less risk of energy, better blood flow, better technique, better “burn”, better isolation of the targeted muscles. His thought from his experience was 8/10 reps just don’t get it done. That’s my thought. The only caveat I would have is that muscles have to be “shocked” from time to time. Maybe through an extended rest every couple of months, or a different type of exercise, maybe bands? Something else?
The only thing I question though, I’m really not confident to spot what the limit of ‘natural training’ is. Its not Arnold Schwarzenegger, its not Lou Ferrigno, its not Ronnie Coleman, fine men all no doubt, but they’re not natural body builders. They’re just not. Too many people I trust say men just can’t grow that way without steroids. And doubly so for the women, they simply don’t have the testosterone.
Oh my gawd no ABC! They didn’t reach an agreement with the local cable provider Mediacom by January 1, so we don’t have them! Any day now we are likely to find someone who cares. Its a given there’s nothing on channel 5 (ABC in central Iowa), How about 5.3, Grit? The western channel? Not unless you like commercials, they put an 87 minute movie in a 2 1/2 hour time slot. I have literally seen them on a 6/4 split, 6 minutes of show to 4 minutes of commercials. I cannot tell you the name of a single show on ABC.
In late December the NBC affiliate channel 13 was going through this with Dish Network. Evidently they reached an agreement. The closest thing they have to something I want to see is on their retro channel, 13.3. And that’s only 2 half hour shows! My gawd cable TV is a wasteland. I refuse to watch any channel that has more that 8 minutes of commercials in a half hour, so that pretty much eliminates your network channels and the USA?AMC/Insp/A&E/TV Land and Hallmark type channels. Basically I’m left with Turner Classic Movies and the Weather Channel.
If they think I give a rip about their contractual tug of war, they’re nuts. I got the TV Key Antenna as shown on TV! I don’t need their crap. [All you have to do is go to Zap 2 It TV listings to see all the channels that Ames, Iowa doesn’t have because Mediacom is so pitiful.]
There is a very complex world of “martial arts” on YouTube. Most of it is a dark world to stay away from. But there are a handful of really great teachers. Ando Mierzwa above is one of those. Another is the 3 guys they have at Aikido Flow. A guy with an infectious personality and really diverse in “root” knowledge is Jesse Enkamp. Another guy with a really great aura is at the Martial Arts Journey channel. These 4 have something the others don’t, you know what it is when you see it. Just hard to describe. The rest of the channels are like those guys you see on UFC or MMA bouts where they get a guy on the ground unconscious and just start psychotically pounding the other guys head. Its terrifying. That’s not a sport.
These guys I list generally have the old school humility and decency you’d expect from a “Karate Master”. They don’t go through life with a chip on their shoulder, just waiting for a chance to prove themselves. Another trait they have is a desire to explore other forms of martial arts. Looking to find strengths and weaknesses. They will also be on the receiving end of the training from time to time. Most channels are the head guy who just happens to be a head taller and 20 pounds heavier then the practice dummy they beat up on every time, who just also happens to be a human being. Its like, “If you’re such a damn good instructor, how come your student doesn’t know anything?“
And while all this is fun and entertaining, its good to remember 1 thing. If you are a young person that happens to think this is a good lifelong fitness regimen, great, it makes as much sense as giving your money to Planet Fitness to stay fit. But if you are like 90% of guys and just want a basic understanding of self-defense and will never be in organized competition, I discovered all you need then is to spend a half hour a couple times a year. 15 minutes in the ring and 15 minutes on the mat.
“Sure Aikido might be worthless, but they do have some killer dance moves”
50 years ago she was 28 (born November 16, 1942), she’s somewhat older now. Born in London, raised in Canada. Some of her earliest roles were on the soaps The Doctors, The Doctors and the Nurses and Doctor Kildare, so a lot of medical training. I probably remember her from the Night Gallery series which played on NBC in the early 70’s. Something that just occurred to me about her personality, she was incapable of overacting. Too much of a reserved presence for that. In a lot/most of her roles she comes across as an extremely sophisticated and dignified lady (capital L). Probably wouldn’t have worked real well opposite Penny Marshall in Laverne & Shirley. While thinking just now about that example, I snorted how funny it would have been! It became very intriguing to consider though… especially with a woman loaded with such panache.
You can tell she’s a real blonde by the freckles. The photos I put first were from that period I considered her unbeatable, say 1968 – 1978. I put a few at the end that were before and after that period just to show you what I’m talking about. She typified the era. The wispy slender blonde with a quiet dignity. She fit into the hippy era perfectly. Its hard to explain if you weren’t there. The bellbottoms, the fringe vests, a headband. I was thinking that if there was an overarching assessment of her career, was that she was underutilized. While doing research for this post I noticed that’s exactly what the bio on IMDB at the link above said too. They said directors began using her for the ‘wow’ she brought, and not her acting chops.
Hollywood then and now likes to pigeonhole actors as either TV or movie. She got marked as TV material. I have no idea why but her résumé confirms it. Which is fine with me, just thought I’d point it out. A number of actresses like her faced a similar dilemma. How to increase her fame? Make herself more of a marketable commodity? Playboy Magazine was a big deal back then. A few, like Marilyn Monroe, an appearance in Playboy definitely didn’t hurt and likely helped their career. I would have to say for Joanna’s 1968 appearance in the magazine guaranteed her a TV career. A lot of times back then it ended up making a woman look “desperate” or cashing in. She would have been 26 at the time.
A lot of really beautiful women like that had a busy career until about age 40, then it petered out. So the calculation she had to make in 1968 was (she would have turned 40 in 1982), build it slow and see what happened in the next 14 years? Or roll the dice and see what appearing nude did for her? You got to realize the 60’s was quite the swinging time, nudity was a lot more common in movies and such then it is now. An indication of just how beautiful she was is by how Getty Imagesgobbled up her photo stock. I was left with about 5 I could use. Which is fine, but a lot of the ones they have are the casual ones that show the era so much better. Her love interests, the nightlife, the ‘biz’. The “real” her.
I have found out over the last couple of years with my “The 10 Most Beautiful Women” of the decades posts, that I’m not the only man that enjoys looking at the icons from back in the day. Men have fantasies and dreams about all different women. They come in quite the assortment of sizes and shapes. Loud women, quiet women, arrogant, or reserved. Blonde, dark, voluptuous or slender. Not one woman (I don’t think) appeals to every man. What shaped our individual desires I doubt even we could say. Half of it is likely subconscious. From reading her bios, a great grief from her life naturally was the death of her only child, Damien Zachary Cord, from an acute heroin overdose in 1995 at age 26.
Close-up of British actress Joanna Pettet in the film ‘Blue’ (directed by Silvio Narizzano), Moab, Utah, 1967. (Photo by Lawrence Schiller/Polaris Communications/Getty Images) [My favorite photo of her]
Close-up of British actress Joanna Pettet in the film ‘Blue’ (directed by Silvio Narizzano), Moab, Utah, 1967. (Photo by Lawrence Schiller/Polaris Communications/Getty Images)
Joanna about 1970
I could be way off base on this one, but Black & White seems to work out better for some women then others. I’d say she is in the former group. The next group of photos she looks dramatically different to me in, both younger and older. Very strange to me the difference.
For me this is a fun exercise. I’ve covered 8 decades of beautiful women. Other men’s hobby’s might be cars or guns or coins or stamps. As I’ve mentioned some women standout more than others, even while having nearly identical backgrounds, ages or even physical appearance. Through the hundreds of women there’s always been a handful that seem to be more in the forefront of my recollections than others. Say that if you could only have 1 DVD to watch the rest of your life, who would you want on it? I suppose a lot of it comes down to, “Who do you like?” Who stands out as nice, warm, funny, interesting and enjoyable? A silly exercise, but fun. For me I think what stars like Joanna are is an embodiment, of the women you’ve known in your own life. Representing who knows what.
If everybody had an ocean Across the U.S.A. Then everybody’d be surfin’ Like Californi-a You’d seem ’em wearing their baggies Huarachi sandals too A bushy bushy blonde hairdo Surfin’ U.S.A.
You’d catch ’em surfin’ at Del Mar Ventura County line Santa Cruz and Trestle
Everybody’s gone surfin’ Surfin’ U.S.A.
We’ll all be planning out a route We’re gonna take real soon We’re waxing down our surfboards We can’t wait for June We’ll all be gone for the summer We’re on surfari to stay Tell the teacher we’re surfin’ Surfin’ U.S.A.
[For some reason sitting under a foot of snow in the frozen tundra known as Iowa on December 30 made me think of this tune. Huh.]
Hanzo, a boxer, competes during the Unleashed Surf City Surf Dog contest in Huntington Beach, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015. (Mindy Schauer/The Orange County Register via AP) MAGS OUT; LOS ANGELES TIMES OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
My favorite special. And the only one that mentions the point of Christmas. The artwork I thought was simply wonderful. This and the Halloween Special kept the original crew together that knocked it out of the park. I watched the Thanksgiving Special again on Christmas Day. The graphics again were very good, though maybe dropped off just a bit. I think the voice actors dropped off some too, maybe a little ‘professional’. But the first one, the Christmas Special, was running on all cylinders. The Vince Guaraldi score, the “graphic blandishment”, the voice actors, the storyline. That’s where the Thanksgiving Special fell off some, they wrapped it up strong, but it had a weak middle. Snoopy and Woodstock were possibly the strongest segment. In the Christmas Special the voice actors are what standout to me. Charles Schultz had to fight to get children instead of adult voice overs. The weakest link for me was at the play rehearsal when the dance scenes went on too long. The sad part is this year it was not shown on TV. And when it is, it is criminal the amount they cut off the original 25 minutes to insert additional commercials.
Charlie Brown explaining to Linus he’s just not feeling it this year, the “Christmas spirit”
Charlie seeking advice from the local mental health professionals on his holiday depression
Lucy’s advice was to get involved as director of the play
“That’s what this play needs! Is a great big shiny aluminum Christmas Tree!
I saw recently where the man who played Squiggy on Laverne & Shirley died this month at the age of 73. Back when the show ran in the 70s I kind of blew Lenny and Squiggy off. Maybe even found them a little irritating. Now however watching them in reruns and “best of” clips on YouTube I really came to love the guy. His comedy aged really well. David himself was handed a struggle in 1984 when he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I read in one of his bios that he and Michael McKean had actually developed the Lenny and Squiggy idea while in college. Kind of an Abbott and Costello idea. It worked. I have no way of knowing, but looking back on it he seemed like a really decent man. David and Michael had a natural ability that maybe just isn’t seen anymore. His character was the underdog who kept plugging. Their schtick as in the series of clips above, was for the two of them to burst into a room and for Squiggy to let out the nasally, “Hello!” It would always be preceded by like Laverne and Shirley talking in their apartment and Laverne saying something along the lines of, “That’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen in my life!” Boom! Enter Lenny & Squiggy! Hello!
(American- 1907-1994) Stevan Dohanos made his mark as a nationally famous cover artist for The Saturday Evening Post and chronicler of Americana, but he began at the bottom.
He studied nights at the Cleveland School of Art long enough to get a job as an apprentice letterer, and gradually developed a solid studio background. A hard worker, he simultaneously painted and printed woodcuts for national exhibitions. [The Illustrated Gallery]
Shame its so small, it might be my favorite, ‘Frozen Laundry’
COZI TV (channel 5.4 in central Iowa) came through with a winner last night. The movie was set in the Great Depression somewhere in the Midwest or southern United States. It was made in 2013. Fascinating little storyline that kept you intrigued. Large family, momma just died, medical bills from little Billy’s polio. The requisite school bully, Mean Mrs. Olson, the bitter widder lady (widow). Nice low-key acting. Dude must a had 6 kids. The premise was Dad had $1 entire dollar to split amongst the family to buy Christmas presents for each other (a dime back then bought more than it does today). But the funny thing was what occurred to me when it was over. Hallmark couldn’t have done this one on their best day. They have their formula and they’re sticking to it. It can be done. No budget. No big names. Just a little imagination with the writing, a little location shooting, throw in a horse and a crippled boy and you got yourself a movie!
[The comparison is like the movie they are playing this moment on TCM: A Matter of Life and Death (1946). I’d call it sort of an ‘avantgarde’ film. An intriguing premise, since “heaven” messed up when this WW II bomber crew crashed, should he really be dead? Or should he be given a second chance at life? Made in London, which explains the freshness. Hollywood was stale from nearly its inception (they pretty much shot their wad by the end of the 1940’s). What it comes down to, is that many many people have been given many many dollars to turn out shit. Its just rather staggering to think how much no talent hacks have wasted. Hollywood couldn’t have done this film on its best day. And I believe the reason movies like this are never played, is that it makes Hollywood look so inept.]
Iowa life 