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Showing results for tags '1968'.
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This will liven up your day as well as any cup of coffee. I heard Dick van Dyke in an interview once saying it was the most taxing number he'd ever performed: If you've taken psilocybin, and want a trip to remember, put it on .25 speed and watch it (click the gearbox at the bottom-right, and adjust accordingly). -
Who has a better career W-L record, Mike Mussina, or Tom Seaver? <--- These are links to their stats. Surprise! Every pitcher who has over 100 more victories than losses is in the Hall of Fame ... except for Mike Mussina. I know, I know: "Most overrated statistic there is." I don't buy it. Expect Moose to be inducted this decade, preferably with an Orioles' cap. We miss you, Mike. Even here in Northern Virginia, we miss you. New York is a bigger audience, but between Baltimore and Atlanta, you were *it*.
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There are several nice pieces about readers favorite ballplayers. Mine was "the Mick". Mickey Mantle. I know I share that memory and perspective with many many of a certain age and time. In fact Bob Costas who gave the "official" eulogy at Mickey Mantles funeral used these words: You can read the eulogy here You can see it on video here: In the late 1950's and early '60's television had been around for a while but the volume of sports broadcasting was limited, sports broadcasts were simply rare, but living in the New York area we got to watch the Yankees and we got to watch the Mick. Nobody ever filled out a uniform so well, took a more powerful swing, and crushed more tape measure home runs than the Mick. At those moments when the meat of the bat hit the center of the pitch it was bye bye baseball!!! He looked damn good doing it: the All American boy. Mickey played at a time with phenomenal outfielders: Mantle and Mays in Center Field. Frank Robinson, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, and Al Kaline in Right Field; all of them were sublime outfielders who were awesome 5 skill players. They are the ones that come to my mind. You might suggest others. As the 60's evolved and more baseball hit TV one got to watch more of them. Each was spectacular. Mantle always looked the best doing the same things as all of them. He was naturally strong and incredibly fast. He was timed at 3.1 seconds batting lefty from Home to First, still considered the fastest time in baseball. He did that with injured legs. And he crushed home runs. Crushed them. If you search on the web for "who hit the longest home runs" you'll find two articles referencing 10 long home runs. One is exclusively about Mantle's 10 longest. The other is a Sports Illustrated article featuring long home runs by a variety of players. Mantle is first on that list...and they reference two of his mighty shots. He could club them. Mantle's career was annually short circuited by injuries. He was injured in his rookie year in '51, and it is suggested he played with a torn ACL ever after. He was timed at 3.1 seconds to first after that injury and other leg injuries. Recently Mickey Mantle came to mind for me on several fronts. Albert Pujols just passed Mickey on the all time home run list. Pujols now has 540. Mantle has 536. Pujols is 16th on the list of all time home runs and Mantle now 17th. Above them are at least 6 cheaters who are tied to steroids. On a list of who hit the most home runs per at bat. Mantle is tied for 15 at one every 15.11 at bats. Above him are ranked at least 5 known steroid cheaters. Besides Pujols passing Mick, a short while before my old town classmates had a reunion. It was fun and relaxing. Among the "jockish" guys I heard more than once, phrases such as this" "crushing the ball like the Mick". One guy had posted a nice FB picture of him hitting a golf shot. Responses included...."you look like the Mick". Mickey Mantle and making the perfect swing go hand in hand and is deeply imprinted in a generation's mind. Mickey Mantle was beyond sports. He was truly mythological. I suppose he ranks with the first TV Superman; The Adventures of Superman. It ran from '52 to '58. That roughly coincides with the start of Mantle's and Mays' careers. What wonderful synchrocity At the start of that show Superman would be described: Faster than a speeding bullet (I reference 3.1 seconds to first one more time ). More powerful than a locomotive (I think of that as more of a football basketball analogy: Jim Brown, Earl Campbell in football and Charles Barkley come to mind). Able to Leap tall buildings in a single bound (Mickey Mantle could put baseballs at the top or over huge stadiums.) Mickey Mantle was the living sports analogy to Superman. Now we learned way later in life that Mick was a drunk, a philanderer and womanizer, he was not great with his wife and kids, and had flaws up the kazoo. Regardless as a child and a teenager Mick was a one and only idol...for myself and I suppose millions. Here is to you Mick. Take another swing at a pitch....the greatest swing in the history of baseball. -
The origin of the word "zombie," George A. Romero's 1968 film, "Night of the Living Dead."
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I've had this weird "thing" lately where I've been watching SE1 EP1 of classic American television shows - I guess I was so ignorant, for so long, that this is sort-of like taking a post-WWII pop culture course. *Everyone* but me at Clemson used to gather round the TV and watch "The Andy Griffith Show"; before last week, I had never before seen a single episode (my friends also called me a "Yankee"). The one thing that stood out to me in "The New Housekeeper" is six-year-old Ron Howard. I almost always find whiny children on TV to be incorrigible brats, but Howard - who was certainly whiny in this episode - somehow managed to be cute. I'm still not sure what it was about him that made me not detest him, but he was a real talent, even at age six.
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In one of my OCD, "nobody-cares-but-me" moments of fret, I've been stewing about whether to continue calling this area "Tysons Corner," which it will always be for me, or the newly coined "Tysons," which seems to be what it's turning into. Although I don't remember what things were like before 1968, when Lerner Enterprises (the family which owns the Washington Nationals, and the largest private landowner in the Washington, DC area) built Tysons Corner Center, I do remember comfortably driving there from Silver Spring in about twenty minutes (really - even during rush hour, when cars would go at 45 mph instead of 55 mph). What I didn't realize this morning is that Tysons Corner Center is larger than Potomac Mills; I had always been under the impression that Potomac Mills is substantially larger; not only is Tysons Corner Center larger, it's fully 50% larger! It's also the largest mall in Virginia, the 9th-largest mall in the USA, and the 51st-largest mall in the world. Does anyone else notice a slow-moving effort to rename "Tysons Corner, VA" as "Tysons, VA?"
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Believe it or not, the only time I'd seen "2001: A Space Odyssey" was when it was released in 1968 (I was six-years old, and quite honestly, I remember being bored) - it was about time I watched it again. The only thing I remembered from the movie - which was wildly promoted and marketed at the time - was an usher in the theater, walking around and hawking programs before the movie started, saying "2001: A Space Odyssey. 2001: A Space Odyssey." Isn't it amazing what trivial memories get implanted in the minds of children? And isn't it upsetting what important things children don't remember? There is a very real possibility I attended the world premiere, on April 2, 1968, at the Uptown, but at this point, there's no way for me to ever know. As I watch it (I'm still watching it as I begin this post), I'm astonished at how much it reminds me of "Solaris," the film by Russian master Andrei Tarkovsky, who is perhaps the greatest director you've never heard of - he is a legend in his native country, and was heavily influenced by Ingmar Bergman, who said of Tarkovsky: "Tarkovsky for me is the greatest (director), the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream." And you can rest assured, Tarkovsky most likely said something similar about Bergman. Anyway, if you love the cinema, and you're not familiar with Tarkovsky, you'd be doing very well to put him next on your list. So, which came first? "2001" was either a great pioneering masterpiece, or a rip-off of "Solaris" - which was it? It was a great pioneering masterpiece: "Solaris" came out four-years later, in 1972. I've always loved Stanley Kubrick ("Dr. Strangelove," "A Clockwork Orange"), and thought him most likely a genius, and "2001" only serves to reinforce that supposition. *One* Academy Award for "2001?" For Best Visual Effects? Not even nominated for Best Picture? No win for Best Director? Are you kidding me? This is the same Academy that nominated the ridiculous "Dr. Dolittle" for Best Picture just one year before, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised: This only serves to bolster my belief that mediocrity is rampant in humanity, even at the highest positions of influence and power. Science Fiction and Horror are two genres of movie making that have always been overlooked, but this goes much deeper than that. Just the beginning of the movie, with the screen entirely dark, and an "overture" of sorts playing in the background for nearly three full minutes, exudes self-confidence on the part of Kubrick - I'm not convinced it worked entirely, but it most certainly set the tone for the epic nature of the film, as well as preparing the viewer for the bleak darkness of space. The scene when the B Pod is preparing and performing EVA, the use of deep human breathing as the only sound is incredibly effective - it conjures up primal fears in the viewer. What could be more frightening than not being able to breathe? Out of all the basic human needs (with the possibility of "shelter" during, for example, a tornado), denial of oxygen is the one thing that kills most quickly. And given that we're in space, that possibility is always in the background. This was pure Kubrick, and it was pure brilliance - what could have been a dull, torpid scene to watch invoked a sense of dread, and Kubrick thought of employing this technique out of thin air. As I write this paragraph, I've now finished the movie - I clearly saw the post-Saturn psychedelic scene within the past ten years or so, probably on YouTube, but that's about the only thing I remembered about the movie. It's a masterpiece, while at the same time being both dated in parts, and fresh as a daisy in other parts.
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This reminds me of the tragedy of Lyndon Johnson, who without Vietnam would be unquestionably one of our greatest presidents, in the same class with Lincoln and FDR. It just makes me weep when I think of it. Of course I hated him at the time, but that was all about Vietnam, which overshadowed everything. You younger people probably can't even imagine how Vietnam distorted and disfigured everything about our civic life as it crept into the crannies of our souls. You couldn't even fuck without Vietnam obtruding into the crevices of your pleasures. I look back on LBJ's presidency now and can only see what midgets his successors have been compared to him.- 1 reply
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I suspect most readers here have neither seen "The Fixer," nor are familiar with the grotesque (but true) accusation of "Blood Libel" (completely unrelated to the term "Blood Simple"). Sir Alan Bates was justifiably honored for his portrayal of an early-twentieth-century Russian Jew named Yakov Bok (based on the unbelievable-but-true story of Menahem Mendel Beilis) with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor (which went to Cliff Robertson for "Charly" (which was a fine performance, but Bates deserved the award)) . The book (reportedly superior to the film) was written by Bernard Malamud (author of "The Natural"), and the screenplay by Dalton Trumbo (writer of "Roman Holiday" and director of "Johnny Got His Gun"). I won't summarize the film, but although slightly hamfisted (Trumbo was talented, but not subtle), this is an important movie, and a laudable performance by Bates, who looks freakishly like Anton Chigurh (enough so that I think that several aspects of Chigurh were based on Yakov Bok, even though one man is pure good, and the other is pure evil). For now, the film is available, in high quality, for free on YouTube, but I council people to watch it all in one day, and to be prepared for something more than lighthearted fare.
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Did you know that Memorial Day was originally known as "Decoration Day," and observed on May 30? It has fuzzy beginnings that differ in the North and the South (with the American Civil War, and related issues, being a major influence). The name wasn't formally changed until 1968, by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act (note also this proclamation by President Lyndon Johnson), and beginning in 1971, the act officially stated that it was to be observed on the final Monday of each May. There's a lot to read about it - you can spend five minutes, or five years, studying its history. For many, Memorial Day and Labor Day mark the beginning and end of summer; for me, they are (as well as being serious commemorations) convenient placemarks for the French Open and the U.S. Open: two slices of bread that sandwich Wimbledon, the Australian Open being the pickle on the side of the plate.
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I've always had a morbid fascination with Lt. William Calley's role in the My Lai Massacre in 1968 (that was one hell of a year for this country). However, I've never really known about it, or what happened - I was only six years old, and didn't understand at all; I just remember "The Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley" playing on the radio - what sounded so serious to me then now comes across as propaganda, and not particularly well-done propaganda - it's almost kind of corny, even though it's dealing with such a dire subject. Does anyone have any opinions about this anti-protest protest song? Or the situation in general? I'm not looking for general opinions about the war, but rather opinions about this specific situation. Calley publicly apologized for the incident in 2009: There is a 70-minute-long documentary on the My Lai massacre available on YouTube, but I haven't seen it yet - does anyone know if it's unbiased?
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What an excellent movie "Charly" is. Based on the book "Flowers for Algernon," it stars Cliff Robertson in an Academy Award-winning role as Charly, and he is magnificent - fully deserving of a Best Actor award. I'm not going to go into any details, because this film is free on putlocker.com, and if you can tolerate the rather dubious "extra windows" that open on occasion, you can watch one heck of a good movie for free. This falls within the "exceptional person" genre of fictional biopic: Refer to "Rainman," "A Beautiful Mind," "The Man Who Knew Infinity," etc., but interestingly, this film also falls within the science fiction genre, and has elements of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," and even "A Clockwork Orange" as well (without any of the "ultra-violence"). It's a complex, moving, character study, as well as a commentary on ethics, and our society's treatment of the mentally ill. I highly recommend this film to anyone and everyone - you won't get a lot of action, but you won't need it.
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"Adam-12" was a favorite of mine as a pre-teen and early teen - it stars Martin Milner and Kent McCord as two LAPD officers, and follows them while they're on duty, running into various real-time situations. It was co-created by Robert Cinader, who also co-created the Adam-12 spin-off, "Emergency!," and Jack Webb, who played Sgt. Joe Friday on "Dragnet." A special mention should be made of William Boyett, who plays the tertiary character of Sergeant William "Mac" MacDonald - also of Gary Crosby, who plays the recurring, impish character of Officer Edward "Ed" Wells (cf. Season 1, Episode 22). Likewise Shaaron Claridge, who portrayed the radio dispatcher in nearly every episode - Claridge was a real-life LAPD radio dispatcher, so they never showed her face; however, she did have a cameo in one episode (Season Five's "Suspended") - she was shot from above, and wearing a wig so her identity would remain confidential. Here are the LAPD codes - this comes in very handy when you're watching the series, if you care about such detail. And I found a *wonderful* blog about Adam-12 - written by a person named Keely with whom I've exchanged a cordial email. I'll be linking to the blog entries for each episode, because it's the absolute best that I've found, and Keely is a nice person. Anyone who is looking for some in-depth information about the episodes - I heartily encourage you to explore lincolnxrayida.blogspot.com. Keely tells me it will take a couple of years to finish the entire series, but that's A-OK with me - we've got the time. I just watched Season 1, Episode 1, "The Impossible Mission," for the first time ever. Especially in this day-and-age, it is an *exceedingly* heart-warming story that might even bring tears to your eyes (as the picture below hints at). I highly recommend that if you belong to Hulu, you watch this first episode (it's free with a membership). Season One (Sep 21, 1968 - Apr 1, 1969) - 1.1 - "Log 1: The Impossible Mission" <--- These are the links to the excellent lincolnxrayida.blogspot.com Directed by Jack Webb, Written by John Randolph (Pseudonym for Jack Webb) Featuring Ann Morgan Guilbert (Millie Helper in "The Dick Van Dyke Show") - 1.2 "Log 141 - The Color TV Bandit" Directed by Phil Rawlins, Written by Richard Neil Morgan Featuring Cloris Leachman (Academy Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress in "The Last Picture Show") - 1.3 - "Log 11 - It's Just a Little Dent, Isn't It?" Directed by Hollingsworth Morse, Written by Preston Wood Featuring Zalman King (Director of "Wild Orchid") - 1.4 - "Log 131 - Reed, the Dicks Have Their Job, and We Have Ours" Directed by Hollingsworth Morse (2), Written by Preston Wood (2) Featuring Bob Hastings (Lt. Elroy Carpenter on "McHale's Navy") - 1.5 - "Log 91 - You're Not the First Guy's Had the Problem" Directed by Alan Crosland, Written by Preston Wood (3) Featuring Richard Van Vleet (Dr. Chuck Tyler on "All My Children") - 1.6 - "Log 161 - And You Want Me To Get Married!" Directed by Phil Rawlins (2) and Phil Bowles, Written by Preston Wood (4) Featuring Eve Brent (Saturn Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress in "Fade to Black") - 1.7 - "Log 71 - I Feel Like a Fool, Malloy" Directed by Alan Crosland (2), Written by Robert I. Holt Featuring Catlin Adams (Rivka Rabinovitch in "The Jazz Singer") - 1.8 - "Log 72 - El Presidente" Directed by Phil Rawlins (3), Written by Robert H. Forward Featuring Stafford Repp (Police Chief Clancy O'Hara on "Batman") - 1.9 - "Log 714 - Everyone Nods (The Lost Crossover)" Directed by Hollingsworth Morse (3), Written by Tom Dunphry Featuring Bruce Watson (Crewman Green in "The Man Trap" on "Star Trek") - 1.10 - "Log 132 - Producer" Directed by Phil Rawlins (4), Written by Richard Neil Morgan (2) Featuring Karen Black (Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress in "Five Easy Pieces") - 1.11 - "Log 111 - The Boa Constrictor" Directed by Hollingsworth Morse (4), Written by Preston Wood (5) Featuring Luana Anders (Catherine Medina in "The Pit and the Pendulum") - 1.12 - "Log 61 - The Runaway" Directed by Phil Rawlins (5), Written by Noel Nosseck Featuring Dorothy Neumann (Elizabeth Jennings in "Sorry, Wrong Number") - 1.13 - "Log 122 - Christmas - The Yellow Dump Truck" Directed by Hollingsworth Morse (5), Written by Preston Wood (6) Featuring Mittie Lawrence (Emma in "Funny Girl") - 1.14 - "Log 81 - The Long Walk" Directed by Phil Rawlins (6), Directred by Robert C. Dennis Featuring Richard Hale (Narrated "Peter and the Wolf" in 1939 for "Sergei Prokofiev" at Tanglewood) - 1.15 - "Log 32 - Jimmy Eisley's Dealing Smack" Directed by Hollingsworth Morse (6), Written by Preston Wood (7) Featuring Jenny Sullivan (Kristine Walsh in the NBC Miniseries, "V") - 1.16 - "Log 62 - Grand Theft Horse?" Directed by Hollingsworth Morse (7), Written by Richard Neil Morgan (3) Featuring Tim Matheson (Eric "Otter" Stratton in "National Lampoon's Animal House") - 1.17 - "Log 33 - It All Happened So Fast" <--- If you're only going to watch one episode, make this the one. Directed by Bruce Kessler, Written by Preston Wood (8) Featuring Jack Hogan (PFC William G. Kirby on "Combat!") - 1.18 - "Log 112 - You Blew It" Directed by Hollingsworth Morse (8), Written by Michael Donovan Featuring John Lupton ("Sister Mary" in "Battle Cry") - 1.19 - "Log 52 - A Jumper - Code Two" Directed by Harry Morgan (Colonel Sherman T. Potter on "M*A*S*H*"), Written by Richard Neil Morgan (4) Featuring Henry Beckman (Commander Paul Richard on "Flash Gordon") - 1.20 - "Log 73 - I'm Still a Cop" Directed by Phil Rawlins (7), Written by Harold Jack Bloom Featuring Jerry Quarry (Yes, *that* Jerry Quarry: "The Bellflower Bomber") - 1.21 - "We Can't Just Walk Away from It" Directed by Hollingsworth Morse (9), Written by Michael Donovan (2) Featuring Mary Gregory (Dr. Melik in "Sleeper") - 1.22 - "Log 152 - A Dead Cop Can't Help Anyone" Directed by Hollingsworth Morse (10), Written by Michael Donovan (3) Featuring Barry Williams (Greg Brady on "The Brady Bunch") and the first appearance of Gary Crosby (Son of Bing Crosby) - 1.23 - "Log 12 - He Was Trying To Kill Me" <--- Perhaps the single saddest thirty minutes of TV I've ever watched in my life. Directed by Hollingsworth Morse (11), Written by Robert I. Holt (2) Featuring Dawn Lyn (Dodie Douglas on "My Three Sons") - 1.24 "Log 172 - Boy, The Things You Do for The Job" Directed by Hollingsworth Morse (12), Written by Michael Donovan (4) Featuring Ahna Capri (Tania in "Enter the Dragon") - 1.25 - "Log 92 - Tell Him He Pushed Back a Little Too Hard" Directed by Phil Rawlins (8), Written by Preston Wood (9) Featuring Dick Sargent (Darrin Stephens (#2) on "Bewitched") - 1.26 - "Log 22 - So This Little Guy Goes into This Bar, and ...." Directed by Phil Rawlins (9), Written by Preston Wood (10) Featuring Harry Dean Stanton (Brett in "Alien")
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*** SPOILER ALERT *** (Please do not read this if you're planning on watching the film for the first time.) I haven't seen "Rosemary's Baby" in decades - the only thing I remembered about it was that it starred Mia Farrow giving birth to the devil's spawn, and now that I'm prompted, that it was directed by Roman Polanski. The year that I've recently concentrated on was (coincidentally) Roger Ebert's first year as a critic, 1967, and Rosemary's Baby is from 1968, making it right after what I consider to be one of the most significant years for Hollywood. Incidentally, I've read Ebert more posthumously than I did when he was alive, and although I don't always agree with him, I consider him to be one of the greatest critics in any field that I've ever read. My father used to *love* "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies" - "This is the best show on television," I remember him joyfully telling me, repeatedly - as my father became older and more feeble, he rented 2-3 movies a day, every day, for several years - besides my mom, movies were my father's great love when he got older, and he saw more of them than anyone I've ever known. As a second tangent, I remember very well Mad Magazine's movie satire, "Rosemia's Boo-boo" - not the details (I was only 7); just the fact that it existed - the cover is pretty funny: One amazing thing is that Rosemary's Baby only came out five years before "The Exorcist" - it seems like a *lot* longer to me. There are several movies I distinctly remember my parents making a big deal out of going to see: The Exorcist was one, and "The Godfather" was another, both being around the same time. I was "treated" to seeing "2001: A Space Odyssey" when it came out the same year as Rosemary's Baby - I didn't appreciate it at all, but I remember the usher selling pamphlets, walking around the theater before the film started, hawking, "2001: A Space Odyssey, 2001: A Space Odyssey - Get the official brochure for 2001: A Space Odyssey" - it's funny what kids remember, and what they don't, because that had - by far - the greatest impact on me. I don't remember another time when I've seen an usher hawking brochures in a theater before a movie like that, but my memory doesn't mean much. I love the subtlety of John Cassavetes in this film, although much of that was probably due to the screenplay of Polanski - he changed from being a completely human cynic, to an agent of the devil, and the viewer is unable to pinpoint exactly when this change happened - although in retrospect, it happened early on. Right when Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) reaches her breaking point about the quack, Dr. Sapirstein (Ralph Bellamy), and the pain she's been in for an extended period of time, the pain instantly goes away - that's a brilliant ploy on the part of the Devil. This isn't the first film to juxtapose raw evil with a child (I can think of "The Bad Seed," and also "The Twilight Zone" episode, "It's a Good Life," both of which used pre-adolescents, but neither of which used a fetus or neonate) - so this might be one of the first-ever movies to impose Satanism on a pregnant woman, certainly running parallel (and opposite) to the Virgin Mary giving birth to the baby Jesus. I just now this afternoon had a piano lesson, and I mentioned to my teacher that I naturally think polyphonically, so the very second I heard "The name is an anagram," I was sure I knew what it meant: The "tanas" root would redirect as "Satan." - but, of course, I was wrong, as the root is spelled "tannis"; the real meaning of that cryptic instruction is much more clever. Rosemary also taught me a new word: "covens." Man, I hate to say this, but when Rosemary has sequestered herself in her apartment - attempting to flee her creep-o husband, Guy, and Dr. Sapirstein - when she's on the phone, and the two sneak by her in the background, they look *exactly* like something out of Monty Python's "Ministry of Silly Walks." Now try and see that scene - supposedly fraught with tension - without laughing your ass off (the movie is free with a Hulu membership, and the scene takes place with 20:30 remaining in the film). Goodness, I'm at the part with the Asian gentleman with the camera. Ugh. I actually *still* don't know what's going to happen, although it has already been revealed who the baby's real father is; we just haven't seen "little Adrian" yet. Wow, I just finished the film: *Very* well-done ending. I was fearing that they'd show the baby, and that would have ruined everything - you can't show pure evil, but you can imagine it. I also thought Rosemary might have been carrying a second knife, and was going to kill the baby (without showing him), which would have been a brute-force outcome; as it turns out, maternal bond(age) wins out in the end - no matter what. In 2014, the Library of Congress selected Rosemary's Baby for preservation in the National Film Registry; I suspect if Rosemary had killed the baby at the end - which I believe would happen had it been filmed for today's audiences - the film would not be such a classic.
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Ah, the glorious 60s, where "The Brady Bunch" meets "Please Don't Eat the Daisies," all with a stupid title to boot. ''With Six You Get Eggroll" is certainly in the rom-com mold, but also contains enough screwball laughs where it's actually quite entertaining if you don't set your sights too high - it's a slice of life from a time of supposed innocence, mixed in with the beginning of our country's rebellious period. It's funny, when I grew up watching Brian Keith (who has the co-lead as Jake) playing "Uncle Beeel" on "Family "Affliction," I never thought of him as a handsome man because the show was so abysmally bad, and his role was that of a struggling widower; now that I'm older, I can see how Abby (Doris Day) could find him attractive. Alice Ghostley (Esmerelda on "Bewtiched") was a very good choice for Abby's extroverted (but not annoyingly over-the-top) maid, Molly - she plays her character with just the right amount of verve without becoming bothersome. It sounds odd, but some of the shots in this film are actually quite pleasing, for example this supermarket scene, with Abby and Jake marching down separate, parallel aisles with their carts, the viewer being fully aware of an impending bump-in: Shortly after this scene, the two go for coffee at the red-and-white striped "Ye Olde Drive Inn." How can you not love that name? And Holy Hell! I thought I recognized who the drive-inn attendant was, and I was right! Herbie, the drive-in order-taker was George Carlin in his first-ever movie! I didn't pick it up at first, but his facial expressions and voice gave him away. I *love* stumbling across things such as this! Brian Keith even had the best laugh-line of the scene! George Carlin is a mere baby of 31-years-old here: And how can you not at least smile at goofy shots like this, with Abby at her wit's end? So I've established Brian Keith as "handsome," George Carlin as "babyfaced," but what is Doris Day? Pretty? Maybe, but she's prettier than that - she has a special quality to her that makes her - not beautiful, not sexy, not cute, definitely in the "pretty" range of the spectrum, but she carries herself so well that she has something extra. Pretty plus, maybe? One thing I found a little shocking is a scene which approaches - and may cross into - frontal nudity when two boys are in the bathtub - they aren't quite pubescent, but they're probably pushing 12, and though innocent, it comes off as fairly risqué for 1968 (it happens shortly after the above picture, when the boys spill some sort of yellow dye in the tub). Jamie Farr (pre-M*A*S*H*) has a silly, intentionally overacted role as a good-natured druggy-hippy flower child who's in a similarly good-natured motorcycle gang (don't forget, 1968 is the same year as the much-more menacing "Born Losers," so motorcycle dramas were just coming into vogue), right at the same time as the Widowed Sit-Com (The Brady Bunch debuted in 1969) - this film foreshadows both. Here's a rather remarkable picture of Farr alongside William Christopher (Father Mulcahy in M*A*S*H*), both standing in front of Ye Olde Drive Inn - "MASH" the movie didn't come out until 1970, but M*A*S*H* the series didn't begin until 1972, so this still-shot is especially interesting: And, of course, this scene results in Doris Day crashing into a chicken truck, with everyone being hauled down to the precinct before the Sergeant (it's still raining chicken feathers at the station), with Farr peaceably addressing the Sergeant as "Your Royal Fuzz," and the Sergeant, by sheer coincidence, happening to be Allan Melvin: Abby's oldest son, Flip (John Findlater) sure looks a lot like Don Grady (Robbie, the oldest boy on "My Three Sons."), and Jake's daughter was played by Barbara Hershey in her cinematic debut. If you enjoyed The Brady Bunch - throw in a few million Hollywood dollars to expand production quality, and add a hint (just a hint - just the vaguest of G-rated hints) of Elizabeth Taylor in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (1966), and you'll have "With Six You Get Eggroll" - a screwball comedy, with full comedic resolution in the final five minutes, that I'm embarrassed to admit that I enjoyed, but I did. This is exactly what I was in the mood for, and when you hear people today talking about "the way things used to be," what they really mean is "the way Hollywood made things *look* like they used to be," and this film is almost exactly what they're referring to - it's a fantasy every bit as unrealistic as the "fond memories" people have of America "back in the good old days" - it's also good, clean escapism, with nary a black person in sight to threaten the viewer. You do know there's going to be a second chicken-truck accident within five minutes, right? With chicken feathers flying everywhere? I wonder how tightly chicken's feathers are attached to their bodies, because if there's a crash, it's as if every feather on every chicken was being held on by a loose piece of tape. The poor driver of the chicken truck (which was remarkably undamaged from the first accident) was Vic Tayback whom you may recognize from "Alice": With Six You Get Eggroll is Doris Day's final film before beginning "The Doris Day Show" on television.
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The record label Analog Africa, which specializes in out-of-print music from Africa and Latin America from the 1960s and 1970s, has released 1973-1980, an anthology of the 10 songs recorded by Amara ToureÌ during the 1970s. ToureÌ is an afro-cuban percussionist and singer form Guinée Conakry who played with bands in Senegal, Cameroon, and Gabon. After 1980, ToureÌ's recording career was over. Apparently he returned to Cameroon, but little is known about what happened to him. The music is smoky, groovy, jazzy: listening to this music just transports you to some hot, sultry, nightclub cafe serving strong cocktails. Lamento Cubano- 2 replies
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And people think we're not on top of things. This is a rare *live* version by the master himself. "See the tree, how big it's grown, but friend it hasn't been too long, it wasn't big." Here's a cover by George44. "She was always young at heart, kinda dumb and kinda smart, and I loved her so." And a particularly tender version by Larry L. "She wrecked the car, and she was sad, so afraid that I'd be mad, but what the heck?"
