Bay Area TV and Radio Personality Jerry Graham Has Died

I found out from a Facebook posting that long time Jerry Graham has died from a heart attack at age 78 in his Santa Cruz home. Jerry was the host of the iconic Bay Are Backroads on local San Francisco television station KRON starting in 1983. Jerry would hop into the car with his camera man and head out onto the byways of the Bay Area interviewing people and finding oddities and treasures along the way. His show was not unlike Huell Howser's "California's Gold" but was more Bay Area-centric.
Born in Indianapolis, Indiana with the name Gerald Granowsky he got a degree in Radio-TV Production and started his career in the mid-west. Jerry changed his name to Graham when he got his first job as his given named was deemed to difficult to pronounce. He was old school TV-radio you did everything. He hosted a kids show, call in shows and Weatherman he is most remembered for both his career at KSAN and KRON in the Bay Area.
Jerry Graham was a Bay Area gem!

Chinese Theater to Close for Re-model

The Iconic Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd. is closing tomorrow for an overhaul that will make it the largest I-Max theater today. The theater was built by showman Sid Gauman opened on May 18, 1927. The first movie was Cecil B. DeMille's "King of Kings". The art deco masterpiece has been the spot for Hollywood premieres for decades and was once the home of the Oscar's ceremony which now takes place at the theater next door. The theater's most famous feature is the forecourt when the stars have put the hand and foot prints in the cement. There is also a nice little collection of classic Hollywood costumes and props in the large Chinese inspired lobby.

A King for the House of Orange-Nassau

For the first time in 123 years The Netherlands has a king. Queen Beatrix has abdicated her throne in favor of her son. Willem-Alexander age 46 is now the youngest monarch in Europe.
Williem-Alexander became king when his mother singed the letters of abdication in the Royal Palace on the Dam in central Amsterdam and was crowned in the 600 year old New Church. His wife the Argentine born Maxima is now Queen Maxima and their oldest child Catarina-Amalia is now Princess Orange the next in line to the Dutch throne.

Sofia Coppola's New Movie "The Bling Ring"

Sofia Coppola is at it again and it looks like she may have another winner of a movie on her hands. I have seen the trailer and some "sneaked" footage of "The Bling Ring" her next movie set to premier at Cannes. "The Bling Ring" is based on the real life story of a bunch of unknown fame whores from LA who robbed the homes of famous fame whores.
I personally love Sofia's films and from what i have seen this looks like it is going to be great. One of the members of the real life Bling Ring isn't too happy about it though. Oh boo hoo you are a crook who cares what you think. Alexis Neiers was arrested and spent 30 days of her 180 day sentence in the slammer after pleading no contest. Ms Neiers went on to do a dreadful reality show making her seem even more regrettable of a human being.
"The Bling Ring"  scheduled to be released in June follows the characters based on the real life crooks who broke into homes of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and others. The ring stole clothing, jewelry and (gasp) drugs! Emma Watson known for her role in the Harry Potter series plays the character of Nikki based on Neiers has described Nikki as superficial, materailistic, vain and immoral. Let's hope Sofia pulls another great film out of her hat!

The Tiki Ti

It's a hot day in LA and you are on the east side and its 4pm what better place to swing by but the Tiki Ti?  Opened 52 years ago in a box on Sunset Blvd. where Los Feliz, Hollywood and Silverlake all collide the Tiki Ti has been an owner operated (read smoking) bar since 1961.
Don't expect a martini or a beer at the Tiki Ti just order one of their over 80 Tiki drinks and you'll be alright. This is a Tiki Bar get into it or hit the bricks. This is also an old school bar so bring cash damnit. Well yeah if you do need more cash there is one of them new fangled ATM's by the toilets.
Oh yeah you can smoke there at the bar so if you are one of those "I hate smoking" people please refrain for popping in; no one wants to hear your bellyaching; so move on.

The locals and regulars are the real color of the bar they totally out shine the world class Tiki chatskas! One regular changed a hundred for a friend when I was recently there. The register had just opened so the bar couldn't but a patron could. That's a friendly crowd! The music alone is worth the trip for teetotalers. Obscure Tiki music is mixed with classics. A record was playing when I was last there., that's old school!
So if you are looking for the real thing head to the Tiki Ti.

Taylor Swift buys a Rhode Island Mansion

Taylor Swift may have out waspy-ed the Kennedys buy buying a home in Westerly, Rhode Island for 17million bucks in cash. Seeing as she bought in Rhode Island in cash the seller must have requested un-marked non sequential bills. The house is in the Watch Hill neighborhood of Westerly, Rhode Island a working class/multi-millionaire enclave in southern RI.
Watch Hill was discovered by the super rich of the 19th century and the elite of the Victorian era built "summer cottages" on the bluffs. The cottages were in actuality summer mansions. Rhode Island in the 19th century was the Monaco of the US. Everyone who was anyone needed to have a summer home on the Rhode Island shore.
It had been rumored that Ms Swift wanted to buy a home near the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport on Cape Cod but if a Kennedy matriarch doesn't like you, you might as well forget it. Ask Darryl Hannah. By buying in Rhode Island Taylor Swift has upped the anti. She will find her money and fame won't help her in Westerly with either high society or the locals. Both groups will find her more annoying than as an asset. So Taylor buy an old Volvo station wagon and ride a bike and maybe you will fit in.

He Made His Money 99 Cents at a Time.

David (Dave) Gold the founder of "99 Cents Only" stores has died at the age of 80. Dave Gold had a heart attack at his Mid-Whilsire district home in Los Angeles. Gold got the idea for the 99 cent stores while running a liquor store. "When I put a .99 cent sign on anything, it was gone in no time. I realized it was a magic number. He opened his .99 Cents Only stores in 1982. The chain now has over 300 stores. A friend suggested that he open a store that all the merchandise was priced at .99cents. To create publicity for the store's opening he sold televisions for .99 cents and had members of his family call local television stations to ask what all the commotion was at the store. His publicity ploy was a coup! To this day the first 9 customers of the day get anything they buy for .99 cents as in 2008 prices did go up and are advertised as .99from to $99.99. Long known for Gold's sense of humor the business advertises it self as being opened 9 days a week. They celebrated 99th birthdays of celebrities and once congratulated Joan Rivers on her 99th face lift.
Dave Gold and his wife Shelly of 55 years still lived in their middle class home of 50 years. Along with Dave, Shelly and their three children have all worked at the stores. The company was sold and the Golds no longer have anything do to with the company as of January of 2013.
Dave Gold created a billion dollar empire .99 cents at a time.

Rolling Stones Surprise Show

There is a little club on Sunset Blvd. in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles that now has a place in rock n' roll history. The Rolling Stones decided to do a surprise show at the Echoplex last night. It was announced earlier in the day that The Rolling Stones were doing a show at the Echoplex and tickets would go on sale for $20. Well the frenzy began.
I am sad to say I was not on of the lucky 700 people who were at the Echoplex. When I heard of the offer it was way to late to get a ticket. The Stones are setting out for their newest tour and are apparently antsy to get it started and wanted to get back to their bar band roots. 700 people out front hell there are usually that many people backstage at a regular Stones show.

Spiderman commits Crime in Hollywood

On Friday morning someone dressed as Spiderman grabbed a paper bag from an old man on Hollywood Blvd it contained $6,000. The web slinger than ran off into the morning crowds on the Walk of Fame. The man who worked for Starlines Bus Company reported the crime to LAPD who then fanned out stopping all the people dressed as Spiderman.
LAPD will have help in solving the crime as other super heros including Superman, Batman and Catwoman have vowed to stop this rouge Spiderman.

Nicholas Smith

Nicholas Smith aged 79 is the last living cast member of the British sitcom "Are You Being Served?"
Smith's role was that of Cuthbert Rumboldt the department manager in the fictional Grace Brothers Department Store. Know by the rest of the staff as "Jug Ears" Mr. Rumboldt was the bumbling manager who liked his power and would kow tow to the stores owner Mr. Grace. Nicholas Smith played the character for the whole 13 year run of the series and then returned for second series called "Grace and Favor" playing Mr. Rumboldt again.
He worked consistently through out the 1960's and 1970's but didn't become well known until he was cast in "Are you Being Served?" He works still to this day and was a voice in the very successful Wallace and Gromit movies. In 2008 he was reunited with two of the other actors from AYBS Trevor Bannister and Frank Thornton when he appeared on an episode of "Last of the Summer Wine".

The Pop Tart is turning 50

Pop Tarts the quickie breakfast toaster standard is about to turn 50. Kelloggs released the Pop Tart shortly after their big competitor Post announced their new breakfast treat "Country Squares"in 1963. Post's new line wasn't ready and Kellogg rushed theirs onto the market.
Post had developed foil liners for dog food and realized it could be used for other products. They announced Country Squares way before it was ready for the market. Kellogg had been developing a similar product that they called Pop Tarts and got them out first and the rest is breakfast history.
When Pop Tarts hit the market they did come in the frosted version as the frosting melted in the toaster. It wasn't until 1967 that the frosted version was introduced. When first on the market the Pop Tarts' spokesman was Milton the toaster. Milton proved to be very popular.Over the years Pop Tarts have remained popular and have consistently beaten out their competitor "Toaster Strudel" made by Pillsbury and way more annoying to make.

New Disney Scam

If going to Disneyland itself isn't expensive enough imagine getting there with your carload of hyped up kids and finding your tickets are fake. This has been happening a lot lately. Check out Craig's List (the home of the scammer) and there are scores of posts offering cut price Disney tickets. It turns out the majority of them are scams. A woman was arrested recently on the corner of Hollywood blvd and Western Ave. for selling fake tickets. Clue number one the seller wants to meet you at a subway stop. The tickets are also being sold at less than half price. Clue number two Disney doesn't do nor do they need to do discounts.
Today a man was arrested in San Pedro for selling tickets. He met his marks in a Food 4 Less parking lot. He turned himself into the police as he knew they were hot on his tail. These people are preying on parents on a budget and geeks with no money.

Yelp Reviews Are They Real?

Have you ever read Yelp reviews that rave over a restaurant and find very few non-raves then go to the place and find it to be less than 4 stars. Well a restaurant in San Francisco is accusing Yelp of something that people have wondered about for years. They say that the sales people at Yelp told them that if they bought adds on Yelp they would find the bad reviews disappearing and good reviews appearing. Salakjit Hagerty owner of Bai Thong Thai in San Francisco claims that customers have told her they have written good reviews of the eatery on Yelp but they have never appeared.
Yelp naturally denies this. They say they have algorithms that remove what are considered bogus reviews. They keep these algorithms secret to dissuade hackers. The company denies any pressuring of businesses to advertise on the website for better reviews.
I personally have seen adds offering writing jobs as yelp reviewers. The job offers state you don't have to actually go to the businesses looking for good reviews. These jobs are of course on Craig's List not known for its honest posters so who knows if they are "on the level".
Business owners I know have been pressured by Yelp's advertising sales staff to by adds but none have ever mentioned being offered good reviews by the sales people. They did tell of constant phone calls though.
In this day of the Internet one can never be sure of what one reads. Perhaps the restaurant is wrong but maybe not???

The Tamale Could Soon be no More

Tucked in between two nondescript buildings on Whittier Blvd. in East Los Angeles is a building known as The Tamale because it was built to look like one. It is one of the rapidly disappearing pieces of Programmatic Architecture. Whittier Blvd was once lined with buildings shaped like oil cans and air planes but they are long gone leaving just the old tamale
The Tamale was built in the 1920's to house a restaurant that served you guessed it tamales. The building right now houses a hair salon but still looks like a tamale. Because the tamale is in an unincorporated section of Los Angeles it is not covered by the architectural preservation laws now in force. The building and a separate building containing a two bedroom house on the property is up for sale and unfortunately is what is known in LA as a tear down. Unless some ponies up the $459,000 needed to save the building The Tamale could be no more. It will have gone the way of the "Tail o' the Pup" and "The Brown Derby".

UAE Says No to Bikini

It is now forbidden to wear a Bikini on many of the beaches of The United Arab Emirates. The traditional Muslim country has banned the Bikini from their beaches after getting complaints from local beach goers about tourists in skimpy and revealing swimsuits. Men are also covered in this ban as the small brief is also banned.
Not necessarily a bad rule if you have ever been on a beach trying to have a nice day and some one who really shouldn't be wearing a thong is sporting it and flaunting it.
There is a designer who has created a swimsuit for the devote swimmer. Only the face hands and feet are left uncovered. Not unlike a Victorian bathing costume.

Twitter Users Thought Cher Was Dead

Twitter may have completely destroyed language as we know it and Cher has taken the brunt of it. Twitter users post with the hash tag "nowthatcherisdead" meaning Margaret Thatcher was dead not Now that Cher is dead. This got some of your lessor readers and Cher zealots in a panic. They actually thought that Cher had died. Like anything could kill Cher. She is alive and I would assume laughing her tucked ass off over this reading mishap.

Daisy Moses

You know her and you know you love her. Her name was Irene Ryan and she was a tour de force in American theater. Who was Irene Ryan? Unless you are a musical theater fanatic you know her by her most famous character's name Daisy Moses. What you don't know the name Daisy Moses? Perhaps you know her by her character's better known name; Granny. Yes Daisy Moses was commonly known as Granny Clampett. She moved to the hills, Beverly, that is.
Irene Ryan did have a life and a career before she embodied Granny. She was a Broadway star and that is where she died. Irene Ryan was a star of "Pippin" when it was making its first run on Broadway. She actually died while doing "Pippin". Yes, Granny was a Broadway star. She had been in the business for years before she became Granny.

Born Irene Noblette in El Paso, Texas in 1902 she made her stage debut in San Francisco at the age of 11 singing "Pretty Baby" in an amateur contest. Irene married actor-comedian Tim Ryan at the age of 20. They formed a vaudeville act. Their's was a "Dumb Dora" act billed as Tim & Irene. They toured the country and made several short subject films in the 1930's. In 1942 the couple divorced and Irene started touring with Bob Hope. She married again to a man named Harold Knox. In the 40's and 50's she worked in movies and did some television. Irene Ryan worked on the TV show "The Real McCoys" with Walter Brennan. It was in 1962 she was cast as Daisy Moses the mother-in-law of Jed Clampett and became a star. She was nominated for Emmy Awards in 1963 and 1964. When the series was cancelled as part of the "rural purge" Irene Ryan moved onto Broadway. Cast in Bob Fosse's "Pippin" she won a Tony award.
Irene Ryan had a stroke while working on "Pippin" and died shortly after in 1973. She is immotalized by the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship given by the Kennedy Center America College Theater Festival.

Record Store Day

Today was record store day and I feel really bad I didn't go to one. This is a day designed to remind us to shop in small record stores. I know there is something I could use for my collection but I am the exact reason that a day like this exists. I am lazy. I don't go to small record stores enough and I am just part of the problem. The rest of us who don't are the other part.
It's too easy to just download now and it is killing record stores. We need record stores because it is so much easier to discover new music when in a record store than it is to troll on line for it. I can't count the number of times I have bought something at a record store because I heard it playing in the store. Sometimes it would be something new but it often was something I hadn't heard of and fell in love with while flipping through the racks.
I love that record stores are now starting to restock vinyl. The cover art is just so much better when it is on a vinyl cover. I often flip through records in Goodwills and the Salvation Army just to look for good cover art. I don't know how many old records I have just because the cover was great. I do admit to not really listening to much of them but the covers are fantastic. A CD cover just doesn't have them same elan as a vinyl disc.
So don't be me and go out and visit a record store! Even if you missed record store day you can celebrate it belatedly. Buy local!

The Shaggs

The Shaggs if you haven't heard of them are an all female rock band from New Hampshire. Not only are they an all female band they are also sisters. But there is a bit more to them than just that; they are such a bad band they are wonderful! A-rhythmic, discordant and tuneless are apt descriptions of the Shaggs.
Formed in 1968 in Fremont, New Hampshire The Shaggs were sisters Dot, Betty, Helen and Rachel Wiggin. The band was formed by their father because a palm reader had told his mother he would have daughters who form a popular music group. It was because of his insistence the sisters started playing. It was their father who also got them a regular Saturday night gig playing in the town hall of their home town. He also booked a recording studio and produced their first record "Philosophy of the World".
Described by the Rolling Stone columnist Debra Rae Cohen as sound like "Lobotomized Trapp family singers" and by Chris Connelly "without exaggeration it may stand as the worst album ever recorded". Conversely The Shaggs were also loved as outsider musicians by the likes of Frank Zappa and NRBQ and have influenced others like Kimba Dawson.
The Shaggs disbanded after the death of their father in 1975. It was in the 1990's when they were rediscovered and promoted by NRBQ who gave them their first and only gig outside of New Hampshire.

Idiot of the Week

This week there was a true idiot in Hollywood. Yes imagine that an idiot in Hollywood. This idiot takes the cake. Mister Idiot was at the Hooters on Hollywood Blvd. Sign one he is an idiot then he proceeded to tell someone he had a bomb with him. This of course brought a swift police action including the swat team. Hollywood Blvd was shut down and helicopters circled. Well it turns out he then claimed it was a joke. Oh you wacky jokesters! Maybe you should have given that a little more thought it was three days after the Boston Marathon Bombing do you think maybe this wasn't a good idea.

Poison Letters Sent By Elvis Impersonator

Kevin Curtis is an Elvis impersonator and now is charged as the sender of poison letters to President Obama as well as a US Senator and a Mississippi Judge. Curtis is now in custody in Oxford, Mississippi where he his being held without bond as he is considered a danger to the community. He  is reported to have been suffering from mental illness for many years. What could make an Elvis impersonator go off the rails like this is a mystery.

Harry the Action Figure Prince

Prince Harry is going off on the road again but this time he is going off road way off road, he is heading to the south pole! The 28 year old prince is joining with the group "Walking Wounded" on a four week trek to the south pole. He challenged his fellow trekkers to meet him there saying he will have a cup of tea waiting for them when they get there.

Watertown

Until today no one outside of the Boston area would have ever heard of the town of Watertown. Wedged in bewteen Cambridge, Boston and Newton Watertown is a quite and easy to overlook suburb of Boston. Not a large town and not overly distingusted Watertown is the working class enclave of the area. Watertown doesn;t have the panache of either its neighbors like Cambridge or Newton it is just a town for the working Joe. It seems it iis now infamous.
Streets lined with three decker houses normally get no notice but today they are now part of world news. This is a town of families. Noted more for Christmas displays and holiday celebrations than police action. Watertown is now a name and I am sure the residents are not happy about it. This is a place to raise your kids and buy your starter home not a hot bed of terrorist activity but that has all changed.

Schauen Sie heraus Österreich

Beware all you Austrians there are Wallabies on the loose. The land of the Hapsburgs is now aquiver in their dirndils and lederhosen (because that is what we all think they wear) as a pair of Wallabies is on the loose in the countryside. This is worse than those damned Van Trapp kids running around in curtains singing their little anti-nazi hearts out. Two adult wallabies and a joey in the pouch are on the loose about 150 miles outside of Vienna according to owner Gabrielle Schrammel. They have been on the lam for three days. They must be stopped before the reach the Hungarian border because once in Hungry who knows what could happen!

Carol Burnett's Hollywood

Hollywood has always had a hardscrabble side to it. Just behind the glitz and the glamour is a seemlier life of small apartments and alcoholics. This is the Hollywood that Carol Burnett grew up in. Her parents were both alcoholics and divorced when Burnett was very young. She was raised by her grandmother Mae in a tiny apartment just a block or so north of Hollywood Blvd. Her mother lived in another apartment in their building. She was a poor kid and she knew it. Carol Burnett grew up sleeping on a couch and keeping her few clothes on the shower curtain rod in the bathroom of her grandmother's tiny apartment. The Hollywood she grew up in was the Hollywood of the 1930's and 40's, its heyday, she was so close and yet so far. In her memoir "One More Time" she writes of her childhood that to some could have been filled with misery and sadness but her reflection is filled with fun and funny stories. Her grandmother whom she called Nanny comes off as a true character, a pack rat Christian Scientist with palpitations and a quick temper. Carol's parents were at best ne'er do wells with drinking problems who had enough sense to let Nanny do the actual raising of their daughter. There was also a half sister Chrissy born out of wedlock when Carol was about ten. Life was not ideal.

Some how Carol Burnett was able to rise above what could have been a sad lot in life and become one of America's most beloved television stars. She has won Emmy's, Golden Globes and The Presidential Medal of Honor. There is now a square named after her not far from her childhood home on Wilcox and Yucca at the corner of Highland and Selma by her Alma Mater Hollywood High School.

Carol Burnett took that difficult past and created some of the funniest performances in the history of television. Her childhood home is still there about a block and a half from her star on the Hollywood Blvd. Walk of Fame. She is the Hollywood success story.

Shut Up and Drink

When you find yourself in Vegas and sick of Vegas there is only one thing to do and that is hit the Double Down Saloon. Go on by whenever you feel like it; they never close. This down and dirty at its very best! Be you a lesbian biker, an in cognito rock star, rock a billy greaser, auto mechanic or hipster you will fit right in. Not attitude just free bands and cheap drinks. There are no frills at the Double Down unless you consider indoor plumbing and electricity a frill. There are good bands though!
The Double Down is naturally not on the strip and if that is all of Vegas that you have seen its another world. Anti-Vegas at its most anti-Vegas-est is the best way I can describe it. There are gaming machine that are more or less ignored by the clientele. Its the drinks they are there for and to meet up with everyone else sick of the Vegas strip and strip malls. The Double Down is not the only great dive bar in Las Vegas but it is the most rockin' one I have discovered.

Then there is Ass Juice their signature cocktail. One really shouldn't ask what's in it as it is probably better not to know. The only thing you need to know is it comes with a warning that if you puke it up you clean it! Their other signature cocktail is the Bacon Martini. I can't personally recommend or dissuade anyone from having one as I have never been in the mood for either but a Bacon Martini might be nice with a side of Bloody Mary for brunch.
The Juke box is always playing if a band isn't. The juke box at the Double Down is a star. If you can't find a song on it you like you might want to go back and get those Celine Dion tickets you talked to the desk clerk about. This juke box rocks and rocks hard.
Bands play most nights and there is never a cover. You won't see famous bands but you will some good ones. To be honest you might see a crappy one here and there but the sets aren't long and you can easily ignore them for a few minutes. On an upcoming saturday night The Double Down was recently advertising the following line up Evil Beaver, Kittenhead, The Pancakes and Mass Distractors. Who wouldn't find that line up to be appealing?
So when in Vegas get off the damned stip and head over to Paradice Rd not far from the horrible Hardrock Hotel and check out The Double Down. Just Shut up and Drink.

Max Factor Heir Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison

Andrew Luster the heir to the Max Factor fortune has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for 20 counts of drug induced rape. Luster was released on awaiting trail when in 2003 he left the country and was declared a fugitive from justice. Luster was then tried in absentia and was convicted. While on the lam Luster lived under the name David Carrera in Puerto Vallarta. On June 18, 2003 Dog The Bounty Hunter tracked him down and Luster was arrested and sent back to the US from Mexico.
Luster grew up in Malibu and was supported by a $3.1 trust fund as he was the heir to the Max Factor Cosmetics founder Max Factor's fortune.
Max Factor started his cosmetics company as made to order wig company in Los Angeles in 1904. The company was sold to Proctor and Gamble in 1973 for $500 million.

Wienerschnitzel Founder has Died

John Galardi the founder of Wienerschnitzel has died at the age of 75. Mr. Garardi founded Weinerschnitzel a hot dog stand chain in 1961 in Wilmington a suburb of Los Angeles. Started with the name Der Weinerschnitzel the stores focused mainly on hot doggs and chili and of course the infamous chili dog. Weinerschnitzel restuarants which oddly doesn't sell weinerschnitzel are mainly in California but are in found through out the west and one is located in Guam. Mr. Garardi who had previously worked for Glen Bell the owner of Taco Bell when he opened his first shop at the age of 23.

Patriots' Day

I have talked with a couple of people today who knowing I had lived in Boston asked me what patriot's day is.  I forget it is only a holiday in Massachusetts and Maine which was once part of Massachusetts.. Patriots' Day is a celebration of beginning of the American Revolution. The day isn't of course on the very day of the start of the revolutionary war but it is damned close.

In the early morning in Lexington and Concord re-enactors are on the Lexington Green and on Old North Bridge in Concord in full revolutionary gear. Later in the day another group of re-enactors replay the ride of Paul Revere. It is now a state holiday with sporting events and of course the Boston Marathon which starts in Hopkinton a small town outside of the city and finishing in the Back Bay neighborhood.

Copley Square

One of the most elegant of all public places in this country is Copley Square in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Now infamous because of the bombing there at the 2013 Boston Marathon. The Square named for Boston painter John Singleton Copley is surrounded by architectural masterpieces. The Boston Public Library is a Italian Renaissance style building designed by McKim is at one of the square and at the other end is Henry Cobbs modernist John Hancock Tower. On St. James' Place facing the Square is The Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel one of the most elegant of American hotels. On the other side of the street is The Old South Church built in 1874 after the original was burned in the Boston fire. In the center of the square is H.H. Richardson's masterpiece Trinity Church a truly spectacular piece of architecture. Under the square is the Boston Subway "The T" Copley stop that opened in 1914.

Copley Square is one of the most central of all the squares of Boston in the very heart of the city and one of the US shopping meccas. On a warm summer day the sidewalks are lined with outdoor cafes and the square is filled with strollers and people relaxing on benches.  A farmer's market regularly fills part of the square as well as artists and performers entertaining the crowds of tourists and locals alike.
Copley Square is also know for its strong winds. When the John Hancock Tower was first built was a causality of the winds loosing glass panels that would drop to the ground.
If you have the opportunity to visit Boston it is worth your while to visit Copley Plaza.

Happy Birthday Herbert Khaury

You might not know him by his real name but you might recognize his stage name, Tiny Tim. Today would have been his 8ist birthday. Tiny Tim was an oddity and a star in the late 1960's and early 70's. He rose to fame with his truly quirky personality and falsetto/vibrato voice. One of the oddest things that Tiny Tim did in his career was marry his wive "Miss Vicky" on the Johnny Carson show in 1969. He and Miss Vicky eventually divorced. They has a daughter named Tulip and a still born son named It.
Born in New York he discovered he a musical talent at a young age when singing along to the radio he found he could reach the high octaves that most males can not. Tiny Tim performed in night clubs in New York when he recorded his first record, God Bless Tiny Tim. On that record he recorded a cover of Sony and Cher's hit "I Got You Babe" on which he sang both parts and his biggest hit "Tip-Toe Through the Tulips". Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In featured Tiny Tim many times. His career more or less dwindled in the 1970's. He would make guest appearances on television programs and would perform at venues around the country. He did perform with Camper Van Beethoven in the late 80's and several records were released on CD in the 1990's by Rhino Records.
Tiny Tim died in 1996 at age 64 after collapsing onstage from a heart attack at a women's club gala in Minneapolis.

A Comic Genius

Our Planet is a lot less funny today. Jonathan Harshman Winters III died today at the age of 87 at his home in Montecito, California. Winters was a wildly inventive comic with a laser sharp wit and uncanny abitility to improvise. Give him a prop any prop and he could make an audience cry with laughter. Thank You Jonathan Winters!

Kate Bush CBE

Today singer Kate Bush received an honor from the Queen. Her majesty bestowed the honor of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire on Kate Bush. The order is the second highest honor in the British Empire. The only honor higher would be to be made a Dame, the female equivalent of a Lord.
Kate Bush, age 54, came to fame at the age of 19 when her song "Wruthering Heights" was number one on the British music charts for four weeks. She was the first woman to have a self written number hit in the UK. Bush's 40 year career has produced 10 albums and 3 Grammy award nominations.

Revolutionary, Mother Darling

There is hardly a more interesting character that that of Edith “Little Edie” Beale. She lived for years as a semi-recluse with her mother in their decaying family estate in the Hamptons on Long Island. She was also the first cousin of Jackie O and Princess Lee Radizwill. Edie came to fame later in life after the Maysles' documentary film “Grey Gardens” about her and her mother “Big Edie” lives and their 28 room mansion Grey Gardens.

"I'm really a dancer, you know. When I was young, I stopped many a dance in New York City. I really stopped the whole room! I just adored to dance. I think I stopped a dance at Princeton once, too."  Edie was an original and reveled in her originality. Her sense of style has influenced fashion designers, drag queens and fashionistas. After the death of her mother Edie moved back to Manhattan and attempted to restart her singing career with a night club act.

The Beales came from what passes an aristocracy in the USA. The family travelled in the high society of New York in the early part of the 20^th century. Big Edie was a Bouvier. Her brother was the father of Jackie Kennedy. Little Edie’s father was a society lawyer. Edie had two younger brothers both lived lives in society one not far from the decaying Grey Gardens. Both Big and Little Edie had debutante balls and lived in a rarified stratum of society until Phelan Beale, Big Edie’s husband, divorced Big Edie in the 1940’s. He moved to his lodge and eventually got a “Mexican divorce” giving the house to Big Edie and meager child support but no alimony. Big Edie lived on in the house and in a rather shocking and bohemian lifestyle in the eyes of her long Island neighbors. “You can get arrested for wearing red shoes on a Thursday in East Hampton” claimed Little Edie. Big Edie had always wanted to be a singer and after her divorce she attempted a career. Not fitting into what was considered society she made her own way. "The family never cared for me and they hated my mother. She was a dancer and a singer with a terrific voice she'd inherited from her mother and the relatives hated her because she was magnificent.” said Little Edie about her mother.

Even though she lived in isolation Edie did know what was going on around her in the world. “I think [America] is a fabulous country and I’m crazy about Bill Clinton” Edie once said and she thought television was “great for national emergencies”. When asked if she thought her cousin Jackie married for money Edie relied, “Of course, wouldn’t anyone.”

It was Edie’s isolation that helped define her style. There was no money for shopping so she made her own clothing. Her hair loss was the reason for her signature head wraps. Edie was an individual. There will never be another Edie Beale. The Maysles’ film lead to an HBO film and eventually a Broadway musical. She will live in on.