San Francisco The Snobbiest City?

Travel and Leisure Magazine has published a snobby city list and San Francisco was voted number one. I am not sure exactly what their criteria was but they claim that the always popular tourist destination to be the snobbiest in the nation. San Francisco was followed by New York as number two, Boston as number three and Minneapolis/St. Paul and Santa Fe as four and five.
Having lived in three of the top five cities I was rather surprised. I guess I must be a snob too! I just like to think I'm just better than everyone else!  

Elders React

Elders React is a online video series produced by the Fine Brothers. It is part of a the "React" series which includes Kids React, Teens React and You Tubers React which can be found online. The Fine Brothers Benny and Raffi Fine have been producing these series for about three years. Elders React started in March of 2012.
The premise is the Fine Brothers show video and photos to 60 plus year old people and video tape their reactions. It has made underground stars out of some of the "Elders". One of the Elders is a woman I know named Katherine who told me she is getting recognized now because of the series. She told me a story about being in the supermarket and having some one come up to her and tell her how much they loved the show.
The topics covered so far in the series have been things like eyeball licking, Dubstep, Gangnam Style and Jersey Shore. The series is an absolute riot. It can be found on the Fine Brothers You Tube Channel and is well worth watching!

"I-69" Is Bingo the New Kickball?

Hipsters are so hip. Has Bingo replaced Kickball and Roller Derby as the new hot hot hot thing? It seems it might just be the new hipster favorite. Of course drag queens have been playing it for years. Drag queens always seem to set the hipster trends. If it weren't for drag queens hipsters would have now way of knowing what the next new thing would be. Once hipsters discover a phenomenon drag queens are so over it. This is  when the hipsters drag it into the mainstream.  Karaoke, Trivia nights, Roller Derby, Kickball hipsters have done it all and made all these venerable activities part of the 21st century mainstream.
Bingo is the new thing! Grab a craft beer a card and inkpad and you are hip!

Mr. Milquetoast

Wally Cox will always be remembered as the nerdy little man with a goofy voice and thick lensed glasses. Those were the roles he played and played brilliantly. He was in reality a manly kind of guy, a man's man. One of his best friends since childhood was actor Marlon Brando. It was Brando in fact that encouraged Cox to study at the Stella Adler school when they were room mates in New York.
The milquetoast character that he created was his bread and butter though. He started his career on radio in the 1940's and moved onto nightclubs. His big break came on the Arthur Godfrey show where he sang in high pitched yodel. In 1952 he was given the starring role in the television series Mr. Peepers. Cox played Mr. Peepers a nerdy junior high science teacher. This show lead him to appear in guest star roles in many television sitcoms through out the 50's, 60's and 70's. It was game shows where Wally Cox would really shine as a performer. His quick dry wit made him a very popular guest. He is mostly remembered for appearing in the upper left corner of Hollywood Squares. Wally Cox also did a lot of voice over work including the voice of "Underdog".
Wally Cox died after having a heart attack in his Hollywood home in 1978. He was 48 years old. He was remembered shortly after by his good friend Robert Blake when he was appearing on The Tonight Show. His ashes were in the possession of Marlon Brando until he scattered them in Tahiti.

Westboro Baptist Church Gets Even Crazier

The fake Baptist Church know as the Westboro Baptist Church is know for being crazy homophobic racist idiots but they may have just out done themselves! Ben Phelps a member of this hate mongering family of bigots has called Taylor Swift a whore. "This girl is a whore" he insists. “Who else is gonna say that if it’s not the church of the Lord Jesus?" Um I don't think Jesus would go for that kind of talk Mr. Phelps.
Who will they be going after next? Mother Theresa? Perhaps the evil Pope? Their newest round of insane insults were made in an interview with Radar Online. Do they really think insulting "America's Sweetheart" is going to get results in their effort to fill the world with more hate?

Everybody's Housekeeper

The zaftig character actress Reta Shaw will always be remembered as the sassy or bossy housekeeper. Reta Shaw was born in Maine in 1912 and she studied acting at the Leland Powers School of Acting in Boston. Her career as an actress started in New York where she performed in musical comedies on Broadway. Shaw was in the original casts of "The Pajama Game", "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "Annie Get Your Gun". She also appeared in movies like "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" and "Escape to Witch Mountain" . Shaw was one of the Banks' servants in "Mary Poppins". It was on television that she really made her mark. She was almost always cast as the housekeeper or meddlesome neighbor. On the TV show "Bewitched" Ms. Shaw played Samantha's Aunt Hagatha. It was the role of Martha, the housekeeper on "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" that she will be most remembered for.
Reta Shaw died in 1982 she was 69 years old.

Bagboy

It has been nearly ten years since the Pixies released any new material but today that has changed. "Bagboy" was released today on the bands website. The good news for Pixies fans is Kim Deal is on the recording even though just weeks ago she said she would no longer be with the band. Bagboy has that gnawing Pixies sound with lead vocals by Black Francis and backing vocals by Kim Deal. What would a Pixies song be without Kim Deal?
Will there be more soon?????

Lock Up Your Percoset!

She's back, Courtney Love is roaring back to life! Mrs. Cobain started her "I'm Still Alive" tour in Philadelphia and is playing several cities on the east coast. All of this is in an effort to promote the release of her upcoming autobiography. This is not a Hole reunion and Courtney is, as you can imagine, pointedly clear about that. Her shows will consist of covers and rare songs in her repertoire.
As for her book she is co-writing with Anthony Bozza. Poor man he must a pillar of strength.
Will this be Courtney's version of "Just Kids"? Time will tell if she really does pull it off.

The Art of the Brick

Nathan Sawaya is an artist that works in a very interesting medium.

He makes sculptures out of Lego blocks. His work is on exhibit right now in the front gallery of the Forrest Lawn Museum in Glendale.
The show titled "The Art of the Brick" consists of about three dozen sculptures made entirely of Lego bricks. many of the pieces are figurative works exposing the inside of bodies. A white life sized figure opening it's chest to reveal a red heart. One of the largest is a reproduction of Mount Rushmore made entirely of grey Lego bricks. Who knew they even make grey Lego?
On the walls of the gallery are portraits made in Lego. These were some of my favorite pieces in the show. There are also pieces geared to children like a baseball and bat and a large castle surrounded by a moat.
Nathan Sawaya is a New York based artist whose works have been displayed both nationally and internationally.

The Human Metronome

Alan Myers the drummer for the band Devo has died in Los Angeles. Myers died of brain cancer on June 25th. he was 58 years old. Alan Myers joined the band when they were still a local band from Akron, Ohio in 1976. He played with the band during their most successful period until 1985. His drumming was integral to Devo's mechanical sound that top charts with songs like "Whip It" Myers was called the human metronome and Gerald Casale said "People who saw thought he was using a drum machine.... No ever drummed like that"

Fake Kardashian Photos

The queen of nothingness Kim Kardashian sent out fake baby pictures to six of her "friends" to see which one of them would sell her out and sell her baby's photos to the tabloids. Well it seems they sold her out and tried to sell the fake baby pictures. Now Miss Kardashian is pissed.
The woman who has made a fortune selling nothing is upset that her friends tried to sell nothing. Kardashian who doesn't sing, dance, act, write or do much of anything other than be and sells this nothingness for top dollar has gotten a taste of her own vulgarity. A woman who has made her living just living is now upset that she has been scooped. Karma is a bitch isn't it.

Idiot of the Week!

So you are a scum bag murderer (perhaps) and you are on trial. You hope you have hired a good defense attorney right? But your day in court arrives and this is what you get!
“Knock, knock,”
“Who’s there?”
“George Zimmerman.”
“George Zimmerman who?”
“All right. Good. You're on the jury.”
Yeah that it what George Zimmerman got from his attorney Don West as an opening statement. Granted his client is  racist "alleged" murderer George Zimmerman but even an "alleged" murderer is due a competent defense.
Don West you are the Idiot of the Week!

And If Amy Winehouse's Death Couldn't Get Any Sadder...

The death of singer Amy Winehouse is one of those tragedies that has affected a lot of people. It was one of the saddest celebrity deaths in many years. It has only gotten sadder now that her older brother Alex has announced that not did Amy have drug and alcohol problems she also suffered from bulimia.
Alex Winehouse was quoted in a Guardian interview for the opening of London's Jewish Museum's show "Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait" as saying "She suffered from bulimia very badly. That's not, like, a revelation – you knew just by looking at her. . . She would have died eventually, the way she was going, but what really killed her was the bulimia. . . I think that it left her weaker and more susceptible. Had she not had an eating disorder, she would have been physically stronger."

Alex Winehouse is four years old than his sister. They had been very close as children. He hopes the show will give people the chance to see her as a person not just the celebrity she became. "She was annoying, frustrating, a pain in the bum. But she was also incredibly generous, very caring. She'd do anything for anyone, she really would. She was loyal – as a sister, daughter and friend. She was probably the most loyal friend to people I've ever known."
Amy Winehouse's sad story just got even sadder.

The Chubby Cheeks Bandit

Santa Ana California police and the FBI are on the lookout for a woman who has robbed a bank in Santa Ana. She has been given the name "The Chubby Cheeks" bandit. The robber demanded money at a Chase Bank in Santa Ana. She was described as being in her late 20's 5 foot 3 inches tall and weighing around 170 pounds. She is called the Chubby Cheeks Bandit as witness described her as having Chubby Cheeks.
How embarrassing to have to go through life with a moniker like that. I guess it is better than being the Fat Ass Bandit or maybe the bad acne bandit.

The Chateau Marmont

Looming eerily in the hills above Sunset Blvd is a French inspired hotel called the Chateau Marmont. Built in 1929 as a luxury apartment building by LA attorney Fred Horowitz The Chateau Marmont was a great idea at just the wrong time. The building's opening and the depression were just too close together for Horowitz to make a go of the building so he sold it off to an apartment manager named Albert E. Smith. Smith then bought a bunch of European antiques that had also hit the market and turned the apartment building in to a hotel. It was finally popular. Hollywood celebrities liked it as it was convenient to the studios and private enough to keep out fans.
During Hollywood's golden age The Chateau Marmont was all the rage. It became a celebrity hot spot with people like Greta Garbo, Carole Lombard and Errol Flynn calling it home. The Chateau Marmont's hey day like all things didn't last and the hotel started to become a bit more run down. During the 1960's it was "discovered" by the rock and roll crowd and became known as a wild spot. People Jim Morrison, John Lennon and Yoko Ono were guests. By the time the 70's came it was thought of as kind of a dive and dumpy. This is the spot where John Belushi died of a drug over dose.
In 1990 the building was sold again to hotel magnate Andre Balazs. It was given a full renovation and a new life. Today it is once again a hot spot for a new group of celebrities with room prices ranging from $170 to $1200 a night. It is now the place to run into Keanu Reeves, Johnny Depp or maybe even a drunken Lindsay Lohan.

Finally an Encyclopedia Brown Movie

It was reported in the Hollywood Reporter that there is finally going to be an Encyclopedia Brown movie. According to the Hollywood Reporter Warner Brothers Pictures are in the final stages of negotiations with Roy Lee and Howard Duetsch to bring the boy detective to life.
Get your brainy son ready to audition for the role of Leroy Encyclopedia Brown or maybe your rough and tuff daughter to play his best friend Sally Kimball. Maybe you have a bratty nephew who would be the best Bugs Meany?
 

Inside Bieber's Crib

It seems Bieber and his "friends" live like swine. Sure they are in a mansion but according to someone who went in and violated the code of secrecy there is almost no furniture and lots of take out food wrappers everywhere. Um isn't he like 19 or something? Isn't that the way 19 year old guys always live? A TV and a loud stereo is all you need and maybe a bed.
The gossipy source says that the Biebs' boyz sleep on the floor under comforters. What else can a teenage boy dream of but friends passed out all over your living room floor?
Sure your neighbors hate you! You are 19 and rich. Who doesn't hate you when you are 19 and rich?
Hopefully one day you will be 30 and rich!

James Gandolfini's Funeral

HBO has announced that a funeral for James Gandolfini will take place on Thursday June 27th at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York. The 51 year old actor died in Italy this week and his body is being brought back to the USA. Saint John the Divine is an Episcopal cathedral in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in upper Manhattan. The never completed cathedral is a masterpiece of monumental architecture that has been in construction since 1892.

Hippies Are Buttinskis!

Why are hippies such buttinskis? What makes them think I want their unsolicited advice on how I lead my life?  For example, today I was smoking a cigarette standing well away from everyone. I was standing in the gutter between 2 parked cars if you must know the exact location. I was Quietly smoking, minding my own damned business when out of the blue a hippie decides to tell me how bad smoking is for me and the planet. Yah, like I don’t know how to read or anything.  Butt out hippie. Did I come up and tell you not to wear Birkenstocks because your toes are groady?  I think not. I held my tongue and so should you.  By the way your aroma is irritating too! Patchouli and Perspiration do not mix!

I'll Have a Rose Kennedy Please

It time for a new summer cocktail and I think I have found just the drink! It is perfect for a hot day, A Rose Kennedy. It is made with vodka, club soda and a splash of cranberry! It is really a Cape Cod with some soda but it is delish! Who wouldn't enjoy a drink named after a the matriarch of a family of drinkers?

Beverly Hills 90H20

There's nothing like a refreshing glass of water on a hot day. Now there is nothing like a $12 bottle of water on a hot Beverly Hills day. Beverly Hills 90h20 is a new product that describes their water as being inspired by champagne.
"Considered “the champagne of waters”, Beverly Hills 9OH2O was designed by world-class sommeliers expressly for fine dining, special events, and exclusive gifting. "
This is how their water is described on their website. I am sorry but exclusive gifting; you are passing out bottles of water not Piaget watches! The champagne of water is that like the champagne of beers?

George Zimmer No Longer Guarantees It

George Zimmer the face and founder of Men's Wearhouse has been let go. The board of directors of Men's Wearhouse have give Zimmer the axe.
Zimmer founded the company in Dallas 40 years ago and built the company into a huge suit empire. He started out selling cheap suits and using a cigar box as a cash register driving around in a van full of suits. Not only did he run the company until he stepped down as CEO in 2011 he was the company Spokesperson Zimmer took the company from the one store to 1,143 stores.
Today he was let go and is naturally rather bitter about it! "Over the last 40 years, I have built The Men's Wearhouse into a multi-billion dollar company with amazing employees and loyal customers who value the products and service they receive at The Men's Wearhouse. Over the past several months I have expressed my concerns to the Board about the direction the company is currently heading. Instead of fostering the kind of dialogue in the Boardroom that has, in part, contributed to our success, the Board has inappropriately chosen to silence my concerns by terminating me as an executive officer." -George Zimmer

RIP Slim Whitman

One of the world's best yodelers has died. Slim Whitman died today at age 89 from heart failure. Mr. Whitman a country and western singer/song writer was know for his falsetto and yodel sold over 120 million records in his 40 year career.
Born in Tampa, FL Whitman's real name was Otis. He was a self taught left handed guitarist. He was naturally right handed but because of an accident while working in a ship yard he played lefty. His career started after he left the Navy at the end of World War II. His first hit was "Rose Marie". Whitman was extremely popular in England much more so than in the US.
Whitman's main claim to fame in the US was his commercials for his record "All My Best" that sold 1.5 million copies.

Drag Queens Have a New Anthem

Drag Queens rejoice and get your lip sync together you have a new song to learn! Cher has debuted her new song on The Voice. Luckily it is a Cher song so there aren't to many words to learn. "Its a Woman's World" Cher's new song seriously has about 13 or maybe 14 different words. If you can remember its a woman's world you have the song down! The rest of the words are seemingly filler.
All you need is sauce and a few arm movements and the four major words and you have a brand new act! So get your wigs and lip sync for your life!

"The Day The Clown Cried" The Never Seen Film

There is a fabled film that is most famous for having never been officially seen. The film is Jerry Lewis' "The Day the Clown Cried". Made in 1972 staring comic Jerry Lewis the film has never officially been screened for anyone. People who have seen it are divided over it being a masterpiece or a horrid mistake. When questioned about it Lewis is usually curt and dismisses the question.
The film set in Nazi Germany is about a circus clown named Helmut Doork (Jerry Lewis) who loses his job and ends up in a bar getting drunk. While in the bar he makes fun of Adolph Hitler while being watched by the Gestapo. He is arrested and put into a concentration camp for political prisoners. Doork is taunted by his fellow prisoners who want him to perform for them. He eventually does and his performance bombs and they beat him up. In disgrace Doork performs his act again alone but has been seen by children on the other side of a fence. The laughter of the children revitalizes him. Doork starts to perform for the Jewish children and their parents. The SS orders him to cease. When he does not obey and performs again the SS beat him, nearly killing him. When a new commandant of the camp decides to have the children removed from the camp he enlists Doork to get the children onto the train to Auschwitz. Doork ends up on the train with the children and eventually leads them to the gas chambers. The film ends with Lewis' character joining the children in the chamber.
The producers and Lewis, not only the star but the director, had serious money issues and Lewis ended up paying the production costs himself. For the next several years there were battles and law suits over the film and it was shelved. Lewis owning one of the rough cut prints with the producers retaining the negative.
Will it ever be seen it seems unlikely in Lewis' lifetime.

Lets Go for a Slow Ride

It was 19 years ago that OJ Simpson took us all for a slow ride. He got in his white Bronco and took to the LA freeway leading helicopters and TV viewers on a chase for the ages. OJ was accused of murdering his lovely wife and her "Waiter" and the LAPD were onto him.
I saw the chase on a TV in a pizza joint on Valencia St in San Francisco's Mission District. We all ate our slices in silence. This was the man who jumped over luggage in airports and now he was a murderer? Where were you? It's like the Kennedy assassination you know where you were when you heard about OJ!

Julia

There was a time on American television that African American actors were relegated to playing servants and criminals. This changed on September 17, 1968 when the sitcom "Julia" premiered starring Diahann Carroll. Ms. Carroll didn't play a maid she played Julia, a nurse in a doctors office.  Julia was also a widow with a young son. Her husband had been in the army and killed in Viet Nam.
On the show Ms. Carroll worked in the office of a doctor played by the always curmudgeonly  Lloyd Nolan. Her son Corey was played by Marc Copage.
Julia was a hit and Ms. Carroll won an Emmy Award for her performance. It did have its critics who claimed that the show was too white and that Diahann Carroll was not black enough. It was derided in Gil Scott-Heron's song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". The show ran for three seasons and ended when both Ms. Carroll and the show's creator Hal Kanter decided they had other projects that captured their interests.
Julia has been re-run on various networks showing old shows from time to time. It is a sweet comedy and worth the watch.

Behind the Cadleabra the Newest Camp Classic!

I was invited to a friends home the other day to see the HBO movie "Behind the Candelabra". The version we watched was a bootleg copy of it that was recorded on a VHS tape. Yes I said VHS. I didn't know they even made VHS tapes anymore. But it was oddly more fun to see it this way.
The movie itself is a total riot. I would say it is more of a comedy than a regular biography. The film is campy campy campy just the way Liberace would have loved it. What he might not like was the frankness about his gayness. He liked to think that no one knew. He lived a life in denial. He did take a lot of baths if you believe this movie!
The acting and direction of the film is excellent. Michael Douglas is not one of my favorite actors but his performance in this is remarkable. He was able to make the campy queeny Liberace come off real and likeable. Matt Damon's portrayal of Scott Thorenson is well done bringing a lot of nuances to his performances.
The sets and costumes for the film need to be applauded as well. Much of the film was shot in LA in Zsa Zsa Gabor's house. This is yet another example of something I do think Liberace would have loved. The costumes are so over the top that they must have used pieces from the now defunct Liberace Museum in Las Vegas.
There are 3 other actors that need to be applauded for their performances. Debbie Reynolds as Liberace's mother, Dan Aykroyd as Liberace's manager and a very creepy Rob Lowe as his plastic surgeon.  
If you get a chance to see it do so and have yourself a great laugh! This is a camp classic!

Providence, Rhode Island 377 Years Old Today

377 years ago Roger Williams founded the city of Providence, RI after being forced to leave Massachusetts Bay Colony. Williams considered a heretic because of his religious opinions was told to leave so he did.  His exile brought him south to the western bank of what is now the Providence River at the head of Narragansett Bay. Williams made a deal with the Wampanoag Nation's chief  Massasoit Ousamequin. He named the city Providence meaning divine guidance.
Providence soon became a place for religious dissenters and a haven for those considered outside of society. The city grew slowly at first but in time it became the capital of the new Colony of Rhode Island. Being established on the concept of religious freedom many religions made their first stand in Providence and Rhode Island.
The proximity to Narragansett Bay and a deep water port made Providence into a major shipping spot in the 18th century. Providence became a major player in the triangle trade. In the early par of the 18th century Providence was one of the wealthiest cities in America. The population of Providence was one of the earliest dissenters to English rule of the colonies.
The industrial revolution took hold in Providence and manufacturing of textiles became a mainstay of the city. Jewelry was another of the manufactured goods that brought money into Providence. Gorham Silver based it's operations in the city. Providence became know as the costume jewelry capital of the world with companies like Trifari making some of what today is the most collectable costume jewelry.
Education has also been one of the major business of Providence it is the home of Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence College, Rhode Island College and Johnson and Wales University.
Providence has had its ups and downs. The city itself became very depressed by the 1970's. It was becoming a city of empty factories and rundown mansions from the Victorian era until the 1980's when a rediscovery of sorts occurred. Part of the rediscovery of Providence was brought about by the then mayor Vincent Buddy Cianci. Through a series of grants and bribes Cianci moved a river and started a redevelopment of the downtown and outlying neighborhoods.
Is the city perfect? No, but being 377 years old it is a jewel of architectural history and charm.

Oculolinctus

What will those kids think up next? Well I have an answer it called oculolinctus or worming or just plain old eyeball licking. Yes licking an eyeball is a new fad. Not only is icky sounding it can also be bad for you to boot. It is a very easy way to pass around conjunctivitis aka pink eye. Ask an elementary school in Japan where eyeball lick was all the rage until more than half the school came down with pink eye.
Why would one want to lick and eyeball or have ones eyeball lick you may ask; well it seems that there is a certain amount of pleasure in it for the participants. Ophthalmologists obviously don't think this is a good idea and warm it could actually cause blindness if the licker has a dirty mouth and lets face it a lot of people have dirty mouths. The human mouth is filled with germs of all sorts.
So kids if you must lick something stick with a good old fashioned toad.

Irv's Burgers Route 66 Holdout

Since 1958 there has been a burger joint on Santa Monica Blvd at Sweetzer Ave. in West Hollywood. It was originally called Queen's Burgers (apropos no?) but it has been known as Irv's Burgers since 1973 when it was bought by Irving Gendis. Mr. Gendis ran the stand until it was sold to Sonia Hong and her family. The Hong's bought the burger stand in 2000. Sonia and Mama Hong are neighborhood fixtures. Every burger comes with a handwritten note on your paper plate and sometimes a little drawing as well. The Hong's makes some great burgers and fries but it is them that makes the place a treasure.

Irv's has always had a celebrity following too. Shelley Winters, John Cassavettes and The Sharks and The Jets from Westside Story were fans as well an Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Linda Ronstadt love the place so much it is the cover of her album "Livin' in the USA". I have personally seen Jim J. Bullock enjoying an Irv's burger there.
The Hongs are now on a month to month lease and may possibly loose the burger stand that is their livelihood. The owners of the property are planning on building a new building on the corner and forcing the restaurant to close down. It seems a Peet's Coffee wants the space. It would be a shame to see Irv's go as it is one of the very last bits of the old Route 66 culture left in Los Angeles. It is also ironic that West Hollywood City hall is directly across the street and the city is very supportive of historic buildings. If you have a chance to stop in and have a burger go soon as there may be no more Irv's very soon.

What is to Become of the Tamale Lady

San Francisco icon The Tamale Lady has been told she is no longer allowed to sell her tamales in the spot that put her on the map. Virginia Ramos otherwise known as The Tamale Lady has been selling her tamales to drinkers in San Francisco "biker" bar Zeitgeist for over 15 years and was notified by the bar she is no longer allowed to sell her tamales there.
The Tamale Lady is a fixture of San Francisco bar life for decades pushing her trolley with her home made tamales. Zeitgeist and The Tamale Lady went together like Captain and Tennille. Who could imagine a day when the call of "Tamales tamales" wouldn't be heard in Zeitgeist's beer garden.
There has always been a certain uncertainty about the legality of The Tamale Lady's business but San Francisco is the kind of city that has always taken a blind eye to legal issues. How un-punk rock is this!
Zeitgeist released a statement putting the blame on the city of San Francisco. One can only hope that it is true. Zeitgeist has its own kitchen couldn't they have worked out an arrangement with Ms. Tamale Lady? Zeitgeist won't be the same without her there.
The Tamale lady will land on her feet she is a survivor. You don't sell tamales to drunk punks for 20 years without getting a bit of street smarts. Not only does she sell excellent tamales but she also has a line of t-shirts and other memorabilia.
The Tamale Lady may be down but she isn't out. She is looking into new spots to sell her tamales, perhaps to office workers at lunch or maybe trying to find the funding to have a place of her own someday.
Power to The Tamale Lady!

99 is 80

One of the most influential style icons form the 1960's was agent 99. Barbara Feldon portrayed 99 for five years on one of the most revered off all 60's sitcoms "Get Smart". As 99 Barbara Feldon made being a spy both cool and very stylish.
Barbara Feldon was born Barbara Anne Hall in Pittsburgh in 1933. That makes 99 80years old this year! She studied drama at what is now Carnegie Mellon University graduating in 1955. She moved to New York and started her career as a model. She made a name for herself in 1957 by winning the grand prize on the now infamous television quiz show "The $64,000 Question". Her category was William Shakespeare. She took her winnings from the show and invested along with her then husband Lucien Verdoux-Feldon in an art gallery. It was during this period she was finding lots of work as a model and really caught the public's eye in an ad for "Top Brass" a men's hair care product. In the ad she was lying on a fur rug and talked to the men watching calling them "Tigers".

Her career started to pick up some speed leading to guest parts on television shows like "Flipper", "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in" and "Man From Uncle". Buck Henry saw her and wrote the role of 99 with her in mind when he was creating "Get Smart". Barbara Feldon is 5'10" tall so Don Adams was too sure about working with her at first but he was finally convinced she was perfect. During the five year run of the show she worked either bare foot or stooped to make Adams' height less noticeable.
After "Get Smart" was cancelled Ms Feldon had a few roles in films most notably "Fitzwilly" with Dick Van Dyke and "Smile" a send up of beauty pageants. She also worked as a voice over actress. She also appeared in the 1989 made for television movie "Get Smart, Again!" along with making guest appearances on shows like "Cheers" and "Mad About You".
While she was making Get Smart Ms Feldon divorced her first husband and shortly thereafter married Get Smart producer Burt Nodella. They were married for 12 years. When that relationship ended she moved back to New York. While living in New York she wrote a book titled "Living Alone and Loving It" and acted in off Broadway shows. She is now quoted as saying she is "no longer interested in acting".
She may be 80 but she will forever be 99.

Who Stole The Big Pink Dog?

There used to be two big Red Dogs and two big Pink dogs in the center of Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood and now one of the pink ones is missing! Someone over night swiped a 200 pound sculpture of a pink dog wearing sneakers and a water bottle on its back. No one saw it happen. How does one steal a large pink 200 pound dog from the middle of a busy street and not be seen? Why does someone steal a big pink dog?

Dopey Cops Find Cache of Pot

The police in Nottingham, England found a warehouse full of pot but lost it. The police were called when a tenant in a warehouse found a bag with what appeared to be marijuana. Upon investigating a police officer discovered a ware house full of pot plants and bags of marijuana. He made a call on his phone according to witnesses and then locked up the warehouse and left. During the night witnesses reported a truck pulled up and in under twenty minutes cleared out the warehouse. The next day the Nottingham police returned to the warehouse to find it empty.
Nottingham Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping said: 'I’m concerned to hear this and if correct it would appear that best practice has not been followed in this instance. It doesn’t seem to reflect well on Nottingham Police.'
Ya Think?

Great Ozzie Nelson's Ghost!

On a quiet street in the hills above Hollywood Blvd is a colonial style family home. It is a real family home it is the Nelson home. This is the house that Ozzie and Harriet Nelson lived in with their sons David and Rick. Not only did they live there it served as the exterior establishing shot of their home on their TV show. The interior of the house was also what the interior sets were based on. "The Ozzie and Harriet Show" ran on television for 14 years. Then in the mid-70's Ozzie and Harriet used the house again as the exterior for their short lived series "Ozzie's Girls".
The 10 room house was built in 1916 for a Los Angeles business man on a half an acre lot. The Nelson's bought the house in 1942. The Nelson's did some alterations over the years but the house was more or less as it was built. The three story house is in the colonial revival style and has a nice pool and patio out back.
The Nelson's were know for the very clean cut image. Ozzie and Harriet lived there until Ozzie died in 1975 and Harriet sold it off a few years later. It was after the house was sold that the new owners started reporting strange happenings. Things started happening like lights turning on and off and doors opening and closing. There were also reportedly strange "phantom" footsteps in the halls. The clear sounds of foot steps could be heard when no one was around. The strangest of all was described in a book called "Hollywood Haunted" by Laurie Jacobson and Marc Wanamaker. The have a description form a woman who was living in the house waking to find her bed covers pulled back and the feeling of an unseen something kissing her neck and breasts.
Could this be Ozzie just confused or allowing his inner perv to come out in his after life? Perhaps it is Harriet? But this just goes to show that not everything in Hollywood is what it looks like!

Florence Stanley

Florence Stanley has one of those faces that is hard to forget. The character actress had a long and varied career with Broadway, movies, and television performances. One of her best known performances is that of the long suffering Bernice Fish the wife of Phil Fish from the sitcom "Barney Miller" and its spin off "Fish".
Florence Stanley was born in Chicago in 1924 with the name Florence Schwartz. Her career started in the 1940's. In the 1950's she appeared in several live television productions. On stage Ms. Stanley appeared in "Clytemnestra" and "The Glass Menagerie" She took over the role of Yenta the matchmaker in "Fiddler of the Roof" from Bea Arthur performing in over 2,000 Broadway performances. One of her other great successes was in Neil Simon's "Prisoner of Second Avenue".
In film Ms. Stanley appeared in "Up the Down Staircase" with Sandy Dennis, Jean Stapleton and Bud Cort as well as "The Day of the Dolphin".
In the 1970's Florence Stanley was once again on television co-starring in the short run sitcom "Joe and Sons". It was while making Joe and Sons she was cast in one of her most famous roles that of Bernice on an episode of "Barney Miller". She played the long suffering wife of Fish played by Abe Vigoda. The producers of Barney Miller then created the spin off "Fish" with Vigoda and Stanley playing the roles of Fish and Bernice as foster parents of a group of mixed race kids. The series ran for two seasons. Ms. Stanley was later cast in the sitcom "My Two Dads" as Judge Margaret Wilbur a family court judge and curmudgeon. She also appeared of "Family Guy" as the voice of Thelma Griffin. She was replaced by Phyllis Diller after her death.
Florence Stanley died in 2003 from complications of a stroke.

John Malkovich Super Hero

John Malkovich was just standing on a Toronto Street corner enjoying a cigarette when a man who was walking down the street stumbled and fell. When the man, Jim Walpole, fell against a scaffold on the way to the ground. The scaffold had a jagged edge and slit Mr. Walpole's throat. John Malkovich then jumped into action! He whipped the scarf from around his neck and applied pressure on the wound while someone called an ambulance. Jim Walpole was reassured he would be okay by Malkovich. Mr. Walpole, apparently not a Malkovich fan asked him his name. "John", replied Malkovich.
Emergency help came and relieved super hero John Malkovich and took Mr. Walpole away. So if you ever fall and slice open your neck on a scaffold hope John Malkovich is smoking near by!

Stockholm's Male Train Operators Wear Skirts

It gets hot in Stockholm in the summer especially if your are a train operator. The drivers of the Stockholm trains are required to dress neatly and look presentable at all times. Arriva the state train service requires that all employees wear wither trousers or a skirt while on duty, shorts are not allowed. Many men working for the train company as drivers say that it can get as hot as 95 degrees were they are working and wanted to be allowed to wear shorts but were told no. They found a way around the regulations they are now wearing skirts to work. The management gave their okay to the men wearing skirts. “To say anything else would be discrimination,” Mr. Thomas Hedenius, the communications director for Arriva said in a statement given by management. So skirts it is for men in Stockholm.