Category: History

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Animals History Holidays Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Here are today’s top stories:

1.  Hola mis amigos. Hoy es el Cinco de Mayo. Go forth and enjoy some delicious Mexican food tonight to celebrate this muy especial day that marks the grande victory of the Mexican army over the French army in the Battle Of Puebla in 1862.  ¡ VIVA MEXICO !

2.  In just about 50 hours I’ll be arriving at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to begin a long weekend vacation con mi familia. I’m planning to continue the ‘2009 Economic Stimulus Tour’ (of tourist attractions) this weekend with a visit to the Dallas Zoo. It’s the largest zoological experience in Texas !

3.  I never got to go to the zoo when I was a little kid, and I actually had an Uncle that worked at one (as Security). That’s right – I was totally deprived of the zoo experience as a kid. Since I’ve pretty much outgrown the traditional amusement parks (and wild rides make me dizzy) I’ve gone back to basics by visiting the animals as much as I can. I love the animals !  The’re just like you and me !

4.  Speaking of amusement parks with wild rides – and animals – me and a buddy may visit Sea World up in Orlando during the upcoming  Memorial Day holiday weekend. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there. We may also visit nearby Gatorland. I haven’t been there since they rebuilt the place following the devastating fire of November 06TH 2006.

5.  Are you ready for the upcoming rainy season aqui en America’s Riviera ?  It starts within the next couple of weeks, and based on my analysis and research I’m forecasting an extra wet rainy season this year with southerly, southwesterly, and westerly wind flow the norm. That means that all of those strong thunderstorms that develop over the Everglades should drift eastward over us rather than westward towards Naples. I’m also forecasting a below normal hurricane season with most storms staying away from us due to our westerly wind flow and the long-awaited reemergence of our good friend ‘El Niño’. We’ll see how this forecast works out for all of us.

Take good care of yourselves my friends. THANKS for reading what’s on my mind.

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History Humor People Radio Television

Saturday Morning Shenanigans / Saturday Night Retro Mash-Up

If you were to ask me who are my favourite comedians I could probably give you a list that stretches for as far as the eye can see because comedy is my thing. I love to laugh. A smile turns in to a giggle that turns in to a chuckle that turns in to a laugh. If the laugh is hard enough then it morphs in to a full-blown crack-up. Some crack-ups are mild while others are severe. 😆

If you were to ask me who is my favourite comedian in the entire history of comedy as I know it (even from before I was born) then there is only one true answer my friends – Jack Benny. He’s my all-time favourite comedian from vaudeville, radio, and television. I’ve listened to hundreds of his original radio shows from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, as well as his television shows from the 1950s into the 1960s. He’s my favourite entertainer in the entire history of entertainment. Nobody will ever come close … EVER !

Jack Benny (1894-1974)
Jack Benny (1894-1974)

And so this week I’m combining ‘Saturday Morning Shenanigans’ with ‘Saturday Night Retro’. The following 7-minute cartoon recently celebrated its 50TH anniversary. It was released on April 04TH 1959. My little brother actually discovered it for me way back during the early-1980s when he saw it on TV, and he recognized it as something that was nearly identical to what I was listening to on the radio and on tape at the time.

This – my friends – is ‘The Mouse That Jack Built‘ – the animated version of ‘The Jack Benny Program’. I present it to you for your ‘Saturday Morning Shenanigans’ and ‘Saturday Night Retro’ review, and for my ultimate entertainment enjoyment forever and ever.

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History Television

Monday Night Countdown

The 5-day time-period of April 16TH to April 20TH has been quite deadly here in the U.S. over the past 16 years. 5 horrific events have occurred during this time, and some would argue that at least 2 – perhaps 3 of them are indirectly related to each other.

You may remember where you were and what you were doing as these 5 disasters unfolded before a LIVE international television audience: 

5.  Johnson Space Center, Houston Texas, April 20TH 2007
– 2 dead

4.  Columbine High School, Columbine Colorado, April 20TH 1999
– 15 dead / 24 injured

3.  Virginia Tech, Blacksburg Virginia, April 16TH 2007
– 33 dead / 23 injured

2.  Branch Davidian Ranch, Waco Texas, April 19TH 1993
– 80 dead

1.  Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, Oklahoma City Oklahoma, April 19TH 1995
– 168 dead / 850+ injured

I’ve actually visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.

Categories
History Music

Saturday Night Retro

1988 was my first full year of livin’ large here in the land of the ‘305’. (I actually arrived on the First of December in 1987.)

In 1988 I was a 20-year-old that became a 21-year-old – without a car. I was either gonna be stuck in the dorm (at the Air Force Base), or I was gonna bum a ride with a buddy to see any other part of Miami. Luckily I got to see a lot of Miami during that first year. I also partied a lot within the Miami club scene. I considered myself a Y-100 groupie at the time – following them along as they broadcast LIVE from a different nightclub around town on 4 or 5 nights per week.

It was a lot of fun – although admittingly I don’t remember much from the times. After all it was 21 years ago – a half a lifetime ago for me.

Here’s a song that literally brought chills to me last night as it got cranked up at Splitsville (which incidentally has its own dance floor with deejay and lights and such). There may even be raw video footage of me acting like a dancin’ moron at our dinner table as this song progressed. (I’m not sure if Venus was recording at the time.)  Yep – I still got mad skillz at the age of 42. 🙄

This jam totally defined the land of the ‘305’ in 1988. It was the absolute biz out on the streets and up on the dance floors all across the ‘MIA’.

I present to you for your ‘Saturday Night Retro’ review – MC Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock with “It Takes Two” !

LET’S KICK IT HOMIES !