Category: Radio

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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.

Categories
History Life Music Radio Television

Saturday Night Retro

In 1979 I was an 11-year-old that became a 12-year-old in June. I graduated from Magnolia Elementary School in Lanham Maryland (right in my own neighbourhood):

Magnolia Elementary School, Lanham Maryland
Magnolia Elementary School, Lanham Maryland

That was my school for Kindergarten from 1972 to 1973, and then again for 3RD, 4TH, 5TH, and 6TH grades from 1975 to 1979. The street that I lived on (Red Wing Lane) was located directly in front of the school by a couple hundred yards, but that was not the proper way to walk to and from school because you had to climb the fence and walk in other people’s yards to do so. The proper way to walk to and from school was up / down the hill and over to the left-side main entrance.

Incidentally the more things change the more things stay the same. That school looks exactly the way it used to look 30 to 35 years ago – right up to the facade of the building, the spray paint residue on the left-hand side, the breezeway out front, and the lightposts. A lot has changed since the mid-1970s. The outside of that school is not one of those changes.

If you walk through the front entrance, take an immediate right at the first hallway, and take that hallway down all the way to the very end you should come across a big painted map of the U.S.A. directly on the surface of the wall (if it’s still there). My class painted that as a special project way back then. I specifically painted Hawaii. It was a masterpiece !

It’s amazing the things that I remember from back in the day.

And now for your ultimate ‘Saturday Night Retro’ review I present to you this # 1 gold pop smash that everyone was singing and dancing to in their living rooms and in their cars just before 1979 morphed into 1980. This my friends is English musician Robin Scott – better known at the time as simply ‘M’. Here’s the official music video for “Pop Muzik” – one of the first videos ever made for television – more than two years before MTV even went on-the-air. This video was sleek, stylish, solid, and state-of-the-art for its time. Check it out:

Until next Saturday night my friends – keep on makin’ history !

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Blogging Career God Holidays Home Money Music Radio Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

It’s the fastest-growing weekly series in the entire history of this blog:

– You know how we do this.
– So let’s get this party started.
– Complete sentences not required here.
– It was another interesting and exciting day at work.
– I even got into heated discussions with one of my closest coworkers.
– It’s all good.
– My worst day on this journey – far greater than my best day beforehand.
– I love going to work in the morning.
– I’ve been able to state that for only the past 20½ months.
– My career renaissance began at the end of July 2007.
– That’s when I moved from my previous job to my current job.
– I physically moved one-tenth of one mile south to my current job.
– The difference is that of night and day – dark and light – evil and good.
– Dear Lord I pray to you that I don’t spend any money at all next Monday.
– I currently have one of the largest VI$A bills in modern recorded history.
– The cold air outside is almost gone, and my A.C. is back on again.
– We hit 52°F early this morning with an identical wind chill.
– It was 53°F early on Wednesday morning with a wind chill in the 40s.
– Get ready for the mid-80s to return this weekend and stay indefinitely.
– We’re gearing up for a busy Easter Sunday at Life Pointe Church.
– This is the Sunday that you need to wake up early and get to the theatre.
– Gather up the crew, stuff them into the soccer-mom minivan, and get there.
– I can’t wait to see Ela before the first service.
– Ela is one of God’s many miracles.
– Here’s a video for a song that I discovered quite early on during this journey.
– It’s from Watashi Wa.
– They were from Southern California.
– They were together as a band from 2000 to 2004.
– They were rather dysfunctional as a band.
– They loved Jesus.
– They managed to release this gem during the Summer Of 2003.
– I was far from God during that Summer.
– Watch this video and listen intently to what the’re singing.
– I’m not a lot, but you can have “All Of Me”.

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Blogging Driving Food God Money Music Radio Television Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– It’s that time of the week again.
– It’s time for my ‘Mini Thoughts’ in 15 words or less.
– ‘Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In’ had the ‘Quickie’.
– VH1 had the ‘Pop-Up Video’.
– AOL had the ‘IM’.
– Burger King has the ‘Burger Shots’.
– I’ve got the Mini Thought.
– Dude it’s hot and humid outside.
– Tomorrow we could have heat indices well into the mid-90s !
– I’m gonna try to yank a cold front by its tail down here next Monday.
– Maybe we could have a few cool mornings in the upper-50s !
– As the economy begins to recover so are gas prices. 
– The’re up about 40 cents per gallon ever since they bottomed out.
– I’m not complaining, as I remember $4.199 per gallon last July.
– I ate Lunch at Quiznos today.
– I dig that joint.
– I eat there weekly.
– Good food and good service is all I’m asking for.
– I always get that there.
– I think I know who’s gonna grab tomorrow’s ‘Major Bloggie Award‘.
– We’ll all find out for sure on Friday night.
– One of my favourite rock bands is Philmont.
– The’re from North Carolina.
– I like how they sound.
– I like their message.
– They’ve totally given it up for Jesus Christ.
– Check out this music video below for their current smash “The Difference”.
– The band made the video themselves for under $300.
– Listen to the lyrics carefully.
– I’m rolling to what the’re rocking !