Author: The Hinoeuma
Tune Tuesday: Eddie Fisher 1954
Sixty-five years ago, today, the #1 song on Billboard (pre-hot 100 era) was Oh! My Pa-Pa (O Mein Papa) performed by Eddie Fisher. A lamentation, sung by a young woman grieving the loss of her clown-father, the song was written by Swiss composer Paul Burkhard in 1939 for the musical Der schwarze Hecht (The Black Pike). Reproduced and re-issued in 1950 as Das Feuerwerk (The Firework), the musical was made into a German film, Fireworks, in 1954 starring Lilli Palmer.
Translated, and adapted, into English by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons, Fisher and Hugo Winterhalter’s orchestra recorded the song in December 1953 at Webster Hall in New York City.
Trumpeter Eddie Calvert had a #1 with an instrumental version of the song in the UK at the very same time Fisher’s version was the #1 in the US.
On March 8, 1967, television audiences were treated to a version of the song by Jim Nabors, in character as Gomer Pyle, in the Season 3 episode (#85) “Sing a Song of Papa”. On October 24, 1991, Krusty the Clown sang the song as O mein Papa on The Simpsons in the Season 3 episode Like Father, Like Clown, a twist on the young woman’s sorrow over her father.
This song has been covered by many other artists, including The Everly Brothers, Connie Francis, Ray Anthony (last surviving member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra), The Bobbettes, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Björk (as “Pabbi minn”).
Calvert’s Version
Nabor’s Version
Krusty’s Version
Movie Monday: Sleeping Beauty 1959
Sixty years ago, today, the most popular film at the box office was Sleeping Beauty.
Voice Cast:
☆ Mary Costa…….Princess Aurora
☆ Bill Shirley…….Prince Phillip
☆ Eleanor Audley…….Maleficent
☆ Verna Felton…….Flora/Queen Leah
☆ Barbara Luddy…….Merryweather
☆ Barbara Jo Allen…….Fauna
☆ Taylor Holmes…….King Stefan
☆ Bill Thompson…….King Hubert
After a beautiful princess, Aurora, is born in to royalty everyone gathers to exchange gifts. Everything is perfectly fine until an unwanted guest appears, Maleficent. Maleficent casts a spell on the young princess and announces that she will die by pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel on the evening of her 16th birthday. Fortunately, one of the good fairies, Merryweather, changes the spell so Aurora will fall asleep, and that the only way to wake her from her sleep is true love’s kiss. Finally the day comes.
The Sleeping Beauty story has many variations and has deep, medieval roots. Disney’s movie was based on French author Charles Perrault’s La Belle Au Bois Dormant (German: Dornröschen or Little Briar Rose) or, in English, The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, written in the late 1600s.
Other Perrault works include Le Petit Chaperon Rouge (Little Red Riding Hood), Cendrillon (Cinderella), Le Chat Botté (Puss in Boots) and Barbe Bleue (Bluebeard). Perrault’s literary tales predate the Brothers Grimm material by 100+ years but, The Sleeping Beauty, in particular, was based on the Sun, Moon & Talia (Sole, Luna, e Talia) piece by Italian writer Giambattista Basile, published, posthumously, in the early 1600s. This would NOT be a good children’s fairy tale.
Perceforest, a collection of six French books from the middle 1300s, with ties to the Arthurian Legend, appears to be the earliest written form of the story.
Trivia Bits:
♦ Princess Aurora’s long, thin, willowy body shape was inspired by that of Audrey Hepburn.
♦ The prince is named after Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, as well as Prince Philip of Belgium (now King Philip).
♦ This is the only Disney movie with square trees.
♦ Famed Warner Bros. animation director Chuck Jones worked on the film, briefly, when Termite Terrace closed temporarily during the late 1950s. He found the atmosphere at Walt Disney Productions oppressive because everything anyone did there had to be approved by Walt Disney before, during and, after the process of production. He was more than happy when Warner’s animation department re-opened, where he stayed until it closed again in 1964.
The Earth: A Progress Report
A Blog Post From: The Chris Thomas Files
Current Thinking
As we begin our return to being a full “Human Being”, many people’s thoughts are turning to the Earth and wanting to help to re-awaken Her consciousness. Whilst these thoughts are, on the face of it, admirable, the question arises as to whether the Earth actually requires our assistance or not? Does She require to be re-awoken or have some people misread the situation? The main problem is one of scale. If you look at the photograph, above, you will see, through the clouds, North and South America in their place within the oceans and, the sphere of the Earth. What is not shown in the photograph is any thing to do with man. Even our cities are too small to register within the continents, let alone individual people. Yet, the photograph encompasses the whole of the Earth. In other words, on the scale at which the Earth exists, humans, along with all of our endeavours, do not even register.
The Earth is a soul, a consciousness, who has survived through many trials and disasters in order to fulfil Her promise. She is an immense consciousness capable of acts of Creation unseen in any other region of our Universe. Throughout the whole of Her existence, She has nurtured life and, in particular, nurtured humanity to the point where we can fulfil our own promise and potential. We are tiny, insignificant souls in comparison to the immensity of the Earth’s own soul and, yet, human arrogance has led many to believe that the Earth needs our help at this time of change.
All loving thoughts that humans direct towards the Earth are, obviously, appreciated by Her but, we must remember the difference in scale, the difference in soul potential, that exists between humans and the Earth. In all of the [many] millennia of Her existence, She has never slept and, She has never forgotten the life that relies on Her for their physical presence and well-being. As humans begin to fulfil our potential, in terms of soul re-integration, She is with us. She is supporting us and, She is providing all of the love and nurture that we humans will allow Her to give to us. But, we live in a Universe that is founded on the energies of freedom of choice and, so, Her activities and support are limited by how much we choose to let Her do on our behalf.
If we throw back Her help, such as by attempting to build “portals”, it holds Her back. If there was a need for “portals” that opened gateways to regions outside of the solar system, She would have already built them for us. The fact that they do not exist is very clear evidence that those who have asked for the portals to be built are not working with the Earth but, against Her. Another recent request that has arisen from those who are not working with the Earth has been to “charge up the Earth’s crystal deposits”. In order to help us with all of the energies we require to make our consciousness change, the Earth energised all of Her crystal deposits on the 2nd of August 2004. The recent call to “charge up the crystals” was an attempt to take control of the energies, that are helping people, away from the control of the Earth and transfer all of that energy into the control of a race that does not have the Earth’s, or humanity’s, best interests at heart.
To understand just how much the Earth is doing to help and guide people through our soul re-integration, we need to take a brief look at what She has done in the past to bring us to the point where we can now, at long last, begin to be ourselves and, return to being true Human Beings once again. In understanding Her role and the extent of Her desire for true Human life, we can also begin to understand that we are the masters of our own destiny and, that, we do not need help from anywhere or anyone other than from the Earth Herself.
Earth History
Our solar system was deliberately designed to be an experiment. The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether life at the energies we consider to be physical could actually exist. Throughout the Universe, many, many billions of souls exist. Some are souls that make up galaxies, some are souls that make up solar systems, some souls are more or less “human sized” but, have no physical density at all and some are also more or less “human sized” but, do have physical bodies that are considerably less dense than human bodies. So, there was a form of life that was missing…“physical” life-forms that live on “physical” planets. This is the purpose of our solar system…to explore the possibilities offered by being physical.
A region of an outlying galaxy was selected to be the host for this physical experiment where a sun already existed. This lone sun was also a consciousness, a soul. This solar soul agreed to provide the nurturing energies to a solar system that was formed from thirteen souls who wished to take on “physical” energy densities and explore the different forms of life that being physical could conjure up. This all happened 40 million years ago. This time-scale is greatly at odds with current “scientific” thinking but, this is the time frame that is recorded in the Akashic. The scientific time scale, that of 4 billion years, is based on the assumed age of a meteor that could have arrived on Earth from anywhere within the Universe and, so, is no more than a false assumption.
Our solar system is contained within an energy “envelope” that is shaped a little like a rugby ball. This envelope was necessary in order to keep out all of the other energy patterns that exist within our galaxy and within our Universe. There is not much point in creating an experimental region of space if it could be contaminated by energy patterns that could make the experiment pointless. So, we exist in a controlled and protected “envelope” that originally contained thirteen souls who had taken on the role of forming physical planets that could create and nurture as diverse a range of physical forms of life as possible.
All were successful.
All thirteen planets began to form 40 million years ago, each expressing the “personality” of their soul in the forms of life they created. Individual souls are Created by the Creator, planetary life is created by the soul of the planet. However, the soul that is the Earth took Her time to consider all options before She settled down to experiment with the type of life-forms She wanted to develop. In this way, life on Earth only began to develop 25 million years ago. Again, this is very much at odds with the scientific view of life on Earth. However, if you research back through the history of scientific thinking, you will find that this figure of 25 million years is one which was favoured by scientists for a number of years. It only changed when the “new” science of geology came along and tried to find answers to the ages of rock strata. Most of the assumptions made by these early geologists turn out to be based on false premises but, scientists being scientists, they have not admitted to their mistakes and, have maintained the false theories and incorporated these false dates into current thinking. When the meteorite, mentioned above, was found, they came up with this new age of 4 billion years for the Earth. The technique used to arrive at this date has never been explained, adequately. It seems to have primarily been conjecture and wishful thinking.
To continue reading, download the PDF version (it’s nine pages) HERE.
[Note: This PDF was originally posted on the One-Vibration Forum Blog on January 6, 2012.]
Shutterbug Saturday: Completely Rotten…
My Ollie and his escapades. He is such a case. All photos are my personal collection. © ~Vic
Because the water tastes SO much better in here.
10-24-2017
12-07-2017
12-15-2017
05-03-2018
12-04-2018
Foto Friday: Sunsets Local
All photos, below, are my personal collection. ~Vic
07-12-2016
12-12-2016
11-05-2017
11-11-2017
06-02-2018
08-06-2018
09-18-2018
01-06-2019
01-29-2019
02-03-2019
Throwback Thursday: Mississippi & The Thirteenth Amendment 2013
Six years ago, today, Mississippi finally got around to ratifying The Thirteenth Amendment, 148 years later.
Mississippi […] only got around to officially ratifying the amendment last month — 148 years later — thanks to the movie “Lincoln.” The state’s historical oversight came to light after Mississippi resident Ranjan Batra saw the Steven Spielberg-directed film last November […]. After watching the film, which depicts the political fight to pass the 13th Amendment, Batra did some research. He learned that the amendment was ratified after three-fourths of the states backed it in December 1865. Four remaining states all eventually ratified the amendment — except for Mississippi. Mississippi voted to ratify the amendment in 1995 but failed to make it official by notifying the U.S. Archivist. Batra spoke to another Mississippi resident, Ken Sullivan, who contacted Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann about the oversight. Finally, on Jan. 30, Hosemann sent the Office of the Federal Register a copy of the 1995 resolution, and on Feb. 7, the Federal Register made the ratification official.
Two medical school colleagues, one an immigrant from India, the other a life-long Mississippian, joined forces to resolve a historical oversight that until this month had never officially been corrected. Dr. Ranjan Batra, professor of Neurobiology and Anatomical sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, told ABC News he was inspired to investigate the history of the Thirteenth Amendment in his state after a viewing of the film “Lincoln.” […] Batra proceeded to do some investigating of his own, noticing on the website usconstitution.net, that there was an asterisk next to the state of Mississippi in connection with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment.
Batra: “Mississippi gets a lot of bad press about this type of stuff and I just felt that it is something that should be fixed, and I saw every reason that could be done.” “Everyone here would like to put this part of Mississippi’s past behind us and move on into the 21 st century rather than the 19th.”
[…] Batra enlisted the help of University of Mississippi Medical Center colleague Ken Sullivan, who took an immediate interest in the story, calling the national archives to confirm that they had in fact never received the proper paperwork.
Batra: “The last paragraph [of the bill] directs the Secretary of State of Mississippi to inform the national archives of the law of the ratification which is exactly the way ratification is supposed to proceed, but that hadn’t been done for whatever reason.”
Sullivan: “For me it was just important that this part of history was done from our state.” “I know we have some dark spots in our history through the south, it still affects people’s opinions about Mississippi today.”
Sullivan and Batra are thankful the ratification question has finally been resolved. Now, that asterisk next to Mississippi can finally be removed.
The Mississippi Legislature had actually formally ratified the historic amendment in 1995, which even then was more than a century late […]. Throughout 1865, 26 states ratified the critical law, and in December of that year, the amendment was formally adopted into U.S. law after Georgia’s approval brought the number the required 27. Several states, including Kentucky and Delaware, waited decades to ratify the amendment, the last being Mississippi in 1995 — or so the state thought.
Better late than never, I suppose. Yikes. ~Vic
Wayback Wednesday: Paul Harvey’s Espionage Charge 1951
Sixty-eight years ago, today, radio legend Paul Harvey did something no one expected and got into a bit of trouble over it. In the wee hours of February 6, 1951, without any authorization, Harvey trespassed on the Argonne National Laboratory grounds, engaging in what reporters term as participatory journalism.
Conducting classified research, the laboratory was heavily secured; all employees and visitors needed badges to pass a checkpoint, many of the buildings were classified, and the laboratory itself was fenced and guarded. Such alluring secrecy drew visitors both authorized […] and unauthorized. Shortly past 1 a.m. on February 6, 1951, Argonne guards discovered reporter Paul Harvey near the 10-foot (3.0 m) perimeter fence, his coat tangled in the barbed wire. Searching his car, guards found a previously prepared four-page broadcast detailing the saga of his unauthorized entrance into a classified “hot zone.” He was brought before a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to obtain information on national security and transmit it to the public, but was not indicted.
Harvey’s “escapade” prompted the U.S. attorney for Illinois to empanel a grand jury to consider an espionage indictment; Harvey “went on the air to suggest he was being set up”; the grand jury subsequently declined to indict Harvey.
From The Washington Post’s Joe Stephens:
Previously confidential files show that Harvey […] enjoyed a 20-year friendship with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, often submitting advance copies of his radio script for comment and approval. […] the real twist, suitable for one of Harvey’s signature “Rest of the Story” vignettes, is how they met…on opposite sides of an espionage investigation.
The news is contained in nearly 1,400 pages of FBI files, released to The Washington Post in response to a one-year-old Freedom of Information Act request.
The Cold War beginning of the Harvey-Hoover bond was an incident from 1951, when Harvey was 32. He routinely hammered officials for being lax on security, in particular those in charge of the Argonne National Laboratory, which conducted nuclear testing 20 miles west of Chicago. After wrapping up his television broadcast on the evening of Feb. 5, 1951, Harvey set out to prove his case and make some career-enhancing headlines for himself.
Harvey guided his black Cadillac Fleetwood toward Argonne, arriving sometime past midnight. He parked in a secluded spot, tossed his overcoat onto the barbed wire topping a fence, then scampered over. […] seconds after Harvey hit the ground, security officers spotted him, documents show. Harvey ran until, caught in a Jeep’s headlights, he tripped and fell. As guards approached, Harvey sprang to his feet and waved.
Guards asked whether Harvey realized he was in a restricted area. “Harvey replied no, that he thought he might be at the airport because of the red lights,” one report says. Under questioning, Harvey eventually dropped his cover story but refused to elaborate, saying he wanted to tell his tale before a congressional committee.”
Two months after the incident, a federal grand jury officially declined to indict Harvey. Nothing in Harvey’s file suggests Hoover did anything to help. But Harvey appears to have been grateful for something.
It’s a long, in-depth article and, apparently, Harvey intended to lie to the audience about ‘how it went down’.
So. There you have it…the rest of the story. ~Vic
Tune Tuesday: Evelyn Knight & The Stardusters 1949
Seventy years ago, today, the #1 song on Billboard (pre-hot 100 era) was A Little Bird Told Me by Evelyn Knight, backed up by the Stardusters. Written by Harvey Oliver Brooks, the song was recorded by five different artists with Knight’s version being the only number one. Harvey Brooks was the first black American to write a major motion picture’s complete score: I’m No Angel, starring Mae West.
The Stardusters with Mary McKim
In 1950, this particular song was the subject of a landmark court case between Supreme Records in Los Angeles and Decca Records in London, England. Supreme Records founder Albert Patrick sued Decca over copyright infringement as his company had recorded and released the song with singer Paula Watson before Decca’s version was released with Knight & The Stardusters. Patrick was furious and filed for $400,000 claiming plagiarism of the arrangement.
The court ruled in favor of the defense stating that musical arrangements were not copyrightable, as style could not be protested under the law. The case opened the door for cover versions. Supreme went bankrupt shortly afterwards and Paula Watson went to work for Decca.
Movie Monday: It Should Happen To You 1954
Sixty-five years ago, today, the most popular film at the box office was It Should Happen to You. I am changing my wording from “#1” to “most popular” as I am having great difficulty determining if my “older movie” posts are actually number ones. It is hard to tell.
Starring Judy Holliday, Peter Lawford, Jack Lemmon and Michael O’Shea, this romantic comedy (Rom-Com) was written by Garson Kanin, directed by George Cukor, was originally titled A Name For Herself and was supposed to be a Danny Kaye movie.
Holliday is Gladys Glover of Binghamton, N.Y., who has come to N.Y.C. to make a name for herself and does so by plastering her moniker across a Columbus Circle billboard.
Gladys Glover has just lost her modelling job when she meets filmmaker Pete Sheppard shooting a documentary in Central Park. For Pete, it’s love at first sight but, Gladys has her mind on other things…like making a name for herself. Through a fluke of advertising, she winds up with her name plastered over 10 billboards throughout city. Suddenly, all of New York is clamoring for Gladys Glover without knowing why and playboy Evan Adams III is making a play for Gladys that even Pete knows will be hard to beat.
Trivia Bits:
♦ This film was the début of actor Jack Lemmon.
♦ Teenage John Saxon has an uncredited cameo in Central Park.
♦ Gossip columnists reported that during the filming of It Should Happen to You, Holliday dated her co-star Peter Lawford. The actress was having marital problems at the time and did, reportedly, enjoy a romantic fling with Lawford (it only lasted until the production wrapped) which may be why their scenes together have a genuine spark.
♦ The same year of the movie release, co-star Peter Lawford married Patricia Kennedy, daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy and sister of the future President. Of the extended Kennedy clan, Lawford was closest to his brother-in-law Robert.
Nominations
♢ Best Costume Design/Black & White (Jean Louis/1955 Academy Awards)
♢ Best Written American Comedy (Garson Kanin/1955 Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) Award)
Soul Reintegration: The Process Begins
A PDF Essay From: The Chris Thomas Files
New Energies
Humanity is primed to undergo the greatest shift in consciousness that has ever been seen in the history of our Universe. Seven thousand years of human history, “The Human Plan”, is approaching its fruition and 2012 promises to be the year when all of our hard work, our aspirations and dreams, finally come together to re-merge the whole of the soul back into the physical body. But how will this happen? How will we know when the time is tight? How will we be at the end of this change? The change we are undergoing has never been attempted, anywhere, in the whole of Creation, so, we are having to feel our way into our new future but, there are some clues and signposts along the way. One such “signpost” has just begun to emerge from the mists that shroud our future.
The Present
Over the past ten years, more and more people are waking up to the fact that all is not well in the world. Political posturing and lies are being uncovered. Real conspiracies are being brought to light and, the mood of the population is for clarity and the end of being subject to the whims of an “Elite” (also known as Illuminati, Cabal, Bilderbergers, etc…). All of this uncovering is a part of our own awakening.
For almost 300 years, we have been mislead by those who see themselves as being above the rest of humanity and these “Elite” have forced themselves into positions of political power in order to create an agenda to which the rest of the world was subjected without our conscious knowledge. As we moved into the 21st century, cracks began to appear in the elitists’ plans and, more and more people have become aware that an agenda is at work and, that this agenda affects every man, woman and child on the planet. However, we have been largely powerless to do much about it. Any signs of discontent are stomped on, immediately, with increasing severity. The media is controlled to the point where the Elite can tell any lie without being questioned and any proof of the Elites’ agenda is ridiculed as a “conspiracy theory”. But, the energy is changing.
Cosmic Forces
The year 2012 has long been prophesised as the end of the world. Many have taken this statement literally and, see this year as being one of catastrophe and the end of all things to do with Earth. But this is not the case. It is the end of life as we have known it for the past seven thousand years and a change into a new way of being. This duality of endings and new beginnings is not accidental but, has been planned for 7,000 years and, planned in such a way that a number of different forces and energies all combine together at the same time to produce a new reality.
Time Line
In 1996, a new energy was connected to the Earth from deep within the Universe. This new energy is designed to provide us with all that we would need to bring about a change of consciousness. This new energy began by gradually changing the way in which we see ourselves, our place on Earth and our place within the Universe. In 2002, the Earth altered Her own energy patterns. This change on an Earth level was purely to help humans to move on. The traditional “base-note” frequency of the Earth was 7.56 Hz. In 2002, this was raised to 3.5 kHz. This massive change in frequency was to accommodate the needs of people so that the higher self could be re-integrated back into the physical body.
By 2005, we had reached the point where we humans could begin to move forwards. We had, to a certain extent, absorbed and come to terms with the “push” generated by the 1996 energy but, we were still far away from our goal. As we moved through this period, the first people to re-integrate the soul back into the body began to so do. These re-integrations were very successful and virtually no problems were encountered. People undergoing this process is still underway today but, only gradually.
By the end of October 2010, we had raised our individual and collective energies to the point where we could begin a new acceleration. Between the start of November 2010 and the 28th of October 2011, humans raised their own base-note energy frequencies into full alignment with the Earth’s new frequency. By the end of October 2011, we had reached full frequency parity with the Earth at 3.5 kHz. Whilst a major step forwards, this was not the start of full soul re-integration. A number of events need to occur before we can achieve that.
During this period, there were numerous attempts to distract us and prevent us from fully understanding our potential. The two Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, the attack on New York’s twin towers on the 11th of September 2001, the bombing of London on the 7th of July, 2005, and, the attack on Libya in 2011 were all engineered by the Elite and carried out by secret services (CIA & MI6), as well as the military-industrial complex in order to create as much fear as possible in the population.
Add to these atrocities, the deliberate manipulation of the banks and money markets and, we have a population that is subdued, fearful and, more importantly, fearful of their futures. Adding to this level of fear is the total myth of man-made global warming. Instead of moving into our consciousness shift with an open heart and understanding, the Elite attempted to stop this change in its tracks by forcing people to see the world as one where they were unlikely to survive. Fortunately, we are not on our own.
The Earth
All too often we forget that this lump of rock we live on has a consciousness of Her own and despite this lack of human regard, the Earth still sees us as Her “Children”. The Earth, too, has been heavily involved in The Human Plan. In fact, nothing could have been planned and worked out without Her. Along with the new energy source that arrived in 1996, the orbit of the solar system brought us into growing alignment with the centre of our galaxy. The energy arriving from the centre of the galaxy also added to the impetus for change. This galactic alignment has become more direct since 1996 and we are now, at the end of 2011, bathed in positive energy patterns never before seen. All of these new energy sources are acting together to help us.
When we began to help ourselves and completed our base-note frequency acceleration, the Earth could begin a new phase of development. This, She began on the 13th of December 2011. This new source of energy brought about by the Earth is feeding into the human mass-consciousness and its purpose is to bring about a new wave of change. The level of dissatisfaction brought about by the activities of the Elite means that the human mass-consciousness has reached critical mass. This new Earth energy is there to gently push the human mass-consciousness to a point where we create a tsunami for change.
To continue reading, download the PDF version HERE.
[Note: This PDF was originally posted on the One-Vibration Forum on December 17, 2011.]
Shutterbug Saturday: Tribute Pictures 7.0
I have reached the end of my tribute. I have showcased all that he sent me. Previous posts:
♦ Part I
♦ Part II
♦ Part III
♦ Part IV
♦ Part V
♦ Part VI
I have missed my life in Texas and I still miss him. He was such an interesting man. He wasn’t perfect but, he was himself and he charmed. Thank you for sharing your life with me, Sir.
RIP W. H. Patton (July 16, 1939 – July 21, 2012)
He wanted to drive the 1938 Ford in the background.
I think his cousin took this.
1970s perms were not his friend.
Discussing business.
Wife Glenda, son Sean & daughter Shari.
Love of his life.
1961
One last bonus photo…
Always the photographer.
September 2004
Tell The Story
Fellow blogger Kristian tagged me for a story challenge. I am horrible at story telling. I couldn’t invent a non-fiction plot to save my life. Kristian wrote a poem for his picture. I suck even worse at poetry.
However, that being expressed, he did send me the above picture to use so…I will try.
The Last Thing He Saw
Fred was on his way home from visiting his family. No one knows what actually happened but, this was the last picture he took on his phone before flipping his car into a ditch. He was pronounced dead at the scene. He was only three miles from his house. The County Coroner’s Office has not released a toxicology report, yet. The County Sheriff made a brief statement to the press and offered condolences to his family. He stated that he and Fred had graduated high school together and, he was devastated. The investigation is ongoing.
I have gallows humor. Maybe I should do obituaries. ~Vic
Foto Friday: Tribute Pictures 6.0
Photo Credit: Natalie Rhea Riggs on Unsplash
The below is now Part Six of the final Seven Part Series showcasing my former supervisor’s work and, additional photos taken of him at various stages of his life and career. The above picture of Big Bend National Park, I never got to see while I was living in Texas. It’s a big state and there is a lot to see. I confess that I spent a rather large amount of time traveling back and forth, between the Austin area and the Houston area, as I had a very dear friend and classmate living in Spring. Texas will always be my second home.
♦ Part I
♦ Part II
♦ Part III
♦ Part IV
♦ Part V
This picture has no time stamp. I haven’t a clue when it was taken.
03-24-2010
03-24-2010
03-24-2010
The following three pictures, he sent to me on November 17, 2008. I have no idea when or where these were taken but, they were his friends and they requested his expertise.
He is from Houston.
He is from Lubbock.
That is all I have of the pictures he took. Everything forward will be of him.
Last post, tomorrow. ~Vic
Throwback Thursday: January 31 Trivia Bits
January 31 doesn’t appear to be a day where anything really Earth-shattering happened. I have gathered up a few noteworthy thingys…
1940…….Ida May Fuller was issued the very first Social Security check (numbered 00-000-001) for the amount of $22.54.
1958…….The very first satellite put into Earth orbit by the United States was Explorer I. Launched at 10:48pm EST, it was the first to detect the Van Allen radiation belt.
1961…….Ham the Chimp was launched from Cape Canaveral in the Mercury-Redstone 2 (MR-2) test flight of Project Mercury. He was returned to Earth, safely and lived an additional 22 years.
1971…….Apollo 14, the third mission to land on the Moon, was launched at 4:03pm EST. Mission Commander was Alan Shepard, Command Module Pilot was Stuart Roosa and Lunar Module Pilot was Edgar Mitchell. They landed in the Fra Mauro formation, the aborted Apollo 13 mission’s destination.
2000…….Dr. Harold Shipman, British serial killer, was found guilty of murdering 15 patients under his care. The Shipman Inquiry estimated the total victim count to be 250. Known as The Angel of Death, he hung himself in prison in 2004, one day before his 58th birthday.
Notable Birthdays
1892 Eddie Cantor (d. 1964)
1919 Jackie Robinson (d. 1972)
1921 Carol Channing (d. January 15, 2019).
1923 Norman Mailer (The Executioner’s Song) (d. 2007)
1929 Jean Simmons (d. 2010)
Notable Deaths
1606 Guy Fawkes (b. 1570)
1945 Eddie Slovik (the only American soldier to be court-martialed and executed for desertion since the Civil War) (b. 1920)
1956 A. A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh creator) (b. 1882)
1974 Samuel Goldwyn (b. 1882)
1976 Ernesto Miranda (Miranda vs Arizona & “Mirandize”) (b. 1941)
Tune Tuesday: Casa Loma Orchestra 1944
Seventy-five years ago, today, the #1 song on Billboard (pre-hot 100 era) was My Heart Tells Me (Should I Believe My Heart?) by Glen Gray, his Casa Loma Orchestra and singer Eugenie Baird. Written by Harry Warren (Lullaby of Broadway, Jeepers Creepers & That’s Amore) with lyrics by Mack Gordon (Chattanooga Choo-Choo), this was the theme for the 1943 musical film Sweet Rosie O’Grady. Betty Grable sang the song in the movie.
Glen Gray & his Orchestral version was number one for five weeks from January 29 to February 26, boosted by the popularity of the musical. As a popular standard for the 1940s, other well-known artists with their own versions include Etta Jones (1961), Frank Sinatra (1945), Nat King Cole (1958) and Tony Bennett (1955). Glenn Miller & his orchestra had a go in 1944, broadcasting to German soldiers. From Dance in the City (Page 191):
“One of the paradoxes of the Nazi terror was that SS officers themselves demonstrated a fondness for swing (Vogel, 1962).
Mike Zwerin (1985), in his exploration of jazz under the Nazis, described a Luftwaffe pilot who switched on the BBC hoping to catch a few bars of Glenn Miller before bombing the antenna from which these forbidden sounds were being broadcast. Allied propagandists recognised the potential for exploiting the contradictory allure that jazz possessed with Nazi society.
The sound barrier of 1944 was marked on the one hand by the music of the Nazi marches and on the other by the big band swing of Glenn Miller. The Allies attempted to exploit the popularity of swing inside Germany. On October 30, 1944, Miller’s swing tunes were aimed at German soldiers through the American Broadcast Station in Europe (ABSIE) in an effort to persuade them to lay down their arms.
Major Miller addressed German soldiers in their own language with the assistance of Ilse Weinberger, a German compere and translator. Ilse introduced Glenn Miller as the ‘magician of swing’ and, through a strange act of cultural alchemy, tunes like Long Ago and Far Away and My Heart Tells Me were rendered in German by vocalist Johnny Desmond.”
Cosmic-Observation 