Stagehands are back, writers are not. It's looking like that strike will be a lengthy one. Actors have joined writers on the picket line but some of the enterprising comedy writers, who also number performers among their ranks, are staying warm by practicing their craft. A group from 'Saturday Night Live" is performing at a club in New York to keep their chops and some have gravitated to the Internet...
Rob Barnett, a comedian and writer who you probably remember from his work with Don Imus, founded MyDamnChannel, a website that features, among others, former SNL comedian Harry Shearer, a very good satirist. Shearer, the voice of several characters on "The Simpsons" is now channeling Dr. Phil, Dick Cheney and a host of others...
Some choose to 'walk the walk' on picket lines while others have found a way around that, finding an alternative. It's worth checking out and you can by clicking: http://www.mydamnchannel.com/ . Enjoy the laughs...
10 Timeline Memories:
- 1901] Debuted on this date (12/2): Gillette patents the first disposable razor)...1927] Ford rolls out their Model A, the successor to the Model T. It's a steal for $385...1939] New York's LaGuardia Airport begins operations as a plane from Chicago lands at 12:01 a.m...1969] Boeing shows off its 747 jumbo jet to the media...1983] MTV airs Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (which shipped one year earlier). Vincent Price is the voice you hear: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DqdAE9xbVYc (all items from 12/2)...
- 1917] No girls allowed: Father Edward Flanagan opens "Boys Town" in Nebraska. The farm village is designed for "wayward boys". In 1979 it goes co-ed. "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" was written as a tribute to Boys Town (12/1). The Hollies have the hit: http://youtube.com/watch?v=e7HPqi5uVeo ...
- 1924] Dropping the first puck: The first pro hockey game in the U.S. is played at the Boston Arena. The Bruins beat the Montreal Maroons 2-1. Both teams had just joined the 7-year-old NHL. Boston becomes the first U.S. team in the NHL (12/1)...
- 1940] Wedding Bells: Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz conga down the aisle to a latin beat (11/30)...Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee become America's favorite couple as they swing down the aisle (12/1). They will divorce in 1967...1998] Exxon buys Mobil for $73.7 billion creating the largest company in the world (12/1)...
- 1955] Rosa Rules: Rosa Parks refuses to give her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery (AL), marking a milestone in the civil rights movement (12/1)...
- 1956] Diaper Dandy champion: 21-year-old Floyd Patterson KOs Archie Moore to become the youngest heavyweight champ (11/30). Name the fighter who will break that record in the 80s. Answer will follow at the end of MPR...
- 1956] Let's go to the videotape: CBS-TV replays "Douglas Edwards and the News", three hours after it's received on the west coast. It's the world's first broadcast via videotape (11/30). Here's Edwards' last broadcast: http://youtube.com/watch?v=LZWVUXA1qbg ...
- 1956] Boston is next: San Francisco University's Bill Russell stars as the USA goes gold in basketball with an 89-55 trouncing of Russia at the Melbourne Olympics (12/2) while Red Auerbach lights up a cigar...
- 1967] "Happy Trails": New York City's Cardinal Francis Spellman ascends and enters the pearly gates from natural causes at 78 (12/2)...1973] David Ben-Gurion, founding father of Israel and its first prime minister passes away from natural causes at 87 (12/1)...1996] After performing on stage, Tiny Tim collapses and dies from congestive heart failure at 71 (11/30). Here's a videotape tribute to TT: http://youtube.com/watch?v=VIBR2Zrb_5Y&feature=related ...
- 1992] The Name Game: WQEW replaces WQXR on 1560 in New York, adapting a nostalgia music WNEW (AM) type format that will fail (12/2)...1997] Westinghouse formally changes its name to CBS (12/1)...
Music Memories:
- 1957] Debuted on this date (12/1): Buddy Holly & the Crickets and Sam Cooke make their debuts on the 'Ed Sullivan Show'. Holly with "That'll Be The Day" and Sam Cooke with "You Send Me" (12/1)...
- 1957] Number One on this date: "You Send Me" - Sam Cooke (12/2)...1963] "Dominique" - The Singing Nun a.k.a. Sister Luc-Gabrielle (12/2)...1974] "Kung Fu Fighting" - Carl Douglas (12/2)...1979] "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" - Neil Diamond & Barbra Streisand (12/2)...
- 1958] Released on this date: "16 Candles" - The Crests (11/30). Johnny Maestro still has the chops: http://youtube.com/watch?v=t_XvPqH7tGM&feature=related ...1968] "Everyday People" - Sly & The Family Stone (11/30)...1972] "You're So Vain" - Carly Simon (12/2)...1979] "The Wall" LP - Pink Floyd (11/30)...1982] Epic Records releases its all-time best-selling LP, "Thriller" - Michael Jackson (12/1) which fed all CBS Records employees for a few years, thank you very much...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
(11/30) Clay Aiken (29), Sandra Oh (37), Ben Stiller (42), Billy Idol (52), Mandy Patinkin (55), Paul Stookey (70), Jimmy Bowen (70), Frank Ifield (71), G. Gordon Liddy (77), Dick Clark (78), Robert Guillaume (80) and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (89)...
(12/1) Carol Alt (47), Treat Williams (56), Gilbert O'Sullivan (61), Bette Midler (62), Lee Trevino (68), Dianne Lennon (68), Woody Allen (72) and Billy Paul (73)...
(12/2) Britney Spears (26), Nelly Furtado (29), Monica Seles (34), Lucy Liu (39), Stone Phillips (53), Cathy Lee Crosby (63), Julie Harris (82) and Alexander Haig (83)...
Timeline Countdown (Sunday, December 2, 2007): 3 days until Hanukah, 20 days until winter, 23 days until Christmas, 29 days until New Year's Eve and 34 days until the NFL Wildcard Playoffs (hopefully not on the NFL Network). (Trivia question answer: Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champ, breaking Floyd Patterson's record in 1986)...
