Category: Life with Pratts

Stella Artois Lager — .8 oz. Less Filling

A while back I recommended a lovely little movie from Norway called Buddy. It was in the modest selection of free, on-demand movies offered with Verizon FiOS TV, on the Film Fest Channel, sponsored by Stella Artois, a lager beer from Belgium. Here’s the commercial that runs before the Film Fest movies.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/OCT07/StellaArtois.flv 448 336]

When we ate at a TGI Friday’s I noticed Stella Artois on the menu and I ordered one and had my first taste. I’ve had many Belgian ales, but no lagers that I could recall. It’s a nice, light beer, with a lot more flavor than mass-produced American beers, and less bitter than a Heineken, a pilsener that borders on being skunky. (Marston’s Pedigree Bitters is an ale that is my idea of a truly great dry beer.) Later, I spotted a six pack of Stella Artois at a local store, and in further appreciation for the movie, I bought it.

The bottles are only 11.2 ounces! I’m sorry, but I don’t care how good the beer is. If the guy pouring Stella Artois in the commercial is going to be picky, then so am I — twelve ounces, and no less! Until then Stella Artois has lost me as a customer.

June Lockhart’s TV Sons

Today, in Springfield MA, I met Jon Provost and Bill Mumy. They were separated by the Connecticut River — Jon was on the west side and Bill on the east, at two very different events. Jon was appearing at the World of Pets, and Bill was at the United Fan Con. What they have in common is June Lockhart was their mother on TV — Jon as Timmy Martin on ‘Lassie’, and Bill as Will Robinson on ‘Lost In Space’.

Jon Provost and June LockhartBill Mumy and June Lockhart

Bill Mumy shares a distinction with another former child actor — Jerry Mathers, from ‘Leave It To Beaver’. They were both directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Bill was in ‘Bang! You’re Dead’, one of the most famous installments of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and one of the few that the master himself directed. Mathers was in Hitchcock’s film ‘The Trouble With Harry’.

I can honestly say that I liked all of these guys when I watched them on TV as a kid. I’ve never had a chance to see Mathers in person, but I was thoroughly impressed by Provost and Mumy. They’re both very smart guys, as nice as anybody could ever be, and as good at listening as they are at speaking; but, then, I guess that makes sense, given their training and experience, starting at such an early age. Or maybe it comes from having June Lockhart as their TV mom!

Timmy's In The WellA while ago I posted an item about Jon Provost, whose autobiography, Timmy’s In The Well, will be out soon. Timmy was never in the well on TV, so I was pleased to show Jon the one piece of physical evidence I know of that Timmy, in cartoon form, was briefly in a well, and he was nice enough to sign it for me. Here I am today, with Jon Provost.

Jon Provost and DOuG pRATt

Bill Mumy has always been very much into music, and is a musician himself. He’s very, very good. Hear for yourself by playing the Mumy Jukebox. For a while he was in the band America. Mumy has a wide selection of great music available, and I bought his latest CD.

Bill Mumy - The Landlord or the Guest

It was a fun day! Eric got to see somebody as well, and I’m hoping to post something about that later.