Fireplace Burns

This photo from Christmas, 1939 was taken in the living room of George Burns and Gracie Allen, with their adopted children, Ronnie and Sandra.

That is the second photo of the Burns living room I have seen. The first was the one my mother had. It was taken in late 40’s or early 50’s.

Mom’s dear lifelong friend Ted, who was gay, was George and Gracie’s personal secretary for almost 20 years. After Gracie died in 1964, George financed Ted’s successful interior decorating business.

In 1996, when my parents were preparing to retire in Arizona, Ted, who was retired in Tucson, took my mother house shopping. One of her visits had to be postponed because George Burns had died, and Ted was in charge of the memorial service, as well as some matters of the estate. After my father died, the Sun City West, AZ house I sold in 2018 was the one that Ted helped my mother find.

Rodney Theodore “Ted” Montague on the left, with a boyfriend

The Sunday Funnies – Surprise

As mentioned here not too long ago, Gannett/USA Today has standardized the selection of comic strips its member papers can use. By chance, last Sunday’s local Gannett paper included a surprise. In addition to the regular comics, shown on the left, there was the comics section for the Burlington Free Press, on the right.

And lookee at that. Burlington has four pages of Sunday comics, with the first two pages being identical to my local edition.

The long, slow withdrawal from printed newspapers in general, and syndicated comic strips in particular, continues. It’s just a little bit less painful in Vermont.

Hitching Post

More Hitchcock, legal and free on YouTube… for now.

Update: They’re expiring. I’ll find substitutes where I can.

Hitchcock’s youngest leading lady was Nova Pilbeam, who was only 17 years old when she starred in Young and Innocent.

Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood, with on-screen chemistry that has never been surpassed.

Grace Kelly could wrap any man, including Hitch, around her pinky finger.
https://youtu.be/AbcIGBhOrog

Tippi Hendron couldn’t handle Hitch the way Grace did, and he crossed the line with her.
https://youtu.be/UfS5F5IQNtg

Nova Pilbeam, 1919-2015

Busy!

I’ve been working on several projects, mostly the techie type. Have a couple of posts in the works that require some extra thought in expressing the points I want to make. I’ll be back when the first one is done, or if I happen to have something quick and easy to put here.

Oh! Here’s something. It’s been missing in the notices about Henry Kissinger’s death.